Is Israel heading towards fifth election?

In Israeli politics, there is no formal draft for future stars, but there are definitely parties that look ahead rather than at the present. That has never been truer than with Tuesday election. Strategists in parties across the political spectrum admit behind the scenes that with all due respect to the current race, they are actually focusing on yet another election.

Initial exit polls on Tuesday night indicated that Netanyahu’s bloc had won 61 seats together with Naftali Bennett’s Yamina Party, and thus would be able to form a government, but the final results could end up being different.

It does not matter if the fifth election will take place in October 2021 or in 2025. What does matter to the parties is that the three-decade political career of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will eventually end and that will change everything.

They start with Bennett. While it initially looked like he would remain independent in the race, he instead chose to be careful not to leave the Right, even though it could have helped him win more seats in this election. 

Sources close to Bennett said he had in mind building himself up for the next election in the post-Netanyahu era. For that, he could not be the one who prevents the formation of a right-wing government.

The Center-Left similarly looked to the future. Rather than wasting a potentially stronger candidate in a potentially unwinnable fight against Netanyahu, leading figures in the camp said the time had come to run Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and finish him off with a loss.

Labor leader Merav Michaeli has spoken openly about using this election to build her up and rebuild Labor, in order to be ready for the next one.

The best example was the ultimate potential game-changer for this election, Gadi Eizenkot. He saw what Netanyahu did to his fellow former IDF chief of staff, Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, and preferred to sit this race out and wait for post-Netanyahu era.

The Likud’s future leadership candidates, like Nir Barkat for instance, have also purposely been keeping a low profile.

Watching New Hope leader Gideon Sa’ar collapse from 21 seats when the campaign began to five or six after challenging Netanyahu’s political powerhouse in this election, proved parties taking this election not too seriously were better off.

A stuck container ship brings maritime traffic to grinding halt in Suez Canal

A stuck container ship brings maritime traffic to grinding halt in Suez Canal A container ship lodged itself in the middle of the Suez Canal on Tuesday, forcing maritime traffic to grinding halt in one of the world’s busiest waterways.

The Panama-flagged container ship en route from China to the Netherlands has been stuck in the Egyptian canal, while traveling north from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.

Several tug boats have crowded around the ship for hours.

The ship blocked the Suez Canal in both directions, apparently causing other ships to wait for the Ever Given to move before continuing their passage.

The Egyptian government’s canal authority, and Taiwan-based ship operator Evergreen Marine, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Suez Canal is one of the busiest canals in the world, serving as a key link between Europe and Asia for container ships, oil tankers and other vessels. Millions of tons of cargo pass through it every day. The Egyptian government expanded the 150-year-old canal in 2015, in a bid to attract even more traffic and send more fees from shipping companies into government coffers.

Why Joe Biden is following collision policy?

There are ample evidences that the foreign policy of United States under Joe Biden is not any different from that of Donald Trump. These include maximum pressure campaign against Iran, sanctions on Venezuela, bombing of Syria, no change on Yemen and the list can continue. From the outside world the behavior and tough talk of US officials can be termed juvenile. It demonstrates lack of knowledge, wisdom and strategy.

The United States will take an uncompromising stance in talks with China in Alaska, officials said at the first face-to-face meetings between senior officials from the two rivals, but Beijing called for a reset to ties. Then, after days of viciousness against China, it finally dawned on Blinken that he needs China's help. Why, should China be kind to United States?

The same aggressive behavior is also evident towards Russia. Baseless accusations of Russian election interferences are followed with more sanctions and threats topped off with Biden calling Russia's President Putin a 'killer'. Why Biden can’t be called a killer, he ordered bombing at Syria.

Last week the French forces, issued an open letter to NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg in which it accused him of having acting solely in the interest of the US during the development of his NATO 2030 plan. The details show how NATO and the US have caused the bad relations with Russia.

It says the United States is using a fictional 'Russian threat' to pressure NATO countries into morphing into a global force, under its command and independent of the United Nations, to then use it against China. The real threat to Europe emerges from the US interferences in the Middle East and North Africa. The US led NATO is thereby becoming a danger for Europe.

The accusations France against the US go beyond anything one might hear from Moscow or Beijing. The next 'allied' nation that will have sound reason to turn hostile towards the US might well be Germany.

The Biden administration stepped up its rhetoric against a gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, calling on all those involved in the project to ‘immediately abandon’ their work.

“The Department reiterates its warning that any entity involved in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline risks US sanctions and should immediately abandon work on the pipeline,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

Nord Stream 2 is of vital importance to Germany's energy security. The German public was rather hostile to President Trump and Biden's victory was seen with relief, but when it sees how Biden pursues the same policies, and with a similar tone, it will turn on him. A more general 'anti-Americanism' would then arise.

The uncompromising and ever aggressive behavior the United States shows towards competitors as well as friends will not strengthen its position in the world. These rushed attempts to prevent the ending of its unipolar moment will only accelerate the move towards a new multilateral global system.

Iran demands immediate withdrawal of occupying US forces from Syria

Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Iran’s permanent Ambassador to the United Nations has demanded the United States to withdraw all of its occupying forces from Syria. 

Majid Takht-Ravanchi made this demand on Monday while addressing the United Nations Security Council. He emphasized that the sole solution to the crisis in Syria would be implementation of peace, confirming to international laws.

The Iranian Ambassador underlined that all foreign forces that are present in Syria without the Damascus government’s approval, particularly the American troops occupying parts of Syria, must leave the country as soon as possible.

“The Syrian people do not accept continued occupation of their soil or violation of their country’s sovereignty and the international community should not concede to it either, because it contravenes the most basic principles of international law,” he noted.

Takht-Ravanchi also strongly condemned frequent attacks by the US and Israel forces in Iraq and Syria, as these illegal measures only worsen the situation in an already tense region.

“The Syrian crisis has no military solution and the sole way to end it would be a peaceful one in total conformity to principles of international law and articles of the Charter of the United Nations,” he pointed out.

Takht-Ravanchi also called on the international community to put an end to Israel's military adventurism in the region.

Iran has long criticized presence of US military in Syria. In late February, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh condemned American attacks on areas east of Syria, saying the illegal bases run by American forces in the country are used to train terrorists for later use against the Syrian government.

“Illegal American bases on the Syrian soil are training terrorists and using them against the Damascus government,” Khatibzadeh said.

Speaking at a Security Council meeting on Syria in November, Takht-Ravanchi said the US is plundering the Syrian nation’s wealth and oil resources while supporting terrorist groups in the Arab country, calling for an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of American troops from the war-ravaged country.

Also in February, Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York condemned the brutal attacks of foreign-backed terrorists and illegal occupation as well as inhumane sanctions. 

Eshagh Al Habib, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations, told the UN Security Council on February 25 that “For ten years, the Syrian people have utterly suffered from the brutal attacks of foreign-backed terrorists and illegal occupation, and in recent years, from inhumane sanctions.”

He noted, “The international community has a responsibility to help the Syrian people and government to overcome this crisis and to ensure Syria’s unity, sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence. In this context, we call for the immediate withdrawal of all foreign forces that are present in Syria without the permission of its government. These and other aspects of the Syrian crisis have been extensively discussed in the Astana format meeting, held recently in Sochi, Russia, following which a joint statement was issued by Iran, Russia and Turkey. The three countries condemned the increasing terrorist activities in Syria and agreed to continue cooperation to ultimately eliminate Daesh, Al-Nusra Front and all other Security Council designated terrorist groups and their affiliates.”

Al Habib pointed out that these countries also expressed serious concern over the increased presence and terrorist activity of “Hayat Tahrir al- Sham” and other affiliated terrorist groups and the threat they pose to civilians inside and outside the de-escalation Idlib area.

The Iranian diplomat also took a jab at US sanctions on Syria, saying these sanctions will only prolong the crisis and inflict more pain on the Syrian people.

“The imposition of unilateral sanctions against Syria further exacerbates the situation and prolongs both the crisis and the sufferings of the people. Such sanctions are unlawful, inhumane and unjustifiable, and must therefore come to an immediate end,” he stressed. 

“Mounting political and economic pressures on Syria or making multiple preconditions for the peaceful settlement of the crisis has proven to be counterproductive. Reconstruction of the country and the return of refugees and displaced persons must go hand in hand with the political process. They are interlinked, mutually inclusive and mutually reinforcing,” Al Habib continued.

“Finally, Iran reiterates its commitment to political resolution of this crisis and will continue supporting the people and government of Syria to restore the unity and territorial integrity of their country,” he concluded.

Iran and Syria enjoy close relations. In Late February, Khatibzadeh traveled to Syria and held talks with Syrian officials and attended meetings of think tanks, media outlets and elites in the Arab country. The meetings were held in Damascus in line with Iran-Syria cooperation in public diplomacy, media and cultural arenas.