Apples to Damascus

"Israeli apples exported to Syria’s markets,” proclaimed the title of an inner page column aspiring to reach the front page. The item will remain forgotten because it’s old news. Every year for the past five years at least, apples grown on the Golan Heights have been exported to Syria. On closer inspection it appears that the apples are from the orchards of Druze farmers on the Golan Heights who still hold Syrian citizenship
Last Thursday Syrian President Bashar al Assad hosted his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad . The two leaders exchange visits periodically, so this current visit shouldn’t have aroused special interest. It wasn’t surprising that the meeting was described as “very productive further cementing the ties between the two countries.”

While he was in Damascus Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also met with Hezbollah’s Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah and the leader of the Hamas branch in exile, Khaled Meshaal.

Last Thursday's visit came after Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, said Damascus was eager to help Iran and the West engage in a "constructive" dialogue over Tehran's controversial nuclear programme.

"Sanctions are not a solution [to the problem] between Iran and the West," said Muallem.
"We are trying to engage a constructive dialogue between the two parties in order to reach a peaceful solution."

He insisted that despite Western claims "Iran does not have a nuclear military programme."

On the face of it, the meeting was a minor event and despite all the claimed achievements the firmly cemented Damascus - Teheran axis needs reaffirmation from time to time.

Walid Muallem’s proposed brokering of an Iranian US dialogue has a twofold purpose. He hopes to prevent the UN imposing sanctions on Iran and at the same time improve Syria’s regional and international standing. In the nineties Muallem spent ten years as Syria’s ambassador to the US. He is not happy with Assad’s ever increasing dependence on Iran. In fact he quietly fostered the move to bring about the renewal of full diplomatic relations with the US.

Last month President Barack Obama appointed American diplomat Robert Ford to serve as the new U.S. Ambassador to Syria. If the appointment is approved by the Senate Ford will be the first ambassador to be sent to Damascus since 2005 when the US recalled its ambassador in the aftermath of the Hariri assassination. President Obama’s decision to renew diplomatic relations with Syria is part of his policy to further greater regional cooperation in the Middle East. Major issues being addressed include Syria's role in the reconstruction of Iraq and renewing peace talks with Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Bashar al Assad is content to let Muallem pursue his pro-western initiative while he continues to hobnob with Ahmadinejad.

Now, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is favourably inclined toward Muallem’s brokering efforts, but obviously not so happy about the initiative to bring Syria back into the fold, namely the group of moderate Arab states. By the same measure Ahmadinejad understands Assad’s desire to retrieve the Golan Heights providing the price is right. As far as Ahmadinejad is concerned peace with Israel is unthinkable.

Jane’s Defence Weekly’s correspondent Mohammed Najib was also in Damascus recently. He was following up on the Dubai assassination.

Jane’s is a reputable publishing house and its correspondents are time-tested and well qualified. Therefore I tend to accept Najib’s report of an interview with a Hamas source in Damascus. Admittedly, unnamed sources are less reliable; however it’s obvious that Najib’s source wasn’t going to reveal his identity.

Based on the interview Najib claims that Mahmoud Mabhouh's assassination has been extremely damaging to Hamas. The assassination exposed a number of fault lines in the organisation’s links to Arab states at a time when Hamas is drawing closer to Iran.

Without elaborating, the Hamas source stated that in addition to losing their key weapons acquisitions man, documents, Mabhouh’s mobile phone and important information relating to Hamas' weapons purchases were taken by Mabhouh’s assassins. “It’s a painful loss which will have a negative impact on our armament capabilities for some time to come,” the source said.

I was determined to steer clear of the Dubai assassination this week.

Surely it's been done to death and nothing more needs to be said. However Dubai police chief Dhahi Khalfan, a hitherto undistinguished local cop, unknown outside the United Arab Emirates is reluctant to close the case and fade into obscurity. I’m sure he will continue to add new photographs to his gallery of alleged Mossad assassins while the official Israeli comment is no comment.

As a result I have no choice but to add a few comments.

The Mossad and the men who have headed it have always been reticent. The present head of the Mossad Meir Dagan is no exception

The Irish Times reported Wednesday that the sales of Mossad-themed T-shirts have risen tenfold since the Israeli spy agency was linked to last month’s operation.

Al Jazeera's correspondent in Israel Sherine Tadros reported on, “The sharp increase in the agency’s popularity following the murder of Mahmoud Mabhouh, in which Mossad has neither confirmed or denied its involvement.”

Tadros also mentioned the T-shirts. “They have been selling like hot cakes in Israel.” (I’ve attached two samples).

“Further,” says Tadros,” the agency's official website has reported a "soaring" number of people applying to be agents.”

The Economist still considers the assassination newsworthy, but adopted an undisguised critical attitude. It called the Mossad – “Israel's controversial intelligence service,” and asked “Does Mossad really make Israel safer?”

“In the wake of the assassination of a Hamas leader in Dubai, presumably by Mossad, the agency’s effectiveness, attitude and leadership are under scrutiny
Although they stolidly refuse to admit that their external security service had done it, Israeli officials say they are confident that in Europe and elsewhere outrage over the recent assassination in Dubai of a Hamas commander will quickly blow over. Israeli ambassadors were called in and carpeted in London, Canberra and Dublin over stolen passports and identities used by the team that killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh and was later exposed by the Dubai police. E.U foreign ministers have “strongly condemned” the action. But the Israelis, seeking to minimise the damage, note innocently that the complaints focused on the passports rather than the actual killing—and anyway stopped short of explicitly fingering Mossad.”

Referring to a controversy regarding the agency the paper said-

“Still, the choice of Dubai, a commercial hub with friendly ties to the West, as a venue for the assassination has discomfited some Israelis in intelligence circles. They want Meir Dagan now into his eighth year as Mossad’s head, to make way for a younger man. Insiders say he has kept down potential successors, making it hard for Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, to sack him.

A power struggle in Mossad would come at a bad time for Israel. The Dubai imbroglio comes just as the agency faces its hardest test in more than a decade.”

To the best of my knowledge few people in Israel have used the term “The Dubai imbroglio.” On the contrary, the mainstream opinion, both laymen and analysts concludes that the Dubai hit was a job well done.

Nevertheless, another critical comment made in The Economist article wasn’t far off the mark.

“Thoughtful Israeli critics of Mossad, of its swashbuckling director and of Mr Netanyahu, say the intelligence service has two other defects that should be tackled: arrogance and complacency. A pernicious “superiority complex”, says a former intelligence man, has taken root in both Mossad and Shin Bet, the internal security service also known by its Hebrew acronym, Shabak. The apparent success with which they have monitored and infiltrated Palestinians in the West Bank has created an attitude of condescension that inhibits peacemaking.

Only this week it was revealed, amid Israeli intelligence chuckles, that a Hamas founder’s son had been a long-serving Shin Bet agent. Why bother to negotiate with the Palestinians, some intelligence people may feel, when they can be constantly hamstrung by such trickery? Others, however, disagree. Much may depend on Mr. Dagan’s succession. “

I’m suspicious of some “former intelligence operatives.” While most retire quietly a few are over eager to share their knowledge.

The Shin Bet or Shabak is alternatively referred to as the GSS, General Security Service. The Hamas founder’s son referred to is the same Mosab Yousef who gave an exclusive interview to CNN's Christiane Amanpour. Maybe you saw it.

As far as I know the Mossad is subservient to the prime minister and is not involved in peace negotiations.

Maybe Meir Dagan (an amateur painter) would like to retire and paint more, however after Dubai( if it was our work) his tenure might be extended.

Have a good weekend.

Beni 4^th of March, 2010.