4 mar 2018
A round of military maneuvers by the US and Israel armies is expected to kick off on Sunday across territories occupied in 1948.
Thousands of Israeli and American soldiers are to take part in the biennial “Juniper Cobra” drill, amid escalating tensions across the occupied Palestinian territories over the US-Israel anti-Palestine moves.
Some 2,500 US officers and 2,000 Israelis have been gearing up to engage in the drill camps.
Meanwhile, the Hebrew-speaking Yedioth Aharonoth daily said in a Sunday report that the Israeli army and police are slated to launch four-day joint drills from Sunday to Wednesday in Yavniel, Afula, and Kfar Tavor.
Thousands of Israeli and American soldiers are to take part in the biennial “Juniper Cobra” drill, amid escalating tensions across the occupied Palestinian territories over the US-Israel anti-Palestine moves.
Some 2,500 US officers and 2,000 Israelis have been gearing up to engage in the drill camps.
Meanwhile, the Hebrew-speaking Yedioth Aharonoth daily said in a Sunday report that the Israeli army and police are slated to launch four-day joint drills from Sunday to Wednesday in Yavniel, Afula, and Kfar Tavor.
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Gideon Levy speaking at the National Press Club in Washington DC on the eve of the official AIPAC conference.
Gideon Levy, a columnist for the Israeli daily Haaretz, says when you shoot a fifteen year old in the head and say he fell from his bicycle, no Zionist questions it, there is no room for debate and discussion, no room for the right and the left in Israel. |
Academics, journalists and specialists discussed last Friday the strategies, policies and tactics used by Israel and its US-based lobby to influence the decisions taken by the Congress and the successive US administrations.
This came during a conference on the influence of the pro-Israel lobby over the US foreign policy held by the magazine of Washington Report on Middle East Affairs in cooperation with “the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy” and “American Educational Trust.”
According to the organizers, the Americans’ awareness of such Israeli influence, which US politicians try to hide, is on the rise.
The organizers see that some 85 percent of Americans oppose the volume of US aid to Israel, which has amounted to over a quarter of trillion dollars since its formation as an occupying power in 1948.
This came during a conference on the influence of the pro-Israel lobby over the US foreign policy held by the magazine of Washington Report on Middle East Affairs in cooperation with “the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy” and “American Educational Trust.”
According to the organizers, the Americans’ awareness of such Israeli influence, which US politicians try to hide, is on the rise.
The organizers see that some 85 percent of Americans oppose the volume of US aid to Israel, which has amounted to over a quarter of trillion dollars since its formation as an occupying power in 1948.
3 mar 2018
Through US senator Lindsey Graham, Israel has made renewed war threats against Lebanon at the pretext of confronting Hezbollah and Iran.
Graham said Tuesday, following a trip to the Middle East, that Israeli officials warned him and other lawmakers during his visit to Israel that “should Hezbollah continue to taunt Israel with its threats to assault the country with its growing arsenal of long-range missiles, Israel would have to go to war, according to Haaretz newspaper.
“They've told us in no uncertain terms that if this threat continues — they keep making rockets that can hit the airport and do a lot of damage to the State of Israel — they are going to have to go in,” Graham was quoted as saying to reporters earlier this week.
"Southern Lebanon is where the next war is coming," Graham noted.
Speaking further of his meetings with Israeli officials, Graham said that they had two major requests for American lawmakers, “the first one was military support in the form of ‘ammunition, ammunition, ammunition,’” and “the second was Washington's backing should Israel have to resort to striking civilian targets in Lebanon, where it believes Hezbollah is operating.”
Graham also referred to a report in January that claims that Iran was helping Hezbollah construct a precision weapons factory in Lebanon.
Graham said Tuesday, following a trip to the Middle East, that Israeli officials warned him and other lawmakers during his visit to Israel that “should Hezbollah continue to taunt Israel with its threats to assault the country with its growing arsenal of long-range missiles, Israel would have to go to war, according to Haaretz newspaper.
“They've told us in no uncertain terms that if this threat continues — they keep making rockets that can hit the airport and do a lot of damage to the State of Israel — they are going to have to go in,” Graham was quoted as saying to reporters earlier this week.
"Southern Lebanon is where the next war is coming," Graham noted.
Speaking further of his meetings with Israeli officials, Graham said that they had two major requests for American lawmakers, “the first one was military support in the form of ‘ammunition, ammunition, ammunition,’” and “the second was Washington's backing should Israel have to resort to striking civilian targets in Lebanon, where it believes Hezbollah is operating.”
Graham also referred to a report in January that claims that Iran was helping Hezbollah construct a precision weapons factory in Lebanon.
27 feb 2018
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Billionaire Sheldon Adelson’s offer to pay for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem represents the privatization of U.S. foreign policy, says Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies.
Phyllis Bennis is a Fellow and the Director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington D.C. She is the author of Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer, Before and After: US Foreign Policy and the September 11 Crisis, Ending the US War in Afghanistan: A Primer and Understanding the US-Iran Crisis: A Primer. Her most recent book is Understanding ISIS and the New Global War on Terror: A Primer. |
TRNN video & transcript:
SHARMINI PERIES: It’s the Real News Network. I’m Sharmini Peries coming to you from Baltimore. Right wing Billionaire, Sheldon Adelson, has offered to pay for a new US embassy in Jerusalem. The Trump administration is planning to open the new building in Jerusalem in May. It is not yet clear whether this is legal for a private donor to fund a US embassy. Lawyers at the State Department are investigating the question.
According to the Associated Press, Adelson is a notorious conservative oligarch who has bankrolled Israel’s hardline right wing prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and a right wing pro-Israel groups in the US. And some would say Adelson has also barred some important decisions of the Trump administration.You could see Adelson prominently seated at the Trump inauguration last January. The Trump administration’s decision to move the embassy led to a global outrage. The international community condemned the US at the United Nations for opposing international law.East Jerusalem has been illegally occupied by Israel for several decades now. And according to international law, East Jerusalem was supposed to be the site of an independent future Palestinian state.
Trump’s decision to move the US embassy there, calls into question the US government’s commitment to the so called “two state solution” in Israel, Palestine.Joining us now to discuss this is Phyllis Bennis. Phyllis is director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies.All right. Phyllis, tell us about why the US is speeding up this move?
PHYLLIS BENNIS: I think the significance is less about the pace, than about how they’re planning to go about it. This is a move that’s now designed to undercut the fear that many have raised about the enormous cost of building a new embassy in Jerusalem. Putting aside political issues, legal issues, financial issues and a whole host of other questions. Just the questions of the cost of it will be somewhere over a billion dollars.And for a president who has claimed to resent the spending of large amounts of money for new embassies overseas, he had to figure out, “How are we going to manage this?” That’s what led to this extraordinary new development, which is the offer from Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas casino mogul, as he’s always identified, a great supporter of Trump, great supporter of Netanyahu, the owner of the largest daily newspaper in Israel, who volunteered to essentially buy the embassy.And what that says about the privatization of US foreign policy. Foreign policy in the interest of private interests.
In this case, the interests of Jewish and Christian Zionists in the United States, as well as in the interests of the right wing of the Israeli State, is not a surprising thing, but nonetheless a shocking reality to consider, that we would be selling an embassy. A former State Department official, who used to be in charge of things, like arranging to purchase land to build embassies and that sort of thing, said she had never heard of such a thing and wondered, “Does this mean we’ll be obligated to name it after him?” It will be the Sheldon Adelson Memorial Embassy. It’s a shocking reality.
SHARMINI PERIES: And Phyllis, how significant is this? That now the Trump administration is considering having private individuals fund government buildings, and embassies and so forth.
PHYLLIS BENNIS: It’s very significant. It’s significant, certainly, at the symbolic level. What this says about the willingness of the Trump administration, that has no strategic plan for actual foreign policy, to make these reckless policy decisions solely in the interests of wealthy donors and their own constituencies. In this case, Sheldon Adelson, a leading donor to the Republican Party, a leading donor to the right wing in Israel, and an active supporter, a Jewish Zionist, an active supporter of Israeli settlements, Israeli apartheid and the Christian Zionist movement that is very much tied to Adelson interests.This is of course, Sharmini, not the first time that we’ve seen issues of privatization of policy. We can look back a little more than 20 years, where you had an example that was seen at the time as a great gift, as a philanthropic gift. That was when Ted Turner announced, sort of out of the blue, that he was going to donate a billion dollars to the United Nations. This was in 1997.
When the United States was in Arrears at the UN, was refusing to pay its dues at the UN.And Ted Turner, who was actually a great supporter of the UN, a supporter of multilateralism, came in and said, “Look, I have a lot of money. I’m going to spend it at the UN. I’m going to give it to the UN to make good on this US debt.”The problem was several fold. There were some particular problems. He didn’t actually give a billion dollars. He gave a hundred million dollars over what turned out to be closer to 15 years than 10. But the real problem wasn’t that he divided it up over the years.
The real problem was he didn’t give money to the United Nations. He gave money to a private foundation, that he created, called the UN Foundation, that he ran. He chose the board of directors. And that board made the decisions about which UN agency would get the money. So, any UN agency could apply to the foundation for funding. And this is, remember, at a time when the UN is desperate for funds, whether it was for UNICEF, or UNDP, for all of its various agencies.But now you have this private group of citizens of the, mainly of the United States, a few internationals, hand-picked by Ted Turner, accountable to no one, making the decisions over whether clean water in Chad is more important, or girls education in Bangladesh is more important. You know, why should a bunch of individuals get to make decisions like that, that affect whole populations, that affect the whole world.
It was completely disastrous in its impact in terms of seeing somehow the legitimacy of privatizing foreign policy for the whole United Nations.Now, we’re seeing this in a much more blatant way, where it’s clearly designed. There’s no illusions here. This is very openly designed to placate a wealthy right wing Zionist, a wealthy right wing supporter of the most right wing sectors of the Israeli state, the most right wing sectors of the Republican Party. And he wants it, so he gets it. There is, of course, additional problems. The small problems, like international law that recognizes that Jerusalem is occupied territory, small item. A small item, like what it says to the Palestinians.
That the new temporary annex, the temporary embassy in Jerusalem before the big one, the Adelson Embassy, is built, will be announced and they will move in, in just a couple of months on when? May 15th of this year, which will be the 70th year since the Nakba, like the Palestinians call, “The Nakba.” The catastrophe that led to the expulsion and dispossession of over 750,000 Palestinians from their land. Land to which they’ve never to this day been allowed to return. That’s the day that the Israelis celebrate as Independence Day and that’s the day that the US will officially open a small, temporary embassy in Jerusalem, which will make all the political points, all the symbolic points before they even begin to deal with is it even legal for Sheldon Adelson to buy himself an embassy?
SHARMINI PERIES: Phyllis, can you speak to the legal basis, or lack thereof, of this move in terms of the US embassy moving to Jerusalem and a private entity paying for this?
PHYLLIS BENNIS: Well, those are two different questions. In terms of US law, there’s no US law that would prohibit a US embassy from being anywhere. There is international law. But as we know, this administration in particular, and earlier administrations as well, have not been too worried about international law. There was a US law passed in 1995, signed by President Clinton, that mandated the move of the embassy to Jerusalem. It was widely understood to be purely symbolic for members of congress who wanted to placate their own pro Israel donors. That’s what it was all about. It was talked about very openly at the time.What happened next was that they all realized that it would be disastrous in terms of actual policy to actually do that.
So, they inserted in the law, an exception that says, “Every six months, the President, if she or he decides, can issue a waiver that says national security interests mandate that we not implement this yet. We’re going to put it aside. And every president, every six months since 1995 has done that, until Donald Trump this last time.He issued the waiver, but said, “The waiver this time is only about timing and we’re going to go ahead and do it.” So, there’s no reason that this has to be done in terms of US law. And under international law, of course, it’s illegal altogether.Now there is a law, there’s a regulation in the State Department that has a formal process for accepting gifts. Part of the language of that, and that includes real estate. It includes very rigorous reviews. It’s designed to make sure that, and I quote here, “That the gift would not give the appearance of a conflict of interest.”
So, that’s an official regulation. Now, this isn’t an appearance of a conflict of interest. This is a straight up open, acknowledged conflict of interest. So, this stands in complete violation of at least that regulation of the State Department. The problem is, like with international law, State Department regulations are only useful if somebody’s prepared to defend them. Is there anyone in congress who’s prepared to defend it? Is there a lawsuit that can be brought? Whose behalf would it be brought on? These are all questions that remain.Right now we’re looking at a situation where the State Department has not issued a final decision whether or not they believe it to be legal to accept money under these terms, that would essentially be the Sheldon Adelson Embassy. Whether or not it’s officially named for him, it’s understood to be built in his interests with his money.
So, what else are we going to call it? We don’t know if the State Department will acknowledge that it’s legal, or claim that it’s legal when it’s clearly not.And then the question will be, if they try to do that, who in congress, who in the judiciary, who else might stand up and say, “This is not legal. Aside from being politically dangerous, morally bankrupt and a whole host of other things. It’s also not legal.”
SHARMINI PERIES: All right. Phyllis. I thank you so much for joining us today, and I look forward to having you back because I think this issue isn’t going away any time soon.
PHYLLIS BENNIS: I look forward to it. Thanks, Sharmini.
SHARMINI PERIES: And thank you for joining us here on The Real News Network.
SHARMINI PERIES: It’s the Real News Network. I’m Sharmini Peries coming to you from Baltimore. Right wing Billionaire, Sheldon Adelson, has offered to pay for a new US embassy in Jerusalem. The Trump administration is planning to open the new building in Jerusalem in May. It is not yet clear whether this is legal for a private donor to fund a US embassy. Lawyers at the State Department are investigating the question.
According to the Associated Press, Adelson is a notorious conservative oligarch who has bankrolled Israel’s hardline right wing prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and a right wing pro-Israel groups in the US. And some would say Adelson has also barred some important decisions of the Trump administration.You could see Adelson prominently seated at the Trump inauguration last January. The Trump administration’s decision to move the embassy led to a global outrage. The international community condemned the US at the United Nations for opposing international law.East Jerusalem has been illegally occupied by Israel for several decades now. And according to international law, East Jerusalem was supposed to be the site of an independent future Palestinian state.
Trump’s decision to move the US embassy there, calls into question the US government’s commitment to the so called “two state solution” in Israel, Palestine.Joining us now to discuss this is Phyllis Bennis. Phyllis is director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies.All right. Phyllis, tell us about why the US is speeding up this move?
PHYLLIS BENNIS: I think the significance is less about the pace, than about how they’re planning to go about it. This is a move that’s now designed to undercut the fear that many have raised about the enormous cost of building a new embassy in Jerusalem. Putting aside political issues, legal issues, financial issues and a whole host of other questions. Just the questions of the cost of it will be somewhere over a billion dollars.And for a president who has claimed to resent the spending of large amounts of money for new embassies overseas, he had to figure out, “How are we going to manage this?” That’s what led to this extraordinary new development, which is the offer from Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas casino mogul, as he’s always identified, a great supporter of Trump, great supporter of Netanyahu, the owner of the largest daily newspaper in Israel, who volunteered to essentially buy the embassy.And what that says about the privatization of US foreign policy. Foreign policy in the interest of private interests.
In this case, the interests of Jewish and Christian Zionists in the United States, as well as in the interests of the right wing of the Israeli State, is not a surprising thing, but nonetheless a shocking reality to consider, that we would be selling an embassy. A former State Department official, who used to be in charge of things, like arranging to purchase land to build embassies and that sort of thing, said she had never heard of such a thing and wondered, “Does this mean we’ll be obligated to name it after him?” It will be the Sheldon Adelson Memorial Embassy. It’s a shocking reality.
SHARMINI PERIES: And Phyllis, how significant is this? That now the Trump administration is considering having private individuals fund government buildings, and embassies and so forth.
PHYLLIS BENNIS: It’s very significant. It’s significant, certainly, at the symbolic level. What this says about the willingness of the Trump administration, that has no strategic plan for actual foreign policy, to make these reckless policy decisions solely in the interests of wealthy donors and their own constituencies. In this case, Sheldon Adelson, a leading donor to the Republican Party, a leading donor to the right wing in Israel, and an active supporter, a Jewish Zionist, an active supporter of Israeli settlements, Israeli apartheid and the Christian Zionist movement that is very much tied to Adelson interests.This is of course, Sharmini, not the first time that we’ve seen issues of privatization of policy. We can look back a little more than 20 years, where you had an example that was seen at the time as a great gift, as a philanthropic gift. That was when Ted Turner announced, sort of out of the blue, that he was going to donate a billion dollars to the United Nations. This was in 1997.
When the United States was in Arrears at the UN, was refusing to pay its dues at the UN.And Ted Turner, who was actually a great supporter of the UN, a supporter of multilateralism, came in and said, “Look, I have a lot of money. I’m going to spend it at the UN. I’m going to give it to the UN to make good on this US debt.”The problem was several fold. There were some particular problems. He didn’t actually give a billion dollars. He gave a hundred million dollars over what turned out to be closer to 15 years than 10. But the real problem wasn’t that he divided it up over the years.
The real problem was he didn’t give money to the United Nations. He gave money to a private foundation, that he created, called the UN Foundation, that he ran. He chose the board of directors. And that board made the decisions about which UN agency would get the money. So, any UN agency could apply to the foundation for funding. And this is, remember, at a time when the UN is desperate for funds, whether it was for UNICEF, or UNDP, for all of its various agencies.But now you have this private group of citizens of the, mainly of the United States, a few internationals, hand-picked by Ted Turner, accountable to no one, making the decisions over whether clean water in Chad is more important, or girls education in Bangladesh is more important. You know, why should a bunch of individuals get to make decisions like that, that affect whole populations, that affect the whole world.
It was completely disastrous in its impact in terms of seeing somehow the legitimacy of privatizing foreign policy for the whole United Nations.Now, we’re seeing this in a much more blatant way, where it’s clearly designed. There’s no illusions here. This is very openly designed to placate a wealthy right wing Zionist, a wealthy right wing supporter of the most right wing sectors of the Israeli state, the most right wing sectors of the Republican Party. And he wants it, so he gets it. There is, of course, additional problems. The small problems, like international law that recognizes that Jerusalem is occupied territory, small item. A small item, like what it says to the Palestinians.
That the new temporary annex, the temporary embassy in Jerusalem before the big one, the Adelson Embassy, is built, will be announced and they will move in, in just a couple of months on when? May 15th of this year, which will be the 70th year since the Nakba, like the Palestinians call, “The Nakba.” The catastrophe that led to the expulsion and dispossession of over 750,000 Palestinians from their land. Land to which they’ve never to this day been allowed to return. That’s the day that the Israelis celebrate as Independence Day and that’s the day that the US will officially open a small, temporary embassy in Jerusalem, which will make all the political points, all the symbolic points before they even begin to deal with is it even legal for Sheldon Adelson to buy himself an embassy?
SHARMINI PERIES: Phyllis, can you speak to the legal basis, or lack thereof, of this move in terms of the US embassy moving to Jerusalem and a private entity paying for this?
PHYLLIS BENNIS: Well, those are two different questions. In terms of US law, there’s no US law that would prohibit a US embassy from being anywhere. There is international law. But as we know, this administration in particular, and earlier administrations as well, have not been too worried about international law. There was a US law passed in 1995, signed by President Clinton, that mandated the move of the embassy to Jerusalem. It was widely understood to be purely symbolic for members of congress who wanted to placate their own pro Israel donors. That’s what it was all about. It was talked about very openly at the time.What happened next was that they all realized that it would be disastrous in terms of actual policy to actually do that.
So, they inserted in the law, an exception that says, “Every six months, the President, if she or he decides, can issue a waiver that says national security interests mandate that we not implement this yet. We’re going to put it aside. And every president, every six months since 1995 has done that, until Donald Trump this last time.He issued the waiver, but said, “The waiver this time is only about timing and we’re going to go ahead and do it.” So, there’s no reason that this has to be done in terms of US law. And under international law, of course, it’s illegal altogether.Now there is a law, there’s a regulation in the State Department that has a formal process for accepting gifts. Part of the language of that, and that includes real estate. It includes very rigorous reviews. It’s designed to make sure that, and I quote here, “That the gift would not give the appearance of a conflict of interest.”
So, that’s an official regulation. Now, this isn’t an appearance of a conflict of interest. This is a straight up open, acknowledged conflict of interest. So, this stands in complete violation of at least that regulation of the State Department. The problem is, like with international law, State Department regulations are only useful if somebody’s prepared to defend them. Is there anyone in congress who’s prepared to defend it? Is there a lawsuit that can be brought? Whose behalf would it be brought on? These are all questions that remain.Right now we’re looking at a situation where the State Department has not issued a final decision whether or not they believe it to be legal to accept money under these terms, that would essentially be the Sheldon Adelson Embassy. Whether or not it’s officially named for him, it’s understood to be built in his interests with his money.
So, what else are we going to call it? We don’t know if the State Department will acknowledge that it’s legal, or claim that it’s legal when it’s clearly not.And then the question will be, if they try to do that, who in congress, who in the judiciary, who else might stand up and say, “This is not legal. Aside from being politically dangerous, morally bankrupt and a whole host of other things. It’s also not legal.”
SHARMINI PERIES: All right. Phyllis. I thank you so much for joining us today, and I look forward to having you back because I think this issue isn’t going away any time soon.
PHYLLIS BENNIS: I look forward to it. Thanks, Sharmini.
SHARMINI PERIES: And thank you for joining us here on The Real News Network.
23 feb 2018
The new US Embassy in Jerusalem will open in May 2018 to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israel’s establishment, two US officials said Friday.
The officials said Congress was being notified of the impending move on Friday, the unnamed officials in Donald Trump’s administration added.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signed off on the security plan for the new embassy on Thursday, according to the officials.
Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December last year, setting in motion the embassy's transfer and contravening decades of policy by the subsequent US administrations.
The May opening marks a significant acceleration. US Vice President Mike Pence had said previously the embassy would open by the end of 2019, while Tillerson had said it could take years.
The officials said Congress was being notified of the impending move on Friday, the unnamed officials in Donald Trump’s administration added.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signed off on the security plan for the new embassy on Thursday, according to the officials.
Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December last year, setting in motion the embassy's transfer and contravening decades of policy by the subsequent US administrations.
The May opening marks a significant acceleration. US Vice President Mike Pence had said previously the embassy would open by the end of 2019, while Tillerson had said it could take years.
Israel's military said Thursday that it has begun deploying forces across the country as part of the preparations for a large-scale joint exercise with the U.S. military next month.
According to Israeli news outlets, the military exercise, code-named "Juniper Cobra 2018," will take place from March 4 to 15, with the participation of 2,500 U.S. troops routinely based in Europe and 2,000 Israeli army troops, logistics units, medical forces and other military units.
"This will be the largest Israeli military and USEUCOM (U.S. European Command) joint exercise taking place this year," an Israeli military spokesperson said in a statement.
"The aims of the exercise are to strengthen the cooperation and coordination between the two militaries, promote bilateral learning and enhance aerial defense capabilities," the statement said.
The drill would simulate a scenario in which U.S. forces are deployed to Israel to aid the Israeli occupation forces.
"Together they will perform computerized simulations of a variety of rocket threat scenarios in different regions," said the spokesperson.
The simulations will include testing of the anti-ballistic missile system Arrow, Iron Dome anti-rocket system, the medium-range interceptor Patriot missile system, and David's Sling, which was allegedly designed to intercept medium-range missile from southern Lebanon's Hezbollah militants and became operational in April 2017.
"The exercise demonstrates the strategic and fundamental cooperation between the Israeli army and the U.S. Armed Forces," Brig. Gen. Zvika Haimovich, the commander of the Aerial Array, was quoted as saying in the statement.
Lt. Gen. Richard M. Clark, the commander of U.S. Air Force Third Air Force, also praised the strong military alliance between Israel and the United States.
"The U.S. and Israel enjoy a strong and enduring military-to-military partnership built on trust that has been developed over decades of cooperation," Clark said.
"The Juniper Cobra exercises continue to strengthen this relationship, providing us with the opportunity to bolster interoperability and develop seamless integration with our Israeli partners," he said.
It will be the ninth time the Juniper Cobra exercise has taken place with Israel since 2001.
According to Israeli news outlets, the military exercise, code-named "Juniper Cobra 2018," will take place from March 4 to 15, with the participation of 2,500 U.S. troops routinely based in Europe and 2,000 Israeli army troops, logistics units, medical forces and other military units.
"This will be the largest Israeli military and USEUCOM (U.S. European Command) joint exercise taking place this year," an Israeli military spokesperson said in a statement.
"The aims of the exercise are to strengthen the cooperation and coordination between the two militaries, promote bilateral learning and enhance aerial defense capabilities," the statement said.
The drill would simulate a scenario in which U.S. forces are deployed to Israel to aid the Israeli occupation forces.
"Together they will perform computerized simulations of a variety of rocket threat scenarios in different regions," said the spokesperson.
The simulations will include testing of the anti-ballistic missile system Arrow, Iron Dome anti-rocket system, the medium-range interceptor Patriot missile system, and David's Sling, which was allegedly designed to intercept medium-range missile from southern Lebanon's Hezbollah militants and became operational in April 2017.
"The exercise demonstrates the strategic and fundamental cooperation between the Israeli army and the U.S. Armed Forces," Brig. Gen. Zvika Haimovich, the commander of the Aerial Array, was quoted as saying in the statement.
Lt. Gen. Richard M. Clark, the commander of U.S. Air Force Third Air Force, also praised the strong military alliance between Israel and the United States.
"The U.S. and Israel enjoy a strong and enduring military-to-military partnership built on trust that has been developed over decades of cooperation," Clark said.
"The Juniper Cobra exercises continue to strengthen this relationship, providing us with the opportunity to bolster interoperability and develop seamless integration with our Israeli partners," he said.
It will be the ninth time the Juniper Cobra exercise has taken place with Israel since 2001.
22 feb 2018
An American delegation, on Thursday afternoon, was evacuated from a research center in Ramallah following a protest took place outside of the center to protest the visit.
The protest was carried out by a group of activists who raised the Palestinian flag and held banners saying that “the US is part of the problem, not the solution,” in light of US president Donald Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in December of 2017.
A PNN reporter at the site said that the delegation was evacuated by the Palestinian security forces, while protesters threw eggs and vegetables at them.
Trump’s declaration, which would move the US embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, was met with wide protests in Palestine and many other parts of the world.
Following the declaration, the Palestinian Authority said that the US is no longer fit to mediate in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, while the US threatened to cut off UNRWA funding for Palestinian refugees, and to any country that votes against the Jerusalem resolution at the United Nations.
Banners also carried the hashtag “Hands off Jerusalem,” and called on ending settlements, especially in the heart of Hebron city. Video
The protest was carried out by a group of activists who raised the Palestinian flag and held banners saying that “the US is part of the problem, not the solution,” in light of US president Donald Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in December of 2017.
A PNN reporter at the site said that the delegation was evacuated by the Palestinian security forces, while protesters threw eggs and vegetables at them.
Trump’s declaration, which would move the US embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, was met with wide protests in Palestine and many other parts of the world.
Following the declaration, the Palestinian Authority said that the US is no longer fit to mediate in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, while the US threatened to cut off UNRWA funding for Palestinian refugees, and to any country that votes against the Jerusalem resolution at the United Nations.
Banners also carried the hashtag “Hands off Jerusalem,” and called on ending settlements, especially in the heart of Hebron city. Video
Two US congressmen escorted by Israeli settlers and policemen stormed Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque on Thursday morning.
In a video uploaded online, Scott Tipton of Colorado and David McKinley of West Virginia defiled al-Aqsa Mosque as part of the morning break-in shift routinely carried out by Israeli settler hordes.
A PIC news correspondent said olive branches were stolen from al-Aqsa during the break-in.
The assault makes part of Israeli attempts to alter the status quo at al-Aqsa—the third holiest site in Islam.
The US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last month has given Israel green light to step up Judaization schemes in the holy city.
In a video uploaded online, Scott Tipton of Colorado and David McKinley of West Virginia defiled al-Aqsa Mosque as part of the morning break-in shift routinely carried out by Israeli settler hordes.
A PIC news correspondent said olive branches were stolen from al-Aqsa during the break-in.
The assault makes part of Israeli attempts to alter the status quo at al-Aqsa—the third holiest site in Islam.
The US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital last month has given Israel green light to step up Judaization schemes in the holy city.
18 feb 2018
Hamas on Sunday decried the White House latest statements accusing the Movement of being responsible for the aggravating humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas said in a press statement that the Israeli occupation bears full responsibility for the crisis hitting the Gaza Strip as a result of the decade-long blockade which has been openly supported by the US in violation of all international laws.
The Movement went on to hold the successive US administrations responsible for the tragedies that have plagued the Palestinian people because of its incessant economic, political and military support for the Israeli occupation.
The statement noted that the US administration's accusations constitute a green light to Israel to continue its aggression against the Palestinian people.
It added that the US does not only help tighten the blockade on Gaza through its support for Israel, but it also threatens all countries trying to provide any humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians living in the besieged territory in a blatant disregard for their basic rights.
Hamas called on Arab and Islamic countries to make every possible effort to lift the unjust siege on the Gazan people and put an end to their suffering which keeps worsening each new day.
Hamas said in a press statement that the Israeli occupation bears full responsibility for the crisis hitting the Gaza Strip as a result of the decade-long blockade which has been openly supported by the US in violation of all international laws.
The Movement went on to hold the successive US administrations responsible for the tragedies that have plagued the Palestinian people because of its incessant economic, political and military support for the Israeli occupation.
The statement noted that the US administration's accusations constitute a green light to Israel to continue its aggression against the Palestinian people.
It added that the US does not only help tighten the blockade on Gaza through its support for Israel, but it also threatens all countries trying to provide any humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians living in the besieged territory in a blatant disregard for their basic rights.
Hamas called on Arab and Islamic countries to make every possible effort to lift the unjust siege on the Gazan people and put an end to their suffering which keeps worsening each new day.
15 feb 2018
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday, during a visit to Jordan., that his administration has a fairly well advanced Middle East peace plan that has been under development for a number of months.
The United States threw the Arab and Muslim world into a rage, in December, when President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and initiated the move of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he would not cooperate with the United States in its efforts as a mediator.
“I have seen the US administration’s peace plan. It’s been under development for a number of months. I have consulted with them on the plan, identified areas that we feel need further work. I will say it’s fairly well advanced.” Tillerson said, according to Al Ray.
The plan is being crafted by a team led by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, and U.S. Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt, both of whom have traveled to key regional capitals since the Trump administration came into power.
The Palestinian Authority has grown increasingly concerned that any plan Trump unveils will shortchange them, a fear exacerbated by his move on Jerusalem, which upended decades of US policy that the status of the ancient city must be decided in negotiations.
The Trump administration has said it would back a two-state solution if the parties agreed to it.
However, Trump had threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that backed a UN resolution calling for Washington to reverse its Jerusalem decision.
The United States threw the Arab and Muslim world into a rage, in December, when President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and initiated the move of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he would not cooperate with the United States in its efforts as a mediator.
“I have seen the US administration’s peace plan. It’s been under development for a number of months. I have consulted with them on the plan, identified areas that we feel need further work. I will say it’s fairly well advanced.” Tillerson said, according to Al Ray.
The plan is being crafted by a team led by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, and U.S. Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt, both of whom have traveled to key regional capitals since the Trump administration came into power.
The Palestinian Authority has grown increasingly concerned that any plan Trump unveils will shortchange them, a fear exacerbated by his move on Jerusalem, which upended decades of US policy that the status of the ancient city must be decided in negotiations.
The Trump administration has said it would back a two-state solution if the parties agreed to it.
However, Trump had threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that backed a UN resolution calling for Washington to reverse its Jerusalem decision.
