Hezbollah and last week’s Lebanon border incident
August 13, 2010
This Update contains some selections from the large quantity of analysis that has been written about the situation in Lebanon in the wake of the fatal border clash between Israeli and Lebanese army forces last week. In particular, there is speculation that Hezbollah’s increasing role in Lebanon, as well as expectations its leaders could be named as suspects in the 2005 murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, might have helped precipitate the episode.
Hamas’ stances/Israel, the Arab world and Iran
August 12, 2010
This Update features some new material on Hamas, its goals and its efforts to control Gaza. And it also has an important and detailed look at the increasingly complex relationship between Israel and the Arab states in the face of the Iranian hegemonic threat.
The Costs of Demonising Israel
August 6, 2010
Today’s Update focuses on the movement to demonise and boycott Israel, and its malevolent effects. It comes in the wake of a new must-see short video on the “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” movement against Israel, which reveals that this movement not only deliberately destroys efforts aimed at Israeli-Palestinian bridge-building and reconciliation, but is quite clear that its goal is Israel’s destruction, not ending “occupation”.
Lebanon Border Incident/ The Arab League and Direct Israeli-Palestinian talks
August 4, 2010
As readers are probably aware, there was a significant clash between Israeli forces and the Lebanese Army yesterday, which left a total of five people dead. This Update deals with both this incident, as well as the prospects for renewed direct Israeli-Palestinian talks in the wake of last week’s decision by the Arab League to approve such talks.
“Wikileaks” and Afghanistan
July 30, 2010
Much is being written about the exposure of 92,000 documents related to the Afghanistan conflict, released by the dissident activist organisation Wikileaks. This Update looks at the details and implications of these released documents.
Lebanon, Hezbollah and UNIFIL
July 23, 2010
Following the revelation earlier this month by Israel security forces of specific details about Hezbollah military infrastructure in Southern Lebanon, Hezbollah has initiated some confrontations between its supporters and the UN’s UNIFIL peacekeepers in southern Lebanon. These seemed to be designed to limit UNIFIL’s ability to uncover Hezbollah violations of UN resolutions. This Update looks at what appears to be happening in southern Lebanon.
Sanctions, Sabotage, Inspections: Tools for Stopping Iranian Nuke
July 20, 2010
Today’s Update looks at the efficacy of various diplomatic and intelligence tools for attempting to stop the Iranian nuclear program. First up are Ephraim Asculai and Emily Landau, top proliferation experts from Tel Aviv University, who discuss the new UN and unilateral sanctions, and growing signs of international seriousness in dealing with Iran.
US Policy and the Peace Process / Talking about Islam and Terrorism
July 16, 2010
This Update features some new analysis of the likely future of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in the wake of the Obama/Netanyahu summit last week. First up is Washington Institute analyst and former US National Security Council Middle East expert Michael Singh looking at what happens if and when direct Israeli-Palestinian talks resume.
Flotilla Military Probe Outcome/ Gaza revisited
July 14, 2010
This Update features a look at the details that have been released from Israel’s military investigation into the Gaza flotilla incident on May 30 (obviously, the major state inquiry led by Justice Turkel is still under way, as is an investigation by Israel’s Controller-General.) It also includes some additional examinations of the situation in Gaza more than a month after the flotilla incident.
Turkey, Iran and UN Sanctions
July 9, 2010
This Update looks at Turkey’s regional policy, including its relations with Iran, especially in the wake of the recent UN and unilateral sanctions passed to deter Iran’s illegal nuclear activities. It also contains some new informed advice on how those sanctions can work.
