Amid regional turmoil, IDF short of funds

Even as talk of war with Iran grows louder, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz ordered senior officers to prepare plans for a nearly complete stop to training and other activities on 1 April due to a shortfall in the defense budget. Gantz made the announcement Monday during the annual conference for all IDF officers with the rank of Colonel or higher, which is normally used to discuss Israel’s strategic challenges. “We are cancelling all kinds of exercises, from the division level down to the battalion level,” an IDF officer who was at the meeting said. “We will not be able to call up reserves, and even when we hold exercises we will be limited in the amount of ammunition we can use.” Despite a recent budget increase, the IDF is still NIS 4 billion short of what it projects it will need for the coming year, and has taken the dramatic step of suspending orders for new Merkava tanks and Namer armored personnel carriers. “There are a number of strategic projects that will be harmed due to the lack of funds,” a defense official said Tuesday.

Palestinians angrily reject Abbas as PM
Loud denunciations of the Qatar-sponsored Hamas-Fatah reconciliation agreement which would see Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas serve as prime minister of an interim unity government were heard across the Palestinian political spectrum on Tuesday. Some accused Abbas of supporting laws in the past which he now refuses to apply to himself and his associates, while his defenders argued that ending the power struggle with Hamas was “more important than respecting any law.” Elsewhere, legal analysts pointed out that the agreement violated previous internal agreements the Palestinians have made. “This is a scandal not only because it violates the [Palestinian] Basic Law, but also because it turns Abbas into an autocrat with absolute powers. This is unacceptable at a time when the Arab world is witnessing popular uprisings against dictators,” a Fatah official in Ramallah said. Mustafa Sawaf, a Gaza-based analyst, said the Doha deal was just “a favor to the emir of Qatar that will stay on paper, without a concrete application.”

Chinese oil companies assist Iran despite sanctions
In a sign of their contempt for recent sanctions, Iranian oil field engineers on Tuesday began preliminary production in the Yadavaran oil field in the southwest, estimated to hold 3.2 billion barrels of recoverable crude. The field runs underneath the border with Iraq and is shared by the two countries. Head of the Oil Engineering and Development Company, Naji Saadouni declared that he hoped the field would be producing 180,000 barrels per day within three years. Chinese oil companies have assisted in the field’s development, part of an estimated $40 billion in Chinese contracts in Iran since Western sanctions were first imposed.

Hezbollah leader affirms status as Iranian proxy
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Lebanese Shi’ite terror militia Hezbollah, admitted on Tuesday that his organization was funded and equipped entirely by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of Iran and angrily denied numerous reports from law enforcement agencies worldwide that Hezbollah is using illegal activities to raise money. "We used to speak of a moral and political support while keeping silent when questioned about our military backing so as not to embarrass Iran. But today... we have decided to speak out," Nasrallah said during a TV address to his followers to mark the birth of Mohammed. "Drug trafficking is banned in Islam. And secondly, Iran's backing spares us the need for even a penny from anywhere in the world."

PA using Facebook to spy on Palestinians
The Palestinian Authority which has jurisdiction over Palestinian cities in the West Bank has been criticized recently for draconian restrictions on press freedoms, and reports emerged on Tuesday that the US-backed PA police have been aggressively monitoring the Facebook profiles of ordinary Palestinians to detect criticism of the PA. Some people have been warned to write only good things about the PA or they can find themselves arrested and/or fired from their jobs.

Friendly links show exaggeration of Israel’s ‘isolation’
In the latest evidence that Israel’s diplomatic ‘isolation’ is vastly exaggerated, 34 members of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus hosted representatives from the Canada Celebrates Israel Network on Tuesday, receiving a petition of support for the Jewish State from thousands of Canadians who agree with Prime Minister Stephen Harper that they will support Israel “whatever the cost.” Josh Reinstein, director of the Christian Allies Caucus, said Canada is one of Israel’s strongest allies because of “grassroots Christian support that has permeated Parliament.” Closer to home, an Israeli energy company, AORA Solar, is developing closer ties to countries in the Mediterranean basin. AORA opened a new gas-turbine solar thermal power station on Tuesday in the Platforma Solara de Almeria solar research and development park in Andalucía, in southern Spain. Cooperation between Israel and Spain, as well as other countries interested in green technology, remains strong.