Kommersant: Israel fears possible civil war between Arab and Jewish populations

The Israeli army is moving troops to the border with the Gaza Strip should the order to start a ground operation be given. Meanwhile, 16,000 reservists have been called up. During several days of conflict between Israel, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, about 2,000 rockets were fired into Israeli territory. In the Gaza Strip, more than 100 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes. At the same time, the threat of civil war between the Jewish and Arab populations of Israel is growing every day, Kommersant writes.

The Israeli government is also considering deploying troops to suppress urban violence as well as administrative detentions of rioters, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The police are not coping with security needs, and the number of incidents is on the rise, according to the newspaper. The death of Arab protester Musa Hasson sparked a wave of protests in all Arab communities in Israel. At the same time, organized groups of Jewish radicals also took to the streets.

"Occupation and colonization are, in short, are what provoked the latest events," historian and social activist Gadi Algazi told Kommersant. According to him, members of the Arab community, especially young people, face constant discrimination, even from the police. Many sectors of the economy are closed to Israeli Arabs, and more than 50% of them live below the poverty line. "It is no coincidence that the Arab youth have supplanted the slogan of African Americans with ‘Palestinian Lives Matter,’ they say," the expert said.

Many people want to live together and there are some Jewish citizens of Israel who understand the problems of the Arab community. Rina Frenkel, a resident of Haifa and former Knesset member said that she was surprised by the protests of the Arab population. "There are, of course, instigators on both sides. I hope that the government will solve this problem and everything will calm down," she told Kommersant.

 

Izvestia: Brussel’s environmental policy may lead to decline of Russia’s energy supplies to EU

The European Union plans to adopt its climate law this summer, the European Parliament told Izvestia. The aim of this legislation is to make the EU climate neutral by 2050. According to specialists interviewed by the newspaper, the union has yet to work out some key points, especially how the Carbon Border Tax will operate. In the long term, the new EU regulations could seriously affect any energy cooperation with Russia, analysts said.

Brussels intends to pour at least 1 trillion euro into this plan. "This is a very expensive strategy. Investments are expected by the EU, national governments and companies. EU countries have different levels of development and technological support, and this may be the reason for the contradictions between them," Natalya Piskulova, a professor at MGIMO University told Izvestia.

This primarily affects the countries of Eastern Europe, which are highly dependent on coal, Program Coordinator at the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) Konstantin Sukhoverkhov said. As for the business sector, the biggest resistance should be expected from the coal, gas, and oil industries, the expert noted.

Putting this climate strategy into action may raise alarm in Russia. The European Commission told Izvestia that the document "is not applied outside the EU and its member states, therefore it has no direct effects on third countries". However, one of the key mechanisms, the so-called Carbon Border Tax (CBT), implies that EU suppliers will have to pay a premium for greenhouse gas emissions. According to experts, it carries risks for Russian energy exports. According to Professor Piskulova, because of this tax, the demand for Russia’s traditional energy resources in Europe will decrease.

 

Kommersant: Pashinyan using diplomatic arsenal, turns to post-Soviet security bloc for help

Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has instructed the government to draw up an appeal to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a military-political bloc that should protect its member countries from external encroachments, Kommersant writes. The reason for this decision was the actions by the Azerbaijani military in the Black Lake (Sev Lich) area on the border with the Syunik Province. According to the newspaper, Pashinyan may be also trying to solve problems on the domestic agenda.

The talks about the possible participation of the CSTO in the process of stabilizing the situation arose during every exacerbation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

However, the organization has never taken any action, the newspaper writes, due to the fact that the hostilities virtually did not affect the internationally recognized territory of Armenia, but were conducted exclusively in Nagorno-Karabakh, which, according to international law, belongs to Azerbaijan.

Director of the Yerevan Institute of the Caucasus Alexander Iskandaryan told Kommersant that Armenia's appeal to the CSTO should be taken as an appeal to Russia itself. "On a serious note, no one expects Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to send troops. Russia is expected to take action," the expert specified.

At the same time, early parliamentary elections will be held in Armenia on June 20, and Pashinyan's appeal to the CSTO may look like a demonstration of decisiveness that is aimed to please voters, Kommersant writes. However, if this step does not help in any way to solve the problem, then the effect may boomerang.

 

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: US seeks clear system for combating cyber threats

US President Joe Biden signed a decree to improve the federal government's response to cyber threats following the ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline, which temporarily suspended its functions. It is possible that Russia can also join the investigation, since Moscow is not accused of this incident, and its help would reduce the likelihood of new anti-Russian sanctions being introduced, Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes.

The decree was supposed to be signed a few months later, but, in an effort to show that the White House is not just sitting idly by, Biden acted on Wednesday evening. The directive puts forward new requirements for infrastructure and software used by government structures.

"Presidential decrees have a rather technical format, so there is no need to wait for a radical change in the approach to the problem of cybersecurity, even though it is multi-layered. So far, the state's attempts to regulate this area are not all-encompassing, but have private and individual approaches. These are attempts to solve some specific aspects," Director of the Center for Applied Research of the Institute of US and Canada at the Russian Academy of Sciences Pavel Sharikov told the newspaper.

At the same time, the Colonial Pipeline incident is notable for the fact that the attack on it has a selfish motive and most likely does not have the character of a struggle between states against each other, the newspaper writes.

"The officials even have a separate wording that the attack is connected with Russia, but not with the Russian state. This could provide a reason for cooperation. Biden is likely to meet with Vladimir Putin, and the topic of cybersecurity will certainly be raised, including in the context of this incident. It would be logical to offer the US assistance in the investigation. In any case, I see no reasons for any refusal. Cooperation should be pursued, otherwise, in an atmosphere of silence, it would be much easier for the United States to impose new sanctions," the expert said.

 

Izvestia: Putin supports strengthening gun control in Russia

Russia needs to raise the requirements for the owners of civilian weapons and tighten control over their circulation, Vladimir Putin said during a meeting with the government. After the Kazan school shooting tragedy, Director of the Russian National Guard Viktor Zolotov proposed increasing the age to own firearms to 21. In addition, the security forces recommend issuing the necessary certificates only in state institutions and introducing psychological testing during registration. According to experts interviewed by Izvestia, the right to own arms should be given only to those who are at least 25 years old.

Increasing the age of the right to own a gun can really reduce the number of such crimes. Moreover, it would be beneficial to raise the age limit, not to 21, but to 25," Head of the Police project at Synergy University, retired police colonel, Nadezhda Popko told Izvestia. Furthermore, Russia needs heavier penalties for the sale of phony certificates, the expert continued.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chairman of the board of the Right to Arms organization Vyacheslav Vaneev recalled that Russian gun legislation is already considered one of the world’s strictest.

"If we want to ensure safety, we must not prohibit the item itself … We should reduce instability among young people and the general population, as well as increase the accountability for the illegal possession of weapons or their circulation threefold," he told the newspaper.

 

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