Iran, powers resume expert-level nuclear talks this week

AFP

Expert-level talks between Iran and world powers aimed at clearing the path toward a nuclear deal will be held Wednesday and Thursday in Vienna, a top Iranian official said.

"Negotiations between experts from Iran and the P5+1 will be held Wednesday and Thursday in Vienna," Iranian negotiator and deputy foreign minister Abbas Araqchi was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.

The date of the next meeting between the Iranian delegation, the United States and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who is shepherding the negotiations, will be announced later, according to Araqchi.

There are many among us who love and nurture fairytales. Benny Gantz is not one of them. Gantz did something unique, something which happened during and after the Yom Kippur War, the war which we remembered several days ago. He told the truth and put an end at once to the state's national sport in the past generation: Lying to ourselves.

The decisive fact which cannot be undermined is that virtually the smallest and weakest terror organization dragged the great and mighty and terrible IDF into 51 days of fighting, and for dessert it launched dozens of missiles and mortar shells on the last day of fighting.

After paying his debt to the Israeli citizens' morale, to the political echelon and to every needy person, and saying "we won, we won, we won!" the chief of staff dared add that "Hamas had some courageous actions" and go against the public ethos, against the slow.

In today's war of narratives, there is no chance that anyone will like his comments, especially not the government, which gave Gantz his job but seems to have forgotten that his job is also, not only, to tell the truth.

Nonetheless, in his remarks Gantz won a name for himself in two areas:

1. Putting an end to the disregard of the enemy: For years and generations, terrorists and fighters in the Arab armies were seen as "Arabushim" (a derogatory term for Arabs), not to mention harsher words. We had the same notion in the Yom Kippur War, when many believed at first that it was "the seventh day of the Six-Day War." They became sober when Syrian tanks overlooked the Sea of Galilee and when Egyptian tanks ran over soldiers at the strongholds on the banks of the Suez Canal.

The soldiers who participated in Operation Protective Edge know exactly how and when and with whom and against whom they fought, what was missing and what they had too much off during the battle, and why and how we suffered losses.

They cannot be told lies. They were there. They saw. They heard. They fired. And they saw in front of them a terror organization demonstrating creativity in its actions against the IDF: Infiltrations from the sea, an operation of drones, tunnels pointing to thought and courage, massive rocket and mortar fire.

The IDF, which might have to prepare – and let's hope it is – for a war against an Iranian army with a nuclear bomb and against other Arab armies, must not be surprised by the planning and creativity demonstrated by terror organizations.

2. Telling the truth: In the Internet and social media era, telling lies has become an inseparable part of our lives. In the army, every army and especially the IDF, one pays with blood for lies.

In the past few years, unfortunately, IDF officials have also learned how to say things euphemistically, in order to please the public and definitely the political echelon, which is in charge of appointments, which promotes and demotes. Euphemism has been working overtime recently. Gantz's statement may mark a new way, even if it has hurt some politicians' swollen ego.