BY KALEN TAYLOR, inContext— The Syrian Army slammed Haffeh with mortars, tanks, and helicopter gunfire yesterday, burning and looting buildings and wounding over 50 rebels. Forced to flee from the heavy fire, anti-government forces withdrew from the town on Wednesday. The conflict also reached the Syrian capital of Damascus yesterday morning as rebels began to…
BY JAN WILLEM VAN DER HOEVEN, ICZC— This year 2012 may become one of the most pivotal years in Israel’s short history yet. I. There may be a short and decisive battle with Syria and the Hizbollah in the near future. As a result of the coming attack by Syria and the Hizbollah there will…
BY CAROLINE GLICK, JPOST— Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak has done it again. Speaking Wednesday at the Institute for National Security Studies, Barak warned that if Israel can’t cut a deal with the Palestinians soon, it should consider surrendering Judea and Samaria in exchange for nothing. Even the diehard leftists in the media had a…
BY YITZHAK BENHORIN, YNET— In his first appearance as president at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, a solemn President Barack Obama announced on Monday a new crackdown on Iran and Syria and said the world must never again allow hatred to take root into the “madness” of mass atrocities. The president announced new sanctions on…
BY RON JAGER— In an almost desperate bid to counter the emerging historical trend, pro-Palestinian elements recently attempted to change direction and bring the Palestinian Arab issue back to the forefront of the world’s agenda. For the Palestinian leadership, the Arab world has once again abandoned and left the Palestinian Arabs high and dry. The…
BY ALAN W. DOWD, FRONTPAGMAG— The Syrian civil war is now more than a year old. The Syrian army has killed some 10,000 people—and counting. Although Damascus has made promises about ceasefires and diplomatic settlements, it’s not in Bashar Assad’s DNA to countenance any challenge to his rule. Recall that his father slaughtered 20,000 Syrians…
BY DEBKAFILE— Tehran has begun capitalizing on its allies’ two perceived victories: Bashar Assad’s success in seizing Idlib from rebel hands and the Palestinian Jihad Islami’s triumphal missile assault from Gaza. The Iranians are now moving forward with plans to match the Palestinian assault on southern Israel with an offensive on the north from Lebanon.…
BY DANIEL GREENFIELD, SULTAN KNISH— There are two possible conflicts on the table in Washington. One is with Iran and the other with Syria. The Iran conflict is the one that Washington doesn’t want. Its most likely trigger at this stage is an Israeli assault on Iran’s nuclear program. Like most of the wars centering…
BY BRET STEPHENS, WSJ— Can Israel attack Iran? If it can, will it? If it will, when? If when, how? And what happens after that? On Sunday with Matt Lauer, President Obama said “I don’t think that Israel has made a decision on what they need to do.” That didn’t square with the view of…
BY GIL COHEN, HAARETZ— Iran and Hezbollah are strengthening their efforts to ensure the survival of the Bashar Assad regime in Syria, Military Intelligence Chief Major General Aviv Kochavi said on Wednesday. “They are providing with knowledge, weapons and other means and recently with active involvement,” Kochavi said. Kochavi also said that the face of…