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Titoli: - The Destruction of Libya, the Destabilization of a Nation. US-NATO Crimes against Humanity http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-destruction-of-libya-the-destabilization-of-a-nation-us-nato-crimes-against-humanity/5437027 - Afghan Militia Leaders, Empowered by U.S. to Fight Taliban, Inspire Fear in Villages http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/18/world/asia/afghan-militia-leaders-empowered-by-us-to-fight-taliban-inspire-fear-in-villages.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news - All Insurgent Groups are Threats for the Region: Officials http://www.outlookafghanistan.net/national_detail.php?post_id=11834#sthash.tkWBqXH9.dpuf - Families Flee Libya's Sirte as Clashes with Islamic State Escalate http://www.newsweek.com/families-flee-libyas-sirte-clashes-islamic-state-escalate-314323 - ISIS Allies Try to Cut off Libya’s Oil Revenue http://time.com/3745911/isis-oil-libya/ - ENI discovers more gas off Libya’s coast http://islamedianalysis.blogspot.it/ - Obama Blames Bush For Rise Of ISIS http://dailycaller.com/2015/03/16/obama-blames-bush-for-rise-of-isis-video/ - Libya: Isis can pass into Italy, lift arms embargo http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/politics/2015/03/17/libya-isis-can-pass-into-italy-lift-arms-embargo_7e7c8458-f68a-4d5c-8be4-ceb086992696.html - Netanyahu Says No to Statehood for Palestinians http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/17/world/middleeast/benjamin-netanyahu-campaign-settlement.html?emc=edit_th_20150317&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=70261660&_r=0 - Kremlin rules out handing back Crimea to Ukraine http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/17/us-ukraine-crisis-crimea-russia-idUSKBN0MD0Z220150317 - Israel votes in poll seen as referendum on Netanyahu http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/03/israel-votes-election-referendum-netanyahu-150317035144469.html

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By Prof. Henry Francis B. EspirituGlobal Research, March 16, 2015

Region: Middle East & North AfricaTheme: Poverty & Social Inequality, US NATO War Agenda

In-depth Report: NATO'S WAR ON LIBYA

The Destruction of Libya, the Destabilization of aNation. US-NATO Crimes against Humanity

The late Col. Muammar Gaddafi, hailed as the “GreatLeader” by the Libyan people during his incumbency, wasmurdered by Chad, Somali and Sudanese mercenaries incollusion with NATO and US invading forces on October 19,2011.

Gaddafi’s Libya, two years before he was ousted andassassinated was considered as one of Africa’s most

affluent countries.

Prof. Garikai Chengu a scholar of Middle East affairs at HarvardUniversity wrote:

“In 1967, Colonel Gaddafi inherited one of the poorest nations inAfrica; however, by the time he was assassinated, Gaddafi hadturned Libya into Africa’s wealthiest nation. Libya had the highestGDP per capita and life expectancy on the African continent.Less people lived below the poverty line than in theNetherlands…”

(See: Global Research, www.globalresearch.ca/libya-from-africas-richest-state-under-gaddafi-to-failed-state).

But look at what happened to Libya after the US/NATO interventionism! It is now incomplete political anarchy, with a destroyed economy and a war torn society.

Presently, we cannot call Libya a State for after US/NATO armed intervention and regimechange, practically all Libyan villages, from North to South, are now run by the varioustribes that was once united under Gaddafi. Libya is in the state of civil war showing theinevitability of what Hobbes called “the ugly, brutish, nasty and chaotic state of nature”characterizing political anarchy. In this post-Gaddafi Libya, the anarchic and lawless militiasare wrecking havoc in different parts of the country—each fighting each other forsupremacy. The so-called “Islamist” Jemaa-Islamiyya and ISIS forces are busy carving outtheir own respective territories in the once secular and progressive socialist Libya.

Libya is now a stateless anarchy since various tribes and militias are declaring their ownsort-of states in various parts of the country. NATO interventionism and US Hegemony hastotally wrecked Libya and Libya as one of the recent casualty of the so-called “Arab Spring”turned out as hell-hole of internecine, civil, regional and tribal wars instead of establishing“democracy” in Libyan soil.

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The USA has been scheming for over four decades to topple Gaddafi because he neverallowed US and the First World countries allied by US to dictate on the Libyan oil policyprogram. Gaddafi, by not subscribing to international lending institutions’ capitalisticfinancing and onerous loan programs, did not allow the IMF-WB to wreck havoc in theeconomy of the country.

Likewise, socialist Libya under the leadership of Gaddafi was a great supporter of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) which detested foreign interventionism of superpowers in theaffairs of the Third World countries. He was one of the founding members of Organizationof African Unity (OAU) and a zealous supporter of Nelson Mandela’s ANC, the anti-apartheid, anti-racism socialist rebels in South Africa, while US and UK had been longsupporters of Johannesburg apartheid regime—up until the time in the late 70’s and early80’s when US/UK realized that the South African apartheid regime was already totteringapart, hence they belatedly withdraw support to the apartheid government.

Gaddafi’s Green Socialism strengthened economy by socialized land distribution, freehousing, free hospitalization, free education and profit-sharing of the nationalized oilindustry and other state managed corporations to all Libyan citizens including the desertBedouins (See, Prof. Jaime Ramirez, “Qathafi: Assessment of Libyan Green Socialism”,pp. 18-29).

As of this juncture, it is beneficial to quote Prof. Garikai Chengu:

“Under Gaddafi’s rule, Libyans enjoyed not only free health-care and freeeducation, but also free electricity and interest-free loans. Now thanks toNATO’s intervention, the health-care sector is on the verge of collapse asthousands of Filipino health workers flee the country, institutions of highereducation across the East of the country are shut down, and blackouts are acommon occurrence in once thriving Tripoli.” (See: GlobalResearch, www.globalresearch.ca/libya-from-africas-richest-state-under-gaddafi-to-failed-state).

In many of his speeches, Gaddafi declared himself both as an “Islamic socialist” and an“Islamic feminist”—whatever and however those terms mean to him from the point of viewof strict political theoretic. But one thing is very clear, from the point of political praxis, heendeavored to apply what he understood of socialism and most importantly of feminism, byway of State policies, in his public gestures, examples in his private life, and in hisgovernmental projects.

Again, let us hear it from the scholar of Middle East Affairs, Prof. Garikai Chengu:

“Even the United Nations Human Rights Council praised Gaddafi for hispromotion of women’s rights. When the colonel seized power in 1969, fewwomen went to university. Today, more than half of Libya’s universitystudents are women. One of the first laws Gaddafi passed in 1970 was anequal pay for equal work law (See: GlobalResearch, www.globalresearch.ca/libya-from-africas-richest-state-under-gaddafi-to-failed-state).

In Libya, during Gaddafi’s rule, there was gender equality; and in fact, women are evenpreferred to men when it comes to access of education to state universities and priorityaccess of work opportunities in Libyan government corporations and institutions. In 2007,women students in the University of Tripoli, University of Sirte and University of Cyrenebypassed the population of men students. In Libya, a woman can divorce her husband,

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demand for equal work-equal pay or economic parity scheme with that of men, andhusbands are given paternity leaves so that they can help their wives (who are likewisegiven maternity leaves) in taking care of their infant during the first three months after birth(Cf., Samuel Gurung, “Libyan Socialist Feminism under Colonel Gaddafi: Cases and GoodPractices for Emulation to the Present Nepalese Government”, pp. 12-23).

It is no wonder that when NATO and US bombed Libya and the mercenaries financed byAmerica eventually ousted Khadafy and even mercilessly murdered him and his family, thesector that has suffered terribly from this interventionism was Libya’s womenry! As of thepresent, the anarchic and chaotic mini-tribal regimes ruling in every province in Libya arebent on subordinating women and denying them their rights. These anarchic tribes as wellas the so-called extremist and resurgent “Islamist” militias allied with JI and ISIS/ISIL seewomen empowerment as an aberration and are therefore bent on denying women theirrights and freedoms. By removing Gaddafi, US hegemony has effectively turned back thestruggle for gender equality and gender empowerment in Libya back to square one! (See:Global Research, www.globalresearch.ca/libya-from-africas-richest-state-under-gaddafi-to-failed-state).

What did US hegemony achieve when it wrecked havoc on Libya by ousting Khadafy?Thanks to US interventionism, Libya from a progressive secularist and relativelyeconomically well-off socialist country in North Africa has now become like the proverbialpiece of cake to be cruelly subdivided by extremist terrorists, unruly tribes and rogue armedbandits—each militias of these armed sectors are presently wrecking havoc to the entirebreadth and length of Libya, continuing their looting, raping, pillage and murder of civilians.And yet America has never lifted a finger to intervene in this barbaric, anarchic and chaoticaffair which it has caused upon Libya in the first place!

According to Prof. Garikai Chengu, US interventionism in the Middle East has producednothing but massive tragic failures in present-day Libya, Iraq, and Syria. Prior to US militaryinvolvement and regime changes effected to these countries, they were the most modernand secular states in the Middle East and North Africa (See: GlobalResearch, www.globalresearch.ca/libya-from-africas-richest-state-under-gaddafi-to-failed-state). Moreover, these three socialist and Islamic countries had fully subscribed to therecognition of women’s rights and had relatively high standards of living in both Middle Eastand North African regions.

According to Prof. Michel Chossudovsky, the Arab Spring—of which Libya was one of itstragic casualties—is actually not about initiating democracy in the Middle East, but it is allabout petro-business and war-business. It is all about creating a situation where the Trans-Central Asian Afghan and Middle East Pipelines are easily facilitated throughout the wholebreadth and length of the Middle East to the Caspian Sea up till Central Asia. Therefore,the US War on Terror—including its interventionism and bloody regime change in Libya—isall about capitalist business and imperialist hegemony at their worst (See, MichelChossudovsky’s book “America’s War on Terrorism”, specifically chapter 5, ‘War and theHidden Agenda’ and chapter 6, ‘Trans-Afghan Pipeline’; pp. 65-91).

Therefore, it is neither Libya nor the Middle Eastern countries, but it is the US corporatistmilitary weapon producing mafia cliques that will truly benefit from this Arab Spring anddestructive so-called “War on Terror” that US is presently waging against the Middle Eastand the Third World countries. The so-called “Arab Spring” and the “US War on Terror” are

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all about US Hegemony, US/NATO Interventionism, Middle East-Central Asian Pipelinesand the Military Industrial Complex from the start to finish; and this US interventionism isnever about democracy, never about freedom nor for the so-called “just war”. Thesemilitary pretexts for invasion are all done for the selfish interest of US Hegemony. And atwhose expense? It is always at the expense of the lives, limbs and properties of theoppressed and exploited peoples of the Middle East and the Third World!

Professor Henry Francis B. Espiritu is Associate Professor of Philosophy and AsianStudies at the University of the Philippines, Cebu City. His email addressis espirituhenryfrancis@yahoo.com.

17/3/2015 Afghan Militia Leaders, Empowered by U.S. to Fight Taliban, Inspire Fear in Villages - NYTimes.com

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ASIA PACIFIC

Afghan Militia Leaders, Empowered by U.S. toFight Taliban, Inspire Fear in Villagesy JOSEPH GOLDSTEIN MARCH 17, 2015

KABUL, Afghanistan — Rahimullah used to be a farmer — just a “normalperson living an ordinary life,” as he put it. Then he formed his own militialast year and found himself swept up in America’s exit strategy fromAfghanistan.

With about 20 men loyal to him, Rahimullah, 56, soon discovered apatron in the United States Special Forces who provided everything heneeded: rifles, ammunition, cash, even sandbags for a guard post in AghuJan, a remote village in Ghazni Province.

Then the Americans pulled out, leaving Rahimullah behind as the localstrongman, and as his village’s only defense against a Taliban takeover.

“We are shivering with fear,” said one resident, Abdul Ahad. Then heexplained: He and his neighbors did not fear the Taliban nearly as much asthey did their protectors, Rahimullah’s militiamen, who have turned tokidnappings and extortion.

Mr. Ahad ran afoul of them in January, he said in a telephoneinterview. Militiamen hauled him to a guard station and beat him so badlythat neighbors had to use a wheelbarrow to get him home.

Scattered across Afghanistan, men like Rahimullah continue to holdground and rule villages. They are a significant part of the legacy of theAmerican war here, brought to power amid a Special Operationscounterinsurgency strategy that mobilized anti-Taliban militias in areasbeyond the grasp of the Afghan Army.

From the start, some Afghan officials, including former PresidentHamid Karzai, objected to the Americans’ practice of forming militias that

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did not answer directly to the Afghan government. They saw the militias asdestabilizing forces that undermined the government’s authority andcompeted with efforts to build up large and professional military and policeforces.

Now, many of those concerns have become a daily reality in Afghanvillages.

“For God’s sake, take these people away from us,” Mr. Ahad, 36, said ofRahimullah’s militiamen. “We cannot stand their brutality.”

About 50 miles northeast of Mr. Ahad’s village, other anti-Talibanfighters arrested a 13- or 14-year-old boy in January and then killed him,the boy’s father said.

And in the northern province of Kunduz, men in a militia that hadreceived American support raped a 15-year-old boy last year after forcinghim to join, according to a United Nations inquiry.

From the beginning of the American presence here, the United Statesdoled out cash to militias and warlords. Paramilitary forces were raised toguard American bases. The C.I.A. trained and funded at least sixparamilitary forces, with names such as the Khost Protection Force and 0-4,to pursue the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

The Afghan Local Police program, with nearly 30,000 Special Forces-trained militiamen nominally answering to the central government, is thebiggest and best-known result of the American counterinsurgency strategy,and it has been successful in places. But widespread reports of abuses andbanditry by units in the program have hurt its reputation.

Then there are militia groups like Rahimullah’s that have also receivedAmerican training or support over the years but operate under even lessoversight.

In Ghazni Province, the drive to create anti-Taliban militias gainedmomentum after a series of anti-Taliban uprisings in 2012 emerged in areasonce considered lost. Until they pulled out of Ghazni’s districts last year,American Special Operations units gave cash, ammunition and evenarmored vehicles to men who had little or no official connection to theAfghan government and were often former insurgents themselves.

One of them is Abdullah, a militia commander with a chiseled, almost

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gaunt face, who wishes “my brothers,” as he still calls the American SpecialForces soldiers, had not left late last year. “Whatever they wanted me to do Iwould do for them,” he explained. “If they tell me to kill someone, I will killthem.”

The Americans, he said, had once fought alongside him in Ghazni’sAndar district, offering a sense of discipline — not to mention firepower andair support.

Abdullah described the growing desperation and brutality of a war heand his 150 men now fight mostly alone against the Taliban. Abdullahdescribed how 11 of his men were killed in late January when a Talibaninfiltrator posing as a new recruit began executing them in their sleep. Thenthe Taliban followed up with a coordinated attack on his guard post.

“In this attack, the Taliban hit me hard,” Abdullah said during aninterview last month in Kabul. He had come here to get medical treatmentfor a gunshot wound he received in the attack, and to seek support fromAfghanistan’s intelligence agency.

Human rights groups portray Abdullah as being among Afghanistan’smost notorious militia commanders. Human Rights Watch and the humanrights division of the United Nations have censured Abdullah’s militia in thepast year, citing extrajudicial killings.

In one episode in January, one of Abdullah’s sub-commandersexecuted the 13- or 14-year-old after questioning him about roadsidebombs, the boy’s father, Khial Mohammad, said in an interview.

“After they killed my son, they said he was involved in planting bombson roadsides and cooperating with the Taliban fighters,” Mr. Mohammadsaid. But he added that his son had no involvement with the Taliban.

Abdullah insisted that he did not kill civilians. The Taliban, he said, nothe, was responsible for escalating the brutality.

Abdullah recalls the Americans lecturing him about the laws of war andhuman rights, but those notions barely seem to register. He admits todesecrating the bodies of his enemies.

“Yes, dead bodies are left on the ground,” he said. “We drag their deadbodies with a car.”

The last time he saw the American Special Forces team was some five

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months ago. “ ‘You did great work with us,’ ” Abdullah recalled the soldierstelling him in parting. “ ‘If we stay in Afghanistan and we need something toget done, we need people like you to do it for us,’ they said.”

Since the Americans left, many of these militias have become morepredatory, officials in Ghazni say, partly to feed themselves and partlybecause there is no one to stop them.

“These uprisers, they are like roundworms in your stomach,” said KhialMohammad Hussaini, a tribal elder from Ghazni Province. “They are eatingeverything.”

In another part of Ghazni, Rahimullah became a militia leader lastyear, starting with about 20 men who joined him after the Talibankidnapped and killed his son.

In an interview, he expressed pride: In the eight months since he hadcome to power, a school had reopened, and a new road was underconstruction in Aghu Jan, home to about 1,500 families, he said.

Asked about his militia’s treatment of the people, he acknowledgedexpelling several of his men who abused villagers. “I warned them severaltimes not to rob or harass the people,” Rahimullah said. But in the sameinterview, he also claimed that many of the accusations against his menwere part of a pro-Taliban conspiracy.

He said that he had the support of both Afghanistan’s intelligenceservice, the National Directorate of Security, as well as the people of AghuJan.

But tribal elders routinely travel from Aghu Jan to the district andprovincial capital to complain about the heavy-handed ways of his men.

In January, when a roadside bomb wounded Rahimullah, retributionwas swift — and random. Militiamen rounded up over a dozen people andbrought them to the guard post the Americans had helped construct.

Mr. Ahad was one of those who was arrested. But he insists that he andthe others had nothing to do with the roadside bombing. Their innocencewas corroborated by the district police chief, Mohammad Hashem, whodescribed the men rounded up as day laborers and farmers.

In the guard station, the men were beaten for several hours with chainstaken from motorcycles.

17/3/2015 Afghan Militia Leaders, Empowered by U.S. to Fight Taliban, Inspire Fear in Villages - NYTimes.com

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Rahimullah’s men told them the only thing they could do to savethemselves, Mr. Ahad said: “They started asking each of us to pay 50,000 or100,000 rupees, depending on who we were.”Ahmad Shakib contributed reporting.

See more top stories on the home page »

© 2015 The New York Times Company

17/3/2015 All Insurgent Groups are Threats for the Region: Officials - The Daily Outlook Afghanistan

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All Insurgent Groups are Threats forthe Region: OfficialsMarch 17, 2015

KABUL - At a joint seminar on Afghanistan-China relations, officials of both

Afghanistan and China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that all insurgent

groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan are a threat to the entire regions security.

On Monday at the Afghanistan-China Relation: Prospect and Opportunities

seminar both officials said that Daesh, Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Tehrik-e-

Taliban Pakistan, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and the East Turkestan

Islamic Movement are threat for Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the rest of the

region.

"Terrorism remains a major challenge and a destabilizing factor for our region,"

Deputy Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Hekmat Khalil Karzai said. "These

insurgent groups pose a serious threat to our security of not just Afghanistan,

but also to China."

President of China's Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR) Ji

Zhiye emphasized that stability of the region relies on the stabilization of

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Afghanistan.

"We believe that the changes that are ongoing in Afghanistan will not only result

in further development of Afghanistan and China, but will also impact the

conditions in the region and even the situations around the world," Zhiye said.

This comes as officials of the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs have welcomed

the new chapter in Afghanistan and China's relation.

"The purpose of this seminar is to improve the cooperation between Afghanistan

and China," General Director at the Center for Strategic Studies of MoFA,

Faramarz Tamanna said. "China can provide assistance in the peace process as

they have close relations with Pakistan."

Chinese officials have been had talks with the Taliban representative in regards

to the peace process at least three times since Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's

visit to China. (Tolonews)

17/3/2015 Families Flee Libya's Sirte as Clashes with Islamic State Escalate

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Families Flee Libya's Sirte as Clashes withIslamic State Escalate

Dozens of families fled Libya's coastal city of Sirte on Monday after two days of clashesbetween Islamic State militants and fighters loyal to a government based in Tripoli, withviolence likely to escalate.

Witnesses reported families packed into cars and headed west toward Misrata, stronghold ofthe Libya Dawn armed group that backs the self-declared government in the capital, Tripoli.Some 20 cars evacuated staff from a hospital.

A Serbian nurse leaving Sirte told Reuters their manager had advised them to leave becausethere would be more fighting soon. Fuel was running short and some shops had closed,another resident said.

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Pan-Arab TV channel Al-Arabiya said on its website that Islamic State (IS) militants hadkidnapped foreign medical staff in Sirte. Reuters could not confirm this.

Two Serbian nurses traveling with a Bulgarian colleague said they saw IS fighters as theyleft Sirte, but the men had not stopped them.

The region east of Sirte has been a battlefield since December when Libya Dawn tried toseize Libya's biggest oil ports, Es Sider and Ras Lanuf. They are held by forces loyal to theinternationally recognized government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni based in theeast.

Spain said on Monday the European Union should consider an oil embargo and freezing ofLibyan central bank assets if U.N.-brokered talks to resolve the country's political crisisfailed.

BY REUTERS 3/17/15 AT 11:36 AM

17/3/2015 Families Flee Libya's Sirte as Clashes with Islamic State Escalate

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Reinforcements from Misrata arrived on Monday on the outskirts of Sirte, birthplace of thelate strongman Muammar Gaddafi, who was ousted in 2011 after four decades in power.

Islamic State has exploited turmoil in Libya, where Thinni's government and theadministration in Tripoli and their respective allies are fighting for power.

Militants loyal to Islamic State have taken over government buildings, a hospital and theuniversity in Sirte and fought at the weekend near the city with Libya Dawn forces,residents said.

On Sunday, a car bomb exploded at the Misrata headquarters of a force sent to fight IslamicState in Sirte and IS militants claimed the attack on social media. Misrata has largely beenspared the violence gripping other parts of Libya.

Militants loyal to Islamic State have also claimed responsibility for an attack on Tripoli'sluxury Corinthia hotel in January, as well as the beheading of 21 Egyptian Copts from Sirte.

During the 2011 uprising that toppled Gaddafi, Misrata forces captured Sirte, where theformer strongman had made a last stand. Some residents accused Misrata forces later oftaking revenge on them by looting houses.

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ISIS Allies Try to Cut off Libya’s Oil Revenue

Jared Malsin/Cairo March 16, 2015

The militants are tryingto undermineopponents as thecountry descendsfurther into chaos

A series of attacks bymilitants linked to theIslamic State of Iraqand Syria (ISIS) onLibya’s oilfields isthreatening to furtherundermine chances ofstability in a country gripped by a multi-sided armedconflict.

ISIS, the militant group that took control of parts ofSyria and Iraq last year, has found footholds in Libyaas a result of a power vacuum engendered by civil war.Now the group’s own attacks on the country’s crucialoil infrastructure are denying resources to its rivalsand creating conditions that could help it expand.

“The Islamic State is trying to use the disunity ofLibyans, and the fact that there is fighting going onbetween rival armed groups to target Libya’s onlysource of income, Libya’s national wealth representedby the oil facilities,” said Mohamed Eljarh a Libya-based fellow with the Atlantic Council think tank.

“By attacking the oil sector in Libya, they will ensurethat any unity government will be deprived of much ofthe funds they need to buy the weapons they need toface this group.” he said.

The attacks forced the national oil company to shutdown operations at 11 oilfields earlier in March. In oneassault on the Ghani oilfield, the militants killed atleast nine people and took several workers ashostages, including four Filipinos, an Austrian, a

Goran Tomasevic—ReutersA fighter from Misrata shouts tohis comrades as they move tofight ISIS militants near SirteMarch 15, 2015.

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17/3/2015 ISIS Allies Try to Cut off Libya’s Oil Revenue | TIME

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Bangladeshi, a Czech, a Ghanaian, and oneunidentified person. Libya’s overall oil productiondropped to a reported 325,000 barrels per day inJanuary, down from 1.7 million per day before the2011 uprising.

Oil, along with the central bank and other elements ofstate infrastructure, has also become a focus ofconflict between the warring parties, who are dividedinto two broad camps aligned to two competingparliaments, one in the capital Tripoli and the other —internationally recognized — in Tobruk. Powerfulmilitias from the city of Misrata recently sent some3,000 men in a bid to take control of the oil port atSidra, currently controlled by forces of former rebelleader Ibrahim Jathran.

ISIS-aligned militias have also emerged as a roguefactor in Libya’s larger political conflict in which tworival governments and their allied militias are lockedin an ongoing battle for control. Neither of the twomain political groupings has been able to strike adecisive blow against the other. Neither has been ableto dislodge ISIS from its local bases.

Among those strongholds, the city of Sirte hasemerged as a flashpoint in the current crisis. ISIScontrols key neighborhoods in the city. Its artillery-mounted pickup trucks patrol the streets and its blackflag is flying over a large convention center, accordingto Claudia Gazzini, a Libya-based analyst with theInternational Crisis Group.

17/3/2015 ISIS Allies Try to Cut off Libya’s Oil Revenue | TIME

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Sirte and its environs is also where ISIS militantskidnapped at least 20 of the 21 Coptic Christianswhose execution they announced in a graphic onlinevideo in February. The city is also thought to be thebase for attacks on the oilfields in the desert to thesouth.

In one such raid in February, gunmen killed theguards on the perimeter of an oilfield, then roundedup the workers, lecturing them on the Islamic State’snotion of “true Islam,” according to officials whobriefed Gazzini. The attackers threatened the facility’smanager: Tell no one of this for six hours, enoughtime to allow the attackers to escape. Then they left,taking everything they could: Cars, equipment, guns.

Subsequent attacks have unfolded in a similar style. Ineach raid, Gazzini says, “They’ve gone in, looted, andgone out.”

“These are targets of opportunity for them, given theproximity to Sirte. It’s a strategy of disruption,” saidFrederic Wehrey, an analyst with the CarnegieEndowment for International Peace. “They’re trying toraise their stature through these spectacular attacksand increase visibility and attract recruits.”

The ISIS presence has been a source of mountingconcern for the militias in nearby Misrata. On March14, Misratan forces clashed with ISIS fighters in Sirte,reportedly killing 25 members of the local ISISaffiliate.

“The Misratan commanders told me we’re going tohave to confront this threat eventually,” said Wehreyin an interview last week. “They were reluctant to goin with force because of tribal blowback, that thiswould trigger some kind of tribal feud.”

Meanwhile, the identity of the militants joining ISIS isa subject of dispute among Libya’s factions. Many inthe broad camp allied with Tripoli assert that ISISincludes supporters of the former regime of MuammarQaddafi, which was brought down in an armed,

17/3/2015 ISIS Allies Try to Cut off Libya’s Oil Revenue | TIME

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NATO-supported uprising in 2011.The ICG’s Gazzinisays there is evidence to suggest that some Qaddafiloyalists may have joined forces with ISIS. Unlikesome armed groups that take a hard line againstmembers of the old regime, ISIS has reportedlyprojected a message in Libya that anyone is welcometo join, provided they pledge loyalty and accept thegroup’s doctrine.

“Maybe some are faking it, but also the IS rhetoricappeals to a group of former regime officials whosomehow felt persecuted in these last few years,” saysGazzini. “The message Dashis [ISIS] might have beenprojecting out was that of acceptance as long as theyrepent for their sins.”

17/3/2015 Islam Media Analysis, panoramica dei mezzi d'informazione islamici

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Italian oil and gas company ENI has made a significant discovery of gas and condensates off theLibyan coast, at the Bahr Essalam South exploration prospect at Area D, 82 kilometres from thecoast and 22 kilometres from the Bhar Essalam production field.

ENI -via ENI North Africa BV- is the operator in Area D with a 100 percent share of the areaduring the exploration phase. The discovery was made through well B1-16/4, drilled at a waterdepth of 150 metres in the Metlaoui Formation of Eocenic Age.

The well produced about 1 million cubic metres of gas and over 600 barrels of condensate a dayduring tests. This was limited by the reduced capacity of the surface infrastructure in this phase. Ithas been estimated that the well could deliver in excess of 1.5 million cubic metres of gas and1,000 barrels of condensate a day.

It has the potential to develop quickly due to the proximity of the Bahr Essalam productioninfrastructures. ENI is using three drilling plants in offshore exploration and in outlining the area Ddiscoveries.

The development of Libyan natural gas will support the growth of domestic consumption and localindustry, helping the country to keep its role as a strategic supplier to Italy and Europe. The Darea includes the Wafa and Bahr Essalem fields which, since 2004, have supplied the domesticand the Italian markets via the Greenstream pipeline.

The area D fields produce a high percentage of liquid product. The offshore area where thediscovery occurred is a zone where ENI is carrying out major development projects which willenhance recent discoveries.

ENI is also exploring to meet local demand. ENI’s gas supplies to Libya have grown from about 1billion cubic metres in 2009 to 4.3 billion cubic metres last year, with a potential to reach 6.2billion next year. ENI has been working in Libya since 1959, and produces about 350,000 barrelsa day of oil equivalent.

ENI discovers more gas off Libya’s coast

17/3/2015 Obama Blames Bush For Rise of Islamic State | The Daily Caller

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Obama Blames Bush For Rise Of ISIS [VIDEO]9:44 PM 03/16/2015

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President Obama pinned the rise of the Islamic State

of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on former President George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq while

calling for more investment in diplomacy and education to stop terrorism.

“Two things: one is, ISIL is a direct outgrowth of al Qaeda in Iraq that grew out of our

invasion,” Obama said in an interview with VICE News. “Which is an example of

unintended consequences. Which is why we should generally aim before we shoot.”

Obama’s direct shot at Bush comes despite the fulfillment of his own campaign

promises to pull troops out of Iraq. Obama completed the troop draw down in 2011 —

an achievement the administration touted as a major victory but which left a power

vacuum which ISIS is attempting to fill.

Obama also appeared to not have taken ISIS seriously when it first began conquering

land in Syria and western Iraq. He famously compared the terrorist group to a “JV”

basketball team in an interview last January. Since then ISIS has taken over more

territory in those two nations while establishing branches in Libya and reportedly

forming alliances with other terrorist groups, such as Nigeria’s Boko Haram.

Obama did say that he is confident that the U.S. and its 60 nation coalition will “slowly

push back ISIL out of Iraq.” But he said he is worried about “the underlying problem of

disaffected Sunnis around the world.”

He said that in places like Libya and Yemen young men with no education and no

prospects are gravitating towards groups like ISIS.

“And now you’re giving me a religious rationale for doing this — that’s a problem we’re

going to have generally,” said Obama.

CHUCK ROSS

17/3/2015 Obama Blames Bush For Rise of Islamic State | The Daily Caller

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He said that to combat terrorism the U.S. will have to take a more comprehensive

approach.

“And we can’t keep on thinking about counter-terrorism and security as entirely

separate from diplomacy, development, education — all these things that are

considered soft, but in fact are vital to our national security,” Obama said, adding “and

we do not fund those.”

The U.S. currently spends just over 1 percent of its budget on those diplomatic

measures, Obama said.

“We should be thinking about making investments there that ultimately save us from

having to send our young men and women to fight or having folks come here and doing

great harm.”

17/3/2015 Libya: Isis can pass into Italy, lift arms embargo - Politics - ANSAMed.it

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Libya: Isis can pass into Italy, lift armsembargoTobruk Parliament President, hope Italy role in naval blockade17 MARCH, 10:47

Libya parliament speake Aqila Saleh Issa

(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, MARCH 17 - President of the Libyan House of Representative Aguila Saleh

confirmed to Ansa on Tuesday that "Isis and al Qaida can pass from Libya to Italy and this is a big

danger since many terrorists are in Libya. We hope to get support from Italy in the fight against

terrorism".

"Italy must lift the embargo imposed on the legal export of weapons to Libya. Italy must support

Libya in training its army and ensure military support to Libya. We expect that Italy will play its role

in lifting the embargo of weapons to Libya and in training our armed forces and security services".

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To the objection that a delivery of weapons could trigger yet greater conflict in Tobruk and Tripoli,

Saleh said that "it is not a war between Libyans, not be afraid of an internal Libyan war occurring.

Libyans do not go to war. They are tribes who cooperate . Once the terrorists leave the country,

they will be friends again". Saleh underlined that "what is happening in Libya is not an internal

Libyan war but a war between the Libyan army and terrorism. Our army is legitimate, it answers

and obeys the Chief of the Armed Forces, who is the chairman of the House of Representatives",

referring to himself.

Saleh added that General Khalifa Haftar, armed forces chief "plays no political role" and is limiting

himself to fight "terrorists".

"Haftar's forces are regular, legitimate, which do not intervene on the action of the Libyan

government" Saleh said.

The Chairman of the Libyan parliament of Tobruk said that he hoped that "Italy plays an important

role" in any Mediterranean patrol to prevent weapons going to terrorist groups.

"We hope for a serious and clear attitude from Italy and we were reassured in this sense when the

Italian Foreign Minister met with his Libyan counterpart," Saleh said, referring to last Saturday's

meeting in Rome between Paolo Gentiloni and Libyan colleague Mohamed al-Dairy. "When the

Italian Prime Minister spoke in Sharm el Sheikh," Saleh said, referring to Italy's PM Matteo Renzi

speech at Friday's Egytp Economic Development Conference in Cairo, "he said Italy supports

Egypt in its policy on Libya, which means that Italy supports Libya in its fight against terrorism".

"There is an international consensus that terrorism is a threat to the whole world: if terrorists enter

Libya, they will go to Rome and Egypt and everywhere," the head of the Tobruk parliament said.

17/3/2015 Netanyahu Says No to Statehood for Palestinians - NYTimes.com

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JERUSALEM — Underpressure on the eve ofasurprisingly close election,Prime MinisterBenjaminNetanyahu of Israel on Mondaydoubled down on his appeal toright-wing voters, declaringdefinitively that if he wasreturned to office he wouldnever establish a Palestinianstate.

The statement reversed Mr.Netanyahu’s endorsement of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinianconflict in a 2009 speech at Bar Ilan University, and fulfilled many worldleaders’ suspicions that he was never really serious about peacenegotiations. If he manages to eke out a fourth term, the new stance would

By JODI RUDOREN MARCH 16, 2015

Netanyahu Says No to Statehood forPalestinians

Supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel at a campaign rally in Tel Aviv.Voters go to the polls on Tuesday. Jack Guez/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

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Netanyahu Shifts Tactics as His LikudParty Appears to Slip in FinalSurveys MARCH 13, 2015

In Israeli Race, Winning First Place IsNo Guarantee of Becoming PremierMARCH 13, 2015

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further fray Mr. Netanyahu’s ruinous relationship with the Obamaadministration and heighten tension with European countries alreadyfrustrated with the stalled peace process.

“I think that anyone who isgoing to establisha Palestinian state today andevacuate lands is giving attackgrounds to the radical Islamagainst the state of Israel,” hesaid in a video interviewpublished on NRG, an Israelinews site that leans to the right.“There is a real threat here thata left-wing government will jointhe international community and follow its orders.”

Mr. Netanyahu’s chief challenger, IsaacHerzog of the center-left Zionist Union, backsthe two-state solution and has promised totry to restart talks with the Palestinians,though he has warned an agreement may notbe possible. He has, however, made Mr.Netanyahu’s alienation of allies, especiallyWashington, a prime campaign point, andsaid Israel’s international isolation is itself asecurity threat.

With his conservative Likud Party trailing theZionist Union in the last pre-election polls,Mr. Netanyahu has ratcheted up hisstatements in a panicky blitz of interviews

and campaign stops in recent days. He accuses rivals of colluding withArabs and moneyed antagonists in a global conspiracy to oust him. He hasalso belatedly begun to address the pocketbook questions that polls suggestwill drive most people’s votes.

But in many corners, these efforts and the Palestinian flip-flop onlyunderscore a longstanding critique: that Mr. Netanyahu, 65, who led Israelfor three years in the 1990s and returned to the premiership in 2009,places staying in power above all else.

Isaac Herzog, third from right, of the center-leftZionist Union, posed with supporters Monday at partyheadquarters in Tel Aviv. Nir Elias/Reuters

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Contributing Op-Ed Writer: TheJuvenile Habits of Israel’s VotersMARCH 15, 2015

Op-Ed Columnist: Israel’s GildedAge MARCH 16, 2015

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He himself called these early elections three months ago, confidentlyaiming to replace a governing coalition fractured over the Palestinianconflict and matters of religion with one he could more easily control.Instead, as Israelis head to the polls Tuesday, Mr. Netanyahu is strugglingfor political survival in a nation itself riven over those issues and consumedwith the high cost of housing and groceries.

Suddenly, the man crowned “King Bibi” — whose hard-line stance againstthe Iranian nuclear program and continued construction in West Banksettlements hurt him in some foreign capitals but resonated in anincreasingly defensive and religious Israel — is being asked whether hewould retire if he were not re-elected.

The election has become areferendum on Mr.Netanyahu’s rule. While Israel’scomplicated electoral mathgives him a good chance ofremaining at the helm even ifthe Zionist Union wins more ofParliament’s 120 seats than theLikud, the campaign hasrevealed a yearning for changeacross the spectrum.

“A lot of people on the right wing are still right wing, they are just tired ofhim specifically, it’s very, very personal,” said Tal Schneider, a politicalblogger. “Israelis, they perceive themselves as creative, as nonconformists,they hate the feeling of stagnation, of seeing themselves as counting downto another war. This vacuum, this feeling of forever status quo, this is the

MULTIMEDIA FEATURE

Netanyahu and theSettlementsThe Israeli leader’s settlementpolicy resembles hispredecessors’, but it is a marchtoward permanence at a timewhen prospects for peace are few.

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Bibi fatigue.”

Mr. Herzog, the son of a storiedIsraeli dynasty whose father,Chaim, was Israel’s sixthpresident, prayed Monday atthe Western Wall inJerusalem’s Old City andvowed to unify the nation “aftera long period of division.”

“I promise: I will be a primeminister to everyone,” said Mr.Herzog, 54. “For right and left,for settlers, Haredim, Druze,Arabs, Circassians; I will beprime minister for the centerand for the periphery.”

Later, he announced that hispartner in Zionist Union, TzipiLivni, had agreed to drop theirdeal to rotate the premiership— a focus of Mr. Netanyahu’scase against them. Ms. Livni’slower popularity had made thedeal an electoral liability andwould also complicate coalitionbrokering.

“We are united in our task to change the government,” Mr. Herzog said onIsraeli television Monday evening. “The choice tomorrow is betweendesperation and hope, and the hope of the greater good for this country ischange of the government.”

It was the formation of the alliance that altered the arc of the campaign.Polls quickly proved it more than the sum of its parts — Mr. Herzog’smidsize Labor Party and Ms. Livni’s tiny Hatnua — and put it on par withLikud in terms of Parliament seats.

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But the right-wing bloc still looked far larger than the center-left, makingMr. Herzog’s path to the premiership difficult to plot. Seen more asconsensus builder than commander in chief, he took voice lessons toaddress a persistent squeak and asked people not to use his nickname,Bougie. The gap between him and Mr. Netanyahu on whom Israelis saw asmost suitable to lead them shrank but remained significant.

Mr. Netanyahu’s emphasis on security, his strong suit, backfiredsomewhatwith the sharp Democratic criticism of his speech to Congressthis month opposing the emerging nuclear deal between six world powersand Iran. He got the standing ovations he expected, but also provided anopening for attacks on his preferred playing field.

Mr. Herzog and others argued that he was actually threatening Israel’ssecurity by angering the White House, and that all his strident speecheshad not yielded results on improving the terms of the Iran negotiations.

The Zionist Union, meanwhile, hammered Mr. Netanyahu on domesticissues, especially housing, helped by a harsh state comptroller’sreportshowing prices shot up 55 percent from 2008 to 2013 and hadcontinued to climb since. (A previous comptroller’s report on spending atthe prime minister’s residences, including a $40,000 take-out tab one year,hardly helped the Netanyahu fatigue.)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel spoke at a Jewish settlement the day before the Israelielection, warning that his opponents Tzipi Livni and Isaac Herzog would fail to protect residents.Videoby Reuters on March 16, 2015. Photo by Abir Sultan/European Pressphoto Agency.

PLAY VIDEO | 0:48

Netanyahu Warns of New ‘Hamastan’

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RECENT COMMENTS

Krystyna 4 minutes agoNetanyahu is a defender of Israel. He sparks hatredin his enemies and those who are full of hate; buthe will not sell out his country for...

Carina 30 minutes agoThis is not news - Bibi's actions have spokenvolumes of his resistance of a Pelestinian State.

Jak 31 minutes agoAnyone possessing elementary knowledge ofIsraeli-Palestinian conflict will tell you that " 2 Statesolution " will not happen regardless...

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The economic platform wasalso seized by Yesh Atid, thecentrist faction that hadstunned Israel by winning 19Parliament seats in the lastelection, 2013, and Kulanu, anew party led by a popularformer minister who brokefrom the Likud and had fewnice things to say about hisformer boss.

“What’s striking is that theIsraeli public seems to have lostinterest with the Palestinianquestion — the general feelingis that it’s like the weather,nothing you can do about it,”observed Guy Ben-Porat, apolitical scientist at Ben GurionUniversity. “Economy, housing,all these issues where nobody’ssure what the difference is,exactly, between the parties,there’s a feeling of governmentfailure. I think it’s really apersonal election, meaninganti-Netanyahu.”

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Most analysts agreed that Tuesday was unlikely to produce a clear winner.Once the votes are counted, Israel’s president, Reuven Rivlin, will pollparty heads to see whom they prefer as prime minister, a process that couldtake 10 days. Whoever Mr. Rivlin designates then has six weeks to try tocreate a coalition and form a government. Given the divisions, anotherpossibility is a unity government, with the Zionist Union and Likudrotating the premiership — something both sides publicly oppose. Leadersof smaller parties said Monday night that Ms. Livni’s withdrawing herrotation agreement suggested that secret negotiations for shared powerbetween Mr. Herzog and Mr. Netanyahu were already underway.

Tamar Hermann of the Israel Democracy Institute said the campaign hasbeen “a struggle over the identity of the nation,” where she sees“overlapping cleavages” in income, education, religion and worldview.

“I’m very much afraid of the morning after,” Ms. Hermann said. “I see noway of either a right-wing government or a left-wing government acquiringthe necessary public legitimacy, grass-roots legitimacy, in order to design— and more than that, implement — grand strategies on social-economicissues or even security-diplomatic matters.”

Voters appear energized by the close contest, and the last polls, publishedon Friday, suggest a large chunk remain undecided. Sara Dahan, aJerusalem mother of three, said Sunday that she would either vote for thenew Likud-breakaway, Kulanu, or, “if there is a chance my vote mayinfluence helping making a change,” the Zionist Union.

“I don’t claim to know what is best for the country, but I do know what Isee now and what I feel are the biggest problems,” said Ms. Dahan, whonever before voted for Labor. “On the one hand is the security situation,

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which I would love to have some kind of solution for. On the other hand,”she added, “it’s the difficulties of a young couple, both working, having adifficult time buying an apartment, groceries, making it through themonth.”

Mr. Netanyahu’s final push to win back voters from the right seemed tohave worked on Adi Perkin, 24, who in 2013 backed the pro-settler JewishHome, but said Sunday that “probably in the end I will vote for Bibi inorder to strengthen him.”

“This election had a very bad side, which was that instead of talking to thecitizens, the campaigns were about besmirching the others,” Ms. Perkinsaid. “All the ads were ‘just not Bibi,’ ‘just not Herzog.’ Instead they shouldhave explained to the voters what they plan and what they want.”

But Ido Nitai, 21, a bar manager, voted for Mr. Netanyahu last time, andnow is shopping for someone — anyone — else.

“If I wanted to keep the country in the same situation it is in today then Iwould vote for Bibi,” he said, “but I want to see a change here.”

1174COMMENTS

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Kremlin rules out handing back Crimea toUkraine7:53am EDT

MOSCOW (Reuters) Russia said on Tuesday it would not hand backCrimea to Ukraine, despite warnings by the United States andEuropean Union that they will not drop sanctions over the Black Seapeninsula's annexation a year ago."There is no occupation of Crimea. Crimea is a region of the RussianFederation and of course the subject of our regions is not up fordiscussion," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during aconference call.Russia's parliament approved the annexation of Crimea on March 21last year after residents of the peninsula supported the move in areferendum. Moscow has said repeatedly it will not return it to Ukraine.Russian forces had already seized control of Crimea after the overthrowof a Ukrainian president backed by Moscow, a move described by Russian officials as a coup which threatened the safetyof Crimea's mainly Russianspeaking population.U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said on Monday Washington would keep economic sanctions in place onRussia over the annexation as long as Crimea remains under Russian rule.EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the 28nation bloc would stick to its policy of not recognizing theannexation, including through sanctions.President Vladimir Putin's popularity has soared since the annexation of Crimea, which was given to Ukraine by Sovietleader Nikita Khrushchev in 1954 when it was part of the Soviet Union.(Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya, Writing by Timothy Heritage, Editing by Elizabeth Piper)

© Thomson Reuters 2015. All rights reserved. Users may download and print extracts of content from this website for theirown personal and noncommercial use only. Republication or redistribution of Thomson Reuters content, including byframing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reutersand its logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of the Thomson Reuters group of companies around the world.Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure ofrelevant interests.This copy is for your personal, noncommercial use only. To order presentationready copies for distribution to colleagues,clients or customers, use the Reprints tool at the top of any article or visit: www.reutersreprints.com.

17/3/2015

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/03/israel-votes-election-referendum-netanyahu-150317035144469.html 1/3

Israel votes in poll seen as referendumon NetanyahuParliamentary elections expected to be a tight race between PMNetanyahu's Likud party and centreleft Zionist Union.Patrick Strickland | 17 Mar 2015 12:45 GMT | Politics, Middle East

Six milion Israelis eligible to elect 120 Knesset deputiesOpinion polls shows Likud party trails Zionist Union by four seatsNetanyahu ruled out a Palestinian state if reelectedPresident Shimon Peres publicly endorsed the Zionist Union

Haifa Israelis are heading to the polls in a crucial election seen as a referendum on Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu, who ruled out a Palestinian state as part of a lastditch appeal to rightwingvoters.

Around six million Israelis are eligible to take part in the vote on Tuesday to elect 120 deputies for theKnesset, or parliament.

Shortly after the polls opened at 7am (0500 GMT), Netanyahu and his family cast their ballots at apolling station in West Jerusalem.

Netanyahu's ruling out of a Palestinian state appeared to have failed to boost his electoral prospects.

According to the opinion poll by Israeli daily Haaretz , the Zionist Union led by Isaac Herzog is aheadof Likud by four seats.

Herzog has also cast his ballot in Jerusalem.

National elections are held every four years, unless Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, votes todissolve the government and hold new elections. In early December, Netanyahu fired JusticeMinister Tzipi Livni and Finance Minister Yair Lapid and announced elections for the 20th Knesset.

17/3/2015

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Although Herzog and Livni campaigned on the promise to rotate in the role of prime minister, Livniannounced late Monday that she was forgoing that agreement and that only Herzog will serve as thepremier if the Zionist Union wins.

The move sparked backlash from opponents, including the prime minister. "Two things are evident:the first is that they are lying either that they lied before or they're lying now," Netanyahu said. "Thesecond thing they are unable to handle the pressure."

Time for change

Former Israeli President Shimon Peres publicly endorsed the Zionist Union’s Herzog.

Zionist Union candidate Manuel Trajtenberg said that Israel "is at a crucial junction rightnow. We have hit a dead end in terms of socioeconomic issues, as well as ourinternational diplomatic relations. Change has to come".

Vox Pops: Why we will vote for the Joint List

"With all these defects, Israel is a very vibrant democracy and people have a good sense of knowingwhen it's time to change," Trajtenberg told Al Jazeera. "I trust in the people and the democratictradition."

Analysts explain that Likud's performance may be harmed by the emergence of newrightwing parties, such as the Kulanu party, which draws from Likud's traditional supportbase.

"The question now is whether it will weaken Likud enough to further fragment the party’sdominant position on the right," Dahlia Scheindlin, an independent pollster, told AlJazeera.

"If it further fragments it, it could mean that Likud may not be able to [catch up to] the

17/3/2015

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Zionist Union," she said.

Ostensibly attempting to mitigate the potentially harmful effects, Netanyahu offered toappoint Moshe Kahlon, Kulana’s leader, the role of finance minister.

Kahlon refused to endorse Netanyahu as prime minister, however, and rebuffed hisoffer.

Asked about expectations for voting day, Netanyahu's office and the Likud partyspokesperson both declined to comment.

In the 2013 elections, which brought Netanyahu to power, voter turnout reached 67.7percent. Participation is expected to hit similar levels this year.

Hundreds of voters in Haifa's Abbas neighbourhood, home to many Palestinian citizens of Israel,were voting at a local elementary school early on Tuesday.

The Joint Arab List a coalition of four Arabmajority parties in Israel is expected to make a strongshowing and is projected to pick up 13 seats, according to the polls.

"I will vote for the Joint List because this is a new development for Arab voters in Israel," MohammedAbu Toameh, 22, told Al Jazeera. "It’s a huge step for us and it could be very effective. It’s not justunity, this is our chance."

A vocal group of Palestinian activists calling for a boycott of the Knesset have alsogained support this election season, partially due to Israel's brutal 51day war with theGaza Strip last summer and the slew of discriminatory laws that have targeted the Arabminority in recent years.

Nonetheless, the coalition enjoys broad support among the Arab public and is expectedto gain 13 seats in the next government, according to recent polls.

Yousef Jabareen, a senior lecturer at Haifa University and number 10 on the Arab Joint List, saysthat his party expects more seats than polling suggests.

"We aim to represent our voters and the issues facing our community," he told AlJazeera, adding that their first goal was to "block any rightwing government" andconsolidate considerable influence in the opposition.

"We will not be part of the coalition that continues the occupation in the West Bank andGaza and continues to discriminate against our community [in Israel]," Jabareen said.

Source: Al Jazeera