Epstein Secrets

ns with America's closest ally in the region and achieved nothing whatsoever in the "peace process." The end result in the summer of 2014 is to see the Palestinian Authority turn to a deal with Hamas for new elections that—if they are held, which admittedly is unlikely—would usher the terrorist group into a power- shari

hided the US repeatedly for handing Iraq to Iran on "a silver platter." The brazen attempt by the Al Qaeda—affiliated Islamic State in Iraq and The Levant, ISIL, to seize control of Mosul confirms the Saudis' worst fears about lingering EFTA00665425 instability in Iraq. The Obama administration will

challenges enumerated below. Peace with the Palestinians. The perception that Israel bears a measure of responsibility for the current impasse with the Palestinian Authority has gained traction in various circles in the United Sates, including parts of offical Washington, and could someday endanger the U.S.-Israeli relat

the rationale for the U.S.-Israel security relationship during the Cold War remain valid today. Israel is a bulwark against radical Islamism in the Levant, as embodied by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and a quiet but effective ally of Jordan. U.S. military support helps bolster Israeli deterren

how the rulings will affect the newly elected parliament. Palestinians: Palestinian Authority President Abbas ordered an official name change from the Palestinian Authority to the "State of Palestine" on January 6th, the latest of several decisions to boost the standing of the Palestinian people following the UN vote o

have taken place in the past two months—previously rare occurrences. In the midst of these changing political winds, a fierce winter storm hit the Levant on January 9th, leaving at least eight people dead in the region and bringing an unusual foot of snow to Jordan. Kuwait: The Constitutional Court i

overreach as contributing to Sunni radicalism, unity, and pushback. For instance, they see the recent entry of Hamas into a unity government with the Palestinian Authority as the loss of a strong, radical, but Sunni regional ally. And it doesn't stop there. As Saeed Leylaz, an Iranian analyst cited by the Journal, re

however important they are on the theoretical level, but rather the territorial integrity and sovereignty of these two pillars of stability in the Levant and the Gulf region. One of the major differences in the positions of Egypt and Saudi Arabia in this respect is how to perceive and deal with Iran

sional spasms of violence, one unsung initiative has been an unalloyed success: The mission of the U.S. Security Coordinator (USSC) for Israel and the Palestinian Authority. This hodgepodge staff of military and civilian advisors, working together in the spirit of Lawrence's words, has trained more than 5,000 members

he "Shia arc." Jordan and Egypt were natural fits. These predominantly Sunni countries were equally concerned with rising Iranian influence in the Levant and were determined to counter what they perceived as Tehran's outsized influence in the region. Yet Riyadh went a step further and aimed to also

especially since Jordan's own oil-shale project, so elaborately put together with Shell, might not produce anything until the 2020s. The other is the Palestinian Authority. Its own offshore gas fields, Gaza Marine, lie untapped and unexplored because Hamas refuses to allow anyone to get near them—largely because Hamas

d States consumes in a year. But for a country of only 8 million people, it's an energy bonanza. And, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, the Levant basin in which Israel's fields sit may contain a total of 3.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas—about half the reserves in the United States with

ashington can lawfully continue to provide aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) if it includes Hamas as an equal partner. Af

s can see that Alawite leadership will not leave power without a long and bloody fight. Recreating a sphere of Turkish-modeled Sunni influence in the Levant may be a long-term goal for Ankara, but the Turkish government is certainly not prepared to pay the near-term cost of civil strife in Syria spilling

collapses, makes Israeli concessions or new flexibility in the West Bank impossible and puts paid to the entire "peace process." It brings Hamas into the Palestinian Authority government, ending a period of several years when Palestinian Security Forces have cooperated with the Israel Defense Forces against terrorism and ag

icy over nearly 3,000 years. For convenience, we will use the term "Israel" to connote all of the Hebrew and Jewish entities that have existed in the Levant since the invasion of the region as chronicled in the Book of Joshua. As always, geopolitics requires a consideration of three dimensions: the intern