Bennett seems adamant at embarrassing Biden

The news from the Middle East is that negotiators in Vienna are going on to restart the Iran deal, but Israel is doing all it can to end the talks. Israeli Prime Minister is telling United States for an immediate cessation of talks. 

Israeli Defense Minister will travel to Washington this week to appeal to the Biden administration that there may be a point when we will have no choice but to act.

The Israelis and their many rightwing friends in the US are demanding Biden must maintain crippling sanctions on Iran and keep threatening war. Israel is free to attack Iran in Syria. And Israel will bomb Iran if it deems it has crossed a nuclear threshold– which is always just six months from now, forever. While anonymous Israeli officials tell pliable Israeli reporters that Tony Blinken is the biggest leftist in the Biden administration and he is stoking tensions between the US and Israel.

In August, Biden welcomed Bennett at the White House and announced that they were close friends, and Israel’s friends in the US rejoiced in the fact that Israel was a bipartisan cause again, because the divisive Netanyahu was gone, and Democrats and a rightwing Prime Minister were on the same page.

One tenet of that close bond is that if there are any disagreements, they will be aired privately. Bennett has now violated that understanding. He is trying to embarrass Biden publicly, and tell the United States what to do with Iran. Just as Netanyahu embarrassed Biden very publicly and went to the Congress to try to undermine the Iran deal in 2015.

On that occasion, Barack Obama made perhaps the bravest statement of his presidency, saying, “As president of the United States, it would be an abrogation of my constitutional duty to act against my best judgment simply because it causes temporary friction with a dear friend and ally.”

American leaders need to follow Obama’s example. They should stop taking dictate from Israel. It is in US interest to restore the Iran deal, and also to get Israel to stop stealing Palestinian land. Both of which aims are completely counter to the new Israeli government. It loves having a global cold war with Iran to keep the world’s attention off apartheid.

The superpower should have its way with Israel too; but no, Israel is a spoiled brat that issues ultimatums. The reason it gets away with this behavior is obvious. There is a powerful Israel lobby inside the United States (though the US mainstream press claims it might not exist), and the lobby has one overriding purpose, to make sure there is no daylight between the US political establishment and Israel.

The power of the lobby is the reason that Netanyahu once told a hot mic that the US is a thing that can be easily moved. The power of the lobby is why Trump trashed the Iran deal in 2018, to keep the support of his biggest backer, Sheldon Adelson. The power of the lobby is the reason progressive Congressperson Jamaal Bowman goes and meets with a rightwing Israeli prime minister, and sells out Palestinian human rights organizations, out of fear he will lose his seat in Congress if he doesn’t defer to Israel.

It is really a pity, and a moral horror too, that the US leaders can’t tell Israel to stay away. But there are countless well-funded organizations, telling these politicians to stand up and grin for the unwavering special relationship between the United States and Israel. Donald Trump threatened the American consensus by trying to politicize it, and say the Democratic left was going off the reservation. But then former members of AIPAC promptly started a new branch of the lobby, the Democratic Majority for Israel, to close rank in the Democratic Party. And Nancy Pelosi banished the left by saying that the Capitol would crumble and fall before the US abandoned its support for Israel, so please ignore the leftwing critics in her party.

Now Joe Biden is reluctant to take on the lobby because the midterms are looming; and Tony Blinken has to cater to Israeli prime minister, even when he is insulting him. The clear message from Vienna is that the Iran deal will not be restored because Biden is refusing to lift the sanctions that Donald Trump reimposed on Iran. Obama’s point man Ben Rhodes says it’s all about the lobby.

Biden is afraid to politicize the issue. He knows that Adelson’s widow is conducting the same sweepstakes her late husband did: to see which Republican candidate for president will be the most pro-Israel. He knows that AIPAC is all over the Democratic Party.

The special relationship with Israel should be politicized. It helped get us into the Iraq war, with catastrophic consequences for many nations, and is now endangering war with Iran. It has granted endless immunity to apartheid, with desperate consequences for the Palestinian people.

Fifteen years ago, Walt and Mearsheimer called out the lobby’s influence in a landmark book on American foreign policy, and as Mearsheimer said often, “We just Israel to be treated like a normal country.”

But that book can still only be read in brown wrappers in Washington, and the intrusion in our politics by Israel and its friends just keeps getting deeper. Twenty-seven states adopt legislation that would limit free speech rights by penalizing those who boycott Israel. A Georgia lawmaker confesses that the Israeli government “asked me” to introduce one of those bills. A dozen attorneys-general seek divestment from Unilever because one of its brands, Ben & Jerry’s, doesn’t want to be foster the persecution of Palestinians by selling ice cream in occupied territory.

A Republican congressman who voted against Iron Dome says AIPAC’s effort to turn him out of office is “foreign interference in our elections.” The University of North Carolina clamps down on a teacher who wants to tell the true history of Palestine after the Israeli consulate and a Democratic congressperson pressure school officials. “[I]t is strange that the Israeli consulate general was granted an audience,” the instructor says. “If this was a class on Hungary or Australia, would the university have permitted the attempted interference of a foreign government? The fact that this meeting happened at all is clearly a threat to academic freedom.”

The American people want distance. Polling shows that they are overwhelmingly for an evenhanded approach to the Israel-Palestine conflict, that young people are moving to the Palestinian side, and that Democratic voters are for sanctions on Israel over its settlement behavior.

It is time that our mainstream press surveys all the damage and takes on the corruption in our political process. It’s time our leaders stop worrying about what the lobby and Israeli officials want and channel Obama’s question of 2015. What is the US interest?

Iran’s Natanz nuclear facilities hit for third time since July 2020

A question is getting louder; did Mossad or someone just try to sabotage Iran’s nuclear facilities at Natanz for the third time since July 2020? Natanz was hit by physical explosive sabotage in July 2020 and again in April this past year.

Reports were still hazy, but as of Saturday night, the narratives varied from Iran undertook a preplanned air defense drill unrelated to sabotage, to it shot down an attack drone thwarting a sabotage attempt. Electricity and Internet were down for some unspecified part of Natanz, which could mean a sabotage attempt succeeded, but the Islamic Republic is still trying to cover it up.

Reportedly, July 2020 attack was more successful and destroyed the vast majority of an above-ground nuclear site. April attack destroyed centrifuges and a variety of utilities of a newer underground site, but only fully delayed Iran’s advanced centrifuge progress for about four months, while causing some longer-term slowdowns.

Curiously, the April attack took place near the start of Vienna nuclear negotiations. If this event was an attack, it would have taken place at the end of a new first week of nuclear negotiations.

Both in July 2020 and this past April, Iran initially tried to deny there was an attack or deny its success until The Jerusalem Post reported that the attacks were successful and had caused severe damage.

Following the Post’s and other media reports, Tehran was forced to acknowledge that its nuclear sites had been hit, and badly.

It later accused the Mossad of both hits, so Tehran’s initial denials should be taken with a grain of salt.

Another nuclear site, Karaj, was hit this past June, days after Ebrahim Raisi was elected Iran’s new president.

This could be a second message to Raisi that his attempt to push the envelope with increasing nuclear violations as well as taking maximalist positions in Vienna could leave him vulnerable, even if much of the West is intimidated by him.

Or maybe this time Iran’s air defenses improved and thwarted an attack.

Then again, for the first time in four such similar events, maybe it was just a pre-planned air-defense drill.

Satellite footage made it impossible for Tehran to cover up the damage in both Natanz attacks, but strangely, satellite footage was slower in coming with Karaj, when Raisi had taken power and the Biden administration was seeking a return to talks.

It will be interesting to see what satellite footage shows this time.

Pakistan to host OIC foreign ministers’ meeting to avert human crisis in Afghanistan

Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday said Pakistan would host a session of Council of Foreign Ministers of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on December 19. It will focus on highlighting the need for urgent assistance and mobilization of resources to avert a humanitarian crisis and economic collapse in Afghanistan.

“If we don’t pay timely attention, half of Afghanistan’s population or 22.8 million people can face food shortage and 3.2 millio children may face malnutrition. This is the magnitude which we and the world should understand,” Qureshi said while talking to the media in Lahore.

Considering the gravity of the situation, he said Pakistan made an effort and moved ahead to host the international event while realizing that, if not addressed timely, the situation would have dire consequences for "Afghanistan, its neighbors as well as the whole region".

Qureshi stressed that Afghanistan could face economic collapse if its frozen assets were not released to cope with the burgeoning needs.

He also pointed out that such a session of the OIC FMs on the Afghanistan situation would be held after 41 years with the first held in 1980. The foreign minister added that besides the foreign ministers of the OIC countries, Pakistan had also invited the special representatives of P-5 countries including the United States, China, Russia, France and the United Kingdom.

Invitations were also extended to the European Union's high representative on foreign affairs and international organizations such as the World Bank and relevant United Nations agencies which could assist in the whole process.

Important countries such as Germany, Japan, Canada and Australia would be invited as well with the objective of "evolving an international consensus".

Qureshi said that Pakistan also wanted to invite a high-level delegation of Afghanistan to interact with the visiting dignitaries and apprise them of the latest on-ground situation.

He noted that senior officials of the respective countries would be meeting prior to the session and officials of the OIC Secretariat would be arriving earlier around Dec 1 to oversee the preparations.

Qureshi said the idea of holding the session on Afghanistan emerged during the meeting between Prime Minister Imran Khan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on the sideline of the Green Summit in October.

As Afghanistan was a founding OIC member, he said it was discussed that the Ummah should make efforts to steer it out of the difficult situation. Qureshi thanked Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud for taking a "keen interest" to achieve consensus on the issue.

Qureshi stressed that abandoning Afghanistan would be a "historic blunder and the world should learn from the past instead of repeating the same mistake".

“If timely attention is not paid, a new crisis can emerge which would bring in instability. This instability will beget mass exodus of refugees. We are already hosting 3m Afghan refugees and it will be difficult to host anymore. The countries like Iran, Tajikistan, and other bordering countries are also similarly concerned,” he said.

The foreign minister also told the media he would meet the EU high representative and EU parliamentarians in Brussels on Dec 7 to apprise them on Afghanistan's situation.

Qureshi said after the withdrawal of troops and the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, India had launched a campaign to sanction Pakistan by blaming it for the Afghan situation. "However, due to its effective foreign policy, Pakistan thwarted all such Indian designs," the foreign minister added.

He said the international community had been convinced in the wake of Pakistan's diplomatic outreach that engagement with Afghanistan was in everyone’s interest as delegates had started visiting the country.

The foreign minister added that in collaboration with China, a platform of six neighboring countries was also formed to discuss the situation and explore opportunities after the revival of peace in Afghanistan.

Qureshi also highlighted that Pakistan was already assisting Afghans by dispatching medicines, 50,000 tons of wheat and other relief items. He added that India was also allowed to transport wheat through Pakistan.

Indian agriculture to face investment crunch

Repeal of agriculture laws in India aimed at deregulating produce markets will starve its vast farm sector of much-needed private investment and saddle the government with budget-sapping subsidies for years.

Late last year, the government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced three laws meant to open up agriculture markets to companies and attract private investment, triggering India's longest-running protest by farmers who said the reforms would allow corporations to exploit them.

With an eye on a critical election in populous Uttar Pradesh state early next year, Modi agreed to rescind the laws in November, hoping to smooth relations with the powerful farm lobby which sustains nearly half the country's 1.3 billion people and accounts for about 15% of the US$2.7 trillion economy.

But by shelving the most ambitious overhaul in decades, Modi's backtracking now seemingly rules out much-needed upgrades of the creaky post-harvest supply chain to cut wastage, spur crop diversification, and boost farmers' incomes.

"This is not good for agriculture, this is not good for India," said Gautam Chikermane, a senior economist and vice president at New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.

"All incentives to shift towards a more efficient, market-linked system (in agriculture) have been smothered."

The u-turn does allay farmers' fears of losing the minimum price system for basic crops, which growers say guarantees India's grain self-sufficiency.

"It appears the government realized that there's merit in the farmers' argument that opening up the sector would make them vulnerable to large companies, hammer commodities prices and hit farmers' income," said Devinder Sharma, a farm policy expert who has supported the growers' movement.

But the grueling year-long standoff also means no political party will attempt any similar reforms for at least a quarter-century, Chikermane said.

And, in the absence of private investment, "inefficiencies in the system will continue to deliver wastage and food will continue to rot," he warned.

India ranks 101 out of 116 countries on the Global Hunger Index, with malnutrition accounting for 68% of child deaths.

Yet it wastes around 67 million tons of food every year, worth about US$12.25 billion - nearly five times that of most large economies - according to various studies.

Inadequate cold-chain storage, shortages of refrigerated trucks and insufficient food processing facilities are the main causes of waste.

The farm laws promised to allow private traders, retailers and food processors to buy directly from farmers, bypassing more than 7,000 government-regulated wholesale markets where middlemen's commissions and market fees add to consumer costs.

Ending the rule that food must flow through the approved markets would have encouraged private participation in the supply chain, giving both Indian and global companies incentives to invest in the sector, traders and economists said.

"The agriculture laws would have removed the biggest impediment to large-scale purchases of farm goods by big corporations," said Harish Galipelli, Director at ILA Commodities India, which trades farm goods. "And that would have encouraged corporations to bring investment to revamp and modernize the whole food supply chain."

Galipelli's firm will now have to re-evaluate its plans.

"We have had plans to scale up our business," said Galipelli. "We would have expanded had the laws stayed."

Other firms specializing in warehousing, food processing and trading are also expected to review their expansion strategies, he said.

Poor post-harvest handling of produce also causes prices of perishables to yo-yo in India. Only three months ago, farmers dumped tomatoes on the road as prices crashed, but now consumers are paying a steep 100 rupees (US$1.34) a kilogram.

The laws would have helped the $34 billion food processing sector grow exponentially, according to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), an industry group.

Demand for fruits and vegetables would have gone up. And that would have cut surplus rice and wheat output, slicing bulging stocks of the staples worth billions of dollars in state warehouses, economists said.

"Crop diversification would also have helped rein in subsidy spending and narrow the fiscal deficit," said Sandip Das, a New Delhi-based researcher and farm policy analyst.

Food Corporation of India (FCI), the state crop procurement agency, racked up a record US$51.83 billion in debt by last fiscal year, alarming policymakers and inflating the country's food subsidy bill to a record US$70.16 billion in the year to March 2021.

However, while the federal government now has limited scope for change, local authorities "can opt for reforms provided they have the political will to do so," said Bidisha Ganguly, an economist at CII.

Similarly, venture capital-funded startups have also expressed interest in India's agriculture sector.

"Agritech, if it is allowed to take root, has the potential to enable a better handshake of farmers and consumers through their technological platforms," Chikermane said.

Lithuania seeks EU help against China

Lithuania’s dispute with China escalated after local media reported that goods from some of its companies were barred from entering Chinese ports. Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis described the move as ‘unannounced sanctions’ and said Lithuania will seek assistance from the European Commission to solve the issue. 

It is “unprecedented when one EU member state is being partially sanctioned,” he said.

Local media reported that some of the Baltic nation’s forestry and furniture goods are being held up at ports after Lithuania was deleted from China’s electronic customs declarations system early this month. Lithuania hasn’t received any official comment on the matter from China.

The European Commission said it’s in contact with Lithuania and the EU’s delegation in Beijing to verify the information.

“We’ve been informed that Lithuanian shipments are not being cleared through Chinese customs and import applications are being rejected,” said Nabila Massrali, a Commission spokesperson.

Less than 1% of Lithuania’s exports go to China and the decision should have “no fundamental impact” on its economy, Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste said.

Tensions between China and Lithuania have been escalating since Taiwan opened a representative office in the Baltic nation’s capital last month, something Beijing deems disrespectful to Chinese sovereignty.

China recalled its ambassador and downgraded ties with Lithuania to the level of charge d’affaires. Lithuania says it respects the “one-China” principle.

China has officially downgraded its diplomatic ties with Lithuania after the Baltic state allowed Taiwan to open a de facto embassy in Vilnius.

China’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Lithuania had ignored China’s “solemn stance” and the basic norms of international relations in allowing Taiwan to set up its representative office.

China views self-ruled and democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory with no right to the trappings of a state and had earlier expelled the Lithuanian ambassador in protest against the growing ties between Vilnius and Taipei.

The move “undermined China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and grossly interfered in China’s internal affairs”, creating a “bad precedent internationally”, the ministry statement said, adding relations would be downgraded to the level of charge d’affaires, a rung below ambassador.

“We urge the Lithuanian side to correct its mistakes immediately and not to underestimate the Chinese people’s firm determination and staunch resolve to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

No matter what Taiwan does, it cannot change the fact that it is part of China, the ministry added.

Lithuania’s foreign ministry said it “regrets” China’s decision.

“Lithuania reaffirms its adherence to the ‘One China’ policy, but at the same time has the right to expand cooperation with Taiwan,” the ministry said in a statement.

The Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania opened on Thursday.

Other Taiwan offices in Europe and the United States use the name of the city Taipei, avoiding a reference to the island itself, something that has further angered Beijing.

Taiwan says it is an independent country called the Republic of China, its official name, and that the People’s Republic of China has never ruled it and has no right to speak for it.

Taiwan has been heartened by growing international support for it, especially from the US and some of its allies, in the face of China’s military and diplomatic pressure.

Washington has offered Vilnius support to withstand Chinese pressure, and Lithuania will sign a US$600 million export credit agreement with the US Export-Import Bank this week.

 

Iran presents draft proposals on sanctions removal

Iran's chief negotiator in the Vienna talks announced on Thursday that two draft texts containing Iran's proposals on sanctions removal and nuclear restrictions have been presented to the parties to the 2015 nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

"Logically, the other side should now examine these documents in order to get ready to enter into serious talks with Iran on the texts," Ali Bagheri Kani told Iranian media in the Austrian capital.

He voiced hope that the JCPOA parties will be able to review Iran's drafts and reach their conclusions about them "in the shortest time possible."

Bagheri also warned about efforts by non-parties to the agreement to derail current diplomatic work to revive the deal.

Earlier in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett urged an "immediate halt to negotiations" with Iran and "the implementation of tough steps by the world powers" against Iran in a phone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Bennett's office said in a press release.

Israeli media had reported that the Israeli government has been contacting US and European officials over the past two weeks to provide its alleged intelligence that Iran would be taking steps to enrich uranium at a weapons-grade degree of purity.

Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), dismissed on Wednesday the claim that Iran would be enriching uranium at a 90-percent degree of purity, noting that the IAEA is the only monitoring institution with a presence at Iranian nuclear sites.

"There is no 90-percent enrichment at the moment in Iran. You have enrichment at five percent, you have enrichment at 20 percent, you have enrichment of 60 percent ... but we don't have any information about 90-percent enrichment," Grossi said in an interview with French state TV.

In his remarks to the press on Thursday, Bagheri said he warned his JCPOA counterparts on Wednesday about "the outlook and approach of actors outside the talks to negatively affect the negotiation process."

The current round of JCPOA talks resumed this week in Vienna after a nearly six-month pause, about three months after the current Iranian government took office in late August.

Representatives from Iran and the P4+1 group, namely Britain, China, France, Russia plus Germany, as well as the European Union, are seeking an agreement on the way to remove US sanctions on Iran, in exchange for the re-imposition of restrictions and enhanced international monitoring on Iran's nuclear program. 

 

Role of United States in Russia-Ukraine conflict

Joe Biden, President of the United States, said on Friday that his national security team is putting together a set of initiatives to make it very, very difficult for Russian President, Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine amid rising tensions on the border between both countries.

“I have been in constant contact with our allies in Europe, with the Ukrainians. My secretary of State, national security adviser have been engaged extensively and what I am doing is putting together what I believe will be the most comprehensive and meaningful set of initiatives to make it very, very difficult for Mr. Putin to go ahead and do what people are worried he may do,” Biden told reporters Friday when asked about the situation.

“That’s in play right now,” he added.

Biden did not elaborate on the initiatives his administration is working to craft. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday threatened coordinated sanctions on Russia if it does not reverse its military buildup on the border with Ukraine.

White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki later told reporters that the administration is engaged in consultations with European allies and with Congress to make sure that we are prepared should Putin invade Ukraine.

“There is a range of tools at our disposal,” Psaki said, noting specifically that economic sanctions are an option, though she underscored that actions would be coordinated with allies and with Congress. 

Psaki also indicated that additional security assistance to Ukraine was under consideration, but declined to further elaborate. 

“Ukraine is in no way posing a threat to Russia, or seeking a confrontation that would justify a Russian military intervention. The only threat is that of renewed Russian aggression toward Ukraine,” Blinken said at a press conference in Stockholm.

Russia has amassed some 90,000 troops on the border with Ukraine, leading to fears about Moscow preparing to invade the country.

Biden and Putin are expected to speak sometime in the near future, though the White House has not given a specific timeline for the call. The two leaders held their first in-person meeting in Geneva over the summer.

“We have been engaged on the possibility of that,” Psaki said, noting the White House would release more details if the call happens.