"Confrontation"

Arlene Kushner

I knew it was going to be ugly. But the bounds of the confrontation we are going to face with Obama's administration transcends what I had expected. We have an enemy in the White House. And we have been let down by large parts of the American Jewish community.

Following here are excerpts from a report that has just come out from Middle East News Line (MENL) -- an exceedingly reliable news and intelligence source. (My emphasis added) "President Barack Obama intends to press Israel to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank over the next two years.

"Administration sources said the president has relayed messages to American Jewish leaders that the establishment of a Palestinian state would be the priority of his first term in office. The sources said Israeli assistance would determine whether Washington decides to resume efforts to block Iran's nuclear weapons program.

"'The order is first a Palestinian state and then Iran,' an administration source said.

"The sources said the White House has determined that a Palestinian state by 2012 was vital in the formation of any international coalition against Iran and its nuclear weapons program. They said Israel would be pressed to enable Palestinian Authority security forces to deploy throughout the West Bank as well as dismantle Jewish communities.

"'They are systematically setting up the most decisive confrontation that we've ever seen,' former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said.

"...Obviously, we want these [American Jewish] leaders to relay the president's priorities to Israel before the visit of the prime minister,' the source said.

"The sources said Obama has also told European Union leaders that his administration would be more forceful with Israel. They said the Obama message stressed that Israel would not be allowed to sidetrack the international effort to establish a Palestinian state.

"Obama was also said to have reaffirmed his determination for renewed talks for an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in the 1967 war. The sources said Obama was convinced that Israel should pursue negotiations with both Syria and the Palestinian Authority over the next year.

"'The president will get very specific in his talks with the Israeli prime minister,' the administration source said. 'The president will discuss specific measures and timetables..'"

~~~~~~~~~~

Where to begin in responding to this enraging information?

It's the tone, perhaps most of all, that infuriates: "Israel would not be allowed..." "Obama was convinced that Israel should..." We are a sovereign state and yet Obama believes he can dictate to us.

Or maybe it's the threat that riles: If you want help in taking down Iran's nuclear program, deliver what we want first.

~~~~~~~~~~

Then again it might be the collosal, pig-headed stupidity of this approach. I've said it before and I'll say it again here, and as many more times thereafter as is necessary:

Establishment of a Palestinian state and stopping Iran's nuclear ambitions are two different issues that should be handled separately. The linkage being made by Obama is simply not acceptable or reasonable. Supporting our efforts to stop Iran does not DEPEND on anything except Obama's will to act appropriately.

Iran is a threat to the free world, not just to Israel. If it goes nuclear it will certainly undermine all of the genuine interests of the US. So, if Iran does -- G-d forbid -- go nuclear, and US interests are threatened, is Obama going to say, "Gee, I couldn't act because Israel didn't establish a Palestinian state"? He has a responsibility to his nation and to the West on this score and he's evading it.

The moderate Arab states -- most significantly Egypt and Saudi Arabia -- whatever they say publicly, are very much frightened by the prospect of a nuclear Iran and would be pleased to see Iran stopped. What is more, they have no genuine, deep, and abiding interest in a Palestinian state.

As to the European states, Obama has moved to the left of them now with regard to Iran and nations such as France have expressed unease.

~~~~~~~~~~

And we have not yet come to the ludicrous or devious parts of this entire line of reasoning:

Obama is saying that we must produce a Palestinian state by 2012 and then he'll act on Iran. But by 2012 Iran would have already gone nuclear and it would be much too late.

Is this Obama's true intention? To let this happen while holding a threat over our heads?

~~~~~~~~~~

And finally this: The time is not ripe for a Palestinian state, even if it were a good idea (it's not) to establish one some day.

Actually, the time is so wrong for this that anyone pushing for a state "within two years" has to be acting without concern for the repercussions of its establishment. Consider:

-- Abbas is a weak leader who has not established the solid civic infratructure necessary for the establishment of a stable state.

-- The PA is rife with corruption.

-- Consequently the PA is one large welfare client, which operates on international handouts and has not established a viable economic base.

-- The Palestinian people have not been prepared for peace, as incitement continues in the textbooks and in the press. The most horrendous of terrorists are lauded as martyrs, while school children are taught that jidad is something Allah seeks. But real peace must be built from the bottom up.

-- The PA security forces, even those who have more recently been trained, are not reliable in so far as their will and capacity to take out terrorism is concerned. But then, there is a mixed message from the PA leaders.

-- The PA has grown increasingly radical in recent years and is adamently opposed to any compromise with Israel at all. They want what they want.

-- The PA refuses to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. This is of major import, for if there is to be talk of a "two state solution," the idea is one state for the Jews and one for the Palestinians. Except the Palestinians won't sign on to this. They want to establish their state as Judenrein, and then to send 4.1 million hostile refugees inside our borders, swallowing us up as well.

So, go build a stable, responsible Palestinian state from this that is supposed to lead to "peace."

~~~~~~~~~~

And this is just the beginning, for there is also an elephant in the room: Hamas. Obama clearly would prefer not to deal with this, but Hamas won't go away.

Hamas refuses to renounce terrorism, honor past PA agreements with Israel or recognize Israel's right to exist. Hamas is in control of Gaza, which is currently a center for terrorist activities and an area into which ever more weaponry is being smuggled.

What does Obama suggest will happen to Hamas if we sign a deal with Abbas and the PA?

There are two possibilites. One is that the PA will form a unity government with Hamas. In this case, Obama would be expecting us to deal with a government that has a party that still embraces terrorism.

More likely, Hamas will remain independent. It is already on its way to establishing a separate government. (More on this, hopefully tomorrow.) What this means is that we're being asked to live with TWO Palestinian states between the Mediterranean and the Jordan. What is more, Hamas has clearly indicated a desire to take over in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) if the Israeli forces that contain them pull out. This means Palestinian states on both flanks that are overtly terrorist.

~~~~~~~~~~

So, what we're seeing is that Obama's bow to the Saudi king was emblematic of his kissing-up-to-the-Muslims intent, which includes a willingness to put Israel on the chopping block.

But we Israelis are not having it.

~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the AIPAC conference by video. He's playing a difficult game -- the game I wrote about recently: being as conciliatory as possible without stepping over a red line. He spoke about the fact that he is ready to do negotiations with the Palestinians -- on economy, security and political matters. He said that he was sure that it was possible to reach peace. HOWEVER, he refrained from ever referring to either a "two state solution" -- the sacred mantra -- or referring to a "Palestinian state." He has neither in mind.

What is more, he says he will never sacrifice Israel's security. That alone precludes a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria. And he will insist that Israel be recognized by the Palestinians as a Jewish state.

~~~~~~~~~~

I would like, then, to return to what I wrote about yesterday. Netanyahu requires the maximum in support from all of us before he heads to the White House. If you have not yet communicated with him, please, do so.

Israelis: Let him know that you are a citizen, and that you support him as he goes to the US. Ask him please to stand strong and to resist pressure to accept a "two state solution." Tell him that this is what his nation needs of him right now, that we need him to speak in the best interests of Israel and to speak out for Israeli rights. Numbers matters, folks!

American citizens can also contact him. But you will need to say something different. From Americans he needs to hear that not everyone in the US wants a two-state solution. Tell him briefly about how you personally work to support Israel from within the US: rallying support via e-mails, holding discussions with people, writing letters to the editor, contacting your Congresspersons or Senators -- or whatever else you do.

Whether here in Israel, or in the US, please share this broadly by forwarding. Remove the "forwarding" data from the subject line and at the head of the message, and, if you wish, add your own introduction.

Note that I've added the proper way to dial from the States and note as well that the e-mail has an underscore after "pm."

Fax: 02-670-5369 (From the US: 011-972-2-5367)

Phone: 03-610-9898 (From the US: 011-972-3-610-9898)

E-mail: pm_eng2@it.pmo.gov.il

~~~~~~~~~~

One more word about AIPAC here: The question has been raised in several quarters regarding whether Netanyahu signed off on their "two state" position. This was asked because normally AIPAC, which is a US organization lobbying for Israel, takes its cue from the Israeli government.

It would seem he did not sign off on this, because had he, in his address to AIPAC he would have spoken about his vision of a "two state solution," and instead he studiously avoided this term. But I went further and asked some questions of people in the know, and the best answer is that it is highly unlikely that he did.

What has happened, however, is that AIPAC has now made things more difficult for Netanyahu. There are various theories floating, but why they did what they did is a question to which I have no answer as I write. My bet has something to do with pressure from the White House in one form or another.

~~~~~~~~~~

Americans must wake up and understand that what Obama is doing is enormously destructive to America. They must be educated to the realities. And I'm hoping that those of you in the US reading this who are activists and care deeply about the current situation will be on board over the next several months as we mount campaigns to fight this.

I've provided core information to bolster arguments and am available to anyone who seeks more.

Those of you who are Jewish Americans and connected to establishment Jewish organizations must begin to apply serious pressure on the leadership of these organizations, which has let us down -- caving to Obama rather than making the case that needs to be made.

In short order I hope I will be able to have more regarding contact with elected representatives.

~~~~~~~~~~
see my website www.ArlenefromIsrael.info

Iran threatens to destroy Israel, Obama vows to get tougher with...Israel

Jihad Watch

The establishment of a Palestinian state will only mean the establishment of a jihadist base from which to push forward toward the total destruction of Israel. And that, of course, is what Iran wants. Yet another Which-Side-Is-He-On Alert about our heroic new President: "Obama gets tougher with Israel on Palestinians, Iran," by Barak Ravid and Natasha Mozgovaya in Haaretz, May 5 (thanks to Chetz):

As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington May 17 approaches, the United States is sending strong messages on the establishment of a Palestinian state and Israeli settlement activity.

Gen. James Jones, national security adviser to President Barack Obama, told a European foreign minister a week ago that unlike the Bush administration, Obama will be "forceful" with Israel.

Meanwhile, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told an AIPAC conference last night that two states for two peoples is the only solution the United States is committed to.

"Relations between Israel and the U.S. are unbreakable," Emanuel said before a gathering of 350 AIPAC donors, adding that "this is the moment of truth for Israel and the Palestinians."

He also declared that "Iran is the number-one threat to the Middle East," and noted that it is hard to make progress wherever Tehran is involved in the Middle East.

Emanuel called for Israeli-Palestinian cooperation if Iran is to be countered effectively.

He said the United States was trying to enter a dialogue with countries such as Syria and Iran, even though it was still unclear whether these countries would alter their behavior.

Unclear? Really?

He reiterated that the United States wants to talk with Iran in the hope that Tehran will relinquish its efforts to gain nuclear weapons....

Good luck with that.

"The new administration will convince Israel to compromise on the Palestinian question," Jones said. "We will not push Israel under the wheels of a bus, but we will be more forceful toward Israel than we have been under Bush."

I don't know. If I were Netanyahu, I'd stay away from the bus routes while in Washington.

Obama's Plan to Destroy Israel

Daniel Greenfield - May 5, 2009

If there's one thing that the Carter Administration can be given credit for, it's creating the new wave of Islamist terrorism, both Sunni, operating out of Afghanistan, and Shiite, operating out of Iran. The Carter Administration cracked down on Israel and put its "faith" in Muslim terrorists, who then went on to wage war on America, even while Carter was in office. 28 years after Carter was removed from office, we're in reruns again with the Obama Administration, which is not only following the Carter line, but whose plans greatly exceed it. 28 years ago, Wahhabi Sunni and Shiite terrorists were generally an afterthought when compared to the standard USSR backed Marxist terrorist groups, such as the PLO.

Today, thanks in part to the Carter Administration, they control several countries and have designs on several more. From Pakistan to Afghanistan, from Gaza to Lebanon, from the Middle East to Southeast Asia, the threat is very real and bigger than ever particularly as the race by both Sunni and Shiite groups to build and deploy nuclear weapons continues.

Like Carter before him, Obama has chosen to cut backdoor deals with the Mullahs in Iran, offering them power over Iraq and Afghanistan, in exchange for quieting things down enough to let him hang up a Mission Accomplished banner and pull the troops out. "Peace with honor", preferably before the next election. The rape law for Shiites in Afghanistan, the push for a US funded Hamas/Fatah Unity government in the territories and the rising expansion of the Taliban are all fruits of this arrangement.

If Iran is to be our new best friend under this arrangement, Israel is to be our new best enemy.

Obama stacked the deck by deploying Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State in a position that gave her an important title, but absolutely no power to go with it, while stacking the National Security Council and even the Pentagon with oil appointees in the pockets of the Saudis or his own left wing radical friends.

Israel electing a conservative government really put the ball into play, freeing up even more resources for attacking Israel. The strategy runs something like this.

The Obama Administration has broken down the Israel problem into two subsections, Israel itself, and American Jews.

Obama's people have studied the problem and understand where Carter went wrong. Obama does not want to have the same image problems as Carter in the Jewish community. Should that happen, the Beloved Leader and his lapdog press are fully prepared to unleash a Chavez style hate-on targeting American Jews. But that would be inconvenient and messy. Even with the changing face of America, there are significant differences between the average American and European or Venezuelan, and what kind of ugliness they are willing to tolerate. So Obama's people have split their attention in handling the two factors as two different problems.

American Jews - Obama has been clever about putting his Jewish appointees front and center. Like many minorities, some American Jews suffer from self-esteem problems that are soothed when they see a seeming acceptance. Of course what they fail to realize is that exploitation is not acceptance. And that Obama's appointees are creatures of his backers, Nazi collaborators like Soros, who have nothing but contempt for Jews, individually or collectively.

While outwardly courting Jews, Obama's people have also been quietly shoving Jewish organizations and their leaders into a corner. Within the Jewish organizational world there has been a silent but deadly takeover of major Jewish groups by left wing radicals. Former alumni of the far left wing and anti-Israel groups like Breira or Coname in the 70's have been elevated to key positions in such organizations as the UJA Federation. Behind the scenes any Jewish leaders who expressed even doubts about Obama during the primaries were intimidated and silenced.

Much as with conservatives, a list has been drawn up of those figures who can be won over, and those who cannot. The ones who can be won over are described as "moderates", the ones who cannot be won over are described as "extremists".

Meanwhile a bevvy of left wing Jewish In Name Only groups have been organized to play their part. Key among them is the Soros funded J Street, a group created as an anti-Israel lobby meant to eventually replace AIPAC. Meanwhile AIPAC itself has been kept on the ropes with such things as the well timed Harman leak. The message once again is fairly clear, cooperate and keep quiet, or we'll destroy you.

The multi-layered approach to American Jews can then be summed up as follows;

1.) Co-opt existing Jewish organizations and swing them to the left using old school 70's leftists.

2.) Create new "progressive" organizations to appeal to a younger generation of ethnically Jewish youth detached from any actual identity. Have these organizations generate attacks on the Israeli government and pro-Israel Jews, while creating phony polls indicating that most American Jews are behind them and Obama.

3.) Silence and intimidate remaining Jewish organizations and leaders behind the scenes.

The overall idea is to keep a happy face pasted on American Jewry while the knives are out in the dark.

Israel - The basic understanding in the Obama Administration is that Israel Must Go. In the worldview of the more moderate Obama appointees, Israel is a destabilizing factor in the Middle East. To the more left wing Obama advisors, Israel is a Western imperialist colonialist state that must be destroyed in the name of revolutionary justice. To the Islamist mindset, Israel is a Kufir state that has no right to exist in the Dar Al Islam.

While intractably hostile to Israel, the Obama Administration wants to avoid the kind of public confrontations that marked the Carter and Bush Sr administrations. Instead they would much rather model the way that the Clinton Administration waged a quiet war against Israel, removing one government, and forcing extensive concessions to terrorists, all the while keeping a happy face pasted on the whole affair.

On the one hand that means avoiding harsh public attacks on Israel, but keeping the pressure up for Israel to make extensive far reaching one sided concessions, to accept Saudi and Arab League "peace plans", to legitimize Hamas as the new government of the Palestinian Authority, and to insure that Israel does not reply to any rocket or terrorist attacks.

There are two forms of quiet leverage that the United States has on Israel, the first is financial and the second is military.

On the financial side, the goal will be to bring down the Netanyahu government coalition by destabilizing Israel economically. This is the surest and most direct path to bringing down Israel's conservative government and replacing it with a left of center coalition. The Obama Administration has a wide variety of tactics at its disposal for doing so, from the overt, such as targeting Israeli exports and imports, to the covert, that would involve targeting the Shekel. Additionally fundraising in the US could be investigated and groups such as the Jewish National Fund, prevented from raising money in the US. All of these have been in play before at one time or another.

On the military side, Obama's people will make their non-existent efforts to stop Iran's nukes conditional on more concessions to terrorists. Since Israel will never be able to make enough concessions and since Obama is working with Iran, rather than working to stop Iran's nukes, this is a hollow charade.

Furthermore while Israel has already been locked out of the military technology pipeline for anything cutting edge, it still remains dependent on US military equipment for parts and supplies. The decades of US foreign aid have also served to create dependency. Unlike many other countries, including even Sweden, Israel does not have its own jet fighter. Israel's Air Force is heavily dependent on US weapons, parts and equipment. Cutting Israel off, would leave the Israeli military dangerously vulnerable in the case of a war. This is an effective chokehold that has been used before to prevent Israel from attacking Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War, as well as preventing Israel from carrying out a preemptive strike against its enemies before the Yom Kippur War.

The overall Obama policy will be to push Israel to the brink, using financial and military blackmail against the Netanyahu government, while maintaining control over American Jews to prevent any protests or backtalk.

The more Israel will offer, the more the Obama Administration will tighten the screws. No offer will be good enough, and Israel will be blamed for every breakdown in talks and every bit of violence that takes place. The media will portray Israel and particularly Netanyahu as extremist and intransigent. Hamas will be slowly whitewashed in the media, the same way that Arafat's goons were, (assuming that they prove more willing to cooperate in creating a positive media image of themselves than Ahmadinejad is.)

The plan is to destroy Israel, and to do it by pushing Israel to the edge of the cliff and then over the cliff. Israel's enemies will be getting top of the line US military equipment. Israel will not. Israel will be squeezed economically until the Netanyahu government collapses, leaving a weak left wing leader like Livni in charge of Israel, and in charge of acceding to the new Pharaoh's demands.

Meanwhile so-called American Jewish groups will support Obama all the way, some because they were created precisely for that purpose, e.g. J-Street, and others because they have been hijacked, cowed or subverted.

That is the game plan and some of it's coming. The rest is already here.

Daniel Greenfield is a New York City based writer and freelance commentator. “Daniel comments on political affairs with a special focus on the War on Terror and the rising threat to Western Civilization. He maintains a blog at Sultanknish.blogspot.com.

Daniel can be reached at: sultanknish@yahoo.com



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Obama Wants Israel To First Deliver On PA State

Steve Rodan

Obama Wants Israel To First Deliver On PA StateAdministration sources said the president has relayed messages to
American Jewish leaders that the establishment of a Palestinian state would
be the priority of his first term in office. The sources said Israeli
assistance would determine whether Washington decides to resume efforts to
block Iran's nuclear weapons program.

"The order is first a Palestinian state and then Iran," an
administration source said.

The sources said the White House has determined that a Palestinian state
by 2012 was vital in the formation of any international coalition against
Iran and its nuclear weapons program. They said Israel would be pressed to
enable Palestinian Authority security forces to deploy throughout the West
Bank as well as dismantle Jewish communities.

"They are systematically setting up the most decisive confrontation that
we've ever seen," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said.

Obama's message to American Jewish leaders came on the eve of his
meeting with visiting Israeli President Shimon Peres as well as the annual
conference by the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee. The sources said
the president wanted to clarify his position to the Jewish community before
the visit by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on May 18.

"Obviously, we want these [American Jewish] leaders to relay the
president's priorities to Israel before the visit of the prime minister,"
the source said.

The sources said Obama has also told European Union leaders that his
administration would be more forceful with Israel. They said the Obama
message stressed that Israel would not be allowed to sidetrack the
international effort to establish a Palestinian state.

On May 3, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told an AIPAC forum
that Obama would demand concessions from Israel and the Palestinians in the
U.S. effort to establish a Palestinian state. Emanuel said a resolution of
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would enable an effective U.S. approach
toward Teheran.

"All sides must meet their commitments, as difficult as they may be,"
Emanuel was quoted as telling 300 AIPAC donors in a closed session. "This is
the moment of truth for Israel and the Palestinians."

Obama was also said to have reaffirmed his determination for renewed
talks for an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights, captured from Syria in the
1967 war. The sources said Obama was convinced that Israel should pursue
negotiations with both Syria and the Palestinian Authority over the next
year.

"The president will get very specific in his talks with the Israeli
prime minister," the administration source said. "The president will discuss
specific measures and timetables.."

On May 5, Obama was scheduled to meet Peres at the White House. The
sources said Obama would discuss his vision of the Middle East with Peres in
an effort to prepare for the White House meeting with Netanyahu.

"Unfortunately, the Middle East finds itself in the shadow of a nuclear
threat," Peres told AIPAC on May 4. "We shall refuse to give up. We refuse
to surrender."

Comment: OK, first everyone needs to step back for a moment. Do not believe every news story-they have their own agenda and plan to report or should I say determine the news each day. There is no , nada, none, cause and effect relationship between the "Iran situation" and resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.Remember, 1979, a certain religious leader became the leader of Iran after over throwing the government. He said that it was his intention to export the Islamic revolution to the entire ME-this is in progress today-has nothing to do in its origins nor in its daily activities with Israel (other than wipe it off the map) or the Palestinian. Time for the truth to be stated, over and over until Mr. Obama's naive view of the ME is CHANGED!

Address by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the Annual AIPAC Conference - Washington, DC, 4 May 2009

It's very good to be with all of you, and I want to thank all of you. I want to thank first the members of Congress who are assembled there, the leaders of AIPAC, you David, Howard Friedman, Lee Rosenberg and Howard Kohr, all the delegates of AIPAC and the hundreds of students that are in the room, all the friends of Israel. I want to thank all of you for your unwavering support for Israel and for strengthening the great friendship between Israel and the United States. As you said, I have met President Obama, I respect him and I look forward to seeing him in Washington in a couple of weeks. We plan to continue our common quest for security, for prosperity and for peace.



Friends, there is something significant that is happening today in the Middle East, and I can say that for the first time in my lifetime, I believe for the first time in a century, that Arabs and Jews see a common danger. This wasn't always the case. In the '30's and '40's, many in the Arab world supported another country believing that that was their hope. In the '60's, '70' and '80's, they supported another country that was at odds with the Jewish state. But this is no longer the case.



There is a great challenge afoot. But that challenge also presents great opportunities. The common danger is echoed by Arab leaders throughout the Middle East; it is echoed by Israel repeatedly; it is echoed by Europeans, by many responsible governments around the world. And if I had to sum it up in one sentence, it is this: Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. If I had to sum up the opportunity in one word, it would be cooperation – cooperation between Israel and the Arab world and cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians.



Next week I'll be visiting Egypt with President Mubarak, and I plan to discuss both matters with him. We seek expanded relations with the Arab world. We want normalization of economic ties and diplomatic ties. We want peace with the Arab world. But we also want peace with the Palestinians. That peace has eluded us for more than 13 years. Six successive prime ministers of Israel and two American presidents have not succeeded in achieving this final peace settlement. I believe it is possible to achieve it, but I think it requires a fresh approach, and the fresh approach that I suggest is pursuing a triple track towards peace between Israel and the Palestinians – a political track, a security track, an economic track.



The political track means that we are prepared to resume peace negotiations without any delay and without any preconditions – the sooner the better. The security track means that we want to continue the cooperation with the program led by General Dayton, in cooperation with the Jordanians and with the Palestinian Authority to strengthen the security apparatus of the Palestinians. This is something we believe in and something that I think we can advance in a joint effort. The economic track means that we are prepared to work together to remove as many obstacles as we can to the advancement of the Palestinian economy. We want to work with the Palestinian Authority on this track, not as a substitute for political negotiations, but as a boost to them. I want to see Palestinian youngsters knowing that they have a future. I want them not to be hostage to a cult of death and despair and hate. I want them to have jobs. I want them to have career paths. I want them to know that they can provide for their families. This means that we can give them a future of hope, a future that means that there is prosperity for all. And this has proved to be successful in advancing a political peace in many parts of the world.



I believe that this triple track towards peace is the realistic path to peace, and I believe that with the cooperation of President Obama and President Abbas, we can defy the skeptics. We can surprise the world. But there are two provisos that I think have to be said at this point. First, peace will not come without security. If we abandon security, we'll have neither security nor peace. So I want to be very clear – we shall never compromise on Israel's security. Second, for a final peace settlement to be achieved, the Palestinians must recognize Israel as the Jewish state. They must recognize Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.



A few hours ago, I spoke at the Knesset. We marked the birthday of Theodore Herzl, the founding father of Zionism. Herzl revolutionized the history of the Jewish people, a people that was scattered and defenseless throughout the nations. He revolutionized Jewish history when he published a slim pamphlet called "The Jewish State". This was our salvation and this is our foundation – the foundation of our future and the foundation of peace.



Good night from Jerusalem. God bless America. God bless Israel. Thank you all.

US answers Assad – 'Stop supporting terror first'

State Department rejects Syrian president's call urging Washington to negotiate with Hamas and Hizbullah, suggests Damascus use its influence over aforementioned organizations in positive manner

Yitzhak Benhorin
Israel News
YNET News

WASHINGTON - The US would like to see Syria play a constructive role in the Middle East, US State Department Spokesman Robert Wood said on Monday in response to Syrian President Bashar Assad's call urging Washington to establish dialogue with Hamas and Hizbullah. Wood said that the US "would to see Syria change the behavior" of Hamas and Hizbullah, and reiterated
'No Peace For Peace'
Assad: Hamas, Hizbullah won't attack Israel with our help / Roee Nahmias
Syrian president responds to Foreign Minister Lieberman's recent remarks, stresses 'there's no such thing as peace in exchange for peace'
Full Story

that the US administration views both as terrorist organizations.



"We call on Syria to use its influence to make these two groups play a constructive role in the region. As I said, up until now they haven’t. They know what they need to do, and we hope Syria will use its influence on these two groups."



The State Department's comments came several days after President Assad proposed in a televised interview with 'France 3' that Washington deal "directly or indirectly" with Hizbullah and Hamas in order to achieve peace in the Middle East. Assad further suggested that his country would facilitate the talks between the US and the Arab groups.



Wood also addressed reported Israeli concerns regarding the rapprochement between Washington and Damascus, saying: "We hope to have a dialogue with Syria about a number of concerns that we have in the region. And we hope that that will result in Syria taking some steps that we want to see. And our interests are the same as Israel’s in terms of trying to get Syria to play a much more productive role in the region, to cease from supporting terrorist groups."


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A number of senior US officials visited Syria some two months ago, and another delegation is expected to travel there in the coming weeks, although Wood said he did not have any new details at present.



Further allaying concerns that the rekindled diplomacy between the US and Syria was moving too fast, Wood added: "So we’ve got a long way to go before we actually have a good relationship with Syria. As I said, we have a number of outstanding concerns, and hopefully we’ll be able to address them as we go along. We think Syria has an opportunity to play a positive role in the region. We encourage it to do so."

The Pharaoh Strikes Back: Egypt vs. Hezbollah

David Schenker
Weekly Standard
May 11, 2009 (Preview)

Anyone who has watched an Arab summit knows that the Middle East is racked with divisions. The highlight reel from the March 2009 Doha summit leads with a lengthy ad hominem attack by Libya's leader Muammar Qaddafi against Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, so severe that the Qatari hosts cut the audio feed midstream. But the fissures run much deeper than personal animosity. The Arab world is embroiled in a cold war, pitting Iranian allies Syria, Qatar, Hezbollah, and Hamas against "moderate" pro-West states like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. The battle-between competing regional visions of moqawama (resistance) and development and coexistence-has been joined in Lebanon, Palestine, and Iraq.

Washington has a clear interest in seeing its allies prevail in this contest and reversing the regional trend toward moqawama being driven by Iran. Slowing Tehran's momentum has proven difficult, however, at least in part because Washington's leading Arab ally, Egypt, has seen its regional influence decline. Tehran has capitalized on Cairo's diminished leadership role, asserting itself in Arab politics. The virtual absence of Egypt as a bulwark against Tehran's militancy has complicated Washington's efforts to promote moderation and check Iran's march toward a nuclear weapon.

But recent developments suggest that Egypt may finally be taking steps to reestablish itself as a counterweight to a resurgent Tehran. On April 8, Egyptian authorities announced the arrest last November of dozens of Hezbollah operatives in the Sinai. The announcement was accompanied by unprecedented Egyptian condemnations of the Iranian-Syrian backed organization and its popular leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

The arrest and subsequent war of words suggest an effort may be underway by moderate Arab states to roll back the increasingly pernicious Persian influence in the Levant.

According to Egyptian sources, the 49-strong Hezbollah cell rounded up in November-which included 13 Lebanese nationals and 2 Syrians-was plotting to attack Israeli tourists at Sinai beach resorts. The agents had been observed, Egyptian officials said, conducting pre-operational planning. Prosecutors also accused these operatives of setting up a surveillance network to monitor shipping traffic in the Suez Canal.

If attacks against Israelis or the canal had come to fruition, there is little doubt they would have done serious damage to Egypt, already suffering the consequences of the global economic downturn. Canal traffic-Egypt's third largest source of revenue-is already down 25 percent this year. And tourism, Egypt's leading industry, is highly dependent on security. Following the 1997 massacre of 58 foreign tourists in Luxor perpetrated by the Islamic Jihad, Egypt tourism fell off an estimated 50 percent, a calamity for the $3.7 billion industry.

Even before the arrests were announced, Cairo had a bone to pick with Hezbollah. During Israeli operations in Gaza this past January, despite pressures, Egypt maintained the Western-advocated policy of isolating Hamas, refusing to open the Rafah border and provide relief for the besieged Palestinian Islamists. Egypt's position was sharply denounced by Nasrallah. In a speech on December 28, 2008, he appealed to Egyptians to challenge their government, and "open the Rafah border crossing with your own bodies." Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit described the statement as a "declaration of war."

When the arrests were made public in early April, Nasrallah gave a televised speech on Hezbollah's Al Manar channel, taking the unusual step of claiming responsibility for the operatives. Instead of apologizing for the embarrassing incident, however, Nasrallah was unrepentant, even combative. Contrary to Egyptian claims, he said the cell was instead smuggling arms and explosives to Hamas in Gaza and had no intention of carrying out attacks on Egyptian soil. "If aiding the Palestinians is a crime," he added, "I am proud of it."

The response to Nasrallah's speech in the Egyptian government-controlled media was swift and harsh. On April 12, the leading government daily, Al Gomhuria, attacked Hezbollah as an agent of Iran that undermined Lebanese sovereignty, was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Lebanese in 2006 after it provoked a war with Israel, and killed dozens of innocents during its May 2008 invasion of Beirut.

Al Gomhuria was particularly pointed in its criticism of Nasrallah, calling the Hezbollah leader a "Monkey Sheikh," and "the son of garbage," who is "not the leader of the resistance" but the head of a "terrorist organization" that is "an ideological ally of al Qaeda." The editor of the government-affiliated Rose al Yousef magazine added that Lebanon should "surrender [Nasrallah] as a war criminal."

The arrests and the harsh public critiques were an Egyptian warning shot across the bow of Hezbollah's patron Iran. Egyptian-Iranian relations have been tense since the 1978 Camp David Accords. In the aftermath of the Iranian revolution, to Tehran's consternation, Egypt provided sanctuary to the deposed shah; for decades in Tehran, to the annoyance of Cairo, there has been a giant mural of, and a street named after, Khalid Islambouli, the assassin of former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. More recently, during the January 2009 Israeli military campaign in Gaza, an organization affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards put a $1.5 million bounty on the head of President Mubarak, which was posted on the website of the Iranian government's Fars news agency.

For Egypt, though, the bad blood is more about the present than the past. Cairo is primarily concerned about Tehran's progress in acquiring a nuclear weapon. There are also indications-such as the accusation against the arrested cell members-that Egypt is troubled about Iranian attempts to "spread Shiism" to the Nile Valley.

These concerns seem to have been behind an Egyptian initiative in late 2007 and early 2008 to improve bilateral relations with Tehran. In December 2007, Iranian National Security Council head Ali Larijani visited Cairo. Subsequently Mubarak called his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But the short-lived attempt at rapprochement failed, and last month's arrests rekindled the animosity.

In the aftermath of the round-up, Egyptian security sources leaked to the press that it was highly likely that Iran "has connections" to the arrested cell. Meanwhile, senior Hezbollah officials have accused Cairo of "fabricating" the story, and "blowing the affair out of proportion."

Facing increased economic pressure and an impending period of political transition, it is understandable that Mubarak has described the presence of Hezbollah on its territory as an Iranian gambit to "threaten Egypt's national security and undermine its stability." During a speech to military officers in late April, Mubarak vowed to Iran that Egypt would "uncover all of your plots and respond to your ploys," adding, with a flourish, "beware the wrath of Egypt."

There is little doubt that the arrests enhance Egypt's security. But the round-up of the Hezbollah cell also benefits Egypt with Washington and strengthens Cairo's position in the region. Cairo is looking to improve relations with Washington, and it seems likely that the arrests will earn Egypt credit with the Obama White House.

At the same time, the move against Hezbollah may have been calculated to influence the electorate in Lebanon, where the pro-Western government faces a tight race against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah-led opposition in the June 7 elections. Indeed, Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki suggested that the government of Egypt had fabricated charges against Hezbollah cells expressly for this purpose.

One additional but perhaps unintended benefit for the Mubarak regime appears to have been the ill-advised response of the Islamist opposition to the arrests. The Muslim Brotherhood-which came out in support of Hezbollah's efforts to aid Hamas in Gaza despite the violation of Egyptian territorial sovereignty-seems to have misjudged popular sentiment.

The incarceration of Hezbollah operatives by Egypt comes at a critical time, just as the Obama administration is embarking on a controversial policy of diplomatic engagement with Tehran. In the Middle East, Washington's Arab allies are watching closely, concerned that the new president may choose accommodation over confrontation with Tehran. Although it would constitute an unlikely change in U.S. policy, the prospect that Washington may be prepared to live with a nuclear Iran is not a development that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and other moderate Arab states would welcome, to say the least.

Egypt's going public against Hezbollah was a sign that Cairo at least has drawn a red line for Iran. With a little luck, should Egypt persist in its willingness to confront Tehran, it could encourage Washington's other regional allies to step up, facilitating international efforts to prevent Iran from attaining a nuclear weapon.

For Washington, Cairo's combativeness is good news that should be encouraged with concrete steps to support Egyptian efforts to counter further Iranian infiltration and subversion. Mubarak's visit to Washington later this month will be a good opportunity to explore how best to pursue this coincidence of interest.

As developments in Egypt suggest, Washington's Arab allies are increasingly concerned about Iranian inroads into the Levant. The preservation of embattled Arab friends should be a key element of U.S. strategy as Washington embarks on its policy of engagement with Tehran. Not only will this strengthen Washington's position at the negotiating table with Tehran, it will ensure that a robust Arab front is in place when the talks ultimately fail.

David Schenker is Aufzien fellow and director of the Program on Arab politics at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Israel Faces a Hard Sell in Bid to Shift Policy

ETHAN BRONNER
NY Times

JERUSALEM — The new government of Israel is seeking to reorient the country’s foreign policy, arguing that to rely purely on the formulas of trading land for peace and promising a Palestinian state fails to grasp what it views as the deeper issues: Muslim rejection of a Jewish state and the rising hegemonic appetite of Iran.Advisers to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are drafting policy suggestions aimed at forming a framework that he plans to present to President Obama at their first summit meeting, in Washington on May 18. In addition, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman left Sunday for Europe on his first official visit, and on Tuesday, President Shimon Peres is to meet with Mr. Obama in Washington.

Such an ambitious effort to reformulate the conflict will be, by all accounts, tough to sell for two reasons.

First, even though the standard approaches have not yielded success, no alternative has emerged.

Second, the Obama administration has repeatedly backed the two-state solution, as have the Europeans. In other ways, too, this White House has seemed to be closer in outlook to Europe than the past administration was.

Israel’s effort to switch the discussion to Iran is likely to be met in Washington and in European capitals with the assertion that it is precisely because of the need to build an alliance to confront Iran that Israel must move ahead vigorously with the Palestinians as well as with the Syrians.

“President Obama views the region as a whole, and trying to isolate each problem does not reflect reality,” said a senior American official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the American policy was still in formation. “It will be a lot easier to build a coalition to deal with Iran if the peace process is moving forward.”

A senior Israeli official, who also would speak only if not named because Israeli policy was being formed, said he believed that when Mr. Netanyahu met Mr. Obama, he would acknowledge that ultimately the goal was a Palestinian state. But it is expected that he would say that such a state was far in the future because Palestinian institutions and economic development required a great deal of work — as well as investment from Arab states — and that Palestinian education and public discourse needed to be more oriented toward coexistence.

Mr. Lieberman is to begin his trip in Rome, seeing Foreign Minister Franco Frattini on Monday, and then travel to Paris, Prague and Berlin for similar meetings. He is one of the most controversial senior members of the Israeli government. As a candidate, he called for a loyalty oath aimed at Israeli Arabs. In addition, his public speech has been tough, sometimes brutal. And he himself lives in a West Bank settlement.

Israel’s own diplomats view his arrival as their chief with circumspection, especially because his predecessor, Tzipi Livni, was admired by her colleagues in Europe. Whenever she went to Paris, for example, she saw not only the foreign minister but also President Nicolas Sarkozy. So far, Mr. Sarkozy has not agreed to see Mr. Lieberman this week.

“I tell people who worry about Lieberman that I worry too,” a senior Israeli diplomat said, requesting anonymity to speak freely of his boss. “But after I stop worrying I tell myself, you have to be fair, you have to give this guy a chance to express himself as the foreign minister of Israel, not just as a candidate.”

Yigal Palmor, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said that Mr. Lieberman had been scheduled to meet with all 27 European Union foreign ministers this month at a summit meeting, but that Mr. Lieberman had asked for a delay so the government could come up with its policy guidelines. The European Union agreed.

It seems likely that the plan that Mr. Netanyahu will present to Mr. Obama will have a strong regional component in an attempt to fend off pressure on Israel to accept the Arab League peace plan, which calls on Israel to return to the 1967 borders as well as to accept a right of return for Palestinian refugees to Israel. The new Israeli government completely rejects both.

Mr. Lieberman is one of the strongest advocates for rethinking Israel’s approach and rejecting what he views as failed past formulas. He wants tough sanctions against Iran as the first step. He told The Jerusalem Post in an interview published last week that the aim of the policy review was to make progress on Palestinian economic and political developments and “to take the initiative” in the region.

“People try to simplify the situation with these formulas: land for peace, two-state solution,” Mr. Lieberman told the newspaper. “It’s a lot more complicated.” He added that the real reason for the deadlock “is not occupation, not settlements and not settlers.” Nor, he said, is it the Palestinians. The biggest obstacle, he said, is “the Iranians.”

He, like the entire Israeli leadership, argues that since Iran sponsors Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, both of which reject Israel’s existence and seek its destruction, the key to the Palestinian solution is to defang Iran and stop it from acquiring the means to build a nuclear weapon.

Increasingly, the Arab world — especially Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan — seems worried about Iran as well. American officials who have recently visited those countries said that their leaders spoke about Iran in ways that were almost identical to what they heard from officials in Jerusalem. Therefore, the opportunity for a regional alliance against Iranian influence is great.

But, they say, for Arab leaders to work alongside Israel on this, even quietly, requires demonstrable Israeli movement on ending its occupation of the West Bank by freezing or reducing settlements and handing over more power to the Palestinians.

Israel dislikes that formulation, arguing that the two issues need to be addressed separately. If they are linked, it is in the opposite way from what the West says. In other words, Israel says the occupation can be ended most easily once Iran is put in its place because then there will be much less risk of Iranian weapons being used against Israel from neighboring territory. Meanwhile, Israel says it cannot be expected to freeze settlement growth entirely.

The American, European and Arab response is that for Iran to be checked, every nation needs to do its part, and Israel’s part is to work toward ending the occupation, stopping settlement construction and fostering the creation of a Palestinian state.

When a senior American official was told that the Israelis did not view the Iranian and Palestinian problems as linked, he replied simply, “Well, we do.”

Comment: This is what PM Netanyahu faces from this moment forward. He should know that he stands supported in remaining strong against USA and EU pressure-we should daily send an email message, a phne call on another day and then a fax to thank him for standing tall. Arlene Kushner offers some excellent advice today:
Those of you who are Israeli citizens, please contact him: Let him know that you are a citizen, and that you support him as he goes to the US. Ask him please to stand strong and to resist pressure to accept a "two state solution." Tell him that this is what his nation needs of him right now, that we need him to speak in the best interests of Israel and to speak out for Israeli rights.

Those of you who are American citizens can also contact him. But you will need to say something different. From Americans he needs to hear that not everyone in the US wants a two-state solution. Tell him briefly about how you personally work to support him from within the US: rallying support via e-mails, holding discussions with people, writing letters to the editor, contacting your Congresspersons or Senators -- or whatever else you do.

I ask that you go one additional step-engage the following key Knesset members in the same manner-here is the contact information:

Key Knesset Members:

Benjamin Netanyahu-PM

Telephone:02-6408456
Fax:02-6496659
Email:bnetanyahu@knesset.gov.il


Avigdor Liberman

Fax:02-6408921
Email:aliberman@knesset.gov.il

Moshe Ya`alon

Telephone:02-6408891
Email:myaalon@KNESSET.GOV.IL

Silvan Shalom

Telephone 2:02-6408378
Fax:02-6753792
Email:sshalom@knesset.gov.il

Ehud Barak
Telephone:02-6753223
Fax:02-6496117
Email:ehudb@knesset.gov.il

"We Have Met the Enemy..."

Arlene Kushner

Some of you who are Americans, and are of a certain age, will remember the cartoon figure Pogo, drawn by Walt Kelly. The most famous line Pogo ever spoke was, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

These words of wisdom -- the most appropriate I could think of -- came to me today as I surveyed the news. For what I encountered was this:

The AIPAC (American-Israel Political Action Committee) -- an American organization -- is holding its policy conference in Washington this week. As always, at the end of the conference, the delegates who have attended flood Capitol Hill and lobby their respective Senators and Congresspersons. Tomorrow the lobbying will be done. And guess what these delegates will be asking of their representatives? To sign on to a letter that will go to Obama that specifically calls for a "viable Palestinian state."

This is how a "pro-Israel" group is supporting the Prime Minister of Israel, who has declined to talk about a Palestinian state or a two-state solution. Their rationale is that they can be a "bridge" between Obama and Netanyahu.

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According to a Jerusalem Post report on this, there will be several draft letters included included in the packet provided to the delegates.

One sets out "basic principles" for negotiations, another insists upon an absolute Palestinian commitment to ending terrorism, etc.

Dr. Aaron Lerner, on the IMRA website today, calls AIPAC the "pigs can fly chorus" -- supporting a Palestinian state that would "ensure" peace, which is in fact an impossibility.

~~~~~~~~~~

Add to this a statement by Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, also, at least in theory, one of ours, who Sunday attended a closed door forum for AIPAC's largest donors. This was the moment of truth, he told them. The ability to confront Iran depends upon progress in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Give us a break!! This argument does not fly either.

Actually, the very reverse is true, for the stronger Iran is, the more it foments terrorism via Hamas, and the less likely peace with the Palestinians is. As to moderate Arab states, they will not predicate support for confronting Iran on this, for they very much want the Iranian threat defused for their own sakes.

~~~~~~~~~~

This, then, is what our Prime Minister will be walking into when he goes to Washington and meets with Obama on May 18. A very, very difficult time.

Each of us, however, can lend him support. It is, in fact, important that we do so.

Below you will find contact information for Prime Minister Netanyahu. Sending a fax is the best option.

Those of you who are Israeli citizens, please contact him: Let him know that you are a citizen, and that you support him as he goes to the US. Ask him please to stand strong and to resist pressure to accept a "two state solution." Tell him that this is what his nation needs of him right now, that we need him to speak in the best interests of Israel and to speak out for Israeli rights.

Those of you who are American citizens can also contact him. But you will need to say something different. From Americans he needs to hear that not everyone in the US wants a two-state solution. Tell him briefly about how you personally work to support him from within the US: rallying support via e-mails, holding discussions with people, writing letters to the editor, contacting your Congresspersons or Senators -- or whatever else you do.

Whether here in Israel, or in the US, please share this broadly by forwarding. Remove the "forwarding" data from the subject line and at the head of the message, and, if you wish, add your own introduction.

Fax: 02-670-5369

Phone: 03-610-9898

E-mail: pm_eng2@it.pmo.gov.il

~~~~~~~~~~

Very soon I hope to have more information on how you can help.

~~~~~~~~~~
see my website www.ArlenefromIsrael.info

Shas Digs in on Jewish Rights

Hana Levi Julian
Arutz 7

Interior Minister Eli Yishai announced Sunday that he plans to develop Jerusalem's City of David into a Jewish residential area. The area has been the source of a rich treasure of archaeological artifacts dating back to the Second Temple period, many of them documenting events that are noted in Jewish sacred and historical texts.
The statement earned the outrage of Palestinian Authority officials, who called the Netanyahu coalition a "government of settlers and settlements, and not a government of negotiation."

Khatem Abed al-Kader, an aide to PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, was quoted by the Hebrew-language daily Yediot Acharonot as saying the Interior Minister's words were "silly and dangerous."

Peace Now organization head Yariv Oppenheimer also expressed anger and fear that Yishai's plans would set off a new round of violence from disgruntled Arabs.

"Minister Yishai wants to destroy a chance to reach a future compromise between Israel and the Muslim world and make the Jerusalem issue unsolvable," he charged. "His fiery statements may set the entire region on fire and lead Israel to the start of a new intifada."

The Shas party chairman shared his plans with Jewish business owners prior to a meeting at the Jerusalem municipality that was set to decide on building plans for the area.

Yishai told the entrepreneurs that he intends to build Jewish neighborhoods next to existing Arab neighborhoods, adding that he also intends to create construction plans in the area for Arabs as well.

"Every building plan that comes must include Jewish settlement and an extensive tourism venture," he declared. "The City of David is the bedrock of our existence, the land of our sovereignty, and Jewish settlement there is our right."

All of the participants in the meeting were property owners who had purchased land in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood, also known by its Arabic name, Silwan.

Al-Kader warned in a veiled threat that the Arab residents of Silwan "are not just going to sit by." He also claimed that the land purchases were invalid. "Everything is illegal and even the claims of Jewish artifacts in the area have never been proven," he charged.

"Yishai should get the term 'unified Jerusalem' out of his head because it is not and will never be unified," al-Kader stated.

Ayalon: We Accept Two-State Goal

Gil Ronen
Arutz 7

“The government of Israel, because of our democratic tradition and because of the continuity principle, is going to abide by all previous commitments the former government took, including the acceptance of the road map to peace which will lead to a two-state solution,” Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said Sunday.
The Bloomberg news agency reported that Ayalon made the comments in his Jerusalem office.

The statement is the most explicit one by the present government regarding the acceptance of the two-state model. Its timing is significant: Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman will begin a tour of Europe Monday. He will visit Italy, France, the Czech Republic and Germany. President Shimon Peres will meet President Barack Obama on May 5 and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will visit Washington a short time later.

The Deputy Foreign Minister, who is also from Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu party, said that Iran was making an effort to derail progress toward peace by supporting Hamas in Gaza and Hizbullah in Lebanon.

Ayalon called for harsher international sanctions against Iran's nuclear program. Talks on the Iranian nuclear program “shouldn’t be open-ended” and the time alloted to them “should be measured by months and not years.”

To date, Netanyahu has stopped short of publicly endorsing the idea of a PA state. Instead, he has said that he intends to focus on “an economic peace” – built around improving the PA economy.

Shmuel Sandler, a political scientist at Bar Ilan University, told Bloomberg that Ayalon’s statement was meant to ensure Israel wouldn’t be blamed for slowing down peace negotiations. “They realized that it is not worthwhile not to accept this and pay dearly for it internationally,” Sandler said. “Why should they be punished for something that is very theoretical?”

Foreign Minister Lieberman said on April 1 that Israel is not bound by commitments it made at the Annapolis Conference in 2007 and would follow the “road map.” Ayalon’s statement appears to contradict that position.



Oren: Israel won't allow Iran nukes

Dr. Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador designate to the United States, said on Sunday that he did not believe Israel would allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. Speaking at the annual convention of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Oren also said that many officials in the region consider the halting of Iran's support of terrorism vital to progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, "even if they do not say so" overtly.

Ynet reports that Oren was approached by hundreds of people who asked to congratulate him on the appointment, but he said he was still awaiting the cabinet's final decision on the matter. If his appointment is approved, Oren is expected to accompany Netanyahu on his first state visit to Washington on May 16. He received Lieberman's approval following a weekend meeting, in spite of remarks made earlier this year in which he supported Israeli withdrawal from parts of Judea and Samaria.

PM Netanyahu’s tank

President Peres’ meeting with Obama to serve as introduction to Bibi’s visit

Eitan Haber
Israel Opinion
YNET News

There is no doubt that someone at the White House’s protocol department suffered a stroke recently, or at the very least was overcome by consternation: Shimon Peres, the State of Israel’s president, is the first one to arrive for a meeting with President Obama? According to tradition and to the acceptable norms associated with the very special relationship between Washington and Jerusalem, it is customary for an Israeli prime minister, almost immediately after being elected, to pack his bags and head to the American capital. This is what almost all Israeli prime ministers in the last generation did.


Why? First and foremost, this is a gesture to the United States for everything it has said and done on behalf of the State of Israel thus far. And between us, this custom also constitutes acknowledgement and recognition of Washington’s influence (absolute influence, in my view) on Jerusalem.



Some would say that it’s a case of the slave traveling to meet his master (and I say: Let them say whatever they want! As long as the US cares for our security and economy.)



Moreover, in past generations, when it came to previous prime ministers, presidents or other ministers did not dare meet with the US president before the PM. The few attempts that were made to meet the president before the PM were cruelly torpedoed by the prime minister’s close associates.



Meanwhile, the US president would usually return the favor to a new Israeli prime minister, by always – always – meeting the Israeli PM before meeting any other Middle Eastern leader, thereby presenting to everyone in the world America’s fondness for the State of Israel over others. This is not just a question of protocol. Our neighbors would clench their teeth and mutter harsh words about the American president’s mother.



Yet this time around, almost half the world has already met Obama, including Middle Eastern leaders (amazingly enough, even Mahmoud Abbas,) while President Peres headed to Washington last night.


Obama to be ‘pleasantly surprised’

The fact that is visible to all, that is, Obama already met regional leaders and will meet Peres before he meets Netanyahu, points to one possibility: Netanyahu is greatly debating on the diplomatic plan he wishes to present to the US president.



The prime minister, who is more mature after 10 years in the opposition desert, is more American than many Americans and he fully realizes that with the kind of statements he made during the election campaign there is no point for him to even pack his neckties or head to the airport. He has overcome, a long time ago, the arrogance that prompted him to try to convince everyone, including the American president, that his way is the right way.



In addition, Obama conveyed very clear hints regarding his intentions and plans, and to Netanyahu’s credit, he understands the new winds blowing through the White House’s corridors. In this respect, President Peres’ journey to the White House is similar to a tank making way for the troops behind him through a minefield.


The experienced and wise Peres is the introduction to Netanyahu’s visit. He will praise Netanyahu and tell Obama about the lessons learned by the Israeli prime minister; Peres will also hint that Netanyahu of the election campaign is not the same Netanyahu when it comes to diplomatic initiatives (and of course, the same is true for Lieberman as well.) The American president shall be “pleasantly surprised” (or some kind of a similar expression) by Netanyahu’s’ peace intentions.



So at least in this respect, the State of Israel was granted the right Israeli president at the right time, as well as a prime minister who may reinforce, just like some of his predecessors, the well-known Israeli idiom: “Only the Right can bring peace, just like only the Left can embark on war.”

Assad urges US to talk to Hamas, Hizbullah

In interview with French TV, Syrian president says Damascus ready to help broker contacts with terror groups, says isolating them 'counterproductive if Washington wants to seek regional peace'

AFP
Israel News
YNET News

Syrian President Bashar Assad urged the United States on Sunday to reach out to terror groups Hamas and Hizbullah as part of the search for Middle East peace, in an interview with French television. Speaking to France 3, Assad welcomed what he said was a new willingness in Washington to listen to Syria's views since President Barack Obama took office, and said Damascus was ready to help broker contacts with the groups.



The United States regards both Lebanon's Hizbullah and the Palestinian group Hamas as terrorist movements, and does not recognize them, a stance which Assad said was counterproductive if Washington wanted to seek regional peace.



"I think the problem was with the previous administration," Assad said, criticizing former US president George W. Bush and welcoming Obama's decision to send envoys to open a tentative dialogue with Syria.



"I think if you want to solve the problem you can't go about saying: 'This is good and this is bad, this is evil and this is democratic, this is human rights and this is not politics'," he said.



"Politics is when you deal with reality. When you deal with influential parties to influence the position in a positive or a negative way," he said, calling on the United States to talk to both Iran and the terror groups.



"Hamas has influence and you cannot ignore them. You can't achieve peace while Hamas is outside this peace or against the peace," he said, adding that the same was true of Hizbullah.



Assad called for "direct or indirect" talks between Washington and Hamas, and added: "When they want to have help with these parties, any contact direct or indirect with Syria, and maybe direct, we are ready to help."



Last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she had sent two diplomats to Syria, but Washington remains cautious in its dealings with a government that has close ties to Iran and to hardline armed groups.

"Prospects Dim"

Arlene Kushner

None of the reports are encouraging -- nor did I expect they would be. That is, with regard to the meeting between PM Netanyahu and President Obama scheduled for later this month.

Oh, there is the usual spin from some sources about how Netanyahu will be warmly welcomed. But other reports are positively grim with regard to how intensely and determinedly Obama will be pressuring our prime minister. We know, without a question of a doubt, that these two heads of state have different worldviews and different perspectives on how to approach the situation in the Middle East. Netanyahu -- bless him for this! -- has yet to even utter the term "two state solution," while Obama has set the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as his first goal, declaring with breath-taking shortsightedness that everything else depends upon this.

Thus, we should not expect reports following the meeting of the beginning of a warm friendship developing between the two men, who really see eye to eye on the important issues, blah, blah, blah. Or, let us say, if we hear such reports, we should know better than to believe them.

~~~~~~~~~~

I remain pleased, at this point, with approaches reportedly being taken by Netanyahu. He is preparing with considerable care, and has a research team compiling facts and talking points for each issue that will be on the table with Obama.

What I am seeing again and again, with regard to reports that are coming out, is that this government is talking "tachlis" -- confronting issues that others were prepared to sweep under the carpet. The first was the matter of having the PA recognize us as a Jewish state -- for you can't even talk about a "two state solution" unless it's clear that one of those states is Jewish. And so the Palestinian refusal to do so is being exposed and their intention called into question.

Now I read that one source close to the Netanyahu team has said, "Two states for two people is more complicated than the slogan suggests. For example, what is to be done with Hamas in Gaza?"

To which I responded, Mazel tov! Here is someone stating the obvious, at last. Hamas has been the elephant in the room: everyone talked about negotiating with the PA as if Hamas were not there.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The key here is the ability of Netanyahu to stand strong in the face of that Obama pressure. More to come on this.

~~~~~~~~~~

With regard to the entire business of a negotiated "two-state solution," I ask you please to read and extensively share my latest piece, "Two States: A Figment of Obama's Imagination," which ran on Front Page Magazine. It deals in some detail with the complexities that are being ignored by Obama.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=34528

~~~~~~~~~~

As Netanyahu plans his approach to Obama, he is in consultation with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Minister for Strategic Affairs Moshe Ya'alon, and Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy, Dan Meridor..

His primary message to Obama and company will be that dealing with Iran has priority over talks with the Arabs, be they Palestinians, Syrians or Lebanese.

~~~~~~~~~~

For his part, Mahmoud Abbas, PA president, is himself delusional.

To date, as expected, all negotiations between Fatah and Hamas regarding formation of that much-touted unity government have failed. Abbas has now announced that he will form a new government, which Hamas has warned him not to do.

Yesterday, a representative of Fatah, Palestinian Legislative Council member Faisal Abu Shahla, declared that "the new government which President Abbas intends to form will be responsible for both the West Bank and Gaza."

Says he. But is Hamas on board with this? Clearly not. In fact, Hamas warns that this plan would be regarded as a "fatal blow" to Egyptian efforts to achieve a unity government.

In this eventuality, Hamas intends to form its own government. But Abu Shahla says this is "tantamount to a coup, and the deepening of division." Apparently he hasn't noticed that there has already been a coup.

"...this government [formed by Abbas] will not be [just] for the West Bank, as some people are saying, but will rather take responsibility for the Palestinians in Gaza, including for delivering salaries, social affairs and medical treatment abroad."

The PA has been sending money into Gaza for salaries all along, and is involved with helping people get medical treatment. Have no clue what's involved in being responsible for "social affairs." But this is not the totality of a government by any means.

This is a study in political confusion.

~~~~~~~~~~

While further clarifications may be necessary, I have from more than one source the suggestion that Obama, during his recent visit to Turkey, responded with such warmth to Prime Minister Ergodan, that the Turks have now been emboldened. In the wake of Obama's visit they moved to sign a pact with Lebanon -- which is on its way to Hezbollah control -- that will grant it both military training and arms.

Bad news for Israel. And yet one more troubling sign that Israeli security is not on Obama's radar.

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel is preparing seriously for possibility of conflict with Iran.

Those Air Force reservists who operate the Arrow and Patriot missile defense systems are being called up one day a week to sharpen their skills.

According to a top IAF officer quoted by the Post:

"We are working hard to be ready for the Iranian threat, "We are preparing for barrages, split warheads and other surprises and therefore we need to retain a high operational level by everyone, including reservists."

The preparation involves different possible scenarios: large barrages of missiles fired from different countries at once, and the need for the operator to decide which missile to intercept first and at what stage of its flight.

Additionally, today the French paper, L'Express, reported that Israeli fighter jets, preparing for a possible attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, recently conducted a drill above the Strait of Gibraltar.

~~~~~~~~~~
Do you remember the charges brought four years ago against two officials of AIPAC -- Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman -- that they had illegally disclosed classified information to Israel? The whole case smelled of ugly politics from the beginning.

Now the US government has decided to drop the case because of a diminishing possibility that it could succeed in securing convictions. Among the reasons for this change of heart was the fact that the defense had secured permission to call high profile former officials such as Condoleezza Rice to testify that the sort of sharing of information they did was standard procedure.

The defendants are delighted, but also express frustration that because there will be no trial there will be no opportunity to definitively prove their innocence.

"I was a person who had his whole life taken away from him," said Rosen.

But the issue transcends what happened to these two personally: "We're in a situation where the wild allegations against Israel and the friends of Israel are being printed all over the place, and some people believe."

~~~~~~~~~~

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who has been accused of being a racist, hostile to Arabs, recently appointed Bedouin diplomat Ismail Khaldi as his Middle East advisor. Khaldi, who holds a masters degree in political science, served in the IDF and worked as a political analyst for the Defense Ministry. He was the first Bedouin to join Israel's Foreign Service, and now Lieberman is the first minister to appoint a Bedouin as his advisor.

~~~~~~~~~~
see my website www.ArlenefromIsrael.info

The Man who may be Israel's next ambassador to the United States

Dan Gordon
American Thinker
Article published before announcement that he is our new Ambassador

Dr. Michael Oren is being touted as Israel's next ambassador to the U.S. He's taking a number of hits in the press. Some people have said he's too conservative, others that he's too liberal. He is undeniably one of the world's foremost historians on the Middle East. That is, admittedly, his day job, not mine. I'm a writer. I have a play called "Irena's Vow" running on Broadway. So what qualifies me to comment in any way on the man who may be Israel's next ambassador to the United States? Doctor Oren, in addition to his other achievements, is also a major in the same reserve unit in the IDF in which I serve as a captain. I can tell you a bit about the man. I have served in two wars with him.

One night in the 2006 Hezbollah /Israel War Michael and I were serving as public affairs officers. We were up at the Lebanese border late at night when another officer came up and approached us and four or five others.

What most people don't realize is that for the first few weeks of that war Israel actually had fewer troops on the ground than Hezbollah. They quite literally outnumbered Israeli forces on the ground until the last few days of the war. A battle had been raging and Israel had taken casualties. They were looking for volunteers to go into Lebanon as a covering party and hook up with several ambulances that were evacuating wounded. They couldn't land a chopper because it was right in the heart of Hezbollah strongholds and they would have been shot out of the sky by anti air craft missiles.

Without saying a word Michael was the first to pick up his gear and volunteer.

We were a half dozen middle aged reserve officers. We didn't have an arDan Gordon's unitmored vehicle, so we actually went into Lebanon in my Avis rent a car. After looking for the ambulance for what seemed like hours we realized there was a screw up in co-ordinates and we were sitting ducks in a rent a car in Lebanon.

We headed back into Israel and waited at the border crossing for word on where the ambulances were. After a while the same officer found us and acknowledged that there had been a screw up in co-ordinates. Now there was another problem.


There was an ambulance with four dead Israeli soldiers that needed a covering party to go in for their evacuation. Again it was too dangerous for helicopters to land. Again they were asking for volunteers. Again Michael was the first to pick up his gear and volunteer.

My son had been killed at the age of twenty two in a horrific car accident. Michael's son had been wounded in action in a fire fight with terrorists. To all of us middle aged men these fallen boys could have been our sons. We went back into Lebanon in the rent a car.

We hooked up with the ambulance in a wadi or deep ravine. Flairs were going off above us, which meant that Hezb'allah knew we were there and were hunting for us. We served as the covering force while the fallen were evacuated. Later Michael's daughter, who was serving as a social worker in the Golani Brigade, called Michael on his cell phone. Her unit had taken a lot of wounded; most of them were her friends.

Michael turned to me and said , my daughter needs a hug. Can I borrow your car? The two of us drove down from the Lebanese border to Rambam Hospital in Haifa. Michael spent a half hour with his daughter; gave her a much needed hug and then the two of us drove back near dawn to rejoin our unit.

That is the kind of man Israel's ambassador designate to the U.S. is. He wouldn't hesitate to endanger his life not only to recover wounded, but to recover the fallen, and though exhausted himself, drove round trip, four hours to give his daughter a hug when she most needed her father's love.

There are other people who can amply describe Doctor Oren's experience in diplomacy. He has served a number of Prime Ministers and is a fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem, which contains such luminaries as Nathan Shiransky and Lieutenant General (Res.) Moshe Ya'Alon.

I, on the other, hand can tell you about the man. Both Israel and the U.S. would be lucky to have Doctor Michael Oren serving in Washington.

Dan Gordon Captain (Res.) IDF

Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/05/the_man_who_may_be_israels_nex.html at May 03, 2009 - 03:37:42 AM EDT

Comment: This is what makes us so proud-thanks Dan Gordon for sharing your story

If this does not get your blood boiling, I do not know what will...

Netanyahu heads for collision with Obama administration

Israeli president Shimon Peres' task in Washington on May 4-5 is to blunt the sharp edge the White House is honing to force Israel to toe the new Washington line on the Palestinians, Syria and Iran. Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu can expect the full force of a bludgeon to be wielded in his White House talks on May 18.

DEBKAfile's Washington sources report that their host is fired up to be the first US president in decades of close friendship and cooperation to clash openly with Israel and the bulk of US Jewry. Oblivious to Israel's claim of US support for its security in a hostile regional environment, Barack Obama is expected to squeeze the Netanyahu government hard for immediate engagement on the Middle East conflict without further delay.

According to our sources, the White House staff is working at top speed on options for imposing its will.

Peres and Netanyahu will be informed that Washington is setting up two trilateral peace commissions to hammer out peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians and Israel with the Syrians.

US officials in both chairs will intercede with their own ideas to prevent them running into deadlock on disputed issues. DEBKAfile's sources confirm that the Obama administration will not spare the whip to force the parties into line.

The US president and his top advisers are convinced that the Palestinian problem is the main obstacle to accommodations for Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Iran. Defense secretary Robert Gates and national security adviser Gen. James Jones are the leading advocates of this proposition, with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton more skeptical but ready to back the president's Middle East determination to place Israel in the first line of fire.

Some of DEBKAfile's US sources admit that President Obama is himself under pressure because, despite the high approval rating he gained for his first 100 days in office, his myriad policy initiatives have yet to show results.

His economic remedies have steadied the banking system but not yet filtered down to the general public, he faces a hard slog in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan before making headway, and Tehran is playing hardball at every turn on the road to dialogue.

The only arena where the White House can hope for quick results is the Israel-Palestinian-Syrian track.

The two peace conferences in preparation recall Bill Clinton's success in forcing the Serbs, Bosnians and Croats to sign the Dayton Accord of 1995, so terminating a war of three-and-a-half years.

The presidential envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, was the architect of Dayton. George Mitchell, Obama's Middle East envoy, is in line for a similar role today. During his two rounds of talks in Middle East capitals, Mitchell has shown a smiling, genial face, but said little, while in Washington, a State Department team is working overtime on a new American "road map."

It starts out with pressure on Israel to freeze settlement activity on the West Bank and construction in East Jerusalem. At a later stage, Israel would be pushed to abandon large sections of the West Bank, remove authorized communities as well as unauthorized outposts and hand over the historic nucleus of Jerusalem.

Finally, the Israeli government would be required to accept an independent Palestinian state, even if its government is dominated by the rejectionist terrorist group Hamas.

Peres and Netanyahu will find administration officials deaf not only on Israel's arguments on the Palestinian issue but on a nuclear-armed Iran too. They will see the US president no longer prioritizing the suspension of Iran's nuclear aspirations, but bent on establishing a new Persian Gulf order that formalizes Iran's rising power. Washington's objective now is negotiations for setting the boundaries of Iran's Middle East expansion and limits for its nuclear program.

Israel will have no say in this process. In fact, by elevating Iran to premier regional power, America is sidelining its longstanding friends, Israel and Egypt, and setting aside their security and strategic interests for the sake of deals with Iran.

Dennis Ross, US envoy for Iran, carried this message to the capitals of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, last week.

But Obama's new Middle East design is not without powerful opponents:

1. Tehran itself will not let Washington dictate the limits of its expanding influence but insists on dialogue taking place amid "equality and mutual respect." This attitude also governs its nuclear aspirations. US diplomats will have to make the running to temper the ayatollahs rather than the other way round.

2. Cairo and Riyadh will resist with all their might the US bid to anoint Iran the crowning Middle East-Gulf power. Both perceive Iran's nuclearization as the inevitable outcome of this policy.

They are also extremely concerned by Oabana's public endorsement of Turkey as the senior Muslim power in the Eastern Mediterranean and Central Asia, a boost for Ankara's aspirations to resuscitate the Ottoman Empire.

3. Jerusalem will resist being cast into a peripheral role in the strategic and military processes going forward with regard to Iran, the Palestinians, Syria and their terrorist arms, Hizballah and Hamas, all of which bear pivotally on Israel's future existence. Like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the Netanyahu government may not accept being crushed between two hostile regional powers, Iran and Turkey, whose aggressive pretensions Washington is promoting.

- Netanyahu is marshalling all Israel's resources, including an active role for President Peres, to avoid dropping into the role of second- or third-rate Middle East power whom no one consults.

Peres, whose rich diplomatic experience and international reputation make him a prime asset, has been pressed into service to become the first Israeli president to step out of his ceremonial role into active-policy-making.

- The Israeli prime minister will also take advantage of the interests Jerusalem shares with Cairo and Riyadh in frustrating the new Washington orientation – and not only with regard to Iran.

Netanyahu and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak have arranged to put their heads together and are meeting before their separate trips to Washington.

- Israel has not abandoned its option of a military strike against Iran's nuclear installations and its economic infrastructure. US officials, led by the defense secretary, are accordingly pouring contempt on the extent of the damage Israel is capable of inflicting. Next, they will try and tie Israel's hands by discrediting Netanyahu and his administration.

- A final arrow in Netanyahu's quiver is the ability to enlist American public opinion, which is traditionally supportive and sympathetic to Israel, against Obama's Grand Middle East Design. He will seek to canvass support among friends in the US Congress and the Jewish community.

Comment: Those of us who live here understand the "new Obama policies" mean our destruction. I used to think otherwise, however, having interviewed many military, security and government individuals and after studtying the behavior of our next door enemies I realize the truth to my statements. Granted, sitting 7-10,000 miles away, surrounded by the comfort of one's trappings and security, not having to live next door to groups of people wanting you dead enables you to believe something else. this is your perception and it has become your truth. The difficulty is that perception is often not aligned with reality-I ask that you consider this before blindly supporting our demise-no matter how sensitive and caring you think you are.

Settlers arrested in clashes

Clashes erupt near Gush Etzion as settlers approach village of Umm Safa, residence of terrorist who murdered Israeli teenager with ax. Two Palestinians wounded as IDF troops try to quell ensuing violence. Four settlers detained for questioning

Efrat Weiss
Israel News
YNET News

Two Palestinians sustained light-to-moderate wounds Saturday evening from IDF fire in the village of Umm Safa near Gush Etzion after clashes erupted between the Palestinian residents and settlers from the nearby community of Bat Ayin. Four settlers have been detained for questioning, including two men currently serving in the IDF. The army said that the two admitted to discharging their weapons.


Umm Safa was home to the terrorist who last month infiltrated Bat Ayin and murdered an Israeli teenager with an ax.



According to the current report, settlers approached the village at around 6:00 pm. IDF troops were alerted to the scene, and they demanded of the settlers to leave the area immediately after declaring it a closed military zone.



Several of the settlers refused to heed the soldiers' instructions, and opened fire towards the village – though their fire caused no injuries. The troops stopped the fire, and took four of the settlers into custody for questioning.



The gunfire however sparked riots within the village, and soldiers also opened fire in an attempt to disperse the rioters. At least two Palestinians have been reported wounded by the IDF fire. Eyewitnesses reported that clashes are still intermittent despite official complaints that had been lodged, and that the army and police were not doing enough to keep the settlers at bay.



In response the army said: "The IDF is working tirelessly to defend the residents of this area. It is unfortunate that irresponsible parties are creating unnecessary work for IDF soldiers, which interferes with the routine defense operations. This is grave incident and an unnecessary provocation that endangered lives."



An official with the IDF's Central Command told Ynet that following the incident "anyone who attempts to create a provocation or to behave violently would be dealt with immediately by the authorities".



"The IDF will not tolerate riots or the illegal use of arms," the official said.



The terrorist from Umm Safa is 26-year old Moussa Tit, who was arrested three weeks ago by the Shin Bet as a primary suspect in the murder of a 16-year old youth, which occurred in Bat Ayin last month.



Tit confessed to the murder and the simultaneous injuring of a 7-year old boy, and said he had committed the crime because he desired to become a martyr.