Daily News Brief — August 9, 2010

Netanyahu testifies on the Gaza-bound flotilla raid
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu testified to the inquiry into Israel’s naval raid that Turkey ignored Israeli warnings from “the highest level” days before the Memorial day clash. “The state of Israel and the IDF operated according to international law,” said PM Netanyahu, who was the first to testify in the inquiry. The Prime Minister also reiterated what he believes is the importance of Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, explaining that it’s purpose is to keep arms shipments from getting to Hamas. “Hamas has transformed the Gaza strip into a terrorist enclave sponsored by Iran,” he said. Excerpts from Netanyahu’s testimony can be found here.

• An Israeli man who has been jailed for five months in Libya is released.
• Israeli navy fires on a Lebanese fishing boat.
• The U.S. downgrades Saudi arms deal over Israeli concerns.
• Iraqi PM Maliki meets with Kurdish leaders to build a coalition government and remain PM. 
• Blackberry maker and Saudi officials reportedly struck a deal to avert the Blackberry ban.

Blind Palestinian children read the Quran in the West Bank city of Jenin on August 9, 2010. The holy books were donated from Palestinian charity associations ahead of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. (AFP/Getty Images).

Arguments & Analysis
‘Israel/Palestine and Iran: Linkage Should be Hard Wired by Obama Team’ (Steve Clemons, The Washington Note)  The Obama administration should a take a “strategic leap” in its Middle East policy in order to restore American power in a “Post-American World.” To this end, the administration should articulate the linkage between progress on Israel/Palestine and containing a nuclear Iran rather than siloing these region challenges. Clemons writes, “Solving the Israel-Palestine conflict will not solve all the political and identity tensions which will continue to boil in Arab and Muslim-dominant states — but the echo effect of resolving the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians will knock down many walls in these societies that have been resisting change.”

‘The Illusion of a ‘limited war’ against Iran’ (Mahan Abedin, Informed Comment)  Admiral Mike Mullen’s blunt talk about the war option with Iran poses a challenge to the status quo policy of ‘no war no peace’ with Iran. While leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps have dismissed such threats, it’s clear that Mullen’s statement has affected Tehran’s strategic calculations. Abedin analyzes what a military option would look like for the U.S. and writes, “…U.S. military aggression will likely accelerate the actualisation of the very scenario that American political and military leaders insist they are determined to prevent, i.e. a nuclear armed Iran.”

‘Whichever government Iraq has, indecisiveness lies ahead’ (Saad N. Jawad, The Daily Star) Over four months since the elections, political gridlock continues in Iraq. Jawad takes stock of the parliamentary power-broking that has “opened the door wide for foreign and outside actors to interfere,” including Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Iran.

Sign up here to receive the daily brief in your inbox every morning.  Follow the Middle East Channel on Twitter.