Epstein Secrets

lamist regime in Damascus or, more likely, Lebanese-style instability cannot please the Israelis. They are already experiencing jihadist threats in Sinai. The idea of having similar problems in Syria, where the other side of the border is the Galilee rather than the Negev, must make them nervous. Bu

bout 90 bombings in Syria over the past six months were the work of "organizations that are close to al-Qaeda or jihadist groups." Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in February called on supporters in Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq to join the fight against Assad, and a number seem to have responded, with opportuniti

t activities, but it said no settlements after the agreement. Egypt did not say, for instance, stop the building activities in Yamit (settlement in Sinai), but when the situation was resolved the settlement was demolished. In Gaza, have they [the Israelis] not left it? Therefore, our stance ought to

e trying to inject themselves into the Syrian revolution, although they stress that the Islamist radicals' impact has been limited. Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri called on "mujaheddin" to head to Syria in support of the rebels earlier this year, and Western diplomats are convinced that operatives affiliated

le, and has this led him to want to deal firmly with them from the outset? Egypt received a message to the effect that Al-Qaeda was in control of the Sinai and that Israel therefore felt itself free to act as it wishes. Alternatively, could Netanyahu's thinking be headed in another direction, such that

Arab stagnation. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_018093 --- PAGE BREAK --- Article 3. The New Yorker Zawahiri at the Helm Lawrence Wright June 16, 2011 -- Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian surgeon, has come into his inheritance—A1] Qaeda—at a time when the organization is at its nadir. Osama bin Laden, its charismatic found

the region. Last week's attack on the Eilat road should be understood in this context. Some are hypothesizing that new Islamist groups forming in the Sinai or Palestinian groups in Gaza operating outside Hamas' control carried out the attack. But while such organizations might formally be separate from H

nown to analysts by his first name) was the boss's key link with the outside, officials see him as more important than bin Laden's nominal successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Here are the highlights: •Bin Laden retained until his death a passion to launch a significant attack against the United States, ideally linked to t