Netanyahu's Re-Election Chances Will Determine Whether He Starts War With Syria

Syria and its allies are preparing their missiles for a forthcoming battle with Israel if Tel Aviv decides to open fire against significant military positions under the control of the Syrian army.

Well informed sources say that “it all depends on the direction the Israeli elections will take. If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu estimates his chances are high enough to win a second term, then he will not venture any time soon into a new confrontation with Syria and its allies. The date of the next battle will be postponed.” The sources further told me, “But, if he believes he will lose the election, then the possibility of his initiating a battle becomes very high."

The sources explained: “A serious battle between Israel on one hand and Syria and Iran on the other would be sufficient enough to postpone the elections. Netanyahu doesn’t have many choices: either he wins the election and postpones the corruption court case against him, or he goes to jail”.

US European Command (EUCOM) recently send military airplanes, along with 200 US servicemen carrying THAAD anti-ballistic missile defense systems to be deployed in southern Israel. The official reason for deployment of this very modern and sophisticated system is said to be preparation for a joint drill between Israel and the US.

THAAD will enhance the already existing Israeli anti-missile interception defense systems. These are “Iron Dome” for short-range, “David Sling” for tactical missiles and “The Arrow” for intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The sources said: “The US doesn’t trust the Israeli system, and thus the THAAD system was deployed to hunt down any missiles launched by the Syrian or Iranian forces deployed in Syria as these promised in case of a battle triggered and provoked by Netanyahu. Both Syria and Iran promised immediate retaliation if Israel bombs any significant military positions in those countries. This is why the US has decided to take part in this confrontation, convinced that any future battle will be devastating for all parties”.

A brief explainer of the multiple corruption charges Netanyahu is facing can be found below:

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-03-09/netanyahus-re-election-chances-will-determine-whether-he-starts-war-syria

CULTURE OF CORRUPTION: Clinton Foundation Connected AGT Forwarded Top Secret US Intel to RUSSIA – FBI/DOJ Covered It Up – Part VIII

A 2016 DOJ criminal investigation was suppressed and buried by the DOJ/FBI that involved a major NY Democratic power broker and the Clintons and the Clinton Foundation.

The investigation revolved around the illegal sale of controlled US Homeland Security technology to Russia and China in the years before the 2016 election by a company named AGT.

The DOJ terminated its internal investigation in 2016 despite clear and irrefutable evidence of criminal activity and hid it from the public!

In Part I of our series we discussed the Clinton Foundation and the donations to the Foundation from the COB (Martin L. Edelman) and CEO (Mati Kochavi) of AGT International as well as from Sheikhs in the UAE. These donations in the millions of dollars were for favors from the Clintons, in return the Clintons helped promote AGT.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/03/culture-of-corruption-clinton-foundation-connected-agt-forwarded-top-secret-us-intel-to-russia-fbi-doj-covered-it-up-part-viii/

Back to square one? Washington now says ‘no timeline’ for regime change in Venezuela

After weeks of insinuating that Nicolas Maduro’s ouster was imminent, Washington now insists that there’s “no timeline” for regime change in Venezuela. RT looks at how the US’ best laid plans haven’t panned out.

When Vice President Mike Pence released a video statement in January pledging full US support for Juan Guaido’s claim to the Venezuelan presidency, many assumed that an operation to install the opposition leader in Caracas was just around the corner. But more than a month later, and with Maduro still firmly in power, Washington seems to be out of ideas: Not only has the US failed to deliver its “humanitarian aid” to Venezuela, but Washington’s allies have unanimously ruled out military action.

The Trump administration now asserts that there’s “no timeline” for regime change in Venezuela – what RT’s Igor Zhdanov described as a “thinly veiled admission of failure.” Washington still contends that “all options are on the table” – but how many options are left?

Watch the full report below.

https://www.rt.com/news/453398-guaido-maduro-us-no-timetable/

US embassy staff member attempts to bring bomb with fuse to Moscow airport - Ministry

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, "the airport police immediately informed the US embassy about the incident"

MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/. A US embassy staff member attempted to enter Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport on Saturday morning carrying a bomb with a fuse but with no explosives in his luggage, a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry told TASS.

"On the morning of March 9, personnel scanning the luggage of a US embassy staff member detected an item that looked like a mortar bomb," the source said. "They called bomb technicians who confirmed it was indeed a bomb with a fuse but without explosives, though there were traces of explosives inside the bomb’s body," he added.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, "the airport police immediately informed the US embassy about the incident." "We expect the embassy to explain the staff member’s behavior," the ministry source noted.

At the same time, he said that the ministry considered the incident to be a deliberate provocation.

"Since the 2001 terrorist attacks, the United States has been paying the closest attention to aviation security so he could not but understand that a bomb in his luggage was serious. It means he did it consciously," the source said.

The US staff member said he was leaving Russia as his assignment at the US embassy was over and claimed to have bought the bomb for his personal collection. The bomb was seized from the man who then took a flight to New York.

http://tass.com/emergencies/104800

Act 17: Police soak Yellow Vest demonstrators with water cannon, fire teargas

Police in Paris have deployed water cannon and tear gas against anti-government ‘Yellow Vests’ demonstrators. As the protests enter their 17th straight week, the government has been accused of using excessive force.

Although turnout has decreased since the Yellow Vests movement began in November, thousands of protesters took to the streets of Paris and other cities throughout the country again on Saturday, voicing their opposition to the economic policies of President Emmanuel Macron that they say benefit the rich but not the majority.

On the Champs-Elysées, riot police hosed down the demonstrators with jets of water and deployed tear gas.

The fresh round of protests comes days after UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet called for a full investigation into reports of excessive use of force by the French police, which left over 2,000 injured and dozens maimed.

Violent clashes between demonstrators and armored riot cops were filmed again on Saturday.

The movement’s organizers have planned a massive demonstration for next Saturday, timed to coincide with the end of President Macron’s three-month ‘Great National Debate,’ a public forum aimed at quelling the tide of dissent in France and forging “a new contract with the nation.”

https://www.rt.com/news/453429-yellow-vests-water-cannon/

State Lawmakers Propose Legislation to ‘Repeal’ the Second Amendment

his is not the first time Democratic senators in Hawaii have called for congressional action on guns and gun violence.

Legislators in Hawaii, which has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the United States, moved this week to bring their concerns about the Second Amendment to the national level.

In Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) No. 42, introduced Tuesday, Democratic lawmakers assert that

in light of the numerous tragic mass shootings at schools, work places, and public events, this body believes that it is necessary to repeal or amend the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution.

In the resolution, lawmakers urge Congress to

adopt a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution pursuant to article V of the United States Constitution to clarify the constitutional right to bear arms.

The sponsors of the resolution suggest the Framers’ use of the term “well-regulated militia” was “intended only to restrict the United States Congress from legislating away a state’s right to self-defense.”

Hawaii has a history of enacting gun control. In 2016, Hawaii became the first state in the country to add gun owners in the state to the FBI’s centralized database (known as “Rap Back”), which allows federal authorities to notify local law enforcement when a gun owner is arrested. That bill, SB 2954, was co-sponsored by Sen. Roz Baker, who also introduced this week’s resolution.

Resolution co-sponsor Stanley Chang has a similar history of advocatinggun control measures, while other legislators who introduced SCR No.42, like Sen. Laura Thielsen and Sen. Karl Rhoads, have likewise supportedother anti-Second Amendment policies.

https://thefreethoughtproject.com/state-proposes-legislation-eliminate-2nd-amendment/

Dem Rep. Kim: ‘Dark Money and Special Interests’ Have ‘Eroded’ Pillars of Democracy

During Friday’s Democratic Weekly Address, Representative Andy Kim (D-NJ) called on the Senate to take up H.R. 1 and argued that “dark money and special interests eroded our pillars and caused many…to feel that our government is no longer focused on serving the people.”

Transcript as Follows:

“My name is Andy Kim, and I represent New Jersey’s 3rd District.

I have dedicated my life to serving this nation, as a national security adviser in Afghanistan to the White House working under both Republicans and Democrats.

As a son of immigrants who never worked in partisan politics before, I never would I have imagined that I would serve in Congress.

I was chosen by my neighbors in New Jersey to serve them. They asked me to restore a sense of civility and public service back into our government. To recraft a government that will work for the people with substance and integrity.

It is for these reasons that I co-sponsored and voted for H.R. 1 – the For the People Act that seeks to heal our democracy.

We see with our own eyes the challenges before us. The problems we face as a nation are great. The solutions we seek are complicated.

In my time here in Congress so far, I certainly see that the divisions here are real and run deep to the bone, but I have also seen the genuine passion that so many people on both sides of the aisle have for service.

To me, that is what the For the People Act is about – and that is why I voted for it.

Our nation needs a government of service.

It was this sense of service that founded our nation and built the extraordinary institutions of democracy that we have been entrusted to protect. That is the oath that we swore.

But as we look at the stagnation and gridlock, we must be honest with ourselves that these institutions have been weakened. That we do not have the quality of public service that the American people deserve.

The tide of dark money and special interests eroded our pillars and caused many in this country, my neighbors included, to feel that our government is no longer focused on serving the people.

I felt that too. As a father to two baby boys I worry about what kind of world they will inherit, and I want to do everything humanly possible to give them one worthy of their joy and love.

We cannot deliver for our children if we don’t heal the problems we face and create a government that can deliver what the people need.

A government for the people requires a government of the people.

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2019/03/09/dem-rep-kim-dark-money-and-special-interests-have-eroded-pillars-of-democracy/

Iran Urges Pakistan to Crush Terrorists ‘Whose Source of Financing & Arms Known’

Tensions between Iran and Pakistan escalated last month after a deadly car bombing attack on a bus carrying Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps servicemen killed at least 27 and left 13 others wounded, with two Pakistani nationals suspected of involvement in the crime.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has urged Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to take "decisive" action against the al-Qaeda* linked Jaish ul-Adl terrorist group which claimed responsibility for the deadly February 13 terror attack against IRGC forces on a highway in eastern Iran near the Pakistani border.

'We are awaiting your decisive action against these terrorists," Rouhani told Khan in a phone call on Saturday, as quoted by Press TV.

The Iranian leader added that Iran was "fully ready to cooperate with the Pakistani Army and government to eradicate these terrorists, whose presence is not in favour of us, you or the region."

"We should not allow decades of friendship and fraternity between the two countries to be affected by the actions of small terrorist groups, the source of whose financing and arms is known to us both," Rouhani stressed.

Tehran had earlier accused Saudi Arabia, Israel and the United States of facilitating the terrorist violence against Iran.

Khan reportedly responded that Pakistani forces had closed in on the terrorists' hideout, and that there would soon be "good news" for Iran.

"It is in Pakistan's own interest not to allow our territory to be used by terrorist groups, and the Pakistani army is prepared to confront the terrorists more decisively with the information provided by Iran," the Pakistani prime minister said, according to Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency.

Iran has repeatedly called on Pakistan to tighten its policy against sheltering al-Qaeda-linked terrorists operating on its territory. Last month, IRGC Commander in Chief Ali Jafari urged Pakistan to "punish" the militants responsible for the February 13 attack in a timely fashion, warning that if Islamabad failed to do so Iran would "retaliate against the terrorists" in full accordance with international law.

The calls echoed demands by Indian officials asking Pakistani authorities to crack down on terrorism in the Pakistani-controlled portion of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. Tensions between the nuclear-armed nations skyrocketed last month after Indian Air Force jets violated Pakistani airspace to strike a training camp belonging to an al-Qaeda-linked group which claimed responsibility for a terror attack which killed over 40 Indian military personnel in Kashmir on February 14.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201903091073091076-rouhani-asks-pakistan-to-deal-with-terrorists/

Russian Warplanes Strike Militant Positions In Western Idlib (Videos)

Warplanes of the Russian Aerospace Forces carried out a series of airstrikes on militant positons in the villages of Mintar, Frikeh and Tell Khatab in the western Idlib countryside in the afternoon of March 9.

Prior to the airstrikes, the local Step News Agency released a video showing an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) conducting a reconnaissance sortie over southern and western parts of Idlib.

The Russian aerial operation came a few hours after a surprise attack on a position of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in northern Hama. Pro-government activists acknowledged that four soldiers and an officer were killed in the attack, that was carried out by Turkish-backed Jaysh al-Ahrar.

A day earlier, the Turkish military began patrolling the demilitarized zone around Idlib in order to reinforce the Turkish-Russian demilitarized zone agreement and stabilize the situation. However, \militants were apparently encouraged by this step, as they have increased their attacks since then.

Turkey’s failure to reinforce the agreement could force the SAA and its allies to launch a military operation around Idlib. Pro-government sources said earlier this month that this option is being considered.

https://southfront.org/russian-warplanes-strike-militant-positions-in-western-idlib-videos/

‘I Feel the Embyronic Kicking of Feminism’ – Meghan Wants Feminist Royal Baby

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, née Meghan Markle, used an International Women’s Day event that she and husband Harry, Duke of Sussex, hope their baby will be a feminist.

“I’d seen this documentary on Netflix on feminism and one of the things they said during pregnancy was, ‘I feel the embryonic kicking of feminism’,” the American divorcee, 37, told her audience at the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust event, hosted by King’s College London.

“I loved that — boy or girl, whatever it is, we hope that’s the case, our little bump,” added the former Suits actress.

The Duchess — also known as the Countess of Dunbarton in Scotland, and Baroness Carrickfergus in Northern Ireland — was enthusiastically embraced by the left-liberal commentariat, many of whom regarded the entry of a mixed race woman to the Royal Family as a totemic symbol of social progress.

However, her past political activism against, for example, U.S. President Donald Trump, and her continued interventions on hot topics such as feminism, have raised eyebrows among critics who regard them as incompatible with her official role.

Britain’s royals have traditionally kept their political and ideological views to themselves, partly to help them serve their customary role as representatives for the whole nation; partly because there is a constitutional expectation — arguably an obligation — that they remain neutral and above the fray of day-to-day politics and political debate.

Husband Harry, younger son of heir to the throne Charles, Prince of Wales, was once considered something of a black sheep himself, and like the Queen’s husband Prince Philip — his grandfather — prone to the occasional politically incorrect gaffe.

He ultimately won the public’s respect for his frontline service in Afghanistan, however, earning plaudits from an American officer who described him as “in the thick of the fighting… the real deal,” and subsequent work with the wounded veterans with the Invictus Games.

Since his courtship with his left-liberal wife began, however, things have changed, with his relationship with older brother Willian and sister-in-law Kate allegedly becoming strained, with one correspondent warning the prince should be careful not to “turn himself into some celebrity” who people will “tire of”.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/03/09/embyronic-kicking-feminism-marks-wants-feminist-royal-baby/

CF donor and former Aus PM Gillard, notorious Emily's list cabalist

Lawsuit Warns $234 Billion In Aid To Israel Violates US Law Against Supporting Secret Nuclear States

First published in August 2016

A lawsuit warns that U.S. aid to Israel violates a law meant to prevent nuclear weapons proliferation, even as the United States prepares to increase the already massive Israeli aid program.

Filed Aug. 8 by Grant Smith, director of the Institute for Research: Middle East Policy, or IRMEP, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the suit alleges that U.S. aid to Israel violates two amendments to the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act, known as the the Symington and Glenn Amendments, which collectively ban support for countries engaged in clandestine nuclear programs.

In the lawsuit, Smith alleges that violating these amendments means that Israel has received approximately $234 billion in illegal aid since the passage of the International Security Assistance and Arms Export Control Act of 1976.

The lawsuit reads:

“This lawsuit is not about foreign policy. It is about the rule of law, presidential power, the structural limits of the U.S. Constitution, and the right of the public to understand the functions of government and informed petition of the government for redress.”

U.S. foreign policy is in sharp focus right now, as President Barack Obama prepares to sign off on a record-breaking aid package that would add to the $3.1 billion in annual military aid that Israel already receives.

Despite the U.S. government, and a compliant mainstream media, raising the alarm about the supposed dangers of the Iranian nuclear program, Israel possesses dozens of nuclear weapons — with some reports indicating the Jewish State possesses over a hundred — while showing no sign of halting its development of more.

And the WikiLeaks archive of Hillary Clinton’s emails suggests this is unlikely to change after November, with the potential future president heavily invested in maintaining Israel’s claim to a near monopoly on nuclear power in the Middle East.

Israel’s dangerous ‘nuclear ambiguity’

The IRMEP lawsuit argues that Israel’s policy of official secrecy on its nuclear weapons program perfectly fits the definition of the 1976 Export Control Act, and that the U.S. government broke the law through its “failure to act upon facts long in their possession while prohibiting the release of official government information about Israel’s nuclear weapons program, particularly ongoing illicit transfers of nuclear weapons material and technology from the U.S. to Israel.”

Smith wrote that the U.S. offers material support to Israel’s nuclear program while helping suppress information about the program. He continued:

“These violations manifest in gagging and prosecuting federal officials and contractors who publicly acknowledge Israel’s nuclear weapons program, imposing punitive economic costs on public interest researchers who attempt to educate the public about the functions of government, refusing to make bona fide responses to journalists and consistently failing to act on credible information available in the government and public domain.”

This policy of secrecy goes by many names, he noted.

“These acts serve a policy that has many names all referring to the same subterfuge, ‘nuclear opacity,’ ‘nuclear ambiguity,’ and ‘strategic ambiguity.’”

Although long denied by both American and Israeli politicians, Israel’s nuclear program was first revealed by whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu, who spent 16 years in prison for sharing secret details of the program with Britain’s Sunday Times in 1986, and has been repeatedly arrested for continuing to publicly speak out.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/lawsuit-warns-234-billion-in-aid-to-israel-violates-us-law-against-supporting-secret-nuclear-states/5585637

Ukrainian Soldiers Kill their Commander after being Forced to Commit War-crimes – non-combat losses now exceed 10,000

DONETSK, DPR – Ukrainian servicemen shot and killed their commander, Sergei Sobko, in the aftermath of being forced to commit war-crimes for a Ukrainian media public relations spectacle. The killing happened immediately after an incident where the commander was scolding the troops in his command for drinking alcohol. This was announced by the official representative of the operational command of the DPR, Eduard Basurin.

According to Basurin, it happened on March 6th in the 128th separate mountain-assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, where the lieutenant at night allegedly discovered that a group of soldiers were drunk. The soldiers may have been engaged in heavy drinking as a coping mechanism to deal with the unit’s increasingly problematic activities at least since the end of February.

“There was a negative reaction to a remark of the platoon commander, and during the verbal skirmish, two sergeants used firearms and shot their commander at close range,” Basurin told Russian media.

He stressed that this and similar cases are not recorded in the official reports of the Ukrainian command.

Basurin said that in a series of constant crimes committed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Donbass, this incident was the “last straw” that overwhelmed the patience of the Ukrainian soldiers. This event is consistent with reports that morale in the Ukrainian military is very low.

Media reports from Russian state-owned or controlled outlets tend to focus on the specific altercation between the commander and the two sergeants, with focus on the theme that the soldiers in question were drunk.

Given Basurin’s comments that this came after a series of constant crimes by the UAF in the Donbass, there appears to be another layer to the story.

The same Ukrainian troops from the 128th brigade had just days before, opened fire on the civilians in the city of Dokuchaevsk under Sergei Sobko’s orders, located on the territory of the DPR, for the filming of a television report.

While the aim of the report was to glorify the actions of the UAF, there was negative reaction in Ukrainian social media comments. The views expressed included that these were war crimes, and crimes against humanity being committed against largely innocent civilians. This may have been reflected also in the attitude of the participating soldiers in the aftermath.

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Basurin made his own official comments known during a briefing in Donetsk, said the head of the press service of the Office of People’s Militia of the Republic, Daniel Bezsonov . He said that the order to open fire on residential areas of Dokuchaevsk was given by the commander of the 128th brigade of the Ukrainian army, Sergei Sobko .

https://www.fort-russ.com/2019/03/major-ukrainian-soldiers-kill-their-commander-after-being-forced-to-commit-war-crimes-non-combat-losses-now-exceeds-10000/

Pyongyang slams new joint military exercises between S. Korea, US

North Korea on Thursday attacked ongoing joint military exercises between Seoul and Washington as an “open challenge” to moves towards peace on the Korean peninsula. The US and South Korea agreed on Sunday to replace two major war games that take place every spring – the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle drills – with a shorter Dong Maeng or Alliance exercise which kicked off this week, AFP reports. The move was designed to further ease tensions with the North following the detente since early 2018. The new flare-up comes just days after the US and North Korean leaders held their second summit. The talks broke up early with no progress toward Washington’s goal of getting Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.

https://www.rt.com/newsline/453270-korea-military-exercises-us/

The Fake News Nazi - Corbyn, Williamson And The Anti-Semitism Scandal

One of us had a discussion with an elderly relative:

'He can't be allowed to become Prime Minister.'

'Why not?'

'It's so awful…'

'What is?'

'The way he hates the Jews.'

The last comment was spoken with real anguish, the result of continuous exposure to just two main news sources: the Daily Mail and the BBC.

What is astonishing is that, just four years ago, essentially no-one held this view of Jeremy Corbyn.

Corbyn first became an MP in 1983. He stood for the Labour leadership 32 years later, in May 2015. We searched the ProQuest database for UK newspaper articles containing:

'Jeremy Corbyn' and 'anti-semitism' before 1 May 2015 = 18 hits

'Jeremy Corbyn' and 'anti-semitism' after 1 May 2015 = 11,251 hits

None of the 18 hits accused Corbyn of anti-semitism. For his first 32 years as an MP, it just wasn't a theme associated with him.

We also searched the ProQuest database for UK newspaper articles containing:

'Labour Party' and 'anti-semitism' before 1 May 2015 = 5,347 hits

'Labour Party' and 'anti-semitism' after 1 May 2015 = 13,921 hits

The archive begins in 1980, which means that more than twice as many articles have included these terms in the last four years than in the 35 years from 1980 until May 2015 when Corbyn stood for the Labour leadership. A standard response to these findings runs along these lines:

'Irrelevant backbencher gets less Press attention than Leader of The Opposition SHOCKER. What's your next scoop, Water Wet, Sky Blue?'

But in fact, Corbyn was not an irrelevant backbencher. We found 3,662 hits for articles mentioning Corbyn before May 2015. Many of these are mentions in passing, but he had also long been a high-profile anti-war MP at a time of numerous wars. And he was frequently smeared, only not about his supposed anti-semitism. Consider, for example, an article that appeared in The Sun in 1999, under a typically cruel title:

'Why did it take you so long to dump him, Mrs Corbyn?' (Ally Ross, The Sun, 13 May 1999)

The story:

'EXTREME Left MP Jeremy Corbyn has been dumped by his missus after an amazing bust-up over their son's education.'

The key issue, according to The Sun:

'Now the question on everyone's lips is: Why did it take her so long to leave the loathsome Lefty, and more importantly, why is she only moaning about his choice of schools?'

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/51232.htm

South Africa to downgrade Israel diplomatic mission

March 9, 2019 at 1:08 pm

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that his government is planning to downgrade its diplomatic mission to Israel.

This, he said, comes in response to recommendations from the National Conference of the National African Party which was held more than a year ago, Safa news agency reported yesterday.

Speaking before the parliament, Ramaphosa said that his government stands with the Palestinian people in their fight to achieve self-determination, but also recognises Israel’s “sovereign right”. He also noted that the ministry of international cooperation and foreign affairs is working to implement the decision.

“This [decision is being taken] due to the violation of the rights of the Palestinian people,” Ramaphosa said, adding: “We are putting pressure on Israel [but,] at the same time, we are ready to broker the process to achieve peace in the Middle East.”

The president added: “We are worried about the violation of the Palestinian right to self-determination and Israel’s reluctance to start talks aimed at reaching a just and peaceful solution for this conflict.”

He did not state when the downgrading of ties would be completed, but said that this would be made public as soon as it was completed.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190309-south-africa-to-downgrade-israel-diplomatic-mission/

Israel Is Not America’s Ally

Andrew Sullivan comments on the U.S.-Israel relationship and the role of “pro-Israel” lobbying groups in our politics in a new essay. There are several things that I think Sullivan gets wrong, but perhaps the most significant and pervasive error in the piece is his repeated description of the relationship an “alliance.” He notes that the U.S. gets nothing in return for the extensive military and diplomatic support that it provides, he acknowledges that the U.S. “suffers internationally” on account of its close relationship with Israel, and he marvels at how badly its government under Netanyahu has behaved towards the U.S. Nonetheless, he writes, “I would defend the alliance despite this, because of my core belief in a Jewish state.” The trouble with all this is that there is no alliance and Israel is not our ally. Its government does not behave as an ally does, it has never fought alongside U.S. forces in any of our foreign wars, and its interests are not aligned with ours as an ally’s should be. There is no formal treaty and no binding obligations that require our governments to do anything for the other.

There are few words in U.S. foreign policy debates used more frequently and with less precision than ally and alliance. Our politicians and pundits use these terms to refer to almost every state with which the U.S. has some kind of security relationship, and it always grossly exaggerates the nature and extent of the ties between our governments. The exaggeration in Israel’s case is greatest of all because it is routinely called our “most important ally” in the region, or even our “most cherished ally” in all the world. These are ideological assertions that are not grounded in any observable reality. Dozens of other states all over the world are better allies to the United States than the “most cherished ally” is, and they don’t preside over an illegal occupation that implicates the U.S. in decades of abuses and crimes against the Palestinian people living under that occupation, but none of them enjoys the lockstep, uncritical backing that this one state does. The effect of this constant repetition is to make the U.S.-Israel relationship seem extremely important to U.S. interests when it is not, and that serves to promote the “illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists.” It is this illusion as much as anything else that prevents a serious reassessment of the relationship.

Israel is one of America’s regional clients, and it is the one that the U.S. indulges more than any other, but that is all that it is. As such, it receives far more support than it needs to and far more than makes sense for the U.S. to give, and the overwhelming political support that the relationship has is out of all proportion to the value of the relationship to the United States. In fact, like several other regional clients Israel has increasingly become a liability for the U.S., and the relationship should be changed accordingly.

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/israel-is-not-americas-ally/?fbclid=IwAR0sV7-8O41R4M_RnY-Bg-F2OaonWGxM8UwbI0jRbLUHl0c3CceL9k8YkiQ

More Gaza airstrikes incoming

Incendiary balloons carrying missile warhead land in Israel-Gaza border area

Police sappers initiate controlled explosion in Sdot Negev Regional Council, where device lands; no injuries reported

Police sappers were called to the Israel-Gaza border area on Saturday after a cluster of balloons suspected of carrying an explosive device landed in Israeli territory.

Hebrew media reported that the balloons carried a warhead from an anti-tank missile.

The balloons were located in the Sdot Negev Regional Council. Police instructed hikers to keep away from the area as they carried out a controlled explosion.

The incident came amid a recent uptick in tensions along the border between Israel and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, as well as the return of incendiary balloon launches.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/suspected-explosive-balloon-lands-in-israel-gaza-border-area/

==These 'bombs' never hit anything and result in airstrikes into residential areas, FF to kill?

2 Israelis arrested at Egypt crossing after ammo found in their bags

Israel’s consul in Cairo is assisting the two unidentified Israelis, the Foreign Ministry says

Two Israelis were arrested at the Taba border crossing between Israel and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Saturday after a search of their bags turned up bullets.

The Foreign Ministry said Israel’s consul in Cairo was dispatched to provide assistance to the Israelis, who were not immediately identified.

Sinai has picked up as a popular destination for Israeli tourists in recent years.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israelis-arrested-at-egypt-crossing-after-ammo-turns-up-in-bags/

What you need to know about the next of technology and its effect on mankind (Video)

New Evidence Suggests Nellie Ohr Was Working for CIA When She Passed on Junk Trump-Russia Dossier and Info on Trump Children

In December 2017 the head of opposition research firm Fusion GPS admitted in a court filing that his firm paid Nellie Ohr, the wife of senior Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, to help dig up damaging information on then-candidate Donald Trump.

The connections between Nellie Ohr and the ‘Spygate’ scandal were hidden at a distance for months.

As noted previously at TGP, Nellie Ohr is a Communist sympathizer connected to Russia as well as a corrupt Never-Trumper.

Author Diana West at the American Spectator posted an article on Nellie Ohr last year. Nellie Ohr is “the “dossier” spying scandal’s woman in the middle.”

To one side of Ohr, there is the Fusion GPS team, including fellow contractor Christopher Steele. To the other, there is husband Bruce Ohr, who, until his “dossier”-related demotion, was No. 4 man at the Department of Justice, and a key contact there for Steele.

What’s more revealing about Nellie Ohr is the men in her life are protecting her involvement in the Russia scandal:

Notably, the “dossier” men in her life have tried to shield Ohr from public scrutiny, even at professional risk. Her husband, as the Daily Caller News Foundation reports, failed to disclose his wife’s employment with Fusion GPS and seek the appropriate conflict-of-interest waiver, which may have been an important factor in his demotion from associate deputy attorney general late last year.

Under Senate and House questioning, Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson consistently failed to disclose Nellie Ohr’s existence as one of his firm’s paid Russian experts, let alone that he hired her for the red-hot DNC/Clinton campaign Trump-Russia project.

Even Christopher Steele may have tried to keep Nellie Ohr “under cover.” Steele, put forth as the “dossier” author ever since its January 2017 publication in BuzzFeed, does not appear to have let on to his many media and political contacts that he had “dossier”-assistance from at least two fellow Fusion GPS Russian experts, Nellie Ohr and Edward Baumgartner. Baumgartner, interestingly, was a Russian history major at Vassar in the 1990s when Nellie Ohr taught Russian history there.

It appears that the men in Nellie’s life did all they could to prevent Nellie Ohr from being outed for being involved in the dossier because she also has links to the CIA and therefore to John Brennan.

Now this…

New evidence suggests Nellie Ohr was working for the CIA and Fusion GPS when she passed on the junk Trump-Russia dossier and information on the Trump Children to the DOJ-FBI.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/03/huge-new-evidence-suggests-nellie-ohr-was-working-for-cia-when-she-passed-on-junk-trump-russia-dossier-and-info-on-trump-children/