Ex-national security advisor to ‘Post’: Israel needs to review China deals

In news stories that were scarcely noted last year, Prof. Avi Shimhon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top economic advisor, and Meir Ben Shabbat, Israel’s National Security Advisor, were reportedly instructed to develop a mechanism to assess the threat of strategic investment by external actors in Israel’s critical infrastructure. Their task was described as a run-of-the-mill bureaucratic one. But it was clear that Israel’s leadership was reassessing foreign strategic investment in the state, including Chinese plans for the reconstruction and operation of the state’s largest seaport in Haifa.

Israeli army chief: US exit from Syria significant, but mustn’t overreact

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot said Sunday that US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from Syria shouldn’t be ‘exaggerated’ as it has little bearing on Israel’s activity in the region since the Israeli military has been operating independently in the war-torn country for years.

Mattis quits at Pentagon over policy clashes with Trump

Jim Mattis has resigned on principle as Pentagon chief after President Trump decided to slash U.S. troop presence in Syria and Afghanistan, citing in a letter the need for ‘a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned’ with the president’s.

Trump backs $750 billion defense budget request to Congress: official

U.S. President Donald Trump has backed plans to request $750 billion from Congress for defense spending next year, a U.S. official said on Sunday, signaling a Pentagon spending hike at a time of potential belt-tightening elsewhere in the government.

Elimination of ISIS ‘could take years,’ Pentagon inspector general says

The Islamic State has lost the vast majority of physical territory it once held, but fully defeating the terrorist group and rooting out sleeper cells that have spread across the Middle East and Africa ‘could take years,’ the Defense Department inspector general said in a sweeping report Monday that suggests final victory remains far off.

Mattis calls for end to Saudi-led war in Yemen

Defense Secretary James Mattis made a forceful call for all parties involved in the brutal war in Yemen to come to the negotiation table within the next month, to bring to an end to a conflict pushed by a Saudi Arabian-led coalition that has devolved into a military stalemate that has produced one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

US officials voice concern about Israeli strikes in Syria

US military officials have voiced their concerns that the ‘aggressive military campaign’ Israel is waging in Syria against Iran-backed militia groups might cause the Islamic republic to attack American targets in Syria and Iraq in retaliation, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Pentagon to send active-duty troops to U.S.-Mexico border

The administration will send about 800 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border ahead of the illegal immigrant caravan, a defense official confirmed Thursday, following through on President Trump’s pledge.

ISIS fighting to the death in Syria, frustrating US-backed final offensive

Islamic State fighters trapped in Syria are putting up fierce resistance, using civilians as human shields, setting deadly booby traps, and hiding in underground tunnels, all the while frustrating efforts by U.S.-backed Syrian fighters to deal a final blow to the terrorist caliphate.

US removing some missile systems from Middle East

The United States is pulling some of its anti-aircraft and missile batteries out of the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing US military officials.

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