Conflict Blotter

The Syrian envoy to the UN said two days ago during a meeting of the First Committee on Disarmament that Israel had bombed a Syrian nuclear facility, or so the UN reported in a subsequent press release:
Moreover, Israel was the fourth largest exporter of weapons of mass destruction and a violator of other nations’ airspace, […]

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In case you missed yesterday’s column by Jim Hoagland in the Washington Post:
But highly classified U.S. intelligence reports say that the Israelis destroyed a nuclear-related facility and caused North Korean casualties at the site, which may have been intended to produce plutonium, according to a senior official with access to those reports. The Israelis have […]

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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 […]

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First two Israeli journalists sneak into Lebanon, and now this. Israeli pundit and security commentator for Yediot Ahranot (and a Lt. Col. in the paratrooper reserves) Ron Ben Yishai has made it out to Deir al Zur in eastern Syria to hunt for the site of the Israeli air strike earlier this month. The full […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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Ever since spring we’ve been hearing in the local media and elsewhere that Israeli intelligence and military officials thought the summer of 2007 would be eventful. They warned of war with Syria, or a round two with Hezbollah, or with a shodown with Hamas in Gaza. But the summer just ticked on quietly. The alarmists […]

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I wonder if the Lebanese or the Syrians for that matter know they’ve sent buddy bears to Israel, where they’re on display in Midan Safra in front of the Jerusalem municipality.

The Lebanese buddy bear

The Syrians have sent a buddy bear also.

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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 […]

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