Between the Opportunities in the Gulf & the "Chips" of the Six-Day War
The rift between Qatar and the moderate countries of the Arab world will have profound implications for Israel, which currently commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War. Amir Rapaport's weekly column
Amir Rapaport
| 09/06/2017
US President Trump meets with leaders of the Gulf states (Photo: AP)
The current Qatar crisis puts the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and even the implications of the Six-Day War, which took place exactly fifty years ago, into proper proportion. The significance of this crisis cannot be overrated, however: the severing of relations between the countries of the Persian Gulf and their rich neighbor is a seminal event in the history of the region.
The recent process has also emphasized, with unprecedented clarity, the outlines of the two opposing axes: the axis of the "moderate" countries that includes Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, the Palestinian Authority and other Arab countries, as well as Israel as an inseparable part of the alliance; and the radical Islamist axis headed by Iran, Hezbollah, Assad's Syria and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Qatar tried to straddle the fence, but her neighbors have had enough of her support for terrorism and her cooperation with the party they regard as "the Great Satan" – Iran.
The conflict is not Shi'ite-Sunni as most people tend to believe, as there are Sunni Muslims within the ranks of the various Muslim Brotherhood movements (even within the dwindling ranks of ISIS, which has struck a blow at the heart of their archrival, in Tehran – with no connection whatsoever to the Qatar issue).
Much has been written and said this week in the world media about the implications of the dramatic disengagement from Qatar on world economy and on the Arabian Peninsula (including the war in Yemen), but this development also has quite a few implications with regard to Israel.
The main reason: Qatar is a chief mainstay and patron of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Hamas relies on the support provided by Qatar while the Palestinian Authority does its best to stifle it economically. If Qatar stops its support for Hamas in order to "repent", this could push the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip into a corner and expedite the next confrontation with Israel (a reminder: the economic hardship in the Gaza Strip was one of the primary causes for the outbreak of Operation Protective Edge in 2014).
Will this turn out to be the inevitable outcome? In response to the pressures, Qatar has already expelled senior Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri, who had been previously expelled from Turkey pursuant to the reconciliation between Ankara and Jerusalem. Apparently, the severing of relations between Hamas and Qatar is good for Israel, but the connection between them had also provided an unofficial communication channel between Israel and Hamas, which could be missed in the event that tensions rise again (although according to reports in the Arab media, Turkey already serves as the chief mediator between the two parties anyway).
The bottom line: apparently, Israeli intelligence has a hard time understanding the deeper strata of the conflict in the Persian Gulf, and all that can be done from here is continue to monitor, with great interest, the subsequent developments in the Gulf.
The Terrorist Attacks in Europe & Israel
Naturally, the continuing terrorist attacks in Europe, including this week's attack in London, also have a substantial effect on Israel. This column has recently addressed the sharp increase in European defense procurement from Israel and the intensifying intelligence cooperation. Earlier this week, Elbit Systems reported a mega-deal of US$ 390 million with a European country, only days after a German court approved a UAV deal of not less than US$ 600 million with IAI (Elbit Systems has a substantial share in this deal, too, as the manufacturer of some of the airborne systems to be fitted to the UAVs by IAI).
But the truly significant implication of the recurring terrorist attacks is the elimination of the longstanding global narrative according to which the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the source of global terrorism.
Even the hostile politicians of Sweden no longer make this claim, especially after Islamist terrorism struck a blow at Stockholm, too.
So, last Sunday, at a reception on the occasion of the Independence Day of Italy, the impressive Ambassador of Italy to Israel, Francesco Maria Talo, proclaimed the simple truth to the audience gathered in his garden: the world is divided between barbarian radical Islamist terrorists and the people of the enlightened world, and Israel is an inseparable part of this world (and of the alliance defending it). To an unprecedented extent, Europe has finally realized that there is no place for understanding for any kind of terrorism. This realization may be likened to the dramatic change in US policy with regard to the Palestinian Authority and Yasser Arafat pursuant to the atrocities of September 11, 2001. Immediately following the 9/11 attack, all restrictions previously imposed on Israeli operations in the territories, regarded as PA territory, were lifted.
"Y" stands for Yigal
In recent years, only people in the know within the Israeli defense establishment knew the name of the Head of the Cyber Division of ISA, a tall and impressive individual known simply as "Y".
This week we can finally report that "Y" stands for Yigal Una, who had completed an illustrious career with the Israel Security Agency before entering his new position within the national cyber layout, as Head of the Cyber Technology Unit. In his new capacity, Yigal Una will parallel Buki Carmeli, the Head of the National Cyber Authority, the new executive organ in charge of implementing cybersecurity doctrines and installations.
With Una's appointment, the Head of the national cyber layout, Dr. Eviatar Matania, has completed the full process of establishing the national cyber layout, initiated about five and a half years ago with the establishment of the National Cyber Bureau (in line with a world-first format).
Soon, Yigal Una will be presented to the world officially, when he delivers an address at the National Cyber Week to be held at Tel-Aviv University.
While the national cyber layout is completing its own build-up, the IDF Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General Gadi Eizenkot, is about to back down and relinquish his original intention to establish a cyber arm within IDF.
In line with the intention to establish the IDF Cyber Arm, an IAF officer, Brigadier-General Yaron Rosen, was appointed last year to the position of Head of the IDF GHQ Cyber Staff, which has recently been subordinated to the IDF C4I Directorate (after the intention to merge the cyber collection organs of the Intelligence Directorate with the defensive cyber organs of the C4I Directorate had been rejected).
So, as offensive cyber operations and defensive cyber operations remain separate, Rosen's position is expected to be cancelled soon and he will be discharged after a long service term, mostly with IAF. The IDF Cyber Arm will remain an unfulfilled plan.
Ben-Hannan, 50 Years After
Back to the Six-Day War: last Monday, at precisely the time when fifty years ago the order "Sadin Adom" (= Red Sheet) was issued over the IDF radio networks to initiate the ground operation of the war, one of the most prominent symbols of that war, Major-General (res.) Yossi Ben-Hannan, noted that the first trooper of the IDF 7th Armored Brigade, where Ben-Hannan had served as operations officer, killed in that war, was a member of the crew of the brigade commander's tank that leaped into action.
Ben-Hannan became the symbol of that war and the entire era after his photograph, lifting a captured AK assault rifle in the water of the Suez Canal, with a full lock of hair and a smile of sheer joy, was published on the cover of Life magazine.
Ben-Hannan is also the symbol of the Israeli spirit: he is named after Joseph Trumpeldor, as he was born on the date of Trumpeldor's heroic death. He is the son of Michael Ben-Hannan, the mythological presenter of the Voice of Israel's morning exercise program and Sarah Ben-Hannan, a well-known educator and author of textbooks and children's books, originally from Safed. Yossi Ben-Hannan, the ultimate Israeli-born fighter, was nearly killed during the Yom-Kippur War and was rescued by another mythological figure – Jonathan (Yoni) Netanyahu (Ben-Hannan named his daughter, who's to be married soon, after Netanyahu).
Ben-Hannan supported and cared for two of his best friends, Meir Dagan and Avigdor (Yanush) Ben-Gal, through the various stages of their terminal illness. He lost both friends within the span of one year.
This week, Ben-Hannan concluded the implications of the major victory of the Six-Day War on the 50th anniversary of that war:
"Today, I observe the various processes taking place in this country. Today, and throughout the past 50 years, I become more and more convinced that the Six-Day War was a major miracle. Apparently, God decided that after all the Jewish People had experienced, from the Destruction of the Temple to the Holocaust and beyond, it finally deserved to become a nation like all the other nations – a nation consolidating its existence in its historic homeland, the Promised Land. The victory achieved by the State of Israel in the Six-Day War was unprecedented. It positioned Israel as a country the entire international community knew can no longer be defeated or destroyed – neither using nuclear weapons, nor using knives, or anything in between.
"To this day, we still benefit from all of the 'chips' we won pursuant to the Six-Day War. We have gradually cashed some of those 'chips' in exchange for assets such as the peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, and established for ourselves an astonishing international status for a state with a population of seven million Jews. The fact that Israel evolved into the place of residence of the world's largest Jewish community was, in my opinion, the outcome of the Six-Day War.
"However, we have not yet reached a state of peace and tranquility. Of one and a half billion Muslims worldwide, many do not accept our very existence. Those who must accept Israel as an accomplished and eternal fact are, of course, the Palestinians. We should live in peace with them through a safe and stable arrangement for the benefit of everyone, and not rely exclusively on the USA and the other superpowers."
Ben-Hannan concluded by saying: "The issue of peace must be addressed not just with regard to the territorial aspect. It is a profound, historic issue and short-term solutions cannot guarantee our existence."
The rift between Qatar and the moderate countries of the Arab world will have profound implications for Israel, which currently commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War. Amir Rapaport's weekly column
US President Trump meets with leaders of the Gulf states (Photo: AP)
The current Qatar crisis puts the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and even the implications of the Six-Day War, which took place exactly fifty years ago, into proper proportion. The significance of this crisis cannot be overrated, however: the severing of relations between the countries of the Persian Gulf and their rich neighbor is a seminal event in the history of the region.
The recent process has also emphasized, with unprecedented clarity, the outlines of the two opposing axes: the axis of the "moderate" countries that includes Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, the Palestinian Authority and other Arab countries, as well as Israel as an inseparable part of the alliance; and the radical Islamist axis headed by Iran, Hezbollah, Assad's Syria and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Qatar tried to straddle the fence, but her neighbors have had enough of her support for terrorism and her cooperation with the party they regard as "the Great Satan" – Iran.
The conflict is not Shi'ite-Sunni as most people tend to believe, as there are Sunni Muslims within the ranks of the various Muslim Brotherhood movements (even within the dwindling ranks of ISIS, which has struck a blow at the heart of their archrival, in Tehran – with no connection whatsoever to the Qatar issue).
Much has been written and said this week in the world media about the implications of the dramatic disengagement from Qatar on world economy and on the Arabian Peninsula (including the war in Yemen), but this development also has quite a few implications with regard to Israel.
The main reason: Qatar is a chief mainstay and patron of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Hamas relies on the support provided by Qatar while the Palestinian Authority does its best to stifle it economically. If Qatar stops its support for Hamas in order to "repent", this could push the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip into a corner and expedite the next confrontation with Israel (a reminder: the economic hardship in the Gaza Strip was one of the primary causes for the outbreak of Operation Protective Edge in 2014).
Will this turn out to be the inevitable outcome? In response to the pressures, Qatar has already expelled senior Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri, who had been previously expelled from Turkey pursuant to the reconciliation between Ankara and Jerusalem. Apparently, the severing of relations between Hamas and Qatar is good for Israel, but the connection between them had also provided an unofficial communication channel between Israel and Hamas, which could be missed in the event that tensions rise again (although according to reports in the Arab media, Turkey already serves as the chief mediator between the two parties anyway).
The bottom line: apparently, Israeli intelligence has a hard time understanding the deeper strata of the conflict in the Persian Gulf, and all that can be done from here is continue to monitor, with great interest, the subsequent developments in the Gulf.
The Terrorist Attacks in Europe & Israel
Naturally, the continuing terrorist attacks in Europe, including this week's attack in London, also have a substantial effect on Israel. This column has recently addressed the sharp increase in European defense procurement from Israel and the intensifying intelligence cooperation. Earlier this week, Elbit Systems reported a mega-deal of US$ 390 million with a European country, only days after a German court approved a UAV deal of not less than US$ 600 million with IAI (Elbit Systems has a substantial share in this deal, too, as the manufacturer of some of the airborne systems to be fitted to the UAVs by IAI).
But the truly significant implication of the recurring terrorist attacks is the elimination of the longstanding global narrative according to which the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the source of global terrorism.
Even the hostile politicians of Sweden no longer make this claim, especially after Islamist terrorism struck a blow at Stockholm, too.
So, last Sunday, at a reception on the occasion of the Independence Day of Italy, the impressive Ambassador of Italy to Israel, Francesco Maria Talo, proclaimed the simple truth to the audience gathered in his garden: the world is divided between barbarian radical Islamist terrorists and the people of the enlightened world, and Israel is an inseparable part of this world (and of the alliance defending it). To an unprecedented extent, Europe has finally realized that there is no place for understanding for any kind of terrorism. This realization may be likened to the dramatic change in US policy with regard to the Palestinian Authority and Yasser Arafat pursuant to the atrocities of September 11, 2001. Immediately following the 9/11 attack, all restrictions previously imposed on Israeli operations in the territories, regarded as PA territory, were lifted.
"Y" stands for Yigal
In recent years, only people in the know within the Israeli defense establishment knew the name of the Head of the Cyber Division of ISA, a tall and impressive individual known simply as "Y".
This week we can finally report that "Y" stands for Yigal Una, who had completed an illustrious career with the Israel Security Agency before entering his new position within the national cyber layout, as Head of the Cyber Technology Unit. In his new capacity, Yigal Una will parallel Buki Carmeli, the Head of the National Cyber Authority, the new executive organ in charge of implementing cybersecurity doctrines and installations.
With Una's appointment, the Head of the national cyber layout, Dr. Eviatar Matania, has completed the full process of establishing the national cyber layout, initiated about five and a half years ago with the establishment of the National Cyber Bureau (in line with a world-first format).
Soon, Yigal Una will be presented to the world officially, when he delivers an address at the National Cyber Week to be held at Tel-Aviv University.
While the national cyber layout is completing its own build-up, the IDF Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General Gadi Eizenkot, is about to back down and relinquish his original intention to establish a cyber arm within IDF.
In line with the intention to establish the IDF Cyber Arm, an IAF officer, Brigadier-General Yaron Rosen, was appointed last year to the position of Head of the IDF GHQ Cyber Staff, which has recently been subordinated to the IDF C4I Directorate (after the intention to merge the cyber collection organs of the Intelligence Directorate with the defensive cyber organs of the C4I Directorate had been rejected).
So, as offensive cyber operations and defensive cyber operations remain separate, Rosen's position is expected to be cancelled soon and he will be discharged after a long service term, mostly with IAF. The IDF Cyber Arm will remain an unfulfilled plan.
Ben-Hannan, 50 Years After
Back to the Six-Day War: last Monday, at precisely the time when fifty years ago the order "Sadin Adom" (= Red Sheet) was issued over the IDF radio networks to initiate the ground operation of the war, one of the most prominent symbols of that war, Major-General (res.) Yossi Ben-Hannan, noted that the first trooper of the IDF 7th Armored Brigade, where Ben-Hannan had served as operations officer, killed in that war, was a member of the crew of the brigade commander's tank that leaped into action.
Ben-Hannan became the symbol of that war and the entire era after his photograph, lifting a captured AK assault rifle in the water of the Suez Canal, with a full lock of hair and a smile of sheer joy, was published on the cover of Life magazine.
Ben-Hannan is also the symbol of the Israeli spirit: he is named after Joseph Trumpeldor, as he was born on the date of Trumpeldor's heroic death. He is the son of Michael Ben-Hannan, the mythological presenter of the Voice of Israel's morning exercise program and Sarah Ben-Hannan, a well-known educator and author of textbooks and children's books, originally from Safed. Yossi Ben-Hannan, the ultimate Israeli-born fighter, was nearly killed during the Yom-Kippur War and was rescued by another mythological figure – Jonathan (Yoni) Netanyahu (Ben-Hannan named his daughter, who's to be married soon, after Netanyahu).
Ben-Hannan supported and cared for two of his best friends, Meir Dagan and Avigdor (Yanush) Ben-Gal, through the various stages of their terminal illness. He lost both friends within the span of one year.
This week, Ben-Hannan concluded the implications of the major victory of the Six-Day War on the 50th anniversary of that war:
"Today, I observe the various processes taking place in this country. Today, and throughout the past 50 years, I become more and more convinced that the Six-Day War was a major miracle. Apparently, God decided that after all the Jewish People had experienced, from the Destruction of the Temple to the Holocaust and beyond, it finally deserved to become a nation like all the other nations – a nation consolidating its existence in its historic homeland, the Promised Land. The victory achieved by the State of Israel in the Six-Day War was unprecedented. It positioned Israel as a country the entire international community knew can no longer be defeated or destroyed – neither using nuclear weapons, nor using knives, or anything in between.
"To this day, we still benefit from all of the 'chips' we won pursuant to the Six-Day War. We have gradually cashed some of those 'chips' in exchange for assets such as the peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan, and established for ourselves an astonishing international status for a state with a population of seven million Jews. The fact that Israel evolved into the place of residence of the world's largest Jewish community was, in my opinion, the outcome of the Six-Day War.
"However, we have not yet reached a state of peace and tranquility. Of one and a half billion Muslims worldwide, many do not accept our very existence. Those who must accept Israel as an accomplished and eternal fact are, of course, the Palestinians. We should live in peace with them through a safe and stable arrangement for the benefit of everyone, and not rely exclusively on the USA and the other superpowers."
Ben-Hannan concluded by saying: "The issue of peace must be addressed not just with regard to the territorial aspect. It is a profound, historic issue and short-term solutions cannot guarantee our existence."
