text:
Unternehmer ist, wer als natürliche oder juristische Person allein oder gemeinsam mit anderen Mitunternehmern ein Unternehmen betreibt.

Allgemeines
Im Unterschied zum Manager ist der Unternehmer auch Eigenkapitalgeber. Das Wort ist in diesem Sinne zuerst im 18. Jahrhundert schriftlich bezeugt und gilt als Lehnübersetzung des englischen  unter dem Einfluss des älteren französischen .

Es gibt eine Vielzahl von Erklärungsversuchen im Hinblick auf den Unternehmerbegriff. Neben Volkswirtschaftslehre und Betriebswirtschaftslehre, für die der Unternehmer ein wesentliches Erkenntnisobjekt darstellt, befassen sich auch andere wissenschaftliche Disziplinen wie die Soziologie und verschiedene Gesetze mit dem Begriff des Unternehmers, definieren ihn jedoch höchst unterschiedlich. Das liegt daran, dass es einem bestimmten Gesetz oder einer wissenschaftlichen Disziplin auf einen speziellen Aspekt des Unternehmerbegriffs ankommt, der dem Gesetzeszweck oder der wissenschaftlichen Disziplin dient. So hält das BGB im Unternehmer andere Charakteristiken für wichtig als etwa das Umsatzsteuer- oder Sozialrecht. Vom Unternehmer zu unterscheiden ist der Entrepreneur oder Unternehmensgründer, da dessen unternehmerische Eigenschaften lediglich bei Unternehmensgründung eine Rolle spielen. Nach der Gründungsphase wird der Entrepreneur zum Unternehmer.

Volkswirtschaftslehre
In der Volkswirtschaftslehre wird die Unternehmerleistung als Produktionsfaktor verstanden. Die drei klassischen Produktionsfaktoren Boden, Arbeit und Kapital vermögen allein noch nicht die Herstellung von Produkten zu bewirken. Es muss noch eine dispositive, kombinierende Leistung hinzutreten, nämlich die Unternehmerleistung. Sie gehört seit 1845 durch Jean-Baptiste Say zu den Produktionsfaktoren: . Sie umfasst die Erkenntnis der Chancen, sich in das Leistungsgefüge der Wirtschaft einzuschalten, einen darauf beruhenden Erwerbswirtschaftsplan durchzuführen und das mit ihm verbundene Risiko des Fehlschlagens zu tragen. Wegen ihrer besonderen Arbeitsinhalte gehört die Unternehmerleistung nicht zum Faktor Arbeit. Sie ist eine schöpferische Leistung bei der Durchsetzung neuer Kombinationen von Produktionsfaktoren und durch Risikoeinsatz charakterisiert. Joseph Schumpeter baute seine Wirtschaftstheorie 1949 zentral auf dem aktiven, gestaltenden, dynamischen Element der Unternehmerleistung auf, die innovativen Unternehmergeist hervorbringe. Die Unternehmerleistung sorgt erst für die zweckmäßige Kombination der anderen Produktionsfaktoren und bringt Risiko und Verantwortung gegenüber den Arbeitnehmern mit sich. So wie der Produktionsfaktor Arbeit als Faktoreinkommen Lohn erzielt, erwirtschaftet die Unternehmerleistung den Unternehmerlohn (Gewinn).

Betriebswirtschaftslehre
Der Unternehmer wird durch die von ihm wahrgenommenen unternehmerischen Funktionen beschrieben. Hierzu gehören Attribute wie Selbständigkeit, Weisungsbefugnis, Wagnis, Organisations-, Leitungs- und Planungsfähigkeiten. Danach sind Unternehmer Personen, die eine Unternehmung selbständig und verantwortlich nach eigenem Wirtschaftsplan und auf eigene Gefahr leiten. Unternehmerische Tätigkeit ist also stets mit Risiken (Wagnissen) verbunden. Während Dieter Schneider die institutionellen Aspekte der Unternehmertätigkeit in den Vordergrund rückt, verwendet Erich Gutenberg insbesondere eine produktionstheoretisch orientierte Perspektive. Schneider definiert wie folgt: "Wer die Ziele erst im einzelnen festlegen, die Mittel suchen, die Handlungsmöglichkeiten in ihren Beiträgen zu den Zielen und ihrer Mittelbeanspruchung erforschen muss, wer sich dann für eine Handlungsmöglichkeit entscheidet und sie verwirklicht, den nennen wir 'Unternehmer'". Dagegen stellen für Gutenberg unternehmerische Entscheidungen das konstitutive Element des Unternehmers dar. Unternehmerische Entscheidungsbereiche sind die betrieblichen Funktionen Beschaffung, Produktion, Vertrieb, Finanzierung und Personalpolitik. Unternehmer im engeren Sinne sind Gewerbetreibende, Freiberufler, Land- und Forstwirte, Vermieter und Personen, die Lizenzen oder vergleichbare Rechte vergeben.

Einzelunternehmer

Ein Unternehmer übt eine gewerbliche oder berufliche Tätigkeit selbständig aus. Seinen erwirtschafteten Gewinn muss er nicht mit Partnern teilen. Er kann über Privatentnahmen allein entscheiden. Demgegenüber trägt er auch den Verlust des Unternehmens und das Unternehmersrisiko allein. Er muss die nötigen Finanzmittel allein bereitstellen und trägt für seine Entscheidungen die alleinige Verantwortung. Für die Verbindlichkeiten seines Unternehmens haftet er mit seinem gesamten Vermögen (Betriebsvermögen und Privatvermögen).

Mitunternehmer

Mitunternehmer ist ein steuerrechtlicher Begriff, der insbesondere für  Abs. 1 Nr. 2 Einkommensteuergesetz (EStG) eine Rolle spielt. Danach und nach der Rechtsprechung des BFH ist Mitunternehmer, wer aufgrund eines Gesellschaftsverhältnisses zusammen mit anderen Personen Unternehmerinitiative entfalten kann und ein Unternehmerrisiko trägt.

Anteilseigner

Anteilseigner nach  Mitbestimmungsgesetz sind die Aktionäre von Aktiengesellschaften, Kommanditaktionäre von Kommanditgesellschaften auf Aktien, Gesellschafter von Gesellschaften mit beschränkter Haftung, Gewerken von bergrechtlichen Gewerkschaften mit eigener Rechtspersönlichkeit und Genossen von Erwerbs- und Genossenschaften. Anteilseigner gelten erst bei einer maßgeblichen Kapitalbeteiligung von über 75 % (qualifizierte Mehrheitsbeteiligung) als Unternehmer, weil sie dann Einfluss auf das wirtschaftliche Handeln eines Unternehmens ausüben können. Ob bei Publikumsgesellschaften die  sind – wie Dieter Schneider pauschal behauptet, hängt deshalb von der Höhe der Beteiligungsquote ab.

Deutschland
Im deutschen Recht allgemein gibt es keine einheitliche Definition des Unternehmerbegriffs, sondern vom jeweiligen Gesetzestext abhängige Definitionen.

Unternehmerbegriff im BGB

Allgemeiner Teil
Das Bürgerliche Gesetzbuch (BGB) bietet in  Abs. 1 BGB eine Legaldefinition an. Danach ist Unternehmer jede natürliche oder juristische Person oder rechtsfähige Personengesellschaft, die bei Abschluss eines Rechtsgeschäfts in Ausübung ihrer gewerblichen oder selbständigen beruflichen Tätigkeit handelt. Darunter fallen auch Freiberufler, Handwerker, Landwirte und Kleingewerbetreibende.

Nach § 14 Abs. 1 BGB ist Unternehmer deshalb auch, wer zum Beispiel als Architekt, Steuerberater, Übersetzer oder Zahnarzt tätig ist oder in selbständiger Weise andere Dienstleistungen ausführt. Das Rechtsgeschäft muss aber "in Ausübung" dieser Tätigkeit vorgenommen werden; kauft der Unternehmer als Privatperson ein Regal für seine Wohnung oder Hundefutter, so ist er Verbraucher.

Von Bedeutung ist die Unternehmereigenschaft insbesondere beim Verbrauchsgüterkauf und Verbraucherdarlehensvertrag sowie für den Schutz des Verbrauchers nach den Allgemeinen Geschäftsbedingungen.

Werkvertrag
In der Regelung des Werkvertrages im Besonderen Teil des Schuldrechts ( BGB) findet sich eine andere Definition des Unternehmers. Der Unternehmer ist bei einem Werkvertrag die Partei, die ein mit dem Besteller vertraglich vereinbartes Werk herstellt.

Diese beiden Unternehmerbegriffe im BGB sind nicht deckungsgleich.

In der Rechtspraxis werden statt der Begriffe Unternehmer und Besteller häufig die Begriffe Auftragnehmer und Auftraggeber verwendet, so insbesondere im Baurecht auch in der VOB/B. Dagegen gibt es die Bezeichnung "Unternehmer" im Baurecht vor allem auch in den Zusammensetzungen Generalunternehmer, Subunternehmer. Die so bezeichneten Unternehmer unterscheiden danach, ob ein Unternehmer gegenüber dem Bauherrn alle Bauleistungen für ein Bauwerk erbringt oder ob er von einem anderen Unternehmer nur zur Erbringung von einzelnen Bauleistungen herangezogen wird. Ein Totalunternehmer übernimmt zusätzlich zu den Bauleistungen auch noch Planungsleistungen.

Unternehmerbegriff im HGB
Normadressaten des Handelsgesetzbuchs (HGB) sind nur gewerbliche Unternehmer, zu denen nicht die freiberuflichen Unternehmer und Kleingewerbetreibenden gehören. Daraus folgt, dass jeder Kaufmann zugleich auch Unternehmer ist, aber nicht jeder Unternehmer ist Kaufmann. Der Unternehmerbegriff erfasst gerade auch die Kleingewerbetreibenden bis zu einer bestimmten Betriebsgröße und die Freiberufler.

Nach  Abs. 1 HGB ist Unternehmer derjenige, von dem ein Handelsvertreter ständig damit beauftragt ist, Geschäfte zu vermitteln oder in dessen Namen abzuschließen.

Unternehmerbegriff im Steuerrecht
Unternehmen müssen ihre Steuererklärungen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland elektronisch mit ELSTER einreichen.
Das deutsche Umsatzsteuergesetz definiert Unternehmer wie folgt ( Abs. 1 Satz 1 und 3 UStG):

 "ist, wer" umfasst natürliche und juristische Personen sowie Personengesellschaften und nichtrechtsfähige wie beispielsweise eine Erbengemeinschaft deren Rechtsfähigkeit noch nicht bestätigt ist. Auch die teilrechtsfähige Gesellschaft bürgerlichen Rechts (GbR) ist Unternehmer, wenn sie gegenüber Dritten tätig wird.
 "nachhaltig" bedeutet Wiederholungsabsicht.
 "selbständig" ist im UStG nicht definiert, aber § 2 Abs. 2 UStG bestimmt die Fälle der Unselbständigkeit.

Unternehmerbegriff im E-Commerce
Als gewerbliche Tätigkeit gilt eine planvolle, auf gewisse Dauer angelegte, selbständige und wirtschaftliche Tätigkeit, die nach außen hervortritt. Daher können auch Einzelpersonen, die mit einem gewissen organisatorischen Mindestaufwand andauernd Waren zum Beispiel bei Ebay verkaufen, Unternehmer sein. Insbesondere ist dies anzunehmen bei sogenannten Powersellern, die mindestens 300 Artikel pro Monat bei eBay verkaufen oder ein eBay-Shop unterhalten. Generell muss dabei zwar der Käufer die Unternehmereigenschaft des Verkäufers beweisen. Ist der andere jedoch Powerseller, findet nach Ansicht des OLG Koblenz eine Beweislastumkehr statt.

Abgrenzungen
Die Unternehmereigenschaft unterscheidet sich von der Arbeitgebereigenschaft. Unternehmer kann auch sein, wer keine Arbeitnehmer beschäftigt (etwa ein Handelsvertreter), Arbeitgeber kann auch jemand sein, ohne dass er Unternehmer ist (ein Rentner beschäftigt Hauspersonal). Im Normalfall ist der Arbeitgeber jedoch zugleich der Unternehmensträger und das Arbeitsrecht ist gleichsam Innenrecht des Unternehmens.

Frauenförderung
Um den Anteil an Frauen als Unternehmerinnen zu erhöhen, werden im Land Berlin Informationsveranstaltungen zur Frauenförderung angeboten.

Österreich

Unternehmerbegriff im UGB/KSchG
In Österreich hat der Begriff des Unternehmers eine andere Bedeutung. Im Zuge der Reform des Handelsrechts (jetzt: Unternehmensrechts) ist an die Stelle des Begriffs "Kaufmann" der Begriff des Unternehmers getreten. Nach der Novelle des Unternehmensrechts in Österreich am 1. Januar 2007 stellt das Privatrecht nur noch auf einen gemeinsamen Unternehmerbegriff ab. Dieser findet sich in  UGB, in dem es heißt: "Unternehmer ist, wer ein Unternehmen betreibt." Ein Unternehmen wiederum ist jede auf Dauer angelegte Organisation selbständiger wirtschaftlicher Tätigkeit, mag sie auch nicht auf Gewinn gerichtet sein. Unter diese Definition fallen also neben Freiberuflern wie Architekten oder Ärzten auch wohltätige Organisationen, jedoch sind Angehörige der Freien Berufe sowie Land- und Forstwirte grundsätzlich vom Anwendungsbereich des 1. Buches des UGB ausgenommen (§ 4 Abs 2 und 3 UGB), sie können sich diesem aber freiwillig unterwerfen (optieren), Voraussetzung ist die Eintragung im Firmenbuch. Die Definition des Unternehmers im KSchG ist nahezu wortgleich und wird von Rechtsprechung und Lehre gleichermaßen als identisch angesehen.

Zu dieser allgemeinen Definition kommen Unternehmer kraft Rechtsform sowie kraft Eintragung hinzu. Unternehmer kraft Rechtsform sind laut  UGB Aktiengesellschaften (AG), Gesellschaften mit beschränkter Haftung (GesmbH), Erwerbs- und Wirtschaftsgenossenschaften, Versicherungsvereine auf Gegenseitigkeit, Sparkassen, EWIV, SE sowie SCE. Unternehmer kraft Eintragung hingegen sind nach  UGB zu Unrecht in das Firmenbuch eingetragene Personen, die unter dieser Firma handeln. Nicht im UGB, aber aufgrund der Lehre von der Rechtsscheinhaftung sowohl von Lehre als auch von der Rechtsprechung vertreten, ist der Unternehmer kraft Auftretens. Dieser tritt im Geschäftsverkehr zu Unrecht als Unternehmer auf und muss sich bei bestimmten Rechtsfolgen als Unternehmer behandeln lassen.

Vom Unternehmerbegriff des UGB zu unterscheiden ist weiters der Unternehmerbegriff des Umsatzsteuergesetzes, der im Wesentlichen mit der deutschen Terminologie (siehe oben) übereinstimmt.

Siehe auch
 Unternehmertum

Literatur
 Herbert Fittkau: Die GbR im Umsatzsteuerrecht – Vorteilhafte Gestaltungen, Rechtsschutz, Vermeidung von Risiken – mit einer Einführung in die zivilrechtlichen Grundlagen. Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-5031-0667-7.
 J. P. Thommen, A. K. Achleitner: Allgemeine Betriebswirtschaftslehre. 7. Auflage. Springer Gabler Verlag, Wiesbaden 2012, ISBN 978-3-8349-3416-1.
 Wolf Dieter Enkelmann, Birger P. Priddat: Genie und Routine. Beiträge zur Philosophie des Unternehmens. Metropolis Verlag, Marburg 2020, ISBN 978-3-7316-1424-1.
 Felicitas von Aretin: Ungewöhnliche Unternehmerinnen und das Geheimnis ihres Erfolgs. Elisabeth Sandmann Verlag, München 2021, ISBN 978-3-9455-4369-6.

Weblinks

Einzelnachweise

Allgemeiner Teil des Bürgerlichen Rechts (Deutschland)
Steuerrecht
Werkvertragsrecht (Deutschland)
Privatrecht (Österreich)
Berufliche Funktion
Personenbezeichnung (Wirtschaft)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
cask 'vlcstreamer' do
  version '5.03'
  sha256 '3da65d98106fce7737da677219cd372c35558f2a51658129ba37a8fb2d4e4fea'

  url "https://hobbyistsoftware.com/Downloads/VLCStreamer/Versions/VLCStreamer_#{version}.dmg"
  appcast 'https://hobbyistsoftware.com/Downloads/VLCStreamer/vlcStreamerVersions.xml'
  name 'VLC Streamer'
  homepage 'https://hobbyistsoftware.com/vlcstreamer'

  app 'VLCStreamer.app'
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The Esmuc is located in the new urban center of Plaça de les Glòries, next to the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya and a few meters from the Encants vells and the Museu del Disseny de Barcelona. We share headquarters with L'Auditori and the Museu de la Música, in a large 40,000 m2 music center designed by the architect Rafael Moneo.
The building was built between 1990 and 1999 in a plot that occupies two blocks of the Eixample. It is immediately recognizable by its sober and compact appearance, by the concrete grid that is repeated along the façade and the steel panels that give it its characteristic reddish hue. The central part of the construction is supported on columns, forming a passage that allows to cross the building without having to surround it. In this space there is also the Lantern, a monumental glass cube decorated by Pablo Palazuelo that acts as atrium and authentic heart of the building.
Inside the Esmuc we find again the concrete structure present in the façade and a maple wood paneling that transmits warmth and luminosity to all the spaces.
The classrooms are acoustically isolated and have the necessary equipment and instruments to guarantee the quality of teaching.


text:
Queen Elizabeth's Family Feud
Queen Elizabeth stunned
Price Charles won't touch it with a barge pole
Prince Andrew is sulking about the treatment of his daughters
Sorry about the odd looking pictures of Her Majesty the Queen, viagra canada her son Charles and his younger brother Andrew. But the story was just too funny to pass up. The Daily Express of Britain, viagra canada quoting unnamed sources in Britain last week reported that there is a bit of fight going on with the Queen and her sons. The Queen has been written a vexing and impertinent letter from her younger son Andrew saying that he is isn't getting enough because the Queen is leaving out his daughters from Royal duties and they are not on the public payroll as a result. You may remember that Andrew got his knuckles rapped because he was cavorting with an unsavoury businessmen and so is severely restricted in what he is allowed to do. His daughters don't get paid from the Royal list but he wants them to be given proper Royal duties and put on the public payroll. He also wants them to get better apartments from the Queen than where they live now. Some people just don't know when enough is enough. Royalty in Britain survives because it has accommodated itself to the slimmed version which we now see and where they all try and carry their weight. The current leaders are William and Kate from the next generation and Andrew doesn't like all the attention the heir to the throne and his wife are getting over his daughters. Andrew is from the past and ruined his own reputation. The two little Princesses don't rate. The Queen is said to have been so stunned by the stupidity of the letter that she simply is doing nothing and letting the officials deal with it. Charles is apoplectic and believes that Andrew's cry is misplaced. He doesn't want to get into any public row that would affect his popularity and chance at the throne. So poor Andrew is steaming. We are sure many an older brother knows of a younger brother that just doesn't get it. There you have it. The Queen has her troubles too and it's a family feud.
PrevPreviousLoftus Roker Hospitalized
NextAgriculture Minister In KoreaNext

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Home Update Israel's strategy for confronting the Iranian military buildup to its North
Israel's strategy for confronting the Iranian military buildup to its North
August 30, 2019 | AIJAC staff
Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah threatened Israel in a speech from his hidden bunker on August 23, 2019.
Update from AIJAC
08/19 #04
Last weekend saw four separate attacks on Iran-linked targets in Lebanon. Syria and Iraq which many sources have attributed to Israel. AIJAC has prepared a detailed factsheet explaining what is and is not known about what happened, and the context and history. This Update follows up by looking at the broader implications of recent events in terms of Israel's general strategy for confronting the build-up of Iranian-affiliated forces, bases and military manufacturing capabilities in Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.
First up is Israeli strategic analyst Seth Frantzman, who says the recent Israeli strikes show an Israeli policy of driving Iran's military build-up out of the shadows, making it clear to Teheran that it cannot hide what it is doing. Part of this involves Jerusalem being increasingly public about what its own forces are doing in striking Iranian military assets – such as in taking responsibility for a strike on an Iranian drone based at Aqrabe near Damascus last Sunday. He says Israel's new strategy jibes well with the US strategy of maximum pressure on Teheran, and the only alternative appears to be allowing Teheran's creeping annexation of neighbouring states. For the rest of his argument, CLICK HERE.
Next up is American foreign policy expert Ilan Berman, who puts the recent Israeli strikes in the context of a current IDF re-think of its strategic doctrine. The new strategy focuses on "victory of time over space", meaning the goals of the country's military action are now to: "reduce the duration and damage of war to a minimum, and [to] defer the next war for many years." Berman especially focuses on how this doctrine relates to the alleged recent Israeli strikes in Iraq. For his discussion in full, CLICK HERE.
Finally, top Israeli scholar Dr. Jonathan Spyer argues that recent events highlight that Israel and Iran are already effectively at war. He says that only limited parts of the forces of both nations are involved, and the battleground is located in three states that are "fragmented, partly collapsed, and thoroughly penetrated by neighbouring powers" – Lebanon, Iraq and Syria. He then discusses the roles of both the US and Sunni states like Saudi Arabia in this limited war. For Spyer's always insightful take on what is happening between Israel and Iran overall, CLICK HERE.
Readers may also be interested in…
Much is being written about the how and why of likely Iranian/Hezbollah responses to the alleged Israeli attacks – particularly worth reading are Israeli strategic analysts Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Dr. Shimon Shapira and Lt. Col. (ret.) Michael Segall, and Washington Institute for Near East Policy Lebanon expert Hanin Ghaddar.
Mark Dubowitz and Reuel Marc Gerecht of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) think-tank in Washington comment on the reaction to Iranian efforts to list their think-tank as a terrorist organisation.
FDD analyst Behnam Ben Taleblu on Iran's growing dividends from backing Yemen's Houthi rebels.
Former senior IAEA official Olli Heinonen urges European states to take action to address new information on Iran's breaches of the JCPOA nuclear accord.
A piece by Seth Frantzman on the images and maps that demonstrate Iran's attempt to create a "land bridge" that stretches across Iraq and Syria to Lebanon and is controlled by Iranian forces.
Michael Rubin on the way pro-Iranian militias in Iraq are jeopardising the future of that country.
An analysis by Tovah Lazaroff of the Jerusalem Post of the implications of the growing talk about a Trump-Rouhani summit in the near future.
A look at the Iranian economic situation and state of political unrest one year after US sanctions were re-imposed, from Israeli experts Raz Zimmt and Tomer Fadlon.
Some examples from the many stories and comments now appearing at AIJAC's daily "Fresh AIR" blog:
Ahron Shapiro's article on the UNRWA problem in the Daily Telegraph.
An announcement of an SBS apology and correction regarding claims made about Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu, following an AIJAC complaint.
An AIJAC expression of condolence on the passing of former deputy PM Tim Fischer.
AIJAC media statements on the Australian Government's announcement that Australia will contribute forces to the US-led coalition protecting shipping in the Persian Gulf, and on the controversial Israeli decision to deny visas to two radical US Congresswomen, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar.
Israel's Strategy against Tehran: Revealing the Iranian Threat
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
The Iranian al-Quds force base at Aqrabe, near Damascus, attacked on Sunday.
No longer will Iran and its allies be able to hide in the shadows.
On Thursday, August 22, members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force took a drone to an area near the Golan Heights, seeking to attack Israel. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) monitored the men, took video of them walking through a field, and struck back two nights later. The air strikes targeted a villa in southern Syria that Jerusalem says was being used by the IRGC and Shiite militias. This includes Hezbollah, a Lebanese ally of Iran that has played a major role in Syria in recent years.
The air strike is part of an increasingly firm stand Israel is taking against Iran's regional ambitions in the Middle East. This includes several recent air strikes in Iraq that Iranian-linked paramilitaries have blamed on Israel. It also includes near-daily reports in media from Lebanon to Kuwait asserting that Israel is targeting Iran's network of proxies and their bases in Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria. Jerusalem is no longer secretive about this widespread campaign. In January former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eizenkot said Israel had carried out thousands of air strikes on Iranian targets.
Now IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani has warned Israel that these strikes will be Israel's last. Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah has threatened retaliation. This is part of a rising Iranian-backed chorus against Jerusalem, which includes real threats such as continuing rocket fire from Hamas in Gaza. It also includes threats by Iranian proxies such as Iraqi-based Kata'ib Hezbollah against U.S. forces in Iraq.
What is Israel's strategy in all this? The goal is to draw Iran and its allies out of the shadows. Over the past decade, inflamed by the 2015 Iran deal, Tehran has increased its weapons transfers to Hezbollah, sent thousands of advisers to support the Syrian regime, and helped mobilize a network of militias in Iraq. Some of this was used to fight ISIS, or enemies of Bashar al-Assad. But with the ISIS war and Syrian conflict winding down, these groups are turning their threats toward Iran's adversaries. Tehran is obsessed with destroying Israel, as can be seen in its frequent statements and militaristic parades. It has launched drones from Syria into Israel in February 2018, rockets in May 2018, and a rocket in January 2019. Hezbollah threatens that its 150,000 rockets can strike all of Israel.
Air strikes on Iran's network of proxies force the network out of the shadows. It can't hide in villas in southern Syria, or launch drones at night, or stockpile ballistic missiles in Iraq if it is looking over its shoulder and increasingly making mistakes through its aggressive and open threats. Iran is used to playing a double game of moderates and hard-liners, sending its smiling foreign minister to the recent G7 while boasting of its allies' drone technology striking Saudi Arabia.
The Israeli air strikes couple well with the Washington-led campaign of "maximum pressure." Iran now faces two fronts, the sanctions and strikes, that together are designed to blow the lid on its regional strategy. Tehran will be tempted to make a misstep in its otherwise calculated reactions. Iran has a playbook: If a Western power seizes its tanker, as the U.K. did in July, Iran seizes a tanker. It downed a sophisticated U.S. drone in June but hasn't harmed anyone in six sabotage operations on oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.
More than anything, Iran wants to preserve its regional power, based in proxies and allies that are often Shiite coreligionists. Its long-term goal is to get Hezbollah and its Shiite paramilitary allies in Iraq into more government positions and build up their parallel-state structures of armed fighters and bases. A war with the U.S. or Israel, or a direct confrontation with Saudi Arabia, as opposed to using proxies such as the Houthis, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, is not in Tehran's interest. This is the strategic calculation that underpins Israel's actions, but it can go only so far. A game of whack-a-mole against Iran's drones and missiles is just a setback for Tehran. If Tehran doesn't gamble on a major conflict with Israel, it will continue its creeping annexation of neighboring states.
SETH J. FRANTZMAN is the author of AFTER ISIS: AMERICAN, IRAN AND THE STRUGGLE FOR THE MIDDLE EAST (2019) and the executive director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis. He holds a Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is a writing fellow at Middle East Forum.
The Israeli-Iranian cold war heats up
BY ILAN BERMAN
The Hill, 08/27/19 09:30 AM EDT
Last month, Israeli fighter jets bombed a series of weapons depots north of Baghdad, Iraq, destroying facilities that were being used by the Iranian regime to ferry weapons to proxy forces in Syria. The event was a milestone, marking the first time the Jewish State is known to have carried out airstrikes on Iraqi soil since its destruction of Saddam Hussein's fledgling nuclear program back in 1981. But it is also an important barometer of a broader Israeli campaign against Iran's proxies and influence in the region — a national effort that is now picking up serious steam.
The funeral of Abu Ali Aldebai, a commander of the the PMF pro-Iranian militia in Iraq, who was killed in a UAV attack on August 25 in Anbar province in Iraq that some have attributed to Israel.
Israel's activism, showcased in the mid-July airstrike in Iraq as well as other recent sorties against Iranian-linked targets in neighboring Syria, is understandable. Over the past several years, Iran's intervention in the Syrian civil war in support of its strategic ally, Bashar al-Assad, has allowed Tehran to entrench itself deeply along Israel's northern border. While officials in Jerusalem initially hoped that the United States or Russia (which also heavily backs the Assad regime) might be able to force Iran's exit from the Syrian theater, they have gradually reconciled themselves to the notion that the Iranian presence there is becoming more and more permanent.Indeed, the Iranian regime has been working diligently to solidify its footprint in, and hold over, the Syrian state. It is doing so through a multi-pronged strategy that involves extensive investment in various sectors of the Syrian economy, the acquisition of strategic territory in places like Deir Ezzor, and the resettlement of foreign Shi'a so as to progressively alter the demographic composition of the country. These efforts have succeeded in greatly strengthening Tehran's Syrian stake — and expanding the potential threat it poses to Israel in the process (something that Israel's bombing of Iranian drone facilities in Syria over the weekend makes abundantly clear).
In response, Israel's government has increasingly begun to go on the offensive. A recent paper by Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Strategic Studies, the country's most influential think tank, provides a good explanation of exactly why. Israel, the study notes, is seeking the "victory of time over space."
Since the 1980s, the study outlines, Israel's wars have shifted away from deterring conventional Arab armies toward "asymmetrical fighting against terrorist organizations." In such conflicts, the country's goals are essentially twofold: to "reduce the duration and damage of war to a minimum, and [to] defer the next war for many years." In other words, as far as Israel is concerned, the best defense is a good offense, and this is precisely the strategy that it is putting into play against Iran.
An Israel F-15: Airstrikes in Iraq may be only a part of a wider new Israeli strategy of "victory of time over space."
In this context, Israel's recent airstrikes in Iraq are likely just the beginning. Indeed, Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida recently reported that the Israeli government is now also contemplating military strikes in the southern Persian Gulf against targets associated with Yemen's Houthi rebels, another Iranian proxy which has received significant military and financial support from Tehran.
Politically, meanwhile, Israel's expanding activism speaks volumes about America's Iran policy. Over the past several months, the Trump administration's campaign of "maximum pressure" against the Islamic Republic has undeniably had a significant impact on country's finances and overall economic stability. What is far less clear, however, is whether the United States is having any real success in rolling back Iran's broader activities and assets in the region, of which its extensive network of proxies remains a major part.
To judge by the growing pace of Israel's activities against precisely those forces, it isn't. That makes Israel's July military strikes a portent of things to come, as officials in Jerusalem increasingly seek to take matters into their own hands.
Ilan Berman is Senior Vice President at the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, D.C.
The Iran-Israel War Is Here
More than a decade of civil strife has opened up the region for the escalating state-to-state conflict.
By Jonathan Spyer
Wall Street Journal, Aug. 27, 2019
The scene of a drone attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Aug. 25. (PHOTO: ANWAR AMRO/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
Israel and Iran are at war. Israeli strikes this week in southern Syria, western Iraq and eastern Lebanon—and possibly even Beirut—confirm it.
This war is a very 21st-century affair. For now it involves only small circles among the Israeli and Iranian populations. Parts of the air force, intelligence services and probably special forces are active on the Israeli side. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, its expeditionary Quds Force and proxy politico-military organizations in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon are engaged on behalf of Iran.
The war marks a hinge point in Middle Eastern geopolitics. For the past decade and a half, the region has been engaged mainly with internal strife: civil wars, insurgencies and mass protests. These are now largely spent, leaving a broken landscape along the northern route from Iran to Israel.
The three "states" in between—Iraq, Syria and Lebanon—are fragmented, partly collapsed and thoroughly penetrated by neighboring powers. Their official state structures have lost the attribute that alone, according to German sociologist Max Weber, guarantees sovereignty: "monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force." These nations' territory has become the theater of the Iran-Israel war.
The regime in Tehran favors the destruction of the Jewish state, but this is a longstanding aim, dating to the 1979 Islamic Revolution and before it, in the minds of the revolutionaries. What's brought it to the fore is that Iran has emerged in the past half decade as the prime beneficiary of the collapse of the Iraqi, Syrian and Lebanese states. This has substantially increased its capacity to menace Israel, which has noticed and responded.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard has no peer in the Middle East—and perhaps beyond—in the practice of irregular warfare. Its proxies today dominate Lebanon (Hezbollah), constitute the single strongest politico-military force in Iraq (Popular Mobilization Units, or PMU), and maintain an independent, powerful military infrastructure in Syria, in partial cooperation with the Assad regime and Russia. This nexus, against which Israel is currently engaged, brings Iran de facto control over much of the land from the Iraq-Iran border to the Mediterranean and to the Syrian and Lebanese borders with Israel.
Iran treats this entire area as a single operational space, moving its assets around at will without excessive concern for the notional sovereignty of the governments in Baghdad, Beirut and Damascus. Lebanese Hezbollah trains PMU fighters in Iraq. Iraqi Shiite militias are deployed at crucial and sensitive points on the Iraqi-Syrian border, such as al-Qa'im and Mayadeen. Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah personnel operate in southwest Syria, close to the Golan Heights.
Israeli attacks in recent days suggest that Israel, too, has begun to act according to these definitions and in response to them. If Iran will not restrict its actions to Syria, neither will Israel.
There is a crucial difference between the Israeli and Iranian positions in this conflict. Iran's involvement in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon is deep, long-term and proactive. Tehran seeks the transformation of these areas into Iranian satrapies, and it has made considerable advances toward its goal. Israel's involvement is entirely reactive, pushing back against Iranian domination and destroying the missile caches that bring it within Iran's range. Israel has no interest in the internal political arrangements of Lebanon, Syria or Iraq, except insofar as these constitute a danger to Israel itself.
This imbalance defines the conflict. Iran creates political organizations, penetrates state structures, and seeks to make itself an unchallengeable presence in all three countries. Israel has been wary of entering the mire of factional politics in neighboring countries since its failed intervention in Lebanon leading up to the 1982 war. Jerusalem instead uses its superior intelligence and conventional military capabilities to neutralize the military and paramilitary fruits of the Iranian project whenever they appear to be forming into a concrete threat.
Israel is largely alone in this fight. The U.S. is certainly aware of Israel's actions against Iran and may tacitly support them. Yet the Trump administration shows no signs of wishing to play an active part in the military challenge to Iranian infrastructure-building across the Middle East. This White House favors ramping up economic pressure on Tehran, but both its occupant and his voter base are wary in the extreme of new military commitments in the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia is targeted by the Ansar Allah, or Houthi, movement, another Iranian proxy closely assisted by the Revolutionary Guard. The Saudis' interests are partly aligned with Israel's, but Saudi Arabia is a fragile country, requiring the protection of its allies rather than constituting an asset for them.
So it is war between Israel and Iran, prosecuted over the ruins of Iraq, Lebanon and Syria. But it won't necessarily stay that way. A single kinetic and successful Iranian response to Israel's airstrikes could rapidly precipitate an escalation to a much broader contest. State-to-state conflict has returned to the Middle East.
Mr. Spyer is director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis and a research fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and at the Middle East Forum. He is author of Days of the Fall: A Reporter's Journey in the Syria and Iraq Wars.
Previous articleAustralian Antisemitism in Arabic
Next articleThe Last Word: Just not cricket
Sign up for AIJAC emails
Evidence mounts that Hamas is profiting from aid being sent to...
December 10, 2014 | Sharyn Mittelman
Chaos Left and Right, as legal questions loom
February 1, 2019 | Amotz Asa-El


We return to south east Europe for an interesting circular tour encompassing four countries. Starting in Bulgaria's capital, Sofia, with our private charter train comprising of three compartment coaches, we will make a roughly counter-clockwise journey through some varied and impressive scenery including river valleys, deep gorges and mountain ranges and take in Serbia, Macedonia and Greece. Our train will travel over many branch lines and secondary mainlines. Motive power will be diesel traction throughout, with a selection of Bulgarian Railways (BDŽ) class 06 and 07, Serbian Railways (ŽS) class 661 and 666, Macedonian Railways (MŽ) class 661, and Greek Railways (TrainOSE) class A-451 and A-501 locomotives.
Arrivals at Sofia, Bulgaria and hotel check-in.
Boarding our special diesel hauled charter train with passenger cars that have opening type windows, we leave Sofia behind a BDŽ class 06 or 07 locomotive and we first head north on the Mezdra line to Ilyantsi before reversing, and then taking the freight only line to Voluyak where we join the mainline to the Serbian border. Following border formalities at Kalotina Zapad (Bulgaria) and Dimitrovgrad (Serbia), and a change of motive power to a ŽS class 661 or 666 locomotive, we continue towards Niš through the Nišava river gorge. The passenger service on this once important route is currently reduced to just a single summer-only train in each direction, although it retains considerable freight traffic; perhaps the proximity of the E80 motorway provides the reason for its decline. Rather than take the direct route into Niš, we turn right just after Palilulska Rampa to Crveni Krst (Red Cross) and then travel via Niš Ranžirna yard into Niš, where we stay the night. Hotel check-in. Niš is one of the oldest towns in the Balkans tracing its roots from at least 279BC, and is now Serbia's third largest city and an important center for electronics and engineering. Its large student population ensures a lively night life, and an evening spent in town is a worthwhile experience.
We start the day by completing further curves in the Niš area. First we head to Crveni Krst then on to Trupale, where a reversal sees us travel south through Niš Ranžirna and then directly onto the mainline towards the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYRoM). Much of this journey is spent traveling through the Morava valley, a region that was once known for textiles but is now mostly devoid of industry. We cross the border at Preševo (Serbia) / Tabanovci (Macedonia) and after a locomotive change continue south passing through Macedonia's capital Skopje, and then on to Veles. Here we diverge from the mainline to traverse the highly scenic branch to Bitola. The line meanders and climbs as we journey towards Prilep, the largest intermediate settlement, then enters the Pelagonia Valley before arrival at Bitola, which is overlooked by Baba Mountain located in Pelister National Park. At one time, the line continued beyond Bitola to Kremenica and over the Greek border to Néos Káfkasos; we visited this outpost in 2014 on our 'Rail Wonders of Northern Greece' tour. Aspirations to reopen this route for international traffic have so far proved unsuccessful. Arrival and hotel check-in.
Following a night in Bitola we retrace our route back to the junction at Veles affording us a second opportunity to view the impressive scenery this line offers. After reversal, we set forth towards Greece, and after 17 miles reach Gradsko where the branch to Šivec veers off to the right. Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to traverse this line as it is reported to be closed. For much of the journey through Macedonia we have been traveling along the valley of the River Vardar, and at Demir Kapija both rail and road must squeeze through a narrow gorge known as the 'Iron Gate'. We reach the border station of Gevgelija and its Greek equivalent, Idomeni. By now we will have a Montreal (Alco) diesel (either an A-451 or A-501 class) on the front as we power towards Thessaloniki. We stay the night in Greece's vibrant second city which offers numerous bars and restaurants, many along its seafront promenade on the Thermaic Gulf overlooked by the 'White Tower', the most prominent surviving bastion of the Byzantine-Turkish city walls of this ancient settlement. Arrival and hotel check-in.
Our travel today consists of a straightforward journey along the Thrace main line to Alexandroupoulis, a 278 mile jaunt during which our MLW locomotive should provide plenty of entertainment! Owing to the limited number of passing sidings we expect there to be a few times during the day where we will have some time in the sidings allowing time for photographs and refreshment. The single line first heads north through Kilkis and Doirani, where we skirt the FYRoM border, then turn eastwards after Mouries through Rodopoli to Strimon, junction for the line to Kulata and Bulgaria. Onwards through Serres and Drama, we eventually enter the beautiful narrow Nestos Valley as we continue towards our destination. The final act of the day is reversal from Alexandroupoulis station down to the more conveniently situated Port station in the town center. Arrival and hotel check-in.
Today's itinerary marks the start of our return to Bulgaria. After ascending the incline between Alexandroupoulis Port and Alexandroupoulis stations we enter the Evros Valley and eventually reach Pythio. Sadly, this junction station no longer has passenger services to Turkey, visible on the opposite bank of the river Evros. Originally the line from here to Svilengrad actually passed through Edirne in Turkey before turning back into Greece and onto Bulgaria, but in 1975 a new 4 mile direct line was opened between Nea Vissa and Marassia which removed the need for these additional frontier crossings. (Similarly, four years earlier Turkish Railways had opened a direct line from Pehlivanköy to Svilengrad thus avoiding Greek territory.) At Svilengrad our locomotive is exchanged for a BDZ class 06 or 07 diesel. Firstly, we travel to Simeonovgrad over this recently electrified line, before branching right and traversing the long freight only route to Nova Zagora. There are several minor spurs off this line which primarily exist to serve three power stations. At Nova Zagora we rejoin the electrified network, and after reversal end the day at Stara Zagora. In 1877 the population here was massacred and all public buildings (except the Eski Dzhamiya mosque) destroyed by the invading Turkish army. Happily, liberated two years later on 5th October, the date is now celebrated with multiple events. Arrival and hotel check-in.
The penultimate day starts by heading to Mihaylovo and then taking the secondary line to Dimitrovgrad. We now traverse the long non-electrified DMU only operated line to Momchilgrad, home to Bulgaria's largest Turkish population, and the terminus of Podkova, a village nestling in the eastern Rhodope Mountains. After a break, we return to Dimitrovgrad where we stay for the night. This modern city founded as recently as 1947 and named after communist leader Georgi Dimitrov, is regarded as one of the greenest cities in Bulgaria with its spacious streets and large parks. Arrival and hotel check-in.
Our final day sees us follow a gentle itinerary traversing the mainline diesel-hauled under the wires all the way to Sofia. We continue across the upper Thracian plain where the first section to Plovdiv has recently been rebuilt and is now authorised for 100 mph running. Leaving Bulgaria's second city, due to become 'European City of Culture' in 2019, we continue to Stambolijski where the line to Peshtera branches off to the left and then reach Septemvri, changing point for the wonderful narrow-gauge line to Bansko and Dobrinishte. Our tour is now almost over as all that remains is the final 61 miles of (hopefully) fast running back to the capital which will provide us with the chance to reflect on what we hope will prove to be an enjoyable week traveling around this fascinating region of Europe. Arrival and hotel check-in. Optional farewell group dinner.
Coach transfer to the airport for our return flights.
Visits Since November 6, 2017.


More of a barbecue taste than a cheddar taste. Not as sweet as some other barbecue chips.
Smell test: Standard barbecue chip smell.
This snack was discovered by Keith and Melissa at King Foods gas/convenience store, Clifton Park, New York.