Author: Author1

Assessment: Even as Moscow invades Ukraine, the Biden administration is relying on Russia to solidify a revamped nuclear agreement with Iran, a deal that senior Republican foreign policy leaders say will be approved in the coming days without any input from Congress …

The United States, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and Germany—known as the P5+1—appear to be closing in on a deal with Iran over its ongoing nuclear-weapons program. At the same time, Israeli officials view Western reactions to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine with extreme unease because allowing him to invade without consequence has not only emboldened Moscow but likely encouraged other nefarious actors as well.

Namely, Iran.

“All the people of the land will bury them, and the day I display my glory will be a memorable day for them, declares the Sovereign Lord.” Ezekiel 39:13

Michael Doran, a senior fellow and director of the Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East at Hudson Institute, believes that an agreement with Iran “puts Israel in a pickle.”

“It turns the U.S., in effect, into a kind of guardian of the Iranian nuclear-weapons program,” he said. “If Israel launches large-scale attacks against the program, it risks getting into a major war that the U.S. opposes. If it opts for sabotage, tensions with Washington will rise. The coalition, which hangs on by a thread, would be endangered.”

Israelis view the U.S. administration and many European governments as pursuing a policy of appeasement against aggressors.

Read More @ JNS HERE

Assessment: How curious since Dmitry Polyanskiy, first deputy to permanent representative to Russia, let be known on Thursday that Putin took issue with Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and Jerusalem … 

Russia could be preparing an option to challenge the West and NATO in the Mediterranean and Middle East as a means of opening a new global hotspot, former Israeli Ambassador to Russia and Ukraine Zvi Magen has told JNS.

“‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Gog, chief prince of^[a] Meshek and Tubal. ² I will turn you around and drag you along. I will bring you from the far north and send you against the mountains of Israel.” Ez. 39: 1-2

Magen noted a large-scale naval and air exercise held by the Russian military in the eastern Mediterranean in recent days, which saw long-range nuclear-capable bombers and fighter jets carrying hypersonic missiles Russia’s Hmeimim airbase in Syria for massive naval drills in the region amid soaring tensions with the West, according to a report last week by Military Times.

“They are in the Mediterranean training and this could form a challenge for NATO’s underbelly. This creates all kinds of problems and a new front against the West in the Middle East,” said Magen, who also served in Israel Defense Forces Military Intelligence, and is a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. “Russia could be preparing an option for regional activity beyond eastern Europe.”

Regarding Israel’s maneuvering options in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Magen described Jerusalem’s situation as a “very difficult challenge.”

Read More @ JNS HERE