Hezbollah leader slams Saudi attack in Yemen not Israel

March 27, 2015 By administrator

By: By BASSEM MROUE

Hezbollah leader

BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Lebanon’s Shiite Hezbollah group unleashed a tirade against Saudi Arabia on Friday over its intervention in Yemen, calling it “surprising and painful,” and suggesting Riyadh would suffer a “humiliating defeat” if it didn’t resolve the conflict through negotiations. Report whec.com

Hassan Nasrallah rejected Riyadh’s claim that it had assembled a coalition to conduct airstrikes against Shiite Houthi rebels in order to save Yemen, an operation named “Decisive Storm.”

He said that since Israel was created in 1948 “there has been no decisive storm or even a decisive breeze” to help the Palestinians.

Hezbollah, like Yemen’s Houthi rebels, is supported by Iran, which Saudi Arabia views as its main regional rival. Iran has openly armed and assisted Hezbollah since its creation, but both Iran and the Houthis deny it has sent arms to the Yemeni rebels.

“The real reason (for the war) is that Saudi Arabia lost its control and dominance in Yemen and the aim of war is to restore control and hegemony over Yemen. Period,” Nasrallah said.

He condemned what he called a “Saudi-American aggression on Yemen, its people, army, installations, present and future.” The Hezbollah leader called for a political solution in Yemen, warning Saudi Arabia that it will not win the war.

“Throughout history, invaders were defeated and the invaders were humiliated,” Nasrallah said. “The rulers in Saudi Arabia still have an opportunity in order not to face a humiliating defeat.”

Nasrallah said the countries taking part in the military campaign should review their policies. “Should the region go to war because of Saudi money?” he asked.

In some of his harshest comments to date, Nasrallah accused Saudi Arabia of sending suicide attackers to Iraq and of creating the Islamic State group. Addressing Saudi Arabia, he said Iran had expanded its influence in the region because “you are lazy, losers, and you don’t take responsibility.”

US accuses Israel of spying on nuclear talks with Iran

March 24, 2015 By administrator

Israel denies Wall Street Journal reports that it shared confidential information from talks with members of the US Congress in attempt to derail any deal

The US has accused Israel of spying on international negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme and using the intelligence gathered to persuade Congress to undermine the talks, according to a report on Tuesday.

The Wall Street Journal cited senior administration officials as saying the Israeli espionage operation began soon after the US opened up a secret channel of communications with Tehran in 2012, aimed at resolving the decade-long standoff over Iran’s nuclear aspirations.

The apparent decision by the White House to leak the allegations is the latest symptom of the growing gulf between Barack Obama’s administration and Binyamin Netanyahu’s government over the Iran talks, in which the Israeli leader suspects US officials of being ready to make too many concessions at the expense of Israeli security. Intelligence analysts suggested that the leak reflects the degree of anger in Washington at Netanyahu’s actions, and could mark a more serious blow to the already tottering relationship.

The leak has come exactly a week before a deadline for the US-Iranian negotiations in Lausanne to produce a framework agreement.

According to the report, the US has long been aware that Israel is among the shortlist of countries with the most aggressive intelligence operations targeting America, alongside Russia, China and France. It said American diplomats attending the talks in Austria and Switzerland were briefed by US counterintelligence officials about the threat of Israeli eavesdropping. It also raised the possibility that Israel gathered intelligence about the US position by spying on other participants in the negotiations, from western Europe, Russia, China or Iran. US intelligence had previously provided help to the Israelis to spy on the Iranians, the report said.

The US also conducts intelligence operations against Israel, and learned of the Israeli spying operation when it intercepted communication between Israeli officials exchanging classified information that US intelligence believed could only have been acquired by espionage.

“It is one thing for the US and Israel to spy on each other. It is another thing for Israel to steal US secrets and play them back to US legislators to undermine US diplomacy,” the Wall Street Journal quoted a senior US official as saying.

Israel has categorically denied the allegations that it spied on closed-door nuclear negotiations between Iran and the US, however it did not deny that such information had been obtained.

“I think the report is wrong, it is inaccurate,” the outgoing Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, told the country’s Army Radio on Tuesday morning. “The State of Israel obviously has various security interests and we have excellent intelligence services, but we are not engaged in espionage against the United States.” He did not, however, deny information was obtained. Lieberman said: “All the information we gathered was from another entity, not the US.” He added: “We reached a decision a long time ago not to spy on the US and I haven’t come across anyone who has violated that instruction in several decades.”

Ronen Bergman, an expert on the country’s intelligence agencies at the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, said: “Whatever you think of Netanyahu’s position on the Iran talks, if he thinks that Israel’s national security is at stake, he has the right to order the intelligence community to find out what is happening.”

But Bergman – whose book, A History of the Israeli Mossad, will be published next year – added: “What worries me and what should be of high concern to the leaders of Israel is that this is ample proof that the relations at large between the US and Israel are sustaining an earthquake. The fact that it is happening is less worrying than that it was leaked. Also, any intervention by Israel in the inner working of American politics is wrong. If this report is true and Netanyahu’s intervention used intelligence material, then it is just making it worse.”

Yuval Steinitz, the strategic affairs minister and close Netanyahu aide, told Israel’s Channel 2 that the reports were “intended to damage the strong ties between the US and Israel, despite our differences on the Iran issue”.

Israel: Tens of thousands of Israelis take part in anti-Netanyahu rally

March 8, 2015 By administrator

Protesters have flooded into the center of Tel Aviv to voice their unhappiness with the current government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, currently tied with the center-left Zionist Union ahead of a general vote.

Around 25,000 Israelis rallied against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday in Tel Aviv, 10 days ahead of the country’s general election, to call for “change.” Report DW

The protest was orchestrated by the group Million Hands, a grassroots organization dedicated to a peaceful resolution of the conflict between Israel and Palestine and the creation of a Palestinian state. The demonstrators gathered in Tel Aviv’s Yitzhak Rabin Square, named after the first native-born premier of Israel and Nobel Peace laureate, who was assassinated in the square at a peace rally in 1995.

“This is a demonstration by Israeli citizens who are demanding a change of politics, a peace agreement,” said one of the organizers, Dror Ben Ami, speaking with French news agency AFP.

“The current government has failed on the social and economic fronts and has not improved the security situation, the country has broken down…We hope that the left will return,” Ben Ami said.

The demonstration was one of the largest anti-Netanyahu protests to be held in the run-up to the March 17 election and shows the growing discontent with right-wing leadership. Netanyahu’s Likud party is neck and neck with the center-left Zionist Union in opinion polls.

The current government has remained staunchly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.

Meir Dagan, former head of the Israeli spy agency Mossad, delivered a fiery speech against the prime minister to the crowd of thousands.

“Israel has enemies but I do not fear them. What scares me is the current leadership of the country,” Dagan said to wild applause. “Bibi go home!” the crowd shouted back, calling Netanyahu by his nickname.

es/cmk (AFP, AP)

Photos prove cooperation between Israel and al-Nusra Report,

March 5, 2015 By administrator

The undated photo obtained by Press TV shows Israeli soldiers speaking face-to-face with foreign-backed militants near the Israeli occupied Golan heights in Syria.

Press TV has obtained photos showing al-Qaeda-linked militants next to Israeli soldiers in the occupied Golan Heights.

New photos from the Golan Heights further prove Tel Aviv’s support for al-Qaeda-linked militants, especially al-Nusra Front, that have been wreaking havoc in Syria.

The photos obtained by Press TV show Takfiri militants from the terrorist al-Nusra Front next to Israeli soldiers.

Israel is known to have been providing medical, intelligence and military support for militants fighting to topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria. A number of militant commanders wounded in government attacks on terrorist have reportedly been hospitalized in the occupied territories.

The images obtained by Press TV shows Israeli soldiers speaking face-to-face with militants in Golan.
Cooperation aimed at targeting resistance

The Israeli military’s close cooperation with the militants also assisted the regime’s bombing of a convoy belonging to Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah on January 17. The attack led to the killing of six Hezbollah members as well as an Iranian general. Hezbollah later announced that the attack was coordinated between Tel Aviv and the al-Nusra militants.

“The assault has revealed the degree of cooperation between Takfiris and Israel,” Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah deputy leader, said during a ceremony seven days after the Israeli attack in Qunaitra, an area close to the Syrian Israeli border.

Late last year, a UN report confirmed contact between militants in Syria and the Israeli army across the Golan cease-fire line, especially during heavy clashes between the terrorists and the Syrian troops.

The report also confirmed that militants had been taking their wounded comrades into the Israeli-occupied part of the Golan Heights for treatment. The UN also confirmed the delivery of boxes by the Israeli army to militants on the Syrian side of the ceasefire line.

Suspicions of Turkey, Hamas alliance stoke fears in Israel

March 5, 2015 By administrator

By Paul Alster, foxnews

Turkish President Erdogan hosting Hamas leaders Khaled Mashaal

Hamas, the terrorist group perpetually at odds with Israel, has found a willing patron in Turkey, say critics, who allege the NATO member has rolled out the red carpet for the Jewish state’s longtime nemesis, whose official headquarters are now in Istanbul.

Kicked out of Damascus in Syria amid deteriorating relations with the Assad regime, Hamas’ top leadership has established a new office in Istanbul called the ‘West Bank and Jerusalem Headquarters.” With the approval of the Turkish authorities, Salah Al-Arouri, one of the founders of the Al Qassam Brigade (Hamas’ military wing), and who served 15 years in jail in Israel for terrorist offenses, has been directing Hamas’ efforts in the West Bank to overthrow the Palestinian Authority and attack Israel at the same time.

“Turkey has become a Hamas hotbed, and members of the organization’s military wing are undergoing military training on Turkish soil, with the knowledge, support, and assistance of the local authorities,” leading Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot reported last week. “The U.S. administration has appealed in recent months to the Turkish government to prevent Hamas military activity in its territory, arguing that Turkey is a member of NATO and that Hamas is viewed by most NATO members as a terrorist organization. The appeals have gone unanswered.”

“We have expressed worry and displeasure at the fact that Turkey is hosting on its territory high level Hamas officials.”- Emmanuel Nachshon, Israeli Foreign Ministry

In recent years, Turkey was seen as a key player in bridging relations between the West and the Arab world. In 2011, on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a speech at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at the City University of New York, announced the launch of a new global counterterrorism forum.

“We’re bringing together traditional allies, emerging powers, and Muslim-majority countries,” Clinton declared, “around a shared counterterrorism mission in a way that’s never been done before. Turkey and the United States will serve as founding co-chairs and we will be joined by nearly 30 other nations.”

The choice of Turkey as co-chair raised concerns at the time, fears that have been stoked in the three-and-a-half years since. Turkey has been accused of a blind-eye policy regarding Western jihadists moving across its border with Syria, while being increasingly critical of Israel and enthusiastically backed by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s courtship of Hamas, which also enjoys support from Qatar and Iran, came before and during the terrorist group’s 50-day war with Israel last summer. Israel has expressed to allies its concern about Turkey’s role, but Turkish support of Hamas has only become more blatant.

“This is not a new phenomenon,” Emmanuel Nachshon, spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, told FoxNews.com. “We have expressed worry and displeasure at the fact that Turkey is hosting on its territory high-level Hamas officials. We also are extremely worried that this would serve as the basis for the preparation of terrorist acts. These are messages that we have conveyed to Turkey, either directly or through third parties. If you recall, a few months ago the Hamas plot to take over the West Bank was orchestrated, most probably, by Hamas in Turkey.”

Speaking from Turkey last August, Al-Arouri appeared to admit that it was on his instructions that the three Israeli teenagers, whose kidnapping and murder ignited the summer war between Hamas and Israel, were snatched and murdered.

Reports suggest that no less than 20 of the key Hamas terrorists released in return for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in October 2011 are now working alongside Al-Arouri in Istanbul and are active in recruiting and training West Bank residents to return to commit terrorist acts. However, not only is Turkey providing safe haven and material support to Hamas, but the Turks are allegedly also actively involved in the terror training.

“According to Israeli security sources, Turkish intelligence is helping the military wing of Hamas in Turkey,” Yoni Ben Menachem, senior Middle East analyst for the Jerusalem Center of Public Affairs, told FoxNews.com.

As for media speculation that Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal had also moved to Turkey, Ben Menachem says this is most definitely not the case.

“Meshaal has not left Qatar,” he said. “The reports were untrue; this was just spin. He remains in Doha. After King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia’s recent death, the new King Salman is more supportive of Hamas and of Qatar, so Meshaal is staying in Qatar. Hamas is just using the Turkish co-operation.”

While Turkey embraces Hamas, the nation may not even be Hamas’ military leadership’s first choice for a location of exile.

“Even Hamas, which the [Erdogan’s] AK Parti government quite values, is reluctant to carry its leadership to Turkey, firstly because it would rather choose an Arab country and [is] not keen on the idea of Turks leading Arabs, and secondly because it would like to be in an environment that has links with the West and Israel,” Murat Yetkin wrote last week in Hurriyet, Turkey’s leading daily newspaper.

Paul Alster is an Israel-based journalist. Follow him on Twitter @paul_alster and visit his website: www.paulalster.com

Gülenists in Turkey cooperating with Israel’s Mossad, Erdoğan says

January 31, 2015 By administrator

ISTANBUL

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erodoğan said Jan. 31 that the Gülenists in the country, which he dubs “the parallel structure,” have joined forces with the Israeli intelligence service.

“The sincere people backing this parallel structure should see with whom this structure is cooperating with,” Erdoğan said, while addressing a meeting of the All Industrialist and Businessmen’s Association (TÜMSİAD) in Istanbul.

“Shame on them if they still cannot see that this structure is cooperating with the Mossad,” he said.

Erdoğan accuses the followers of the U.S.-based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen for illegal wiretappings and a “coup attempt,” starting from the revelation of a large corruption investigation in December 2013.

The Gülenists did not let the other religious organizations and associations live, Erdoğan said.

Turkey’s relations are tense with Israel since nine Turks and one Turkish-American were killed and several other pro-Palestinian activists were wounded when Israeli commandos stormed the ship Mavi Marmara on May 31, 2010, bound for Gaza.

“They are not national, they are not local;” Erdoğan said for Gülenists. “The ones who are still accompanying them despite all these will face a big shame soon. We were hurt by [Gülenists] and don’t want others to be hurt. I address to those who think they are hiding at political parties, NGOs and associations right near us. They have no excuse in still remaining under that umbrella despite all this scum.”

‘Are you anarchist?’
The president also harshly criticized two former prosecutors in the country’s largest graft probe case that started in December 2013, which is closed both at the regular courts and a parliamentary inspection commission, without giving names.

“A newspaper, which has published the cartoons that insults our prophet, was insulting a prosecutor five years ago,” Erdoğan said.

The president was apparently referring to daily Cumhuriyet, whose two columnists published the small black-and-white images of the Charlie Hebdo cover printed by the French mag after the Paris attacks, and former prosecutor Celal Kara, who was one of the initiators of the graft probe.

“Now you see the same newspaper embracing that prosecutor. And that prosecutor is telling about how they materialized the Dec. 17 coup attempt,” Erdoğan said.

“This is openly a confession of the coup attempt,” he said.

Another graft probe prosecutor, Muammer Akkaş was also a targeted by the president. Criticizing Akkaş for distributing leaflets and making a press statement in front of a court house late in 2013, “Are you an anarchist, How can you distribute leaflets in front of the court house,” Erdoğan asked, still not giving a name.

The president said Jan. 29 in a televised interview that it would be apprapriate if the U.S. deports Gülen.

January/31/2015

Israel Won’t Recognize Genocide, Says Envoy to Baku

January 9, 2015 By administrator

BAKU–Israel does not plan to recognize the Armenian genocide perpetrated by Turkey, Rafael Harpaz, Israel’s ambassador to Azerbaijan has said, Haaretz reported citing the Azerbaijani news portal Trend.

“Israel is a democratic country, everybody has two opinions, not one opinion,” Harpaz said. “The government has a very clear opinion.”

He said Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman had made Israel’s policy clear.

Harpaz told Trend he hoped Israel’s troubled relations with Turkey would improve.

“There are enough common interests and issues in the world for us to cooperate,” Harpaz reportedly said. “I would like to take an example of Turkish Airlines. Turkish Airlines is the biggest foreign airline which is active in Israel. Istanbul is the biggest hub for Israelis. The same goes for tourism, trade which is up. We hope that our political relations with Turkey will improve.”

Harpaz has served as Israel’s ambassador to Azerbaijan since 2012.

Yaron Weiss: No justification for Israel’s position on Armenian Genocide

January 6, 2015 By administrator

Famous pro-Armenian activist in Israel Yaron Weiss calls Armenia and Artsakh “Heaven” and claims there is no justification for Israel that has not recognized the Armenian Genocide so far. He spoke about these and other topics in an interview with press attaché of “Noyan Tapan” Armenian culture center Mendel Korsunksy. Armenian News-NEWS.am presents the full text of the interview.

Yaron, first of all please tell a little bit about you.

I live in a small town in the north part of Israel, married with four children, tourist guide in Armenia & Georgia during the tourist season. For living working in a large Telecom company.

In my spare time I advise backpackers who plan a trip to Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as trying to promote issues such as recognition of the Armenian Genocide and preventing the sale of weapons by Israel to Azerbaijan.

You have traveled a lot to both Armenia and Artsakh, what are your personal experiences from those countries?

For me Armenia and Artsakh are Heaven. The Armenian hospitality is one of the best in the world. The landscapes in Armenia are stunning: rich culture and fascinating history. All this makes Armenia one of the most attractive countries in the world with great potential for tourism.

I would like to know how and when you began to be interested in the matter of the Armenian Genocide.

After my visit to Armenia and reading a lot of academic researches and books on the subject, I felt shame that my country does not recognize the Armenian Genocide. The Jewish people who survived the Holocaust must recognize the crimes that took place against other nations. There is no justification that the government of Israel hasn’t yet recognized the Armenian Genocide. So I am working to change this reality.

President of Israel Reuven Riblin has recently refused to sign a petition for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the state of Israel even though he was always supporting the cause, I would like to know your opinion on this matter.

I was disappointed to hear that Reuven Rivlin the President of Israel refused to renew his signature on a petition calling for recognizing the Armenian genocide. I believe he did it out of the pressure of political elements. But I have a feeling he will still surprise us in the future and his refusal to sign now is part of a political tactic.

On the 99th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide the 24th of April 2014, in front of the Turkish embassy in Tel-Aviv, during your speech you addressed the Israeli government to stop supplying weapons to Azerbaijan, please address this matter.

According to reports in the world press, it seems that Israel is one of the largest arms suppliers of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is one of the few countries in the world that declares openly they need weapons for attacking a neighboring country. Armenia is not threatening Azerbaijan. Since I completely sympathize with the Armenian people, I can’t accept the fact that my country arms the greatest enemy of Armenia. The Israeli people don’t know the truth about it. So therefore we have to tell them about it.

Yaron, what are your wishes to the Armenian people?

Armenian people have always been considered educated and hard-working people. Armenia is a nation of builders. I believe that in the near future Armenia will begin a period of prosperity and will return its former glory.

Palestinians Move to Join International Criminal Court, Defying Israeli and U.S. Warnings

December 31, 2014 By administrator

Palestinians Move to Join International Criminal Court, Defying Israeli and U.S. Warnings

By JODI RUDOREN

JERUSALEM — President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority signed papers Wednesday to join the International Criminal Court, a provocative move that could lead to the prosecution of Israeli officials on charges of war crimes and risks severe sanctions from Washington and Jerusalem.

The defiant step came a day after the defeat of a United Nations Security Council resolution that demanded an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory by 2017. It was billed as part of a strategic shift by the Palestinian leadership to pursue statehood in the international arena after decades of failed American-brokered negotiations with Israel.

“There is aggression practiced against our land and our country, and the Security Council has let us down — where shall we go?” Mr. Abbas said at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, as he signed the Rome Statute, the founding charter of the court, as well as 17 other international treaties and conventions.

“We want to complain to this organization,” he said of the court. “As long as there is no peace, and the world doesn’t prioritize peace in this region, this region will live in constant conflict. The Palestinian cause is the key issue to be settled.”

Mr. Abbas, whose popularity has plummeted since this summer’s battle between Israel and Hamas, has been under increasing pressure from the public and other Palestinian leaders to join the court, and use it to pursue cases against Israel’s settlement policy and military operations. But doing so could have major repercussions, both because Palestinians could also face charges at the court, and because Israel and the United States Congress have promised to respond harshly.

“There is no question mark as to what are the consequences, that there will be immediate American and Israeli financial sanctions,” said Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in the West Bank city of Ramallah. “Those sanctions will gradually become more and more crippling, and this could indeed be the beginning of the end of the P.A. They fully realize that.”

A December poll by Mr. Shikaki’s group showed 35 percent of Palestinians approved of the president’s performance, down from 50 percent before this summer’s war, and that if there were elections, Mr. Abbas, of the secular Fatah party, would lose to his rival from Hamas, the militant Islamist faction that dominates the Gaza Strip. With reconstruction of Gaza after the summer’s devastating war stalled amid ongoing acrimony between Hamas and Fatah despite an April reconciliation pact, analysts said Mr. Abbas was increasingly desperate to show he was doing something.

“They have to take some meaningful steps to recover anything of their really shredded credibility,” Nadia Hijab, executive director of Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network, said of Mr. Abbas’s team.

“That fig leaf of action is growing steadily more tattered,” she added. “They keep saying it’s a new paradigm and they want to use international tools, but now they have actually been put on the spot.”

Website devoted to Armenian Genocide opens in Israel

December 17, 2014 By administrator

The Armenian Genocide 100th Anniversary Jerusalem Committee has launched a website, whose objective is to inform the Israeli readers about this terrible tragedy that occurred at the turn of the 20th century.

The Noyan Tapan Center informed Armenian News-NEWS.am that the creators of this website hope that the activities being carried out within Israel’s population, and in collaboration with the academia and intelligentsia of this country, will have an impact on the Israeli government’s position with respect to this matter.

The website is in Russian and Hebrew so that all layers of the Israeli population may get familiarized with the Armenian Genocide issue.