Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, February 05, 2014

02/05 Link Pt2: The Darker Side Of Oxfam; Boycotts Are Driven By Hate; 9 Narrow Miles

From Ian:

But lurking behind this carefully-crafted website, and indeed the spokesman’s carefully-worded statement, is a rather different reality.
In truth, Oxfam channels charity funds to political groups which follow deeply partisan agendas, and support the boycott of Israel.
Over the last few years, Oxfam GB and the Dutch branch of the charity, Oxfam Novib, have granted many tens of thousands pounds to Coalition of Women for Peace (CWP).
This group is linked to whoprofits.org, a website that publicly identifies boycott targets, including Israeli banks, utility providers and companies like SodaStream.

Divest This!: A Panic-Driven Response to Omar Barghouti

As the leader of a “movement” that has accomplished next to nothing in close to fifteen years, Omar Barghouti seems to have developed special vision powers (perhaps learned while studying at an Israeli school he insists everyone in the world but he should boycott). These powers allow him to see panic-stricken Israeli supporters on all sides that quiver in perpetual fear of BDS’s explosive growth that always seems to arrive in the form of a damp squib.
Barghouti’s latest New York Times piece (paired with a “rebuttal” by Hirsh Goodman which declares Israel to be guilty, but urges something other than boycotting as a punishment – great diversity of opinion Grey Lady!) demonstrates all the rhetoric ticks that give BDS staying power despite lack of concrete victory (incidental or otherwise).
Thus 16% of the American Studies Association’s membership voting for an academic boycott is a “landslide vote” while the stunning backlash against the boycott from across the academy goes unmentioned. Or perhaps that is just part of the panicked response of Israeli supporters? (Keep in mind that in the heads-I-win-tails-you-lose world of BDS, both the BDSers own activity and the overwhelmingly negative response it generates counts as a victories for them.) (h/t Yenta Press)

Answering Roger’s questions

The other day you posted an open letter to Neil Young and Scarlett Johansson on your Facebook page. This letter was primarily made up of a series of questions regarding the Palestinian employees of SodaStream’s factory in Ma’ale Adumim, addressed to Ms Johansson.
I see that neither Neil Young or Scarlett Johansson has offered you any answers to these questions, so I thought I might have a go.
There are several hundred Palestinians employed at this particular factory, I don’t know each of their particular circumstances, so I have taken my lead from the people interviewed in this recent article, and this video.

Iranian women need written permission from their husbands before traveling abroad

From Al Monitor:

Mahboubeh, a 62-year-old Iranian schoolteacher, was forbidden from traveling outside the country a couple of weeks ago. She has been separated from her husband for three years, after what she describes as over three decades of constant fighting. Since her husband has not agreed to divorce her, he has taken revenge by preventing her from leaving the country, even for a short trip to the United Arab Emirates with a couple of her old friends. Mahboubeh told Al-Monitor she’s fed up with the system that hands over so much authority to men, allowing them to rule women’s lives, even when they are no longer living under the same roof.

Married Iranian women, even if they hold a valid passport, require their husband’s permission to depart the country, regardless of age. For obtaining or renewing a passport, a notarized permit from the spouse is required. Husbands can easily refrain from allowing their wives to obtain or renew their passport.

But this is an improvement over a recently rescinded law that gave the same restrictions on single women.

...Mehdi Davatgari, an Iranian MP and member of the Majles’ National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told ISNA news agency, "It is an achievement of the Majles that single Iranian women over the age of 18 can obtain a passport with their father or grandfather’s official permission. Thus, contrary to the previous requirement, once a woman has her passport, she is cleared to exit the country, and there is no need for male permission to be obtained for every departure."

According to Davatgari, this measure would save a considerable amount of red tape. However, if the male supervisor feels strongly about the woman’s travel and is against it, predicting “wrong-doing or misconduct,” he could submit a request to the government to prevent her from leaving the country.

Fatemeh Rahbar, head of the Majles' Women and Family Affairs Committee, also gave her two cents on the matter, saying that the number of women who have misbehaved while traveling outside Iranian borders is too small to restrict every woman's travels: "Around 76 women who have traveled outside the country have behaved inappropriately, and therefore are forbidden from departure without an eligible male's notarized permission for each individual trip. Passports are equal to international birth certificates and cannot be denied to women, unless there is hard evidence proving a woman’s misbehavior outside the country, which we obviously take quite seriously.”

Shahla Mirgalou-Bayat, a physician and member of the Majles' Women and Family Affairs Committee, said passing and implementing these regulations are vital to protecting women and ensuring their safety while traveling.

In a recent interview, Mirgalou-Bayat said that since men could easily tend to their sexual needs through concubines and women cannot, it is safer for women to travel only if they must, and only if cleared by their male guardian. Mirgalou-Bayat added, “Women have different desires and needs than men, and implementing further restrictions for women is actually beneficial to women themselves. I approach this fact as a physician, from a physiological standpoint and considering the difference between male and female bodies.”

(h/t Anne)

Fun with imaginary numbers: Israel released almost 12,000 prisoners last 3 years!

Hamas' Al Qassam Brigades translates and publishes some new "statistics" from the PA Ministry of Prisoner Affairs (also at IMEMC):

Head of the Census Department at the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees, Abdul-Nasser Ferwana, said that Israeli occupation is currently holding captive around 4800 Palestinians in seventeen prisons, detention and interrogation centers.

Ferwana said that around 11034 Palestinians, including 2500 children, have been taken prisoner by the Israeli army over the last three years, during ongoing Israeli military invasions and violations in occupied Palestine.

According to B'Tselem, at the end of 2010 there were 5,705 prisoners. At the end of 2013 there were 4,768. If Israel imprisoned "around" 11,034 Palestinian Arabs in the past three years, that means that they have released an astonishing 11,971 prisoners in that time period!

It also means that the Israeli prisons must have especially fast revolving doors.

The lies don't end there, of course:

Ferwana also stated that Israeli occupation continues to deny ailing detainees the right to professional and specialized medical treatment, and said that there are 1500 detainees suffering with various conditions, including cancer, while others completely lost their mobility and various bodily functions.

Wow - 1500 of the 4800 prisoners are seriously ill? Then the mortality rate among prisoners must be super high, right?

As for detainees who died after their arrest, Ferwana stated that 205 detainees died since 1967, the causes of death range between excessive torture during interrogation, the lack of adequate medical treatment, and the excessive use of force.

Um...in 46 years, 205 prisoners died. That's less than five a year. How can it be that over 30% have serious medical conditions, but only 0.1% die every year?

This means (assuming roughly 5000 prisoners on the average since 1967, even though the numbers before 2001 were significantly lower) that the mortality rate among Arabs in Israeli prisons is at least four times better than they are outside of prison.

Dozens of Palestinians died shortly after their release from prison due to health complications resulting from the lack, and in many cases, the absence of medical attention in Israeli prisons, among them are detainees Morad Abu Sakout, Hayel Abu Zeid, Ashraf Abu Threi, Fayez Zeidat and Zakariyya Issa.

They don't die in Israeli prisons, but as soon as they can access professional medical facilities in the territories, then they drop dead?

Ferwana called on media outlets to provide further coverage on the issue of the detainees, their suffering and the ongoing violations, mental and physical abuse they face in Israeli prisons.

I think that is a great idea. The media really should report on these numbers. And they should bring in a statistician to do the analysis to see if they add up or if Ferwana is blowing smoke.

02/05 Link Pt1: Rogues’ gallery vying to replace Falk; Iran's Missile Program Continues Under Deal

From Ian:

UN Watch: The rogues’ gallery to replace Richard Falk

The 47-nation council, which just welcomed China, Cuba, Russia and Saudi Arabia to its ranks, will be replacing Falk — an open supporter of Hamas and of 9/11 conspiracy theories — at the end of its upcoming March session.
And so like moths to a flame, a rogues’ gallery of anti-Israel activists and academics are clamoring to take over a position that, even according to Amnesty International, is inherently biased against the Jewish state.
While the title of the post is “Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights on Palestinian territories occupied since 1967,” implying a regional jurisdiction, in fact the mandate – unchanged since February 1993 — is unique in the UN system for its exclusive focus on alleged abuses committed by one side, Israel; and by the presumption, in contempt of basic due process, that Israel will always be found guilty.

Mr. Kerry, the Israeli economy is no illusion

In recent weeks several emerging markets have seen their currencies come crashing down with a bang. One after the other they dropped, among them the Turkish lira, which led Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to raise the interest rate to an especially high 11 percent. In Argentina, the local currency has plummeted. And in Israel? Bank of Israel Governor Karnit Flug is taking an aggressive hands-on approach, selling shekels to all buyers. In other words -- she is buying dollars in large quantities. These are problems you want to have. Israel has an enormous cash reserve of some $80 billion. If we were really being boycotted the foreign investors would be the first to smell it and the shekel would collapse. The interest rates on Israel government bonds would skyrocket due to the hazardous risk. We would not be able to exist in conditions of a 1% interest rate on the shekel.

Four Palestinians ‘planned shooting attack at wedding party’

Four East Jerusalem Palestinians were indicted Wednesday for planning to carry out a large-scale shooting attack at a popular event hall in the city. All four suspects, aged 19-21, were charged with conspiracy to aid an enemy in wartime.
According to the indictment, filed with the Jerusalem District Court and made public Wednesday, two of the four suspects, residents of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber, planned to dress as ultra-Orthodox Jews, enter a wedding or other event at Jerusalem’s “Nof” hall in the Bait Vagan neighborhood concealing firearms beneath their clothes, then open fire at the guests.

Lies about Israel vs. the truth about Fatah

A few years ago there was an antisemitic play that received some publicity from the usual idiotic crowd. The BBC called it "brilliant." It was called Seven Jewish Children, by Caryl Churchill.

The entire format of the play was supposedly how Jews think, in terms of what they teach their children. A small sample:

Tell her about the family of dead girls, tell her their names why
not, tell her the whole world knows why shouldn’t she know? tell
her there’s dead babies, did she see babies? tell her she’s got
nothing to be ashamed of. Tell her they did it to themselves. Tell
her they want their children killed to make people sorry for them,
tell her I’m not sorry for them, tell her not to be sorry for them,
tell her we’re the ones to be sorry for, tell her they can’t talk
suffering to us. Tell her we’re the iron fist now, tell her it’s the fog
of war, tell her we won’t stop killing them till we’re safe, tell her I
laughed when I saw the dead policemen, tell her they’re animals
living in rubble now, tell her I wouldn’t care if we wiped them out,
the world would hate us is the only thing, tell her I don’t care if
the world hates us, tell her we’re better haters, tell her we’re
chosen people, tell her I look at one of their children covered in
blood and what do I feel? tell her all I feel is happy it’s not her.
Don’t tell her that.

Today, Palestinian Media Watch translates something on the Fatah Facebook page also about what they want to teach their children. But this isn't a fictionalized, racist account of the mindset of Arabs - this is what the "moderate" Fatah party, led by Mahmoud Abbas, really thinks:

Teach your children to love the soil.
Teach them that we live in misery.
Teach them that there is a seed in the soil;
if you water it with blood,
it will sprout a revolution.

Will anyone write a play based on reality rather than the fevered dreams of Israel-haters?

Saeb Erekat's "Canaanite" lies - the video

Based on this post:

(h/t Yoel)

Infighting in Hamas

YNet reports:

For several days, Hamas forces stationed near the security fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel to prevent rocket fire on Israel were gone from their posts; behind the scenes, a drama unfolded in the strip.

Last weekend, the rocket prevention forces – deployed to deter the numerous factions in Gaza from undoing the relative calm between Israel and Hamas – withdrew from their positions, returning to their posts on Tuesday morning.

Palestinian sources said that the matter was not one of tactical indecision, but internal disagreements regarding the proper response to IDF operations. A document obtained by Ynet confirmed that in the end, the moderate elements prevailed.

The affair began Thursday night, when the Israeli Air Force attacked three Gaza Strip targets belonging to the military wing of Hamas. Some of the targets held large reserves of rockets, which were destroyed in the attack.

The following day, the military wing of Hamas announced a withdrawal of the forces along the security barrier. The forces, numbering around 900 soldiers, were posted two weeks ago to search passing vehicles in order to prevent additional rockets being fired on Israel.

The forces' withdrawal could only have one meaning: Hamas was preparing to launch rockets in response to the IDF attack – despite the decision of the political wing of Hamas. These insights were published Tuesday morning in the Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat; Palestinian sources confirmed the events to Ynet.

A security source said that the leadership of the military wing felt that it was losing its popular support in the public, especially given the criticism received by Islamic Jihad, who had called for shooting rockets towards Israel in response to IDF attacks.

He noted that the military leadership of Hamas did not want to be seen as a moderate entity that supports restraint and prevents a military response against Israel – fearing that such a position would weaken their standing next to Islamic Jihad.

However the intention of the military wing to attack caused a conflict between it and the political wing that required the involvement of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and the movement's political chief Khaled Meshaal.

The Palestinian sources said that Haniyeh sided with Meshaal and the two worked together to coax the military leadership away from its decision to respond with rocket fire. The two leaders worried that such a rocket barrage could lead to the collapse of the relative calm, and maybe even to IDF operations within the Gaza Strip.

The quick involvement of the political echelon bore fruit, and on Tuesday Hamas' Interior Ministry announced, that the forces were redeployed along the security barrier to maintain the peace.

The document was written on Saturday, less than a day after the first withdrawal. The letter is written to Abu Ubaidah al-Jarrah, the commander of the national security forces of Hamas, and emphasizes that aggressive action must be taken against anyone who attempts to launch rockets.

Hamas has already clarified that it is not interested in an escalation on the border. The terrorist organization sent such a message to Israel through Egypt after five rockets were fired at Ashkelon in January. That particular barrage led to a conference meeting of the numerous Palestinian factions, in which participants were told they must maintain restrain to prevent further Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.

The meeting ended with the understanding that all factions were committed to the restraint tactic, though that very night a rocket was fired from the Strip. Hamas was furious with the launchers, who most likely belonged to Islamic Jihad, and the movement announced that it will aggressively operate against anyone who tries to launch rockets towards Israel.

Ask any clueless "Middle East expert" what Israel needs to do to minimize rocket and other terror attacks:

1) Withdraw from territory
2) Negotiate a peace agreement
3) Maintain an uncompromising military posture that the Palestinian Arabs respect

The gap between the truth and the conventional wisdom is more like a canyon.

SodaStream CEO destroys Oxfam official on BBC

This is so great:

I also like when the clueless BBC host says that Judea and Samaria is "territory seized from another country." Which country was that, again? And were that country's claims on the West Bank legal under international law?

Another point that I've been noticing lately is that the Israel haters - and I'm including the Oxfam representative here - purposely conflate "settlements" with Area C. The two are not identical. Settlements take up perhaps 4% of Area C, which, as Birnbaum points out, is administered by Israel under existing agreements with the PA.

The disingenuous statement of Oxfam that it is not against Israel is also fairly bogus, because it funds many organizations that advocate a total boycott of Israel. It has an "ambassador" who also advocates BDS.

If Oxfam supports Israel's right to exist as much as it opposes the "settlements" then it should distance itself from Desmond Tutu as much as it distanced itself from Scarlett Johansson. Yet - it wouldn't ever do that. Which speaks volumes as to how much it believes that Israel is legitimate within the "1967 lines."

The video, however, is priceless.

02/04 Links Pt2: Wiesel- People are no longer ashamed to be anti-Semites; A PA BDS Fail

From Ian:

Elie Wiesel: People are no longer ashamed to be anti-Semites

"The Holocaust is a unique event, but it has a universal significance which must be memorized incessantly," he says, voicing concerns over the temptation of Iran's nuclear ability and the civil war in Syria, which has already claimed a price of 150,000 deaths. And the world is silent.
The unstoppable conversation between us has been going on for several years now, but the murky wave of anti-Semitism sweeping over the Western world, as well as Eastern Europe (with the recent incidents in Hungary and Ukraine), are fresh and extract statements with despair running through them.
"Unfortunately, anti-Semitism still exists," Wiesel says. "It has been alive for more than 2,000 years, and will likely continue living. I thought that the memory of the Holocaust would shame those boasting anti-Semitic opinions. I was wrong. It still exists in different countries, and it seems people are no longer ashamed to be anti-Semitic."

At SodaStream, Palestinians hope their bubble won’t burst

“There are no job opportunities in the West Bank,” Fares told The Times of Israel. “Even the jobs that do exist pay no more than NIS 1,500-2,000 ($430-570) a month.” Fares now earns triple those sums.
Many educated women like Fares were forced to seek work outside the home following the outbreak of the Second Intifada in 2000 to support the household as the Palestinian economy collapsed, she explained.
Fares’s husband, a first lieutenant in the Palestinians’ prestigious Preventive Security Force, earns NIS 2,000 ($570) per month after 10 years of service.

PA Report: Palestinians Prefer to Buy 'Blue and White'

Last month, BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) activists slammed Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas for not joining in with them to boycott Israel – and on Monday, the PA revealed just how uninvolved it was in the BDS movement. According to a PA report, 70% of the PA's imports were from Israel, with imports worth $3.5 billion entering the Authority from Israel.
It should be noted that Israel generally does not restrict imports of consumer goods to the PA, and that Israeli goods compete on Palestinian store shelves with goods from Arab countries and Europe as well as from the PA. Rather, it is the Palestinian consumer who is driving the push for Israeli goods in the PA, Palestinian merchants said. (h/t Bob Knot)

Financial Times has a meltdown over SodaStream model of co-existence

First, the SodaStream factory is located in an industrial park within greater Ma’ale Adumim and, even according to Peace Now, only 0.5% of the settlement territory was built on Palestinian land. Additionally, while the fate of the disputed territory will be decided by negotiations between the two parties, it’s important to note that Ehud Olmert’s generous offer to Mahmoud Abbas in 2008, which included a contiguous Palestinian State in 93% of the West Bank, included Ma’ale Adumim as part of Israel.
Further, the phrase “Arab East Jerusalem” is of course a misnomer, as the only time “East Jerusalem” was ‘Arab’ (that is, 100% Jew-free) and separated arbitrarily between “East” and “West” in its entire history was between 1949 and 1967, the short period when Jordan controlled that part of the city (after expelling all the Jews).

AP badly misrepresents Israel's role in Gaza exports

From AP:

Gaza farmers have begun growing mint, basil and coriander, saying such herbs can serve as a remedy for some of the blockaded Palestinian territory's economic woes.

Looking for blockade loopholes, five Gaza farmers began growing herbs a year ago, most in greenhouses on land where Jewish settlers used to raise the same crops until Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005. "The motive ... was to find new products that we can grow here in Gaza and that return a good income and can employ more people," said farmer Jamal Abu Naja, 47.

...Some argue that cultivating fresh herbs makes more sense economically because they require less water, grow more quickly, cost less to ship and are always in high demand.

"This can elevate the Gaza economy," said Mohammed Abu Ouda, an expert in agricultural development.

Even if herbs offer a new opportunity, Israel's export policies make it harder for Gaza farmers to make a profit.

AP makes it sound like enterprising Gaza farmers, within the past year, have found a way to get around those evil Israeli restrictions on exports, and their success is in spite of Israel's desires to keep them poor and destitute.

Let's see what the IDF's COGAT unit had to say about the first spice export in 2012:

In addition to the usual exported agricultural goods- peppers, a variety of tomatoes, strawberries and flowers, for the very first time, Gaza farmers are exporting spices.

This represents a significant accomplishment for Gaza farmers and merchants, as the average revenue per spice truck is roughly 40,000 NIS, compared with approximately 25,000 NIS per truck with other produce.

The entire project was initiated by the ICLA Gaza [Israeli Coordination & Liaison Administration] and coordinated with the Khan Younis Association and the Arava Export Growers as part of the continuous support for agricultural development in the Gaza Strip.

Farmers in Gaza were given tutorials on how to grow spices and they were then provided the seedlings from Israel. This morning, Sunday, 21 October 2012, the inaugural export through Kerem Shalom proved a success. Special arrangements at the crossing were made to accommodate the needs of the exported spices, including capabilities to perform refrigerated quality and security inspections.

Spice exports from Gaza was Israel's idea! From conception through training through giving the seeds and working with the Gaza farmers on export requirements, everything was initiated by Israel!

AP's misinformation don't end there:

Israel only permits the farmers to export abroad, but not to Israel and the West Bank, traditionally Gaza's main markets. Gaza's agricultural exports are trucked through Israel to Jordan and from there flown to far-flung destinations, including Europe, the United States and Russia.

No. Most of the exports go through Israel's port in Ashdod, sometimes they are flown out of Ben Gurion airport, and sometimes they go through Jordan - whichever makes economic sense. So exports of produce to Saudi Arabia probably go through Jordan, but most of the exports to Europe and the US go through Ashdod.

It is also interesting that in an article about how supposedly difficult it is to export through Israel, for some reason, no one seems to ask about why Gazans can't export goods to or via Egypt.

Do you think that AP's Ibrahim Barzak has a bias?

(Information verified with COGAT)

Arab American group takes credit for Coke "It's Beautiful" Super Bowl commercial

Last year, Coke gave out this teaser for their Super Bowl ad:

Arabs were furious:

"Why is it that Arabs are always shown as either oil-rich sheiks, terrorists, or belly dancers?" said Warren David, president of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, or ADC.

Coca-Cola released an online teaser of the commercial last week, showing the Arab walking through a desert. He soon sees cowboys, Las Vegas showgirls and a motley crew fashioned after the marauders of the apocalyptic "Mad Max" film race by him to reach a gigantic bottle of Coke.

In its ad, Coke asks viewers to vote online on which characters should win the race. The online site does not allow a vote for the Arab character.

"The Coke commercial for the Super Bowl is racist, portraying Arabs as backward and foolish Camel Jockeys, and they have no chance to win in the world," Imam Ali Siddiqui, president of the Muslim Institute for Interfaith Studies, said in an email.

"What message is Coke sending with this?" asked Abed Ayoub, ADC's director of legal and policy affairs. "By not including the Arab in the race, it is clear that the Arab is held to a different standard when compared to the other characters in the commercial," he said.

Guess who got the Coke in the end?

But that didn't stop the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee from continuing their complaint with Coke.

Now, they are taking credit for this year's Coke Super Bowl commercial.

After the Coca-Cola Company has depicted Arabs in a stereotypical fashion in its last year Super Bowl advertisement provoking protest by Arab Americans, it promoted this year a more balanced ad showing diversity in American society, a press release by an Arab American group said on Tuesday.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) commended the Coca-Cola Company for airing an ad during Sunday night’s Super Bowl which celebrated America’s diversity.

“Over the course of the past year ADC has partnered with Coke to promote diversity,” it said. “The partnership developed out of concerns ADC shared with Coke in regards to its 2013 Super Bowl ads.”

Coke ended up being a sponsor of the ADC convention in 2013.

This year's Coke commercial showed "America the Beautiful" being sung in seven languages.

Ironically, none of them appear to be Arabic. (According to this site, the languages were English, Spanish, Keres Pueblo, Tagalog, Hindi, Senegalese French, and Hebrew. Many of the commenters, experts in world languages, had trouble picking out the languages being sung because they were all done with heavily American accents.)

The Arabic version was filmed but ended up on the cutting room floor.

(During the game, some people tweeted some really racist things reacting to the commercial, but that's a different story.)

Here are screen shots of the Jewish guys in the commercial.

02/04 Links Pt1: Iran FM Denies He is Opposed to a 2nd Holocaust; Syria’s Israeli Guardian Angel

From Ian:

Iran Foreign Minister Denies He is Opposed to Second Holocaust

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif vehemently denied on Monday reports that he is opposed to a second Holocaust of Jewish people, according to Iranian media reports.
Some media outlets reported over the weekend that Zarif had stated, the “Holocaust should not happen again” and that “the extermination of Jews by the Nazi regime was tragically cruel and should not happen again.”
However, Zarif maintains that this is not the case, according to top Iranian lawmakers who have spoken to the foreign minister about his remarks.

Caroline Glick: Kerry's Israeli supporters

Once again, on Saturday, US Secretary of State John Kerry tried to extort Israeli concessions to the PLO by threatening us with a Western economic boycott.
Kerry is obsessed with Israel’s economic success. Last May he told us that we’re too rich to surrender our land.
Now he’s saying we’ll be poor if we don’t do so.
The anti-Semitic undertones of Kerry’s constant chatter about Jews having too much money are obvious. But beyond their inherent bigotry, Kerry’s statements serve to legitimize the radical Left’s economic war against the Jewish state. Administration supporters and fundraisers from Code Pink and other pressure groups, as well as the EU understand that if they escalate their economic and political persecution of the Jewish state, their actions will be met with quiet understanding, and even support from the Obama administration.

PM: Without recognition, there will be no peace deal

Netanyahu said it would be "absurd" to expect Israel to recognize a nation state for the Palestinian people without reciprocal recognition of Israel as the nation state for the Jewish people.
"Let's see if the same international actors who until now have put pressure on Israel will make clear to the Palestinian Authority what exactly will be the consequences for the Palestinians if there is no agreement," Netanyahu said. "Because, unless the Palestinians understand that they will pay a price if the talks fail, they will prefer to not continue the talks."
"No pressure will cause me to abandon the vital interests of the State of Israel, first and foremost the security of the citizens of Israel," Netanyahu said.