Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Sunday, March 04, 2012

Competing videos on Obama's Israel record

The Democratic National Committee released this commercial last week:

On Saturday, The Emergency Committee for Israel released an entire documentary about Obama's record on Israel:

While it is perhaps unfair to compare the two directly, they show what each side is emphasizing. The Obama team wants to highlight the amount of military cooperation that the US and Israel have shared, the anti-Obama team brings many examples of how this administration has seemed to have thrown Israel under the bus.

Both points of view are biased, of course.

The two major issues that Israel faces are the Iranian nuclear threat and the Palestinian Arab threat - both terrorist and diplomatic.

On the Iranian front, while some may argue that the US should have done more sooner, Obama's initial outreach to Iran has now been forgotten and his current sanctions are indeed far reaching. It is a shame that some time was lost while he seemed to need to convince himself of what the Bush administration already knew about Iran. On the one hand, the US has not done a bad job in corralling international support for sanctions considering the huge opposition from Russia and China; but on the other hand I don't think that Iran perceives a US military threat as credible, which would be the single most important deterrent possible. Meanwhile, Iran is wholeheartedly supporting Syria's massacres and Hezbollah's terrorist army in Lebanon, and the US has failed to publicly push those aspects of the regime.

Most of all, the Obama administration's actions vis a vis Iran have not been to support Israel; they are to defend Western interests. Not that there is anything wrong with this, of course; this is what nations are supposed to do. Nevertheless, in that sense the narrative in the Democratic video is a little deceptive. US actions on Iran have been meant to try to stop Israel from attacking on its own at least as much as they have been to try to stop Iran from getting closer to building a bomb. Sending Patriot missiles to Israel is nice, but in a sense it shows that the US is starting to consider a nuclear Iran a fait accompli.

As far as the Palestinian issue is concerned, the Obama administration has continued previous US policies of vetoing one-sided Security Council resolutions against Israel. But it has been the most consistently pro-Palestinian Arab administration ever, completely adopting the Arab narrative on settlements and the 1967 lines, ignoring (at least in public) previous commitments given by the Bush and Clinton administrations on Israel's security, publicly pressuring only the Israeli side and providing Palestinian Arabs with political cover for their intransigence. Perhaps the peace process was moribund before he entered office, but it completely fell apart under Obama - and this is after Israel implemented a settlement freeze that, according to conventional wisdom, should have brought Abbas to the table.

Abbas himself explained it best when he said that he is simply waiting for Washington to pressure Israel to do everything he wants.

Obama's record on Israel is not as anti-Israel as the ECI video implies. As I wrote at the time, Obama's "1967 lines" speech also included many very good points, and it seems that Obama's original public position that was exactly congruent with J-Street has shifted a little towards realism.

I don't know how much of that is from his learning anew what previous presidents had already learned about Palestinian Arab duplicity, and how much is simply his desire to get re-elected.

UPDATE: Obama's speech at AIPAC.

Edited interview of Asma Assad shows hypocrisy of Arab world

From NYT:

A video blogger has remixed footage of an interview Asma al-Assad gave to CNN in 2009, in which Syria’s British-born first lady decried the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, to make it seem as if she was speaking out against the violent crackdown on dissent currently under way in Syria.

The remix posted on YouTube cuts together outraged comments from Mrs. Assad in 2009 (including, “the barbaric assault on innocent civilians has been horrific,” and, “this is the 21st century, where in the world could this happen?”) and video shot last week of the Syrian government’s bombardment of Homs, the city her family is originally from. (Readers should be aware that the clip includes some extremely graphic video of a dead child with a gaping head wound.)

In a similar vein, the editor-in-chief of Asharq al-Awsat wrote last week:

Let us pause here in front of this state of mad dictatorship, and compare it with what Israel has committed against us in recent times, and I say recent times as we are talking about the last 5 years, particularly the Lebanon and Gaza wars. The entire world rushes to stop Israel’s aggressions against Lebanon in 2006, and this war ended after approximately two months, claiming the lives of 1,200 Lebanese. The same thing applies to the Gaza war, which had approximately the same death toll. In both wars, the public opinion in the Arab world rushed to take action, whilst counterfeit “friends of Israel” lists were issued, masterminded by the al-Assad regime; indeed a number of Arab politicians attempted to exploit this tragedy, most prominently the al-Assad regime. However we did not hear anybody ask – even now – why did these wars happen? Whose interests did these wars, and more, serve? Who was responsible for this?

Today, in the case of al-Assad, we have seen the Syrian forces brutally killing their own people on our television screens over the past year – not two months – whilst the death toll stands at more than 8,000 and the tyrant of Damascus’s troops have destroyed mosques, tortured and assassinated children, as well as women and the elderly, simply in order to allow al-Assad to cling to power. Despite all this, we find some countries, politicians, media organizations and figures, who are procrastinating; it is as if we – as Arabs – are saying that if the killer is also an Arab, then this is something that we can accept, however if he is an Israeli, then we must all move as one to put an end to this! This is a saddening and shameful state of affairs, particularly when somebody like Hassan Nasrallah shamelessly comes out to defend al-Assad!

(h/t Michael G)

"Apartheid" video inspired by my posters

From YouTube user SDAMatt2a:

I gotta say, it is nice to have fans!

(h/t jzaik)

A Jerusalem wall collapses from rain; Arabs blame "Al Aqsa excavations" (updated)

Palestine Today has a headline that there was a "landslide" in Jerusalem as a wall collapsed, and cracks appeared in walls, due to - they claim- Israeli excavations under the Al Aqsa Mosque.

Reading the article a little further you can see that the damage was not very close to Al Aqsa - it was in the Al Bustan neighborhood, hundreds of meters away - and that the damage came about as a result of heavy rains that have fallen on Jerusalem and the entire area over the last couple of weeks.

This is just the latest attempt to incite Arabs against Israel.

UPDATE: Ma'an has the story, where the Al Aqsa Foundation is blaming Israeli digs on the "landslide," - but it doesn't even mention the heavy rains in Jerusalem lately.

Moroccan man jailed for "sacrilege" - flying an Israeli flag

From Al Arabiya:

A Moroccan court on Friday sentenced a man to six months in jail after he raised the Israeli flag over his home to attract the attention of local authorities and protest the disconnection of electricity and water supplies to his home, Moroccan media reported.

Mohammed Jadidi, 42, had drawn the Israeli flag on a white cloth and raised it over his home in the Airport neighborhood of the northern predominantly Amazigh (Berber) town of Nador.

He reportedly did so after the electricity and water were disconnected to his home, which belonged to the Auxiliary Forces and occupied by his family since the death of his father, who was part of the paramilitary forces.

Morocco’s Auxiliary Forces supplement the military, gendarmerie and the police when needed.

Jadidi was arrested last Monday and was charged with “sacrilege” through “undermining the national flag.”

His mother had appeared on a video circulated on Moroccan websites appealing King Mohammad VI to release her son. She said he only raised the Israeli flag to attract the attention of the senior officials to look into the conditions of his family.

The local Rif Association for Human Rights blasted the court’s decision as baseless and said there was nothing in raising a foreign flag that undermines the national flag.

Flying an Israeli flag is "sacrilege"? And it "undermines the national flag" of Morocco?

This is not the first time that the appearance of an Israeli flag in Morocco caused mass angst.

The general psychosis of the Arab world is a most interesting phenomenon.

(h/t Dan)

Weekend links/open thread

If you haven't read it, see Jeffrey Goldberg's interview with President Obama.

Would a post-Assad Syria tilt towards Israel?

Dubai's clown police chief Dani Khalfan says that there is an evil triangle trying to destroy the Gulf: Iran, the Muslim Brotherhood - and the United States.

Nice op-ed in the Harvard Crimson on the occasion of a "one-state" conference at Harvard with the usual suspects.

"Global March to Jerusalem" - exposed.

BDS Secrets - interesting analysis of the Finkelstein interview. (h/t Stan)

Feel free to add any interesting links you have found in the comments.

Hamas accuses Egypt of reneging on fuel deal

Hamas and Egypt are still arguing over the short-term procurement of fuel for Gaza's power plant.

According to Hamas media, Egypt is insisting that Hamas pay $1.00 per liter of diesel for the power plant, and Hamas is balking at paying a half million dollars a day for fuel.

Egypt heavily subsidizes its own fuel prices - the latest numbers I could find were about 50 cents a liter from last autumn - and does not appear to want to charge Hamas any less than it pays itself.

Ismail Haniyeh today said that there were unnamed "parties" who were determined to keep Gaza in the dark.

Egypt's ambassador to Ramallah blamed "technical issues" for the snafu.

It is increasingly clear that the option of Egypt transferring fuel through Kerem Shalom is off the table because of Hamas' refusal.

Meanwhile, Gazans are suffering because of a cold snap and snow that fell last night.

Which side is interested in dialogue? (video)

This video shows how close-minded the anti-Israel crowd is.

Two Israeli soldiers are on a speaking tour of the US, sponsored by StandWithUs. At UCLA they insisted, multiple times, that they would love to engage in dialogue with the protesters in the audience who represented "Students for Justice in Palestine."

But the SJP drones walked out anyway.

There was a bright side, as those who wanted to hear the talk but got there late managed to get seats.

PaArab. aid recipients: "Anti-terror clauses unacceptable"

The Dalia Association is a Palestinian Arab organization that is currently trying to revamp the way that international aid is given to the territories. Many of their objections to the current system are very valid, and we have touched on some of these problems in the past.

Here is their video about their issues with how aid is administered today:

Dalia published a list of things that aid recipients complain about. One of them is most interesting:

Anti-terrorism clauses are unacceptable.

The people giving free money to Palestinian aid organizations, according to the recipients, do not have the right to ensure that their aid will not go towards terrorists. Palestinian "civil society" wants the money to have no strings attached so they can choose to fund, say, Islamic Jihad charities (allowing other funds to be freed up for rockets.)

In Dalia's more comprehensive report on the topic, they write:

While seen as an extremely harmful policy, the anti-terrorism certification, which participants considered racist, was not prioritized as a major objection. Some expressed outrage: “Why do international aid actors treat us like we are terrorists!” but most seemed resigned to sign, regardless of their intention to comply, or they avoid donors that require signing, resigned to miss out on much-needed funds.

At the exact same time that these organizations are complaining that they are being "treated like terrorists," they admit that they might not comply any send the funds to terror groups, or hire known terrorists, anyway!

It is worthwhile to point out that UNRWA originally tried very hard to do exactly that Dalia is suggesting now, to create programs that will ensure self-sufficiency for Palestinian Arabs, and these were mostly dropped because of objections both from host countries and from the Palestinian refugees themselves.

(I once posted about how there are plenty of NGOs in Gaza who are knowingly propping up Hamas, so it is not like there aren't NGOs willing to fund terror anyway.)

(h/t Rudi)

Latest Latma

I liked this one:

PA attacks Hamas journalists

From PCHR:

According to investigations conducted by PCHR and a statement of Mohammed Eshtaiwi, Correspondent of al-Aqsa Satellite Channel which is connected to Hamas, at approximately 13:00 on Tuesday, 28 February 2012, Eshtaiwi and a crew of Media Modern Company, which has a contract with the al-Aqsa Satellite Channel, comprised of Mahmoud Mohammed al-Dumairi and Waleed Ma’moun ‘Othan, concluded coverage of a press conference held by the Islamic Bloc in Bir Zeit University, north of Ramallah. While they were traveling towards Ramallah in a car belonging to the Media Modern Company, a taxi intercepted them near Best Eastern Hotel. Six persons stepped out of the car and opened the journalists’ car. They forcibly took the camera from al-Dumairi after a arguing with him. When ‘Othman intervened to defend his college, he was beaten. The six persons introduced themselves as members of the PSS. The confiscated the ID cards of the three journalists and ordered them to travel to the PSS headquarters in Bir Zeit village. When the journalists were approximately 50 meters removed from the said headquarters Eshtayeh stepped down from the car and left the area while the other two journalists proceeded towards the headquarters. Three hours later, following the intervention of a number of figures, Eshtaiwi was informed that he could refer to the PSS headquarter to get back his ID card.

This is actually more about Fatah infighting with Hamas, as al-Aqsa channel is a Hamas media outlet.

Fatah is meanwhile accusing Hamas of arresting more Fatah members in Gaza for political reasons.

Unity!

Russians communicating with Syrian opposition through Druze Knesset member!

From Arutz-7, February 22:

A Syrian opposition figure confronted a Russian diplomat through Internet telephony program Skype Wednesday.

The unusual conversation took place when Russian Ambassador to Israel Sergei Yakovlev was holding a meeting with Deputy Minister Ayoub Kara in Kara's Knesset office. Arutz Sheva's Hezki Ezra was on hand to provide exclusive video coverage.

In the course of the meeting between the two politicians, Kara's aides added an unnamed Syrian opposition leader to the conversation, through Skype.

"I just want to pass this message from the Syrian opposition to the Russian leadership through you," said the Syrian.

"OK," said the Russian – "Why don't you do [that] through the Russian ambassador in Damascus?"

"Because I can't reach him," explained the Syrian opposition man. "If I come close to the Russian embassy in Damascus, I will be shot dead. Because there are snipers. Iranian snipers now cover the top of the Russian embassy in Damascus. You can ask your colleague in Damascus and he can tell you what is going on there."

Yakovlev said little in response, except an occasional "uh huh."

"Mr. Ambassador, please pass this to your leadership," the Syrian went on. "Don't be surprised, if you find the names of the high leaders in Russia in a file being introduced to the international tribunal… Russia is sharing with everything in doing this crime. Arms, diplomacy […], intelligence help, and the military experts who are now leading the cannons of Bashar al-Assad."

"We are ready to discuss things with both sides," Yakovlev told Kara after the opposition leader had gone offline. "The Friends of Syria will meet on the 24th in Tunisia [an international forum in which the U.S. and European countries will be represented, but not the Syrian National Council opposition -- ed.]. Why to discuss it only with the opposition, not with the government? This is no way to peace, friend. If you talk to one side, if you strengthen one side, then it will be a fight for, I don’t know, forever."

According to Israeli site Megafon, there was a seemingly different meeting a few days later, also in Kara's office, between Yakovlev and two members of the Syrian opposition - in person. The ambassador started to indicate that Russian support for Assad is wavering, saying that he should or will be "lifted" from office.

The two unnamed opposition figures discussed various scenarios after Assad's removal, including elections or dividing Syria into Sunni and non-Sunni states. They discussed Russia's possible role afterwards as well.

When Megafon asked Kara about this meeting, he said that there was only the one through Skype, The sound of the second video seems like the conversation was in person, though. On the other hand, the Russian ambassador is wearing the same tie, so maybe it was the same meeting, or a different part where he was speaking to Ayoub's aides.

(h/t Ron)

Saudi Apartheid Week poster #2

"Moderate" Fatah still firing rockets at Sderot

The Al Aqsa Martyr's Brigade is the Fatah military wing that was supposedly dismantled years ago. But they still have a webpage.

I just noticed that they took credit for one of the rockets fired into Israel last week:

Praise to God, our fighters bombed Sderot with a Noaa maximum missile 103 on Thursday, 23/02/2012 at 7:08 PM , accurately wounding a usurper.

O sons of our struggling people:

As we are witnessing today the repeated attacks by the Zionist killing machine and some of the charlatans of the descendants of apes and pigs on our people and the Al Aqsa Mosque and its courtyards which is pure sacrilege.

...Our enemy does not understand the lessons of history that the will to freedom and independence is never defeated and we will not kneel down...we are in the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and with us all the free world and the absolute conviction that freedom will not come without the option of armed struggle. The Palestinian identity is being lit to illuminate the sky of the universe; our freedom is coming from the barrel of a gun.

It is a revolution until victory.

Bombardment for bombardment ... death ... killing horror horror

Al- Aqsa - Palestine
Martyr Brigade Commander

This sounds exactly like the original Fatah ideology from the early 1960s. What a coincidence.

In other news, several rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel today. Apparently the terrorists are now taking advantage of rainy weather to fire rockets without (they hope) being seen.

Netanyahu: Israel's strong economy is critical for national security

From a great Bloomberg article on Netanyahu and Israel's economy:

Since the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-educated Netanyahu began selling state assets and loosening labor laws as finance minister from 2003 to 2005, Israel’s economy has boomed, growing at an average 4.2 percent each year. The expansion will help ensure Israel’s survival, as an “island of democracy that is surrounded by a sea of troubles” in the Middle East, the 62- year-old premier told U.S. Jewish leaders at a Feb. 19 conference in Jerusalem.

“If we are to address our defense needs that we are being challenged with, we have to continue this growth,” Netanyahu said at the meeting. “It is not a question of living standard. It’s a question of national security.”

As part of his plan to spur growth, Netanyahu has set up a committee to boost competition, introduced reforms to lower the cost of living after social protests, passed a law to free up public land for private development, maintained fiscal discipline, and introduced a two-year budget, a move praised by the International Monetary Fund.

Israel’s economy probably expanded 4.8 percent in 2011, according to the IMF, matching the 2010 figure and exceeding the 1.7 percent growth in the U.S. The Finance Ministry estimates gross domestic product will increase 3.2 percent in 2012.

With Stanley Fischer steering monetary policy at the Bank of Israel, Netanyahu says there’s scope for the nation to match some of the world’s most developed economies. Fischer was Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s thesis adviser at MIT.

“There’s no reason why we can’t eventually surpass Britain and France in GDP per capita,” Netanyahu said during a Feb. 20 interview in his Jerusalem office, kept warm by two free- standing electric radiators. “We have to keep growing at 5 percent.”

The IMF calculates Israeli GDP per head was $32,300 last year, compared with $39,600 in the U.K. and $44,400 in France. Unemployment was 5.4 percent in Israel in the fourth quarter, the lowest since at least 1985. The jobless rate was about 9.3 percent in France and 8.4 percent in Britain.

I fully agree that Israel's economy is critical for its political well-being. As it becomes a more integral piece in the global economic scene, it becomes harder for nations who profit from trading with Israel to marginalize it to appease the Arabs.

And as alternative and non-Arab energy sources gain ground, the economic leverage that the haters have against Israel keeps decreasing.

There's lots more in that article.

(h/t Yoel)

Israel saving the world, yet again

From Israel21C:

Israeli researchers have developed a simple and cheap blood test that was found to provide early detection for many types of cancer in clinical trials.

The promising new blood test, developed by scientists at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheva, can detect minuscule changes in the blood of a person with a cancerous growth somewhere in the body, even before the disease has spread.

Early diagnosis of cancer could save thousands of lives. Every day in the United States alone, 1,500 people die of cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the US after heart disease, accounting for one in four deaths.

Medical specialists believe that earlier detection greatly increases the chances for successful treatment. It also prevents the need for long, painful and costly treatments when the cancer reaches a more advanced stage.

Illuminating cancer cells in the blood

The researchers, led by Prof. Joseph Kapelushnik of BGU's Faculty of Health Sciences, have developed a device that illuminates cancer cells within less than a teaspoonful of blood. The test uses infrared light to detect tiny changes that indicate cancer, because the light is absorbed slightly differently due to various molecules released into the bloodstream.

In a clinical trial involving 200 patients and a control group, the test identified specific common cancers such as lung and ovarian cancer in 90 percent of the patients and found other types of cancer, as well.

"This is still research in the early stages of clinical trials," said Kapelushnik, who is also head of the department of pediatric hemato-oncology at Soroka hospital.

"But the purpose is to develop an efficient, cheap and simple method to detect as many types of cancers as possible. We want to be able to detect cancer while a patient is still feeling good, before it has a chance to metastasize, meaning fewer treatments, less suffering and many more lives saved."

More clinical trials will be conducted in the next 18 months.

A simple blood test to detect (and apparently distinguish between) early cancers! This could save millions of lives worldwide.

This is huge. But par for the course for Israel.

And, as any anti-Israel activist can tell you, they only invent miracle procedures like these in order to distract the world from Zionist crimes. You know....med-washing.

On Monday, February 27, a program, sponsored by Chabad [and StandWithUs] entitled “Israeli Soldier’s stories” was scheduled at UC Davis. Ran, a Israeli reservist, and Ranya, a Druze woman whose father and brother fought in the IDF maintained their dignity and composure in spite of a consortium of haters from Students for Justice in Palestine, the MSA and JVP who had planned to disrupt their presentation. This young man, claiming to be a Medieval Studies major at Davis repeatedly interrupted the proceedings in a coarse and vulgar manner, while UC Davis security and police stood on and did nothing.

The heckler writes in the comments page on YouTube:

Alright, so I'm gonna throw my two cents in. I'm the dude in the video. First of all I wanted to say that I am not part of MSA, JVP, I do not represent their views. Secondly, rape and prostitution have nothing to do with any of it that is very true. But consider this implication. I was there to piss people off, because I am pissed off. You don't piss people off by making intelligent remarks, you piss them off by accusing them of stuff the worst things possible however irrelevant they maybe.

Oh one more thing I should clear up. I'm not a Muslim, I'm an Atheist. So no I'm not some crazy fanatic. I am mad at the double standard of Israel and so I heckled. Was it meaningful:no, was it intelligent: absolutely not, Did I talk about actual issues: You gotta be kidding me, Did it work: oh yeah.

Free speech, to haters like this, is a one-way street. They can spout whatever they want - including absurd lies - as long as any pro-Israel voices are drowned out.

And the UC Davis security did nothing.

I wonder, if an audience member would blast an air-horn during the entire speech, would that also be considered "free speech" by these "progressive" colleges? Because that's pretty much what the many people who disrupt any vaguely Zionist speech on campus are.

They don't care if their words are heard: they only care that the others' words are not.

(h/t John Brooks)

UPDATE: A number of people in the YouTube comments and via email tell me that the heckler went up to the speakers afterwards, apologized and said he was paid $50 to disrupt the speeches.

Here is another write-up of the talk, by Gail Davis of StandWithUs:

Despite hostile hecklers, protestors, and angry students shouting "rapists" "child molesters" and "liars", the two Israeli reservists brought by StandWithUs as part of its Israeli Soldiers Stories told their stories and handled themselves with dignity. Ran, the 28 year-old IDF reservist, and Ranya, the 20-something Druze woman, spoke from the heart about their lives in Israel and how they wish for peace. While the protestors represented the true face of Israel-haters, Ran and Ranya represented the heart of Israel. This event was co-sponsored by the UC Davis Chabad student club "Chai.” What the group lacks in numbers is made up by their courage and convictions, that the story of the Jewish people and the mitzvah of defending Israel remain paramount.

As fear of physical altercations mounted, several "911" calls were made. The campus police appeared but refused to remove, reprimand or otherwise take any action against the disrupters. The police stated they were given "orders' not to take action against the disrupters, but instead, to close down the program if it got out of hand. What happened to our first amendment rights of freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, and the University of California's "principles of community" to ensure a "hate-free" campus?

The program continued, punctuated by slanderous and heinous bellowing from members of the audience. In all, at various times, there were approximately 150 in attendance. There were some 20 or so hecklers that would act as the cheerleaders who would cause the others to erupt with hoots and howls during the presentation. One protesting student was heard shouting out that the star of David worn by our StandWithUs Northern California, Oregon and Washington campus professional , Matthew White, was a Nazi symbol. At another juncture, the Chabad Rebbetzin, Sorele Brownstein, despite being very pregnant, got up to speak in front of this hostile audience to defend the Jewish people. Even she was jeered at. The behavior of the disrupters was quite despicable.

The ringleader was a self-identified Indian who was extremely hostile, shouting that he was there to shut down the event, and begging to be arrested. After the event, this Indian young man approached Ran and Ranya, our speakers, and apologized to them for his behavior, and said he was paid $50 to disrupt the event. Apparently, the same Indian heckler told others in the audience that he was paid $50 to disrupt and shut down the talk.

When the program ended, a few Arabic-speaking girls approached Ranya, and apologized to her for the bad behavior of the others. Ran also recounted that at the end one Muslim student thanked him for coming and that he felt he learned some things he had never heard before.

I am told that the two speakers have confirmed that the heckler told them he was paid; but he did not say who did it.

(h/t StandWithUs)

Bridge planned between Egypt and Saudi Arabia

From Al Ahram:

Egypt and Saudi Arabia have agreed to begin work on a bridge between the two nations.

The bridge will cross the Red Sea and link Aqaba in Egypt with Tabuk in Saudi Arabia.

It will be called the King Abdallah Ben Abdel Aziz Bridge.

According to General Fouad Abdel Aziz who heads the project, in the next few weeks an outline for the 50 km bridge will be made and the work will probably begin in 2013.

The project is expected to cost approximately $3 billion.

Saudi Arabia has a large Egyptian expat community, many of whom depend on ill-maintained ferries to cross the sea.

During the Lausanne conference in 1949, where the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine tried to forge an agreement between Israel and the Arab states, the US and Britain repeatedly pressured Israel to give up parts of the Negev to Egypt (and, effectively, cut itself off from Eilat and the Red Sea) because it was considered tremendously important for the Arab worlds in Africa and Asia to be contiguous, and Israel's presence in the Negev was a "wedge" that would forever cause problems.

That argument has not been heard in decades.

This bridge, though, is still psychologically important, especially for Egypt to have a physical and economic link to the center of the Arab and Muslim world. Not to mention the possibility of taking a bus from Cairo to Mecca for Hajj.

Ayatollah Khamenei's website says "Israel" in Farsi, not "Zionist Entity"

Remember last month when Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, said Israel was a "cancerous tumor" that must be removed?

Here are his words from his English-language website:

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei says Iran will stand by and support any nation or group that chooses to stand up to Zionist regime.

"We will continue to support any nation or group that fights or confronts the Zionist regime and we are not afraid of saying this," Ayatollah Khamenei said in the Friday prayers sermons in Tehran.

The Leader rejected Iran's interference in the affairs of regional countries, including Bahrain, and said Iran only had a role in the fight against Zionist regime during the 33-day war Zionist war on Lebanon and Tel Aviv's 22-day war against Gaza which both resulted in the regime's defeat.

"The Zionist regime is a cancerous tumor that must be removed, and God willing it will be," he said.

Interestingly, in the Farsi text of his speech, he doesn't only say "Zionist regime" - but he explicitly says "Israel" as well.

I'm not sure why the well-known historic refusal of many Muslims to say Israel's name is not in force by Iran's Supreme Leader when speaking in Farsi.

(h/t Max)