Obama working to divide Israel

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June 12, 2011
Obama and his Jewish supporters

Lee DeCovnick

Discussing the Obama's Administrations deceitful, deceptive, dishonest, double- dealing duplicitous betrayal of Israel with my Jewish friends has become increasingly hazardous to our friendships. After we dogfight over the "real significance" of Obama's "'67 lines" speech, and the geographic minutia of the defensible borders, I drop the bombshell question, "Why do think Obama hates Jews and the state of Israel."

Their response almost always elicits an eye popping, jaw dropping, red- faced righteous indignation, followed by some combination of shouted words and spittle that include, "But...uh..he's the President, Israel is our .. ah ...one democratic ally... in the Middle East, AND I VOTED FOR HIM, and I could never have voted for someone like that!"

Then, like popping a balloon, I ask, "So, David, why then did you get so angry and upset?

If Obama really doesn't hate Jews or Israel, you should have just tossed aside the question, laughed at its premise, and or simply said you're crazy?

None of those things happened. What caused such an outburst? I think it's because you see the forceful actions this Administration, and thus the United States, is taking on behalf of Israel's blood enemies and you're unable to fit that into the framework of your thinking."

An essential "must read" this weekend is Jennifer Rubin's blog in the Washington Post. Here are a couple of short excerpts of this insightful article.

Since the president's Arab Spring speech, friends of Israel have been nervous about at least two issues: the promise Israel would not have to sit down with those who seek its destruction and the negotiations based on the "1967 borders with land swaps." This weekend it became apparent that there is much to worry about and that the Obama administration has been playing a game usually practiced by the Palestinians, namely telling its domestic audience one thing and the negotiating parties something different.

Now what about the 1967 borders? Democratic defenders of the president have insisted that "1967 borders with land swaps" is nothing new. But it appears it certainly is. As the insider noted, "Yes, they are pressing for '67 with swaps, not exactly '67. But that's not really the point - they've already adopted what was a Palestinian 'goal' as U.S. policy."

And it is actually worse than that. On Saturday I asked a State Department official authorized only to speak on background: Does "1967 borders with land swaps" mean "1967 and then we discuss swaps" or does it mean "1967 borders plus the swaps that the parties previously agreed to in negotiations including the Jerusalem suburbs"? The latter, I pointed out is consistent with the 2004 Bush-Sharon letters, but the former is not. In fact, if it is 1967 and then they discuss land swaps, that is the same as starting with the 1967 borders. Period. And [s]ure enough the State Department official tole [sic] me, "It means swaps that the parties will agree on in the course of direct negotiations."

American Jews have found themselves a wolf in sheep's clothing, inside the hen house, happily gorging on chicken soup and matzo balls. The question then becomes will there be any chickens left in the hen house before the deceitful wolf turns his attention to the farmer's cottage and the American Jews who think they're safe inside.

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Column One: Obama’s war on Israel

By CAROLINE GLICK
03/19/2010 15:56

Obama claims he's launched a political war against Israel in the interest of promoting peace. But this claim, too, does not stand up to scrutiny.

Why has President Barak Obama decided to foment a crisis in US relations with Israel?

Some commentators have claimed that it is Israel’s fault. As they tell it, the news that Israel has not banned Jewish construction in Jerusalem – after repeatedly refusing to ban such construction – drove Obama into a fit of uncontrolled rage from which he has yet to recover.

While popular, this claim makes no sense. Obama didn’t come to be called “No drama Obama� for nothing. It is not credible to argue that Jerusalem’s local planning board’s decision to approve the construction of 1,600 housing units in Ramat Shlomo drove cool Obama into a fit of wild rage at Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Obama himself claims that he has launched a political war against Israel in the interest of promoting peace. But this claim, too, does not stand up to scrutiny.

On Friday, Obama ordered Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to present Netanyahu with a four-part ultimatum.

First, Israel must cancel the approval of the housing units in Ramat Shlomo.

Second, Israel must prohibit all construction for Jews in Jerusalem neighborhoods built since 1967.

Third, Israel must make a gesture to the Palestinians to show them we want peace. The US suggests releasing hundreds of Palestinian terrorists from Israeli prisons.

Fourth, Israel must agree to negotiate all substantive issues, including the partition of Jerusalem (including the Jewish neighborhoods constructed since 1967 that are now home to more than a half million Israelis) and the immigration of millions of hostile foreign Arabs to Israel under the rubric of the so-called “right of return,� in the course of indirect, Obama administration-mediated negotiations with the Palestinians. To date, Israel has maintained that substantive discussions can only be conducted in direct negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian officials.

If Israel does not accept all four US demands, then the Obama administration will boycott Netanyahu and his senior ministers. In the first instance, this means that if Netanyahu comes to Washington next week for the AIPAC conference, no senior administration official will meet with him.

Obama’s ultimatum makes clear that mediating peace between Israel and the Palestinians is not a goal he is interested in achieving.

Obama’s new demands follow the months of American pressure that eventually coerced Netanyahu into announcing both his support for a Palestinian state and a 10-month ban on Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria. No previous Israeli government had ever been asked to make the latter concession.

Netanyahu was led to believe that in return for these concessions Obama would begin behaving like the credible mediator his predecessors were. But instead of acting like his predecessors, Obama has behaved like the Palestinians. Rather than reward Netanyahu for taking a risk for peace, Obama has, in the model of Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas, pocketed Netanyahu’s concessions and escalated his demands. This is not the behavior of a mediator. This is the behavior of an adversary.

With the US president treating Israel like an enemy, the Palestinians have no reason to agree to sit down and negotiate. Indeed, they have no choice but to declare war.

And so, in the wake of Obama’s onslaught on Israel’s right to Jerusalem, Palestinian incitement against Israel and Jews has risen to levels not seen since the outbreak of the last terror war in September 2000. And just as night follows day, that incitement has led to violence. This week’s Arab riots from Jerusalem to Jaffa, and the renewed rocket offensive from Gaza are directly related to Obama’s malicious attacks on Israel.

But if his campaign against Israel wasn’t driven by a presidential temper tantrum, and it isn’t aimed at promoting peace, what explains it? What is Obama trying to accomplish?

There are five explanations for Obama’s behavior. And they are not mutually exclusive.

First, Obama’s assault on Israel is likely related to the failure of his Iran policy. Over the past week, senior administration officials including Gen. David Petraeus have made viciously defamatory attacks on Israel, insinuating that the construction of homes for Jews in Jerusalem is a primary cause for bad behavior on the part of Iran and its proxies in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Syria and Gaza. By this line of thinking, if Israel simply returned to the indefensible 1949 armistice lines, Iran’s centrifuges would stop spinning, and Syria, al-Qaida, the Taliban, Hizbullah, Hamas and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards would all beat their swords into plowshares.

Second, even more important than its usefulness as a tool to divert the public’s attention away from the failure of his Iran policy, Obama’s assault against Israel may well be aimed at maintaining that failed policy. Specifically, he may be attacking Israel in a bid to coerce Netanyahu into agreeing to give Obama veto power over any Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear installations. That is, the anti-Israel campaign may be a means to force Israel to stand by as Obama allows Iran to build a nuclear arsenal.

For the past several months, an endless line of senior administration officials have descended on Jerusalem with the expressed aim of convincing Netanyahu to relinquish Israel’s right to independently strike Iran’s nuclear installations. All of these officials have returned to Washington empty-handed. Perhaps Obama has decided that since quiet pressure has failed to cow Netanyahu, it is time to launch a frontal attack against him.

This brings us to the third explanation for why Obama has decided to go to war with the democratically elected Israeli government. Obama’s advisers told friendly reporters that Obama wants to bring down Netanyahu’s government. By making demands Netanyahu and his coalition partners cannot accept, Obama hopes to either bring down the government and replace Netanyahu and Likud with the far-leftist Tzipi Livni and Kadima, or force Israel Beiteinu and Shas to bolt the coalition and compel Netanyahu to accept Livni as a co-prime minister. Livni, of course, won Obama’s heart when in 2008 she opted for an election rather than accept Shas’s demand that she protect the unity of Jerusalem.

The fourth explanation for Obama’s behavior is that he seeks to realign US foreign policy away from Israel. Obama’s constant attempts to cultivate relations with Iran’s unelected president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ahmadinejad’s Arab lackey Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, and Turkey’s Islamist Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan make clear that he views developing US relations with these anti-American regimes as a primary foreign policy goal.

Given that all of these leaders have demanded that in exchange for better relations Obama abandon Israel as a US ally, and in light of the professed anti-Israel positions of several of his senior foreign policy advisers, it is possible that Obama is seeking to downgrade US relations with Israel. His consistent castigation of Israel as obstructionist and defiant has led some surveys to claim that over the past year US popular support for Israel has dropped from 77 to 58 percent.

The more Obama fills newspaper headlines with allegations that Israel is responsible for everything from US combat deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan to Iran’s nuclear program, the lower those numbers can be expected to fall. And the more popular American support for Israel falls, the easier it will be for Obama to engineer an open breach with the Jewish state.

The final explanation for Obama’s behavior is that he is using his manufactured crisis to justify adopting an overtly anti-Israel position vis-Ã*-vis the Palestinians. On Thursday, The New York Times reported that administration officials are considering having Obama present his own “peace plan.â€� Given the administration’s denial of Israel’s right to Jerusalem, an “Obama plan,â€� would doubtless require Israel to withdraw to the indefensible 1949 armistice lines and expel some 700,000 Jews from their homes.

Likewise, the crisis Obama has manufactured with Israel could pave the way for him to recognize a Palestinian state if the Palestinians follow through on their threat to unilaterally declare statehood next year regardless of the status of negotiations with Israel. Such a US move could in turn lead to the deployment of US forces in Judea and Samaria to “protect� the unilaterally declared Palestinian state from Israel.

Both Obama’s behavior and the policy goals it indicates make it clear that Netanyahu’s current policy of trying to appease Obama by making concrete concessions is no longer justified. Obama is not interested in being won over. The question is, what should Netanyahu do?

One front in the war Obama has started is at home. Netanyahu must ensure that he maintains popular domestic support for his government to scuttle Obama’s plan to overthrow his government. So far, in large part due to Obama’s unprecedented nastiness, Netanyahu’s domestic support has held steady. A poll conducted for IMRA news service this week by Maagar Mohot shows that fully 75% of Israeli Jews believe Obama’s behavior toward Israel is unjustified. As for Netanyahu, 71% of Israeli Jews believe his refusal to accept Obama’s demand to ban Jewish building in Jerusalem proves he is a strong leader. Similarly, a Shvakim Panorama poll for Israel Radio shows public support for Kadima has dropped by more than 30% since last year’s election.

The other front in Obama’s war is the American public. By blaming Israel for the state of the Middle East and launching personal barbs against Netanyahu, Obama seeks to drive down popular American support for Israel. In building a strategy to counter Obama’s moves, Netanyahu has to keep two issues in mind.

First, no foreign leader can win a popularity contest against a sitting US president. Therefore, Netanyahu must continue to avoid any personal attacks on Obama. He must limit his counter-offensive to a defense of Israel’s interests and his government’s policies.

Second, Netanyahu must remember that Obama’s hostility toward Israel is not shared by the majority of Americans. Netanyahu’s goal must be to strengthen and increase the majority of Americans who support Israel. To this end, Netanyahu must go to Washington next week and speak at the annual AIPAC conference as planned, despite the administration’s threat to boycott him.

While in Washington, Netanyahu should meet with every Congressman and Senator who wishes to meet with him as well as every administration member who seeks him out. Moreover, he should give interviews to as many television networks, newspapers and major radio programs as possible in order to bring his message directly to the American people.

Obama has made clear that he is not Israel’s ally. And for the remainder of his term, he will do everything he can to downgrade US relations with Israel while maintaining his constant genuflection to the likes of Iran, Syria, the Palestinians and Turkey.

But like Israel, the US is a free country. And as long as popular support for Israel holds steady, Obama’s options will be limited. Netanyahu’s task is to maintain that support in the face of administration hostility as he implements policies toward Iran and the Arabs alike that are necessary to ensure Israel’s long-term survival and prosperity.

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Israel's UN ambassador tells U.S. Jews: Prepare for September vote on Palestinian state

Ron Prosor urges leaders at closed session of the Conference of Presidents of major Jewish American Organizations to use connections to stop upcoming UN vote.

• Published 21:23 20.06.11
• Latest update 21:23 20.06.11

By Shlomo Shamir Tags: US Jewish World Middle East peace

Israel's new ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor urged Jewish American leaders on Monday to form a clear and operational plan ahead of the United Nations vote in September regarding unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.

During a closed meeting of the Conference of Presidents of major Jewish American Organizations in New York, Prosor said that talk was not enough at such a crucial time, and that the U.S. Jewish community must prepare a clear operational plan.

	Ron Prosor at a gathering of Israeli diplomats in 2009.
	Photo by: Tess Scheflan

In an unconventional appeal for unity, the new ambassador, who started serving as Israel's UN envoy less than a week ago, urged the Jewish leaders to work together despite their differences ahead of the September vote.

Prosor stressed before the Jewish leaders that they must take advantage of the Jewish community's connections with decision makers in order to get results.

Prosor also said that regardless of the outcome of the UN vote, a Palestinian state will not be created and added that the UN is not authorized to dictate borders between countries. He stressed that a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state will bring about another cycle of violence that will only lead to a dead end.

Least week Prosor said that the September vote was at the center of the Israeli delegation's life.

"The mission regarding the unilateral declaration is one heck of a challenge, but I believe the chances of the declaration to succeed are actually very small. It will only bring things back and take nothing forward; I say that as the director general of the Foreign Ministry during the disengagement from Gaza. Unilateral moves are not constructive," Prosor said after his first day on the job, emphasizing that there was still time to act before the vote.

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IDF prepares for September declaration

Will officers need visa to arrest terror suspects in West Bank? Additional resources, training exercises, deployment – all part of army's plan ahead of possible declaration of Palestinian state at UN. Senior military officials agree: Future remains unclear

Hanan Greenberg

The Israel Defense Forces is finding it hard to predict what will happen after the possible declaration of a Palestinian state at the United Nations in September, but in the meantime it is holding training exercises, maps are being updated and even the state of mind on Facebook is being looked into.

The IDF is also preparing engineering resources, purchasing and expanding existing crowd dispersion equipment and mainly, preparing for every eventuality – from the mainstream to the extreme. Ynet is taking a first look at the "Migdal Oz" plan which details how the IDF is planning on maintaining order in the West Bank on the "day after".

Deliberations held over the last few weeks among senior GOC Central Command officials have raised one major question – the status of IDF officers and troops after the planned Palestinian declaration of statehood:

Will an officer seeking to arrest a terror suspect in Nablus or Ramallah be required to present a visa or passport? And how is he supposed to act in such a situation?

None of those present at the deliberations could supply an answer, which indicates that the Defense Establishment is heading for a period of uncertainty in the West Bank. The defense and civil coordination outlook remains hazy: What kinds of protests should they expect? Which side will the Palestinian Authority take?

And yet the defense establishment's calendars don't have any special mentions or substantial alterations ahead of events in September. Military officials believe it will take some time for the Palestinian citizens to examine their new status against the actual changes.

A different theory sees the Palestinians quickly reaching a state of frustration and disillusionment which could lead them to "let off steam".

Among the extreme scenarios: riots, and confrontations on settlements and IDF bases.


'Naksa Day' protests (Photo: EPA)

A third theory states that the IDF's chief mission is to prepare for war and expected riots cannot become the troops' main pursuit. "I don't intend to halt training at any price. We need to remember that this is not a large tactical event," the commander of one of the divisions noted.

Central Command Chief Major-General Avi Mizrahi who has been keeping a close eye on the deployment has passed on his recommendations to the Chief of Staff Major General Benny Gantz. They include expanding the ring of troops set to deal with riots in other sectors.

A large part of the "Migdal Oz" plan deals with the acquisition and expansion of crowd dispersal methods. GOC Central Command recently acquired more than double of their usual annual crowd dispersal resources order.

'Like Syrian infiltrators'

In addition to the usual resources they have also purchased the "Scream" acoustical system which basically makes noise at an increased volume that assists in dispersing crowds. The IDF has also purchased appropriate protection methods for riot areas. The equipment is all set to be in IDF hands by August.

The IDF has also been carrying out infrastructural adjustments, for example, elevating military outposts. They have also prepared concrete barricades which will be put in place if the need arises during massive protests.


Crowd dispersal methods in action (Photo: Reuters)

Nevertheless the IDF has made it clear that while it hopes to stop protestors in a way that would keep the number of casualties at a minimum, if there is no other option they will open fire.

Military sources said that from the army's perspective, if the Palestinians were to infiltrate the fence surrounding Beit El or Yitzhar, this would be dealt with in the same manner as the infiltrators from Syria. "We will fire at the lower extremities," said one military official.

Within the framework of all these preparations the IDF is taking two main scenarios into consideration: Popular protests without the Palestinian Authority's direct support, maybe even with prevention efforts from the Palestinian security apparatus. The second scenario is an all out Intifada organized by the Palestinian Authority.

The first option is obviously easier to deal with from the IDF's standpoint. And yet, the IDF would be able to strike at the new state's infrastructure, including security installations thus sending a very assertive message. A "bank" of possible targets is being collected under the radar. No one wishes to make use of it but the option is firmly on the table.

Critical influence

The Palestinians will not be in a hurry to endanger their infrastructure so it is hard to estimate whether the protests will be organized by the newly formed state. If security coordination continues then it can be hoped that the incidents will be confined.

There is an additional variable that must be taken into account – the Hamas who, in light of the unity agreement with Fatah is more prominent in the West Bank and so could be a fermenting factor.

"We are heading for a murky period that hides many dangers," summarized one senior officer. "As an army we need to be prepared for every possible scenario. It is possible that we will have to face a complicated situation that will change all that we have become familiar with in the West Bank over the last few years. That is what we are preparing for."

The Israeli policy which will be decided on in Jerusalem will have a critical influence on the future. As he prepared to end his term in office, the outgoing Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin said that Israel, without recognizing the newly formed state would face opposition from the international community which could hurt its own status.

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Netanyahu to make rare visits to Romania, Bulgaria

By HERB KEINON
07/05/2011 21:54

Diplomatic officials say visits not just about Palestinian statehood bid, but rather a chance to promote relations and cultivate friendship.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is scheduled to leave Wednesday morning for a trip to Romania and Bulgaria, marking the first prime ministerial visit to either of those countries in some 20 years.

While the visit has taken on increased importance in the run-up to the Palestinian statehood bid at the UN in September, diplomatic officials said the visits to Roman and Bulgaria – considered among the most friendly countries toward Israel in the EU – are not only about the PA’s statehood move.

“These are countries where Israeli prime ministers don’t generally travel,” one official said. “It is important to promote relations with these countries. We find there is a lot of support and sympathy in Eastern Europe, and that we have natural friends there whom we want to cultivate. We want to show them we appreciate their friendship.” Netanyahu will be meeting Wednesday in Romania with his counterpart Emil Boc, as well as President Traian Basescu.

The next day he will fly to Sofia for meetings with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and President Georgi Parvanov. Netanyahu will be accompanied on the trip to Bulgaria by some eight ministers who will take part in a joint government meeting. He is slated to return to Israel Thursday evening.

Israel’s relations with Romania and Bulgaria benefitted from the deterioration in Israel’s ties with Turkey, as Israel sought to spruce up its ties with Turkey’s historic rivals in the region: Greece, Cyprus, Romania and Bulgaria. Israel also was forced, as a result of the breakdown of relations with Ankara, to look elsewhere for places for the air force to train, since Turkey – which once allowed such training – closed its skies to Israeli military aircraft.

Last July an IAF helicopter on a joint training mission in Romania crashed, killing one Romanian and six IDF soldiers.

While one government official said that the purpose of the Netanyahu visit was to strengthen bilateral ties, he said that multilateral issues – such as the UN vote in September – would definitely be on the agenda.

While Romania and Bulgaria both recognized a Palestinian state in 1988 when they were under Soviet domination, Israel is trying to get them not to support the Palestinian move in September.

According to Israeli officials, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nicolay Malenkov, during a meeting with Netanyahu in Jerusalem two weeks ago, left the impression that Bulgaria would not support the Palestinian move.


Israel gets backing of Romania ahead of UN vote on Palestinian statehood

PM Benjamin Netanyahu continues to Bulgaria in effort to drum up opposition to Palestinian plan; FM Lieberman: A unilateral move will force Israel to retaliate.

By The Associated Press Tags: Avigdor Lieberman Benjamin Netanyahu Palestinian state

Israel's hard-line foreign minister warned Wednesday of a tough response if Palestinians declare independence at the U.N. this fall, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to cement Romanian opposition to the plan.

With peace talks deadlocked for more than two years, the Palestinians plan to ask the UN to recognize their independence in September and both sides have been lobbying hard around the world for support. The move would be largely symbolic but the Palestinians hope it will pressure Israel to withdraw from Palestinian territories they claim for a future state.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told reporters in Israel on Wednesday that "unilateral steps will force us to take unilateral steps. It's important for us to convey the message that any unilateral step can only harm the process, can only harm the chances of reaching a reasonable accord in the Middle East," Lieberman said after briefing Israeli lawmakers at a closed parliamentary hearing.

According to a participant who spoke on condition of anonymity because the parliamentary hearing was closed, Lieberman said that Israel could freeze the transfer of tax revenues, cancel the free passage of Palestinian leaders into Israel and apply pressure through the United States.
The same source said that Lieberman expressed concern that Palestinians would use a UN platform to initiate moves against Israelis at the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

Netanyahu was in Romania as part of ongoing efforts to drum up opposition to the Palestinian plan, and appeared to confirm the support of Prime Minister Emil Boc.

"We reaffirmed our country's position that a negotiated solution between the parties, with no unilateral solution, is the only way to ensure real and solid grounds for a lasting peace," Boc said. Netanyahu did not touch on the issue during a press conference after his meeting with Boc.

Netanyahu has already visited Britain and France, among other countries, and continues on to Bulgaria on Thursday. Lieberman said that Israel had already garnered the support of the U.S., Canada, Italy and Germany and was working on convincing other like-minded nations to side with it in September.

Most of the developing world, including Arab and Muslim countries, can be counted on to back the Palestinians - leaving very few countries that might still go either way at the UN.

"Israel is currently busy trying to get the moral majority in the United Nations," Lieberman said, but considering the bloc of Muslim and unaligned nations was between 125-130 countries, "we don't have any illusions."
The Palestinians aim to win two-thirds support in the 192-member General Assembly at the United Nations - or 129 countries - and are now about 13 countries short of their target.

The assembly's decisions aren't legally binding. That would require approval by the powerful Security Council, where the United States has indicated it will veto any Palestinian move in the absence of a negotiated peace deal.

The European Union is working to forge a common position on the issue even as EU countries are split over Palestinian statehood.

PM in Bulgaria: Sofia understands peace made through talks

By HERB KEINON
07/08/2011 01:50

Netanyahu ends visit with a strong indication that the friendly Bulgarian gov't won't support the Palestinian statehood bid at the UN in September.

Talkbacks (10)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu left Sofia on Thursday without a public commitment that the friendly Bulgarian government would vote against the Palestinian statehood bid at the UN in September, but with a strong indication it would not support the move.

“I found understanding here that peace is made through negotiations, and not dictate,” Netanyahu said in Sofia before flying home. He said that Israel was progressing “step-by-step” in getting countries not to support the move.

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Although at a joint press conference, Prime Minister Boyko Borisov did not commit on how Bulgaria would vote in September, he said that the sides needed to return to negotiations.

Borisov said that there was still time before a potential vote on the matter at the UN in September, and that Bulgaria was in talks with the other EU countries about the issue. “Come September, you will see... there is time,” he said of how his country would vote.

Diplomatic officials in Jerusalem have said that if the issue does go to the General Assembly for a vote in September, there would likely be a split among the EU countries, with some voting to support the move, others voting with Israel against, and most of the countries abstaining. Jerusalem wants to get as many countries as possible to come out clearly against the move in advance of September, as have the US, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.

Netanyahu arrived for a visit of less than 12 hours in Bulgaria from Romania, where senior government officials said it became clear to Netanyahu after talks with that country’s leaders that Romania would not vote for the Palestinian move. In Bucharest, however, it was also not clear whether Romania would vote against the matter, along with Israel, or abstain.

Netanyahu was met in Sofia by seven of his cabinet ministers, and Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, for a joint government-to-government meeting with the Bulgarian cabinet.

During the visit, Netanyahu mentioned the Bulgarian refusal during the Holocaust to transport the country’s 50,000 Jews to the concentration camps, even though Bulgaria at the time was allied with Nazi Germany.

“Bulgaria is under-appreciated,” he told Reuters, likening its actions to Danish resistance against round-ups by the German occupiers. “It’s one of the more remarkable stories – perhaps the most remarkable story in terms of the number of people who participated, who stood up.”



His Bulgarian host was gratified by the overture.

“I would like to thank the Israeli prime minister for sending a message from Sofia... to the world about what the Bulgarian people did during the times of Nazism to save the Bulgarian Jews,” Borisov told the news conference.Three major cooperation agreements were signed on Thursday, providing for cooperation in agriculture, natural gas supplies for Bulgaria from large-scale Israeli deposits, and for the mutual protection of investments, according to the Bulgarian news agency Novinite.

“We wish to increase the Israeli investments in Bulgaria. I am not sure if the Israeli business community has discovered Bulgaria yet, and this is my personal mission – to introduce to them the opportunities that Bulgaria offers,” Novinite quoted Netanyahu as saying

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• Published 21:21 10.07.11
• Latest update 21:21 10.07.11

Vice Premier: Iran, Hezbollah behind Lebanon protest over Israel sea border

The Vice Prime Minister and Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon said at a meeting of cabinet ministers on Sunday that Iran and Hezbollah are behind the government of Lebanon's petition to the United Nations concerning the maritime border with Israel.

	Schematic diagram of Northern Maritime Border.
	Photo by: Haaretz

Ya'alon said that Iran and Hezbollah are purposefully trying to create a new source of friction with Israel.

"We signed an agreement with Cyprus that is in keeping with its agreement with Lebanon," said Ya'alon. "When we announced our gas drilling, the Iranians and Hezbollah decided that it would be a good excuse for conflict with us."

"They decided to sketch a new border south of the line that was agreed to in talks between Lebanon and Cyprus, and basically entered our territory," Ya'alon continued. "It was done with premeditation in order to create conflict with us, just like the Sheba Farms."

Earlier Sunday at the weekly cabinet meeting, the government approved the decision to submit the Israeli proposal to demarcate the northern maritime border of the State of Israel.

The demarcation will establish the area in which the state retains economic rights, including the right to exploit underwater natural resources. In the coming days, Israel will submit its position to the United Nations.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the beginning of the cabinet meeting, "The maritime border that Lebanon submitted to the United Nations is significantly further south of the border, as Israel understands it."

According to Netanyahu, "The Lebanese line runs contrary to Israel's border agreements with Cyprus, and Lebanon's own border agreements with Cyprus. We are working towards the demarcation of the border as per international maritime law." However, the U.S. Administration adopted the Lebanese position.

The proposal that was submitted to the United Nation Sunday is expected to have long-term implications for the underwater oil and gas fields that are thought to be worth billions of dollars and are located in the disputed territory in the Mediterranean Sea.

	Vice Premier Moshe Ya'alon, May 22, 2011.
	Photo by: Moti Milrod

However, the Lebanese proposal does not include the large Tamar and Leviathan gas prospects, operated by Delek Energy and U.S. company Noble Energy.

Last August, Lebanon submitted to the United Nations its version of where the maritime border should be - the exclusive economic zone. In November, it submitted its version of its western border, with Cyprus.

The maritime border between Israel and Lebanon is divided in two: there is a 12-mile line extending from the coast, on either side of which the respective countries have full sovereignty; and a more than 100-mile line designated "economic area only" or "economic waters". In this second area, both countries have economic and scientific rights.

Israel has rejected the possibility of indirect talks via the United Nations to resolve the issue, calling on Lebanon to begin negotiations on all border issues, not just the maritime border.

• Published 01:32 10.07.11
• Latest update 01:32 10.07.11

U.S. backs Lebanon on maritime border dispute with Israel

Amid rising tensions over gas reserves, Israel to submit proposal to UN on where maritime economic border with Lebanon should be over next few days; U.S. endorsed Lebanon's proposal submitted to UN in August.

By Barak Ravid Tags: Lebanon

In the next few days Israel will submit to the United Nations its take on where its maritime economic border with Lebanon should be, as the two countries scramble for gas reserves estimated to be worth billions of dollars.

Israel's position is due to be approved by the cabinet on Sunday; Jerusalem argues that Lebanon's proposal includes major areas belonging to Israel.

	The Tamar gas platform.
	Photo by: Albatross

Last August, Lebanon submitted to the United Nations its version of where the maritime border should be - the exclusive economic zone. In November, it submitted its version of its western border, with Cyprus.

The Lebanese proposal does not include the large Tamar and Leviathan gas prospects, operated by Delek Energy and U.S. company Noble Energy. But the National Infrastructure Ministry found that the proposal contains reserves with a potential value in the billions of dollars.

The Lebanese also sent their version to the United States, which conducted an expert review and endorsed the document. A senior Foreign Ministry official told Haaretz that the American diplomat in charge of the issue was Frederic Hof, who was responsible for Syria and Lebanon under the former U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell. Hof has kept the Israel-Lebanon brief despite Mitchell's resignation two months ago.

In April, Hof began shuttling between Beirut and Jerusalem. A senior administration official told Haaretz that Hof's main goal was to prevent the border from becoming a source of tension between Israel and Lebanon, which could give Hezbollah a pretext for targeting Israeli gas installations.

Beyond the political and diplomatic interest, the United States has an economic interest in keeping the parties calm, not least because American companies are involved in the search for gas an oil in Israel, Lebanon and Cyprus. Hof told his counterparts in Jerusalem that Israel should cooperate with setting the maritime border to prevent the creation of an "underwater Shaba Farms," referring to a contested area on the Israel-Lebanon border.

The Foreign Ministry official said Israel had asked the Americans to relay a warning to Lebanon on the matter. Foreign Ministry officials told Hof that Israel would not allow a provocation on the matter or an attack on Israeli gas installations. They said Israel would consider such an attack an attack on its sovereign territory and would retaliate "strongly" against Lebanon.

Hof responded by suggesting that Israel submit to the United Nations its own outlook on the border and try to launch a dialogue. Hof asked Israel not to turn the issue into a political spat but to see it as an economic and technical matter that could benefit all parties.

Israel rejected indirect talks via the United Nations, calling on Lebanon to begin negotiations on all border issues, not just the maritime border. The foreign and infrastructure ministries believe that Lebanon is claiming vast offshore territories that belong to Israel under international law.

"It's important to provide the UN with the Israeli version of the border as soon as possible, to react to Lebanon's unilateral move," a senior Foreign Ministry official told Haaretz. "Not responding could be interpreted as a tacit agreement. We must act fast to ensure Israel's economic rights in these areas."

Israel has become even more concerned about the positioning of the border after learning recently that a Norwegian company has begun searching for gas in the area. The search is due to be completed within months, and the Lebanese government hopes to use the findings to license international energy companies to probe areas that could be in Israel's exclusive economic zone.

[American Patriot]

What's the trade-off? There is always a trade-off.

Duh.... OIL.

LMAO

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U.N. Preparing To Seize Jerusalem From Israel On July 11th, 26th

U.N. Security Council preparing to seize Jerusalem from Israel on July 11th, 26th.

The "Quartet" of USA, Russia, EU, and UN has scheduled July 11th in DC, and the United Nations Security Council has scheduled July 26th in New York, for open "debate" about whether or not they will seize Israeli land in September, and divide Jerusalem by establishing a Palestinian state, without negotiation or approval from Israel.

Haaretz newspaper reported Wednesday, "The UN Security Council plans to discuss in July [on the 26th] the possibility of Palestine becoming a United Nations member state, the Security Council president said on Tuesday. The Arab League has said it would request UN membership for a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital at the UN General Assembly in September."

Only the U.N. Security Council (seen right-->) can vote to recognize new nations, and move borders. It is composed of 15 member nations among which only 5 have veto authority: USA, Britain, France, China, and Russia.

"An upcoming Quartet meeting [is] a possible indicator on the situation," reported Haaretz. "The Quartet of Middle East peace negotiators...are expected to meet July 11th. The meeting, expected to take place in Washington, will come amid a U.S. push to revive peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians."

The fact any debate will occur on 11 or 26 July confirms a big U.N. vote will occur in September, and if President Obama's U.N. delegation fails to veto, Israel will forfeit half its land and Jerusalem will become the Muslim capitol of the new state of Palestine.

President Obama has recently signaled that the U.S. may not veto such a land-grab, as Abbas said last week on Lebanese TV, quote: "President Obama says he wants to see an independent Palestinian state by September." No wonder Abbas met with PLO leaders and decided to seize the moment, and East Jerusalem with it.

Israel would likely not recognize such a vote, and refuse to forfeit their land. Palestinians will declare independence and start a war in September, with the whole world against Israel. Except us. We must awaken the U.S. Congress to defend Israel now.

A pro-Israel U.S. Congressman has introduced a brand new law to de-fund the United Nations if they dare to seize Israeli land, or if President Obama fails to veto any Palestinian land-grab of Jerusalem without permission from Israel.

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Did the White House ‘Cleanse’ References to Jerusalem, Israel From Its Web Site?

• Posted on August 10, 2011 at 10:54am by Billy Hallowell

Following an article in which he discussed the ongoing debate over which country the U.S. believes Jerusalem is in (hint: It’s not Israel), Halper claims that the White House “cleansed” its site of references to the city being definitively tied to the Jewish homeland.

Let’s start with a recent State Department press release, highlighting the United States’ official stance on Jerusalem (Halper cites this as well):

QUESTION: What is the State Department’s position regarding American persons born in Jerusalem who wish to have passports issued that indicate their place of birth as Israel?
ANSWER: Current U.S. Government policy is that U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem may not have “Israel” listed in their passports as their place of birth. See the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Manual 7 FAM 1300 Appendix D for further details.

Appendix D reads:

As a result of the June 1967 Arab-Israeli War, the Government of Israel currently occupies and administers the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. U.S. policy recognizes that the Golan Heights is Syrian territory, and that the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are territories whose final status must be determined by negotiations.

While the U.S. is clearly undecided on the issue, Halper highlights a photograph on the White House web site that, until last evening, allegedly had a caption that included “Jerusalem, Israel” (i.e. admitting that Jerusalem is a part of Israel). Following Halper’s article, the image’s caption (by his account) changed. Here’s the original image (notice the reference to Jerusalem, Israel):

Halper claims that he posted this image at 3:33 p.m. on Tuesday. Then, he writes, “Within two hours of posting, the White House has apparently gone through its website, cleansing any reference to Jerusalem as being in Israel.” Halper claims that the image was replaced with the following (notice “Israel” has been removed):

Below, watch a video montage that purportedly (and quite dramatically, based on the background music selection) shows other changes, in this same vein, the White House has made:

Upon a cursory search on the WhiteHouse.gov site, The Blaze uncovered only one reference to “Jerusalem, Israel” (see the screen shot below). Interestingly, this reference is present in a State Department official’s biography and it highlights a location (Jerusalem, Israel, of course) at which the individual (Adrienne Fagler) plans to serve the U.S. government:

If the government did, indeed, remove the references as stated, the action is bizarre. However, it’s not unexplainable. As mentioned, at least one reference still places Jerusalem in Israel (a fact the government, itself, has officially disputed pending Middle East negotiations). Either way, messages seem to be crossing, criss-crossing and, quite potentially, getting purposefully removed from the record.

Perhaps the White House is afraid that any mentions it makes of the city’s placement within Israel will contradict its policies and rhetoric. At the end of July, The Blaze covered the ongoing debate surrounding Israeli-American passports.

Despite a 2002 law requiring it to do so, thus far the federal government has refused to allow those born in Jerusalem to have “Israel” printed on their travel documentation. Now, the case is headed for court and it could have a profound impact on how the U.S. government officially recognizes Jerusalem moving forward.

The perfect motivation to remove the connection between city and nation from its web site? Quite possibly.

[American Patriot]

Beck reported this last night as well.

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White House: Obama to attend UN's September meet

Published: 09.02.11, 09:01 / Israel News

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The white House announced Friday that US President Barack Obama would take part in the UN's General Assembly sessions in September during which a vote on the recognition of a Palestinian state will be held. The CNN network reported that Obama's visit to New York would include meeting with state heads and speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. (Ynet)

[American Patriot]

Oh. he wants to be there to cast the vote himself? Of course, he needs to be to help the Muslims

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Obama 'star' of Palestinian ad


During the radio spot starring Obama, Abbas tells listeners 'If he said it, he must have meant it.' | AP Photo

By MACKENZIE WEINGER | 9/7/11 7:22 AM EDT

President Barack Obama is the unlikely star of a new Palestinian media campaign.

Part of a speech Obama gave in 2010 to the United Nations General Assembly is featured in an ad aimed to rally support for the Palestinians upcoming bid for statehood at the United Nations on Sept. 20, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

“When we come back here next year, we can have an agreement that can lead to a new member of the United Nations, an independent, sovereign state of Palestine living in peace with Israel,” Obama said in the 2010 speech in the clip that is played in the radio ad.

The Palestinians use of the remarks is at odds with the Obama administration’s current all-out push to stop the Palestinians from pursuing their statehood bid. U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East David Hale is set to hold talks Wednesday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to urge him to reconsider the statehood effort and instead return to direct negotiations with Israel.

During the 36-second radio spot starring Obama, Abbas tells listeners “If he said it, he must have meant it.”

Although U.S. officials described Obama’s statement in the 2010 speech simply as an expression of hope, Abbas has called the statement the “Obama promise,” Reuters wrote.

Both the U.S. and Israel have said they strongly oppose the planned Palestinian bid, and the U.S. has said it would veto the bid at the U.N. Security Council. If the U.S. uses its veto, Palestinian officials have said they plan to apply for an upgrade in status to a nonmember U.N. state.

In addition to Obama’s remarks, the ad campaign features excerpts from speeches by the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and verses from the late national poet Mahmoud Darwish.

[vector7]

Obama Tells Palestine to “Sit Tight” – Help Is On Its Way AFTER 2012 Election…

by Ulsterman on March 9, 2012 with 7 Comments in News

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki publicly indicates he was promised help from Obama administration after the 2012 election. His statements come just days after Barack Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.


(Palestinian terrorist prepares to fire rocket into Israel)

Talking out of both sides of his mouth has become a fixture of the Obama presidency – and it appears the increasingly volatile Middle East situation is no exception. In fact, it is quite likely the often conflicted message coming out of the Obama White House is to blame for much of the region’s worsening condition. If an American president consistently places ideological politics ahead of international principle, the world is likely to suffer – it becomes a matter of just how much suffering.

And no better example of the Obama administration’s “politics before everything” operation can be seen than this most recent indication from the Palestinian government that they have been promised “vigorous U.S. mediation” in Palestine’s efforts to extract more concessions from Israel as well as statehood recognition from the United Nations.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is also demanding to have Israel to its 1967 borders – a demand American President Barack Obama also made to Israel just last year. The Obama White House quickly retreated from that proposal as Jewish voters in American indicated widespread disapproval of the idea – but the latest communications from the Palestinians now suggest that if re-elected in 2012, Barack Obama will once again attempt to force Israel to do just that.

According to an AP REPORT published today, the relationship between the Obama administration and Palestine is quite cozy:

“Everybody was telling us, including the Americans, ‘don’t expect that much from us during the election year because the president will be focusing on how to be re-elected, and in order to do so, he should really shift his attention … to other issues,’” Malki said. He did not say how those messages were delivered. Obama administration officials are frequent visitors at Abbas’ headquarters.

…Asked whether Abbas hopes Obama — freed from some domestic political constraints if re-elected — would push hard for a resumption of serious negotiations with Israel, Malki said: “They (the Americans) told us so.” He said the Obama administration asked Abbas to be patient until then.

It should also be noted that Barack Obama’s apparent friend Palestine has launched no fewer than 20 rockets into Israel in just the last 3 months.

[Malsua]

Could you imagine if France demanded that we pull back to our 1848 borders that existed before the 1946-48 Mexican-American war?

[American Patriot]

We are big. We think big. I should be President and ALL of Europe will belong to me....

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Companion Threads:

• Brzezinski Planning New Anti-Israel Initiative
• Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
  
• The Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated both the Clinton and Obama Administrations
• Attempts to Push Sharia Law on America
• US-NATO Support "Al Qaeda in Libya"
• Obama Wants Billion-Dollar Egypt Bailout for the Muslim Brotherhood
• Clinton Admits We Are Now Reaching Out to the Muslim Brotherhood
• Clinton: U.S. Will Work with Arab Spring’s Islamist Parties
• Obama proposes $800 million in aid for "Arab Spring"
• Obama State Department Training Islamic Parties In Egypt For Upcoming Elections…
• Muslim Brotherhood Takes Elections by Storm
• Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood uses Palestinian Hamas as channel to Tehran
• Brzezinski Planning New Anti-Israel Initiative
• Top 5 Revolutions Backed By George Soros
• Soros group maps out Obama strategy for next 2 years
• The Agenda Revealed: How Obama Will Rule by Executive Order in 2011
• Obama marched with New Black Panthers
• Ahmadinejad met with Farrakahan and New Black Panthers
• New Black Panthers Plot With Ahmadinejad to Overthrow America
• Iran has 'penetrated' the Obama Administration
• Is Obama a Muslim?
• Putin's Spies in America
• The Islamification of America, and the Emasculation of the U.S. Military
• Obama swears in more radical Muslims to Homeland Security Posts
• Obama Bans Terms "Islam" and "Jihad" From National Security Strategy Document

Cleric Introduces Egypt's New President: Our Capital 'Shall Be Jerusalem, Allah Willing'





Read more at: Middle East Media Research Institute. NOTE: The speaker in this clip was previously misidentified as new Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi. It is actually Egyptian cleric Safwat Higazi, introducing Morsi's campaign on May 1. 23 Jun 2012 580 post a comment

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WH's Carney Refuses To Name The Capital Of Israel



White House press secretary Jay Carney is asked by a reporter what is the capital of Israel.

Reporter: What city does this Administration consider to be the capital of Israel? Jerusalem or Tel Aviv?

Jay Carney, White House press secretary: Um... I haven't had that question in a while. Our position has not changed. Can we, uh...

Reporter: What is the capital [of Israel]?

Jay Carney: You know our position.

Reporter: I don't.

Lester Kinsolving, World Net Daily: No, no. She doesn't know, that's why she asked.

Carney: She does know.

Reporter: I don't.

Kinsolving: She does not know. She just said that she does not know. I don't know.

Carney: We have long, lets not call on...

Kinsolving: Tel Aviv or Jerusalem?

Carney: You know the answer to that.

Kinsolving: I don't know the answer. We don't know the answer. Could you just give us an answer? What do you recognize? What does the administration recognize?

Carney: Our position has not changed.

Kinsolving: What position?

Carney then moved on to another question.

[vector7]

US Preparing for a Post-Israel Middle East?

by Franklin Lamb
August 28, 2012

BEIRUT — Congresswoman Illena Ros-Lehtinen will have her hands full as she makes the political and social rounds at this month’s Republican National Convention. Illena is the only female committee chair in the House of Representatives and arguably Israel’s most ardent agent. She is a constant thorn in the Obama administration’s side, regularly castigating the president for playing “political games with U.S. foreign policy� and being “soft on Iran� and undermining the legitimacy of Israel. Ros-Lehtinen is a congressional cheer leader also for her Jewish voters in Florida—a key battleground in the rapidly approaching US presidential election. Most recently, Ros-Lehtinen helped shepherd through Congress yet another bill tightening sanctions against Iran while calling for US military action against the Assad regime in Syria.

The Congresswoman’s focus will likely not be on pushing the republican’s talking points regarding her party’s nominee, Mitt Romney, the former “moderate Massachusetts governor� who she is aware is unlikely to win the White House. Nor, according to a source at the Democratic National Committee, frantically putting together final touches on their own Convention, to be held the week of September 3 in Charlotte, North Carolina, will Ileana spend much time with or promoting Mitt’s running mate, Congressman Paul Ryan. Ryan, an Ayn Rand (author of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged as well as founder of the Objectivism movement) follower, regularly tells audiences that “Ayn Rand’s teachings have been one of the most profound philosophical influences of my life�—well, except for religion and abortion, as Ayn who passed away in 1982 was an avowed atheist and strongly pro-abortion, the opposite of what Ryan tells audiences he is.

Rather, Ros-Lehtinen will be meeting with local, national, and international Jewish leaders in this must win state where she has been assigned the task of reassuring them that the Republican Party is Israel’s best friend and that a recent US government draft report urging a US re-think of its relationship to Israel is the responsibility of none other than Barack Obama, and it reveals his true disdain for Israel.

Helping her smear the White House with the findings in the draft analysis will be William Kristol, publisher of the neoconservative Weekly Standard and Director of the New American Century, an “Israel first� Washington-based lobby “promoting joint Israeli and American political and military leadership across the globe, while bringing democracy to the Middle East�.

So what is all the fuss about?

It’s a paper entitled “Preparing For A Post Israel Middle East�, an 82-page analysis that concludes that the American national interest in fundamentally at odds with that of Zionist Israel. The authors conclude that Israel is currently the greatest threat to US national interests because its nature and actions prevent normal US relations with Arab and Muslim countries and, to a growing degree, the wider international community.

The study was commissioned by the US Intelligence Community comprising 16 American intelligence agencies with an annual budget in excess of $ 70 billion. The IC includes the Departments of the Navy, Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Defense Intelligence Agency, Departments of Energy, Homeland Security, State, Treasure, Drug Enforcement Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Security Agency, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, National Reconnaissance Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency commissioned the study.

Among the many findings that Ros-Lehtenin and Kristol and other unregistered agents of Israel will likely try to exploit politically between now and November 6, by using them to attack the Obama Administration are the following:

• - Israel, given its current brutal occupation and belligerence cannot be salvaged any more than apartheid south Africa could be when as late as 1987 Israel was the only “Westernâ€� nation that upheld diplomatic ties with South Africa and was the last country to join the international boycott campaign before the regime collapsed;

• - The Israel leadership, with its increasing support of the 700,000 settlers in illegal colonies in the occupied West Bank is increasing out of touch with the political, military and economic realities of the Middle East;

• - The post Labor government Likud coalition is deeply complicit with and influenced by the settlers’ political and financial power and will increasingly face domestic civil strife which the US government should not associate itself with or become involved with;

• - The Arab Spring and Islamic Awakening has to a major degree freed a large majority of the 1.2 billion Arab and Muslims to pursue what an overwhelming majority believe is the illegitimate, immoral and unsustainable European occupation of Palestine of the indigenous population;

• - Simultaneous with, but predating, rapidly expanding Arab and Muslim power in the region as evidenced by the Arab spring, Islamic Awakening and the ascendancy of Iran, as American power and influence recedes, the US commitment to belligerent oppressive Israel is becoming impossible to defend or execute consistent given paramount US national interests which include normalizing relations with the 57 Islamic countries;

• - Gross Israeli interference in the internal affairs of the United States through spying and illegal US arms transfers. This includes supporting more than 60 ‘front organizations’ and approximately 7,500 US officials who do Israel’s bidding and seek to dominate and intimidate the media and agencies of the US government which should no longer be condoned;

• - That the United States government no longer has the financial resources, or public support to continue funding Israel. The billions of dollars in direct and indirect aid from US taxpayers to Israel since 1967 is not affordable and is increasingly being objected to by US taxpayers who oppose continuing American military involvement in the Middle East. US public opinion no longer supports funding and executing widely perceived illegal US wars on Israel’s behalf. This view is increasingly being shared by Europe, Asia and the International public;

• - Israel’s segregationist occupation infrastructure evidenced by legalized discrimination and increasingly separate and unequal justice systems must no longer be directly or indirectly funded by the US taxpayers or ignored by the US government;

• - Israel has failed as a claimed democratic state and continued American financial and political cover will not change its continuing devolution as international pariah state;

• - Increasingly, rampant and violent racism exhibited among Jewish settlers in the West Bank is being condoned by the Israeli government to a degree that the Israel government has become its protector and partner;

• - The expanding chasm among American Jews objecting to Zionism and Israeli practices, including the killing and brutalizing of Palestinians under Israeli occupation, are gross violations of American and International law and raise questions within the US Jewish community regarding the American responsibility to protect (R2P) innocent civilians under occupation;

• - The international opposition to the increasingly apartheid regime can no longer be synchronized with American claimed humanitarian values or US expectations in its bi-lateral relations with the 193 member United Nations;

• - The Draft ends with language about the need to avoid entangling alliances that alienate much of the World and condemn American citizens to endure the consequences.

Interestingly, it notes Iran as an example of a country and people that have much in common and whose citizens have a real interest in enjoy bilateral associations (here an apparent reference to Israel and its US lobby) not determined by the wishes of other countries and their agents. It also highlights the need for the US to undertake the repairing of relations with Arab and Muslim countries, including the drastically curtained use of drone aircraft.

The coming days will clarity the success of Israel’s in making an issue of the finding in the soon to be published draft report and the degree to which the Republican Party will gain for its findings in the race for the White House.

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Bolton: Blame Obama for Palestinian State Status

Friday, 30 Nov 2012 10:55 AM
By Greg McDonald



Former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton blamed the Obama administration for failing to block the U.N.'s defacto recognition Thursday of a sovereign Palestinian state, saying the White House never took the issue "seriously."

"This is a reflection of an ongoing failure by the Obama administration to take this issue seriously," Bolton told Fox News's Greta Van Susteren Thursday night, adding that the president should have moved more forcefully in October, when the Palestinian Authority was made a member of the U.N. and its affiliated organizations.

"It never should have been. Palestine is not a state," Bolton said. "That's a fact. And when the U.N. engages in this kind of activity, it just shows a real lack of administration commitment to stop it from happening."

Bolton said the Obama administration could have taken a page from the playbook of former Secretary of State James Baker more than two decades ago when a similar effort to change the Palestinian Liberation Organization's observer status at the U.N. from an "entity" to a "non-member state," the same status held by the Vatican.

"We've been through this before. We did this 20 years ago and defeated the Palestinians," Bolton said. "And this is how we did it. Secretary of State Jim Baker issued a statement saying he would recommend to the president that the United States make no further contributions, voluntary or assessed, to any international organization which makes any change in the PLO's status as an observer organization.

"If the administration had simply done what Jim Baker did 20 years ago, this thing would have been deader than a doornail," Bolton added.
The former ambassador, now a Fox News contributor, said he sees plenty of trouble ahead as the United States, Israel and other nations react to the new Palestinian status.

Pointing to Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, who has threatened to introduce legislation to cut off U.N. aid, Bolton suggested that other members of Congress could move as well to end funding for other U.N.-affiliated groups with which the Palestinians can now claim association.

He said Israel should also prepare seriously for a move by the Palestinians to take complaints about Israel to the international criminal court now that the they have standing in the U.N.
He noted that it would be "a big mistake on their part" for Israel to downplay the problems that such a move could create.

© 2012 Newsmax. All rights reserved.





Analysis of UN vote recognizing “State of Palestine”; also Israel’s UN ambassador quotes passage from Old & New Testaments

Posted: November 30, 2012 in Uncategorized



The results of a draft resolution on Palestinian status are posted during a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly after a vote on a resolution on the issue of upgrading the Palestinian Authority’s status to non-member observer state in the United Nations headquarters, Thursday, Nov. 29 (photo credit: AP/Kathy Willens)

UPDATED: On Thursday, 138 nations voted in the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) to declare a “State of Palestine” and recognize it as a “non-member observer state” within the international community. Forty-one nations abstained from voting. Only nine nations voted against the resolution: the U.S., Israel, Canada, the Czech Republic, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Panama.

* In his speech to the UNGA, Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (aka, Abu Mazen) said, ““We did not come here to delegitimize a state established years ago, and that is Israel. Rather we came to affirm the legitimacy of a state that must now achieve its independence, and that is Palestine.” However, he also praised the Palestinian terrorists who died in the war against Israel last week in Gaza, calling them “beloved martyrs.”

* The Israeli Prime Minister’s spokesman responded: ”The world watched a defamatory and venomous speech that was full of mendacious propaganda against the IDF and the citizens of Israel. Someone who wants peace does not talk in such a manner.”

* In his excellent and must-read speech to the UNGA, Ron Prosor — Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N. – quoted a passage from Scripture that is found in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. “Peace is a central value of Israeli society. The Bible calls on us: ‘Seek peace and pursue it.’” (see Psalm 34:14 and I Peter 3:11) Amb. Prosor noted the numerous times since 1947 that Jewish and Israeli leaders have offered their hand in peace to their Arab neighbors, only to be rejected and attacked time after time. He insisted that there is only one route to peace. “And that route does not run through this chamber in New York. That route runs through direct negotiations between Jerusalem and Ramallah that will lead to a secure and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”

* “Speaking in Washington minutes after the vote, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the U.N. action ‘unfortunate and counterproductive,’” reported the Washington Post. “‘We have been clear that only through direct negotiations between the parties can the Palestinians and Israelis achieve the peace they both deserve: Two states for two peoples, with a sovereign, viable and independent Palestine living side by side in peace and security with a Jewish and democratic Israel,’ Clinton said.” It should be noted (admittedly to my surprise) that the Obama administration has had a stellar two weeks standing with Israel, first through the rocket war with Hamas, and now in voted against the Palestinian statehood resolution. Relations between President Obama and Israel have been rocky over the past four years, and may still grow rockier. But we need to acknowledge that the President and his team are doing well at the moment, and this should be commended.

* Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird responded: “This resolution will not advance the cause of peace or spur a return to negotiations. Will the Palestinian people be better off as a result?

No. On the contrary, this unilateral step will harden positions and raise unrealistic expectations while doing nothing to improve the lives of the Palestinian people.” I agree and I’m grateful to the government of Canada and specifically to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who remains the most consistently pro-Israel leader on the planet in recent years.

I’m wishing I could rejoice with my Palestinian friends about the U.N. vote. But the Bible is clear that the Lord God will judge all nations who divide Land of Israel. “For behold, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up My land.” (Old Testament Book of Joel, chapter 3, verses 1 and 2)

At the 2011 Epicenter Conference in Jerusalem, I delivered a full message on Joel chapter 3 and God’s warning to the nations not to divide His Land — to read my sermon notes or watch the video online, please click here.

The Palestinians have suffered so much, from many sides. I wish a sovereign state was the answer. Nearly the whole world is convinced it is. But defying God’s Word won’t be bring blessing; it brings sadness and eventual judgment. Christians can — and must — love and bless and encourage the Palestinian people in general, and the followers of Jesus Christ in the West Bank and Gaza in particular. We can pray for them and visit them and invest in them and help them “do justice, and love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8) We can be advocates of justice, mercy and compassion by the Israeli government towards the Palestinian people, and advocates of the same by the Palestinian government towards their own people. There are many ways we can be a blessing to the Palestinian people. But it simply will not be a blessing to them — or to any nation or people group around the world — to support dividing the Land of Israel in disobediance to God’s Word.

For more of what I have written and said over the years regarding the painful struggle of the Palestinians and how Christians should respond, see here, and here, and here.

Here is an excerpt from a message I gave at the 2011 Epicenter Conference:

You and I are passionate advocates of justice for Israel because of what the Bible teaches. We must also be passionate advocates of justice from Israel because of what the Bible teaches. This does not mean Israel should divide the Land. This does not mean Israel should ignore her real and serious security needs. But too often, Christians who love Israel are not aware of — or sufficiently concerned about and responsive to — the plight of the Palestinian people, and particularly the struggles of the Palestinian believers.

• Are some of the political, moral and historical charges of the Palestinians against Israel overblown? Yes.
• Is some of the rhetoric of the Palestinians against Israel, Jews and Christians who love Israel hyperbolic and unfair? Yes.
• But are the Palestinian people struggling in real and very painful ways? Yes – the truth is they are. And we should care because Jesus cared.
• Much of this struggle has been caused by the unwise and ungodly choices of their leaders….and their Arab and Islamic allies in the region….and by the terror groups in their midst.
• But is some of this pain sometime caused by – or exacerbated by — Israeli mistakes….excesses….and even sins? Unfortunately, the answer is yes.

Again, this does not mean the Land should be divided…That does not mean a sovereign Palestinian state should be created….It does mean that followers of Jesus Christ should care about justice and mercy for the Jews and for the Palestinians, and for all of Israel’s neighbors who are suffering in this fallen world….After all, while the Bible clearly explains that the Lord will bring the Jewish people back to the Land of Israel and allow them to reclaim their God-given ownership of the Land, nowhere in the Bible are Jews (or any group of people) given a license to commit injustice.

• To the contrary, the Bible teaches Israel to love her neighbors (Leviticus 19:18 and Matthew 19:19).
• The Bible also teaches Israel to love her neighbors and pray for those who persecute them (Matthew 5:44).

The Jewish people do have rights to the ownership of the Land, but they also have responsibilities to govern justly and compassionately, in accordance with the Scriptures.

• In Leviticus 19:13, for example, the Lord says: “You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.”
• Leviticus 19:15 — “You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.”
• Leviticus 19:33-34 — “When a stranger [non-Jew] resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.”
• Exodus 22:21-24 – “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. If you afflict him at all, and if he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry and My anger will be kindled….”

Those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ need to not just preach but also to practice sound Bible doctrine regarding Israel and the Palestinians….We need to love both….bless both….pray for both….We need to stand with and encourage our brothers and sisters in the Messiah whether they are Jewish or Arab….The Bible gives us no freedom to ignore, deny, or oppose our brothers and sisters on either side….Jesus said “blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9).

We need to be pro-actively building relationships with Israelis and Palestinians….we need to be faithful ambassadors of Christ….we need to be true agents of reconciliation whenever and wherever possible….We do not have to agree with everything that our brothers and sisters believe — especially if those beliefs are unscriptural — but we are commanded to love them unconditionally and sacrificially….We are commanded to see struggle and suffering and respond in love and compassion, whether it’s a Jewish person in pain or an Arab.

Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)

Jesus loves the Jews….Jesus loves the Arabs….Jesus loves the Iranians….Jesus loves the Druze, the Bedouins, and all who live in the epicenter….Jesus died for all….Jesus rose again for all….Jesus is coming back again to this city for all…The Day of the Lord is coming….surely it is near….Joel teaches us that the Day of the Lord is a day of great sadness and judgment for those who reject the Lord and disobey His Word….But Joel also teaches us that “whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved”

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Please continue to be praying for the Palestinian people — that God may show them His grace and favor and mercy in a real and special way, and that the Church will show them God’s love, too. These are precious people loved by our Lord and need so much better than they have gotten over the years.