The Pope’s visit

Following the coverage of the Pope’s whirlwind visit this past weekend, I was reminded of the classic tour guide joke about the writer who came to Israel for three days and then wrote a scholarly 600 page tome titled: “Israel: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” .

   Despite the media’s frenzied parsing and nitpicking about what Pope Francis did, and said, on both the Israeli and the Palestinian sides, what seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle of this visit is the fact that, as initially planned, it had absolutely nothing to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
   The original reason for this trip was to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first meeting between a Catholic Pope and an Eastern Orthodox Patriarch since the Great Schism of 1054. That historic and groundbreaking meeting took place on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem in January, 1964, between Pope Paul VI and Athenagoras, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. It significantly transformed relations between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches.  
   The current Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew, travelled to Rome last year for the inauguration of Pope Francis and suggested that they hold a ceremonial meeting in Jerusalem to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1964 meeting, and possibly advance the dialogue. The new Pope readily agreed and the trip was planned.
   But in the Middle East you can’t have a papal visit, no matter how short, without regional political and diplomatic components. 
   Mahmoud Abbas jumped on the opportunity to get massive media coverage of pro-Palestinian statements from a sympathetic and widely quoted world leader, and use the world media presence to continue his anti-Israel diatribe of “occupation”, “humiliation”, and “apartheid” while standing next to the Pope.
   Israel realized that in the inevitable media circus it had to counter every Palestinian move, especially in view of the current growing anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism worldwide trends (just look at the results of this week’s elections in Europe!).
   As for the Pope, he may have seen this as an opportunity to validate his choice of the Papal name Francis, after St. Francis of Assisi, one of the church’s greatest peace-makers, or maybe he caught a bit of the “Jerusalem Syndrome” bug. Otherwise it’s hard to understand why such an amiable 77 year old spiritual leader would want to get so directly involved in the Gordian knot of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
   Realizing that he had to tread on eggshells to maintain respect and credibility in trying to mediate in a conflict where none the key players are Christian, let alone Catholic, the Pope made a heroic effort to appease every-one. Let’s see what the reactions were at a few key points during his visit (I’ll use “Bibi” and “Abbas” to represent the Israeli and Palestinian reactions.

• Arrived by Jordanian military helicopter to Bethlehem. Abbas – delighted. Proves that Palestine is a sovereign state. Full Palestinian ceremonial state welcome. Bibi – annoyed. Refused to allow the Pope to travel the 15 minute ride by car to Jerusalem from Bethlehem. Jordanian chopper had to fly the papal entourage to Ben Gurion airport for the formal Israeli state ceremony.
• Impromptu stop at the barrier fence near Bethlehem, at one of the few places it’s a wall, for a major photo-op. Bibi – annoyed. Gives a distorted picture of the reality and life-saving need of the fence.
• Pope implied he was in the “State of Palestine” twice in a speech. Israel complained strongly and the Vatican later backtracked, but the damage was already done.
• Dined and sympathized with refugees who “were suffering terribly under Israeli occupation and oppression” (quoted in world media).  Bibi – a disingenuous distortion.
• Laid wreath at Herzl’s grave, confirming the legality of Zionism and the Jewish connection to Israel. Abbas – furious.
• Visited Yad Vashem, prayed in Memorial Hall where ashes are buried. Abbas – furious (has denied the Holocaust in the past).
• Visited monument dedicated to Israeli victims of Palestinian terror (this was an Israeli addition after the unscheduled barrier wall stop in Bethlehem). Abbas not happy.
• Prayed at the Western Wall and visited the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque– Everybody happy except Islamists, who are annoyed that he might have prayed silently at their holy shrine.

   At a meetings in Jerusalem Netanyahu mentioned that Jesus lived in Israel and that he spoke Hebrew. The pope, smiling, shot back “Aramaic”. Both were correct. While Aramaic was the official language in Israel under the Roman Empire in those days, the lower classes spoke Hebrew. Jesus would have communicated with the masses that followed him mostly in Hebrew.
   The meeting and joint prayer session between Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew took place in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and by all accounts went well.
   This visit certainly had some very positive moments, and a few that could have been better prepared. The biggest faux pas came as a surprise right at the end, when Pope Francis extended an invitation to the presidents of Israel and the Palestinian authority, Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas, to join him in the Vatican for a “prayer meeting” to discuss the Israeli Palestinian conflict. This is pointless at several levels. Shimon Peres holds a strictly ceremonial role as president with no official authority, and is ending his term of office within a few weeks. Abbas holds on to the formal title of president even though his term of office ended three years ago. He is being challenged both within his Fatah faction and the PLO.
   Does Pope Francis really believe that he will succeed where John Kerry and many seasoned diplomats and negotiators have failed?  I seriously don’t see it happening. But then again, this is Israel – the land of miracles.
   Agree or disagree, that’s my opinion.

DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed above the writer’s, and do not represent SWJC directors, officers or members

Olmert’s conviction and the Israeli spy who never came home

Only in the dizzying complexities of Middle East politics and diplomacy can the recent conviction of a former Israeli prime minister on bribery charges have a connection to an espionage story that happened when he was only a teenager. 

   Forty nine years ago this week, on May 18 1965, at 2:45 am, a prominent and well-connected “Syrian businessman” named Kamel Amin Thaabet was hanged in a central square in Damascus. But that was not his real name…and he was not Syrian.  His name was Eli Cohen, and he was an Israeli Mossad field officer. To this day Eli Cohen is considered the best Mossad officer operating in an Arab country Israel has ever had.
   Eli Cohen was born in in 1924 in Alexandria, Egypt to a Zionist family originally from Aleppo, Syria.  In 1949, despite harassment by the Muslim Brotherhood, he stayed in Egypt to complete his degree in electronics and coordinate Jewish and Zionist activities, even though his parents and three brothers had immigrated to Israel. 
   In 1951, he was arrested and interrogated over his Zionist activities. Though he took part in various Israeli covert operations during the 1950s, the Egyptians could never prove anything. 
    Following the 1956 Suez Campaign, the Egyptian government stepped up persecution of Jews and expelled many of them. Forced to leave Egypt, Cohen joined his family in Israel. 
    In 1957, he was recruited by the IDF, serving as a counterintelligence analyst. After his military service he attempted to join the Mossad, but was initially rejected.
    For the next few years, he worked as a filing clerk in a Tel Aviv insurance office and in 1959 married Nadia Majald, an Iraqi-Jewish immigrant. They had three children, Sophie, Irit and Shai.
     The Mossad finally recruited Cohen in 1960 when they needed a special agent to infiltrate the Syrian government. He underwent an intensive six-month course at the Mossad training school.
   The Mossad gave him a false identity as a Syrian businessman who was returning to the country after living in Argentina. To establish his cover, he moved to Argentina in 1961.
   Having made friends with senior Syrian military attaches and diplomats in Argentina, Cohen moved to Damascus in February 1962 under the alias Kamel Amin Thaabet.
   His tactics to cultivate relations with Syrian high-ranked politicians, military officers, influential public figures and foreign diplomats were carefully crafted and masterminded by the Mossad. He continued his lavish social life as in Argentina, spending time in cafes listening to political gossip. 
   He also held parties at his home, which often turned into extravagant orgies for high-placed Syrian ministers, businessmen, and others. They used Cohen's apartment for trysts with various women, including Defense Ministry secretaries, airline flight attendants, and Syrian movie and pop stars.
   At these parties the highly placed officials would talk freely of their work and army plans. Cohen, who would feign intoxication, remained sober and listened carefully. 
  With Mossad money he provided loans to government officials, who intoxicated by the alcohol he freely provided, frequently asked for his advice on top secret security issues. 
   In Argentina he cultivated a friendship with Amin al-Hafiz, who became President of Syria in 1963, and seriously considered Cohen (AKA Kamel Amin Thaabet), the Israeli spy, for the position of Syrian Deputy Minister of Defense.
  From 1961-1965 Eli Cohen provided an incredible amount of intelligence data to the IDF. He transmitted it by radio, secret letters, and occasionally in person. He secretly traveled to Israel three times, and often met his handlers (and occasionally his wife and children), during “business trips” to Europe. 
   His most significant achievement was when he toured the Golan Heights, collecting intelligence on the Syrian fortifications there. Feigning sympathy for the soldiers exposed to the sun, Cohen, as advisor to the Syrian commander on the Golan, had trees planted at every position. These trees were used in 1967 as target markers by the IDF during the Six-Day War, enabling Israel to destroy the positions and take the Golan Heights in two days. 
    In 1964 a newly appointed Syrian Intelligence officer, Colonel Ahmed Su'edani trusted no-one and disliked Cohen. During his last secret visit to Israel in November 1964 to pass intelligence, and for the birth of his third child, Cohen expressed his fear and requested to terminate his assignment in Syria. He was asked to return to Syria one more time. Before leaving, Cohen assured his wife that there would only be one more trip before he returned permanently.  
   In January 1965, Syrian efforts to find a high-level mole were stepped up. Using Soviet-made tracking equipment and assisted by Soviet experts, a period of radio silence was observed, hoping that any illegal transmissions could be identified. Numerous radio signals were detected and traced to their source. On January 24 Syrian security officers broke into Cohen's apartment catching him in the middle of a transmission to Israel. Cohen was arrested, repeatedly interrogated and tortured.
   After a short trial before a military tribunal, without a defense attorney, he was convicted of espionage and sentenced to death.
   On May 18, 1965, Eli Cohen was publicly hanged in the Marjeh Square in Damascus. To add insult, his body was left hanging on display for over nine hours, during which time it was broadcast on Syrian television
   Following the execution, Eli Cohen was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Damascus. His body has never been returned to Israel for burial. At first it was assumed that the Syrians did not want Israel to know the extent of his torture. As the years went by numerous Israeli and international requests, including a recent personal letter by Nadia Cohen to Basher al-Assad, were ignored.
   This brings me to the connection with Ehud Olmert’s conviction. 
   In 1988, just as the police were investigating then Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on suspicion of pocketing envelopes full of cash as bribes from developers when he was mayor of Jerusalem, a breaking story came out that Israel and Syria were negotiating a comprehensive peace deal with the help of the Turkish government. The details were explicit, and included a deal regarding the return of the Golan Heights to Syria and the repatriation of Eli Cohen’s remains to Israel.
   Olmert went as far as publically informing Nadia Cohen that her husband’s remains will soon be brought to burial.
   Because of the explosive criminal investigation against the prime minister – few took the “peace talks” seriously.  The media was downright nasty, saying “the depth of the talks is as the depth of the envelopes”, and that Olmert was cynically using the Cohen family’s pain to distract from the investigation.
   We know how it ended – the talks went nowhere, and Olmert, convicted of soliciting and accepting bribes, was sentenced to six years in jail. As for Eli Cohen’s remains, the Syrians issued two contradicting statements at the time:
1. That over the years Eli Cohen’s body was reburied several times to deter an Israeli commando recovery operation, and that no-one alive today knows exactly where it is.
2. That buildings and a park were built on the location of his grave so that it will never be found.
   I don’t believe either statement. Eli Cohen’s remains are much too valuable a negotiation asset to just “lose”. We know that on May 18th, 1965 he was given a proper Jewish burial in the cemetery in Damascus, presided by the rabbi of Damascus, Rabbi Nissim Andvo. 
Hopefully, when the dust settles in Syria, whoever eventually controls Damascus will figure out a way to benefit from repatriating Eli Cohen for burial in Israel, ending the long saga of frustration of his family.
   Agree or disagree, that’s my opinion.

DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed above the writer’s, and do not represent SWJC directors, officers or members

The Syrian end game and the moot question

In two weeks, on June 3rd, Syrians will go to the polls to elect a president from three candidates. One is an unknown 46 year-old Communist who represents the City of Aleppo in the Syrian parliament, another is a 54 year-old businessman who is aligned with the Syrian opposition movement, and the third is the incumbent dictator, Bashar al Assad. 

  The main story here is not the fact that Assad will win with the typical Middle East “Four 9” factor of re-electing tyrants – the incumbent always gets 99.99% of the vote. The real story is that these “national” elections are only being held in a fraction of the country – the fragment of area still under control of the regime.
   After 3 years of civil sectarian war, with over 150,000 killed (mostly civilians) and 1.3 million displaced refugees, with whole cities and towns destroyed and over 80% of the country under the control of rival Sunni rebel groups – The Syrian Arab Republic, established by France on April 17th 1946, no longer exists.
   More than anything, the upcoming elections show us that the Syrian “end-game” is now in play. The Balkanization process has begun. The country is, de facto, splitting up along historic sectorial lines.
   In the North east, the Sunni Kurds have, with the help of Iraqi and Iranian Kurdish tribes, successfully fought off attempts by both the regime forces and the Islamist rebel groups to grab villages in their region.  What we may be seeing is an eventual unification of the Kurdish tribes (including those in South East Turkey), into a sovereign “Greater Kurdistan”, with a single ethnicity, religion (Sunni), language and culture.
   In the South the Druze population is cutting its historical ties to the ruling Alawites, once natural allies as two oppressed religious minorities in a Sunni Muslim majority region. 
   The Druze, for the first time in history, are flirting with the idea of actual statehood in the Southwest area of the Syrian Golan, known as Jabel Druze, possibly merged with the four Druze villages on the Israeli Golan Heights. Israel, where Druze citizens serve in the IDF and all levels of government and diplomacy, is encouraging this move.
   Despite recent gains in Homs and Aleppo, Bashar el Assad’s Alawite regime, supported by Iran and Russia, in effect only controls the coastal region between Lebanon and Turkey. This is more or less the historic area of the Alawite homeland that could, if the regime holds on to Damascus, eventually be the area that keeps the historic name “Syria”. 
   As mentioned above, the Sunni Muslim rebels control over 80% of what is currently Syria. They are not unified, with each militia ruling its own area of conquest. The myth of a unified opposition command is just that – a myth.  In the past few months there have been more casualties in the infighting between the jihadist and Al-Qaeda affiliated groups than between the rebels and the regime. 
   The bad news is that the various Sunni rebel militias, some controlling areas very close to the Israeli border on the Golan Heights, also have taken many of the regime’s military bases. These include fully stocked armor, artillery and missile basis. Highly trained Sunni soldiers that broke away from the regime forces and joined the rebels are now operating these weapons.
   Israel, which sees this developing situation as a very serious threat, has reinforced defenses on the Golan Heights and has created and deployed a new territorial combat division along the Syrian front.
   A year ago the question asked was whether Israel and the US preferred an Assad victory over the mostly Jihadist-Islamist Sunni rebels or a Muslim Brotherhood supported Sunni – Islamist victory over Iranian backed Assad.
The former would give us a heavily armed hostile Iranian controlled puppet state, while the latter – a heavily armed, hostile and unpredictable jihadi extremist state.
   With the Syrian end game now in play, the question becomes moot. We’re getting both.
 Agree or disagree, that’s my opinion.

DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed above the writer’s, and do not represent SWJC directors, officers or members

Sixty Six Years and Counting

This week started with a very emotional Yom Hazikaron (Israel Memorial Day) ceremony where Israelis, Jews and friends around the world remembered and honored the 23,169 soldiers of the IDF, members of the Security Forces and pre-state underground fighters who lost their lives in the line of duty, as well as 2,495 civilians killed in terrorist attacks.

   On Tuesday we celebrated Israel’s sixty sixth Independence Day.
   Unfortunately sixty six years after the rebirth of the Jewish homeland, Israel still faces challenges. 
   Israel’s 8.2 million citizens are surrounded by over 400 million Arabs who would prefer to see the country, together with its Jewish citizens, disappear from the region…one way or another.
   The 1948 War of Independence, when seven Arab countries attacked Israel, and which was halted by a UN brokered “temporary” cease-fire in 1949, never really ended. It is still fought to this day:

• The 1950’s – Cross border attacks by Egyptian and Jordanian supported “Fedayeen” terrorists.
• 1956 – The Sinai Campaign to stop Fedayeen attacks and removed the Egyptian blockade of Elat.
• 1967 – The Six Day War against Egypt, Jordan and Syria
• 1967-1970 – The War of Attrition against Egypt and Jordan
• 1973 – The Yom Kippur War against Egypt and Syria
• 1978 – Operation Litani – against the PLO in Lebanon
• 1982-2000 – First Lebanon War (Operation Peace in the Galilee) against the PLO
• 1987-1993 – First Palestinian Intifada
• 2000-2004 – Second Palestinian Intifada
• 2006 – Second Lebanon War against Hezbollah
• 2008 – Operation Cast Lead (Gaza) against Hamas
• 2012 – Operation Pillar of Defense (Gaza) against Hamas and Islamic Jihad
• 2014 – Ongoing rocket fire from Gaza, attacks by Hezbollah along the northern borders, uptick in terrorist attacks in Israel and the territories, all triggering Israeli military responses.

   The predictable failure of the US brokered peace talks, together with recent statements by regional Arab and Iranian leaders, indicate clearly this trend will only continue.
   Senior Fatah official Tawfik Tirawi said that "the two-state solution does not exist." He called for Israel's destruction, asserting that "Palestine is Gaza, the West Bank, Haifa, Jaffa, Acre…all of Israel is Palestine”.
   Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk said this past weekend that Hamas does not intend to recognize Israel or abide by previously signed agreements.  "Hamas will remain loyal to the right of return and to liberation".
    Yahya Rahim Safavi, a top military adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said last Saturday that Iran’s first line of defense is now the Lebanese border with Israel.
    But at least Israel is peace with Egypt and Jordan, right? At the moment yes. And these peace treaties are beneficial to all. However when the Muslim Brotherhood came to power in Egypt they immediately called for a nullification of the treaty and cessation of all trade and cultural ties with the “Zionist enemy”.
    And recent opinion polls in Jordan show an exponential growth in Hamas membership and Muslim Brotherhood supporters, leading to more vocal calls against the peace treaty with Israel.
   Israel at sixty six is strong, vibrant, and by all accounts determined to continue fulfilling the 2,000 year old dream of our fathers. The Zionist Project will continue to thrive, continue to expand medical, scientific and technological boundaries…and continue to be a light unto the nations.
  Israel may have to live by the sword for the foreseeable future, but I’m not worried. I know that the IDF, today stronger than ever, together with the Israeli security services and the most innovative high-tech, engineering and scientific minds in the world, will continue, as they have over the past sixty six years, to keep Israel safe, secure and prosperous – even if sometimes the price, as we remembered last Sunday, will be excruciatingly painful.        
   Agree or disagree, that’s my opinion.

DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed above the writer’s, and do not represent SWJC directors, officers or members

A stake through the heart of the peace talks!

For the last nine months I did not believe for a moment that the current US initiated peace talks between Israel and the PLO (yes – the PLO: The Palestinian Liberation Organization, not the Palestinian Authority!), would succeed.

   On the one hand, Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition partners would never agree to the demands made by the Palestinians on virtually every issue.
   On the other hand anyone who has studied similar attempts over the past twenty years knows for a fact that Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), current leader of both the PLO and its dominant component, the large Fatah organization, as well as being the illegitimate “president” of the defunct Palestinian Authority, has no authority, desire, reason, legitimacy or courage to actually sign a formal peace treaty with Israel. 
   In September 2008 Abbas walked away from a dream deal offered by then Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Israel essentially agreed to give up sovereignty of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, which would then be managed by a special committee consisting of representatives from five nations: Saudia Arabia, Jordan, Palestine, the United States and Israel. 
   Olmert also showed Abbas a detailed map with the proposed borders of the future Palestinian state.  Israel would keep only 6.3% of the West Bank, and in exchange would give the Palestinians areas that consist of 5.8% of Israeli territory.
   Olmert’ s offer included a secure corridor between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank through a tunnel, Israeli evacuation from the Jordan valley and the absorption of around 5,000 Palestinian refugees into Israel proper over five years.
   Olmert and Abbas met subsequently thirty six times, mainly in Jerusalem, and reached a draft agreement that would be the basis for any future peace deal between the parties. But no peace deal was signed despite the far-reaching offer. Abbas just walked away from it. Until today, neither Abbas nor other Palestinian leaders have responded to Olmert’s offer.
   Last year Abbas told the US that he was willing to “renew” the talks…but only from the point at which they ended with Olmert. In other words – already including all the concessions offered then, without giving anyyhing in return.
   Denounced as a death-deserving traitor by Hamas and leaders within his own Fatah movement for just agreeing to participate in the current talks, Abbas has absolutely no incentive or intention to change the almost seventy year Palestinian ethos by formally accepting a two state resolution. 
   Pay attention to his words – while he says that he is personally “committed” to the negotiation process, Abbas insists that any final agreement with Israel must be ratified in a referendum of the “Palestinian nation” at large… all estimated 5.5 million of them scattered around the globe and who would have, according to him, a “right of return” to Israel, or monetary compensation, as part of the deal.
   Loyal to his long-held “salami” theory (cut slices of Israel away until there is none left), it was clear that Abbas would try to pocket as many concessions from Israel and the US – to be the new “starting points” in future peace talks – before walking away from this round, too.
   I wrote in past columns that these talks are doomed because of the current lack of an authoritative Palestinian leadership. On March 27th I even called them “DOA”. 
   I expected a weak Mahmoud Abbas to let them die slowly, while milking Israel and the US for whatever more he could get. 
   But I never expected him to “confirm the kill” of this round with such a dramatic coup-de-grace as the ludicrous merger agreement between the secular PLO and fanatically Islamist Hamas. 
   As one Israeli pundit colorfully said last weekend…this isn’t just a blow to the US driven peace talks, it’s a fatal stake right through the heart.
   It’s also a wonderful Israel Independence Day gift to Netanyahu’s government.       
      Agree or disagree, that’s my opinion.

DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed above the writer’s, and do not represent SWJC directors, officers or members