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Arms Smuggling Threatens Mideast Balance of Power

(Jerusalem Post) Herb Keinon - Iran and Syria are trying to boost the capabilities of non-state actors and give them a "quantitative and qualitative" edge over the moderate regimes in the region, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said Wednesday. "The arms are not trickling drip by drip, as in the past, but are literally flooding into the hands of dangerous terrorist groups by air, sea and land, threatening to upset the military balance and undermine regional stability in the Middle East and the southern Mediterranean rim of Europe." The flood of arms "is creating a tipping point which could soon result in the balance of power shifting dramatically and permanently in favor of Iran and its allies, with all that entails for our neighbors in Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and the Gulf." In the case of the Victoria arms ship, Israel acted in self-defense because the smuggling of arms into Gaza poses a direct and imminent threat to the safety of Israelis, who continue to find themselves under rocket and mortar fire originating from the Strip. According to the Foreign Ministry, transferring weaponry to terrorist organizations in Gaza is a blatant violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1860 (2009), which calls to "prevent illicit trafficking in arms and ammunition" to Gaza. Likewise, it also violates UN Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001), which calls upon states to refrain from providing any form of support to terrorist organizations and to eliminate the supply of weapons to such groups.
2011-03-18 00:00:00
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