Conflict Blotter

The Kuwaiti press claims a pair of scoops on the September 6 Israeli air strike in Syria.
The Al Jerida newspaper reported Friday that retired Iranian general Ali Reza Asgari, who defected in February, gave Israel the intelligence on Syria’s missile program used in the Syrian airstrike. After the former deputy defense minister and Revolutionary Guard […]

[Read more →]

Haaretz’s always provocative Bradley Burston’s offers a fresh Israeli take on Ahmadinejad:
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is simply one of Israel’s premier diplomatic and security assets. His expressed views make Israel look pragmatic, clear-eyed, non-paranoid.
He has denied away the Nazi Holocaust as a myth. He has, as well, denounced Israel for Nazi-like actions. Referring to last year’s […]

[Read more →]

Ever since John Bolton first leaked the North Korea nuclear connection to Israel’s air strike in Syria two weeks ago, I have been skeptical. It seemed a bit too self-serving given Bolton’s own confrontationalist approach to North Korea. I was more inclined to believe those suggesting the strike was simply meant to send a message […]

[Read more →]

The latest development on the Syria front is a report in Jane’s Defence Weekly reported today in the Israeli press. According to Jane’s, as relayed by Yediot Aharanot, 15 Syrian officers and dozens of Iranian experts died earlier this symmer in an explosion at a missile installation for manufacturing chemical weapons southeast of Aleppo (see […]

[Read more →]

A couple of items from today’s Hebrew press.
First, Yediot Aharanot reports on more madness by Ben Gurion Airport’s out of control security screeners. Leading Egyptian businessmen have said they will not visit Israel again. People I speak with at the Foreign Ministry are going bonkers over this issue, but seem powerless to do anything […]

[Read more →]