LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
January 03/19

Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani

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Bible Quotations For today
Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory
John 17/24-26:"Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. ‘Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’"

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on January 02-03/19
Lebanon’s Hezbollah believes solution to government impasse ‘very close’
Aoun Follows Up on Govt. Formation as Bassil Meets Hariri
Lebanon: Hariri Warns Govt Deadlock Can't Continue
Berri: Only Solution is Civil State
Hizbullah from Bkirki: Govt. as 'Holidays Gift' Still Possible
Army Arrests IS Cell during Holiday Period
Israeli Military Intelligence Chief Expects Important Developments in Syria
Israeli Army Establishes New Battalion to Counter Hezbollah
Cabinet negotiations kick off once again in Lebanon
US Citizens Sue Hezbollah over Trauma Caused by Missiles
Is There a Real Estate Crisis in Lebanon?
Islamic Jihad tells Iran: We will create second front in any Israel-Lebanon war

Litles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on January 02-03/19
Pope bemoans disjointed world, praises unity over diversity
Trump asks Netanyahu to make his peace plan the focal election campaign issue
Pompeo Says Pull-Out from Syria Changes Nothing in U.S. Support for Israel
Iran's Zarif Mockingly Calls On Israel, Us, To Withdraw From Planet Earth
Turkey deploys new military reinforcements to Syrian border
Syria Opposition Outraged as Regime Cements Comeback
Syria rebels and extremists clash, killing 19
Israeli settlement activity appears to surge in Trump era
Sea Barrier Separating Israel From Gaza Completed
Trump and Egypt’s Sisi discuss Middle East in phone call
Trump Agrees to Gradually Pull Troops of Syria over 4 Months
Trump 'Looks Forward' to New Meeting with N. Korea's Kim
Tear Gas Fired as Dozens of Migrants Try Illegal Crossing to U.S.
Iraqi PM Forms New Anti-Corruption Council
22 political parties call for formation of transitional government in Sudan
13 dead in Burkina Faso after suspected attack

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 02-03/19
Lebanon’s Hezbollah believes solution to government impasse ‘very close’/Reuters/January 02/19
Cabinet negotiations kick off once again/Ibrahim Bayram/Annahar/January 02/19
Is There a Real Estate Crisis?/Executive Magazine/Jeremy Arbid/January 02/19
Islamic Jihad tells Iran: We will create second front in any Israel-Lebanon war/Elior Levy/ Ynetnews/January 02/19
Trump asks Netanyahu to make his peace plan the focal election campaign issue/DEBKAfile/January 02/19
Syria Opposition Outraged as Regime Cements Comeback/Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 02/19/
Israeli settlement activity appears to surge in Trump era/AP/January 02, 2019
US pullout from Syria, a trap or a true lifeline/Maria Dubovikova/Al Arabiya/January 02/19
Trump: To pullout or not to pullout/Mashari Althaydi/Al Arabiya/January 02/19
Can Hasina balance domestic discord with democratic temper in Bangladesh/C. Uday Bhaskar/Al Arabiya/January 02/19
Who can dethrone the king of Israel/Ramzy Baroud/Arab News/January 02/19
Mystery Surrounds Trump's New Slow Withdrawal/Seth Franztzman/Jerusalem Post/January 02/19
Happy New Year! Now Get to Work./Shira Ovide/Asharq Al Awsat/January 02/19

Latest LCCC English Lebanese & Lebanese Related News published on January 02-03/19
Lebanon’s Hezbollah believes solution to government impasse ‘very close’
Reuters/January 02/19
Lebanon has been without a government since an election almost eight months ago
A breakthrough to create a national unity government in line with Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system seemed close last month.
BEIRUT: The powerful Lebanese Shi'ite militia Hezbollah believes a solution to be "very close" for the country's impasse over forming a new government, one of its senior officials said on Wednesday, following nearly eight months of political wrangling. Lebanese politicians have been unable to agree a new government since a general election in May as rival parties have competed over the allocation of cabinet positions, further unsettling the country's fragile economy. Hezbollah, a heavily armed, Iran-backed movement set up in the 1980s to combat Israeli occupation, started taking part in electoral politics in the 1990s and is the most powerful group in the country. "We believe the solution is very close," said Mahmoud Qamati, deputy head of the group's political council, and suggested it could happen in time to be considered "a holiday gift". "The intentions held by everybody are positive and for the benefit of the country," he added. On Tuesday, Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri said he and President Michel Aoun had met and were "determined to form a government", state news agency NNA reported. A breakthrough to create a national unity government in line with Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system seemed close last month, but it did not work out and the deadlock resumed. However, Hariri said on Sunday he still believed the government would form early in the new year. The lack of a government has caused particular concern because Lebanon faces both structural economic problems and regional instability. Lebanon has the world's third-highest level of debt to GDP and Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said on Sunday it faces an economic crisis that he warned could turn into a financial one. Hariri has pledged to carry out economic reforms that could unlock billions of dollars of international investment in Lebanese power, transport and data infrastructure, aimed at boosting the economy after years of weak growth. The International Monetary Fund has stressed the importance of Lebanon putting its debt on a sustainable footing, while bond yields and the cost of insuring against Lebanese sovereign debt have shown signs of stress in recent months. Last month, Israel uncovered several tunnels it said Hezbollah had dug under the border, adding to tensions between the countries some 12 years after Israel and Hezbollah fought a war on Lebanese soil. Qamati said the government formation was beneficial "particularly in light of the Israeli dangers". The latest hitch in efforts to form a government came over Sunni Muslim representation in the cabinet. Hariri said on Tuesday that only one difficulty remained and that he and Aoun were working to solve it.

Aoun Follows Up on Govt. Formation as Bassil Meets Hariri
Naharnet/January 02/19/President Michel Aoun continued Tuesday contacts aimed at facilitating the formation of the new government in light of the outcome of his Monday meeting with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, the National News Agency said.
Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Jebran Bassil, Aoun’s close aide and son-in-law, meanwhile held talks with Hariri at the Center House. A statement issued by Hariri’s office said the talks tackled “the latest developments, especially those related to the formation of the government.”
The parties are currently discussing a new solution for the hurdle of representing six Hizbullah-backed Sunni MPs in the government after a row over the political alignment of consensus candidate Jawad Adra torpedoed a previous endeavor.
Media reports said that under the new proposal the consensus Sunni minister would be exclusively counted as part of the President’s share, which means that he would not take part in the meetings of the FPM’s Strong Lebanon bloc.

Lebanon: Hariri Warns Govt Deadlock Can't Continue
Beirut- Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 2 January, 2019/Lebanon's prime minister-designate, Saad Hariri, warned Tuesday a government needs to be formed as the country faces a tough economic situation after months of political deadlock. "We have fallen behind -- we must form the government", he told reporters at the presidential palace, after a long meeting with President Michel Aoun. "The president and I are determined to meet again and finish this issue, because the country cannot continue without a government," Hariri said. He called for political factions in the multi-confessional country to cooperate on reviving the political process. Earlier on Monday, Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Beshara Boutros Rahi, urged for forming a mini-cabinet "comprised of competent specialists who are impartial to take on State responsibilities and able to work immediately on solving the country's crises." Rahi urged Lebanese officials to show responsibility in carrying out the necessary reforms in public sector and reduce the deficit away from the political sectarian interference. "Politicians should lead the state and public administrations out of partisan, political and sectarian subordination to be replaced with loyalty to the country and the interest of the citizens, and put an end to financial and political corruption and protect public money from waste and theft," Rahi added. Lebanon is governed by a complex system that guarantees a delicate balance between religious communities and their political parties, so decisions are made by consensus, making for protracted bargaining. The country's parliamentary elections in May were the first for nine years but lawmakers have since failed to form a government. In mid-November, Hariri accused his main political rival -- the Shiite movement Hezbollah -- of obstructing the formation of a new cabinet. A month later, he promised that Lebanon would have a government "by the end of the year". The slow process has worried observers, as the economy is teetering on the brink of disaster, hit hard by the fallout from the conflict that has ravaged neighboring Syria since 2011.
"The economic situation is difficult, but this is not to say it is impossible," Hariri said Tuesday. The international community pledged up to $11.5 billion in aid and loans for Lebanon at a conference in Paris in April. But the promised funding is largely destined for infrastructure projects, which cannot be actioned without a new cabinet.s not to say it is impossible," Hariri said Tuesday. The international community pledged up to $11.5 billion (10 billion euros) in aid and loans for Lebanon at a conference in Paris in April. But the promised funding is largely destined for infrastructure projects, which cannot be actioned without a new cabinet.

Berri: Only Solution is Civil State
Naharnet/January 02/19/Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday reiterated his call for the rise of a “civil state” in Lebanon as a solution for the country’s recurring crises. “The only solution today and in the future is the rise of a civil state,” Berri told lawmakers during the weekly Ain el-Tineh meeting, reminding that he had raised this “solution” years ago at a national dialogue conference. Turning to the issue of the government, Berri hoped it will be formed as soon as possible, noting that the regional developments have proved his viewpoint that the obstacle is “domestic.”

Hizbullah from Bkirki: Govt. as 'Holidays Gift' Still Possible
Naharnet/January 02/19/Granting the Lebanese a new government as a “holidays gift” is still possible, Hizbullah said on Tuesday. “All those concerned with the formation of the government are exerting serious efforts,” a Hizbullah delegation said after talks with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki. “There are no foreign obstacles and the latest endeavor was marred by a flaw,” the delegation added, And noting that it is still possible to give Lebanon a government as a “holidays gift,” the Hizbullah delegation said all parties have “positive intentions” and that “the flaw is being addressed.” As for the relation with the Free Patriotic Movement, the delegation stressed that it is “at its best.” The delegation was led by Mahmoud Qmati, the deputy head of Hizbullah’s political council. The latest hurdle delaying the cabinet’s formation is a standoff over the sixth Sunni minister. The Hizbullah-backed Consultative Gathering, a grouping of six Sunni MPs, has insisted on getting a seat in the new government.A dispute over the political alignment of Jawad Adra, a so-called consensus candidate, has however torpedoed the latest effort and a mediation is underway to find an alternative solution.

Army Arrests IS Cell during Holiday Period
Naharnet/January 02/19/The army arrested an Islamic State cell consisted of four Syrians during the holiday period, the military announced on Wednesday. “As a result of the intensive efforts that the Intelligence Directorate carried out in the various Lebanese regions during the holiday period to preserve citizens’ security, it managed to arrest a cell belonging to the terrorist IS cell,” the Army Command said in a statement. It added that the cell, consisted of four Syrians, was operating between the Metn and North regions. “They were communicating with the leaders of the aforementioned terrorist group,” the army said. “After interrogation, they were referred to the relevant judicial authorities,” it added.

Israeli Military Intelligence Chief Expects Important Developments in Syria
Tel Aviv- Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 2 January, 2019 /Tamir Hayman, the chief of Israeli military intelligence chief, told a conference in Tel Aviv that the year 2019 would bring “significant change” to Syria, without elaborating. He added that Israel was monitoring the Iranian presence with the return of stability to Syria under the umbrella of Russia, stressing that Iran could use its growing influence in Iraq to turn it into a launching arena for attacks against Israel. “This presence of Iran, with Syria’s return to stabilization under a Russian umbrella, is something we are watching closely,” he noted. Meanwhile, a senior military source in Tel Aviv said on Tuesday that the new year 2019 “carries tough security predictions, with the possibility of serious military escalation on all fronts of combat, from Syria to Lebanon and even the Gaza Strip and perhaps the West Bank too”, despite the fact that the army will try, as in the past year, to avoid war. “The challenges facing Israel are mounting; the new year is full of uncertainty, and there is a growing possibility over time of an escalation that could include every front,” the official was quoted by saying in local reports. “Israel is therefore required to overcome this new year with the least amount of broad military confrontation, because every enemy and adversary has strong internal challenges that can break out, and the choice of confrontation with Israel is a substitute for facing such challenges,” he emphasized.
Sources in Tel Aviv said that the top Israeli challenge was to prevent the outbreak of war, but “in case war occurred, Israel must achieve victory, to prevent any Iranian military presence in Syria and the access of advanced weapons to Hezbollah, especially precision rockets that require Israel to operate on Lebanese territory.”

Israeli Army Establishes New Battalion to Counter Hezbollah
Agencies/Wednesday 02nd January 2019/The Israeli military has established a new reserves battalion to act as the first line of defense against Hezbollah by protecting the communities along the northern border with Lebanon, the army announced on Monday. Dubbed “Gates of Fire", the battalion is made up of reservists who are freshly released from the Golani Infantry Brigade’s Reconnaissance Battalion. The most veteran members of the battalion left the army in 2015. “The creation of the battalion represents an important turning point in the defensive strategy along the northern border of the State of Israel,” Col. Roi Levi, commander of the Baram Brigade, told soldiers during the formation ceremony for the unit. According to Levi, the Gates of Fire Battalion serves a dual purpose: It is first tasked with defending the communities and military posts closest to the border. Once those sites are secured, the unit is then meant to go on the offensive and attack Hezbollah inside Lebanon.

Cabinet negotiations kick off once again
Ibrahim Bayram/Annahar/January 02/19
On Monday, Hariri held talks with President Michel Aoun before signaling that negotiations "are in full to swing to usher in a new Cabinet that has been excessively delayed."
BEIRUT: A new wave of optimism in breaking the almost eight months government deadlock has been evoked after Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri kicked off fresh rounds of consultations. On Monday, Hariri held talks with President Michel Aoun before signaling that negotiations "are in full to swing to usher in a new Cabinet that has been excessively delayed."The Prime Minister-designate followed up with a separate meeting with caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil Tuesday in an attempt to finally resolve the issue of the Hezbollah-backed Sunni MPs. Following the meeting, Bassil maintained that "all efforts are being exerted to reach a fair solution," while calling on those concerned "to take part in solving the problem."The March 8-affiliated Sunni MPs, backed by Speaker Nabih Berri and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, have been demanding to be allocated one ministry in the 30-member Cabinet. After Aoun accepted to cede one Minister from his share on their behalf, the coalition then rejected the name proposed by Hariri, plunging back Lebanon into the political stalemate. On Tuesday, however, a source familiar with the negotiation process signaled that "a new government could be formed within a week if everyone shows good faith," reiterating the "positive atmosphere of the past few days."Speaking to Annahar, former Minister and current representative of the Sunni bloc Abdul Rahim Mrad welcomed the "new rounds of consultations.""We are waiting for General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim to relay to us the latest developments," he said. On December 18, 2018, Ibrahim launched a mediation effort with top Lebanese officials in an attempt to resolve the issue, yet negotiations floundered after the group rejected the nomination of Jawad Adra by Aoun and Hariri. "We already made a number of concessions, accepting that none of the six MPs be nominated," he said. Touching on Hariri's latest comments, Murad welcomed the initiative while casting aside blame for the continuous delays. "We have shown flexibility during this whole process," he told Annahar.

US Citizens Sue Hezbollah over Trauma Caused by Missiles
New York Post/Wednesday 02nd January 2019/A group of 22 U.S. citizens is suing Hezbollah in Brooklyn Federal Court for the harm the terror group caused by lobbing rocket and missile attacks at northern Israel while they were living there in 2006. The group simultaneously filed a lawsuit against Bank Saderat Iran and Bank Saderat in the same court Monday, accusing the banks of providing Hezbollah with the material support to carry out the attacks. The plaintiffs include sisters Chana Liba and Malka Kumer, who were 5 and 6 and living with their family in the city of Safed during the strikes in the summer of 2006, and have experienced psychological and emotional trauma as a result, the suit charges. Another plaintiff, Chayim Kumer, had a nervous breakdown as a result of the attacks, according to the court documents. The plaintiffs are suing both Hezbollah and Bank Saderat Iran for $50 million in compensatory damages, as well as unspecified punitive damages. A Brooklyn jury in 2014 found Jordan’s Arab Bank liable for knowingly supporting terror operations that killed and injured Americans in Israel by executing financial transaction with high-ranking members of Hamas.The bank agreed to pay a $100 million settlement to the victims, although the payout was reduced when the verdict was overturned by an appeals court earlier this year, according to Courthouse News.

Is There a Real Estate Crisis?
Executive Magazine/Jeremy Arbid/January 02/19
Since at least 2014, the country’s real estate developers have been warning of troubling times ahead. The sector slowdown had begun much earlier, as Executive reported in its October 2018 real estate special report, and sector stakeholders have, for several years now, expressed hope that the next year would be better—repeating this mantra, as if speaking the words out loud would bring about the positive change they have been seeking. By definition, real estate is always cyclical, so the question is: Where are we on the down leg of this cycle—still declining, at the nadir, or nearing an upward turn?
No to low confidence
Confidence to invest in Lebanese real estate reached a low point in 2018. The sector was negatively affected by political uncertainty and economic distortions due to monetary interventions by Banque du Liban (BDL), Lebanon’s central bank. But the formation of a new government has the potential to bring relief on both fronts. After Lebanon forms a new cabinet, there will be a confidence boost, and a foundation for renewed economic growth can be set. This could come in the form of fiscal incentives, taxation changes, or legal changes that require government approval, such as regulating the rental market, alongside BDL’s monetary measures. There are many possibilities that could manifest, if, and only if, the new government adopts a clear vision for the real estate sector. One thing to watch for in 2019 is a housing policy—currently being prepared by the Economic and Social Council (an advisory body to the prime minister made up of academics, economic associations, civil society, political parties, and government entities) as part of its 22-point socioeconomic plan—which will require approval by cabinet before any measures can be implemented. When it comes to asking whether or not real estate will experience pricing adjustments in 2019, the calculation should not only be considered in social or political terms, but also as a macroeconomic factor.In 2013, there was macroeconomic worry at the central bank because of deflation, and the response was to target specific sectors that BDL at that time thought would be beneficial to the economy, through stimulus packages that cost roughly $1 billion each year. The central bank’s annual subsidy package helped drive up GDP growth, and also contributed to inflation, according to a public sector economist with whom Executive spoke. On top of that, the 2017 public sector wage scale increase pushed inflation in general, but also property price inflation, as the wage hike increased the eligibility range for subsidized loans.
It was the absence of the housing subsidization scheme in 2018 that proved a pivotal factor, clearly demonstrating that without subsidies (i.e. monetary interventions by BDL) the sector was worse off. The freezing of BDL’s subsidization scheme was correlated to the central bank’s macroeconomic concerns, including the potential overheating of the economy as a result of rising inflation.
If inflation was to be mitigated at a time when the state was opening the money supply tap in terms of the salary scale, the central bank needed to be careful with its incentive packages.
When the public sector salary increase of $800 million was announced in late 2017, and later turned out to far exceed that amount, the central bank concluded that its measures, coupled with the wage increase, would have sent inflation soaring to 7 percent, or higher, in 2018. “Inflation, if you recall before this year, was in the realm of 3-4 percent, and this year it hit 6 percent. If we were to add to that [BDL’s incentive structure], inflation would’ve probably approached a double-digit level,” the public sector economist told Executive.
Unreliable data
The real estate numbers that make headlines are most likely not suggestive of any sort of trend, or whether there is an impending market crisis or not. In 2018, the number of real estate transactions and cement deliveries went down, but have fluctuations over the last two decades had any correlation with economic development? And if there is a correlation, is it a causation, or is it just coincidental?Before concluding that a real estate crisis can pull the Lebanese economy down, one must first determine whether there actually is a crisis, and that is hard to ascertain. The degree to which real estate transactions contribute to GDP, somewhere in the range of $8-9 billion each year, or $45-50 billion over the last five years, does show that the sector is important, but it should also be noted that it is an inflation driver. Subsidies for real estate can drive inflation higher, but the overall effect is very difficult to measure. There are more variables to consider when valuing the real estate component of the national economy than what are typically taken into account by analysts, who may have a bias toward thinking that everything is a threat to the sector and suggesting a larger crisis than may actually exist.
This is all to say that there is uncertainty in the straightforward reading of real estate indicators: For example, reading selective indicators that are not thoroughly collected data observations—such as the proxy indicator of cement deliveries—do not necessarily reveal as much as one might think. Survey data on real estate perceptions, which is soft data, combined with hard data that is proxy, can lead readers of real estate indicators to conclusions that may be more dramatic than they are sensible. What Lebanon is lacking is reliable data, which is not at all unique to the real estate sector. We do not have an official price index to show price per square meter or transaction price increases in given areas. All the numbers we do have to work with are anecdotal—so when the sector says it believes there is $3-6 billion in unsold residential units in Beirut, or that some developers have gone bankrupt, the factors leading to the unsold apartments or bankruptcies are unknown. We say there is a real estate bubble and that there is a downturn, but we do not have reliable data to say which activities of the sector have imploded, which are underdeveloped, or which are in a bubble state at present.
Prognosis: uncertain
Whatever the real status of the sector is, and where we are on the down leg of the cycle, stakeholders may actually have a better year in 2019 than in 2018. This time around, that optimism is based on hope and the tangible measures expected following the formation of a new government, rather than on hope only, as was the case in past years. Lebanon’s housing authority, the Public Corporation for Housing (PCH), is set to restart its subsidy in 2019 for lower-income, first-time homebuyers, thanks to a one-time allocation of $66 million by Parliament. The subsidy had been offered by the central bank but was discontinued at the end of 2017, leaving borrowers in limbo. In November 2018, Executive interviewed the head of the housing authority, Rony Lahoud, who at that time said the PCH was still negotiating with banks to adjust the financing mechanism for subsidized loans and, possibly, offer a new home loan product to qualifying beneficiaries. As for developers and apartment owners, a new real estate fund could partly ease the oversupply of high-end unsold apartments in Beirut. In October, real estate developers Namir Cortas and Massaad Fares launched Legacy One, a real estate fund that hopes to raise at least $325 million to buy up housing units in the $500,000-$2 million price range in Beirut.
These developments, coupled with the formation of a new government and the implementation of a housing policy, could mark the beginning of a return of investor confidence to Lebanon’s real estate sector. In the context of the t-junction faced by the Lebanese economy, meaning the economic model has hit a wall and must change direction, the real estate sector in 2019 could very well experience a decisive directional move, either remaining static or moving forward.

Islamic Jihad tells Iran: We will create second front in any Israel-Lebanon war
منظمة الجهاد الإسلامي تقول لإيران بأنها ستفتح جبهة تانية في أي حرب إسرائيلية-لبنانية
Elior Levy/ Ynetnews/January 02/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/70677/elior-levy-ynetnews-islamic-jihad-tells-iran-we-will-create-second-front-in-any-israel-lebanon-war-%D9%85%D9%86%D8%B8%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B3%D9%84/
Leader of the second biggest military organization in Gaza meets with Islamic Republic's top officials, says Palestinian people are capable of 'subduing the Zionist entity.'
The Iranian-backed Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad has committed to spark an escalation on the southern front if Israel enters a military conflict with Lebanon’s Hezbollah on the north, said the Palestinian faction's leader, Ziad Nakhala, in an interview to the state-owned Iranian TV channel Al-Alam. Islamic Jihad is the second largest military organization in Gaza. Although the group normally works in coordination with Hamas, it has recently subjugated itself almost completely to Iran, despite being a Sunni organization, and was the one that initiated a round of fighting on the southern border last October.
"In the next confrontation with the occupation, the axis of resistance will operate from the north in Lebanon to the south in Gaza," said Nakhala.
The interview was conducted Saturday following a series of meetings between Nakhala and Islamic Republic’s top officials, including Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Nakhala arrived in Tehran accompanied by the terror group’s two senior officials, Khaled Al-Batsh and Mohammed al-Hindi.
"Iran's support and its position (on the Palestinian issue) play a major role in defeating the efforts made to dismiss the issue of Palestinian rights,” said Nakhala after the meeting with Rouhani. “The Palestinian people are being pressured by the U.S. and Israel to accept the so-called 'deal of the century,' which is meant to close the Palestinian cause.”
The Trump administration’s long-delayed peace plan, dubbed “deal of the century” is yet to be unveiled, but has already drawn criticism from the Palestinians who fear the deal will overwhelmingly favor the Israeli side following President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and relocate there the U.S. embassy. Rouhani following the meeting said the only way the Palestinians can defeat “the Israeli oppression” is by rising up and fighting “the Israeli entity.”“Muslims world-wide must support the struggle of the Palestinian people to realize their right, including the right of return … Despite the Madrid protocols and the Oslo agreements, Israel has not fulfilled its obligation to allow the Palestinian refugees to return,” the Iranian president said.
The Islamic Jihad leader echoed Rouhani’s statements during a discussion he held with Supreme Leader Khamenei. "The Palestinian people are capable of subduing the Zionist entity in a way that armies haven’t been able to do. The great victories of the Palestinian people are coming,” Nakhala added. Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif, who also met with Nakhala on Saturday, added that the Islamic Republic “will forever stand by the Palestinian people … Palestine is one of the most important aspects of Tehran's foreign policy."

Latest LCCC English Miscellaneous Reports & News published on January 02-03/19
Pope bemoans disjointed world, praises unity over diversity
Reuters/January 02, 2019/VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis, in his first message of the New Year on Tuesday, bemoaned a lack of unity across the world, and warned against a soulless hunt for profit that benefits only a few. “How much dispersion and solitude there is all around us. The world is completely connected, yet seems increasingly disjointed,” the pope said in his traditional New Year’s Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. In his homily, he paid homage to motherhood, saying a world that looked to the future while forgetting “a mother’s gaze” was shortsighted. “It may well increase its profits, but it will no longer see others as children. It will make money, but not for everyone. We will all dwell in the same house, but not as brothers and sisters,” he said.The New Year’s address followed a turbulent 2018 for the pope, whose Church was battered by a torrent of sex scandals across the world that Francis has repeatedly failed to contain. The sense of crisis was underscored on Monday when the Vatican spokesman and his deputy abruptly and unexpectedly resigned following disagreements on communications strategy.

Trump asks Netanyahu to make his peace plan the focal election campaign issue
DEBKAfile/January 02/19
President Donald Trump is asking Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to build his campaign around the “Deal of the Century” for an Israeli-Palestinian peace, DEBKAfile reports exclusively. This insistent request keeps on coming up in contacts with Washington, including Netanyahu’s conversation with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Brazil on Tuesday, Jan. 1. The peace plan’s authors, the president’s advisers Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt, have been placed on standby for finally going public on their product in the near future. In recent consultations at the White House, in which US ambassador to Israel David Friedman also participated, the president was advised that publication of the peace plan would not be good for the prime minister and his Likud’s chances and it would be better to wait until after the April 9 election. Trump, however, stood by his demand and put forward the following arguments for an early date of publication: Making it a central feature of Netanyahu’s campaign would reuse the general election as a kind of referendum for its popular endorsement.
Building a new coalition cabinet after the vote could be a drawn-out process consuming several months.As a focal of the prime minister’s bid for re-election, the plan would fit in well with his plans for visits in the critical months of February and March of a string of world leaders, including Arab heads of government, to showcase his successes as minister of foreign affairs and defense. Trump believes that knowing the peace plan for the Palestinians was imminent would provide Arab leaders, especially in the Gulf, with an added incentive to make state visits to Israel or invite Netanyahu to visit their capitals.
Some of Trump’s advisers suggested as a compromise that just sections of the peace plan be released at this stage, not the entire opus. They hoped that Trump would be deterred from losing patience and turning to Twitter to unveil his plan, with the same abruptness as the US troop pullback from Syria last month. He could do this in a series of tweets. On Tuesday, Jan. 1, Israel’s party strategists were engrossed in calculating how the Trump peace plan landing in the middle of the election campaign would affect their prospects. This scenario appeared more pressing even than Labor leader Avi Gabbay’s sudden dumping of Tzipi Livni which was making waves. They also treated as a flash in the pan the media reports, soon to be denied, claiming that Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit had conferred with a flock of ex-prosecutors and legal whizzes on how to handle the cases against Netanyahu.

Pompeo Says Pull-Out from Syria Changes Nothing in U.S. Support for Israel
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 02/19/President Donald Trump's decision to pull American troops out of Syria "in no way changes anything" in terms of U.S. support and protection of Israel, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said. Pompeo gave the assurance as he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks in Brasilia on the sidelines of the inauguration of Brazil's new president, Jair Bolsonaro. "The decision the president made on Syria in no way changes anything that this administration is working on alongside Israel," Pompeo said. "The counter-ISIS campaign continues, our efforts to counter Iranian aggression continue, and our commitment to Middle East stability and protection of Israel continues in the same way before that decision was made," he said. ISIS is another term for the radical militant Islamic State group (IS). The fact that the issue was the prime topic of conversation between Pompeo and Netanyahu underlined the uncertainty spawned by Trump's December 19 decision -- announced on Twitter -- to withdraw the approximately 2,000 U.S. troops from northeast Syria, where they had been battling IS remnants. "We have a lot to discuss. We're going to be discussing our -- the intense cooperation between Israel and the United States, which will also deal with the questions following the decision, the American decision, on Syria," Netanyahu said. He said the talks would look at "how to intensify even further our intelligence and operational cooperation in Syria and elsewhere to block Iranian aggression in the Middle East."A U.S. official with Pompeo said the two men "discussed the unacceptable threat that regional aggression and provocation by Iran and its agents poses to Israeli and regional security."Pompeo "reiterated the United States' commitment to Israel's security and unconditional right to self-defense."
Allies' concern
Trump's abrupt decision on Syria stunned regional players, U.S. politicians and military leaders, who expressed surprise that such a major decision would be announced after apparently so little advance consultation, against the advice of his national security advisers.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis resigned following the announcement, which came on the same day that U.S. officials said Trump was also planning a significant drawdown in Afghanistan, with some reports suggesting as many as half of the 14,000 troops could leave.
There are concerns that the U.S. withdrawal could create a vacuum that will be exploited by other militaries active in Syria -- the Syrian army, of course, but also its Iranian allies, or Turkey, which already holds Syrian territory just over its border and which is hostile to the Kurdish groups allied with the American forces. There is also IS. While badly debilitated after years of combat, the jihadist group is still thousands-strong in northeast Syria and could stage a comeback if military pressure is let up. After the blowback from startled allies, Trump appeared to backtrack on his initial announcement that "we have defeated ISIS" and a pull-out would be immediate. In another tweet on Monday he said the withdrawal would now be done "slowly... while at the same time fighting ISIS remnants." The U.S.-led coalition launched its first raids against IS in September 2014, more than two years before Trump won the US election. US-backed forces seized the jihadists' self-declared capital Raqa on October 17, 2017.
Israel has conducted several airstrikes in Syria, targeting positions held by Iran and its Lebanese ally Hizbullah.

Iran's Zarif Mockingly Calls On Israel, Us, To Withdraw From Planet Earth
Jerusalem Post/January 02/19/Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif mockingly suggested that Israel and the United States should leave planet earth in a tweet after the two countries withdrew from the UN’s cultural agency on Monday. Washington has withdrawn from several agreements under President Trump, including the Iran nuclear agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal as well as the Paris climate accord, Zarif explained. He joked that the US and Israel have no other international agreement to withdraw from, other than leaving the earth.“After #JCPOA, #NAFTA, #TPP, Climate Convention & ..., the Trump regime—along with the Israeli regime—today officially withdrew from #UNESCO. Is anything left for the Trump Administration and its client regime to withdraw from? Perhaps from planet Earth altogether?”

Turkey deploys new military reinforcements to Syrian border
Staff writer, Al Arabiya English/Wednesday, 2 January 2019/New Turkish military reinforcements arrived in the southern province of Sanliurfa on Sunday. The reinforcements included artillery and tankers and trucks laden with weapons and ammunition.
Turkey has been reinforcing its military presence on the border since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has signaled that Ankara will soon launch a cross-border operation against the Kurdish YPG. Last week, the Syrian army deployed forces near Manbij in northern Syria after the YPG urged Damascus to protect the town from the threat of a Turkish offensive. Sources on Tuesday told Al Arabiya English that there were sporadic clashes between military forces in Manbij and pro-Ankara factions near the Manbij area. The Turkish army, and other Syrian opposition forces supported by Ankara, are continuing their preparation to enter Manbij, despite an announcement from the Syrian Democratic Forces (which was founded by the YPG) to hand over the city to Syrian regime forces. Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump has “ordered a slowdown” of the previously announced withdrawal of roughly 2,000 US troops from Syria, Republican senator Lindsey Graham had said. Turkey considers the US-backed YPG as an offshoot of the PKK which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. “I think we’re in a pause situation,” the South Carolina Republican said outside the White House after lunch with the president.- With Agencies

Syria Opposition Outraged as Regime Cements Comeback
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 02/19/
Almost eight years into Syria's devastating war, opponents of the regime are watching in dismay as President Bashar al-Assad's government looks set to secure its comeback at home and abroad. Holed up in the last major rebel stronghold or unable to return home after fleeing abroad, they are frustrated to have been abandoned by the international community. "Today, I'm looking for a homeland," activist Shady Matar told AFP from exile in neighboring Turkey. "I can't go home while the regime is still in power," said the 27-year-old, whose hometown of Daraya near Damascus was retaken by the government in 2016.
And "most countries whose governments say they support the Syrian people have closed their borders" to us, he said. Sparked by the brutal repression of anti-Assad protests in 2011, the conflict has killed more than 360,000 people and displaced millions at home and abroad.
But fighting has failed to topple Assad, endless diplomatic efforts have been unable to reach a peaceful transition, and the regime now appears stronger than ever. With backing from Russia and Iran, the government has expelled rebels and jihadists from large parts of Syria, and now controls almost two-thirds of the country. The government also looks set to increase its influence in a large swathe of territory under Kurdish-led control, after the shock announcement last month of a U.S. military pullout.
'The criminal may win'
On the diplomatic front, efforts seem underway to bring the Damascus regime back into the Arab fold after years of frosty relations. The Arab League suspended Syria's membership in November 2011 as the death toll mounted and several regional powers bet on the demise of the Assad regime. But Sudan's president last month made the first visit by an Arab leader to Damascus since the start of the conflict. The United Arab Emirates last week reopened its embassy in the Syrian capital, and fellow Gulf state Bahrain has followed suit. Bilal Bayush, a media activist in the last major rebel stronghold of Idlib, said he was not surprised. "Their interests with the opposition have ended, and they now have interests with the Assad regime," he said. Political opposition chief negotiator Nasr al-Hariri was outraged. "While our people are dying of cold in refugee camps drowning in cold winter rain, some of our Arab brothers are racing to open up to the criminal who is responsible," he said last week on Twitter. "Yes, Bashar the criminal may win, he may triumph in the face of the colluding international community," he wrote. "But he has not and will not defeat the will of the free Syrian people."He said a solution in Syria required "a real political transition and holding the criminals to account."Endless rounds of U.N.-brokered peace talks have failed to stem the bloodshed and have been overtaken by a parallel track led by Moscow, Tehran and rebel backer Ankara.
Revolution 'orphaned'
The armed opposition is faring no better on the ground. In Idlib, rebels and jihadists have been hemmed in by a buffer zone under a September deal between Russia and Turkey to avert a massive regime offensive there. It was the latest agreement to be reached under the Russia-Iran-Turkey negotiations track. Analyst Nawar Oliver said the opposition -- both political and armed -- was in dire straights. "The military opposition has no choice except to follow what is decided on an international level," said the analyst at the Turkey-based Omran Center. It must do this "to preserve what it still has," he said. Naji Mustafa, a spokesman for the Turkey-backed National Liberation Front rebel group in Idlib, said the international community had dropped the Syrian opposition. "The revolution has been orphaned," said the 38-year-old, who defected from the Syrian army in 2012. "The whole world abandoned it."But in the town of Azaz, close to the Turkish border, lawyer and human rights activist Muthana Nasser was determined years of death and destruction would not go to waste. "The sacrifices and suffering of Syrians will not be in vain," he said. Whatever the final outcome, "I will tell my children when they grow up about the greatest revolution in contemporary history," said the father of three.I will recount "how the international community watched the bloodshed of innocents only to denounce it and not intervene to stop the massacres," he said.

Syria rebels and extremists clash, killing 19
AFP, Beirut/Wednesday, 2 January 2019/Clashes between extremists and rebels in northern Syria have killed at least 19 people, a war monitor said Tuesday. The fighting, pitting Al-Qaeda-linked coalition Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) against an alliance of rebel groups, flared in western Aleppo province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. HTS had on Monday accused rebel group Nureddine al-Zinki of killing five of its fighters, and launched an offensive against rebel positions close to the country’s last opposition bastion in the northwestern province of Idlib. Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Britain-based Observatory, said 12 HTS fighters and five from the Zinki group had been killed, along with two civilians. A further 35 people were wounded, he said. Nureddine al-Zinki is a major player in the National Liberation Front (NLF), a Turkish-backed rebel alliance. HTS and other extremist groups dominate more than half of Idlib province, while the NLF holds most of the rest. The two have regularly clashed over control of territory. Syria’s conflict flared with anti-government protests in 2011 that were brutally repressed, sparking a complex multi-front civil war involving a myriad of jihadist groups and foreign powers. It has left more than 360,000 people dead and displaced millions.

Israeli settlement activity appears to surge in Trump era
AP/January 02, 2019
With little resistance from a friendly White House, Israel has launched a new settlement push in the West Bank since President Donald Trump took office, laying the groundwork for what could be the largest construction binge in years, according to data obtained by The Associated Press. The figures, gathered from official government sources by the anti-settlement monitoring group Peace Now, show an increase in building in 2018 and a sharp spike in planning for future construction. This trend, highlighted last week when an Israeli committee advanced plans for thousands more settlement homes on war-won lands, has only deepened Palestinian mistrust of the Trump administration as it says it is preparing to roll out a Mideast peace plan. Each new settlement expansion further diminishes the chances of setting up a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Both supporters and opponents of settlements confirm a change in atmosphere since early 2017, when Trump took over from Barack Obama, whose administration had tried to rein in construction.
“The feeling of the (Israeli) government is everything is allowed, that the time to do things is now because the (US) administration is the most pro-settlement you can ever have,” said Hagit Ofran of Peace Now’s Settlement Watch program. Peace Now uses several measurements of settlement activity. These include “plans,” or the early bureaucratic stages of preparing a project; “tenders,” when bids are solicited from contractors to do the work; and “construction starts,” when the building actually begins. Each of these figures tells a different story. While construction starts give a snapshot of the current level of settlement activity, they reflect decisions made years ago. In contrast, the planning and tender stages are seen as forward-looking indicators of a government’s intentions.
The data compiled by Peace Now showed a drop in construction starts during Trump’s first year in office, to 1,643 units in 2017 from 3,066 units the previous year. This drop appears to reflect the lingering effect of reduced planning during the final two years of the Obama administration. But the data for the first nine months of 2018 indicate the beginning of a Trump effect, with construction starts 20 percent higher than the same period a year earlier.
These trends are even more evident when looking at the planning process. In 2017, plans were advanced to build 6,712 new settlement homes, roughly 2.5 times the 2016 level.
In 2018, plans for an additional 5,618 units were advanced, nearly half of which were processed last week alone. Together, these numbers are the highest level of planning seen since 2013. At that time, Israel pushed forward settlement construction to counter criticism of its release of Palestinian prisoners as part of then-Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace efforts.
The biggest surge in settlement activity during the Trump era is in tenders— projects that are ready to be launched. In 2017, 3,154 tenders were issued, up from just 42 during Obama’s final year in office. In 2018, that number rose to over 3,800, the highest number by far since Peace Now started compiling the data in 2002. This sets the stage for a huge jump in construction in the near future. “There’s definitely a change of atmosphere. There’s definitely a change of winds,” said Oded Revivi, mayor of Efrat, a major settlement near Jerusalem, and the chief foreign envoy of the Yesha settlement council.
Revivi said that Obama pressured Israel into greatly curtailing settlement activity. Now, he said, Israel is trying to make up for lost time.
“Basically what you’re seeing now is the statistics are trying to catch up to the needs that were built up during the eight years of the Obama administration, when everything was in a standstill,” Revivi said. White House Mideast envoy Jason Greenblatt’s office declined comment, and State Department officials were not immediately available for comment.
The Palestinians and most of the international community consider Israeli settlements to be illegal and obstacles to peace. Over 400,000 Israelis now live in the West Bank, in addition to 200,000 in east Jerusalem. The Palestinians seek both areas, captured by Israel in 1967, as parts of their state. For decades, a string of US presidents, both Republican and Democrat, condemned settlement construction. Things quickly changed when Trump took office. Trump refused to condemn settlement construction and surrounded himself with advisers — including his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Ambassador to Israel David Friedman — who are Orthodox Jews with close ties to settlements. Trump at times has asked Israel to show restraint, but his administration has remained largely silent as Israel has pressed ahead with its construction efforts over the past two years.
This has been welcome news to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose outgoing coalition is dominated by religious and nationalist settlement sympathizers. Favored to win re-election in April, Netanyahu has said he expects his next government to look very similar.
Israel never annexed the West Bank, meaning the Israeli military remains the sovereign there. Construction in the West Bank requires approval from COGAT, a Defense Ministry body that oversees civilian affairs in the territory.
Plans are submitted by the government to COGAT’s Higher Planning Council, which decides if they meet legal criteria. COGAT routinely portrays decisions on new settlement activity as a technical matter, playing down the political impact. In a statement, COGAT said it acts in accordance with planning and building laws in the West Bank.Critics say COGAT routinely promotes settlement expansion and development at the expense of Palestinian communities in the 60 percent of the West Bank that is under full Israeli control. Palestinians have varying degrees of autonomy, including over building permits, in the remaining areas of the West Bank, where most Palestinians live. The offices of Avigdor Lieberman, who served as defense minister in 2017 and 2018, and his deputy, Eli Ben Dahan, did not respond to requests for comment. Both are strong supporters of the settlements and settlers themselves.
The settlement surge has added to the Palestinians’ distrust of the White House. The Palestinians cut off ties with the administration over a year ago after Trump recognized contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. President Mahmoud Abbas has said he will reject any peace plan the Trump team presents.
Abbas’ spokesman, Nabil Abu Rdeneh, said US “silence and lack of condemnation and pressure” have given a “green light” to the Israeli government to step up settlement activity.

Sea Barrier Separating Israel From Gaza Completed
Tel Aviv- Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 2 January, 2019/The Israeli army announced the completion of the construction of a sea barrier between Israel and Gaza after seven months of work. According to military sources, the border fence is 6 meters high and 200 meters long. It contains sophisticated technological systems and is designed to prevent infiltration by sea to Israeli towns located near areas along the northern Gaza Strip. The fence will also allow uncovering tunnels. The sources added that the sea barrier was built on a wall of huge rocks that had been planted in the seabed on the northern border of the Gaza Strip. The fence contains precise sensors. The decision to build an upgraded naval barrier was decided following Palestinian attempts to infiltrate into the surrounding towns, Israel says.

Trump and Egypt’s Sisi discuss Middle East in phone call
Reuters, Cairo/Wednesday, 2 January 2019/Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi discussed the stability of the Middle East with US President Donald Trump in a phone call on Tuesday night, a spokesman for the Egyptian presidency said. They discussed Egypt’s efforts in fighting terrorism, and the importance of continuing coordination and cooperation with the United States to support these efforts, the spokesman added.

Trump Agrees to Gradually Pull Troops of Syria over 4 Months
Amman, London- Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 2 January, 2019/US President Donald Trump has agreed to gradually pull US troops out of Syria over a period of about four months, according to US media reports. Reports indicated that Trump told the commander of US forces in Iraq and Syria, Lt. Gen. Paul LaCamera, that the military could have several months to complete a safe and orderly withdrawal. Trump confirmed on Twitter that troops would “slowly” be withdrawn. “If anybody but Donald Trump did what I did in Syria, which was an ISIS loaded mess when I became President, they would be a national hero,” Trump wrote. “ISIS is mostly gone, we’re slowly sending our troops back home to be with their families, while at the same time fighting ISIS remnants.” On Monday, French Defense Minister Florence Parly said that the impromptu announcement of the US withdrawal from Syria caused a lot of questions. “Our priority is to continue until the end,” she announced during a visit to French personnel stationed in Jordan. The United States plays a very important role as leader of the international coalition, indicated Parly, adding that it might not be "realistic or effective" to continue without Washington. "We do not fully share President Trump's point of view," Parly said on her plane to Jordan, however, “we consider that the battle against ISIS is not over yet, and our priority is to continue to complete it." The Minister stated that she was optimistic that this work can be done, and “we need to use effectively the time that separates us from the actual withdrawal, a date on which we do not yet know anything.”Trump had earlier stunned allies by abruptly announcing that the 2,000 US troops in Syria were ready to leave. After taking control of vast territory in Syria in 2014, ISIS suffered many setbacks in the past two years as a result of attacks by the Syrian army and its allies as well as the attacks of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an Arab Kurdish alliance supported by the US-led coalition. The organization still maintains a presence in eastern Syria and some enclaves in the desert, and it is still capable of launching deadly attacks around the world.

Trump 'Looks Forward' to New Meeting with N. Korea's Kim
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 02/19/President Donald Trump is looking forward to another summit with Kim Jong Un, he said Tuesday, after the North Korean leader warned Pyongyang could change its approach to nuclear talks if Washington persists with sanctions. "I also look forward to meeting with Chairman Kim who realizes so well that North Korea possesses great economic potential!" Trump said in a brief tweet. The two leaders made global headlines with an unprecedented summit in Singapore in June, where they signed a vaguely-worded pledge on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. But progress has since stalled with the two sides disagreeing over what the declaration means, and the pace of U.S.-North Korean negotiations has slowed, with meetings and visits cancelled at short notice. The North is demanding relief from the multiple sanctions imposed on it over its banned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, and has condemned U.S. insistence on its nuclear disarmament as "gangster-like."
Speculation of a second Trump-Kim summit has ebbed and flowed, with the US president saying that he hoped it would take place early this year. But a proposed visit by Kim to Seoul before the end of December did not materialize. Culminating in late 2017, the North has carried out six atomic blasts and launched rockets capable of reaching the entire U.S. mainland, but has now carried out no such tests for more than a year.
In his New Year speech Kim called for the sanctions to be eased, saying that the North had declared "we would neither make and test nuclear weapons any longer nor use and proliferate them," and urged the US to take "corresponding practical actions."
If Washington instead continues with the measures, he added, "we may be compelled to find a new way for defending the sovereignty of the country and the supreme interests of the state."
He was willing to meet Trump at any time, he said. Kim's remarks were "apparently designed to revive the momentum of the negotiations," South Korea's centrist Hankook Ilbo newspaper said in an editorial Wednesday. But he was also "signalling that he would never be pushed around," it added. Joshua Pollack of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies tweeted that Kim was insisting "the onus is now on the U.S. to deliver.""The bottom line: Kim remains dug into the same positions on nuclear diplomacy he has occupied over the last six months," he added.
Leather armchair
Kim delivered his speech sitting in a leather armchair in a book-lined office with a patterned blue carpet, presented as being at the headquarters of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea.
Large paintings of Kim's predecessors, his father Kim Jong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung, looked on and a white phone lay on the side table next to Kim's chair. It was a marked departure from previous New Year speeches -- always a key moment in the North Korean political calendar -- which Kim has usually delivered much more formally, standing at a podium.
One thing that was different from past speeches by the North Korean leader was that it was "a relaxed, indoor setting, with him sitting in a comfortable chair rather than standing and speaking in a huge square," the Korea Times said."It seems North Korea was once again trying to establish a new identity as a normal country on the global stage and distance itself from the image of the impoverished authoritarian state that the rest of the world associates it with."
Southern comfort
Kim dedicated most of his 30-minute speech to calls to shore up the nation's moribund economy and curb chronic power shortage -- a goal impossible to achieve without lifting of the sanctions. South Korea -- a key U.S. ally in Asia and the North's capitalist neighbor -- praised Kim's speech, calling it a reaffirmation of Pyongyang's commitment to denuclearization. Seoul and Washington have at times pursued divergent approaches to the Pyongyang, with the South pushing cross-border co-operation projects, including connecting railways and roads across the heavily-fortified border and upgrading the North's tattered infrastructure. But such plans also require some of the sanctions to be lifted. The South's dovish President Moon Jae-in, who played a role of peace broker between the two mercurial leaders, met Kim three times last year -- twice at the border truce village of Panmunjom and once in Pyongyang.
Kim sent Moon a message on Sunday, vowing to meet him "frequently" to discuss denuclearization.

Tear Gas Fired as Dozens of Migrants Try Illegal Crossing to U.S.
Agence France Presse/Naharnet/January 02/19/U.S. Border Patrol agents used tear gas and pepper spray to counter rock-throwing migrants when a group of about 150 tried to illegally cross the border from Mexico, leading to 25 arrests, the agency said on Tuesday. It is the second time since November that border officers have used tear gas during an attempted mass migrant crossing in the San Diego area. The migrants in the latest case New Year's Eve were among 1,500 who have remained in Tijuana, Mexico, just south of San Diego, California, after a once-5,000-strong caravan of travelers -- which raised the ire of President Donald Trump -- largely gave up and dispersed. An AFP journalist reported the crowd size at about 100 and observed the group of Central Americans gathering around 8:00 pm Monday night (0400 GMT Tuesday) in an area called Playas de Tijuana on the Pacific coast, often used by migrants as a departure point for attempts to sneak across the border. There, the border is marked with fencing and a large vertical plate that juts out into the water. On the other side of it, US border agents were seen mobilizing. As night fell and people on both sides of the frontier prepared to celebrate New Year's Eve, the migrants tried to cross over but at least two smoke bombs were fired and they were ultimately held back. Those who tried to cross included adult men, women with small children and adolescents. After that attempt, part of the group stayed near the border and other Central Americans arrived to join them. Shortly after the New Year began, dozens of migrants stood on a hill from which they could see US border agents, who watched them closely. When people in this group rushed the border in a second incident, U.S. authorities fired tear gas to disperse them, an AFP photographer observed. In a statement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said an initial group of 45 migrants turned back towards Mexico, due to the increased presence of Border Patrol agents. Shortly after, migrants began throwing rocks over the fence at CBP officers. "Several teenagers, wrapped in heavy jackets, blankets and rubber mats were put over the concertina wire. Border Patrol agents witnessed members of the group attempt to lift toddler-sized children up and over the concertina wire and having difficulty accomplishing the task in a safe manner," CBP said. It added that agents could not assist the children "due to the large number of rocks being thrown at them."
Minimum force
Agents used smoke, pepper spray and tear gas "to address the rock throwers assaulting agents and risking the safety of migrants attempting to cross who were already on the U.S. side," CBP said. "The rock throwers were located south of the fence, in an elevated position both above the border fence area and the incursion attempt."Most of the migrants returned to Mexico using a hole under the fence or by climbing over it, CBP said, adding 25 people including two teenage migrants were detained. Agents "used the minimum force necessary," Katie Waldman, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement. In late November, also in the Tijuana area, U.S. border officers used tear gas and rubber bullets when about 500 men, women and children scrambled over a rusted metal fence and surged into a concrete riverbed before they encountered a second fence.  Rights groups raised questions over the use of force, in which at least one man was wounded. CBP said 42 people were arrested on the U.S. side. The migrants in both cases were part of a caravan that left Central America in October and traveled 4,300 kilometers (2,600 miles) to Tijuana in the hope of reaching the U.S. and requesting asylum. Many were fleeing gang violence and poverty. They arrived in Tijuana in early November and today about 1,500 still remain. The rest asked to be transported back home or dispersed to other parts of Mexico. Trump used the caravan to stir up fear of immigrants as he pressed his drive to build a wall on the border. He has also made it harder for people to request asylum at the frontier. An impasse with legislators over funding for his border wall project is behind a partial shutdown of U.S. government services which is now in its second week.

Iraqi PM Forms New Anti-Corruption Council
Baghdad- Hamza Mustafa/Asharq Al-Awsat/Wednesday, 2 January, 2019/Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi vowed on Tuesday to combat all forms of corruption in 2019, saying the threat posed by corruption matches that of ISIS. Speaking at the first meeting the newly formed Supreme Anti-Corruption Council, Abdul-Mahdi said the body is designed to bolster state agency for countering corruption. Abdul-Mahdi stated that the objective of the Council is to take preventative measures and unify efforts to combat corruption by any party or person, regardless of their post, according to his press office. He also affirmed that widespread corruption in the country must be brought to an end as it “distorts the image of the state” and its reputation, both locally and internationally. “We must put an end to it and consider corruption as an enemy, as we have ISIS terrorists.”
“The Supreme Council for Combating Corruption should have the necessary administrative and legal powers over corruption cases and be aware of all the details, as well as be alerted of issues that result in corruption,” he stressed. Moussa Faraj, the former chief of Iraq's Commission on Public Integrity, told Asharq Al-Awsat that Iraq’s problem with corruption starts with the country’s executive branch. Government officials may intervene and inhibit the works of independent bodies and undermine their efforts. Blasting the Iraqi justice system for slowing counter-corruption efforts, Faraj said that during his 14 years in public service, he had tried to get proper and detailed litigation on what is usually dismissed as a general case of work negligence among public sector employees, but has been blocked. According to Faraj, this indicates that there is no real will to fight corruption, even if councils and bodies have been formed. He added that the Commission on Public Integrity, according to the constitution, is an independent body subject to the control of the House of Representatives solely, but it has been wrongly placed under ministerial authority instead. Faraj added that the formation of a new anti-corruption body, otherwise known as the Supreme Anti-Corruption Council, is illegal. Over the past few months, the country, namely the central and southern provinces of Iraq, has witnessed regular protests against poor public services, power outages, the lack of clean water, and high unemployment

22 political parties call for formation of transitional government in Sudan
Saad al-Din Hussein, Al Arabiya.net/Wednesday, 2 January 2019/22 Sudanese political parties signed a memorandum on Tuesday which was sent to President Omar al-Bashir, calling for the dissolution of the Sudanese government and parliament. The parties also demanded the formation of a transitional council to manage the country, in addition to forming a transitional government that combines competencies and equal political representation. An Al Arabiya correspondent reported that the al-Islah party withdrew all of its representatives from the government. Earlier on Tuesday, al-Bashir had issued a decree to form an investigative committee to probe the violence that occurred during anti-government protests. According to official numbers, at least 19 persons were killed and hundreds injured during the protests that started on December 19 in several cities, including Khartoum, after a governmental decision to raise the prices of bread and fuel. Protests quickly turned into marches that criticized government policy in Khartoum and other Sudanese regions. Protesters burnt several buildings and offices of the ruling National Congress Party. Riot police managed to break up the marches. Despite the fact that Washington had lifted economic sanctions imposed on Sudan since October 2017, it is facing a foreign exchange crisis amid rising inflation.

13 dead in Burkina Faso after suspected attack
AFP/Wed 02 Jan 2019/NNA - Thirteen people died when suspected 'jihadists' attacked a village in central-northern Burkina Faso, triggering a deadly bout of ethnic violence, local sources and a security official said on Wednesday. Gunmen on motorbikes attacked the village of Yirgou in Barsalogo district on Tuesday morning, "killing six people, including the village chief" and his son, the security official said. A Barsalogo resident, reached by phone by AFP from the capital Ouagadougou, said local villagers, who were from the Mossi ethnic group, then attacked a nearby camp of herders from the nomadic Fulani group, "accusing them of being accomplices of the terrorists.""Seven Fulani herders were lynched and their homes were burned down," the security official said. The mayor of Barsalogo district, Abdoulaye Pafadnam, said the 13 dead were buried at nightfall on Tuesday, but added it was possible the toll was even higher. "A precarious calm has returned to the village, thanks to the presence of defence and security reinforcements," he said. "However, there are reports going around of armed groups coming from the Malian border, and these have caused a mobilisation of the koglweogo," Pafadnam said, referring to a self-defence group. "A crisis committee has been set up to get everyone around the table to talk and avoid the worst," he said. Burkina on Tuesday declared a state of emergency in provinces within seven of the country's 13 administrative regions, four days after 10 gendarmes were killed near the border with Mali.
A state of emergency gives additional powers to the security forces to carry out searches of homes and to restrict freedom of movement. Burkina Faso lies in the heart of the vast Sahel.--

Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on January 02-03/19
US pullout from Syria, a trap or a true lifeline?
Maria Dubovikova/Al Arabiya/January 02/19
The US withdrawal from Syria without a pull-out from Iraq is deemed as a plot. Russia will host a trilateral meeting in January to discuss the repercussions of the American withdrawal from Syria and how to build on this without relinquishing any of the positive transformations in the war-torn country. In other words, Russia will not let others reap the benefits at the expense of the Syrians and will counter any terrorist activities as a result of this withdrawal.
The end of 2018 brought many surprises and revealed some important trances on the Syrian track. Some regional powers have realized that this pull-out is a very positive sign for a brighter future for Syria. The UAE embassy has reopened in Damascus and the Bahraini embassy will be reopened shortly. Saudi Arabia has nothing against Syria returning to the Arab League. Tunisia has resumed flights with Syria. The Syrian army has entered Manbij after the Kurdish militias (YPG) pulled out prior the Turkish operation in the region, thus disrupting Ankara’s plans.
It is clear that several Arab countries decided to change strategy regarding Syria, to have a presence in Syria and not to leave it to be under the dominance of Iran. They consider that Syria’s return to the Arab orbit will limit Iranian power in the region and as it was stated by the UAE’s minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, “communication with Damascus will not leave the region open to Iranian interference.”Talks by all the Arab states regarding the transition of power in Syria will come to nought, especially taking into account that with any election to be held in Syria, the winner is highly predictable. Syria should yet nurture political figures strong enough to replace the current leadership. For now the Arab countries can go for a deal with Assad proposing him to be welcomed by the Arab states and to direct him away from the Iran. The predicament of Iran and its interference is taken into account by Russia, as Moscow works out an opportunity to replace Iran-backed forces with the Sudanese army, which will limit Israeli opportunities in sowing problems on the Israeli-Syrian border and bombarding Iran-related facilities in Syria.
Poison in the honey?
However, the withdrawal is a trap as Russians say: “There is some poison in the honey.” The move is appearing more as a kind of a trap for Russia, the Syrian regime and Iran rather than a withdrawal for considerations of rationality and the economy. Though Damascus is happy with this announcement, there is very little to be happy with as this vacuum resulting from withdrawal also has the potential to lead Syria into becoming another Iraq. The US withdrawal significantly strengthens the Turkish position. Taking into account the recent warming relations between Ankara and Washington, Turkey becomes one of the strongest players in the region. These developments are making Turkey a black box for the regional players. Turkey will be less predictable in its foreign policy movements. It might become more aggressive in terms of pursuing its geopolitical goals, including eradication of the Kurdish threat. It is clear at the end of 2018 that Turkey had the option of intervening militarily in the east of the Euphrates under the guise of a preventive measures. This is what Washington wants, but there is a danger of confrontation with the Russians, Iranians and the Syrian army. Ankara and Washington rule out such a clash and see that Moscow will accept a compromise.
An adventurous bid
However, Turkey understands that the adventurous bid to be more involved in Syria would threaten Ankara's security and would place Turkey in a direct collision with Russia, the Syrian army and Iran even if they choose not to engage in direct confrontation with the Turkish army, the latter would be exposed to an expensive war of attrition. However, with US support, Turkey feels more confident about what it can afford to win and lose. In the first half of the year, Turkey is likely to continue its intense contacts with Moscow and Tehran to coordinate its own moves because Ankara needs to test US sincerity when Washington talks about cooperation in Syria and many other files. Also noteworthy is that the US withdrawal gives a chance for ISIS to regroup its forces and regain its capabilities to be a more active for years to come, endangering stability in the region. It could be the US plan to return once ISIS rises again, proving to the world that it is helpless without mighty hand of Washington. However, this is just a supposition. Syria is now walking on a tight rope. The majority of recent developments are giving hope, rather than spreading skepticism. All regional powers are trying to find a political settlement for the war in Syria, away from Iranian involvement in an Arab country. The coming weeks will tell whether the American withdrawal will help reach this goal.

Trump: To pullout or not to pullout?
Mashari Althaydi/Al Arabiya/January 02/19
US President Donald Trump has returned to lure enemies and allies over the nature of the US pull-out from the Middle East.
On December 19, Trump fired a loud political security bomb when he announced the “immediate” withdrawal of US forces along with experts and civil servants from the eastern Euphrates of Syria, leaving the Kurdish militias and whoever supports them from Arab tribes to face their dark fate with the tattered Turks.Now, Trump has returned a few days ago with talk of a “slowing withdrawal” of American forces from Syria, and the Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who has recently gotten close to Trump, came out and said he met with the president and that the latter promised him that they will not pull-out until they are sure that ISIS is defeated. After his Syria bomb of an announcement, he even visited US troops at the al-Asad Air Base in Iraq, and promised that they would stay there in Iraq, so what is the difference between the neighboring countries Iraq and Syria?
A change of rhetoric
Trump himself changed his rhetoric of a “complete defeat of ISIS”, which has now become a “semi-complete defeat”, adopting a less strict tone and stance on what was announced a few days ago about Syria.
After his Syria bomb of an announcement, he even visited US troops at the al-Asad Air Base in Iraq, and promised that they would stay there in Iraq, so what is the difference between the neighboring countries Iraq and Syria?
At the same time, Turkey expressed its discontent with the US announcement, according to President Trump, and that the American withdrawal from Syria does not include Washington abandoning their “Kurdish allies”. Turkish authorities consider Kurdish Protection Units east of the Euphrates the “Kurdish ISIS” as the official Turkish spokesman Ibrahim Kalin put it!
Have American generals woken up Trump to see the dangers of a full American pull-out from the Middle East, so the man backed off, even partly?
We are not only talking about Syria, but also the Trump promise to withdraw from Afghanistan, which is another political bomb that hasn’t detonated yet as it is still in the volt of the Trump promises. The retired United States Army General in Afghanistan Stanley McChrystal had warned that a US withdrawal will probably lead to would lead to “greater instability” in the region. It is certain that Trump is trying to trying to go back on his decision to withdraw, or trying to maneuver time with the pressure directed at him from the military elite and some politicians and liberal media. This is the same media who have suddenly become supporters of US military intervention in the world, while they weren’t this enthusiastic during the known Obamian withdrawal doctrine, which is a scandalous political situation. Whether Trump is honest or manipulative, it remains that even if America exits the Middle East from the door, it will return to through its windows, the economic, security and political temptations in this part of the world is irresistible!

Can Hasina balance domestic discord with democratic temper in Bangladesh?
C. Uday Bhaskar/Al Arabiya/January 02/19
Bangladesh, which was originally East Pakistan, was born in December 1971 after being “liberated” from the genocidal shackles of the Pakistani military and more than three million lives were lost in the freedom struggle led by the charismatic Sheikh Mujibur Rehman.
India played a critical role at the time though the major powers such as the US and China were not very enthused by this geo-political development – the birth of a new nation even as the Cold War was being played out in varied proxy manner in different parts of Asia.
The trigger for the birth of Bangladesh was the invalidity of the two-nation theory that led to the creation of Pakistan in August 1947. It was averred that religion – in this case the Islamic faith common to the Muslim population of the sub-continent was adequate to provide the bonding and basis for creating a nation. Consequently two wings of Pakistan were created, the dominant west and the subservient east.
However the ethnically and linguistically different Bengali Muslim citizen of Pakistan was denied equitable constitutional status and kept under the equivalent of the double colonial yoke – first the British and then the Punjabi Muslim elite.
Hence the demand for a new state based on linguistic and cultural identity was inevitable and hastened by the murderous policies followed by the Pakistani military in 1970 – alas with the tacit support of the major powers.
Thus the basic identity of Bangladesh and the orientation of the state have been bitterly contested and in the last four decades there have been assassinations (including that of the founding father Mujibur Rehman) and bouts of military rule.
While being accused of being authoritarian and following a policy of relentless vendetta against her opponents, PM Hasina has enabled a growth trajectory that is the envy of many developing nations
Father’s vision
A core old guard with loyalty to the Pakistani ideology has resisted the liberal, moderate Islamic path and this has played out in domestic politics with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina committed to her father’s vision and her rival – Begum Khaleda Zia representing the old guard and its support base that include the religious right-wing.
Thus, the democratic principle while being venerated is yet to take firm root and the 11th general election held on Sunday (December 30) reflected this inherent tension between the rhetorical commitment to liberal democracy and its actual practice.
The Hasina-led Awami League (AL) won 288 of the 300 seats that were contested and this is a victory percentage that is akin to what ‘authoritarian’ democracies are better known for.
The opposition has cried foul and sought fresh elections but the global community led by India has accepted the December 31 verdict (the results were formally declared on Monday) and PM Hasina will have the distinction of winning a third consecutive term – and also commencing a fourth tenure as PM of Bangladesh.
The Hasina led AL has brought much needed stability for socio-economic development and in the last 25 years, Bangladesh with a current population of 162 million has moved from being deemed a basket-case (per capita $330) to being acknowledged as a success story in the Islamic world. In two decades, per capita income has risen to $1640 and on the global stage Bangladesh is second only to China in garment exports – its USP for years.
While being accused of being authoritarian and following a policy of relentless vendetta against her opponents, PM Hasina has enabled a growth trajectory that is the envy of many developing nations – what domestic cynics refer to as the poor man’s Singapore model.
Faustian bargains
The Islamist constituency that has been accused of supporting domestic and regional terrorism has been kept at bay but some Faustian bargains that go against the liberal, democratic may have been covertly entered into by the AL and its supporting parties.
Thus in her third term, Hasina will have to address the visible domestic discord and opposition to her rule and remain wedded to the democratic temper in word and spirit – though authoritarianism is the current flavor in most democracies!
The Bangladesh PM elicited regional and global appreciation for her Rohingya policy and has demonstrated a certain political resolve and innate compassion, that if extended to her detractors – would lay the foundations for a robust and vibrant democratic ethos where a constructive opposition has a critical role to play in nation-building.
Bangladesh has received valuable support and financial aid in its evolution from many external interlocutors and has been a very credible recipient nation. To Hasina’s credit, she has managed Dhaka’s external relations with India, China, Japan and the oil-rich Arab nations in a rather adroit manner.
Supporting Beijing in its BRI initiative even while being considered to be a critical partner for Delhi is deft and commendable politics. It is instructive to note that the first call congratulating PM Hasina on her decisive victory was from Indian PM Narendra Modi.
Building on this widespread goodwill and enabling Bangladesh to address the complex challenges it faces (from climate change and sea-level rise, to improving human-security indicators and staying the course in relation to the minorities) while remaining wedded to the constitutional imperative will test the acumen of Sheikh Hasina in her fourth term.

Who can dethrone the king of Israel?
Ramzy Baroud/Arab News/January 02/19
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in November responded to calls to hold early elections by saying such a move would be a “historic mistake.” A few weeks later, he spoke with exaggerated confidence of the “unanimous” agreement of his right-wing coalition that early elections must be held in April. So why the change of heart?
Netanyahu may not be a good leader, but he is certainly a cunning politician. The fact that he is bidding for a fifth term at the helm of Israel’s fractious political scene speaks volumes of his ability to survive against the odds.
But it is not all about Netanyahu and his clever ways. Israeli politics are truly dismal. The left, if it ever earned such a title, is marginal, if not entirely irrelevant. The center lacks any real political identity or decipherable discourse concerning, for example, foreign policy or a true vision for peace and coexistence. The right, which now defines Israeli society as a whole, has moved further to the right and is saturated in religious zeal and ultranationalism, while some of its parties are flirting with outright fascism.
As strange as this may sound, in the company of Education Minister Naftali Bennett, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and the recently resigned Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Netanyahu is not the most extreme.
Indeed, as per Israel’s Orwellian politics, nothing is what it seems.
Netanyahu is now paying the price for his overconfidence. The right-wing creature that he has so diligently created to quash his enemies has grown so powerful and unhinged that even the prime minister himself can no longer control political outcomes. The once-unchallenged Israeli leader has grown too comfortable with power. And his family has become too accustomed to the good life. His wife is now standing trial for corruption and misuse of public funds.
In early December, police recommended for the third time that Netanyahu be charged with fraud, accepting bribes and breach of trust. Between direct involvement in the massive corruption racket that his office has espoused, and the dirty dealings of his own circle of aides and profiteers, the Israeli leader is no longer untouchable.
Netanyahu’s sense of safety has always been buttressed by his good standing in opinion polls. Even now, his numbers are still relatively high. His Likud party would still win an election — claiming 30 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, according to polls — if the vote was held today. In fact, this is precisely why Netanyahu had the change of heart and succumbed to mounting pressure from Bennett, among other dissatisfied right-wingers.
His hands are getting tied in Syria thanks to Russia’s strong rejection of Israel’s incessant bombing of the war-torn country. His movement in Gaza has also become restricted due to the botched attack on the besieged strip in November.
Gaza was a place where Israeli politicians could freely flex their muscles, punishing the trapped population of that tiny region either with a customary war or a routine bombardment. But Netanyahu has failed on that front as well, as the Gaza resistance repelled that recent Israeli commando attack and forced Tel Aviv into an Egyptian-sponsored truce. A mere 48 hours later, Lieberman resigned in protest, further contributing to the growing stigma among Israeli officials from all parties that their leader was “weak” and was “defeated” by Hamas.
Netanyahu is now paying the price for his overconfidence. The right-wing creature that he has so diligently created to quash his enemies has grown so powerful and unhinged that even the prime minister himself can no longer control political outcomes.
Still his coalition survived, but not for much longer. A razor-thin majority of a single Knesset member kept the once-powerful coalition alive in Parliament. Bennett and others suddenly had the key to the Likud-led coalition’s survival and to Netanyahu’s own political fate. Thus, Netanyahu opted for early elections, hoping for an easy victory and yet another right-wing coalition, where he would have greater maneuverability and command greater respect.
Since the centrist and left-wing parties have already proved to be worthless, Netanyahu is now counting on their ongoing failure to appeal to Israeli society.
Elections will be held on April 9 — nearly eight months before they were originally scheduled — as announced on Dec. 24 by Speaker of the Knesset Yuli-Yoel Edelstein. Considering Netanyahu’s increasing misfortunes, eight months would be too long to maintain his electability. In fact, nearly half of Israelis already see him as a corrupt leader.
According to the same calculations, early elections in April will not be long enough for a capable contender to emerge from either the right or the political wreckage of the center and left to finally dethrone the king of Israel. However, this too might prove to be wishful thinking.
Within days of Edelstein’s announcement, Bennett and Shaked declared the formation of their own new party. The leaders of the Jewish Home are now the leaders of the New Right. While this is seen as a major challenge to Netanyahu within his right-wing constituency, it is also an early sign of the fragmentation of the right itself.
But that’s not all. Another Benjamin — Benjamin “Benny” Gantz — is hoping to change the Israeli political paradigm entirely. The ex-general has served in several wars against Gaza, on the Israel-Syria front, and was the Israel Defense Forces’ 20th chief of general staff.
With an unclear, thus untainted, political outlook and a bloody war record, it would be tough for Netanyahu to diminish Gantz’s reputation among Israelis. In Israel, “killing Arabs” is always an incentive at the polls. Although the army man-turned-politician is being perceived as a center-leftist, he clearly wants to start anew. Last week, Gantz launched his own political party, Hosen Yisrael (Resilience of Israel).
With little, if any, political campaigning, the new party would be predicted to win 15 seats in the Knesset if elections were held today. This says much about Israelis’ lack of faith in the existing center-left political elites, but also about the serious challenge that the right, with all of its strands, should expect if the pendulum continues to swing.
For now, Netanyahu’s strategy is likely to focus on gaining as much new political capital as possible, while taking as few risks as possible. But, with his enemies gaining momentum, police investigations closing in, the fracturing of the right and the rise of an electable centrist, Netanyahu the survivalist might become a liability to his own party, which could, at last, usher in the end of his political career.
• Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of Palestine Chronicle. His latest book is “The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story” (Pluto Press, London, 2018). He earned a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter and is a Non-Resident Scholar at Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies. Twitter: @RamzyBaroud

Mystery Surrounds Trump's New Slow Withdrawal
سيث فرانزتزمان منال جيروزاليم بوست: الغموض يحيط بقرار ابطاء ترامب سحب القوات الأميركية من شرق سوريا
Seth Franztzman/Jerusalem Post/January 02/19
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/70673/seth-franztzman-jerusalem-post-mystery-surrounds-trumps-new-slow-withdrawal-%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%AB-%D9%81%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B2%D8%AA%D8%B2%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%85%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%AC%D9%8A/
US Senator Lindsey Graham had been slamming US President Donald Trump’s Syria policy for more than a week when he finally met the president in the White House on Sunday. He was “reassured,” he said, that Trump would make sure that any withdrawal from Syria doesn’t result in Iran filling the void left by America, and that US Kurdish allies “are protected.”
Now, reports indicate that the US will allow “months” for the withdrawal, as opposed to a specific 30-100 day timeline. This is in contrast to Trump’s speech at Al-Asad airbase in Iraq on December 26, where he emphasized that he was bringing the troops home. Trump has been adamant on this since his December 19 decision to end US involvement in Syria.
The new timeline presented and reported in the US now appears to be within 120 days; Trump says that the US is “slowly” bringing the troops home.
There are also new questions about the degree to which the withdrawal will be coordinated with Turkey. Trump made his decision after a conversation with the Turkish president on December 14. Ankara had threatened a military operation in northern Syria against the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which it accuses of being linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Trump claimed on December 23 that the US withdrawal would be “slow and highly coordinated” with Turkey.
But those plans appeared dashed on Friday when the Syrian regime announced that it would send forces to Manbij, a city where the US has forces and which is run by a local council affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main US partners on the ground. The SDF and YPG were concerned that Turkey would launch an attack on Manbij, backed by Syrian opposition forces. Some of the Turkish-backed forces are extremists and locals fear them.
The Syrian regime seemed to be riding to the rescue, but it would be an embarrassment for the US to be seen as handing over parts of Syria to the regime which the US officially opposes. Damascus is also allied to Iran, so it would mean that the US was turning over these area to an Iranian ally, the opposite of the policy that Washington had been advancing throughout 2018.
Turkey, which Trump appeared to want to be in coordination with, sent a high level delegation to Moscow on Saturday, including the defense minister, foreign minister, presidential adviser and intelligence chief. Ankara was basically sending every key official it could to discuss with Russia – an ally of the Syrian regime – how to coordinate the US withdrawal. In short, Turkey and Russia were discussing the US withdrawal, not Turkey and the US. Not the coordination that Trump had promised.
John Bolton, the national security adviser, is now planning a trip to the region – along with chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford and Syria envoy James Jeffrey – to discuss the withdrawal in Turkey and Israel. According to CNN’s Kevin Liptak, only Bolton will travel to Israel, not the whole delegation. This comes on the heels of reports that Israel had sought to convince Trump to slow down the withdrawal.
US POLICY is still an opaque mystery. Neither the Pentagon nor the State Department appear to be closely coordinating with the White House on how to make the withdrawal a success – and not allow the kind of instability and question marks that appeared last week as the Syrian regime appeared poised to rush into Manbij.
It is also not clear how the US can coordinate with Turkey when it wants to launch an offensive against US partners on the ground. How does one coordinate with one ally who wants to attack another ally? The official US stance is that the SDF is not an “ally” but rather a “temporary, tactical and transactional” partner. But Graham, who has pressured the White House to change its moves, calls the SDF an ally.
Graham also said this week that the US was going to talk to Turkey about creating a “buffer zone” along the border so that Ankara’s security concerns regarding the YPG are met. How does the US intend to create a 400 km. buffer zone? The US has observation points along the border but it seems contradictory to try to withdraw 2,000 troops while adding layers of complexity to northern Syria with a “buffer zone.”
The area along the border is also a key agricultural area where much of the Kurdish population lives. It is precisely the area that Kurdish forces would not want to withdraw from, and the US has no clear plan to use alternative forces along the border. It is difficult enough for the US to patrol a few dozen kilometers in Manbij along the line of control between the SDF and Turkey with its Syrian rebels.
This has left observers mystified. Wladimir Van Wilgenburg, a journalist who has covered eastern Syria for several years, wrote that he wonders “what this buffer zone plan means.” Author Gayle Tzemach Lemmon notes that what one sees firsthand in northeast Syria, “is how much fragile progress on the ground there truly is, and the spirit with which people, of all backgrounds, are pushing forward post-ISIS with their own lives for sake of their children.”
Bolton will have a difficult hurdle to get over in Turkey because the US does not seem to have a plan on the ground for what to do in eastern Syria. Deciding to withdraw suddenly cast its SDF partners into confusion – and they now know that the US will eventually leave. This came after almost a year where the US indicated it would stay for years in eastern Syria.
The SDF now wants other European countries to help guarantee the post-ISIS peace, or it will be forced to reach out to Russia, the Syrian regime or others. Iraq has also decided to increase its role of fighting ISIS in Syria, launching numerous airstrikes in the southern Euphrates Valley where the US and the SDF were battling ISIS. Sensing US withdrawal, many countries such as Russia, Iran and the Syrian government in Damascus will angle for what comes next, whether it is 100 days or 120 days.

Happy New Year! Now Get to Work.
Shira Ovide/Asharq Al Awsat/January 02/19
Right now, people are contemplating their pointless New Year’s resolutions. You might vow to write in a journal every day, or eat only two cookies at breakfast. Others will have an even tougher time meeting their 2019 goals. Consider, for example, Larry Merlo, chief executive officer of the expanding CVS Health Corp. Merlo, a trained pharmacist and 28-year company veteran, recently guided CVS’s $69 billion purchase of insurer Aetna. He’s now in a position to remake American health care — or fail spectacularly, Max Nisen writes. CVS will be in the business of dispensing medicines, negotiating drug costs for health-care providers, ensuring medical benefits for 22 million people and helping patients stick with comprehensive care plans for chronic diseases such as diabetes. There’s a version of the CVS-Aetna merger that delivers a modest set of financial outcomes. But Merlo now has the power to refashion how American health care functions, Max writes. That is quite a resolution. Over at Ford Motor Co., CEO Jim Hackett has annoyed investors by failing to flesh out Ford’s much-needed restructuring and going backward with sales in China. In 2019, Hackett needs to shift into value-creating action, Chris Bryant says. Among the tasks Chris says fall to Hackett: Fixing Ford’s China business, providing clarity on the company’s restructuring, possibly lining up outside funding for its autonomous driving unit and sharing the load in manufacturing and product development with a partner such as Volkswagen AG. You know who else has tough resolutions for 2019? Any American retailer not named Amazon. (Actually, Amazon too.) Sarah Halzack writes that while the industry benefited in 2018 from upbeat shoppers and their own investments in e-commerce and supply chains, the to-do list is long for next year. Many retailers will have to deal with U.S. tariffs on imports from China, which may swing the advantage to the largest retailers that can squeeze vendors and rework factory contracts. Sarah says stores must also do the boring but important work of managing inventory without running out of popular items, or going broke. Landlords may be facing a glut of empty stores if Sears and Kmart liquidate. And Sarah notes that even mighty Amazon is up against the much-improved e-commerce and delivery operations of big box stores. Fix the US health care system. Remake an American auto legend. Survive a sea change in shopping habits and geopolitical tensions. That’s daunting. I’m going to stick to resolutions about my journal and cutting out sweets. Two of the dirtiest words in Silicon Valley are Margrethe Vestager, the Danish politician who has become “the trailblazing regulator of big tech” in her five years as European competition commissioner, Alex Webb writes. After accusing Alphabet Inc.’s Google of anti-competitive activity and Apple Inc. of tax avoidance, Vestager’s term is coming to a close next year. Expect the end to be more of a bang than a whimper, Alex predicts. Vestager recently opened an inquiry into whether Amazon.com Inc. mines information about shoppers’ habits to unfairly boost its competitive position. The economics of Apple’s app store is an obvious target, too. Alex says that Vestager at times has been too hard on telecom companies, and there’s room for her successor to change direction to encourage consolidation that could bolster spending on next-generation internet and mobile infrastructure. Even when she steps down from the EU antitrust authority, Vestager may stay in the spotlight. She has a shot at becoming the next president of European Commission, which Alex says would give Vestager a different seat from which to challenge corporate powers. Bonus Technology Reading: China’s tech-and-telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co. has three leaders, or maybe five. Tim Culpan sorts out the unusual leadership structure and says it will be telling which boss will publicly defend Huawei from renewed US government claims that the company is a tool for Chinese spying. (Huawei has consistently said those fears are unfounded.) And Leonid Bershidsky says artificial intelligence technology made much progress in 2018 but still has a long way to go. There’s no shortage of conflicts in the world’s oceans. Yet illegal fishing needs to be taken seriously as a global security threat, Bloomberg’s editorial board says. With fish stocks growing increasingly depleted, there may be food shortages and forced population movements that fuel war and crime. Fleets operating illegally to hunt for seafood have increased tensions between nations including in the South China Sea and the Patagonian coast. And many illegal fishing operations enslave their crews and use their ships for serious criminal activity. The editorial board writes that data, closer cooperation among countries and stronger enforcement will all be needed to crack the problem. The biggest acquisition of a Hong Kong company this year looks pricey, but it shows the allure of insurance as a way to access the vast pool of mainland Chinese savings, writes Nisha Gopalan. (The Guardian).