The Israeli army has been slammed for a 'Christmas' themed Twitter post in which it celebrated the festive period by baking a F-35 fighter-jet made from gingerbread.

In the 30-second video, a group of Israeli soldiers, some of whom are wearing military-style clothing, can be seen decorating the F-35 jet with sweets, chocolates and Oreo cookies.

The video, which has an acapella-style song playing throughout, ends with a soldier holding up the jet as the text 'Happy Holidays' fill the screen.

"While some bake gingerbread houses, we decided to go with an F35 jet ????#MerryChristmas to all our Christian soldiers and to all those celebrating around the world!"

Late on December 23, the Turkish-based “Syrian Interim Government” (an entity funded by Turkey in an attempt to legalize its actions in Syria) threatened the real Syrian government with a military action.

In a released statement, it claimed that forces that participated in Turkey’s Olive Branch and Euphrates Shield operations are now moving to Greater Idlib in order to support their counterparts in repelling an attack by “regime forces, Russia and Iranian militias”.

It remains unclear what “forces” the barely existing “defense ministry” is planning to send to Idlib because Turkish-backed militant groups are already supporting al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in the battle against the Syrian Army. The Turkish-backed coalition of militant groups, the National Front for Liberation, has always been a useful partner for al-Qaeda in Idlib.

Cross-border shelling by Saudi Arabian forces against a popular marketplace on the Yemeni side of the border killed at least 17 people, according to locals. Indications are that everyone killed was a civilian, and the Saudis have not commented on why they attacked.

The sources said 12 Ethiopian migrants were among those killed in Yemen, and that 15 people were wounded and taken to hospitals for treatment. The market has been attacked several times by Saudi forces.

The market doesn’t seem to have any military significance, but it is in Saada Province, which is the main province of the Houthi movement. This seems to be reason enough for the Saudis to regularly attack them.

Human Rights Watch on Sunday accused the United Arab Emirates of taking punitive measures against relatives of dissidents, including revoking their citizenships and banning them from travel.

The government of the oil-rich Gulf state has revoked the citizenship of 19 relatives of two dissidents and at least 30 relatives of six dissidents are barred from leaving the country, the rights group said in a report.

"UAE authorities, in their determination to crush dissent, have allowed their state security apparatus to use its near-unchecked power to continually punish the families of activists, both detained and living abroad," said Michael Page, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at HRW.

"The authorities should cease these vindictive attacks, which amount to collective punishment," he added.

Malaysian leader’s proposal at Islamic nations’ summit receives warm reception from Iran, Turkey and Qatar, who are currently facing a host of economic embargoes.

Iran, Turkey, Qatar and Malaysia are weighing trading among themselves in gold and other currencies in an effort to combat current and future sanctions imposed against them, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Saturday.

“I have suggested that we re-visit the idea of trading using the gold dinar and barter trade among us,” the Reuters news agency quoted Mohamad as saying at the conclusion of a summit in Malaysia for Islamic states. “We are seriously looking into this and we hope that we will be able to find a mechanism to put it into effect.”

To date, Gaza's Ministry of Health reports that 50 protesters have been shot in the eye by Israeli soldiers since the demonstrations began last March leaving them permanently blind.

Media coverage and social media posts went wild when Palestinian photojournalist Muath Amarneh was blinded in his left eye after he was hit by a rubber bullet while covering a protest in the West Bank.

However, Amarneh was far from unique; Israeli snipers targeting participants in Gaza's weekly Great Return March protests have aimed for the legs – and eyes. To date, Gaza's Ministry of Health reports that 50 protesters have been shot in the eye since the demonstrations began March 30, 2018 – leaving them permanently blind.

(Darius Shahtahmasebi is a New Zealand-based legal and political analyst who focuses on US foreign policy in the Middle East, Asia and Pacific region. He is fully qualified as a lawyer in two international jurisdictions.)

While the US has proven somewhat reluctant to directly strike Iran or its forces, there is another power in the Middle East that appears to be increasingly willing and able to do so on Washington’s behalf: Israel.

Just last month, Israel made a rare admission that its military had carried out a “very intense” attack against Iranian forces and Syrian Army targets in Syria, killing at least 21 fighters and two civilians in the process.Earlier, the IDF destroyed a weapons depot for Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and allegedly undertook drone strikes on Hezbollah positions in Lebanon.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has explained in an interview with Chinese broadcaster Phoenix Television that two goals must be achieved in order to make American military forces finally withdraw from the country, where they have been stationed without the government's authorisation or a UN mandate.

Firstly, all terrorist groups on Syrian territory must be eradicated, as the fight against them is being used by the US government as a pretext to keep its forces present in the Arab Republic, Assad stated. The Syrian president said that the second step would involve convincing Washington's allies among the local population, presumably referring to Kurds, to unite their forces with the Syrian government instead of the foreign forces.

"These groups must be persuaded, one way or another and particularly through dialogue, that it is in all our interests in Syria that they embrace the homeland and join the Syrian state’s efforts to liberate all its territories", Assad said.

The years-long war for post-Gaddafi Libya now threatens to spill over into the Mediterranean as Turkey and Greece line up on either side of the conflict. Each side is now threatening the others' allied ships in southern waters after a controversial maritime deal expanded Turkish claims off Libya's coast.

On Thursday Benghazi-based General Kalifa Haftar declared his Libyan National Army has begun its "final decisive battle" to wrest control of the capital of Tripoli from the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA).

"Zero hour has come for the broad and total assault expected by every free and honest Libyan," Haftar said in a televised address, reports Al Jazeera. "Today, we announce the decisive battle and the advancement towards the heart of the capital to set it free... advance now our heroes." Beginning eight months ago Haftar launched a siege of Tripoli, which has been stalled in recent months.

Barely two months after US President Donald Trump’s demagogic announcement that he was pulling US troops out of northeastern Syria to fulfill his campaign promise to bring a halt to Washington’s “endless wars,” the senior civilian and uniformed Pentagon chiefs told a House panel Wednesday that there is no foreseeable end to the American presence there.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley maintained in their testimony to the House Armed Services Committee that the US military was staying in Syria to assure the “enduring defeat” of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and that the fulfillment of that goal is likely years away.

Ultra-hawk former vice president Dick Cheney has reprised his role as head cheerleader for the never-ending war he kicked off nearly 20 years ago. But has the prodigious conflict dragged on too long even for the war-happy MSM?

Cheney warned a rapt Dubai audience that “American disengagement” from the Middle East would play right into the hands of Iran and Russia, serving up “power voids” on a silver platter to any US rival willing to take the initiative. “Russia is always on standby to fill power voids,” he insisted on Monday, framing the Trump administration's move to wind down its military presence in northeastern Syria as a national embarrassment sure to set the stage for a resurgence of the Evil Empire coupled with a nuclear Iran.

So what were all those deaths for?

Syria Civil Defence, better known as the White Helmets, is a non-governmental organisation registered in the United Kingdom. The group and its activities are widely endorsed by Western governments. Damascus, however, accuses the organisation of extremism and propaganda dissemination.

The White Helmets are ramping up their presence in Syria's Idlib, potentially readying a provocation, Russian President's Special Envoy Aleksandr Lavrentyev, said on Wednesday at a press conference following talks in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

Lavrentyev added that Moscow is calling on all its partners to carefully assess the information about the potential provocation.

As should be expected, the government is attempting to stage-manage the shooting at the Pensacola Naval Base. The Pentagon said sailors killed by a Saudi student reportedly angry over the serial murder of Muslims by the US government “showed exceptional heroism and bravery in the face of evil.”

The alleged shooter, Mohammed Alshamrani, shot dead by police, was a Saudi national said to be enrolled in pilot training the Florida naval base. It is the same naval base linked to the supposed 9/11 hijackers.

Sources told ABC News that investigators are working to determine if the shooter was acting out because of religious or ideological reasons or if there was some sort of problem or hostility that developed in the course of the training at Pensacola.

Of the 180 countries classified by Reporters Without Borders’ annual report on press freedom, seven Middle Eastern countries are listed at the bottom 10% category of the world’s worst violators.

In 2018, Israel, which often prides itself on being "the only democracy in the Middle East", ranked 88th, a hardly shocking realization, considering its constant targeting, killing, wounding and arresting of Palestinian journalists. The Palestinian Authority achieved an even worse rank, at 137th place. It is telling that not a single Middle Eastern country has made it to the top 30% rank.

In countries like Egypt, Libya, Syria, and Yemen, where independent monitoring of government behavior is almost entirely absent, hundreds of journalists simply disappear in the black hole of brutal prison systems – malnourished, medically neglected, and routinely tortured.

The Trump Administration has announced a policy change that looks like it could be a major turning point in US policy toward Yemen, announcing that they no longer consider the Shi’ite Houthi movement in Yemen to be a proxy of the Iranian government.

That stance is one initially pushed by the Saudi government to justify the Yemen War, and the US was only too willing to mirror it. This was in spite of the Houthis having substantial ideological differences with Iran, little direct contact, and not being the same type of Shi’ites.

The US did not explain their change in stance, but it may reflect Saudi Arabia’s ongoing peace talks with the Houthis, as the US couldn’t possibly support a peace deal that involved an actual Iranian-linked faction.

The embattled Prime Minister wants Washington to approve of Israel's further expansion into the Jordan Valley, just days after he urged Donald Trump not to miss a rare chance to back Tel Aviv's territorial.

Benjamin Netanyahu, who fiercely fights for re-election, believes that "the time has come to extend Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley," a swath of land spanning between the occupied West Bank and neighboring Kingdom of Jordan. On their part, Israel's closest ally should give a final nod to the move.

"I want American recognition of our sovereignty in the Jordan Valley. This is important," he bluntly told an event set up on Sunday by Israel's Makor Rishon newspaper. As part of the proposed annexation, all Jewish settlements in the area would become part of Israel, he insisted.

After 1,700 days of a Saudi-led war on impoverished Yemen, more than 3,600 children have been killed, 800 paralyzed and 400,000 others hit with malnutrition.

According to a report released on Sunday by the Yemeni-based Organization for Women and Children’s Rights, 7,500 children have fallen victim to the ongoing Saudi-led war, since its start in March 2015.

Of these ill-fated children, 3,672 were killed and 800 others were paralyzed, it said, adding that the rest were either maimed or received other kinds of life altering injuries.

The war of aggression also hit 400,000 other Yemeni children with malnutrition, Yemen's Arabic-language al-Masirah television network further cited the report as saying.

Separately on Sunday, Yemen’s health ministry also confirmed that 800 children are suffering from permanent disabilities due to wounds they received in Saudi-led airstrikes during the past five years.

Six Saudi nationals were taken into custody for questioning near the Florida naval base where an Air Force trainee - also from Saudi Arabia - opened fire Friday morning, killing three before a sheriff's deputy shot and killed him.

According to the New York Times, three of the Saudis were filming the attack. It is unknown whether they were students at the base, or whether they are connected to the gunman.

The shooting spanned two floors in a classroom, according to Sheriff David Morgan of Escambia Country. Two deputies were shot in the ensuing gun battle and are expected to recover.

The gunman, identified as Saudi Air Force second lieutenant Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, used a locally bought Glock 45 9mm handgun with an extended magazine, and was carrying between four and six more magazines.

In his last message on Twitter confirmed by AFP, Alshamrani wrote that America is a nation of evil.

Israeli occupation has denied permission for British lawmaker, Philippa Whitford, who is a doctor, from entering Gaza to offer help for patients of breast cancer.

Over the past two and half years[1], I have been working with Medical Aid for Palestine (MAP) to improve the provision of services and treatment for breast cancer patients in Palestine.

Last year, I travelled out with the specific aim of setting up a project to enable experienced professionals in breast cancer care to provide teaching and training to local Palestinian clinicians working with breast cancer patients.

Since my last visit, I have managed to recruit a team of specialists from all over Scotland to join the project, which will help improve breast cancer care – prevention, diagnosis and treatment – for women in Gaza and the West Bank.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is keen to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, on the grounds that the US is going to let him do so. Israeli officials, particularly military officials, are warning against one of the primary targets, the Jordan Valley.

The Jordan Valley, which connects the West Bank to Jordan, is something the Israeli right has long wanted to annex, as it would mean the rest of the Palestinian West Bank would never have a border with any nation other than Israel.

Military officials are warning that the big problem would be with Jordan itself, and that this move would further damage Israel-Jordan ties, and might force the Jordanian government to take drastic steps.

The US government announced on Thursday that it had intercepted a weapons stash which it alleges was destined for Houthi militants and delivered by Iran. This comes as the Trump administration steps up its pressure on the Iranian government.

The US government on Thursday released photos of missile parts which military officials claim to be of Iranian origin and allegedly meant to be delivered to Yemen.

Brian Hook, the US Special Representative for Iran and a senior adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, displayed the photos during an official briefing on Thursday.

The Israeli government has increased discretionary spending on settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory by 50 per cent over the last two years, reported the Jerusalem Post.

According to data published by settlement watchdog Peace Now, so-called “discretionary spending” “is expenditure by various ministries outside the general budget, including from the Interior, Housing, Education, and Energy and Water ministries, as well as the National Roads Authority”.

These funds are directed towards the construction of settlement housing units, as well as for roads inside the settlements, “buildings for educational, social and religious purposes, commercial centres and industrial parks”, the report added.

Tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean are rapidly rising after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an met with a Libyan official of the internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA), based in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, in Ankara last week. They agreed on their own Economic Exclusive Zone that penetrates into Greek and Cypriot waters, in violation of the United Nations Convention Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that favors Cypriot and Greek claims, a major reason why Turkey is only one of 15 UN members, out of 193, that has not signed it. Although Turkey claims it is acting within international law to enter the oil and gas-rich Greek and Cypriot waters, it never references which international law. This leads to the simple question of why Turkey has not signed UNCLOS if international law supposedly favors their claim?

Unmanned aerial systems (UASs) or drones, both armed and unarmed, have altered how states and insurgents conduct warfare in the Middle East. The widespread proliferation of these weapons, combined with the range of capabilities they confer and their potential to alter the logic of escalation between states, may cause significant inter-state conflict to occur.

Along with missile manufacturing, the country's Navy has also disclosed five other military projects it is currently involved in, including the sea-launched Pelikan drone, the Sadaf-2 naval mine, the Soren positioning system, the Balaban guided bomb, and the Loqman training vessel.

The Iranian Navy has initiated the mass production of submarine-launched Jask cruise missiles, the chief of the naval warfare service Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi said on Saturday.

According to Khanzadi the domestically-developed missile will be fitted onto all of Iran's submarines, adding that the current range of the projectile will be significantly improved further on, allowing it to hit targets across long distances.

Discussions are underway with new NATO ally Bulgaria to create a Black Sea Coordination Center in Varna. The United States is considering a ten-year roadmap for defense cooperation with Bulgaria and is eager to provide Sofia broader access to its high-end military technologies. The advanced technologies would include surveillance capabilities specifically targeting Russia.
There is also a fundamental second level of stupidity in basing such an effort in Bulgaria as the Turks, also frequently at odds with Washington, control the door to the Black Sea through the Bosporus and Dardanelles. If relations really do go sour and if demands to kick Turkey out of NATO ever do bear fruit, Ankara can make it very difficult for NATO warships transiting into the Black Sea.

According to Pentagon officials, the US has begun negotiations with Saudi Arabia on the question of cost-sharing for the ever-growing US military presence in the Saudi kingdom. Talks began with the arrival of US radar and air defense systems.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley met with the Saudi crown prince this week and brought up this matter. Milley was presenting the US presence as aimed squarely at Iran, and deterring Iran from attacking the Saudis.

Gen. Milley also intended to give the impression that this was not a short-term mission, either, saying the US wants to maintain this presence in the region as part of America’s overall regional footprint.

SOURCE: MIDDLE EAST MONITOR
The Israeli government is aiming to increase the volume of Israel’s defence exports, reported Globes, which has revealed the main points of the plan for the first time.

The project, being overseen by the Defence Ministry’s International Defence Cooperation Directorate (SIBAT) led by Brigadier General (Res.) Yair Kulas, will begin to be rolled out in early 2020.

According to Globes, the plan is based on “focused seminars for senior commanders in foreign armies”, Israeli military “assistance for promoting sales of Israeli weapons”, and “subsidising small and medium-sized defence companies seeking to sell arms around the world”.

Speaking this week, Kulas said that SIBAT favours a major expansion of agreements between countries, resulting in significant deals for the large defence companies, especially Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Rafael Advanced Defence Systems.

The Saudi-led coalition force in Yemen announced Tuesday it had released 200 Houthi prisoners. The news comes amid a large Houthi air raid on coalition forces and swirling rumors that Riyadh may finally be seeking an exit from the disastrous, four-year-long war.

Houthi Prisoners Repatriated
On Tuesday, coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency that 200 Houthi prisoners had been released as part of the Stockholm Agreement prisoner exchange, Xinhua News Agency reported.

“The coalition leadership is keen to continue supporting efforts to resolve the crisis in Yemen and to push forward the Stockholm agreement, including the deal related to the exchange of prisoners,” Malki said. He further noted the coalition would allow flights out of Sana’a, the Yemeni capital held by the Houthis since 2014, in order to transfer those who need medical treatment out of the country.

France announced Sunday that a proposed European-led mission to patrol the Persian Gulf will be based out of a recently established French naval base in Abu Dhabi, and that the naval patrol will soon go "operational" amid heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington.

Paris has spearheaded efforts to get the European maritime security mission off the ground, in competition with US efforts at establishing an American-led mission, which Iran and some European allies fear could lead to war, given Iranian leaders have condemned any US efforts to "police" the vital Strait of Hormuz.

“This morning we formalized that the command post will be based on Emirati territory,” Defence Minister Florence Parly told reporters in the UAE capital.

A Kurdish senior foreign affairs official, Aldar Xelil, reported that the US has assured Kurdish forces that US troops will remain in the oilfield area between Derik and Terbespiya, in eastern Syria.

This assurance doesn’t seem to be helping the Kurds feel a lot better, however. with Xelil pointing out that this really isn’t going to do anything to prevent the Turkish offensives into northeastern Syria.

The US announced a “pullout” from Syria but ended up just redeploying around the oil, with President Trump saying the oil is the priority. Xelil says the US has no intention of staying anywhere west of Qamilshli, and for the Kurds, that’s a problem.

The US is still in Syria, but there’s about 100 km gap between Syrian-held Syria and US-held oilfield where Turkey and its rebels are not only free to invade Kurdish-held territory, but to push potentially quite deep into Kurdish territory.

The U.S. Central Command a ramping up of military operations against ISIS in eastern Syria with up to 500 troops.
President Trump initially said last December he was pulling out all troops from Syria, but later decided to a residual force in the northeastern region
Former Trump Defense Secretary James Mattis said: 'If we don’t keep the pressure on, then ISIS will resurge'
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed by U.S. forces last month
Central Command chief: 'It is our intention to remain in that position working with our Syrian Democratic Forces partners to continue operations against ISIS down the Euphrates river valley.

Source: Moon Over Alabama

The Attorney General of Israel just indicted Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu in three cases. The announcement comes at a time of political stalemate. It might help to resolve it.

Israel had two parliament elections this year which both ended in a political stalemate. Neither Prime Minister Netanyahu of the Likud Party nor Blue and White coalition leader Benny Gantz managed to form a government. Both were unable to find enough additional votes to form a coalition and to gain a majority.

Now the parliament has 21 days to find a majority. It will likely fail and a third election seems inevitable.

Source: Moon Over Alabama

The Attorney General of Israel just indicted Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu in three cases. The announcement comes at a time of political stalemate. It might help to resolve it.

Israel had two parliament elections this year which both ended in a political stalemate. Neither Prime Minister Netanyahu of the Likud Party nor Blue and White coalition leader Benny Gantz managed to form a government. Both were unable to find enough additional votes to form a coalition and to gain a majority.

Now the parliament has 21 days to find a majority. It will likely fail and a third election seems inevitable.

SOURCE: MINT PRESS
The 9/11 Report states that “we have found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded the organization [al-Qaeda].” The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has used that sentence numerous times defending itself against families of 9/11 victims that are attempting to sue them for financially supporting the 9/11 attacks. 9/11 family member, September Eleventh Advocate, and Jersey girl, Kristen Breitweiser addressed the issue here.

For a long time, the U.S. Government argued that since Saudi Arabia was not on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, the 9/11 families couldn’t sue the Kingdom in a court of law. But in 2016, a bill called the “Justice Against Sponsors Of Terrorism Act (JASTA)” was passed allowing 9/11 families to sue, despite the formality. President Obama attempted to veto the bill but his decision was overridden by Congress.

SOURCE: MIDDLE EAST MONITOR

The Iranian armed forces today launched a major air defence drill codenamed “Guardians of Velayat’s Sky-98” in the northeastern province of Semnan, local media reported.

Air Defence Brigadier General Alireza Sabahifard said yesterday that the manoeuvres were being held across an area of some 416,000 square kilometres and will simulate a conflict in the Gulf, especially over the Strait of Hormuz.

“If the enemy intends to invade, attack or even infringe on our country’s skyline, which is one of our red lines, we can deal with it,” he said.

The manoeuvres come as tensions between Iran and the United States and Saudi Arabia persist in the Gulf region.

A Republican United States Senate member on Thursday blocked a resolution recognising the "Armenian genocide", the second time in a week that a member of President Donald Trump’s party halted the measure.

Senator David Perdue prevented a bipartisan effort to pass the resolution by unanimous consent, arguing that its passage during a sensitive period "would undermine the administration’s commitment to overcoming real challenges in our bilateral relationship with Turkey".

The move angered Senate Democrat Robert Menendez, whose effort had been rebuffed the previous week after Republican congressmen met with visiting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"It is amazing to me that the greatest superpower on the face of the earth just can’t speak [the] truth of history," Menendez said.

Syrian air defenses have thwarted multiple hostile targets in the Syrian capital of Damascus early Wednesday morning, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.

Several powerful explosions were heard in Damascus as air defenses engaged several hostile targets in the city's southern region around 1:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday. Approximately 20 blasts occurred in seconds-long intervals that shortened as time passed.

Social media footage from the region shows fires that resulted from the the strikes. Unconfirmed reports say the missiles originated from the Israeli Air Force (IAF).

So much for drawing down in the Middle East. President Trump notified Congress on Tuesday that more American troops are en route to Saudi Arabia, which will bring their overall numbers to about 3,000 in the kingdom.

"These personnel will remain deployed as long as their presence is required to fulfill the missions described above," the president said in a letter.

The official White House notification of Congressional members described the American military presence there as essential in countering Iran's influence in the region.

SOURCE: ZERO HEDGE
Over the years of the war in Syria, an overwhelming amount of evidence has amassed documenting that the so-called 'Islamic State' caliphate was established after tens of thousands of ISIS and other foreign fighters were allowed to pour across Turkey's southern border into Syria.

That NATO's second largest military with the help of its allies such as the US, Britain, France, and Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar facilitated what the State Department in 2014 described as the largest mass movement of jihadist terrorists in modern history should be a scandal of monumental importance, yet the mainstream media predictably ignored it and "moved on".

And now more bombshell proof of state sponsorship behind the prior rapid rise of ISIS: below are details exposed during unprecedented on-camera interviews of imprisoned ISIS members in Syria spilling all. They confess openly that Turkish military and intelligence simply let them "just walk into Syria".

Gen. David Petraeus, the retired four-star Army general and former head of the CIA, told CNBC on Thursday that Saudi Arabia is “gradually running out of money.”

Petraeus said the Saudi’s need their initial public offering (IPO) of the state-run oil company Aramco, to be successful. In December, the Saudis plan on releasing some shares of Aramco to the public in an effort to attract outside investors.

The IPO is part of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s “Vision 2030,” his effort to diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy and reduce its dependence on oil exports. Petraeus said Saudi Arabia’s budget deficits can be “anywhere from $40 to $60 billion” each year, depending on the price of oil.

When asked about other people’s criticisms of the crown prince, Petraeus said it was in the entire world’s interest to see “Saudi Arabia succeed” and to also see it “moderate” some of its practices.