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Trump to Recognize Jerusalem as Israel's Capital
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iStock.com/Silverjohn
Today, the
Trump administration will announce that the United States
recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a move that is likely to
inflame tensions in the region.
President
Donald Trump will also direct the State Department to
start making plans to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,
but senior administration officials say this will take "years, not
months."
We asked our experts to weigh in:
- John
Bennett,
former
Director, CIA National Clandestine Service: "Undoubtedly there
will be anti-American demonstrations, but how large and for how
long? How many Arabs will be truly shocked or believed that
the U.S. did not 'tilt' towards Israel? Will the Gulf
States reimpose their oil embargo? That would matter."
- Emile
Nakhleh,
former
member of the CIA's Senior Intelligence Service: "Coming on the
heels of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Trump’s Muslim
travel ban, the Jerusalem announcement would be doubly devastating
for America’s relations with the Muslim world."
- James
Jeffrey,
former
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and Turkey: "This
is not going to be the 'end of days,' as some commentators are
arguing, particularly if it’s just an announcement in principle and
isn’t followed up by concrete steps. The problem is, the number one
issue in the Middle East right now is not Israel and not the
Palestinians; it’s Iran on the march."
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"Doxing" in the Cyber-Hack Era
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Cyber spies and
state-sponsored hackers have reason to be concerned about their anonymity, as it's
becoming more common for nation-states to dox them, or reveal their
personal information to the public, in retaliation for operations they
conduct on behalf of their government.
- Human
intelligence collectors have long been exposed to this danger, but cyber
operators and their families have – until recently – been able
to engage in espionage with relative immunity.
- Just
last week, the U.S. Justice Department indicted three Chinese hackers with
reported links to to the Ministry of State Security. These kinds of
indictments have been pursued as deterrence against state-sponsored
aggression in cyberspace, with the full legal and diplomatic backing
of the U.S. government.
- However,
fears of retaliation against U.S. cyber spies for U.S. actions in
cyberspace came to fruition in April when a group calling
itself the Shadow Brokers released a cache of alleged NSA hacking
tools, along with the names of several alleged NSA employees.
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Commentary: The Ticking Time Bomb of Iran's Proxy Industry
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Norm Roule, former National
Intelligence Manager for Iran at ODNI, writes that Saudi Arabia’s
increasingly aggressive moves against Iran and its proxy Hezbollah
have provoked understandable Western concern – but this focus misses the more
important story.
- "Tehran
has created a dynamic in which a range of well-armed surrogates are
capable of sparking sudden regional conflicts."
- "Pundits
commonly characterize events in the region as a Saudi-Iranian proxy
war. Certainly, it is true that Sunni states financed regional
extremism over the years. But it is equally true that many of these
same states have made genuine efforts to end this funding."
- "Yet,
while it is hard to name an actual Sunni proxy group, it is
difficult to list Iran’s proxy groups in a single breath...In every case, surrogates
operate in the midst of vulnerable populations."
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» INTELLIGENCE
MATTERS: Congressman Adam Schiff speaks to Michael Morell about the
Russia probe – and what Vladimir Putin fears most.
» Listen now - Website / iTunes
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» 15 MINUTES: A look into how
the U.S. government handles software vulnerabilities...and whether our
allies do it differently –
with Robert
Hannigan, former Director of Britain's GCHQ.
» Listen now - Website / iTunes
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