Can Bennett-Sisi cooperation restore peace in Middle East?

Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett met Egyptian Pres­ident Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday, on the first visit by a prime minister of the Jewish state to the North African country in over a decade. 

Sisi hosted Bennett in the Red Sea resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh where they discussed “efforts to revive the peace process” between the Israelis and Palestinians, presidential spoke­sman Bassam Radi informed.

Security cooperation between the two countries was also discussed at the meeting attended by Egyptian Intelligence Chief, Abbas Kamel and Israel’s National Security Advisor, Eyal Holata.

Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country, in 1979 became the first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with Israel, after decades of enmity.

In May this year, Egypt played a key role in brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that rules the Gaza Strip, after 11 days of deadly fighting.

Egypt regularly receives leaders of Hamas as well as of its political rival the Palestinian Authority led by Mahmud Abbas, while maintaining strong diplomatic, security and economic ties with Israel.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid on Sunday had proposed improving living conditions in Gaza and building new infrastructure in exchange for calm from Hamas, aiming to solve the “never-ending rounds of violence”.

But “it won’t happen without the support and involvement of our Egyptian partners and without their ability to talk to everyone involved”, he said.

Bennett’s visit came about 10 days after Abbas was in Cairo for talks with Sisi.

Monday’s talks mark “an important step in light of the growing security and economic relations between the two countries, and their mutual concern over the situation in Gaza”, Cairo-based analyst Nael Shama said.

It also fits with “Egypt’s plans to revive the political talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority”, he added.

Bennett, a right-wing religious nationalist, took office in June, ending Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12 straight years as Israel’s premier.

The last meeting between an Egyptian President and an Israeli Premier dates back to January 2011 when Hosni Mubarak received Netanyahu, weeks before Mubarak was toppled in a popular revolution.

In the political turbulence that followed, relations between the two countries deteriorated as protests were staged outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo in 2011.

The one-year reign of Egypt’s Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2012 also proved to be icy, with Israel suspicious of his Muslim Brotherhood’s close ties to Hamas.

Sisi has again positioned Egypt as a regional bulwark of stability, echoing the frequent peace summits overseen by Mubarak before his ouster.

Israel and Egypt are two of Washington’s main allies in the Middle East and are the largest recipients of US military aid, and they have worked together on security issues. Sisi, in a 2019 interview on CBS, acknowledged Egypt’s army was working closely with Israel in combating “terrorists” in the restive North Sinai.

He underscored Cairo’s wide range of cooperation with Israel.

The relationship developed after Egypt regained sovereignty over the Sinai Peninsula, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Six-Day War.

The two neighbors have also deepened their ties in the field of energy. Since last year, Egypt has received natural gas from Israel to liquefy and re-export to Europe.

 

Baghdad talks pave way for Iran-Saudi Arab rapprochement

After years of rivalry and lack of diplomatic relations, Saudi Arabia and Iran are slowly moving toward mending ties thanks to at least three rounds of behind closed doors talks mediated and hosted by the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Mustaf al-Kadhimi. 

He arrived in Tehran on Sunday as the first foreign high-ranking official to visit Iran since the new Iranian President, Ayatollah Seyed Ebrahim Raisi, took office in early August. 

Al-Kadhimi had many issues on his agenda during his meetings with Iranian officials, including Ayatollah Raisi and Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani. These issues included visa abolition for Iranian citizens, completion of a joint railway project, increasing the level of trade between Iran and Iraq, withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, and the presence of anti-revolutionary dissident groups in Iraqi Kurdistan.  

During a joint press conference, Ayatollah Raisi and al-Kadhimi stressed the importance of deepening the Iran-Iraq relations at all levels. “The deep bonds between Tehran and Baghdad stems from the beliefs and hearts of two nations, two countries and two governments,” Ayatollah Raisi said. “Despite the wishes of the enemies, the level of relations between Iran and Iraq will develop day by day.”

In addition to bilateral issues, the Iraqi Prime Minister also discussed regional issues. Arab media outlets reported that during his visit to Tehran, al-Kadhimi would pursue a mediation between Tehran and Riyadh among other issues. Informed sources revealed to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that al-Kadhimi planned to discuss with Iranian officials four important issues during the visit, which are the Iraqi elections issue, the energy issue, and the mediation between Iran and Saudi Arabia, as well as other mediation between Tehran and Washington.

Regarding the mediation between Tehran and Riyadh, these sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that al-Kadhimi will bring with him new proposals to push this mediation forward and achieve practical results for it in light of the failure that accompanied the Baghdad conference recently to persuade the leaders of the two countries to participate in the conference on the one hand, and hold a meeting between the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia on the sidelines of the conference on the other hand. 

The sources indicated that Baghdad is seeking to hold a meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries during the next stage. Saudi side had suggested that Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian visit Saudi Arabia. Iranian refused and suggested Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan visit Tehran. 

The sources added that the Iranian foreign minister had held detailed talks with Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled al-Hamad al-Sabah on the sidelines of the Baghdad conference, and the Kuwaiti official also held a similar meeting with the Saudi foreign minister, and exchanged messages between the two sides.

“These multilateral contacts created a comfortable atmosphere for a meeting at the level of the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia,” the sources noted.

Tehran and Riyadh have been involved in security oriented talks in Baghdad ever since April when Tehran also resumed talks with major world powers over reviving a 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Before al-Kadhimi’s visit, Iranian Ambassador to Iraq Iraj Masjedi, who has been involved in the Iran-Saudi talks, announced that they would resume soon. “So far, we have had three rounds of talks with the Saudi side, and the fourth round will be held following the formation of the new Iranian government,” he said at an event in Baghdad held on the sidelines of the August Baghdad summit. 

Underlining that Iran is a large and civilized country and is ready for any kind of dialogue with other countries, including Saudi Arabia, Masjedi said, “Iran has declared its readiness for dialogue and peace and has extended its hand to help neighboring countries and the region.”

During the past three rounds, the Saudis have been cautiously treating the talks with Iran as “exploratory.” They brought up the issue of Yemen at an early stage, possibly to gauge the seriousness of Iran in the talks. Yemen is the most important point of contention, which explains why Tehran and Riyadh have agreed to form an Iranian-Saudi-Iraqi “thinking cell” to exchange ideas and opinions to set broad lines for resolving the Yemeni crisis, according to the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar. 

Citing diplomatic sources, the newspaper said that the Baghdad talks between Tehran and Riyadh are up and running. The sources confirmed to Al-Akhbar that the Iraqi capital will witness “soon” the fourth round of Iranian-Saudi talks after they were postponed due to the Hajj season and the Iranian presidential elections.

The sources confirmed that the previous three rounds of dialogue led to “results that will appear soon” through the reopening of each country's consulates in the other country, paving the way for the resumption of diplomatic relations between them. 

The sources also stressed that the Baghdad dialogue approaches the contentious issues between the two countries and sets the general contexts for implementing some measures in a way that helps bridge views, and works to bring about de-escalation between the two parties, which resulted in the “Oman dialogue.”

According to Al-Akhbar, the Oman talks deal with technical issues and procedural details. It also serves as a platform for the exchange of “security information” in the context of confidence-building measures. 

 

Israel unveils remote controlled armed robots to be used in battle zones

According to an AP News, an Israeli defense contractor on Monday unveiled a remote-controlled armed robot it says can patrol battle zones, track infiltrators and open fire. The unmanned vehicle is the latest addition to the world of drone technology, which is rapidly reshaping the modern battlefield.

Proponents say such semi-autonomous machines allow armies to protect their soldiers, while critics fear this marks another dangerous step toward robots making life-or-death decisions.

The four-wheel-drive robot presented Monday was developed by the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries’ “REX MKII.”

It is operated by an electronic tablet and can be equipped with two machine guns, cameras and sensors, said Rani Avni, Deputy Head of the Company’s autonomous systems division. The robot can gather intelligence for ground troops, carry injured soldiers and supplies in and out of battle, and strike nearby targets.

It is the most advanced of more than half a dozen unmanned vehicles developed by Aerospace Industries’ subsidiary, ELTA Systems, over the past 15 years.

The Israeli military is currently using a smaller but similar vehicle called the Jaguar to patrol the border with the Gaza Strip and help enforce a blockade Israel imposed in 2007, after the tiny territory was seized by Hamas.

Gaza is home to 2 million Palestinians who have largely been locked in by the blockade, which is also supported to some extent by Egypt. The border area is the site of frequent protests and occasional attempts by Palestinian militants or desperate laborers to infiltrate into Israel.

According to the Israeli army’s website, the semi-autonomous Jaguar is equipped with a machine gun and was designed to reduce soldiers’ exposure to the dangers of patrolling the volatile Gaza-Israel border. It is one of many tools, including drones armed with guided missiles that have given the Israeli military vast technological superiority over Hamas.

Unmanned ground vehicles are being increasingly used by other armies, including those of the United States, Britain and Russia. Their tasks include logistical support, the removal of mines and firing weapons.

The tablet can control the vehicle manually. But many of its functions, including its movement and surveillance system, can also run autonomously.

“With every mission, the device collects more data which it then learns from for future missions,” said Yonni Gedj, an operational expert in the Company’s robotics division.

Critics have raised concerns that robotic weapons could decide on their own, perhaps erroneously, to shoot targets. The Company says such capabilities exist but are not being offered to customers.

“It is possible to make the weapon itself also autonomous, however, it is a decision of the user today,” Avni said. “The maturity of the system or the user is not there yet.”

Bonnie Docherty, a senior researcher from the arms division of Human Rights Watch, said such weapons are worrisome because they can’t be trusted to distinguish between combatants and civilians or make proper calls about the harm attacks may do to nearby civilians.

“Machines cannot understand the value of human life, which in essence undermines human dignity and violates human rights laws,” Docherty said. In a 2012 report, Docherty, a lecturer at Harvard Law School, called for fully automated weapons to be banned by international law.

The defense magazine Janes said the development of autonomous ground vehicles has lagged behind autonomous aircraft and boats because moving across land is far more complex than navigating water or air. Unlike the open ocean, vehicles have to deal with “holes in the road” and know exactly how much force to apply to overcome a physical obstacle, the report said.

The technology in self-driving vehicles also has raised concerns. Electric car manufacturer Tesla, among other companies, has been connected to a series of fatal accidents, including an incident in Arizona in 2018 when a woman was hit by a car driving on autopilot.

The Israeli drone vehicle is being showcased at this week’s Defense and Security System International arms trade show in London.

 

Will Pakistan be ready to renegotiate Indus Water Treaty?

According to an article published in South Asia Journal the Indian Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources has recommended that the government should renegotiate the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), signed in 1960, with Pakistan.

According to the author, the need has arisen due to some pressing challenges that include: climate change, global warming and environmental impact assessment. Without making overtures of abrogating the treaty, which has often been part of the debate in midst of tensions with Pakistan, the committee, in no uncertain terms, acknowledged the rationality of the framing of IWT on the basis of knowledge and technology existing at the time.

IWT, with its emphasis on hydraulic engineering, divided the basin into upper and lower parts (the western and eastern rivers), and envisaged the most complete utilization of the waters through dams, barrages and canals. Without the treaty, Pakistan would have been constrained to build grand hydraulic works to transfer water from the western rivers to meet its irrigation needs and become independent of the eastern rivers. And without the eastern rivers being given exclusively to India, it would have struggled to operationalize the Bhakra and Nangal dams. The Rajasthan canal would not have made much progress, and the Ravi–Beas link canal would have failed to take off.

However, during the IWT negotiations, there was no unified methodology or specialized institutions to foretell the dangers of the climate crisis on water resources. With the advancement of science and improvement in measurements, snow and glacier melt in the upper Indus hydrology, which contribute to 60-70% of total average flow in the Indus river system, and precipitation patterns are now better understood. The contribution of these sources to the Indus Basin is undergoing considerable variations explained by the weather systems and the monsoon.

As a result, sustainability and future water availability are under existential threat. Rivers are the lifeline of almost 300 million people living in the Indus basin. Issues such as food and energy will increasingly have intricate linkages to water while demographic pressures will impact water management.

The emphasis of cooperation should be on setting up new meteorological observation stations, supply of data, and new engineering works on the rivers. However, Article XII explicitly mentions that IWT “may from time to time be modified by a duly ratified treaty concluded for the purpose between the two Governments”.

The author has put blame on Pakistan saying that technically, any cooperation or modification of the treaty cannot be undertaken unilaterally. Even if India shows the political courage to renegotiate IWT, the dynamics of it will be far more exacting.

It also alleged that Pakistan, in all likelihood, will make it a political and territorial issue, expressing its disappointment over the treaty rather than the material benefits it has accrued. Pakistan has never advocated abrogation or revision of the treaty, but has not shied away from blaming India for its water woes.

IWT remains a scapegoat to cover up its poor water management policies, which, in successive decades, have seen inefficiency in its irrigation system and excessive water waste in the agricultural sector.

The author suggests that the best option for India is to fulfill the provisions of IWT, particularly those on the western rivers in Jammu and Kashmir. While signing IWT, India gave preference to fulfilling its immediate water needs over future needs, particularly those of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. IWT allows storage entitlement of up to 3.6 MAF (million-acre feet) on the western rivers. Many of the projects are now underway in achieving the “permissible storage capacity”.

He also says that the Permanent Indus Commission that meets every year to settle differences over IWT is an excellent mechanism to raise concerns over water efficiency, ecological integrity and sustainability in the backdrop of the climate crisis. A new water governance framework will be required to deal with the uncertain future of the Indus basin.

Pakistan hosts meeting of spymasters of regional countries

According to DAWN newspaper, Pakistan on Saturday hosted a meeting of spymasters of some countries in the region on the situation in Afghanistan. The meeting was attended by the intelligence heads from Russia, China, Iran and some Central Asian states.

The hosting of the meeting by Pakistan reflects its sincerity for peace in the region and Afghanistan.

It was the latest effort by Pakistan, which had over the past few days hosted meetings of the foreign ministers of the six neighboring countries of Afghanistan and that of their special envoys, to develop a common regional strategy on dealing with challenges emanating from the events unfolding in the war-ravaged country since the fall of Ghani regime.

Foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighboring countries earlier in a meeting on Wednesday, “Agreed to remain seized of the developments in Afghanistan and coordinate with each other for a holistic, comprehensive and harmonized response,” according to a joint statement issued after their meeting.

The regional countries are worried about security situation along their borders with Afghanistan, terrorists using Afghan soil for launching attacks on other countries, spread of extremism, possibility of influx of refugees, drug trafficking and transnational crimes.

According to an Op-Ed, Russian Security Council’ Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev warned that tens of thousands of militants were harboring in Afghanistan’s provinces close to borders with Central Asian countries.

Also on Wednesday, CIA Chief William Burns during his visit to Pakistan met Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Bajwa and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt Gen Faiz Hamid. Burns had come to Pakistan to share US concerns about the new situation and see how Pakistan can be helpful in dealing with them.

Earlier on 4^th September, the ISI DG had travelled to Afghanistan where he reportedly held meetings with the new Taliban regime. According to sources, in his meetings in Kabul, besides, other issues had emphasized on the urgent need for dealing with the terrorist threat from groups including ISIS, Al-Qaeda, ETIM, TTP, BLA, and Jundullah to the neighbouring countries.

Islamabad had while welcoming the formation of caretaker government in Afghanistan by the Taliban hoped that “the new political dispensation will ensure coordinated efforts for peace, security and stability in Afghanistan”.

Afghan territory must not be allowed to become safe haven for terrorist

On 8th September 2021, Iran hosted a virtual summit of the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and China on Afghanistan. The next round will be held in Tehran in the near future," Iran's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to United Nations Majid Takht Ravanchi informed.

Ravanchi also pointed to the sufferings of the Afghan people, saying, "Afghanistan is passing through a critical juncture; hundreds of thousands of Afghans have fled their country; nearly 600,000 others have become internally displaced; essential food supplies are running short, and 18.4 million people need humanitarian assistance."

He added, "This situation is primarily the direct result of the intervention by the US and other foreign forces in Afghanistan and their irresponsible withdrawal. When they entered Afghanistan, they brought catastrophe for Afghans, and when they withdrew, they left calamity for Afghans."

"Iran stands ready to facilitate the transfer of humanitarian aids to Afghanistan through Iran’s sea ports, airports, railways, roads and border crossings," said Ravanchi.

Iran’s ambassador the UN added, "Afghanistan’s people must also be helped to achieve lasting peace, stability and prosperity. The full realization of this objective must be facilitated and strongly supported by the international community particularly the neighboring countries.

Ravanchi went on to say that Iran urges all Afghan leaders from different religious, linguistic, ethnic, and political backgrounds to place the interests of Afghan people above all things.

"Indeed, the path to stability, durable peace and sustainable development in Afghanistan passes through intra-Afghan talks with the active and equal participation of the true representatives of all ethnic, linguistic and religious groups aimed at finding a just, peaceful and durable solution to the crisis, achieving national reconciliation and establishing a truly inclusive, broad-based and fully representative government that is emerged from a free and fair elections including with the full participation of women both as voters and candidates and is committed to combat terrorism and organized crime as well as to guarantee and protect, based on true Islamic teachings and principles, the human rights of all Afghan people including ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities and women. We expect the Taliban to honor its commitments in this regard. Such a government will enjoy Iran’s support," he stated.

"Like Afghanistan’s other neighbors we are gravely concerned about insecurity and instability as well as threats of terrorist networks and organized criminals active in trafficking in drugs and persons," he added.

"We also strongly believe that Afghanistan’s territory must not be used, under any circumstances, to threaten or attack any country or to shelter or train terrorists, or to plan or to finance terrorist acts. Terrorist groups like Daesh that represent a grave threat to Afghanistan and the region must not be allowed to operate in that country."

Ravanchi also cited the services that Iran has provided for commercial ties between Afghanistan as a landlocked country and other countries through Chabahar Port and to Europe through the Khaf-Herat railway.

"Afghanistan needs to be supported to overcome its current economic difficulties. We have established the link from Afghanistan as a land-locked country to high seas through Iran’s Chabahar Port and to Europe through the Khaf-Herat railway."

Consensus on formation of government in Lebanon

Lebanese leaders have finally agreed to formation of a new government led by Sunni tycoon Najib Mikati, after a year of feuding over cabinet seats that has exacerbated a devastating economic collapse, opening the way to a resumption of talks with the IMF.

The breakthrough followed a flurry of contacts from France which has led efforts to get Lebanon’s fractious leaders to agree to a cabinet and begin reforms since last year’s catastrophic Beirut port explosion.

In televised comments, Mikati’s eyes welled up with tears and his voice broke as he described the hardship and emigration inflicted by the crisis, which has forced three quarters of the population into poverty.

The biggest threat to Lebanon’s stability since the 1975-90 civil war, the crisis hit a crunch point last month when fuel shortages brought much of the country to a standstill, triggering numerous security incidents, adding to Western concerns and warnings of worse to come unless something is done.

Mikati and President Michel Aoun, a Maronite Christian, signed a decree establishing the government in the presence of Nabih Berri, the Shia Speaker of Parliament.

Mikati said divisive politics must be set to one side and that he could not go for talks with the International Monetary Fund only to encounter opposition at home.

He pledged to seek support from Arab countries, a number of which have shunned Lebanon because of the extensive influence wielded in Beirut by Hezbollah.

Lebanon could no longer afford to subsidize goods such as imported fuel, he said, adding the country did not have the hard currency reserves for such support.

Addressing the daily hardships, he described how mothers had been forced to cut back on milk for their children. “If a mother’s eldest son leaves the country and she has tears in her eyes, she can’t buy a Panadol pill,” he said, referring to medicine shortages.

Mikati also said parliamentary elections scheduled for next Spring would go ahead on time.

Like the outgoing cabinet of Prime Minister Hassan Diab, the new one comprises ministers with technical expertise who are not prominent politicians but have been named by the main parties.

Youssef Khalil, a senior central bank official and aide to Governor Riad Salameh, has been named Finance Minister in the proposed new cabinet line-up.

Hezbollah, a political ally of Aoun, has named two of the 24 ministers.