Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Monday, September 18, 2017

Who, exactly, does Israel sell arms to?

After my story on Friday showing that despite worldwide headlines, Israel sells practically no weapons to Myanmar, I looked at the SIPRI database to learn more about who Israel does sell weapons to.

Here are the top countries to receive Israeli arms since 2000:

Two of the top ten recipients of Israeli arms are Muslim nations.

The full list:

Country	Israeli arms imports, in millions, 2000-2016
India	2800
Turkey	854
United States	840
Singapore	528
Azerbaijan	453
Colombia	362
Sri Lanka	312
South Korea	304
United Kingdom	241
Mexico	235
Brazil	229
Italy	196
Romania	168
Germany (FRG)	154
Chile	153
Australia	152
Spain	143
Viet Nam	134
Greece	120
Netherlands	119
Equatorial Guinea	82
Poland	80
Myanmar	73
Unknown recipient(s)	72
China	55
Finland	51
Jordan	48
Venezuela	44
Kazakhstan	40
Morocco	40
Portugal	34
Dominican Republic	33
Ecuador	33
Belgium	32
Uganda	29
Nigeria	25
Thailand	23
Rwanda	18
France	17
Peru	16
South Africa	16
Czech Republic	15
New Zealand	15
Sweden	14
Georgia	13
Honduras	13
Angola	12
Paraguay	12
Cameroon	11
Denmark	11
Philippines	11
Canada	9
Ethiopia	9
United Nations**	9
Austria	8
Taiwan (ROC)	8
Senegal	7
Argentina	5
Hungary	5
Mauritius	5
Bulgaria	4
Chad	4
Croatia	4
El Salvador	4
Russia	4
Seychelles	3
Switzerland	3
Cyprus	1
Guinea	1
Indonesia	1
Lesotho	1
Cote d'Ivoire	0
Lithuania	0
Turkmenistan	0

Here is more detailed data on who Israel has sold arms to over the past 6 years:

TIV of arms exports from Israel, 2011-2016
Figures are SIPRI Trend Indicator Values (TIVs) expressed in millions.
Figures may not add up due to the conventions of rounding.
A '0' indicates that the value of deliveries is less than 0.5m
For more information, see http://www.sipri.org/databases/armstransfers/sources-and-methods/


Source: SIPRI Arms Transfers Database
Generated: 18 September 2017

	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	Total
Austria	2	2	2				6
Azerbaijan	5	9	25	21	121	248	428
Belgium	4	4	4	1	7		19
Brazil	19	18	21	27	17	16	118
Cameroon				1	2		3
Chile	18	3	9				30
Colombia	55		8	19	24		106
Czech Republic		8	8				15
Denmark			10				10
Dominican Republic	12						12
Equatorial Guinea	70						70
Ethiopia			1	3	3	3	9
Germany (FRG)	6	15	15	15	15	24	90
Honduras				13			13
India	156	161	119	157	276	599	1466
Indonesia		1					1
Italy	21	16	10	20	20	37	122
Jordan					48		48
Lithuania					0		0
Mauritius						3	3
Mexico					4	25	29
Myanmar	1						1
Netherlands	12						12
New Zealand	3	5	5	3			15
Nigeria	6		12				18
Paraguay	6	6					12
Peru						1	1
Philippines					6	4	10
Poland	11	11	9				30
Portugal	9	3					11
Russia			2	1			3
Rwanda			13				13
Senegal				1	4	3	7
Seychelles			3				3
Singapore	74	57	15		13	43	201
South Africa	3	5					8
South Korea		35	28	24	40	58	185
Spain	18	27	23	4			71
Sri Lanka	11						11
Thailand	0			3	5		8
Turkey	22	9		17	15		63
Turkmenistan						0	0
United Kingdom	11	31	20	20	24	34	141
United Nations**						9	9
United States	15	25	35	35	40	55	205
Unknown recipient(s)	5		13	3	3	31	54
Viet Nam			26	14	7	68	116

Total	572	449	432	399	694	1260	3805

You can even find out specifically what weapons were sold to whom. The UN leased a drone from Israel for use in Mali; Israel gave Jordan 16 second-hand AH-1F Cobra combat helicopters as a gift in 2015 to help fight ISIS.

Oh, and the weapons Israel did sell to Myanmar? A patrol boat and a second-hand naval gun. Not exactly weapons that are useful to kill the local Muslim population. But that doesn't stop the Independent and Haaretz from pretending that Israel is the major supplier of weapons to enable genocide.

Here is yet another example of how the media simply ignores real facts.

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Palestinians "explain" why Jews from Arab countries hate Palestinians more than Ashkenazic Jews

Tawfiq Abu Shumer, writing in Amad.ps, comes up with a convoluted explanation of why Mizrahi Jews are really against Palestinians.

An active follower of Israeli society asked me why the Eastern Jews hated the Palestinians, and that the non-Easterners (Ashkenazim) dislike us less, or so it appears!
...
Why do Oriental Jews become the worst enemies of the Palestinians?

The reason is that they want to prove their allegiance to Israel more than their opponents and oppressors, Ashkenazim.
...
This hatred is a kind of psychological illness. Sephardim are despised in Israel; therefore, a weaker group must be found to relieve themselves of the oppression they are suffering.

....Therefore, the Sephardim must adhere to this reality. They must exercise their masters over the Palestinians, so that the Palestinians remain oppressed as a guarantee for their survival as masters. Therefore, they are among the greatest opponents of the two-state solution or the end of the occupation !!

Of course, it has nothing to do with the fact that Sephardic Jews escaped Arab countries where they were being persecuted and understand a thing or two first-hand about Arab antisemitism. It couldn't possibly be that they understand the Arab mentality and that they know exactly the games being played by Palestinians to appear "peaceful" to credulous Westerners who want to believe that everyone thinks the same way.

Jews from Arab countries know better.

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09/17 Links: Bahrain king denounces Arab boycott of Israel; Is Roger Waters an Antisemite?

From Ian:

Jesus was a Palestinian and similar claims that often cloud Middle East reporting

The Canaanite-Palestinian claim has two parallels. The first is that Jesus was a Palestinian, even though the designation “Palestine” was not use in the region during his lifetime, and would not be until a century or so later when the Romans imposed it.

I've heard pro-Palestinian Christians, clergy and lay activists alike, dismiss Jesus’s Jewishness, saying that he was Palestinian and even the first martyr to the Palestinian cause — murdered, of course, by the Jews of his time.
This essay by a well-known Palestinian journalist and activist explains Palestinian reasoning on this.
The second parallel -- well, the second parallel is purely a matter of religious belief, with which I will not argue here. Though I will label it aspirational supercessionism.

Islam presents itself as the final revelation in the Abrahamic lineage, supplanting both Judaism and Christianity and correcting their faults. It also claims that the Jewish prophets, including Abraham, and Jesus, were in fact Muslims because of their fidelity to the God known in Arabic as Allah.

So what's the bottom line here?

From my perspective, arguments that rely on “facts” cherry-picked from antiquity and faith claims hold little water when debating seemingly intractable, contemporary geopolitical disputes. Where we’re at and how we move forward toward a solution is what matters.

So beware, scribes, when either side starts throwing about faith claims or unprovable “facts” from thousands of years ago to gain political advantage in the here and now. History matters, but unprovable claims should never be taken on face value in journalism.

Bahrain king denounces Arab boycott of Israel, says countrymen may visit

Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa last week denounced the Arab boycott of Israel and said his subjects are free to visit the Jewish state. The head of the Persian Gulf country, which does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, made the statements to Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the head of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, at a multi-denominational event at the center to sign and support a declaration denouncing religious hatred and violence.

Cooper and his partner at the Wiesenthal Center, Marvin Hier, visited Manama, Bahrain’s capital, by invitation, in early 2017.

A walk through the city, Cooper said, was an eye-opener. There was a church, with a huge cross, next to a Hindu temple, and 90 meters on an impressive mosque. Even a small synagogue, the only one in the Persian Gulf region, still stands in an older part of the city.

Hier and Cooper met with King Hamad and discussed the ruler’s plan to establish a Museum of Religious Tolerance in the capital city by the end of this year.

At the Los Angeles event last week, delegations of Buddhists in saffron robes, Sikhs in turbans, and Muslims with keffiyehs and hijabs [Muslim head-covers for men and veils for women], mingled with Jews with kippot [skullcaps] and Christians in business suits.

IsraellyCool: Is Roger Waters an Antisemite?

Ikhras is a website that is unapologetically anti-Israel, anti-USA and pro-terror. But it is dedicated to exposing Arab "activists" who they believe are really traitors to the cause by acting moderate and sucking up.

In his or her words:

Ikhras was inspired by the Arab and Muslim “activists” and “representatives” that hijacked our identities and name for their own self-aggrandizement and in furtherance of personal ambitions unrelated to our communities’ agenda, interests, and well-being. It was their collaboration that made this project necessary and now Ikhras is here to tell them they do not speak for us. Ikhras adds its voice to those resisting US Imperialism and Zionism with a special focus on exposing, ridiculing and holding accountable House Arabs and House Muslims in the US, to borrow Malcolm X’s expression.

So Ikhras' critique of Linda Sarsour, written last year, is most interesting. Ikhras mostly attacks Sarsour for pretending to be against Palestinian terror and supporting Israel's right to exist, which Ikhras assures us is not the way most Palestinian Americans feel and Sarsour is only trying to get in the good graces of the powers that be.

Sarsour does not speak for Palestinians in NY, across the diaspora or under occupation, and her views do not reflect the Palestinian consensus or their national aspirations. She also does not represent the views of the larger Arab-American community. The political exigencies of running for NY City Council require Sarsour to pursue her amateurish version of a political triangulation strategy, posing as a champion of Palestine while reaffirming Israel’s “right to exist.” However, there are 11 Million Palestinians and over 300 Million Arabs who are not running for NY City Council in 2017. Their position and the position of the Palestinian and Arab-American communities remains unchanged. The structures and institutions of the Zionist entity created in 1948 must be fully dismantled, and all Palestinian refugees and their descendants have an inalienable right to return to their homes and lands of origin with full restitution of all their confiscated property in a single, unified, and liberated Palestine.

This passage about Sarsour accepting an Iftar dinner with Mayor DeBlasio is interesting, once you filter out the anti-Israel lies:

Framing herself as a radical champion of the people while working with the Muslim Democratic Club of New York to advance her career, she decided to maintain close ties to the Democratic Mayor. Later that same year, July 2014, Israel launched its third onslaught on Gaza since dismantling its illegal, Jewish-only colonies and occupation coordination centers and repositioning its occupation army outside the narrow coastal strip of Palestine. The massacre, which happened to coincide with the month of Ramadan, resulted in the wholesale slaughter of over 2100 defenseless Palestinian civilians. The same week de Blasio came out in support of the massacre he also extended an invitation to Sarsour to attend an “Iftar” at Gracie Mansion as the ostensible representative of the NY Muslim community. Sarsour accepted the invitation and as she sat down to enjoy her breaking of the fast (Sarsour does not fast and is hardly religious although she does invoke religion when it serves her purpose) the bombs were still falling on the children of Gaza. Sarsour later tweeted a picture of herself with de Blasio adding the words “honored to dine with Mayor de Blasio at Gracie Mansion.” At the time ikhras still maintained a cordial relationship with Sarsour and expressed directly to her our disappointment. She responded by saying she had to ignore it because she was trying to “play politics and its dirty” and she had “two campaigns [Muslim school holidays and NYPD intelligence practices] she needed to see through.” When we pressed her she became very defensive, said something indecipherable about an “inside out strategy”, and attacked other Palestinian “activists” (she used the quotes) and organizations. She specifically mentioned Al-Awda and Adalah suggesting they were not doing anything and that she cannot be expected to do it all herself.

Sarsour is admitting that she is willing to lie and pretend to be someone she isn't in order to get her agendas pushed. Moreover, she has such a high opinion of herself that she doesn't want to work with other Palestinian activists, thinking her way is better.

Ikhras documents how Sarsour is a fake:

Former friends of Sarsour tell us ....She has also cultivated a public persona that those who knew her tell us is dramatically unlike the Sarsour they had encountered and previously worked with. Even Palestinian-Americans who do not know Sarsour personally recognize a caricature type quality to her public behavior. In what is apparently an attempt to adhere to some stereotypical Brooklynite image, complete with an exaggerated and pretentious accent, she now comes across as an Arab parody of Rosie Perez.

And:

In September of 2014 Sarsour claimed she was the victim of a hate crime, but in the Brooklyn neighborhood where the alleged incident took place there is a consensus this was nothing but an attention-seeking hoax and media ploy. Sarsour claimed she was attacked by a man who hurled slurs and threatened to behead her. It turned out the alleged assailant was a well-known 45-year old mentally ill, local homeless man. ...We could not find a single person in the neighborhood who considered him a threat. Another interesting fact casts more doubt on Sarsour’s story. On the day of the alleged incident Sarsour had called the police before the alleged attack reporting the alleged assailant as a “suspicious person” as if he is unknown. This is rather strange given that the “suspicious person” was a regular fixture in the neighborhood well-known to Sarsour and the rest of the residents by name. In all likelihood, the homeless, neighborhood drunk was, as usual, making stupid comments and kicking around a trash can. Instead of providing him with a hot meal and helping him find shelter, Sarsour decided to exploit his presence near her office to fabricate a hate crime casting herself as the fearless defender of the community under attack for her work on our behalf. Sarsour took to Twitter and Facebook assuring everyone she was doing fine, thanked them for their concern and condolences, and pledged to never be intimidated or back down. After all, she is tough and everybody knows you “don’t mess with Brooklyn.”...For Sarsour to exploit the current environment of Islamophobia and the very real dangers encountered by Muslim women wearing the hijab to engage in a publicity stunt is not only manipulative and unethical, but outright disgraceful. It also provides further insight into her motivations while revealing a complete lack of a moral compass.

And:

When Trayvon Martin was murdered Sarsour penned an article titled “My hijab is my hoodie” and declared herself “among the millions mourning the killing of Trayvon”, but had this young black youth been living in Sarsour’s neighborhood he would not have been allowed into her home or anywhere near her own kids and family. ...In our visit to NY we encountered a strong backlash against this aspect of Sarsour’s activities among those who know her best. It turns out Sarsour is known to harbor an ugly racism towards African-Americans which makes her latching onto the BLM movement all the more galling. She rarely associated with or interacted with African-Americans (this explains why she views African-Americans through the prism of racist, media stereotypes) until the “activist” with political aspirations realized it can be to her benefit. Sarsour’s racism which she is now trying to hide is common knowledge among the Arab-American community in NY...

And:

In addition to a lack of conviction and principles, Sarsour has also demonstrated a very shallow understanding of her own favorite topics. Her knowledge of U.S. history, politics, and society does not extend beyond a Middle School curriculum and she approaches these subjects without any serious thought or critical analysis. Nevertheless, Sarsour has acquired important skills and abilities that have served her well. She has, for example, demonstrated an ability to memorize and regurgitate pseudo-revolutionary rhetoric and various slogans for specific causes. She has also been adept at exploiting her different identity markers such as Palestinian, Arab and Muslim, and depending on the topic or event, is capable of offering herself as a useful prop. She has also shown a great deal of skill in latching onto independent phenomena such as the BLM or a presidential campaign when she perceives it to serve her long-term interests.

Ikhras, in his or her radical pro-terror views, is probably more representative of how Arab Americans feel than Linda Sarsour. But a faker is a faker no matter what position you hold; I prefer people who tell the truth and Sarsour is only out to gain media attention for her own agenda.

The problem is, that faker is more effective politically. So she has to continue to be exposed.

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

From Haaretz:

In 2016, a few months after the nuclear agreement with Iran went into effect, a Western entity gave the International Atomic Energy Agency information regarding sites the Islamic republic did not report as part of its nuclear program and where, according to suspicions, forbidden nuclear military research and development activity was being conducted, Israeli officials involved in the issue told Haaretz.

The Western entity also shared the information with a number of the six world powers who were party to the nuclear agreement, officials said.

The officials noted that almost all the suspected sites have not been visited by IAEA inspectors – either because of Iran’s refusal to grant entry or UN officials’ reluctance to confront Iran on the issue.

“At one point we saw there was no one to talk to,” said one of the Israeli officials. “There is a whole list of suspicious sites where the Iranians do not allow inspectors to visit and no one enforces the supervision mechanisms established in the nuclear agreement. There is simply a demonstration of weakness in the IAEA when it comes to Iran. The sense is that Iran allows what it wants, and does not allow what it does not want.”
...[O]ne of the issues Israel and the West are concerned about regarding the Iranian nuclear program regards the sites Tehran did not reveal, where there is suspected research and development for a military nuclear program.

These sites were supposed to be addressed by the IAEA and Iran as part of an agreed track called the “possible military dimensions” of its nuclear program.

An official noted that the Western entity identified, among others, a civilian Iranian site of potential illegal nuclear activity. IAEA inspectors asked Iran to visit the site, but the Iranians did not allow them to visit the site immediately, attempted to raise objections and created bureaucratic obstacles that caused the visit to be substantially delayed.

The officials said the Iranians refused to allow inspectors to visit a series of other suspicious sites, claiming they were military bases and, therefore, were not covered by the nuclear accord and that they were not required to allow access to inspectors.

According to an Israeli official, “When it comes to visits to suspicious sites, the agreement is not implemented. There are almost no visits and visitors are not allowed to visit. In this context, the agreement is not being realized in spirit and word.”

There is a lot of speculation that President Trump will decertify Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal on October 15. There are plenty of reasons that can be done quite legally given Iran's behavior and statements..

October 15 is the date when Trump must inform Congress if Iran is complying with the terms of the deal and whether it remains in U.S. national security interests.

The issue is complex legally and technically, but October 15 is the date to watch.

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From AP:

Israel on Thursday said the international marathon body was injecting politics into sports by excluding an Israeli race because it passes through West Bank territory, which the Palestinians and most of the world considers to be occupied.

The Israel Marathon Association said the Association of International Marathons and Distances Races had displayed a “discriminatory nature” against the Bible Marathon that “will certainly result in great anger” among runners around the world.

Next month’s Bible Marathon stretches from Rosh Ha’ayin in central Israel to the West Bank settlement of Shiloh, tracing a path described in the Book of Samuel. Organizers call the route the oldest recorded marathon in history.

The Greek-based organization said it had to exclude the Israeli marathon to comply with “international public law.”

The Israeli association asked it to reconsider, saying that its decision was “prompted by a campaign organized by political activists” and rested on false legal premises. It also noted that the organization has long recognized the Laayoune Marathon in the disputed Western Sahara region controlled by Morocco.

The history of the Bible Marathon is actually very interesting: the 42-km route was used by a runner way before the original marathon story:

“Then a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line the same day, and came to Shiloh with his clothes torn…”

One of the first runs recorded in human history—long before the “marathon” told of in Greek mythology—is mentioned in the Bible, in the beginning of the book of Samuel. At the end of the war between the Israelites and the Philistines, the “man of Benjamin” runs from the battlefield at Eben Ezer (modern day Rosh Ha’ayin) to Shiloh, city of the Tabernacle.

Many centuries later, the founder of the Maccabiah games, Yosef Yekutieli, set out to measure the length of the course from Rosh Ha’ayin to Shiloh, in the Benjamin region. He was amazed to find that the length of this historic path precisely matched that of the modern marathon – 42 kilometers (the official length of the Olympic running contest, determined in 1908 at the London Olympics).

The legend of the marathon, of course, is Greek and took place hundreds of years afterwards:

The name Marathon[n 1] comes from the legend of Philippides or Pheidippides, the Greek messenger. The legend states that he was sent from the battlefield of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated in the Battle of Marathon (in which he had just fought),[3] which took place in August or September, 490 BC.[4] It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping and burst into the assembly, exclaiming νενικήκαμεν (nenikēkamen, "we have won!"), before collapsing and dying.

Indeed, the first recorded "marathon" in history happened in biblical Israel, not in Greece! (Maybe that is one reason the Greek-based Association of International Marathons and Distance Races decided to withdraw support - jealousy!)

Apparently, UNSC 2334 - the resolution that Barack Obama tacitly supported by refusing to veto it - is being used as the pretext for this decision.

A legal answer to this absurd decision was written by the Kohelet Policy Forum in this press release:

JERUSALEM (17/9/2017) The Bible Marathon, which traces the oldest recorded marathon route in history from Rosh Ha'ayin to Shiloh, has had its membership revoked by the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) after BDS activists claimed that its route violates international law. The organizers of the annual running event received notice from the President of AIMS rescinding their membership claiming that the race went beyond the boundaries of the State of Israel and therefore was a violation of UNSC resolution 2334. The Israeli Marathon Association promptly instructed Professor Eugene Kontorovich of the Kohelet Policy Forum to act on their behalf to legally resolve this issue, since there is no legal precedent for such actions.

Professor Eugene Kontorovich responded to the discriminatory AIMS decision in a formal letter to the organization’s president in which he clearly showed that holding a cultural or sports event was not only a violation of any law but rather the common practice worldwide.

The Professor of International Law at Northwestern University and Director of International Law at the Jerusalem-based Kohelet Policy Forum explained: “There is no international law that prohibits running the route of the world’s oldest race because it finishes in Ancient Shiloh. You can’t have one international law for Israel and another for the rest of the world. By definition international law applies to everybody.”

Kontorovich cited multiple annual sporting events including marathons that are held in disputed or occupied territories:“Examples include the Internationale de l'Automobile, which sanctions Formula 1 races in Jerusalem; Fédération Western Sahara; the International Triathlon Union authorizes Moroccan events in Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) recognizes Moroccan teams in occupied occupied Western Sahara; and the International Trail Running Association approves races in Russian-occupied Crimea. In none of these cases have these actions been thought to be prohibited by international law.”

He went on to explain: “AIMS has for many years given full membership to the Laayoune Marathon, which takes place entirely in Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara. Indeed, on the AIMS website and catalog, the event is described as being in “Morocco” despite the rejection of this characterization by the international community, which regards it as occupied.”

The letter ended: “We respectfully request that the Bible Marathon promptly be given AIMS membership as required by the association’s rules, and by its longstanding practice. Such a decision will in no way involve an expression of opinion on AIMS part on the underlying political dispute. Failing this, we will resist AIMS’s unjust and politicized denial of membership to the world’s oldest running event in every forum available to us.”

Thousands of runners from Israel and abroad are expected to participate in the October 6th Bible Marathon, in spite of the AIMS decision, which the organizers hope will be rectified by then.Thousands of Bible believing Jews and Christians are also expected to lodge formal complaints with AIMS, for discriminating against the race because of its unique Biblical roots.

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President Trump's Rosh Hashanah Message

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP
AND SENIOR ADVISOR TO THE PRESIDENT JARED KUSHNER
ON A CALL TO JEWISH LEADERS

Via Teleconference

MR. KUSHNER: Welcome, everybody, and thank you for joining us here today. This is the most special time of the year for the Jewish people. This Wednesday evening begins Rosh Hashanah, the first of 10 days of repentance, that concludes with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

Since January 20, I have had the great honor of serving in President Trump's administration. Anyone that knows the President understands that he takes great pride in having a Jewish daughter and Jewish grandchildren. His love and respect for the Jewish people extends way beyond his family, and into the heart of Jewish American communities.

Under the President’s leadership, America's relationship with the State of Israel has never been stronger, and our country’s commitment to Israel’s security has never been greater.

It is my great honor to introduce the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump.

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, and thank you for joining this call.

To the many leaders, Rabbis, and Jewish friends who are on the line, I am delighted to speak with you and to wish you Shana Tova, a sweet New Year.

I send the Jewish community my warmest wishes as we approach the High Holy Days.

The Jewish tradition of making time and taking time each year to rededicate your lives to the sacred values you hold dear not only improves yourselves but strengthens our nation and inspires us all.

As we mark the beginning of the year 5,778 in the Jewish calendar, I want to express my deep admiration for the Jewish people. Throughout the centuries, the Jewish people have endured unthinkable persecution.

I know with us today on the call are several Holocaust survivors. We are honored beyond words by your presence. You have borne witness to evil beyond human comprehension, and your perseverance is a lasting inspiration to us all. By telling your stories, you help us to confront evil in our world and we are forever grateful.

I am proud to stand with the Jewish people and with our cherished friend and ally, the State of Israel. The Jewish State is a symbol of resilience in the face of oppression -- it has persevered in the face of hostility, championed democracy in the face of violence, and succeeded in the face of very, very tall odds. The United States will always support Israel not only because of the vital security partnership between our two nations, but because of the shared values between our two peoples. And I can tell you on a personal basis, and I just left Israel recently, I love Israel.

That is why my administration has successfully pressured the United Nations to withdraw the unfair and biased report against Israel -- that was a horrible thing that they did -- and to instead focus on real threats to our security, such as Iran, Hezbollah, and ISIS.

This next New Year also offers a new opportunity to seek peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, and I am very hopeful that we will see significant progress before the end of the year. Ambassador David Friedman, Jared, Jason, and the rest of my team are working very hard to achieve a peace agreement. I think it’s something that actually could happen.

I am grateful for the history, culture, and values the Jewish people have given to civilization. We forcefully condemn those who seek to incite anti-Semitism, or to spread any form of slander and hate -- and I will ensure we protect Jewish communities, and all communities, that face threats to their safety.

I want to thank each of you for the ways in which you contribute to our nation. America is stronger because of the many Jewish Americans who bring such life, hope, and resilience to our nation.

Melania and I wish everyone a sweet, healthy, and peaceful New Year. Thank you very much.
________________________________

It is a reasonable message. Even though it is obviously scripted (as were all of previous presidents' messages on similar topics) it directly goes after the stupid idea that Trump is an antisemite or supports antisemitism. There are plenty of things to complain about with the current president, but the Trump Derangement Syndrome has eclipsed that of Bush in the sheer amount of lies about him that the media says every day.

Of course, moving the embassy to Jerusalem would mean a lot more than statements.

Nevertheless, liberal Jewish leaders - many of whom said they would boycott the call - are upset that the ones who attended didn't get a chance to ask questions and that this call was much shorter than previous ones.

Comparing Trump to other presidents should be considered obviously absurd nowadays. He campaigned on being different. He thrives on it. He should be judged by what he says and does, period. If you want to compare him to an Obama who spent 45 minutes talking to the rabbis on the annual call, then you must also mention that Obama deliberately elevated J-Street specifically to split the Jewish community on Israel. He actively tried, and to an extent succeeded, in damaging the relationship between Israel and American Jews, and the rabbis who are grumbling now are the same type of rabbis who support that exact split.

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