Knesset committee to discuss Temple Mount today; Arabic websites freaking out

Here is the only place I could find this story in English, from The Algemeiner last Friday:

Before Jerusalem becomes the stage for the US-led peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority next Wednesday, an Israeli Knesset committee will meet on Sunday to tackle a question religious Jews have been asking since 1967, when Israel gained control of the Temple Mount and left authority over the religious hotspot in the hands of the Muslim Waqf Council.

The confounding issue of Israeli police not allowing Jews to pray on the Temple Mount is being taken up by Likud lawmaker Miri Regev’s Interior Committee, according to The Temple Institute’s Rabbi Chaim Richman, who led a prayer vigil at the Temple Mount as a peaceful protest this week.

While I see one Hebrew source saying that the Knesset will discuss opening the Mount to Jews during the Jewish holidays next month, even it doesn't mention anything about allowing Jews to pray there. Neither does the Knesset website, which similarly says that the mere half-hour discussion is about allowing Jews to visit during the High Holiday period but nothing explicitly about prayer. (It is followed by a half hour about security at Kotel HaKatan.)

However, this is huge news in the Arab media worldwide.

The headline in the Khaleej Times (UAE) is "'Knesset' discusses today to legitimize the desecration of Al Aqsa." The article says that the discussion will also include whether to open all of the gates to the Temple Mount to Jews, not only the Moroccan Gate.

I see over a dozen Arabic articles from Egypt to Moscow similarly warning that the Knesset may allow Jews to pray on their holiest site.


Today was the first time Jews were allowed to visit the Temple Mount since the middle of Ramadan about two weeks ago. Some of the visitors noticed some evidence that the Waqf had engaged in illegal demolitions with earth-moving equipment while Jews were barred from the area.

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Kairos hypocrites upset at IDF recruiting Christians

Kairos, the Israel-hating Christian organization that tries to twist Biblical theology into an anti-Zionist (and anti-semitic) screed, is upset that the IDF is now actively recruiting Christians to join up:

The Palestinian Christian Initiative (Kairos Palestine) issued a statement strongly denouncing the Israel attempts to recruit Arab Palestinian Christians, in historic Palestine to the Israeli military that occupies their people.

The statement came in response to the Israeli decision to form a joint committee of Palestinian Christians, and the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu, with the aim to encourage and act on recurring young Arab Christians in the Israeli army.

Kairos stated that the officials who are encouraging enlistment in the occupation army are conducting provocative actions that harm Christian Churches, national interests and the Christians themselves.

“Those who call for recruiting Christians to the occupation army do not represent us, do not represent our Churches, and do not represent the Christians”, Kairos said, “It seems that some of those who have been deceived chose a wrong path that does not serve our interests and faith as Arab Christians”.

It added that trying to recruit the Christians is immoral, and harms the Palestinian Christian identity in the Holy Land.

“We need to be united, we need to protect our national identity, only our Arab, Palestinian, identity will be able to protect us, and protect our interests”, Kairos said, “Our choice will not be sectarian, but will only be national unity between all Palestinians regardless of their beliefs and faith”.

...When Kairos Palestine was established in December of 2009, it published its mission statement calling for people, justice and equality, expressed it rejection to the Israeli occupation, all sorts of apartheid in the world, and called for justice and equality.

You get that? They claim that they want equality, but then they say that Israel giving Christians the same rights and responsibilities as Jews is immoral.

Calling them hypocrites is an understatement.

What kind of equality does Kairos want? The one where Jews don't have any rights to self-determination, where they are expected to act like good little dhimmis under Muslim rule, and where there is no state of Israel protecting Jews from bigots like these Arab Christians who pervert their very religion to express their hate.

Christians are being targeted and harmed in Syria and Egypt, they are fleeing Lebanon and Iraq - but these haters who masquerade as people of faith are obsessed with the Jewish state, the one place in the entire Middle East where the Christian population is increasing.

Somehow, I don't think that their primary interest is the well-being of Israel's Christians.

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Egyptian Jihadists brag that they were targeting Jews

Belatedly, Egypt now claims they were the ones who killed the jihadists in the Sinai on Friday:

Speaking to Al-Ahram Arabic news website on Saturday, an informed source denied claims of coordination between the Egyptian armed forces and Israel in the attack launched on Friday in North Sinai, but did reveal details of the military operation.

According to the anonymous source, the attack was part of an unannounced operation by the military to crack down on “terrorists and jihadists” in the restive Sinai peninsula. He added that at least four jihadists were killed in the attack.

“The intelligence apparatus found out that there was a plan by jihadists to target several vital spots in Sinai and to destroy the Al-Salam bridge crossing the Suez canal on the second day of Eid El-Fitr [Friday],” said the source, adding that a state of emergency was declared among forces of the second field army and border guards. In addition, special forces, paratroopers and Apache helicopters were deployed.

“Motion above the bridge was halted until the Egyptian military helicopters attacked the spot, and succeeded in destroying the [jihadists’] rockets,“ he said adding that the rockets destroyed were made in Iran.

The jihadists themselves say the attack came from Israel:

An al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group active in the Sinai Peninsula says its fighters were the target of a rare Israeli drone strike into Egyptian territory on Friday, according to the Associated Press.

Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, in a statement posted on a militant website Saturday, said that four of its members were killed in the Friday attack as they were preparing a cross-border rocket strike into Israel. It said the dead were from Egyptian Sinai tribes. The group said the rocket squad’s leader escaped.

Egyptian security officials speaking anonymously had initially said on Friday that a drone firing from the Israeli side of the border had killed five suspected militants. The conflicting death tolls could not be reconciled.

Later, an Egyptian military source denied that the Israeli air force had carried out any raids inside Egypt. The Egyptian military official said the Egyptian borders are a “red line.”

Their Arabic statement is much more interesting, as they make it clear that their targets and enemies are Jews, not "Zionists":

The group "Mujahedeen of Jerusalem," which is active in the Sinai, said in a statement, "four of the mujahideens were targeted by a Zionist drone," denouncing the "cooperation and complicity of the Egyptian army with the Jews in their offensive."

The statement said, "We mourn... the Mujahideen in the name of Allah, the martyrdom of a group of the finest fighters in the Sinai, four of the best of the group Ansar Jerusalem...while carrying out their jihad duty against the Jews, the process of firing rockets at Jewish settlements near the borders of the occupied territories."

The spokesman added, "What triggers grief in our hearts is the emergence of cooperation and complicity of the Egyptian army with the Jews in their crime... Is there any betrayal of the public larger than that? The Egyptian army allowing Zionist drone aircraft to breach the Egyptian border again and again, ...and cooperation and coordination with the Jews for the bombing and killing of the mujahideen?"

He continued that "[It is one thing to have] treason in the Egyptian army and employment of Jewish Americans in exchange for protecting the country's borders and fighting enemies, but now it became an army mission to protect the borders of the Jews and the achievement of U.S. interests and Zionism in this country, even if that means killing people by themselves or in cooperation and coordination with the Jews, for they are death."

While it was probably an Israeli strike, the jihadist group is clearly trying to embarrass the Egyptians - none of them are real witnesses to the attack itself, and no one saw who shot the actual missiles.

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8/10 Links: When failure carries no cost, Danon on the Peace Talks, Rappers love Jewish lawyers

From Ian:

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Caroline Glick: When failure carries no cost

Speaking of the frequent US failures in understanding events in faraway lands, Winston Churchill famously quipped, “We can always count on the Americans to do the right thing, after they have exhausted all the other possibilities.” But what if the other possibilities are never exhausted? The media’s collusion with the Obama administration’s false portrayal of jihadist attacks on US targets gives foreign leaders concerned about the US’s lackadaisical attitude toward jihadist threats no reason for confidence. In the absence of public pressure, the Obama administration has no reason to change course when its policies fail.
In Israel’s case, the first place where the lesson of this state of affairs needs to be internalized is in regards to Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Since taking office, Obama has repeatedly claimed that he will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons. But in practice, his actions have enabled Iran to vastly expand its nuclear weapons program. Due to his malfeasance, today Iran has arrived at the cusp of a nuclear arsenal. More than his words, Obama’s actions have made clear that he has no intention whatsoever of conducting military strikes against Iran’s nuclear installations to prevent the regime from developing nuclear weapons.

Danny Danon: Same Approach to Negotiations Assures Same Result

Saeb Erekat is the main representative for the Palestinian delegation. He has held this position in one form or another since 1991. Despite the hours logged with his Israeli counterparts, and the countless interviews he has granted to western media sources where he extols peace and reconciliation, Erekat has not brought the Palestinians even one inch closer to peaceful existence with Israel. More troubling, it is clear that he never really revised his radical views about the Jewish State. During the second intifada, Erekat appeared on live international television to accuse Israel of massacring 500 Palestinians in Jenin while completely ignoring the facts showing that one-tenth of that number had been killed and most of those were armed terrorists. Further, as recently as 2007, Erekat is belligerently on record as denying the possibility of the Palestinians ever recognizing Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.

Peace talks to resume in Jerusalem next week

Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian Authority's chief negotiator, told Israel Hayom on Thursday that Israel would conduct the first stage of the Palestinian prisoner release on Tuesday, a day ahead of the meeting in Jerusalem. According to Erekat, Israel will release 26 Palestinian prisoners then, in the first of a four-stage release of 104 Palestinian prisoners agreed ahead of the renewal of negotiations with the Palestinians. Israel has not officially confirmed Tuesday as the date for the first stage of the release, but senior Israeli diplomatic officials did not refute the date or the number of prisoners to be released.

Israel Gives up ‘HaTikvah’ Anthem for the Sake of Peres’ Peace

Israel has made another concession, without even being asked. The PA anthem was sung in Bethlehem for the Barcelona soccer team during its Peres-sponsored visit, but HaTikvah was ditched in Tel Aviv.

Thousands of Palestinians Could Lose Jobs Due to EU Sanctions on Territories

In the wake of the European Union’s resolution to boycott the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and terminate all financial contacts with them, foreign journalists toured the Barkan Industrial Park and Ariel University in Samaria last week.
This event was organized by Israel’s Government Press Office (GPO) in conjunction with the Yesha Council and The Manufacturers Association of Israel (MAI). The event highlighted the ramifications of the EU’s decision on financial coexistence in the area. The focus of the tour was the joint financial projects between Israelis and Palestinians, which now stand to face financial hardship and possible termination as a result of the EU’s recent actions.

Fatah: Hamas Planning to Crack Down on Us

A Fatah MP warned of an impending security campaign by Hamas in Gaza, after its security forces raided the homes of several Fatah leaders in the enclave, reported the Ma’an news agency.
Majed Abu Shamallah told the news agency Hamas forces raided the home of Khalil Abu Hasna, the executive director of the National Commission for Development and Islamic Solidarity, early Friday morning.

Hamas to Celebrate End of Ramadan with Mass Public Executions

There’s no better way to celebrate the end Ramadan than with mass executions, or at least that’s what Hamas believes.
Timed to coincide with the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr, Hamas plans to publicly execute anywhere up up to 40 people they claim are criminals, who “confessed” to their crimes after being severely tortured, according to a report in YNet. The stated goal of the executions is to help maintain public security.

Sinai group says it was planning cross-border attack when hit by Israeli drone

An al-Qaeda-linked group active in the Sinai Peninsula said Saturday that its fighters were the target of a reported Israeli drone strike into Egyptian territory, a rare operation that could indicate increased Egyptian-Israeli security cooperation against militants in the lawless border zone.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, in a statement posted on a militant website, said that a drone that crossed into Egyptian airspace killed four fighters as they were preparing a cross-border rocket strike into Israel. It said the dead were from Egyptian Sinai tribes and that the rocket squad’s leader escaped.

Egypt walks the wire in denying Israeli strike on Sinai

Contradicting earlier reports, the Egyptian army spokesman said late Friday that there was no truth to reports of an Israeli drone attack on Egyptian soil. He also claimed there was no coordination at all between Israeli and Egyptian authorities with regard to what he termed “explosions in the Rafah region.”

Muslim Brotherhood Document Blames Israel for Military Coup

According to an internal analysis document from the organization obtained by the website, the Brotherhood attributes their recent woes to Israel, Iran and other Gulf states. The document was written by Mohammed Ahmed Rashed, an Iraqi national who is considered the Brotherhood’s top planner and theorist.

Anti-U.S. Hostility Ramps Up in Egypt

A headline in a major Egyptian state newspaper this week referred to the proposed U.S. envoy to Egypt as the "Ambassador of Death." Posters in Cairo's Tahrir Square, a center of pro-government rallies, depict President Barack Obama with a beard and turban, exclaiming his "support for terrorism."
Another large Egyptian newspaper alleged Sen. John McCain, who traveled to Cairo this week in an effort to break a deadlock between the government and its Islamist rivals, has chosen sides by employing Muslim Brotherhood staffers in his office.

Turkey to withdraw troops from UNIFIL in south Lebanon

Ankara’s decision came less than a day after two Turkish Airlines pilots were kidnapped in Beirut early Friday morning, prompting the Turkish Foreign Ministry to call on all Turkish citizens to leave Lebanon and to issue an advisory against Lebanon-bound travel.
The UNIFIL spokesman said the events were unrelated.

Zimbabwe denies signing uranium deal with Iran

Chimanikire is the Zimbabwean official quoted in The Times report making contradicting statements earlier Saturday. The minister told the British newspaper that a memorandum of understanding was signed between the two countries, despite warnings in 2011 by the United States of “ramifications for countries that decline to observe their international obligations.” Chimanikire added that only a handful of people at the top of the African country’s government knew about the deal.

New York hails GetTaxi Israeli smartphone app

GetTaxi, the Israeli app that enables users to order taxis via their smartphones, launched in New York City on Thursday, where it will operate under the name G-Car.
With the app, users will be able to hail New York's luxury black cabs. GetTaxi did not receive authorization to work with the city's cheaper yellow cabs.

Rappers’ mad love for Jewish lawyers

Historically, Hip Hop artists have faced their fair share of legal issues, sparking a demand among these artists for fair and just representation while standing before a court of law.
So, naturally, an epic partnership was formed between rappers and their Jewish lawyers. And that partnership, in turn, sparked the YouTube clip below, created by Jason Newman, which features several rappers shouting out to their Jewish lawyers.

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8/09 Links Part 2: Egypt Blockades Gaza Where Are the Flotillas?, Bizarre Egyptian Conspiracies

From Ian:

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Khaled Abu Toameh: Egypt Blockades Gaza Where Are the Flotillas?

Since the beginning of the year, nearly 34,000 trucks carrying more than 950,000 tons of goods entered the Gaza Strip through Israel.
The Egyptians, like most Arabs, do not care about the Palestinians. They want the Palestinians to be Israel's problem and to continue relying on handouts from Western countries.
The Arabs do not care if the residents of the Gaza Strip starve to death as long as Israel will be blamed.

Egyptians close down Gaza crossing for holiday

Egyptian officials have closed Rafah several times over the last month as tensions between the Egyptian military and the Strip’s Hamas rulers, backed by the ousted Muslim Brotherhood, have come to a boil.
Cairo recently elected to sharply decrease the number of operating hours at the terminal, from nine to four, leading to a drop in the number of people crossing over from about 1,200 to 150 a day, according to MENA, citing Egyptian officials.

Sydney U. against BDS, but not taking any action against BDS professor

“The University of Sydney does not consider the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions policy appropriate and it is not University of Sydney policy,” Dean Duncan Ivison of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences said.
He was responding to inquiries on the recent lawsuit filed by the Shurat HaDin Legal Action Center against Prof. Jake Lynch.
At the same time, said Ivison, “we encourage academics to contribute to public debate and deliberations on issues spanning local, national and international boundaries within their area of expertise, in conformity with the law and the policies and obligations of the university. For this reason the university does not intend to take any specific further action on this matter.”

Activists to Disrupt Celebration at Israeli-Owned British Shop

Anti-Israel activists are threatening to disrupt the birthday celebration of an Israeli-owned shop in Britain, and local police are preparing themselves accordingly.
The Jewish Chronicle reported on Thursday that Sussex police are preparing for potential trouble as hundreds of anti-Israel activists and members of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) are expected to picket outside the Israeli-owned EcoStream store in Brighton.

Palestinian Leaders Use Photo Ops to Hide Their True Intentions

Furthermore, according to Palestinian Media Watch, during Barcelona’s visit, a sportscaster on Palestinian Authority television stated that “Today Barcelona comes to visit Palestine and nothing else. Only Palestine and its capital Jerusalem, Eilat, Rosh Hanikra, and all the Palestinian cities in the north, south, west, and east.”
Who are the dreamers and who are the realists?

Egyptian NGOs Condemn Anti-Christian Violence

The NGOs urged security officials for higher protection and intervention during future clashes between Islamist groups targeting Christian civilians.
In a recent case, in the village of Minya's Beni-Ahmed, sectarian violence broke out last Saturday as many Christian-owned properties were destroyed and homes were torched.

Former Muslim Brotherhood MP: The Holocaust – The Greatest Lie Of The Modern Age

In an interview with the Egyptian weekly Al-Musawwar, published March 6, 2013, former Egyptian Shura Council member and current Muslim Brotherhood (MB) member Fathi Shihab Al-Din called the Holocaust "the greatest lie of the modern age and the gravest incident of organized historical international blackmail." Stating that while the rumor of the Holocaust was started by the U.S. intelligence apparatuses in order to ruin the reputation of Germany and its allies in World War II, and also to serve as a pretext for dropping atomic bombs, the seeds of this lie, which he claims now prevents criticism of Israel, were sown by the Zionists many years previously. He added that they had spread this rumor using the global media.

Army, Brotherhood Conspiracy Theories Try to Win Egyptian Hearts

The army has not stood by and let the Brotherhood get all the headlines; they, too, have theories about the Islamists, and according to one curious theory, Morsi, in an attempt to alleviate Egypt's financial situation, tried to “sell” most of Sinai to President Barack H. Obama. Egypt was to receive $8 billion for the Sinai. The U.S. would have set up bases and helped itself to Sinai oil, while part of the area would have been set up as a state for PA Arabs. It was only the intervention of the army that prevented Morsi from going through with the plan.

Turkish president calls for Morsi's release, slams Egyptian 'coup'

Gul said Turkey had supported the 2011 uprising against strongman Hosni Mubarak and the election that brought Morsi to power.
"Unfortunately, the historic step towards democracy failed in less than two years. The coup that ousted Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, was a clear derailment of the country's progress," he wrote.
His description of Morsi's overthrow as a coup is likely to rile the Egyptian military, who say they were enforcing the will of the people as manifested in huge demonstrations against his rule, and do not seek to exercise power.

Turkish pilots kidnapped in Beirut

Security officials say the two men, both Turkish nationals, were seized as they were traveling in a van with other crew members from the Beirut International Airport to a hotel early Friday.
The officials say six gunmen ambushed the car on an old airport road, snatched the two men from the vehicle and let the rest continue on. The incident occurred at about 3 a.m. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Amid the ‘deceptive quiet’ of the Lebanon border

He described the current situation as “a deceptive quiet” and said he had drilled into his soldiers the need to “go from 0-100 in a second,” assuring this reporter that, as opposed to the period before the Second Lebanon War, his men all understood that a conflict in this region could turn into war in an instant. “Our company’s motto is War Tomorrow,” he said. “That’s how we train them, so they are ready to make the mental switch, if necessary.”
For now, it would seem, it is not — with Hezbollah still deeply engaged in Syria — but the border region, which has produced little in the way of news in recent months, is far from peaceful.

Minister: Iran Nuclear Program Could be Destroyed in 'Hours'

The international community must make it clear to Iran that it has only two options: end its nuclear program voluntarily, or “see it destroyed with brute force,” Minister of Strategic Affairs Yuval Steinitz has said, speaking to the Washington Post.
Demolishing Iran’s nuclear program by force is entirely possible, he said, estimating that it would take “a few hours of airstrikes, no more.”
He was not overly concerned with the possibility that Iran could fire missiles on Israel in response to an international attack on its facilities. Such an attack would cause “very limited damage,” he said, explaining that Israel would be able to intercept most of the missiles.

Malik Amir Mohammad Khan Afridi dices with death for a moustache in Pakistan

PAKISTANI businessman Malik Amir Mohammad Khan Afridi has been kidnapped, threatened with death, forcibly displaced and lives apart from his family: all because of his enormous moustache.
Impeccably trimmed to 30 inches (76cm), Afridi spends 30 minutes a day washing, combing, oiling and twirling his facial hair into two arches that reach to his forehead, defying gravity.
"People give me a lot of respect. It's my identity," said the 48-year-old grandfather in the northwestern city of Peshawar, when asked why he was prepared to risk everything for his whiskers.

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Even 8 year old Egyptian boys harass women during Eid

From Al Ahram:

The anti-sexual harassment campaign "I witnessed harassment" confirms several cases of sexual harassment over the holiday weekend these past two days - including perpetrators as young as 8 and 10 years old.

The campaign deployed more volunteers around downtown Cairo during Eid El-Fitr, the holiday that ends the Ramadan month of fasting, when sexual harassment is known to explode.

Reports described everything from verbal to physical assault and mob sexual attacks.

Volunteers raise passersby's awareness and intervene when they see harassment. The group says they increased volunteers around cinemas when films start playing, when crowds are larger in number and harassment cases likewise increase.

Sexual harassment has been a growing problem in Egypt. More than 99 percent of hundreds of women surveyed in seven of the country's 27 governorates reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment, ranging from minor harassment to rape, says the UN, Egypt's Demographic Centre and the National Planning Institute in a report in April.

Hey, if even 8 year old boys are harassing women, they must have a good reason. We should work to understand the root causes and eliminate them.

In other words, women should be banned from all public areas of Egypt, since the existence of women in public causes the men to act the way they do.

I mean, isn't that the logic that some people use concerning Arab and Islamic terrorism?

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Report: IDF bombs kill 5 jihadists on Egyptian side of Rafah (UPDATE)

From JPost:

An Israeli Air Force drone reportedly struck a jihadist rocket launcher in the Sinai Peninsula near the Israeli-Egyptian border, killing at least five suspected terrorists who were planning to launch shoulder-fired missile at Israel, Egyptian military sources told Palestinian news agency Ma'an on Friday.

Ma'an reported that a large explosion was heard on Friday afternoon in Rafah, near the Kerem Shalom border crossing.

An IDF spokesman said the army does not comment on reports published in the foreign media.

On Thursday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz ordered to close the Eilat Airport for two hours.

On Friday, Ma'an quoted an Egyptian security source as saying the IDF's decision to close the air[port] was a precautionary measure taken by Israel based on Egyptian intelligence that terrorists in Sinai planned to target the Jewish state with missiles.

The IDF instructed the Israel Airports Authority to close down the airport in the southern city which borders Egypt due to a "security assessment." The IDF did not release any specific details on the security reasons which prompted the closure.

According to the Egyptian official cited by Ma'an, Salafi terrorists in Sinai planned to target Israel with shoulder-launched missiles with a range of 70 km, which would put them in well in range of the airspace over Eilat Airport.

Al Ahram adds that "sources say that the air attack was in coordination with the Egyptian authorities."

Al Arabiya is quoted as saying that the IDF aircraft/drones were in the skies for a while before the explosion, and that the jihadists intended to shoot rockets at Israel.

Arab critics of Egypt's interim government will have a field day with this, saying that this is proof that the Egyptian leaders are Zionist.

UPDATE: Egypt denies Israel was involved. Which it would do whether it happened or not.

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8/09 Links Part 1: Tom Friedman's Incredible Blunders, An Interview with Irwin Cotler

From Ian:

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Sarah Honig: Judenfrei is fine and dandy

The fact that Abbas never neglects to emphasize that Israelis (which really means Jews) would be strictly banned from his state should signify how impossible any practicable and sincere peace is. Abbas, the world’s pampered darling, harbors no qualms about denying Israel any quid-pro-quo for what he demands of it.
Thus Abbas upbraids Netanyahu for “demanding recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. We have rejected, and will reject, this demand. We know what his intention is. He wants to undermine the Palestinian-Arab presence inside Israel and prevent the return of refugees.” In other words, rather than be accepted rightfully as a Jewish state, Israel is tolerated at most as a multinational temporary entity and candidate for impending Arabization. It wouldn’t be left in peace unless it submits meekly to said Arabization and the eradication of its Jewishness.

Canadian MP: Incitement is far worse than checkpoints

The last decade has witnessed the expanding delegitimization campaign against Israel in the field of international law. The interview with Professor Irwin Cotler, a Canadian member of parliament for the Liberal party, was conducted against the backdrop of the renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and the planned release of Palestinian prisoners -- subjects on which he has much to say.

After Egypt, Pointless to Negotiate With Iran

At this point, the only way Tehran will stop developing a nuclear weapon is if the regime is overthrown or if the U.S. or Israel take military action. But outside of empty rhetoric, Obama hasn’t given Tehran any reason to believe that he’s willing to use force.
If Obama would rather tolerate a nuclear Iran than support a military strike, he should say so. His current strategy seems to be to delay a decision until Tehran develops a bomb – at which point it will be too late to attack. This is bad policy. And it is unacceptable leadership.

Iran's Khamenei: Peace talks will force Palestinians to relinquish their rights

Khamenei said Friday that the renewed peace talks would "encourage the aggressors to increase their aggression and suppress the rightful resistance of the Palestinians," according to AFP.
The Iranian leader called on the Muslim world to be active in supporting the Palestinian cause and condemning Israel.
"The Muslim world must not back down from its support for Palestine, and it should condemn the oppressive action of fierce Zionist wolves and their international supporters," AFP quoted him as saying.

Israel and the Gulf states: It’s complicated

Perhaps ironically, the Arab Spring does not make easier for the Gulf states’ autocratic leaders to get closer to Israel again, experts say. For the first time in history, public opinion has become a determining factor of the Arab world’s political system, and the rulers in the Gulf will think twice before admitting any sort of engagement with the Zionist entity.
It’s not so much about the Gulf nations’ love for the Palestinians. “The leaders of the GCC states couldn’t care less about the 1967 borders,” said a Jerusalem source intimately familiar with GCC politics. “For all that matters to them, the Green Line could be somewhere between Ohio and Maryland. It is the conflict that bothers them, because it strengthens the radical forces in the region.”

The New York Times Tries to Smooth Over Tom Friedman's Incredible Blunders

On August 7, Times columnist Thomas Friedman argued that Israel needed to get on board with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's initiative to restart the peace process to head off increasing isolation of the Jewish state. To bolster his point he cited the alleged cancellation of a performance in Israel by Eric Burdon, former lead singer of the British rock group, the Animals. Friedman quotes the British newspaper, the Independent, as writing,
"but now Eric Burdon is not even turning up at all having deciding to withdraw from a planned concert in Israel."
Unfortunately, for Friedman, a week before his piece appeared, Burdon's performance in Israel took place without a hitch. Worse still, he didn't get the alleged quote from the Independent right.

Are Jews the most incompetent “ethnic cleansers” in the world?

Of course, debating the “question” of whether Israel is conducting a war of extermination against the Palestinians seems at first glance to be as productive as ‘arguing’ whether or not Jews are trying to take over the world. However, unlike the latter charge, which, no matter how hateful and irrational, is not really quantifiable, the former malicious smear – reflecting the “Israel as the new Nazis“ narrative which Richard Landes argues indicates (among other pathologies) a desire to be freed from Holocaust guilt – can be easily refuted by a few population statistics.
"The Palestinian population in the West Bank increased from 462,000 in 1949 to more than 2.5 million today.
In Gaza, the population increased from 82,000 in 1949 to 1.7 million today."
Additionally, to add further context:
"The number of Arabs killed (since 1920) in Arab-Israeli wars is less than the number of Arabs killed by Arabs in Syria alone since 2011."

NYT reports on Syrian patients in Israel: BBC still mum

We have mentioned the resounding BBC silence on the subject of wounded Syrian nationals receiving medical care in Israel on numerous occasions.
If perhaps one had thought that the reason for that silence was a lack of access to the story for the foreign media (although the Israeli press has been covering it diligently), then a recent report in the New York Times indicates that this is clearly not the case.

Zanzibar acid attack: British teenagers were 'targeted' and had been attacked before

Katie Gee and Kirstie Trup, both aged 18, had argued with a local shopkeeper days before two men on a moped threw acid in their faces and Katie had separately been attacked for singing during Ramadan.
One friend suggested they might have been singled out because they are Jewish, and local police said they wanted to speak a radical Islamic preacher who they believe may have inspired the attack. (h/t Serious Black)

‘Warning over Sinai terrorists prompted Eilat airport closure’

A warning from a senior Egyptian official, that terrorists in the Sinai armed with missiles planned to target Israel, reportedly prompted the closure Thursday of the airport in Eilat.
The high-level Egyptian military official said Salafi groups had come into possession of missiles with a range of 70 kilometers and intended to target the airport in the Israeli Red Sea resort town and other Israeli targets, the Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported Friday.

Wiesenthal Center calls for boycott of ‘Hitler wine’

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is urging wine distributors to boycott Italian wine-makers Vina Lunardelli for selling a line of Nazi and fascist branded wines
The company has created a cult following featuring labels portraying Adolph Hitler over Nazi slogans, including “Mein Fuehrer,” “Sieg Heil,” and “Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer.”

US auction house offers Schindler documents

An auction house is offering a collection of documents from Oskar Schindler, the German industrialist who saved more than 1,000 Jewish workers at his factories during World War II, including a letter he signed that paved the way for the rescue chronicled in the 1993 movie “Schindler’s List.”
The letter, dated Aug. 22, 1944, describes permission to move his enamelware factory, workers included, out of Krakow, Poland, to Czechoslovakia, a move that historians say allowed him to save the workers.

Kahneman to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom

US President Barack Obama awarded Daniel Kahneman, a Princeton psychologist known for his application of psychology to economic analysis, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The White House release Thursday naming Kahneman and other recipients notes that the Princeton University scholar, who shared the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2002, escaped Nazi Europe and served in the Israeli army.

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UNRWA dean of education posts Hitler quote on FB

Dr. Fares Haider is the Dean of Student Affairs for UNRWA in Jordan.

His Facebook pages are filled with pithy self-help advice and slogans, presumably meant for students.

Here is a poster he placed on his personal Facebook page:

The text says "'The two most important rules in order to be successful - the first: never give up. The second: remember the first rule'. Adolph Hitler"

He captioned it "Military rules for success ... good morning all."

(He got it from this strange Facebook page where they make posters out of quotes from everyone from Jefferson to Stalin to "Dr. Gregory House.")

(h/t Ibn Boutros)

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Lebanon barring Palestinians refugees from Syria

Once again, the Arab world shows its derision for their Palestinian brethren. And once again, the world ignores blatant discrimination against Palestinians - when done by Arabs.

From HRW:

The Lebanese government began on August 6, 2013, to bar Palestinians from entering the country from Syria. Refusing to allow asylum seekers to enter the country violates Lebanon’s international obligations.

Two Palestinians told Human Rights Watch that they were among about 200 Palestinian asylum seekers barred from crossing the border, after Lebanese General Security on August 6 abruptly changed its entry policies for Palestinians living in Syria.

The Palestinians stranded at Lebanon’s border include entire families, children, the elderly, and the sick. Some spent the night in the area between the two countries’ border posts, fearing for their safety if they returned to Syria, without shelter or bathroom facilities. Some have family members waiting for them in Lebanon. Others say they have no homes to return to in Syria as they have been destroyed during the war, or no money to return home, even if it were safe.

A Palestinian asylum seeker stuck at the border told Human Rights Watch that at approximately 6:45 p.m. on August 6, Lebanese border guards told him and other Palestinian asylum seekers waiting to enter that the guards had received a call from the Lebanese General Security office telling them not to allow any more Palestinians to enter the country. After this announcement, the only Palestinians allowed to enter Lebanon were Palestinians with Lebanese wives or mothers, or who had plane tickets to leave Beirut that day. General Security made no public announcement of the change in policy.

Lebanon is still allowing tens of thousands of Syrians to enter the country. It is only discriminating against Palestinians.

Jordan has a similar policy and Egypt also discriminates against Palestinian Syrians.

Blatant, explicit and rampant discrimination against Palestinian Arabs happens every day, and is indeed enshrined in the laws of every Arab country which does not allow them to become citizens while all other Arabs can.

Keep this in mind the next hundred times you hear Arabs say that the "Palestinian issue" is their number one priority, and the key to solving all the problems in the region. They don't mean that they care about Palestinians - it means that they regard the destruction of Israel is their number one priority, and the Palestinian Arabs are useful only as pawns in that goal.

In reality, the Arab world hates Palestinians nearly as much as they hate Jews.

But there are no "pro-Palestinian" groups that can be bothered to point that out.

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Jordanian MP calls to kidnap Israelis; Israel protests; Jordan supports him

In early July, during a parliamentary debate, Jordanian MP Tareq Khoury called on Jordan to "kidnap members of the Israeli embassy in Amman or Israeli tourists visiting Jordan to get Israel to release Jordanian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails."

He said that such a move would be "an honorable precedent in the history of the Kingdom."

He added that the peace agreement between Jordan and Israel was a humiliation to Jordan because it doesn't protect Jordanian prisoners - which include mass murderer Abdallah Bargouthi.

Israel lodged a protest at these statements where a Jordanian MP demanded that Jordan violate international law and existing agreements with Israel.

Now Jordan responded - by telling Israel to shut up.

You see, Israel's protests are considered by Jordan to be an unacceptable infringement on its sovereignty. Furthermore, in the response it said that Jordan's constitution allows members of Parliament to say whatever they want.

They point out that the first article of the peace agreement between Israel and Jordan demands "respect for Jordanian sovereignty and the political independence of Jordan."

I had no idea that Jordan's independence is so weak that merely protesting someone's words endangers Jordan's political independence.

By the way, Article 11 of the peace agreement mandates "To abstain from hostile or discriminatory propaganda against each other, and to take all possible legal and administrative measures to prevent the dissemination of such propaganda by any organization or individual present in the territory of either Party."

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Abbas refusing to send leukemia medicine to Gaza

This story last month from PCHR seems to have slipped under the radar:

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) is gravely concerned over the lives of 36 patients, who suffer from Leukemia in the Gaza Strip, due to not receiving the necessary treatment they need for 8 months. PCHR is concerned these patients may have serious complications leading to death if they do not receive their treatment immediately. PCHR calls upon President Mahmoud Abbass to promptly intervene to save the lives of these patients and to instruct the Ministry of Health in Ramallah to supply the medicine needed for these patients as soon as possible.

According to PCHR's follow-up, the suffering of the patients of Leukemia, which is a serious cancerous disease that affects blood cells, started in December 2012 when the medicine (Glivec 400 mg tab) fully ran out in the blood section pharmacy at Shifa Hospital. As a result, the patients have not received their medical treatment since then. Doctors in charge stated that this medicine is the sole treatment for Leukemia patients and not receiving this treatment would cause complications and put the patients’ lives at risk. It should be noted that the medicine is only available through the Ministry of Health in Ramallah and cannot be found in medical warehouses or private pharmacies in the Gaza Strip to save the patients' lives.

As part of PCHR's follow-up of the patients' conditions, PCHR's Legal Aid Unit addressed the Ministry of Health in Ramallah on 16 April 2013 and explained the conditions of Leukemia patients in the Gaza Strip. In addition, the unit called upon the Minister of Health to urge the competent bodies to immediately send the medicine to the Gaza Strip patients. On 30 April 2013, the Pharmacy Department at the Ministry of Health in Ramallah responded that the medicine is available at the central wheelhouses in Ramallah and that coordination was being done to send it to the patients. However, the quantity of (Glivec 400 mg tab) that reached the pharmacy in June and for once was very limited. The quantity amounted to 210 tablets that can help treating 7 patients only for one month. However, patients in the Gaza Strip need approximately 1,600 tablets a month. Consequently, the Leukemia patients have been deprived of that medicine, which is the sole treatment for them, and not receiving it would cause serious health complications.

Israel has never withheld medicine from Gaza. But apparently Mahmoud Abbas does.

PCHR doesn't bother to mention that while both Abbas' PLO seems to have no problem getting money to pay terrorists in jail, and while Hamas manages to buy rockets and anti-tank missiles, neither of them can find the money needed to save Palestinian Arab lives.

Which pretty much tells you everything right there.

If an appeal for leukemia medicine for Gazans would be made in synagogues this coming Saturday, the meds would be there next week. Yet this was posted on PCHR in late July and there were almost no stories about it in the Arab media.

Somehow the Arab world doesn't seem to care about dying Palestinian Arabs if their deaths cannot be blamed on Jews.

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Israel, Cyprus, Greece sign MOU on energy and water

A great followup to my earlier post on the political issues of Israel distributing natural gas:

CYPRUS, ISRAEL and Greece will sign a “historic” memorandum of understanding (MOU) on energy and water issues today, paving the way for the further strengthening of relations between the three countries.

Speaking after a meeting with Agriculture Minister Nicos Kouyialis in Nicosia on Wednesday, Israeli Minister of Energy and Water Resources Silvan Shalom described today’s signing of the memorandum between the three countries as a “historical moment”, as it was the first of its kind between the three countries.

On the initiative of Cypriot Energy and Trade Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis, Shalom and Greek Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change Yiannis Maniatis are in Nicosia to discuss issues concerning tripartite and regional cooperation in the energy sector, including protection of the environment from offshore hydrocarbon activities and connecting the electricity grids of Israel, Cyprus and Greece through submarine power cables.

The signing of the MOU on energy and water collaboration, due today, shows how far the three countries have come in terms of cooperation, said Shalom. Relations are better than ever, he said, adding that the MOU will enable the three countries to strengthen relations even further.

“The fact that we are here shows that we do not only work well on (issues concerning) water, but it’s also about geopolitics, strategy and political issues between the three countries,” he said.

Shalom and Kouyialis yesterday held a bilateral meeting to discuss water development, management and protection.

The Israeli minister hailed the meeting as an indication of the good relations enjoyed between Israel and Cyprus these days, adding, “I believe we can do more”.

He spoke of a “big change” in relations and the “good will between the two sides” to help one another.

Enhanced relations between the two countries was also a major theme of President Nicos Anastasiades’ speech at the opening of a fifth desalination plant, which Israeli companies had helped build, near Limassol last night.

Anastasiades said energy cooperation between Israel and Cyprus, given their common interests in the exploration and exploitation of significant natural resources, could “become the driving force for an enhanced partnership between our two countries”.

Given the government’s determination to move ahead with the construction of an LNG plant, he invited Israel “to seriously consider committing to exporting Israeli gas” from the Cypriot LNG facility.

“This is all the more pertinent if one takes into account that Cyprus is perhaps Israel’s most stable partner in the region. In addition, our proximity to the Suez Canal is an important factor favouring the creation of a regional energy hub in Cyprus for the transportation of natural gas from Eastern Mediterranean countries, not only to Europe, but also to the Far East,” said Anastasiades.

It's really funny how Iran pretends that Israel is the most isolated country in the world in light of deals like this.

(h/t Professor Pelotard)

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8/08 Links Part 2: Turning the Negev into the 'Israeli Silicon Valley, Followup on anti-Israel "Donald Duck"

From Ian:

---

Why this Christian Supports Israel By: Gary Bauer

The people of Israel love what we Americans love and honor what we Americans honor. Israel is built on the rule of law. Its Declaration of Independence is modeled after ours. We are joined at the heart.
The only memorial in the Middle East to honor the three thousand innocent Americans brutally murdered on the morning of 9/11 is in Israel. As crowds in the West Bank and Gaza rushed into the streets to celebrate the murderous attack on America, Israelis mourned with us, lowered their flag as we lowered ours, and wept with us.

A three part series on BDS by Steve Apfel at The Commentator.

Israel boycotters: A Kabbalistic mission
Part 1. of a 3 part series on the whys and wherefores of Israel boycotters
Israel boycotters: La Trahison des clercs
Part 2. of a 3 part series on the whys and wherefores of Israel boycotters
Israel boycotters: The goose and the golden egg
Part 3. of a 3 part series on the whys and wherefores of Israel boycotters

CIF Watch: Irish Times report includes false claim about BDS impact on Jerusalem Light Rail

However, his claim that Veolia withdrew from the Jerusalem consortium appears to be flatly untrue. As a fact sheet on Veolia’s website, and even posts on pro-BDS sites such as ‘Who Profits?’ (a project of Coalition of Women for Peace) make clear, Veolia has NOT ended its involvement with the consortium.
Additionally, while the company has indicated its wish to eventually sell its 5% share, McDonald’s passage misleadingly implies that Veolia’s calculations are based on the political pressure by BDS activists, a charge flatly denied by the company and contradicted by a recent report in Globes, which included the following:

More BBC whitewashing of ‘Al Quds Day’

That rally was as usual organized by the Iranian regime-linked ‘Islamic Human Rights Commission’ – a registered charity whose chair, Massoud Shadjareh, has been quoted and promoted by the BBC on numerous occasions over the years. The event was also supported by various non-Shiia bodies and non-Muslim organisations such as the ‘Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign’, ‘Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods’ – one of the founders of which, Tony Greenstein, has appeared on BBC programmes – and the ‘Stop the War Coalition’ – members of which are also to be found not infrequently as guests of the BBC.
In contrast to the curious little local custom – odd, but harmless – which this BBC article tries to make Al Quds day out to be, it is in fact a well-organised, well-funded vehicle for promoting racist hatred and glorifying terrorism. BBC audiences are entitled to expect to read the truth about it rather than Ardalan’s insipid, almost anthropological, whitewash.

Israel: For now, no pacts with EU due to West Bank rules

The ministers “did not make a decision specific to Horizon 2020,” a government source told The Times of Israel on Thursday, “but they all agreed that the new EU guidelines are detrimental to the possible success of the peace talks with the Palestinians.”
The ministers also agreed that “Israel will be unable to sign additional agreements [with the EU] that include the stipulations the EU is demanding. The government of Israel will seek clarifications from the EU regarding the territorial clause,” the official said.

Major German daily publishes anti-Israeli cartoon

A major German newspaper on Wednesday published an anti-Israeli caricature likening Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to an evil character from an anti-Nazi song. The cartoon raised serious concerns among Jews in Germany and beyond, who have demanded that the paper apologize.
In Wednesday’s Stuttgarter Zeitung, Netanyahu is seen sitting on a park bench, pouring poison from a bottle labeled “settlement construction” over a piece of bread which he apparently intends to feed to a peace dove. The cartoon caption references a 1938 anti-Nazi song by the Jewish Austrian-American composer and performer Georg Kreisler called “Pigeon Poisoner.”

Obama asked to raise anti-Semitism with Greek PM

Elisa Massimino, the president and CEO of the US-based group, urged Obama in a two-page letter Tuesday to ask Prime Minister Antonis Samaras during their meeting on Thursday to “speak out more forcefully to counteract the negative anti-Semitic and xenophobic discourse.”
The letter specifically pointed to the political party Golden Dawn, which holds 7 percent of the seats in the Greek parliament, noting “its representatives use Nazi symbols, have praised German Nazi leaders in the past, and have engaged in blatantly xenophobic rhetoric.”

Disney Claims ‘Anti-Israel Donald Duck’ is ‘Not Currently Under Contract,’ No Comment on Future Employment

The Walt Disney Company on Wednesday tried to distance itself from an Egyptian voice over artist who calls himself the “official voice of Donald Duck in the Middle East” and who caused an online firestorm this week after he published anti-Israel and anti-Zionist remarks on Twitter.
Wael Mansour, whose Twitter tirade surprised Disney executives while the company, which owns the rights to Donald Duck, was preoccupied with presenting its third quarter results this week, is an outside subcontractor who has no affiliation with the parent company, a spokesman for Disney in Europe and the Middle East told The Algemeiner.

Despite losing wife to terror attack, Chabad envoy returns to India

Only nine months ago, during Operation Pillar of Defense, Rabbi Shmuel Scharf's wife, Mira, was killed when a Hamas rocket struck their home in Kiryat Malachi. Now, about a month before the Jewish High Holy Days commence, Shmuel is going back to India with his kids, where he will once again serve as the director of New Delhi's Chabad House.
Scharf, who was injured along with his children during the rocket attack, is moving to India against the advice of psychologists, who believe it would be premature to resume his activities as a Chabad emissary. But Scharf, having largely recuperated from the attack, says he must pick up from where he and his wife left off.

Israel’s Compugen inks $10 million Bayer deal

Tel Aviv-based Compugen, a drug discovery company focused on therapeutic proteins and monoclonal antibodies to address unmet needs in immunology and oncology, is getting $10 million at the start of a major collaboration and license agreement with Bayer HealthCare.
Their joint preclinical research program aims to research, develop and commercialize antibody-based therapeutics for cancer immunotherapy against two novel “immune checkpoint regulators” discovered by Compugen.

AOL Pays $405 Million for Israeli-Founded Adap.tv

Adap.tv, which is now based in San Mateo, California, was founded by Israeli start-up veteran CEO Amir Ashkenazi, Dan Klein and CTO Teg Grenager in 2006, and its investors include Gemini Israel Ventures, as well as US funds Redpoint Ventures, Spark Capital, and Bessemer Venture Partners, Israeli’s Globes business newspaper reported.
Adap.tv will operate independently as part of AOL’s video department and it will be included in the overall solution packages offered by AOL Networks to its publisher and advertiser partners.

Netanyahu: Negev will become the Israeli Silicon Valley

According to the current timetable, the IDF's Communication Corps compound will be transferred from central Israel to the new Negev complex next year. The IDF's intelligence compound is set to move to the Negev in 2018, and with it 30,000 personnel of which 6,000 are career servicemen.
"The IDF's move to the Negev represents an unprecedented maneuver in its scope and economic, social and cultural impact. The completion of the maneuver will see the Negev turn into the 'Israeli Silicon Valley,'" Netanyahu said.

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The political roadblocks of Israel exporting gas have little to do with Arab/Israel conflict

Reuters reports:

A group of energy companies that discovered large amounts of natural gas off Israel's Mediterranean coast said they were in talks to export the gas to Europe via a pipeline to Turkey.

They are also studying options to export gas to Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority, Avner Oil & Gas said on Tuesday.

"The partners are negotiating with various officials," Avner, one of the partners in the project, said.

A spokesman for Delek Group, the parent company for Avner and for Delek Drilling, said the group - led by Noble Energy - was already in advanced talks with companies in Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority about buying Israeli gas and building pipelines.

As always, there are some hitches. World Bulletin reports:

An Egyptian energy official has dismissed reports saying that the country is in talks with Israeli energy companies for gas imports and possible pipeline projects.

On Tuesday, Avner Oil & Gas, leading a group of energy companies that discovered large amounts of natural gas off Israel's Mediterranean coast, said that they were in talks to export the gas to Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian territories. The talks, the company said, also covered the possibility of building pipelines to help export the gas to Europe.

However, Taher Abdel-Rahim, chairman of the Egyptian Gas Holding Company (EGAS), which runs Egypt's gas pipeline network, dismissed the claims.

"We have not made such negotiations and will not go into talks in the meantime with any international companies about such proposals," Abdel-Rahim said.

Abdel-Rahim said such deals cannot be completed without the knowledge of his company.

But the real issue isn't the Arab/Israeli conflict - so far I have not seen any pushback from Jordan or the PA about buying Israeli gas - but from political issues in other parts of the Mediterranean:

What form should those exports take? One early idea was a pipeline to Turkey. Great. Turkey is nearby; it’s a booming market that is expected to see demand grow from 43.5 bcm in 2012 to around 60 bcm in 2020; and it favors diversity of sources. Moreover, at present, its only completed agreement to cover the extra 16-17 bcm/y of gas it needs to import (and, since domestic production is minimal, its increase in demand is tantamount to an increase in imports), is for 6 bcm to come from Azerbaijan, starting in 2018-19.

But that’s a political minefield. The foreign ministry likes the idea because it would help improve ties with an important neighbor. But it still has no clear answer to the question as to whether maritime boundary issues first must be settled–or even a full solution of their 40-year Cyprus dispute.

The reason is that waters to the east of Cyprus (if not actually Lebanese or Syrian), may be Cypriot in international law, but in practice a good part of any route taken by a pipeline from Israel to Turkey to the east of Cyprus would have to pass through waters controlled not by the Government of Cyprus but by the self-proclaimed breakaway state which calls itself the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

As for a possible line to the west of Cyprus, that would need to pass through waters that are even more diplomatically murky. The problem here is that Greece, Turkey and Cyprus have yet to state, let alone agree, just what they consider their respective Exclusive Economic Zones to be in this area. Judging by maps produced by Turkish and Greek analysts, any formal claims would be fundamentally incompatible, with Turkey likely to argue that its EEZ would have a common boundary with Egypt’s EEZ; Cyprus would looking to support prospective Greek claims that Greece and Cyprus share a common EEZ boundary. Perhaps it is just as well that neither Athens nor Ankara seem to wish to oppress this point at present. After all , they’ve been arguing over their maritime boundaries in the Aegean for half a century, with no solution in sight.

Some Turkish sources have suggested the simplest solution would be to lay a subsea line from the Israeli and Cypriot fields to southern Cyprus, then run an overland pipe to northern Cyprus, followed by a subsea line across to Turkey. In terms of cost, and engineering, they are almost certainly right. It’s just that laying a pipe from southern Cyprus to the north is politically improbable, and perhaps impossible, in the absence of a solution to the underlying Cyprus problem.

As for various occasional suggestions that Cyprus and Israel might want to look at a pipeline to Greece, this not only poses similar problems, unless a route can be found through Egypt’s EEZ, but it’s also extremely complex, requiring state of the art technology to lay pipes at depths as great as 3000 metres. It thus can be ruled out on grounds of cost, unless, of course, Greece itself finds gas at some convenient intermediate location.

The writer concludes that the only way to make this work is to build a liquefied natural gas plant, one that Israel and Cyprus could both use. LNG can be shipped anywhere. But that has problems as well:

So it looks to be LNG. That’s certainly the goal of the memorandum of understanding signed with the government of Cyprus on June 26 by the Delek Group and Noble Energy, the companies currently developing the major offshore gasfields discovered so far in both Israeli and Cypriot waters. The MoU aims to put in place the basic terms of a formal agreement to develop a joint two-train LNG plant at Vasilikos on the southern coast of Cyprus, with operations to start in 2018-19.

Can Noble and its partners pull this off? No government has yet approved the construction of an LNG plant primarily designed to serve its own resources but to be located in another country. This may be the first time it happens. There are still options for Israel to go it alone, but that would require building an LNG plant in Israel itself, which, given its limited Mediterranean coastline, would be likely to cause serious environmental protests; or to develop floating LNG, already criticized for constituting an obvious target for missile attack from Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.

Maybe it makes sense for Israel to build its own LNG plant just so it can not have to worry about any future political issues with Cyprus. It certainly would seem to be the most flexible solution giving Israel the most freedom to sell to whom it wants without worrying about the conduits being attacked.

Even so, it is funny to see that that from the perspective of building a pipeline from Israel to Turkey and Europe, the existing political minefield seems to be more intractable than any issues Israel has with its Arab neighbors!

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