Abbas Cartoon

Israel sending troops into cities after latest attacks

JERUSALEM –  The Israeli military began deploying hundreds of troops in Israeli cities Wednesday to assist police forces in countering a wave of deadly Palestinian shooting and stabbing attacks that have created panic across the country.
The military's deployment of six companies marks the first implementation of measures by Israel's security cabinet to counter the attacks that have intensified dramatically in recent days. The cabinet met late into the night and announced steps early Wednesday that included allowing police to seal off points of friction or incitement. Many of the recent attackers have come from Arab areas of Jerusalem, prompting calls to seal off those neighborhoods to contain potential attackers.
The cabinet also decided to strip residency rights and demolish homes of some attackers and draft hundreds more security guards to secure public transport.
The measures came after a particularly bloody day in which a pair of Palestinian stabbing and shooting attacks in Jerusalem killed three Israelis and another two attacks took place in the normally quiet Israeli city of Raanana. Three Palestinians, including two attackers, were also killed.
The government has thus far been unable to stop the violence, carried out mostly by young Palestinians unaffiliated with known militant groups and apparently acting on their own.
Israeli security officials, however, said Tuesday's seemingly coordinated attacks indicated that the outburst of violence was starting to take on a more organized fashion, from groups behind the planning and those carrying out attacks. The officials, speaking anonymously according to regulations, said Israel expects the current wave to last at least a few more weeks.
The attacks have caused panic in Israel and raised fears that the region is on the cusp of a new round of heavy violence.
The violence erupted a month ago over the Jewish New Year, fueled by rumors that Israel was plotting to take over Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site, sacred to both Muslims and Jews. Israel has adamantly denied the allegations and accused Palestinian leaders of inciting the violence and spreading lies.
Palestinians repeatedly barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City, hurling stones and firebombs at police.
Violence was initially confined to east Jerusalem and the West Bank -- territories Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 war and claimed by the Palestinians for a future state -- but later spread to Israeli cities. Violent protests have also broken out along with Israel-Gaza border.
Eight Israelis have died in a string of stabbings, shootings and the stoning of a car, while 29 Palestinians -- including 12 identified by Israel as attackers -- have been killed.
In Tuesday's violence, a pair of Palestinian men boarded a bus and began shooting and stabbing passengers, while another assailant rammed a car into a bus stop, then got out of his vehicle and began hacking bystanders with a long knife.
The near-simultaneous attacks, along with two stabbings in the central Israeli city of Raanana, marked the most serious outbreak of violence since the current round of tensions erupted.

US brokering talks for Gulf states to buy Israeli anti-missile system as Iran defense

Bahrain and other Persian Gulf states are in negotiations to buy the Israeli-developed Iron Dome anti-missile system to defend against "a growing arsenal of Iranian missiles".
The Israeli weapon, which has reduced the effectiveness of rockets fired out of Gaza into Israel by about 90% would be bought through Raytheon and other American contractors who developed the Iron Dome with Israeli arms giant Rafael.
A deal for the entire Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait, would be worth tens, perhaps hundreds, of billions of dollars.
It would also include longer range interceptor missiles such as David's Sling, and the Arrow I and Arrow II which are capable of intercepting supersonic intercontinental ballistic missiles - also a joint venture between Israel and the U.S.
Khalid bin Mohammed al Khalifa, Bahrain's foreign minister, said on the visit to London: "The Israelis have their small Iron Dome. We'll have a much bigger one in the GCC."
The sale of Israeli-developed weapons to Gulf states would have been controversial for both the Israelis and the buyers a few years ago.
But both now see one of the main threats to them as the growing military strength and ambitions of Iran.
The U.S. is quietly playing the "middle man" in the deal as a sweetener to bitterness caused in the Gulf over what the leadership in that region believe is a "naive" deal with Iran over its nuclear weapons programme.
"Iran has been trying to undermine and topple government in our region for years," the Bahrain foreign minister said.
He said that Iran's precision missile capacity was certain to increase as a consequence of the lifting of sanctions following the internationally brokered agreement with Tehran to end its nuclear weapons development.
"They will put a lot of money into this programme to develop techniques and tactics to defeat our missile defenses ... the strategy appears to be one of saturation to stockpile enough missiles to overwhelm any defense system we build in the Gulf," he added.
As a result of this perceived threat, plans to buy Israeli weapons, via the U.S., would result in a profits bonanza for both American and Israeli firms.
Talks are understood to be well advanced.
One senior Gulf government source said: "If Netanyahu were not making less of a mess of things and was more like Anwar Sadat (who signed a peace deal for Egypt with Israel) then we would be happy to buy the missiles straight from Israel."
Israel developed its anti-missile systems to defend against Gaza's rockets in part but overwhelmingly against Hezbollah's arsenal in southern Lebanon.
Israeli sources claim that this includes weapons capable of precision attacks on any target inside the Jewish state as well as up to 100,000 other missiles of less capability and accuracy which have been accumulated to try to overwhelm the Iron Dome and other systems with Iranian funds and supplies.
Led by Saudi Arabia, GCC nations are locked in a bloody conflict with Shi'a Houthi rebels in the Yemen which western and Gulf intelligence sources insist are backed by Tehran.
The GCC's fears of an Iranian threat increasing when sanctions are lifted has been further deepened by Tehran's growing alliance with Moscow which, like Iran, has come to the military defense of the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
As a Shi'a-Russian crescent of influence is seen spreading across the Middle East, so Gulf states have been privately reaching out to Israel.
Now with a potentially massive arms sale, those relations are begin to emerge from the shadows of regional rivalries.

Clinton and O'Malley pummel Sanders on gun control laws

Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Martin O’Malley pummeled rival Sen. Bernie Sanders during Tuesday’s primary debate over what they argued was his soft stance on gun control, with Clinton saying gun violence has “gone on too long.”  
Sanders said he didn’t vote in favor of Capitol Hill legislation that punished gun manufactures, arguing it was “large and complicated” and also would have unfairly punished law-abiding, small gun-shop owners in his home state of Vermont.
“I voted against it,” said Clinton, the Democratic frontrunner and a former U.S. senator from New York. “I was in the Senate at the same time. It wasn't that complicated to me. It was pretty straightforward to me that he was going to give immunity to the only industry in America.”
She also pointed out that Sanders voted against the Brady Bill gun-control legislation five times.
O’Malley argued he passed tougher gun-control laws as a Maryland governor, in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook school massacre, saying he did it in a state with large rural districts inhabited by many gun-owners.
“Have you ever been to the Eastern Shore?” O’Malley asked. “Have you ever been to western Maryland? … I have an F from the NRA.”
Sanders repeated several times during the exchange that he represents a “rural state,” and said directly to O’Malley, “You have not been in the United States Congress. And when you want to, check it out. If you think that we can simply go forward and pass something tomorrow without bringing people together, you are sorely mistaken.”
The Vermont Independent, who is running second in the Democratic primary field also said: “Bernie Sanders has a D-minus voting rating from the NRA. … Do I think that a gun shop in the state of Vermont that sells legally a gun to somebody and that somebody goes out and does something crazy, that that gun shop owner should be held responsible? I don't.”

Defiant Clinton defends flip-flops, downplays email scandal at Dem debate

A defiant Hillary Clinton defended her policy flip-flops and downplayed her personal email scandal while sparring sharply with her primary rivals at the first Democratic presidential debate, where the front-runner played the role of nimble-footed goalie to a field taking shots at her long record in public life. 
In comparison with the Donald Trump-dominated GOP debates, the lead-off showdown in Las Vegas Tuesday night was a relatively cordial affair for the Democrats, with the lively disputes centering on policy differences and not personal put-downs. But Clinton was the clear lightning rod, challenged early and often on her shifting positions – while also hitting back and trying to position herself as a practical progressive with every bit as much credibility with the base as candidates like Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“I’m not taking a backseat to anybody on my values, my principles and the results that I get,” Clinton said, describing herself as a “progressive who likes to get things done.”
The front-runner, who has faced an insurgent challenge from her left in Sanders’ campaign, was visibly ready to tangle Tuesday with him and the three other candidates on stage at the CNN-Facebook debate.
While Sanders railed against a “casino capitalist process,” Clinton warned against abandoning the system that built America’s middle class. And Clinton sparred with Sanders and others as they questioned her call for a no-fly zone in Syria, and criticized her 2002 support, as a senator, for use of force in Iraq, a decision she’s since called a mistake.
Former Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee called it a “poor decision” and said he did his “homework” when he opposed that measure.
Clinton, in her defense, noted that President Obama asked her to be secretary of state because “he valued my judgment.”
When former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley suggested lawmakers were overtaken by “war fever,” Clinton quipped: “I am in the middle here – lots of things coming from all directions.” She then tweaked O’Malley by thanking him for endorsing her in 2008.
Whether Clinton’s performance Tuesday night will help her recover slipping support in the polls remains to be seen, as Sanders draws big crowds and catches up to her in recent fundraising. The two Democrats each gave little ground at the debate – though the Vermont senator mostly avoided aggressively attacking Clinton on stage.
When Clinton was pressed on her personal email scandal, Sanders even jumped to her defense.
In one of the more memorable moments of the night, Sanders said: “I think the secretary is right. ... The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails.”
Clinton said, “Me too.” She thanked him and shook his hand.
Chafee, though, added that "credibility is an issue."
The exchange came after Clinton responded to a question on the email scandal by saying she’s taken responsibility for it and acknowledged it was a mistake.
She quickly pivoted to challenging the work of the congressional Benghazi committee, calling it “basically an arm of the Republican National Committee.”
The former secretary of state was also challenged on her policy flips by moderator Anderson Cooper, who asked if she will say anything to get elected.
“I’ve been very consistent over the course of my entire life,” Clinton responded. But she said “like most human beings,” she has absorbed new information.
Clinton was specifically challenged for opposing the Pacific-nation trade deal she once supported as secretary of state. Though she once called it the “gold standard,” she said Tuesday the deal “didn’t meet my standard.” She said she couldn’t tell voters it would raise their wages.
Clinton, though, tried to turn the tables on her rivals, and took a crack at Sanders’ record on gun control.
Asked if the Vermont senator is tough enough on gun violence, Clinton said, “No, not at all” and urged the country to stand up against the NRA.
She criticized him for voting for a 2005 bill giving gun manufacturers immunity from lawsuits. After Sanders described that bill as complicated, she said, “It wasn’t that complicated to me.”
Sanders responded, “All the shouting in the world” is not going to end the violence. He said the country needs to reach a consensus, and stressed that rural states view gun laws differently than other states.
The Democratic presidential candidates otherwise tried to focus their message on the economy and lifting the middle class.
Sanders drew some of the loudest applause from the audience, as he called for reviving a “disappearing” middle class. He blasted the Citizens United campaign finance decision which he said is letting millionaires and billionaires fund candidates who only look out for them.
Clinton said, “At the center of my campaign is how we’re going to raise wages.”
Throughout the debate, former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, the fifth candidate on stage, struggled to elbow his way into the conversation. He stressed his military experience and push for criminal justice reform and other issues while in the Senate.
Toward the end of the debate, Webb challenged Sanders for his big-spending proposals
“Bernie, I don’t think the revolution’s gonna come,” he said, adding he doesn’t think Congress would pay for a lot of his plans.
Webb, Chafee and O’Malley are all averaging at or below 1 percent in the polls nationally, according to RealClearPolitics. So far, it is Sanders who poses the biggest challenge to Clinton in the polls.
Clinton faced a dual task, though, Tuesday night – to not only outperform primary rivals cutting into her lead and but keep her biggest potential challenger, Vice President Biden, on the sidelines.
Biden still is mulling a bid and did not make Tuesday’s showdown. According to a White House official, Biden planned watch the debate at the Naval Observatory residence.
While Clinton remains the front-runner, a new Fox News poll underscored her potential vulnerability in a general election – and showed Biden faring better than her against would-be GOP rivals.
In hypothetical 2016 matchups, Clinton trailed all the Republicans tested, including Ben Carson by 11 points and Donald Trump by 5 points. By comparison, Biden was leading Trump by 13 points and Carson by 4 points.
The poll was based on interviews with 1,004 registered voters nationwide. The poll had a margin of error of 4 percentage points for the head-to-head match-ups.