English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For April 05/2023
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them: It is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 11/47-54:”So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and said, ‘What are we to do? This man is performing many signs.If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.’But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, ‘You know nothing at all! You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.’He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. So from that day on they planned to put him to death. Jesus therefore no longer walked about openly among the Jews, but went from there to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness; and he remained there with the disciples.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 04-05/2023
The Qatari Delegation Met with numerous Lebanese officials & Politicians
Franjieh meets Hezbollah officials over Paris visit
Reports: Doha not against Franjieh, believes solution not difficult
Qatari minister of state meets Bassil, Geagea
Walid Jumblatt discusses latest developments with Assistant Foreign Minister of Qatar
Lebanon sees high reservation rates for the festive period, 32 percent of visitors are Arab
"A Homeland Named Fairouz": A documentary and book celebrating 88 years of perfection
Frangieh shares insights on Paris talks with Hezbollah officials
Latest developments: Salameh's probes in Lebanon and abroad
Lebanon probes embezzlement at Ukraine mission: judicial official
US Imposes Sanctions on Lebanese Brothers over Corruption
Qatari Envoy Visits Lebanon to Discuss Presidential Elections
IRGC Retracts Statements Confirming Death of Leader Kidnapped in Lebanon in 1982
IRGC Confirms Death of Commander Who Disappeared 41 Years Ago in Beirut
Two Civilians Killed in Israeli Attack on Syria’s Damascus
US Says its Forces Killed Senior ISIS Leader in Syria

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 04-05/2023
Iranians mourn Guards killed in Israeli strikes on Syria
Syria says Israeli strikes in Damascus area kill 2 civilians
Israel: Iran was behind drone incursion from Syria
Washington Planning ‘Interim Agreement’ with Tehran
Iran Vows Revenge for Revolutionary Guards Killed in Israeli Strikes on Syria
Azerbaijan Arrests 4 Over Attempted Assassination of Anti-Iran Lawmaker
60 human rights groups urge UN not to accept IHRA antisemitism definition
UAE president, Israeli PM discuss strengthening ties in phone call - UAE state media
Israel Holding Over 1,000 Palestinians without Charge, Most Since 2003
Western countries are speeding up tank deliveries to Ukraine, but tanks aren't what Ukrainian troops need to get around Russian forces
Don’t make same mistake with Xi Jinping and China as you did with Putin, EU is warned
Finland joins NATO, dealing blow to Russia for Ukraine war
Palestinian stabs 2 Israelis in attack near army base
US says its forces killed Daesh leader in Syria
Sisi, Mohammed bin Salman seek to synchronise regional policies but make no progress on Saudi aid
Magnitude 6,6 earthquake strikes off coast of Viga, Philippines

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 04-05/2023
Biden's Coup In Israel/Daniel Greenfield/Gatestone Institute./April 04, 2023
Biden's Anti-Israel Policy Empowers Iran, Palestinian Terrorists/Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute./April 04, 2023
A Trial that Restores Life to Trump/Mamdouh al-Muhainy/Asharq Al awsat/April, 04/2023
Trump’s Prosecution Has Set a Dangerous Precedent/Ankush Khardori/The New York Times/April, 04/2023
UN Lies about Muslim History, the Koran, and Even Arabic/Raymond Ibrahim/April, 04/2023
Saudi crown prince hands Putin his biggest weapon in the energy war/Melissa Lawford/The Telegraph/April 4, 2023
Globalization may not be dying, but it is changing/Joseph S. Nye/Arab News/April 04, 2023
Russia seeks to secure gains in Syria/Osama Al-Sharif/April 04, 2023

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on April 04-05/2023
The Qatari Delegation Met with numerous Lebanese officials & Politicians
LCCC/April 04, 2023
As published today by the Lebanese media many facilities the visiting Qatari official delegation met with, Suleiman Frangia, Samir Geagea, Army Chief Joseph Aoun, Walid Jumblat, Talal Areslan, Jobran Bassil, Minister Amin Salam. In the same context yesterday the delegation had met several officials clergymen and leaders. The aim of this visit is to observe stances in regards to the election of a new president

Franjieh meets Hezbollah officials over Paris visit
Naharnet/April 04, 2023
Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh held a meeting overnight with Hezbollah officials, LBCI television reported. Franjieh briefed Hezbollah on “the details of his visit to France, knowing that he had contacted Hezbollah officials immediately after his return from Paris to put them in the picture of the visit’s atmosphere,” the TV network added.

Reports: Doha not against Franjieh, believes solution not difficult
Naharnet/April 04, 2023
A Qatari envoy visiting Lebanon, Mohammed bin Abdel Aziz al-Khulaifi, has not excluded the name of Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh from the list of presidential candidates in his meetings with Lebanese officials, political sources told al-Akhbar newspaper in remarks published Tuesday.
“Credible” sources meanwhile told the al-Joumhouria daily that the Qatari visit is “not part of a Qatari initiative that is isolated from the French-Saudi efforts toward the Lebanese file.”“The Qatari envoy stressed in his meetings that the Qatari side is confident that a breakthrough in the presidential file in Lebanon is not something difficult and that it can be achieved in a quick manner,” the sources added.

Qatari minister of state meets Bassil, Geagea
Naharnet/April 04, 2023
The minister of state at the Qatari Foreign Ministry, Mohammed bin Abdel Aziz al-Khulaifi, met Tuesday with Free Patriotic Movement leader Jebran Bassil and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, in a shuttle tour between the Lebanese leaders over the presidential file. The Qatari minister also met with Army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun. On Monday, al-Khulaifi had met with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Kataeb leader Sami Gemayyel, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat, Lebanese Democratic Party leader Talal Erslan, Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib. He also met with Hezbollah MP Mohammad Raad, media reports said. Al-Khulaifi told local medias that his visit is focusing on the bilateral ties between Lebanon and Qatar and urged the Lebanese to prioritize dialogue and national interest. "Qatar is keen to unify regional and international efforts to help Lebanon," al-Khulaifi said, adding that filling the presidential vacuum is the most important topic discussed at the Paris meeting. The Qatari initiative is not isolated from the French-Saudi efforts regarding the Lebanese file, media reports said. "The Qatari envoy had no initiative, suggestions or nominations, but he is rather exploring view points and listening," Gemayyel said Monday after his meeting with al-Khulaifi. Lebanon has been without a president since Michel Aoun's term expired at the end of October. Lawmakers have held 11 rounds of voting to name a successor to Aoun, but no candidate has garnered enough ballots. With no single party or parliamentary bloc holding a majority, electing a new president in crisis-hit Lebanon can drag on for months of even years.

Walid Jumblatt discusses latest developments with Assistant Foreign Minister of Qatar
LBCI/April 04, 2023
Walid Jumblatt, the leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, received the Assistant Foreign Minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al Khulaifi, on Monday evening in Clemenceau. However, the Qatari ambassador in Lebanon, Ibrahim bin Abdul Aziz Al-Sahlawi, and delegation members also attended the meeting. The head of the Democratic Gathering, MP Taymour Jumblatt, and MP Hadi Aboul Hessen were also present as they discussed general developments in Lebanon and the region.

Lebanon sees high reservation rates for the festive period, 32 percent of visitors are Arab
LBCI/April 04, 2023
Jean Abboud, president of the Association of Travel and Tourist Agents in Lebanon revealed that the movement of passengers coming to Lebanon through Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport may exceed 400,000 passengers this April, announcing that 32 percent of them are Arab tourists from Jordan and Iraq, stating that "this is a very good percentage." In a statement, he said that the high rate of bookings for the holidays will continue during April, stressing that it will extend until after Labor Day on the first of May. He believed that the coincidence of the holidays with each other this year, starting with Easter among the Christian denominations that follow the Western and Eastern calendars, in addition to Eid al-Fitr and then Labor Day, constituted a positive factor that encouraged people to come to Lebanon to stay for a while.  He said that on this basis, "we see a very active movement in the airport's movement, as more than 12,000 passengers arrive in Lebanon from all destinations, including the Gulf, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and London." He considered that "these long holidays formed an incentive for expatriates who live in faraway countries such as Canada and America to visit Lebanon, as it was unlikely that they would travel all this distance to spend two or three days, but in light of this long vacation, they may visit Lebanon for a period ranging between 10 and 15 days." Abboud pointed out that the heavy traffic was expected, and he hoped that things would proceed properly along the line of the Saudi-Iranian agreement, as the "dream" would be completed with the return of Gulf and Saudi tourists to Lebanon, adding that this is a very positive indicator for the Lebanese tourism sector.

"A Homeland Named Fairouz": A documentary and book celebrating 88 years of perfection
LBCI/April 04, 2023
Eighty-eight years of perfection, and our beloved Fairouz is still among us. Throughout those years, she has presented timeless works that transcend boundaries and time, and will surely take on an eternal quality! To celebrate her 88th year, thirty-five writers from different Arab countries have written, analyzed, and discussed the phenomenon of Fairouz. Their articles, despite their differences, share a common belief: Fairouz is the unifying homeland that cannot be touched! These articles have been compiled into a special publication by the Arab Thought Foundation entitled "A Homeland Named Fairouz," accompanied by a video connecting the articles with the voice of our ambassador to the stars. Anyone can request a soft copy of the book from this link: https://arabthought.org/site/book-form One of the articles explores the relationship between Fairouz's voice, coffee, and morning, while another reveals the details of the first meeting between Fairouz and Um Kulthum, and the secret behind the greatness of both icons! Another takes us on a journey into the world of Ziad Rahbani, while yet another explains how Fairouz's national works have become quasi-official anthems used by Arab countries for all national occasions! "A Homeland Named Fairouz" is a documentary and a book that embody the journey of Nahed Haddad until she became our eternal Fairouz, and reveal the secret behind her unique talent that will surely never be replicated!

Frangieh shares insights on Paris talks with Hezbollah officials
LBCI/April 04, 2023
Lebanese politician Sleiman Frangieh's meeting with French officials on Monday evening has provided a clearer picture of the discussions held during the Paris talks. While initial reports had been limited to leaks, Frangieh's meeting with political advisor to Hezbollah's Secretary-General Hajj Hussein Khalil and the party's liaison unit chief Wafiq Safa gave a more detailed account of the meeting. During the meeting, Frangieh shared what he had heard from the French officials, leading to two different interpretations among observers of the French position. One interpretation related to the Lebanese political arena, specifically the Christian community. The French are keen to see the Christians agree on a presidential candidate to represent them.  The second interpretation was related to the guarantees that Frangieh had asked for regarding Hezbollah's weapons and its relationship with Syria, as well as the solutions he proposed to help resolve Lebanon's crises and improve its relationship with the international community, in addition to discussing the powers of the president and the prime minister. While the French side informed Frangieh that they would continue to engage with various Lebanese parties, Frangieh left the meeting with a positive impression of the French officials, according to his report during the meeting with Hezbollah. Hezbollah is well aware of what the French have said about the Christian community and sees it as one of the internal obstacles, if not the primary and most difficult one, for Frangieh. Will Frangieh, who considers himself the only Christian politician capable of communicating with everyone, as he informed the French officials, be able to secure Christian consensus for himself as the next president of the republic? This remains to be seen.

Latest developments: Salameh's probes in Lebanon and abroad
Naharnet/April 04, 2023
A French judicial delegation will return in Lebanon on April 24, media reports said.
The report said that the delegation has asked Judge Charbel Abu Samra to question on its behalf Riad Salameh's brother, Raja, and his associate Marianne Hoayek on April 25. Last month, the Central Bank governor was questioned for two days about his properties abroad and his wealth, by a European legal team including French Judge Aude Buresi, through Judge Abu Samra, acting as a go-between. France, Germany and Luxembourg seized assets worth 120 million euros ($130 million) in March last year in a move linked to a French probe into Salameh's personal wealth. The Paris Court of Appeal debated Tuesday, whether Salameh's frozen assets in Europe will be released, al-Akhbar newspaper reported. Two international lawyers attended the session in Paris, to represent the Lebanese state, the daily said. It added that Salameh will appear Thursday before Abu Samra, after his questioning session in the domestic case was postponed last month to make way for the European investigators.

Lebanon probes embezzlement at Ukraine mission: judicial official
Arab News/April 04, 2023
BEIRUT: Lebanon is investigating alleged embezzlement of over $300,000 at its Ukraine embassy, a judicial official told AFP on Monday, as sources say cash-strapped Beirut is trying to cut costs at diplomatic missions. The probe was launched after financial irregularities came to light in September, the official said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media. Preliminary investigations showed “an estimated $318,000” had been embezzled from funds including for consular services such as “passport renewal fees,” the official said. The foreign ministry had apparently failed to notice or investigate the missing funds, according to the official. A diplomatic source confirmed to AFP that “judicial investigations are underway into a financial matter at the Ukrainian embassy.”Ambassador Ali Daher — who had been recalled to Beirut pending the completion of the probe — and one of his assistants have been questioned, the judicial official said. Citing initial investigations, the official said the money had been transferred to a Ukrainian bank account belonging to the embassy employee who claimed the funds had been sent to Beirut. The assistant has returned to Lebanon but since disappeared, the official said, adding that Lebanon’s top prosecutor has issued a travel ban against the assistant and his Ukrainian wife. Rent paid for the ambassador’s residence in Kyiv was also under investigation, the official said. Work has largely been suspended at the Lebanese diplomatic mission in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion last year, the diplomatic source said also on condition on anonymity. Since late 2019, Lebanon has faced a devastating economic crisis that has plunged more than 80 percent of the population into poverty, according to the United Nations. The local currency has lost much of its value and public sector employees, whose salaries remained largely stagnant, have had their purchasing power slashed. Since last year, the foreign ministry has proposed suspending work in 17 foreign missions to help rein in expenditure, according to the diplomatic source, with Kyiv being one of them according to media reports. While the government has not made a decision on the matter, the source said expenses and employee numbers at missions abroad were already being reduced to help cut costs.

US Imposes Sanctions on Lebanese Brothers over Corruption
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 4 April, 2023
The United States imposed new sanctions on Tuesday on two Lebanese brothers, as well as several of their companies, who it said had used their wealth to engage in corrupt practices that contribute to the breakdown of the rule of law in Lebanon. "Today's action underscores the United States’ commitment to shining a light on corrupt actions, which continue to unjustly impact the Lebanese people," Treasury's Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement. "Now more than ever, the Lebanese government should implement desperately needed economic and political reforms."The US Treasury Department in the statement said it imposed sanctions on Raymond Zina Rahme and Teddy Zina Rahme, accusing them of using companies under their control to win multiple government contracts through "a highly opaque public tendering process." The Treasury said the brothers and businessmen in 2017 secured a subcontract to import fuel for use by Lebanon's state-owned national electricity utility and to import fuel on behalf of the Lebanese Ministry of Energy and Water in a reportedly corrupt bidding process. Washington said the two imported tainted fuel, causing significant harm to power plants in Lebanon. Through their United Arab Emirates-based company ZR Energy DMCC, which was also hit with sanctions on Tuesday, they "passed off their dangerously compromised fuel product by blending it with other fuels," Treasury said. "While the Rahme brothers enriched themselves with this scheme, the Lebanese people suffered, and the country’s infrastructure further deteriorated. Power stations across Lebanon increasingly malfunctioned and daily electricity cuts increased," Treasury said in the statement.

Qatari Envoy Visits Lebanon to Discuss Presidential Elections
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 4 April, 2023
Qatar’s Assistant Foreign Minister for Regional Affairs, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi met on Monday in Beirut with Lebanese officials and a number of party leaders to discuss the means to find a solution to the presidential vacuum in the country. While information noted that the Qatari envoy carried an initiative to solve the crisis, well-informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that it was not possible to talk about a presidential initiative, especially since no proposal was submitted in this context. The sources described the visit as “exploratory”, saying that it could be a prelude to some steps in the next stage. Al-Khulaifi met on Monday with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib, Mufti of the Lebanese Republic Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian, and head of the Lebanese Kataeb party, MP Sami Gemayel. According to the available information, the Qatari envoy is also expected to meet on Tuesday with the head of the Lebanese Forces party, Samir Geagea, and a Hezbollah official. A statement issued by Berri’s office said that discussions during the meeting touched on the general situation, the latest developments in Lebanon and the region, and means to strengthen bilateral relations. Mikati, for his part, stressed the strong Lebanese-Qatari ties, hailing “the Qatari contributions in helping Lebanon overcome its difficulties at the political and economic levels.” He also renewed “appreciation for Qatar’s support for the army.” The caretaker premier reaffirmed that the gateway to resolving the crises in Lebanon lied in the election of a new head of state “as soon as possible.” The meeting between Al-Khulaifi and Gemayel touched on “the need to elect a president, who will be able to deal with all political, economic and financial files, and restore Lebanon’s relations with its friends in Arab countries and the world,” according to a statement by the party.

IRGC Retracts Statements Confirming Death of Leader Kidnapped in Lebanon in 1982
London, Iran – Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 4 April, 2023
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps retracted its confirmation of the killing of the military attaché, Ahmad Motevaselian, who disappeared in Beirut 41 years ago. IRGC spokesman Ramezan Sharif said they still have no reliable information regarding the condition and fate of Motevaselian and his companions, who were kidnapped in northern Lebanon in 1982. Last Saturday, the head of the IRGC, Hossein Salami, visited the Motevaselian family. After the visit, many news outlets published excerpts from the statement, saying it was an official confirmation of the commander's fate. However, Sharif asserted on Monday that certain media misunderstood his remarks. The spokesman pointed out that the case of the four Iranians kidnapped by the Lebanese Forces at the Barbara checkpoint on July 4, 1982, remains open and is being followed up legally. Motevaselian was accompanied by Kazem Akhavan, a military affairs correspondent for the official news agency (IRNA), and Taghi Rastegar Moghaddam, IRGC training supervisor, and consul Mohsen Mosavi. Sharif said Salami described Motevaselian as a "martyr with a trace," the term for missing soldiers.
The case of Motevaselian, the most prominent IRGC field commander during the early years of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, is one of the open issues in relations between Iran and Lebanon. Iranian authorities insist on naming the abducted "the four diplomats" without identifying the nature of Motevaselian's duties in Beirut during that period. The Sabreen News channel, affiliated with the IRGC’s Quds Force, stated that several bodies were exchanged years ago with the Lebanese Forces, noting that Motevaselian's body was handed over to Iran. However, DNA tests did not match that of the missing commander. Before Sharif's statement, the IRGC-affiliated Sobheno newspaper wrote in its editorial on Monday that Motevaselian's case was abandoned because of the mismanagement and incompetence of the diplomatic missions at the time. His death was confirmed 41 years after he went missing. The newspaper saw that the confirmation of Motavasslian's death ended all speculation, rumors, and theories about his fate. Sazandegi newspaper reported that slain commander of the Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, had previously revealed that the four officials "were killed on the night of their kidnapping." The newspaper also cited the account slain Elie Hobeika's bodyguard Robert Hatem, known as Cobra, who was then in charge of the Barbara checkpoint. Hatem said he pointed his gun at the head of one of the four Iranians and killed him after he got out of his car. In 1999, Hatem wrote in his memoirs that the four diplomats were all shot dead and buried in the Karantina area in eastern Beirut, in the basements of the security building of the Lebanese Forces led by Hobeika. Motevaselian was the commander of the 27th Brigade, one of IRGC's most prominent field units, which fought fierce battles against the Kurdish opposition before he was dispatched to Beirut to train Hezbollah forces during Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war.

IRGC Confirms Death of Commander Who Disappeared 41 Years Ago in Beirut
London, Tehran – Asharq Al-Awsat/Monday, 3 April, 2023
The fate of Iranian military attaché Ahmad Motevaselian, who disappeared in Beirut in 1982 along with three other Iranians, has been confirmed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) after 41 years of mystery and conflicting accounts. During a meeting with Motevaselian’s family on Saturday, the head of the IRGC, Hossein Salami, referred to Motevaselian as a “martyr,” the first official confirmation of his death. Iran had previously claimed that he was captured by Israelis. IRGC-affiliated websites reported that Salami said, in a rare admission, that “Motevaselian is the first Iranian martyr on the path to liberating Jerusalem.”This statement contradicts the Iranian authorities’ narrative of the four Iranians remaining alive in Israeli prisons. Motevaselian led the 27th brigade, one of the IRGC's most prominent field units, and fought fierce battles against Kurdish opposition. He was later dispatched to Lebanon to train Hezbollah forces during the civil war in Beirut. According to available information, Motevaselian was kidnapped at the Barbarah checkpoint on Beirut’s northern coast while accompanying then Iranian consul Mohsen Mosavi on a tour of the Lebanese capital. He was later returned to Tehran on orders from Iran’s then Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini. The four kidnapped included Kazem Akhavan, a military affairs correspondent for the official news agency (IRNA), and Taghi Rastegar Moghaddam, the training supervisor in the IRGC who served as Motevaselian's right-hand man during his leadership of the IRGC in Marivan, a Kurdish city in western Iran. Iran had described Moghaddam as a senior embassy employee and insisted on the account of the four being held in Israeli prisons. The names of the missing Iranians have been brought up in prisoner exchange deals between Iran or the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Israelis. Motevaselian’s case typically resurfaces in the media spotlight of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs every June, as people commemorate the anniversary of his disappearance.

Two Civilians Killed in Israeli Attack on Syria’s Damascus
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 4 April, 2023
Israel staged airstrikes on the southern suburbs of the Syrian capital of Damascus early Tuesday, killing two civilians and causing some material damage, Syrian state media reported. Damascus residents said strong explosions were heard in the capital and its southern suburbs as Syrian state television reported that the country’s air defenses were confronting “an Israeli aggression.” State TV, quoting an unnamed military official, said two civilians were killed in the strikes near Damascus and southern Syria, adding that some of the missiles were shot down by Syria air defenses before they reached their targets. It said the strikes also caused some material damage. Israel’s shadow war with Iran in Syria intensified over the past days with four strikes on the Damascus area and the central province of Homs killing two Iranian military advisers since last week. Hours after strikes on central Syria Sunday, the Israeli military said it shot down an “aircraft” that crossed from Syria into Israel’s airspace. The Israeli military said Iran appears to have been behind the drone that was shot down over Israeli airspace. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, including attacks on the Damascus and Aleppo airports, but it rarely acknowledges specific operations. Israel says it targets bases of Iran-allied militant groups, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces.Along with airports, Israel has also targeted seaports in government-held areas in an apparent attempt to prevent Iranian arms shipments to militant groups backed by Tehran, including Hezbollah.

US Says its Forces Killed Senior ISIS Leader in Syria
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 4 April, 2023
The United States carried out a military operation that killed a senior ISIS leader in Syria on Monday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Tuesday, the latest blow to a group that once struck fear across the Middle East. Khalid 'Aydd Ahmad al-Jabouri was responsible for planning ISIS attacks in Europe and developed the leadership structure for the group, the statement said. ISIS controlled swathes of Iraq and Syria at the peak of its power in 2014 before being beaten back in both countries. The group is estimated to have 5,000 to 7,000 members and supporters spread between Syria and Iraq, roughly half of them fighters, a UN report said in February. No civilians were killed or injured in this strike, CENTCOM said, adding that the group "continues to represent a threat to the region and beyond". "Though degraded, the group remains able to conduct operations within the region with a desire to strike beyond the Middle East," the statement said. It added that al-Jabouri's death would "temporarily disrupt the group's ability to plot external attacks". The UN report said the threat posed by ISIS and its affiliates to international peace and security was high in the second half of 2022 and had increased in and around conflict zones where it has a presence. Late last year, ISIS announced it had appointed a previously unknown figure - Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Quraishi - as its leader after the previous leader was killed in southern Syria.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on April 04-05/2023
Iranians mourn Guards killed in Israeli strikes on Syria
AFP/April 04, 2023
TEHRAN: Thousands of Iranians attended a funeral procession in Tehran on Tuesday for two Revolutionary Guards killed in Israeli strikes in Syria last week. Israel launched several missiles on Friday from the occupied Golan Heights against positions near Damascus, part of a series of attacks over recent days including early Tuesday. “The Zionists are trying to target the resistance front, but the resistance will become stronger and more motivated,” said Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesman Ramazan Sharif, according to the Tasnim News Agency. “We will avenge the blood of martyrs Milad Heidari and Meghdad Mahghani,” he vowed, while thousands gathered in central Tehran to mourn them, chanting “down with Israel.” “Follow their path,” Heidari’s mother told the large crowd at the funeral, urging them to ensure the victims’ blood was not spilled in vain. During more than a decade of civil war in Syria, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on its territory, targeting Iran-backed forces and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters as well as Syrian army positions. Iran, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar Assad, says it only deploys military advisers in the conflict-ravaged country.Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanani, accused arch enemy Israel of bringing “war and insecurity” to the Middle East and of “creating discord in the region.”In an apparent reference to Israel’s recent political turmoil and mass protests against the hard-right government’s proposed judicial reforms, he charged that there will be “no escape from internal collapse.”

Syria says Israeli strikes in Damascus area kill 2 civilians
Associated Press/Tuesday, 4 April, 2023
Israel staged airstrikes on the southern suburbs of the Syrian capital of Damascus early Tuesday, killing two civilians and causing some material damage, Syrian state media reported. Damascus residents said strong explosions were heard in the capital and its southern suburbs as Syrian state television reported that the country's air defenses were confronting "an Israeli aggression." State TV, quoting an unnamed military official, said two civilians were killed in the strikes near Damascus and southern Syria, adding that some of the missiles were shot down by Syria air defenses before they reached their targets. It that the strikes also caused some material damage. Israel's shadow war with Iran in Syria intensified over the past days with four strikes on the Damascus area and the central province of Homs killing two Iranian military advisers since last week. Hours after strikes on central Syria Sunday, the Israeli military said it shot down an "aircraft" that crossed from Syria into Israel's airspace. The Israeli military said Iran appears to have been behind the drone that was shot down over Israeli airspace. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, including attacks on the Damascus and Aleppo airports, but it rarely acknowledges specific operations. Israel says it targets bases of Iran-allied militant groups, such as Lebanon's Hezbollah, which has sent thousands of fighters to support Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces. Along with airports, Israel has also targeted seaports in government-held areas in an apparent attempt to prevent Iranian arms shipments to militant groups backed by Tehran, including Hezbollah.

Israel: Iran was behind drone incursion from Syria
Associated Press/Tuesday, 4 April, 2023
Iran appears to have been behind the launch of a drone that was shot down over Israeli airspace this week, the Israeli military said. The army announced its conclusions on Monday, a day after air force helicopters and fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the drone when it entered Israeli territory from Syria. There were no casualties in the incident, but it added to the already heightened tensions between the two arch-enemies. The interception happened shortly after Iranian state media reported that an Iranian adviser who was wounded in an Israeli airstrike in Syria over the weekend had died of his wounds. That made him the second Iranian adviser allegedly killed by Israel in recent days. Last week, Greece announced the arrest of two Pakistani operatives it said were planning an attack on a Jewish center in Athens. Israel has said Iran was behind the plot. The Israeli military said Monday an initial inquiry determined the intercepted drone was Iranian. It said debris was still being collected and analyzed. Since the start of Syria's conflict in March 2011, Iran has been a main supporter of President Bashar Assad's government and has sent advisers and other assistance to the Syrian leader. Throughout the Syrian war, Israel has carried out scores of airstrikes in the neighboring country. Most of these strikes have been aimed at Iranian targets or suspected arms shipments to Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups that have sent troops to back Assad. Israel considers Iran to be its greatest enemy, citing the country's hostile rhetoric, support for militant groups like Hezbollah and its suspected nuclear program. Iran denies Western allegations that it is pursuing a nuclear bomb. Israel appears to have stepped up its activities in Syria recently. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition-linked war monitor, says Israel has struck targets in Syria nine times this year. Israel rarely acknowledges individual strikes, though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledge recent unspecified activity in an address to soldiers at an Israeli air force base on Monday. "I know the important work you are doing and while it is always important, it is especially so at this time," he said. "You know very well that in recent days we have been active beyond our borders against regimes that support terrorism and are plotting to destroy us."On Sunday, the Syrian state news agency SANA, citing military sources, said Israeli strikes targeted sites in the city of Homs and surrounding countryside. Syrian air defenses intercepted the missiles and shot down some of them, it said. The observatory reported that the missiles targeted Syrian military sites and those of Iran-linked militias, including a research center. Later on Sunday, Israel's defense minister, Yoav Gallant, commented about Syria during a visit to soldiers in the occupied West Bank but did not directly confirm the recent airstrikes. "We will not allow the Iranians and Hezbollah to harm us. We have not allowed it in the past, we won't allow it now, or anytime in the future," Gallant said. He also accused Iran of seeking to entrench its presence along Israel's borders. "When necessary, we will push them out of Syria to where they belong. And that is Iran," Gallant said.

Washington Planning ‘Interim Agreement’ with Tehran
London - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 4 April, 2023
The Biden administration discussed with its European and Israeli partners in recent weeks a proposal for an interim agreement with Iran that would include some sanctions relief in exchange for Tehran freezing parts of its nuclear program, according to Israeli officials, Western diplomats, and US experts with knowledge of the proposal. In February, the Biden administration briefed its Israeli and European allies about its new approach to dealing with the Iranian nuclear program, said Israeli sources.The officials said the proposal included some sanctions relief if Iran froze some of its nuclear activities, mainly halting enriching uranium at 60% purity, Axios reported Monday. An Israeli official and a Western diplomat said the Iranians are aware of the US discussions but have so far rejected the idea. Israeli officials recently told Washington and several European countries that Iran could trigger an Israeli military strike if it enriches uranium above the 60% level. Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen discussed with his French counterpart Catherine Colonna on Monday “measures to contain the Iranian nuclear program”. “Israel and France see eye to eye on the danger of a nuclear Iran,” Cohen tweeted. “Only determined and coordinated action by the West will lead to sanctions that will tighten the noose around the neck of the rule of terror in Tehran,” he added. Several rounds of talks were held in Vienna between Iran and the world powers, and they failed to reach an agreement to resume the nuclear deal signed in 2015.

Iran Vows Revenge for Revolutionary Guards Killed in Israeli Strikes on Syria
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 4 April, 2023
Thousands of Iranians attended a funeral procession in Tehran on Tuesday for two Revolutionary Guards killed in Israeli strikes in Syria last week. Israel launched several missiles on Friday from the occupied Golan Heights against positions near Damascus, part of a series of attacks over recent days including early Tuesday."The Zionists are trying to target the resistance front, but the resistance will become stronger and more motivated," said Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesman Ramazan Sharif, according to the Tasnim News Agency. "We will avenge the blood of martyrs Milad Heidari and Meghdad Mahghani," he vowed, while thousands gathered in central Tehran to mourn them, chanting "down with Israel". "Follow their path," Heidari's mother told the large crowd at the funeral, urging them to ensure the victims' blood was not spilled in vain.During more than a decade of civil war in Syria, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on its territory, targeting Iran-backed forces and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters as well as Syrian army positions. Iran, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, says it only deploys military advisers in the conflict-ravaged country. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanani, accused arch enemy Israel of bringing "war and insecurity" to the Middle East and of "creating discord in the region". In an apparent reference to Israel's recent political turmoil and mass protests against the hard-right government's proposed judicial reforms, he charged that there will be "no escape from internal collapse".

Azerbaijan Arrests 4 Over Attempted Assassination of Anti-Iran Lawmaker
London, Baku – Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 4 April, 2023
Azerbaijan arrested four people in connection with the attempted assassination of an anti-Iran lawmaker, who was shot and wounded last week, an Interior Ministry spokesman said. Representative Fazil Mustafa, who has been highly critical of Iran, was receiving treatment in a hospital after being shot in the attack. Mustafa's assistant, Ajdar Aliyev, told Reuters the politician was feeling well and expected to return to his home, which he said was under police guard, in the coming days. The interior ministry spokesman declined to give details of the arrested suspects, saying a statement would be released later.
However, Azerbaijani media reported that one of the detainees, Hasan Ramez, is the brother of Hossein Ramez who previously threatened the deputy from his residence in Iran. Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador, Abbas Mousavi, in response to a memorandum sent by the Iranian embassy in protest against Azerbaijani media coverage about Iran. Local Azertac news agency reported that the spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, Aykhan Hajizada, disputed the claims made in the complaint. Moreover, the Foreign Ministry handed the ambassador several articles published in Iranian media against Azerbaijan. "Ambassador of Iran to Azerbaijan was informed that the insulting, false, defamatory and biased information about the Republic of Azerbaijan and its government officials regularly spread in the Iranian media, as well as well-known Iranian public and political figures' statements and speeches, undermine relations between our countries and further deepen misunderstandings," read the statement. The misunderstandings arising in "our relations are constantly caused by the unilateral behavior and steps of the Iranian side, as well as the inadequate reciprocation by Iran of consistent and well-intentioned steps by Azerbaijan." The Azerbaijani official urged the Iranian diplomat to "prevent the spread of false and biased information against Azerbaijan in Iranian media."Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran had already been strained after an attack on Baku’s embassy in Tehran in January, which resulted in casualties. Baku insisted it was a "terrorist attack," while Tehran claimed the attacker had "personal motives." Relations between the two countries were also strained by military movements between Armenia and Azerbaijan around the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Tensions between the two oil-rich neighbors deepened after Azerbaijan sent an ambassador to Israel and opened an embassy there last week. Last Friday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen's statements regarding the agreement with his Azerbaijani counterpart on "forming a united front" against Iran. Baku denied making any statement against Tehran.

60 human rights groups urge UN not to accept IHRA antisemitism definition
Arab News/April 04, 2023
LONDON: A group of 60 human and civil rights groups have written to the UN asking it to respect the human rights of all people, including Palestinians and their supporters, as part of its efforts to tackle antisemitism. The organizations — including Human Rights Watch, Israeli group B’Tselem, the American Civil Liberties Union, Palestinian group Al-Haq and the International Federation for Human Rights — warned that despite “pernicious” antisemitism posing “real harm to Jewish communities around the world,” the UN should ensure its “meaningful action” against it does not “inadvertently embolden or endorse policies and laws that undermine fundamental human rights, including the right to speak and organize in support of Palestinian rights and to criticize Israeli government policies.”The groups urged UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the High Representative for the UN Alliance of Civilizations Miguel Angel Moratinos not to “endorse or adopt” the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism, which is that “antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” In the letter, the signatories said the IHRA definition can be used to justify Israeli government policies against Palestinians, and to label criticism of the government, or support for Palestinian rights, as antisemitic. They suggested that the UN consider other definitions, including the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism, which states that “antisemitism is discrimination, prejudice, hostility or violence against Jews as Jews (or Jewish institutions as Jewish),” or the Nexus Document, which centers antisemitism around “anti-Jewish beliefs, attitudes, actions or systemic conditions.”

UAE president, Israeli PM discuss strengthening ties in phone call - UAE state media
Rachna Uppal and Lisa Barrington/DUBAI (Reuters)
The United Arab Emirates' commitment to a long-term strategic relationship with Israel should survive political turbulence, analysts say, after one of the most right-wing governing coalitions in Israel's history prompted widespread anger. A series of recent moves and comments by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has infuriated the public in much of Arab world, and drew condemnation from the UAE, including over Israeli settlement policy in the occupied West Bank. However, economic and trade cooperation - a key driver of the UAE's 2020 normalisation of relations with Israel which broke with decades of Arab policy towards the Palestinian cause - has deepened. On Saturday a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the countries entered into effect, removing or reducing tariffs on more than 96% of products, UAE state news agency WAM said. Signed in May 2022, and deemed a "historic moment" by the UAE ambassador to Israel, it is Israel's first free trade agreement with an Arab state. UAE energy giant ADNOC last week announced it was part of a $2 billion joint bid for half of Israeli offshore natural gas producer NewMed Energy. This would follow the purchase in 2021 by Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Energy of a 22% stake in Israel's Tamar gas field for about $1 billion. "(The NewMed Energy bid) demonstrates a long-term investment in Israel's energy sector, which shows how strategic the relationship has become," Neil Quilliam, associate fellow at Chatham House, and co-author of a new report on Israel–UAE normalisation, told Reuters. "And it ties in UAE interests into European energy security, which will act as a ballast against the EU's strong push on net zero targets," he added. The UAE was the first Arab state to open diplomatic relations with Israel in almost three decades in a U.S.-brokered deal, which also included Bahrain, known as the Abraham Accords. The pact was driven by shared concerns about Iran and is part of a broader regional realignment of alliances. But political developments have tested the diplomatic relationship. In addition to Israel's settlements decision, which the UAE condemned, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich saying there was no such thing as a Palestinian people prompted anger across the Arab world. This comes against the backdrop of huge domestic strife in Israel over judicial reforms, and Prime Minister Netanyahu, who headed the previous government when the Abraham Accords were signed, has yet to visit the UAE. The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation did not respond to a request for comment on political strains on the relationship. Israeli government officials said the bilateral relationship was "growing stronger" and referenced the recent trade deal, when asked why Netanyahu had not yet visited.
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Israel, largely cut off economically and politically from its Middle East neighbours, sees the relationship as a way to access new commercial opportunities in the Gulf and beyond. The UAE is advancing cooperation with Israel in the finance, energy, security, technology, and water security sectors.
Recent moves to push ahead on trade and investment signal to businesses on both sides that political strains should not dampen appetite for economic ties. Bilateral non-oil trade volumes between the two countries reached over $2.5 billion in 2022 and the UAE hopes to grow this to $10 billion by 2030.
"Israeli politics are definitely difficult and there are a lot of ups and downs. But the Abraham Accord is a strategic decision, it will continue despite whatever goes on in Israel," Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a political commentator in the UAE, said. Dubai International Chamber, which opened a Tel Aviv office in December, says there are already about 1,000 Israeli businesses operating in the UAE. On Thursday, Israel also announced an additional seven weekly flights between the two countries on top of the dozens already operating. The Israeli CEPA is part of a wider UAE strategy towards global partnerships to bolster and diversify its economy. A meeting of the strategic I2U2 grouping of India, Israel, the UAE, and the U.S., an economic cooperation group created last year - still went ahead in February in the UAE. "There are going to be stresses and strains in the relationship and even cause to question its durability," Chatham House's Quilliam said. "No matter how bad things get though, the economic dimension of the partnership will sustain it through rough patches".

Israel Holding Over 1,000 Palestinians without Charge, Most Since 2003
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 4 April, 2023
Israel is holding over 1,000 Palestinian detainees without charge or trial, the highest number since 2003, an Israeli human rights group said Tuesday. Israel says the controversial tactic, known as administrative detention, helps authorities thwart attacks and hold dangerous militants without divulging incriminating material for security reasons. Palestinians and rights groups say the system is widely abused and denies due process, with the secret nature of the evidence making it impossible for administrative detainees or their lawyers to mount a defense. HaMoked, an Israeli rights group that regularly gathers figures from prison authorities, said that as of April, there were 1,016 detainees held in administrative detention. Nearly all of them are Palestinians detained under military law, as administrative detention is very rarely used against Jews. Four Israeli Jews are currently being held without charge. "There is no sense of when the nightmare will end," said 48-year-old Manal Abu Bakr in Dheisheh, a refugee camp near the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Her 28-year-old son Mohammed lost his four college years to administrative detention. Her husband, Nidal, a journalist and radio presenter, remains in custody. He has spent 17 years behind bars in the past three decades, more than half of it without charge, according to a prisoner’s rights group, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club. The hearing on the renewal of his detention is set for September. "I’m exhausted," Manal said. "It's hard even to hope." HaMoked says 2,416 Palestinians are serving sentences after being convicted in Israeli military courts. An additional 1,409 detainees are being held for questioning, have been charged and are awaiting trial, or are currently being tried. Among the 76 Palestinians incarcerated in the last month, 49 are administrative detainees. Administrative detention orders can be issued for a maximum of six months, but can be renewed indefinitely. "The numbers are shocking," said Jessica Montell, the director of HaMoked. "There are no restraints on the use of what should be a rare exception. It's just getting easier and easier for them to hold people with no charge or trial." A widespread military crackdown on Palestinian fighters in the occupied West Bank has helped fuel the sharp rise in administrative detentions.
Israel's campaign of raids into Palestinian cities and towns following a string of deadly Palestinian attacks last year led to the arrest of over 2,400 Palestinians since March 2022, according to the Israeli military. Israel's Shin Bet security service did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the latest administrative detention figures. Israel describes the ramped-up raids as a counterterrorism effort to prevent further attacks. Palestinian residents and critics say the operation only further stokes the cycle of bloodshed, as the incursions ignite violent protests and firefights with Palestinian gunmen.
Nearly 90 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by Israeli fire this year, according to an Associated Press tally. Palestinian attacks against Israelis have killed 15 people in the same period. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed were gunmen, but the dead have included stone-throwing youths and bystanders who were not involved in violence. The last time Israel held this many administrative detainees was in May 2003, HaMoked said, in the throes of a violent Palestinian uprising known as the Second Intifada. "The numbers always increase when there are heightened tensions on the ground," said Sahar Francis, a director of Addameer, a Palestinian prisoners’ rights group. Administrative detention "is an efficient tool for the arrest of hundreds of people in a short time." The West Bank has been under Israeli military rule since Israel captured the territory in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state. The territory’s nearly 3 million Palestinian residents are subject to Israel’s military justice system, while the nearly 500,000 Jewish settlers living alongside them have Israeli citizenship and are subject to civilian courts.

Western countries are speeding up tank deliveries to Ukraine, but tanks aren't what Ukrainian troops need to get around Russian forces
Michael Peck/Business Insider/April 4, 2023
Western countries are hustling to deliver main battle tanks to Ukraine's military. Tanks will be useful in taking on Russian tanks and fortifications in a counterattack this spring. But Ukraine needs other armored vehicles to counterattack Russia effectively, one expert says.
Western nations — and Western media — have focused on meeting Ukraine's pleas for more tanks, but what Ukraine really needs is armored vehicles to carry infantry into battle, one expert argues. Without those vehicles, Ukraine's large infantry force will lack the mobility to conduct a counteroffensive, according to Michael Kofman, director of the Russia Studies Program at the Center for Naval Analyses think tank. During a trip to Ukraine, including to Bakhmut, in early March, Kofman came away thinking, "Dear God, that is a lot of infantry battalions, not a lot of mobility," he said during a March 9 episode of the Geopolitics Decanted podcast. Ukraine is forming three new corps-size units to consolidate numerous brigades into larger formations in preparation for an armored counteroffensive. An army corps can have up to about 45,000 troops depending on the military, though if Ukraine continues to use Russian-style organization, its corps will probably be closer to 20,000 troops. The problem is that Ukraine's corps lack heavily armed and armored infantry fighting vehicles — such as the US-made M-2 Bradley, Germany's Marder, or the Soviet-designed BMP — to equip mechanized infantry units sufficiently. Nor do the corps have enough trucks of the kind that carried motorized infantry into battle in World War II. "There is a lot of mechanized infantry and tank brigades in each" corps that Ukraine is forming, Kofman said. "Some of them feature seven infantry battalions per brigade. There is no mechanization for them. There isn't actually a lot in the way of military motorization for them, either."
In the early days of the war, when Ukraine was on the defensive or fighting in rough terrain or urban environments like Bakhmut, infantry on foot — especially if well-armed with anti-tank weapons — were quite formidable. "It can hold defense all day long," Kofman said of those infantry-heavy units. "A seven-battalion infantry brigade can hold Bakhmut, don't get me wrong, but if you want that military to go a major offensive on the south, it needs to be driving in something."Armored troop carriers aren't the only thing Ukraine needs for a successful counteroffensive. Ukrainian forces lack breaching equipment to penetrate and clear the numerous trench lines and minefields that Russia has constructed, especially in southern Ukraine, which is a prime target for a Ukrainian counterattack to cut off and recapture the Crimean peninsula. Kofman pointed to a disastrous Russian attack near the town of Vuhledar in the Donetsk region, as well as Russian defenses around the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia. "You see how much the Russian military struggles at Vuhledar, driving into the same minefield every morning, right?" Kofman said during a March 14 War on the Rocks podcast. "Well, if Ukrainian forces have to conduct a major assault against Russian positions, they're going to be running into minefields too. They're going to need breaching equipment. They're going to need combat engineering equipment." Ukraine may also lack sufficient river-crossing equipment. Without the ability to build bridges strong enough to bear the weight of armored vehicles, a Ukrainian offensive would stall. Kofman said that problem may have held up the successful Ukrainian counteroffensive at Kharkiv last autumn. "Why were Ukrainian forces not able to effectively capitalize on the momentum they had when Russian forces were routed and in disarray?" Kofman said. "One explanation could be a lack of bridging equipment, that they only had one pontoon bridge across the river at a key point for over a week."Kofman and other observers are highlighting the challenge of building a well-balanced force, which has long vexed armies.
For Ukrainian troops to break the trench deadlock and eject Russian forces from their fortifications, they will need the ingredients of a proper mechanized, combined-arms offensive: tanks, infantry in armored vehicles that can keep up with the tanks, self-propelled artillery, combat engineers and bridging equipment, supply trucks, and so on. But Ukraine now has limited supply over its arsenal — it is juggling a hodgepodge of Western-made equipment and is dependent on Western nations for spare parts and critical supplies, including ammunition. If and when it launches that long-anticipated counteroffensive, Ukraine will do so with the army that it has rather than the one it needs. Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds a master's in political science. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Don’t make same mistake with Xi Jinping and China as you did with Putin, EU is warned
Jack Parrock/The Telegraph/April 4, 2023
Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen have been warned “not to make the same mistake twice” ahead of a meeting with Xi Jinping which critics say has echoes of Europe's attempts to woo Vladimir Putin. The French president and Ms von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, are due to meet Mr Xi Jinping on Tuesday, but their visit has set alarm bells ringing in Eastern Europe, with Lithuania's foreign minister warning that an economic partnership with Vladimir Putin failed to deliver security for the continent. “We should remember that attempts to contain Russia by offering economic partnership failed,” said Gabrielius Landsbergis. “Putin was, in fact, emboldened by our flexibility, not persuaded. Similar tactics would also embolden China,” he added. Lithuania opened a de-facto embassy in Taiwan in November last year, prompting China to downgrade diplomatic relations with the Baltic country. Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province and advocates reunification with the mainland. Ahead of her China visit, Ms von der Leyen delivered a scathing speech on EU-China relations, promising a shift which would amount to “derisking, not decoupling”.Europe is heavily reliant on Chinese trade, including a 97 per cent dependency on minerals like lithium, a vital component in batteries needed for the much lauded greening of Europe’s economy. "Preaching de-risking while marching ahead with business as usual is not an option,” warned Mr Landsbergis. “Surely we have learnt that increasing dependencies on totalitarian states weakens us as we discard the principles that made us strong."Ms von der Leyen placed a now customary call into Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky just before boarding the plane to China. “Ukraine will be an important topic of my meetings with President Xi and Premier Li,” she tweeted. “The EU wants a just peace that respects Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
French business trip
Mr Macron, meanwhile, is taking along a horde of politicians and 53 French business leaders in the hope of signing up Chinese trade contracts. But EU diplomats told The Telegraph that they feel his top priority should be to use any influence he has to dissuade China from sending lethal weapons to Russia to support its invasion of Ukraine. French paper Le Figaro has given Mr Macron the dubious moniker of "the tiger tamer" but says that, even with Ms von der Leyen in tow, "it is doubtful he will impress the tiger much". Last November, German chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Beijing visit was heavily criticised for being soft on China’s domestic human rights record and for its position on Russia’s war in Ukraine. Pedro Sanchez, the Spanish prime minister, has also just returned from China. "There’s been such an array of EU leaders traipsing through China recently that it’s unclear whether the messages being given to Beijing are going to come across coherently," according Andrew Small, an expert at the German Marshall Fund. "Macron and von der Leyen need to appear on the same page during this visit," he told The Telegraph. After a March visit to Moscow, presidents Putin and Xi were keen to express how much they were on the same page, describing their positions on international and regional problems as “identical or very close”.

Finland joins NATO, dealing blow to Russia for Ukraine war
AP/April 04, 2023
BRUSSELS: Finland joined the NATO military alliance Tuesday, dealing a major blow to Russia with a historic realignment of the continent triggered by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The Nordic country’s membership doubles Russia’s border with the world’s biggest security alliance and represents a major change in Europe’s security landscape: The nation adopted neutrality after its defeat by the Soviets in World War II. But its leaders signaled they wanted to join the alliance just months after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine sent a shiver of fear through Moscow’s neighbors.
The move is a strategic and political blow to Putin, who has long complained about NATO’s expansion toward Russia and partly used that as a justification for the invasion. Russia warned that it would be forced to take “retaliatory measures” to address what it called security threats created by Finland’s membership. It had also warned it would bolster forces near Finland if NATO sends any additional troops or equipment to what is its 31st member country.
The alliance says it poses no threat to Moscow.
Neighboring Sweden, which has avoided military alliances for more than 200 years, has also applied. But objections from NATO members Turkiye and Hungary have delayed the process. Alarmed by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year, Finland, which shares a 1,340 kilometer (832 mile) border with Russia, applied to join in May, setting aside years of military non-alignment to seek protection under the organization’s security umbrella. “I’m tempted to say this is maybe the one thing that we can thank Mr. Putin for because he once again here precipitated something he claims to want to prevent by Russia’s aggression, causing many countries to believe that they have to do more to look out for their own defense and to make sure that they can deter possible Russian aggression going forward,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said just before accepting the documents that made Finland’s membership official.
The US State Department is the repository of NATO texts concerning membership. Earlier, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the country “will be forced to take military-technical and other retaliatory measures to counter the threats to our national security arising from Finland’s accession to NATO.”
It said Finland’s move marks “a fundamental change in the situation in Northern Europe, which had previously been one of the most stable regions in the world.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, meanwhile, Tuesday that Finland’s membership reflects the alliance’s anti-Russian course and warned that Moscow will respond depending on what weapons NATO allies place there. But Peskov also sought to play down the impact, noting that Russia has no territorial disputes with Finland. It’s not clear what additional military resources Russia could send to the Finnish border. Moscow has deployed the bulk of its most capable military units to Ukraine. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg earlier said that no more troops would be sent to Finland unless it asked for help. “There will be no NATO troops in Finland without the consent of Finland,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels a few hours before the country joins. The country is now protected by what Stoltenberg called NATO’s “iron-clad security guarantee,” under which all member countries vow to come to the defense of any ally that comes under attack. But Stoltenberg refused to rule out the possibility of holding more military exercises there and said that NATO would not allow Russia’s demands to dictate the organization’s decisions. “We are constantly assessing our posture, our presence. We have more exercises, we have more presence, also in the Nordic area,” he said. Meanwhile, Finland’s Parliament said that its website was hit with a so-called denial-of-service attack, which made the site hard to use, with many pages not loading and some functions not available. A pro-Russian hacker group known as NoName057 (16) claimed responsibility, saying the attack was retaliation for Finland joining NATO.
The claim could not be immediately verified. The hacker group, which has reportedly acted on Moscow’s orders, has taken party in a slew of cyberattacks on the US and its allies in the past. Finnish public broadcaster YLE said the same group hit the Parliament’s site last year. Finland’s entry, to be marked with a flag-raising ceremony at NATO headquarters, falls on the organization’s very own birthday, the 74th anniversary of the signing of its founding Washington Treaty on April 4, 1949. It also coincides with a meeting of the alliance’s foreign ministers. Finland’s president, foreign and defense ministers will take part in the ceremony. Turkiye became the last NATO member country to ratify Finland’s membership protocol on Thursday. It will hand over the document officially enshrining that decision to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken before the ceremony. Finland’s membership becomes official when its own foreign minister hands over documents completing its accession process to Blinken. The US State Department is the repository of NATO texts concerning membership.

Palestinian stabs 2 Israelis in attack near army base
AP/April 04, 2023
JERUSALEM: A Palestinian suspect stabbed two Israelis near an army base south of Tel Aviv on Tuesday in the latest incident in a yearlong spate of violence that shows no sign of abating. The Magen David Adom paramedic service said first responders treated two men for stab wounds in the incident on a highway near the Tsrifin military base. They were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment their injuries. Israeli media identified the two victims as soldiers. The suspect’s condition was unclear. Palestinians have carried out numerous attacks on Israeli security personnel and civilians in the past year as violence has surged. On Monday, Israeli troops killed two Palestinian gunmen during an arrest raid in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus. At least 88 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli or settler gunfire this year, according to an Associated Press tally. Palestinian attacks against Israelis have killed 15 people in the same period.

US says its forces killed Daesh leader in Syria
Reuters/April 04, 2023
The United States carried out a military operation that killed a senior Daesh leader in Syria on Monday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Tuesday, the latest blow to a group that once struck fear across the Middle East. Khalid ‘Aydd Ahmad Al-Jabouri was responsible for planning Daesh attacks in Europe and developed the leadership structure for the group, the statement said. Daesh controlled swathes of Iraq and Syria at the peak of its power in 2014 before being beaten back in both countries. The group is estimated to have 5,000 to 7,000 members and supporters spread between Syria and Iraq, roughly half of them fighters, a UN report said in February. No civilians were killed or injured in this strike, CENTCOM said, adding that the group “continues to represent a threat to the region and beyond.” “Though degraded, the group remains able to conduct operations within the region with a desire to strike beyond the Middle East,” the statement said. It added that Al-Jabouri’s death would “temporarily disrupt the group’s ability to plot external attacks.” The UN report said the threat posed by Daesh and its affiliates to international peace and security was high in the second half of 2022 and had increased in and around conflict zones where it has a presence. Late last year, Islamic State announced it had appointed a previously unknown figure - Abu Al-Hussein Al-Husseini Al-Quraishi — as its leader after the previous leader was killed in southern Syria. Last week, the Tass news agency said Russia had protested to the American-led coalition against the Daesh group about “provocative actions” by US armed forces in Syria. No civilians were killed or injured in this strike, CENTCOM said, and added that the group “continues to represent a threat to the region and beyond.”'

Sisi, Mohammed bin Salman seek to synchronise regional policies but make no progress on Saudi aid
The Arab Weekly/April 04/2023
The warm welcome extended by Saudi Arabia to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi during his brief visit late Sunday, put an end to speculation about rising tensions between Riyadh and Cairo although talks between Sisi and Saudi Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did not offer any tangible reassurance to cash-strapped Egypt about the prospect of quick Saudi economic support. Official statements did not address the issue. Egyptian presidential spokesman Ahmed Fahmy said in a release that the two leaders “affirmed mutual concern for promoting common cooperation in all fields.” They also agreed to continue “coordination and consultation” on regional and international topics, he added. The surprise visit came as Sisi’s government is struggling to overcome an economic crisis blamed on the war in Ukraine, but also on mismanagement of the economy.
“I affirm the depth and strength of the bilateral relations between Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” Sisi tweeted after returning to Egypt early Monday. Egyptian sources told The Arab Weekly that little progress was achieved towards overcoming Saudi reluctance to extend economic aid to Egypt, which was one of the causes of tension between the two capitals. Cairo was hoping to receive a concrete pledge of support from Riyadh to mitigate the repercussions of its economic crisis, but the change in Saudi foreign aid policy has limited the oil-rich powerhouse’s likely contributions to investments rather than direct state-to-state aid, whether it is for Egypt or other struggling nations.
Regional concerns
The visit also came amid Egyptian concerns over what Cairo sees as the Saudis’ lack of coordination with Egypt on normalisation of relations with Iran and Syria, analysts said. The Jeddah meeting included Saudi National Security Adviser, Musaed bin Muhammad Al-Aiban and Minister of State and Member of the Council of Ministers, Essam bin Saad bin Saeed, while only the head of the Intelligence Service, Major General Abbas Kamel, attended from the Egyptian side. Egyptian sources indicated that Cairo is concerned about the expanding scope of Saudi regional overtures towards Iran and Syria, as Riyadh decided to to resume diplomatic relations with both countries without much prior coordination with Cairo. Analysts said that the Saudi normalisation with Iran could disrupt Egypt’s regional calculations as it proceeds at a slower pace in resuming full relations with Damascus and Tehran. Cairo has nonetheless recently made some steps towards improving links with Iran, as reflected by its decision to allow the return of Iranian tourists to Egypt even if, at the current stage, it has limited their access to Sharm el-Sheikh tourist resort. Regional experts believe both Saudi Arabia and Egypt are keen on avoiding any clash of policies towards Tehran and Damascus. Taking into account Riyadh’s previous reservations about the return of Syria to the Arab fold, Cairo had been slow to open up to Damascus despite being one of the most ardent supporters of Syria’s readmission to the Arab League. By contrast, Saudi Arabia had threatened to boycott the last Arab summit in Algiers if Syria was invited to attend. Riyadh has since come a long way towards restoring its relations with Syria with talk of an imminent visit by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan to Damascus and hints that President Bashar al-Assad might be invited to the next Arab League summit in Riyadh this May.
Egyptian regional affairs expert Ayman Samir told The Arab Weekly, the Sisi visit to Jeddah reflected the agreement of both countries to boost inter-Arab relations as well as their commitment to steps that are likely to ease tensions in the region.
Sources in Cairo said the Jeddah meeting looked at the way Saudi economic support for Egypt could be compatible with Riyadh’s new foreign aid policies as well as the prospect of Cairo completing steps to hand over the islands of Tiran and Sanafir to the kingdom. The trip was the first announced encounter between the two leaders since they met in Qatar during the opening of the World Cup in November. Sisi also received bin Salman in Cairo in June ahead of President Joe Biden’s Mideast trip.
Saudi Arabia and other Arab Gulf states have been the main suppliers of aid to the Egyptian government, which has been struggling to overcome a staggering economic crisis. In 2022, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates between them pledged a total of $22 billion in deposits and direct investments in Egypt, in a bid to stabilise its battered economy after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Saudi investment in Egypt surpassed $6 billion last year, making it the second biggest investor in the country, said Egyptian Trade and Industry Minister Ahmed Samir in December. Trade between the two countries reached $10.3 billion last year, up from $9.1 billion in 2021, according to figures released Monday by Egypt’s statistics bureau. However, in recent months, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have been increasingly reluctant to help cash-strapped Egypt. They have urged Sisi’s government to make economic reforms in order to receive further aid. Egypt has already begun to make changes as part of a $3 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund. The criticism of the Egyptian government’s handling of the economy had strained ties between Cairo and Riyadh with media pundits in both countries briefly launching vituperative exchanges, which prompted to Sisi to move to quash the row.

Magnitude 6,6 earthquake strikes off coast of Viga, Philippines
LBCI/April 04/2023
An earthquake of magnitude 6,6 struck off the coast of Viga in eastern Philippines on Tuesday, triggering a tsunami warning from the state seismology agency. The quake's epicenter was about 120 km (74 miles) east of Viga and was at a depth of 45 km, the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said separately. The EMSC had initially estimated a quake magnitude of 6.3. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) urged people living near the shoreline of provinces affected to move further inland, warning they could experience wave heights of less than one meter above normal tides and that these could be higher in enclosed bays and straits. "This is at sea. We have an advisory, a minor sea level disturbance," Teresito Bacolcol, officer in charge at the state seismology agency, told DZMM radio. "The public is advised to be on alert for unusual wave. People are advised to stay away from the beach," Bacolcol said, adding there had been no reports of casualties or damage so far.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on April 04-05/2023
Biden's Coup In Israel
Daniel Greenfield/Gatestone Institute./April 04, 2023
While the leftist rioters in the streets clamored that they were fighting for democracy, Israel's Supreme Court is its least democratic institution — and the mobs were demanding that it stay that way. None of the American media outlets or politicians accusing the Israeli government of threatening democracy ever got around to explaining why elected officials selecting Supreme Court justices is a good thing in America and a bad thing in Israel.
These nonprofits are primarily funded by foreign interests, from George Soros, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Tides Center to foreign governments in the European Union and America.
How it works is simple enough. A leftist nonprofit funded by a foreign government sets out to stop a policy of a democratically elected government. Even though it is in no way affected by said policy, it sues anyway. And even though it lacks any standing, Israel's Supreme Court takes the case anyway.
The actual case, however, was really brought by Soros or the European Union or Washington, D.C. The Israeli Supreme Court acts as a rubber stamp for rule by foreign governments through leftist groups.
MQG is a serial plaintiff which repeatedly brings cases to the Supreme Court. In 2020, MQG hired a D.C. law firm to investigate Netanyahu. That same year, MQG began getting money from the State Department.
Had the judicial reform legislation passed, democracy would have come to Israel. And a bunch of leftist governments would have lost their ability to use their puppets to overrule the will of the people. That was why they did everything they could to stop it.
What the media portrayed as organic protests were nothing of the kind.
Political consultants rushed to brand the coup a "democracy" movement, even though there's nothing less democratic than protecting an undemocratic institution from democratic change.
Israelis saw all too clearly who the activists and, more importantly, the Supreme Court really work for.
While the leftist rioters in Israel's streets clamored that they were fighting for democracy, the country's Supreme Court is its least democratic institution — and the mobs were demanding that it stay that way. In the early days of March, a small crowd of leftists gathered outside the U.S. consulate in Tel Aviv holding up signs reading, "Biden help!" and "Biden, Blinken, Our democracy is sinking."
A speaker at the rally appealed to Biden to "save us from ourselves."
The consulate rally was held under the banner of "Defend Israeli Democracy," which had organized international protests against democratic judicial reform that would have restored checks and balances. International rallies, including one in Berlin which featured women dressed as the "handmaids" from the TV show and signs accusing Israel of "fascism" and being an "apartheid state," were not speaking to Israelis, but to the international anti-Israel left.
Clips from the Tel Aviv rally were remixed by another of the interchangeable anti-democracy groups, Yalla Tikva, urging Biden to save Israeli democracy. The operation was as slick, with professional videography, editing and branding, as it was lacking a clear, transparent structure.
Protests like these were not so much appealing to Biden as coordinating with the administration. The anti-democracy rallies by organizations claiming to be fighting for democracy paralleled an unprecedented degree of interference from Washington.
"We don't want to interfere," Biden told reporters after Israel had surrendered on reforming the judiciary. "Anyway, we're not interfering."
"They cannot continue down this road," he warned.
On Monday morning, Biden's ambassador delivered an ultimatum to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ordering him to stop the reforms. Later that day, Netanyahu officially announced a pause on judicial reform.
This followed public statements from every Biden administration official, including Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, warning Israel not to proceed and urging the democratically elected government to turn over the process to its political opponent: leftist figurehead Isaac Herzog, who had served as Marc Rich's lawyer when negotiating a pardon with the Clinton administration.
Why was the Biden administration so obsessed with internal questions such as who picked Israeli Supreme Court justices and whether they could ever be overruled by the legislature?
While the leftist rioters in the streets clamored that they were fighting for democracy, Israel's Supreme Court is its least democratic institution — and the mobs were demanding that it stay that way. None of the American media outlets or politicians accusing the Israeli government of threatening democracy ever got around to explaining why elected officials selecting Supreme Court justices is a good thing in America and a bad thing in Israel. As Ruth Wisse, the greatest living Jewish academic, pointed out in The Wall Street Journal, some of the same advocates of weakening the United States Supreme Court violently denounced efforts to check the power of Israel's court.
The Israeli Supreme Court is mostly immune to democratic influences like elections, and is not governed by a constitution, but derives its power from claiming unlimited standing to take on any cases it likes. But to trigger this superpower, it needs nonprofit groups to bring cases to it. These nonprofits are primarily funded by foreign interests, from George Soros, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Tides Center to foreign governments in the European Union and America.
How it works is simple enough. A leftist nonprofit funded by a foreign government sets out to stop a policy of a democratically elected government. Even though it is in no way affected by said policy, it sues anyway. And even though it lacks any standing, Israel's Supreme Court takes the case anyway.
The actual case, however, was really brought by Soros or the European Union or Washington, D.C. The Israeli Supreme Court acts as a rubber stamp for rule by foreign governments through leftist groups.
While a lot of the online protest groups conducting anti-democracy rallies were unknown, the larger Israeli rallies were led by the Movement for Quality Government. MQG is a serial plaintiff which repeatedly brings cases to the Supreme Court. In 2020, MQG hired a D.C. law firm to investigate Netanyahu. That same year, MQG began getting money from the State Department.
State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel claimed that this was false because MQG "received a modest grant from the State Department that was initiated during the previous administration" meant to promote civics in schools.
"Any notion that we are propping up or supporting these protests or the initiators of them is completely and demonstrably false," Patel fumed.
But money is fungible and the State Department was well aware that MQG's primary field of activity was lawfare. The plague of leftist nonprofits funded by foreign governments is an old problem that predates this administration. And touching it is the real red line.
In 2016, there was outrage when the Israeli legislature passed a law requiring nonprofits to disclose foreign funding. Even though the government bureaucracy refused to enforce the law, it nonetheless resulted in MGQ disclosing its State Department funding.
The State Department had claimed then that asking nonprofits to reveal foreign funding would "have a chilling effect on the activities that these worthwhile organizations are trying to do."
Examples of such worthwhile activities included the State Department funding a previous protest campaign against Netanyahu in 2015 using a "peacebuilding" nonprofit named One Voice.
In 2021, Israel cracked down on six nonprofits tied to terrorist organizations. The State Department warned:
"We will be engaging our Israeli partners for more information regarding the basis for the designation. We believe respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and a strong civil society are critically important to responsible and responsive governance."
The pattern is not difficult to spot.
The Biden administration, the European Union and other leftist foreign governments use nonprofits and the legal system to control Israeli policy. When those tools of control are threatened, they step in.
The Obama and Biden administrations fumed when Israel began forcing nonprofits to follow the law, but judicial reform was a line in the sand. Had the judicial reform legislation passed, democracy would have come to Israel. And a bunch of leftist governments would have lost their ability to use their puppets to overrule the will of the people. That was why they did everything they could to stop it.
What the media portrayed as organic protests were nothing of the kind. They were often backed and organized by tech companies. Some of those same companies, to protest judicial reform, announced that they were pulling their money out of Israel and sending it to Silicon Valley Bank. The collapse of the bank, closely associated with leftist interests in the United States, was only a brief inconvenience, since the Biden administration rushed to bail out its depositors.
Israeli startups draw on investments from American companies and investors, many of them close to the Biden administration. The SVB connection, a clearinghouse for woke capital, just spelled out the obvious. The coup against democracy was backed by foreign interests and implemented by the billionaires, who control much of the Israeli media, and leftist activists who are employed by nonprofits funded by foreign governments and foundations.
Political consultants rushed to brand the coup a "democracy" movement, even though there's nothing less democratic than protecting an undemocratic institution from democratic change.
The Biden administration, which had been in on it all along, pushed for a "compromise" from Marc Rich's former lawyer that would keep the left in power even while denying what it was doing.
Prime Minister Netanyahu backed down, as he often has, but the confrontation was revealing because the puppet masters were forced to show their hand. American Jews were largely fooled by the media's propaganda campaign, but Israelis saw all too clearly who the activists and, more importantly, the Supreme Court really work for. The Israeli left has consistently lost elections while clinging to power through undemocratic institutions like the Supreme Court and fake third parties. It's fighting a war on democracy that it's bound to lose. The "handmaids" marching in Berlin and the radicals holding up posters accusing Israel of fascism in Hitler's city have shown Israelis what they really are.
The greatest threat to democracy in Israel has always come from the left. What was once a domestic oligarchy has evolved into a puppet regime. And the Israeli Zionists have learned that they can expose the puppet masters by pulling on the puppets and seeing who comes for them.
*Daniel Greenfield is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. This article previously appeared at the Center's Front Page Magazine.
© 2023 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

Biden's Anti-Israel Policy Empowers Iran, Palestinian Terrorists
Bassam Tawil/Gatestone Institute./April 04, 2023
US President Joe Biden appears more worried about the Israeli government's plan for judicial reform than the growing support among Palestinians for terrorism against Israel.
He seems more concerned about a plan to fix the deeply broken judicial system in Israel than about Palestinian threats to destroy Israel and kill as many Jews as possible.
We did not see Biden raise any objection over the Palestinians' "Pay for Slay" policy, which rewards terrorists and their families for the murder of Jews. We did not see Biden raise any objection over the Palestinian leaders' glorification of terrorists, who are being celebrated as "martyrs" by a majority of Palestinians. We did not see Biden raise any objection over the thousands of Palestinians who regularly take to the streets to celebrate the murder of Jews in terror attacks perpetrated by Palestinian terrorists.
As Biden was criticizing the democratically elected prime minister of Israel, senior (unelected) Palestinian officials were continuing to use every available podium to spread more libels against Israel.
Has Biden ever shown any concern that the Palestinians are living under highly undemocratic regimes, with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and Hamas in the Gaza Strip? Has Biden or anyone from his administration ever asked the Palestinians why they do not have a functioning parliament?
The crisis Biden has triggered with Israel because of his recurring criticism of a badly-needed judicial reform plan is great news for Iran and its Palestinian proxies, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), two of the many Islamist terror groups that openly call for the elimination of Israel.
By sparking a crisis with Netanyahu and the Israeli government, Biden has succeeded in bringing happiness to the enemies of both Israel and the US, perhaps in an effort that will be fruitless, to appease them. The message the Biden Administration is sending is that you are rewarded if you are an enemy of the US but punished if you are a friend.
Biden has placed himself alongside the mullahs of Iran who are expressing hope that the protests against the Netanyahu government will lead to the "collapse of the Zionist regime."
The mullahs are clearly happy to see Biden's attacks on the Israeli prime minister, who has been spearheading efforts to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
The mullahs are also undoubtedly delighted to see the Biden administration turn its back on its major ally and the only democracy in the Middle East: Israel. In the view of the mullahs and most of Israel's enemies, the US has always been the "Great Satan" that stands in the way of achieving their goal of destroying the "Little Satan" Israel.
Basically, Iran does not want any democratic presence in the Middle East and has presumably been attacking US interests in the area to force the US to pull out.
In reality, it looks to many in the Middle East as if the Biden Administration's objection to long-overdue judicial reforms is really just a pretext for trying to bring down the democratically-elected Israeli government and replace it with a new government that will allow the US to accept that Iran may have all the nuclear weapons it wants, perhaps with some feckless "compromise," such as "so long as it does not field them." This would be a deeply terrible plan that the Biden Administration might, alarmingly, decide to accept.
The current US anti-Netanyahu approach will do nothing except empower Iran and its proxies, Hamas, PIJ and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and incentivize them to carry out more terror attacks – not only against Israelis, but against Americans as well.
The Israeli government's judicial plan is probably not perfect, but it could not be more dangerous than Iran's continued effort to produce nuclear weapons or the Palestinians' rising support for terrorism.
The Biden administration would do well to understand that those who want to kill the Jews also want to see dead the friends and allies of the Jews. That is why it would be most helpful for America's national security if Biden and his officials immediately defused the tensions and ceased their rhetorical attacks against a small country that is in reality America's only true friend and most trusted ally in the Middle East.
US President Joe Biden appears more worried about the Israeli government's plan for judicial reform than the growing support among Palestinians for terrorism against Israel, and threats to destroy Israel and kill as many Jews as possible. Pictured: Members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade Palestinian terrorist group at a rally in the Balata refugee camp near Nablus, on December 20, 2022. (Photo by Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP via Getty Images)
US President Joe Biden appears more worried about the Israeli government's plan for judicial reform than the growing support among Palestinians for terrorism against Israel.
He seems more concerned about a plan to fix the deeply broken judicial system in Israel than about Palestinian threats to destroy Israel and kill as many Jews as possible.
While Biden has not hesitated to publicly criticize Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government over the judicial overhaul plan, he has yet to speak out against the Palestinians' support for terrorism and their ongoing campaign to isolate and delegitimize Israel.
We did not see Biden raise any objection over the Palestinians' "Pay for Slay" policy, which rewards terrorists and their families for the murder of Jews. We did not see Biden raise any objection over the Palestinian leaders' glorification of terrorists, who are being celebrated as "martyrs" by a majority of Palestinians. We did not see Biden raise any objection over the thousands of Palestinians who regularly take to the streets to celebrate the murder of Jews in terror attacks perpetrated by Palestinian terrorists.
As Biden was criticizing the democratically elected prime minister of Israel, senior (unelected) Palestinian officials were continuing to use every available podium to spread more libels against Israel. These falsely include that it is committing massacres against the Palestinians and "stealing their property."
Has Biden ever shown any concern that the Palestinians are living under highly undemocratic regimes, with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and Hamas in the Gaza Strip? Has Biden or anyone from his administration ever asked the Palestinians why they do not have a functioning parliament?
It is worth noting that the Palestinian Legislative Council has been inoperative since 2007, when the Iranian-backed Hamas terror group violently seized control of the Gaza Strip after toppling the US-backed Palestinian Authority and killing possibly hundreds of Palestinians.
On March 28, Biden told reporters that the Israeli government "cannot continue down this road" with its judicial reform plan and stressed that he is not going to invite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House "in the near term."
Earlier this year, Biden told The New York Times that any fundamental changes to Israel's judicial system should be based on a consensus to get legitimacy from the public and be sustainable.
He also called Netanyahu in early March and "expressed concerns" over the plan.
The crisis Biden has triggered with Israel because of his recurring criticism of a badly-needed judicial reform plan is great news for Iran and its Palestinian proxies, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), two of the many Islamist terror groups that openly call for the elimination of Israel.
Media outlets affiliated with Iran and its terror proxies also seem to be taking delight in reporting about the crisis, and highlighting Biden's statement that he is not going to invite Netanyahu to the White House "in the near term."
Iran's official media has also gleefully underscored the crisis between the Biden administration and the Israeli government.
"White House snubs Netanyahu," rejoiced a headline in the mullah's newspaper, Tehran Times. "For now, it looks like Netanyahu has to wait by the postbox before an invitation letter arrives from Washington DC."
By sparking a crisis with Netanyahu and the Israeli government, Biden has succeeded in bringing happiness to the enemies of both Israel and the US, perhaps in an effort that will be fruitless, to appease them. The message the Biden Administration is sending is that you are rewarded if you an enemy of the US but punished if you are a friend.
Iran and its terror militias are not only enemies of Israel, but the US too. That is seemingly why they often burn Israeli and US flags together when they take to the streets to demonstrate against Israel and the US.
Biden has placed himself alongside the mullahs of Iran, who are expressing hope that the protests against the Netanyahu government will lead to the "collapse of the Zionist regime."
"The current internal and external conditions of the illegitimate regime have been unprecedented over the last seven decades," remarked Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
"The Zionist regime's status is so shaky that many are hopeful the regime will collapse by internal factors. This important incident will happen soon with God's help and the people of Palestine and the region will get rid of the cancerous tumor [Israel]."
When the mullah's media outlets talk about the "external conditions" affecting Israel, they are mainly referring to the tensions between the Israeli government and the Biden administration.
The mullahs are clearly happy to see Biden's attacks on the Israeli prime minister, who has been spearheading efforts to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
There is no doubt that the mullahs, together with their agents Hamas and PIJ, now believe that the crisis Biden has sparked with Israel will hamper, hinder or even halt Netanyahu's efforts.
The mullahs are surely aware that any Israeli military action against Iran would require some form of coordination between the US and Israel.
The mullahs are also undoubtedly delighted to see the Biden administration turn its back on its major ally and the only democracy in the Middle East: Israel. In the view of the mullahs and most of Israel's enemies, the US has always been the "Great Satan" that stands in the way of achieving their goal of destroying the "Little Satan" Israel.
Basically, Iran does not want any democratic presence in the Middle East and has presumably been attacking US interests in the area to force the US to pull out.
As Biden and his administration remain obsessed with the Israeli government and would love to reverse the results of the last election in Israel, which saw Netanyahu and his allies score a victory, they have nevertheless failed to voice concern over the Palestinians' repeated calls for murdering Jews.
A public opinion poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in mid-March showed that 68% of Palestinians support the formation of terror groups such as the Lions' Den, whose members have carried out a series of shooting attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians over the past few months.
The poll found that 71% of the Palestinians support the Palestinian terror attack in which Jewish brothers Hallel Yaniv, 21, and Yagel Yaniv, 19, were killed in early March.
Moreover, the poll showed that Palestinian support for a return to armed confrontations (a euphemism for terrorism) with Israel has increased from 55% late last year to 58%.
The Israeli government's judicial plan is probably not perfect, but it could not be more dangerous than Iran's continued effort to produce nuclear weapons or the Palestinians' rising support for terrorism.
The Biden Administration appears unperturbed that more than 70% of Palestinians polled support the cold-blooded murder of two innocent young Jewish brothers by Palestinian terrorists in early March.
The Biden Administration claims that it views a plan to reform Israel's judicial system as the biggest threat to security and stability in the Middle East. This makes the mullahs and all the Islamist terrorists happy.
In reality, it looks to many in the Middle East as if the Biden Administration's objection to long-overdue judicial reforms is really just a pretext for trying to bring down the democratically-elected Israeli government and replace it with a new government that will allow the US to accept that Iran may have all the nuclear weapons it wants, perhaps with some feckless "compromise," such as "so long as it does not field them." This would be a deeply terrible plan that the Biden Administration might, alarmingly, decide to accept.
The current US anti-Netanyahu approach will do nothing except empower Iran and its proxies, Hamas, PIJ and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and incentivize them to carry out more terror attacks – not only against Israelis, but against Americans as well.
The Biden administration would do well to understand that those who want to kill the Jews also want to see dead the friends and allies of the Jews. That is why it would be most helpful for America's national security if Biden and his officials immediately defused the tensions and ceased their rhetorical attacks against a small country that is in reality America's only true friend and most trusted ally in the Middle East.
*Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East.
© 2023 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

A Trial that Restores Life to Trump
Mamdouh al-Muhainy/Asharq Al awsat/April, 04/2023
Former National Security Adviser John Bolton, Trump’s sworn enemy who has published an entire book with the sole purpose of exposing his former boss, is unhappy with the news of Trump’s impeachment. Has he changed his position? Of course not, he would rather see him behind bars. However, he fears that the trial will play a reverse role and will be in the interest of the former president and increase his popularity and chances to return victoriously to the White House.
Bolton is not the only one who takes such position, but even his Democratic opponents, who believe that Trump will use the trial to mobilize his supporters and strengthen the resolve of his group, thus restoring the tremendous momentum that made him president in 2017.
Even his current Republican rivals, such as Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, took a defensive stance and considered the prosecution to be politicized and motivated by revenge to eliminate Trump and prevent him from running in the elections.
They certainly wish that Trump would disappear from the scene so that the way would be open for them. But they realize that standing against him in this file will not be in their interest and will turn a large segment of the Republicans against them when they desperately need them.
As for Trump, perhaps this trial will be the kiss of life. A kiss that was unexpected and perhaps came at the right time, nearly a year and a half before the presidential elections. As for why the kiss of life, because Trump’s popularity was damaged after the events of the Capitol attack. Back then, he appeared as a rogue president as the long-standing traditions of the presidency did not prevent him from inciting the mob. This was followed by claims of electoral fraud, which frightened a wide segment of the population, who saw in it a threat to their political system and the foundations of the state. He tried to use these events to justify that he was wronged and persecuted, and that the elections were stolen from him. Only his obsessed audience, who considers him as Christ the Savior, believed his arguments. But in reality, he appeared as a troubled man who would do anything to not be labeled a loser. He clung to these claims, but they once again led him to lose most of the figures he supported in the midterm elections. Those elections were a referendum on his eroding popularity and the futility of his electoral strategy.
It is clear that his audience was exhausted and his support base was divided, with the emergence of bright names, most notably the successful and charismatic governor of Florida, whom many Republicans see as the future of the party that Trump has torn apart.
That’s how the picture was: Trump 2023 is a faded, weary version of Trump 2015, until the story of porn actress Stormy Daniels rose from the ashes and offered him the scandal and the kiss he’d been waiting for. He exploited it as expected from the outset in his campaign. He cleverly announced that he would be arrested, and occupied the front news headlines.
Trump, who knows how to deal with television more than any other leader, and masters the art of being the center of attention, will turn the trial today in all its details into fuel to restore his glow. Such prosecutions, which usually scare leaders and politicians who try to avoid scandals, are Trump’s favorite game.
He will not mind appearing as the “criminal” Trump in handcuffs, if it is beneficial to his image as the victorious “president”.
That is why he is expected to turn the trial into a long drama that begins today and ends only with the announcement of the name of the next president.
The other useful point for Trump this time is that his previous arguments of victimhood were incoherent and fell quickly. But now the context is different. The argument of persecution and political harassment is strong and convincing to many. According to the latest polls, there is a popular division around it, but the majority of Republicans are aligned behind it. Even those, who do not support him, see his acquittal as a nightmare. This is the first time that an American president has been dragged into court like a murderer. We are facing a new unprecedented political and historical scene, and it is certainly the first chapter in an exciting and long drama.

Trump’s Prosecution Has Set a Dangerous Precedent
Ankush Khardori/The New York Times/April, 04/2023
You were probably not alone if the news of Donald Trump’s indictment seemed slightly strange: How could something so big — the first criminal indictment of an American president — seem so small?
Mr. Trump was not indicted for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election or for engaging in egregious financial fraud to increase his wealth or even for allegedly obstructing the special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, which many once thought was the best avenue prosecutors had to ensnare the former president.
Instead, the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, and his team of prosecutors have brought the country back six and a half years, to the final weeks of the 2016 election, when Mr. Trump paid the adult film star Stormy Daniels to prevent her from going public with a story about an affair she said they had while Mr. Trump was married. (The details of what the indictment contains remain unknown — its contents will be unsealed after Mr. Trump turns himself in, most likely next week — but it is expected to charge the former president with falsifying business records of the payment, disguising the payoff as routine legal fees.)
It is far from clear how this case will end. No matter what the precise charges are, the prosecution will raise unusual and arguably novel legal issues. Michael Cohen, who seems to be the key witness, may not be credible enough to persuade a jury to convict Mr. Trump, even in Manhattan. And Republicans are already mounting an effort to frame Mr. Bragg as a political hack who is weaponizing his office to take down the former president on behalf of Democrats.
But at least one thing seems clear: Mr. Bragg may have been the first local prosecutor to do it, but he will probably not be the last. Every local prosecutor in the country will now feel that he or she has free rein to criminally investigate and prosecute presidents after they leave office. Democrats currently cheering the charges against Mr. Trump may feel differently if — or when — a Democrat, perhaps even President Biden, ends up on the receiving end of a similar effort by any of the thousands of prosecutors elected to local office, eager to make a name for themselves by prosecuting a former president of the United States.
The vast range, breadth and diversity of criminal laws throughout the country provide plenty of opportunity for mischief. As the attorney general and future justice Robert Jackson observed more than 80 years ago, “A prosecutor stands a fair chance of finding at least a technical violation of some act on the part of almost anyone.” He added, “It is not a question of discovering the commission of a crime and then looking for the man who has committed it; it is a question of picking the man and then searching the law books or putting investigators to work to pin some offense on him.”
For instance, Hunter Biden is accused of similar conduct — including whether he and other family members properly accounted for their business proceeds — which has attracted the attention of federal investigators and congressional Republicans and could support an investigation under Delaware laws that prohibit falsifying business records and filing false documents with the state.
Delaware is a solidly Democratic state, so that particular possibility seems unlikely, but elected prosecutors in large Republican locales could find similarly creative ways to target the family of a Democratic president, particularly if the president, his spouse or another family member has national or international business and financial dealings in the state.
Substantial legal impediments stand in the way of prosecutors who might want to charge a former president for official actions, but there are plenty of areas that remain open for scrutiny even during the presidency. Every president travels throughout the country campaigning, fund-raising and making stops for official business. Say a candidate instructs the motorcade to speed to an event and it results in a deadly car accident or he directs organizers to let people into a venue that is over capacity and someone loses his or her life, crushed in the crowd. Are we later going to see an investigation and prosecution for involuntary manslaughter?
A statute on the books in Florida makes it a crime to engage in libel. If Mr. Biden leaves office and criticizes Mr. Trump or another prominent Floridian in the state in writing, will he be vulnerable to prosecution?
These variables are impossible to fully anticipate. After all, Mr. Trump probably never considered that paying an adult film star to stay quiet using his company’s money would make him vulnerable to prosecution in Manhattan.
It didn’t have to be this way. The most obvious and sensible approach, at least for Mr. Biden, would have been to instruct his attorney general to engage and coordinate with Mr. Bragg and Fani Willis, the district attorney investigating Mr. Trump in Fulton County, Ga., assuring them that the Biden Justice Department would conduct thorough criminal investigations concerning Mr. Trump’s business dealings and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. (Federal prosecutors routinely ask state and local prosecutors to step aside when the underlying facts implicate federal laws or federal interests, and they almost always agree.)
In doing so, Mr. Biden could have not only alleviated the legal uncertainty and controversy that currently surrounds Mr. Trump; he also might have protected himself and his Democratic successors from retribution. But the president does not appear to have taken those steps, leaving both prosecutors with the license — and arguably the imperative, given their responsibilities to their constituents — to pursue Mr. Trump for any questionable conduct in their jurisdictions.
There is probably not much that Mr. Biden or other presidents can do to mitigate these risks, except perhaps to try to limit as many of their unofficial activities — where they live, vacation and conduct business or nonprofit work — to states and localities that are safely and consistently run by the same party. But that, too, is a bleak prospect: an America where presidents avoid states where people disagree with them. In the long run, it might also limit the ability of the Democratic and Republican Parties to groom presidential contenders from states that are not safely blue or red.
For now, both parties would be well advised to keep the temperature down surrounding Mr. Trump’s indictment, at least so that their constituents do not convince themselves that this should become a part of the standard political tool kit. We should all let the case proceed through the courts until it reaches an orderly resolution and, whatever the result, try to chalk it all up to the fact that Mr. Trump never fails to generate strange and unique situations.

UN Lies about Muslim History, the Koran, and Even Arabic
Raymond Ibrahim/April, 04/2023
In a recent article, we saw the UN’s accusations concerning the West’s alleged “Islamophobia.” In this article, we explore the UN’s even more outrageous lies concerning Islam, particularly in those two all-important spheres: doctrine and history. During his speech “focusing attention—and calling for action—to stamp out the poison of Islamophobia,” António Guterres, Secretary-General of the UN, said: For well over a millennium, Islam’s message of peace, compassion, and grace has inspired people the world over.
Actually, for well over a millennium, Islam caused mass havoc—death and destruction in the name of jihad—beginning in its Arabian homeland, and then spilling into the world at large. One century after the death of Muhammad in 632, Islam had, through violent conquest, swallowed up some three-quarters of Christendom—all of North Africa and southwest Asia—and by 732 was in the heart of Europe, destroying, slaughtering, plundering, and enslaving.
By the fourteenth century, Muslims had, after centuries of warfare, finally managed to conquer eastern Europe. By the sixteenth century, Muslim slave raiders had reached and returned with slaves from Iceland. By the seventeenth century, Vienna was on the verge of being conquered. By the eighteenth century, Muslim slavers provoked the newborn United States of America into its first war as a nation. All of this was well known until quite recently. In the words of historian Bernard Lewis,
For almost a thousand years, from the first Moorish landing in Spain [711] to the second Turkish siege of Vienna [1683], Europe was under constant threat from Islam. All but the easternmost provinces of the Islamic realm had been taken from Christian rulers… North Africa, Egypt, Syria, even Persian-ruled Iraq, had been Christian countries, in which Christianity was older and more deeply rooted than in most of Europe. Their loss was sorely felt and heightened the fear that a similar fate was in store for Europe.
Or, in the words of President Theodore Roosevelt, an accomplished student of history:
Christianity was saved in Europe solely because the peoples of Europe fought. If the peoples of Europe in the seventh and eighth centuries, and on up to and including the seventeenth century, had not possessed a military equality with, and gradually a growing superiority over the Mohammedans who invaded Europe, Europe would at this moment be Mohammedan and the Christian religion would be exterminated. Wherever the Mohammedans have had complete sway, wherever the Christians have been unable to resist them by the sword, Christianity has ultimately disappeared.
Historians have estimated that tens of millions of Europeans were either killed or enslaved during Islam’s millennium of “peace, compassion, and grace,” to quote the UN secretary-general. Violence against Christian Europe continued until and was the reason for the colonial era—an ascendant Europe’s way of neutralizing and trying to civilize Islam. There was never a time since Islam’s birth when a Muslim polity could invade and conquer its non-Muslim neighbors, but didn’t in the name of “[Muslim] tolerance, respect, and mutual understanding,” again to quote Guterres. Anyone who doubts this can consult either of two heavily documented books, here and here.
The UN secretary-general continues by claiming thatز The very word Islam derives from the same root word—salam/peace.
This too is incorrect. In Arabic, various words that are sometimes connected in meaning are formed from the same three-lettered roots. Out of the root s-l-m, we get several words, including salam, which means “safety” and “peace,” and islam, which means “submission.” The connection here is clear. In Islam, peace and safety are achieved through—and only through—submission to its authority.
Next, the UN secretary-general cites—and gushes over—the Koran in his attempt to prove Islam’s benevolent nature: I saw the modern manifestation of what is found in the Surah Al-Tawbah of the Holy Quran: “And if anyone seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he can hear the words of God. Then escort him where he can be secure [Koran 9:6].”This protection should be accorded to believers and non-believers alike, again, according to the Holy Quran. What a remarkable articulation of refugee protection centuries ago before the 1951 Refugee Convention! Once again, reality is different. Koran 9:6, which Guterres cites here, is conditional on the verse that immediately precedes it—and which was conveniently omitted. According to Koran 9:5, Muslims are commanded to Kill the polytheists wherever you find them; capture them, besiege them, and lie in wait for them on every way. Discussing these and similar Koran verses, Professor Majid Khadduri of John Hopkins University wrote in his War and Peace in the Law of Islam:
No compromise is permitted with those who fail to believe in Allah; they have either to accept Islam or fight. In several Quranic injunctions, the Muslims are under the obligation to ‘fight the polytheists wherever you may find them [9:5]’; to ‘fight those who are near to you of the polytheists, and let them find in you harshness [9:124]’; and ‘when you meet those who misbelieve, strike off their heads until you have massacred them’ [47:4]. In the hadith, the Prophet Muhammad is reported to have declared: ‘I am ordered to fight the polytheists until they say: There is no god but Allah.’ All the jurists, perhaps without exception, assert that polytheism and Islam cannot exist together; the polytheists, who enjoin other gods with Allah, must choose between war or Islam. Such is Islam’s true position concerning the non-Muslim. Meanwhile, here is the cherry-picking secretary-general of the UN waxing passionately about how the Koran offers “a remarkable articulation of refugee protection centuries ago before the 1951 Refugee Convention.” All of this is more proof that, whenever the “Left”—well exemplified by the UN—opens its mouth, not only does it lie, but it says the exact opposite of the truth.

Saudi crown prince hands Putin his biggest weapon in the energy war
Melissa Lawford/The Telegraph/April 4, 2023
During his presidential campaign Joe Biden pledged to make Saudi Arabia an international pariah. Then came sky high inflation and a war. In July, Biden swallowed his words and travelled to Jeddah to meet the Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman. But if Biden had hoped that MBS, as the Kingdom's ruler is known, would boost Saudi Arabia’s oil output at a time when higher crude costs were driving a surge in inflation, he was to be sorely disappointed. Instead, in October, the Saudi-led Opec cartel of oil producing countries slashed output by two million barrels per day to drive prices higher. Now – heedless of an angry US president who has threatened unspecified "consequences" – it is cutting production again.
As Biden looks on powerlessly, one of the biggest winners is likely to be Vladimir Putin. On Sunday, nine members of Opec + (a larger collective of 23 nations) announced a voluntary output cut of 1.2m barrels per day from May until the end of the year. This amounts to 1.1pc of global supply. The move drove up oil prices immediately – and they will continue to rise. Brent crude oil jumped from $79.77 per barrel on Sunday to $85.02 on Monday.
Goldman Sachs has raised its forecasts for Brent crude for December 2023 up from $90 to $95. By December 2024, prices will have climbed to $100.
These prices will be the new normal, says Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodity analyst at SEB financial services. And it will inevitably translate into pain for millions of consumers through higher prices at the pump and greater costs in the shops.
The blow to the West is threefold. High oil prices will keep inflation up. The move signals that Saudi Arabia is turning its back on the West and turning to China. Rising oil prices will also undermine sanctions on Russia – where oil profits are about to surge. Every $1 increase in the price of crude oil boosts Russian export revenues by about $2.7bn a year, says Benjamin Hilgenstock, author of a report on Russian sanctions for the Centre for Economic Policy Research, a think tank.
A $10 increase in the oil price will therefore increase Russian oil export revenues by around $27bn to $145bn this year. This is about 22.5pc more than CEPR had forecast before the Opec decision. Western sanctions on Russian oil came late. The EU only introduced an embargo on crude in December 2022 and on oil products in February 2023. For the majority of last year, Russia benefited from high oil prices and its current account surplus hit a record high, says Hilgenstock. Revenues were just starting to come under pressure – until the boost from Opec.
“This is Saudi Arabia saying ‘hey, Russia, you’re our friend’. What they are doing here is siding with Russia and the Chinese alliance,” says Schieldrop.
“After the cuts from Opec, we are going to have a tighter market. Russia is going to be able to charge a higher oil price, get better income, and be more easily able to finance the war in Ukraine, which will indirectly counter the sanctions the West has implemented.”The move is natural for Saudi Arabia because the majority of the future demand for its oil will come from Asia.
Other nations can purchase from Russia as long as the crude price is below a cap – this is necessary if they want to use shipping and transportation services from countries in the OECD club of rich nations and the EU. But countries such as China have no restrictions if they do not need to rely on these services.
Russian oil exports to China, India and Turkey have jumped since the war began. Overall exports in December 2022 were higher than in December 2021, according to CEPR. Just as Russia rakes in cash, the West will be creaking under the burden of inflation. “It is like a tax on the global economy. It works the same way as rate hikes, it has a slowing effect,” says Schieldrop. Headline inflation is unlikely to rise, if only because oil prices were so high last year, but the Opec cut means prices will stay higher for longer.
“It highlights the Opec willingness and ability to control prices. That means that if we have an economic downturn, where some of the weakness could have been alleviated from lower input prices, that will not materialise,” says Ole Hansen, head of Commodity Strategy at Saxo Bank. Prices will rise in particular markets that rely on oil. “When it comes to sectoral sensitivity, transportation will certainly be the first under attack,” says Tamara Basic Vasilijev, senior economist at Oxford Economics. According to the AA, for every $2 increase in the value of oil, there is a 1p rise in petrol pump prices. The cost of operating farm machinery will also go up, bringing further pressure on food prices, says Hansen. “We have seen soybeans and corn prices rise since Friday,” he says. The move is a major power play from Saudi Arabia, which has announced cuts just after America said it would not boost global demand by replenishing its strategic stocks this year.
America and Saudi Arabia have historically had strong links. Saudi Arabia is America’s largest foreign military sales customer. But relations peaked when Donald Trump was president, says James Swanston, Middle East and North Africa economist at Capital Economics. Trump took a strong line on Iran. Relations under President Joe Biden, who campaigned with anti-Saudi stance, have deteriorated.
“One thing almost on a personal level was that the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has taken some offence to the fact that President Biden always wanted to talk with King Salman himself, rather than MBS,” says Swanston.
The Opec move takes advantage of the fact that US shale production is nearing a peak, following a long period in which fracking in the country drove prices down.
“Slowing growth in US shale oil since early December 2022 is basically a whole free card for Opec plus. "Now they can more or less do what they want and control the oil market as they wish because shale is no longer growing crazily. That was a big, big change in the oil market. The next five years are going to be very different.” says Schieldrop. Opec has no fear of losing market share in the global oil market.
Opec says the new cut is in response to falling global demand, but expectations of a slowing world economy may well be overblown. Growth is still strong in key importing nations such as India, and China’s post-lockdown reopening means global aviation is normalising.
“We are very bullish for global oil demand. I think global demand is going to continue to strengthen and Opec has good and steady control and they will keep the price and the level they see fit,” says Schieldrop.
“It does look as though the global oil market was in a balance and towards the end of this year might have had a slight surplus. Now, we will move into a deficit. There does seem to be a Saudi Arabia first policy,” says Swanston. As China, Russia and Saudi Arabia move closer together, America is moving further away. Last year, there were rumours that Saudi Arabia might accept renminbi for its oil exports, which have always been priced in dollars. Such a change would be a nuclear option and remains highly unlikely in the short term. But as what was once America's closest Middle Eastern ally drifts into the orbit of fellow autocracies, it no longer seems impossible.
https://ca.yahoo.com/finance/news/why-saudis-siding-putin-drive-050000727.html

Globalization may not be dying, but it is changing
Joseph S. Nye/Arab News/April 04, 2023
Late last year, Morris Chang, founder of Taiwan’s (and the world’s) leading semiconductor producer, proclaimed that “globalization is almost dead.” In a world where supply chains have been disrupted by COVID-19 and the deepening Sino-American rivalry, other commentators have echoed this view, and many companies have begun “on-shoring” and “near-shoring” their procurement of goods. But it is a mistake to conclude that globalization is over. A lot of human history reveals why.
Globalization is simply the growth of interdependence at intercontinental, rather than national or regional, distances. Neither good nor bad in itself, it has many dimensions, and is certainly not new. Climate change and migration have been driving humanity’s spread across the planet ever since our ancestors began to leave Africa over a million years ago, and many other species have done the same.
These processes have always given rise to biological interactions and interdependencies. The plague originated in Asia, but killed a third of the European population between 1346 and 1352. When Europeans journeyed to the Western Hemisphere in the 15th and 16th centuries, they carried pathogens that decimated the indigenous populations. Military globalization goes back at least to the days of Xerxes and then Alexander the Great, whose empire stretched across three continents. And, of course, the sun never set on the 19th-century British Empire. Through it all, great religions also spread across multiple continents — a form of sociocultural globalization.
More recently, the focus has been on economic globalization: the intercontinental flows of goods, services, capital, technology, and information. Again, the process is not new, but technological changes have greatly reduced the costs associated with distance, rendering today’s economic globalization “thicker and quicker.” The Silk Road connected Asia and Europe in the Middle Ages, but it was nothing like the vast flows of modern container ships, let alone internet communications that now connect continents instantaneously.
While globalization came to be seen primarily as an economic phenomenon in the 20th century, it then became a political buzzword — for both proponents and critics — in the 2000s. When rioters in Davos broke the windows of a McDonald’s to protest labor conditions in Asia, that was political globalization.
The current globalization clearly differs from that of the 19th century, when European imperialism provided much of its institutional structure, and when higher costs meant that fewer people were involved directly. Western firms began spreading around the world in the 1600s, and by the end of the 19th century, the global stock of foreign direct investment was equivalent to about 10 percent of global output. By 2010, the worldwide stock of FDI included non-Western companies and was equivalent to about 30 percent of the world’s gross domestic product.
On the eve of the First World War in 1914, there was a high degree of global interdependence, including movements of peoples, goods and services. There was also inequality, because the benefits of economic globalization were unevenly shared. But economic interdependence did not prevent the major trading partners from fighting each other, which is why people at the time called it the Great War. After those four years of devastating violence and destruction, global economic interdependence was sharply reduced. World trade and investment did not return to their 1914 levels until the 1960s.
Could the same thing happen again? Yes, if the US and Russia or China blunder into a major war. But barring that contingency, it is unlikely. For all the talk of economic “decoupling,” the breaks so far have been quite selective and incomplete. Global trade in goods and services made a strong comeback after the pandemic downturn in 2020, though not all areas recovered equally.With the US having established new barriers to hamper the flow of certain sensitive goods to and from China, its imports from that country have risen by only 6 percent above pre-pandemic levels, while its imports from Canada and Mexico have risen by over 30 percent. In the US case, then, regionalization seems to have recovered more robustly than globalization. But look more closely and you will find that while China’s share of America’s imports dropped from 21 percent to 17 percent between 2018 and 2022, US imports from Vietnam, Bangladesh and Thailand rose by more than 80 percent. Those figures certainly do not suggest that globalization is dead.
Globalization is largely driven by technological changes that reduce the importance of distance. That will not change. It bears mentioning that this new Asian trade with the US is, in fact, intermediated Chinese trade. The US and its allies are still more deeply intertwined with the Chinese economy than was ever the case with the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Western countries can reduce their security risks by excluding Chinese companies, such as Huawei, from Western 5G telecommunications networks without incurring the inordinately high costs of dismantling all global supply chains.
Moreover, even if geopolitical competition were to curtail economic globalization substantially, the world would remain highly interdependent through ecological globalization. Pandemics and climate change obey the laws of biology and physics, not politics. No country can solve these problems alone. Greenhouse gases emitted in China can lead to costly sea-level rises or weather disruptions in the US or Europe, and vice versa. These costs could be enormous. Scientists estimate that both China and the US suffered over 1 million deaths as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that began in Wuhan, partly owing to both countries’ failure to cooperate on policy responses. Success in addressing climate change or future pandemics will require recognition of global interdependencies, even if people do not like it.
Globalization is largely driven by technological changes that reduce the importance of distance. That will not change. Globalization is not over. It just may no longer be the kind we want.
*Joseph S. Nye is a professor at Harvard University and the author of ‘Do Morals Matter? Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump’ (Oxford University Press, 2019). ©Project Syndicate

Russia seeks to secure gains in Syria
Osama Al-Sharif/April 04, 2023
Russia is stepping up its efforts to normalize ties between Syria and Turkiye in a bid to bolster its alliance with Damascus, which has proved exceptionally beneficial to both sides since President Vladimir Putin ordered a military incursion in 2015 that saved the regime of President Bashar Assad. Recent attempts by Moscow to set up a meeting between Assad and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan must be seen against the backdrop of an elusive victory in Ukraine, and heightened tensions between Moscow and the West.
In contrast to its miscalculated adventure in Ukraine, Russia’s intervention in Syria has been a resounding success. It now has permanent naval and air bases in the country, which have allowed it to extend its military and political influence across the Mediterranean into Libya and in the Red Sea as far as Sudan.
Assad has become increasingly dependent on Russia for survival, and during a meeting with Putin in Moscow last month, he said he would welcome any Russian proposals to set up new military bases and boost troop numbers in his country. Syria has supported Russia’s war in Ukraine, with Assad saying that Damascus recognizes the territories annexed by Russia. However, the protracted military operation in Ukraine has taken a toll on Russia’s military resources, forcing it to relocate troops and munitions from Syria to the Russian-Ukrainian front lines. It needs to secure its gains in Syria and bolster a shaky alliance with Turkiye and Iran — two countries that have presence in Syria, but with conflicting agendas. Erdogan, meanwhile, realizes that Assad’s regime has survived and that new geopolitical realities will make it harder for him to maintain support for anti-Assad rebel groups in Idlib while hosting millions of Syrian refugees in the provinces of southern Turkiye. This has forced him to adopt a more pragmatic approach toward Damascus.
Hosting Syrian refugees and Turkiye’s support for Syrian rebels have become hot issues in an election year. Erdogan’s popularity has suffered over his government’s handling of the earthquake disaster, while the opposition has vowed to pull Turkish troops from northern Syria if it wins the May elections.
Erdogan’s plans to deploy troops in northeastern Syria to quash Syrian Kurdish groups have been dashed by the US, which has more than 2,000 soldiers in the same region working with the Syrian Democratic Forces to confront Daesh. Still, Ankara has set up dozens of bases in northern Syria, which have prevented the Syrian army from regaining territory.
Following a meeting between the defense ministers of both Turkiye and Syria in Moscow last December, Erdogan announced that he was ready to sit down with Assad to foster peace and stability in Syria. But so far Damascus has been unwilling to reciprocate. Last month Assad said he would meet Erdogan only when Turkiye was ready to completely withdraw its military from northern Syria and restore the situation that existed before the Syrian war.
Russia hopes to bring Assad and Erdogan together, sending a message that it calls the shots in Syria.
This week’s four-way meeting involving the deputy foreign ministers of Syria, Turkiye, Iran and Russia in Moscow is another attempt by the Kremlin to iron out differences between Damascus and Ankara. This time the Russians invited the Iranians to join the talks. Iran has thousands of militia fighters and numerous military advisers in Syria.In recent weeks, Israel has intensified its airstrikes on suspected Iranian military positions and convoys in Syria, while Tehran is believed to have targeted US positions in eastern Syria in retaliation. A shadow war between Israel and Iran in Syria is getting out of control and, so far, the Russians have done little to contain it. Ideally, Russia will hope to bring Assad and Erdogan together, sending a message that they call the shots in Syria. Still, Moscow’s attempts to find a political settlement to the 12-year Syrian war have failed. Rapprochement between Damascus and Ankara would deliver a blow to the Syrian opposition and most likely end Turkish military support for rebel groups in Idlib. That leaves the US presence in the east and the fate of the Syrian Kurds under Washington’s protection. While the US says it opposes Arab gestures toward Assad — approaches that could culminate in restoring Syria’s place in the Arab League ahead of the May summit in Riyadh — it is unlikely that Washington will be able to derail the current process aimed at rehabilitating the Syrian regime. It is an understatement to say that the Syrian crisis is complicated. With so many state and non-state actors involved, finding a satisfactory solution that will preserve the country’s territorial integrity, while addressing issues including repatriation of refugees and investigations of war crimes, is highly unlikely at this stage.
Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman. Twitter: @plato010