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Israel military fires missiles against targets near Damascus: attempt to “divert attention away from the successes in Aleppo. Report

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israel-jetIsraeli fighter jets have carried out missile attacks against two targets inside Syria close to the highway connecting the capital Damascus, to the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Syria’s state television reported on Wednesday that the Israeli air force had fired two missiles from the Lebanese airspace towards an area near Damascus. It said the attack had fallen short of causing any casualties.

Syria’s official news agency SANA cite an unnamed military source as saying that the missiles fell on the Saboura area west of Damascus.

The source said the Israeli assault was an attempt to “divert attention away from the successes of” government forces on the battleground against Takfiri militants.

Meanwhile, Rai al-Youm, an Arab world digital news and opinion website, said one of the strikes, it said, hit a Syrian army’s arms depot, while another targeted a number of trucks thought to be carrying weapons and military equipment.

Al-Masdar News, a pan-Arab news and commentary website based in Boston, also said the warplane had fired long-range ‘Popeye’ missiles at the Saboura district,

The air-to-surface missiles have been developed by the Israeli military itself.

“The jet did not penetrate Syrian airspace but did allegedly breach Lebanese airspace in order to come within striking range of its designated target,” it reported.

Israel is widely viewed as a staunch supporter of the Takfiri terrorists operating against the Damascus government.

The regime regularly targets the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, parts of which it has occupied since 1967.

Tel Aviv also provides treatment to anti-Syria Takfiri terrorists who sustain injuries on the battlefield against the Syrian army.

In the past, Israeli jets have time and again carried out sorties inside the Syrian territory under various pretexts.

Back in May, an Israeli strike against Damascus claimed the life of Mustafa Badreddine, a senior Hezbollah commander.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement, which fought off two Israeli wars in 2006 and 2008 at home, has been successfully helping Syria to defend itself in the face of terrorists and to prevent the spillover of the crisis into Lebanon.

Israel wildfires spread in West Bank, more settlers flee

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fireHundreds of more Israeli settlers have fled as wildfires spread through areas near settlements in the occupied West Bank.

A police spokeswoman said on Saturday that nearly 1,000 settlers were forced to leave the Halamish settlement near the  West Bank city of Ramallah as 45 settler units were damaged or destroyed by the fires.

Fires were also reported approaching the settlements of Dolev, Alfei Menashe, and Karnei Shomron in the d West Bank. No evacuations were reported there, however.

A lack of downpours together with very dry air and strong easterly winds contributed to the spread of the fires this week across the Israeli-occupied lands.

Israeli officials have suggested, however, that Arabs or Palestinians may be to blame for some of the blazes.

The Israeli police spokeswoman further said that they had arrested 14 people on suspicion of sparking the fires either deliberately or by negligence, without giving details on their identities.

Firefighting planes have arrived from Russia,, Greece, France, Spain, and Canada and continue to battle the fires at affected locations, including the village of Nataf near Jerusalem al-Quds.

People in Haifa, the hardest-hit city, have begun to return to assess the damage. The fire forced tens of thousands of them to flee on Thursday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday there was “no doubt” some of the fires reported had been set deliberately.

Earlier, the Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the regime in Tel Aviv is “exploiting the fire” to level new allegations against Palestinians.

“What is burning are our trees and our land of historical Palestine,” said the West Bank-based movement in a statement.

The Palestinians reportedly joined the efforts overnight to put out the fires, sending 41 firefighters and eight trucks to Haifa.

Is Azerbaijan Buying Israel’s Iron Dome will stand up to Armenia’s Iskanders

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iskanderby Joshua Kucera,

Azerbaijani officials and several media sources have reported that Baku is working on a deal with Israel to buy the “Iron Dome” air defense system. The deal would be a blockbuster, as the legendary Iron Dome is a state-of-the-art system that has dramatically reduced the number of rocket attacks on Israel but has yet to be exported anywhere else.

In spite of the widespread reports, Azerbaijan is highly unlikely to actually purchase the Iron Dome, a very costly system that is technically incapable of meeting Azerbaijan’s needs. The prevalence of the reports, however, seems to speak to a continuing concern within Azerbaijan that its foe, Armenia, may have gained a step on it in the arms race.

Last month, Azerbaijani member of parliament Yedva Abramov reported that the Iron Dome was “ready for delivery” to Azerbaijan. Abramov said that the system would render ineffective the Iskander missiles that Armenia recently acquired from Russia. “This system will not allow the Iskander rockets to hit the ground,” Abramov said.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is scheduled to visit Baku in December, and Israeli media, citing unnamed sources, backed up Abramov’s assertion that an Iron Dome deal would be on the agenda. That news was picked up then by a number of relatively respectable outlets including the Times of Israel; the Russian think tank, Center for Analysis of the World Arms Trade; and the U.S. trade publication Defense Industry Daily. 

So why is this unlikely? For one, the cost: a single battery (consisting of two launchers, a radar and control center) runs an estimated $50 million. Israel, a quarter of the area of Azerbaijan, has an estimated ten batteries. A single rocket for the system costs $100,000. This while oil prices have crashed and Azerbaijan is cutting its budget, including zeroing out the special line item it had used for weapons procurement. Azerbaijan might be able to afford this, but it would be an extravagance that would require it to make many other budget sacrifices.

Secondly, the Iron Dome is not capable of countering Armenia’s Iskanders. It has a maximum range of 70 kilometers, which makes it fine for the rockets, such as Katyushas, that Palestinian militants fire into Israel. But the Iskanders that Armenia has have a range of 300 kilometers. “This system is useless for Azerbaijan,” said Zaur Shiriyev, a Baku-based associate at the British think tank Chatham House, in an email interview with The Bug Pit.

Shiriyev attributes the spread of the Iron Dome rumors to concern about the Iskanders. “Especially after Armenia acquired the Iskander missiles, the media and public in Azerbaijan have been hungry for such news,” he said.

(It should also be noted that Abramov has a record of excitedly promoting Azerbaijan-Israel defense cooperation; earlier this month he claimed that Israel’s Mossad special forces foiled an Iranian attack on the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest in Baku.)

Azerbaijan is definitely looking at something to improve its air defense capabilities in light of the Iskander purchase, whether from France, Pakistan, or elsewhere. But the Iron Dome is pretty unlikely.

Source: http://www.eurasianet.org/node/81301

Israel to Issue Stamp in Honor of Aznavour’s Parents for Saving Jews

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Aznavour Family (Source: ArmRadio)

Aznavour Family (Source: ArmRadio)

NEW YORK (ArmRadio)—In a recent meeting held in New York with the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation (IRWF), representatives Mordecai Paldiel and Zvika Kichel, Charles Aznavour confirmed the riveting story of courage in which his late parents, Knar and Mischa, as well as his sister Aida and himself, had played a key role during the dark days of the Nazi occupation in France.

With a great sense of humbleness, Aznavour told how his parents gave shelter at their own home to Jews, Armenians and others who were persecuted by the Nazis. By so doing, the Aznavours had given the gift of life to other, while risking their own.

The IRWF has resolved to set-up a special research team to further investigate the feats of the Aznavour family and at the same time, all the Board Members of the NGO have unanimously decided to pay tribute to the Aznavours.

In a personal letter signed by the Chairman of the IRWF, Eduardo Eurnekian and by its Founder, Baruch Tenembaum, Aznavour was greeted on his 92th birthday and informed about two initiatives. The first one is to commission a special commemorative stamp to be issued by the Israel Postal Authority with the semblance of Mischa and Knar Aznavour, Charles’s late parents. The second one is to award the Raoul Wallenberg Medal to both siblings, Aida and Charles Aznavour, who as young people helped their parents in their life-saving mission.

Eurnekian said “The Aznavour family is an example of humble and decent people who did not stand idly by when faced with evil. His mother, Knar, nee Baghdasarian, was a survivor of the Armenian Genocide and she understood the plight of the Jewish people and all those who were brutally persecuted by Nazism. It is our duty to recognize the heroism of the Aznavour family and instill their spirit of civic courage in the hearts and minds of the young generations.”

Dear Mr. Aznavour,

Let us start this letter by congratulating you on 92th birthday! We wish you good health and many more years of productiveness in your artistic, diplomatic and humanitarian activities!

We would like to thank you once again for having agreed to meet our Dr. Mordecai Paldiel and Mr. Zvika Kichel in New York. We watched the video of this meeting and were deeply moved by your humble approach and the courageous deeds undertaken by your dear late parents, your sister Aida and yourself, during the dark days of Holocaust. We also thank your son, Nicolas, for having arranged this gathering in such an efficient way.

As a result of this preliminary audience, we have instructed our research team to try and secure more information about the feats of your family during WWII and of course, we shall keep you duly posted.

At the same time, in a special meeting held by our Board, it has been unanimously resolved to pay tribute to your late parents, Mischa and Knar, as well as both you and Aida, as a token of recognition to your spirit of solidarity. The fact that you have given shelter and protection at your own home, to people from all faiths who were persecuted by the Nazis, is something that has to be remembered and recognized. We have therefore resolved to ask the Israeli Postal Authorities to make a special and limited stamp issue dedicated to your late parents. Should this be agreeable, our team in Israel will contact Nicolas with some administrative information (we would need some good photos of your parents as well as a written authorization from you to approach the Israel Postal Authorities).

Furthermore, it was decided to bestow upon you and your sister Aida, a special award, the Raoul Wallenberg Medal, in recognition of the role you played during the Shoah and for your staunch and consistent support of humanitarian causes.

As soon as we receive the acceptance from you and your sister, we shall coordinate with you the details and logistics of the award ceremony.

Thanking you in advance, we remain at your disposal should you require any further information on our end.”

Expert: Armenian Iskanders will make Azerbaijan dip into its purse

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iskander-weaponIf Israel is ready for the information leak of its weaponry, it can definitely continue selling arms and anti-ballistic missile defense to Azerbaijan.

Military expert Arkadi Ghukasyan said the aforementioned, commenting upon the request of Armenian News – NERWS.am on Azerbaijan’s hysteria on occasion of Russia’s sale of Iskander missile systems to Armenia.

Since the demonstration of Iskander systems at the military parade in Yerevan, the Azerbaijani press began disseminating news on the purchase of weaponry from Turkey and Israel, including purchase of Iron Dome missile defense system.

“Firstly, Israel risks giving Iran, Russia and Turkey all its secrets on a plate. If Israel has concerns about this, it can definitely carry out the supplies. But there is one problem, which the Azerbaijani media keeps silent on: Iron Dome is not designed for counteracting weaponry like Iskander,” the expert noted.

In his words, in this case the issue might concern a more developed Israeli system ARROW 2, or Hetz, if, of course, Israel agrees to sell it to Azerbaijan.  “Such a system is incredibly expensive, not guaranteeing full security. Moreover, no anti-ballistic missile system can provide absolute guarantees of security,” the expert concluded.

Syria ‘shoots down Israeli jet, drone’

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syria-shotdown

A picture taken from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on September 10, 2016 shows smoke rising from the Syrian village of Jubata al-Khashab after Israeli airstrikes against Syrian army positions. (By AFP)

The Syrian army says it has shot down an Israeli warplane and a drone inside Syria following an Israeli attack on Syrian army positions in the south, state media report.

Syria’s official SANA news cited the Syrian military as saying that the intruding aircraft had been detected and targeted by the country’s air defense system while they were striking Syrian military positions. The warplane, it said, was downed in western Quneitra and the drone in an area called Sa’sa’ and located on the Damascus Reef.

Soon after the report, the Israeli military denied that any of its aircraft had been shot down in Syria, claiming that two missiles were fired at them during the airstrike on Quneitra but missed.

Israeli fighter jets had attacked two Syrian army cannons in the Golan Heights, where Quneitra is located, early on Tuesday morning. It was the fifth such attack in just over a week.

Israel seized parts of the Golan Heights from Syria after the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it in a move that has never been recognized by the international community.

source; http://presstv.com/Detail/2016/09/13/484460/Syria-army-downing-Israeli-jet-drone

Israeli MP: Tel Aviv aiding al-Nusra in Syria

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This picture taken on August 6, 2016 shows members of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terrorist group sitting in a trench in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. ©AFP

This picture taken on August 6, 2016 shows members of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terrorist group sitting in a trench in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. ©AFP

An Israeli lawmaker has criticized the Tel Aviv regime for supporting Takfiri terrorists who are fighting in Syria to topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, Akram Hasson said the Fateh al-Sham terrorist group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, is operating in Syria with “unprecedented logistical and medical” support from Israel.

He said Israel’s recent escalation of attacks on the Syrian army positions in the Golan Heights are aimed at paving the way for the terrorist group to gain more grounds.

Golan belongs to Syria, and the international community has never recognized Israel’s occupation of around 1,200 square km (460 square miles) of the territory during the 1967 Six-Day War and its annexation later.

Scores of illegal settlements have been built in the area over the years while the Israeli regime has used the area to launch attacks against the Syrian government and its allies.

Israel has recently intensified its airstrikes on the Golan Heights, targeting the Syrian army and the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah, which is assisting Damascus in the fight against Takfiri terrorists.

The Israeli lawmaker further said that the Fateh al-Sham terrorist group is bombing the Syrian Druze village of Khadr, with the support of Israeli Minister of Military Affairs Avigdor Lieberman.

“This new strategy led by Lieberman since he took office has strengthened the Nusra Front and it’s raising its head to attack our brothers,” Hasson wrote.

Citing eyewitnesses, Hasson said the Takfiri terrorist group is using advanced technological equipment, adding Israel’s strategic support has been broadened over the past few months.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

Damascus has blamed regional players, including Saudi Arabia and Israel, for supporting Takfiri militants inside the country.

Turkey reEstablishing Relation with Israel hoping “Intelligence cooperation” on Kurds that U.S did not provide

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turkey-isral relationRecently, a draft agreement on normalization between Turkey and Israel was submitted to the Turkish parliament. It is expected to be approved in the coming days.

According to the document, within 25 days, compensation to the tune of $20 million will be paid to the families and relatives of those killed on the Mavi Marmara ship during a conflict on May 31, 2010.

This move will relieve the legal and criminal responsibility from the Israeli troops involved in the operation. The Mavi Marmara case will be closed.

In an interview with Sputnik, Turkish political analyst Ozlem Tur said Ankara wants to normalize ties with Israel in a bid to break the regional isolation of Turkey.

“Why did Turkey come up with such an agreement? I think the reason is the situation in the region. Turkey is seeking ways to break the isolation provoked by its foreign policy. This agreement is very important for Ankara,” she said.

Moreover, the Turkish government believes that Israel is interested in cooperation with Turkey, especially in energy.

At the same time, for a long time the Israeli government insisted it had no need for cooperation with Turkey since it had “alternative options.”

However, after Ankara sent a clear signal of normalization, Israel accepted the offer, partially because of the need to find new partners in the region.

“Ties between Turkey and Israel will be based on mutual benefits, with respect to the interest of each country. And only time will tell how far this cooperation could go. What is also important, it will depend on the situation in Syria because Turkey-Israel normalization is part of the regional security,” the analyst pointed out.

Another key factor in the process is the Kurdish problem. Turkey is likely to ask Israel for help, including sharing intelligence data.

“I think the initial impulse for normalization was not energy but the security situation in the Middle East,” she added.

“Intelligence cooperation is very important for Turkey’s policy towards Kurds. Tel-Aviv’s assistance is of strategic importance for Ankara. Turkey wants the assistance it hasn’t receive from the United States, from Israel. Cooperation with Israel will help Turkey prevent undesired scenarios in the Kurdish problem,” she said.

Normalization with Israel is geo-strategically important for Turkey despite criticism from the Arab world because cooperation with Tel-Aviv would help resolve such priority issues as the Syrian crisis and the Kurdish problem, the analyst concluded.

Source: http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160819/1044444137/turkey-israel-normalization.html

Israel: Knesset Education Committee recognizes #ArmenianGenocide

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Chairman of the Education, Culture, and Sports Committee Yaakov Margi in the Knesset on February 24, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Chairman of the Education, Culture, and Sports Committee Yaakov Margi in the Knesset on February 24, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Chair Yakov Margi urges house speaker to declare that Israel’s parliament considers 1915 mass killing a genocide

BY MARISSA NEWMAN August 1, 2016

The Knesset’s Education, Culture and Sports Committee on Monday announced it recognizes the Armenian genocide and urged the government to formally acknowledge the 1915 mass slaughter of 1.5 Armenians as such.

“It is our moral obligation to recognize the Armenian genocide,” said committee chair Yakov Margi (Shas) at a committee meeting. div-gpt-ad-BTF_MPU_2

Margi expressed regret that the State of Israel does not currently recognize the genocide by Ottoman Turks 101 years ago, and called on Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein to do so.

Israel’s refusal thus far to formally recognize the Armenian slaughter as genocide is based on geopolitical and strategic considerations, primary among them its relations with Turkey, which vehemently denies that Ottoman Turks committed genocide. Israel and Turkey signed a rapprochement deal in June, upgrading their diplomatic relationship after years of frosty ties worsened by a fatal melee between IDF soldiers and Turkish activists aboard a Gaza-bound ship in 2010.

During Monday’s meeting, Meretz MK Zehava Galon, Zionist Union MKs Zouheir Bahloul and Nahman Shai, and Joint (Arab) List MK Dov Khenin voiced support for the measure.

Earlier this month, Edelstein (Likud) urged Israel to recognize the Armenian genocide, despite the friction it might cause with Turkey.

“We must not ignore, belittle or deny this terrible genocide,” Edelstein declared as the Knesset marked the 1915 mass killing. “We must disconnect the current interests, bound to this time and place, from the difficult past, of which this dark chapter is a part.”

President Reuven Rivlin, who was one of the most outspoken advocates for recognition of the genocide during his time as Knesset speaker, eschewed using the term during the centenary commemoration last year, disappointing Armenian leaders. He used it, however, several weeks earlier at a different event.

Israel’s ongoing denial of the Armenian genocide has thus far survived several debates in the Knesset and even efforts by a former education minister to add the topic to school curricula.

Raphael Ahren and news agencies contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.timesofisrael.com/knesset-education-committee-recognizes-armenian-genocide/

Turkish General Akin Öztürk Suspected mastermind coup served as military attaché to Israel

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Turkey's former prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu being briefed by General Akin Öztürk

Turkey’s former prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu being briefed by General Akin Öztürk

A main suspect in the failed coup against the Turkish government formerly served as a military attaché to Israel, reports say.

General Akin Öztürk, also the former commander of Turkey’s air force, was arrested on Saturday along with at least five other generals in connection to the failed coup.

From 1998 to 2000, Öztürk served in Turkey’s Tel Aviv embassy and later went on to serve as the air force commander until he stepped down last year. He retained his seat in Turkey’s Supreme Military Council.

Turkey has announced that Öztürk and his alleged partners will be tried over treason charge

According to Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, those behind the coup will not face the death penalty as it is against the country’s constitution, but constitutional changes are being considered to block future coups.

Prior to the coup, Öztürk was a celebrated military figure, honored by medals from his own country and NATO.

The coup attempt started on Friday evening when tanks took up positions on two bridges over the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul, blocking traffic.

On Saturday, Turkey announced that the failed attempt to seize control of the country by a faction of the armed forces is now over, with 2,839 soldiers, including high-ranking officers being arrested.

Yildirim also said that 161 people had been killed and 1,440 wounded in clashes in the night he called a “black stain on Turkish democracy.”

Erdogan’s military aide detained after coup: Media

A top military adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been detained in the wake of the recent abortive coup, local media say.

The state-run Anadolu news agency said Sunday that Colonel Ali Yazici, who started working for Erdogan in August 2015, is accused of involvement in the coup plot and was in the Turkish capital of Ankara during the weekend violence.

The detention came after Ankara launched an intensive crackdown on the judiciary and the military, with over 6,000 people reportedly arrested over the coup attempt.

 

Source: http://presstv.com/Detail/2016/07/16/475524/turkey-coup-israel-attach