Middle East

Photo credit: Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Dominique A. Pineiro, DOD.

The US Department of Defense Announces New Strategies for the Middle East and Space Force

By J C Suresh

WASHINGRTON, D.C. (IDN) – The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has announced that changing Middle East situation means changes for Israel. In another press release it said, partnerships are key to Space Force delivering warfighting capabilities.

In the first release on January 15 it said: in a sign of the changing political environment in the Middle East, the United States military will move Israel from the U.S. European Command's area of responsibility to that of the U.S. Central Command. The move, it said, is part of unified command plan changes.

: J C Suresh; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 16 January 2021

Photo: A test of a U.S. thermonuclear weapon (hydrogen bomb) at Enewetak atoll in the Marshall Islands, November 1, 1952. U.S. Air Force

The Nuclear Weapon States Urged to Advance Disarmament

By Bernhard Schell

AMMAN (IDN) – The upcoming Review Conference (postponed to August 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic) of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is expected to be characterised by deep divisions among the nuclear-weapon states (NWS), and between them and the non-nuclear-weapon states (NNWS), which are deeply disappointed with the lack of progress towards nuclear disarmament despite commitments laid down in the NPT and made at past NPT review conferences.

: Bernhard Schell; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 06 January 2021

Iran Joins China, Russia, EU, France, Germany and UK in Reaffirming Commitment to 'Nuclear Deal'

By Robert Johnson

BRUSSELS (IDN) – Amid speculations about Iran's reaction to the assassination of the country's eminent nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh on a road outside of Tehran on November 27, participants in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) have reiterated their commitment to preserving the agreement and stressed their respective efforts in this regard.

The pledge emerged from a virtual ministerial meeting of the E3/EU+2 (China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy) and the Islamic Republic of Iran on December 21, 2020. The EU High Representative Josep Borrell chaired the meeting.

: Jaya Ramachandran; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 23 December 2020

Photo: Photo: Six potential candidates for the 2021 presidential elections in Iran. The moderate Rouhani will be stepping down. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Time to Resurrect the Iran Nuclear Deal

The thirteenth Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in Iran on June 18, 2021. The moderate Rouhani will be stepping down and there is the likelihood that a hard-line conservative will succeed him – someone who is less keen on negotiations.

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – John le Carré died December 12, 2020. He is widely regarded as one of the most talented of novelists. He has written marvellous, intricate, plots of spying and espionage. In his youth, he worked for MI6 (Perhaps, for all we know, alongside James Bond). He knew it all. He is what is called a “trusted source”.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 22 December 2020

Photo: A UN patrol team, deployed for monitoring ceasefire, drives through the Smara area of Western Sahara. The Moroccan Government has reportedly launched an operation on the southern border of Western Sahara. UN Photo/Martine Perret (file)

Morocco's Covert Ties to Israel Belie ‘Historic Breakthrough’ Narrative

By Lisa Vies, Global Information Network

NW YORK (IDN) – While the news media from coast to coast has been trumpeting a “historic breakthrough” between Israel and Morocco with credit to the Trump administration, ties between the two countries have been close for decades, with cooperation on intelligence and military matters that even included the assassination of an opposition leader.

: Global Information Network; Africa; 14 December 2020

Photo: Families in Gaza receive food baskets through the UNRWA home delivery programme. Credit: UNRWA/Khalil Adwan

Gaza Strip Rapidly Becoming 'Unliveable'

By Sean Buchanan

LONDON (IDN) – “The UN said some three years ago that it expects Gaza to become ‘unliveable’ by 2020,” recalls Majed Abusalama, award-winning Palestinian journalist, scholar, campaigner and human rights defender.

“Since then, Israel not only refused to take action to reverse Gaza’s rapid deterioration into a post-apocalyptic wasteland but intensified its attacks on the Strip, hindering efforts by activists, NGOs and locals to keep this open prison habitable for a little longer. With the novel coronavirus now spreading throughout refugee camps and communities across Gaza, we cannot afford to wait any longer for the world to acknowledge our suffering and take action.”

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Middle East; 29 November 2020

Photo: Bedouin boys living in Jabal al-Baba in the remains of their family’s home which was demolished in 2017. (file photo) Credit: UNRWA/Lara Jonasdottir

United Nations Panel Calls for End of Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territory

By Abdus Sattar Ghazali *

FREMONT, California (IDN) – The United Nations has overwhelmingly approved a resolution calling for Palestinian self-determination and end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory since 1967.

The resolution was approved on November 19 by the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee — the committee that deals with human rights and humanitarian affairs. It was passed 163 to 5, with 10 abstentions. Those who voted against were: the United States, Israel, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Nauru also voted against the resolution.

: Europe Editor; THE WORLD; Middle East; 28 November 2020

Image: The ethno-religious composition of Syria. Credit: Institute for the Study of War. Public Domain.

Joe Biden's Dilemma on Syria

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – If you like confusion in foreign policy take a new look at Syria, the country that has the worst civil war since the one that raged in Angola in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Syria is now a near-total wreck. Four of its historically important Christian cities are in ruins. More than half a million civilians are dead and many more wounded. Millions are without jobs. This legacy that happened on the watch of Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump now lands in Joe Biden’s in-tray.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 24 November 2020

Photo: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left), US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman (centre), and then-tourism minister Yariv Levin (right) during a meeting to discuss mapping extension of Israeli sovereignty to areas of the West Bank, held in the Ariel settlement, February 24, 2020. Credit: David Azagury/US Embassy Jerusalem.

Biden Administration Will Help Stem the Slide into A De Facto Bi-National State Reality

Viewpoint by Avi Gil

The writer is a former diplomat, who served under Shimon Peres for almost 30 years in various capacities. Ambassador Gil has been closely involved in Israel's policy-making and peace efforts, including the negotiations that led to the Oslo Accords. This article is being republished from The Blogs in the Times of Israel.

JERUSALEM (IDN) – Trump’s defeat marks the end of the Israeli right’s four-year celebration. At the global level, Trump has significantly intensified the erosion of the liberal world order. In a world where human rights are underrated, the on-going Israeli occupation provokes less condemnation, and the Palestinian plight has been pushed off the agenda.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 14 November 2020

Photo: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu with the then US Vice President Joe Biden. Source: The Times of Israel.

Biden Is A Veteran Friend of Israel But Against Settlement

By Raphael Ahren

The writer is the diplomatic correspondent at The Times of Israel, which published it on November 7, 2020.

JERUSALEM (IDN) – Joe Biden, the newly elected 46th president of the United States, is a true friend of the Jewish state, friends and even political adversaries of the emerging president-elect agree.

“He has a deep feeling for Israel,” said Michael Oren, who served as Israel’s ambassador to the US when Biden was vice president. Oren opposed almost all of the Middle East policies championed by Biden and his boss, Barack Obama, especially on Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian question. Still, he annually attended Biden’s Rosh Hashanah party, and asserts that the former Delaware senator is genuinely concerned about Israel’s well-being.