MIDDLE EAST CAULDRON

Turkey & Possibly Iran Join Wave of Upheaval & Uncertainty in Middle East

Tectonic Shifts in Middle East

 'Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.'  

 Could the Bard's memorable lines also portend that two non-Arab countries, Turkey and Iran, will now embark on the course of the 'Arab Spring'. Will Iran follow the latest round of anti-government protests that have rocked Turkey? Ten days before Iran's upcoming presidential election on June 14th, tens of thousands of Iranian mourners flocked to the funeral of dissident cleric Ayatollah Jalaluddin Teheri in the town of Isfahan. It was described as the biggest anti-government demonstration against the 'dictator' Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in recent years. The protesters also demanded the release of thousands of political prisoners who were slammed behind bars for demonstrating against the rigged election of 2009. That same political chicanery is happening again - the government has restricted the list of presidential candidates to supporters of the Khamenei regime. So how will Iranians who aspire to a more democratic society react to the 'election' of a new puppet to replace Muhammad Ahmadinejad? Will they again take to the streets in Tehran and other urban centers to challenge the Ayatollahs, who are supported by Muslims in the rural regions of Iran?

Russian Anti-Aircraft Missile System, S-300. copyrights: www.kremlin.ru.

ISRAEL'S MESSAGE GETS THROUGH TO RUSSIA

 Israel's brinkmanship...

 Has Moscow finally got the message? Israel cannot and will not tolerate the deployment of Russian-made S-300 anti-aircraft missiles in Syria. If Moscow will not deliver the system to President Bashar Assad's regime before 2014, Israelis can breathe easier. Those missiles, which would threaten civil and military aircraft flying over Israel, could be a real game changer. Therefore, Israel is not bluffing even if it means a dangerous confrontation with the Russians. (Prior to the Yom Kippur War of 1973, Israel ignored the Egyptian Army's surreptitious movement of Russian SAM anti-aircraft missiles into the Suez Canal zone in flagrant violation of the 'cease-fire in place'. When the Egyptians later launched their surprise attack they had an aerial umbrella in place that protected their ground forces crossing the waterway. The IDF paid a heavy price in blood when those missiles wreaked havoc on Israeli jets trying to assist the vastly outnumbered IDF soldiers on the eastern side of the Canal.) Moreover, an S-300 system in Syria could threaten any future preventative Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear weapons program as well as instigating both Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza to step up their attacks on the Jewish state. 

Iranian missiles (photo: MEHR)

ISRAEL: IRANIANS BELIEVE ISRAEL-U.S. WILL ATTACK IF TEHRAN ENRICHES WEAPONS GRADE URANIUM

Maj. Gen. (ret.) Ben Yisrael: 'Iranians Are Convinced That Israel-U.S. Will Attack Iran's Nuclear Installations, If They Start Producing Weapons-Grade Uranium'

'Israeli Air Force Has Capability to Attack Any Target In Middle East'

IAF Commander Eshel: 'If Russia Goes Through With Delivery of S-300 Anti-aircraft Missiles To Syria, We Will Have Many Solutions - The Question Is What Price We Will Have To Pay'

 If anyone has any doubts about Israel's determination to prevent Iran from developing A-bombs, two top Israeli generals have set the record straight. Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yitzak Ben Yisrael and Israel Air Force Commander  Amir Eshel are two of the very few Israeli officials who know the full story of Israel's capabilities and intentions. It appears that they have made clear that Israel can and will strike Iran, if it tries to break out for the Bomb. 

Syrian President Bashar Assad

ISRAEL'S OFFER TO SYRIA & RUSSIA

How can Israel avoid a further deterioration to an all-out war with Syria that could even involve Russia? Isracast analyst David Essing sees signs that Israel has been trying to forge a deal with Syrian President Bashar Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin that could forestall such a chain reaction that neither side desires. 

Russian President Putin and Syrian President Assad

NETANYAHU TO MOSCOW FOR URGENT MEETING WITH PUTIN

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will soon fly to Moscow for an urgent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the possible supply of sophisticated Russian SA-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Syria. Israel is deeply concerned about the lethal missiles that could not only shoot down Israeli aircraft flying over Syria and Lebanon but also many planes taking off from inside Israel. Netanyahu spoke with Putin recently by telephone and the Russian leader invited him to come to Moscow within the next two weeks. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has issued an ambiguous statement about Moscow not concluding any new weapons deals but 'is now completing supplies under the previous contracts that are air defense systems'.

Jerusalem Day

On May 12, 1968 the Government decided to make the 28th of Iyar the symbolic holiday, Jerusalem Day, a day that symbolizes the continued historical connection of the Jewish People to Jerusalem. Thirty years later, this holiday became anchored in the law: On March 23 1998 the Knesset passed the second and third readings of the "Jerusalem Day Law", which determined that the date that Jerusalem was liberated during the 6-Day War was now a national holiday. On this day Israel marks the anniversary to the unification of Jerusalem and the liberation of the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.

Exclusive - Teddy Kollek Audio Interview

Teddy Kollek: 'The world will always continue to be worried about the faith of Jerusalem'

In 1971, four years after the reuniting of the city of Jerusalem in the Six-Day war, reporter Arnold Forster interviewed Teddy Kollek, then Mayor, for Dateline Israel . Kollek regarded the issues of the development of the newly formed city, which at the time received world attention and was highly controversial.

U.S.- ISRAELI PACKAGE DEAL ON SYRIA & IRAN

 Are Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu & U.S. President Barack Obama Collaborating On New Strategy For Taking On Syria and Iran? Analyst David Essing sees signs the two new-found allies have agreed that Israel will tackle the clear and present threat of the barbaric Assad while the U.S. will continue to pressure Iran. 

Arab World's Jewish Refugee Problem

Danny Ayalon: 'Half Of Israel's Residents Are Jewish Refugees, Or Their Progeny, Who Were Driven Out Of Arab Countries After They Attacked Jewish State in 1948'

'Israel To Insist That Jewish Refugee Problem Will Be Core Element In Any Future Negotiation To Resolve Conflict'

IsraCast Assessment: At Long Last, Israel's Ministry Of Foreign Affairs Raises Arab League's Responsibility For Creating Two Refugee Problems -Palestinian & Jewish

It is probably the least known fact in the long and vociferous Arab-Israeli conflict: Consider this, more Jewish refugees were forced to flee from their homes in the Arab countries than all the Palestinians who were forced to flee or left of their own volition, from the newly born state of Israel in 1948. At a Jerusalem news conference, Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon announced that Israel insisted that the Jewish refugees be 'a core element in any future negotiation or settlement to resolve the conflict'. The facts: after the Arab League categorically rejected the UN Partition Plan of 1947 that would have eventually created Israel and 'Palestine', it launched an invasion from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt aimed at destroying the nascent Jewish state. The combined Arab armies were defeated and driven back and in the wake of the Arab onslaught, an estimated 600,000 Palestinian refugees fled their homes. On the other side of this two-way street, an estimated 850,000 Jewish refugees were dispossessed and forced to leave the Arab countries. The Palestinians left behind property worth an estimated $400 million that is valued today $3.9 billion. However by comparison, the Jewish refugees lost an estimated $700 million that is now valued at $6 billion. Ayalon made the point:' Today some 50% of Israel's (Jewish ) residents are the same refugees and their progeny from the Arab countries'. Moreover those Jewish refugees, and Ayalon's own family was forced to flee Algeria, were absorbed by Israeli society whereas the Arab world, except for Jordan, forced the Palestinians into refugee camps where they fester until this very day.

Ben-Zion Netanyahu (1910-2012)