Arabs Bomb Houthi in Yemen

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

If you think only the Saudis were acting against the Houthi in Yemen, you are wrong. Saudi Arabia has put together a group of at least 10 other Arab nations working side by side with them against them Houthi.

The Arabic press - including the Egyptian press, is reporting that all Yemeni ports are under the control of the Arab coalition.

The press also reported that Egyptian naval forces bombarded the Houthi from the sea in the area of Aden.

This combined effort against the Houthi in Yemen is a very important step towards creating a United Arab front against Islamic radicals - a group that is growing both in force and weaponry.

The idea of a United Arab force was agreed upon at two Arab League meetings. At the meetings the idea was agreed upon in principle, but the details were very sketchy. This set of naval actions moves the principle toward the practical.

The mistake, however, is to think that this force and this action will eradicate the Houthi. The plan, as it now stands, is to bring the Houthi to the table, not to wipe them out.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Cyber Hackers to Attack Israel on April 7

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

The secret cyber group Anonymous announced that they will attack Israel on April 7, 2015.

The video the group released said that they will create a "cyber Holocaust" for Israel. That they will do what they have done in the past and it will bring Israelis to their knees in revenge for all the horrific acts that Israel perpetrated against the Palestinians.

Now, why April 7?
 
It all started in 2013. April 7, 2013 was Holocaust Memorial Day. And that was the day of the first Anonymous attack on Israel.

But still, why did they choose that day? Why Holocaust Memorial Day?

Holocaust Memorial Day is a day when every person should reach deep inside and realize the depths to which humanity sank during WWII when humans created a mechanism to murder 6 million Jews.

Selecting that day as the day to strike is warped and misguided. And that is what Anonymous is – warped and misguided.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Arabs Unite Against Islamic Extremists

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:
 
The Arab League Summit wrapped up in Sharm el Sheik earlier today.

As I predicted three weeks ago, the end result of the Summit was a decision to move ahead on a mutli- nation force to confront ISIS and other Islamic extremist forces overtaking the region - like the Houthi in Yemen and extremists in Libya.

Saudi Arabia has already, successfully, put together a ten nation group that is acting against the Houthi in Yemen.

Al Sisi of Egypt concluded the Summit by saying that it is essential to unite because the threats to the region are too great for any nation to fight alone. His assumption is that it will still take several months to work out the details of sharing power.

In the past, these attempts by the Arab League to work harmoniously have failed. But today the strength of ISIS coupled with the crumbling and disintegration of Libya, Yemen, and Iraq, countries where Islamic extremists stepped in with only a few hundred fighters and took over, is reason to worry that the entire region is at risk.

The Summit viewed the entire move of the Houthi in Yemen, a move that was sponsored and supported by Iran, as an attempt to create a proxy conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

The Iranians are supporting and arming the Houthi. Saudi Arabia and her allies are confronting the Houthi.

The big question is where the United States is in all of this? The US had the intel and the background, but they made the conscious decision not to confront, not to irritate, not to bother the Iranians.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Did Israel Spy on the US??

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:
Israel is being accused of spying on the secret nuclear talks that took place between Iran and the United States.

The White House says it discovered the spying. In their eyes, they say, that act was a major breach of trust. Friends don't spy on friends and then turn the material they illicitly received over to Capitol Hill for politicians to torpedo.

The report was published on Monday in the Wall Street Journal. An official described how the Americans were convinced that spying was taking place.

The official said: "The White House discovered the operation, in fact, when U.S. intelligence agencies spying on Israel intercepted communications among Israeli officials that carried details the U.S. believed could have come only from access to the confidential talks."

Did you read that correctly? I bet you did.

There was no spying at all. Actually, the source says that the US was spying on their dear friends the
 Israelis. The United States was "intercepting communications" from Israel.
And when the US saw what the Israelis were inter alia communicating about, they concluded that the only way that the Israelis could get that material was by spying on them.

This entire episode is about embarrassing the Israelis.

Israel has denied the accusation from top to bottom. The Israeli minister of defense said that if there was a spy charge, there would have been an official complaint. That is the normal protocol. He checked and rechecked and found no complaint.

There are many ways to get information. The US gives Israel a lot of information - including information on their dealings with Iran. So do other members of the P5+1. And then there are the Iranians.

Israel has assets and spy apparatus set up in Iran.

Since the Pollard affair in the 1980s, Israel has agreed not to spy on the US and not to operate agents in the US.

Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, known for his undiplomatic and brash responses, made it very clear. He said that Israel does not spy on the US. "There are enough participants in these negotiations, including Iranians," he said. "We got our intelligence from other sources, not from the United States. The instruction has been clear for decades now: you don't spy on the United States, directly or indirectly."

It cannot get clearer than that.
Israel received the information - but not by spying on the talks between the United States and Iran.

There is, ahem, one important point that fell through the cracks in this discussion. It seems perfectly fine for the US to spy on Israel... but it is forbidden for Israel to even gain info, even from other sources, about a risk that directly touches them, their security, the future of their country.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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PA PM to Visit Gaza Tomorrow

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

We need to watch internal moves and machinations within the Arab world. We need to see how and if situations change, to know if progress is made and to understand in what directions the Arab world is moving.

When I discovered that Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah will not only visit the Gaza Strip on Wednesday but that he will also spend several days there, I was very interested in knowing the why and how of this visit.

This is the second trip of Hamdallah to Gaza.

Gaza is controlled by Hamas and there is great tension between the Palestinian Authority and Gazans.

It looks like they are now trying to mend fences. I would probably guess that the fence mending has to do with resources - especially electricity and the donor funds that are supposed to pour into Gaza.

I would also guess that in Gaza, Hamas and the PA will also be talking about Iran, about ISIS and about Israel under Bibi.

The biggest question they have, their biggest conundrum, will be how to engage with the United States and either meet or divert the expectations that the West has set for the Palestinian of Gaza and the PA.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com

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Enough Bickering from the White House

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

Enough -- I have heard enough about Bibi Netanyahu saying that he now rejects the two state solution. And enough about how the United States now needs to re-evaluate their relationship with Israel.

The statement made by the prime minister of Israel was not a rejection of the two state solution. It was simply a continuation of statements the prime minister has always been making. There does not seem to be a partner for peace on the Palestinian side of the negotiating table. And until there is a partner, there will be no peace.

Netanyahu has been saying this for three years.

The White House has now become afflicted with selective hearing. When they only hear what they want to hear, entire scenarios become skewed.

There is no convincing way to explain what is happening in the White House and its relationship with Israel. The only person who can adequately explain what is happening is the president himself.

The White House is really not very interested in what was said and why. They are only interested in exacting a penalty - a tax on Israel for not toeing the line. This behavior is called "disciplining" in Washington speak. The White house is using discipline in an effort to control Israel and rein in Netanyahu.

This is not an isolated incident. The White House will continue to discipline Israel. Get used to it.

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Obama & Bibi Sound like Teenage Boys

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

Sometimes the people involved in international relations need to rely more heavily on the tools needed to manage adolescent behavior and conflicts than one would imagine. Mediating between presidents, prime ministers and diplomats is very much like dealing with full blown adolescence.

The recent chastisement of Israel by the White House is a perfect example.

It sounded like 15 year old kids playing a game of "dare", albeit with much higher stakes. Like kids who say things they should not be saying just to get a rise out of the other side.

This was more or less the tone of the White House statement:
"We are thinking of withdrawing our cover for Israel at the UN."

Many people were livid that this sentiment, even in an unattributed statement, would be expressed.

The media grabbed it.

Republicans went berserk.

In the end, it will never happen. It is a ploy. It is all about the reaction it will illicit. It is so adolescent.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Media Tried to Defeat Bibi

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

I have been asserting that the media was biased against Netanyahu.

That the media used its power of communication to influence voters to cast their ballots not for someone, but against Bibi.

Ten days before the election, one of the leading papers in Israel ran an expose on Prime Minister Netanyahu. This newspaper and its very popular website made it very clear that they do not like the sitting prime minister.

News should be news - and it should be objective.

The expose was framed as a news item but the timing of its publication made the agenda very clear.
The story is still running on the web site. I ask you, how many stories stay up on the internet for two weeks - the internet where news changes every few seconds.

The expose was written by Nahum Barnea, an excellent commentator and analyst with extremely good contacts and reliable sources. Barnea listed all the concessions Netanyahu was prepared to make with the Palestinians. He wrote about secret negotiations that took place between Israel and the Palestinians in London.

Ultimately, according to the expose, Netanyahu was ready to give up on almost everything in order to get a deal.

This information could have killed any chance Bibi had of winning the election. Obviously, as we all now know, it did not ruin his chances. Any why not? Because the expose was deemed, by readers as well as by other media outlets, as interesting but not germane to the business at hand.

The article challenged the right wing bona fides of Netanyahu. How could he be a rightist leader if he was willing to capitulate on so much. The implication was that if you are a right winger you should not vote for Bibi and Likud --- you should instead vote for a marginal small party.

If that had happened, if that advice had been followed, Likud would not have received the votes it got or the seats it has or the royal crown worn by the winner.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Bibi Wins & Why!!

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

There are several important lessons to be learned from this Israeli election.

First has to do with polling and coverage.

A man from Mars watching the coverage leading up to the election would have been convinced that Netanyahu and his Likud party --- in fact, the entire nationalist camp would be trounced.

But that did not happen.

For three months the Israeli media painted a portrait of a Bibi Netanyahu as a loser. In the final weeks before the election, many media outlets here in the United States jumped on that bandwagon. Not only was he not ousted, he came out a winner, much as he predicted for himself three months ago when he called for new elections.

It was not really analysis, it was wishful thinking. It was a prophecy that many pundits wanted to see fulfilled.

Next was the belief that the vast majority of Israeli voters are in the center - perhaps center right, or perhaps center left, but somewhere in that wide center swatch . And the largest block of voters, it was believed, was center right.

That belief is correct. That's the way it up until this election and that is what we are seeing post this election.

We were told that Israel needs change. We were told that all Israelis want change. And yet, the only real change to emerge from this election is that the political power of extremists on the right and left was severely diminished. Other than that, little has changed

The results we have today will not be the results we have tomorrow. The final breakdown will still change. Ah! Finally, a change! But the big winners will remain the big winners. Old time Likud and the new party on the block, Kulanu, led by Moshe Kahlon, which garnered 10 or 11 seats will be the big players come coalition building time.

The fun and games of campaigning are over. Now comes the real work. Building a government, or, in this case, cobbling together a coalition that will be willing and able to govern.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Saudis Want What Iran Gets

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

Today is election day in Israel. The vote is still up in the air so I will not write about it - for now. But

I know that these election results and their aftermath will be dominating my writing for the
next few weeks.

And, as it turns out, there really are other noteworthy events taking place in the world right now.
For instance, a very senior Saudi prince announced that a deal between the West and Iran will spark a Middle East nuclear arms and technology race.

Prince Turki al-Faisal, former Saudi ambassador to DC and London as well as the former head of Saudi intelligence, said: "I've always said whatever comes out of these talks, we will want the same."
He made this statement, almost a declaration, in a BBC interview that aired on Monday.

The point al-Faisal is making is quite clear. If Iran gets any nuclear technology, Saudi Arabia will demand and quickly get it also.

The delicate balance of power will be upset if Iran gets such technology. Other Gulf States will follow Saudi Arabia's lead.

This is an important variable and it deserves serious consideration.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Israeli Elections Are Tomorrow

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

Tomorrow is election day in Israel. This election will be a real nail biter.

Israeli media analysis is hard to trust because the bias of each media outlet is so obvious. The polls are difficult to discern.

But come what may, one thing is for sure --- there will be a winner and a loser come Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

Real questions emerge: Israel went to early elections. It was Netanyahu who agreed to dissolve the government and go to those early elections. Why did he do it?

Netanyahu called for new, early, elections thinking that he was a shoe in. So what happened over the past three months to transform a sure deal into a race that is way too close to call?

Most importantly, elections make people contemplate change. Elections make people question whether their situation could be better. Whether their country has more to offer them. And that is exactly the campaign that the opposition ran on.

Do you want four more years of Bibi and for more years of this? The opposition did not even need to offer voters a real platform. That was only officially published late last week.

Ahh, the beauty of elections and the nature of the polity. Voters can and will be fickle. And that is exactly what we are seeing in this Israeli election. Stay tuned.

Micah@MicahHapern.com 

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Egypt & Saudi Arabia Conflict about the Brotherhood

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

Egypt has fired 41 judges who have been supportive of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The leadership of Egypt sees the Brotherhood as a direct threat.

The Muslim Brotherhood is the founding influence of Hamas. And since its inception, the Brotherhood has been challenging traditional Egyptian leadership -with the exception of the year that Brotherhood was in power, under Morsi.

Egyptian tension over the Muslim Brotherhood is the major bone of contention between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia does not see the Brotherhood as a major threat and certainly not at the level that Egypt sees it.

In Egypt, the Brotherhood plots and perpetrates attacks almost every day. The Brotherhood is aligning with ISIS and the result has been a slew of even more brutal murderous attacks.

Egypt understands how dangerous the Brotherhood is. But Saudi Arabia is not convinced. The new king of Saudi Arabia does not feel that he should be funding a campaign to stymie and stifle the Brotherhood.

This is but one example of serious tensions emerging in the Middle East. Tensions between the most populated Arab country - Egypt, and the richest Arab country, Saudi Arabia.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Media Bent on Bibi's Fall

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

Elections in Israel are around the corner. You can literally count the hours.

Polls are coming in and all the campaigns are in full stride as they come into the final stretch.

In the US we speak about an October surprise - some last minute out of control issue that takes place that can alter the nature of the vote. In the US it takes place somewhere in the last six weeks before ballots are cast.

In Israel the October surprise can take place the morning of the election. There are many factors that
determine how Israelis vote. Of the two biggest determining factors, one is economics, the other is security.

At this point if the economy, housing and jobs are the main issue then the Zionist Unity camp will win hands down. However, if it is a question of security then Likud has a strong chance of winning.

The newspapers seem bent on defeating Bibi.

To give an example --- In today's Yediot the image that ran with the article on the latest news polls has a picture of most of the candidates crowded together in a row. In the middle looking straight ahead, space on both sides of his picture, is the leader of the center left, Yaakov Herzog. Four people away to the right, second form the end, is Netanyahu. That position on the other side was given to Meretz leader, Zahava Galon, a party that may not even break the Knesset threshold.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Iraqi Atrocities May Lead to Loss of US Aid

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

There have been reports that the Iraqi army has perpetrated war crimes parallel to those of ISIS.

There are reports of massacres, torture, brutal beatings, public executions and decapitations. There are even reports of soldiers walking around with severed heads.

The problem that emerges from this is that these Iraqi troops were trained by the United States and they are using US weapons. US money and training cannot be used to in such ways.

ABC reported on this situation and it is now being investigated by Congress. If Congress discovers that atrocities were carried out by members of the Iraqi army that would put in question all US aid and all US assistance - not just to Iraq.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Israeli Election Roller-Coaster

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

In less than a week Israelis will run to the polls.

I use the word poll for a reason. The only poll that actually counts is the election poll itself.
Understand that and you will have an easier time riding the roller-coaster of Israeli elections.

Over the next few days elections will be in high gear. Final public polls will be published. This party will be up and that party will be down.

A very wise person once explained the entire polling system to me in a very logical and compelling way. She said "polls don't lie --- people lie."

That is so true. People tell the pollster what they believe the popular line is at that moment in an effort to be politically correct. In the privacy of the ballot booth, however, they do as their conscience dictates.

In Israel an election can be swayed by a last minute surprise issue. Is defense and Iran more important than social issues like housing?

It is if that is the tone set on election morning.

There is no way of predicting how close this election will be, no way to know which party will win, which person will lead his party to victory.

The next few days promise to be very interesting. If people claim that they can predict the results of this election, think of them not as analysts, think of them as wishful thinkers.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Arab League Against ISIS

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

The Arab League has called for a united front and an organized force to fight and eradicate ISIS and al Qaeda in Yemen.

At a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers, Secretary General Nabil el-Araby called for action against ISIS.

"What is required now and urgently is to look into creating a...multi-national force that is able to look at what unites them in terms of responsibilities in the areas of quick intervention to fight terrorism, the activities of terrorist groups, helping in peacekeeping operations and securing humanitarian operations."

This is another important step in organizing the Arab world against ISIS and al Qaeda.

The Arab League will meet again in another few weeks in Sharm el Shiek, and there, they are hoping to add some flesh to this initial bare bones idea.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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US Bombs ISIS Oil Refinery

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:
 
Thirty ISIS members were killed in a single air strike in Syria yesterday, just on the Turkish border.

The US coalition hit an ISIS oil refinery. Oil has been one of the key ways that ISIS bankrolls its operation.

Until now the US coalition has been reluctant to strike the fields or the refineries. They steered clear because the West wants to preserve the infrastructure - especially natural resources and income producing infrastructure.

The idea is to have a turnkey income and operation as soon as the good guys take over. This policy is in place so that there is no need to rebuild. Then the new, controlling, power can have immediate income.

The situation with ISIS is getting ridiculous.

ISIS keeps making money. There is no timeline for a reduction of their power and control of the oil fields or of oil refinement and production. ISIS just keeps going on and on.

Even the loss of thirty fighters does not set them back at all.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Boko Haram & ISIS

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:
Yes, Boko Haram pledged loyalty to ISIS.

This should come as no surprise.

The broadcast came in Arabic announcing that the Nigerian group is now fighting together with ISIS and supports Baghdadi as the Caliph, or general leader, over all of Islam.

"We announce our allegiance to the Caliph ... and will hear and obey in times of difficulty and prosperity." The pledge of allegiance was attributed to Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau.

Boko Haram is a Nigerian based terror group that has been terrorizing and fighting in Nigeria for several years. Their name says everything. Boku means book in their Nigerian dialect and Haram means forbidden.

Boku Haram means "Books are Forbidden." It is a major attack against women's learning. The entire purpose and name of the groups is to stop the education of women.

In the year 2015 - WOW!

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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ISIS Destroys Archeological Cities

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

The Iraqi ministry of tourism and antiquities announced on their facebook page that ISIS was destroying archeological sites.

ISIS destroyed the ancient archaeological site Nimrud also known as the biblical city of Nimrod named after the character from Genesis 10.

Nimrud was one of the capitals of the Assyrian Empire. It was there that Sannacherib built his palace. In the ancient world there was always movement from Nimrud to Nineveh which is less than miles away. They were like sister cities.

Nineveh is the famous biblical city found in the book of Jonah.

ISIS destroyed Nineveh just last year and now they have destroyed Nimrud. According to the Iraqi government ISIS bulldozed the site.

This is such an amazing site that major sections of the site were moved to London to be housed in the British Museum where they have been since the 1840's.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Kerry in Saudi Arabia

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:
US Secretary of State John Kerry, is in Saudi Arabia to discuss Iran and ISIS.

Kerry arrived in Saudi Arabia after three days of nuclear talks or, to put it more accurately, three days of negotiations with Iran.

Kerry said that there are still very large gaps between the parties.

Over and over again we see that Iran really understands the United States.
The Iranians know that the Obama administration really wants a deal. They want something on paper.

It does not matter much if it is a good deal or a bad deal.
The Israelis, however, are saying that a bad deal means that they will be destroyed.

The United States does not feel the same way, the administration is not moved by that statement.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Why Critique the Bibi Speech

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

I am shocked by responses to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech.

So much so that I am, jokingly, wondering if I missed the parts of the speech that everyone is critiquing. And to know me is to know that I missed nothing. I am not just talking about Pelosi saying she was insulted or Obama saying there was nothing new. That I expected.

The purpose of the speech Netanyahu gave was not to divulge new material - actually that is why he said you could Google all the info anyway. The Israeli prime minister has often been criticized for leaking details so he was deliberately not going to do that again, before the entire world and announce state secrets. Doing that is illegal both under Israeli and United States law.

Interestingly, Al Arabiyah had a very positive column saying how on target Netanyahu was. Their report was that the prime minister of Israel described the Iranian threat perfectly. And Palestinian President Abbas said that Bibi accurately described the explosive nature of the Middle East.

His message has not changed in over a decade. It is the same threat - it is just becoming more threatening.

The speech was not supposed to change people's minds. The purpose of the Netanyahu speech before Congress was to remind people of the danger, the very grave danger, posed by Iran and to explain why there is a difference between the US point of view and the Israeli point of view.

And in that, Netanyahu succeeded.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Obama vs Bibi

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

President Obama has responded to Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech to AIPAC in anticipation of his speech to Congress.

Obama described the difference between the two sides.

Obama is telling us that Bibi is exaggerating, that he is painting an unrealistic portrait of the situation. Obama said that sanctions have not worked.

His new plan is, in Obama's eyes, the only hope for stopping Iran.

He also says that the entire episode, the brouhaha over Netanyahu's coming to address Congress, is simply a distraction and not permanently destructive.

Obama says: "why not wait if there is a going to be a deal" and see whether or not Iran will actually accept a deal. "Why will we not take a deal?" "There is no good reason not to let the negotiations play themselves out."

The space that separates the Prime Minister and the President is enormous.
The difference comes down to this: do we trust the Iranians or do we not trust the Iranians.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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Sisi Visits Saudi Arabia

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:
With all eyes on Bibi Netanyahu and his trip to Washington DC, other important stories from the Middle East are going almost unnoticed.

Yesterday President al Sisi of Egypt visited Salman, the new king of Saudi Arabia. This visit follows only days after the King of Jordan made the same trip to Saudi Arabia.

The Egyptian / Saudi conversation was very straight forward. These two heads of state see things eye to eye. Egypt wanted to make certain that the new king continues to support him politically and monetarily. And both countries needed to make certain that they share info and intel on terror and Islamic extremists.

I think that they probably decided to create a joint force between their two countries to confront the new challenge from ISIS in Iraq Syria and to control the new tensions emerging from Libya and Yemen.

Salman and al SIsi need to work well together. What they do and say will have tremendous impact on the rest of the Arab world. They can convey a sense of stability - or not.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia are the two most powerful of all Arab countries. Saudi Arabia is the richest, Egypt is the most populous. They have clout.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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White House Will Exact Revenge on Israel

By Micah Halpern

I've Been Thinking:

The White House can be very vindictive. They do not take kindly to being publicly humiliated or chastised.

The Administration responds according to its own timetable and in their own way.

So YES, expect that Israel will have an expensive price to pay because Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will be speaking before a joint session of Congress.

There are several tools the White House has immediately at their fingertips.

They can simply drag their feet on requests from Israel - requests for aid, for intel for experts or advice.

They can cut the requests out and trim aid packages.

They can close doors that had been open and not provide info and intelligence about terror threats and movements as well as about Iran.

They can give a cold shoulder to Israeli politicians and diplomats who need to confer with their US counterparts.

When the White House wants to teach Israel a lesson, there are many ways to do it. And right now, the White House wants Israel to know that antics like this one cannot go on without a serious response.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

Read my latest book THUGS. It's easy. Just click. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah
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