1. Kochavi: Region becoming less stable, more Islamist , The Jerusalem Post, Yaakov Lappin
2. Al Qaeda wants to establish third branch in Saudi Arabia, asharq-e.com, Zaid Bin Kami and Huda Al-Saleh
3. Rachel Corrie Was No Peace Activist, Commentary, Jonathan S Tobin
4. Israel among top arms exporters in the world: Report, Yahoo!News,
5. GOP Convention's Rabbi-in-Chief, Tablet Magazine, Yair Rosenberg

Military Intelligence chief says the Mideast will face crises and be more prone to unexpected eruptions.

(Photo: Screenshot)

Israel will face a more unstable, tense, and Islamist environment than in the past, Military Intelligence head Maj.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi told IDF Chief of Staff, Maj.-Gen. Benny Gantz on Monday.

The comments were made during a presentation of an annual Military Intelligence evaluation.

 “It will be an environment that deals with a series of crises, regional and internal, which raises the level of sensitivity of all players, and which could lead, without prior planning, to an eruption,” said Kochavi....

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Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat – Saudi sources have informed Asharq Al-Awsat that subversive terrorists are seeking to establish a third Al Qaeda branch in the Arabian Peninsula by promoting the jihadist ideology at home. This comes after Saudi authorities arrested a group of suspected Al Qaeda-linked militants in Riyadh. Security forces arrested six members of an Al Qaeda cell, confirming that they were connected to “suspected elements” inside and outside of the kingdom.

Asharq Al-Awsat obtained a copy of a web-chat conducted by the Al-Sakinah [Tranquility] Campaign, which is supported by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Islamic Affairs. The Al-Sakinah Campaign is an independent, non-governmental counter-radicalization and demobilization campaign. It utilizes Islamic scholars to interact online with individuals looking for religious knowledge, with the objective of steering them away from extremism and radicalism. Asharq Al-Awsat obtained a copy of a web-chat between an Al-Sakinah Campaign religious scholar and an online jihadist campaigner who utilized the username “al-Katibah” [the battalion]. At a glance, the web-chat reveals that those trying to establish this new Al Qaeda branch have a weak understanding of Islamic Sharia law and scholarship, and that the group is comprised of non-Saudi elements who are seeking to destabilize Saudi Arabian national security, rather than calling for jihad in Iraq or Syria. Al-Katibah also utilized obscene expressions during the web-chat with the Al-Sakinah Campaign Islamic scholar, whilst also demonstrating a strong commitment to the jihadist ideology, without demonstrating any legitimate Islamic jurisprudential grounds for this. When challenged over his commitment to jihad, al-Katibah said he would obtain fatwas from religious scholars to justify his views....

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The verdict handed down today by a Haifa court in the lawsuit filed by the parents of Rachel Corrie will be denounced by Israel-bashers everywhere, and taken as confirmation of their dim view of the country’s justice system. For them, Corrie, a 23-year-old member of the International Solidarity Movement who was killed in 2003, is a martyr to the cause of peace and freedom for the Palestinians. They continue to believe Corrie was deliberately run over by an Israeli bulldozer knocking down the homes of innocent Arabs. But, as the court rightly pointed out, the truth is that though her death was regrettable, it was an accident caused by her own rash behavior.

The structures that she was attempting to protect by lying down in front of a bulldozer were fronts for tunnels along the border between Egypt and Gaza through which munitions and explosives intended to kill innocent Israelis were being smuggled. Even more to the point, the idea that Corrie was in Gaza to promote peace is a myth. The purpose of the International Solidarity Movement’s activities in Gaza was to shield Hamas and Fatah terrorists and to prevent the Israel Defense Forces from carrying out measures intended to stop the flow of arms and terrorist activity. If Corrie’s parents, who have pursued efforts to hold the state of Israel responsible for her death, should sue anyone it is the group that led the foolish American to Gaza and deliberately placed her in harm’s way....

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Israel is one of the top exporters of weapons, with sales worth $12.9 billion between 2004 and 2011, according to a newly-released American report examining global arms' transfers.

According to the report, Israel is not only one of the world's top arms exporters but also one of the biggest buyers, and it exports weapons mainly to developing countries....

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Meir Soloveichik, scion of a famous Orthodox dynasty, will give the Republicans’ invocation.

Rabbi Meir Soloveichik will bless the Republican National Convention Tuesday. (Photoillustration Tablet Magazine; original photos The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform/Flickr and Mark Wilson/Getty Images.)

With all the speculation in recent weeks over whether Mitt Romney would tap a fellow Mormon to deliver a prayer at the Republican National Convention, one never would have guessed that the opening invocation would be delivered by a rabbi. But on Tuesday afternoon, when the convention makes its belated beginning after being postponed due to inclement weather, Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik will be the clergyman kicking off the proceedings.

If the name Soloveichik sounds familiar, that’s no surprise: The 35-year-old rabbi—who graduated summa cum laude from Yeshiva University, then went on to Yale Divinity School, and received his PhD in religion from Princeton in 2010—is a scion of one of Orthodoxy’s most celebrated rabbinic dynasties. And like many of his family members who manage to keep one foot firmly in the Beit Midrash and the other in the public square, Meir Soloveichik certainly gets around....

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