Military coup in the USA and Israel and a new constitution as the last resort in the worst case?
What Netanyahu is doing in Israel is no better than Trump. In the meantime, after Xi’s China-Arab summit, Saudi Arabia has already halfway switched camp to China, MBS and Khameini want to visit each other’s countries, there are signs of a de-escalation in the Yemen war, SA has now also resumed relations with Assad under Chinese mediation, China is now attempting to coordinate a direct link between MBS SA Vision 2030 and the Silk Road, as well as promoting SA SCO membership. A nuclear Iran or a re-election of Trump could then become a game changer. But if the trend continues, there is a risk that the Pax American in the Greater Middle East will break up completely and China will be able to push its Global Security Initiative and new image as a bringer of world peace instead of the chaotic troublemaker and world policeman USA.
Points of convergence between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Saudi Vision 2030
The national flags of China and Saudi Arabia are seen on the street of Riyadh ahead of the China-Arab States Summit on December 7, 2022. Photo: thepaper.cn
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202301/1283466.shtml?id=11
The Iranian protest movement seems dead right now if you read the opposition organ Iran International and the US, Israel and the EU are too busy to do anything about it. Now, following the mass arrests and the abatement of the protests, Khameini and Raisi seem to want to put the hijab ban back first. Let’s see what kind of reactions this causes and whether the „frozen movement“ (Thomas von der Osten-Sacken) will thaw again. Today the Jerusalem Post published an article calling for a new constitution with a clear separation of politics and religion based on the American model in order to solve the Israeli state crisis. Whether it will come to that and whether that would eliminate all problems, especially since a US constitution has not prevented the Trumpization of the USA.
In addition, the foreign policy ideas in this JP contribution, apart from a military strike against Iran’s nuclear complex with the exception of Buscher’s, sound quite naive in the matter of a Palestinian two-state solution after the „overthrow of the dictator Abbas“, because there is a real danger that after such elections the West Bank will also be ruled by Hamas and even more radical forces, with Iran already inciting the new Generation Z, which tends towards martyrdom, is more radical than the existing Palestinian organizations and no longer obeys their leaders. Would that be the “Final Intifada”? In any case, Iran relies on this and you can also read that in the Tehran Time
Generation Z Palestine
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/483024/Generation-Z-Palestine
And the „Man of the year“ is also named by the Tehran Times:
Man of the year
The most important reason for this selection goes back to the importance of the Palestinian issue. Although more than 70 years have passed since this deep and painful wound emerged, it is still fresh for the Muslims and every free-minded human being in the world. Only from the beginning of this year until now, about 90 Palestinians have been killed by the Zionist occupation army, a significant number of whom are women and children.
Although Ibrahim was young, he had a significant impact on current developments in Palestine. With his intelligence and creativity in fighting Israeli occupiers, he became an inspiring figure in occupied territories, especially in the West Bank.
At the end of every year, The Tehran Times introduces Person of the Year. This year, the daily has also issued a special edition on that, which you can access here.“
https://www.tehrantimes.com/subject/483032/Man-of-the-year
But back to the question of a new Israeli constitution? And what does it mean in many reports that Israel actually has no or no real constitution? Oddly enough, you read nothing about this in the German media, although it is very fundamental.
“What would Israel look like in the future if it adopted a constitution now? – opinion
Israel would achieve absolute separation between religion and state, Netanyahu resigns and withdraws for life from all political activity and our relations with our neighbors resumed blossoming.
By ILAN CHAIM
Published: APRIL 2, 2023 00:32 “
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-736112
It looks like Ben Gvir wants civil war and is upgrading the National Guard to his private militia:
“Lapid: Funds will be redirected from gov’t bodies for ‚Ben-Gvir’s private militia‘
The opposition leader warned that the government will cut health, welfare and education budgets in order to fund Ben-Gvir’s national guard”
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-736124
Perhaps Israel’s state crisis can only be resolved by an IDF general carrying out a military coup, such as General Kohavi. then a new constitution and after a transitional period perhaps democracy again, similar to previous military coups in Turkey. The military still seems to be the last sacred institution for the Israelis that could restore order. And if it should come to the extreme in the USA, perhaps General Milley, although it should also be considered whether the US constitution should be amended, starting with the abolition of the lifelong term of office of the judges of the Supreme Court, which is increasingly becoming a gateway for extremist ideas and has already been programmatically planned for the creation of a rich oligarch dictatorship by Nobel Prize winner John Buchanan.
Additional reading tip: The successful pioneer of a US oligarch dictatorship:
Nobel Prize winner 1986 James Buchanan and the march through the US institutions – despotism by rules
https://www.global-review.info/wp-admin/post.php?post=13024&action=edit
Or:
Meet the Hidden Architect Behind America’s Racist Economics
Of course, in this case, Beijing and Moscow and all authoritarian rulers would laugh at first, since democracy would be frozen in the meantime for its restoration, the Alliance of Democracy and value-based and liberal foreign policy, the lighthouse and beacon of Freedom and Democracy , the shining city on the hill
would be switched off in between for the time being, but one must also look at the development of other so-called freedom-loving states such as India, which is said to be the largest democracy in the world, where Modi has just had opposition leader Ghandi and other opposition figures indicted. It remains to be seen whether there will be a medium-term and long-term solution to the state crises in the USA and Israel without foreign policy adventures, but both are not the only ones in the world of states and even authoritarian states that are supposedly stable domestically can tend to foreign policy adventures and hubris, to achieve a truce at the homeland as Kaiser Wilhelm II in the face of a war, where it then means: Rally around the flag or, more teutonic: „I no longer know any parties, I only know Germans!“
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Original sources:
Points of convergence between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Saudi Vision 2030
By Fahad Almeniaee Published: Jan 09, 2023 02:24 PM
The Belt and Road Initiative is an ambitious Chinese initiative that aims to connect China with the world through infrastructure that will be the largest in the history of the world. China was inspired by the historical Silk Road. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s initiative was unveiled in 2013. The Belt and Road Initiative has focused on investing in infrastructure, railways, energy, ports and airports.
The goals of the Belt and Road Initiative include enhancing economic cooperation; developing infrastructure and roads; encouraging trade and investment; facilitating currency conversion; supporting the process of cultural exchange between peoples; strengthening international maritime connectivity and scientific and environmental research.
The Saudi Vision 2030 depends on weaning the Saudi economy away from its dependence on oil derivatives, in addition to diversifying the economy and improving investment in the public services sector, such as developing infrastructure and tourism, and improving means of recreation and entertainment, based on the Kingdom’s religious status in addition to its strategic location linking three continents.
As of August 2022, 149 countries and 32 international organizations have signed Belt and Road Initiative cooperation agreements with China. In 2021, China‘ trade in goods with the BRI countries totaled 11.6 trillion yuan ($1.7 trillion), a new high over the past eight years and a year-on-year increase of 23.6 percent. The integration of the Belt and Road Initiative with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 can help achieve the development goals of both countries, especially when the Gulf Cooperation Council countries are looking for stronger cooperation with China, a market with great potential.
The Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud has played a major role in supporting Saudi Arabia’s pivotal role in the Belt and Road Initiative.
Saudi Arabia has also taken steps toward reviving the Saudi Silk Road project in the Jizan region as one of the new economic arms of the Kingdom that contributes to attracting many foreign investments.
Saudi Arabia plays a pivotal and prominent role in the project, as it considers the economic belt of the Silk Road as a supply center in view of the road countries‘ need for energy, especially electricity, which contributes to the creation of a new economic system for the Kingdom that can help develop many regions of the Kingdom and is compatible with Vision 2030 in terms of political and security stability in the region.
The Kingdom has encouraged increasing the production power of its industry, which is one of the goals of Vision 2030, and established new petrochemical factories in the city of Jizan as a logistical area for the new Silk Road.
Saudi Arabia has achieved strong and effective cooperation represented in the Saudi-Chinese Joint Committee, the Saudi-Chinese Business Council, the conclusion of memorandums of understanding between the two countries and the increase in trade exchange. The cooperation is in line with the unconventional vision of the Kingdom to shape the Saudi economy and seek to attract investments from abroad. It is fully consistent with the Belt and Road Initiative, which will include huge investments in the field of infrastructure with advanced technology.
Saudi Arabia’s pivotal role is based on stimulating the technical, administrative and logistical capabilities of the road thanks to its distinguished location as a focal point in the middle of Islamic and Arab countries and the last main gateway to enter the continent of Europe and the first gate to the continent of Africa, where the Silk Road and the Belt and Road Initiative achieve the Kingdom’s ambition to diversify its economy away from oil, according to the Kingdom’s vision 2030 to become a major economic and investment force, connecting continents.
Saudi Arabia has played an effective role in building the Digital Silk Road, which aims to achieve the interconnection of facilities and ports as it is a natural gateway in the Belt and Road, the development of the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and other information technologies and digital industries, and the building of new technical hubs, which helps in the development of technologies in the Middle East region.
In light of the geographic and political changes, the Kingdom can play a pivotal role in the process of stability and development in the region through cooperation in the Belt and Road, with China playing an active role as a partner for Saudi Arabia’s interests. Meanwhile, China has expected the Kingdom to help revive the Silk Road in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, which will be essential to achieve regional cooperation and coordination on regional and international issues of common concern.
The author is director of China and the Far East Unit In the Riyadh-based Center for Research and Knowledge Communication. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202301/1283466.shtml?id=11
Generation Z Palestine
March 18, 2023 – 5:21
By Mohammad Mohsen Fayezi
TEHRAN- Generation after generation, Palestine follows a path that seems to be predetermined for it, a destiny of support and betrayal, defeat and victory, politics and opportunities, leaders and legends.
Since 2010, a generation of Palestinians was on their own predetermined path that was interpreted as the „post-Oslo“ generation. This meant a generation that had turned 20 years old and had not witnessed the path taken before Oslo or viewed the decisions made by its leaders as an event. Instead, they saw Oslo as a consequence and searched for it in their surroundings. A generation that did not find independence, identity, or its rights from Oslo. The events of 2015 and 2016, known as the Third Intifada, were considered by some to be a complete reflection of the post-Oslo generation in Palestine.
However, in 2022, a new generation saw itself in the world of Palestine; a generation that has begun with its new thoughts and perspectives. They are now 20 years old and have not seen Oslo or understood the last serious outcry and uprising of Palestinians in 2000.
Some have chosen the familiar name „Generation Z“ for the new generation, a choice that seems intelligent and brings us closer to a more accurate understanding.
For example, Hitham Al-Jassmi, a columnist for the English-language Al Jazeera website, introduces the new generation of Palestine in an article titled „Generation Z will free Palestine.“ This generation faced different conditions in Nablus, Jenin and Jerusalem in 2022.
The Palestinian Generation Z has several prominent features: liberation from leaders and political developments, love for past myths, all-out struggle from media to arms, belief in the possibility of struggle and freedom and regained self-esteem from the path of Palestinian resistance and struggle. The attitudes and thoughts of Palestinian Generation Z can be found in various operations and events of 2022 and 2023. They are a generation that is independent from political movements and even resists their leaders, even those from the resistance movement.
Palestinian Generation Z is proud of its armed and intelligent path. They are exactly like Generation Z around the world in 2022; they are fashionable, recreational, virtual beings who see their lives as part of the struggle. Like other generations before them, Palestinian Generation Z criticizes fearlessly and follows its own separate revolutionary path from its past.
The youth of the Z generation in Palestine are becoming role models for their peers. Ibrahim Nablusi is an example of this Z generation in Palestine. They are no longer lost and alone in a joint operation, but their lives, resilience, attitude, and even moments of martyrdom are exposed and modeled. Ibrahim’s images and words have been widely reflected in Palestinian media. So much so that Zionist media have dubbed martyr Ibrahim Nablusi as the „TikTok terrorist“ and are concerned that he will become a role model for young people.
The Z generation in Palestine is fearless and even radical, but on the other hand, the Sheikh Jarrah hashtags are not alone; they keep other Z generations around the world at the top of global trends for weeks. The Z generation in Palestine is a challenge without a solution for Zionists; it seems that their struggle and suppression is different from previous generations. They live differently, think differently, and fight differently.
The youth of the Z generation in Palestine have found their own path; they have not come solely to fight or fulfill their duty to their homeland or ideology but to seek results, to seek freedom – freedom without some of the traditions of their fathers or political considerations. The youth of the Z generation in Palestine will create a southwestern horizon with their future, free from any fear or consideration.
https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/483024/Generation-Z-Palestine
“What would Israel look like in the future if it adopted a constitution now? – opinion
Israel would achieve absolute separation between religion and state, Netanyahu resigns and withdraws for life from all political activity and our relations with our neighbors resumed blossoming.
By ILAN CHAIM
Published: APRIL 2, 2023 00:32
Looking back several decades from now, 2023 turned out to be as fateful for the Jewish people as the final compilation of the Torah in 444 BCE, which became the first Constitution of Israel. For it was then that the State of Israel finally adopted its second founding document, produced by a constitutional convention convened by then-president Isaac Herzog. It took nearly a year to establish Israel, for the first time, as a truly democratic Jewish state.
The man-made miracle of Israel’s Constitution was mercifully achieved by the grace of compromise, after years of polarized political enmity and governmental paralysis that brought hundreds of thousands of Israelis of all kinds onto the streets for months. The focus of the protests was then prime-minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s desperate efforts to avoid prison by tinkering with the justice system and threatening the Supreme Court, even at the expense of bringing the country to the point of civil war.
How beautifully ironic it was, when the Supreme Court itself resolved the crisis by granting Netanyahu a plea bargain: he resigned and withdrew for life from all political activity in exchange for all his corruption charges being dropped. His resignation stunned the country into silence. The mass opposition demonstrations that had brought the nation to a halt quickly faded away.
As Israelis settled into life in a true democracy, traffic and ideas began to flow freely once more. The most profound change was that, under the new Constitution, Israel achieved absolute separation between religion and state, modeled after the 250 or so years of the successful American model.
A river of justice began to flow, sweeping the people to new freedoms. The disestablishment of the Chief Rabbinate was probably the most celebrated, allowing civil marriage and recognizing the Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist movements as equal recipients of government aid as that received by the various Orthodox persuasions.
Probably the most visible expression of the change to Israeli democracy was at the Western Wall. Under the newly pluralistic policy, the administration of the site was taken from the rabbinate and given over to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, which then administered it as a national holy site. Equal prayer areas were established for every Jewish denomination, as was public access to the archeological site of the Kotel tunnels.
Among the other immediate beneficiaries of the change was its effect on immigration, by the easing of the Law of Return with respect to conversion. As a religious matter, this issue was left to the control of the various Jewish denominations, which recognized who was Jewish enough to qualify for citizenship. This was followed by a surging wave of aliyah that brought Israel’s Jewish population to exceed that of the United States, becoming the home of most of the Jewish people for the first time.
The new aliyah (Aliyah Vav by now?) made Beersheba bigger than Tel Aviv, as the Negev became settled beyond Ben-Gurion’s wildest dreams. The economy was restored and boosted by an infrastructural transformation that built new roads and railroads across the country, like the new high-speed railroads to Eilat and the Golan.
The Start-up Nation
THE START-UP nation weathered the storm of the crisis, no thanks to the investors who chickened out. They returned in the thousands, taking the economy to record highs that yielded an astounding social return, as long-deferred programs in education and other social areas became fully funded.
The thriving economy narrowed the income gap between the country’s center and periphery, where startups multiplied amid a growing sense of equality of opportunity. High-speed railroads linked cities throughout the country, while light-railways and subways eased travel within cities. The cities themselves grew increasingly green, as the internal combustion engine was replaced by the universal adoption of electric propulsion of all vehicles.
Our relations with our neighbors in the region resumed blossoming, especially following the final resolution of the Palestinian question that had hindered progress for both peoples for more than a century. This was the outcome of what became known as the “Final Intifada,” the month-long war of Palestinian succession following the death of dictator Mahmoud Abbas.
The ensuing first democratic Palestinian election in decades brought a moderate faction to power in Fatah, which won the ensuing internecine battle for control over Hamas with the combined encouragement of the CIA and the Mossad. A demilitarized Gaza became a recognized province of the now terrorism-free Palestinian state.
Israel and the State of Palestine enjoyed their first generation of peaceful coexistence across what was eventually found to be secure and recognized borders. Except for the rare lone, extremist, irredentist jihadist, terrorism was virtually eliminated.
No celebration of the new democracy would be complete without mentioning the long-awaited elimination of Iraq’s doomsday threat to exterminate Israel. The decision had not come easily, nor quickly, despite years of warnings over Tehran’s unwavering march to become a nuclear power.
Finally, when the Mossad determined that the mullahs were about to defy international law and carry out the underground detonation of Iran’s first homemade nuclear bomb, Israel was forced to strike preemptively in its – and the world’s – defense. The Israel Air Force’s “Operation Wrath of God” famously destroyed dozens of Iran’s strategic atomic weapons sites, while sparing the reactor at Bushehr.
As happened after the Syria and Baghdad strikes decades before, the world’s reaction was a brief mixture of surprise and relief, followed by boredom, even after the inevitable fall of the mullahs and their replacement by a moderate, secular Iranian government.
Israel’s reaction followed a traditional saying: The dogs bark, the caravan moves on.
The writer is a former chief copy editor and editorial writer of The Jerusalem Post. His debut novel, The Flying Blue Meanies, is available on Amazon.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-736112
“Lapid: Funds will be redirected from gov’t bodies for ‚Ben-Gvir’s private militia‘
The opposition leader warned that the government will cut health, welfare and education budgets in order to fund Ben-Gvir’s national guard
Published: APRIL 1, 2023 20:40
Updated: APRIL 1, 2023 23:22
To finance updates to the National Guard and its move to the National Security Ministry, the government will vote on Sunday to redirect funds from multiple government bodies, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid said on Saturday night.
„Tomorrow morning the government is supposed to vote on cuts in all government ministries to finance Ben-Gvir’s private militia,“ said Lapid. „They will cut health care, they will cut education, they will cut welfare, they will cut public transportation, all to finance a private army of thugs for the Tiktok clown.“
Scheduling of government agenda
According to the Sunday government agenda, the coalition is set to discuss reducing the budget of 83 government bodies by 1.5% for 2023.
Former Israel Police chief Moshe Karadi attacked Ben-Gvir on Saturday as a „tangible danger“ to the State of Israel, saying the Otzmah Yehudit MK was seeking to implement policies of racism and „Jewish supremacy.“
„We are in the midst of Israel’s darkest period,“ Karadi claimed. „The fate of Israel Police and the IDF troubles me. Ben-Gvir poses a tangible danger to the country and must be removed from his post as minister as soon as possible.“
Tensions have been high between Ben-Gvir and police brass over a dispute in which Ben-Gvir allegedly attempted to issue direct orders to units on early March in the midst of judicial reform protest operations. The Attorney-General on March 16 warned Ben-Gvir against issuing directives to officers in the field, an opinion that was later upheld by the High Court of Justice.
As part of a deal struck between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Otzma Yehudit leader will be allotted control of the national guard in return for support of a pause in the legislation of the Judicial Selection Committee bill.
Critics attacked the deal as the formation of a „private militia“ for the National Security Minister. Former Defense Minister and protest leader Moshe Yaalon described the National Guard under Ben-Gvir as “revolutionary guards” in his Thursday demands for judicial reform negotiations, and called for measures to prevent such allocations of power.
The National Guard was formed in response to the civil unrest suffered in mixed Arab-Jewish cities during Operation Guardian of the Walls. The division was previously subservient to the Israel Border Police, and consists of 900 mandatory service combat soldier and thousands more reservists and volunteers.”
Eliav Breuer and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-736124