News Digest — 12/18/24
Netanyahu On Mount Hermon: ‘IDF Will Remain Here Until Another Arrangement Is Found’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday (17th) visited Mount Hermon with Defense Minister Israel Katz, Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, Northern Command Head Uri Gordin, and Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar.
Netanyahu held a situational assessment on the site, reviewed the IDF’s preparedness in the sector, and established guidelines for future deployment. During the assessment, MInister Katz emphasized that the IDF must quickly complete its entrenchment on the ground, including the construction of barricades and defense measures, as well as the regulation of soldiers’ service conditions, in order to fully prepare for the possibility of a prolonged stay in the region.
Netanyahu said the visit brought back memories for him. “I was here 53 years ago with my soldiers on a Sayeret Matkal patrol. The place hasn’t changed. It’s the same place, but its importance to Israel’s security has only been reinforced in recent years, and especially in recent weeks with the dramatic events taking place here below us in Syria. We will determine the best arrangement that will ensure our security.”
The Prime Minister added that the IDF would remain at the peak of Mount Hermon “until another arrangement is found that guarantees Israel’s security.”
The Defense Minister said: “We will be here for as long as necessary. Our presence here at the peak of Mount Hermon strengthens Israel’s security and also adds a dimension of observation and deterrence against Hezbollah’s strongholds in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, while also serving as a deterrent against the rebels in Damascus, who claim to present a moderate stance, but are among the most extreme Islamic factions.”
He emphasized that “even in the era of long-range weapons, height and visibility have great significance. We will not allow repeated threats, such as those of October 7, on the borders of Israel.”
The assessment visit to Mount Hermon was held while the Reuters news agency reported that Prime Minister Netanyahu was on his way to Cairo for talks on a hostage deal. The news agency also reported that a deal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages is expected to be signed in the coming days.
The Prime Minister’s Spokesperson, Omer Dostri, denied the report about Netanyahu’s visit to Cairo and wrote that “contrary to the wave of rumors – Prime Minister Netanyahu is not in Cairo, and there is nothing new regarding Eli Cohen of blessed memory.”
Earlier in the day, a Hamas source told the Washington Post that the terrorist organization had given up on the demand for a full IDF withdrawal from Gaza and a halt to the war.
According to the source, the new proposal being discussed in the negotiations for the deal includes a 60-day truce and the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian terrorists.
Assad, al-Julani, Or Erdogan In Syria? It’s All The Same
Israel is closely monitoring Turkey’s attempt to establish itself in Syria amid concerns that the weakened Iranian axis could be replaced by equally radical elements on Israel’s doorstep. According to information obtained by Israel Hayom, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been addressing this issue since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, particularly following Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent decision to deploy significant forces in Syria.
New data emerging now sheds light on the reason for Israeli vigilance in 2023 alone: the largest number of weapons smuggling attempts into Israel originated from Turkey.
Netanyahu has been forced to address this issue following exceptional findings at border crossings that indicated that parallel to the Iranian smuggling route through Jordan to the West Bank, an equally extensive route operates through Turkey. Since October 7, Turkey has increasingly aligned itself with Hamas, with its leaders, even providing safe haven for the organization’s continued activities.
Hamas “charity” funds operating freely in Turkey have been collecting money to finance the organization’s terrorism for many years. The Turkish-global threat intersects again with Israel at this point where Assad’s regime has fallen and Syria has created a vacuum that could invite new-old threats facing the Golan Heights.
While the IDF tactically focuses on eliminating the Assad army’s capabilities, some worry Israel is again missing the strategy: preventing another murderous regime with Nazi ideology from growing on our doorstep – Assad, Abu Mohammad al-Julani, or Erdogan – it’s all the same thing.
Regional sources expressed doubts to Israel regarding rebel leader al-Julani’s recent polished speech and requested Israeli vigilance regarding what’s to come. Others warning Israel include Syrian Kurds and Druze, who fear falling into the hands of the Turks and al-Julani’s men.
Defense Minister Israel Katz addressed developments in Syria during Monday’s (16th) Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting, saying in the closed session that “The main reason for the Assad regime’s fall is the rebels’ sense that the Iranian axis has significantly weakened, a feeling that prompted them to act.” Katz added, “We must be prepared for all scenarios and prevent the formation of a tangible threat to Golan residents and to avoid returning to the pre-October 7 reality of invasion threats into Israeli territory.”
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee member MK Amit Halevi has already approached Netanyahu twice on this matter, requesting to examine the possibility of actively working toward Syria’s redistribution into “cantons,” (territorial sub-divisions) an issue also being examined by top defense officials. “We currently face a clear danger that Syria will become a regional center of radical Islam and Erdogan’s imperialist ambitions,” Halevi wrote to Netanyahu. “Therefore, it is crucial that, especially during these days, that Israel’s government initiates an international conference to recognize international borders within Syria and with its neighbors. This is necessary to ensure state security and prevent the establishment of a neo-Nazi regime in the spirit of extreme Islam.”
Khamenei: After Syrian Developments, Israel Gravely Mistaken, Thinking Uprising Over
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wrote that Israel was “gravely mistaken” about developments in Syria in a Tuesday (17th) message posted to his Hebrew X account.
“The enemies imagine that after the developments in Syria, the uprising is already over. They are greatly mistaken ,” he wrote.
Last week, Khamenei addressed the situation in Syria in a Hebrew post, noting, “The young Syrians will liberate the territories occupied by the Zionist entity.”
Following the toppling of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s regime by Syrian rebel factions earlier in December, Iran lost much of its influence in the region. It has indicated its interest in working with the new government in Damascus.
The Islamic Republic has blamed both Israel and the US for the fall of the Syrian regime.
In October, Khamenei launched his Hebrew X account, which was subsequently suspended temporarily with the social media platform citing a violation of rules.
Report: Revolutionary Guards Control Up To 50% Of Iran’s Oil Exports, Using Income To Fund Proxies
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have tightened their grip on the country’s oil industry and control up to half the exports that generate most of Tehran’s revenue and fund its proxies across the Middle East, according to Western officials, security sources and Iranian insiders.
All aspects of the oil business have come under the growing influence of the Guards, from the shadow fleet of tankers that secretly ship sanctioned crude, to logistics and the front companies selling the oil, mostly to China, according to more than a dozen people interviewed by Reuters.
The extent of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) control over oil exports has not previously been reported.
Despite tough Western sanctions designed to choke Iran’s energy industry, reimposed by former US President Donald Trump in 2018, Iran generates more than $50 billion a year in oil revenue, by far its largest source of foreign currency and its principal connection to the global economy.
Six specialists – Western officials and security experts, as well as Iranian and trading sources – say the Guards control up to 50% of Iran’s oil exports, a sharp increase from 20% three years ago. The sources declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Three of the estimates were based on intelligence documents about Iranian shipping while others derived their figures from monitoring shipping activity by tankers and companies linked to the IRGC. Reuters is unable to determine the exact extent of the IRGC’s control.
The IRGC’s growing domination of the oil industry adds to its influence in all areas of Iran’s economy and also makes it harder for Western sanctions to hit home – given the Guards are already designated as a terrorist organization by Washington.
As part of their expansion in the industry, the Guards have muscled in on the territory of state institutions such as the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and its NICO oil trading subsidiary, according to four of the sources.
The IRGC, NIOC, NICO, and Iran’s foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
Hamas Calls For “Mobilization” To Repel PA Security Forces Amid West Bank Operation
Hamas called on “all movements, factions, tribal gatherings, and human rights organizations to mobilize massively” to repel the ongoing operation carried out by PA security forces in Jenin, in an official statement on Tuesday (17th).
“We emphasize that the continuation of the PA’s security operation indicates that it is turning a deaf ear to all Palestinian voices calling for its cessation and for the protection of the resistance,” the terror group’s statement read, adding that the Palestinian Authority operation “serves only the occupation army and its futile dreams of ending the resistance in the West Bank.”
The large-scale Jenin operation began earlier in December after Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists stole vehicles belonging to the PA.
Clashes have since been reported between terrorists and PA security forces in the area, with terrorists detonating a car bomb in the vicinity of a police station in Jenin.
Earlier this week, it was reported that the US had asked Israel to approve the supply of weapons to the PA’s security forces.
The commander of PIJ’s Jenin Brigade was reportedly killed after PA security forces and terrorists exchanged fire on Saturday (14th) as the security forces attempted to clear the fighters from Jenin, according to Israeli and Arab reports. The commander was named as Yazid Ja’isa.
According to Kan News, the terrorists reportedly attempted to stop the security forces from entering the Jenin camp.
How Israel Can Win The War – Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror (Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security)
• It is important to remember that the war did not break out because Israel wanted it. The war is Israel’s response to Hamas’ barbaric assault on civilian communities on Oct 7, 2023, and it was Hezbollah that opened fire on northern Israel the day after the attack.
• The outbreak of the war was rooted in Iran’s ambitions and preparations for Israel’s collapse and destruction. To this end, Iran conceived and implemented the “Ring of Fire” around Israel – a coordinated campaign from all fronts conducted by terror movements built with Iranian support with the aim of destroying Israel.
• The war’s end must make clear to the world, especially the Muslim world, that radical Islamic movements, both Sunni and Shiite, bring disaster to their people and destruction to their believers. Hezbollah is Iran’s most robust proxy; the greater the damage done to Hezbollah, the more Iran is weakened.
• After Iran on two occasions fired hundreds of missiles at Israel, the actual extent of its military power was revealed, and effectively the Iranian strategy collapsed. The Israeli operation on October 26th, in which 20 targets in Iran were hit, made clear to the Iranians the price of direct confrontation with Israel and its weakness in the face of the capabilities Israel demonstrated.
• Israel is not operating as in previous wars to achieve “threat postponement” on its borders but based on the understanding that threats must be destroyed (Hamas) or at least drastically reduced in intensity (Hezbollah).
• In Lebanon, no Hezbollah personnel and no Hezbollah infrastructure should remain in the south, which should become a buffer zone mostly without residents and without the presence of any entity threatening Israel. The IDF will oversee this. The buffer zone’s purpose is to prevent flat-trajectory fire toward Israeli communities and to push Hezbollah’s ground forces beyond the range of executing a surprise Oct 7-style attack.
• In both Syria and Lebanon, the IDF should employ the same kind of campaign between wars as it did in Syria over the last dozen years to continue degrading Hezbollah’s capabilities and not allow it to rebuild.
The writer was national security adviser to the Israeli prime minister and chairman of Israel’s national Security Council.
