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NATO Allies Making It Easier for Iran to Attack Israel?

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1234In early 2013, NATO supposedly came to its ally’s help: As Turkey was under threat from Syrian missiles — potentially with biological/chemical warheads — the alliance would build a mini anti-missile defense architecture on Turkish soil. Six U.S.-made Patriot missile batteries would be deployed in three Turkish cities and protect a vast area where about 3.5 million Turks lived.

The Patriot batteries that would protect Turkey from Syrian missiles belonged to the United States, Germany and the Netherlands. In early 2015, the Dutch mission ended and was replaced by Spanish Patriots. Recently, the German government said that it would withdraw its Patriot batteries and 250 troops at the beginning of 2016. Almost simultaneously, the U.S. government informed Turkey that its Patriot mission, expiring in October, would not be renewed. Washington cited “critical modernization upgrades” for the withdrawal.

Since the air defense system was stationed on Turkish soil, it unnerved Iran more than it did Syria. There is a story behind this. First, Patriot missiles cannot protect large swaths of land, but only designated friendly sites or installations in their vicinity. That the six batteries would protect Turkey’s entire south and 3.5 million people living there was a tall tale. They would instead protect a U.S.-owned, NATO-assigned radar deployed earlier in Kurecik, a Turkish town; and they would protect it not from Syrian missiles with chemical warheads, but from Iranian ballistic missiles . . .

What was stationed in Kurecik was an early-warning missile detection and tracking radar system. Its mission is to provide U.S. naval assets in the Mediterranean with early warning and tracking information in case of an Iranian missile launch that might target an ally or a friendly country, including Israel. So, a six-battery Patriot shield to protect the NATO radar in Kurecik against possible Iranian aggression was necessary. And that explains why the Iranians went mad about Kurecik and openly threatened to hit it . . .

Why, otherwise, would a country feel “threatened” and threaten others with starting a “world war” just because a bunch of defensive systems are deployed in a neighboring country? Iran did so because it views the NATO radar in Turkey as an asset that could counter any missile attack on Israel; and the Patriots as hostile elements because they would protect that radar. In a way, Iran’s reaction to the NATO assets in Turkey revealed its intentions to attack. (Read more from “NATO Allies Making It Easier for Iran to Attack Israel?” HERE)

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Israel Recovers Ancient Sarcophagus Hidden by Contractors

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Part-NIC-Nic6481924-1-1-0Israeli authorities have recovered a Roman-era sarcophagus that construction workers sought to hide after digging it up at a building site, officials said Thursday.

The limestone coffin, estimated at 1,800 years old and discovered last week during work on a new neighbourhood in coastal city Ashkelon, was described as “unique” by Gabi Mazor, a retired Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist and expert on the era.

The contractors who encountered the find opted to extract it themselves with a tractor, damaging it before hiding it beneath a stack of metal sheets and boards, according to the authority.

Police have questioned the contractors on suspicion of not reporting their find and of damaging it, and the authority pledged that legal proceedings would be pursued against those involved . . .

Around the coffin are engraved images of “bulls’ heads, naked Cupids, and the head of the monstrous female figure Medusa which includes remains of hair together with snakes, part of a commonly held belief in the Roman period that she protects the deceased,” Mazor said. (Read more from “Israel Recovers Ancient Sarcophagus Hidden by Contractors” HERE)

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Israeli Archaeologists Unearth Unique Stepped Structure in City of David

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SteppedStructuresIsrael1An archaeological excavation in the Jerusalem Walls National Park in the City of David, the site of ancient Jerusalem, unearthed a pyramid-shaped staircase. This unique structure was located right next to the 2,000-year-old Second Temple stepped street, famed for leading religious pilgrims from Shiloah (Siloam) Pool to the temple. The dig was carried out in partnership between the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the City of David Foundation, according to a release from the Israel Antiquities Authority.

“The structure exposed is unique. To date such a structure has yet to be found along the stepped street in the numerous excavations that have taken place in Jerusalem and to the best of our knowledge outside of it,” said excavation directors, archaeologists Nahshon Szanton and Joe Uziel, in the release. “We believe the structure was a kind of monumental podium that attracted the public’s attention when walking on the city’s main street. It would be very interesting to know what was said there 2,000 years ago. Were messages announced here on behalf of the government? Perhaps news or gossip, or admonitions and street preaching – unfortunately we do not know” . . .

“Given the lack of a clear archaeological parallel to the stepped structure, the purpose of the staircase remains the mystery,” they said in the release. “It is certainly possible the rabbinical sources provide valuable information about structures, such as this, although for the time being there is no definitive proof.” (Read more from “Israeli Archaeologists Unearth Unique Stepped Structure in City of David” HERE)

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Israeli NGO Calls on British Authorities to Probe New Palestinian Resistance Curriculum

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An Israeli NGO called on the British authorities to investigate an offensive new curriculum developed by the National Union of Teachers that educates young students about Palestinian “occupation, freedom and resistance.”

“An immediate, thorough and independent investigation by the Charities Commission as well as the U.K. education authorities is clearly required,” demanded the president of Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor, Gerald Steinberg.

Steinberg called the curriculum, which was developed by NUT together with a Christian charity called Edukid that aims to educate children living in poverty or conflict zones, “a fictitious narrative that promotes hate and incitement.”

Some have said the “extremist agenda” attempting to describe the often violent and unresolved Palestinian struggle for a state does not belong in a classroom with three-year-old students.

“We need to be more vigilant about the politicization of British classrooms,” said Tom Wilson of the Henry Jackson Society, according to the U.K. Daily Telegraph. (Read more from “Israeli NGO Calls on British Authorities to Probe New Palestinian Resistance Curriculum” HERE)

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Israel’s Foreign Ministry Chief: Sunni Arab Nations Are Our ‘Allies’

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The director general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, Dore Gold, called the Middle East’s Sunni Arab nations “Israel’s allies” . . .

“What we have is a regime on a roll that is trying to conquer the Middle East,” Gold said of Iran, “and it’s not Israel talking, that is our Sunni Arab neighbors — and you know what? I’ll use another expression – that is our Sunni Arab allies talking.”

Gold, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations and a longtime adviser to Israeli prime ministers from the right-wing Likud Party, is also the author of a 2003 book on Saudi Arabia called “Hatred’s Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism.” Saudi Arabia has been one of the most vocal Arab opponents of US-Iran rapprochement and the Iran nuclear agreement.

The presentation, which was organized by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, also featured Amos Yadlin, a former chief of Israeli military intelligence who now heads Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies. Yadlin ran unsuccessfully for the Knesset in March on the center-left Zionist Union list.

Both Yadlin and Gold warned of the perils of the Iran nuclear agreement. Gold called Iran a major force of instability in the Middle East, and Yadlin said that while the deal gets a B+/A- on its short-term accomplishments of rolling back and freezing Iran’s nuclear program, it’s a “disaster” when it comes to the long-term implications of where it leaves Iran in 15 years. (Read more from “Israel’s Foreign Ministry Chief: Sunni Arab Nations Are Our ‘Allies'” HERE)

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Op-Ed: Obama Knows Iran Will Use Its Nukes on Israel

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At first, Obama said we couldn’t talk about his Iranian Nuke Deal unless it was finalized. Then, Obama said we couldn’t talk about his Iranian Nuke Deal unless we read it all – and simply didn’t disclose all of his side-deals. Now, he says Mike Huckabee’s comparison of shipping the Jews of Israel to the new ovens of the Iranian Auschwitz-Nuke is “ridiculous.”

Perhaps Obama wants to wait until Iran nukes Israel for it to be politically correct to call Iran’s wiping Israel off the map a “Holocaust.” But, make no mistake, Obama knows full well that Iran intends to wipe Israel off the map with its Obama-blessed Nukes.

Come on, does anyone (except the American left-wing cool-aid drinking Jews) really believe that Iran will abide by their “voluntary” protocols under the Vienna announcement? Of course not! Are Obama or any of the European Union leaders so rank stupid and naïve that they think Iran won’t build a bomb just like North Korea? Does anyone not know that one of Iran’s first targets will be to annihilate Israel?

Of course Obama knows Iran will seek to annihilate Israel, so that must be what Obama wants. (Read more from “Op-Ed: Obama Knows Iran Will Use Its Nukes on Israel” HERE)

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Spy for Israel, Jonathan Pollard, Finally Granted Parole

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Convicted spy for Israel Jonathan Pollard has been granted parole and will be released from an American jail on Nov. 21, his lawyer announced Tuesday.

Pollard’s release — exactly 30 years after his arrest — could help ease the tensions between the United States and Israel that have grown over the Iran nuclear deal, which President Barack Obama supports and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vehemently opposes.

Both the Justice Department and Pollard’s pro bono attorneys, Eliot Lauer and Jacques Semmelman, confirmed his release date Tuesday.

“Mr. Pollard is looking forward to being reunited with his beloved wife Esther,” his lawyers said in a statement.

“Mr. Pollard would like to thank the many thousands of well-wishers in the United States, in Israel, and throughout the world, who provided grass roots support by attending rallies, sending letters, making phone calls to elected officials, and saying prayers for his welfare. He is deeply appreciative of every gesture, large or small,” his lawyers said. “We look forward to seeing our client on the outside in less than four months.” (Read more from “Spy for Israel Jonathan Pollard Granted Parole” HERE)

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Iran Deal Will Set off Middle East Nuclear Arms Race, Warns Top Israeli Official

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The new nuclear deal with Iran gives Tehran full legitimacy to engage in further atomic work and will set off a regional nuclear and conventional arms race, a senior Israeli official warned on Friday.

Ram Ben Barak said Iran was plainly still determined to break out to the bomb at a time of its choosing, and that its insistence in the deal on preventing inspectors from gaining instant access to suspect facilities, and on winning the right to continue R&D on fast-enrichment centrifuges, demonstrated that the regime remains committed to attaining nuclear weapons.

Ben Barak, who is director general of the Strategic Affairs Ministry and a leading candidate to be the next head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, told Channel 10 that the 10-year deal between the US-led P5+1 world powers and Iran signed Tuesday, which is aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear ambitions in exchange for lifting harsh international sanctions, is “very bad.”

Ben Barak is one of three candidates vying for the coveted position of Mossad chief, contending with current National Security Council chair Yossi Cohen and an unnamed deputy to current Mossad chief Tamir Pardo. Pardo is slated to step down in January 2016.

“This is a very bad deal,” he told Channel 10, “mainly because it gives Iran legitimacy to engage in nuclear work. Also, in 10 years from now, Iran will be able to enrich uranium to whatever grade it wants and however much it wants, without any limitations.” (Read more from “Iran Deal Will Set off Middle East Nuclear Arms Race, Warns Top Israeli Official” HERE)

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Israel Building Billion-Dollar High-Tech Anti-ISIS Fence on Jordan Border

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Israel has resolved to take yet another step to strengthen its national security. In this case, it calls for an 18-mile-long fence that will close off the gap in it’s already impressive network of border fences. The border that Israel shares with Jordan is the last area that is totally open to the neighboring country. Their borders with Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon have already been fenced off.

This fence will be similar to Israel’s other high-tech border fences. They’ll be armed with surveillance cameras, razor wire, and an electronic detection system. Though, instead of being only 5-feet-tall like the barrier against Egypt, this new wall will reach 16-feet-high. Deal with that ISIS!

“This is important. It is part of our national security,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “It joins the fence that we built along the length of our border with Sinai, which blocked the entry of illegal migrants into Israel and — of course — the various terrorist movements. This step also joins the fence that we built on our border on the Golan Heights.”

This fence is part of a program that hopes to completely circle the allied nation and will cost just under $1 billion. The fence will be built within Israel’s borders and Netanyahu said that it will not interfere with “the sovereignty of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and its national interests.” (Read more from “Israel Building Billion-Dollar High-Tech Anti-ISIS Fence on Jordan Border” HERE)

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This UN Report Shamefully Equates Hamas and Israel

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Photo Credit: Alalam The latest UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) report on Israel (hereafter “the report”) is poorly reasoned and downright bizarre in many ways. This article focuses on one of its glaring flaws and botched legal analyses: Purporting to analyze the legalities of Israel’s actions while ignoring the basic criminal nature of Hamas and its attacks.

Hamas is an extremist Islamic terrorist organization, similar to Al Qaeda and ISIS, committed to annihilating and replacing Israel with an Arab-Muslim theocracy. The Hamas Charter advocates the next Jewish genocide, and Hamas attacks Israeli civilians by numerous means, including indiscriminate rocketings of nearby towns and villages. Israel conducted military operations to stop the rocketing. Gazans were killed because Hamas embedded its operatives within densely populated areas.

The report mostly ignores these basic facts, and places Hamas on the same footing legally as the State of Israel, treating each as “lawful combatants.”

This is wrong. Hamas rocket attacks are criminal, as is the purpose of the organization: to commit genocide. International law authorizes all nation-states to prevent and punish such crimes. Hamas is an international criminal organization, like Al Qaeda or the Colombian Drug Cartel. Characterizing Hamas’ crimes as “military” grants Hamas unwarranted legitimacy.

Worse, the report sidesteps the issue of criminal aggression. Even if it is a “lawful combatant,” Hamas remains liable for all the consequences of its attacks. When examining any conflict for war-crimes, the first issue is identifying the aggressor. All other questions are secondary. Ignoring Hamas aggression renders the report trivial. (Read more from “This UN Report Shamefully Equates Hamas and Israel” HERE)

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