Epstein Secrets

with Secretary of State John Kerry here this week, the =ussian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, hinted that Moscow might finally pressure President Bashir al-Assad of Syria to l=ave office. 2 EFTA_R1_00107015 EFTA01785153 "We are not interested in the fate =f certain individuals," Mr. Lavrov said at a late

y furt=er. Jerusalem, ultimately, has little interest in actively hastening the f=ll of Bashar al-Assad. Israel knows one important thin= about the Assads: for the past 40 years, they have managed to preserve so=e form of calm along the border. Technically, the two countries have always been at war --

e, the Alawite regime in Damascus and Hezbol=ah in Lebanon) is hell-bent on robbing them of their historic place in Iraq, their government's tilt to=ard Bashar al-Assad provided it. 5 EFTA_R1_00107018 EFTA01785156 It was a matter of time before =hese millennial conflicts were given new life by the Syrian civil w

untries have always been at war -- Syria has yet to officially r=cognize Israel -- but Israel has been able to count on the governments of =afez and Bashar Assad to enforce the Separation of Forces Agreement from 1=74, in which both sides agreed to a cease-fire in the Golan Heights, the disputed vantage poin

However, at the same time,=the Egyptian government is not helping itself or allowing others to help i= to fix the situation. What does it mean for Kandil to name an al-Azhar professor specializing in Islamic jurisprud=nce and murabaha (Sharia-compliant sale) as the country's new finance mi=ister? What

ion. The Israeli strikes on Syrian military targets near Damascus between May 4th and 6th brought new levels of tension to the conflict as both the Assad regime and, more importantly, Hezbollah threatened retaliation for what they considered a casus belli. Though the Israeli motive was aimed at preven

b of security ministries." Official Egyptian politics and governance also continues to be rocked by flux and instability. On May 7th, Prime Minster Kandil named nine new ministers in the second cabinet reshuffle since President Morsi assumed office, two of whom are directly affiliated with the Muslim B

ional/countriesandterritories/syria/index.html?inline=nyt-geo>.=94 A few months ago, talk of possible massacres of Alawites, who dominate Bash=r al- Assad<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/a/ba=har_al_assad/index.html?inline=nyt-per>'s government in Syria, seemed =ike pro-regim

Gaza since Hamas took control in 2007, the visit of such a high-ra=king Egyptian creates a dilemma for Israel. Intense bombing during or befo=e Mr. Kandil's visit could be a public relations disaster internationall=, but agreeing to a cease-fire without responding harshly to the rocket fi=e near Tel Av