-
ISRAEL
 |
- Visit 'Peace In Jerusalem'
- for more comprehensive
ongoing reports by Retired Pastor/Teacher James McCutchan - Jmccutchan@aol.com
|
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- ROS-LEHTINEN: OBAMA WRONG TO GIVE A 'BLANK CHECK' TO PA
- By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER 12.14.2010 - Incoming House Foreign
Relations chair tells 'Post' increased US funding for Palestinians
is bailout with no incentive for reform.
WASHINGTON - Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, incoming chairwoman of
the House Foreign Affairs Committee, blasted the Obama administration
on Wednesday for giving the Palestinian Authority a “blank
check” while pressuring Israel, signaling that a Republican-led
House would complicate one of the major prongs of the White House’s
emerging strategy for moving forward with the peace process.
With direct talks between the two sides stalled, the administration
announced last week it planned to intensify Palestinian state-building
as a means of making progress on the ground toward a peace agreement
for a two-state solution. The US has supplied hundreds of millions
of dollars toward this end, with the expectation that it would
now, if anything, be increasing its assistance.
- Continued: http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=199819
- -----
HAMAS: ISRAEL HAS TWO OPTIONS - DEATH OR LEAVING PALESTINIAN
LANDS
As second anniversary of Gaza war approaches, Hamas says it will
not disregard 'attempts of the enemy to escalate the situation.'
By Haaretz Service Published 13:42 25.12.10 - The head of Hamas'
armed wing warned Israel on Saturday against launching any new
military action in the Gaza Strip, accusing Israel of attempting
to escalate the situation. The statement came after days of renewed
rocket fire on Israeli communities and Israel Defense Forces
strikes in Gaza. Hamas would not rest until Israel was ousted
from Palestine, said Ahmed al-Jabari, leader of the Izz a-din
al-Qassam Brigades, adding that Israel had two options –
to leave Palestinian territories or face death. He said that
Hamas resistance would continue as long as Zionists remained
in Palestine. Continued:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/hamas-israel-has-two-options-death-or-leaving-
- palestinian-lands-1.332867
- -----
LOOK WHAT OBAMA EXPECTS ISRAEL TO GIVE UP NOW
Negotiators push surrender of territory twice used to invade
Jewish state
Posted: December 26, 2010 6:39 pm Eastern By Aaron Klein - WorldNetDaily
- TEL AVIV – The Obama administration is pressing Israel
to enter into negotiations with Syria aimed at compelling an
Israeli retreat from the strategic Golan Heights, WND has learned.
Syria is in a military alliance with Iran. The country twice
used the Golan, which looks down on Israeli population centers,
to mount grounds invasions into the Jewish state.
Informed Middle East security officials tell WND that Dennis
Ross, an envoy for the White House in the Middle East, visited
both Israel and Syria last week to discuss specifics of a deal
in which Syria would eventually take most of the Golan.
According to the security officials, Ross is slated to become
Obama's main envoy to the Israeli-Palestinian affairs issue,
with the current envoy, George Mitchell, expected to step down.
With Israel, Ross discussed specifics of a deal with Syria, including
which territory Israel would be expected to evacuate in both
the Golan and the Jordan Valley, the security officials said.
The officials said that Ross told Syria it needs to scale back
its relationship with Iran and stop facilitating the re-armament
of Hezbollah. The Iranian-backed Hezbollah reportedly now has
over 10,000 missiles and rockets, including a large number that
can reach Tel Aviv and beyond. Continued http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=244345
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- 2012: A KABBALAH PERSPECTIVE FROM ZOHAR AND EWISH YEAR 5773
COMING OF THE MOSHIACH (MESSIAH)
Posted on Pakalert on December 26, 2010 The Zohar states that
the year ending in 73 is ripe for the Redemption. The coming
Jewish year 5773 corresponds to 2012-13. David Katz of Zefat
speaking.
A Kabbalah perspective on the process of Geulah (Redemption)
based on Zohar, Etz Chaim, and talks from the Lubavitcher Rebbe.
Videos and moe links: http://www.pakalertpress.com/2010/12/26/2012-a-kabbalah-perspective-from-zohar-
- and-jewish-year-5773-coming-of-the-moshiach-messiah/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_
- campaign=Feed%3A+pakalert+%28Pak+Alert+Press%29
- -----
QURAN AND 2012: EVIDENCE HINTS AT EVENT TYPES AND LOCATIONS OF
2012 CATASTROPHE
Posted on Pakalert on September 11, 2010 The numbers are the
key. Quran and Prime Numbers - Just as prime numbers are used
in secret writings (cryptology), the Holy Book of Islam, The
Quran is built upon prime numbers as shown by the number of verses
(7), words (29) and letters (139) of the first chapter amazing
called The Opener (or The Key). These three primes (7, 29, 139)
are not any primes but they are called Additive Prime Numbers
as their digit sums are primes too (7=7, 2+9=11, 1+3+9=13) and
the sum of these digit sums is prime too (7+11+13=31).
What’s more, concatenating these three primes left to right
or right to left also produces additive primes (729139 and 139297
with digits sum of 31 as stated above). Even the name of the
book, The Quran (meaning The Readable) is chosen deliberately
to indicate that although the book is already encoded using prime
numbers, it is still readable. This is why God challenges us
to write a single chapter like it if we can). Scroll down the
page
Continued: http://www.pakalertpress.com/2010/09/11/quran-and-2012-evidence-hints-at-event-
- types-and-locations-of-2012-catastrophe/
- -----
2012 FULL MOVIE
- The Online Movie FINAL UPDATE - Posted on Pakalert on September
11, 2010
http://www.pakalertpress.com/2010/09/11/2012-full-movie-the-online-movie-final-update/
- -----
BRITON RISKS ISRAELI ANGER BY EXTENDING DIPLOMATIC RECOGNITION
TO PALESTINIANS
Hague's planned move increases pressure on Netanyahu government
after latest round of US-sponsored talks collapse - By Donald
Macintyre in Jerusalem - Tuesday, 28 December 2010 - The Foreign
Secretary William Hague, who met the Palestinian Prime Minister
Salam Fayyad in the West Bank city of Ramallah last month, has
followed moves by France, Spain and Portugal in upgrading the
Palestinians' status Britain is expected to risk Israeli protests
by upgrading the status of the Palestinians' diplomatic representation
in London in response to the progress made in state-building
preparations by its leadership in the West Bank.
Although the move would be symbolic rather than practical, it
is being contemplated at a sensitive time because of deepening
Israeli unease over Palestinian efforts to achieve international
recognition ahead of negotiations or peace agreement. Those efforts
have gathered momentum in the wake of the United States' decision
earlier this month to abandon efforts to persuade Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to renew a moratorium on settlement-building
in return for resuming direct negotiations between the two sides.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas insisted that he would not
take part in such talks without a settlement freeze. Continued:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/britain-risks-israeli-anger-by-extending-diplomatic-recognition-
- to-palestinians-2170413.html pulled
- http://www.liquida.com/blog-news/15115202/ramallah-salam-fayyad-britain/
- -----
- LONELY VOICE OF REALISM IN ISRAEL GOVERNMENT .
- There is no chance of reaching a comprehensive peace agreement
in the current diplomatic and political reality, partly because
the Palestinian Authority government is "illegitimate",
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said. "We have to understand
that there is a government there that is not legitimate,"
Lieberman said at an annual gathering in Jerusalem of Israel's
ambassadors and consul-generals. "It pushed off elections
three times, then lost the elections, doesn't intend on holding
elections and there is no guarantee that the next time there
are elections, Hamas will not be elected." Lieberman, in
his speech, acknowledged that given the nature of the current
coalition, it was nearly impossible for Israel to present a far-reaching
diplomatic program agreed upon by all elements of the government.
"Can Israel put out a clear plan?" Lieberman asked.
"That is also a good question in the current political reality.
With the current system of government and coalition contradictions,
I don't think you can reach a common model, a common denominator".
- "Even if we would offer Tel Aviv as the capital of a
Palestinian state and return to the 1947 lines, they would find
a reason not to sign on any agreement," Lieberman said.
The foreign minister added that his conclusion was that it was
necessary to go to a long-term interim agreement and that such
a plan already existed "on the shelf" and just needed
to be polished before being presented. Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu, currently engaged with the US administration in getting
the negotiations with the Palestinians back on track, quickly
issued a statement distancing himself from his foreign minister's
comments. Lieberman's comments elicited sharp reactions both
from the Labor Party, his coalition partner, as well as from
Kadima. (The reactions of the Israeli political left and PM Netanyahu
prove the inability of the Israeli government to face reality
and move forward with implementation of the plan "on the
shelf", which should have been launched into action long
ago.)
- Best Economy in the West
- Israel's Gross National Product grew by 4.5% in the year
2010, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) data
and estimates 0.5% more than had been expected. This compares
with only 2.7% in the other 33 countries of the Organization
for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).
- Happy New Year from Religing of Peace A bomb attack killed
21 people outside a Coptic church in Alexandria, Egypt late Friday
night. Another 24 people were wounded. The bombing took place
as worshipers left a church following a New Year's Eve service.
Officials initially suspected that a car bomb was used.
- No so-called Palestinians on Jewish Land Palestinian Authority
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said that there would be no Jewish presence
in any future state run by the Western-backed PA in Israel's
Judea and Samaria regions. "When a Palestinian state is
established it will be empty of any Israeli presence."
- IT IS TIME TO STOP PLAYING GAMES!
- US and South Korean intelligence experts strongly suspect
that Iranian nuclear specialists visiting North Korea last month
were putting their heads together with their hosts on a joint
North Korean-Iranian nuclear test, especially since a small Iranian
group was taken on a secret side-trip to North Korea's Punggye-ri
testing site near the Chinese border for an extensive briefing.
One source in Seoul reported the visitors had brought with them
to Pyongyang a large sum of money, up to $150 million.
- NUCLEAR WEAPONIZED ISLAM
- Saudi Arabia has jumped ahead of Iran by obtaining the use
of two Pakistani nuclear bombs or guided missile warheads. It
is believed the weapons are ready for delivery upon royal summons
in Pakistan's nuclear air base at Kamra in the northern district
of Attock. Already delivered is a quantity of Pakistan's Ghauri-II
missiles with an extended range of 2,300 kilometers (Using Iran
as a 'smoke-screen', Islamic nations have been moving forward
with nuclear escalation! The Wahaibi kingdom, Saudi Arabia, is
behind most Islamic terror and the leading force behind strategic
advance toward world domination of Islam!) by Steven Shamrak
http://www.shamrak.com/index.php
- -----
- STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM
by Walid Phares - After the 9/11 Commission concluded in 2004
that the U.S. was engaged in a war with terrorists and never
realized it, they reasoned that “a failure of imagination”
had prevented us from seeing terrorism coming. In effect, Americans
were simply unable, or in fact disabled, to fathom that there
were people who hated and opposed our democracy with such ferocity.
But after billions of dollars and almost a decade fighting a
war in the Middle East, will we miss the threat again?
- ...Yet not a failure of imagination, but rather, of education
has left Americans without essential information on the real
roots of the rising Jihadi threat. Western democracies display
a dangerous misunderstanding of precisely who opposes democracy
and why. In fact, the West ignores the wide and disparate forces
within the Muslim world - including a brotherhood against democracy
that is fighting to bring the region under totalitarian control
- and crucially underestimates the determined generation of youth
feverishly waging a grassroots revolution towards democracy and
human rights.
- As terror strikes widen from Manhattan to Mumbai and battlefields
rage from Afghanistan to Iraq, many tough questions are left
unanswered, or even explored: Where are the anti-Jihadists and
the democrats in the Muslim world? Does the (Islamic) Middle
East really reject democracy (and peace)?
- Religion of ‘Peace’ at its Best!
- Why doesn’t this outrage liberals, so-called moderate
Muslims and the Obama administration? Moderate Muslims say that
radical minority misinterpreted the Koran to justify their political
aspirations. There are 1.3 billion Muslims worldwide. Why are
they quiet about the ‘correct’ interpretation of the
Koran? Where is global Muslim outrage against radical Islamic
terror? http://www.shamrak.com/index.php
-----
- SA'AR SLAMS KADIMA OVER PLANNED ABBAS VISIT
Reported: 18:59 PM - Jan/04/11 - Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar
on Tuesday criticized a decision by Kadima Mks to meet with Palestinian
Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas. Speaking in the Knesset, Sa'ar
said that “it is legitimate to meet with Abbas, but a meeting
by opposition members with him while he refuses to conduct negotiations
with Israel and attempts to isolate us is against the interests
of Israel.”
- Earlier, MK Nachman Shai said he would organize a visit to
see Abbas next Sunday. Shai said that he had received an invitation
to meet Abbas, and that the visit was not planned to damage Israel's
interess. A number of Kadima Mk's expressed anger over the proposed
meeting, and it was not clear Tuesday how many Mks would accompany
him. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/201342
- -----
NAPOLITANO MEETS WITH NETANYAHU, AHARONOVICH
Reported: 18:18 PM - Jan/04/11 - At a meeting with U.S. Homeland
Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Tuesday, Public Security
Minister Yitzchak Aharonovich said that terror had gone down
in recent years in Israel, allowing police to use their resources
to more effectively fight crime and ensure personal safety for
residents. Aharonovich discussed with Napolitano various Israeli
programs and tactics used in fighting terror, and the two discussed
ways Israel and the U.S. could cooperate more effectively. Earlier,
after a meeting with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, she said
that she was especially interested in seeing Israel's innovations
in airline security. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/201338
- -----
 PM TO ABBAS READY TO
TALK UNTIL 'WHITE SMOKE COMES OUT'
By HERB KEINON - 01/02/2011 15:24 - PA president says deal could
be reached within 2 months if Netanyahu is well-intentioned,
says decisions needed, not negotiations. - Talkbacks (39)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called on Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas Sunday to sit down with him in direct
talks until “white smoke emerges,” an allusion to how
popes are selected.
- Netanyahu’s comments came in direct response to an interview
Abbas gave a day earlier on Palestinian television, where he
said a peace agreement with Israel could be signed within two
months if Netanyahu showed "goodwill."
Abbas said that decisions, not negotiations, were needed. "I
am prepared to immediately sit privately for direct, continuous
negotiations with Abu Mazen [Abbas] until white smoke emerges,”
Netanyahu said. “If Abu Mazen will agree to my suggestion
to directly discuss all the core issues, we will know very quickly
if it is possible to reach an agreement." In an interview
last week with Channel 10, the prime minister said that in June
2009, in his speech at Bar-Ilan University, he set clearly his
policy. Continued: http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=201891
Related:
PALESTINIANS TARGET SETTLEMENTS IN UN RESOLUTION
By ASSOCIATED PRESS AND JPOST.COM STAFF - 12/29/2010
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=201720
- -----
- ABBAS CALLS FOR ON INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY FOR NEW PEACE
TALKS PLAN
- By ASSOCIATED PRESS
- 12/31/2010 21:50 - JPost.com Middle East - Photo by: Associated
Press Abbas calls on int'l community for new peace talks plan
- By ASSOCIATED PRESS - 12/31/2010 21:50 - During visit to Brazil,
PA president says current process is "managing the conflict,
not solving it."; Abbas sets cornerstone for Brasilia 'embassy.'
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called on the international
community Friday to draft a new formula for peace talks with
Israel and set aside the current process that he said is "managing
the conflict but not solving it."
Abbas said in remarks broadcast Friday in the West Bank that
the international community should step in to devise a new vision
for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=201456
ABBAS LAYS FIRST STONE OF PALESTINIAN 'EMBASSY' IN BRAZIL
- By JPOST.COM STAFF AND ASSOCIATED PRESS - 12.31.2010
http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=201710
ABBAS VOWS: NO ROOM FOR ISRAELIS IN PALESTINIAN STATE
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH - 12/25/2010 17:33
- JPost.com Middle East - PA president says US has failed to
pressure J’lem, accuses Israel of ‘deception’
for blaming PA for impasse in talks.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced on Saturday
that when a Palestinian state is established, it will have no
Israelis in it.
- “We have frankly said, and always will say: If there
is an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,
we won’t agree to the presence of one Israeli in it,”
Abbas told reporters in Ramallah. Continued: http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=200935
- -----
MEDVEDEV: ISRAELI STRIKE ON IRAN COULD SPARK CATASTROPHE
- HomeNewsPublished 12.04.10 - Russian president Medvedev says
supports Iran sanctions that would not hurt the Iranian people.
An Israeli strike of Iran's nuclear facilities could spark a
nuclear conflict, which could spiral into a global catastrophe,
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told ABC on Monday, adding
that he supported what he called "smart" sanctions
on Tehran as part of attempt to make it abandon its nuclear program.
- The Russian president is in the United States for a 47-nation
nuclear summit convened by U.S. President Barack Obama aimed
at thwarting nuclear terrorism, and which may also center on
a U.S.-back attempt to hit Iran with new nuclear sanctions. Russia
and China remain two important missing links in Obama's drive
to sanction Iran over its nuclear program. Referring to the possibility
that Israel may attack Iran if negotiations over its contentious
nuclear programs fail, Medvedev told Good Morning America that
"it would be the worst possible scenario," adding that
"war means lives lost." Continued:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/medvedev-israeli-strike-on-iran-could-spark-global-catastrophe-1.284113
- -----
JORDAN CALLS FOR FREE PALESTINIAN STATE
- Thu Jan 6, 2011 10:3AM - Jordan's King Abdullah II has warned
Israeli premier that the deadlocked negotiations threaten the
region's stability and security.
"Jordan's King Abdullah II has called on the Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stick by his commitments and remove
obstacles to the establishment of an independent Palestinian
state. During a telephone conversation that was initiated by
the Israeli premier, the monarch emphasized the significance
of “serious and effective negotiations” with the Palestinian
Authority (PA) “in accordance with the agreed references,”
said a royal court statement on Wednesday.
- “The monarch underlined the need for translating the
commitment to peace into a practical action by removing all obstacles
that block the achievement of the two-state solution as the only
way to achieve security and stability in the region,” read
the statement.
- Direct talks between Israel and the PA once again reached
a deadlock after Tel Aviv refused to extend a moratorium on settlement
constructions in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) and the occupied West
Bank.
- Israel seized East al-Quds along with the West Bank from
Jordan in the Six-Day War of 1967, and later annexed it in flagrant
defiance of calls from the international community. Abdullah
pointed out that the direct talks should lead to the establishment
of "an independent Palestinian state that lives in peace
with Israel."" “The continuation of the present
stalemate will jeopardize the region's stability and security,”
the monarch added.
- In a parallel Jordanian effort, King Abdullah sent his Foreign
Minister Nasser Judeh to Ramallah on Thursday to hold talks with
Palestinian leaders. SB/JM/HRF
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/158901.html
- -----
NETANYAHU: ISRAEL AGREED TO NEW SETTLEMENT FREEZE, BUT U.S. RETRACTED
OFFER
03.01.11 PM blames Palestinians for deadlock in peace talks,
says U.S. officials due to arrive in Israel to push forward talks
on core issues.
By Jonathan Lis - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday
that he had agreed to the U.S. suggestion of a three-month extension
to the West Bank settlement freeze, but the Americans were the
ones who retracted the offer. "The United States asked us
to consider extending the freeze by three months, and the truth
is that we were prepared to do so," Netanyahu said while
speaking before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
- Netanyahu said that contrary to what was reported, Israel
did not refuse extending the freeze on West Bank settlements
by three months, saying it was eventually the "United States
who decided against that direction, rightfully, in my opinion."
- In early December, the Obama administration announced that
Washington was "ending the contacts to try to achieve another
moratorium" after months of heavy negotiations to offer
Israel a series of U.S. guarantees in exchange for the freeze.
"I told Obama that I am prepared to go with this to the
cabinet and that I will be able to enforce the move, but then
I received the surprising phone call from the Americans who said
they no longer demand that Israel extends the freeze," Netanyahu
explained.
Continued:http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-israel-agreed-to-new-settlement-
- freeze-but-u-s-retracted-offer-1.334965
- -----
NETANYAHU WILL DELIVER A PALESTINIAN STATE
Published 02:00 10.01.11 - Palestine will come into being, just
not according to the original plan and timetable framed by the
architect, Netanyahu.
By Akiva Eldar - What do you want from Benjamin Netanyahu? For
the first time, the prime minister promised last July that he
wants to forge an agreement within a year with Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas on the establishment of a Palestinian
state alongside Israel. Since that day, the Israeli right wing
has simmered with consternation. Virtually not a day passes without
its leaders contributing another brick to the building of Palestine.
- True, it won't happen according to the original plan and
timetable framed by the architect, Netanyahu & Co. But the
Palestinians have never been closer to attaining international
approval for the establishment of their own state.
- "We could close the Foreign Ministry," an aide
close to Abbas told me last week, smiling from ear to ear. "Bibi
[Netanyahu] and [Foreign Minister Avigdor] Lieberman are doing
all the work for us." When a representative of Israel's
government dedicates the "culture hall" at the West
Bank settlement of Ariel and a large majority of Knesset members
authorize the expansion of the Har Homa neighborhood (seen as
a settlement by the entire world ), who really believes that
Israel is serious about two states or the division of Jerusalem?
Continued:
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/netanyahu-will-deliver-a-palestinian-state-1.336138
- -----
EHUD BARAK: ISRAEL'S DEFENSE MINISTER QUITS LABOR PARTY
JOSEF FEDERMAN - From Associated Press - January 17, 2011 4:04
AM EST - JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Defense Minister Ehud
Barak abruptly announced Monday that he was leaving his Labor
Party and forming a new parliamentary faction inside the governing
coalition, completing a split in the iconic party over the handling
of peace talks with the Palestinians. The dramatic and unexpected
move did not immediately threaten the stability of Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's parliamentary majority. Instead, it appeared
to strengthen Netanyahu's hardline coalition by leaving it with
a smaller, yet largely like-minded majority.
- But by strengthening hardline elements in the government,
it left peace prospects even more uncertain. Barak, a former
prime minister and one of the most powerful members of the government,
will stay in the ruling coalition with four followers. Labor's
eight remaining members, political doves pushing for Israel to
get peace talks back on track, are expected to quit a government
they criticize as undermining peace efforts.
- The departures would leave Netanyahu with 66 seats in the
120-seat parliament, a smaller majority but rid of dissenting
voices unhappy with the state of peace talks. Announcing his
decision, Barak said he was tired of the infighting within Labor.
He accused his former partners of moving too far to the dovish
end of the political spectrum.
- "We are embarking on a new path," he told a news
conference at Israel's parliament. "We want to wake up without
having to compromise, apologize and explain."
- "We are forming today a faction, a movement and in the
future a party that will be centrist, Zionist and democratic,"
he said. He did not take any questions. The new party is called
Independence. Labor has been the sole moderate party in Netanyahu's
coalition, which is otherwise dominated by religious and nationalist
parties that oppose major concessions to the Palestinians. Barak
and Netanyahu have had a mutually beneficial relationship. The
men have known each other for decades, back to the time that
Barak was Netanyahu's commander in an elite commando unit in
the army.
- As a former prime minister, Barak has given Netanyahu a well-known
and relatively moderate face to deal with the international community,
particularly with the United States. Netanyahu, meanwhile, has
given Barak extra influence in decision making.
- But Labor members have grown increasingly unhappy with Barak,
accusing him of enabling Netanyahu to stall in peace efforts.
Although Barak is an outspoken advocate of peace with the Palestinians,
he also takes a tougher line on security matters than some of
his counterparts and has moved slower than they would like on
favoring concessions to the Palestinians.
- Negotiations with the Palestinians broke down in late September
after Netanyahu allowed a freeze on settlement construction to
expire.
- The Palestinians refuse to negotiate without a total freeze
in place, and Netanyahu has refused to extend the moratorium,
despite heavy U.S. pressure.
- Barak's move took other Labor lawmakers by surprise, and
Israeli radio commentators said he orchestrated the move in tandem
with Netanyahu. A spokesman for the prime minister, Mark Regev,
refused to comment. Cabinet Minister Avishai Braverman, one of
the eight Labor lawmakers who did not join Barak, predicted his
faction would quit the government. "It's clear to me that's
what will happen," he said.
- Einat Wilf, one of Barak's followers, said the party could
no longer remain united, with one side pushing to the far left
of Israeli politics, while the other believes staying with the
government is the right type of partnership.
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/17/ehud-barak-israel-defense_1_n_809828.html
-----
- OIL AND GAS DISCOVERIES PRODUCE ISRAEL-LEBANON FLASH POINTS
 Large discoveries
of natural gas off the coast of Israel and Lebanon, where the
international border is yet to be delineated, have spurred both
countries to accelerate exploration efforts. But the prospect
of previously undiscovered fossil fuel riches off the coasts
of Lebanon and Israel risks becoming a new source of conflict
as well as an economic windfall for the two warring neighbors.
"This is something big and potentially landscape-changing
economically, financially, and politically," says Nassib
Ghobril, head of economic research and analysis at Byblos Bank
in Beirut.
- Last year, a US-Israeli consortium discovered the Tamar gas
field 55 miles off the coast of northern Israel, which contains
an estimated 8.4 trillion cubic feet
of recoverable gas – the largest natural-gas find in the
world in 2009. Earlier this year, a field called Leviathan was
discovered in the same area with an initial estimate of 16 trillion
cubic feet of gas.
- But there are likely more untapped fields; the US Geological
Survey (USGS) said in March that the Levantine Basin, which includes
the territorial waters of Lebanon, Israel, Syria, and Cyprus,
could hold as much as 122 trillion cubic feet of gas – and
1.7 billion barrels of oil.
- INDEBTED LEBANON
Israel, which could become energy self-sufficient if results
meet expectations, began test drilling the Leviathan deposit
Oct. 18. The same week, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said
that Lebanon was close to marking its maritime boundaries with
neighbors Syria and Cyprus, which should allow oil and gas exploration
licenses to be issued by early 2012. Continued: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/1101/Oil-and-gas-discoveries-produce-
- potential-Israel-Lebanon-flash-points
- -----
ON ISRAEL'S DOORSTEP, AHMADINEJAD HURLS TAUNTS ACROSS THE LEBANON
BORDER
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today visited two south Lebanon towns that
previously saw clashes between the Iran-backed militant group
Hezbollah and Israel. By Nicholas Blanford, Correspondent / October
14, 2010
- .Thousands of Shiite Lebanese, mainly supporters of the militant
Iran-backed Hezbollah but also members of allied factions, squeezed
through the narrow streets of Bint Jbeil to reach a sports stadium
where President Ahmadinejad was due to speak. “I have a
great feeling of pride that Ahmadinejad is coming to Bint Jbeil
today. This is the citadel of resistance against Israel,”
says Hussein Ayoub. The stadium was bedecked in Iranian and Lebanese
flags with a giant banner saying “welcome” in Arabic
and Farsi. Grim-faced and black-suited Hezbollah security men,
part of Hezbollah’s huge security operation for Ahmadinejad’s
visit, sternly scanned the enthusiastic crowd. Israel has criticized
Ahmadinejad’s visit, warning that Iran is attempting to
drag Lebanon into the “axis of extremist states.” An
Al Qaeda-affiliated group also issued threats against the Iranian
president on the eve of his trip.
- SIGNIFICANCE OF BINT JBEIL
- Bint Jbeil is the largest Shiite town in the southern border
district, and for 18 years it was occupied by Israeli troops.
Israel withdrew from Lebanon in May 2000 in the face of a ferocious
resistance campaign by Hezbollah. Days after the Israeli withdrawal,
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, chose Bint
Jbeil as the site for his victory speech, during which he mocked
Israel as being weaker than a “spider’s web.”
Continued:
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2010/1014/On-Israel-s-doorstep-
- Ahmadinejad-hurls-taunts-across-the-Lebanese-border
- -----
- OBAMA WILL NOT VETO U.N. ASSAULT ON JEWISH CONSTRUCTION
Traditionally U.S. has voted against resolutions deemed 'anti-Israel'
- Posted: January 27, 2011 - 12:35 am Eastern - By Aaron Klein
- WorldNetDaily
JERUSALEM – The Obama administration told the Palestinian
Authority it will not veto an upcoming United Nations resolution
condemning all Jewish construction in the West Bank and eastern
sections of Jerusalem, a senior PA official told WND.
If the U.S. does not veto the resolution, such abstention largely
would be unprecedented. Traditionally, the U.S. has vetoed such
resolutions, which have been deemed anti-Israel. The senior PA
official also told WND the U.S. signaled to the European Union
it would not object if the EU follows the recent lead of Latin
American countries in unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian
state outside of negotiations with Israel.
A draft of the U.N. resolution already has been circulated to
all 15 members of the U.N. Security Council. It currently deems
Israeli construction in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem as
"illegal." However, in a nod to Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, the U.S. has been trying to change the language to
condemn the Jewish construction as "illegitimate."
Still, PA officials said they were told by the Obama administration
that the U.S. will abstain, particularly if the language is changed
to "illegitimate." Continued: http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=255853
- -----
- OBAMA WILL NO VETO U.N. ASSAULT ON JEWISH CONSTRUCTION
- http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=255853#ixzz1CHp54div
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfAnWOTB4Mw
-
- TONY BLAIR: WEST MUST BE PREPARED TO USE FORCE AGAINST IRAN
Published Jan 22, 2011 As six world powers enter second day of
talks with Iran in Istanbul the former U.K. prime minister warns
that Iran is a 'looming and coming challenge' which preaches
'against our way of life.' By Haaretz Service Former British
Prime Minister Tony Blair urged the West to be prepared to confront
Iran with force in order to face the "looming and coming
challenge" from the Islamic republic, French news agency
AFP reported on Saturday.
- "It [Iran] has to be confronted and changed. Iran is
a looming challenge. It is negative and destabilizing. It supports
terrorists," Blair, who currently serves as the Quartet
envoy to the Middle East said at the Chilcot inquiry, the U.K.
inquiry into the war in Iraq. "I say this to you with all
of the passion I possibly can -- at some point the West has to
get out of what I think is a wretched policy or posture of apology
for believing that we are causing what the Iranians are doing,
or what these extremists are doing," the Quartet envoy said,
adding that "we have to get our head out of the sand. They
disagree fundamentally with our way of life and will carry on
unless met with determination and, if necessary, force."
- Blair, who regularly visits the Middle East as the Quartet
envoy, said that he could see the "impact and the influence
of Iran everywhere."
- Blair's comments came as Iran began talks in Istanbul with
six world powers over its disputed nuclear program. Continued:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/tony-blair-west-must-be-prepared-to-use-
- force-against-iran-1.338503
- -----
- IRAN'S PARLIAMENT PLANNED TO OUST AHMADINEJAD
by Gil Ronen Published: 11/24/10 - Iran's parliament planned
to impeach President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad but refrained from doing
so following the intervention of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei, the Wall Street Journal reported. Four members of Tehran's
parliament launched a petition to hold a debate on Ahmadinejad's
impeachment, conservative Iranian newspapers said.
The papers reported Monday that legislators started a move to
collect the 74 signatures needed to hold an open debate on the
president's impeachment. Forty lawmakers have already signed
the motion. This is the first time in the history of the Islamic
Republic that parliament has discussed impeachment of a president.
However, the move needs Khamenei's support in order to succeed
– and it does not appear to have it at this time.
In a report discussed in parliament Monday, four lawmakers voiced
unprecedentedly harsh criticism of Ahmadinejad, accusing him
of breaking the law and acting without the approval of the legislature.
The Iranian president was charged with “illegally importing
gasoline and oil, failing to provide budgetary transparency and
withdrawing millions of dollars from Iran's foreign reserve fund
without getting parliament's approval,” WSJ reported.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/140821
- -----
NETANYAHU SEEKS TO DEFLECT QUARTET CRITICISM WITH GESTURES TO
PALESTINIANS
Published 28.01.11 Gestures are expected to consist of easing
the blockade on Gaza, removing roadblocks in the West Bank and
enabling the PA to take over land required to build the new town
Rawabi. By Barak Ravid Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends
to propose several confidence-building measures to the Palestinian
Authority in a bid to moderate a Quartet statement castigating
Israel. The statement by the Quartet of Mideast peace mediators
- the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia
- is expected next week. Foreign Ministry officials said the
group, which is due to meet in Munich on February 5 to discuss
the stalemate in the peace talks, is expected to denounce Israel
for the construction in West Bank settlements.
Israel’s forum of seven senior ministers discussed the proposed
gestures to the Palestinians this week. Netanyahu, Defense Minister
Ehud Barak and minister Dan Meridor supported the gestures, while
ministers Benny Begin, Moshe Ya’alon, Avigdor Lieberman
and Eli Yishai objected.
- The gestures are expected to consist of easing the blockade
on Gaza, removing roadblocks in the West Bank and enabling the
PA to take over land required to build the new town Rawabi. Continued:
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/netanyahu-seeks-to-deflect-quartet-criticism-
- with-gestures-to-palestinians-1.339627
- -----
HARIRI SUPPORTERS IN NORTH LEBANON CALLED FOR A "DAY OF
ANGER"
- BEIRUT (Reuters) - By Mariam Karouny Jan 24, 2011 - Hezbollah
and its allies won support on Monday to nominate their candidate
for Lebanon's
prime minister, giving them the upper hand in attempts to form
a government and sparking accusations of a pro-Iranian coup.
Telecoms tycoon Najib Mikati, backed by a Hezbollah-led coalition,
looked set to be asked to form a government after the first of
two days of consultations among Lebanese politicians.
- Caretaker Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, whose government
collapsed earlier this month, said he and his group would not
serve in an administration dominated by Hezbollah, and Hariri
supporters in north Lebanon called for a "day of anger."
"As for the coup that Hezbollah is carrying out, it is an
attempt to put the office of prime minister under the control
of Wilayat al Fakih (Iran's clerical authority)," Hariri
loyalist Mustafa Alloush said in the northern city of Tripoli.
Lebanon's power-sharing political system calls for the post of
prime minister to be held by a Sunni and Hariri supporters said
any figure who accepted a mandate from Hezbollah to form a new
government would be considered a traitor. Continued: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/24/us-lebanon-government-idUSTRE70N33820110124
- -----
ISRAELI MIN. URGES EGYPT TO USE FORCE
Fri Jan 28, 2011 An Israeli minister says Egyptian government
forces will have to exercise force to rein in public protests
as the African country is teetering on the brink of a Tunisia-style
revolution. Inspired by the recent popular revolution in Tunisia,
which resulted in the historic overthrow of the country's President
Zine El Abidin Ben Ali, Egyptians have staged similar anti-government
protests since Tuesday, calling on President Hosni Mubarak to
relinquish power after three decades in office. Meanwhile, an
Israeli cabinet minister who spoke on condition of anonymity
to Israeli media stated on Thursday that the Egyptian president
backed by a strong militarily prowess will eventually subdue
the crisis, The Washington Post reported.
"His regime is well-rooted in the military and security
apparatus," said the Israeli minister, adding that, "They
will have to exercise force, power in the street and do it. But
they are strong enough according to my assessment to overcome
it." Egypt, which is widely regarded as the first Arab country
to seal peace agreement with Israel three decades ago, remains
one of Tel Aviv's most important allies. On Thursday, Israel's
Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom told reporters that Tel Aviv
is closely watching the still-unfolding situation in Egypt, and
does not see a threat in its ties with the African nation. Continued:
http://presstv.com/detail/162335.html
- -----
 EGYPT PROTESTS: AMERICA'S SECRET
BACKING FOR REBEL LEADERS BEHIND UPRISING
The American government secretly backed leading figures behind
the Egyptian uprising who have been planning “regime change”
for the past three years, The Daily Telegraph has learned. Egypt
protests: America's secret backing for rebel leaders behind uprising
The American government secretly backed leading figures behind
the Egyptian uprising who have been planning “regime change”
for the past three years,
By Tim Ross, Matthew Moore and Steven Swinford 28 Jan 2011 1507
Comments
The American Embassy in Cairo helped a young dissident attend
a US-sponsored summit for activists in New York, while working
to keep his identity secret from Egyptian state police. On his
return to Cairo in December 2008, the activist told US diplomats
that an alliance of opposition groups had drawn up a plan to
overthrow President Hosni Mubarak and install a democratic government
in 2011.
The secret document in full He has already been arrested by Egyptian
security in connection with the demonstrations and his identity
is being protected by The Daily Telegraph. The crisis in Egypt
follows the toppling of Tunisian president Zine al-Abedine Ben
Ali, who fled the country after widespread protests forced him
from office. Continued: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/
- 8289686/Egypt-protests-Americas-secret-backing-for-rebel-leaders-behind-uprising.html
- -----
- ISRAEL: THE SUPER SIGN OF THE END-TIMES
(Part 2) By Todd Baker - B'rit Hadashah Ministries - February
3, 2011 - Part of the reason for the return of Israel’s
Messiah will be to enforce the everlasting decree of God’s
land grant to the Jewish people and to overthrow the nations
of the world in league with the anti-Christ who will violently
attempt to take the land away from them (Zech. 12-14; Ezekiel
47:13-48:35). In fact, the boundaries God gave for the Promised
Land stretch from the river of Egypt (Wadi el-Arish) to the Euphrates
River near the Syrian/Iraqi border (Gen. 15:18-21) — an
area yet to be occupied by the Jewish nation that well includes
the two presently disputed areas of Gaza and the West Bank (Judea
and Samaria).
- The covenant God made with Abraham not only would produce
the Jewish people from his posterity (“seed”) with
a land to live in, but their presence in the world also would
greatly benefit and bless Mankind. The Lord said: “And in
you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis
12:3).
Indeed the Jews have brought the world immeasurable blessings.
They wrote and preserved the Scriptures (the Bible), which is
the number one best-seller in the world and were the people through
whom the Messiah came to redeem humanity from sin (Romans 3:2;
9:5). The Jews wrote the Bible and the Messiah Jesus is a Jew.
- God subsequently reaffirmed this covenant with Abraham to
his son, Isaac, and Isaac’s son, Jacob (Genesis 25:5-6;
35:9-15). From these three patriarchs, God eternally promised
the land of Israel to the Jewish people. From a divine and biblical
perspective then, the Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people.
And so God chose this Land and the Chosen People to play a central
role in His plan of redemption for the world and mankind that
naturally involves the past, present, and the future.
- The plan of redemption for Israel and the world focuses around
two epochal events — the first and second comings of the
Messiah Jesus Christ. In both advents, Christ has and will personally
come again directly to Israel. The covenant God made with Abraham
plays a special significance and role in end-time Bible prophecy.
The fact God guaranteed the people of Israel a national existence
and homeland forever that brought the material and spiritual
blessings through Jesus Christ to the Gentile nations basically
defines and determines the primary focus of the whole eschatological
program of God. The covenant of Abraham with the provisions of
a land, nation, Messianic descendant, and blessing to the world
is the building base and foundation upon which the plan of God
is built and enlarged through the other covenants.
Continued: http://www.bibleprophecyblog.com/2011/02/israel-super-sign-of-end-times-part-2.html
- -----
HOME IN SOUTHERN ISRAEL HIT BY KASSAM ROCKET
 Mar 26, 2011 (Photo:
Rafael Ben-Ari/ Chameleons Eye) - Israel under fire - escalation
in rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza The current escalation
began on March 19 when exceptional barrages of over 50 120mm-mortar
shells targeted villages in the western Negev. On Saturday (March
26), three Kassam rockets were fired at Israeli territory, one
causing severe damage to a home in the Eshkol Regional Council
area. In response to the barrage of Grad rockets, Kassam rockets
and mortar shells, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) has targeted smuggling
tunnels and terror activity sites in the Gaza Strip.
On Saturday, March 19, terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired some
50 mortars into southern Israel, landing in the areas of Eshkol,
Sha'ar Hanegev, and Sdot Hanegev. These attacks - which represent
an unprecedented increase in the projectile fire emanating from
the Gaza Strip since the end of Operation Cast Lead in 2009 -
injured two Israeli civilians in a Kibbutz in Eshkol and caused
damage to property. Launched from the Gaza Strip with the clear
intention of targeting and terrorizing Israeli civilians, these
mortars exploded in and around populated areas. The Hamas terrorist
organization has claimed responsibility for these attacks. On
Tuesday afternoon (March 22), mortars were fired from northern
Gaza towards the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council in southern
Israel. In response, the IDF fired mortars at the launching point
in Gaza. It appears that Palestinians uninvolved in the original
mortar firing were injured by these mortars. Continued: http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/
- Hamas+war+against+Israel/Escalation_rocket_mortar_attacks_Gaza-March_2011.htm
- -----
THE END OF AMERICA'S STRATEGIC ALLIANCE WITH ISRAEL?
- June 4, 2009 6:06 P.M. By Caroline Glick - From an Israeli
perspective, Pres. Barack Obama’s speech today in Cairo
was deeply disturbing. Both rhetorically and programmatically,
Obama’s speech was a renunciation of America’s strategic
alliance with Israel.
- Rhetorically, Obama’s sugar coated the pathologies of
the Islamic world — from the tyranny that characterizes
its regimes, to the misogyny, xenophobia, Jew hatred, and general
intolerance that characterizes its societies. In so doing he
made clear that his idea of pressing the restart button with
the Islamic world involves erasing the moral distinctions between
the Islamic world and the free world. In contrast, Obama’s
perverse characterization of Israel — of the sources of
its legitimacy and of its behavior — made clear that he
shares the Arab world’s view that there is something basically
illegitimate about the Jewish state.
- In 1922 the League of Nations mandated Great Britain to facilitate
the reconstitution of the Jewish commonwealth in the Land of
Israel on both sides of the Jordan River. The international community’s
decision to work towards the reestablishment of Jewish sovereignty
in Israel owed to its recognition of the Jewish people’s
legal, historic, and moral rights to our homeland. Arab propaganda
finds this basic and fundamental truth inconvenient. So for the
past 60 years, the Arabs have been advancing the fiction that
Israel’s existence owes solely to European guilt over the
Holocaust. As far as the Arabs are concerned, the Jews have no
legal, historic, or moral right to what the Arabs see as Islamic
land. Continued:
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/182812/end-americas-strategic-alliance-israel/caroline-glick
- -----
PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY CABINET RESIGNS
 In this Jan. 24, 2011 Palestinian
authority President Mahmoud Abbas talks during a press conference
following his meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak,
not pictured, at the Presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt. The
Palestinian prime minister has dissolved his Cabinet - in a new
gesture that appears to be inspired by unrest rocking the Arab
world. President Abbas announced Monday, Feb. 14, 2011 he had
accepted the decision by his prime minister, Salam Fayyad. (AP
Photo - Amr Nabil)MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH
From Associated Press
February 14, 2011 4:34 AM EST - President Mahmoud Abbas announced
Monday he had accepted the decision by his prime minister, Salam
Fayyad. An aide to Fayyad says his boss hopes to form a new Cabinet
dominated by technocrats who can build up Palestinian institutions.
He has up to six weeks to name the Cabinet.
The decision is the latest in a series of dramatic moves by the
Western-backed Palestinian Authority following the unrest in
Egypt and Tunisia. Mass protests have spurred calls for democracy
throughout the Middle East. The Palestinian government said over
the weekend it would hold long-overdue general elections later
this year.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/14/AR2011021400588.html
- -----
EGYPT'S GENERALS IMPOSE MARTIAL LAW
By Craig Whitlock and Sudarsan Raghavan - Washington Post Foreign
Service - February 14, 2011; 12:00 AM - CAIRO - Egypt's generals
imposed martial law on Sunday, dissolving parliament and suspending
the constitution, moves that many of the protesters who helped
topple President Hosni Mubarak said were necessary to excise
a rotten form of government. The sweeping actions appeared to
have their desired effect of calming the national mood. Under
a celebratory facade, Egypt has remained on edge since Mubarak
was forced to abdicate Friday, as uncertainty grew over the revolution's
next stages. In a written communique, the Supreme Council of
the Armed Forces, led by Field Marshal Mohammed Tantawi, said
the military rule was temporary and would last until elections
are held, possibly as soon as six months from now. A new set
of guiding laws will be drafted by an appointed committee and
made subject to a referendum, the military chiefs said. The parliament
disbanded by the military had been a rubber-stamp body dominated
by ruling-party members who prevailed in rigged November elections.
The constitution had also been skewed heavily in favor of Mubarak's
regime. Opposition figures praised the moves as important first
steps toward free elections but urged further measures to sweep
away the old guard. Some expressed alarm at an aborted effort
by the military early Sunday to clear Cairo's Tahrir Square of
remaining protesters. They also criticized a decision by the
military rulers to leave Mubarak's cabinet in place.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/13/AR2011021302856.html?nav=hcmoduletmv
- -----
- LIBYA PROTESTERS TAKE TO THE STREETS IN LATEST SIGN OF ARAB
WORLD UNREST
Hundreds demonstrate in Libya's second largest city, Benghazi,
calling for Prime Minister al-Mahmoudi's resignation; official
state media makes no mention of anti-government demonstrations.Hundreds
of Libyan protesters took to the streets of the country's second
largest city on Wednesday demanding that the government be ousted,
in a sign that the unrest of the region has spread to the North
African Arab nation.
- Protesters in the port city of Benghazi chanted slogans demanding
the resignation of Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, witnesses
said, clashing with government supporters.
There were no calls for longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi to step
down. On Monday, however, several opposition groups in exile
called for the overthrow of Gadhafi and for a peaceful transition
of power in Libya. Continued: http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/libya-protesters-take-to-the-streets-in-latest-s
- ign-of-arab-world-unrest-1.343706
- -----
- OBAMA RESIGNED TO IRANIAN NUKES
- By Stan Goodenough - April 09, 2010 - US President Barack
Obama acknowledged Monday that the Islamic Republic of Iran -
which has repeatedly voiced its intention to see Israel wiped
off the map - is on course to obtain nuclear weapons after all.
Speaking to the New York Times, Obama said he was convinced “the
current course they [the Iranian leadership] are on would provide
them with nuclear weapons capabilities.”
As a consequence of Obama's appeasement approach to Tehran, America
can do nothing to prevent it.
The American's admission comes after a year during which his
administration barely stopped short of public threats to prevent
Israel from self-defensively destroying Iran's nuclear facilities.
Most recently, behind-closed-door coercive tactics were employed
during successive visits by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates,
Joint Chiefs off Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen and Vice
President Joe Biden in order to keep pressure on Israel not to
attack. For his part Obama inherited - and fully embraced - the
attitude adopted by the Bush administration in 2004.
According to Assistant Editor to The Jerusalem Post, Caroline
Glick: "From 2004, the Bush administration sought to appease
Iran into giving up its nuclear program - first indirectly through
the negotiations that France, Britain and Germany conducted with
Tehran. Then in 2006, the administration began direct negotiations
with the mullahs. Bush personally rejected repeated Israeli requests
to purchase refueling aircraft and bunker buster bombs necessary
for attacking Iran's hardened nuclear facilities. And he refused
to back Israeli plans to attack Iran's nuclear installations.
So too, Bush stopped calling for regime change in Iran. "After
the November 2007 publication of the falsified National Intelligence
Estimate on Iran's nuclear program," Glick wrote, "Bush
discarded the possibility of a US military strike against Iran's
nuclear facilities altogether." ("Exploiting the Crisis,"
by Caroline Glick, The Jerusalem Post, April 2, 2010) Continued:
http://www.jnewswire.com/article/2723
- -----
OBAMA THE 'CHRISTIAN' PEACE BE UPON MOHAMMED
By Stan Goodenough - June 05, 2009 - US President Barack Obama
deceitfully sought to knit together Christianity, Judaism and
Islam in his speech in Cairo Thursday, grossly misrepresenting
the latter religion with a smile on his face and sincerity in
his voice. The American leader, who has Islamic roots but professes
to be Christian, was on a quest for "a new beginning between
the United States and Muslims around the world."
To establish "common ground" and find what he was looking
for, Obama asserted "the truth:" That America and Islam...share
common principles - principles of justice and progress; tolerance
and the dignity of all human beings."
This statement was delivered, straight-faced, into the teeth
of history, and in the capital of one of many Islamic states
universally known to treat its people with an iron hand of injustice,
and to demonstrate zero tolerance towards those of other faiths
who seek to share their beliefs.
Referring repeatedly to "the Holy Koran" - a book whose
author charges both Judaism and Christianity with having perverted
"God's" (Allah's) "revelation" to man - Obama
wowed his audience. "As the Holy Koran tells us: 'Be conscious
of [Allah] and speak always the truth,'" he said, before
proceeding to speak anything but the truth, (though Muslims would
agree that it was true.) "Throughout history, Islam has
demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious
tolerance and racial equality."
As documented exhaustively by scholars like Bat Y'Or, Islam forces
Jews and Christians to pay a second-class citizen tax and live
a second-class citizen existence or become Muslims. Other non-Muslims
have been forced to convert or die. And any Muslim who converts
to Christianity must recant or be executed. In some Muslim states,
like Israel's peace partner Jordan, just selling a piece of land
to a Jew is a capital offense.
Obama's ignorance of Islam (which means submission to Allah)
was further revealed by his statement "that partnership
between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not
what it isn't."
Islam is nothing if it is not what its founder and most venerated
follower, Mohammed himself, practiced. This includes terrorism,
sexual perversion and massive oppression of free peoples. Partnership
between Islam and America must really be based on this? The president,
who has adamantly denied being any type of Muslim despite his
family background and his middle name - Hussein - said he considers
it "part of my responsibility as president of the United
States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever
they appear."
- Continued: http://www.jnewswire.com/article/2663
- -----
PROPAGANDA? BEWARE THAT DEBKA FILES ARE POSSIBLY MISINFORMATION
TO DRAG THE US INTO MORE WAR
First Iranian War Ships Dock in Jeddah with an Eye on Suez Canal
(DEBKAfile) Iran is claiming the exclusive right to control passage
in the Persian Gulf while shooting out a naval tentacle to the
Red Sea and Suez Canal. Saudi King Abdullah is so furious with
Barack Obama, accusing him of dumping America's best Arab friend,
that he is willing to play along with Tehran.
http://www.israelnetdaily.com/headline/100104/First_Iranian_War_Ships_Dock_in_Jeddah_with_
- an_Eye_on_Suez_Canal
- -----
- OIL FUTURES: CRUDE RISES ON REPORT OF IRAN WARSHIP MOVEMENT
By Jerry A. DiColo Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Crude-oil futures rose Wednesday after
reports that Iran is sending warships through the Suez Canal
sparked fears about rising tensions in the region. Light, sweet
crude for March delivery recently traded 80 cents higher at $85.12
a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after rising as
high as $85.95 immediately following the report. Brent crude
on the ICE futures exchange traded $2.21 higher at $103.85 a
barrel. After subdued trading on data showing an increase in
U.S. oil inventories, Nymex volume jumped as Israel's foreign
minister said Iran is sending two warships into the Mediterranean
Sea on their way to Syria. The transit through the Suez Canal
would be the first time since 1979 that warships from the country
have used the key route. Israel's minister, Avigdor Lieberman,
called the act a "provocation" the Jewish state couldn't
ignore for long.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110216-712664.html
- -----
ISRAEL: ARAB PROTESTS 'OPPORTUNITY FOR PEACE'
(AFP) – 2.22.2011 - MADRID - Israeli President Shimon Peres
said on Tuesday the anti-government protests sweeping the Arab
world that have toppled the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt are
an "opportunity for peace" in the Middle East.
"We believe that the biggest guarantee of peace is having
democracy in our neighbours. We are happy to witness this democratic
revolution which is taking place in the Arab world," he
said here in an address to the Spanish parliament.
"Now is precisely the time to resume the talks between
us and the Palestinians. I say to our Palestinian neighbours:
'Let's return immediately to the negotiating table'. This storm
is also an opportunity for peace."
World powers have been seeking a way to bring Israel and the
Palestinians back to the negotiating table after direct peace
talks broke down last September in a dispute over Jewish settlements
and occupied Jerusalem. Peres, who began a four-day official
visit to Spain on Monday, also credited the Internet and social
media for fueling the unprecedented uprisings sweeping the Middle
East. "Internet, Twitter, Facebook have opened eyes in a
big way and I guess that they will not allow those eyes of the
people to close again or cover the ears of the world," he
said, in the address delivered in Hebrew.
"It is difficult to be a dictator when we live in a transparent
world," he added. Some Israeli officials have expressed
concern over the future of the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty,
a pillar of Israel's security strategy, following the resignation
of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak after 18 days of relentless
protest against his rule. No major group in Egypt is calling
for the outright abrogation of the treaty although the Muslim
Brotherhood, an Islamist group with deep roots in Egypt's conservative
Muslim society, wants it put to a referendum. The group has historic
and ideological ties with Hamas which governs Gaza and it has
said it would campaign against the treaty if a referendum were
held.
Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with
Israel, followed by Jordan in 1994. An interim accord was reached
with Palestinians in 1993. "We aspire to a lasting peace
with all our neighbours, including Syria and Lebanon. I turn
to Syria and ask that they do not become hostages to Iran. Iran
is not seeking peace. Iran only brings terrorism and hate,"
Peres said. The Israeli president also accused Iran of "creating
visible and hidden terrorist cells in other nations, in the Middle
East and even in Latin America." He gave no further details.
he Supreme Council of the Armed Forces that succeeded Mubarak
has set a six-month timetable for holding national elections
and the government that emerges is widely expected to be more
vocal in defending Palestinian rights.
Mubarak enforced strict limits on the movement of people and
goods across Egypt's border with Gaza, in line with Israel's
policy of isolating the territory, and was hostile to Hamas,
which Egyptian state media depicted as troublemakers working
for Iranian interests.
Egypt's uprising followed one in Tunisia which overthrew President
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January. Protests have also erupted
in Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Jordan, Yemen and Bahrain. Spain
and Israel agreed on the need for the international community
to help Arab countries become more democratic by improving political,
social and economic conditions, the Spanish government said in
a statement after Peres met Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis
Rodriguez Zapatero. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jsTcJxvaOCuTNGJt_rfTxxp3WDDg?docId=
- CNG.62d0f19e811f8964214ef942867ff5e8.491
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-
- PRESIDENT PERES AND KING CARLOS
- "REVOLTS WILL TOPPLE AHMADINEJAD AND NASRALLAH,"
PERES SAYS
- by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu Published: 02/22/11 - The people of
Iran and Lebanon will overthrow Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan
Nasrallah, President Shimon Peres told Spanish Jews during a
visit marking 25 years of Spanish-Israeli ties. He also called
on world leaders to denounce Ahmadinejad “on the red carpet
of the United Nations.”
Speaking at the headquarters of the Jewish community in Spain,
the elderly but active president also said he believes Libyan
ruler Muammar Gaddafi is near his end. Citing the revolutions
that toppled the regimes in Tunisia and Egypt and threaten half
a dozen other governments, President Peres said that the current
events were “full of hope.” He told Spanish Jews that
"the moderate, the young, those who want democracy will
win, and not the tyrants, the dictators, nor the corrupt."
During his visit with Spanish King Carlos and Prime Minister
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, marking 25 years of diplomatic
ties between Spain and Israel, the President called on world
leaders to denounce Ahmadinejad on the "red carpet of the
United Nations.” http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/142465
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GADDAFI ON STATE TV: I'M IN TRIPOLI
by Elad Benari - http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/142454
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- LIBYAN REBELS GAIN, AIRSTRIKES CRIPPLE GADHAFI'S FORCES
By Ryan Lucas and Ben Hubbard - The Associated Press - Posted:
03/26/2011
AJDABIYA, LIBYA - Libyan rebels clinched their hold on the east
and seized back a key city on Saturday after decisive international
airstrikes sent Moammar Gadhafi's forces into retreat, shedding
their uniforms and ammunition as they fled. Ajdabiya's initial
loss to Gadhafi may have ultimately been what saved the rebels
from imminent defeat, propelling the U.S. and its allies to swiftly
pull together the air campaign now crippling Gadhafi's military.
Its recapture gives President Barack Obama a tangible victory
just as he faces criticism for bringing the United States into
yet another war.
- In Ajdabiya, drivers honked in celebration and flew the tricolor
rebel flag. Others in the city fired guns into the air and danced
on burned-out tanks that littered the road. Their hold on the
east secure again, the rebels promised to resume their march
westward that had been reversed by Gadhafi's overwhelming firepower.
Rebel fighters already had pushed forward to the outskirts of
the oil port of Brega and were hoping to retake the city on Sunday,
opposition spokeswoman Iman Bughaigis said, citing rebel military
commanders. "Without the planes we couldn't have done this.
Gadhafi's weapons are at a different level than ours," said
Ahmed Faraj, 38, a rebel fighter from Ajdabiya. "With the
help of the planes we are going to push onward to Tripoli, God
willing." Continued: http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_17707478?source=rss
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- US VETOES UN RESOLUTION ON ISRAEL [AFTER ALL ANOTHER 180]
- By Colum Lynch - Washington Post Staff Writer - Friday, February
18, 2011; 10:26 PM
- UNITED NATIONS - The Obama administration Friday cast its
first-ever veto in the U.N. Security Council, blocking a Palestinian-backed
draft resolution that denounced Israel's settlement policy as
an illegal obstacle to peace efforts in the Middle East.
- The resolution had nearly 120 co-sponsors. The U.S. vote
killed off a measure that was supported by the 14 other members
of the Security Council and isolated the United States on a crucial
Middle East matter at a time of political upheaval in the region.
Ambassador Susan E. Rice said that adoption of the resolution
would risk undermining US-led efforts to pursue a peace agreement
between Israel and the Palestinians. The US has the power to
block draft resolutions due to being one of the five permanent
council members. U.S. vetoes Security Council resolution denouncing
Israeli settlements. Although U.S. officials have consistently
criticized the settlement policy, a vote in favor of the resolution
would have angered Israel and its U.S. supporters, including
Republican lawmakers, who had urged the Obama administration
to stand with Israel at all costs.
The US has the power to block draft resolutions due to being
one of the five permanent council members.
- U.S. vetoes Security Council resolution denouncing Israeli
settlements
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/18/AR2011021805442.html
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- 'IRAN, EGYT, SYRIA CAN FINISH US'
Sun Feb 27, 2011 3:7PM - PressTV Iran's Ambassador to Syria Ahmad
Mousavi Tehran's ambassador to Damascus says if Egypt and other
Muslim countries join forces with Iran and Syria, US dominance
and power will diminish. In a meeting with Iran's Navy Commander
Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari on Sunday, Ahmad Mousavi says
relations between Tehran and Damascus “have foiled plots
hatched by arrogant powers.”
- “If Egypt and other Muslim countries stand beside Iran
and Syria, the US will be finished,” Mehr News Agency quoted
Mousavi as saying.
- Sayyari, who is heading a high-ranking delegation of naval
officials, is on a six-day visit to Syria.
- “Contrary to the US measures taken to promote Iranophobia,
the presence of Iran's Navy in the Suez Canal and [their] entrance
into the Mediterranean Sea is not a threat to any country,”
Mousavi added.
- Two Iranian ships, Khark and Alvand, docked at Syria's Lattakia
Port following their passage through the Suez Canal, a strategic
international shipping route in Egypt, for the first time since
the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979. The 1,500-ton
patrol frigate Alvand is armed with torpedoes and anti-ship missiles,
while the larger 33,000-ton supply vessel Khark has 250 crewmembers
and can carry three helicopters.
- On Friday, Sayyari signed a navy cooperation deal with his
Syrian counterpart General Taleb al-Barri aboard Iranian vessel
Khark. MYA/HGH/MMN http://www.presstv.ir/detail/167340.html
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PALESTINIANS EYE U.N. RECOGNITION OF STATE AS ISRAEL HITS GAZA
BY AIR
Erekat says peace negotiations with Netanyahu are not producing
any results
- Compiled by Daily Star staff - Monday, March 21, 2011 - The
Palestinians are planning to ask the U.N. to recognize a Palestinian
state and grant them membership of the world body, a top official
said Sunday as Israel launched airstrikes on the Gaza Strip following
a heavy barrage of mortar shells fired from the territory.
- Separately, Palestinian medical officials also said Sunday
they had found two bodies southeast of Gaza City, apparently
shot by Israeli troops a day earlier. The decision to ask the
U.N. for recognition had been made by the Palestinian leadership
and it is the “choice of President Mahmoud Abbas,”
said chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. However, Erekat
said no date had been set for the move, which would request the
world body recognize a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders
and with occupied East Jerusalem as its capital, saying only
that it would happen “as soon as possible.” It comes
after the U.S. in February vetoed a Security Council resolution
that would have condemned continued Israeli settlement building.
Nevertheless, the Palestinian negotiator said he was confident
this time the move would succeed. “The choice of Palestine
applying to the Security Council for a full membership is a realistic
one that we must work on applying as soon as possible,”
he said.
- Erekat said the Palestinians had no choice but to seek an
alternative as talks with Israel were not going anywhere.
- “We are convinced that negotiation with [Israeli President
Benjamin] Netanyahu’s government is impossible because it
refuses to stop settlement activities,” he said. “So
the Palestinian leadership decided to start implementing alternatives
to negotiations and the first of these is demanding recognition.”
Tensions flared on the border with the Gaza Strip Sunday and
Saturday when Palestinian fighters fired dozens of shells into
Israel, wounding two people, and Israel pounded Gaza in return,
wounding at least five Palestinians.
- The Israeli military confirmed dozens of mortar shells had
landed in Israel Saturday, one hitting a house at an agricultural
community close to the border, and that two people had been hurt.
Hamas accused Israel of escalating the situation Sunday to “try
and derail reconciliation efforts to restore the unity of the
Palestinian people.”
- Israeli media reports put the number of shells fired by the
fighters at around 50, making it one of the heaviest barrages
launched by Palestinian fighters in months. Hamas claimed responsibility
for firing 10 of Saturday’s mortars.
- Netanyahu said in a statement he “viewed gravely Hamas’
criminal attacks on Israeli citizens” and added “Israel
would take all necessary measures to protect its citizens.”
- Also Sunday, medical officials said the bodies of two Palestinian
teenagers killed by Israeli fire Saturday near Gaza’s border
with Israel were found. The families of the victims said they
had been trying to sneak into Israel for work. They were both
buried later Sunday. An Israeli military spokeswoman said Saturday
night the army had opened fire on two men who were spotted moving
suspiciously toward a frontier “no-go” zone. Clashes
continued Sunday, with Palestinians firing a rocket into Israel
that fell on open ground, causing no casualties or damage, the
military said.
- The Palestinian fighters also fired a missile at an Israeli
tank alongside the border fence but the projectile was destroyed
by the army’s newly deployed Trophy anti-missile system.
- The tank crew returned fire but it was not known if anyone
was hit. Later Sunday, armed group the Popular Resistance Committee
said its forces had fired three mortar rounds at Israeli tanks
patrolling near southern Gaza. – Agencies. Continued: http://dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=126271#ixzz1HFyDtjV5
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AMERICAN MILITARY TARGETING ISRAEL?
Expert warns 'Gadhafi Precedent' could have ominous implications
- Posted: March 22, 2011 - 8:24 pm Eastern - By Aaron Klein
WorldNetDaily
- Photo: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President
Obama
JERUSALEM – Could President Obama's decision to sidestep
Congress and strike Libya as part of an international coalition
put the U.S. on a military collision course with Israel?
- While the prospect of American or Western forces confronting
Israeli troops may seem remote, one Middle East policy expert
is warning the precedent set by Obama in agreeing to target Libya
opens the door to other possible United Nations-backed confrontations,
including perhaps one day with Israel. "Particularly concerning
is the prospect that what we might call the Gaddafi Precedent
will be used in the not-to-distant future to justify and threaten
the use of U.S. military forces against an American ally: Israel,"
writes Frank Gaffney Jr., president of the Center for Security
Policy.
- Get the book that finally exposes Obama and his team of anti-American
radicals: Aaron Klein's "The Manchurian President"
at WND's Superstore
- In a piece this week entitled "U.N. intervention into
Libya an ominous precedent for Israel," Gaffney spells out
a possible scenario whereby an international coalition, including
the U.S., could militarily threaten Israel just as it is striking
Libya. Continued: http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=278129
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- GAFFNEY NOTES THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY IS ATTEMPTING TO
BRING A U.N. RESOLUTION THAT WOULD UNILATERALLY DECLARE A PALESTINIAN
STATE OUTSIDE OF NEGOTIATIONS WITH ISRAEL
- Such a resolution seeks international legal recognition for
a Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, meaning inside the
Gaza Strip, West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem, technically
including the Temple Mount. Continued:
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