The Israeli right wing now has its own warmongering faction. Israel is contained and I am sure it is very frustrating for the Israeli military. Russia is in Syria, Egypt is seeking a two-country solution to the unrest between Israel and Palestine and the IDF simply hates every bit of it. I suppose the Isreali people need to hear the extremism from the military itself to bring peace to their country.
I find The West's embrace of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel destabilizing to any sincere peace agreement. Jerusalem is an international city for religious pilgrims of many faiths. It is too inflammatory to have the city assigned the capital of Israel or Palestine.
How can pilgrims to Jerusalem if the city is chronically the focus of unrest and war? The idea is ridiculous.
Palestinians and Israel at odds over Al-Quds (Jerusalem) (click here for peace talks timeline)
Russia entered Syria in a real way to end any ideological expansionist ambitions of the Israeli right wing. Unfortunately, Russia is not carrying a peace agenda for the region. Iran is engaged in it's own expansionist agenda, including Yemen. Iran used the fight against Daesh to redefine it's ambitions for the Shia Crescent.
I sincerely believe Yemen is the proxy war between the Shia and Sunnis. I do not expect any peace for Yemen soon. The tensions in the Middle East has to be resolved before Yemen will begin to see a peace initiative. The ideology is cemented in two countries, Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Saudi Arabia embodies the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques within the authority of the King. To his credit, King Salman is reviewing his government since the gruesome murder of Jamal Khashoggi. He is making changes. Hopefully, he will make changes to encourage peace and not further war between the two branches of the Muslim faith.
The ideology of Jihad has to end in the Middle East. Civilization demands dialogue and not deaths to end disagreements between nations of people. The world should be demanding peace in Yemen as it is taking on the characters of Syria with more than ample human rights abuses.
December 27, 2018
By Alexander Fulbright
Former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz (click here) registers his new political party, officially marking his entry to politics ahead of early Knesset elections in April 2019.
The Hebrew name for the party is Hosen Leyisrael and will be called Israel Resilience Party in English.
A number of recent polls have put a Gantz-led party in second place behind Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, albeit well behind in projected seat total. The surveys have also predicted that the opposition Zionist Union or Yesh Atid parties could prevent a challenge to Likud if Gantz were to join one of them.
Gantz, who served as chief of staff from 2011 to 2015, has largely maintained radio silence on his political views.
December 27, 2018
