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Israel and the Middle East News Update

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Israel and the Middle East News Update Israel and the Middle East News Update Friday, November 27 Headlines: Ministers Hold Marathon Meetings on Possibility of PA Collapse Ya’alon: I Don’t Know When the Terror Will Stop Netanyahu: No Plans to Arm PA Security Forces Six Soldiers Hurt in Car-Ramming During West Bank Protest IDF Chief of Staff Flies Secretly to Brussels to Meet US General Israel to Establish Formal Presence in Abu Dhabi IAF Official: Israel Won’t Down Russian Warplane in Its Airspace Israel Holds First Successful Operational Test for Barak 8 Missile Commentary: Ma’ariv: “Resistance Movement” By Ben Caspit, Columnist, Al-Monitor's Israel Pulse Al-Monitor: “Why Kerry Should Have Skipped His Stop in Israel” By Akiva Eldar, Israel Pulse Columnist, Al-Monitor S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 633 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20004 www.centerpeace.org ● Yoni Komorov, Editor ● David Abreu, Associate Editor News Excerpts November 27, 2015 Ha’aretz Ministers Hold Marathon Meetings on Possibility of PA Collapse The diplomatic-security cabinet held marathon discussions over the last two days about the possibility that the Palestinian Authority will collapse and how Israel would deal with such a development, according to three sources who either attended the meetings or were briefed on them. Several ministers argued that the PA’s collapse could serve Israel’s interests, so Israel shouldn’t try to prevent it. See also, “Cabinet Said to Hold Anguished Debate If PA Collapses” (Times of Israel) Arutz Sheva Ya’alon: I Don’t Know When the Terror Will Stop Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon (Likud) spoke on Friday morning and said he can't anticipate when the Arab terror wave plaguing Israel will end. "We have a wave of terror that will accompany us in the coming days and apparently in the coming weeks, and we don't know if it will end soon or when," said Ya'alon of the terror wave, which has already left 22 Israelis murdered and hundreds others wounded in two months. See also, "Israel Plans Security Fence Between Hebron and Kiryat Gat Due to Spike in Terror" (Algemeiner) Arutz Sheva Netanyahu: No Plans to Arm PA Security Forces Israel is not planning to approve arms for the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) security forces or any other “gesture” to the PA, including the release of terrorists, sources close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told Arutz Sheva on Wednesday evening. The clarification came following reports that the IDF had issued a recommendation to the political echelon that the PA security forces be given armored vehicles, weapons and ammunition so as to let them enter terror hotbeds that they are more familiar with than the IDF. Times of Israel Six Soldiers Hurt in Car-Ramming During West Bank Protest Six IDF soldiers were wounded in a second car-ramming attack Friday in the West Bank. The attack took place during an altercation between IDF forces and Palestinian demonstrators at the entrance to the village of Beit Ummar in the southern West Bank, north of Hebron. While soldiers held back the demonstrators to protect Route 60, the main north-south road that passes nearby, they were caught by surprise by a Palestinian vehicle that raced toward them and slammed into them. Four of the wounded were lightly hurt with wounds to their extremities. One was moderately hurt. A sixth was lightly hurt and refused to be evacuated to hospital. Two of the wounded were officers. See also, “Six IDF Soldiers Wounded Near Hebron in Second Vehicular Attack of the Day” (Jerusalem Post) 2 Times of Israel IDF Chief of Staff Flies Secretly to Brussels to Meet US General IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot flew secretly to Brussels this week for talks on the Continent’s security situation, according to a security source. Eisenkot met with America’s top general in Europe, Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, to discuss the current situation in the Middle East, the source said. Detailed information on what was discussed in Eisenkot’s meetings has been withheld. However, as Breedlove functions as both the head of America’s military presence in Europe, as well as the head of NATO, it is safe to assume that both the ongoing threats of terror in Europe and the conflicts in the Middle East, including the developing Russia-Turkey feud, were discussed. Jerusalem Post Israel to Establish Formal Presence in Abu Dhabi The Foreign Ministry confirmed a Ha’aretz report Friday that Israel will in the coming weeks open an office in Abu Dhabi accredited to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). According to the report, also confirmed by the ministry, Foreign Ministry Director-General Dore Gold was in the United Arab Emirates capital this week taking part in IRENA's biannual meeting and also discussing the opening of the Israeli mission. While in the past Israel has had trade delegations in Qatar, Oman, Morocco and Tunisia, this would be the first time Israel would have any formal presence in the UAE. See also, “Israel to Open Representative Office in Abu Dhabi” (Reuters) Jerusalem Post IAF Official: Israel Won't Down Russian Warplane In Its Airspace Israel will not take action against Russian fighter jets that encroach into its air space, a senior air force official said on Thursday. The issue of Russian sorties in Syria was magnified in recent days after Turkey downed a Su-24 fighter jet that it claims entered its air space near the border. According to Israeli military officials, such a scenario is not in danger of repeating itself in the skies over the Golan Heights. "The Russian military is a new, key player which we are not ignoring," a senior military official told reporters on Thursday. "There is a clear boundary here, and they are busy with their matters, and we are busy with ours." See also, “Senior Official: Israel's Air Force Can Topple a Country” (Arutz Sheva) Ynet News Israel Holds First Successful Test for Barak 8 Missile Israel held the first operational test for the Barak 8 missile defense system on Thursday afternoon, successfully destroying an enemy target. The system is to serve as protection against sophisticated missiles held by Hezbollah, like the Russian-built Yakhont (P-800 Oniks) - an advanced cruise missile system that Russia sold Syria. Such missiles, the defense establishment believes, can paralyze Israel's coast by targeting not only Israeli ships, but also its natural gas fields. The Barak 8 system can be deployed on at sea or on land and was designed to destroy threats from the air such as drones, fighter jets, missiles, and rockets, including in the event of multiple simultaneous launches. See also, “Israel Tests Surface-to-Air Missile Amid Fears of Hezbollah Arms” (Newsweek) 3 Ma’ariv – November 26, 2015 Resistance Movement By Ben Caspit In the past few weeks, a powerful collision has been taking place behind the scenes of our political-security-diplomatic theater between two conflicting worldviews. Two opposing forces are vying for leadership. The old, traditional, pragmatic and non-inflammatory force against the new, reactionary, feisty and battle-hungry force. This is a complex and volatile story, with significant political, social and security aspects. It reflects the radicalization process that is taking place in the world, the region, Israeli society, and consequently, on the political map as well. We can also see it as a reflection of the general fulmination that is washing over all of us. The balance of power still leans towards the old world, but the new forces are fresh, kicking and threatening. This battle has not been decided. The levelheaded and responsible approach is embodied most accurately by Defense Minister Moshe (Bugi) Yaalon. He receives halfhearted and erratic backing from Prime Minister Netanyahu. The third and surprising minister who stands with the two of them like a brick wall is Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri. Anyone who remembers how Deri helped Yitzhak Shamir rein in the eagerness of then-defense minister Moshe Arens, deputy chief of staff Ehud Barak and IAF commander Avihu Ben-Nun to bomb Iraq in the first Gulf War against the American urging, is not surprised. Twenty five years have passed, and Deri has not changed. This Bibi-Bugi-Deri triumvirate is on the same side of the fence as the security establishment, and especially the IDF. On the other side, the rebels stand defiantly: They are the security cabinet ministers of the Jewish Home, Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked, Minister Gilad Erdan and other security cabinet ministers from the Likud such as Zeev Elkin. They wink to their activists, wink to their registered members and wink to the hardline right wing Likud grassroots, for whom life is simple: We have to hit the Arabs with full force, and then everything will be fine. There was a hint of this battle in the past few weeks. This week it came to light, following a briefing to military affairs correspondents from OC Central Command Maj. Gen. Roni Numa. OC Central Command Numa, the sovereign in the territories, spoke candidly and from the heart. Between the lines, it was possible to discern the outline of the differences of opinion between the opposing worldviews. It was also possible to get a sense of the heavy pressure being brought to bear on the IDF by political figures, pressure that is currently being fended off bodily by top army and security officials. The IDF refers to the current wave of terrorism as a “limited uprising” and realizes that dealing forcibly with despairing young people will not provide a solution. The army believes that [Israel] should act in the opposite manner: it should increase the number of work permits, not apply a heavy hand to the population, and try not to add the massive majority of the Palestinian public to the extremist minority that has declared a rebellion.
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