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Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow with the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes on the full range of topics relating to national defense, foreign policy and international security. Dowd’s commentaries and essays have appeared in Policy Review, Parameters, Military Officer, The American Legion Magazine, The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, The Claremont Review of Books, World Politics Review, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post, The Financial Times Deutschland, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Examiner, The Detroit News, The Sacramento Bee, The Vancouver Sun, The National Post, The Landing Zone, Current, The World & I, The American Enterprise, Fraser Forum, American Outlook, The American and the online editions of Weekly Standard, National Review and American Interest. Beyond his work in opinion journalism, Dowd has served as an adjunct professor and university lecturer; congressional aide; and administrator, researcher and writer at leading think tanks, including the Hudson Institute, Sagamore Institute and Fraser Institute. An award-winning writer, Dowd has been interviewed by Fox News Channel, Cox News Service, The Washington Times, The National Post, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and numerous radio programs across North America. In addition, his work has been quoted by and/or reprinted in The Guardian, CBS News, BBC News and the Council on Foreign Relations. Dowd holds degrees from Butler University and Indiana University. Follow him at twitter.com/alanwdowd.

ASCF News

Scott Tilley is a Senior Fellow at the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes the “Technical Power” column, focusing on the societal and national security implications of advanced technology in cybersecurity, space, and foreign relations.

He is an emeritus professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Previously, he was with the University of California, Riverside, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, and IBM. His research and teaching were in the areas of computer science, software & systems engineering, educational technology, the design of communication, and business information systems.

He is president and founder of the Center for Technology & Society, president and co-founder of Big Data Florida, past president of INCOSE Space Coast, and a Space Coast Writers’ Guild Fellow.

He has authored over 150 academic papers and has published 28 books (technical and non-technical), most recently Systems Analysis & Design (Cengage, 2020), SPACE (Anthology Alliance, 2019), and Technical Justice (CTS Press, 2019). He wrote the “Technology Today” column for FLORIDA TODAY from 2010 to 2018.

He is a popular public speaker, having delivered numerous keynote presentations and “Tech Talks” for a general audience. Recent examples include the role of big data in the space program, a four-part series on machine learning, and a four-part series on fake news.

He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Victoria (1995).

Contact him at stilley@cts.today.

Netanyahu Orders New Jewish Settlement Homes in Israeli-Occupied West Bank

Monday, January 11, 2021

Categories: ASCF News Emerging Threats National Preparedness

Comments: 0

TEL AVIV—Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered his government to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank, an early test for the administration of President-elect Joe Biden who has been a fierce critic of projects built on land that the Palestinians claim for a future state.

The government will approve or advance plans for 800 homes in several different settlements, including in one that the Israeli government has yet to formally recognize, Mr. Netanyahu said Monday. “We’re here to stay,” he said on Facebook. “We’re continuing to build the land of Israel.”

The announcement comes as Mr. Netanyahu courts right-wing votes in an upcoming election, and rushes to offer inducements before close ally President Trump leaves office. Recent polls suggest Mr. Netanyahu will need to retain and expand his support among the right-wing and religious camps if he is to fight off his challenger and retain his post as Israel’s longest-serving prime minister.

Mr. Netanyahu’s path to forming a coalition is narrowing, according to a poll released Monday by Israel’s Radio 103 FM. Without the New Hope party led by a former ally-turned-rival, Gideon Saar, and another right-wing party headed by Naftali Bennett, his coalition has only 46 seats. He needs 61 to form a government.

Mr. Saar on Monday urged Mr. Netanyahu to recognize Jewish settlements in the West Bank that are considered illegal under Israeli law.

The timing of the election in March is especially sensitive for Mr. Netanyahu because of a continuing corruption trial with witness testimony set to start February, barring any coronavirus-related delays. Mr. Netanyahu denies the charges of bribery and fraud. He doesn’t have to resign unless convicted.

The move to construct new settlement units has drawn anger from other political opponents, who accuse Mr. Netanyahu of picking a fight with the incoming administration of Israel’s closest ally, the U.S.

“The Biden administration still hasn’t taken office and the government is already leading us to an unnecessary confrontation,” Yair Lapid, head of the centrist Yesh Atid party, said on Twitter. “A sane government doesn’t start an unnecessary battle with a new American president.”

Settlements have long dogged the relationship between Messrs. Biden and Netanyahu. In 2010, Israel announced new settlement building in East Jerusalem during a visit by Mr. Biden, sparking a diplomatic row that continued through the eight years of the Obama administration.

The Trump administration broke from years of American policy in 2019 when it said that the U.S. doesn’t consider settlements to be illegal. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last year became the first chief U.S. diplomat to visit a West Bank settlement. In another sharp break, the Trump administration’s plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians envisioned that no Israeli settler would leave their homes in occupied territory, while other plans have envisioned land swaps that could see some have to move.

The construction and approval process for settlements typically takes years and Mr. Netanyahu has backed away from controversial election-timed proposals before. He set aside his earlier pledge to unilaterally annex parts of the occupied West Bank, as a condition of normalizing ties with the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf Arab states.

Some settlers are urging Mr. Netanyahu to do more to develop Jewish settlements while he still can.

Mr. Netanyahu should take the opportunity to provide infrastructure such as water and electricity to West Bank settlements not officially recognized as part of Israel, said Israel Ganz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council, a regional governing body for some 46 Jewish settlements and outposts.

“These are the most important days,” he said. “The hourglass is getting shorter.”

Photo: Israel’s government will approve or advance plans for 800 homes in several different settlements, like the one near Ramallah. - MOHAMAD TOROKMAN/REUTERS

Link: Netanyahu Orders New Jewish Settlement Homes in Israeli-Occupied West Bank - WSJ

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