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In this mailing:
* Con Coughlin: Lebanon Must End its Poisonous Political Relationship with Hezbollah
* Malcolm Lowe: Israel's "Settlers" Are Beneficiaries of the Israel-UAE Accord


** Lebanon Must End its Poisonous Political Relationship with Hezbollah ([link removed])
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by Con Coughlin • August 26, 2020 at 5:00 am
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* Speaking shortly after the verdict was announced, Bahaa Hariri, the eldest son of the murdered prime minister, told me that the conclusion of the trial should result in Hezbollah's complete exclusion from Lebanese politics.
* Mr Hariri's campaign for Lebanon to end the interference of Iran and Hezbollah in the country's political system will certainly be helped by the damning material that emerged from the trial about the organisation's links with Syria and Iran.
* The man convicted of Mr Hariri's murder, therefore, is no ordinary Hezbollah commander, but someone who operates at the organisation's highest levels, a fact that should help enormously in Lebanon's coming battle to rid itself of the malign influence that Hezbollah and its Iranian paymasters have exercised over the country's fortunes.

The conviction of a senior Hezbollah terrorist for assassinating Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has provided the hard-pressed Lebanese people with incontrovertible proof of the malign influence Iran exerts over their political system. Pictured: The Special Tribunal for Lebanon in session on August 18, 2020, in Leidschendam, the Netherlands, prepares to deliver its verdict on the accused assassins of Hariri. (Photo by Piroschka van de Wouw/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)

The conviction of a senior Hezbollah terrorist for assassinating Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri has provided the hard-pressed Lebanese people with incontrovertible proof of the malign influence Iran exerts over their political system.

Following an investigation that has lasted for more than a decade and cost a staggering $1 billion, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, the UN-sponsored body responsible for trying four Hezbollah suspects accused of murdering Mr Hariri in a car bomb attack in Beirut in 2005, has finally passed its judgement.

The tribunal concluded that Salim Jamil Ayyash, a 56-year-old senior commander with Hezbollah, was guilty on all counts of participating in the car bombing, in which 21 other people were killed.

There was a degree of frustration in Lebanon that the Tribunal was not able to reach guilty verdicts on the three other Hezbollah defendants who were also tried for Mr Hariri's murder.

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** Israel's "Settlers" Are Beneficiaries of the Israel-UAE Accord ([link removed])
Fortunately, they do not know it.
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by Malcolm Lowe • August 26, 2020 at 4:00 am
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* Fortunately, the settlers are behaving vociferously as if they were the biggest losers: this behavior is exactly what the UAE needs in order to sell the accord with Israel in the Arab world.
* Opposition to the settlement project comes down to two alleged reasons: first, that the project was illegal under international law; second, that it is an obstacle to peace. Now note that the agreement between Israel and the UAE has refuted the second reason. Then, finally, ask: Which of the two reasons was more important?
* The major persistent objection to the settlements is not niceties of international law but the claim that they are an obstacle to peace. Take that claim away and the settlers can look forward to a prosperous future, albeit without the fulfillment of the wilder dreams of some.

The major persistent objection to the settlements is not niceties of international law but the claim that they are an obstacle to peace. Take that claim away and the settlers can look forward to a prosperous future, albeit without the fulfillment of the wilder dreams of some. Pictured: The Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, at the edge of the Judean Desert. (Photo by Hazem Bader/AFP via Getty Images)

Widespread surprise greeted the publication of the "Joint Statement of the United States, the State of Israel, and the United Arab Emirates," announcing "the full normalization of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates."

Delegations from the two countries "will meet in the coming weeks to sign bilateral agreements regarding investment, tourism, direct flights, security, telecommunications, technology, energy, healthcare, culture, the environment, the establishment of reciprocal embassies, and other areas of mutual benefit." Israel, for its part, "will suspend declaring sovereignty over areas outlined in the President's Vision for Peace and focus its efforts now on expanding ties with other countries in the Arab and Muslim world"

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