Thursday, July 18, 2013
Wall Street Journal: Netanyahu Has Red Lines, Obama Doesn't
The article then went on to criticize Obama, who has in the past said that use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime would be a red line that “would change my equation.” The editorial quoted two similar statements by Obama, one dated August 2012 and another one from this past March.New US envoy says she’ll defend Israel at the UN
“As everyone—most especially Bashar Assad—now knows, Mr. Obama has no red lines regarding Syria or chemical weapons,” the editorial charged. “Even his belated policy change to deliver small arms to the opposition is bogged down in bureaucratic inertia and congressional resistance. Readers may or may not think the U.S. should involve itself in Syria, but serious powers cannot issue empty threats and not expect consequences.”
The Irish-born Power, who has been criticized by some groups for past comments considered critical of Israel, said that the US has no “greater friend” than the Jewish state. She criticized the UN for its “disproportionate” focus on Israel and said she would fight to have Israel admitted as a member of the UN Security Council, a post that the Jewish state has been vying for.CIF Watch: Guardian refers to ‘Judea and Samaria’ as a “right-wing” terms
As Elder of Ziyon noted, official UN documents routinely used “Judea and Samaria” until the end of the British Mandate, and in fact didn’t begin capitalizing the words “West Bank” until after the Six Day War. Further, before there were any settlements all, the Israeli government led by the left-wing Labor Party (under Levi Eshkol) called the area “Judea and Samaria” – as this 1968 UPI article, to cite but one example, shows.Papers: EU ‘Earthquake’ Directive Underscores Europe’s Irrelevance in the Region
While Israeli officials reacted to the news with disappointment and confusion, today, the global news media weighed in on its significance.The EU’s Broken Mideast Compass
Jennifer Rubin at the Washington Post wrote that she wasn’t surprised by the EU’s position. In an Op-Ed, Rubin writes that the EU has a clear anti-Israel bias–a bias that makes it an otherwise insignificant player in the Middle East peace process: “This is an old story for the European Union — it strives for relevance but its anti-Israeli tendencies make it particularly unsuited to play any constructive role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
If this is how the EU chooses to spend its limited diplomatic and political resources “to help” the Middle East, then its moral compass is badly broken. The EU still hasn’t even mustered the clarity or courage to join the USA, Canada, and six Gulf states (led by Bahrain) in designating Hezbollah a terrorist organization, even though Hezbollah has committed terrorist acts on EU soil that killed an EU citizen, and has supported Basher Assad’s butchery in Syria. The EU has also failed to take any decisive action to address the urgent crises in Lebanon, Syria, and Iran (which marches ever closer to nukes, and imports ore for armor and missile production from Germany and France). And where is the EU’s boycott of Mideast governments that persecute women, execute homosexuals, and condone the slaughter of Christians?Israel moves to quit flagship EU project over restrictions
Israel is a major contributor to the EU’s €80 billion Horizon 2020 project, which aims to create new growth and jobs in Europe by the end of the decade. According to Hebrew daily Maariv, Israel is meant to contribute upwards of €600 million to the project over the next seven years, while receiving even larger sums in research grants.'Europe wants to erect new Berlin Wall in the middle of Jerusalem'
In an interview with German magazine Die Welt, which will be published on Sunday, Netanyahu said that the EU was "trying to impose permanent borders by applying financial pressure on Israel rather than pursuing negotiations. That is an unfair move at any time, not just now, when U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is trying to get the parties back to the negotiating table."Conflicting reports surround possible imminent renewal of peace talks
Netanyahu told the German publication that Brussels "wants to erect a new Berlin Wall in the middle of Jerusalem, but anyone who has ever visited Jerusalem knows that you cannot turn back time and divide neighborhoods that would clearly remain under Israeli control as part of any peace agreement."
Jerusalem on Thursday denied a Reuters report that Israel has agreed to a proposed formula for new peace talks with the Palestinians under which the border of the future Palestinian state would be along lines that existed before the 1967 Six-Day War with agreed land swaps.Kerry closes in on resumed peace talks
Gaps between the Israeli and Palestinian positions have narrowed substantially after US Secretary of State John Kerry met with PA President Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday in Jordan, a senior Palestinian Authority official told the Lebanese newspaper Al-Mustaqbal. The official said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to a partial settlement freeze and is willing to negotiate on the basis of the 1967 lines. The freeze would not apply to Jerusalem and the major settlement blocs, the report said.Report: IDF preparing to remove West Bank checkpoints
According to Army Radio, IDF commanders are examining alternate security measures in the southern Hebron Hills region that would allow for the removal of a major roadblock near the settlement of Beit Hagi, which is adjacent to the entrance to Hebron.In Feud Over Unpaid Bills, Palestinian Hospitals Refusing Care to Palestinian Govt Personnel
Observers have long feared that financial mismanagement by Palestinian officials – a function of endemic corruption, and coupled with political illegitimacy – would prevent the emergence of a stable Palestinian economy. A functioning economy is considered a critical prerequisite in efforts to achieve a viable Palestinian state, lest that state fail.PA holds military funeral for former Fatah terrorist who murdered 14, injured 60
The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday held a military funeral for Ahmed Abu al- Sukkar, a former Fatah prisoner who was involved in the 1975 “refrigerator bombing” in Jerusalem’s Zion Square.Egypt intercepts 19 Grad rockets, military equipment
Fourteen people were killed and more than 60 injured in the terror attack.
The Egyptian military intercepted a shipment of 19 Grad rockets concealed in a truck bound to Cairo from the port of Suez, Egyptian media reported on Wednesday. The driver of the vehicle was apprehended in possession of an automatic rifle and ammunition.Egypt: Morsi Supporters Protest Outside Cabinet
An army spokesman confirmed the seizure to the Daily News Egypt website. The military believes the discovery is related to the ongoing violence in Sinai.
Egypt's new 34-member Cabinet was sworn-in on Tuesday. It features several prominent figures from the country's liberal and secular factions, as well as three women and three Christians.Copts Face Violence After Morsi Ouster
There are no ministers from Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood or other Islamist groups.
“What is disturbing is the failure of the security apparatus to act — which at times looks like collusion — to protect citizens and their property who are being targeted on the basis of their religion, Ishak Ibrahim of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) told Agence France Presse (AFP). “Copts are paying the price of the inflammatory rhetoric against them coming from some Islamist leaders and supporters of the former president, who accuse Coptic spiritual leaders of conspiring to foment army intervention to remove Dr Morsi.”EU foreign policy chief floats plan to blacklist Hezbollah
The European Union could blacklist Hezbollah's military wing while stressing it is open to talking to the militant Lebanese movement's political faction, under a proposal by the EU's foreign policy chief, EU diplomats said on Wednesday.Gulf States Pursue Collective Ban on Hizbullah
European governments have been deadlocked over the issue since May when Britain asked for the Shi'ite Muslim group's military wing to be put on the EU terror list, citing evidence it was behind a deadly bus bombing in Bulgaria last year.
Arab nations in the Gulf are apparently ahead of Europe in their readiness to concede the Lebanon-based Hizbullah group is a terrorist organization.New Burgas bombing evidence points at Hezbollah
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), comprised of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman, announced Wednesday they are willing to blacklist Hizbullah as a terrorist entity.
Bulgaria’s interior minister says new evidence has bolstered its case implicating Hezbollah in a deadly July 2012 bus bombing, but investigators still do not know the specific identities of the suspects.
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