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Israel appears to have been behind drone strike on Iran factory, U.S. official says

By Parisa Hafezi and Phil Stewart Reuters 2023-01-28 

A loud blast was heard at a military plant in Iran’s central city of Isfahan, but a security official said there were no casualties, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB said on its website early on Sunday.

“The explosion took place in one of the munitions manufacturing centres of the Defence Ministry and according to an announcement by the political and security deputy head of Isfahan Governorate there were no casualties,” IRIB reported, without giving further details…….  https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/blast-heard-military-plant-irans-central-city-isfahan-state-media-2023-01-28/

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January 29, 2023 Posted by | Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Comments on a Jerusalem Post article that praised Ukraine’s Nazi Azov battalion.

The AZOV regiment is visiting Israel. But not all Jews are taken in by this whitewashing of the Nazi history and influence in Ukraine. Below are some of the comments on the rather fawning Jerusalem Post article.

george130556, 21 December, 2022 Eternal shame on Israel for receiving these modern-day Nazis, who worship the murderers of tens of thousands of Jews in Ukraine during WWII.

Maurits2307 21 December, 2022 – “associated with neo-Nazi and far-right symbolism and ideologies, the Azov Regiment today insists that it has largely purged those sentiments from the regiment.” Russia is doing the purging. In the field, Ukranians still act like Nazis with multiple recorded war crimes. They wear Nazi insignia on their uniforms. Their vehicles have Nazi military insignia. If it looks like a Nazi, acts like a Nazi. It´s a Nazi.

Boris_SF 21 December, 2022, It is the Ukrainian establishment that glorify monsters like Chmelnitcki, Petliura, Bandera, Shukhevych and many officers of the Ukrainian SS Galicia Division on streets, squares and statues, all over Ukraine. It is true.

Jack, 20 December, 2022 Ukraine has this weird fixation with Israel

Israel should not be getting involved, Ukraine is soaked in Jewish blood, how Jews can want to help them defies belief.

Maybe read some history re pogroms and ww2, before you fall all over yourself to help them.

bjashka, 20 December, 2022 Don’t understand why we are welcoming Ukraine nationalist of contraversal Azov battalion. Part of the battalion members are public n@zis and were banned in US and Europe for this.

Baruch Baruch 20 December, 2022 As a Jew, an Israeli and a human being I am shocked that we are befriending these guys. I dont care about their battles with Russians. Their history, imagery and ideology as well as themed youth and adult training camps speaks for itself. Disgraceful to host these Na…. fascists

Jossef Perl, 20 December, 2022 Zelensky, his foreign minister and his ambassador to Israel have been putting a lot of outlandish demands on Israel (more than on many other European countries), yet at the same time Ukraine has continued to vote against Israel in the UN. Outrageous!

Adam Burman, 20 December, 2022 Over 230 missiles fired by the Ukraine armed forces at Donetsk peoples republic yesterday, hitting 20 residential buildings, 6 civil infrastructure facilities, and Kalinin hospital.

but hey, keep cheerleading your pet Ukronutsis, right?

PS: That hospital was bombed by the Ukronazis using Swedish Howitzers.

“…………….. The visit was initiated by the Israeli Friends of Ukraine organization and with the support of the Ukrainian Embassy in Israel and the Nadav Foundation.

T. Hoekstra, 20 December, 2022 This reeks of a whitewashing of Azov from their neonaughty brand.

Neonoughties however generally are not just anti-semites but white supremacist.

Also Masada was the place the defenders got into cannbalism or suicide.

Not really heroic, but tragic.

When it comes to Mariupol just look for how they arrived in Mariupol.

And how they took care of the protesting local population.

Any Pro Maidan apologist should get sick of these Azov guys.

Chikwa, 21 December, 2022 Terribly sad that Israelis ignoring their history. Those who do so are doomed to repeat it. We witnessed on TV how the Ukrainian soldiers discriminated vs African and Asian students trying to leave the Country as the Fled Putins army. Annti Semitismbis on the rise in EU and America. Liberal Jews turn a blind eye !

Miroslav Iliaš, 21 December, 2022 Half of the article is about how Azov Regiment distances itself from its neonazi past. We will see at the end of the bloody day – when the war finishes, how the Ukrainian society will deal with its dark past.

Ghost of kiev, 20 December, 2022 Well done JPost, just whitewash the azov n@zis.

democritique21 December, 2022, I can’t seem to quite get this! We allow a self-proclaimed natsi battalion to enter Eretz Israel and complain about the NYT’s natsi symbol stylized crossword???

maria992, 21 December, 2022 Total ignorance in history and secondary no comparison to Masada as Ukrainian are of Russian origin.

Adam Burman, 20 December, 2022 Ha Ha Ha! Jpost is actually running hasbara for Ukronazis.

National Socialists of the world Unite, I suppose, huh…

pizzaparty2579, 21 December, 2022 Is Israel a Jewish state? If so, how could Israel let these monsters in? Guess they are here to beg for money and we are the masochists.

ErastF , 21 December, 2022, I’m baffled. How was decided that just the Azov people will represent the Ukrainian interests in Israel? I don’t expect anything from the Ukrainian ambassador but didn’t the Israel friends of Ukraina hear something about the Azov regiment?

george130556, 21 December, 2022, Israel welcomes mass murderers, who carried out the massacres of civilians in Mariupol, Kramatorsk, Bucha, and Izyum.

wolfsonia, 21 December, 2022 , If Israel wants to stay or at least look neutral then hosting Azov is a stupid idea.

TCohen 19 Dec 22, The Azov Battalion ARE Nazis, so Israel’s allowance of entry IS UNACCEPTABLE and DEAD WRONG!

Yrraf, 21 December, 2022 Yes, every picture of the regiment shows how “distanced” they are from nazi ideology. For all people in the comment section go to the army recognition site and check for news that Ukrainian soldiers captured enough Russian BMP-3 IFVs to equip one battalion. Not a Rusian source, and without any hesitation, they are showing captured Rusian IFV with Wehrmacht insignia in Azov service. That’s how modern “journalists” in Izrael respect dead ancestors slaughtered by that same sick ideology.

MJandecka, 21 December, 2022 Azov? Neo Nazis.

************************************************************

Ukraine’s Azov Regiment visits Israel: ‘Mariupol is our Masada’, Azov officer Ilya Samoilenko, one of the defenders of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, led the delegation to Israel. Jerusalem Post, By TZVI JOFFRE DECEMBER 20, 2022  https://www.jpost.com/international/article-725351

December 25, 2022 Posted by | Israel, politics international, spinbuster | Leave a comment

‘Deliberate ambiguity’: Israel’s nuclear weapons are greatest threat to Middle East

https://peoplesworld.org/article/deliberate-ambiguity-israels-nuclear-weapons-are-greatest-threat-to-middle-east/ December 2, 2022 11:06 AM CST  BY RAMZY BAROUD

As Western countries are floating the theory that Russia could escalate its conflict with Ukraine to a nuclear war, many of those governments continue to turn a blind eye to Israel’s nuclear weapons capabilities. Luckily, many other countries around the world do not subscribe to this endemic hypocrisy.

The Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction was held between Nov. 14-18, with the sole purpose of creating new standards of accountability that, as should always have been the case, would apply equally to all Middle Eastern countries.

The debate regarding nuclear weapons in the Middle East could not possibly be any more pertinent or urgent. International observers rightly note that the period following the Russia-Ukraine war is likely to accelerate the quest for nuclear weapons throughout the world. Considering the seemingly perpetual state of conflict in the Middle East, the region is likely to witness nuclear rivalry as well.

For years, Arab and other countries attempted to raise the issue that accountability regarding the development and acquisition of nuclear weapons cannot be confined to states that are perceived to be enemies of Israel and the West.

The latest of these efforts was a United Nations resolution that called on Israel to dispose of its nuclear weapons, and to place its nuclear facilities under the monitoring of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Resolution number A/C.1/77/L.2, which was drafted by Egypt with the support of other Arab countries, passed with an initial vote of 152-5. Unsurprisingly, among the five countries that voted against the draft were the United States, Canada and, of course, Israel itself.

U.S. and Canadian blind support of Israel notwithstanding, what compels Washington and Ottawa to vote against a draft entitled “The risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East?” Keeping in mind the successive right-wing extremist governments that have ruled over Israel for many years, Washington must understand that the risk of using nuclear weapons under the guise of fending off an “existential threat” is a real possibility.


Since its inception, Israel has resorted to, and utilized the phrase “existential threat” countless times. Various Arab governments, later Iran and even individual Palestinian resistance movements, were accused of endangering Israel’s existence per se. Even the non-violent Palestinian civil society-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement was accused by then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2015 of being an existential threat to Israel. Netanyahu claimed that the boycott movement was “not connected to our actions; it is connected to our very existence.”

This should worry everyone, not just in the Middle East, but the whole world. A country with such hyped sensitivity about imagined “existential threats” should not be allowed to acquire the kinds of weapons that could destroy the entire Middle East several times over.

Some may argue that Israel’s nuclear arsenal was intrinsically linked to real fears resulting from its historical conflict with the Arabs. However, this is not the case. As soon as Israel completed Stage 1 of its ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their historic homeland, and long before any serious Arab or Palestinian resistance was carried out in response, Israel was already on the lookout for nuclear weapons.

As early as 1949, the Israeli army had found uranium deposits in the Negev Desert, leading to the establishment, in 1952, of the highly secretive Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC).

In 1955, the U.S. government sold Israel a nuclear research reactor. But that was not enough. Eager to become a full nuclear power, Tel Aviv resorted to Paris in 1957. The latter became a major partner in Israel’s secretive nuclear activities when it helped the Israeli government construct a clandestine nuclear reactor near Dimona in the Negev Desert.

The father of the Israeli nuclear program at the time was none other than Shimon Peres who, ironically, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994. The Dimona Nuclear Reactor is now named “Shimon Peres Nuclear Research Center-Negev.”

With no international monitoring whatsoever, thus with zero legal accountability, Israel’s nuclear quest continues to this day. In 1963, Israel purchased 100 tons of uranium ore from Argentina, and it is strongly believed that during the October 1973 Israel-Arab war, Israel “came close to making a nuclear preemptive strike,” according to Richard Sale, writing for United Press International (UPI).

Currently, Israel is believed to have “enough fissionable material to fabricate 60-300 nuclear weapons,” according to former U.S. Army Officer Edwin S. Cochran.

Estimates vary, but the facts about Israel’s weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) are hardly contested. Israel itself practices what is known as “deliberate ambiguity,” so as to send a message of its lethal power to its enemies, without revealing anything that may hold it accountable to international inspection.

 shows what now is known as the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center near the city of Dimona, Israel. A long-secretive Israeli nuclear facility that gave birth to its undeclared atomic weapons program appeared to be undergoing its biggest construction project in decades recently, according to newly taken satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press. | U.S. Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science / U.S. Geological Survey | via AP

Estimates vary, but the facts about Israel’s weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) are hardly contested. Israel itself practices what is known as “deliberate ambiguity,” so as to send a message of its lethal power to its enemies, without revealing anything that may hold it accountable to international inspection.

What we know about Israel’s nuclear weapons has been made possible partly because of the bravery of former Israeli nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu, a whistleblower who was held in solitary confinement for a decade due to his courage in exposing Israel’s darkest secrets.

Still, Israel refuses to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), endorsed by 191 countries.

Israeli leaders adhere to what is known as the “Begin Doctrine,” in reference to Menachem Begin, the rightwing Israeli prime minister who invaded Lebanon in 1982, resulting in the killing of thousands. The doctrine is formulated around the idea that, while Israel gives itself the right to own nuclear weapons, its enemies in the Middle East must not. This belief continues to direct Israeli actions to this day.

U.S. support for Israel is not confined to ensuring the latter has “military edge” over its neighbors in terms of traditional weapons, but also to ensure Israel remains the region’s only superpower, even if that entails escaping international accountability for the development of WMDs.

The collective efforts by Arab and other countries at the UN General Assembly to create a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons are welcomed initiatives. It behooves everyone, Washington included, to join the rest of the world in finally forcing Israel to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty, a first but critical step toward long delayed accountability.

December 2, 2022 Posted by | Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

‘Deliberate ambiguity’: Israel’s nuclear weapons are greatest threat to Middle East

Middle East Monitor Dr Ramzy Baroud, November 28, 2022 ,

As western countries are floating the theory that Russia could escalate its conflict with Ukraine to a nuclear war, many western governments continue to turn a blind eye to Israel’s own nuclear weapons capabilities. Luckily, many countries around the world do not subscribe to this endemic western hypocrisy.

‘The Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction’ was held between November 14-18, with the sole purpose of creating new standards of accountability that, as should have always been the case, be applied equally to all Middle Eastern countries.

The debate regarding nuclear weapons in the Middle East could not possibly be any more pertinent or urgent. International observers rightly note that the period following the Russia-Ukraine war is likely to accelerate the quest for nuclear weapons throughout the world. Considering the seemingly perpetual state of conflict in the Middle East, the region is likely to witness nuclear rivalry as well.

For years, Arab and other countries attempted to raise the issue that accountability regarding the development and acquisition of nuclear weapons cannot be confined to states that are perceived to be enemies of Israel and the West.

The latest of these efforts was a United Nations resolution that called on Israel to dispose of its nuclear weapons, and to place its nuclear facilities under the monitoring of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Resolution number A/C.1/77/L.2, which was drafted by Egypt with the support of other Arab countries, passed with an initial vote of 152-5. Unsurprisingly, among the five countries that voted against the draft were the United States, Canada and, of course, Israel itself.

US and Canadian blind support of Tel Aviv notwithstanding, what compels Washington and Ottawa to vote against a draft entitled: “The risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East”? Keeping in mind the successive right-wing extremist governments that have ruled over Israel for many years, Washington must understand that the risk of using nuclear weapons under the guise of fending off an ‘existential threat’ is a real possibility.

Since its inception, Israel has resorted to, and utilised the phrase ‘existential threat’ countless times. Various Arab governments, later Iran and even individual Palestinian resistance movements were accused of endangering Israel’s very existence. Even the non-violent Palestinian civil society-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement was accused by then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2015 of being an existential threat to Israel. Netanyahu claimed that the boycott movement was “not connected to our actions; it is connected to our very existence.”

This should worry everyone, not just in the Middle East, but the whole world. A country with such hyped sensitivity about imagined ‘existential threats’ should not be allowed to acquire the kind of weapons that could destroy the entire Middle East, several times over.

Some may argue that Israel’s nuclear arsenal was intrinsically linked to real fears resulting from its historical conflict with the Arabs. However, this is not the case. As soon as Israel finalised its ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their historic homeland, and long before any serious Arab or Palestinian resistance was carried out in response, Israel was already on the lookout for nuclear weapons…………………..

With no international monitoring whatsoever, thus with zero legal accountability, Israel’s nuclear quest continues until this day. In 1963, Israel purchased 100 tons of uranium ore from Argentina, and it is strongly believed that, during the October 1973 Israel-Arab war, Israel “came close to making a nuclear preemptive strike”, according to Richard Sale, writing in United Press International (UPI).

Currently, Israel is believed to have “enough fissionable material to fabricate 60-300 nuclear weapons,” according to former US Army Officer, Edwin S. Cochran.

Estimates vary, but the facts about Israel’s weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) are hardly contested. Israel itself practices what is known as ‘deliberate ambiguity’, as to send a message to its enemies of its lethal power, without revealing anything that may hold it accountable to international inspection.

What we know about Israel’s nuclear weapons has been made possible partly because of the bravery of a former Israeli nuclear technician, Mordechai Vanunu, a whistleblower who was held in solitary confinement for a decade due to his courage in exposing Israel’s darkest secrets.

Still, Israel refuses to sign the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), endorsed by 191 countries…………..

The US support for Israel is not confined to ensuring the latter has ‘military edge’ over its neighbours in terms of traditional weapons, but to also ensure Israel remains the region’s only superpower, even if that entails escaping international accountability for the development of WMDs.

The collective efforts by Arab and other countries at the UNGA to create a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons are welcomed initiatives. It behoves everyone, Washington included, to join the rest of the world in finally forcing Israel to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty, a first but critical step towards long-delayed accountability.  https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221128-deliberate-ambiguity-israels-nuclear-weapons-are-greatest-threat-to-middle-east/

November 28, 2022 Posted by | Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Israeli nuclear arsenal condemned by world’s govts in overwhelming UN vote

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/global-majority-leads-way-nuclear-disarmament-time-reflect-reality-here, Sameena Rahman,November 9, 2022,

In an overwhelming vote, the United Nations General Assembly declared last week that apartheid Israel must immediately cease operations of all its nuclear weapons, get rid of the ones that exist, and place all its nuclear sites under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency. 

These stipulations against Israel were outlined in a resolution submitted by Egypt on behalf of the UN-member countries that are also a part of the Arab League, including the Palestinian Authority, Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.

The resolution was approved by 152 countries — 79% of UN member states — with five votes against, unsurprisingly the United States and Israel, and also Canada, Micronesia and Palau. Some 24 abstentions were composed of European Union members, NATO allies and India.

Resolution calling for an end to Israel’s illegal nuclear stockpile

The resolution, titled “The risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East,” highlighted the risks of unsafeguarded nuclear facilities in the Middle East and demanded that Israel follow the principles of universal adherence to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, adopted in the region in 1995. Since then, Israel has been the only entity in the region that has repeatedly refused to sign the treaty and has spent the last few decades hypocritically denying the existence of its nuclear weapons.

A recent United Kingdom Parliamentary report states “that Israel possesses a nuclear weapons capability, outside of the framework of the NPT,” after specific details were revealed by whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu in 1988. Israel is believed to have at least 90 nuclear warheads, according to the report, and continues to produce weapons-grade plutonium.

Israel, hiding behind its imperial backer, the United States, continues its stockpiling of nuclear weapons in an extensive threat to the geopolitical stability in the Middle East. Documents from the early 1960’s, revealed in 2014, show that Washington played a key role in building Israel’s nuclear arsenal in secret while publicly denying any knowledge and adopting a line of ambiguity on nuclear power and weapons. Numerous reports since then established that the United States knew of and supported Israel’s nuclear capabilities in gross violation of international law and while punishing countries like Iran and North Korea for having or developing defensive weapons.

U.S. and Israel’s hypocritically label Iran as a nuclear threat

In the last few decades, the United States and Israel consistently labeled Iran as a nuclear threat to peace and stability in the Middle East despite Israel itself invading all bordering countries. Of note, Iran has no nuclear weapons, and signed on to the NPT as well as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which the United States pulled out of. Meanwhile, Israel remained in flagrant violation of international law.

Israel violated international law on numerous occasions by blatantly attacking Iran’s nuclear power plants used to generate energy, plunging the many areas of the country already suffocated by sanctions into darkness. In April last year, senior Israeli officials hinted at Mossad’s culpability for an attack on Iran’s key nuclear site Natanz, a heinous act of nuclear terrorism. Israel has also carried out the targeted assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadh and other Iranian scientists. Israel also admitted to attacking what it called “suspected” nuclear reactors in other neighboring countries, like Syria in Operation Outside the Box.

Nasser Kanaani, spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign ministry, said in a social media post, “The advanced nuclear military program of the apartheid regime of Israel and the regime’s continued reluctance to put its nuclear facilities under comprehensive safeguards and not to join the non-proliferation treaty is a serious threat to international security and the non-proliferation regime.”

Environmental fallout in Palestinian Occupied Territory

Israel’s criminal behavior is also significantly harming Palestinians in the West Bank. In 2021, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh accused Israel of storing lethal radioactive waste in the West Bank and sickening Palestinians living in the area. He also linked high cancer rates in Hebron to the nearby Israeli Negev nuclear reactor, Dimona. Palestine currently suffers from major climate issues due to Israel’s seven-decade long occupation and the fallout from Israel’s military proliferation.

U.S. corporate media silence

While the UN and the international community have repeatedly pointed to and labeled Israel as a major threat to geopolitical stability in the Middle East, there has been a critical lack of coverage by the western mainstream corporate media. It is clear that the fog of fear of the United States and Israel is lifting in the international community as governments are more empowered to label Israel for what it is: an apartheid state and a gross violator of human rights in Palestine and elsewhere. The recent vote is an important recognition that Israel is the major threat to peace and stability in the Middle East.

November 9, 2022 Posted by | Israel, politics international, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Tale Of Two Broken Accords: Oslo And Minsk

Ukraine’s President Zelensky was elected on a platform promising to implement Minsk and end the death toll. Then the neo-Nazis enabled by the U.S. and NATO got to him. I suspect he was threatened with assasination unless he signed on to his country serving as the killing grounds for proxy war to weaken Russia. 

https://went2thebridge.org/2022/11/07/tale-of-two-broken-accords-oslo-and-minsk/—

 / WENT2THEBRIDGE

Many people understand that war is hell. That’s why they clamor for negotiated settlements that move belligerents back from the battlefield and set them on a path to reconciliation.

The Oslo Accords established a two-state solution to Israel’s violent occupation of Palestinian homelands and at the time was hailed as a major achievement.

Then came facts on the ground for the last several decades. 

It would by now be virtually impossible to create a State of Palestine that was not hopelessly Balkanized into tiny, unconnected territories. At the time of Oslo, many expressed doubt and believed that only a truly democratic one-state solution could work. (Full disclosure: I’m in that camp.)

The insanely belligerent and corrupt Israeli PM Netanyahu has won the recent elections and stands poised to bring even more violence and suffering to the long-occupied Palestinians.  And Israel is a nuclear weapons nation. With lots of nuclear threats and innuendoes being thrown around these days, it’s important to keep that in mind.

So we can expect to see a continuation of Israel’s attacks on Palestinians in blockaded Gaza

The Minsk II agreement established a game plan for resolving civil war in Ukraine.

Tens of thousands of civilians and combatants had been killed by missile strikes and more hands-on violence from militias operating freely in the Donbas border region with Russia following a 2014 CIA-sponsored coup in Kyiv. Years later, Ukraine’s President Zelensky was elected on a platform promising to implement Minsk and end the death toll. Then the neo-Nazis enabled by the U.S. and NATO got to him. I suspect he was threatened with assasination unless he signed on to his country serving as the killing grounds for proxy war to weaken Russia. 

One wonders why nations sign on to accords and then immediately show no intention of fulfilling them?

It could be a stalling tactic to temporarily reduce international pressure to de-escalate.

Or it could be a case where those who signed on are ousted either by coup or elections, and succeeded by those with a lust for war.

Or maybe diplomatic efforts like accords are doomed in the face of the profit motive provided by modern industrialized killing?

Workers hold the key to stopping wars no matter what the motives of those waging them. 

An international general strike would make wars literally impossible.

I pray we are seeing signs of this developing, especially in Europe where the economic impact of the war on Russia via Ukraine has been most intense. Certainly we are seeing signs of alarm from rulers enacting laws that actually criminalize gathering

November 7, 2022 Posted by | Israel, politics international, Ukraine | Leave a comment

The new Jewish state in the Levant: A fanatics-led nuclear power

Israel is about to get the most extreme government in the country’s history. But there are limits to what it can do.

Israel’s colonial democracy has given birth to a potentially more extreme type of ‘Jewish state’ akin to a more sophisticated and modern version of the ‘Islamic state’. But unlike ISIL which was conceived in and defeated by war, Israel is the only nuclear power in the Middle East today.

The fanatics, fascists, and far-right fantasists, who won this week’s elections in Israel, are about to form the most openly extreme government in the country’s history. It is sure to include the Jewish state’s new rising star Itamar Ben-Gvir — a violence-spewing, Palestinian-hating radical on whose support the government will stand.

A majority of religious nationalists and ultraorthodox parties in government, the first in Israel’s history, would want to transform the Jewish state towards a theocracy that lives by the Halacha (Jewish law) and finish colonising the entirety of Palestine, come what may.

But could they? What can they do in reality that their predecessors have not done already, in terms of exacting death and destruction, and further expanding the illegal Jewish settlement in Palestine?

Benjamin Netanyahu, who will likely form and lead the new coalition government, knows from his experience as Israel’s longest-serving prime minister that there is a limit on how far Israel can go before it starts to meet fierce Palestinian and Arab resistance. Any further, and Israel could also lose support in Europe and the United States; support that is indispensable to its security and regional standing.

He has previously preferred incremental steps to radical measures that could alienate Israel’s main backers and its new regional partners. Netanyahu may therefore try to curb his partners’ eagerness to annex the occupied West Bank and ethnically cleanse it of its Palestinian inhabitants.

But then again, it is doubtful whether he will be able to tame these religious fanatics, knowing all too well they have a hold over the survival of his premiership; his only guarantee to stay out of prison, after having been indicted for serious corruption charges.

I think the genie is finally out of the bottle.

The elections have opened a Pandora’s box that may well take Israelis to the dark side. They have exposed the fragility of Israel’s peculiar liberality as a colonial state, and unmasked the p

ervasive fanaticism among the majority of the electorate after decades of unfettered military occupation.

The unruly pronouncements of Netanyahu’s scandalous new partners reflect the prevailing beliefs among the majority of Israel’s right-wing parties, including his own Likud, that have ruled the country for the past few decades. But now that they are boasting of Jewish supremacy out in the open, it is harder for Netanyahu’s hasbara to conceal their — or his — racism from the rest of the world.

After all, it was Bibi, as Netanyahu is known, who back in August midwifed the union of two or three small fanatic parties, to ensure they maximise the number of their seats and join his future coalition government. They did exceedingly well: The Religious Zionist Party won 14 seats. Its legislators include Ben-Gvir.

Netanyahu’s two other coalition partners, the ultraorthodox Jewish parties, Shas and UJT, which are as socially regressive and politically fanatic, won 18 seats. Together with the 32 far-right Likud members, they command a comfortable like-minded majority of 64 seats in the 120-member Knesset……………………. more https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/11/4/the-new-jewish-state-in-the-levant-a-fanatics-led-nuclear-power

November 3, 2022 Posted by | Israel, politics | Leave a comment

Iran’s UN envoy slams Israel refusal to join NPT, urges nuclear-weapon-free zone in Middle East

Israel, which pursues a policy of deliberate ambiguity about its nuclear weapons, is estimated to possess 200 to 400 nuclear warheads in its arsenal, making it the sole possessor of non-conventional arms in West Asia.

Friday, 26 August 2022,

A senior Iranian diplomat has denounced Israel’s continued refusal to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), stressing that establishing a Middle East region free of nuclear weapons is of utmost importance.

Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, made the remarks while speaking to reporters on Friday on the sidelines of the Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons held at the UN headquarters in New York.

“The issue of the Middle East as a region free of nuclear weapons is one of the important discussions… because the Israeli regime, as the only possessor of hundreds of nuclear warheads, is not ready to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and place its nuclear facilities under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency,” he said.

He added that Israel’s refusal to join the NPT comes as some countries are cooperating with the regime and have always supported it.

The Iranian delegation attending the tenth NPT review conference played a constructive role in highlighting the significance of a Middle East region free of weapons of mass destruction, he said

As documents relating to the NPT review conferences in 1995, 2000, and 2010 have explicitly announced that the Israeli regime must join the treaty, the Iranian team emphasized that the issue should also be included in the final statement of the 10th NPT review meeting, Takht-Ravanchi added.

He emphasized that during the current conference, the Islamic Republic clearly announced that it would not back down from its stance on the importance of a Middle East without any weapons of mass destruction.

“We said that this issue is one of the red lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran and if they want to act honestly and constructively, the literature used in the statements of previous conferences should also be used in this conference in order to move towards a Middle East without nuclear weapons,” the senior Iranian diplomat pointed out.

He noted that Iran seeks to reach a consensus with the participants at the current NPT review conference but it has principles and certain measures must be carried out.

n a Monday address to the Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Takht-Ravanchi expressed concern over the lack of progress in the implementation of the 1995 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) resolution and the 2010 action plan on the Middle East, saying the Israeli regime must eliminate its stockpile of nuclear weapons.

Takht-Ravanchi also slammed the US double standards, saying Israel’s accession to the NPT “without precondition and further delay” and the placement of all of its nuclear activities and facilities under the comprehensive IAEA safeguards are “essential in realizing the goal of universal adherence to the Treaty in the Middle East and the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East.”

Israel, which pursues a policy of deliberate ambiguity about its nuclear weapons, is estimated to possess 200 to 400 nuclear warheads in its arsenal, making it the sole possessor of non-conventional arms in West Asia.

The illegitimate entity has, however, refused to either allow inspections of its military nuclear facilities or sign the NPT.

What has emboldened Tel Aviv to accelerate its nuclear activities, according to observers, is the support from the US and Europe, the two countries most critical of Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.

The regime has assassinated at least seven Iranian nuclear scientists and conducted a series of sabotage operations against the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities.

August 26, 2022 Posted by | Iran, Israel, politics international, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Israel, secretly having nuclear weapons, will not join the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty

Israel signals no change on nuclear policy as U.S. reaffirms anti-proliferation drive

By Dan Williams  , JERUSALEM, Aug 1 (Reuters) – Israel signalled it would not change policy around its assumed nuclear arsenal on Monday as Washington affirmed a global treaty designed to roll back the spread of such weaponry.

The rare, if veiled, remarks by Prime Minister Yair Lapid came as countries party to the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) met in New York for a periodic review conference.

Israel has not signed the voluntary NPT, which offers access to atomic energy in exchange for the forswearing of nuclear weaponry.

It has been leading regional calls for world powers to crack down on NPT-signatory Iran’s suspected use of civilian nuclear technologies as cover for military designs. Tehran denies wrongdoing.

Addressing the Israel Atomic Energy Commission, Lapid spoke of the country’s “defensive and offensive capabilities, and what is referred to in the foreign media as ‘other capabilities'”.

“These other capabilities keep us alive and will keep us alive as long as we and our children are here,” he said, according to a transcript from his office.

Under a decades-old ambiguity policy designed to deter surrounding enemies while avoiding provocations that can spur arms races, Israel neither confirms nor denies having nuclear weaponry.

Scholars believe it does, having acquired the first bomb in late 1966. Israeli journalists, circumscribed by military censorship, often refer cryptically to such capabilities or cite foreign media reporting on them………………
more https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-signals-no-change-nuclear-policy-us-reaffirms-anti-proliferation-drive-2022-08-01/

August 1, 2022 Posted by | Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

ISRAEL AND THE NUCLEAR NORM

How does existential fear interact with nuclear policy?

INKSTICK Doreen Horschig 22 July 22, Globally, if you ask people “do you support the use of a nuclear weapon?” most people will say “no.” Public opinion polls consistently reflect such anti-nuclear stances and norms. Citizens of EU states that host US nuclear weapons are in favor of a global nuclear weapons ban. Chinese citizens strongly oppose the use of nuclear weapons under any circumstances and a majority of Americans think that the very invention of nuclear weapons was bad. Even under the shadow of the Russia-Ukraine War, 85% of Central and Eastern Europeans reported in March 2022 that there are no situations in which using nuclear weapons would be morally justified.

However, this public aversion toward nuclear weapons can erode.

In a recent experimental study that I conducted in Israel, I found that when faced with a threat to their security, respondents showed high support for nuclear use. In light of this, I explored why it is that people might deviate from anti-nuclear norms and become willing to endorse a nuclear strike against a foreign country.

. I found that when respondents are reminded of their own mortality, they are more likely to support a nuclear strike.

In other words, psychological mechanisms explain why people may violate the nuclear norm. Individuals move away from their existing moral principles and resort to an aggressive defense mechanism that they perceive as effective in destroying the root cause of an existential threat.

ISRAELI SUPPORT FOR A NUCLEAR STRIKE

Israeli support for a retaliatory nuclear strike in a real-life scenario is likely to be even higher than in the theoretical study. First, because the main finding for the support of the use of nuclear weapons in the study is based on a first strike by Israel. If an adversary uses nuclear weapons first, support for a retaliatory strike in response tends to be higher than a nuclear first strike. 

……… the results of the same study surveying Americans showed similar support for nuclear use in the case of an existential threat……………….

WHY PUBLIC OPINION MATTERS

Why should we be concerned about public support for nuclear weapons when elites hold the power in nuclear policy? After all, the current debate on gun legislation in the United States shows that public opinion has little to no impact on federal policy. Even though the majority of Americans support stronger gun control policies, few changes have been made. But public attitudes on nuclear weapons do matter for two main reasons, which are intensified by the rise of populism along with nationalist and authoritarian leaders.

First, leaders and war advocates can use the public’s existential fear to their advantage by inflating threats. ……………………

Second, leaders might be more inclined to use a nuclear weapon if they believe they have their public’s support……………………………..Recent research findings also suggest that the public is unlikely to act as a strong restraint on leaders seeking nuclear weapons. Hence, not only can a supportive public embolden leaders to use a nuclear weapon in nuclear-armed states, but also to proliferate in non-nuclear weapons states.

It is essential to educate the public on the realities of nuclear use. People support the use of nuclear weapons because they believe them to have a distinctive military utility. Yet, often conventional weapons are just as effective in destroying an adversarial target (unless, for example, it is a deeply buried weapons storage).

Beyond that, people need to understand the costs and consequences of such a strike. If aversion toward nuclear weapons can easily erode, public knowledge on nuclear weapons needs to be more robust to begin with.  https://inkstickmedia.com/israel-and-the-nuclear-norm/

July 22, 2022 Posted by | Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

US, Israel sign joint anti-Iran nuclear declaration – US will use “all elements of national power”

Aljazeera, 14 July 22, US President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Lapid sign joint declaration during meeting in Jerusalem.

United States President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid have reiterated their anti-Iran positions in a joint declaration committing to preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

The two leaders signed the statement earlier after holding a one-on-one meeting on Thursday morning in West Jerusalem on the second day of Biden’s four-day Middle East tour, followed by a virtual summit with the leaders of India and the United Arab Emirates.

The statement says that the US will use “all elements of national power” available to it to deny Iran the ability to arm itself with nuclear weapons.

The joint declaration also includes a pledge by Washington to continue US military aid to Israel.

A record 10-year $38bn aid package was signed in 2016 under the administration of former US President Barack Obama when Biden was vice president.

Speaking at a news conference following the signing, both Biden and Lapid spoke of their support for the US-Israeli relationship, and the perceived threat from Iran.

“The only way to stop a nuclear Iran is if Iran knows the free world will use force,” Lapid said……………………………………………….  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/14/us-israel-to-commit-to-stopping-iran-nuclear-ambitions

July 13, 2022 Posted by | Israel, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

Israel Expands Operations Against Iranian Nuclear, Military Assets

WSJ, 20 June 22, Israel is targeting a broader range of key targets in a series of covert operations, people familiar with the new strategy say, Israel is intensifying its campaign to thwart Iran’s nuclear, missile and drone programs with a series of covert operations targeting a broader range of key targets, said people familiar with the effort.

The new moves are the latest evolution of a strategy that has been dubbed the Octopus Doctrine by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who aims to bring Israel’s battle against Iran onto Iranian territory after years of targeting Iranian agents and Tehran’s proxies outside the country in places such as Syria……………….. (subscribers only)  https://www.wsj.com/articles/israel-expands-operations-against-iranian-nuclear-military-assets-11655726066

June 21, 2022 Posted by | Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Israel warns it could act against Iranian nuclear programme

Prime minister tells atomic energy agency chief that Tehran misleading world with ‘false information’

  Irish Times,   By Mark WeissFri Jun 3 202

Israel has warned that it reserves the right to act to prevent Iran obtaining a nuclear bomb if the international community fails to do so. …………

The talks took place ahead of Monday’s scheduled IAEA board of governors’ meeting, at which the US and the E3 — Britain, France and Germany — plan to push for the nuclear watchdog to rebuke Iran following a report by Mr Grossi that Iran has enough enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon and has not provided credible explanations for the IAEA’s findings of violations.

Iran has always insisted that its nuclear programme is peaceful and condemned the UN watchdog’s report as “not fair and balanced”, saying it “does not reflect the reality of the negotiations between Iran and the IAEA”.

“We will respond firmly and appropriately to any unconstructive action at the board of governors,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh warned in a statement.

Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said the IAEA head’s visit to Israel was in conflict with the agency’s impartiality, Iranian media reported.,,………

talks to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action were derailed after Russia invaded Ukraine and the decision by US president Joe Biden not to remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the state department’s list of foreign terrorist organisations.

Amid the ongoing uncertainty of reviving the Iran nuclear deal, Israel’s military has stepped up preparations to strike against Tehran’s nuclear facilities and on Friday concluded a wide-scale exercise, dubbed Chariots of Fire, simulating attacks against underground nuclear facilities and reacting to expected retaliation from Tehran and Iranian proxies in the region. https://www.irishtimes.com/world/middle-east/2022/06/03/israel-warns-it-could-act-against-iranian-nuclear-programme/

June 4, 2022 Posted by | Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Iran: No one can remain silent on Zionist regime’s clandestine nuclear program

program, https://en.irna.ir/news/84777256/Iran-No-one-can-remain-silent-on-Zionist-regime-s-clandestine

“As one of the original signatories to NPT, Iran calls on all to beware of further erosion of the IAEA’s credibility,” Khatibzadeh tweeted.

He pointed out that as one of the original signatories to NPT, Iran calls on all to beware of further erosion of the IAEA’s credibility.

“No one can keep mum on Israel’s clandestine nuclear weapons program and then claim impartiality and talk about Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities,” Khatibzadeh added.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi arrived in occupied Palestinian lands on Thursday night for meeting with the Zionist officials.

Grossi’s visit of Israel comes after the destructive moves made by the Zionists to influence the western countries, and especially America to convince them not to revive the JCPOA.

June 4, 2022 Posted by | Israel, politics international, weapons and war | Leave a comment

No Iran nuclear deal ‘worse’ than even a bad one: Israel sources

No Iran nuclear deal ‘worse’ than even a bad one: Israel sources,  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/23/no-iran-nuclear-deal-posses-more-danger-for-israel-and-its-allies

Failure to revive Iran’s nuclear accord poses much more danger even than ‘a bad’ deal, Israeli intelligence sources tell the Jerusalem Post.

Not reviving the Iran nuclear deal could result in more imminent nuclear danger for Israel and its allies, anonymous intelligence sources told the Jerusalem Post, saying Tehran was only weeks away from weaponising uranium to 90 percent.

Iran is in a position to produce not only one but as many as four nuclear bombs, the sources told the Israeli news outlet.

While Israeli leaders such as current Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu have denounced a deal with Iran over its nuclear programme, the sources said there are factions within Israel’s defence and intelligence apparatus that believe no deal poses a far greater risk than “even a bad deal“.

Negotiations to revive the landmark 2015 nuclear deal signed between Iran and world powers resumed in 2021 after former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the historic agreement in 2018 and re-imposed crippling sanctions on Tehran.

After more than a year of negotiations, it remains unclear whether a deal can be reached to save the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – the agreement’s official name.

The United States and Israel have expressed their commitment to work together to prevent Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Iran has denied allegations that it plans to produce nuclear arms, saying there is no weapons programme operational at the moment, and the country is working on the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said the administration of President Joe Biden supports restoring the nuclear deal is “the best way to put Iran’s programme back in the box”, after former President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew Washington from it in 2018.

Talks have stalled over a number of issues including a US “terror” designation against Iran’s elite military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Tensions rose again on Sunday after an Iranian colonel was assassinated outside his home in Tehran by motorcycle-riding gunmen – an attack Iran suggested was carried out by Israeli operatives.

The European Union’s coordinator for the nuclear talks, Enrique Mora, visited Tehran earlier this month in an effort to facilitate the negotiations.

Israel has threatened military action if diplomacy collapses.

May 26, 2022 Posted by | Israel, politics international | Leave a comment

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