9/10/21

 * Iran's Nuclear Weapons Weeks Away Since the Biden administration assumed office, the nuclear talks with Iran have gone nowhere.

* Dermer: ‘World won’t stop Iran from acquiring nuclear bomb’  “No one wanted North Korea and Pakistan to get nuclear weapons, but it happened,” says former Israeli ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer in a special holiday interview.

* Lapid in Moscow: If the world doesn’t stop a nuclear Iran, Israel will act Foreign minister tells Russian counterpart that while Israel recognizes Moscow’s interests in Syria, ‘we’ll maintain our ability to defend ourselves’; Lavrov to visit Israel soon.

* Lebanon gets new government amid deepening crisis A new government has been announced in Lebanon - over a year after the previous administration quit following the devastating Beirut port explosion.

* An EU army: The end of NATO or an unrealistic solo venture with little chance of success? Following the US’ disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, there have been renewed calls for the creation of a European Union military force.

* The War on Terror Was Never Turkey’s Fight For 20 years, Turkey has had an ambiguous relationship with the US war on terror.

* Palestinians declare Friday ‘day of rage’ in support of prisoners Top Fatah official visits families of escaped inmates as Day of Rage commences.

* Libyan presidential contender offers Israel recognition for backing A high-ranking Israeli security official paid a secret visit to Tripoli in the last week of August as guest of Col. Saddam Haftar, son of Libyan National Army chief, Maj. Gen, Khalif Haftar, US intelligence sources report.

* Is Israel Ready? Iran Is Upgrading its Drone Arsenal The Fotros drone is the Iranian Predator drone.

* Iran, China and Russia make PR hay from U.S. Afghanistan withdrawal “They were right there staring us in the face the whole time,” Barnett Rubin, a former senior adviser at the State Department, said.

9/7/21

 * Rosh Hashannah (New Year) Guide for the Perplexed, 2021 Did you know that the New Jewish Year is the only Jewish holiday celebrated upon the appearance of a new moon? This and much more. Op-ed.

* IDF chief says Israel accelerating Iran strike plans, acting throughout Mideast Aviv Kohavi also defends top brass amid anger over border cop’s death: ‘If we don’t back them up we’ll end up without commanders’

* Maps of “Palestine” in PA summer camps teach children about a world without Israel The Palestinian Authority unremittingly teaches Palestinians - and in particular youth - that all of Israel is “Palestine” and that Israel has no right to exist in any borders.

* Afghan Fallout: Biden Ruins America's Most Important Relationship — India President Biden's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan has ruined, perhaps for decades, America's most important bilateral relationship of this era.

* Israel has Five Reasons Why it Will Not Lose a War Don't try to fight Israel, you'll regret it.

* Turkey realigning ties with Egypt and Gulf rivals Analysts say fresh round of talks between Turkey and Egypt comes amid changing dynamics in the Middle East.

* Poland imposes state of emergency on Belarus border The Polish parliament has backed a state of emergency on the Belarus border amid a surge in migration and upcoming Russian-led military exercises.

* Opinion: Germany must call off Angela Merkel's Chinese love affair For years Berlin has mollycoddled China in the hope that billions of euros in investments would prompt it to shun its authoritarian ways. Beijing's belligerence shows the tactic has backfired, says DW's Ashutosh Pandey.

* Analysis: Israel still the ‘strong horse’ Israel’s rising stature as a military power in the region is clearly a by-product of the new U.S. policy decision to reduce its own military presence in the Mideast, creating a power vacuum that only Israel is capable of filling.

* The dual call of the Shofar Why do we need two sets of shofar blasts?