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Netanyahu's Chinese Wall

On an official visit to Beijing, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to convince China that a nuclear Iran threatens the stability of not only the Middle East, but also the global energy market, writes Ben Caspit.        
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to China's President Xi Jinping (not pictured) during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing May 9, 2013. Netanyahu is on an official visit to China between May 6 and 10.  REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon (CHINA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXZFXC
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The following is what a high-ranking Israeli politico, of the kind that is deeply involved in the goings-on and makes the fateful decisions, had to say this week. “Nobody knows how all this is going to end in Syria.” He continued, “It turns out that it’s much more complicated and complex than we thought. The conflict there has three prongs. It’s national, religious and ethnic. Everything is intertwined there. It’s the Sunnis against the Shiites; it’s the Alawites against everybody else. You’ve got Kurds and Christians and Druze there — you’ve got it all. There’s also the Hezbollah against al-Qaeda, and all of this creates a huge radioactive powder keg just waiting to explode. Not to mention the innumerable interests at play in Syria. Every powerful country has its finger in the pie, from Iran via Turkey and China, Russia, the US and France; even Israel is stuck deep in the mire, and the situation can explode at any moment and in any direction.”

In the high-ranking source’s statements, I recognized a longing for what once was in Syria. He didn’t confirm this, but didn’t deny it either. He said that we used to know who was who. Back then, things were stable, there was someone we could rely on, we knew who the enemy was, what the threats were. There were intelligence objectives, we could define targets and make assessments. Today, according to the same source, it’s a free-for-all. Problems can spring up anywhere, at any given point in time. He didn’t say that he missed the "old" Syria, Assad’s Syria, but you could tell from the well-placed Israeli political source that they were starting to yearn for what was. That’s life in the Middle East. Nothing ever changes for the better. You’re always longing for what was, no matter how bad it might have been.

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