'Vorsprung durch technik' - Germany transfers four Patriot missile batteries to Israel.

'Vorsprung durch technik' - Germany transfers four Patriot missile batteries to Israel. (I24).

Announcement comes after Jerusalem bought four German-made warships to help secure gas rigs

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said Monday that Germany had transferred four Patriot missile batteries to Israel, the Israeli news site Haaretz reported.

Speaking at a press conference with German Defense Minister Ursula Von Der Leyen in Tel Aviv, Ya'alon said that Israel received the batteries in recent years as part of a military aid program.

Earlier in the day, Israel bought four German-made corvette warships on Monday to help secure its Mediterranean gas rigs, with Berlin heavily subsidizing the deal, Israel's Defense Ministry said.

The ships, worth 430 million euros ($480 million), will be built by Thyssen Krupp and delivered within five years, providing significantly more fire power to Israel's navy.

"The deal signed today is an event of the utmost significance that dramatically upgrades the navy's capabilities of defending the State of Israel's strategic sites in the gas realm," Defense Ministry director-general Dan Harel said.

Israel has huge and mostly untapped gas fields that cover some 23,000 square km (9,000 square miles) of sea -- more than Israel's territory on land.

Israeli planners see possible sea-borne or rocket threats to gas facilities from Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, making expanding the naval presence a priority for them.

Israel's navy chief, Admiral Ram Rotberg, said in a separate statement that the corvettes would be classed as "Saar 6" missile boats -- suggesting a major improvement in capabilities. According to the navy website, its biggest warships are currently "Saar 5" missile boats. Israel's Channel 2 TV news said the Saar 6 vessels would be significantly larger, with twice the operational range of the Saar 5 class.

'L'Etat C'est Moi" - A just Sultan makes good out of bad laws: Erdoğan

'L'Etat C'est Moi" - A just Sultan makes good out of bad laws: Erdoğan. (HD).

President Erdoğan attacks a recent court ruling halting a contentious port privatization, arguing that the ruler - not necessarily the laws - ensures justice in a country.

The laws of a country are relatively unimportant provided that the ruler who applies them is just, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Nov. 24, in an indirect criticism of a recent court ruling that is set to again raise concerns about growing authoritarianism in Turkey.

“It is the state that preserves [the equality of] rights among its people, that is to say, if it builds its laws on rights, justice will manifest itself there,” Erdoğan said during a speech at the “Women and Justice Summit,” hosted by the Women and Democracy Association (KADEM).

His remarks came as he was arguing how certain court rulings are almost like “treason” against the country, citing a ruling by the Council of State concerning Istanbul’s Salıpazarı Port Area project, commonly known as Galataport.

“However, there is a beautiful saying that some attribute to Confucius, while others attribute to [Islamic caliph] Omar: ‘No matter how bad laws are, if they are held by a just sultan then they lead to fine results; no matter how good the laws are, if they are held by a brutal sultan then they lead to injustice.' Here, we see the same thing,” Erdoğan said. Read the full story here.

Hmmmm..........

@MarietjeSchaake @BenjaminHarvey That's like saying there were lots of good Germans in 1933 Germany
— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) November 24, 2014

No talks before Turkey stops offshore activity - Cyprus Gov Spokesperson.

No talks before Turkey stops offshore activity - Cyprus Gov Spokesperson. (Famagusta).

Turkey should end its illegal actions in Cyprus` Exclusive Economic Zone (EZZ) for the negotiations on a solution to the Cyprus problem to resume, says Government Spokesman Nicos Christodoulides.
Christodoulides was asked to comment on statements by US Vice President Joe Biden that the tension in Eastern Mediterranean should de-escalate and the two sides in Cyprus should return to the negotiating table.

"The de-escalation of the tension should come from the side that caused it. Turkey should show in practice that it respects the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus," Christodoulides said.

Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras discussed on Monday further steps and measures and ways their governments would act in concert in reaction to Turkish provocations in Cyprus` Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides has said.

The Minister indicated that Turkey's illegal moves could harm the course of the ongoing UN-led negotiations, aiming to find a negotiated settlement that would reunite Cyprus under a federal roof.

Ankara has issued a notice to mariners which binds areas within Cyprus` EEZ. Following that, Cyprus directly adopted a directive which proved the illegality of the Turkish notice.

The Minister told a press conference that President Anastasiades has called a meeting of the political leaders on Tuesday to brief them.

“The Cyprus talks cannot yield results if carried out under provocative conditions,” he added.

Kasoulides spoke of a “particularly serious” development and said that the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Energy have agreed on a series of diplomatic moves and other action that would be put before the President to decide how Cyprus will react to Turkish provocations. The Defence Ministry is also expected to submit its own suggestions.

He noted that the measures will be diplomatic and legal, but said that currently they are under consideration by the state`s legal advisers.

The Foreign Minister stressed that the Turkish Cypriot leadership must realise that its contribution to these developments causes the reaction of the Greek Cypriot side. “I regret because the provocation continues on the part of leaders of the Turkish Cypriot community who want to appear to be moderate” he said.

Video - Muslim Brotherhood youth demonstrating & chanting for ISIS "Da'esh"

Source:

Video of Muslim Brotherhood demo chanting for ISIS "Da'esh" https://t.co/JzB3nV1syR via @waelabbas #Egypt

— سلطان سعود القاسمي (@SultanAlQassemi) November 22, 2014

“@minafayek: Pro-Morsi protesters in Matareyah (east Cairo) chant for ISIS and raise its flag yesterday: http://t.co/YxOb4pj4gb #Egypt”

— Marwa Farid (@MarwaMfarid) November 22, 2014

Turkey's oil and gas reserves to diminish in 20 years, reason why Cyprus, Iraq and Israel should worry?

Turkey's oil and gas reserves to diminish in 20 years, reason why Cyprus, Iraq And Israel should worry? (Bugun).

The country has 46.3 million tons of crude oil - enough only for 19.3 years and 6.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas, which will only be enough for 12.2 years, according to figures from the Ministry.

Turkey consistently operates its wide-ranging exploratory projects for its energy demands. It has made 3,323 kilometers of two-dimensional seismic detection exploration and 9,526 square kilometers of three-dimensional seismic detection studies in the first eight months of 2014. Hmmm.....The West better wake up.

'Neo Ottoman conqueror' Turkey a guarantor for energy peace in Iraq between Baghdad and Erbil.

ISIS Turkey a guarantor for energy peace in Iraq between Baghdad and Erbil. (TAZ).

Turkey is a guarantor for energy peace between Baghdad and Erbil, according to the CEO of an international energy company operating in Iraq Anadolu Agency reported

A dispute between Baghdad and Erbil over the sale of oil turned into an international legal wrangle as the Iraqi government brought a lawsuit against the Kurdish Regional Government, KRG, in foreign courts. However, the central government and the KRG signed a temporary agreement to settle the oil dispute last week, clearing the way for a permanent settlement to be enacted in a joint hydrocarbon law.

" Turkey is a natural guarantor forenergy peace between Baghdad and Erbil," Mehmet Sepil, CEO of Genel Energy-- one of the biggest international energy companies operating in Iraq-- told The Anadolu Agency.

He said the oil produced in Northern Iraq can only come through Turkey whether it is Kurdish oil or oil from the central government in Baghdad, henceTurkey will guarantee peace.

"Turkey said that the oil is being sold for the good of the whole Iraq and now this situation is being realized. If the oil was not sold, the recent agreement between Baghdad and northern Iraq would never have been signed," Sepil said.

He emphasized the importance of the meeting between the Iraqi Oil Minister Adil Abdel Mahdi and Kurdish Regional Government Oil Minister Ashti Hawrami at the Atlantic CouncilEnergy and Economy Summit in Istanbul on Thursday.

“They set together at an international organization for the first time. I think that the recent agreement signed prior to Istanbul was a beginning for them although they still have serious problems to be handled. However, now I think it is more than a beginning," he stated, adding that both of the leaders identify the same problems.

According to Sepil, Iraqi oil regardless of whether it is controlled by the central Iraqi government in Baghdad or by the KRG in Erbil can only be piped to Turkey through the Kurdish region because ISIL controls all other pipelines in the country.

He warned, however, that a permanent and comprehensive solution between Baghdad and Erbil will take a long time.

He stressed "if Baghdad plans to avoid the centralized governance of the entire country, which is indeed the solution, a great opportunity will arise for permanent peace."

Ceyhan pipeline's capacity to be enhanced

"The KRG aims at reaching one billion barrels of oil piped to Turkey through the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline," Sepil underlined, and added, "The capacity of the pipeline can easily be increased to 750,000 barrels per day."

The current daily capacity of the pipeline is 300,000 barrels of oil.

Genel Energy is the first Turkish company to be traded on the London Stock exchange. The company merged with English Vallares company in 2011 and took the name of "Genel Energy Plc."

  Hmmmm.......Good thing ISIS Showed up to create this 'deal'..... As i said from day One when ISIS Appeared : 

@MuratYetkin2 Turkey exports Kurd - Iraq oil, iraq complains to UN...ISIS heads for the oil fields, Emb staff hostage but OK ...Coincidence?
— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) June 12, 2014

New Israeli Oil Find near Gaza Could Drive Hamas, Abbas into War.

New Israeli Oil Find near Gaza Could Drive Hamas, Abbas into War.HT:The Jewish Press

A new oil discovery in southern Israel might turn out to be the catalyst for an internal and self-destructive war in the Palestinian Authority, with Hamas in Gaza and chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah likely to claim ownership of a new Israeli offshore oil discovery near Ashdod. 

When the Tamar and Leviathan gas and oil fields off the Haifa and Hadera coast, in northern Israel, were discovered, Lebanon and Hezbollah quickly claimed that energy reserves were in their territorial waters.
The oil and gas reserves are clearly within Israel’s territorial waters, but the fields could extend as far as the waters off the Lebanese coast. Lebanon warned the American Noble Energy company not to approach its territory, and Hezbollah it would go to war over the oil and gas fields.

Since then, Israel has brought gas into production, and Lebanon and Hezbollah have kept quiet, partly because the United States has mediated by proposing a boundary between Lebanon and Israel’s maritime economic zones. Now comes the Israeli Shemen Oil and Gas Company which reported on Saturday indications of “high quality of oil” following offfshore drilling at its Yam-3 well, 10 miles from the southern port city of Ashdod, located only a few miles north of Gaza.

The drilling reached a depth of 19,000 feet undersea, but the possibility of commercial production awaits further tests. “This is good news for Shemen but it is still too early to pop the champagne,” Noam Pincu, an analyst at Psagot Investment House Ltd. in Tel Aviv, told Bloomberg News. “We have to see the results of the production tests to estimate the quantities and quality of oil at the site.” It still is not clear from the drilling report how thick the reservoir is and how much much oil could be commercially produced. Analysts said it could be only a few barrels a day or it could be several hundred a day, which would bring in millions of dollars.

Keep your eye on 'Pipelineistan'.

Keep your eye on 'Pipelineistan'. HT: RussiaToday.

By now the different, sometimes converging, agendas of all those who want war on Syria are crystal clear. Essentially, it’s ‘the road to Damascus ends up in Tehran’.

The War Party in Washington, Israel and the House of Saud all know that new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s success depends on easing the sanctions and revitalizing the Iranian economy. Tomahawks falling over Syria will virtually obliterate his push for a civilized dialogue between Iran and the US; the ultra-conservatives in Tehran will inevitably regain the upper hand.

So the Obama doctrine, on purpose, is also about bombing any possibility of meaningful dialogue with Tehran. The proof is that Obama eagerly listens to rabid Israeli-firsters such as Dennis Ross, now with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) think tank. Ross argues that bombing will reinforce the US’s “credibility” – as in threatening to go medieval further on down the road to prevent Iran from acquiring those evil, non-existent nuclear weapons.

And then, of course, there’s Pipelineistan – the elephant in the Syria frenzy room. There’s a lot of natural gas in the Eastern Mediterranean near the Syrian and Lebanese shorelines – arguably 90 percent more than in Israel. So Syria is a great prize in itself – on the road to become a natural gas competitor to Qatar.

Add to it the possibility of completion – post-war – of the $10 billion Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline. Privileged customers: Western Europe. Soon Qatar was being blocked on two fronts; by the House of Saud (who vetoed a pipeline traversing Saudi Arabia) and by the pipeline traversing Syria.

Thus the alliance with the US (and a privileged partnership with Exxon-Mobil), dependent on destroying any moves towards an Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline, to the benefit of a Qatar-Syria-Turkey pipeline feeding European natural gas customers. For the US, there’s the extra incentive that such a pipeline would dent Gazprom’s hold over the European gas market.

None of that, of course, will be discussed at the G20; the Obama doctrine won’t allow it. Quite predictable, when international relations are prey to a hubristic superpower that still answers geopolitical challenges with gunboat diplomacy.

Related: NATO’s Energy Security Strategy: Break Russia’s control over European gas markets.

Is The United States Going To Go To War With Syria Over A Natural Gas Pipeline?

Israel sells electronic warfare systems to Turkey.

Israel sells electronic warfare systems to Turkey.(JPost).Israel has completed the sale of electronic warfare systems to the Turkish air force, despite ongoing strained relations between the two countries.
The original deal, worth 200 million dollars, involved Israel's ELTA Systems Ltd., a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries, delivering electronic systems for four Turkish Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWAC) aircraft.
Two of the aircraft had already been fitted with the systems in the past.
Following the 2010 Marvi Marmara ship incident, in which Turkish Islamist activists attacked Israel Navy commandos, an incident that resulted in the deaths of nine pro-Palestinian activists and pushed ties between Ankara and Jerusalem to breaking point, Israel held off on delivering the remaining systems, worth tens of millions of dollars.
The equipment has now been delivered to the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) facility in Ankara, the Turkish news website Today's Zaman reported on Sunday.
"A senior defense bureaucrat told Today's Zaman last month that Boeing, the manufacturer of the planes that are part of the system, had to intervene, the report said. “Boeing told Israel that their refusal to complete the delivery was hurting their business, and Israel agreed to deliver the equipment,” the defense source was quoted as saying.
"The integration of the additional parts into AWACS will be completed in weeks to come," the report said.
The Ministry of Defense in Israel said it does "not comment on defense contracts."
The report also listed "tensions with Israel and Greek Cyprus over the issue of gas drilling in the region" as a Turkish national security concern.
These were causing Turkey to seek "to boost its early warning systems to handle the multi-dimensional challenges stemming from the numerous crises in the region," the report added.
Hmmmm......Lets hope it is rigged to 'default' in case it's aimed at Israeli targets, cause that day will come.Read the full story here.

Israel’s Emergence As Energy Superpower Making Waves around the world.

                                                    Full scale map here.


Israel’s Emergence As Energy Superpower Making Waves around the world.(CriticalAnalyst).Back to regular programming. A fascinating and rather optimistic article by Walter Russel Mead in the American Interest posits that Israel looks likely to emerge as an energy superpower in the near future, with all the political ramifications associated with this status.

Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir famously lamented that Moses led the children of Israel for forty years of wandering in the desert until he found the only place in the Middle East where there wasn’t any oil.But could Moses have been smarter than believed? Apparently the Canadians and the Russians think so, as both countries are moving to step up energy relations with a tiny nation whose total energy reserves some experts now think could rival or even surpass the fabled oil wealth of Saudi Arabia. [emphases mine. -Ed].The prospect of huge oil reserves in Israel comes on top of the recent news about large natural gas discoveries off the coast that have been increasingly attracting attention and investor interest. The apparent gas riches have also been attracting international trouble. Lebanon disputes the undersea boundary with Israel (an act somewhat complicated by the fact that Lebanon has never actually recognized Israel’s existence), and overlapping claims from Turkey and Greece themselves plus both Greek and Turkish authorities on Cyprus further complicate matters. Yet despite these tensions, following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s surprisingly cordial visit last week, Gazprom and Israel have announced plans to cooperate on gas extraction.This suggests at a minimum that Turkish efforts to block gas development in the region will face opposition from Russia as well as from Israel. Gazprom and other Russian companies are also likely to do well in any gas exploration deals developed with the strongly pro-Moscow (and very cash hungry) Greek Cypriot government.The stakes are not small: the offshore Levantine Basin (which Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Israel and even Gaza will all have some claim to) is believed to have 120 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and “considerable” oil. Drillers working in Israeli waters have already identified what look to be 5 billion barrels of recoverable oil in addition to over a trillion cubic feet of gas. (US firms were involved in these finds.) Israel’s undersea gas reserves are currently estimated at about 16 trillion cubic feet and new fields continue to be rapidly found.

The new Israeli-Russian agreement is part of a conscious strategy by the Israeli government to use its nascent energy wealth to improve its embattled political position. With Italy reeling under the impact of big wrong-way bets on Iran, Rome may also begin to appreciate the value of good ties with a closer and more dependable neighbor. Another sensible target for Israeli energy diplomacy would be India: the two countries are already close in a number of ways, including trade and military technology, and India is eager to diversify its energy sources.

Gas is one thing, but potential for huge shale oil reserves under Israel itself, however, is a new twist. According to the World Energy Council, a leading global energy forum with organizations and affiliates in some 93 countries, Israel may have the third largest shale oil reserves in the world: something like 250 billion barrels. [...] If the estimates of Israeli shale oil are correct, Israel’s gas and shale reserves put its total energy reserves in the Saudi class, though Israel’s energy costs more to extract. Many obstacles exist and in a best case scenario some time must pass before the full consequences of the world’s new energy geography make themselves felt, but if production from the new sources in Israel and elsewhere develops, world politics will change.

[...]

the ability of the Arab governments to influence political opinion in Europe and the rest of the world is likely to decline as more oil and gas resources appear — and as Israel emerges as an important supplier. We could be heading toward a time when the world just doesn’t care all that much what happens around the Persian Gulf — as long as nobody gets frisky with the nukes.

Another big loser could be Turkey.

[...]

But if Israel really does emerge as a great energy power, and a Russia-Greece-Cyprus-Israel energy consortium does in fact emerge, Turkey will feel like someone who jilted a faithful longtime girlfriend the week before she won a huge lottery jackpot. More, Turkey’s ambitions to play a larger role in the old Ottoman stomping ground of the eastern Mediterranean basin will have suffered a significant check.

If the possibility of huge Israeli energy discoveries really pans out, and if the technical and resource problems connected with them can actually be solved, the US-Israeli relationship will also change. Some of this may already be happening. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s evident lack of worry when it comes to crossing President Obama may reflect his belief that Israel has some new cards to play. An energy-rich Israel with a lot of friends and suitors is going to be less dependent on the US than it has been — and it is also going to be a more valuable ally.

[..]

An Israel with vast energy endowments may be less coolly received in certain circles than it is today.

In the meantime, we wonder if there was an 11th, hitherto undiscovered commandment on those tablets at Sinai: Thou shalt drill, baby, thou shalt drill.

I hope Mead is not being overly optimistic, and pray that his words go from his keyboard to G-d’s ears.

Happily, I found several articles supporting Mead’s proposition.

Arutz Sheva: Israel is capable of producing 250 billion barrels of oil according to Dr. Harold Vinegar of Israel Energy Initiative Ltd.

Bret Stephens in the WSJ also quotes Dr. Vinegar and remarks upon the possibility of the delicious irony of Israel becoming an oil giant.

The Jerusalem Post reported back in March on how Israel could revolutionise the global energy market, not only thruogh its oil and shale reserves but through its technologically creative, ecologically-sound shale extraction methods.

And in case anyone is worried about the Palestinians making a grab for Israel’s shale oil,Israel Matzav reports that “G-d has the last laugh” as there are virtually no shale deposits in Judea and Samaria.

Israel as an energy superpower? It’s the epitome of cognitive dissonance. May it come speedily in our days, Amen.

Hmmmm......The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. For behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the Lord, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it." ~ Jeremiah 30:1-24.

                                          So G_d isn't an Englishman after all?