Weekly Update: Consequences for Israel of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan
This week we continue to share a wide selection of articles exploring the consequences of the US withdrawal from the Middle East, and specifically the recent regime change in Afghanistan.
Michael Mandelbaum argues that we now live in the “post-post-Cold War world,” in which the U.S. faces three “major challengers”: China, Russia, and Iran. The Biden administration “has no experience dealing with what is the central issue in foreign policy when there are challengers, namely whether, when, and how to use and threaten force.”
The vacuum left by America is being quickly filled by others with interest in the region, such as Iran, China and Turkey.
All of this will have major repercussions for Israel. This week, Israeli PM Naftali Bennett is in Washington for talks with President Biden. High on the agenda will be the question whether the US still intends to re-enter the JCPOA agreement with Iran.
The Editorial team
Israel & Christians Today
Biden looking for positive Bennett meet amid Afghan crisis, but not at any cost
Jacob Madid writes in Times of Israel: âWhite House going out of its way to ensure sit-down goes well, but will want answers regarding Palestinians and hasnât given up on nuke deal, despite assumptions in Jerusalem.â
> Read more..
The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan: Whatâs next?
IDF Maj. Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror (former chairman of Israelâs National Security Council) writes: âIsrael must continue to strengthen its ability to defend itself by itself, albeit with the assistance of the United States. Israel will remain the most reliable U.S. ally in the face of threats and changes washing over the region.â
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Biden’s Middle East Policy Challenges
According to Michael Mandelbaum, the Biden administration is handicapped by the fact that its foreign policy team is dominated by Obama administration personnel who formulated their worldviews during the “post-Cold War” era in which the U.S. “faced no serious threats.” We now live in what Mandelbaum calls the “post-post-Cold War world,” in which the U.S. faces three “major challengers”: China, Russia, and Iran. The Biden administration “has no experience dealing with what is the central issue in foreign policy when there are challengers, namely whether, when, and how to use and threaten force.”
> Read more..
Turkey Sees Afghanistan as Lever for Global Agenda
Seth J. Frantzman in Jerusalem Post: âTurkey is desperate to find a way to work with the Taliban and get control of Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport. It has several agendas. It wants to control Afghanistan as a key route to China and Iran and also to sit astride global jihadist moments from Idlib to Kabul so that it can use them for its own agenda to become an Islamic world leader.â
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This Betrayal of Afghanistan Is Beyond Belief
Tarek Fatah Writes At Middle East Forum: âJust one day after Kabul fell, Taliban 2.0 along with their American and Pakistani sponsors reassured us that the fresh version of the Islamist terrorist group was ‘new and improved.’ Then we witnessed the work of the barbarians.â
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Arabs: Biden Brings Extremism, Terrorism Back to Life
Abu Khaled Toameh writes at Gatestone Institute: âThanks to the Biden administration, say the Arabs and Muslims, terrorist groups that want to wage jihad (holy war) against the US and Israel and threaten the security and stability of many Arab countries have firmly increased their foothold in the Middle East.
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Israeli perspective on the US withdrawal from Afghanistan
Eldad Shavit and Simon Stein at INSS write: âIn the short term, Americaâs image and credibility have been damaged, and various international actors will seek to use this to promote their own interests. However, it is not yet clear whether the withdrawal will translate into a long term strategic challenge. For Israel, it is important to examine the effect on extremist Islamic organizations and on Iranian motivation to push the United States out of Iraq. In addition, how the United States sees Israelâs role in the Middle East in view of the changes in its regional deployment is of major significance.â
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Afghanistan’s Christians are turning off phones and going into hiding
Kelsey Zorzi wrirtes in The Hill: âSome Christians on the ground have expressed that, with the takeover of Kabul, they expect to be killed, mafia-style. Although some reports say that the Taliban is already conducting targeted killings of Christians and other minorities found using public transportation, as well as executing anyone found with Bible software installed on their cell phones.â
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Understanding Afghanistan, Jihad and Islam
A conversation with globally recognised Islamics scholar, academic, and Anglican pastor, Rev Dr Mark Durie. If you want to understand more about what is happening in Afghanistan, how events there fit into the broader Muslim world, and what some implications for the rest of the world might be, listen and learn.
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Jacobâs Sons | Episode 8 in video series on Romans 9-11 with Johannes Gerloff
Paul calls those, in whose place he wants to be cursed and cut off from Messiah, âIsraelitesâ. Shouldnât he have called them âthe Jewsâ or âthe Jewish peopleâ as it would have been self-explanatory in his time? Or, should he not have called them âSons of Jacobâ, âHouse of Jacobâ or âJacobâ, if he would have preferred a biblical terminology?
Scripture for the week:Â Jeremiah 31:3-6
The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:
âI have loved you with an everlasting love;
    I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
4Â I will build you up again,
    and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt.
Again you will take up your timbrels
    and go out to dance with the joyful.
5 Again you will plant vineyards
    on the hills of Samaria;
the farmers will plant them
    and enjoy their fruit.
6 There will be a day when watchmen cry out
    on the hills of Ephraim,
âCome, let us go up to Zion,
    to the Lord our God.ââ