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Jews in Sports
Non-Profit Org. U.S. POSTAGE PAID Pittsfield, MA Berkshire Permit No. 19 JEWISHA publication of the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires, serving V the Berkshires and surrounding ICE NY, CT and VT Vol. 28, No. 8 Tishri/Cheshvan/Kislev 5781 October 12 to November 22, 2020 jewishberkshires.org Middle East Update 2020 Zooming Into Fall “Is there light at the end of the Middle East tunnel?” Federation connected families from across the with Dennis Ross and David Makovsky Berkshires online over the holidays On Wednesday, November 18 at About Our Speakers 7:30 p.m., the Jewish Federation of David Makovsky is the Ziegler the Berkshires welcomes two distin- Distinguished Fellow and Director of guished guests to our Middle East the Project on the Middle East Peace Update 2020, Dennis Ross and Process at The Washington Institute for David Makovsky, both fellows at The Near East Policy. He is also an adjunct Washington Institute for Near East professor in Middle East studies at Policy. Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. In light of the recent ground- Nitze School of Advanced International breaking treaties brokered by the Studies. Trump administration between Israel Author of numerous Washington and Persian Gulf states the United Institute publications on issues related Arab Emirates and Bahrain, as well to the Middle East peace process as with the European Muslim nation and the Arab-Israeli conflict, he also of Kosovo, Ross and Makovsky’s topic co-authored the 2009 Washington Post will be, “Is there light at the end of the bestseller Myths, Illusions, and Peace: Middle East tunnel?” Finding a New Direction for America At press time, all Jewish Federation in the Middle East with Ambassador of the Berkshires programs were Dennis Ross. -
Anti-Semitism and Anti-Zionism in Iran: the Role of Identity Processes
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Nottingham Trent Institutional Repository (IRep) 1 Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in Iran: the role of identity processes Rusi Jaspal De Montfort University, Leicester, UK Anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism constitute two important ideological building blocks of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Yet, there is no existing research into the psychosocial motives underlying the manifestation of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism at the institutional level in Iran. Here it is argued that there is much heuristic and predictive value in applying tenets of identity process theory (IPT), a socio-psychological model of identity threat and action, to the primarily socio-historical literature on anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in Iran. The paper provides a summary of anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism and ‘new anti-Semitism’ and IPT. The substantive section of the paper explores (i) how anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism may restore feelings of belonging in the Muslim world and beyond; (ii) the inter-relations between ingroup and outgroup self-efficacy; (iii) the psychosocial motivation to maintain Shiite ideology and Khomeini’s legacy; and (iv) the construction of Jews and Israel in terms of a threat to group continuity. It is suggested that insights into the motivational principles underlying anti-Semitism and anti- Zionism at the institutional level may inform empirical research into social representations of Jews and Israel in Iran. More broadly, this paper highlights the potential contribution of social psychology to existing work on anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in the humanities. -
Israel: Background and U.S. Relations in Brief
Israel: Background and U.S. Relations in Brief Updated January 27, 2021 Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov R44245 SUMMARY R44245 Israel: Background and U.S. Relations in Brief January 27, 2021 The following matters are of particular significance to U.S.-Israel relations. Jim Zanotti Domestic issues: March 2021 election. After the collapse of its power-sharing Specialist in Middle government in December 2020, Israel is scheduled to hold another election for its Eastern Affairs Knesset (parliament) on March 23, 2021. The election will be Israel’s fourth in the past two years—a frequency without parallel in the country’s history. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has managed to maintain power despite an ongoing criminal trial on corruption charges that is set to resume in February 2021. Netanyahu apparently hopes to create a coalition government that will grant him legal immunity or to remain indefinitely as caretaker prime minister (as he did from December 2018 to May 2020) by preventing anyone from forming a coalition without him and his Likud party. Palestinians and Arab state normalization. On the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Trump Administration policies largely sided with Israeli positions, thus alienating Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman and Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas. In the second half of 2020, the Administration pivoted from its January 2020 Israeli-Palestinian peace proposal to helping Israel reach agreements—known as the Abraham Accords—on normalizing its relations with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco. In connection with its deal with the UAE, Israel agreed in August 2020 to suspend plans to annex part of the West Bank, though announcements related to settlement activity have accelerated since then. -
Issue No. 486 AUGUST 2021
Issue Brief ISSUE NO. 486 AUGUST 2021 © 2021 Observer Research Foundation. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied, archived, retained or transmitted through print, speech or electronic media without prior written approval from ORF. The Limits of Military Coercion in Halting Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Programme Kunal Singh Abstract Israel believes that the use of force is essential to stopping Iran from making the nuclear bomb. A vocal section of the strategic affairs community in the United States agrees with the proposition. This brief argues that military means are unlikely to sabotage the nuclear weapons programme of an advanced-stage bomb-seeker like Iran. Moreover, use of force could be counterproductive as it can incentivise Iran’s pursuit of the bomb, and it may erode the confidence required for diplomatic negotiations that can possibly help cease the weapons programme. Attribution: Kunal Singh, “The Limits of Military Coercion in Halting Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Programme,” ORF Issue Brief No. 486, August 2021, Observer Research Foundation. 01 n early April in Vienna, the Biden administration initiated efforts with Iran to reinstate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), more commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, from which the United States (US) had exited during the tenure of former US President Donald Trump. A week later, an explosion at Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment Ifacility caused a power blackout. Israel, the state most vocally opposed to the JCPOA, is widely believed to have -
General Assembly Security Gouncil Distr
UNITED AS NATIONS General Assembly Security Gouncil Distr. GENERAL A/43/LLA s/L9464 29 January 1988 ENGLISH ORIGINAL: ARABIC,/FRENCH GENERAL ASSEI4BLY SECURITY COUNCIL Forty-third session Forty-third year CO-OPERATION BETTiEEN THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE ORGANIZATION OF THE ISLAMIC CONFERENCE QUESTION OF PATESTINE THE SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST REPORT OF THE SPECIAL @MMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE ISRAELI PRACTICES AFFECTING THE HUI.{AIiI RIGHTS OF THE POPUI"ATION OF THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES Letter dated 29 January 1988 from the Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations addressed to the Secretarv-General On instructions from my Governnent, I have the honour to forward herewith the official final cornrnuniqu6 and resolution adopted at the emergency meeting of the Al-Quds conrmittee held in rfrane, Morocco, on 15 Jumada r A.H. 1408 (5 January 1988). I should be grateful if you would arrange for the text of this Letter and the annex thereto to be distributed as a docunent of the General Assembly, under the items entitled trCo-operation between the United Nations and the Organization of the Islamic Conference", "Question of Palestine", trThe situation in the !4iddle East", and "Report of the Speciat Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories', and of the Security Council. (siqned) Driss STAOUI Ambassador Permanent Representative 88-02109 3s84R (E) Digitized by Dag Hammarskjöld Library A/43/LLA s/L9464 English Page 2 Al,INEX Final, communiq\r6 and reconmendations adopted at the enerqencv meetinq of the al-euds Comnittae on 15 .rumada I a.g. -
Iran: Recent Incidents Likely a Coordinated String of Deliberate Attacks
The Cambridge Security Initiative IRAN: RECENT INCIDENTS LIKELY A COORDINATED STRING OF DELIBERATE ATTACKS JULY 2020 Richard C. Baffa Since early May, Iranian critical infrastructure and national security facilities have been subject to at least nine fires, explosions, and apparent cyberattacks; eight of these have taken place since 26 June. The nature of the targets and the short period of time in which they have occurred is unprecedented, strongly pointing to deliberate attacks and/or sabotage. Tehran has downplayed many of the incidents as accidents, but unofficially blamed the United States, Israel, and an unnamed Arab state (likely Saudi Arabia and/or the United Arab Emirates), and has vowed to retaliate. Two of the sites, the Natanz enrichment facility and Khojir military base, are highly secure national security facilities, harbouring sensitive nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, including the IR-4 and IR-6 generation of modern centrifuges. At Natanz, an explosion and fire damaged a new, high-value centrifuge production/assembly plant on 2 July; the building is adjacent to underground fuel production facilities where the U.S. and Israel conducted the Stuxnet cyberattack a decade ago. An unnamed Middle Eastern intelligence official claimed Israel was responsible, using a powerful bomb. On 26 June, another explosion took place at Khojir missile production site, a highly secretive facility for missile engines and propellant development and testing near Tehran. In addition, on 10 July, local witnesses in Garmdarreh, west of Tehran, reported a series of explosions followed by widespread power outages. Multiple reports claimed the explosions occurred at Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) missile depots, possibly the Islam IRGC Aerospace military base; there are also other military facilities, a chemical weapons research site, and power plants in the area. -
Duqu the Stuxnet Attackers Return
Uncovering Duqu The Stuxnet Attackers Return Nicolas Falliere 4/24/2012 Usenix Leet - San Jose, CA 1 Agenda 1 Revisiting Stuxnet 2 Discovering Duqu 3 Inside Duqu 4 Weird, Wacky, and Unknown 5 Summary 2 Revisiting Stuxnet 3 Key Facts Windows worm discovered in July 2010 Uses 7 different self-propagation methods Uses 4 Microsoft 0-day exploits + 1 known vulnerability Leverages 2 Siemens security issues Contains a Windows rootkit Used 2 stolen digital certificates Modified code on Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) First known PLC rootkit 4 Cyber Sabotage 5 Discovering Duqu 6 Boldi Bencsath Announce (CrySyS) emails: discovery and “important publish 25 page malware Duqu” paper on Duqu Boldi emails: Hours later the “DUQU DROPPER 7 C&C is wiped FOUND MSWORD 0DAY INSIDE” Inside Duqu 8 Key Facts Duqu uses the same code as Stuxnet except payload is different Payload isn‟t sabotage, but espionage Highly targeted Used to distribute infostealer components Dropper used a 0-day (Word DOC w/ TTF kernel exploit) Driver uses a stolen digital certificate (C-Media) No self-replication, but can be instructed to copy itself to remote machines Multiple command and control servers that are simply proxies Infections can serve as peers in a peer-to-peer C&C system 9 Countries Infected Six organizations, in 8 countries confirmed infected 10 Architecture Main component A large DLL with 8 or 6 exports and 1 main resource block Resource= Command & Control module Copies itself as %WINDIR%\inf\xxx.pnf Injected into several processes Controlled by a Configuration Data file Lots of similarities with Stuxnet Organization Code Usual lifespan: 30 days Can be extended 11 Installation 12 Signed Drivers Some signed (C-Media certificate) Revoked on October 14 13 Command & Control Module Communication over TCP/80 and TCP/443 Embeds protocol under HTTP, but not HTTPS Includes small blank JPEG in all communications Basic proxy support Complex protocol TCP-like with fragments, sequence and ack. -
Defeating Terror Promoting Peace ISRAEL MINISTRY of FOREIGN AFFAIRS
ISRAEL MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS Israel’s Operation against Hamas Defeating Terror Promoting Peace ISRAEL MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS 1 Moderates vs. Extremists The Struggle for Regional Peace Israel desires peace with those who seek peace, but must deter those who seek its destruction ISRAEL MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS Israel's greatest hope Signing the Israel-Jordan is to live in peace and security with all its neighbors Peace Treaty ISRAEL MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS Prime Minister Begin, President Sadat and Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Livni meets with Qatar President Carter signing the Israel-Egypt Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr Al- Peace Treaty, Washington, 26 March 1979 with US President Bush at the Annapolis Thani at the 8th Doha Forum on Democracy, Conference, November 2007 Development, and Free Trade (April 2008) More info Foreign Minister Livni meets with Former Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, MASHAV Course for Palestinian Farmers on Foreign Minister of Oman Yousef Bin Alawi US President George Bush and Palestinian Cooperative Development in Rural Areas Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas Middle East summit in Aqaba (June 2003) Israel has proven its ability to make peace with those who desire peace. The moderates in the region agree on the need for a “two-state solution” to the Palestinian issue ISRAEL MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS Assad and Ahmadinejad Hamas in Gaza - September 2007 Ahmadinejad and Nasrallah While Israel desires peace with those who seek peace, -
Reimagining US Strategy in the Middle East
REIMAGININGR I A I I G U.S.S STRATEGYT A E Y IIN THET E MMIDDLED L EEASTS Sustainable Partnerships, Strategic Investments Dalia Dassa Kaye, Linda Robinson, Jeffrey Martini, Nathan Vest, Ashley L. Rhoades C O R P O R A T I O N For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/RRA958-1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available for this publication. ISBN: 978-1-9774-0662-0 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif. 2021 RAND Corporation R® is a registered trademark. Cover composite design: Jessica Arana Image: wael alreweie / Getty Images Limited Print and Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions. The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org Preface U.S. -
Stuxnet, Schmitt Analysis, and the Cyber “Use-Of-Force” Debate
Members of International Telecommunications Union and UN Institute for Training and Research confer on cyber security UN (Jean-Marc Ferré) UN (Jean-Marc Stuxnet, Schmitt Analysis, and the Cyber “Use-of-Force” Debate By ANDREW C. FOLTZ All Members shall refrain in ne of the many seemingly advance the specific criteria states will use in intractable legal issues sur- making such determinations. their international relations rounding cyberspace involves As discussed in this article, several ana- from the threat or use of force O whether and when peacetime lytic frameworks have been developed to help against the territorial integ- cyber operations constitute a prohibited use of assess when cyber operations constitute a use force under Article 2(4) of the United Nations of force.3 One conclusion these frameworks rity or political independence (UN) Charter. Notwithstanding a significant share is that cyber operations resulting in of any state, or in any other body of scholarly work on this topic and physical damage or injury will almost always manner inconsistent with extensive real-world examples from which to be regarded as a use of force. When these draw, there is no internationally recognized frameworks were developed, however, there the Purposes of the United definition of a use of force.2 Rather, what has were few, if any, examples of peacetime, state- Nations. emerged is a general consensus that some sponsored cyber coercion. More importantly, cyber operations will constitute a use of force, the prospect of cyber attacks causing physical —Article 2(4), Charter of the but that it may not be possible to identify in damage was largely theoretical.4 Beginning United Nations1 Lieutenant Colonel Andrew C. -
The Goals and Significance of Hamas's New Political Document
May 8, 2017 The goals and significance of Hamas’s new political document The front page of Hamas’s new political document, or, to use its full name: “A Document of General Principles and Policies” The goals of the political document and the background of its publication 1. On May 1, 2017, Hamas published a political document entitled “A Document of General Principles and Policies” (hereinafter: the “Political Document”). This document, which includes 42 sections, was published on the Hamas website in two versions: an Arabic version and a version translated into English (see appendices). An examination of the two versions reveals that there are slight differences in the translation into English compared with the Arabic source, but no significant differences were found between them. The document was published at the end of Khaled Mash’al’s term as chairman of the movement’s political bureau and was presented by him at a press conference in Qatar (May 1, 2017). 2. The Political Document is intended to update the ideology and basic concepts that appeared in the 1988 Hamas Charter.1 The document was aimed to adapt them 1The text of the Charter and an analysis of its sections appear in the ITIC’s bulletin from May 5, 2006 (http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/en/article/18894). 093-17 2 to the current strategic reality, which has changed unrecognizably since the charter was written. The differences in the (Arabic) names of these documents - charter (mithaq) versus document (wathiqa) - are not semantic, since the term “charter” is more binding than “document”. -
INSS Insight No. 1409, December 2, 2020 the Assassination of Fakhrizadeh: Considerations and Consequences
INSS Insight No. 1409, December 2, 2020 The Assassination of Fakhrizadeh: Considerations and Consequences Amos Yadlin and Assaf Orion The assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizada invites six questions: Who is responsible for the act? What was the objective? Why now? What are the consequences of the assassination? How will Iran respond? What is the recommended policy for Israel in light of this development? This article contends that barring narrow political considerations, whoever ordered Fakhrizadeh's assassination apparently tried to achieve three strategic objectives: damage Iran's nuclear program; obstruct the Biden administration's return to the nuclear agreement; and perhaps, though less likely, encourage an escalation that would result in a US attack on Iran's nuclear sites. The first objective seems to have been achieved, although the response to the assassination is still ahead and may exact a costly price. Attainment of the other two goals depends heavily on the Iranian response, but in any case, these are far- reaching objectives with slimmer chances of realization. The year 2020 began with the assassination of Revolutionary Guards General Qassem Soleimani, and approached its close with the assassination of Revolutionary Guards General Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Soleimani was the commander of the Quds Force and led Iran's strategic effort for regional hegemony, primarily through subversive diplomacy, proxy warfare, and arms proliferation. Fakhrizadeh led Iran's second strategic effort – the pursuit of nuclear weapons. The assassination of Fakhrizadeh invites six questions: Who is responsible for the act? What was the objective? Why now? What are the consequences of the assassination? How will Iran respond? What is the recommended policy for Israel in light of this development? The United States took public responsibility for the killing of General Qassem Soleimani and in response suffered an Iranian barrage of missiles fired at an American base in Iraq.