Friday, March 07, 2014
Sarah Honig: Worthless guarantees
However, the immediate victims are those who trusted American assurances – like, in this case, the Ukrainians.Elliott Abrams: Iran and 'Karine B'
Of course, they are not the only ones left with guarantees not worth the paper they were printed on. Many of America’s loyal allies were abandoned in the “Arab Spring.” Obama backtracked from the red lines he himself drew for Damascus despot Bashar Assad, leaving Putin and the Tehran axis with yet another victory. Red lines regarding Iranian nuclear ambitions were just as blithely ditched.
Israel is now being coerced to divest itself of all its strategic assets in Judea and Samaria and expose its soft underbelly – its frightfully narrow and heavily populated central region – to terrorist predations.
Israel’s sole safeguards are to be guarantees disturbingly similar to those supplied the Ukrainians. What now unfolds in the Crimea should serve as a thunderous warning against placing ourselves at the mercy of apparent allies. Here, but for the grace of God, go we.
While we talk of outreach to Iran and unclenched fists, Iran continues to be the largest state sponsor of terrorism. During the nuclear negotiations the Obama administration seems to think it must be on its best behavior lest the regime in Tehran become offended and walk away from the table. So, the administration stops Congress from enacting additional sanctions -- even sanctions never to be imposed unless negotiations fail. News reports say that there was administration pressure on Israel to stop its covert action program inside Iran. And we hear endless discussions of how President Hassan Rouhani is a moderate and we have to help the moderates in their struggle against hard liners inside the regime.Ottomans, British Apparently Unaware Palestine Actually Sovereign The Whole Time (satire)
But during this period, while the administration says we must carefully watch our conduct lest we offend Iran, Iran ships advanced missiles to Hamas in Gaza. Iran ships arms to opposition groups Bahrain. The regime in Iran continues a brutal campaign of repression at home. Whatever our approach, theirs is to use this period of negotiations to destabilize the entire region and crush all internal opposition.
Palestinian historians examining the administration of the Holy Land during the British and Ottoman periods have discovered that the rulers of that land remained completely oblivious to the fact that they were not really the ones in charge. In reality, say the researchers, the Palestinian people were in control of their homeland, which is why the emergence of Israeli control over the same parcel of land was such a disaster.
While the Ottomans took control of the Holy Land in the first half of the sixteenth century, say the historians, they in fact never truly reigned, despite their monopoly on tax collection, land ownership registration, road construction, military recruitment, and the management of commerce, for example. Throughout the four hundred years of Ottoman rule in the Holy Land, an indigenous people called Palestinians were in fact sovereign, despite there being no record of any indigenous sovereignty since the Second Jewish Commonwealth two thousand years ago.
Jeffrey Goldberg Says He Interpreted Obama Comments on Israel as a ‘Veiled Threat’
Goldberg paraphrased Obama as saying, “Israel is growing more isolated and we can’t defend it in the same way.”Jewish Liberals Should Admit They Were Wrong on Obama
“I took it to be a little bit of a veiled threat, to be honest,” Goldberg said. “It’s almost up there with, you know, nice little Jewish state you got there, I’d hate to see something happen to it.”
“It was, look, I want to help you, but you’re not helping me help you, and, therefore, there’s only so much political capital I’m going to go spend in the UN, with the EU, with the Arab League, on your behalf,” Goldberg said. “I think it was all couched very carefully but it’s there and certainly the government in Israel feels like it’s there.”
The Jewish community overwhelmingly supported President Obama’s re-election campaign in 2012, despite his previous track record as being terrible on Israel. As Obama and Kerry continue to pressure Israel extensively, I wonder if Jewish liberals look around and regret their support of Obama. With Obama’s countless foreign policy mistakes, the economy struggling to recover, and the fact that there has never been a time when America has been less respected by the world, any regrets at all?At the Heart of the Jewish State Issue
Meanwhile the Palestinians have given every indication that they won’t buy into the framework because they fear it will commit them to the one thing they have repeatedly shown no interest in accepting: peace.Abbas: No recognition of Israel as Jewish state
Further proof of that comes today from the New York Times in the form of an op-ed from a leading Palestinian academic explaining why his people could never agree to one of the key points in the framework: recognizing Israel as a Jewish state. Ali Jarbawi of Bir Zeit University gives a number of reasons why the Jewish state demand is a non-starter. But the Palestinians would probably be better off if they gave up trying to explain why that is so. The more we understand about the Palestinians’ objections to this condition, the less likely peace will ever be agreed to, no matter what the terms.
Not entirely by coincidence, the Times editorial page endorsed the Palestinian position on the Jewish state today. But the paper was far more concerned with seconding President Obama’s stance and ignoring Israel’s past offers of statehood turned down by the Palestinians (in 2000, 2001 and 2008) and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s repeated statements about his willingness to accept a two-state solution if it meant real peace. Their dismissal of the Jewish state demand, which has been accepted by both Obama and Secretary of State Kerry, is however, a key point that should alert readers to the fact that the paper’s supposed concern for Israel’s future is less than sincere. But those wishing to understand the Palestinian’s reluctance to accept the necessity to merely say a few words in exchange for tangible concessions in terms of land from Israel need to read Jaberi’s article to understand why this seemingly trivial concern is actually at the heart of the dispute.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said there is “no way” he will recognize Israel as a Jewish state and accept a Palestinian capital in just a portion of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, rebuffing what Palestinians fear will be key elements of a US peace proposal.Khaled Abu Toameh PA: 'Grave mistake' for Abbas to accept unsatisfactory deal
Abbas’s comments signaled that the gaps between him and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remain wide after seven months of mediation efforts by US Secretary of State John Kerry.
Abbas, whose remarks were published on Friday by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, said he withstood international pressure in the past, when he sought UN recognition of a state of Palestine over Washington’s objections.
Palestinian officials in Ramallah on Thursday expressed fear that President Barack Obama would exert heavy pressure on PA President Mahmoud Abbas to accept a US-sponsored framework agreement with Israel.JPost Editorial: Terrorism’s puppet master
Abbas is scheduled to meet with Obama in Washington on March 17.
It would be a “grave mistake” to force Abbas to accept an agreement that does not satisfy most Palestinians, the officials said.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and other government officials involved in the decision-making process demonstrated leadership and a willingness to take calculated risks.Comparing Iran to Nazis, Netanyahu vows to expose ‘lies’
But the seizure of the Klos-C is an important Israeli accomplishment for another reason. At a time when the “moderate” President Hassan Rouhani and his ever-smiling Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif have turned on a charm offensive that has succeeded in clinching for the Islamic Republic a partial reprieve from crippling sanctions, Israel has once again reminded the world of the danger of allowing Iran to leverage to a devastating degree its destabilizing impact on the region by achieving nuclear weapon capability.
Netanyahu spoke at the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, where exhibits document how 6 million Jews and Europe’s lively Jewish culture was destroyed in the Holocaust. He drew a parallel between a 1919 letter on display at the museum in which Adolf Hitler laid out his plans for an “uncompromising removal of the Jews altogether.”PM Netanyahu at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles
“He called then for the destruction of Israel, and Iran today calls for the destruction of Israel,” Netanyahu said, after being shown a document signed by Hitler.
“Then, too, there were people who did not want to believe his words. We shall not allow Iran to arm itself with the capability to destroy us,” he continued.
WATCH: IDF soldiers boarding ship loaded with Iranian shipment of rockets
The IDF released on Thursday a video showing its forces boarding a ship laden with Iranian weapons bound for Gaza.EXCLUSIVE FOOTAGE: IDF soldiers board the Klos-C
The IDF’s “Operation Discovery” took place in the Red Sea on Wednesday, 1,500 kilometers away from Israel and some 160 kilometers from Port Sudan. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz oversaw the raid.
PA honors terrorist who planned murder of Israeli minister Ze'evi for "heroic sacrifice"
Despite the ongoing peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, PA leaders persist in their glorification of killers of Israeli civilians. Recently, the PA's Ministry of Prisoners' Affairs chose to honor the families of several terrorists imprisoned in Israel "out of appreciation for their heroic sacrifice."IsraellyCool: Palestinian Insult To Professional Journalism Criticizes Other Palestinian Insult To Professional Journalism
Among the terrorists honored at the ceremony were Ahed Abu Gholmeh, who is serving a life sentence for planning the murder of Israeli Minister of Tourism Rehavam Ze'evi ("Ghandi") in 2001, and Ahmad Sa'adat, who is serving a 30-year sentence for heading the PFLP terror organization. A song played at a PFLP event praised Sa'adat for planning the murder of the Israeli minister, but he has not been tried for this crime.
Regular readers know, we really are not fans of the palestinian Ma’an News Agency. To put it simply, they give Saeb Erekat (and pretty much all palestinian leaders) a run for his money when it comes to an aversion to the truth.Activists heading to Gaza stuck at Cairo airport
We are clearly not the only ones who think so, because here’s a piece by palestinian journalist Khalid Amayreh criticizing Ma’an’s journalistic quality.
More than 40 women on their way to Gaza as part of a delegation for World Women’s Day are staging a sit-in inside the Cairo International Airport after being refused entry into the country since Tuesday, airport officials in Egypt and activists said Thursday.Syrian Warplanes Approach Border; IAF Deployed
Among the participants from the US-based anti-war group Code Pink’s delegation are US, French and Belgian citizens.
Ann Wright, the US delegation’s organizer, said Thursday that a few activists have elected to return home, while at least three activists had been deported, including Mairead Maguire, a 1976 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Medea Benjamin, an American activist, said Egyptian police fractured her shoulder when she refused to board a plane to Turkey.
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) was deployed Friday afternoon after Syrian warplanes approached the Israel-Syrian border, according to Channel 2.Syria to Miss Yet Another Deadline in Chemical Weapons Operation
The Syrian warplanes were within just a few hundred kilometers to Israel Friday, according to the daily, as it struck rebel outposts near Al Quneitra.
The two air forces did not come into contact with one another, but the IDF does not take threats to Israeli airspace lightly - especially in light of recent spillover from the ongoing Syrian Civil War.
In yet another setback to the operation to destroy Damascus’ chemical weapons arsenal, sources at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said on Thursday that Syria will miss a major deadline next week.In UN complaint, Syria says Israel fired on mosque, school
Reuters reported that Syria has until March 15 to destroy 12 declared production facilities.
"That will definitely be missed," an official involved in discussions with Syria, referring to the March 15 deadline, was quoted as having said.
Damascus on Thursday filed a complaint with the United Nations Security Council over Israeli fire into Syrian territory a day earlier.Erdogan threatens to ban Facebook, YouTube
In a letter to the president of the council and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Syria claimed Israel fired at a mosque and a school near the demilitarized zone separating the two countries, injuring seven soldiers and four civilians.
According to Israel Radio, the Syrian Army warned the IDF against attempts to test its capabilities.Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday accused Israel of cooperating with Syrian rebel factions to tip the balance of power in the demilitarized zone.
Turkey’s prime minister has threatened drastic steps to censor the Internet, including shutting down Facebook and YouTube, where audio recordings of his alleged conversations suggesting corruption have been leaked in the past weeks, dealing him a major blow ahead of this month’s local elections.Months after deal, Israeli airlines still not flying to Turkey
In a late-night interview Thursday, Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a TV station that his government is determined to stem the leaks he insists are being instigated by followers of an influential US-based Muslim cleric. He has accused supporters of Fethullah Gulen of infiltrating police and the judiciary and of engaging in “espionage,” saying that the group even listened in on his encrypted telephone lines. The Gulen movement denies involvement.
Three months after the Civil Aviation Authority announced that Israeli airlines would be able to fly to Turkey again — after nearly half a decade during which they were not allowed to take off or land in that country — local carriers are still effectively locked out of the lucrative market. Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines continues to grow, consolidating its position as the second-largest airline operating in Israel.
“This is the great illusion, which the head of the Civil Aviation Authority was able to create; to my regret, there is absolutely no change,” El Al CEO Eliezer Shkedy fumed this week in an interview with The Times of Israel. “We asked to be able to fly to Turkey starting at the beginning of March, to Istanbul and other places across Turkey… We can’t fly to Turkey and the Turks continue to operate tens of flights per week.
