Orientul Mijlociu

The attack inside Turkey, the first since 2016 for the PKK, has prompted worries over Washington’s partnership with Syrian Kurds.

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) carried out a suicide attack on the headquarters of Turkey’s national security directorate in Ankara on Sunday. Does the violence mark a shift in the group’s strategy that can imperil the military partnership between its Syrian Kurdish franchise and the United States?

Overview

The Houthi movement was established in Yemen in the early 1990s, based on Shiite Zaydi Muslim residents, who make up about 30% of the country’s population. In 2004, the movement mounted a rebellion against the central government in Yemen because it had become too closely affiliated with the US and Israel. Until 2009, six rounds of fighting between the parties took place, at the end of which the Houthis established autonomy in northern Yemen. Over time, the Houthis managed to increase their power and areas of control, and in 2015, they deposed the incumbent president. This move has led, among other things, to the establishment of a coalition of Arab countries, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which set itself the goal of defeating the Houthis and restoring the previous regime. In response, the Houthis also began to carry out attacks on the territory of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, using advanced weapons provided by Iran.

Introduction

Syria is the geographical center of the Iranian-controlled radical axis and the arena where pro-Iranian militias operate, some of them brought in by Iran and others formed locally by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps. They have one main purpose: to ensure the continuation of Bashar Assad’s regime, accomplished on the pretext of “defending the Shi’ite shrines.” The Syrian Civil War began in 2011 and was won by the forces supporting Assad, who continues his efforts to stabilize the government institutions and rebuild his army. The pro-Iranian militias serve as another tool for establishing Iranian strategy in Syria and Lebanon.

The issue of normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel has been a hot topic in the Middle East and the world, especially after the speeches of their respective leaders at the UN General Assembly. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his address to UN General Assembly expressed his optimism about reaching a historic peace deal with the Saudis saying that it would create a new Middle East and enhance the prospects of peace with the Palestinians.

Israel’s security service said it had foiled a plot by five Israelis and Palestinians recruited for Iran to spy on Israeli politicians, including the far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Two Israelis and three Palestinians were charged Thursday for their involvement in a “terror cell” operated by a person living in Jordan and working under Iranian instructions, Israel’s security agency, Shin Bet, said.

Turkish President Erdogan said Iran, which has opposed a land corridor linking Turkey to Azerbaijan, is now changing its tune.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that Iran is now warming up to a joint Turkish-Azeri plans to set up a transport corridor connecting Turkey to Azerbaijan via Armenia.

The failures of the Israeli intelligence community in the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and of the American intelligence community on September 11, 2001 have been widely discussed. But there was another failure on the part of the Israeli intelligence community that merits attention: For over two years after the Oslo Accords signed on September 13, 1993, its experts failed to detect he threat posed by the Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). The political climate that prevailed in Israel during the early 1990s had a negative effect on the assessment of the situation by the Israeli intelligence community, and there is a general lesson to be learned from these events. This article will first discuss the key failures of Israel’s intelligence community during these years, and then it will assess the role played in these failures by the contemporary political climate in Israel.

Overview

This past week no unusual incidents were reported along the Israel-Lebanon border. Hezbollah-affiliated media outlets reported on works carried out by Israel in the Ghajar region. The exposure of Iran and Hezbollah’s secret airport in south Lebanon continued to make headlines. Hezbollah has yet to address the issue directly.
Preliminary details have been published about the plan of Amos Hochstein, the American president’s coordinator for energy security, to resolve the issue of the land border between Israel and Lebanon.
Tensions continue in the Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp. Several meetings were held in an effort to calm the situation.
So far, there has been no solution to the presidential crisis in Lebanon nor is one on the horizon. Hezbollah and Amal continue to promote the candidacy of Suleiman Frangieh.