January 19

The badly kept secret of Israel's trade throughout the Muslim world

Sanctions threatened by Israel and the United States are also intended to deter companies from considering ties, even indirectly, with Iran. But in today's reality, with crisis weighing on western markets, there are companies ogling the third world - with some finding markets in countries hostile to Israel. These countries also have many adoring fans of Israel's technology and products but, because of political sensitivities, everything must be done on the QT. Stickers and packaging saying "Made in Israel" must be removed and a bill of lading must be produced from an intermediary country - Turkey or somewhere in Europe.

Barry Rubin: Who’s winning in the Middle East? Everyone outside the West knows it’s the Islamists

In contrast, the real Middle East isn't full of revolutionary Islamists who only want an American apology or a boost into power in order to be friends of the United States. It is full of a lot of people, maybe a majority in a number of countries, that would like not to live under radical and repressive dictatorships. It also has a number of governments that want Western help against what they see as their real enemies--Iran and revolutionary Islamists.

'Muslim Brotherhood site rife with anti-Semitism'

The report found that the Islamist group’s website, Ikhwanonline.com, regularly features articles denying the Holocaust and warning Muslims against the covetous and exploitative nature of the “Jewish character.” Other articles extol jihad and martyrdom, condemn Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel and denounce negotiations as means for regaining lands lost by Islam.

Iran warns neighbors: Don't drag US into region

Iran's foreign minister warned Arab neighbors on Thursday not to put themselves in a "dangerous position" by aligning themselves too closely with the United States in the escalating dispute over Tehran's nuclear activity.

Lee Smith: Rationale

Rational, of course, is not the same thing as reasonable. A regime that shoots its own people in the streets, as the Iranian government did in June 2009, is not reasonable. In the policy debate, rationality refers to a regime’s interest in preserving itself. A regime is rational, therefore, if it understands that using a nuclear weapon would elicit a response that might spell its doom. An irrational regime is one that can’t be deterred because it may use a nuclear weapon regardless of the consequences.

New bid to stifle Iran aid to Syria

American officials investigating the Iranian operation said it is designed to quietly ship Syrian crude oil to Iran, where it can be sold on the international market, with revenue going back to Damascus.

Worries grow over Syria chemical weapons arsenal

No one knows the size and quality of the arsenal of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) that the Assad regime has accumulated over the years. Its nuclear aspirations probably ended with a mysterious 2007 attack on a suspected nuclear facility, and experts are divided on whether Syria has biological weapons.

Syrian Muslim Brotherhood leader: Isolate Assad

The leader of Syria's Muslim Brotherhood said world powers should pile diplomatic pressure on President Bashar Assad and he called for a no-fly zone and "safe zones" to be set up to help the Syrian leader's opponents.

Syria's Brotherhood rejected Iran-mediated deal

"We refuse to either go there or receive them until they clearly stop their support of the regime and take a neutral position between the Syrian people and Bashar Assad. As long as they remain a party in this struggle, we will refuse to meet them."

Jumblatt slams Assad, declaring he ‘listens to nobody’

Syria risks plunging deeper into violence and even civil war because President Bashar Assad “listens to nobody” inside or outside the country calling for change, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said. A veteran politician whose ties with Damascus have ebbed and flowed over decades of shifting alliances, Jumblatt said he had no contact with the Syrian leader since meeting him in Damascus seven months ago in the early weeks of Syria’s uprising.

Tony: A thorn in the lion’s paw

The politics of the Druze in the Syrian revolution have witnessed serious developments over the last couple of months, as evidenced by the escalation in the rhetoric of Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt. Jumblatt made headlines two weeks ago when he called for a “radical change of regime” in Syria, and then again last week when he apologized for the delay in “joining the convoy of change.” This decisive stance on the side of the uprising carries important implications for the positioning of Syria’s Druze in the struggle against the Assad regime.

'Hezbollah has long-range surface-to-air missiles'

According to Western intelligence assessments, Hezbollah is believed to have taken advantage of the ongoing upheaval in Syria to obtain advanced weapons systems, such as additional long-range rockets as well as Russian-made air-defense systems.

Stratfor: A Hezbollah threat in Thailand?

On Jan. 12, Thai authorities arrested a man they say was a member of the Lebanon-based Shiite militant group Hezbollah who was plotting an attack in Bangkok. In uncovering the plot, Thai police cite cooperation with the United States and Israel going back to December 2011. Bangkok is indeed a target-rich environment with a history of terrorist attacks, but today Hezbollah and other militant and criminal groups rely on the city as more of a business hub than anything else. If Hezbollah or some other transnational militant group were to carry out an attack in the city, it would have to be for a compelling reason that outweighed the costs.

Bill Gertz: Saudi nuclear watch

U.S. intelligence agencies are closely watching Saudi Arabia for signs that the oil-rich kingdom will seek to develop nuclear weapons, amid tensions in the region centered on Iran’s nuclear program.

Radioactive material stolen from Egyptian nuclear power station

A safe containing radioactive material at the Dabaa nuclear power plant was seized while another safe containing radioactive material was broken open and part of its contents taken, the newspaper said.

Shin Bet arrests Islamic Jihad cell planning abductions

The Shin Bet, which released details of the investigation on Thursday, said that the Jenin-based cell was in direct contact with Islamic Jihad headquarters in Damascus, from which it received large sums of money to fund terrorist activity, as well as instruction regarding the type of attacks it should plan and perpetrate.

IDF exposes Syria-funded Islamic Jihad terror cell in West Bank

In a joint operation between the IDF and the Shin Bet, 10 Islamic Jihad militants were arrested near Jenin in recent months. According to the investigation, the military headquarters of the cell was communicating with the Islamic Jihad in Syria, who transferred the cell large sums of money to purchase weapons and to fund other operations.

Israeli hackers down Gaza, UAE bank websites

Israeli hackers operating under the name of 'IDF Team' brought down the website of the Arab Bank of Palestine on Thursday morning in retaliation for a web attack on Israel's Anti-Drug Authority website.