<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Israel Called Biggest Threat to World Peace ~ by Stephen&nbsp;Lendman]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<hr align="left" size="1" width="100%" />
<strong>Truth does not matter for &#8220;Israel&#8221;. Buttons Do. </strong><strong><a href="http://wp.me/p16sn9-bBV" target="_blank">To mute</a>.</strong><strong> </strong><strong></strong></p>
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<p class="headline_meta"><span class="author vcard"><span class="url fn">Stephen Lendman</span></span> on <abbr class="published" title="2011-11-04">November 4, 2011 | Sabbah Report<br />
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<p><strong>America easily takes top honors, followed by Israel, Britain, and France, the real axis of evil.</strong></p>
<p>In Israel&#8217;s case, it&#8217;s easy to see why. It&#8217;s been top regional rogue state for decades. No other Middle East nation matches it.</p>
<p><img class="alignright" title="Israel-Iran nuclear threat" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-9gMc2gJDya0/TrOiZ84eiNI/AAAAAAAADCc/QhpaEXoeIFw/s800/nuclear_threat.jpg" alt="Israel-Iran nuclear threat" width="300" height="382" />A new European Commission poll rated 15 countries. Respondents called Israel the biggest threat to world peace. So did past surveys, including a previous 2003 European Commission one.</p>
<p>New developments provide added reasons for concern. On November 2, the International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC) headlined, <a href="http://www.imemc.org/article/62410" target="_blank">&#8220;Israeli Government Grants A Green Light to Gaza Offensive,&#8221;</a> saying:</p>
<p>Air and ground attacks depend on if resistance fighters resume firing rockets. They respond to premeditated Israeli bombing and/or shelling. Israel calls it terrorism. International law calls it self-defense.</p>
<p>Egypt tried brokering peace. On and off ceasefires followed. &#8220;Israeli sources stated that no shells were fired into southern Israel Tuesday, and the army decided to postpone what it called &#8216;stepping up its retaliation.&#8217; &#8221;</p>
<p>Others call it premeditated aggression, bogusly claimed to be self-defense. Further Israeli belligerence depends &#8220;on the severity of Palestinian attacks.&#8221;</p>
<p>Army forces were authorized to strike Gaza &#8220;and will not need to wait for another government decision&#8230;.&#8221; However, no action&#8217;s planned while Egypt negotiates with Gazans.</p>
<p>On November 2, Haaretz headlined, <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/netanyahu-trying-to-persuade-cabinet-to-support-attack-on-iran-1.393214" target="_blank">&#8220;Netanyahu trying to persuade cabinet to support attack on Iran,&#8221;</a> saying:</p>
<p>He and Defense Minister Ehud Barak favor military action. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Iran poses the most dangerous threat to world order. His comments are extremist rants, not thoughtful reason.</p>
<p>Cabinet opponents outnumber belligerents. Despite recent attention on Gaza, &#8220;political leaders have diverted their attention to arguing over a possible war with Iran.&#8221;</p>
<p>No decision was reached, and if made announcing it won&#8217;t follow. As long as media reports discuss internal debates, war remains unlikely. On June 7, 1981, when Israel destroyed Iraq&#8217;s Osirak nuclear reactor, it wasn&#8217;t suggested in advance. The element of surprise was maintained. Enemies aren&#8217;t alerted to prepare.</p>
<p>On October 28, journalist <a href="http://www.eurasiareview.com/29102011-nahum-barnea-on-israeli-strike-on-iran-oped/" target="_blank">Nahum Barnea</a> discussed the possibility, saying Israel&#8217;s military/intelligence leaders oppose it. He also explained how Israeli political and military officials operate, saying:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;&#8230;.(T)he political echelon decides, the operational level implements&#8230;.But the process is more complex than&#8221; what&#8217;s commonly believed. Israel&#8217;s &#8220;professional level is an equal partner in discussions (on) every relevant subject&#8221; under consideration.</p>
<p>&#8220;In actual practice, the prime minister cannot make a decision that entails risks if (all or most top officials, including) the defense minister, the chief of staff, the Mossad director, and the GSS (General Security Service) director&#8221; oppose it.</p></blockquote>
<p>Even with majority cabinet support, &#8220;he would not dare.&#8221; If he failed, he&#8217;d be held accountable. On major issues like war, as close to consensus as possible is needed to act.</p>
<p>Despite no evidence suggesting an Iranian nuclear weapons program, Netanyahu told Knesset members on October 31 that its regional power and influence is growing, saying:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;One of those regional powers is Iran, which is continuing its efforts to obtain nuclear weapons. A nuclear Iran would constitute a grave threat to the Middle East and the entire world, and, of course, it is a direct and grave threat on us.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Omitted was admitting Israel is nuclear armed and dangerous. On November 2, reports said it successfully test fired a ballistic missile from its Palmahim airbase.</p>
<p>Britain earlier confirmed it has intercontinental ballistic missiles with nuclear capability. An acknowledged regional menace, Israel threatens preemptive nuclear attack if endangered.</p>
<p>In contrast, Iran hasn&#8217;t attacked another nation in over 200 years and threatens none now, including Israel. Cooler heads there know it. Claiming an Iranian threat is political posturing and rhetoric to incite fear.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, former defense minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer fears a &#8220;horror scenario&#8221; attack. Warning of a &#8220;rash act,&#8221; he said he hopes &#8220;common sense will prevail.&#8221;</p>
<p>That and politics rarely mix. Sometimes dire consequences result. Armed to the teeth, Israel is a modern day Sparta. Belligerence often becomes first option.</p>
<p>Rhetoric aside, attacking Iran seems improbable. Unlike Gaza and Lebanon, it can strike back forcefully with considerable damage. It&#8217;s hard imagining Israel would risk it.</p>
<p>On October 2, Haaretz said <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/iran-military-head-warns-of-heavy-damage-should-israel-attack-1.393318" target="_blank">&#8220;Iran&#8217;s military chief warned Wednesday that an Israeli attack on Iran&#8217;s nuclear development sites will come at a heavy price,&#8221;</a> according to the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA).</p>
<p>Iranian Joint Chiefs of Staff head Hassan Firouzabadi warned Israel and America against belligerence, saying:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;The US officials know that the Zionist regime&#8217;s military attack against Iran will inflict heavy damages to the US seriously as well as the Zionist regime.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>At the same time, Israel&#8217;s Air Force conducted comprehensive long range attack drills from NATO&#8217;s Decimomannu air base in Sardinia. Another one took place last week with six different type squadrons participating.</p>
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<p>Normally these drills last two weeks. This one ended after five days. Some suggested a possible planned mission. Conspiracists mentioned Iran. Others call it unlikely.</p>
<p><strong>Israel Responds to UNESCO Admitting Palestine</strong></p>
<p>Anything harming its interests or causing embarrassment draws harsh responses. After UNESCO admitted Palestine, Netanyahu halted Palestinian Authority (PA) tax revenue transfers, pending whether to stop them altogether.</p>
<p>He also banned UNESCO missions to Israel. Other responses are being considered, including revoking VIP privileges for Palestinian officials to pass freely through military checkpoints.</p>
<p>IMEMC said Netanyahu also ordered <a href="http://www.imemc.org/article/62412" target="_blank">significantly expedited settlement construction</a> in East Jerusalem, Maaleh Adumin and Gush Etzion.</p>
<p>Abbas spokesperson Nabil Abu Rodeina said doing so deters restarting peace talks, and withholding tax revenues constitutes &#8220;theft as this money belongs to the Palestinian people.&#8221; At issue is $50 million monthly for essential operations.</p>
<p>Palestinian officials called Israel&#8217;s actions &#8220;outrageous and a slap to the international community.&#8221; They asked Quartet members to intervene on their behalf.</p>
<p>In August, OCHA said Israeli settlements violate international law, including Fourth Geneva. A September UN report called Gaza&#8217;s siege illegal. It focused on humanitarian crisis conditions caused. It provided testimonies of victims and eye witness reports.</p>
<p>It acknowledged great harm done to education, health, housing, employment, reconstruction, and overall human development and welfare. It called the situation for children &#8220;alarming,&#8221; explaining:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;Having familiarized itself with the situation in Gaza, the Special Committee is convinced that Israel&#8217;s oppressive policies constitute a form of collective punishment of civilians.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Israel&#8217;s regime of closures and the practices by which this regime is enforced are having disproportionate impact on civilians. It is in this light that Israel&#8217;s siege must be adjudged to be in violation of international humanitarian law and to result in the violation of a wide range of Israel&#8217;s obligations under international human rights law.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>As a result, the Committee called on Israel &#8220;to lift its illegal siege&#8230;.and to ensure a regular, sufficient supply of food, medicines, and other basic supplies and services, in line with Security Council resolution 1860 (2009).&#8221;</p>
<p>The Committee also wants Israel to end its three nautical mile limit for Palestinian fishing by &#8220;bring(ing) its policy into line with what it agreed as part of the Oslo Accords, namely a 20 nautical mile limit for Gaza&#8217;s fishermen.&#8221;</p>
<p>Palestinians also deserve much more, including full de jure UN membership, freedom from occupation, and world community protection to end decades of lawless oppression and attacks.</p>
<p>In other words, they want what most other states enjoy. It can&#8217;t come a moment too soon.</p>
<p><em>* <a href="http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/author/stephen-lendman/">Stephen Lendman</a> lives in Chicago and can be reached at <a href="mailto:lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net">lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net</a>. Also visit his blog site at <a href="http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">sjlendman.blogspot.com</a> and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon.</em></p>
<h3>Last 5 posts by Stephen Lendman</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2011/10/22/israel-arrests-palestinians/">Israel Arrests Palestinians While Releasing Others</a> &#8211; October 22nd, 2011</li>
<li><a href="http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2011/10/16/israel-proclaimed-democracy/">Ongoing Israeli Human Rights Abuses and Self-Proclaimed Democracy</a> &#8211; October 16th, 2011</li>
<li><a href="http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2011/10/14/abbas-un-peace/">Abbas, UN Membership and Peace Talks</a> &#8211; October 14th, 2011</li>
<li><a href="http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2011/10/07/palestinians-israeli-prison-hell/">Palestinians Protest Israeli Prison Hell</a> &#8211; October 7th, 2011</li>
<li><a href="http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2011/10/03/palestinian-freedom-later/">Palestinian Freedom Later, Not Now</a> &#8211; October 3rd, 2011</li>
</ul>
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<p><strong><a href="http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2011/11/04/israel-called-biggest-threat-to-world-peace/">Source &amp; much more at the Great website of  Sabbah Report</a>.</strong></p>
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<strong><a href="https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2011/10/08/a-million-stories-about-zionism-violence-in-pictures/" target="_blank">A Million Stories about the Zionist Rape of This World</a> – in pictures</strong></p>
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