Syria and the extremist rebels/ Hamas’ latest terror tunnel
October 17, 2013
This edition of Updates from AIJAC focuses on the reality of growing Islamist extremism among Syrian rebels, the reasons this happened and what can be done, if anything, to increase the role of more moderate groups. It also focuses on the implication of the discovery of a new tunnel from Gaza into Israel, apparently designed to facilitate kidnappings or other terror attacks inside Israel.
Ignoring history: the West Bank, BDS, and the EU’s Cyprus experience
October 16, 2013 | Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz
In increasing its efforts to isolate and punish Israel, the European Union has failed to learn from its failed policy towards northern Cyprus…
Bar-Ilan revisited, four years later
October 11, 2013 | Allon Lee
On Monday, four-and-a-half years after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at Bar-Ilan University’s Begin-Sadat Centre for Strategic Studies and formally committed to the two-state formula, he returned to deliver a follow-up of sorts, that has been unfairly maligned in some quarters for being too hawkish.
Yet, for those with the time and inclination to read or listen to Netanyahu’s words, the 2009 and 2013 talks are are actually mostly congruent. Indeed, elements of it appear to be an effort to simply re-emphasise key themes he struck in 2009…
The Yom Kippur War – 40 years on
October 11, 2013 | Ahron Shapiro
On October 6, 1973, as Israelis observed Yom Kippur – the holiest day in the Jewish calendar – the Egyptian and Syrian armies launched simultaneous surprise offensives against Israel across the ceasefire lines from the 1967 war.
Four decades later, the consequences and lessons of the 19-day war are still being analysed and debated. Meanwhile, once-classified information about the war from the archives of some of the principle players in the war, as well as their superpower patrons, are slowly coming to the surface, adding to our understanding of the events.
Today, AIJAC begins a three-part blog to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Israel’s last major multi-front conventional war.
The first entry will examine recent stories about the war that might interest to our readers, including commentary about how the lessons of the Yom Kippur War are being applied to Israel’s current security outlook.
An Israeli-Arab alliance on Iran?/ Cutting off US aid to Egypt
October 11, 2013
Today’s update centres on the growing policy congruence, some say amounting almost to a tacit alliance, between Israel and various Sunni Arab states, especially Jordan, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states – united by shared concerns about Iran and declining US regional influence. It also contains an analysis of the US Administration’s decision to cut off most of its military aid to Egypt earlier this week.
Media Week – History Lessens
October 10, 2013 | Allon Lee
An almost full page retrospective looking at the 40th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War was so lacking in basic historical understanding that it boggles the mind how it succeeded in being published in one of Australia’s largest selling newspapers (Daily Telegraph, Oct. 5).
The regional decline of the Muslim Brotherhood?
October 10, 2013
This Update deals with increasing signs across the Middle East that – independently of the overthrow of the Egyptian government by the military in July – the Muslim Brotherhood, the parent organisation for all modern Islamists, is on the skids. If this trend persists, it would be a major reversal of what once seemed to be the primary direction of the “Arab Spring” instability which has been rocking the region since late 2010 – and seemed previously to be mostly benefiting Islamists.
Overview of Developments in Gaza and the West Bank
October 4, 2013
Today’s Update focuses on the Israeli-Palestinian situation and highlights a number of important happenings that have taken a back seat while the mainstream media lavishes attention upon Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
First, Khaled Abu Toameh analyses Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ speech at the United Nations General Assembly. Abu Toameh criticises Abbas for devoting the bulk of his speech to attacking Israel and only Israel, whilst ignoring the suffering, slaughter and expulsion of Palestinians in neighbouring Arab countries such as Syria, Lebanon and Egypt.
Netanyahu’s Speech at the United Nations General Assembly
October 2, 2013
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly on October 1, 2013. He focused primarily on the potential threat of Iranian nuclear weapons to the security of Israel and the wider world. This post includes the full transcript of his speech plus the video.
Media Week – Gallant Knight; RN’s anti-Israel twofer
October 2, 2013 | Ahron Shapiro
ABC’s North America correspondent Ben Knight waxed nostalgic about his days in Israel as the public broadcaster’s Middle East correspondent in a recent contribution to the network’s “Correspondents Report” radio program, meanwhile, Radio National’s Phillip Adams hosted a pair of Israel-bashers in a single segment.
