Creative Commons Attribution News Resources – Israel and the Mideast:
WikiLeaks
- Russia Asked for Israeli Drone Technology in Exchange for Annulment of Missile Deal with Iran
Moscow asked Israel for advanced drone technology in exchange for canceling a deal to supply Iran with S-300 anti-aircraft missiles, in addition to offering Israel $1 billion, according to an official cable published Sunday via WikiLeaks. The cable was sent by U.S. Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Ellen Tauscher after meeting Director of Policy and Political-Military Affairs at the Israel Defense Ministry Amos Gilad. Gilad, the document says, emphasized that Israel would not supply Russia with its most advanced technologies because it would quickly end up in China’s hands. (Ynet News) - Israel Tried to Coordinate Gaza War with Abbas – Barak Ravid
Israel tried to coordinate the 2009 Gaza war with the Palestinian Authority, classified diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks said on Sunday, but both the PA and Egypt refused to take over Gaza in case of a Hamas defeat. (Ha’aretz)Other News - Turkish Foreign Minister: Israel to Disappear as an Independent State – Eli Bardenstein
“Israel cannot remain an independent state in the long run and a binational state will arise in its place,” says Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. His vision is that Turkey will become the dominant force in the region and will also be the sponsor of that binational state. Davutoglu is considered the top ideologist of the ruling AKP party.
The main idea raised repeatedly by Davutoglu, which he promotes through the media and within the Turkish government, is that an independent Israel in the region is illegitimate and therefore must disappear. This conclusion is based on a deeper belief that Turkey must restore its historical position from the days of the Ottoman empire, which ruled the Middle East for nearly 400 years. Only under these conditions will peace retu rn to the Middle East. (Maariv-Hebrew, 28Nov10)
See also Erdogan: Turkey “Will Not Be Silent” If Israel Attacks Lebanon or Gaza (Ynet News)
See also Turkey’s Erdogan Wins Libyan Human Rights Prize
Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan will travel to Libya to receive the Moamer Kadhafi International Prize for Human Rights on Wednesday. (AFP)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
- WikiLeaks Doesn’t Embarrass Israel – Aluf Benn
The U.S. government dispatches revealed Sunday by WikiLeaks revealed almost no new details regarding the exchange of messages between Jerusalem and Washington. There is no significant discrepancy between messages delivered to the Israeli press and those delivered to American diplomats. Thus Israel has no reason to be embarrassed by the leak. Israeli officials are portrayed in the U.S. diplomatic cables as trying to convince the Americans that Iran is dangerous and that it does not behoove Washington to supply weapons to Arab states. (Ha’aretz) - The World Thinks Like Us about Iran – Sever Plocker
Iran’s nuclearization is not Israeli paranoia. The whole world, and not only Israel, is terrified by the Iranian nuclear threat. It makes all world leaders, from Riyadh to Moscow, lose sleep, and the world expects Israel and the U.S., in this order, to do something to stop “Hitler from Tehran.” The main message of two U.S. administrations turned out to be incredibly similar to the main message conveyed by Israeli governments: Iran constitutes the greatest threat to the world’s stability. (Ynet News) - WikiLeaks Vindicate Israel – Yaakov Katz
WikiLeaks may have done Israel a service, presenting Arab leaders as more extreme in their remarks than Israeli leaders regarding the danger involved in allowing Iran to continue with its nuclear program. (Jerusalem Post)
Observations:
Fatah Declares Refusal to Recognize Israel as Jewish State, Opposes Land Swap Formula – Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
- The Fatah Revolutionary Council concluded its fifth convention in Ramallah over the weekend by declaring its refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. “The council affirms its rejection of the so-called Jewish state or any other formula that could achieve this goal,” said a statement issued by the council.
- The statement said that the Fatah council was categorically opposed to proposals for a land swap between Israel and the Palestinians.
- “The council salutes President Mahmoud Abbas for adhering to the basic rights, first and foremost the right of return for Palestinian refugees,” the statement said. “Also, the council salutes President Abbas for standing up against pressure aimed at resuming the peace talks without achieving the demands of the Palestinians.”
- Abbas told the Fatah leaders that he ruled out the possibility of returning to the negotiating table without a full cessation of construction in settlements and east Jerusalem.
See also Press Ignores Fatah’s Hard-Line Declarations – Editorial (Jerusalem Post)
- The vast majority of news outlets have so far refrained from reporting at all on Fatah’s hard-line declarations. While news media usually respond quickly and amply to steps taken by Israel that are perceived as potentially detrimental to the peace process, the silent treatment of the Fatah decisions reflects a media norm, in which Palestinian incitement and intransigence is often downplayed or completely ignored.
- When news reporters and editors fail to give the proper space to revelations of Palestinian extremism and intransigence, they help perpetuate prejudices against Israel. In this case it hurts the peace process by untenably misrepresenting the imperative for compromise by the Palestinian leadership and their public, thereby dooming hopes for negotiated progress.
Iran abused the neutrality of the Iranian Red Crescent (IRC) society to smuggle intelligence agents and weapons into other countries, including Lebanon during the 2006 war with Israel, according to a well-placed Iranian source who spoke to U.S. diplomats. Among those sent in were members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s al-Quds force, a covert group of intelligence officers and special forces chosen to export the Iranian revolution. The source added: “Shipments of medical supplies served also to facilitate weapons shipments.” The source said IRC staff in Iran had seen missiles on a plane destined for Lebanon while delivering medical supplies to the airport. The plane was already half full of weapons before the medical supplies arrived. (Guardian-UK)
The leaked diplomatic cables reveal that U.S. diplomats are skeptical about Turkey’s dependability as a partner. The leadership in Ankara is depicted as divided and permeated by Islamists. Erdogan’s advisers, as well as Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, are portrayed as having little understanding of politics beyond Ankara. The Americans are also worried about Davutoglu’s alleged neo-Ottoman visions. U.S. diplomats write that Erdogan gets his information almost exclusively from newspapers with close links to Islamists, and has surrounded himself with an “iron ring of sycophantic (but contemptuous) advisors.” (Der Spiegel-Germany)
See also U.S., Israel Fear “Fundamental ist” Erdogan – Barak Ravid
A secret cable published Monday details a conversation between U.S. Ambassador to Turkey James Jeffrey and Israeli Ambassador Gaby Levy. Both share an assessment of Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan as a religious “fundamentalist” and a demagogue whose policies are fueled by “hatred.” In his cable to the State Department, Jeffrey wrote, “Our discussions with contacts both inside and outside of the Turkish government on Turkey’s deteriorating relations with Israel tend to confirm Levy’s thesis that Erdogan simply hates Israel.” (Ha’aretz)
