Orit ben Tzvi, Author at Israel Rising

July 31, 2016July 31, 2016

The Great Game: Turkey-Israel Detente, Russian-Iranian Cooperation, and the Kurdish Question

The old adage “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” has been an increasingly confirmative rule in middle eastern governing circles. With the collapse of American hegemony in the region that has caused a resurgent Russia and Iran to take charge of areas that stretch from Iraq to Levant, countries normally at odds with one another have found the strange inclination to actually form alliances to offset the bear and the ayatollahs.

The Turkish-Israeli rapprochement took many people by surprise, but in the current geopolitical realities, the détente makes perfect sense. Keep in mind Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt all have the same enemy in Iran and fellow Shiite travellers. Throw Putin’s Russia into the mix and the Sunni states were very quick to find the only other middle eastern nation they could bring in. The danger of Iran and Russia is so great for these forces, Palestinian issue, which has long been used as a foil to placate the Arab street has been move to the back of the Sunni’s list of priorities.

Israel as the Anchor

Israel is actively seeking a cornerstone role in the wide-ranging alliance forming in the western part of the middle east. One can already see this in the gas deals being built between Egypt, Greece, Cyprus, and Israel. With Turkey being brought on board, Israel’s role in bringing old foes to the same table is not being missed, especially by Russia, who thought it had Erdogan cornered.

Israel’s game is to offset Russia’s power play to its north by giving a lifeline to Turkey, Russia’s age-old adversary. For now it seems to be working, although it is clear Russia is remains unnerved by the “Great Game” and is willing to pressure Israel by backing up Iranian, Syrian, and Hezbollah forces on the Golan border.

What About the Kurds?

Kurdistan as it is known by all Kurdish people across the middle east is spread across northern Syria, Iraq, southern Turkey, and western Iran. Turkey’s main challenge is to dissuade the Kurds from working directly with Russia. If they are not able to, then Russia will have a fifth column of 10 million strong disenfranchised Kurds inside Turkey to use as leverage if needed.

Right now, barring a severe flare up in Israel’s northern border the “Great Game” of the middle east is in its early phases. Geo-political maneuvering is still fresh and fluid. Russia may opt to play neutral in the burgeoning alliance system and let Iran and Syria go it alone. Russia may also be able to convince Israel to remain neutral as well in exchange for security promises. No matter the outcome, this “Great Game” will not take 100 years like the last one as America’s pull back has shuffled the deck and wrought chaos on what was already considered a chaotic region.

July 29, 2016

EU Envoy Lars Faaborg-Andersen: Israel is in Breach of International Law

“In the first 6 months of 2016 alone 91 EU structures in Area C have been demolished. This is more than all of 2015. Since 2009, approximately 170 EU humanitarian structures have been demolished.” -EU Envoy to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen

As the West suffers from a relentless terror campaign, they have decided to band together and focus on the one country that has stood up to the forces of radical Islam. The UN decided to criticise Israel’s housing demolitions focused on destroying the incessant illegal building in the Arab Palestinian sector rampant even in Area C.

The UN and the USA often times ridicules Israeli communities built over the green line as being illegal in international law, but in reality it is the USA, UN, and EU that continuously flaunts internationally agreed upon accords by building withou permit in Area C. These buildings are built with the express purpose to help redefine Area C in favor of the Arab Palestinians.

So with tremendous hipocracy the EU’s Envoy to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen stated: “Some 70% of Area C has been taken for exclusive Israeli use. Near all of the remain 30% is private Palestinian property, but is effectively off limits for Palestinian development.” Lars Faaborg-Andersen, “In the first 6 months of 2016 alone 91 EU structures in Area C have been demolished. This is more than all of 2015. Since 2009, approximately 170 EU humanitarian structures have been demolished.”

So the EU builds illegal buildings in Area C, which is under Israeli control as declared in the Oslo Accords that the EU in fact signed onto and then complains that Israel is breaking international law by destroying the very buildings the EU built illegally. With logic like that we now know why Europe can’t seem to find a solution to the increasing amount of terror attacks, migrants, and systemic economic stagnation throughout a good part of the Euro Zone.

July 26, 2016July 26, 2016

Erdogan Holds Europe Hostage as he Accuses the EU of Not Honoring Refugee Deal

As was reported previously, the real fun is about to begin for Europe. As the refugee crisis continues to turn worse in Western Europe, Erdogan has begun to use it to extract more and more money from European coffers. If the EU does not do what Erdogan says, he will unleash the hordes of Syrian refugees and migrants looking for a way into Europe that are now in Turkey.

“Ask them [the EU]. Did you pay? But Turkey still hosts 3 million people. What would Europe do if we let these people go to Europe?” Erdogan asked, according to EU Observer.

Essentially, Erdogan is confirming, that unless the EU pays 3 billion Euros that was promised in the deal, he will allow these Syrian refugees to overrun Europe.

The EU agreement with Turkey was meant to hault refugees from reaching Turkey’s neighbor Greece thus entering the EU’s Schengen zone. The Schengen zone is where free cross-border travel is permitted. Part of the agreement was the EU’s agreement to accelerate Turkey’s EU accession process.

The amount given so far to Turkey is one percent of the total that the EU pledged to give to Turkey in exchange for greater help in blocking the westward flow of refugees, mostly Syrians, from entering the heart of Europe.

Essentially Erdogan’s whole goal is to extract from Europe more and more money, by holding the catastrophic threat of millions of refugees inside Europe over their heads. With the recent attacks in Germany and France, most EU members will opt to cave. If they do, don’t expect Erdogan to kep quiet for long. Afterall, the goal is to create the same sort of chaos in Europe as Erdogan and Turkey has in Syria and Iraq. Their assumption is that they not only will be able to take advantage of it, but control the chaos. The problem is they believed the same thing in supporting ISIS, but now their creation has grown a mind of its own.

July 25, 2016January 30, 2017

Who is Anwar Eshki and Why is he Leading a Saudi Delegation to Israel?

Dore Gold, the Foreign Ministry Director General met with a Saudi delegation headed by ex-general Anwar Eshki. Never mind the fact that Saudis were so openly visiting with Israelis in Israel, the fact that such a high-profile and high ranking Saudi was heading the delegation has given buzz to a variety of internet rumors.

Both the Saudis and Israel have not tried to hide their once covert operation against Iran. What has confused observers is the extent of the cooperation. The Saudis and other Gulf States know that Israel will never be a danger to their regimes. Up until now Israel had been an interesting foil for the autocratic leaders throughout the Sunni world, but now that Iran, emboldened by Russia, China, and the Obama administration looms like a menace over the Arabian peninsula, Israel is far more helpful against their mutual threat.

Besides the nuclear threat, Iranian subterfuge and active support for Shiite separatist movements and uprising in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states have unnerved Riyadh and its allies. All of this is backdrop on Anwar Eshki’s visit to Jerusalem and burgeoning alliance between Israel and the Sunni states.

As of last year Eshki and Gold spoke together at a CFR sponsored event. Both outlined why it is ultimately necessary to work together against Iranian expansionism. There were obvious differences, but the two painted a picture of tremendous mutual cooperation.

Anwar Eshki has been the main proponent of reaching out to Israel and seeking their cooperation against the Iranian regime.

“The main project between me and Dore Gold is to bring peace between Arab countries and Israel,” Anwar Eshki said in Wall Street Journal interview published last August. “This is personal, but my government knows about the project. My government isn’t against it, because we need peace. For that reason, I found Dore Gold. He likes his country. I like my country. We need to profit from each other.”

“We didn’t talk much about Iran at first,” he continued, “but I found that our idea and their idea was close together against Iran. We don’t like Iran to destabilize the area. We don’t like for Iran to attack Israel and destroy Israel. And we also don’t like for Israel to attack Iran and destroy Iran. This is my idea. He has another idea. But we are together.”

The meeting between Gold and Eshki come at a time of increasing chaos in the region. Many observers believe that the Arab world has moved beyond the Palestinian issue as is evidenced in cooperation between Israel and Abu Dubai, Oman, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia on issues beyond security. The Gulf States have realized that they need to learn how Israel has built an innovation power house in order to diversify their economies.

Israel and Arab Peace A Long Way Off, but Progress is at Hand

The Arab Initiative as a peace plan still exists. It is floated every once in a while, but it is clear both sides have decided to let their differing contours for peace remain on the sidelines and instead focus on solutions and progress in the security and development spheres.

General Anwar Eshki’s visit is visible proof that peace is not necessary for cooperation, especially when the enemy is at your collective doors.

July 25, 2016

Can Israel Broker a Peace Deal Between Cyprus and Turkey?

Prime Minister Netanyahu met with Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades on Sunday and discussed cooperation on terrorism and energy exploration. The two countries have always been on good terms, but have grown closer in recent years over joint gas exploration.

It was reported earlier in the year that a consortium was formed between Greece, Cyprus, and Israel to create an East Mediterranean alliance. One of the theories behind the rapprochement between Israel and Turkey was Israel’s desire for Turkey to join up, at least as far as energy goes.

“In the context of the exploration and development of energy resource in the eastern Mediterranean, both leaders concluded that there is no question that resolving the outstanding issues between Cyprus and Turkey would greatly facilitate the pace of the development of future projects, which will proceed according to international law, as well as greatly enhance stability in the region. Therefore, Israel has a strong interest in the resolution of this issue,” said a statement from the meeting.

Given Erdogan’s consolidation of power and movement towards an Islamic Fascist Sultanate, it would seem improbable that peace between Cyprus and Turkey is around the corner. Yet, in a sea of chaos that the world is increasingly moving towards, anything is possible, especially when energy is involved.