Latest news with #ReichmanUniversity
Yahoo
37 minutes ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
The crisis in Syria's Sweida and its threat on Israel's northern border
The real question is not only whether Israel will help the Druze, but how it will do so without making them even more isolated in their homeland. Thousands of members of the Druze community in Sweida in southern Syria were massacred and looted this past July. What began as the local murder of a young Druze man in Damascus quickly escalated into a wave of kidnappings, mass killings, and large-scale attacks by pro-Turkish militias and local Bedouin elements. These crimes were documented and spread on social media as part of a terror campaign. To this moment, the population remains under a brutal siege — and the world is silent. 'At the time, I said that when [Bashar] Assad falls, Israel should lower its flag to half-mast — I was not mistaken,' IDF Col. (res.) Dr. Anan Wahabi told Walla. Wahabi, a fellow at the ICT at Reichman University, served in the IDF Intelligence Directorate, commanded operational units, and headed Israel's international strategic perception, psychological warfare, and cyber operations efforts. 'There's a de facto siege on the Druze there. It's a terror attack on the Druze,' he added, drawing parallels to October 7: 'It's terror from the same source that justifies murder, rape, and looting.' Now, the ICT warns: Israel cannot allow hostile terrorist forces to gain a foothold on its northern border. The question is not whether to intervene — but how. Sweida has become 'the arena the world forgot,' but Israel cannot ignore it. For the Jewish state, this is a double test: a test of morality toward the Druze community facing an existential crisis, and strategic, regarding threats to its northern border and the regional tensions as a whole. The position paper warned that over-involvement could drag Israel into a war of attrition in Syria, further damage relations with Turkey, and even ignite internal protests among Druze citizens of Israel — potentially leading to refusal to serve in the security forces. The paper was initiated by Reichman University President Prof. Boaz Ganor, a pioneer in the academic study of terrorism and founder of the ICT, and prepared by eight ICT fellows, including Wahabi. But if Israel sits on the sidelines, terrorist organizations could entrench themselves near the border, and southern Syria could become a base for attacks. On the diplomatic front, there are concerns that the new regime led by Al-Shaara could exploit the crisis to build international legitimacy as a 'terrorist in a suit.' On the other hand, the report points to the diplomatic potential in this tectonic shift. Israel could cultivate ties with Arab groups in preparation for 'the day after,' the Gaza war, strengthen its commitment to the Druze within Israel, and send a message of solidarity to all minorities in Syria, which could contribute to stabilizing southern areas of the country, strengthen the moderate regional bloc led by Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and secure its position as a central partner in a broad regional settlement led by the United States. US Republican Congressman Abraham Hamadeh, a former US Army reserve intelligence officer, made the first visit in decades by a US official traveling between Jerusalem and Damascus. He spent six hours in Syria this week to meet with President al-Sharaa. He also addressed the need for a secure humanitarian corridor to ensure safe delivery of medical and humanitarian aid to Sweida. He also addressed the need for a secure humanitarian corridor to ensure safe delivery of medical and humanitarian aid to Sweida — explicitly to advance former President Donald Trump's 'peace through strength' policy and to push Syria at this time toward normalization with Israel and joining the Abraham Accords. Until that happens, the report warns: overt Israeli involvement could be perceived as 'stamping an Israeli mark' on the Druze, making them even more isolated within Syria. Images coming from Syria of Druze waving the Israeli flag in gratitude for Israel's support are being framed in Syria and the Arab world as collusion with the enemy. Act cautiously, combine aid, diplomacy, limited military action The report details a series of steps Israel should adopt: 1. Controlled humanitarian aid – expand shipments of medicine and food, but via international mechanisms (Red Crescent, UN) to avoid harming the Druze. 2. Limited military action – avoid inserting ground forces and carry out only precise airstrikes in case of a direct threat to the border or the Druze. 3. Diplomatic measures – maintain close coordination with the US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan, but also keep a secret dialogue channel with Turkey to avoid direct confrontation. 4. Information campaign – expose the massacres through international media, mainly Al Jazeera, and counter propaganda portraying the Druze as 'Israel's proxy.' 5. Managing expectations with Israel's Druze – establish a joint command room with community leadership, allow legitimate protest but set red lines against attempts at independent action across the border. 6. Caution regarding autonomy – Israel shouldn't lead the initiative, but support it indirectly through civilian aid to avoid stigmatizing the Druze or provoking retribution. The emerging humanitarian corridor could serve as an interim solution — if managed carefully, with broad coordination and discretion. Ultimately, the real question is not only whether Israel will help the Druze, but how it will do so without making them even more isolated in their homeland. Wahabi believes that funding from Turkey and Qatar, which works to incriminate Israel's activities in Gaza, is working day and night to divert international attention away from what is happening in Syria. 'First, they created the crisis by essentially renewing an old historic conflict between the Druze and the Bedouin of Jabal al-Druze," according to him, "Along with that came a supposedly spontaneous call for help to the tribes and all of Syria — and suddenly forces arrive in large numbers from Turkish-controlled areas, with new vehicles, equipment, weapons, fuel, salaries — everything. Israel views this area as a demilitarized zone, but suddenly there's this side-story, an interim situation, that no one quite knows how to handle.' Solve the daily Crossword
Spectator
05-08-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Israel's plan to occupy Gaza is a last resort
Reports last night from Israeli Channel 12 quoting a senior official in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office have confirmed what has long been rumoured, feared, and for some, awaited: the decision has been made to occupy the Gaza Strip. This is not yet formal policy, pending cabinet approval, but the trajectory is now unmistakable. The prelude has ended. The war is entering a new, graver phase. Western commentary will, as usual, rush to treat this as a moral failure of Israeli restraint, or as the inevitable result of hawkish ideology. Yet that interpretation is not only false, it is profoundly dishonest and the opposite of the truth. The occupation of Gaza is not a first resort. It is, tragically, the last. And it is an outcome born of many missteps by many international actors, including the UK. For 22 months, Israel has pursued every conceivable alternative. When the United States and international community demanded a surge in humanitarian aid, Israel complied. When ceasefire negotiations gained momentum, Israel displayed unprecedented flexibility, including territorial compromises around the Morag axis. When Hamas rejected yet another comprehensive offer mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the US, it was not for lack of effort by Jerusalem or Washington. It was the result of a calculated decision by Hamas to extract political and material gain by prolonging conflict. For a while, it looked like it might all go the other way. The timeline speaks for itself: Israeli envoys travelled to Doha in early July; by mid-month, a new draft agreement was on the table. The US special envoy, Steve Witkoff, was scheduled to fly to Doha on 23 July to finalise the deal. But by then, Hamas had already sabotaged the process, following a Western joint statement led by Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy, calling for an unconditional end to the war and an unrestricted flow of aid. From the UK, Hamas recognised that it could secure its objectives without giving up the hostages. It raised new demands, withdrew consent on earlier terms, and collapsed the negotiations entirely. The hostages remain starving underground. The war grinds on unrelentingly. And the challenging humanitarian situation will not end yet. To this, some Western governments have responded with gestures of abstract symbolism. In September, the UK, France, Canada and others are set to recognise a Palestinian state, ostensibly to reinvigorate the peace process. But as Shany Mor, lecturer in political thought at Reichman University, has noted, symbolic actions which incentivise maximalist violence do not break cycles of war, they perpetuate them. The 21 July statement did not bolster diplomacy. It destroyed it. Israel is now faced with the consequences of that destruction. The IDF, reportedly reluctant to engage in renewed full-scale combat, has nonetheless been preparing a range of military scenarios, including encirclement strategies and targeted incursions. Yet none offer a quick resolution. The reality is that without a decisive shift on the ground, the hostages will starve to death in captivity, Hamas will not be deterred, and Gaza will remain a base for Palestinian jihadist aggression. Some argue that occupation will not bring peace. Perhaps not. But what the critics fail to answer is: what will? Not diplomacy – that has been exhausted. Not incentives – those have been lavished. Not restraint – that has only emboldened the most violent actors. Hamas has not surrendered, moderated, or compromised. It has neither proposed a viable end-state nor shown any interest in the norms of conflict expected by civilised states. Instead, it has starved its captives and its own civilians for propaganda, hoarded aid, and continued to fire into Israeli towns. The decision to occupy Gaza is not born of ideology but necessity. It is not an act of vengeance but of grim strategic calculation. And it has been made only after every alternative was tried, and each was thwarted by an opponent committed to endless war. Internally, those who pushed for this outcome all along will now be inclined to argue that they were the realists 20 months ago, and even 20 years ago when they opposed Israeli disengagement from Gaza in the first place. It will bring new criticism, especially from the Western press and political class, which has grown adept at condemning outcomes without tracing their causes. But this condemnation cannot erase the facts. As much as Israel is choosing this path, it has also been chosen for it, by a jihadist movement that values leverage over lives, spectacle over peace, and whose only reliable negotiating tactic is to demand the rewards of surrender while offering none. And by a coalition of international actors determined to scupper every diplomatic or military step Israel had towards victory over ruthless Palestinian jihadism and maximalism. All of this signposting could be performative distraction from a different but no less decisive Israel-American action about to unfold. This would be similar to the elaborate pre-12 Day War playbook used when Netanyahu and Trump put out misleading signals before their coordinated joint actions. If the occupation proceeds, it may be long, costly, and fraught with danger. But it may also be the only remaining way to establish the minimal conditions of security and order. The problem of Gaza, tragically, has not left Israel with a choice. It has left it with a burden.
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Dust devils on Mars may spark lightning — possibly threatening NASA's Perseverance rover
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Dust devils on Mars could be crackling with electric currents, according to a new study — and scientists are a little concerned about this because a buildup of such charge could harm rovers rolling along the surface of Mars. "Electrified dust will adhere to conducting surfaces such as wheels, solar panels and antennas. This may diminish the availability of solar energy, harm communications and complicate the motion of rovers and robots," Yoav Yair, a professor at Reichman University in Israel who studies planetary lightning and was not part of the new study, told The study, led by Varun Sheel, head of the Planetary Science Division at the Physical Research Laboratory in India, uses computer models to show how charges could be distributed inside a Martian dust devil. But before getting to how charge buildup works within Red Planet dust devils, it is key to understand how dust devils form on Mars to begin with. As the sun heats the Martian surface, air near the surface gets heated. Hot air is lighter than cool air, and so it tends to rise. Pockets of hot air therefore rise through cold air, rapidly forming an upward current. The sudden uprush causes air to speed horizontally inward to the center of a newly forming vortex. If the conditions are right, the vortex completes formation and starts spinning. As the air continues to rise, the vortex gets stretched vertically — sort of like a noodle — making the vortex spin even more quickly. As the vortex picks up speed, the wind swirls and kicks up dust. This creates a dust devil. In short, dust devils are like little gusts of dust high on adrenaline. Dust devils are frequent on the dry and dusty Martian surface. Mars has lower gravity and a thinner atmosphere compared to Earth. This allows the wind there to kick up dust higher than wind on Earth can. As a result, Martian dust devils can be thrice as large as their terrestrial analogues. NASA's Viking was the first spacecraft to report dust devils on Mars. Later, Mars rovers like Curiosity and Perseverance captured dust devils zooming across the desolate Martian landscape. In general, such whirlwinds can pose a threat to landers and rovers — however, some rovers have actually benefited from dust devils. In 2005, a benevolent dust devil blew dust off the Spirit rover's solar panels, increasing its power levels. Dust devils on Mars, indeed, are a fascinating and curious phenomenon. And deepening the intrigue, the new study suggests lightning could be zapping inside these dust devils on Mars. The most common form of lightning on Earth is the one seen during a thunderstorm. As water and ice churn violently inside a thundercloud, they generate electrical charges due to friction. Once that happens, the atmosphere around the clouds doesn't let these charges flow through easily. This means the charges have nowhere to go and keep building up. At some point, the charges can't hold anymore — and they snap. The charges crack through the atmosphere in the form of an electrically conductive conduit, which we see as lightning. Interestingly, the new study's team explains, a similar kind of churning happens inside dust devils on both Earth and Mars. In the case of dust devils rather than clouds, however, it's the dust particles that are getting churned instead of ice and water droplets. Again, friction builds up charges, and when the charges can't hold any more, the charges release in the form of lightning. To be clear, the formation of a strong electric field precedes lightning and no direct observations of electric fields within dust devils on Mars have been found thus far. Instead, the study uses computer models to estimate the possible electric field strength and distribution within a Martian dust devil. This is, in fact, the first study to consider the size distribution of dust particles. Sheel and his team found that when the atmosphere of Mars is laden with dust, the atmosphere becomes less conductive, prohibiting the flow of charges. This could cause a massive charge buildup in a dust-filled vortex, triggering lightning, he explains. "The possibility that one day we can discover lightning [in these dust devils] is the most exciting aspect of the results," Sheel told In terms of distribution, the study found that larger, positively-charged particles would settle at the bottom of the dust devil while lighter, negatively-charged ones would rise upward. The team also found that larger dust particles would increase the possibility of lightning. "[The paper] adds an original level of complexity by discussing size distributions," Yair said. "This is an important addition to the existing literature, with practical implications." However, regarding the possibility of dust devils generating lightning, Yair says, "I am surprised that the authors discuss the probability of lightning inside the dust devil while neglecting the fact that highly charged dust may discharge at much lower electric fields … negating the possibility of lightning." "In the end, predictions about lightning are very difficult because we don't fully understand how particles charge each other, not even really on Earth. … Ultimately, I think the question will be settled only [by] direct observations on Mars," Steven Desch, a professor of astrophysics at Arizona State University, who was also not involved in the study, told RELATED STORIES — NASA's Curiosity rover takes a closer look at 'spiderwebs' on Mars | Space photo of the day for July 1, 2025 — NASA budget cuts threaten Europe's already troubled flagship Mars rover — Turning the Red Planet green? It's time to take terraforming Mars seriously, scientists say Some progress may have happened on that front, too. A recent study — shared by a group led by Baptiste Chide of the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, France at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly in Vienna in May — may have recorded the thunder from an electrical discharge. "Electrical discharges such as lightning are among the most energetic and remarkable phenomena in planetary atmospheres," write the authors in their paper. They studied sounds recorded by the SuperCam microphone onboard the NASA Perseverance rover on Mars. The recordings showed signs of coming from an electric discharge in a dust devil. This is the first such direct detection on Mars, setting the stage for newer discoveries by upcoming Mars missions such as the European Space Agency's Rosalind Franklin rover. The study was published in the journal Physics of Plasmas in March. Solve the daily Crossword
CNBC
01-07-2025
- Business
- CNBC
The cost of Israel's war with Iran
Zvi Eckstein, head of the Aaron Economic Policy Institute at Reichman University and former deputy governor of the Bank of Israel, speaks to CNBC about the cost of the Israel-Iran war.
Al Manar
20-06-2025
- Business
- Al Manar
Israeli Economy Hit Hard by Iranian Missiles: Losses Estimated in Billions of Dollars
The confrontation with Iran has been imposing significant economic burdens on the Israeli regime, surging into the hundreds of millions of dollars per day, as reported by The Wall Street Journal, threatening Tel Aviv's ability to sustain a prolonged war. Zvi Eckstein, an Israeli economist, and head of the Aaron Institute for Economic Policy at Reichman University, confirmed that 'this war is far more expensive than Gaza or Hezbollah,' referring to the latest war on Lebanon between September and November 2024. He said: 'The ammunition- defensive and offensive- is the big expense.' The institute estimated that a month-long war could cost Israel as much as $12 billion. According to a June 15 report by the Israeli news outlet Ynet News, quoting a former financial adviser to the Israeli military's chief of staff, stated that the cost has exceeded 5.5 billion shekels (roughly $1.45 billion) for the first two days of confrontation with Iran alone. The economic losses mainly constitute of the Israeli attacks on Iran and the interception of Iranian missiles – attack and defense. Consequently, the financial toll from Iranian missile strikes increases accordingly. $14 billion in damage to Israel after morning attack Today's Iranian strike has already caused initial losses of $14 billion on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Israel's main stock exchange index, with a total turnover of $475 billion, fell more than 3% – its biggest drop since the… — Sprinter Observer (@SprinterObserve) June 19, 2025 High-Tech Attack and Defense Systems According to Israeli economic advisers, Israel has been spending more than 2.75 billion shekels ($725 million) per day on direct military operations against Iran. Just jet fuel and armaments require a cost of almost $300 million each day. The Israeli Air Force has been actively launching F-35 fighter jets across distances exceeding 1,000 miles, costing roughly $10,000 per hour of flight. In terms of air defenses, David's Sling is one of Israeli key defense systems that intercepts short-to-medium range missiles and drones at a cost of approximately $700,000 per intercept, typically using two missiles per launch. Meanwhile, 'Arrow 3' system, operating beyond the atmosphere to counter long-range ballistic missiles, costs about 4$ million per interception. Its predecessor, 'Arrow 2,' designed for in-atmosphere interception, costs roughly $3 million per missile. Mounting Damage Drains the Israeli Economy Engineers has been estimating that reconstruction costs due to missile strikes will exceed $400 million as a result of the damage of hundreds of buildings, and the evacuation of more than 5,000 civilians. After being hit, the largest Israeli oil refinery in Haifa has been temporarily shut down, and work in several significant infrastructure sectors has been suspended. According to the Israeli public broadcaster 'Kan,' the Israeli regime will approve a payment of 500 shekels (approximately $145) for each settler whose home was destructed in the Iranian missile strikes, neglecting any compensation for owners of commercial properties. An Israeli economic journalist, Liel Keiser, also highlighted the destruction of around 1,500 homes and apartments over just 4 days of the Iranian missile strikes. She warned that the fund designated for property tax holds roughly 9.5 billion shekels and has been gradually depleted, imposing an emerging cause for concern.
