Epstein Secrets

nect whatever dots are available as they make judgments about the threats and opportunities. And the sad reality is that, viewed from Washington or Jerusalem, the upheavals of the last 18 months have transformed an already difficult regional landscape into perhaps the most inhospitable strategic environm

f the Assad regime would almost inevitably decrease Russian power in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Syria has hosted Russia's naval base in Tartus for several decades and, since 1971, Syria has been Moscow's closest Arab ally. Syria is the largest Arab purchaser of Russian weapons and is seen

t been growing closer to each other for several years, with small gestures of mutual accommodation. Israel agreed to return the Sergei courtyard in Jerusalem to Russia in 2008, a small strip of land in a religiously and ethnically divided city that had been sold in 1964 for a load of oranges. It then hal

ng Russian naval ships, likely as an improved backup in the event that the Syrian regime does collapse and Moscow loses its only warm-water port at Tartus. "Tartus is vulnerable and not good enough and the Egyptian ports are perfect for the Russian navy," an unnamed Israeli defense official told the S

at separates Israel proper from the West Bank. In 1980, roughly 12,000 Jews lived in the West Bank (excluding East EFTA_R1_00224927 EFTA01840334 Jerusalem). Today, government subsidies have helped swell that number to more than 300,000. Indeed, many Israeli maps and textbooks no longer show the green

840328 strategic calculations underpin his support for the Syria-Iran axis. Russia is rebuilding its Soviet-era naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus, which allows Moscow to reassert a plausible Mediterranean threat to NATO. Syria also provides Iran with a front line against Israel via Hezbollah

will see that Hamas is no exception," asserted Mandi Abdul Hadi, chairman of Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs in Jerusalem. "Western governments are dealing with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, and it is only a matter of time before they will meet with Hamas as well."

he United States lacks after letting the Mubarak regime go down quickly. The real question is whether Russia will keep the Soviet-era naval base in Tartus on Syria's Mediterranean coast. While the disagreement on Libya led to Russia's abstention in the Security Council and was soon forgotten, the spa

a personal appeal from the king to withhold the U.S. veto at the United Nations from a resolution condemning continued Israeli settlement building in Jerusalem and the West Bank. The Saudis believe that solving the issue of Palestinian statehood will deny Iran a key pillar in its regional expansionist strat

rs shot have been identified as Muhammad Awadh Qanbar and Murad Hajoo, who died in Maddiyah. A third soldier was shot in the port city of Banias. In Tartus, Der'aah and the Kurdish city of Qamishli, Alawite elite units have replaced the regular army with orders to crush the demonstrations. Some special