organization:institute for national security studies

Abbas seeks further imperialist collaboration
▻https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/blogs/politics/9518-abbas-seeks-further-imperialist-collaboration

Only a few days after Tawfik Tirawi ambiguously called upon Palestinians, including the Palestinian leadership, to embrace resistance, PA President Mahmoud Abbas has once again revealed his allegiance to Israel and imperialism by compromising upon border security, should the hypothetical Palestinian state become a reality.

In a televised interview with Ma’an which was broadcasted at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conference, Abbas made contradictory remarks regarding sovereignty, stating that “the borders of the Palestinian state will eventually be in the hands of the Palestinians, not the Israeli army”. He then added that following the three-year transition during which Israel would gradually withdraw from the borders, security would then be entrusted to NATO, “in order to soothe our concerns and Israel’s”.

Syria’s war, Israel’s trap | openDemocracy
▻http://www.opendemocracy.net/paul-rogers/syrias-war-israels-trap

Par Paul Rogers.

Le likoudien (et champion de l’unilatéralisme par la force) INSS israélien serait tellement inquiet des évènements dans la région qu’il appelle Netanyahou à « présenter un plan raisonnable aux leaders de la Cisjordanie. »

Paul Rogers n’y voit pas une ultime tentative d’anesthésier son monde, mais une « petite raison d’espérer. »

There appears to be some recognition of this in the surprising decision of the hawkish Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) - which has close links with prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu - to urge a resumption of talks with the Palestinians (see Barbara Opall-Rome, “Israeli Experts: Palestinian Peace Plan Could Push Agenda for Region”, Defense News, 11 February 2013).

True, Israel’s perceived need to gain diplomatic credence, not least with the Obama administration, is part of the reason for this move. Defense News says:

“Before Washington and the international community impose conditions on both parties - and in order to forestall new rounds of violence that will further inflame public opinion in Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and other countries with a common interest in derailing Iran’s nuclear weapons program - INSS experts urge the new Netanyahu government to present a reasonable plan to Palestinian leaders in the West Bank.”

There is something more than political calculation in the Israeli institute’s analysis. The wider reality is that events are moving against Israel across the region. Indeed, the massive border defences are a clear indicator of this. Israel is now completely surrounded, and its treatment of the Palestinians both isolates it further and creates the potential for deeper instability. The INSS’s move indicates that the depth of this predicament is understood by some among Israel’s security elite, and no longer confined to critical analysts who have long pointed this out. So far, there is little sign that Netanyahu has got the message. But this shift in an Israeli think-tank’s outlook gives some small cause for hope.

FRAPPES ISRAELIENNES CONTRE LA SYRIE.
Un article du Washington Post cité par l’institut de recherche israélien The Institute for National Security Studies

Israeli strike in Syria might be first in series
By Joel Greenberg and Babak Dehghanpisheh
Published: February 9, 2013 in The Washington Post

JERUSALEM – Israel’s recent airstrike in Syria, which according to Western officials targeted weapons destined for the militant Lebanese group Hezbollah, could mark the start of a more aggressive campaign by Israel to prevent arms transfers as conditions in Syria deteriorate, according to analysts in Israel and Lebanon.
Israel’s readiness to strike again if necessary heralds a new and more volatile phase in the regional repercussions of Syria’s civil war, which has raised concerns in Israel about the possible transfer of advanced or nonconventional weapons to Islamist militant groups.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak all but acknowledged that Israel carried out the strike near Damascus on Jan. 30, saying it was “proof that when we say something we mean it.” An Israeli cabinet minister had warned before the attack that Israel could act against transfers of chemical weapons to militant groups.
Amos Yadlin, a former chief of Israeli military intelligence who directs the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, said in an interview that while future Israeli action could be expected, it would depend on specific calculations of the advantages and risks of such strikes.▻http://www.inss.org.il/upload/(FILE)1360487092.pdf