Axios

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke today on the phone with President Trump about the U.S. decision to pull forces out of Syria.

• Why it matters: This was the second call between Netanyahu and Trump this week on Syria, following Trump's call to brief Netanyahu on his upcoming withdrawal announcement. Israeli officials tell me Netanyahu is very disappointed by Trump's decision but is careful not to say it publicly.
• Netanyahu's office says he and Trump discussed increasing cooperation against Iranian aggression. Earlier today, Netanyahu said at a meeting with his Greek and Cypriot counterparts, attended by U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman, that Israel would increase its efforts to prevent Iranian military entrenchment in Syria "with full support and backing from the U.S."

President Trump’s recent decision to withdraw the approximately 2,000 U.S. troops stationed in Syria signals that Washington is unwilling to challenge Iran in a theater of conflict that the Islamic Republic has invested heavily in for more than seven years. This will have significant consequences for Middle East security as well as the success of the administration’s Iran policy.

The big picture: Washington is currently in the throes of a maximum pressure campaign against Iran. But absent a military strategy to counter Iran’s support for regional destabilization, it will be relying on sanctions alone to change Iranian behavior — which is no easy task.

The problem with President Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria lies not so much with the decision itself as with the hasty manner in which it was made.

Why it matters: Trump first shared the news in a phone call with President Erdogan, leaving the State Department stunned, the Pentagon unprepared and the U.S.’ Kurdish allies in Syria alarmed and betrayed. By failing to prepare the ground, Trump risks weakening the Kurds’ hand, exposing them to attack, and reviving ISIS.

The Department of Justice unsealed indictments against 2 Chinese hackers affiliated with the Ministry of State Security Friday.

Why it matters: The group known as APT 10, running a campaign nicknamed Operation Cloud Hopper, recently attacked managed IT services, providing a gateway to intellectual property and trade secrets worldwide. The group has attacked biotech, healthcare, NASA, oil and gas exploration, and other industries.

Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker has been advised by Justice Department officials that he does not need to recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation, despite at least one ethics official concluding that he should, CNN's Laura Jarrett and the Washington Post reports.

Why it matters: Whitaker has been a critic of Robert Mueller's investigation in the past, writing last year that it was "going too far." Because of this, congressional Democrats and some legal experts have called on him to recuse himself from the attorney general's role of overseeing the special counsel's probe. But so far Whitaker has been involved in the investigation's major developments, according to CNN, and was expected to speak with senators about Michael Cohen's guilty plea on Thursday.

North Korea said Thursday it will not denuclearize unless the U.S. removes its "nuclear threat" from South Korea and Japan, a traditional stance for the reclusive nation, the AP reports.

The big picture: North Korea's statement implored the U.S. to "recognize the accurate meaning of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and especially, [study] geography." It underlines how little has changed in the region despite continued diplomatic overtures from the U.S. and South Korea — and statements from President Trump's administration that talks on denuclearization are progressing.

Go deeper: We're still relying on Trump-Kim chemistry to prevent nuclear war

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned there is a rising threat of a nuclear at his annual news conference in Moscow on Thursday, saying "it could lead to the destruction of civilization as a whole and maybe even our planet," the AP reports.

The big picture: Putin said the threat of a "global nuclear catastrophe" was heightened by the U.S. decision to withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty earlier this year — which the U.S. and NATO blamed on Russia's own violations of the treaty. Putin added that Russia will be forced to take action to ensure security, however, if the U.S. ends up planting intermediate-range missiles in Europe.

The Treasury Department announced Wednesday it would lift sanctions on three Russian companies tied to Oleg Deripaska, an oligarch who once employed President Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The big picture: As part of the agreement, Deripaska — who remains under U.S. sanctions for allegations of extortion and illegal business practices — will reduce his ownership stake in the parent company of Rusal, the world's second largest aluminum producer. When Rusal was sanctioned by the U.S. in April 2018, it had a dramatic impact on global aluminum prices. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin explained in a statement that the U.S. had originally sanctioned the companies because of their ties to Deripaska, "not for the conduct of the companies themselves."

As dire as the situation in Syria may be, President Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria could well prove the lesser of two evils.

The big picture: The U.S. military presence in Syria has continued despite its lack of congressional authorization or coherent strategy, risking another long entanglement of U.S. forces in a Middle Eastern country. It is also illegal under international law.

President Trump updated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call on Monday about his decision to pull U.S. forces out of Syria, Netanyahu said today in a statement. Netanyahu said both Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reassured him the U.S. will still have other ways to influence the situation in Syria even without forces on the ground.

Why it matters: Netanyahu has lobbied Trump very hard in the past not to pull out U.S. troops. Israel has been fighting for the last two years against Iranian entrenchment in Syria. It's most concerned about the U.S. pulling its forces from al-Tanf base, which blocks Iran from forming a land corridor from via Iraq and Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon, and to the Mediterranean.

Security firm Area 1 says it discovered a hacking campaign that hit as many as 100 different targets dating back to 2010, including the European Union's secure COREU network — attacks Area 1 attributes to the Chinese government. In the course of the hacking, data, including diplomatic cables, were posted to a public website.

Why it matters: Though the website was not intended for the public to find, its existence meant that anyone who found that site gained access to the documents — including any of the 100 largely public policy-based victims who may have pulled the threads of their own attack.

Judge Emmet Sullivan has ordered former national security adviser Michael Flynn to surrender his passport and remain within 50 miles of Washington, D.C., beginning Jan. 4, 2019.

Why it matters: Judge Sullivan said he was unaware that no pretrial travel restrictions were imposed on Flynn, as is typically the case for defendants who are out on personal recognizance. Flynn's sentencing hearing Tuesday took an unexpected turn for those expecting the retired three-star general to receive leniency, as the judge blasted Flynn for committing crimes while serving in the White House and argued that he sold out his country.

Go deeper: The evisceration of Michael Flynn