LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

September 18/16

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For Today
And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 12/31-36/:"Now is the judgement of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. The crowd answered him, ‘We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains for ever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?’ Jesus said to them, ‘The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.’ After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them."

With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day
Second Letter of Peter 03/01-09/:"This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you; in them I am trying to arouse your sincere intention by reminding you that you should remember the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Saviour spoken through your apostles. First of all you must understand this, that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and indulging their own lusts and saying, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation!’ They deliberately ignore this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed out of water and by means of water, through which the world of that time was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgement and destruction of the godless. But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance."

Question: “What are the lost books of the Bible?”
GotQuestions.org/Answer: There are no “lost books” of the Bible, or books that were taken out of the Bible, or books missing from the Bible. Every book that God intended to be in the Bible is in the Bible. There are many legends and rumors of lost books of the Bible, but the books were not, in fact, lost. Rather, they were rejected. There are literally hundreds of religious books that were written in the same time period as the books of the Bible. Some of these books contain true accounts of things that actually occurred (1 Maccabees, for example). Others contain some good spiritual teaching (the Wisdom of Solomon, for example). However, these books are not inspired by God. If we read any of these books, such as the Apocryphal ones mentioned above, we have to treat them as fallible religious/historical books, not as the inspired, inerrant Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The gospel of Thomas, for example, was a forgery written in the 3rd or 4th century A.D., claiming to have been written by the apostle Thomas. It was not written by Thomas. The early Christians almost universally rejected the gospel of Thomas as heretical. It contains many false and heretical things that Jesus supposedly said and did. None of it (or at best very little of it) is true. The gospel of Barnabas was not written by the biblical Barnabas, but by an imposter. The same can be said of the gospel of Philip, the apocalypse of Peter, etc. All of these books, and the many others like them, are known as the pseudepigrapha, essentially meaning “falsely ascribed to an author.”There is one God. The Bible has one Creator. It is one book. It has one plan of grace, recorded from initiation, through execution, to consummation. From predestination to glorification, the Bible is the story of God redeeming His chosen people for the praise of His glory. As God’s redemptive purposes and plan unfold in Scripture, the recurring themes constantly emphasized are the character of God, the judgment for sin and disobedience, the blessing for faith and obedience, the Lord and Savior and His sacrifice for sin, and the coming kingdom and glory. It is God’s intention that we know and understand these themes because our lives and eternal destinies depend upon them. It is therefore unthinkable that God would allow some of this vital information to be “lost” in any way. The Bible is complete, in order that we who read and understand it might also be “complete, and equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). **Recommended Resource: Recovering the Real Lost Gospel: Reclaiming the Gospel as Good News by Darrell Bock

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on September 17-18/16

Future scoffs at notion of Hariri backing Aoun for president/Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star/September 17/16
IDF: Up to 400 Israeli Civilians Could be Killed in Future All-Out Missile and Rocket Assault on Home Front/Barney Breen-Portnoy/ the Algemeiner/September 17/16
Coats That Borrow/Samir Atallah/Asharq/Al Awsat/September 17/16
The U.K.’s Nuclear Gamble/Mark Gilbert/AsharqAl Awsat/September 17/16
Iran’s Terrorism in the New York Times/Salman Al-dossary/Asharq Al Awsat/September 17/16
Israel's New Memorandum of Understanding (MOU): The Money and the Message/David Makovsky/The Washington Institute/September 17/16
Judging Kerry's 'Secret' Syria Agreement with Russia/Andrew J. Tabler/The Washington Institute/September 17/16
Shimon Peres and the genesis of the Oslo Accords/Tovah Lazaroff/Jerusalem Post/September 17/16

Titles For Latest Lebanese Related News published on on September 17-18/16
Delusions of grandeur
Future scoffs at notion of Hariri backing Aoun for president/Hussein Dakroub
Bou Saab denies FPM involvement in Hariri backing Aoun rumor
Report: Geagea Says Aoun's Chances for Presidency 'Fading'
Report: Berri Advises Salam against 'Executing' the Government
Qaouq: Marginalization a Recipe towards Destruction
Salam Travels to New York for U.N. Meeting on Refugees
Statement Attributed to IS Surfaces Hours before Sidon Festival
Israel Readies for 1,500 Rockets a Day from Hizbullah, Hamas
Qazzi Says Talks with Syrian Government Needed to Address Refugees Crisis

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on September 17-18/16

IDF: Up to 400 Israeli Civilians Could be Killed in Future All-Out Missile and Rocket Assault on Home Front
Putin Says Syrian Army Honoring Truce, Rebels 'Regrouping'
Fragile Syria Truce Tested by Violence, U.S.-Russia Tensions
Intermittent Shelling, Clashes across Syria
Former Israel Envoy to Moscow: Despite Cooperation in Syria, Russia Does Not Trust Iran as Foreign Policy Partner
Turkey Police Detain IS Suspects Believed to Plan Attack
Obama to Meet Abadi at U.N as Mosul Offensive Looms
Peres Condition Stable after Stroke
Not All Observers Welcome for Morocco's Elections

Links From Jihad Watch Site for on September 17-18/16
Pope Francis: Welcoming refugees “our greatest security against hateful acts of terrorism”
Trump: “People who warn about radical Islamic terrorism are not Islamophobes”
Reza Aslan claims that since 2002, right-wing terrorists have killed far more Americans than Islamic terrorists
Australia’s PM warns against “seeking to demonize or denigrate all Muslims”
Muslim who slashed NY cop with meat cleaver was deemed “not a terror threat” after screaming “Allahu akbar” outside synagogue
Robert Spencer in FrontPage: Obama’s Fantasy Eid al-Adha

Links From Christian Today Site for on September 17-18/16
Suicide bomber kills at least 25 in Pakistani mosque
Four suicide bombers killed after they target Christians in Pakistan
Pakistan: 5,000 arrested after Lahore bombing as Christians call for protection
Lahore attacks: How should Christians respond?
Teen Christian boy 'murdered' and hung from a tree in Pakistan
Al Shabaab attacks Somali town near Kenyan border, kill seven troops
Syria truce 'will not hold out' says senior rebel source
Syria ceasefire deal in balance as Aleppo aid plan stalls
Iraq after the peace: Will Christians ever be safe again?
Meet the Christians who love their enemies, even when it's ISIS

Latest Lebanese Related News published on on September 17-18/16
Delusions of grandeur
The Daily Star/ Sep. 17, 2016/The Lebanese discovered Friday morning that their greatest concern had been resolved: They would finally have a president. However, as is often the case with such euphoric and unexpected experiences, they woke up soon after, realizing it had been but a dream.
But this particular dream was not the byproduct of an unusually rich supper the previous night, but in fact a result of the superficiality of Lebanon’s bankrupt media which, in its zeal to obtain a scoop at any cost, jumped without verification on a report by a source that suggested all hurdles to the presidency had been removed and Michel Aoun would soon become the country’s next head of state. Of course, by lunchtime the source had denied and rescinded any such statement, which only served to underscore the media’s immaturity and complete lack of professionalism, which is nothing less than an insult to the higher standards of true journalism. But what’s really astounding is that the even after the report was disproved and the euphoria faded, members of Aoun’s party were still living in an alternate reality where the presidency was in their pocket and these muppets had actually begun to engineer the setup of the Cabinet and state institutions. There can be no excuse for such behavior. The Lebanese people have suffered from enough fabrications and lies to last them a lifetime, and the last thing they need is irresponsible declarations that callously play with their emotions. These are the actions of children and certainly cannot be condoned when carried out by supposed professionals, or those cowboys pretending to be politicians who, unfortunately, continue to impact our lives.

Future scoffs at notion of Hariri backing Aoun for president
Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star/September 17/16
BEIRUT: Senior Future Movement officials Friday scoffed at media reports claiming that former Prime Minister Saad Hariri had decided to support MP Michel Aoun’s presidential bid, dismissing them as nothing more than an FPM dream.
They also reiterated the Future bloc’s commitment to supporting Marada Movement leader MP Sleiman Frangieh’s candidacy to fill the top Christian post left vacant since the end of former President Michel Sleiman’s term in May 2014.
Asked to comment on reports that officials of the Free Patriotic Movement were spreading the idea that Hariri members of his bloc would attend a Parliament session on Sept. 28 to vote to elect Aoun president, a senior Future source told The Daily Star the notion “is entirely baseless. It is wishful thinking and an act of madness. It’s a midsummer dream.”
“We are committed to supporting MP Sleiman Frangieh’s candidacy,” the source said, painting a gloomy picture about an early election of a Lebanese president. “Nothing will happen before the U.S. presidential elections [in November]. Regional and international powers want to know what kind of a deal would be reached [on regional conflicts] with the next U.S. president,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Future MP Ammar Houri emphatically denied reports claiming that Nader Hariri, chief of Hariri’s staff, had contacted Aoun to inform him of Hariri’s decision to attend the Sept. 28 Parliament session to vote for him.
“Nader Hariri is unaware of this matter,” Houri told the Voice of Lebanon radio station. Later speaking to The Daily Star, Houri said: “The Future Movement’s stance on the presidency has not changed. We still support Marada Movement leader MP Sleiman Frangieh.”
Asked if Future support for Aoun, who is backed by Hezbollah, the Lebanese Forces and some March 8 allies for the presidency, is out of the question, Houri said: “We support MP Frangieh.”
Houri stressed that Hariri, who is currently in France, will not launch any new initiative aimed at breaking the presidential deadlock, now in its third year, when he returns to Beirut.
“[Former] Prime Minister Hariri last year announced an initiative by endorsing MP Sleiman Frangieh’s candidacy for the presidency. The ball is now in the court of the other [March 8] side,” he said. “The other side must come up with new ideas or initiatives to resolve the presidential crisis.” Frangieh’s nomination was part of an internationally backed initiative aimed at ending the presidential vacuum.
The presidential race is currently pitting Aoun against Frangieh, who is backed by Speaker Nabih Berri, Hariri, MP Walid Jumblatt and some independent lawmakers.
Former MP Ghattas Khoury, an adviser to Hariri, said after meeting LF chief Samir Geagea Tuesday that Hariri’s return to Beirut would revive the presidency issue in a different manner. He did not elaborate.
Commenting on Khoury’s statement, some media reports said that the head of the Future Movement, increasingly losing hope with the candidacies of Aoun and Frangieh being able to end the presidential void, might resort to searching for a third, consensual candidate acceptable to the rival March 8 and March 14 camps.But Houri denied that Hariri might resort to this option.
Last month, former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, head of the Future Movement’s parliamentary bloc, advised the FPM to stop betting on a change of heart within his bloc to back Aoun’s presidential bid.
Aoun has been counting on support from Hariri to boost his chances for the presidency. A number of lawmakers from Aoun’s Change and Reform parliamentary bloc have said that the FPM was still waiting for a final response from Hariri to the ongoing negotiations between the FPM and the Future Movement over the presidency issue.
MP Walid Khoury from the FPM said that channels of communication between his party and the Future Movement have been “open for a while and might crystallize in the next few days.” He neither denied nor confirmed that phone contact was made between Aoun and Nader Hariri on the issue.
Referring to the FPM’s planned escalatory measures against the government over alleged marginalization of Christians in state posts, Khoury told Voice of Lebanon: “Street protests are not directed against anyone. They are meant to raise the voice and say ‘Enough injustice’ amid the complex situation.”
In addition to boycotting Cabinet sessions over the extension of senior military officials’ terms, the FPM announced Wednesday that it would stage protests on Sept. 28 and Oct. 13 in response to perceived slights in the Cabinet and at national dialogue sessions which have been indefinitely suspended.
But Minister of State for Administrative Reform Nabil de Freij from the Future bloc implicitly criticized FPM leader and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil’s recent escalatory statements against the party’s opponents, saying such statements would lead only to further extremism.
“I am one of those who consider the high-tone sectarian rhetoric as harmful to Christians in this country. When this country was founded, it had one concept, which is that of moderation,” de Freij told reporters after meeting Beirut Metropolitan Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elias Audi.
“Unfortunately, the statements and remarks we hear today from some parties who consider themselves representatives of Christians in Lebanon – they don’t represent me [as] a Christian,” he said. He added that Bassil’s escalatory speeches in the past few days would only lead to counterextremism that would jeopardize sectarian coexistence in Lebanon.
“Everyone must return to some rationalism and realism and each one must understand and accept the other’s concerns. This is the only way to save our country,” de Freij said.

Bou Saab denies FPM involvement in Hariri backing Aoun rumor
The Daily Star/Sep. 17, 2016 /BEIRUT: Education Minister Elias Bou Saab said that media reports that former Prime Minister Saad Hariri had decided to support MP Michel Aoun’s presidential bid did not originate from the Free Patriotic Movement. In an interview with the Lebanese daily Al-Joumhouria published Saturday, the FPM minister said that the rumor came instead from those who are denying it. He seemed to be referring to the Future Movement officials, who have dismissed the rumor as nothing more than an FPM dream. “Rabieh has nothing to do with these rumors. Gen. Aoun has clarified more than once that everything that is not issued by the office of the Free Patriotic Movement in an official statement does not concern us, and we have absolutely nothing to with it,” Bou Saab said. He added that these rumors are aimed at creating confusion and causing a distraction, and that political contacts are ongoing between all Lebanese parties to end the more than two-year presidential vacuum. Officials belonging to the Future Movement reiterated Friday their commitment to supporting Marada Movement leader MP Sleiman Frangieh’s candidacy to fill the top Christian post, which has been left vacant since the end of former President Michel Sleiman’s term in May 2014. The presidential race is currently pitting Aoun against Frangieh, who is backed by Speaker Nabih Berri, Hariri, MP Walid Jumblatt and some independent lawmakers. Meanwhile, Aoun is supported by Hezbollah, the Lebanese Forces and some March 8 allies for the presidency.

Report: Geagea Says Aoun's Chances for Presidency 'Fading'
Naharnet/September 17/16/Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea acknowledged that chances of getting founder of the Free Patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun to the presidential post have almost faded, media reports said on Saturday. “The possibilities for MP Michel Aoun to become a president are almost non-existent,” Geagea was quoted as saying. His comments came during a meeting with a delegation of mayors from the Keserwan area that visited the LF leader a few days ago. The reports surfaced after a meeting was held between Geagea and the adviser of al-Mustaqbal Movement chief ex-MP Ghattas Khoury. Khoury was dispatched by ex-PM and Mustaqbal chief Saad Hariri to meet Geagea early this week and the discussions focused on finding a way to record a breakthrough in the file of the presidency. Unnamed sources quoted senior Mustaqbal figures and said: “Crazy are those who believe that Saudi Arabia will give the green light for the election of, the ally of Iran's ally, as a president at a time when the dispute is raging between the two regional powers.” Meanwhile, LF sources said that Geagea had pointed out that “currently there is a difficulty to elect Aoun as president because Hizbullah does not want a president.” Therefore Geagea tried to persuade Khoury into forming a trio panel that includes Aoun, Hariri and himself to convince Hizbullah into the election of Aoun. Lebanon has been without a president since the term of Michel Suleiman ended in May 2014 and Hizbullah, Aoun's Change and Reform bloc and some of their allies have been boycotting the parliament's electoral sessions, stripping them of the needed quorum. Hariri, who is close to Saudi Arabia, launched an initiative in late 2015 to nominate Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency but his proposal was met with reservations from the country's main Christian parties as well as Hizbullah. The supporters of Aoun's presidential bid argue that he is more eligible than Franjieh to become president due to the size of his parliamentary bloc and his bigger influence in the Christian community.

Report: Berri Advises Salam against 'Executing' the Government
Naharnet/September 17/16/Speaker Nabih Berri voiced warnings that shall Prime Minister Tammam Salam fail to call the cabinet members for meetings, he would be as if encouraging the cabinet's termination, An Nahar daily reported on Saturday. “Shall PM Salam fail to call for cabinet meetings, it would be as if he is contributing to its obstruction, if not to say its execution,” the daily quoted visitors to Berri. The Speaker had announced to his visitors that he would have preferred that Salam scheduled a cabinet meeting before heading to New York, “but Salam does not want to escalate things,” he remarked. Salam traveled to New York to participate in the United Nations General Assembly on September 19. Berri's visitors have quoted him as saying that he “approves holding the cabinet meetings when the constitutional quorum is achieved, as in accordance with the constitution.”He was referring to the latest cabinet meeting that convened in the presence of two thirds of the ministers which the Free Patriotic Movement described as “unconstitutional” and “does not conform with the National Pact.”“The most dangerous thing we face today in addition to the waste of time is that there is no unified vision for a solution. But I repeat what I said before, if we do not agree on what follows the presidency, then there will be no president,” concluded the Speaker.

Qaouq: Marginalization a Recipe towards Destruction
Naharnet/September 17/16/Hizbullah's deputy Executive Council leader, Sheikh Nabil Qaouq said that marginalizing a major faction in Lebanon is the “perfect recipe for the country's destruction,” the state-run National News Agency said on Saturday. “When a major (political) component in Lebanon has a feeling that it is being excluded, marginalized and targeted, it would be considered a perfect recipe for the destruction of the country,” said Qaouq during a commemoration ceremony held in south Lebanon. “Our awareness of this fact has compelled us to open the door to additional efforts in an attempt to save the country from the worst, particularly that Lebanon cannot endure additional divisions while the region is witnessing fateful changes on more than one level,”added Qaouq. Turning to Saudi Arabia, Qaouq launched a verbal attack against the kingdom and said: “Saudi Arabia declared today a face-to-face war against the Muslims and without (wearing) a mask. It is destroying Yemen, entering Bahrain and fueling the war in Syria. It has even become the most country in the Arab and Muslim world that spends on armaments. Moderation has gone with the wind in front of the perpetration committed in the region by this regime.”

Salam Travels to New York for U.N. Meeting on Refugees
Naharnet/September 17/16/Prime Minister Tammam Salam traveled to New York on Saturday along with a delegation to take part in the 71th session of the United Nations General Assembly, the National News Agency reported. Salam is expected to deliver a speech on the occasion as he will have several meetings with Arab and foreign leaders. World leaders gather in New York in the coming days where the high-level week will kick off with a summit, on Monday 19 September, to address large movements of refugees and migrants. This is the first time the General Assembly has called for a summit at the Heads of State and Government level on this topic and it is a historic opportunity to come up with a blueprint for a better international response. Lebanon is expected to grasp the opportunity during the U.N. meeting to clarify the country's refusal to naturalize Syrian refugees. Labor Minister Sejaan Azzi had stressed during his meeting on Friday with EU Ambassador Christina Lassen, Lebanon's incapacity to support the additional burden of Syrian refugees' despite aids. Azzi said that it was paramount today to establish a concrete plan to deal with this issue. He hoped that the international community and the United Nations would be ready to respond to Salam's initiative and to adopt a plan to allow refugees go back to Syria.

Statement Attributed to IS Surfaces Hours before Sidon Festival
Naharnet/September 17/16/Hours before the start of the landmark Sidon International Festival on Friday evening, a threatening statement carrying the flag of the jihadist Islamic State group was circulating on social networking websites. Sidon municipal chief Mohammed al-Saudi has however dismissed the statement as fabricated. The statement comes after several Sidon Islamic figures voiced dismay over the festival, the first in the largely conservative city since the sixties of the last century. “The city of Sidon has always been a city of an Islamic identity and good martyrs and honest men have fallen on this land,” the statement says. “A handful of people have announced that they will organize a dance party in which alcohol will be consumed and scantily-dressed women will be present... and this, God willing, will not happen,” the statement adds. “Do not test our patience... Our options are open, on land, in the sea and in the air. Water will turn into fire and the sky will turn into dust and all the singers, dancers and attendants of this party shall scream,” the statement says. “Prepare your hospitals for the wounded and your graves which will not be able to accommodate your corpses,” the alleged IS statement adds.
The festival will open with a concert for renowned pop superstar Nancy Ajram on Friday and Lebanese Armenian musician, composer and pianist Guy Manoukian will be the star of Saturday's evening.

Israel Readies for 1,500 Rockets a Day from Hizbullah, Hamas
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 17/16/Israel's army estimates that thousands of rockets could slam into Israel in any future conflagration, military sources said Friday ahead of a nationwide civil defense drill. "Total war on several fronts, destruction of essential equipment and infrastructure and heavy rocket bombardment" all form part of the scenario for the exercise, which runs from Sunday until September 21, the army said. The drill is based on projections of the army's Home Front Command, which estimates 1,500 rockets crashing into the country each day, military sources said in a briefing to Israeli reporters, local media reported. The projectiles could be launched simultaneously by Lebanon's Hizbullah across Israel's northern border and to a far lesser extent from Hamas-ruled Gaza in the south. Hamas is said to have been left seriously weakened after a 2014 Gaza war against Israel, but it still holds thousands of rockets, according to a military official. Hizbullah has at least 100,000 and probably more, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Only around one in 100 rockets is likely to hit a building, military sources say, with the rest falling on open ground or being intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system. They say 95 percent of rockets fired will likely carry a light payload and have a range of less than 40 kilometers (25 miles), but Hizbullah can hit densely-populated central Israel with dozens of rockets each day. The Home Front Command, tasked with leading and coordinating civil defense, regularly publishes maps showing the maximum time, by location, that Israelis have to take shelter after air raid sirens sound. In Tel Aviv, Israel's seaside commercial and leisure capital, the time to scramble to safety has been reassessed from 90 seconds at present to 60 in the next conflict.
After a 2006 war with Hizbullah, an official inquiry criticized authorities for lack of preparedness and organization in civil defense procedures. During that conflict, the Lebanese, Iran-backed group rained about 4,000 rockets on Israel and sent a million civilians into shelters, many of them dilapidated and cramped. The 34 days of fighting took the lives of more than 1,200 on the Lebanese side, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis, almost all soldiers.

Qazzi Says Talks with Syrian Government Needed to Address Refugees Crisis
Naharnet/September 17/16/Labor Minister Sejaan Qazzi stressed on Saturday that the thorny issue of Syrian refugees in Lebanon can be addressed through talks with the Syrian government. “We can't address the problem of refugees without having talks with the Syrian government since it is directly linked to the subject,” said Qazzi to LBCI. He noted that the Lebanese and Syrian intelligence apparatuses make almost weekly contacts, he said: “Lebanon and Syria make almost weekly contacts between their intelligence agencies.” “There is a real contradiction between the international position and the Lebanese stance in addressing the problem of displaced Syrians. The Lebanese stance confirms that there is no final solution before a political solution is reached. But we can start with returning the refugees (to Syria) before a political agreement is reached because the latter requires many years (to be accomplished),” said Qazzi.
He pointed out that Lebanon has called for the establishment of a safe zone for displaced Syrian inside Syria. The Minster added that he will present on Monday an executive project to restore the displaced Syrians back to their homeland. Qazzi concluded that the only route for refugees to go back to their land is through regime controlled areas along Lebanon's border, he said: “Syrian regions alongside the Lebanese border are controlled by the Syrian regime and the Syrian refugees can return to Syrian only through these areas.”

Titles For Latest LCCC Bulletin For Miscellaneous Reports And News published on on September 17-18/16

IDF: Up to 400 Israeli Civilians Could be Killed in Future All-Out Missile and Rocket Assault on Home Front
Barney Breen-Portnoy/ the Algemeiner/September 17/16
In a future all-out multi-front war, Israel might be struck by as many as 230,000 missiles and rockets, with at least 10,000 evading Israel’s aerial defense network and hitting populated areas, IDF officials told Israeli media outlets on Thursday ahead of a nationwide emergency readiness exercise next week.
Up to 400 Israeli civilians could be killed in such a scenario, military officials predicted. Israeli border communities in the north and south will bear the brunt of any future aerial assault on the Jewish state. The IDF estimates that 95% of projectiles fired at Israel will be short-range rockets (capable of reaching nearly 30 miles into Israel) carrying 10-kilogram explosive warheads. Also, central Israel — including Tel Aviv — will not be out of harm’s way, particularly if the war involves Hezbollah. As reported by The Algemeiner, IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Yair Golan said in June that in Israel’s next war with the Iran-backed Lebanese Shiite terrorist organization, dozens of missiles could strike the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. During the 34-day Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006, Hezbollah peppered northern Israel with thousands of rockets, and 44 Israeli civilians were killed. But central Israel remained untouched. However, due to upgrades in Hezbollah’s arsenal over the past decade, the IDF believes that would likely not be the case in a future conflict with the group. Meanwhile, the Hebrew news site nrg reported on Friday that the IDF has plans to evacuate communities within 2.5 miles of the Gaza border during a future conflict with terror group Hamas. According to the report, only emergency response teams of 20-30 people would be left behind in each community. During Operation Protective Edge in the summer of 2014, Israeli communities adjacent to the Gaza border faced heavy barrages of mortar fire which took the lives of several civilians — including four-year-old Daniel Tragerman in Kibbutz Nahal Oz. As part of next week’s four-day Home Front Command drill, air raid sirens will be sounded across Israel twice on Tuesday.

Putin Says Syrian Army Honoring Truce, Rebels 'Regrouping'
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 17/16/Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Syrian rebels Saturday of using a fragile ceasefire to regroup, as diplomatic tensions between Moscow and Washington simmered over a lack of humanitarian aid access. Fresh shelling and clashes were reported overnight in some areas of the war-torn country, but the US-Russia brokered truce which took effect on Monday appeared to be largely holding. In New York, the UN Security Council cancelled an urgent meeting that had been called to discuss whether to endorse the ceasefire, billed as the "last chance" to end the five-year war that has killed 300,000 people. The closed-door consultations were scrapped after Moscow and Washington failed to agree over disclosing details of the ceasefire to the council. Putin, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said he remained "positive" about the truce but lashed out at rebels.
"We see attempts to regroup among these terrorists, to switch one label for another, one name for another and keep their military capacity," he said in televised remarks while on a trip to Kyrgyzstan. Putin said Washington apparently "has the desire to keep the capabilities to fight the lawful government of President Assad," calling it a "very dangerous path."Moscow said Friday that it was ready to prolong the truce by 72 hours, but there has been no formal announcement of an extension. The implementation of the truce has been complicated by the presence of jihadists -- who are not covered by the ceasefire -- and mainstream rebels on some of the same frontlines. A challenge for Washington is to persuade opposition groups it backs to separate themselves from the former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front, previously called Al-Nusra Front.
- 'Unacceptable aid delays' -US Secretary of State John Kerry meanwhile called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and condemned "repeated and unacceptable delays of humanitarian aid," spokesman John Kirby said. Kerry told Lavrov that Washington "expects Russia to use its influence on the Assad regime to allow UN humanitarian convoys to reach the battleground northern city of Aleppo and other areas in need," Kirby said. He added that the United States would not set up a planned joint US-Russian military coordination cell in Syria until regime forces there allow aid into besieged cities. President Barack Obama also voiced "deep concern" that the Syrian regime continued to block aid. A key plank of the truce deal was the delivery of aid to areas including Aleppo, where an estimated 250,000 people in rebel-held areas of the city are living under government siege. Under the deal, the main route into Aleppo, the Castello Road, would be demilitarised and aid convoys would enter from Turkey. But 40 trucks carrying desperately needed food aid were still stuck on the border with Turkey on Saturday.
"Still no progress, but the UN is ready to move once we get the go ahead," said David Swanson, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The UN has said it cannot deliver aid until "all guarantees are in place for safe delivery."
- Intermittent fighting -AFP's correspondent in Aleppo's eastern districts said the city was calm on Saturday after a few rocket attacks overnight. Fighting erupted overnight between rebels and pro-regime forces in the opposition-held suburb of Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Air strikes hit several towns in the central province of Homs and also targeted rebel groups, including fighters from the Fateh al-Sham Front, in the coastal province of Latakia, according to the British-based monitor. On Friday air strikes killed three civilians, including two children, in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun in Idlib province, the Observatory said. Under the US-Russia deal, if the truce lasts seven days and humanitarian access is granted, Moscow and Washington are to work together to target jihadists including the Islamic State group (IS). The Pentagon said Friday that dozens of US Special Operations Forces had been deployed to Syria's border with Turkey to fight IS, at Ankara's request, in support of Turkey's army and "vetted" Syrian rebels. Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said that a coalition air strike in Syria had killed a senior operative IS operative considered the information minister of the group. Wa'il Adil Hasan Salman al-Fayad, also known as "Dr. Wa'il", was killed in a precision strike on September 7 near Raqa, the jihadists' de facto Syrian capital, Cook said.

Fragile Syria Truce Tested by Violence, U.S.-Russia Tensions
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 17/16/Air strikes and clashes tested a fragile ceasefire in Syria into Saturday as civilians waited for aid and tensions mounted between the deal's brokers Russia and the United States. In New York, the UN Security Council cancelled an urgent meeting that had been called to discuss whether to endorse the truce, billed as the "last chance" to end the five-year war that has killed 300,000 people. The closed-door consultations were scrapped after Moscow and Washington failed to agree over disclosing details of the ceasefire to the council. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had earlier called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and condemned "repeated and unacceptable delays of humanitarian aid," spokesman John Kirby said. Kerry told Lavrov that Washington "expects Russia to use its influence on the (President Bashar) Assad regime to allow UN humanitarian convoys to reach Aleppo and other areas in need. "The secretary made clear that the United States will not establish the Joint Implementation Center with Russia unless and until the agreed terms for humanitarian access are met," Kirby said. President Barack Obama also voiced "deep concern" that the Syrian regime continued to block humanitarian aid. The ceasefire has been marred by a lack of aid deliveries and sporadic violence, including three civilians killed Friday. If the truce, which began Monday, lasts seven days and humanitarian access is granted, Russia and the U.S. are to work together to target jihadists including the Islamic State group (IS) and former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front. Under the truce deal, Moscow must put pressure on Assad and Washington must work with Syrian rebels to silence their guns. - Two children killed -Earlier Friday, Russia said that only Moscow and the Syrian regime were fulfilling the deal. "Although the ceasefire agreement is bilateral, only one side is truly implementing it," defense ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. However, Russia said it was still ready to extend the truce set to expire late Friday by 72 hours.
France and other council members have said they must first learn more details about the deal before considering whether to endorse it. The Pentagon also said Friday that dozens of U.S. Special Operations Forces have been deployed to Syria's border with Turkey to fight IS, at Ankara's request, in support of Turkey's army and "vetted" Syrian rebels. Two children were among three civilians killed in air strikes Friday on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun in Idlib province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Khan Sheikhun, like most of the surrounding province, is controlled by an alliance of rebels, hardline Islamists and jihadists such as Fateh al-Sham. Under the truce, fighting is to halt across the country except where jihadists are present. But experts say the deal will be particularly difficult to implement in areas where Fateh al-Sham has formed strong alliances with local rebels.
- 'Critical window' -Earlier in the day, a barrage of rocket fire and shelling could be heard coming from the rebel-held east Damascus district of Jobar, an Agence France Presse correspondent said. Both the Islamist faction Faylaq al-Sham and Fateh al-Sham are thought to be present there. The Observatory said three Islamist fighters and four members of the regime forces were killed. The UN has called the truce a "critical window of opportunity" to deliver aid to rebel-held eastern districts of Aleppo city, where around 250,000 civilians are under siege. The UN had hoped that 40 trucks of food -- enough to feed 80,000 people for one month -- could be delivered there as soon as possible. But on Friday, the trucks were still waiting at the border with Turkey, said David Swanson, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Under the truce deal, the main route into divided Aleppo, the Castello Road, would be demilitarized and aid convoys would enter from Turkey. A military source said Syria's army "has carried out its pledge and handed over a number of points to the Russian monitoring teams", but that rebel groups had not withdrawn from their positions. "As humanitarians this is immensely frustrating. We're here, we're on the ground and we're ready to move... The world is watching," Swanson said.
 

Intermittent Shelling, Clashes across Syria
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 17/16/Intermittent shelling and clashes resumed overnight in Syria, a monitor said on Saturday, testing a strained truce brokered by Russia and the United States. An initial 48-hour ceasefire came into force on Monday evening, and was extended for another two days on Wednesday. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, "limited shelling and clashes have resumed on several fronts in Syria." In particular, fighting erupted between rebels and pro-regime forces in the opposition-held suburb of Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, and air strikes hit several towns in the central province of Homs. In the coastal province of Latakia, fresh regime air strikes hit rebel groups, including fighters from Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate, in the flashpoint region of Jabal Akrad. "So far, Aleppo city is still the calmest of them all," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. Under the truce deal negotiated by Moscow and Washington, fighting is to halt across the country except in areas where jihadists are present. Aid is then meant to reach battered Aleppo, where an estimated 250,000 people in the rebel-held half of the city are living under government siege. But forty trucks carrying desperately-needed food aid were still stuck on the border with Turkey on Saturday. "Still no progress, but the UN is ready to move once we get the go ahead," said David Swanson, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The UN has said it cannot deliver aid until "all guarantees are in place for safe delivery." Agence France Presse's correspondent in Aleppo's eastern districts said the city was calm on Saturday after a few rocket attacks overnight. On Friday, Russia said that only Moscow and the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad were fulfilling their obligations under the deal. "Although the ceasefire agreement is bilateral, only one side is truly implementing it," defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. Russia said it was ready to extend the truce by 72 hours, but no formal extension announcement followed. More than 300,000 people have been killed since Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011, beginning with anti-government protests that evolved into a multi-front war.

Former Israel Envoy to Moscow: Despite Cooperation in Syria, Russia Does Not Trust Iran as Foreign Policy Partner
Barney Breen-Portnoy/Algemeiner.com/September 17/16
Despite its cooperation with Iran in Syria, Russia does not fully trust the Islamic Republic as a partner in its foreign policy endeavors, according to a former Israeli ambassador to Moscow. Writing in the September edition of the Israel Public Diplomacy Forum’s Viewpoints newsletter, Zvi Magen — a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies — noted that an “excessive strengthening of Iran is not in the Russian interest.”Magen explained that the Russia-Iran alliance in Syria — where they are supporting the regime of Bashar Assad in the ongoing civil war there — has let the two countries “further their joint strategic interests; battling the Islamic State, which posed a threat to Russia as well, and working toward creating a new order in the region amenable to both of them.”But Magen went on to point out that Russia and Iran do not see eye-to-eye regarding the endgame in Syria. “Tehran aims at achieving an Iranian area of influence, while excluding other players [among them Russia],” he wrote. “Moscow on the other hand is active in Syria to promote its global objectives and aims at obtaining a regional foothold at the exclusion of the West. Ultimately, however, it is interested in reaching an understanding with the West.”An additional point of contention, Magen wrote, are the differing views of Russia and Iran regarding Israel. While Iran is working with Hezbollah to create a terror front against Israel on the Golan Heights, Magen said Russia and Israel have an understanding that gives the Jewish state “freedom of action against threats emanating from the Syrian arena.”Nevertheless, Magen concluded that “significant joint interests remain” between Russia and Iran and predicted that “at least in the short term they will continue to cooperate in Syria and in the rest of the Middle East.”
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Moscow in June for his fourth meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin within the past year, Magen told The Algemeiner that the Kremlin was seeking greater influence in the Middle East and Jerusalem needed an alternative to the United States as a guarantor of its interests. “What we are seeing is realpolitik in action,” Magen told The Algemeiner.

Turkey Police Detain IS Suspects Believed to Plan Attack
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 17/16/Turkish police have detained more than 20 Islamic State suspects, including a Syrian man believed to be organising an attack in Istanbul, a local newspaper reported on Saturday. Police arrested the man, identified as Ali al-Aggal and codenamed Azzov, believed to be the IS group's organiser of Turkey attacks, in an operation in the Turkish capital Ankara, Haber-Turk newspaper reported. In a separate raid, police held 24 other IS suspects from Iraq and Syria in the Kucukcekmece district of Istanbul, the newspaper said. It said nine of the suspects were suspected of having direct contacts with al-Aggal and were awaiting explosives and ammunition from him in order to carry out an attack in Istanbul. The remaining 15 suspects were planning to cross the Turkish border into conflict zones, the newspaper said. Police found out that suspected IS jihadists used the building in Kucukcekmece as a "sleeper cell" and seized many documents and digital materials allegedly belonging to the extremist group, according to the report. Turkey has suffered a series of attacks blamed on IS jihadists including a suicide bombing at a Kurdish wedding in a city close to the Syrian border in August. The latest arrests come as several embassies, including Britain's, closed Friday for security reasons. A member of the anti-IS coalition led by the United States, Turkey has started to take an active role in the fight against the jihadist group after it had long been criticised by its Western allies for not doing enough. Turkey in recent months has also cracked down on the group's sleeper cells and launched an ambitious operation inside Syria to oust jihadists and Syrian Kurdish militia from its frontier. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has indicated that Turkey and the United States have discussed an operation to push IS jihadists out of their de facto capital of Raqa in Syria but there have been no further details.

Obama to Meet Abadi at U.N as Mosul Offensive Looms
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 17/16/U.S. President Barack Obama will meet his Iraqi counterpart at the United Nations next week, U.S. officials said Friday, amid mounting preparations to seize control of Mosul from the Islamic State group. Top Obama aide Ben Rhodes said Obama would meet Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on the margins of the UN General Assembly on Monday. "The two leaders will have a chance to check in on the counter-ISIL campaign," said Rhodes, using another acronym for the Islamic State group. "Also the campaign to liberate Mosul."The United States deployed an additional 400 troops to Iraq earlier this month as local forces prepare for an assault on Iraq's second city. Allied forces have been carrying out "shaping operations" around the northern city, working on an airfield near the town of Qayyarah that will provide a staging area and striking suspected IS chemical weapons facilities nearby. Jihadists seized the city in 2014 and it is now their last major stronghold in Iraq. The meeting between Obama and Abadi is also likely to offer support for the Iraqi leader, who faces growing internal challenges. Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has been flexing his considerable political muscle, mustering thousands-strong demonstrations to demand government reforms. During the UN meeting Obama is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. Rhodes said there were no plans to hold a rescheduled meeting with the Philippines's leader Rodrigo Duterte. Obama cancelled a planned meeting with him in Laos earlier this month after the firebrand leader's barbed remarks insulting the U.S. president.

Peres Condition Stable after Stroke
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/September 17/16/Former Israeli president and Nobel laureate Shimon Peres remained stable Saturday, four days after a major stroke, his doctor said. The 93-year-old remained sedated and on a respirator after suffering a stroke and internal bleeding on Tuesday, Peres's personal physician and son-in-law Rafi Walden told Agence France Presse. His condition has improved since, but is still described as serious but stable. Israeli public radio said on Saturday morning that Peres "had a quiet night" but his life remained in danger. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin is scheduled to visit him in his hospital near Tel Aviv on Saturday evening, after the end of the Jewish sabbath, Rivlin's office said. Peres has held nearly every major office in Israel, serving twice as prime minister. He was president, a mostly ceremonial role, from 2007 to 2014. He won the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for his role in negotiating the Oslo Accords, which envisioned an independent Palestinian state. The former hawk turned dove is widely respected both in Israel and abroad, regularly meeting world leaders and celebrities.
Pope Francis wrote to Peres Thursday saying he had "prayed for strength for the family and for a full recovery." The letter said the Pope held a special prayer for Peres alongside Rabbi Abraham Skorka of Argentina. Peres and the Pope last met two months ago when Peres visited the Vatican, while in 2014 they made a joint prayer for peace alongside Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump also wrote to wish Peres a "swift recovery." "You are among the last of a generation of leaders who fought for the right of the Jewish people to shape their own destiny," Trump wrote. Trump's Democrat rival Hillary Clinton, former British prime minister Tony Blair and Russian President Vladimir Putin have also enquired about his condition. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council Thursday he was hoping for a "swift and full recovery," calling Peres "tireless in seeking peace between Israelis and Palestinians."He said that unfortunately, 23 years after the first Oslo Accord, "we are further than ever from its goals."

Not All Observers Welcome for Morocco's Elections
Associated Press/Naharnet/September 17/16/Morocco's elections next month will draw attention from around the region and beyond — but not all eyes will be welcome. Fewer foreign observers — 92 this time compared to 121 five years ago — have been granted permission to monitor the Oct. 7 legislative elections, as regulations on external monitors are being put to the test. More than 30 political parties are running in the elections, which will determine the makeup of the government and political direction of the kingdom, a U.S. ally and important regional economy. It's only the second time Moroccans are voting for parliament since thousands took to the streets in 2011 demanding reform through the February 20th Movement. Since then, a coalition of several parties led by the Islamist Party of Justice and Development (PJD) has governed, coming to power alongside a new constitution and new laws intended to meet the demands for reform. One law passed in 2011 dictated the terms and conditions for national and international election observation in Morocco. Civil society groups had wanted a law spelling out the rules, but some now fear it could be used to stifle criticism of the election process. "Election observation in Morocco has been taking place since 1997, but it was only in 2011 that the Moroccan government instituted a clear, legal framework," said Nadir Elmoumni, director of studies at the National Council of Human Rights.
The council is charged with overseeing the observation process, including reviewing requests to observe from both international and national organizations. Requests must also be approved by a commission including representatives from the Interior Ministry, the Justice Ministry, the Foreign Ministry and the Communication Ministry. The council told The Associated Press that it has accredited 92 foreign observers affiliated with five international organizations, among them the International Foundation for Electoral Systems and Gender Concerns International.
The council did not explain why the numbers are lower this year. The Moroccan government denied accreditation to at least one international organization, the Atlanta-based Carter Center.
"We're disappointed by that," said David Carroll, director of the Carter Center's Democracy Program. "The Carter Center has a long history of impartial election observation, having monitored 103 elections in 39 countries, and we hope our observers might be welcome in Morocco's future elections."The National Council of Human Rights said the organization submitted its request directly to the Moroccan government, not to the council. "I suspect it had to do with the wording of their request," says Ahmed Taoufik Zainabi, the council's director of human rights promotion.
Moroccan government spokesperson Mustapha El Khalfi did not respond to requests for comment. A U.S. group, the National Democratic Institute, was accredited but says it won't send an observation mission due to funding constraints. NDI's report after observing the 2011 legislative elections describing the voting process then as "by and large, procedurally sound and transparent" but "not without flaws." Eric Goldstein, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch, says the rebuff to the Carter Center "could well be part of the trend since 2015 of expelling international NGOs that monitor freedoms in Morocco.""It's a shame to see Morocco destroy its standing among countries in the Middle East and North Africa that are most transparent with respect to international NGOs," said Goldstein, whose organization was accredited. Many of these NGOs monitor human rights in the contested Western Sahara territory, which Morocco annexed in 1975. Within the past year, the Moroccan government has dealt harshly with those it perceives as undermining its claims on the territory, including the European Union and the United Nations. Official campaigning for the elections begins Sept. 23, with the Islamist PJD and rival Party of Authenticity and Modernity among the top contenders. A law bans political polling in the weeks ahead of the elections, in an effort to avoid swaying voters.
 

Latest LCCC Bulletin analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on on September 17-18/16

Opinion: Coats That Borrow
Samir Atallah/Asharq/Al Awsat/September 17/16
Despite the increase in the population of the world, it remains small because it unites friends, families, acquaintances and memories. However, scientists are always researching about the wondrous world that we live in without us realising. One scientist discovers the particles of an atom and another discovers how to measure the size of human cells that cannot be seen. Others are discovering extra planets from time to time with the help of excellent microscopes. Some of these scientists went to the Amazon jungle in search of species of birds and insects, and some of them travelled to the depths of the sea to photograph and record the millions of different types of sea creatures that are able to live at the bottom of the sea. One of these scientists spent 42 years researching a plant so that he could present the results of the study to the Natural History Museum in London. The walls of this museum are covered with more than 80 million types of embalmed animals, insects and reptiles brought in from around the world.
One scientist who always visited the museum was the author of the book “Birds of Arabia”, Richard Meinertzhagen. He would never take his wide and long coats off whilst working and researching at the museum, even in the height of summer. After his death, he graciously donated all the natural collections and models to the museum as a gesture of loyalty. When employees of the museum proceeded to open the boxes and classify what was in them, they discovered treasures and the secret of the wide and long coat! Meinertzhagen used to hide models that he used to steal from the museum underneath his coat and take them back to his house so that he could study them carefully. Scientists research different things. Some spend their lives in laboratories in search of treatment for epidemics and diseases. Others are not satisfied with the steamboats, trains and cars that have been invented and have decided to break the sound barrier and send vehicles to photograph the surface of Mars and Jupiter. Are we are alone on this planet or are there creatures on other planets? Tales of flying saucers have enriched the imaginations of the curious and many films depict the arrival of people from space and their return to where they came from. And, of course, we do not know where they arrived and where they came from. We still do not know the extent to which we are ignorant about natural science that has not been discovered. Scientists are constantly discovering new things; a new species of trees in the mountains of Kenya, reptiles in the Nevada desert and algae in the British countryside. One scientist collected 750,000 species of algae during his trips in Britain alone. The British Natural History Museum is expanding and becoming richer, and stolen items are hidden underneath coats.

The U.K.’s Nuclear Gamble
Mark Gilbert/AsharqAl Awsat/September 17/16
The U.K. government had to perform two distinct calculations in deciding to proceed with building a nuclear power station at Hinkley Point, one political and one economic. The political reckoning was always going to argue strongly against abandoning the project. The economics, however, went the other way. The sums don’t seem to add up, and the result may be that the country ends up paying dearly in the coming decades for the decision. Incoming Prime Minister Theresa May was right to review the Hinkley deal. After all, at 18 billion pounds ($24 billion) it will be the single most expensive construction on the planet (the Large Hadron Collider at CERN cost about $6 billion). But her maneuvering room was always limited. After Brexit, the last thing the U.K. needs is to alienate countries that will influence its post-European Unit trading status. So angering France, whose Electricite de France is the lead contractor for Hinkley, and China, whose China General Nuclear Power is providing a third of the financing, was always unlikely. There were also other compelling arguments for going ahead. The need for extra generating capacity is clear. The government estimates that electricity demand will increase by 20 percent in the next two decades, at the same time as the U.K. loses capacity as older nuclear- and coal-powered plants are taken offline. Hinkley is designed to deliver 7 percent of Britain’s electricity needs for six decades; this chart from the National Audit Office shows how important nuclear power is deemed to be for meeting the nation’s future needs: The deal sanctioned this week attempts to safeguard Britain’s energy security by barring EDF from selling down its controlling stake prior to completion of construction without government approval.
That though, doesn’t address the issue raised by Nick Timothy, now one of the prime minister’s joint chiefs of staff, who warned last year that China’s involvement might allow it to “shut down Britain’s energy production at will.”
The key issue with the Hinkley project, though, is more prosaic than the risks of industrial espionage or foreign powers turning out the lights. The timescale of the build and the sums of money involved make for a huge gamble on what the future cost of electricity will be.
Guaranteeing an inflation-linked electricity price to EDF in a so-called contract for difference starting at 92.50 pounds per megawatt-hour — double the current wholesale price — locks the government in for 35 years and has the potential to look like a monumental error in the decades ahead. And the cost to U.K. consumers of the price guarantee has more than quadrupled since 2013, rising to 30 billion pounds as predictions for future electricity prices have slumped.
That gap between market prices and the guaranteed price to EDF might be offset by savings on the build cost. Might. EDF and its partners will shoulder any increase above the current 18 billion-pound price tag. Given that large-scale public infrastructure projects are rarely delivered on time or within budget, it seems likely that the costs will rise during the 10 years of construction. The design for Hinkley matches that of a plant EDF is currently building in Flamanville, France; that project is six years behind schedule, and costs have more than tripled to 10.5 billion euros ($11.8 billion). EDF claims that Hinkley will benefit from the on-the-job learning that experience has provided. The U.K. lost its energy independence 12 years ago, and now relies on imports to meet almost half of its energy needs. So the decision to proceed with Hinkley in an effort to avoid brownouts in the years ahead probably makes sense.
But technology is driving down the costs of renewable energy and increasing the efficiency of everything from wind turbines to solar panels to tidal power to electricity storage. The U.K.’s bet on the cost and value of moving electrons and protons may turn out to be a costly, if somewhat unavoidable, mistake.

Iran’s Terrorism in the New York Times
Salman Al-dossary/Asharq Al Awsat/September 17/16
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s recent political essay published by “The New York Times,” raised a few eyebrows. The essay was short to overstatements and wild allegations directed against “Wahhabism,” claiming that Saudi Arabia is the reason behind all humanity’s suffering. However, the chink in armor for any biased opinion is that “You can bend it and twist it… You can misuse and abuse it” but no one can “change the Truth,” a quote by Michael Levy. Opinions can be based on perception and understanding, nevertheless reality is not subjective nor a disputable issue, neither is the truth.
Zarif should keep in mind that former U.S. President Ronald Reagan once said “Facts are stubborn things.”On the argument pointing fingers as to what had led to the very establishment of terror organizations, such as al-Qaeda and its likes, and especially on the allegations of Wahhabism’s involvement in extremism some 250 years ago—centuries-old assumptions cannot deny the modern day facts on Saudi Arabia has suffered most of terror’s viscous attacks.
Alternatively, Iran has not been targeted once by any of today’s prominent terror organizations—despite the hate talk ISIS-styled organizations direct against Tehran.
The Lebanon-based militant group, Hezbollah, is publicly funded and armed by Iran—not to mention that the latter is officially accused, since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, by members of the international community of funding, providing equipment, weapons, training and giving sanctuary to terrorists. The United States State Department labels Iran as an “active state sponsor of terrorism.”
It is also worth mentioning that Iran has the only constitution worldwide which clearly states expansionism for a creed. On the other hand, when facing accusations of adopting Wahhabism, Saudi Arabia’s constitution clearly dictates that the state’s official and dominant religion is Islam and Islam alone. Not only that but over 12 international embassies were attacked in Iran over the past 25 years; most recently being against the UK diplomatic mission in 2011, and the one against the Saudi missions earlier this year.
Zarif’s biased article, lacking facts, resorted to exploiting anti-Wahhabbi sentiment to fill the gaps with opinions rather than sharp reality; while alternately, an essay cannot enclose enough present fact-listing which proves Iran’s involvement with international terror funding.
When tracing back al-Qaeda terror, it is evident that the first series of attacks were against Saudi Arabia. One of which is the 2003 Riyadh compound bombings– 39 people were killed, and over 160 wounded when bombs went off at three compounds housing foreigners in the Saudi capital. The inhumane plot was put into motion by high-ranking al-Qaeda member Saif al-Adel, residing in Iran at the time, according to documentations, leads and recorded phone calls; nevertheless, the Iranian government refused to extradite the terror orchestrator to Saudi Arabia prior to the heinous attack.
Moreover, Iran’s ties to extremism run deeper than roots, dating before any political interests or national emergencies were at hand.
A year into the Khomeini-led Iranian revolution taking over the reins, Egypt vaguely began stumbling into turmoil, as the radical Egyptian Islamic Jihad movement united with civil protestors to topple president Anwar Sadat. The coup was chiefly incited by Sadat granting the Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, asylum, who Khomeini had ousted. Moreover, Khalid Islambouli, an Egyptian army officer who planned and participated in the assassination of Egypt’s third president, Anwar Sadat, is a highly revered historical figure in Iran, for taking out Iran’s regional discomfort.
Iran’s suspicious ties to international terrorism are perceived worldwide— a federal courthouse in New York had accused Tehran of involvement in the Sept. 11 attacks and had requested it to pay $10.5 billion in compensation to the families of the victims.
Perhaps FM Zarif must reconsider the facts once again.
Further speculations are stirred, that when set on the timeline, Saudi Arabia or any other Gulf country did not experience a single terror-staged tragedy before Khomeini’s revolution. Moreover, sectarian strife, and bigoted language were also unheard of.
Before the revolution, Gulf countries enjoyed diverse communities coexisting harmoniously, away from the demons of politics or sectarian differences.
Extremism was never to be found. Iranians and Arabs, Sunnis and Shi’ites lived moderately. It was only after Khomeini’s table turning that cases of both Shi’ite and Sunni extremism began emerging.
When comparing the two, Shi’ite extremism -manifested in militant proxies strategically placed across the world – is backed, funded and recognized by the Iranian government. Meanwhile, Sunni extremism is fiercely fought by all Muslim countries.
Perhaps Iran’s Zarif must once again reconsider hard facts before voicing opinions as to who backs terror ideology.
 

Israel's New Memorandum of Understanding (MOU): The Money and the Message
David Makovsky/The Washington Institute/September 17/16

While some officials disagree about the financial particulars of Washington's new military assistance deal, the overall message is one of strong, long-term U.S. support for Israel at a time of massive regional turbulence.
On September 14, the United States and Israel signed a ten-year Memorandum of Understanding under which Washington will provide $38 billion in military assistance over the fiscal years 2019-2028. The new MOU extends the current one that was signed in 2007 and expires in 2018, enabling Israeli military planners to make even longer-term acquisitions and bolster their technological edge in a turbulent region. Among other things, the money will allow Israel to update its air force fleet by purchasing additional F-35 joint strike fighters.
The MOU is an important signal of American support for Israel's security in the years ahead -- in fact, the United States has no comparable arrangement with any other country. The agreement is also a message to Israel's adversaries that Washington's support for its ally remains uniquely deep, despite recent policy disagreements.
KEY CHANGES IN THE NEW MOU
The 2007 MOU allocated $30 billion over the course of a decade, which translates to $3.1 billion in foreign military financing (FMF) annually. Israel's entire defense budget this fiscal year is $15.5 billion, so the U.S. assistance is approximately a fifth of what Jerusalem spends on its own military. According to a White House fact sheet, the new MOU figure is $3.8 billion per annum, "disbursed in equal increments of $3.3 billion in FMF and $500 million in missile defense funding each year for the duration of the understanding."
Yet the missile issue has led to differing interpretations of the new annual funding level. Previously, Israel asked Congress for missile funding separately; this past year, U.S. assistance totaled $3.7 billion when one factors in the $600 million for missile defense. In total, Washington has provided $1.3 billion for missile defense since 2011, covering most production costs of the Iron Dome system that was so important in preventing Israeli fatalities during the 2014 Gaza war. Once missile expenditures are separated out, some former Israeli officials question the significance of the new MOU's increase in FMF from $3.1 to $3.3 billion. In a September 15 Washington Post article, for example, former defense minister Ehud Barak wrote that this is not an increase in "purchasing power" given the rise in weapons prices since 2007.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office and American officials typically respond to such arguments by explaining that U.S. assistance levels have remained constant in the past. Other U.S. officials have gone further, insisting that this type of counting misses the mark and ignores context. Specifically, they refer to the ongoing clash between the administration and Congress over American defense spending, noting that the amount of global military assistance at the administration's disposal is relatively limited and that Israel's share towers over the next recipients (Egypt is second at $1.3 billion, Jordan third at $300 million). Put another way, total U.S. FMF to the entire world is $5.647 billion annually, and 83 percent of it goes to Israel, Egypt, and Jordan.
The new MOU will also phase out a provision called Off-Shore Procurement (OSP). This provision, which is not given to other states, has benefited Israel by allowing it to spend 26.3 percent of U.S. military assistance in Israel (i.e., about $815 million annually). Congress first allowed for OSP after Israel canceled development of the Lavi fighter jet in 1987, a project that the United States opposed. Yet while the plane's cancellation hurt Israel's fragile defense industry at the time, the situation has changed significantly since the 1980s. Judging by its $5.7 billion in annual exports, Israel's defense industry is now the fifth biggest arms exporter in the world (some knowledgeable Israelis say the figure is actually $7 billion). Its three leading companies, Elbit, Rafael, and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), are among the world's top fifty defense exporters.
Under the new terms, the OSP will remain as is until fiscal year 2024, then be phased out gradually until the MOU expires. U.S. firms may agree to continue enabling Israeli firms to subcontract production of parts destined for Israeli planes, but down the road the funding will come out of the Israeli defense budget. (Currently, Lockheed Martin produces the F-15I and subcontracts to Elbit for avionics, Rafael for missiles, and IAI for radar.)
It is also uncertain whether the new MOU is a ceiling or a floor when it comes to congressional assistance. Along with signing the MOU, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu wrote a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry saying that Israel has committed to reimburse the U.S. government if it receives more congressional assistance for FMF or missile defense in the last years of the current MOU (2017-2018). Israel also committed not to lobby Congress for additional military assistance except in the event of conflict in the Middle East; if it does seek more funds, it will have to obtain the administration's prior consent. Senate Appropriations Committee member Lindsey Graham has charged that the administration's apparent insistence on Israeli reimbursement is designed to circumvent the congressional appropriations process.
Indeed, Congress likes to assert its authority, and other challenges to the new MOU will likely abound. For example, what if the current turbulence in Israel's neighborhood increases while still falling short of direct war? And if the MOU is not a treaty, will it be equally enforced by both countries when the Obama administration leaves office in a few months? In this regard, Israel proudly insists that it has not sought to change the FMF level during the entirety of the current MOU.
IRAN NUCLEAR TRADEOFF
Last year's Iran nuclear deal was a time of maximal political leverage for Israel, so it is natural to question the deal's impact on the MOU. Defense Secretary Ash Carter traveled to Israel during the 2015 Iran debates, but Netanyahu pointedly refused to discuss U.S. military assistance at that time, fearing potential perceptions that Israel was being bought off to soften its opposition to the nuclear deal.
That stance has made political waves in Israel ever since. During a speech this summer, Barak declared, "Over the next decade we will receive somewhere between $7-10 billion less than what we could've secured a year ago." Similarly, upon exiting his position as defense minister this spring, Moshe Yaalon said that Washington was offering "more" MOU money in 2015, though he did not give details. Other Israeli sources agree with these characterizations, insisting that multiple U.S. officials were willing to offer an additional $700 million per year if Israel had struck the MOU deal in 2015. For their part, U.S. officials say that no commitments were offered last year.
WRAPPING UP THE MOU
Both Netanyahu and Obama had an interest in concluding the MOU talks now rather than later. For Netanyahu, who will be speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York next week, signing the MOU offers some respite from Israeli media stories questioning the vitality of the bilateral relationship. (The day after, pro-Netanyahu newspaper Israel Hayom ran a banner headline trumpeting the figure "$38,000,000,000.") More broadly, he seems to understand that a long-term MOU signed by President Obama would enhance the perception that the relationship is bipartisan, defusing complaints that Netanyahu leaned toward the Republicans in the 2012 election, among other controversial incidents. He may also believe that locking in the MOU now is an insurance policy in the event that Donald Trump comes to power, since some believe that would introduce a measure of unpredictability to the relationship.
For Obama, signing the MOU reinforces his long-held view that support for Israeli security should be kept separate from any policy disagreements he might have with Jerusalem on other issues. The move also enables him to shore up the pro-Israel wing of the Democratic Party before the upcoming elections.
Some will no doubt speculate about whether the MOU gives Obama greater domestic political leeway to press for peace-related moves that Israelis or Palestinians oppose. Yet like Obama himself, the people will likely distinguish between Israel's long-term security needs and the diplomatic specifics of any peace initiatives he proposes. Whatever the case, while it is easy to get lost in the new MOU's particulars, the overall message is one of strong, long-term U.S. support for Israel at a time of massive regional turbulence.
**David Makovsky is the Ziegler Distinguished Fellow and director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at The Washington Institute.

Judging Kerry's 'Secret' Syria Agreement with Russia
Andrew J. Tabler/The Washington Institute/September 17/16
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/2016/09/17/andrew-j-tablerthe-washington-institute-judging-kerrys-secret-syria-agreement-with-russia/
While maintaining secrecy might be a way to get the agreement off the ground, convincing the parties to implement its terms, fight terrorism, and end the war will require much more transparency, particularly regarding Assad's future.
On September 10, Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov concluded an agreement to restore last February's "cessation of hostilities" (COH) and deliver humanitarian aid to besieged areas in Syria, most notably the country's largest city of Aleppo. If the parties are able to implement these provisions and adhere to them for seven days, Washington has agreed to establish a controversial "Joint Implementation Center" (JIC) with the Russian military to target the Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda-affiliated rebel groups.
The text of the deal has yet to be released to the public, which Lavrov said on September 13 was at Washington's request. He added that the five-part agreement should not only be released, but also enshrined in a new UN Security Council resolution. After reviewing COH violations by both sides on September 14, Kerry and Lavrov essentially reset the clock, announcing that the COH would be extended another forty-eight hours and implying that the JIC could be established as soon as September 21.
The American goal in the negotiations is to leverage Russia's deep desire for military cooperation in order to extract concessions. Specifically, Moscow will now be expected to pressure Bashar al-Assad's regime on restoring the COH and humanitarian access, with the eventual goal of resuming political negotiations that end the war and keep Syria as one country.
Despite the secrecy, enough of the agreement's details have emerged to judge its efficacy and the merits on which the JIC would be established:
Restoration of the COH. Implementing the COH is the key litmus test for the agreement's viability. Official details on the mechanism for doing so remain sketchy but are partially outlined in a September 10 Arabic letter from U.S. Special Envoy Michael Ratney to the Syrian opposition. Officials say the rule of thumb that will be used to measure compliance is reducing violence to levels last seen following the first COH implementation in early March, when State Department officials claim the fighting was "reduced by 90%." The exact number of total deaths in Syria during that period is difficult to establish, but the approximate death toll for March hovers around 600 according to various sources.
Based on private conversations with officials, the Associated Press has distilled several of the provisions that must be implemented and held for seven straight days in order for the agreement to work. Key details from the Ratney letter and AP include:
As of September 12, regime and opposition forces should have ceased all attacks with any weapons, including aerial bombardments, rockets, mortars, and antitank guided missiles.
None of the parties can seek to acquire territory.
The regime and opposition should allow rapid, safe, unhindered, and sustained humanitarian access to all people in need.
In cases where self-defense is required, proportionate force should be used.
Forces in Ramouseh south of Aleppo should be frozen. (This provision has been undermined by the fact that regime forces have regained territory in the area.)
Humanitarian Access. Washington claims that no deal with Russia can occur without provision of humanitarian aid and access to besieged areas, especially Aleppo. In July, the regime and its allies surrounded the city, only for the siege to be broken shortly thereafter through an operation spearheaded by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (JFS), the al-Qaeda affiliate formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra. The AP report detailed various provisions regarding access points:
Two checkpoints on Castello Road, an Aleppo artery, will be established and operated by the para-governmental organization the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, with no more than twenty armed personnel (it is unclear whether this means twenty personnel each). Security arrangements will be determined by mutual consent of regime and opposition forces and will be monitored by the UN.
Regime forces must withdraw personnel, heavy weapons, and other arms away from Castello Road. In some places, tanks, artillery, and mortars must be pulled back at least 3.5 kilometers (about 2 miles). Elsewhere, soldiers with lighter weapons must retreat at least 500 yards from the road. Other requirements concern crew-served machine guns and observation posts.
Opposition forces must withdraw from Castello Road as well, in many places equidistant to the regime pullback. East of the road, their withdrawal will depend on the actions of Kurdish forces. If the Kurds retreat 500 yards, opposition forces should do likewise. Other requirements concern heavy weapons, including infantry fighting vehicles, tanks, and crew-served machine guns.
The opposition must make every effort to prevent al-Qaeda-linked militants from advancing into demilitarized areas.
All Syrians should be able to leave Aleppo on Castello Road, including opposition forces with their weapons. Fighters must coordinate any such departures with UN officials ahead of time.
Separating the Opposition from al-Qaeda. As per the Ratney letter, opposition fighters must begin separating themselves from JFS immediately. This process is often called "demarbling," referring to maps of opposition forces mixed with extremist groups that appear similar to veins in marble. The United States and Russia have reportedly drawn up intelligence maps of where opposition and JFS forces are currently located.
The letter states that the opposition must avoid cooperating with JFS, and that failure to do so could have consequences. It also states that opposition forces can defend themselves from attacks, but it is vague on whether that applies to attacks by just JFS, or by the regime and its allies as well (e.g., Iranian-supported Shiite militias such as Hezbollah).
JUDGING, AND FUDGING, THE DEAL
Kerry's insistence on keeping the full text secret is being cast as a way to avoid giving JFS and IS advance notice of possible operations against them. But just as likely, the White House and Kerry are placing themselves as the ultimate judges of compliance -- a similar tactic used with success in the run-up to the Iran nuclear deal. Given Kerry's repeated cries of "What's the alternative?" -- a bizarre tactic given that he has characterized himself as a proponent of several "Plan Bs" for Syria this year alone -- the administration may seek to fudge compliance in a bid to save face. But Kerry no doubt knows this would be an exercise in self-deception, since he reportedly recognizes that the Syria agreement has far more moving parts and parties than the Iran deal. Lavrov seems to understand this as well given his unexpected demand to make the agreement public. While maintaining secrecy might be a way to get the agreement off the ground, convincing the parties to implement its terms, fight terrorism, and end the war will require much more transparency from Washington -- particularly on the issue of Assad's future.
**Andrew Tabler is the Martin J. Gross Fellow in The Washington Institute's Program on Arab Politics

Shimon Peres and the genesis of the Oslo Accords
Tovah Lazaroff/Jerusalem Post/September 17/16
My greatest mistake is that my dreams were too small,” former president Shimon Peres told the audience at a TED talk in Tel Aviv last year.
“All experts are experts for the things that did happen. There are no experts for things that may happen. You should be the experts of things that may happen.“Dream great. Don’t be afraid. Don’t hesitate,” he said.
More than two decades earlier, he similarly stated, “One is entitled to dream,” when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, together with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat.The stroke he suffered this week brought Israel’s indefatigable diplomat emeritus to the headlines.
Good wishes and prayers poured in from around the globe for the 93-year-old who had shaken the hands of kings, popes and presidents. At a time when Israeli diplomats are often condemned on the international stage, he has been lauded as the clear voice of peace for his persistent belief that a better future is possible between Israel and its Arab neighbors, including the Palestinians.
Among his most well-known achievements on that score are the 1993 Oslo Accords, which have defined the Israeli-Palestinian relationship for the last 23 years. It was an agreement that launched a public and direct negotiations process with the Palestinians. It acted as an interim agreement, which created a Palestinian government, known as the Palestinian Authority. Under the accords, the West Bank was divided into three sections, Areas A, B and C, and the PA was given autonomy over 40% of the West Bank, known as A and B. The agreement also provided a framework for Israelis and Palestinians to interact around issues of governance when it came to the West Bank. Although the talks never led to a two-state solution, Israelis and Palestinians still operate within many of the guidelines of the agreement.
Among the most vivid memories of the start of the Oslo Accords is the famous handshake on the White House lawn between then-US president Bill Clinton, Arafat and Rabin. It took place on September 13, the same date, on which 23 years later, on Tuesday of this week, Peres was hospitalized. Although Rabin and Arafat were in the forefront of the photo, Peres played a pivotal role and is credited with being one of the architects of the agreement. The actual text was signed by him and current PA President Mahmoud Abbas. It was a moment of hope that never materialized and whose critics blame for the two decades of terrorist attacks that followed.
In a speech in Davos in 2009, Peres recalled the angry Israelis who in the aftermath of the signing of the accords had taken to the streets with chants against him and Rabin of “traitor” and “killer.”Former Likud foreign minister Moshe Arens, who was an opponent of Oslo from the start, said that the agreement would not have happened without Peres. “If it had brought peace to the country, then I would have told you that I was wrong and that it turned out to be a wonderful agreement,” he said.But it did not bring peace, Arens added. Among its mistakes, he said, was that it allowed for the return of the “arch terrorist” Arafat and legitimized a terrorist organization – the Palestine Liberation Organization – as the representative of the Palestinian people. The Oslo Accords elevated the PLO and made it a negotiating partner rather than allowing for a more homegrown local leadership to lead the charge for peace, Arens said.
“We brought these terrorists into the area and we foisted them onto the Palestinian population and the result we all know,” Arens said. Former Likud MK Moshe Feiglin expressed frustration that the Right has been silent about Peres. He said it was because the Right had not provided enough of an alternative to Oslo. “It’s as if Peres has immunity from criticism,” Feiglin said. “Why it is illegitimate to say anything? It’s because the Right has never provided a different narrative. So it doesn’t matter how much damage Oslo caused, how much blood was spilled, how much money was wasted. That is why there is blind tribute to the man, no matter what he did. He is controversial, but the Right hasn’t dared to criticize. We see the weakness of the Right. Peres is such an icon, and the Right hasn’t come up with an alternative to his philosophy.”
Former Meretz Party head Yossi Beilin, who was deputy foreign minister in Rabin’s government and was also instrumental in crafting the Oslo Agreement, said the problem was not the agreement but the fact that it was not immediately transformed into a permanent one. “I thought it would be conducive to a permanent agreement,” he said. He recalled the first moment he had gone to Peres’s office after Rabin became prime minister in 1992, to report on the unofficial low-level talks that were taking place with the Palestinians. At the time Peres was the foreign minister. “If he had told me I am not going to do anything about it, that would have been the end. But he understood the importance of our meetings with the PLO and was committed enough to go to Rabin.”
Michael Bar-Zohar, who wrote a biography of Peres that was published in 2007, said that Rabin had never intended to involve Peres in any peace efforts with the Palestinians. Undeterred, Peres moved forward in small steps, until he had a major role. “One day he [Peres] came to Rabin and said there are two professors [Yair Hirschfeld and Ron Pundak] who say they are in contact with low-grade PLO leaders and they want to negotiate with them in Norway. Rabin said yes, and that is how it started. He kept Rabin in the picture all the time,” Bar-Zohar said. Rabin did not believe that anything would come of the talks, Bar-Zohar said. A few days before the accord was to be signed, he instructed Peres’s people to halt the negotiations because he feared that “Arafat was trying to cheat Israel,” Bar-Zohar said.
Peres brought him back on track, by focusing on the small details of what needed to happen in a way that allowed the process to move forward. Neither Peres nor Rabin, however, realized that by signing the agreement with Arafat they were actually, in a de facto way, already agreeing to the creation of a Palestinian state, Bar-Zohar said. According to his calculation, the watershed moment in the peace process did not happen on the White House Lawn but six years earlier, in 1987, when Peres was foreign minister under prime minister Yitzhak Shamir. Peres had meet secretly in London with then-Jordanian King Hussein and they agreed to start direct talks for the first time. Hussein knew very well, as he told the American media, that he would not get back all of the West Bank and Jerusalem, Bar-Zohar said. Ecstatic Peres sent Beilin, then Foreign Ministry director-general, to intercept then-US secretary of state George Shultz, who was in Finland on his way to Moscow, to update him on the sudden breakthrough.
“Beilin arrived at midnight and woke up Shultz’s assistant to show him the agreement,” Bar-Zohar said. Shultz was so supportive he called it “a touchdown” and was ready to start shuttle diplomacy between Jerusalem and Amman, Bar-Zohar said. But Shamir sabotaged the efforts by sending Arens to Washington to sway Shultz not to support the initiative, Bar-Zohar said. Until then, any agreements with regard to the territories Israel acquired in the Six Day War had been done with Jordan. Soon after the London agreement failed and Peres did not quit the government in protest, Hussein resigned from the process of negotiating with Israel about the West Bank. It was a move that gave Peres and then Rabin no choice but to deal directly with the Palestinians themselves, Bar-Zohar said. “Until today, Peres fiercely defends the Oslo agreements and his thesis that there is a new Middle East,” Bar-Zohar said.
The former president holds to this belief in spite of Islamic State, the war in Syria and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Bar-Zohar said. He is certain that the young people in the Middle East are going to change everything, the author added. That same optimism is what propelled him into the peace talks with the Palestinians, and it is an optimism that still pushes him forward today, Bar-Zohar said.“Shimon Peres is a born unyielding optimist,” Bar-Zohar said.
*Gil Hoffman contributed to this report.