Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Thursday, September 12, 2019

09/12 Links Pt1: Jordan Valley Needed to Protect Israel from Threats to the East; Evelyn Gordon: Palestinians Are Tired of Being the Only Refugees Denied the Right to Resettlement

From Ian:

Evelyn Gordon: Palestinians Are Tired of Being the Only Refugees Denied the Right to Resettlement

Hundreds of Palestinian refugees demonstrated outside the Canadian Embassy in Beirut on Sept. 5 to request asylum in Canada or the European Union, the second such protest in the last month. The most surprising aspect of these demonstrations is that they have been so long in coming. Only now, after more than 70 years, are Palestinians publicly protesting the fact that they alone, of all the world’s refugees, are denied the most basic of refugee rights—the right to seek resettlement in a safe third country.

All other refugees worldwide are handled by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, which resettles tens of thousands of refugees in third countries every year. But Palestinian refugees aren’t allowed to apply to UNHCR; they are handled by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, an agency created exclusively for them. And UNRWA hasn’t resettled a single refugee in its 70 years of existence.

The only option it offers the refugees and their descendants is eternal limbo: awaiting a “return” to Israel that will never happen. Thus it’s unsurprising that the protesters also assailed UNRWA for depriving them of “their most basic rights.”

Moreover, this refusal to grant Palestinians a right of resettlement enjoys the full support of so-called human-rights organizations and self-proclaimed advocates of human rights like the European Union. Thus it’s equally unsurprising that groups like Amnesty and Human Rights Watch completely ignored the demonstration.

PMW: Abbas dictates content of PA media: Promote terrorists

Palestinian Authority media is controlled by PA Chairman Abbas himself. A statement by the General Supervisor of the Official PA Media Ahmad Assaf who has the rank of minister and was appointed by Abbas demonstrates that Abbas actively involves himself in determining the content of the official PA media:

"Assaf expressed his pride that the official media is representing the cause of the Martyrs, the wounded, and the prisoners under the instructions of [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas, who is constantly reemphasizing that this is our people's most important cause."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 26, 2019]

Assaf made this statement in July at a tribute ceremony held at the Palestine Broadcasting Corporation headquarters in Ramallah for "journalists who are members of the official media."

Abbas' control over the content of the media is effective. Earlier this month, a Palestinian Martyrs' association honored the head of PA media Ahmad Assaf for doing precisely what Abbas had instructed: "To serve the Martyrs and their families and the prisoners and their families":

"Secretary-General of the National Association of the Families of the Martyrs of Palestine Muhammad Sbeihat honored General Supervisor of the Official [PA] Media [with the rank of] Minister Ahmad Assaf for the role that the official media plays in serving the Martyrs and their families and the prisoners and their families."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Sept. 3, 2019]

Fatah wants Palestinian children to see these men as role models & is using Facebook to publicize its terror mission. Demand Facebook stop partnering with Palestinian terror promotion & close Fatah’s page. #CloseFatahFB

Email Facebook: https://t.co/7VhTTIU47H pic.twitter.com/DpWrwAXIuw
— Pal Media Watch (@palwatch) September 12, 2019

PMW: "Lies, damn lies and statistics" - the PA version

Announcing the Palestinian Authority's intention to begin international arbitration proceedings regarding the tax revenues Israel collects and transfers to the PA, the PA Minister of Finance Shukri Bishara chose to obfuscate reality presenting a financial picture that has little to do with real facts, but rather simply reinforces the PA narrative.

In the announcement, Bishara claimed that the payment for services Israel provides to the PA and an agreed handling fee are unrightfully "withheld" by Israel:
"The total amount of what Israel has withheld from the clearance revenues, which are the Palestinian taxes on imports from Israel and abroad collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA), has exceeded $3.5 billion in the last five years alone, of which $400 million was taken as 3% commission on the collection and over $3 billion for services, electricity, water, medical transfers and sanitation."
[WAFA, English edition, Official PA news agency, Sept. 4, 2019]

Comprehensive statistics obtained by Palestinian Media Watch from Israel's Ministry of Finance under the Freedom of Information Law, show that Bishara's claims are outrageous.

First, it should be noted that when Bishara refers to the amounts "Israel has withheld," he is, in reality, referring to the PA's payments for services provided by Israel to the Palestinians, such as "electricity, water, medical transfers, and sanitation." Distorting this simple fact - in order to create the impression that Israel arbitrarily deducted these sums - becomes an additional element of the PA's "Palestinian victimhood" narrative. Clearly, however, if Israel provides services to the PA, Israel is entitled to be paid for those services.

New US sanctions target Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah leaders

On Tuesday, the US announced another round of sanctions against terror supporters and organizations, from the Taliban, ISIS and others.

It also included sanctions against some major Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad figures.

Here they are:

Marwan Issa: Marwan Issa is the deputy commander of the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, the operational arm of HAMAS.

Al-Hindi

Muhammad al-Hindi: Muhammad al-Hindi is the Deputy Secretary General of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Baha’ Abu al-‘Ata: Baha’ Abu al-‘Ata, a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Higher Military Council, is a commander of the Gaza and North Battalion in the Al-Quds Brigade.

Ali Karaki: Ali Karaki, is a senior leader within Hizballah’s Jihad Council. He led Mu’awaniyeh 105 (Southern Command) and was responsible for military operations in southern Lebanon. Southern Command was divided into five geographic fronts (Mihwar), each consisting of a group of villages in a geographically contiguous strip.

Muhammad Haydar: Muhammad Haydar is a senior leader within Hizballah’s Jihad Council. Haydar was the Chief of Bureau 113, and ran Hizballah networks operating outside of Lebanon and appointed leaders of various units. He was very close to deceased senior Hizballah official Imad Mughniyah. In 2004, Haydar was elected to the Lebanese Parliament.

Fu’ad Shukr: Fu’ad Shukr, a senior Hizballah Jihad Council member, oversaw Hizballah’s specialized weapons units in Syria, including its missile and rocket unit. He is a senior military advisor to Hizballah Secretary General Hasan Nasrallah and played a central role in the planning and execution of the October 23, 1983 U.S. Marine Corps Barracks Bombing in Beirut, Lebanon, which killed 241 U.S. service personnel.

Ibrahim ‘Aqil: Ibrahim ‘Aqil, a senior Hizballah Jihad Council member, is Hizballah’s military operations commander.

So why weren't these done years ago?

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The Arab League held a meeting of Arab foreign ministers this week.

Despite the many problems in the Arab world, their final statements appears to be nothing but a litany of anti-Israel resolutions:

* Calling on the UN to convene an international conference to impose a "peace process" against Israel

* Condemning anyone (meaning the US) that is not working towards a political solution and that emphasizes economic and humanitarian issues

* Work vigorously to mobilize broad support for the renewal of the mandate of UNRWA.

* Condemn any decision by any state to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital

* Support the PLO holding Israel accountable for its crimes against the Palestinian people, to provide the necessary technical and financial support for these Palestinian endeavors

* Help the PLO in any legal actions against Israel including going to international court to overturn the Balfour Declaration

* Condemning Israel withholding funds from the Palestinian Authority that goes to terrorists and their families

* "Respect the legitimacy of the PLO, the legitimate and sole representative of the Palestinian people, headed by President Mahmoud Abbas," and to have the PA take over Gaza from Hamas

* "The Ministers expressed their deep concern over the malicious Israeli plans on the African continent," meaning any diplomatic activity whatsoever in Africa

* "Confront any Israeli attempt to circumvent the status of Palestine in Africa, which was built on the common values against colonialism, oppression and segregation.

* "The Council warned against the establishment of Israeli-African conferences, and urged African countries not to participate in any of them."

* Condemn Israel for closing the "Bab Al-Rahma" chapel on the Temple Mount which was opened by Hamas earlier this year

*Condemn "all violations by Israel (the occupying Power) of Islamic and Christian holy sites, especially attempts to change the historical and legal situation in Al-Aqsa Mosque, to divide it temporarily and spatially, and to undermine the freedom of Muslim prayer and deportation from it, and to try to control it."

* Condemn "Israeli excavations under Al-Aqsa Mosque and its walls."

* "Strongly condemn repeated incursions by extremist settler gangs and Israeli officials to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, attacking its sanctity, under the support, protection and participation of the Israeli government and forces, and warning the so-called 'Israeli Supreme Court' to allow Jewish settlers and intruders to pray in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, after allowing them to storm and desecrate it, within the Israeli plans to divide the mosque temporarily and spatially, including what is going on around the "Gate of Mercy" Jewish incursions and 'Talmudic' prayers, and warn that these attacks It has serious implications for international peace and security.

* Condemn "the systematic Israeli policy of distorting the educational curricula in the city of Jerusalem, and the imposition of the fabricated Israeli curriculum instead of the Palestinian curriculum in Arab schools, including the application of financial and administrative sanctions on Palestinian schools that do not comply with this malicious policy aimed at distorting the Islamic culture and identity of the Arab city of Jerusalem."

* "Rejection and condemnation of attempts to terminate or reduce the role and mandate of UNRWA through systematic Israeli campaigns against it, including seeking to close all centers and schools in the occupied city of Jerusalem and the replacement of Israeli occupying institutions"

* Rejection of the US decision or any similar decision to stop funding UNRWA

* "Express concern about UNRWA's annual budget deficit. Emphasizing the necessity of calling on the UN General Assembly Member States to launch a global appeal to expand the donor base of UNRWA to all Member States"

Literally every statement is about "Palestine."

The interesting part is that while "Palestine" seems to control the agenda of what statements to issue, even the Palestinians don't expect the members of the Arab League to actually do anything for them. Before the conference, the alternate Palestinian representative to the Arab League Muhannad al-Aklouk stated that he intended a resolution "to take punitive measures, whether political, diplomatic or economic, against any country that recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and it will be up to each country to implement them as they see fit."

Even the PLO knows that it cannot call for Arab states to boycott countries, or close diplomatic missions, against nations that recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital - because they won't do it. Palestine is something to support with words and with occasional cash but the PLO no longer asks the Arab League nations to actually do anything concrete.

The Arab League was created to oppose Zionism and this is part of its DNA.

These statements at the end of many hundreds of Arab League meetings are meaningless but they make Palestinians feel important. Deep down, though, even the Palestinians know that the Arab League is one of the last institutions that can be counted on to reliably rubber stamp their demands as long as the members states aren't asked to actually do anything.

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

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Ken Roth tweets how all refugees should be resettled - but @HRW never said that for Palestinians

Another hypocritical tweet from Human Rights Watch's chief Ken Roth:

Beyond humanitarian reasons, there are good strategic reasons to resettle refugees in safe places: the frustration of endless stays in refugee camps tend to make them breeding grounds for radicalism and regional instability. But Trump isn't listening. https://t.co/lLt2uCwRQF pic.twitter.com/Xy2LwFpNuK
— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) September 11, 2019

Since Ken Roth took his position, I am fairly certain that he never said anything remotely like this for Palestinian "refugees." On the contrary, HRW advocates the "right to return" for them claiming that Israel must be forced to accept an arbitrary number of Arabs as citizens if they choose to "return" to where their grandparents lived.

The further irony is that the camps in Lebanon and Syria, Gaza and the West Bank are indeed places that so-called "refugees" get radicalized. In Lebanon, fighting erupts between different parties in the camps fairly regularly, and the sometimes spill into the rest of Lebanon. Roth doesn't care about Palestinians getting radicalized. He doesn't call for the camps to be demolished and the residents integrated into their host countries. And if anyone should be resettled, it is Palestinians whose statelessness has gone on for three generations, a much more acute problem than that of any real refugee group.

Just like Israel is expected to live up to standards that no other nation does, Palestinians have unique human-rights rules as well. They can be denied human rights as long as the reason is to make them cannon fodder against Israel.

Roth is a hypocrite, and this tweet proves it.

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09/11 Links Pt2: Danny Lewin H'yd: The very first victim of 9/11; In Her New Book on Anti-Semitism, Bari Weiss Bravely States the Obvious; Why Israeli TV is irresistible to American producers

From Ian:

Awakening feelings about 9/11

As we began Kabbalat Shabbat, I asked everyone to rise and the Cantor led us in the “Star Spangled Banner.” Since our synagogue, like most in the US has an American flag proudly displayed, we all turned and looked at it. Some saluted. Some put their hands over their hearts. Some war veterans wore their caps for the service, and some people cried – both women and men. Those moments were parallel to what was going on the city where almost every block had an American flag flying.

When I took the pulpit, I first asked everyone to rise and recite the Kaddish mourner’s prayer for the nephew of a doctor in our congregation. The young man in his 30s had been killed in the Pentagon where he worked. Most people have forgotten that Washington, DC, was a major target. The only place the first plane was able to hit was the Pentagon. The plane, which the assailants took over before the passengers overpowered them, was headed for the White House. The passengers triumphed over these terrorists.

Sadly, the plane went down and everyone aboard was killed.

I read from President Bush’s address to the nation the night of 9/11. Then I added a few of my own thoughts.

“I feel today that we are one nation – Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, black and white and brown. We are one nation, indivisible, united in our fear and outrage. Our compassion and resolve from now on September 11 will be a second Memorial Day in honor of our civilian casualties of war.

“Each of us is a reservoir of hope and strength. Surely we all saw hope in the firefighters who stood in burning debris, with boots melting, trying so hard to find more survivors. That hope should be a part of all our lives. We must do what we can to help. Ve’im lo achshav, aymatai? If not now, when?”

Then I asked everyone present to rise, and we offered a prayer for America and for all of us. As we stood, we sang “Hatikvah” as we looked proudly at the Israeli flag. On this 9/11 eighteen years later, let us pray that terrorism will be combated and peace will reign.

StandWithUs: Remember their names

2,977 men, women and children lost their lives on September 11th, 2001. We remember their names. We mourn the lives that could have been.

Danny Lewin H'yd: The very first victim of 9/11

Danny Lewin, veteran of the IDF’s elite commando team, outstanding graduate of Israel’s Technion and MIT PhD student at MIT will be forever remembered for his attempt to prevent the hijacking of Flight 11, becoming the very first victim of 9/11.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Danny Lewin boarded American Airlines Flight No. 11 in Boston, expecting to reach Los Angeles. Instead, the flight was hijacked and commandeered by Arab terrorists, crashing into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. On that fateful flight, Danny Lewin became the very first victim of the largest terrorist attack in history in which almost 3,000 Americans died. An internal memorandum of the Federal Aviation Administration says “that in the course of a struggle that took place between Lewin, a graduate of Israel’s elite commando unit, Sayeret Matkal, and the four hijackers who were assaulting that cockpit, Lewin was murdered by Satam Al Suqami, a 25-year-old Saudi.”

Sometime after the attack, the Lewin family in Jerusalem received a telephone call from the FBI offices in New York. On the line was the agent responsible for the investigation of the attack on Flight 11. He told Danny’s parents that there is a high degree of certainty that Danny tried to prevent the hijacking. The FBI relied, among other things, on the testimony of the stewardess Amy Sweeney.

Sweeney succeeded in clandestinely getting a call out during the flight to a flight services supervisor in Boston, from the rear of the plane: “A hijacker slit the throat of a passenger in business class and the passenger appears to me to be dead.” To this day the American investigators are not convinced that Danny Lewin was murdered on the spot. An additional stewardess, Betty Ong, who succeeded in calling from a telephone by one of the passenger seats, said that the passenger who was attacked from business class seat 10B was seriously wounded. It turned out that 10B was the seat of Danny Lewin.

The Lewin family, Danny’s parents and brothers, have no doubt that Danny battled the hijackers. And it is for them a tremendous consolation. “I wasn’t surprised to hear from the FBI that Danny fought. I was sure that this is what he would do,” Yonatan, his younger brother, said. “Danny didn’t sit quietly. From what we heard from the Americans, the hijackers attacked one of the stewardesses and Danny rose to protect her and prevent them from entering the cockpit. It is a consolation to us that Danny fought. We see it as an act of heroism that a person sacrifices his life in order to save others. That battle in the business section ended quickly. Lewin was overcome and bled to death on the floor. Two additional flight attendants were knifed and the captain was murdered. The hijackers were already inside the cockpit. They announced to the passengers to remain quiet in their seats.

Clifford D. May: Another unhappy 9/11 anniversary

Eighteen years is a long time. If you were born 18 years ago, you are today a young adult, old enough to find a job, begin college, enlist in the military, and vote for the first time. You also should know what happened in 2001, the year you were born. But, given the state of America’s educational system, I’m not confident you do. So let me briefly fill you in.

Back then, the Soviet socialist experiment had collapsed ending the Cold War which had followed World War II which had followed a decade of economic depression which came 11 years after the end of World War I.

That led to the belief – naïve but widely held – that there was a “new normal,” that Americans could cash a “peace dividend,” that whatever differences remained among the world’s peoples could now be resolved through diplomacy, commercial relations, and the intercession of transnational bureaucrats.

Then, on Sept. 11, 2001, a sparkling late summer morning, enemies of America hijacked four passenger jets and turned them into guided missiles.

Two planes brought down the World Trade Center, symbol of America’s economic might. One struck the Pentagon, headquarters of America’s military strength. A fourth was headed for the White House, where America’s top elected leader resides. That fourth jet failed to reach its target thanks to the heroic resistance of the passengers onboard.

Nearly 3,000 people, ranging in age from 2 to 85, were killed, a higher death toll than Pearl Harbor in 1941. Al-Qaida, the organization responsible, spent about a half million dollars to plan and execute the attacks. The cost to the U.S. has been estimated at over $3 trillion.

With elections coming up, I have been feeling my own pulse, examining what I do and don’t believe. It seems a good time, in general, to dig deep and clarify our thoughts about our fundamental beliefs. What sort of government do I want? How far to the right does my ideology go?

Because, yes. My beliefs are to the right of the spectrum on Israel. Always have been.

But just how far right they go, is always a question for me.

I’m going to pick a few topics here to illustrate what I mean:

Mosque arson. Am I for it?

I’m not. But if someone says, “Well, I am,” I begin to consider why mosque arson might be okay. Even though my knee-jerk feeling is that mosque arson is ABSOLUTELY UNEQUIVOCALLY NOT OKAY.

Why would it be okay to torch all the mosques in Israel? Because the Land of Israel is Jewish land, and Islam is not our religion. For us, hosting the house of worship of another religion on our land could conceivably be considered a kind of defilement of the Holy Land. Certainly an unwelcome intrusion.

Okay. But look: now they are already here, the mosques. We were not able to prevent that eventuality. Sadly. Tragically. And since this is the situation in which we find ourselves, we have to ask, “Is it a mitzvah to burn them down?”

The answer will likely depend upon whom you ask. But I believe that a rabbi with a good and peaceful bent will say that it is not necessary, and certainly not a mitzvah. That it is better now that the mosques are here, that we do not destroy them, as this will only ruffle feelings and people could get hurt.

If, on the other hand, a structure might be moved to a more appropriate place, might we not be able to assist in this endeavor? That would be a worthy goal moving forward. Especially in regard to the Temple Mount.

Separation of synagogue and state. If you were to ask me how far right I am on the question of Israel being run according to Jewish halacha, the answer would be pretty darned far. I believe the halacha, Jewish law, to be the best possible government for the Land of Israel. Except that I also believe it's possible to blend the current system of government as we have it, with the halacha, into a harmonious whole.

It has to be that way. Otherwise, we will have chaos. And I am definitely not for chaos.

Transfer. I completely understand the concept. We have a declared enemy on our territory, acting out violently against us. But transfer implies an agreement with other countries. Do we have that now? Someone has to want them.

Also, there has always been some level of coexistence. I think those who demonstrate loyalty to the State of Israel should be allowed to stay. I also think it's a complicated subject. How do they do this so we believe them? I would need them to acknowledge that they live in a Jewish State.

None of this precludes our respecting their rights.

But anyway, perhaps far right is a bad term. Maybe it comes down to shades or gradations along the scale of right.

Or maybe it comes down to the mature and the immature right.

Because I don’t believe in taking the law into my own hands and hot-dogging it. I’m no cowboy.

I am aware that many will disagree with me. Some will think I am horrible for the things I have written here. They will say I am exclusionary, a racist.Others will think my views fall way short of what the Torah wants from us. They want a revolution.

They all want what they want. But the thing is, I know what is right for me.

And I also know right from right.

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Vic Rosenthal's Weekly Column

PM Netanyahu promised a dramatic announcement Tuesday night. It was about as dramatic as he could have made it, given that he is a caretaker PM who does not have a coalition, and that it is one week before the election. I brought my dinner into the living room to eat while watching him on the TV. It was probably unnecessary. There is very little that he could actually do at this point, no matter how much he wanted to.

Netanyahu noted that the long-awaited Trump plan would be released shortly after the election, and that this was a historic opportunity to take action that – thanks to his close relationship with President Trump – would receive the sanction of the US. He promised that if elected he would apply sovereignty (ribonut) to all Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria as soon as Trump’s plan was released. He promised that immediately after the election, without waiting for the American plan, he would apply Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea area. He displayed a detailed map of the area that would be included. This would finally establish, he said, the eastern border of the State of Israel, and would ensure that Judea and Samaria would not become a terrorist stronghold like Gaza.

Here is Netanyahu’s map:

On the right you can see a list of the Jewish communities that would be included. There are also several Arab towns that will remain under PA control, including Jericho (the orange area in the center).

Netanyahu mentioned that the presence of the IDF in all of the Jordan Valley is absolutely essential for the defense of the country. He is not the first to have said this. In fact, his words “the entire Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of the term” echo a similar statement by Yitzhak Rabin in his last speech to the Knesset before he was murdered.

Although the Left likes to present Rabin as the martyred champion of its policy of withdrawal, Rabin was extremely suspicious of the Oslo accords that he was unable to avoid signing, and envisioned a final agreement that would create a Palestinian entity that was less than a sovereign state, and which occupied less than the entire area of Judea and Samaria. In particular, he wanted to keep the Jordan valley. A glance at a relief map of Israel – I have one on my wall – shows why:

The heights here are exaggerated, but the difference in elevation between the valley floor and the mountains surrounding it is between 1000-2000 meters. The importance of Netanyahu’s and Rabin’s stress on the “broadest meaning of the term” is that it includes both the valley floor and the rising western slope. Any attack on Israel from the east would have to cross this formidable natural barrier; and if an enemy were able to dominate the western ridge, the heavily populated areas of the country would be at its mercy. The topography is similar to that of the Golan Heights, but the Jordan Valley is even more critical strategically.

Netanyahu mentioned the US President and his close relationship with him at least five times (I stopped counting), and while this is apparently good politics in Israel where most people – both on the Right and the Left – are in awe of the power of the US, it has several worrying aspects. For one thing, the transformation of Israel into a partisan issue that was encouraged by the Obama Administration has become even more apparent as it is fed by the polarized domestic American politics surrounding Trump. The more Netanyahu associates himself with Trump, the more Trump’s enemies become our enemies. And when they ultimately gain power, they will attempt to reverse Trump’s policies, including – especially – his pro-Israel ones. In May, Bernie Sanders even indicated that he would consider moving the American Embassy back to Tel Aviv “if it would help bring peace” (he seems to have since backtracked).

Another concern is that Netanyahu seems to be building on an assumption of continued administration support. There is a degree of instability in US policy, as is indicated by the surprise departures of Trump’s special envoy Jason D. Greenblatt, who was to be the key negotiator of the “deal of the century,” and National Security Advisor John Bolton. Bolton was more hawkish on such North Korea, Iran, and Afghanistan than Trump, and while as of this writing we don’t know what particular disagreement prompted Trump to fire him, it could be related to the rumors that Trump will meet with Iranian President Rouhani. While no US President has been as consistently pro-Israel as Trump, there is no guarantee that this will continue.

Although it is an election promise, nevertheless the statement that he will bring about the extension of sovereignty to all the communities in Judea and Samaria is a significant one. Critics on the right point out that he did not promise to apply sovereignty to the land as he did to the Golan Heights and as he intends to do to the Jordan Valley, but only to the communities. This is an interesting application of the concept of sovereignty, which may have important consequences.

Next Tuesday’s election is too close to call at this point. There are, like last time, parties that are flirting with the 3.25% threshold of votes needed to enter the Knesset; like last time, Netanyahu’s Likud and its center-left opposition are running neck and neck; and also like last time, Avigdor Lieberman will hold the balance of power in coalition negotiations.

One thing that is clear, however, is this: one failed round of coalition negotiations and rerun of the election in a year is all the Israeli people will stand for. Either they will come up with a government this time, or the people will rise in revolt (and I will join them). There is a huge amount of frustration that has built up against politicians who seem to be unable to deal with the rising cost of living – especially housing – the endless drip of terrorism, the arson balloons and rockets from Gaza, the continued presence of African migrants in Tel Aviv, questions of religion and state, army service for Haredim, and countless other issues. It doesn’t help that many Knesset members, who are well paid, are accused of or even already indicted for corruption (one of Netanyahu’s opponents accused him of trying to create a “government of suspects,” a memshelet chashudim).

I’m still not entirely sure whom I will vote for, although I am leaning toward Yamina, the right-wing coalition led by Ayelet Shaked. I don’t like to decide things earlier than necessary. I never know what might happen to change my mind. So I won’t be certain until I am standing there and reaching for that little slip of paper, the great instrument of democracy.

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09/11 Links Pt1: Caroline Glick: Netanyahu’s earth-shattering announcement; On Eve of 9/11 Anniversary, New US Sanctions Target Hamas, Islamic State

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: Netanyahu’s earth-shattering announcement

Hamas, which seeks to annihilate Israel, certainly was none too pleased with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement Tuesday evening that if re-elected, he would apply Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea in coordination with the United States.

Hamas has good reason not to like what Netanyahu said. It even made sense that Gaza’s terror regime tried to harm Netanyahu politically by launching a volley of missiles at Ashdod while Netanyahu was giving a speech in the city. (Netanyahu’s political rivals on the Left and Right were quick to take Hamas’ bait and use Hamas’ aggression as a means to score political points against Netanyahu.)

Hamas was right to hate what Netanyahu said because Netanyahu’s statement Tuesday evening was a strategic blow to the hundred-year-old Palestinian war against the Jewish state.

What did Netanyahu do in that statement? Most media commentary claimed his statement wasn’t substantive. It was just another political promise from a desperate politician who is looking with increasing panic at unflattering polls.

But that assessment obscures more than it reveals. Netanyahu may be concerned about his polling numbers. But his statement Tuesday was not a display of political desperation but of diplomatic triumph. Netanyahu’s statement made clear that he enjoys a cooperative relationship with US President Donald Trump that has no parallel in the history of Israel-US relations.

Extending Israeli Sovereignty over the Jordan Valley Does Not Mean "Annexation"

The Jordan Valley lies in Area C of the West Bank where, under the Oslo Accords, Israel retains full civilian and military control. According to the Israel Democracy Institute, 48% of Jewish Israelis support extending sovereignty over the Jordan Valley with U.S. support, with 28% opposed.

Prof. Eugene Kontorovich, director of international law at the Jerusalem-based Kohelet Policy Forum, said, "The Prime Minister's announcement is fully in line with Israel's international legal rights. Because these territories were part of the British Mandate, Israel has as much legal right to them as to Tel Aviv." Kontorovich said such a move should not be seen as annexation because the territory currently does not belong to a foreign country and annexation means the taking of the territory of a foreign country.

"Israel waited for more than 50 years to regularize the status of these territories, giving the Palestinians opportunity after opportunity to make a peace deal that would have given them a sovereign state. The Palestinians refused time after time, rejecting initiatives under presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump. Israel has now decided that the people in these areas cannot be held in limbo forever; Israelis should not pay the price for Palestinian intransigence."

David Singer: Trump Seems Set to See Netanyahu as Israel’s Next Prime Minister

Likud voters – buoyed by the post-April statements detailed in 1, 2 and 3 below – will most likely vote again – whilst Blue and White and Yisrael Beiteinu voters – unhappy with their leaders’ post-April statements detailed in 4 and 5 below – are more likely to stay home.

Any increase in general voter turnout this time beyond 67.97 per cent would defy the diplomatic downturn – but should still see parties on the Right securing more of those new votes than parties on the Left. Statements made since April by Trump’s Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, President Trump himself, Likud’s Netanyahu, Yisrael Beiteinu’s Lieberman and Blue and White’s Gantz support this conclusion.

1. Ambassador Friedman indicated that some degree of annexation of the West Bank would be legitimate.
“Under certain circumstances, I think Israel has the right to retain some, but unlikely all, of the West Bank”

More new voters – conscious of their own families’ personal safety – would vote Right – than those opposing any annexation – who would vote Left.
2. Trump endorsed Netanyahu as “a great guy”
3. Netanyahu – speaking in Elkana – located in Samaria – pledged:
“With God’s help we will extend Jewish sovereignty to all the settlements as part of the (biblical) Land of Israel, as part of the State of Israel. “This is our land…”We will build another Elkana and another Elkana and another Elkana. We will not uproot anyone here”

In a first-ever public address from Hebron by a sitting Israeli prime minister – Netanyahu vowed:
“To cite the late Menachem Begin and the late Yigal Allon: ‘Hebron will not be devoid of Jews.’ It will not be Judenrein [ed: i.e. Jew-free]. And I say on the 90th anniversary of the disturbances [ed: when 67 Jews were murdered] – we are not foreigners in Hebron, we will stay here forever.”

These patriotic declarations should attract more Right-supportive than Left-opposing new voters.

It used to be obvious how the Palestinian refugee problem must be solved

Here is a letter to Life magazine in 1951:

Richardson became a professor of international affairs and wrote a few papers on the Palestine refugee situation in the early 1950s. He was no Zionist and he was truly concerned over the plight of refugees of Palestine

To Richardson, as to most of the people at the time who wanted to find solution to the refugee problem, it was obvious that the Arab countries were at fault for no solution and that it was their responsibility to help resettle the Arabs of Palestine in their states. In fact, it would be beneficial to them to integrate this population.

This is how you can tell the difference between people who are pro-Palestinian and those who are just anti-Israel. People who really care about Palestinians would insist that Arab states make them into citizens, especially those that have been "guests" for generations. People who truly care about Palestinians want to end their statelessness and their suffering in camps.

People who are anti-Israel insist on "return,' and are angry when Palestinian Arabs themselves say they want to become citizens in Lebanon, Gulf states or the West. They are the ones who insist on supporting UNRWA to keep the issue alive - and Palestinians in limbo - until a fantasy time when Israel is destroyed. They want to see millions more refugees.

Sometimes you need to look at the past to understand the present.

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Mondoweiss has an article by Sarah Doyel where she describes the horror of how Israelis are proud that Israel is a vegan-friendly country:

Israel is using veganism as a calculated facade to justify its military’s program of terror, gloss over its occupation of Palestine, and appropriate regional culture and traditions that predate Israel by hundreds if not thousands of years.

Doyel quickly establishes that she is not just a vegan, but she is an activist for whom veganism is an all-or-nothing proposition, and anyone who disagrees is a hypocrite, as she castigates Ben and Jerry's:

Put simply, veganwashing is the act of using veganism to create positive image associations or appear more compassionate than one actually is. A classic example is Ben & Jerry’s line of non-dairy ice creams, which they use to brand the company as vegan-friendly without ever actually decreasing their contribution to animal exploitation.

Keep in mind that PETA supports the Ben and Jerry's vegan ice creams. VegNews is happy to support Ben and Jerry's.

For normal vegans, having more choices of what to eat is something to celebrate. For crazy people, unless Ben and Jerry destroys its entire business model, it is evil.

Doyel uses this same logic against Israel and Israelis in ways that show that her real agenda has nothing to do with morality.

For example, she is upset that Tel Avivians - not Israel, but Jews who live in Tel Aviv - are proud to call their city "the vegan capital of the world." Apparently, pride in one's city is immoral when the city happens to be Israeli. I can't wait for the Mondowiss article on "beach-washing."

While she claims that she is only going after official representatives of Israel in her criticism, but she has a curious definition of them:

I am also sure that there are many vegan Israelis who are committed to ending the occupation of Palestine, which is why I deliberately focused on veganwashing as propagated by the Israeli government, corporations, and public figures such as bloggers and business owners, rather than private citizens of Israel.

This is of course a lie. The Independent article she links to quotes anonymous residents of Tel Aviv as calling the city the "vegan capital of the world." By definition, they are private citizens and have absolutely nothing to do with the government.

Doyel's fake morality is really revealed in this paragraph:

Restaurants in my current home of Washington, DC engage in this kind of cultural appropriation all the time, which might be slightly less disturbing to me if they weren’t so successful as a result. When fellow District residents find out that I’m vegan, Israeli-owned restaurants Shouk and Little Sesame are two of the top five restaurants people tend to ask if I’ve visited. These spots quickly became favorites among vegans and non-vegans alike who don’t realize just how problematic it is to eat at a place that calls its cooking “modern Israeli street food” (Shouk). News also just broke that the NYC-based “Tel Aviv-style” falafel chain Taïm will be opening its first location in DC this fall.

Yes, a proud vegan is against anyone visiting American vegan restaurants based only on where the owners were born.

This is hate masquerading as morality.

Calling falafel "modern Israeli street food" is completely accurate and not offensive to anyone who already isn't looking to be offended. It was never Arab street food. It was never as popular in any Arab country as it has been in Israel. No one is claiming that Israel invented it (although falafel in pita is, to my understanding, a purely Israeli invention - which is what made it street food to begin with.) There is a difference between "Tel Aviv-style falafel" and traditional Arab falafel - is it immoral to market that fact?

No - it is immoral to call to boycott a business based on its accurate description of its product simply because it includes the word "Israeli" or "Tel Aviv" in its marketing literature. It is immoral to boycott a business based on where the owners were born.

There is an excellent kosher Turkish restaurant I enjoy going to. Should I boycott it because I am against Turkey's policies? If I claim to do that, everyone would know that my real agenda has nothing to do with politics or morality.

And everyone knows that Sarah Doyel, by refusing to enter vegan restaurants that happen to be owned by Israeli Jews, is not acting out of morality - no matter how much she claims that she is so sensitive to moral issues that force her to become a vegan to begin with.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

Palestinian Arabic media are filled with stories about Netanyahu going to a rocket shelter in Ashdod yesterday during his press conference as the Red Alert sirens went off.

It seems likely that the rocket fire was calculated to do exactly this - disrupt the press conference and make headlines worldwide.

It was exactly the same logic that a two-year old child who cannot quite communicate her feelings uses when making a temper tantrum.

Palestinianism is being sidetracked by the world. Over the past few years more and more people - especially Arabs - have realized that the old formula of "linkage" that said that the Palestinian issue must be solved before anything else could happen in the Middle East was not only wrong but counterproductive. Arab states have other concerns; Syria showed that hundreds of thousands of people could be killed in the region without any link to Palestinianism, and the more that Israel conceded to Palestinians, the more intransigent they became.

Palestinians, sensing the change in direction, switched strategies to tie their cause not with the larger Middle East but with "progressive" causes. This new linkage has had some success in far-Left circles where antisemitism-disguised-as-anti-Zionism is an attractive option but it also results in a hijacking of many liberal agendas by anti-Israel activists, and this is also making many people sick of the Palestine cause. BDS is losing far more battles than it is winning, academic groups are treating pro-Palestinian issues like kryptonite as they see how places like the American Studies Association has only suffered after adopting anti-Israel policies.

Palestinians, who were so used to being able to push their agenda on cable news networks and major newspaper op-eds at will, now are seeing that the world is putting their issues in a more proper perspective. Compared to the real problems of people living in the region, Palestinians don't have it that bad, and giving them so much oxygen has suffocated far more important causes for a long time.

But the anti-Israel, pro-terror activists are frustrated at this change in focus. They are like spoiled children who are suddenly forced to share their toys with others. They keep trying to come up with more and more absurd excuses to own the agenda (like accusing Israel of "veganwashing.")

This mentality is shared between anti-Israel activists and Palestinian terrorists. They aren't the center of attention anymore and they must stage a temper tantrum to regain the spotlight. A parent can't ignore their child screaming in the middle of the market, can they?

Palestinians are proud that Gaza rockets are powerful enough to force an Israeli prime minister to react, just as toddlers are happy to get attention from their parents by screaming that they want a chocolate bar.

The difference is that up until now, the world has been patiently hoping that the Palestinian toddlers will grow up. In the years since Oslo, real toddlers have indeed grown up, started companies and had children of their own - but Palestinians and their fans have stayed exactly where they were.

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

09/10 Links Pt2: Israel. The Dreyfus of our time; MP launches blistering attack on “extremist” Corbyn for “defending antisemites”; Valerie Plame tweeted antisemitic conspiracy, now claims “Jewish” ancestry

From Ian:

‘Dangerous PFLP terrorist shouldn't be given platform at U of T'

A former Palestinian Arab terrorist who was ordered to be deported by Canada's federal government is a guest speaker at an upcoming University of Toronto student event.

In response, Hasbara Fellowships Canada, which empowers student leaders to become advocates for Israel, is urging the university to intervene and prevent his participation in the event.

Issam Al-Yamani is a self-admitted former member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which is a recognized terror group in Canada.

Despite the Immigration and Refugee Board ordering his deportation in 2005 for his terror associations, he remains in Canada. A 2007 federal court decision confirms that he admitted to being a member of the PFLP.

In 2014, Mr. Al-Yamani gave a speech in downtown Toronto that the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) interpreted as inciting violence. The CBSA then issued a report stating that he is a "danger to the security of Canada.” A CBSA report also claims that two PFLP members tasked with bombing an airplane “confessed to placing the bomb on instructions from Al-Yamani.”

According to a Global News investigation on Mr. Al-Yamani published in March of 2018, the Government of Canada has been "trying to deport him" for the past 26 years.

Barry Shaw: Israel. The Dreyfus of our time.

Despite lip service offered by senior French officials, Jew hatred still runs rampant in France and the main threat is solidly contained in the Muslim migrant community.

This the French have not addressed with any conviction. Until they do, French Jews will continue to enjoy the protection of Israel.

It should be beholden on the French to have Polanski’s movie screened on their own soil at the Cannes Film Festival.

In a sense, Israel is the Dreyfus of today. The Jewish state is constantly accused of criminal charges that Israel did not commit.

The accusers cover up for the crimes of others, those they support and welcome into their societies. They shower these criminals with money, honors, invitations to join their austere organizations. They do not question their evil intent. Their Esterhazy must be protected lest their finger pointing at the collective Jew be considered as something that dare not speak its name.

And so it is the Middle East Jew, that imposter, that must continue to be condemned while the Palestinian Esterhazy is allowed to literally get away with murder and treachery against the whole notion of justice and peace.

Ian Austin MP launches blistering attack on “extremist” Corbyn for “working with and defending antisemites”, joined by Ivan Lewis MP

Ian Austin MP, who resigned from Labour in protest at antisemitism within the Party earlier this year, delivered a passionate indictment of the Labour leadership in a speech in Parliament yesterday, branding Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party’s leadership “extremists”.

Standing amongst Labour MPs on the opposition benches, Mr Austin said: “I left the Labour party to shine a spotlight on the disgrace it’s become under his [Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s] leadership…I regard myself as proper, decent traditional Labour, not like the extremists who have taken over this Party and are dragging it into the mud…These are people [Mr Corbyn and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, John McDonnell] who spent their entire time in politics working with [and] defending all sorts of extremists, and in some cases terrorists and antisemites…They always back the wrong side, whether it’s the IRA, Hamas and Hizballah, whom they describe as ‘friends’.”

As Labour MPs heckled him and told him to stop sitting with them, Mr Austin continued: “No previous Labour leadership would have allowed a Party with a proud history of fighting racial prejudice to have been poisoned by racism, which is what’s happened under these people — racism against Jewish people, to the extent that members have been arrested on suspicion of racial hatred, that the Party itself has become the first in history to be investigated under equalities laws by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. These people, and the people around them, are a million miles away from the traditional, mainstream, decent politics of the Labour Party. They have poisoned what was once a great party with extremism. They cannot be trusted with the institutions that underpin our democracy. They are completely unfit to lead the Labour Party, let alone our country.”

Mr Austin was joined by another former Labour MP, Ivan Lewis, who also resigned the Labour Party whip over antisemitism. Mr Lewis added his condemnation of Mr Corbyn, saying: “He does not have the leadership skills required at a time of so many challenges facing our country, and his leadership has led to the party of anti-racism and equality becoming the party of institutionalised antisemitism, so much so that a majority of Jews in this country feel that they would not be safe in the event of his becoming Prime Minister.”