Sunday, July 30, 2017

U.S., Allies Prepared To Use 'Overwhelming Force' In N Korea, 'Time Is Running Out'





US, allies prepared to use 'overwhelming force' in North Korea, general says



The U.S. and its allies are prepared to use “rapid, lethal and overwhelming force,” if necessary, against North Korea, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Air Forces warned Saturday night.
The statement from Gen. Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy, U.S. Pacific Air Forces commander, came after the militaries of the U.S., South Korea and Japan spent 10 hours conducting bomber-jet drills over the Korean Peninsula.
The training mission was a response to North Korea’s recent ballistic missile launches and nuclear program, and part of the U.S. regular commitment to defending its allies in the Asia-Pacific region, the general’s statement said.
“North Korea remains the most urgent threat to regional stability,” O’Shaughnessy said.
“If called upon,” he added, “we are ready to respond with rapid, lethal and overwhelming force at a time and place of our choosing.”
North Korea conducted test launches of ICBMs on July 3 and July 28, and has claimed that its weapons can now reach the U.S. mainland.
The country’s recent actions have drawn condemnation from President Trump, and prompted U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to confer with counterparts from South Korea and Japan to develop a response, Fox News has reported.
Both Trump and Tillerson have criticized China, saying the Beijing government has failed to use its influence to discourage North Korea from developing its nuclear program, Fox News reported.
On Saturday, two U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers, under the command of U.S. Pacific Air Forces, joined counterparts from the South Korean and Japanese air forces in sequenced bilateral missions.
According to the Pentagon, the U.S. bombers took off from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, then flew to Japanese airspace, where they were joined by two Koku Jieitai (Japan Air Self Defense Force) F-2 fighter jets.

The B-1s then flew over the Korean Peninsula, where they were joined by four F-15 fighter jets from the South Korean air force.
The B-1s then performed a low-pass over Osan Air Base, South Korea, before leaving South Korean airspace and returning to Guam.







Soon after North Korea launched another ICBM into the Sea of Japan, the Union Of Concerned Scientists put out the 'range chart' seen below which proves the North Korean dictators recent warnings that nearly all of the United States is now within the reach of his deadly missiles was accurate. Reporting that North Korea could now easily hit the US West coast and a number of major midwest cities including Denver, St. Louis and Chicago, the UCS also confirmed that big East coast cities such as Washington DC, New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore could soon be in range if they aren't already. 


With Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley recently cautioning "time is running out on North Korea" as heard in the 1st video below after the North Korean leader's most recent threats, which included 'nuking America tomorrow' (which he quite obviously never did), some believe that President Trump's recent hire of General John Kelly to be his White House Chief of Staff is another possible sign that we're heading towards war and it could come sooner than later, possibly before the end of summer according to some analysts who believe North Korea will be able to launch a reliable nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile by early 2018. 


According to this recent story from VOA, General Milley also warns that North Korea's nuclear technology is advancing much faster than anyone had anticipated. Warning his audience that “North Korea is extremely dangerous, and more dangerous as the weeks go by”, we see why the element of time is so crucial with Kim claiming this test "is meant to send a grave warning to the US" which "demonstrated the North's ability to launch at any place and time" according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). 

In other words, if Kim wants to commit national suicide, he could launch 'armageddon' at any moment  Of course Kim has to know a North Korean attack upon America would bring about the end of his nation and the lives of millions of innocent and poorly treated people. Yet, experts warn, he could cause untold travesty here in America and across the planet while in the process. And whether nukes or the 'nighmare scenario' we see outlined in more detail below, that North Korea has teamed with 'ISIS' to infiltrate and attack US cities and targets from within, it's very clear that President Trump understands the dire nature of what he faces ahead of him. 


According to US DOD head James 'Maddog' Mattis, a US war with North Korea would be one of the most deadly anybody has ever seen in our lifetimes, possibly leaving millions dead and our planet suffering one of its greatest ever tragedies. Warning such a war would be outright 'catastrophic', we see why there is such hesitancy against carrying out a military strike against a country that is poised to possibly destroy us. Yet the clock is ticking as North Korea gets more dangerous every day. 


And as the Telegraph reported earlier today, the recent North Korean ICBM launch has left the US on the verge of turning to a military response despite the fact that there are very few, if any, 'good' military options on the table. 

As we reported on ANP back on July 22nd, another one of the signs we're witnessing that war may be approaching came via the announcement that the US is urging all US citizens to depart North Korea immediately while banning other US citizens and tourists from visiting the country. It's also been reported that the elite are clearly preparing for a 'cataclysmic event' and North Korean nuclear bombs raining down upon US cities would easily qualify as such an event. 

With Kim also threatening to 'take out the entire US all at once', we've long warned on ANP that the only way for North Korea or any other nation to do that would be to take down our electrical grid via EMP or cyber attack. With most Americans completely dependent upon the grid for nearly every facet of their lives while the same majority is completely unprepared for any long-term power outage, it's very easy to understand why experts such as Dr. Peter Pry warn that such a 'grid down scenario' could eventually lead to the deaths of 90% of Americans. 


According to this little reported May 5th story over at the Daily Star, N Korea may have teamed up with ISIS to wage war against the US. Warning that a partnership between the two would be beneficial for both, Dr. Patricia Doyle outlines for us why such a teaming could pose a nightmare scenario for the US considering years and years of wide open borders via Barack Obama and the globalists. 

A shock theory has claimed the two villains could pull their resources together to create a cocktail of weapons for war against the US. The nightmare scenario could see ISIS terrorists nuke a US city with a “dirty bomb” hidden in a suitcase. 

Dr Patricia Doyle said: "We already know that Iran and North Korea have a longstanding working relationship. I wonder how much of the Iran-NK partnership is due to both countries' hostilities with the US. "If those two get together, ISIS may be able to help North Korea with infiltrating the US and a friendship between the two could be very valuable for both ISIS and North Korea. 

"North Korea does have a spy network among the Korea community in the US. "The spy network has mostly spied on the Koreans checking for defectors from North Korea and was seeking out any Koreans who might be working with the US. "ISIS training could bring the North Koreans up to date on terrorism such as assembling and placing suitcase nukes in crowded cities in South Korea and the US." 


North Korea is well known to have one of the most dangerous bioweapons programs in the world.  

As the Daily Mail reported back on December 19th of 2014, according to then recently declassified reports, we have 100% proof that North Korean terror squads set up at least 5 different commando units on US soil back in the 1990's, prepared to attack US cities and US nuclear plants should war break out between the US and North Korea. 

The world is seemingly poised on some mega catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions. Jesus warned there would be wars and rumors of wars that would plague the world in the last days. The ominous chilling signs of the times are all around us!! Everything is leading up to something big: Armageddon! The countdown to the final showdown continues at a more rapid pace. 

US Air Force unleashes supersonic bombers in ‘North Korea nuke drill’ as it's claimed Donald Trump is 'poised to launch military strike' against the rogue state

DONALD Trump ‘is to order a military strike against North Korea within a year’ after Kim Jong-un’s military boasted it had fired a ballistic missile capable of hitting the US.
Senior military sources in Washington have reportedly claimed Pentagon officials have laid out plans to obliterate a nuclear weapons facility operating deep within a mountain range inside the rogue state.
The news comes hours after the US flew two supersonic bombers over the Korean Peninsula  in a show of force against North Korea.
The B-1 bombers were escorted by South Korean fighter jets as they performed a low-pass over an air base near the South Korean capital of Seoul before returning to the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam.
The US Air Force said the mission was a response to consecutive ICBM tests by Kim this month.
Analysts say flight data from the second test conducted Friday night showed that a broader part of mainland America, including Los Angeles and Chicago, is now in range of Pyongyang’s weapons.
“North Korea remains the most urgent threat to regional stability,” said Gen. Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy, Pacific Air Forces commander.
“Diplomacy remains the lead. However, we have a responsibility to our allies and our nation to showcase our unwavering commitment while planning for the worst-case scenario.”
He added: " If called upon, we are ready to respond with rapid, lethal, and overwhelming force at a time and place of our choosing."
The United States often sends powerful warplanes in times of heightened animosities with North Korea.
B-1 bombers have been sent to South Korea for flyovers several times this year in response to North Korea's banned missile tests, and also following the death of a US college student after he was released by North Korean in a coma.
The Hwasong-14 ICBM, which the North first tested on July 4, is the highlight of several new weapons systems Pyongyang launched this year.



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Things To Come: EU Explores Account Freezes To Prevent Runs At Failing Banks





EU explores account freezes to prevent runs at failing banks



 European Union states are considering measures which would allow them to temporarily stop people withdrawing money from their accounts to prevent bank runs, an EU document reviewed by Reuters revealed. 
The move is aimed at helping rescue lenders that are deemed failing or likely to fail, but critics say it could hit confidence and might even hasten withdrawals at the first rumors of a bank being in trouble. 
The proposal, which has been in the works since the beginning of this year, comes less than two months after a run on deposits at Banco Popular contributed to the collapse of the Spanish lender. 
It also come amid a bitter wrangle among European countries over how to deal with troubled banks, roughly a decade after a financial crash that required the European Central Bank to print billions of euros to prevent a prolonged economic slump. 
Giving supervisors the power to temporarily block bank accounts at ailing lenders is "a feasible option," a paper prepared by the Estonian presidency of the EU said, acknowledging that member states were divided on the issue. 
EU countries which already allow a moratorium on bank payouts in insolvency procedures at national level, like Germany, support the measure, officials said. 
"The desire is to prevent a bank run, so that when a bank is in a critical situation it is not pushed over the edge," a person familiar with German government's thinking said. 
To cover for savers' immediate financial needs, the Estonian paper, dated July 10, recommended the introduction of a mechanism that could allow depositors to withdraw "at least a limited amount of funds." 
Banks, though, say it would discourage saving. 
"We strongly believe that this would incentivize depositors to run from a bank at an early stage," Charlie Bannister of the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), a banking lobby group, said. 
The Estonian proposal was discussed by EU envoys on July 13 but no decision was made, an EU official said. Discussions were due to continue in September. Approval of EU lawmakers would be required for any final decision.

The plan, if agreed, would contrast with legislative proposals made by the European Commission in November that aimed to strengthen supervisors' powers to suspend withdrawals, but excluded from the moratorium insured depositors, which under EU rules are those below 100,000 euros ($117,000). 
Under the plan discussed by EU states, pay-outs could be suspended for five working days and the block could be extended to a maximum of 20 days in exceptional circumstances, the Estonian document said. 
Existing EU rules allow a two-day suspension of some payouts by failing banks, but the moratorium does not include deposits.
The Commission, which declined to comment on the discussion, had previously excluded insured deposits from the scope of the moratorium tool fearing it "may have a negative impact on market confidence," according to a press release published in November. 
Many states supported a suspension of payouts only during the so-called resolution of a failing bank - the process which imposes losses on lenders' investors and possibly also uninsured depositors, while preserving the continuity of the banking activities, the document said. 
Most countries opposed bolder plans for an early moratorium.






Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro asked for global acceptance on Sunday as he cast an unusual pre-dawn vote for an all-powerful constitutional assembly that his opponents fear he'll use to replace his country's democracy with a single-party authoritarian system.
Accompanied by close advisers and state media, Maduro voted at 6:05 a.m. local time, far earlier and less publicly than in previous elections. The run-up to the vote has been marked by months of clashes between protesters and the government, including the fatal shooting of a 61-year-old nurse by men accused of being pro-government paramilitaries during a protest at a church a few hundred feet from the school where Maduro voted.
Maduro and his socialist administration deny links to violent paramilitaries and say the political opposition is responsible for the violence that has left at least 113 dead and nearly 2000 wounded in four months of protests.


The Trump administration has imposed successive rounds of sanctions on high-ranking members of Maduro's administration, with the support of countries including Mexico, Colombia and Panama. Vice President Mike Pence promised on Friday that the U.S. would take "strong and swift economic actions" if the vote went ahead. He didn't say whether the U.S. would sanction Venezuelan oil imports, a measure with the potential to undermine Maduro but cause an even deeper humanitarian crisis here.
The special assembly being selected Sunday will have powers to rewrite the country's 1999 constitution but will also have powers above and beyond other state institutions, including the opposition-controlled congress.

While opinion polls say a vast majority oppose him, Maduro made clear in a televised address Saturday evening that he intends to use the assembly to govern without limitation, describing the vote as "the election of a power that's above and beyond every other. It's the super power!"
He said he wants the assembly to strip opposition legislators of their constitutional immunity from prosecution and jail at least one — Freddy Guevara, a hard-line opposition leader and one the highest-profile organizers of four months of protests against the government.
"This little Hitler has his cell guaranteed!" Maduro shouted, using his frequent nickname for Guevara.
The opposition is boycotting Sunday's vote, contending the election has been structured to ensure Maduro's socialist party continues to dominate. So all 5,500 candidates for the 545 seats in the constituent assembly are his supporters.


The vote's success will be measured by turnout, with the opposition urging Venezuelans to stay and the government encouraging participation with tactics that include threats to state workers' jobs and social benefits like subsidized food for the poor.

Maduro indicated he is eager to prosecute many more members of the opposition parties that control a handful of state governments along with the National Assembly, providing one of the few remaining checks on the power of the socialist party that has ruled this OPEC nation for nearly two decades.
"The right wing already has its prison cell waiting," the president said. "All the criminals will go to prison for the crimes they've committed."
Saying the assembly will begin to govern within a week, Maduro said its first task in rewriting the constitution will be "a total transformation" of the office of Venezuela's chief prosecutor, a former government loyalist who has become the highest-ranking official to publicly split from the president.

"A new stage in the democratic struggle starts tomorrow," Julio Borges, the president of the National Assembly, said at a news conference called by Democratic Unity, a coalition of some 20 opposition groups. "This new stage will need more courage ... street protests will get stronger."

Opinion polls say more than 70 percent of the country is opposed to Sunday's vote. But as many as half of all Venezuelans support neither the government nor the opposition — a phenomenon evident in the glum paralysis that has gripped much of the country as protesters and police wage nightly battles.





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Saturday, July 29, 2017

Macron's Maneuvers In New Cold War - To Replace Merkel As The 'Dominant Figure' On The EU





Macron’s Maneuvers on the New Cold War



Official Washington’s hawks are blocking President Trump’s desired detente with Russia, but that has opened a path for France’s new President Macron to mediate the New Cold War, Diana Johnstone tells Dennis J Bernstein.




French President Emmanuel Macron has positioned himself as a possible go-between in facilitating a reduction of tensions between the U.S. and Russia, a move that makes sense for France but may anger Official Washington’s hawks who want to escalate the New Cold War.

I interviewed Paris-based journalist and historian Diana Johnstone about Trump’s recent visit to Paris. Johnstone is the author of From Mad to Madness: Inside the Pentagon’s Nuclear War Planning Machine, recounting the experiences of her father, Paul Johnstone, as a senior analyst in the Pentagon’s Strategic Weapons Evaluation Group and a co-author of the Pentagon Papers. I spoke to her by telephone in France on July 19.

Dennis Bernstein: Diana, please give us your response to the recent Trump visit to Paris to meet with Emmanuel Macron.


Diana Johnstone: Well, first of all, it is clear that Emmanuel Macron has seen an advantage in being the only friend of the friendless Trump. It is clear that this can strengthen Macron’s hand in dealing with Germany, the main part of his mandate being to influence Germany in changing EU policy.

Also, Macron is in a position to be an intermediary in this rapprochement between Trump and Putin, which of course the War Party in Washington is doing everything to obstruct. So Macron has situated himself in an interesting position.

I think that any of the contenders in the recent French election would have followed the same path. 

It was absolutely in the cards for France to change its foreign policy. The intellectuals in the government — the diplomats and so on — realize that this Syria policy isn’t working and, at the same time, that sanctions against Russia are very harmful to the French and European economies, while they benefit the US. So what Macron is doing is just what the intellectual community was going to do, regardless of which candidate won the election.


DB: Give us your analysis of this Russia-gate madness.

DJ: Well, I am not a psychiatrist, but seen from over here in Europe, it’s unbelievable. I just saw Tucker Carlson’s interview with Max Boot on Fox News. This raving maniac on foreign affairs is on the Council of Foreign Relations, when he ought to be undergoing psychiatric treatment.

Of course, the Clinton machine has taken over the Democratic Party and made it into the War Party. What in the world is wrong with people talking to members of another country? The whole idea that it is something traitorous to talk to Russians is completely insane. At every time in history, even when governments were actually at war with each other, they had some sort of contact, just for simple intelligence reasons.

To try to criminalize and ban any contact at a more or less official level with the Russians goes beyond what is diplomatic practice even in war time. I think that the real problem in Washington is that there is a real War Party who welcome a nuclear war with Russia if that is what it takes to prevent them from becoming as strong as we are.

DB: The big story at the G-20 was that Trump spoke to Putin and therefore should be tried for treason, along with his whole family.

DJ: I am sure that the Russians draw the conclusion that we are preparing for war. How else can they take this? We are doing everything to convince the Russians that we want war with them no matter what. Of course, this means they are going to start a military build-up in order to be able to strike back. Putin has consistently made friendly moves to the United States and they are simply dismissed. The only possible explanation is that we are bent on war.

Unfortunately, in 2013, Obama painted himself into a corner with his “red line” rhetoric, requiring that the US strike if it detects any use of chemical weapons in Syria. Of course, since then, it has been well established by very serious investigators, including Seymour Hersh, that this use of chemical weapons was a false flag.

The Russians, instead of insisting that this was a false flag, very tactfully suggested that the answer was to take away all of Syria’s chemical weapons, which actually worked. Now everyone in the NATO machine points to this as a sign of Obama’s weakness in not punishing the perpetrators and forget about this chemical weapons deal that was successful. Instead, the official line is that Obama was too weak and we have to be strong.



DB: What do you make of the controversy around the European Union and the role of France?

DJ: The European Union has become completely unbalanced because Germany is now a low-labor-cost export nation, maintaining a large trade imbalance with its partners. The other three candidates for the French presidency were all very critical of the EU and floated the possibility of getting out of the Euro.

Macron was put in by the establishment to save the European Union. It is clear that Macron’s mission is to persuade the Germans to shift the policy to one that will allow other countries to grow economically instead of being strangled, which is what is happening now. I don’t know whether he will succeed at that, but this is one reason why he wants Trump and Putin on his side, to replace Merkel as the dominant figure in the EU



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Riots Break Out In Jaffa After Police Killing Of Suspect Fleeing Shooting Scene




WATCH: Violence erupts in Jaffa at funeral for suspect killed by police


Violence erupted in Jaffa on Saturday night during the funeral of a young resident who was shot and killed by police men while allegedly fleeing the scene of a shooting at the city’s port in the early hours on the morning.

Hundreds were said to have attended the funeral procession for the 22-year-old, whose name was under gag order, during which a Channel 2 crime reporter covering the event was beaten and his camera equipment was destroyed as residents blocked the paths of vehicles caught up in the melee.

The Channel 2 reporter, Gilad Shalmor, was taken to hospital with light injuries.

The procession started at the deceased suspect’s home in Jaffa toward a mosque on Yefet street, a main road in the city, where worshipers prayed before making their way to the cemetery for burial.

The procession became a protest for the family of the suspect and residents against Israeli police. Police officers were deployed to the area but maintained a distance, according to reports in the Hebrew-language media.
Earlier in the day, riots broke out in the city as protesters hurled stones and rolled burning tires at police officers over the shooting incident. At least three were detained for questioning, police said.

Police said officers opened fire in the early hours of Saturday at two men who were suspected of being involved in a shooting at the Jaffa port. According to police, the men attempted to flee the scene of the shooting on mopeds.
Channel 10 reported that the suspects shot back at police during the chase. Police said an investigation into the incident has been opened.
The police officer who shot at the suspects said he did so after they refused to stop and that the shots he fired were aimed at the back wheel of the moped.
A lawyer for the suspect’s family told Ynet that there was no reason for the police to have “used live fire since there was no danger to their lives.”
A gag order was placed on the details of the earlier shooting at the port but the background is believed to be criminal.
After the riots on Saturday afternoon, police representatives met with community leaders in Jaffa in an attempt to prevent any further violent clashes.







Dozens of masked rioters in the coastal city of Jaffa hurled stones and rolled burning tires at police officers on Saturday, in clashes that erupted hours after police shot two men allegedly fleeing the scene of a shooting at the city’s port. A man in his twenties died of his wounds and another man of the same age was moderately injured.
Police blocked off parts of the city’s main Yefet Street to vehicular traffic to contain the clashes.


In the early hours of Saturday, police officers opened fire at two men who were suspected of being involved in a shooting at the Jaffa port. According to police, the men attempted to flee the scene of the shooting on mopeds.

Both were taken to hospital, where one of them died of his wounds. The two men were both residents of Jaffa.
Channel 10 reported that the suspects shot back at police during the chase. Police said an investigation into the incident has been opened.
The police officer who shot at the suspects said he did so after they refused to stop and that the shots he fired were aimed at the back wheel of the moped.








Masked Arabs in port city of Jaffa burned tires, hurled objects and shouted slogans on Saturday in a riot that followed a shootout between police and two men who were fleeing the scene of a crime.
The protesters marched along Yefet Street chanting against Arab profiling and police brutality, according to Ynet.
Details of the crime at the port are unavailable due to a gag order.
Both of the suspects were residents of Jaffa. They were being pursued by police after a shooting in which they were suspected at the port. 
According to a report by Channel 10 TV news, police ordered the pair to stop, and they refused. The officer then aimed for the back wheels of the mopeds, with the two suspects, who were firing back at police.
Both were wounded and taken to hospital, where one of the suspects, a man in his twenties, later died of his wounds. The second was seriously injured, but survived.




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Israel: Waiting For The Coming Northern Storm, Tensions Still High Between Israel And Jordan, Arab Violence Resumes In Jerusalem, Palestinians: The Metal Detector Scam




Waiting for Israel's next northern storm



Northern Israel faces threats from Hezbollah and the danger that a miscalculation could result in war on the Golan.

An uptick in fighting in late June, as Ramadan was coming to a close, refocused attention on the Golan. Israel struck Syrian army tanks after projectiles from Syria landed on the Israeli Golan. The IDF spokesperson says the subject is too hot at the moment to discuss. A complex and combustible mix of Sunni, Druze, Alawite, and Shi’ite villages along the border from Lebanon to the Golan and Hezbollah’s involvement in the Syrian civil war increase the chances for war with Israel.

The question residents of northern Israel are asking today is when the status quo on the border will change and the war spill over into Israel. A tour of the border today shows just how close things are to the spark that can set a new round of fighting in motion between Israel and neighboring forces.

Lt. Col. (res.) Sarit Zehavi runs Alma, an organization that conducts tours and research on Israel’s security challenges on the northern border. Standing in the sweltering heat in late June she pointed to Hezbollah flags and posters just meters from the Israeli community of Metula. She sees two scenarios that could lead to escalation. “First is that Iran gives an order to Hezbollah for its own interests.”

She compares the relationship between Hezbollah and Iran to that of employee and boss. Iran may decide to react to new sanctions or other pressure by encouraging Hezbollah to strike Israel. “Another scenario is miscalculation,” she says. In that scenario Hezbollah attacks Israel estimating only a small response. Soldiers and civilians are killed and Israel retaliates and the conflict escalates into a wider war.

Even though the Assad regime has been one of the most implacable foes of Israel of Israel in the region for decades, hosting Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal after 2001, it also kept the border quiet for forty years after the 1973 war. In April 1975, the CIA told the US president that Hafez Assad recognized Israel’s military superiority.

“There is no possibility that Israel can be destroyed,” Assad told the Americans. But his weakened son, tied down in civil war, has come to increasingly rely on Iran, Russia, Hezbollah and other allies.

In cordial discussions with Russia, Israel has stressed the desire that no permanent Iranian or Hezbollah presence remain in Syria after the war and Israel has expressed concern that Iran intends to build permanent bases in Lebanon. This is part of wider Iranian influence peddling that includes a corridor of influence and arms stretching from Tehran via Iraq and Syria to Beirut and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah’s political and military power has increased in the last decade. Although it suffered thousands of casualties supporting Assad In the Syrian conflict, it gained valuable experience and has an arsenal of more than 100,000 rockets.

The power dynamics are reversed today, Syria’s president relies on Hezbollah. To balance this, Israel has seen the Syrian rebels as sharing common interests along the border.

Since the fall of 2014 most of the Israel- Syria border has been controlled by different rebel groups. This includes the most extreme groups such as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and Islamic State, the latter of which has increased the pocket it controls in the southern Golan in the last year.

Although fighting can be heard from the Golan and the military intermittently closes parts of the border to tourists if there is a threat, there is an illusion of quiet today.


Hezbollah uses the terrain effectively – it constructs towers, it builds rooms in new houses in villages to store weapons, and it burrows in among the civilian population.



Israel Air Force Commander Maj.-Gen. Amir Eshel told the Herzliya conference in June that the Air Force could accomplish in 58-60 hours what it did in 34 days in 2006.

“Unimaginable in its scope” is how he describes Israel’s power. Nasrallah responded on June 23 with claims that war with Israel would involve thousands of Shi’ite fighters from Iraq, Yemen, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.









 Friday, 56 members of the Jordanian parliament signed a petition calling to expel Israeli ambassador Einat Schlein and to bring back Jordanian ambassador to Israel Walid Obeidat. The topic is meant to be discussed in parliament on Sunday. 

With 195 seats in the Jordanian parliament the number of signatures mean that roughly a quarter of parliament supports halting normal diplomatic relations with Israel.   

On that same day around 200 people demonstrated in Amman calling "Death to Israel" and demanding the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty be abolished. Unable to protest in front of the Israeli embassy, which is protected by Jordanian security, the demonstrators stood in a nearby location. 

In July 23 an Israeli security guard at the Israeli embassy in Jordan shot and killed Jordanian teenager Mohammad Jawawdah who assaulted him using a screwdriver. The guard shot and killed the teenager and hurt the Jordanian landlord who was present in the house. The incident took place in the house the guard was living in which was in the compound of the embassy.


On Monday night the entire Israeli diplomatic mission to Jordan returned to Israel with the guard and were received by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. King  Abdullah of Jordan was angry by what he deemed to be a hero's welcome and called the Israeli leader "provocative"and warned that this Israeli attitude "enrages us".

Israel had requested that ambassador Schlein return to Jordan and resume her duties but the Jordanian government refuses to accept her until Israel provides them with assurances that the guard will be put to trail. The Jordanian Foreign Office handed over to Israel their file of the investigation. 








Arabs resumed violence in the Old City of Jerusalem on Friday as soon as midday Islamic prayers ended at the Al Aqsa Mosque in the Temple Mount compound. According to the Islamic Waqf Authority, 10,000 Muslims were present in the mosque for prayers.
Demonstrators were hurling rocks at Israeli security personnel in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Wadi Joz. Police responded with stun grenades. Four of the rioters were injured.
Numerous mounted police and those in armored patrol vehicles were present on the streets. Clashes were also reported in the ancient Judean cities of Bethlehem and Hebron, where Arab youth attacked Israeli forces as well. 

Men under 50 were barred from entering the Temple Mount compound for prayers on Friday in light of warnings that plans were in place for demonstrations and riots at the site. 
Those who were not allowed to enter the compound gathered instead in the streets surrounding the site, as they had for the two weeks prior, during the Muslim boycott directed by Arab leaders in Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
By late Thursday night, more than 100 demonstrators were wounded in the violence, which included stone throwing also aimed at Jews praying at the Western Wall.







A Palestinian teenager posted on Facebook his intention to become a "martyr," before entering the home of a Jewish family in the West Bank and slaughtering three of its members. While this terrorist was being treated for his wounds in an Israeli hospital, the Palestinian Authority celebrated his actions and set in motion the mechanism according to which he will receive a salary of more than $3,000 per month for his attempt to become a "martyr" through murdering Jews.

Then, on July 23, a terrorist in Jordan -- the country that has religious custodianship over the Temple Mount through the Islamic Waqf -- attacked an Israeli security officer at the Israeli embassy compound in Amman. In self-defense, the officer shot and killed him, catching another Jordanian in the crossfire. In an deal between Israel and the Jordanian authorities, the guard and other embassy staff were released, apparently in exchange for a promise that the metal detectors would be removed from the entrance to the Temple Mount.


The metal detectors, however, had nothing to do with the real reason for the inflamed atmosphere -- stoked by PA President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction and the terrorist organization Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip -- in spite of the fact that the attack that spurred their installation was committed by Israeli Muslims against Israeli Druze. In reality, the security measures were taken by Israel to protect all people entering the site -- where only Muslims are allowed to pray, while Christians and Jews may visit only under strict surveillance.

Proof that the violence was not provoked by measures that were actually aimed at preventing terrorists from infiltrating deadly weapons onto the Temple Mount lies in the fact that metal detectors and are commonplace at most prominent mosques in the Middle East, and more than 5,000 surveillance cameras (and 100,000 security guards) monitor pilgrims to Mecca in Saudi Arabia during the annual Hajj. Furthermore, everyone visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem, another Jewish holy site, is required to pass through metal detectors before entering the plaza -- a protection taken for granted.

The ongoing incitement against Israelis -- this time using metal detectors as the excuse to claim that the Jewish state is attempting to change the "status quo" on the Temple Mount -- not only disgraces Islam; it hurts the Palestinians whom the world claims to want to defend.

It is time for the international community to recognize this and stop enabling radicals to use the Palestinian people as pawns in their greater agenda, transparent to everyone, including all Muslims: to obliterate Israel through delegitimization.













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