Nadav Argaman, director of Israel's Shin Bet domestic security and intelligence service, has said there's a high probability a foreign power will try to meddle in Israel's April 9 elections in a similar manner to Russia's meddling in the 2016 U.S. election.
Details: Speaking yesterday at Tel Aviv University, Argaman said Shin Bet is preparing for meddling attempts by a foreign superpower, potentially through social media or cyberattacks. He said he doesn't know what goal would be served by such a foreign intervention.
Special counsel Robert Mueller has accused President Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort of lying about sharing polling data related to the 2016 presidential campaign and discussing a secret Ukrainian peace plan with suspected Russian intelligence operative Konstantin Kilimnik, according to a new court filing.
The big picture: The filing by Manafort's defense attorneys is in response to Mueller's allegation in November that Manafort violated the terms of his plea deal by lying to investigators. However, Manafort's attorneys failed to properly redact some information in the document, revealing some specifics regarding Mueller's allegations against Manafort.
President Trump’s sudden announcement that the U.S. would pull out of Syria stunned the key players in the conflict, prompted America’s panicked Kurdish allies to turn to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, and led to the resignation of Defense Secretary James Mattis.
Between the lines: Nearly three weeks later, the withdrawal seems to be getting less imminent by the day.
National security adviser John Bolton is in the Middle East this week attempting to sell President Trump's Syria withdrawal policy, which Bolton opposed only several weeks ago. And it appears that he still opposes it, based on reports that he told Israeli and Turkish officials that the U.S. won't be leaving Syria until the Islamic State is defeated.
Why it matters: It would be tough enough for Bolton to convince Israel to support Trump's proposal to leave Iran to“do what they want” in Syria; the Kurds that they are safe, despite public concern that the Turks will slaughter them; and Jordan and Iraq that ISIS is defeated, as the president claims, despite theirbattling ISIS nearly every day. The discrepancies are amounting to incoherent policy.
Avi Gabay, the leader of the Israeli Labor Party, went on a secret visit to Abu Dhabi in early December and met with senior UAE officials, Israeli officials tell me.
Why it matters: This is a rare visit by a senior Israeli politician to the UAE, which has no formal diplomatic relations with Israel. Gabbay, who is struggling in the polls ahead of April's elections, has been criticized for his lack of experience in foreign policy. A visit to the UAE — an influential Gulf state — is a way to boost his foreign policy credentials.
