Saudis Way Ahead of Israel

by Ariel Ben Solomon

Saudi Arabia is braking its 70 year US dependence.

Saudi Arabia has reacted with unusual bluntness to US moves at rapprochement with the kingdom’s enemies in Tehran and Damascus, forcing President Barack Obama to either alter his stance or risk a breakdown in relations.

The Saudis are testing Obama, as they have seen how he tends to waver under pressure while trying to keep both sides happy.

And quietly, America’s traditional allies in the region - such as Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the Gulf states - are rooting for the Saudis.

The Saudis observed how Obama was willing to compromise and settle for a deal with Syria after he had called for President Bashar Assad’s removal from power two years ago. On Iran, Obama is warming to the country despite its involvement in terrorism, the fighting in Syria and its history of deception as it strives towards nuclear weapons. The Saudis are starting to push back hard…

Saudi Snubs ‘Useless Nothing’ and US

1) Saudi Arabia has won a seat on the United Nations Security Council but rejected it. “The kingdom sees that the method and work mechanism and the double standards in the Security Council prevent it from properly shouldering its responsibilities towards world peace,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. (The UN did not help Sunni Saudi Arabia depose the Allawite/Shiite Syrian regime!) 2) Saudi Arabia’s intelligence chief, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, said his country will make a “major shift” away from its relationship with the United States in protest over President Obama’s dialogue with Iran and inaction in Syria.

Food for Thought by Steven Shamrak

By supporting the Islamist led uprising in Syria and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, ignoring the systematic unfriendly behavior of the Islamic government of Turkey, tolerating diplomatic spats coming from Pakistan and Afghanistan and not dealing with the nuclear ambitions of the Islamic Republic of Iran. President Obama has discredited himself and his administration. Friends do not trust him and enemies have become arrogant in pursuing their endeavors!

Paranoiac Barking from Iran

Iran's Supreme Spiritual Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that "we should not make a mistake in knowing the main enemy, who in the present time is global arrogance and the criminal Zionist network." In his address to the Hajj pilgrims, Khamenei mentioned Israel several times: "we should properly identify the methods of this hostile enemy which is creating discord among Muslims…" (I thought that existence of Israel unites Muslims, not “creating discord”. Without Israel they would kill each other even more vigorously!)

US is the Largest Oil Producer

The US has finally surpassed Saudi Arabia as the largest oil producer in the world, after an explosion in the use of hydraulic fracking created the largest oil boom in nearly 40 years, only beaten by the production boom in Saudi Arabia between 1970 and 1974. (Will it change the US support for fake Palestinian state? I doubt it, the anti-Jewish attitude in the international political elite has deep roots!)

Peace Negotiation Means Terror Attacks!

A terror attack involving a tractor was thwarted near Jerusalem. The terrorist's brother was responsible for a similar attack in 2009. He succeeded in breaking through an IDF base's fence at A-Ram, north of the capital base's fence. Soldiers fired on him and killed him.

Israel Quietly Feeding Syrian Refugees

Among the organizations funding and distributing physical and emotional aid to the hundreds of thousands of Syrians is IsraAid. In Jordan, the group is buying and putting together large sacks of essential goods that are passed out to Syrian refugees daily. But, they are doing it discreetly.

Turkey is the Fifth Column

1) Early last year, the Erdogan government blew the cover of up to 10 Israel agents in Iran who had been meeting inside Turkey with their Mossad case officers. This story was published in The Washington Post. The article presents Israel’s Mossad in an unflattering light, claiming that Israeli intelligence officers in 2010 complained to the CIA that Hakan Fidan Turkish intelligence chief was in fact “the MOIS station chief in Ankara.” MOIS is Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security. 2) Ankara chooses Chinese firm over US, European firms to co-produce long-range air missiles defense systems. (Just imagine how much trouble Turkey will cause to Europe if it becomes an EU member!)

Who will be the Target?

The US Pentagon said it plans a large arms sale to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates worth $10.8 billion. The weapons include bunker-buster bombs and air-launched cruise missiles that can hit targets from a long distance. The weapons will be used on US-made F-15 and F-16 fighter jets. The Gulf states are very concerned about Iran and its mission to extend its influence throughout the region. (Who will the bombs be used against - Iran or Israel, or both?)

‘Friendly’ Neighbors

1) For at least the second time in five months, Arab residents of Beit Umar (PA controlled) have placed a Nazi flag over a major thoroughfare where Jews pass in their vehicles.

2) Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas government in Gaza, celebrated the abduction of IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, on the two-year anniversary of his exchange for 1,027 jailed terrorists. He praised the terrorists who carried out recent attacks on Jews in Judea and Samaria, and called on the Arab and Islamic countries to prepare themselves for “the big Al Aqsa Intifada.”

Terrorists are Released Regardless of Progress

The Israel Prisons Service published the list of 26 terrorists who will be freed as part of the latest ‘gesture’ to the PA. Among the terrorists on the list two Arabs who shot and killed Israeli soldier Aharon Avidar in Ramallah in February of 1985. Also on the list is a terrorist who murdered Isaac Rotenberg in Petach Tikva on March 31, 1994... (When will Israeli politicians gain self-respect and stop betraying their own people?)

Israel Must Expel Enemies Within

Arab MK, Ibrahim Sarsour (Ra’am Ta’al), praised a speech by Hamas head in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh which included a call for “popular resistance” against Israel - a phrase which Hamas uses to refer to terrorism. In his October 19 speech, Haniyeh slammed the talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority as “harming the cause of resistance,” and called to prepare for “the big campaign in which all of Palestine will be liberated.”

PA Revealed its True Colors Again!

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas this week signed a secret cooperation agreement with President Bashar Assad. Abbas is the first Arab leader to break ranks with the united Arab front against Assad and made his move behind American backs. US Secretary of State John Kerry apparently went into his meeting with Netanyahu in Rome ignorant of what was afoot.

Quotes of the Week:

“We Muslims make the mistake of thinking Europeans really care about is, especially the Palestinians. We are wrong. Europeans simply hate the Jews more than they hate and fear us. The bitter truth is that Europeans usually intervene in a crisis only if it gives them an opportunity for Jew-bashing.” - Ali Salim, a scholar based in the Middle East - Spot on! That why in my letters, I often make a point that the US and Europe are not true friends of Israel. Israel must set its own national goals, develop its own plans and implement them.

West Needs to Wake Up

by Gil Ronen

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon (Likud) said that the West needs to "wake up" from the idea that the Middle East's problems will be solved through democratization.

"The western idea of bringing what succeeded in Europe - democracy - to the Middle East, is really irrelevant," he said at a financial conference in Tel Aviv. "It stems from ignorance, from not being well acquainted with the Middle East, in large part from naïveté, confusing wishes for reality. Even if it comes from good intentions - 'We'll bring you a good idea' - it smacks of patronizing."

"I say all this because the next failure is already written on the pages of history, if the West does not wake up," he warned. "It is called 'democratization through elections.' Whoever thinks democracy can be instilled just by holding elections is simply wrong."

Yaalon said that while it is preferable that the Iranian regime disarm itself of its nuclear weapons program as "a result of diplomatic and economic pressure, or perhaps internal pressure," a credible military option must also be put before it.