Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Gazans (and the PA) again blame Israel for the weather (update x2)

From Ma'an:

Hundreds of Palestinians were evacuated from their homes Sunday morning after Israeli authorities opened a number of dams near the border, flooding the Gaza Valley in the wake of a recent severe winter storm.

The Gaza Ministry of Interior said in a statement that civil defense services and teams from the Ministry of Public Works had evacuated more than 80 families from both sides of the Gaza Valley (Wadi Gaza) after their homes flooded as water levels reached more than three meters.

Gaza has experienced flooding in recent days amid a major storm that saw temperatures drop and frigid rain pour down.

The storm displaced dozens and caused hardship for tens of thousands, including many of the approximately 110,000 Palestinians left homeless by Israel's assault over summer.

The Gaza Valley (Wadi Gaza) is a wetland located in the central Gaza Strip between al-Nuseirat refugee camp and al-Moghraqa. It is called HaBesor in Hebrew, and it flows from two streams -- one whose source runs from near Beersheba, and the other from near Hebron.

Israeli dams on the river to collect rainwater have dried up the wetlands inside Gaza, and destroyed the only source of surface water in the area.

Locals have continued to use it to dispose of their waste for lack of other ways to do so, however, creating an environmental hazard.

This is not the first time Israeli authorities have opened the Gaza Valley dams.

In Dec. 2013, Israeli authorities also opened the dams amid heavy flooding in the Gaza Strip. The resulting floods damaged dozens of homes and forces many families in the area from their homes.

In 2010, the dams were opened as well, forcing 100 families from their homes. At the time civil defense services said that they had managed to save seven people who had been at risk of drowning.

So my January prediction that Gazans would blame Israel for flooding was a month early.

In previous years I searched for these dams that the Jews keep opening. I finally found the "dam" - a reservoir in Nahal Oz whose walls failed once in 2001. (There are couple of similar reservoirs around Gaza, others throughout the Negev, and many tiny "limans" to create mini-oases.)

Here is a satellite image of this reservoir, so you can compare it with the size of Gaza itself and determine on your own whether it can create floods three meters high through central Gaza by someone opening its floodgates:

UPDATE: The official PA "news" agency Wafa goes beyond this, saying Israel is pumping water into Gaza!

The Israeli authorities last night pumped large amounts of rainwater into the Gaza Strip, causing tens of neighboring homes to sink, according to witnesses and media sources.

Civil Defense said about 50 homes sank in the floods, while a number of local residents in eastern Gaza areas were reported injured. There were also reports of deaths of livestock and poultry.

“The [Israeli] army opened the floodgates of a canal leading to central Gaza, which resulted in the removal of sand mounds along the border with Israel,” Gaza's Civil Defense Directorate said in a statement.

(h/t Bob K)

UPDATE 2: AFP has shown how little journalistic integrity it has by picking up the Ma'an story without doing any fact checking. Meaning that they are parroting Hamas spokesmen.

Planting trees for dead terrorists

Islamic Jihad held a ceremony of planting olive trees in memory of the terrorists killed in Gaza.

Sort of like a bizarro-world version of JNF's tree planting.

It is so touching to see children next to masked, armed terrorists and their trees.

Every tree is associated with a dead terrorist:

Here is part of Islamic Jihad's video of the ceremony:

02/21 Links: Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Obama Must Confront Threat of Radical Islam; See no evil, resist no evil

From Ian:

Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Obama Must Confront the Threat of Radical Islam

ISIS is recruiting young Muslims from around the globe to Jihad, and the White House apparently doesn't understand why
Recent days have witnessed a number of attempts to grapple valiantly with the threat posed by ISIS and radical Islam. Graeme Wood in The Atlantic and Damon Linker in The Week are among those who are now confronting the theological arguments that inspire radical Islamic fighters and groups such as ISIS.
Even as writers and public intellectuals explore the theological factors pertaining to Islamist violence, however, the U.S. Administration has conspicuously avoided any discussion of Islamic theology, even avoiding use of the term “radical Islam” altogether. The White House this week held a “Summit on Countering Violent Extremism” (a rather nebulous concept) while intentionally avoiding use of the term “radical Islam.”
How can the Obama Administration miss the obvious? Part of the answer lies in the groups “partnering” with, or advising, the White House on these issues. Groups such as the Muslim Public Affairs Council or the Islamic Society of North America insist that there should be no more focus at the Summit on radical Islam than on any other violent movements, even as radical Islamic movements continue to expand their influence in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Nigeria, and elsewhere.
Amplifying a poor choice of Muslim outreach partners, however, President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have argued in recent days that economic grievances, a lack of opportunities, and countries with “bad governance” are to blame for the success of groups such as ISIS in recruiting Muslims to their cause. Yet, if this were true, why do so many young Muslims who live in societies with excellent governance—Denmark, the Netherlands, the UK, the United States—either join ISIS or engage in Jihadist violence in their own countries? Why do young Muslims with promising professional futures embark on the path of Jihad?

Marie Harf Wrote Thesis on How Conservative Support for Israel Complicates US Foreign Policy

State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf wrote her college honors thesis on “how conservative evangelical support for Israel complicates U.S. foreign policy,” according to Indiana University records.
Harf’s thesis further illustrates the collegiate thinking in an Obama administration that has alienated a key American ally in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Harf, 33, previously worked on Obama’s 2012 campaign.
Harf’s Indiana University honors political science professor said that Harf did not plan to pursue political science like her professor father Jim, but that she ended up becoming “pretty good” at it.
Harf generated controversy this week for saying that the way to combat terrorists like ISIS is to help get them jobs.
“But we cannot win this war by killing them, we cannot kill our way out of this war,” Harf said on Chris Matthews’ MSNBC program. “We need, in the longer term, medium and longer term, to go after the root causes that leads people to join these groups, whether it’s lack of opportunity for jobs.”
Harf later doubled down on her remarks, saying that her view is simply too nuanced for media commentators to ingest.

Palestinian Rock Throwing and the Humanity of a Jewish Child

Like the justifications heard for the rockets launched indiscriminately at Israeli cities, towns and villages, apologists for the Palestinians say they should be allowed to throw rocks because they don’t have tanks or an air force. For Palestinians, the sight of a Jew in a car living in a place where Arabs would prefer no Jews to live is enough to justify a rock thrown at a moving vehicle. But whatever one thinks about West Bank settlements, the rocks are lethal weapons. When used in this manner they are a practice that any American who was subjected to similar treatment on a U.S. highway would consider attempted murder.
The rocks thrown by Palestinians are neither acts of peaceful disobedience or a plea for Israel to withdraw to the June 1967 lines. To the contrary, like the rockets launched by Hamas, they are a visceral expression of the Palestinian belief that any Jew living anywhere in the country, whether in the West Bank or pre-1967 Israel are fair game for murder. Those who throw them may be depicted as kids just engaging in youthful pranks or conducting a protest against Israeli policies. But the truth is that they are part of a process by which Palestinian youths are desensitized to the humanity of their Jewish neighbors.
The death of this child wasn’t mourned, let alone mentioned in the Western press. Israel’s critics don’t care about her because she was a “settler” and therefore worthy of being singled out for murder. But, like the Palestinian children who are used as human shields by Hamas terrorists, she was a human being whose right to life deserved to be respected. May her memory be for a blessing and may those responsible for her death and the many other Israelis who have been injured and terrorized in this fashion be punished for their crimes.

Petty politics: Netanyahu wants to plead for Israel's security, Obama wants to get back at him

This article by AP is sort of amazing:

In what is becoming an increasingly nasty grudge match, the White House is mulling ways to undercut Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's upcoming trip to Washington and blunt his message that a potential nuclear deal with Iran is bad for Israel and the world.

There are limits. Administration officials have discarded the idea of President Barack Obama himself giving an Iran-related address to rebut the two speeches Netanyahu is to deliver during his early March visit. But other options remain on the table.

Among them: a presidential interview with a prominent journalist known for coverage of the rift between Obama and Netanyahu, multiple Sunday show television appearances by senior national security aides and a pointed snub of America's leading pro-Israel lobby, which is holding its annual meeting while Netanyahu is in Washington, according to the officials.

The administration has already ruled out meetings between Netanyahu and Obama, saying it would be inappropriate for the two to meet so close to Israel's March 17 elections. But the White House is now doubling down on a cold-shoulder strategy, including dispatching Cabinet members out of the country and sending a lower-ranking official than normal to represent the administration at the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the officials said.

Vice President Joe Biden will be away, his absence behind Netanyahu conspicuous in coverage of the speech to Congress. Other options were described by officials, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal deliberations.

Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry, who have both previously addressed AIPAC, will be out of the country on foreign travel that appears to have been arranged to make them unavailable to speak. Biden will be visiting Uruguay and Guatemala on a trip that was announced after Netanyahu's speech was scheduled, while the State Department announced abruptly this week that Kerry will be traveling to as-yet-determined destinations for the duration of the AIPAC conference.

Obama spoke to AIPAC in 2012, while he was in the midst of his re-election campaign.

It is clear that Natanyahu isn't playing politics, Israeli or American, since the political risks of this speech are huge. The only reason that makes sense is because he honestly believes that a nuclear deal with Iran endangers his nation and his people.

The White House reaction, on the other hand, is the definition of pettiness and peevishness. It is so juvenile as to be embarrassing to every American.

Some humor for antisemites

Since today is the first day of Adar and I have been having a hard time finding good Jewish jokes that I hadn't heard of, I thought to go in the other direction and look at jokes that were made at the expense of Jews in 19th century books.

Here's one from The Library of Wit and Humor, Prose and Poetry: Selected from the Literature of All Times and Nations, Volume 4, 1894:

A JEW'S EYE TO BUSINESS.

A Jew, who was condemned to be hanged, was brought to the gallows, and just on the point of being turned off, when a reprieve arrived. When informed of this, it was expected he would instantly have quitted the cart, but he stayed to see a fellow-prisoner hanged; and being asked why he did not get about his business, he said, "He waited to see if he could bargain with Mr. Ketch for the other gentleman's clothes."

02/20 Links Pt2: Those calling for a boycott of Israel are ignoring some painful truths

From Ian:

Yair Lapid: Those calling for a boycott of Israel are ignoring some painful truths

[Published in the Guardian note the vile comments]
This past weekend, 700 British artists had a letter published in the Guardian in which they called on others to boycott Israel until what they term the “colonial occupation” ends. As an Israeli politician who supports the creation of a Palestinian state, it has been a long time since I saw a letter so shallow and lacking in coherence.
The fact that, as is common with petitions like this, the majority of the signatories are unaware of the reality here in the Middle East, doesn’t reassure me. It only takes one “useful idiot” like Roger Waters (the expression is not an insult but a phrase attributed to Lenin to describe weak liberals used by cynical regimes for their own ends) to call Israel an apartheid state and the liberal choir will immediately stand to attention and sing the chorus with him. Why? Because everyone wants to be like Nelson Mandela but no one has the patience to learn the details.
I wonder if, before they put their names to the letter, anyone told the 700 signatories that twice already – once in 2000 and once in 2008 – Israel offered the Palestinians the chance to build an independent state on over 90% of the territories, and on both occasions the Palestinians refused? (h/t Ha Meshuga)

Channel 4 News: Is walking in Muslim areas of Paris with a kippah a provocation?

Can the simple act of wearing a Jewish kippah be considered a “provocation” to Muslims in Europe?
That’s the question you should ask while contextualizing this interview on Channel 4 News with the Israeli Jewish journalist (Zvika Klein) who recently filmed himself being verbally abused and spat on at as he walked around Paris.
Klein’s response to the Channel 4 News anchor’s question is telling. When asked if filming himself walking around Muslim areas with a kippah was a “provocation”, Klein noted that he’s a religious Jew and that’s how he normally dresses – except when in areas of Europe where doing so is not safe.

Where Does Liberal Icon Sen. Elizabeth Warren Stand on Israel?

Two recent moves by Warren may shed light on her outlook regarding issues prioritized by the Jewish state. She was one of four Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee to vote against the bipartisan Iran sanctions bill co-sponsored by Sens. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), legislation that is strongly supported by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The bill—which would impose sanctions on Iran if it fails to reach an agreement with world powers by the June 30 deadline—passed the committee 18-4, with six Democrats supporting it.
Warren was also not among the 75 senators to sign a Jan. 29 bipartisan letter to Secretary of State John Kerry stating that the senators would not support foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) until the Obama administration completes a review of the Palestinians’ decision to unilaterally join the International Criminal Court.
“Both of these actions are worrisome signs,” Tevi Troy, who served as White House liaison to the Jewish community under President George W. Bush, told JNS.org regarding Warren’s recent decisions on Iran sanctions and PA funding. “The best place for the pro-Israel community to be is in a place where they have bipartisan support. … I would hope that Senator Warren would return to the bipartisan consensus position in the future.”
Additionally, last September, Warren was not one of the 88 senators to sign a letter calling for the prevention of both the re-arming of Hamas following the Gaza war and unilateral PA actions at the United Nations. By comparison, the other Democratic US senator from Massachusetts, Ed Markey, signed both that letter and the January letter to Kerry on PA funding. (Markey is not on the Senate Banking Committee and as such, could not vote on the Iran sanctions.)

Channel 4: “Would you accept that (walking in Muslim areas of Paris in a kippah) was an act of provocation?”

Berlin Jewish community HQ

BZ-Berlin's Gunnar Schupelius reports:

The Jewish community in Berlin sends to their approximately 10,000 members a monthly magazine entitled "Jewish Berlin".

This newsletter is sent by post. Up until now it was placed in the mailbox directly, with only an address label. Starting this month, it is in a plain envelope. You pull it out of the mailbox and do not know what's inside.

The community was surprised, but found a plausible explanation. In the preface the February issue of this magazine, the community chairman Gideon Joffe said: "Unfortunately, we now have (...) also think about how we can reduce the likelihood of hostility towards members of the community. For this reason, from now on 'Jewish Berlin' will ship in a neutral envelope. "

This security measure was decided in consultation with the Berlin Police and the Security Service of the Jewish community.

Authorities are concerned about attacks on individual Jews in Berlin. It is therefore recommended not to be recognized in areas with strong Muslim population as a Jew, that is, not wearing traditional skullcap or Star of David jewelry.

And now...the Jewish community hid their own newspaper.

Do we want to allow this? We have to, because safety comes first. But our life has changed, that a Jewish newspaper must be hidden in Berlin! Ten years ago I would have thought it a bad joke. We all had an ugly shock last summer with the Palestinian hate-demonstrations.

In Paris people were murdered in a supermarket, only because they were Jews.

In Copenhagen, families were targeted, who celebrated the feast for the growing children, the bar-mitzvah. They were also targeted to die just because they are Jewish. A security guard threw himself in front of them and was shot. He sacrificed himself.

As Prime Minister Netanyahu few days ago invited the European Jews to emigrate, German Chancellor Angela Merkel assured is that Jews could live safely in Germany. Good! But at what price? Police officers must be equipped with submachine guns that in front of their kindergartens as in a civil war zone? That the synagogues are fortified as high security areas? That Jews should not be recognized and that they should even hide their own newspaper?

The hatred of Jews is a centuries-old mental illness. We fought them in the past 70 years but now with immigrants from the Middle East the hatred breaks out again and again.

I know many Muslims who naturally feel no hatred for Jews. But there are others who do. That's the truth.

Maybe if the Jews convert to Christianity, they will be protected for a few more years.

(h/t Yair R)

UPDATE: JPost reported on this too and had this quote:

In his Die Welt column titled “More protection for Jews means less dignity” on Thursday, Henryk M. Broder, Germany’s leading expert on contemporary anti-Semitism, criticized the fortress-like security measures to protect Jews as an illusion.

“It will not become better. It will become worse. Toulouse was the prelude to Brussels and Brussels led to Paris. Copenhagen will not be the final station. The list of attacks will become longer,” wrote Broder.

(h/t Benjamin Weinthal)

02/20 Links Pt1: Glick: Netanyahu’s true electoral rival; White House 'Concerned' PA May Disappear

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: Netanyahu’s true electoral rival

Obama’s insistence that Islamic State and its ilk attack because of perceived Western misbehavior is completely at odds with observed reality. As The Atlantic’s Graeme Wood demonstrated this week in his in-depth report on Islamic State’s ideology and goals, Islam is central to the group. Islamic State is an apocalyptic movement rooted entirely in Islam.
Most of the coverage of Netanyahu’s scheduled speech before Congress has centered on his opposition to the deal Obama seeks to conclude with Iran. But it may be that the second half of his speech – which will be devoted to the threat posed by radical Islam – will be no less devastating to Obama. Obama’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge the fact that the greatest looming threats to global security today, including US national security, stem from radical Islam indicates that he is unable to contend with any evidence that jihadist Islam constitutes a unique threat unlike the threat posed by Western chauvinism and racism.
It is hard to understand either Israel’s election or Obama’s hysterical response to Netanyahu’s scheduled speech without recognizing that Obama clearly feels threatened by the message he will deliver. Surrounded by sycophantic aides and advisers, and until recently insulated from criticism by a supportive media, while free to ignore Congress due to his veto power, Obama has never had to seriously explain his policies regarding Iran and Islamic terrorists more generally. He has never endured a direct challenge to those policies.
Today Obama believes that he is in a to-the-death struggle with Netanyahu. If Netanyahu’s speech is a success, Obama’s foreign policy will be indefensible. If Obama is able to delegitimize Netanyahu ahead of his arrival, and bring about his electoral defeat, then with a compliant Israeli government, he will face no obstacles to his plan to appease Iran and blame Islamic terrorism on the West for the remainder of his tenure in office.

A speech by Caroline Glick (in English) and a promotion for her new book "Annex it Now" (h/t Bob Knot)

Sarah Honig: Variation of the Bird-Jew theme

In his autobiography, legendary Yiddish author Shalom Aleichem recounts a harrowing story his grandfather had told him about “the bird-Jew.”
That was how the grandfather called Noah, a pious Jewish innkeeper who lived in constant dread of his Russian landlord, the village squire. Trembling, Noah headed for the manor to renew his lease. His timing was off, because the courtyard was full of festive guests ready to go hunting.
The squire, in a jovial mood, agreed to extend the agreement if Noah would climb the stable roof and pretend to be a bird – so he can shoot him. Fearful of angering the nobleman, Noah obsequiously did his bidding. He clambered up as ordered, bent forward, flung his arms sideways and assumed a birdlike pose. At that instant the squire fired and Noah fell, as any slain bird would.

Although realizing he’s about to be put to death anyway, the bird-Jew played along with his executioner, still absurdly terrified of what might happen if he didn’t. This is the cringing mentality, the fear of giving offense to one’s mortal enemies, which Zionism was established to eradicate.
But not with full success, it seems.

Phillips Warns of 'Civilizational Battle' Between Islam and the West

In a visit to California this week, British journalist and author Melanie Phillips stated the very thing that leaders of the western world have refused to say, and have gone to particularly great lengths to avoid.
In a lecture on “The Paris Massacres and the Freedom of Speech,” Phillips singled out Islam as being the root cause of the violent extremism in the Paris and Copenhagen attacks, and warned that radical ideologies stemming from the interpretation of the religion’s teachings are a direct threat to western values and the civilization as a whole.
“The real point is that the attack on freedom of speech is part of a religious war of conquest being waged against the free world….It’s a civilizational battle,” Phillips said as she addressed a jam-packed audience at the University of Redlands on Monday.
“ISIS has identified itself as Islamic in everything that it does. To say that it is not Islam is just completely absurd….To deny that it is rooted in Islamic thought is a terrible mistake,” Phillips added.

From Bloomberg:

The Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization should pay a group of terrorism victims more than $350 million in damages, an amount that would be tripled to more than $1 billion, their lawyer told a U.S. jury at the end of a five-week trial.

The two organizations aided six bombing and shooting attacks on U.S. citizens in Israel from 2002 and 2004 by providing money, explosives, training and personnel, a lawyer for 10 families said in his closing argument to Manhattan federal jurors Thursday. He argued they’re liable under the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act, which provides for triple damages.

“Money is oxygen for terrorists,” Kent Yalowitz told jurors in the case, which was filed in 2004. “Take away their money by making them pay their fair share for what they did.”

Family members who were in the courtroom wept quietly as Yalowitz detailed the physical and emotional injuries suffered by victims of the attacks, which killed a total of 33 and wounded more than 450. At least one juror wiped away tears while listening.

Yalowitz told jurors that Palestinian Authority officials sanctioned terrorist attacks and promoted officers who carried them out, often posthumously. Funds were also provided to jailed terrorists and to the families of suicide bombers, he said.
\
The Palestinian groups claimed they aren’t responsible for the unapproved acts of low-level employees. They denied that senior officials, including Yasser Arafat, the deceased PLO chairman, aided the terrorist organizations Hamas and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in carrying out attacks.

The PA is very nervous:

Palestinian officials are nervously watching a landmark terrorism trial in the United States, brought by victims of Palestinian suicide bombings and shootings aimed at civilians. They fear a negative verdict could hurt their international image at a time when they are preparing to press war crimes charges against Israel.

Although the cases are not directly linked, a ruling against the Palestinian Authority in New York federal court threatens to undermine Palestinian efforts to rally international support for a brewing battle at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. With American plaintiffs seeking billions of dollars in damages, it could also deliver a tough financial blow to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank.

The Palestinian Authority refused to comment on the lawsuit. But several senior Palestinian officials said the case is being closely watched in Ramallah and acknowledged they are worried about the outcome. The officials spoke anonymously on the advice of their lawyers.

Courthouse News mentions one of the pieces of PLO evidence:

The U.S. government's PLO Compliance Report, known as PLOCCA, stopped short of drawing a firm link between Arafat's organizations and the attacks.

"There is no conclusive evidence that the senior leaderships of the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian Liberation Organization were involved in planning or approving specific acts of violence," the report said.

Bit for a lawsuit, you don't need conclusive evidence, only a preponderance of evidence. And that same 2003 report provides it:

In fact, there is strong evidence that. some members of the PA security forces were allowed to continue serving even though their participation in terrorist incidents was well known. ...Moreover, some senior PLO and PA leaders did little to prevent - and in some cases encouraged - acts of violence and an atmosphere of incitement to violence in the Palestinian media and through the public statements of Palestinian officials....[T]hey failed consistently to condemn attacks on Israeli settlers and soldiers in the occupied territories. This omission amounted to tacit support for such attacks. For example, one high-ranking PA official referred to suicide bombing as "the highest. form of national struggle" in an interview with the al-Jazeera television station. The PA subsequently took no action to discipline the individual or to repudiate his statement. According to the Israeli press, the PA Interior Minister publicly said that while the PA opposed killing civilians it "is not against military operations." The Minister went on to say that settlers should not be considered civilians.

The last PLOCCA report discussed direct payments from the PA to Fatah party activists, some of whom were deeply involved in the ongoing violence. We believe such payments continued during this reporting period.

A snowman terrorist on the Temple Mount this morning (UPDATE)

See how respectful Muslims are of Judaism's holiest place:

Given all the snowballs placed on the arms and ground, it appears to be a celebration of throwing rocks at Jews.

Especially repugnant given that terror-victim Adele Biton, critically injured from stones, died this week.

(UPDATE): Here is more respect being show this morning (h/t Bob K)

Two years ago they preferred snow-rockets.

David Ignatius of the Washington Post interviews Yuval Steinitz, Israel’s minister of intelligence, who explains in very clear language the reasons that Israel has broken so publicly with Washington:

“From the very beginning, we made it clear we had reservations about the goal of the negotiations,” he explained. “We thought the goal should be to get rid of the Iranian nuclear threat, not verify or inspect it.”

Steinitz, who helps oversee Iran strategy for Netanyahu, said he understands the United States wants to tie Iran’s hands for a decade until a new generation takes power there. But he warns: “You’re saying, okay, in 10 or 12 years Iran might be a different country.” This is “dangerous” because it ignores that Iran is “thinking like an old-fashioned superpower.”

Netanyahu’s skepticism reached a tipping point last month when he concluded that the United States had offered so many concessions to Iran that any deal reached would be bad for Israel. He broke with Obama, first in a private phone call Jan. 12, and then in his public acceptance of an offer by GOP House Speaker John Boehner to address Congress on March 3 and, in effect, lobby against the deal.

The administration argues that the pact taking shape, although imperfect, is preferable to any realistic alternative. It would limit the Iranian program and allow careful monitoring of its actions. Angered by what it sees as Netanyahu’s efforts to sabotage the agreement, the administration decided in early February to limit the information it shared with Israel about its bargaining with Iran.
...
Despite Netanyahu’s view that it was a “great mistake” to accept any Iranian enrichment, Steinitz said that “we got the impression that it might be symbolic. The initial figure [discussed by the United States and its negotiating partners] was ‘a few hundred centrifuges.’ ” Now, he said, the United States is contemplating “thousands.” According to Israeli press reports, the United States has offered to allow Iran to operate at least 6,500 centrifuges.

Steinitz didn’t dispute the U.S. argument that what matters is a package that includes the number and performance levels of the permitted centrifuges, the extent of dismantlement of non-permitted centrifuges and the size of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium. “Breakout time is an equation with four variables,” he said.

“The temptation [for Iran] is not now but in two or three or four years, when the West is preoccupied with other crises,” he added. Steinitz said that if Iran chose to “sneak out” at such a moment, it would take the United States and its allies months to determine the pact had been violated, and another six months to form a coalition for sanctions or other decisive action. By then, it might be too late.

Steinitz said the Israeli government understands the U.S. goal of a 10- to 15-year duration for the agreement, which would constrain Iran into what’s likely to be the next generation after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who is 75. But here again, he dissented.

“I understand the logic, but I disagree,” Steinitz said. What the United States is saying to Iran, in effect, is “if you agree to freeze for 10 years, that’s enough for us.” But that won’t work for Israel. “To believe that in the next decade there will be a democratic change in leadership and that Iran won’t threaten the U.S. or Israel anymore, I think this is too speculative.”

Steinitz concluded the conversation with an emphatic warning: “Iran is part of the problem and not part of the solution — unless you think Iran dominating the Middle East is the solution.”

Ignatius' takeaway from this conversation is as instructive as the entire argument Steinitz gave:

People who think that a nuclear deal with Iran is desirable, as I do, need to be able to answer Steinitz’s critique.

Ignatius cannot find a single hole in Steinitz' points against a deal as it is structured now. But his response isn't an intellectually honest one.

If Israel is right, the proper response is to scuttle the bad deal, not to find more justifications for it.

Ignatius is saying that that the deal is sacred and someone needs to come up with plausible sounding responses to defend it so that he- and by extension, all of Obama's supporters for a deal - don't feel like idiots. This shows that supporters of the deal are impervious to facts and logic; they have made an emotional decision and not an objective one.

David Ignatius is admitting explicitly that no argument, no matter how correct, can shake his belief that a nuclear deal with Iran - one that allows Iran to build a bomb or three before the West can mount an effective response - is better than none. He is not the only one with this logical blind spot.

And that is the problem.

(h/t David G)

Obama bends over backwards to deny the truth about Islamic terrorism

President Obama's speech on Thursday at the at the "Summit on Countering Violent Extremism" had little to do with countering extremism. Instead, it concentrated on a theory that is provably false: that violent extremism is the result of Western policies and attitudes, not the Middle Eastern mindset.

His fatal assumption is that Middle East Muslims think the same way that everyone else in the world does. When terrorists and their apologists say that they are violent because of Western polices, he believes them, instead of being skeptical of the words of terrorists.

While we are used to his naivete, it is still stunning that he is building his anti-terror strategy on believing the lies of the terrorists.

We must address the grievances that terrorists exploit, including economic grievances. As I said yesterday, poverty alone does not cause a person to become a terrorist, any more than poverty alone causes someone to become a criminal. There are millions, billions of people who are poor and are law-abiding and peaceful and tolerant, and are trying to advance their lives and the opportunities for their families.

But when people -- especially young people -- feel entirely trapped in impoverished communities, where there is no order and no path for advancement, where there are no educational opportunities, where there are no ways to support families, and no escape from injustice and the humiliations of corruption -- that feeds instability and disorder, and makes those communities ripe for extremist recruitment. And we have seen that across the Middle East and we've seen it across North Africa. So if we’re serious about countering violent extremism, we have to get serious about confronting these economic grievances.

...We have to address the political grievances that terrorists exploit. Again, there is not a single perfect causal link, but the link is undeniable. When people are oppressed, and human rights are denied -- particularly along sectarian lines or ethnic lines -- when dissent is silenced, it feeds violent extremism. It creates an environment that is ripe for terrorists to exploit.

...And finally, we have to ensure that our diverse societies truly welcome and respect people of all faiths and backgrounds, and leaders set the tone on this issue.

Groups like al Qaeda and ISIL peddle the lie that some of our countries are hostile to Muslims. Meanwhile, we’ve also seen, most recently in Europe, a rise in inexcusable acts of anti-Semitism, or in some cases, anti-Muslim sentiment or anti-immigrant sentiment. When people spew hatred towards others -- because of their faith or because they’re immigrants -- it feeds into terrorist narratives. If entire communities feel they can never become a full part of the society in which they reside, it feeds a cycle of fear and resentment and a sense of injustice upon which extremists prey. And we can’t allow cycles of suspicions to tear at the fabric of our countries.

In Europe, there are 2.5 million Indians, 2 million Armenians, 2 million Kurds, 1 million Chinese, half a million Filipinos. They live in the same societies as the Arabs and other Muslims in Europe. They have the same challenges. Yet for some strange reason, all these groups that suffer the same discrimination and the same political impotence and the same economic disadvantages as the Muslims do not join "violent extremist" groups.

If Obama's logic holds, then why do the terrorists, by and large, all say they subscribe to only one faith that we are assured has nothing to do with the violence?

I am not saying that Islam itself causes violence. But there is something that attracts millions of Muslims worldwide to extremist positions, that is apparently missing in all other belief systems. And none of Obama's theories fit that simple fact.

I think the answer can be found in the Graeme Wood article I highlighted earlier this week.

Islam has never officially reformed since it was founded. There is no solid theological basis to say that the things that Mohammed allowed - slavery, beheadings, crucifixions - are no longer permitted. ISIS' theology attracts people because it claims to be pure, original Islam, and that position cannot be argued with using authentic Islamic texts. There are ways to slowly evolve the religion baked into Christianity and even Orthodox Judaism, but there is no such mechanism in Islam.

Indeed, Islam is the problem because it never formally left the seventh century. Muslim moderates are Muslim heretics and Muslim literalists are Muslim terrorists (or supporters.)

This is not a problem that the West can solve by taking the blame for the terror. Of course there shouldn't be discrimination against Muslims and they should be encouraged to integrate into Western society and adopt Western mindsets, but that will do nothing to solve the real problem.

What the West can do is to ensure ISIS and Al Qaeda and Hezbollah and the Taliban and Islamic Jihad and Boko Haram lose all their battles decisively, and painfully. Muslims are attracted to "the strong horse" and when these terror organizations are perceived as victors is when recruitment soars. Only by pulling all the stops can the West re-assert its clear military dominance, and that would discourage recruits to Islamist organizations.

Plenty of suicide bombers have had university educations. It is way past time to blame poverty and discrimination for terrorism. The answers can be found in original Quranic Islam and in the psychology of the Middle East peoples.

(h/t Irene)

02/19 Links Pt2: Muhammad Zoabi on Voice of Israel; Matti Friedman's BICOM speech

From Ian:

Muhammad Zoabi. The Arab Teenager. The Zionist Activist. The Human Being (h/t IsraellyCool)

Amb. Prosor: what can students do to face one of Israel's greatest challenges?

Matti Friedman's speech to the BICOM annual dinner

I got the news in real time while sitting in a doctor’s waiting room: the feverishly-awaited State Comptroller’s report on the expenditures of the Prime Minister’s residences had been released, and a woman seated across the room was smacking her lips reading numbers from her smartphone to her husband: “75 thousand shekels for cleaning,” she smacked. “And all that take-out food! Can you believe it? Those two are living like a king and queen, aren’t they?”

Welcome to the surreal Israeli election campaign, in which there are no real issues except the absolute conviction of the out-of-power Left that the world is upside down and can only be righted by them replacing the present government, and the fact that many people really don’t like the Prime Minister. Or his wife. Especially his wife.

None of his opponents can explain how they would solve the multiple security issues on Israel’s borders with Egypt, Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria any better than Netanyahu. And probably they wouldn’t even be that much more compliant with their ‘friend’ Obama on the Palestinian issue when push came to shove (although one never knows, and I hope we don’t find out). They also talk a lot about ‘social issues’, by which they mean that the cost of living is high and there are too many poor people, and it is all the Prime Minister’s fault. And probably that of his over-spending wife.

Different newspapers take different approaches to explaining their dislike of the Prime Minister. Ha’aretz publishes variations of the same thing over and over: how the immoral occupation will make us an apartheid state if we don’t act soon and get rid of the PM, as if there is any imaginable way Israel can leave the territories without inviting Hamas to be a next-door neighbor to our airport.

Yediot Acharonot, on the other hand, prefers to go directly to the root of the problem: reliable sources have reported that Mrs. Netanyahu may have recycled deposit bottles and kept the money (on the other hand, she may not have). It is also an opportunity to remind everyone that former workers in the PM’s residence have accused her of being rude and demanding, as well as to publish any unflattering pictures of her that they may have around.

Lately we have been hearing the theme that the PM has ‘wrecked the relationship’ with the US by conspiring with Republicans to speak to Congress against Obama’s wishes. In fact, the relationship, such as it was, suffered when Netanyahu refused to be a good puppet and follow orders, usually relating to concessions to the PLO in the forever-fruitless negotiations process. Obama then responded with calculated snubs, such as the May 2010 incident in which Netanyahu and his aides were left sitting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House while Obama went to dinner.

The Obama Administration will not be able to have a good relationship with Netanyahu, or indeed with any Israeli Prime Minister who is not an out-and-out traitor, for multiple reasons. The most important is that it has adopted a policy of rapprochement with Iran, which includes accepting it as a nuclear-weapons threshold state (and it will soon drop the ‘threshold’ qualification). Israel’s view, of course, is that Iran cannot be allowed to obtain nuclear capability. Period.

On the Palestinian issue, Obama wants a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the territories, also something Israel cannot accept. There is the continuing disagreement about how Israel is permitted to respond in self-defense to attacks on its citizens. Finally, there is the hard-to-understand but persistent support by the administration for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

Possibly the White House’s dislike of Netanyahu is being translated into action now, as the V15 campaign (a supposedly ‘non-partisan’ effort to defeat the PM — try figuring that out) is ramping up in Israel, with the participation of veterans of Obama’s campaigns, and funds which come from left-wing sources in the US and even from the US State Department. The campaign is very Obama — lots of young people relying on slogans like ‘hope and change’ — almost embarrassingly content-free.

It would be a mistake to discount V15’s possible effectiveness despite its apparent silliness. The idea seems to be primarily to identify people who might vote against Netanyahu but are normally unlikely to vote and to get them to the polls, a technique that worked effectively for Obama with young and minority voters.

And here is why the campaign stops being surreal and gets very real. The Left wants to win badly, very badly. How far will they go? Consider this: even if the misleadingly-named “Zionist Union” gets a few more seats in the Knesset than Netanyahu’s Likud, they will not be able to form a coalition since the normally right-wing bloc of parties is larger than those that would join with the Left.

Unless, for the first time in Israel’s history, they ask the Arab parties to join them.

Because of a change in the election law that raised the percentage of votes needed for a party to enter the Knesset, the various Arab parties joined together in a Joint Arab List which is currently polling 12 mandates. Historically, neither the Zionist parties nor the Arabs have agreed for Arab parties to join the government. But if they did, and if some of the more ‘opportunist’ of the center parties joined them, there could be a massive upset. A revolution.

Note that if every eligible Arab in Israel voted for the Arab list it would theoretically get 25 mandates, so there is great potential in a get-out-the-vote operation.

This is only one scenario. Powerful forces are at work behind the scenes in this election, with money coming from Europe as well as America. And it isn’t over until it’s over.

Vic Rosenthal lives in Israel and blogs at abuyehuda.com.