Submitted by: M Mulukin
Israel Defence Forces Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi [pictured above] told the Biden administration that renegotiating the Iran nuclear deal “it is not the right thing to do.”
Kochavi said he has ordered the preparation of plans to attack Iran’s nuclear sites in order to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“Iran can decide that it wants to advance to a bomb, either covertly or in a provocative way. In light of this basic analysis, I have ordered the IDF to prepare a number of operational plans, in addition to the existing ones. We are studying these plans, and we will develop them over the next year,” he said in a speech to the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS).
“The government will, of course, be the one to decide if they should be used. But these plans need to be on the table, in existence and trained for,” stressed Kochavi.
Kohavi said that given the threat posed by Iran, Israel’s military would be prepared to attack on its own if needed.
“I instructed the army to prepare a number of operational plans in addition to the existing ones,” he said. “We are taking care of these plans and will develop them during the coming year. Those who decide on carrying them out, of course, are the political leaders. But these plans have to be on the table.”
Just hours before Kohavi spoke against a deal, Iran prodded Biden to rejoin the atomic accord. “The window of opportunity will not be open for long,” said Iran’s Cabinet spokesman Ali Rabiei. [pictured below]
Israeli officials, including Kohavi, say that Iran is in a much weaker position than in 2015 after years of sanctions by the Trump administration. They say that any new deal should eliminate “sunset” provisions that phase out certain limits on Iran’s nuclear activities, address Iran’s long-range missile program and its military involvement and support for Israel’s enemies across the region.
Earlier this month, Minister of Settlement Affairs Tzachi Hanegbi of the Likud Party said Israel could attack Iran’s nuclear program if the United States decides to go ahead and re-enter the deal. On Jan. 13, Israel launched unusually forceful strikes at Iranian targets in Syria.
Kochavi also urged the new Biden administration not to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal.
“With the changing of the administration in the United States, the Iranians have said they want to return to the previous agreement. I want to state my position—the position that I give to all my colleagues when I meet them around the world: Returning to the 2015 nuclear agreement or even to an agreement that is similar but with a few improvements is a bad thing, and it is not the right thing to do,” he said.
During his confirmation hearings last week, U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken said that America would not be joining the Iranian nuclear deal “anytime soon.”
On Monday, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan [pictured below] told his Israeli counterpart Meir Ben-Shabbat that the U.S. would “closely consult” with Israel on all matters of regional security
In near dare, Iran says Israel impotent to attack
Iranian official: IDF chief of staff’s talk is empty, Israel has ‘no ability’ to attack us.
Senior Iranian officials responded Wednesday to a statement by the head of the IDF that Israel is preparing military contingency plans to deal with Iran’s nuclear ambitions, saying “that Israelis keep talking all the time but can’t do anything against Iran.”
“Israel is not in a position to issue a threat against Iran,” said Iran’s First Vice President, Es’haq Jahangiri, in comments reported by the Tehran Times
Israel Strikes Pro-Iran Militia Positions In Syria’s Hama Governorate: Report...
January 27, 2021
Four civilians, members of same family, said killed by debris from regime air defence missiles;
Israel attacked at least five locations in the Syrian governorate of Hama during an alleged overnight air strike, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports..
According to the report, in the targeted areas, Iran-backed militias and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters were embedded with the troops loyal to Damascus.
The monitor did not report any military casualties but said the locations were left pulverized.
It also reported that four civilians, members of the same family, were killed by the debris of the interceptors launched by the regime air defence forces, with an infant wounded as well.
Syrian state media confirm the civilians’ death, but blame it on the “Israeli air aggression,” adding that at least four civilians — two women, one of them elderly, and two children — were wounded.
Joe Biden Backs Two-State Solution Dividing Israel, Will Reinstate Palestinian Mission, Aid.
28 January 2021
US announces it’s renewing relations with the Arab Palestinians, seeking 2-state solution
Biden Administration to reopen Palestinian diplomatic offices and restore aid, reversing Trump policies, acting envoy Richard Mills tells UN; vows ‘steadfast support for Israel’
NEW YORK — The Biden administration announced Tuesday it was renewing US relations with the Arab Palestinian leadership, and restoring “credible engagement” with the Palestinians, as it works toward a two-state [final] solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Under the new administration, the policy of the United States will be to support a mutually agreed [?] two-state solution, one in which Israel lives in peace and security alongside a viable Palestinian state,” Richard Mills, the acting US ambassador to the United Nations, told the UN Security Council.
This is the perfect plan to prove their insanity?
“In order to advance these objectives, the Biden administration will restore credible US engagement with Palestinians as well as Israelis,” he said. “This will involve renewing US relations with the Palestinian leadership and Palestinian people.” Translation; give them more money.
In what were the first major public remarks on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by an official from the Biden administration, Mills specified that Washington will reopen the diplomatic offices serving the Palestinians and restore major aid allocations to the Palestinians — reversing Trump administration policies.
“President Biden has been clear that he intends to restore US assistance programs that support economic development programs and humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people, [into the leadership Swiss bank account - and to take steps to reopen diplomatic relations that were closed by [No! Abbas refused to speak with Trump] the last US administration,” Mills said.
Biden’s Middle East policy “will be to support a mutually agreed, two-state solution, in which Israel lives in peace and security, alongside a viable Palestinian state,” Mills said.
He added the measures are “not a substitute for Israeli-Palestinian peace” and called on the two sides to avoid unilateral actions [such as wearing explosive devices?] that could hamper the prospects for a two-state solution – including, on Israel’s part, settlement construction and declaring Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank and on the part of the Palestinians, payments to convicted terrorists and their families. [never going to happen!]
The Trump administration cut aid to the Palestinians over its boycott of the U.S. as well as its so-called pay-for-slay scheme. [which is exactly what it is]
The two-state solution, largely seen as a staple of foreign policy by U.S. administrations prior to President Donald Trump’s, has been lambasted by many critics as being an abject failure that does not take into account facts on the ground. [which is entirely true]
In 2018, Trump closed the Palestinian mission in Washington, expelling the Palestinian Ambassador to the U.S., Hussam Zomlot. Zomlot last week hailed the end of Trump’s presidency and celebrated “standing tall against the bully.” [Trump brought more peace to the Arab Palestinians than any other president before him]
“Trump left the White House. We, the Palestinian people, its leadership, my wife & children who were removed from the US because of Trump, have reason to celebrate. We stood tall & immune against the bully. We stay standing until there is freedom, justice & equality for the Palestinian people,”
We’ll see how Uncle Joe goes with this one?
Russia on the brink of revolution as violent riots explode across the country...
28 January 2021
Vladimir Putin’s grip on power could be failing, with Russia on the brink of revolution as protesters clash with riot police in the streets.
Corruption. Control. Incompetence. Russia’s people have had enough. And a poisoning survivor is riding this wave of resentment in open defiance of Vladimir Putin’s draconian rule. The triumphant return of opposition figurehead Alexei Navalny has spooked the Kremlin.
Is this 1917 all over again?
The anger is real. Chants of “Putin is a thief” and “Free Navalny!” fill the streets. The anger is widespread. Demonstrations have flared from Vladivostok in the east to Kaliningrad in the west.
But the response has been brutal. Baton-wielding police have held nothing back. So far, they’ve had little impact. Plans for protests continue to swirl through social media. It’s the result of an upwelling of resentment at the lavish lifestyles of Russia’s oligarchs.
It’s an expression of anger at widespread unemployment and economic hardship. It’s not going away any time soon. And President Vladimir Putin appears rattled.
REVOLUTIONS COME AROUND
He’s been beaten. He’s been detained. He’s been defamed. He’s being compared to Vladimir Lenin. But, now, after surviving an assassination attempt, Russia’s de facto opposition leader Alexei Navalny has become the figurehead of a people-power movement.
Mr Navalny was sent straight to prison upon his return to Russia after five-months of lifesaving treatment in Germany. His charge: missing parole conditions while he was recovering. It sparked uproar.
It seems this time, Mr. Putin has been too clever for his own good.
China to conduct military drills in S. China Sea amid tensions with U.S.
28 January 2021
BEIJING - China said on Tuesday it will conduct military exercises in the South China Sea this week, just days after Beijing bristled at a U.S. aircraft carrier group's entry into the disputed waters.
A notice issued by the country's Maritime Safety Administration prohibited entry into a portion of waters in the Gulf of Tonkin to the west of the Leizhou peninsula in south-western China from January 27 to January 30, but it did not offer details on when the drills would take place or at what scale.
A U.S. carrier group led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt entered the South China Sea on Saturday to promote "freedom of the seas," the U.S. military said, days after Joe Biden began his term as president.
The contested waters have become another flashpoint in the increasingly testy bilateral relationship between Beijing and Washington. The U.S. military has steadily increased its activities there in recent years as China asserts its territorial claims in the area in conflict with neighbouring countries including Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan.
The announcement of the drills in the Gulf of Tonkin, just east of Vietnam, came as the Southeast Asian country opened a key Communist Party congress in Hanoi.
China on Monday complained that the United States frequently sends aircraft and vessels into the South China Sea, through which trillion dollars in trade flow every year, to "flex its muscles" and said such actions are not conducive to peace and stability in the region.
Biden kicks off inclusive LGBTQ agenda.
President Joe Biden has had an energetic first few days setting out his wide-ranging agenda on LGBTQ+P rights.
Many advocates commended the decision to include pronoun choices in the White House contact form. The new president has also addressed workplace discrimination and transgender rights in the military.
This focus on LGBTQ rights is being seen as a marked [and evil] shift from the Trump administration.
What has the White House done on pronouns?
Only a matter of days into his presidency, Mr Biden has set the tone for his administration's culture when it comes to gender inclusivity.
On Thursday, 24 hours after his inauguration, the White House released its new contact form, which includes the option for users to select their pronouns of choice, and was first reported by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).
"On Day One, the Biden administration has taken immediate steps to include trans, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people in the conversation," GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis [pictured above left marrying her wife] said in a statement.
"Pronouns matter, and adding inclusive pronouns to a contact form is more than just a demonstration of allyship." "Research has shown that recognition and respect of our pronouns can make all the difference for our health and wellbeing -- especially when it comes to LGBTQ youth," Ellis added.
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