US publishes details of top secret Israeli missile base

US publishes details of top secret Israeli missile base

U.S. delivers strong warning to Israel

U.S. delivers strong warning to Israel

Aaron Klein

TEL AVIV – According to informed Middle Eastern security officials, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel delivered a strongly worded message to Israel – do not attack Iran.

The officials told WND that Hagel informed the Israeli government the Obama administration will not accept any unilateral Israeli attack against Iran and that Israel must not strike Tehran without coordination with the U.S.

Hagel further told Israel that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cannot decide alone whether Iran has crossed the nuclear threshold, or the so-called Red Line previously outlined by the Israeli leader.

In a speech at the United Nations in September, Netanyahu drew a red line on a drawing of a bomb, depicting the point where he said Iran will have enough medium-enriched uranium to move rapidly toward building a nuclear bomb.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu draws a red line on the image of a bomb at the U.N. Sept. 27, 2012.

Netanyahu said at the U.N. that Iran could reach that point this spring or summer. By contrast, Obama has resisted setting any such deadlines.

Last week, Israel’s former military intelligence chief, Amos Yadlin, said, “If Iran continues to enrich uranium at its current rate, toward the end of the year it will cross the red line in a clear manner.”

The information comes after a former International Atomic Energy Agency senior nuclear inspector warned that Iran has discovered a way to circumvent Israel’s red line and that the red line may have already been passed.

Last fall, an IAEA report on Iran’s nuclear program showed a dip in the amount of 20 percent enriched uranium. Commenting on the report, the former deputy director-general for safeguards at the IAEA and senior nuclear inspector Olli Heinonen explained in a recent opinion article how this decrease is likely a gimmick.

He wrote that Iran has the capability to reconvert the uranium material back to the gas needed for its nuclear program. The converted 20 percent enriched uranium, now in a less worrisome oxide form, can “be converted back into centrifuge feedstock within a week.”

Heinonen warned that Iran may be able to convert the uranium without risk of detection.

If, through this process, Iran can disguise the quantity of enriched uranium it actually possesses, then Israel’s so-called red line may be artificial.

Heinonen further argued Iran has already passed Netanyahu’s red line of 250 kilograms of 20 percent enriched uranium, estimating Tehran possess as much as 280 kilograms, excluding any material that has already gone through the conversion process.

U.S. delivers strong warning to Israel

Obama appeals to Israelis: Give justice to the Palestinians

NBC News

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By Ian Johnston and Kari Huus/

President Barack Obama on Thursday urged the Israeli people to put themselves in the shoes of Palestinians and recognize their "right to self-determination, their right to justice."

In a televised speech at the Jerusalem Convention Center, Obama said there should be "two states for two peoples."

Breaking off from his prepared text, he said that he recently met with a group of young Palestinians.

"Talking to them, they weren’t that different from my daughters, they weren’t that different from your daughters or sons," he said.

"I honestly believe that if any Israeli parent sat down with these kids, they’d say, 'I want these kids to succeed, I want them to prosper, I want them to have opportunities just like my kids do,'" he added to applause.

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Obama, on the second day of his first official trip to Israel, warned that "the only way for Israel to endure and thrive as a Jewish and democratic state" was through the creation of an independent Palestine.

That state had to be "viable" with real borders, he said, criticizing the building of settlements in the West Bank.

President Obama receives applause from a crowd in Jerusalem Thursday by challenging groups that reject Israel.

He urged ordinary Israelis to put pressure on their leaders to achieve a future in which Jews, Christians and Muslims could live in peace.

"I also know that not everyone in this hall will agree with what I have to say about peace. I recognize that there are those who are not simply skeptical about peace, but question its underlying premise, have a different vision for Israel’s future and that's a part of democracy and the discourse between our two countries," he said.

"Peace is necessary, I believe that. I believe that peace is the only path to true security. You have the opportunity to be the generation that permanently secures the Zionist dream, or you can face a growing challenge to its future," he added.

At a state dinner in Jerusalem Thursday evening, Israel's President Shimon Peres awarded Obama with Israel’s highest honor — the Presidential Medal of Distinction — emphasizing what Peres called his "unforgettable contribution" to the security of Israel.

U.S. support for the Iron Dome missile defense system had been instrumental in saving Israeli lives, Peres said.

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As Obama sat at the dais with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara before a room full of Israeli dignitaries, Peres called out the U.S. president's "tireless work to make Israel strong to make peace possible."

Peres said he was "convinced" the United States "will do whatever is necessary on the Iranian threat."

Obama said he was accepting the award "on behalf of the American people."

Israel must avoid 'isolation' In his address at the convention center Obama stressed that America would always support Israel, echoing his comments Wednesday that the U.S. was Israel's "eternal" ally.

But he said peace had to be made between "peoples" and could not be achieved through military hardware alone.

"Given the frustration in the international community, Israel must reverse an undertow of isolation. And given the march of technology, the only way to truly protect the Israeli people over the long term is through the absence of war — because no wall is high enough, and no Iron Dome is strong enough and perfect enough, to stop every enemy that’s intent on doing so from inflicting harm," he added.

There was a warm, official welcome for President Obama in Ramallah. In the streets, away from the Palestinian government compound, street demonstrations. NBC's Martin Fletcher reports.

Obama said Israel could not be expected to negotiate with anyone "dedicated to its destruction."

But he said he believed that Israelis had a "true partner" in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, along with Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. On a visit to the West Bank earlier Thursday, Obama condemned the Palestinian Hamas party, which holds sway in the Gaza Strip and is a rival to Abbas' Fatah movement.

"So many young Palestinians have rejected violence. There’s an opportunity there. There’s a window," he said. "Peace is possible."

At one point in the speech, someone in the audience began heckling Obama, who peered toward the back of the hall to try to see what was happening.

"This is part of the lively debate we talked about," he said, referencing a line earlier in his speech. "This is good."

He joked about media reports that he and Prime Minister Netanyahu do not get along. It was just a "plot" between him and "my friend Bibi" to give journalists something to write about, he suggested.

Earlier, Obama met with Abbas in the West Bank.

After his helicopter touched down in Ramallah, Obama was greeted cordially by Abbas and the two hugged.

"We cannot give up on the search for peace, no matter how hard it is. ... Too much is at stake," the president said during a joint news conference.

President Barack responds to a heckler in the crowd during his speech Thursday to the Israeli people at the Jerusalem Convention Center .

'Misery' of Hamas He sounded hopeful about Abbas and the Palestinian Authority and reiterated U.S. willingness to help.

"The United States is deeply committed to the creation of an independent and sovereign state of Palestine," he said, adding, "Simply, Palestinians deserve a state of their own."

When asked whether he thought a halt to further settlement activity was required before peace talks could begin in earnest, Obama demurred. 

"If the only way to even begin the conversation is that we get everything right from the outset … then we’re never going to get to the broader issue, which is how you actually structure a state of Palestine that is sovereign and contiguous," the president said.

"The core issue right now is how do we get sovereignty for the Palestinian people and ensure security for the Israeli people," he added. "If we solve those two problems, the settlement problem will be solved."

The president praised Abbas for his leadership and sharply criticized rival group Hamas for the "misery" of Palestinians in Gaza.

For his part, Abbas said he had "renewed confidence" in U.S. assistance with the peace process after meeting with Obama.

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"We have conducted a good and useful round of talks," he said through an interpreter.

Abbas called for an end to Israeli construction of settlements in Palestinian territories.

He warned that continued building of the sites was causing Palestinians, particularly the younger generation, to lose hope that Israel and a sovereign Palestine could peacefully co-exist.

When young Palestinians see the settlements, he said, "they do not trust the two-state solution anymore, and this is very dangerous" for the future.

Two rockets that may have been a show of protest were fired into southern Israel close to the border with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip early Thursday.

Obama appeals to Israelis: Give justice to the Palestinians

Obama says 'still time' for diplomacy with Iran, Netanyahu suggests time running short | Fox News

Fox News

Just see their faces

President Obama, while seeking to reassure Israel that America has its back in the face of a nuclear Iran, said Wednesday he believes there's "still time" to resolve the stand-off diplomatically -- as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested time is running short. 

Both leaders, in a joint press conference on Obama's first trip as president to Israel, stressed that their goal is to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But the two appeared to diverge on the effectiveness of diplomacy. 

In his opening remarks, Netanyahu said sanctions and diplomacy "so far have not stopped" Iran's ambitions. 

"Diplomacy and sanctions must be augmented by a clear and credible threat of military action," he said. 

Later on, Obama said: "We prefer to resolve this diplomatically, and there is still time to do so." 

Still, he added that "all options are on the table" if diplomacy falls short. "The question is, will Iranian leadership seize that opportunity," he added. The president said Iran's past behavior indicates that "we can't even trust yet, much less verify." 

The meeting, and the two-day swing through Israel, was a chance for both leaders to reaffirm their ties, and for Obama to try and boost his image in the country after avoiding it for the last five years. Though Obama visited as a presidential candidate, this is his first visit to Israel since taking office in 2009. 

In Israel, Obama stopped briefly in Tel Aviv before flying to Jerusalem for meetings with senior leaders including Israeli President Shimon Peres. Peres praised Obama for an "impressive record of answering our needs," and welcomed the message that "no one should let skepticism win the day" when it comes to the peace process. 

Pressed during the press conference with Netanyahu on the lack of progress toward an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, Obama said he's certain he could have done things differently when it comes to the Mideast. 

But he said bringing peace to the region is "a really hard problem" to solve -- one that's lingered for more than 60 years. Obama also suggested that failure to reach an agreement in his first term between Israelis and Palestinians doesn't mean that he "screwed up somehow." 

The conversation turned repeatedly to the civil war in Syria and Iran's nuclear program. 

Obama started out his remarks with the prime minister by stressing that the security of Israel is "non-negotiable." The president said America's commitment to Israel's security is a "solemn obligation." 

Netanyahu, thanking Obama for his statements, stressed that: "Today we have both the right and the capability to defend ourselves."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/20/obama-says-till-time-for-diplomacy-with-iran-netanyahu-suggests-time-running/#ixzz2O7a85s00

Obama says 'still time' for diplomacy with Iran, Netanyahu suggests time running short | Fox News

Hamas steps up threats on Obama’s Israel trip

wnd

Despite there being no information President Obama plans to ascend the Temple Mount on his upcoming trip to Israel, Hamas last night stepped up its threats regarding Palestinian rumors the U.S. president may visit the sacred site.

“Visiting of Obama with Israeli soldiers entering the Al Aqsa Mosque will actually touch the deep and the tender part of the Palestinian, Arabic and Islamic countries all over the world,” Mahmoud al-Zahar, Hamas’s senior leader in the Gaza Strip, stated.

Zahar apparently was alluding to previous Palestinian and Arab rioting instigated after then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount in 2000.

Zahar continued: “If he is looking to have this visit it means he is accepting Israel as a legitimate occupation, which is undermining his morality and his credibility. Jerusalem up to this moment and all of the Palestinian land is under occupation.”

The Hamas leader was speaking Sunday night on WABC Radio’s “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.”

Zahar said his group doesn’t have “any hope of any results from his visit to the region.”

Asked if his expects Obama to open dialogue with Hamas during the president’s second term, Zahar replied, “Up to this moment there is no indication about this.

“And if he is looking to have a negotiation or a dialogue about what is he going to speak? He will fail if he is going to believe we are a new example of Fatah, that we believe in talking just for talking,” he said.

“We are looking for real change in the attitude and the policy of America toward the state of the occupation of our land,” Zahar continued.

Contacted by WND, neither Israel nor the Palestinian Authority say they have any information Obama plans to visit the Temple Mount amid Palestinian rumors that such a trip is in the works.

The rumors received a boost last week when Hamas issued a statement warning Obama against the idea, calling such a visit “a diplomatic catastrophe.”

The statement further called Obama’s rumored visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount “an imminent danger which the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem have never faced.”

Officials in the PA and Israel said they don’t have any information about a planned trip to the Temple Mount.

The office of Adnan Ghaleb al-Husayni, the governor of the Waqf, or Islamic custodians of the mount, further told WND that no such visit to the sensitive site was requested. An official in Husayni’s office said the idea of an Obama ascent to the Temple Mount is “insane.”

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/03/hamas-steps-up-threats-on-obamas-israel-trip/#AUq4g6TGO4XGE1Vb.99

Hamas steps up threats on Obama’s Israel trip

John Kerry’s First Trip Includes 9 European and Middle Eastern Countries — Guess Which One He’s Skipping

theblaze

By Erica Ritz

Secretary of State John Kerry will make his first official trip overseas next week, with a jam-packed travel agenda that includes meetings in nine nations across Europe and the Middle East.

Despite expectations that he would visit Israel to push for more peace talks with the Palestinians ahead of President Obama’s first presidential trip next month, the State Department announced Tuesday that there will be no stops in Israel for John Kerry this trip.

He will, however, be stopping in: Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland explained that Kerry is bypassing Jerusalem and Ramallah while Israeli political parties continue to form a coalition government after recent elections.

“The secretary will be traveling there with the president when he visits later in the spring in lieu of making his own separate trip in February,” she explained.

Kerry departs for his trip on February 24, and will reportedly focus on the conflicts in Mali, Syria and Afghanistan.

“His visit to Berlin will also be an opportunity to reconnect with the city in which he lived as a child,” the State Department adds.

The 2004 presidential candidate, sworn in to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton earlier this month, is scheduled to return to Washington on March 6.

TheBlaze has reached out to Christians United for Israel and the Anti-Defamation League for comment.

Click here to read Kerry’s complete itinerary, courtesy of the State Department.

John Kerry’s First Trip Includes 9 European and Middle Eastern Countries — Guess Which One He’s Skipping

Obama and the Leftist Infiltration of Israeli Media

NoisyRoom
By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

In case anyone had any doubt, the Leftists have been busy little Marxists in Israel — that includes Obama. NGO Monitor just released its latest report on foreign government funding of radical political Israeli NGOs which are working in earnest to undermine Israel’s international standing and subvert Israeli society. Most people assume that the financiers of anti-Jew propaganda are Europeans. Well, they now are brothers in arms with the US government. American taxpayers are actively funding (without their knowledge) political campaigns against Israel and her citizens. It is a subversive technique to force Israel to go back to the 1967 borders and grant a Palestinian state. More to the point, the money is going towards the destruction of Israel and for the first time that I know of, the US is backing it monetarily and behind the scenes.

Obama actively meddled in Israel’s recent elections. Now, the US is funneling funds to at least three radical Leftist Israeli NGOs. And with this funding, the Progressive/Marxists are seizing full control of Israel’s media. It would seem that Israel is losing to the enemies within, just as America is. It’s another stealth coup in the making.

Let’s look at the three NGOs who stand out the most:

Keshev: Keshev has a long history of hatred towards Israel and funding anti-Jewish events. They are a radical Leftist media watchdog group. Behind the group are some of the most high-profile radicalized journalists and writers in Israel. They received $492,452 in direct aid from the US government. This group is pro-Hamas and pro-Jihadist — they are for the eradication of Israel from the face of the Earth and support those who support Iran. This group promotes Israeli Apartheid week.

From Discover the Networks:

One featured project from the 2005-6 grantees, entitled “Words Can Kill,” is jointly implemented by Israeli NGO Keshev and Palestinian NGO Miftah. According to the EC, these NGOs promote a “discourse free of incitement, prejudice and dehumanization of the other in Israel and Palestine.” In sharp contrast, Miftah’s website is a forum for demonization of Israel and “disseminate[s] the Palestinian narrative and discourse globally.” For instance, during the fighting in Gaza, Miftah referred to Israeli “atrocities” and “massacres.” An opinion piece published on January 8, 2009 declared, “Israel has opened the gates of hell to the Palestinians,” and denounced defense of Israeli actions as “scandalous fabrications.” In these and countless other examples, Miftah makes a mockery of the stated goals of a “culture of moderation, tolerance, and understanding.” PfP-funding for Miftah raises serious doubts about proper oversight and auditing procedures by the European Commission.

In this case, you are definitely known by the company you keep.

Those who fund Keshev are an interesting group to be sure:

• United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
• The European Union
• The Ford Foundation
• Friedrich Ebert Stiftung
• The United States Institute of Peace
• The German Foreign Office
• Canadian International Development Agency
• The Region of Tuscany
• The Abraham Fund Initiatives
• Foundation for Middle East Peace
• The New Israel Fund
• Anna Lindh Foundation

Catholic Relief Services/B’Tselem: Via Catholic Relief Services, the US has given $220,304 to B’Tselem. An anti-Israel pressure and propaganda group that is known for aiding the Palestinians by supplying them video cameras to film snuff films that depict Israelis as monsters who are persecuting Palestinians for no reason but hate. Lying propaganda and the facilitation thereof is their specialty. There have been many instances of these false videos reported using faux events to slander Israelis.

B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories was established in February 1989 by a group of prominent academics, attorneys, journalists, and Knesset members. They claim to endeavor to document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied Territories, combat the phenomenon of denial prevalent among the Israeli public and help create a human rights culture in Israel. What they really do is undermine Israel and support their enemies as well as terrorism.

Their funders are also enlightening:

• British Foreign and Commonwealth Office
• CRS – Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
• Christian Aid (Ireland)
• DanChurchAid (Denmark)
• Diakonia (Sweden)
• EED (Germany)
• European Commission
• Foundation Pro Victims
• Georg Waecther Memorial Foundation
• Laszlo N Tauber Family Foundation
• Moriah Fund
• Naomi & Nehemiah Cohen Foundation
• NGO Development Center (NDC)
• Royal Norwegian Embassy
• Samuel Sebba Charitable Trust
• Stichting Niks Voor Nicks
• Stichting ICCO
• Social Justice Fund
• Trocaire
• UNDP
• World Vision

B’Tselem has opened an office in the US:

Recognizing the central role of the United States both in terms of its historic alliance with Israel and its efforts to facilitate a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, B’Tselem has established an American presence to inform the political and public discourse in this country and to ensure that human rights are a centerpiece of both the bilateral relationship as well as diplomatic efforts.

It would seem that Jew hatred spans the globe and finds itself at home in the US these days. B’Tselem gets 95% of its funding from foreign governmental assistance. Their stated goal is to wage a media campaign in Israel to engender fear of international reprisal among Israel’s leaders to stop them from working against Palestine.

Foundation for Middle East Peace: The US donated $15,474 to the Foundation for Middle East Peace which immediately funneled those funds to the far left internet outlet Social TV. Anti-Israel propaganda abounds amid political bias and the twisting of geopolitical issues. It’s disgusting. Obviously, the US is aiding these radical NGOs to wage ‘political warfare’ in Israel to sway public opinion and hasten Israel’s demise.

The Foundation for Middle East Peace is led by Ambassador Philip C. Wilcox, Jr. who is their President. He is a retired Foreign Service Officer and former U.S. Consul General to Jerusalem. Geoffrey Aronson is the Director of Research and Publications and is the Editor of the Foundation’s bimonthly Report on Israeli Settlement in the Occupied Territories. A journalist and historian who has published widely on international affairs and a former visiting fellow at Georgetown University, he is the author of “Israel, Palestinians and the Intifada: Creating Facts on the West Bank” and “From Sideshow to Centerstage: U.S. Policy Towards Egypt.” Need I say more.

Somewhere cozy in all this is our State Department and I suspect (scratch that – I’m certain of it), George Soros. Soros is already wielding far too much influence in the US and is overseeing its downfall. You can bet he is busily churning up chaos is Israel — he must salivate over the thought of its destruction. Soros actually funds the Obama movement here in the US and uses Obama as a personal puppet – staffing the White House with his cronies and shaping policy.

From The Soros Files:

If you’re wondering who’s funding the network of left-wing, non-government organizations in Israel, which aim to topple Netanyahu’s government and turn Israel into an Arab majority state, it turns out to be the same man who’s funding the Occupy Wall Street mobs: George Soros. Tel Aviv has had to contend with the same left-wing protests, tents and all, obviously all coordinated by one central global puppeteer.
That is why the Israeli Knesset passed the NGO Funding Transparency Bill by 40 to 34 in February. It was a hard-fought battle. But despite its neutered state, the bill survived and was enacted. It is a declaration of war by the conservative Likud Party against the shadow NGO empire being used by George Soros to shape the future of Israel. Its liberal opponents called it a “threat to democracy”…
Soros’ global reach is what is contributing to world-wide economic and political disequilibrium. His attempt to overthrow the Netanyahu government is a particularly odious campaign. He has aroused intense hatred among many supporters of Israel…
It is obvious that Barack Obama’s attitude toward Israel and Benjamin Netanyahu has been shaped by his puppetmaster. He takes his instructions from the Shadow Party, that network of private organizations that now controls the policies of the Democratic Party, which is pursuing goals that are never openly discussed in public. These goals embody a fundamental hostility to American institutions and even to American sovereignty as a nation.

With friends like the US, who needs enemies? Israel is being turned inside out and absolutely inundated by Leftist infiltration. Just as the US needs to wake up and fast to the enemies within, so does Israel. Their very existence depends on it. Barack Obama is not only poison to America, he is a suicide pill for Israel.

“America is at that awkward stage. It’s too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards.” – Claire Wolfe

Obama and the Leftist Infiltration of Israeli Media

Obama To Make First Trip To Israel In His Entire Muslim Brotherhood Presidency

patdollard

frontpagemag.com

Excerpted from Fox News: President Obama will visit Israel, the West Bank and Jordan in the spring, the White House said Tuesday, marking his first visit since becoming president.

Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the visit to Israel by phone in late January, when Obama congratulated Netanyahu on his success in Israel’s recent election. The White House has not released the date of Obama’s trip or details about Obama’s itinerary, but Israel’s Channel 10 reported that a visit had been scheduled for March 20.

“The start of the president’s second term and the formation of a new Israeli government offer the opportunity to reaffirm the deep and enduring bonds between the United States and Israel and to discuss the way forward on a broad range of issues of mutual concern, including Iran and Syria,” said National Security Council Spokesman Tommy Vietor.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said during Obama’s visit to Jordan and the West Bank, the president would work closely with Palestinian Authority and Jordanian officials on regional issues.

Although Obama visited Israel and Jordan while running for president in 2008, he hasn’t been back since, drawing intense criticism from some pro-Israel groups who have claimed he is insufficiently supportive of the United States’ closest ally in the Middle East. Other top administration officials, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have visited.

The trip could help repair Obama’s tarnished image in Israel, where many view him as cold to the Jewish state. Israelis vividly remember Obama’s decision not to visit when he stopped in neighboring Egypt early in his first term to deliver a speech.

“This country’s commitment to Israel’s security is unshakeable,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said last week. “It has been reflected in this administration’s commitment to Israel’s security, demonstrated by the very specific actions that are unprecedented that have been taken by this administration on behalf of Israel’s security.”

Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem had no immediate comment on the report of Obama’s visit.

The announcement of Obama’s visit comes at a time of uncertainty for Netanyahu, whose relationship with Obama was notoriously rocky during Obama’s first term. Netanyahu emerged weakened from January’s election but is still poised to remain prime minister if he can successfully build a governing coalition before the mid-March deadline.

Obama To Make First Trip To Israel In His Entire Muslim Brotherhood Presidency

Hagel, Obama and the Israeli Elections

frontpagemag/ Caroline Glick 

thejerusalemconnection.us

The National Journal recently reported that Obama is reconsidering his decision to appoint Chuck Hagel Secretary of Defense. As I wrote in my previous post, there is no chance that Obama will appoint a supporter of a strong Israel to any senior foreign policy post because he wouldn’t appoint someone who doesn’t share his basic animosity towards Israel. But in Hagel, he chose someone even more outspoken in his animus towards the Jewish state than Obama.

Hagel’s looming appointment provoked angry responses from many leading Jewish voices in the US. Whether this opposition made a difference in driving Obama to reconsider his choice is unclear. Plenty of other influential groups – including senators, members of the military and lobbyists for homosexual rights – expressed their discomfort and opposition to the prospect of having Hagel serve as Defense Secretary. Still it is notable that Hagel’s possible appointment sparked an outcry among prominent American Jews and that this outcry had some unknown impact on Obama’s possible decision to cancel Hagel’s appointment.

If Obama indeed scuttles Hagel’s elevation to Defense Secretary, it shows that it is possible to fight Obama on foreign policy even in his second term, and win, at least sometimes. This is important information for Republicans, American Jews, and the Israeli government.

Obama will have multiple, massive domestic challenges to contend with in his second term. If he wishes to focus on advancing his domestic agenda, he may well punt on foreign affairs.

The US President’s inbox is always overflowing. One of the hardest things for a president to do is take control over his own agenda.

Just consider the issue of gun control. Certainly, as a liberal Democrat, Obama is for it. But Obama has never made the issue of restricting gun ownership  a priority during his presidency. Now in the aftermath of the Newtown massacre, he is suddenly spending a lot of time on the issue and going into a head to head battle with the National Rifle Association.

Maybe Obama will win this battle. Maybe he’ll lose it. But he will be focusing on it a lot in the coming weeks. Again, this is not an issue that was ever central to his agenda. But due to an unforeseen event, it has become an issue that he is now forced to spend time on.

There are of course, many more foreseeable issues Obama will have to devote his presidential time, energy and capital to. The biggest among them is Obamacare. Budgetary and tax woes are not far behind. With only 24 hours in the day, Obama will not be able to focus on Israel or foreign policy on a daily basis. And in order to make time for other things, which are more important to him, or more immediately pressing, Obama may be willing to back down.

As I was working on my book this morning, I came across an article I wrote before the 2006 elections in Israel. In it, I argued that the reason the Sharon government had such good relations with the US was because it bowed to every US demand, no matter how antithetical it was to Israel’s national interests. At that time, I mentioned Sharon’s decision to set aside his concerns and bow to US pressure to permit Hamas to participate in the Palestinian Authority’s legislative elections in January 2006.

For bending to Washington’s will, Israel got plaudits from Rice and Bush. But we also got Hamas in charge, an even more radicalized Fatah racing to prove its own terror bona fides to measure up to Hamas, and increased international isolation for Israel as nation after nation began softening to the idea of Hamas being a legitimate organization.

In retrospect, it would certainly have been better for Israel – and for America – if Sharon had stood up to Rice and simply refused to permit Hamas to participate in the elections. It would have been better to have had a public fight with Washington and kept Hamas out of power than maintain warm relations with the Bush administration while empowering a terror group that openly seeks the annihilation of Israel and the Jewish people.

This brings us to Obama, his apparent decision to stand down on Hagel,  US relations with Israel in Obama’s second term in office, and finally to how the Israeli election campaign plays into all of these things.

Here in Israel, the Left’s basic diplomatic attack on Netanyahu involves accusing him of having wrecked  Israel’s relations with the US by standing up to Obama. But whereas by not standing up to Bush and Rice, Israel got Hamas in power and missiles on Jerusalem, by standing up to Obama, Israel is still in control of Judea and Samaria and the two-state delusion has been increasingly discredited in Israel, and to a lesser degree in the US.

Moreover on Iran, Israel has coaxed a reluctant US administration into passing serious sanctions against Iran, and while the economic pressure hasn’t made any dent in Iran’s nuclear weapons program, Israeli pressure has made it harder for Obama to simply accept Iranian nuclear weapons. Vocally expressing Israeli concerns has certainly helped Republicans maintain pressure on Obama to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and publicly support a potential Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear installations.

It is understandable that Netanyahu is keeping mum on his diplomatic achievements. He can’t risk even worse relations with Obama by mentioning his success in keeping the US President at bay in his quest to diminish Israel’s strategic options.

What makes less sense is his decision to adopt the Left’s talking points against the Right in his assault on the Jewish Home Party and its leader Naftali Bennett.

Last Thursday Bennett was conned by television personality Nissim Mishal into discussing what his  personal response as a soldier would be to the completely hypothetical issue of IDF expulsions of Jews in Judea and Samaria. The issue is artificial is because no one is proposing a mass expulsions of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria today. The Palestinians are uninterested in negotiating with Israel. Netanyahu is uninterested in surrendering land. And the Left, which would like to cut and run, has no chance of winning next month’s elections.

So Mishal manipulated Bennett into an irrelevant policy discussion in order to embarrass him.  Bennett said that he would personally object to fulfilling an order to expel Jews from their homes, and if necessary, bear the personal consequences.

Netanyahu himself is quite familiar with Nissim Mishal’s manipulations of political theater to embarrass candidates on the Right. In 1999, during a televised candidates’ debate when Netanyahu ran for reelection as Prime Minister, Mishal repeatedly interjected himself into the debate to support rival candidate Yitzhak Mordechai’s character attacks on Netanyahu.

Keep reading on frontpagemag >>

Hagel, Obama and the Israeli Elections

US slams Israel's plan to expand settlements

Marko Djurica / Reuters

A masked Palestinian protester uses a sling to throw a stone at Israeli security officers 
(unseen) during clashes at a protest against Jewish settlements, in the West Bank village of 
Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah on Nov. 30.

By NBC News wire services

The White House  and the State Department said on Friday a new Israeli settlement expansion plan was "counterproductive" and could make it harder to bring Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

"We reiterate our longstanding opposition to settlements and East Jerusalem construction and announcements," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland reiterated this position, adding: "We're going to be evenhanded in our concern about any actions that are provocative, any actions that make it harder to get these two parties back to the table."

Israel plans to build thousands of new homes for its settlers in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, an Israeli official said earlier, defying a U.N. vote that implicitly recognized Palestinian statehood there.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's conservative government had authorized the construction of 3,000 housing units and ordered "preliminary zoning and planning work for thousands" more.

Palestinians had a major symbolic victory when the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to recognize them, but the U.S. argued the new status could set back Palestinians in the path to peace. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.

"We believe these actions are counterproductive and make it harder to resume direct negotiations or achieve of a two state solution," Vietor said. "Direct negotiations remain our goal and we encourage all parties to take steps to make that easier to achieve."

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is meeting senior Israeli and Palestinian officials Friday to try to plot a path forward.

Clinton is seeing Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. She is also talking to Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, a key mediator.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest says only "face-to-face" Israeli-Palestinian negotiations can lead to progress on a two-state solution.

Israeli media, including Haaretz newspaper, said the government sought to emphasize its rejection of Thursday's upgrade by the U.N. General Assembly of the Palestinians to "non-member observer state" from "entity."

Israel and the United States had opposed the resolution, which shored up the Palestinians' claim on all of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, saying territorial sovereignty should be addressed in direct peace talks with the Jewish state.

Jim Hollander / EPA file

A bulldozer sits at a construction site in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Pizgat Ze'ev, which many consider a sprawling Jewish settlement, on Nov. 8. Israel plans to build 3,000 new housing units for Jewish settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

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US slams Israel's plan to expand settlements

See Obama’s busy Friday schedule that trumped meeting with Netanyahu

theblaze.com/

Via Keith Koffler:

9:45 am || Receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
10:15 am || Meets with senior advisers
4:20 pm || Delivers remarks at a fundraiser; Capital Hilton, Washington
6:05 pm || Delivers remarks at a fundraiser; private residence, Washington
8:25 pm || Delivers remarks at a fundraiser; Capital Hilton, Washington

Such a bu$y guy — no wonder he only has time for a phone call with the Israeli Prime Minister.

In related news, Mitt Romney will also be speaking with Netanyahu today.

See Obama’s busy Friday schedule that trumped meeting with Netanyahu

Advanced Preparations of U.S.-Israel War Against Iran

Infowars.com/ Ben Schreiner

Following the highly scrutinized meeting between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month in Washington, consensus held that Obama had managed to secure assurances from the war-hungry Netanyahu that Israel would delay a military strike against Iran till 2013.  That is, till after the November U.S. presidential election.

According to the Israeli daily Maariv, this commitment of Israeli “restraint” had been bought with the sale of U.S. “advanced bunker-busting bombs and long-range refueling planes” to the Israeli Defense Forces, as al-Akhbar (3/8) reported.  Needless to say, such advanced weaponry would be required in any Israeli attack on Iran. 

“You shall still have your war,” Obama thus seemingly sought to convey to Netanyahu, “but only in due time.”   

Since the Obama-Netanyahu summit, however, indications of such Israeli restraint have dissipated.  The Israeli dogs of war are not so easily tamed.  In fact, in his latest column for Bloomberg (3/19), the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg reports that talk of striking Iran is once more convulsing through the Israeli political establishment.  And according to Goldberg, all such discussions have assumed a rather optimistic bent.     

“One conclusion key officials have reached,” Goldberg writes, “is that a strike on six or eight Iranian facilities will not lead, as is generally assumed, to all-out war.”

We learn further that Israeli officials interpret Obama’s claims of “having Israel’s back” as meaning that even in the event of an Israeli strike against Iran in the face of U.S. protest, “Obama would move immediately to help buttress Israel’s defenses against an Iranian counterstrike.”  

All this leaves Goldberg to assess that Israel shall ultimately strike Iran.  As he writes, “I’m highly confident that Netanyahu isn’t bluffing—that he is in fact counting down to the day when he will authorize a strike against a half-dozen or more Iranian nuclear sites.” More >>

Advanced Preparations of U.S.-Israel War Against Iran

Obama, Iran and the 1939 Syndrome

FrontPage Magazine/ By P. David Hornik 

1938: Pacto de Munich por Gran Bretaña, Francia, Alemania e Italia.

On Tuesday EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton announced that the group of six global powers—permanent UN Security Council members the U.S., Britain, France, China, and Russia plus Germany—were resuming nuclear talks with Iran at an unspecified time and place.

She announced it just as Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu was in Washington trying to convince the U.S. leadership that neither diplomacy nor sanctions were coming anywhere near stopping Iran’s push to nuclear weapons.

Ashton had earlier—on February 14—received a proposal for talks from Iran’s nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili. On Tuesday she said, “Today I have replied to Dr. Jalili’s letter….” What opportune timing.

And what a further blow to Israel.

Typical headlines have been saying Netanyahu told President Obama on Monday that Israel hasn’t yet taken a decision on attacking Iran. Yet, as described here and here, an “unnamed American intelligence official” has conveyed a different impression to Israel’s Channel 2 news.

Channel 2 reported on Monday night that the official said, “U.S. intelligence services believe that, in principle, Israel has already made the decision to bomb Iran.” According to Channel 2, the official warned that such an attack would entail thousands of casualties and spark a regional war or even World War III—in short, an all-out catastrophe. An official Israeli source dismissed these statements as “scare-mongering and psychological warfare.”

Just as there is a dissonance between the mainstream version—which says Israel hasn’t yet decided—and this apparent desperate attempt to bypass the Israeli leadership and scare its population silly via its most popular news channel, there is a dissonance between Obama’s words this week and what we read elsewhere.

In his AIPAC speech on Sunday: “I firmly believe that an opportunity still remains for diplomacy—backed by pressure—to succeed.”

And in Tuesday night’s news conference: “[Iran] understand[s] that the world community means business. To resolve this issue will require Iran to come to the table and discuss…how to prove to the international community that the intentions of their nuclear program are peaceful.”

Meanwhile IAEA chief Yukiya Amano says Iran has “tripled” its monthly production of 20-percent-enriched uranium since the IAEA’s previous report in November. That was the report that was seen as dramatically confirming Israel’s insistence over the years that Iran had never stopped working on the bomb.

Amano also expressed serious concern about the IAEA being denied, again, access to Parchin—the site where Iran has “built a large containment chamber” to “conduct high-explosives tests” that the IAEA considers “strong indicators” of nuclear-weapons development. That was according to November’s report. What’s going on in the chamber now? No one knows.

No wonder administration officials are so worried Israel will attack and trying to scare the Israeli people out of their wits about what will happen if it does. Seemingly it would make more sense for the administration—and the Western world as a whole—to get seriously scared about Parchin and drop the hang-up with Israel.

On Tuesday it was reported that Iran now says it will let the IAEA into Parchin—at an unspecified date. Even if that transpires, it will obviously be after Iran has had enough time to “clean” the site.  More »

Obama, Iran and the 1939 Syndrome

At the Poker Table with Bibi and Barack | FrontPage Magazine

FrontPage Magazine/ by Daniel Greenfield

As Netanyahu’s plane crossed the vast distance of the Atlantic Ocean, he must have thought that the oceanic gap was small compared to the diplomatic gap with the Obama administration. This time around there were no visible hostilities or outbursts. With an election coming up, Obama is less eager to humiliate Netanyahu, and Netanyahu does not seriously expect that a passionate appeal will get through to Obama.

Both men know the nature of the game they are playing, but neither of them expects much of the other.

Netanyahu does not believe that he can get Obama to set a firm “red line” that will trigger military action. For all the talk about “having Israel’s back”, the administration has not been willing to set such a “red line” in public or private, which makes all the assurances completely worthless. Without that “red line”, no actual commitments have been made, except a commitment to the Sisyphean diplomatic track.

And so Netanyahu has not bothered to seriously push for a “red line.” Any possibility of such a thing was off the table even before he arrived. More >>

At the Poker Table with Bibi and Barack | FrontPage Magazine