Volume 13, Issue 64:

"The dream is not that far from action as most tend to think. All people's actions were once a dream and all peoples actions will someday be a dream."

---Theodore Herzl
Jump to: Middle East (#Middle East) Israel (#Israel) Anti-Semitism (#Anti-Semitism)
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** With the US Taking a Back Seat, Could France Play Peacemaker in the Middle East? ([link removed])
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** By Alanna Margulies / August 31st, 2020 / The Times of Israel ([link removed])
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Recently, President Emmanuel Macron has been exerting influence in a region that France has largely avoided since the 20th century: the Middle East. Over the past few months, tensions have heated up between Turkey and France, supposed NATO allies, who have supported opposite sides in the Libyan Civil War. France has backed General Haftar’s Libyan National Army in conjunction with Egypt, UAE, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan, and Turkey supports the UN-backed Government of National Accord. France and Turkey have also clashed in the Mediterranean ([link removed]) with France moving its navy in to aid Greece in a maritime dispute over potential gas and oil fields in the area.

France’s campaign for Middle East influence has not stopped at its engagements with Turkey. Following the recent tragic explosion in Beirut and subsequent political unrest and resignation of Hassan Diab’s government, President Macron was the first head of state to visit Lebanon. His visit was much more than a goodwill tour to a former colony and longtime ally. Macron spearheaded collecting aid for Lebanon, hosting a video call with regional allies, major world powers, and NGOs to urge these actors to fast track financial aid to Lebanon in response to the disaster. He has also made his hopes for the new Lebanese government known, proposing ([link removed]) a “government of technocrats” to lead Lebanon out of crisis.

Last week French forensic police touched down in Beirut to investigate the explosion ([link removed]) . And Sunday, France took the unprecedented step of resuming issuing visas to Lebanese citizens ([link removed]) , which it had stopped doing due to the coronavirus pandemic that has ravaged Lebanon. As one senior Lebanese political source told Reuters ([link removed]) , “Since he came here, Macron is acting as if he is president of Lebanon now…which is not bad because there is nobody today to play this role internally. Nobody trusts anyone.”

Read the full article here ([link removed]) .


** Upcoming Events
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Wednesday, September 9th | 12 pm EDT

Capitol Hill Webinar
The Tectonic Shifting of Forces within the Middle East: The Emergence of New Regional Partnerships and of New Regional Threats

Featuring Aykan Erdemir, Behnam Ben Taleblu, and Johnnie Moore

The new peace accord between Israel and the United Arab Emirates has brought to the forefront the flowering of some relationships that Israel and some of the Gulf nations have been nurturing under the table for years. Unfortunately, however, it has also brought out the emergence of new threats, as well as of new partnerships, particularly between Turkey and Iran.

Turkey and Iran had been the two regional powers that had been the first Muslim majority, non-Arab governments to establish relations with Israel, Ankara in 1949, and Tehran in 1950. Ironically, however, the enmity between Israel and the Sunni Muslim nations in the Gulf seems to be gradually eroding, while new threats are emerging. What are the dynamics at play as we watch old friends become adversaries, and old adversaries becoming friends? What possible role should Washington play to cement the momentum towards peace, and to push back on the reactionary forces?

Register Here ([link removed])


** Israel
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** Netanyahu: 'Many more' secret talks with Arab nations after US-brokered UAE agreement ([link removed]) - Fox News
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** First direct Israel-UAE flight lands in Abu Dhabi amid deal ([link removed]) - AP
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** Security Council adopts resolution to extend UNIFIL mandate ([link removed]) - Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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** Israeli Firefighters Arrive In California To Assist In Wildfire Battles ([link removed]) - CBS Sacramento
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** Hamas announces ceasefire understandings with Israel ([link removed]) - Jerusalem Post
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** Israel says talks underway for quick establishment of embassies with UAE ([link removed]) - The Times of Israel
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** A tectonic shift in the relations between Israel and Arab world ([link removed]) - Israel Hayom
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** Netanyahu secretly visited UAE in 2018 to kick start peace deal ([link removed]) - Y Net
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** IDF arrests armed infiltrator from Gaza, thwarting terror attack ([link removed]) - JNS
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** French Public Radio Station Ripped for ‘Fake News’ Report Claiming IDF Destroyed Palestinian COVID‐19 Treatment Facilities ([link removed]) - The Algemeiner
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** Middle East
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** At least 11, mostly non-Syrian pro-Iran fighters, killed in alleged Israeli strike in Damascus: report ([link removed]) - i24 News
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** Emirati airline Etihad Airways starts selling tickets in Israel ([link removed]) - C Tech
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** US to Lift Arms Embargo on Cyprus After 33 Years ([link removed]) - Greek Reporter
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** Saudi Arabia grants approval for UAE-Israel flights to use its airspace ([link removed]) - Reuters
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** Hezbollah is coming under increased scrutiny in wake of Beirut blast ([link removed]) - JNS
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** Troubled waters: Greek-Turkish escalations in the Mediterranean ([link removed]) - France 24
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** Macron to Hezbollah MP: Are you Lebanese? Prove it - report ([link removed]) - The Jerusalem Post
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** Macron condemns journalist for reporting Hezbollah meeting ([link removed]) - The Jerusalem Post
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** European Union sets stage for sanctions on Turkey ([link removed]) - The Hill
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** Bahrain to allow flights between Israel and UAE to cross its airspace ([link removed]) - The Jerusalem Post
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** Palestine is no longer a priority for the UAE and other Arab states ([link removed]) - MEMO
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** Lebanese MP Fouad Makhzoumi: Hizbullah Is Stronger Than The Lebanese Government; Most Officials Are Hizbullah Collaborators; They Get Power, Hizbullah Gets To Keep Its Weapons ([link removed]) - Memri
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** Iran
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** Amnesty accuses Iran of widespread torture during 2019 protests ([link removed]) - Al Jazeera
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** Treasury sanctions six companies over sales of petrochemicals from Iran ([link removed]) - The Hill
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** Lessons From Three Years in an Iranian Prison ([link removed]) - Foreign Affairs
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** Dubai's Deputy Chief Of Police Dhahi Khalfan Tamim: Iran And Turkey, Not Israel, Threaten Gulf States; Iran Must Choose Between Economic Death, Collapse Of Mullah Regime, And Peace With Israel; PA President Mahmoud Abbas Should Resign ([link removed]) - Memri TV
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** Culture Wars
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** New Sharansky Book Discloses Strains Between Netanyahu, US Jews ([link removed]) - The Algemeiner
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** Anti-Semitism
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** Wisconsin synagogue vandalized with 'Free Palestine' amid riots ([link removed]) - Israel Hayom
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** San Francisco State’s ethnicities department to host documented Palestinian terrorist ([link removed]) - JNS
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** Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat to mentor students at Harvard’s Kennedy School ([link removed]) - JNS
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Founded in 2005, The Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET) is a Washington, D.C. based think tank and policy center with an unabashedly pro-America and pro-Israel stance. EMET (which means truth in Hebrew) prides itself on challenging the falsehoods and misrepresentations that abound in U.S. Middle East policy.


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