Jerusalem News (24 December, 2014, 2 Tevet, 5775)
Contents:
1. Official: Russia plotting to start war on Israel
Plan includes shipping missiles to terrorist groups
 2. Iran Accelerates Arming of Hizbullah and Hamas for Possible Clash with Israel
3. Russia, 4-ex-Soviet nations finalize new alliance
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
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1. Official: Russia plotting to start war on Israel
Plan includes shipping missiles to terrorist groups
by Aaron Klein
 http://www.wnd.com/2014/12/official-russia-plotting-to-start-war-on-israel/#jw7GyL1z9VC2epxF.99
Extracts:
TEL AVIV Â Russia is preparing a contingency plan to prompt Hezbollah and possibly the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad into a direct military conflict with Israel, according to a French official who has been apprised of the situation.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the contingency was meant to be used as a card against the West, particularly the U.S. and European Union, which has been engaged in efforts to isolate Moscow.
This past week, the U.S. and E.U. adapted tighter sanctions on the Russian economy, including restrictions on investments in the Crimea, with emphasis on Russian Black Sea oil and gas exploration and tourism.
The official said there is information Russia in recent weeks successfully shipped to Hezbollah a large convoy of Iskandar ballistic missiles and surface-to-air missiles. The missiles were received, despite Israel's alleged airstrikes in Syria targeting Russian-shipped weapons earlier this month, the official said.
The official said Russia has not made any decision about agitating a Hezbollah attack on Israel, but views a possible conflict in the Mideast as a card it can play in its confrontation with the West, particularly in Ukraine.
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 2. Iran Accelerates Arming of Hizbullah and Hamas for Possible Clash with Israel
December 22, 2014 Jerusalem Issue Briefs Vol. 14, No. 43     Â
http://jcpa.org/article/iran-arming-hizbullah-hamas/ -
Even as it engages in nuclear negotiations, Iran continues to arm and train Hizbullah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. - Central to the Iranian effort are rockets and missiles (surface-to-surface), as well as UAVs and advanced anti-aircraft weapons, mainly for Hizbullah, intended to constrict the Israeli Air Force's maneuvering room in Lebanon. -
 ..... Iran views the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank as a single unit under the leadership of Hamas. Iran seeks to encircle Israel from the north (Hizbullah), the south (Gaza), and the east (the West Bank) and to turn the rocket threat into an unbroken ring around Israeli territory. -
 Iran views itself as setting the stage - on the proopaganda, ideological, and military levels, for an ineevitable confrontation with Israel and the West.
... Iran has completely removed the secrecy surrounding its provision of rockets and missiles to anti-Israeli terror organizations. Today, Iran frequently and publicly acknowledges this assistance, with no fear of the West's reaction.
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3. Russia, 4-ex-Soviet nations finalize new alliance
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
http://news.yahoo.com/russia-4-ex-soviet-nations-finalize-alliance-144828097--finance.html
Extracts:
MOSCOW (AP) Russia and four other ex-Soviet nations on Tuesday completed the creation of a new economic alliance intended to bolster their integration, but the ambitious grouping immediately showed signs of fracture as the leader of Belarus sharply criticized Moscow.
The Eurasian Economic Union, which includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan, comes to existence on Jan. 1. In addition to free trade, it's to coordinate the members' financial systems and regulate their industrial and agricultural policies along with labor markets and transportation networks.
Russia had tried to encourage Ukraine to join, but its former pro-Moscow president was ousted in February following months of protests. Russia then annexed Ukraine's Black Sea Crimean Peninsula, and a pro-Russia mutiny has engulfed eastern Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the new union will have a combined economic output of $4.5 trillion and bring together 170 million people.
"The Eurasian integration is based on mutual benefit and taking into account mutual interests," he said after the talks.