A STRATEGIC REORIENTATION IN ISRAEL
Growing concerns over terrorism in the wake of Hamas' hostile takeover of the Gaza Strip last month - and fears of a repeat performance in the West Bank - are leading Israeli military planners to launch a major reconfiguration of the country's defense posture. As part of a new security plan now being discussed by the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Navy will increase its interdiction and surveillance capabilities in the Dead Sea through the deployment of patrol craft. The move marks the first time Israel will field a naval presence in the body of water, control of which is shared with Jordan. "This will improve the IDF capabilities along the border with Jordan," says one military official. "The border is peaceful and quiet [at the moment], but there is a need for patrols."
At the same time, Israel is contemplating even more far reaching strategic choices. A recent visit by Assistant NATO Secretary-General John Colston last week has revived talks of deeper defense cooperation between the Israeli military and the Atlantic Alliance. Reportedly, Colston’s visit included discussions about joint Israeli-NATO trainings and “broad exercises,” with the ultimate goal of creating a “unified operational language” and a “deeper level of interoperability” between the Jewish state and the security bloc. (Jerusalem Post, June 26 and July 1, 2007)
THE IRANIAN HAND IN IRAQ
Coalition authorities are again pointing the finger at Iran for fomenting instability on the territory of their western neighbor. The latest revelations come from Brigadier-General Kevin Bergner, who has confirmed that members of Iran's feared Quds Force paramilitary unit were involved in a January attack in Karbala that claimed the lives of five American servicemen. The attack, according to Bergner, was carried out by members of Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, who were "working in Iraq as a surrogate for the Iranian Quds Force." Hezbollah, the U.S. general said, has also served as a "proxy" for the Islamic Republic in arming the Iraqi insurgency, helping to smuggle Iranian-made arms onto the territory of the former Ba'athist state, and to distribute them to Shi'ite militants. (Associated Press, July 2, 2007)
A RISING TIDE OF CONFLICT
The often-contentious resource politics between Turkey, Syria and Iraq could soon be on the rocks once again. A joint Syrian-Iraqi delegation has formally expressed its concerns to the Turkish government over the latter's planned construction of a new dam on the Tigris river, which authorities in Damascus and Baghdad fear could adversely affect the flow of water to their countries, which lie downstream. The Turkish government, for its part, has already promised that the construction of the dam, which will be located at Ilisu, "will not influence the quantity of water" received by Iraq and Syria, "or its quality." (Rome AKI, July 2, 2007)
[Editor's Note: Notably, the potential for significant conflict exists. During the 1990s, Syrian concerns over Turkey's work on a massive irrigation project in the country's southeast (the Guneydogu Anadolu Projesi, or GAP) sparked escalating tensions between the two countries, and led Damascus to expand its brokerage of the anti-Turkish Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), ultimately bringing Turkey and Syria to the brink of war in 1998.]
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