• Hezbollah’s opening a base in Cuba. YNet News, quoting Corriere della Sera, says the move is to facilitate an attack on an Israeli target in South America. All for the still-unavenged death of Imad Mughniyah:
According to the report, three Hezbollah members have already arrived in Cuba with the purpose of establishing a terrorist cell there. The cell is to include 23 operatives, hand-picked by Talal Hamia, a senior member tasked with heading the covert operation.
• Martha Stewart’s coming to Israel.
And you know someone’s going to politicize her trip. When Paul McCartney toured the country, BBC fools on the hill tied Israel and the International Criminal Court into an entertainment story.
• The Syrian attorney general of Hama resigned on YouTube to protest Assad’s brutality (with English subtitles). More info at Reuters.
• Prime Minister Netanyahu’s YouTube videos are surprisingly popular in the Arab world. According to Globes:
Egypt and Saudi Arabia are following Netanyahu closely: 18% of surfers who have watched YouTube video clips of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are from Egypt, second only to the US (23.4%).
Thanks to the Arab Spring, it’s even more imperative that Israel is set up to take its case directly to the Arab street. As the Washington Post noted this week:
There is a growing realization in Israel that maintaining ties with post-revolutionary Egypt no longer depends solely on cultivating the relationship with its leaders. Adopting stances that are more acceptable to ordinary Egyptians and the various political forces emerging in that country after Mubarak’s ouster has become important as well.
