To #CBS' #BobSimon, Israelis deserve to be blown up if #settlements are built

(EOZ)(h/t O)Of course, he wouldn't characterize it this way, but how else can you explain this bizarre linkage he suggests?

The $270 million the U.S. has provided Israel to help build Iron Dome is in addition to the three billion dollars Israel gets annually from the U.S. in military aid. Palestinians complain that while all this U.S. support is being given to Israel, the Israeli government has repeatedly defied U.S. policy and approved the construction of new settlement blocks in the West Bank.
Bob Simon: The Americans have already given $270 million dollars.
Ehud Barak: More than this, I believe, along the, yeah.
Bob Simon: And they're promising just the Iron Dome another $660 million--
Ehud Barak: Yeah. Yeah. $680-- probably $211 might be given in the coming fiscal year.
Bob Simon: While the Americans are helping you so much in your defense. Israel goes on building settlements, which is exactly what the Americans don't want. How does that work, when you're asking America for help and doing exactly what the Americans don't want you to do?
....How does it work? I mean, right now, Israel has just announced the building of a gigantic settlement project. This is at the same time that the Americans are providing the money for Israel's most important defense system.

So if Israel builds settlements, Simon is saying, then the US should no longer help fund Iron Dome to save Israeli lives from rocket attacks. Israelis in Ashkelon must die because the Knesset allows Jews to build houses in their historic homeland.

Summary: (sabril) Do commentators like Bob Simon ask similar questions about US aid to or support for Egypt? To the Palestinian Authority? To the United Nations? To Turkey? (jzaik) ...Who controls whom here. Simon is saying that the Americans are paying israelis. Bill maher is saying we're controlled by the israelis. (singingt) how valuable is Israeli technology to the US?

After Ceasefire New Poll Shows Significant Drop in Support for Netanyahu, Rising Right Wing

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Photo: LIFE.

A new Israeli poll released this morning, and conducted following the cease-fire with Hamas, announced yesterday after 8 days of fighting, shows a significant drop in public support for Israeli Prime Minister Netanayhu.
The poll which was commissioned by Israel’s Knesset website and conducted by the Panels Institute shows Netanyahu’s joint list with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, named Likud-Beiteinu dropping significantly from a current 42 seats combined to 33 seats.
Israel’s Labor party gained two seats from a previous poll rising to 22 seats, and the Yesh Atid party of former Journalist Yair Lapid dropped from 13 seats to 11.
Strong gains on Israel’s right were marked by the Jewish Home party headed by former Netanyahu Chief of Staff Naftali Bennett which rose from 11 to 13 seats, and the Power to Israel party of Michael Ben-Ari and Aryeh Eldad, now projected to win 4 seats. The Orthodox Shas party remained static in the poll with 10 mandates, while Meretz and United Torah Judaism both came in with 6 seats.
The new figures may be a result of the unpopularity in Israel of the ceasefire agreement, which a Channel 2 poll taken before the ceasefire was announced concluded that 70% of Israelis opposed.
According to Israeli website Walla, a Likud mister who did not wish to be named said that the, “public response is very, very difficult. We do not remember such a magnitude of an enraged response. People call and say: this time we will not vote Likud.”
Another minister is quoted as saying that a reserve soldier said: “A week ago all of my battalion were Likudniks. Now, if you think anyone would vote Likud You’re kidding yourself.”
Another minister coming to the defense of Netanyahu said that the situation was more complicated, citing the famous Israeli saying: “what you see from here is not visible from there.”
Israeli political commentator and Algemeiner blogger, Arik Elman, said that he is not sure if these results will hold in the longer term. “Obviously the first reaction to the agreement is deep disappointment,” he said,  ”and that is before all Israeli concessions to Hamas on the issues of movement and border crossings have been realized.”
“Likud Beitenu voters many of whom live in the South feel that Netanyahu and Lieberman bowed to Ehud Barak,” he continued. However he said, “it is hard to tell whether this opinion climate will endure – there are two months to elections, and if the calm will hold, perhaps Netanyahu will yet persuade right-wing voters to support him and not the untested alternative in the person of Naftali Bennett.”
“On the other hand,” he added, “Labor is benefiting from the renewed public image of Amir Peretz, who is considered a “father” of the Iron Dome and savior of lives.”
“The accounts of the negotiations published so far reveal that the Israeli government bowed to the American request not to push Egypt too far and accepted conditions that it first considered unsatisfying,” he concluded.

via algemeiner.com

Naftali Bennett will support Likud if in danger of the Left ever taking over and if there were ever any bowing to the tyranny of the Obama administration. As for a guy like Amir Peretz taking credit for an Anti missile system... that is just typical of those who are self righteous in their own mind... like in Al Gore's claim to of created the internet, they take credit for things that were made by millions through hard work.

Sabena 571: 40 years ago today

Bibi shaking hands with then-President Zalman Shazar.

40 years ago today that Sabena 571 was hijacked on its way from Vienna to Tel Aviv (Hat Tip: MFS - The Other News/Carl).

(IDF) Within ten minutes of boarding the plane, the squad of elite commandos managed to kill the two male terrorists, arrest the two female terrorists, and neutralize the threat to the passengers. Nearly all civilians on board were unharmed, except for three, one of whom later died from her injuries. Among the commandos were Ehud Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu–both of whom eventually became Israeli prime ministers.
The surviving female terrorists were sentenced to life in Israeli prison, but were later released in the prisoner exchange deal following the 1982 Lebanon War.
...
The same airplane that was victim to the hijacking was flown for an additional five years before being sold to the Israeli Air Force (IAF). The IAF ended up using it to carry out spy missions. (MORE)

Barak: We will negotiate with Hamas if they drop terror h/t @Jewess

(thejewess: Barak: We will negotiate with Hamas if they drop terror http://t.co/8GUFZ9mR #JPOST @JIDF 12 minutes ago from Twitter)(jpost.com) Israel will continue negotiating with a PA unity government if Hamas agrees to Quartet conditions and dismantles its terror infrastructure, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in an interview with Israel Radio Tuesday.
"The continuation of the peace process is in the interest of Israel, the Palestinians and the world," Barak said. "If Hamas adopts the Quartet's conditions and dismantles its terror infrastructure, we will negotiate with them."
"We won't bury our heads in the sand and we won't give up on Israel's security interests," the defense minister elaborated.
Emphasizing that Israel was preparing for all possible scenarios, from successful negotiations to the outbreak of violence, Barak said, "We must be prepared to shake hands with our left hand and have our finger on the trigger with our right hand."

Yacimovich 1st woman since Golda to lead Labor party

Peretz - Yacimovich's former mentor - defeated by nine percent in run-off race for party's chairmanship; Yacimovich's election comes after contentious election rife with personal attacks.

The Labor party elected its first female leader since Golda Meir on Wednesday when MK Shelly Yacimovich bested her former mentor, MK Amir Peretz, in a run-off race for the party's chairmanship.

Yacimovich was expected to give a victory speech at the party's headquarters at Beit Berl Teachers' College in Kfar Saba, in which she would call upon Peretz to remain in the party and lead it together with her. She explained that a number of party members had called to congratulate her, including Peretz, MK Isaac Herzog and Amram Mitzna.

"We've won," she told supporters at Dizengoff Center in Tel Aviv on hearing news of the victory. "I promise that we will work together to bring about change. This is just the beginning of a new start for Israeli society."

Yacimovich won handily by nine percentage points over Peretz. Although not all the votes were tallied, not enough ballots remained for Peretz to make up the differences.

Yacimovich's victory came after a contentious election which saw the candidates launching personal attacks and claims of impropriety against one another.

On Wednesday, election observers representing Peretz refused to remain at four polling stations while votes were counted, but Labor's election committee did not disqualify the votes there.

Late Wednesday morning, a Peretz supporter named Dov Shemesh was punched by a Yacimovich supporter outside her headquarters and had to be hospitalized. Yacimovich was present and video of the incident indicates that she must have seen it, but she said she was unaware of what happened, because she was giving interviews. Yacimovich called Shemesh and condemned the incident, but when she said she didn't see it, he called her a liar.

Peretz said Shemesh "had no connection to violence," and was "truly the salt of the earth." He called on all Labor Party members to prevent further violence. "The day after the election," he said, "we'll need to unify against the Likud."

Yacimovich filed complaints with the Labor elections committee against a Peretz organizer who she said set up a table inside a Haifa polling station, and against Peretz's sister and brother-in-law, Flora and Sammy Shoshan, for allegedly threatening voters at a polling station in Mitzpe Ramon, where Flora Shoshan is mayor.

Earlier, Yacimovich complained that polls at several Kibbutzim and large cities were prevented from opening on time Wednesday morning due to the delayed arrival of Peretz's election observers. She noted that Peretz's observers only came late to polling stations in sectors where she had an advantage.

Neutral observers urged Peretz and Yacimovich to do everything possible to keep the party united following the primary. MK Isaac Herzog, who finished a strong third in the first round of voting last Monday said he was concerned that Labor could split again as it did when Defense Minister Ehud Barak and four allies left the party on January 17.

"The party is not the personal property of anyone," said former Labor candidate Erel Margalit, who like Herzog did not endorse anyone in the run-off race. "We all must unite behind our leader. From today, there are no adversaries in this house."
(h/t Docs Talk)
GIL HOFFMAN AND JPOST.COM STAFF
09/22/2011

NGO Monitor: NIF Network's Campaign on September Protests

Naomi Chazan

This NIF seems to go to a lot of trouble to claim they are not involved with things. They left a comment on my blog and it isn't like I'm a big fish. They must have a huge social media campaign financed by who knows? What I do know is that it costs a lot of money to go to supposedly Conservative blogs, which is something I really am not (can't you tell by the raunchy offensive jokes?), but the NIF assumes I am because I support Israel and think totalitarianism is a nightmare.

B'Tselem's report on Nabi Saleh a pretense to discuss September JERUSALEM (Daled Amos)
In advance of the Palestinian "September initiatives" at the United Nations, the New Israel Fund (NIF) network of organizations are conducting a coordinated campaign that accuses Israel of "infringing" on the "right to demonstrate" and ignores Israel's legal obligations to maintain public order. As a pretense to promote this agenda and pre-judge Israeli responses to predicted mass demonstrations, B'Tselem today published a politically motivated "report" on "Weekly Demonstrations in a-Nabi Saleh," according to Jerusalem-based research institute NGO Monitor. "The timing of the B'Tselem report suggests that the objective is to undermine the policies of the democratically elected government of Israel," noted Prof. Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor. "Along with Adalah, Mossawa, Yesh Din, CWP, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), and other members of the NIF network, B'Tselem is perpetuating the myth that these protests are non-violent." In its report, B'Tselem alleges that "security forces denied the residents their right to protest the infringement of their rights, and completely prohibited them from demonstrating...even in the absence of any violent act by the demonstrators." To match its political aims, this NGO also claimed that "forces made excessive use of crowd control measures." NGO Monitor notes that, in addition to this B'Tselem publication, ACRI sent an open letter (to generate publicity) in August to Defense Minister Ehud Barak alleging that "military legislation governing protests and demonstrations in the West Bank denies Palestinian residents the right to demonstrate." Similarly, ACRI and Adalah pubished a joint letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu, the Minister of Internal Security, and the Chief of Police entitled "Police Preparation for the Expected September Demonstrations" (August 28). And, in June 2011, Mossawa released an inflammatory statement condemning Israel for preparing for possible violence in September, satirically entitled "Mossawa Center calls [on Israel] not to send security forces to train in Daraa [Syria] and Tripoli." The comparison between Israel and the regimes of Assad and Qaddafi is particularly odious. In addition, Yesh Din, Adalah, Physicians for Human Rights - Israel, Coalition of Women for Peace (CWP), and the Public Committee against Torture in Israel (PCATI) are hosting a "Lawyers workshop for representing arrested demonstrators" on September 15, 2011. This workshop, run by NIF-funded groups, is being held in order to counter an alleged policy of "police repression of demonstrators." "The aim of these statements and activities is to constrain the Israeli government, and distort the legitimate responses to violence, by painting these actions as non-violent. In actuality, extensive evidence shows that many of these confrontations, such as in Bilin, Nilin, and Nabi Saleh, include significant acts of violence by protesters," continued Steinberg. "If the planned demonstrations include or exceed these levels of violence , or that of the 'Nakba' and 'Naksa' riots of earlier this year, Israeli security services are required to act to protect civilians from injury." "NGOs claiming to promote human rights and the rule of law are wrong to erase the very real threats to public safety and human life," said Steinberg. "In media campaigns pre-condemning the Israeli response, the NIF network is attempting to handcuff Israeli security forces." Examples of this campaign: * On September 12, 2011 B'Tselem published a report titled "Show of Force Israeli Military Conduct in Weekly Demonstrations in a-Nabi Saleh." * ACRI sent a letter to defense Minister Ehud Barak titled "The Proper Security Forces Preparation for Expected Palestinian Protests and Rallies in September" (August 8, 2011). * ACRI and Adalah sent a joint letter to Prime Minister Netanyahu, the minister of interior security and the chief of police titled "Police Preparation for the Expected September Demonstrations" (August 28, 2011). * Yesh Din, Adalah, Physicians for Human Rights - Israel, Coalition of Women for Peace (CWP), and the Public Committee against Torture in Israel (PCATI) are hosting a "Lawyers workshop for representing arrested demonstrators" on September 15, 2011. * "Mossawa Center calls [on Israel] not to send security forces to train in Daraa and Tripoli" (June 14, 2011).

Photo: Pascal Avrahami half an hour before he was murdered

Legendary SWAT sniper killed in the fighting near Eilat today. Before he died, he took three terrorists with him. via @UriGrey

The picture was taken by the Defense Ministry's official photographer on Thursday afternoon. The man in the black shirt on the right is Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The man facing us on the left is Pascal Avrahami (Hat Tip: Mrs. Carl). via Carl

Apologizing to Turkey Would Undermine Israel’s Interests Twice Over

Israel to apologize to Turkey?

Evelyn Gordon
Commentary/Contentions
22 July '11

I’d like to add to Michael’s excellent reasons for why Israel shouldn’t apologize to Turkey about last year’s raid on a Turkish-sponsored flotilla to Gaza. As Michael noted, apologizing won’t restore the strategic alliance, because Turkey has made a strategic foreign-policy choice that precludes alliance with Israel. But apologizing wouldn’t merely be ineffective, it would be downright harmful – to both of Israel’s stated goals.
First, Israel wants to improve relations with Turkey. But by proving that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s bullying tactics work – that Ankara can actively undermine every Israeli interest while promoting vicious anti-Israel sentiment at home, and Israel will still come crawling –apologizing will ensure more of the same.
Erdogan openly supports Hamas, which he insists isn’t a terrorist organization; his government actively backed last year’s flotilla, and he now plans a state visit to Gaza. He worked to block UN sanctions on Iran, then undermined them by boosting Turkey’s gasoline exports to Tehran. He reportedly promised arms to Hezbollah. He insisted that NATO’s planned missile-defense system not give Israel information on Iran. He deemed Israel’s 2009 war with Hamas in Gaza worse than the genocide in Darfur.
He also foments anti-Israel sentiment at home. An Israeli theater was forced to cancel an appearance in Turkey after Ankara said it wouldn’t stop radical Islamists from disrupting the performance. Israel cyclists were barred from an international bike race in Turkey because Syria and Iraq said their teams wouldn’t participate if Israel did. A Turkish-Israeli concert for religious tolerance was canceled after IHH, the viciously anti-Israel group behind the flotilla, insisted. As Turkish columnist Burak Bekdil noted, these and many similar incidents aren’t coincidental; they reflect “the systematic injection of Islamist sentiments about Israel into the minds of younger, ordinary Turks, especially in the past two and a half years” of Erdogan’s reign.
By apologizing, Israel would essentially say that none of the above precludes Turkey from being a valued ally. And if so, not only would Erdogan have no incentive to change his behavior, neither would any of his successors.
Yet Israel also has a second goal: sparing its soldiers facing legal action over the nine Turks killed in the raid. Its attorney general is thus reportedly pushing for an apology, bizarrely claiming this would preclude civil or criminal suits.
In reality, however, an Israeli admission of culpability – the only kind of apology Turkey would accept (it repeatedly rejected Israel’s offer to express mere “regret”) – would make legal action more likely. Absent such an admission, Israel has a strong case: A UN report due out later this month reportedly concluded that Israel’s blockade of Gaza was legal, that it had the right to intercept the flotilla and that its soldiers opened fire in self-defense, though it also found they used excessive force. But once Israel admits culpability, it has no case. And even if Ankara promises not to pursue legal action itself, it can’t stop flotilla passengers or their relatives from doing so –which, since most belonged to IHH, they presumably would.
In short, apologizing would undermine Israel’s own interests twice over. It’s high time for Jerusalem to recognize that the clock on Turkey can’t be turned back.
via calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com

Israel to apologize to Turkey?

why doesn't Turkey apologize for killing Kurds?

After more than a year of refusing to do so, Israel's defenseless 'defense minister' wants to apologize to the Turkish Islamist terrorists who tried to murder IDF soldiers aboard the Mavi Marmara in May of last year (Hat Tip: Joshua I).

Internal discussions between defense officials and Justice Ministry officials over the past few weeks have suggested that a cautious apology could stop possible lawsuits by Turkish organizations against Israel Defense Forces officers and bring the affair to an end.
A report by the UN-sponsored Palmer Committee on the incident, of which Israel received a draft earlier this month, is scheduled to be released in a few weeks. The report focuses on the events of May 31, 2010, when nine Turkish nationals were killed and dozens of participants were wounded after Israeli commandos took over the ship, which was part of a flotilla to Gaza.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been trying to reach a compromise between Turkey and Israel.
The committee has accepted Israel's claim - as has the Turkel committee which investigated the incident (where there were two foreign observers ) - that Israel's maritime closure of the Gaza Strip is legal, and that Israel acted lawfully in deciding to stop the flotilla.
However, the report harshly criticized the way Israel acted in doing so; these actions led to the deaths of nine Turks, members of the radical Islamic group IHH, who were shot by Israeli naval commandos aboard the Mavi Marmara.
The committee determined that Israel used excessive force and said deaths could have been prevented in several cases - although participants armed with clubs and iron rods attacked the commanders as they descended from a helicopter to the ship.

Well, look at the picture above. It's a picture of an IHH terrorist with a live weapons. The morons at the Defense Ministry just released it last month, even though they have known about it forever (in fact, they did not want to release it at all). Was that picture before the Palmer Commission when they decided that the IDF used excessive force in response to Islamist terror?

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has recently come out publicly against an apology, which he said would humiliate Israel and serve as a blow to national pride. Defense officials counter that an apology now will prevent legal problems later for officers and soldiers.

Lieberman is right and no, it won't. The pictures are out there. Keep reading.

Photographs of several IDF personnel involved in the raid have been posted on the Internet and are now in the hands of leftist and Islamic groups in Europe. Defense and justice officials have expressed concern that these groups will take steps similar to those of British pro-Palestinian groups, which have prevented senior Israeli officials from entering Britain for quite some time.
In this case, however, a ban would extend to young soldiers who took part in the raid, many of whom are about to be released from the army and are planning trips abroad.

So we're going to humiliate the IDF in the hope that they can peacefully join 60,000 other Israelis doing drugs on the beaches of India? Brilliant....

Senior defense officials told Haaretz that Israel has a major stake in improving relations with Turkey in light of Turkey's standing in the region, its past economic relationship with Israel and the opportunity to renew defense-related export to Turkey.
Although these views do not represent the Defense Ministry's official stance, Defense Minister Ehud Barak intimated as much in an interview last week on Channel 1: "From a strategic point of view, we have an interest in smoothing things over with Turkey," Barak said. "National pride is important [but] in the end, we have to understand that we have other interests here ... Turkey can have an important role in issues relating to Syria, Iran, Lebanon and Hamas."

After the way Turkey has behaved for the last two years, only 'Israel's most decorated soldier' - who is rumored to have slept through the biggest battle of his military career - who tried to give much of the country away to Yasser Arafat in 2000-01, could believe that Islamist Turkey has a role to play on our behalf.
What could go wrong?

via israelmatzav.blogspot.com

a lot could go wrong with an apology. There is no benefit here. Forget the direct humiliation for a second and think... what was the real purpose of the flotilla in the first place? The intent was to humiliate so that Israel's integrity was disrespected. That was the entire reason for the altercation. Right now Israel looks pretty good to those who are not biased. by threatening or showing signs that they will apologize Israel could hurt it's own ability in the future to protect itself and it's citizens. This is a real problem. If you have people in the government who really think they should apologize then they really need to be thrown out of their position. Are not these the same people who agreed to force these young IDF heroes to show up on the boat with paintball guns? This is really sick to now apologize.

Dagan forced to return diplomatic passport

Well, I guess that means he can't go to Europe - they're all after him for forging their passports for the Mahmoud al-Mabhouh operation. via israelmatzav.blogspot.com

According to Channel 2, the step is highly unusual and other officials have been allowed to keep their passports until their expiration date has passed. Last month Dagan said that an Israeli military attack on Iran would not stop its nuclear march, at an event at Tel Aviv University. He also said that Israel should have accepted the 2002 Saudi peace plan that called for a return to the pre-1967 lines in exchange for normalization of ties with the Arab world. He was quoted in the media as saying that he decided to speak out because with his retirement in January, as well as with the recent retirement of both chief of general staff Gabi Ashkenazi and Israel Security Agency head Yuval Diskin, “there is no one to stop Bibi [Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu] and [Defense Minister Ehud] Barak.” Dagan was quoted as saying that when he was in office he, Diskin and Ashkenazi could “block any dangerous adventure.” Kadima MK Yoel Hasson called the decision to revoke Dagan's passport "a revenge campaign to settle a score with one of the best Mossad chiefs this country has known." He added, "Revoking his passport endangers Dagan's security and prevents him from enjoying the basic defense of international diplomacy in any situation that can happen to him while he is on a trip abroad. This is unexpected behavior from a prime minister and its goal is to personally hurt Dagan and to limit his activity. This is a terrible and unacceptable thing, reminiscent of tyrannical regimes."

The New York Times v. reality

The United States Senate and House of Representatives treated Bibi like a Rock Star, but you would not know it from the Progressive newspaper of record, the New York Times headline proclaimed:

"Israelis See Netanyahu Trip as Diplomatic Failure."
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel returned from Washington on Wednesday to a nearly unanimous assessment among Israelis that despite his forceful defense of Israel's security interests, hopes were dashed that his visit might advance peace negotiations with the Palestinians.”

Two new polls prove the NY  Times report about Israeli reaction was totally biased.
A poll conduced by the liberal Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz which reported the positive Israeli reaction to Netanyahu's trip.

"Ha'aretz Poll: Netanyahu's Popularity Soaring Following Washington Trip"

"A new poll conducted by Dialog, under the supervision of Prof. Camil Fuchs of the Tel Aviv University Statistics Department, showed that 47% of the Israeli public believes Netanyahu's U.S. trip was a success, while only 10% viewed it as a failure."

The moderate Jerusalem post conducted its own poll conducted after Obama's Speech to AIPAC:

When asked in the poll whether they saw Obama’s administration as more pro-Israel, more pro-Palestinian or neutral, just 12 percent of Israeli Jews surveyed said more pro-Israel, while 40% said more pro-Palestinian, 34% said neutral and 13% did not express an opinion.

Other polls taken after the Netanyahu trip agree with the other two:

A Telesker poll published in Ma’ariv on Wednesday found that the Likud had strengthened against Kadima. The poll predicted that the Likud would rise from 27 to 30 Knesset seats, while Kadima would fall from 28 to 27.

Asked who was more fit to be prime minister, 36.9% said Netanyahu; 28.3% said Kadima leader Tzipi Livni; 9.2% said Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman of Israel Beiteinu; 2.6% said Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Independence; and 18.2% answered none of the above.

A Sarid Institute poll broadcast on Channel 2 Tuesday night found that 38% of Israelis found Netanyahu most fit to be prime minister, and 35% Livni. The poll found that the Likud had grown in support at Kadima’s expense.

If the NY Times had any interest in the truth it would have declared that Israelis saw the Netanyahu trip as a success, and as a result the Likud party grew in support. But the truth isn't the story the progressive media wanted to convey. They wanted to brand the Netanyahu trip as an object failure for the Israeli PM, after all he had dared to "school" the precious infallible President.

via yidwithlid.blogspot.com

image via israelmatzav.blogspot.com

Despite AIPAC speech, 40% of 600 Jewish Israelis deem US administration pro-Palestinian in ‘Jerusalem Post’/Smith poll.

US President Barack Obama’s attempt to portray himself as pro-Israel in a
high-profile speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Sunday
did not succeed, according to a Smith Research poll sponsored by The Jerusalem
Post.

The speech was intended to correct impressions that he was hostile
toward Israel, which may have been reinforced by a landmark address about the
Middle East that he delivered at the State Department last Thursday, and by a
tense press conference at the White House on Friday with Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu.

In the AIPAC speech, Obama chose not to specifically rule out
the “return” to Israel of millions of descendants of Palestinian refugees, and
did not announce his first visit to Israel as president, as many hoped he would.
But he did insist that Israel must remain the Jewish “homeland,” indicating
opposition to the Palestinian demand for refugees’ “return, spoke about Jews’
yearning for Israel through the centuries, listed many ways in which his
administration was helping Israel and clarified his position on creating a
Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 lines with mutually agreed land swaps.
When asked in the poll
whether they saw Obama’s administration as more pro-Israel, more pro-Palestinian
or neutral, just 12 percent of Israeli Jews surveyed said more pro-Israel, while
40% said more pro-Palestinian, 34% said neutral and 13% did not express an
opinion.



Still, the poll found that the gap between Israelis who say the
administration is pro-Palestinian and those deeming it pro-Israel has narrowed
since previous surveys.
The poll of 600 Jewish Israelis, representing a
statistical sample of the adult Jewish population, was taken on Monday and
Tuesday and had a 4-percentage point margin of error.
Respondents who
defined themselves at the left end of the political map were more likely than
others to deem the Obama administration more pro-Israel – 28% compared to 12%.
Among Kadima supporters, 37% said the administration was more pro-Palestinian;
19% said it was more pro-Israel.
The respondents most likely to label the
Obama administration as more pro- Palestinian were Orthodox Israelis, at 58%,
and right-wing respondents, at 53%. Among Likud supporters, 49% said the
administration was more pro-Palestinian; 11% said it was more
pro-Israel.
The question asked was exactly the same as in five previous
polls sponsored by this newspaper since May 2009.
The first poll, which
was taken before the first Netanyahu-Obama meeting in the White House – and
Obama’s landmark speech in Cairo in June 2009 – found that 31% considered his
presidency more pro- Israel, and 14% more pro-Palestinian.
The next poll,
taken just one month later, found a huge shift, with the proportion calling the
Obama administration more pro-Palestinian rising from 14% to 50%, and the
proportion calling it more pro-Israel falling from 31% to only 6%.
Those
calling the Obama presidency more pro-Israel than pro-Palestinian fell in August
2009 to 4%, and rose to 9% in March 2010.
Since then, the share who
consider this White House more pro-Israel has risen gradually and slightly,
while the percentage saying it is more pro-Palestinian has gradually
fallen.
Polls taken in March and July 2010 found that 9% and 10%,
respectively, called the administration more pro- Israel; 48% and 46%,
respectively, called it more pro-Palestinian.
The gap between Israelis
calling the administration more pro-Palestinian and more pro-Israel has fallen
from 47% in August 2009 to 28% this week.
Obama fared better in a Dialog
poll published by Haaretz on Thursday, which found that a quarter of the public
considers him friendly to Israel, while 20% called him hostile and 43% described
him as “businesslike.”
The Dialog poll found that 47% of the Israeli
public deemed Netanyahu’s trip to Washington a success, while only 10% viewed it
as a failure.
Nearly half of the public felt pride at seeing Netanyahu
address Congress on Tuesday, while only 5% deemed it a “missed
opportunity.”
The proportion of the population expressing satisfaction
with Netanyahu’s performance as prime minister rose from 38% in the last Haaretz
poll five weeks ago, to 51%.
Other polls also indicated a rise in support
for Netanyahu and his Likud Party since his speeches in Washington.
A
Telesker poll published in Ma’ariv on Wednesday found that the Likud had
strengthened against Kadima. The poll predicted that the Likud would rise from
27 to 30 Knesset seats, while Kadima would fall from 28 to 27.
Asked who
was more fit to be prime minister, 36.9% said Netanyahu; 28.3% said Kadima
leader Tzipi Livni; 9.2% said Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman of Israel
Beiteinu; 2.6% said Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Independence; and 18.2%
answered none of the above.
A Sarid Institute poll broadcast on Channel 2
Tuesday night found that 38% of Israelis found Netanyahu most fit to be prime
minister, and 35% Livni. The poll found that the Likud had grown in support at
Kadima’s expense.



Since the last poll taken by the institute during a
crisis over gas prices, Kadima fell by five seats and Likud rose by
four.

The poll found that if an election were held now, Likud would win
34 seats (up seven from the last election in February 2009); and Kadima 29 (up
one).

A Geocartographic Institute poll broadcast on Channel 1 Tuesday
night predicted that the Likud would win 33 seats, and Kadima 22. According to
that survey, 61% of Jewish Israelis oppose Obama’s formula of the 1967 lines
with land swaps as a basis for an agreement with the Palestinians, while only
27% favor it.

via jpost.com

IDF conditionally ceases air strikes on Hamas targets, but Hamas has not ceased!

Palestinian official says Hamas,
Israel agree to truce shortly before Kassam rocket
explodes near Ashkelon;
no injuries or damage reported;
Defense Ministry official:
Israel will hold fire if Hamas does same.

Ehud Barak says a STRONG country uses RESTRAINT? IDF conditionally ceases air strikes on Hamas targets...

The IDF stopped its air strikes against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Sunday after Palestinian terror groups cut back on rocket attacks against Israel, in what appeared to be the beginning of a shaky cease-fire. The decision was made shortly before a Kassam rocket exploded near Ashkelon. No injuries were reported and no damage was caused.

On Sunday, 13 rockets were fired into Israel, and a senior official in the Defense Ministry, who requested anonymity, told reporters that Israel decided to hold its fire as long as Hamas and the other Palestinian terror groups ceased launching attacks on civilians.

“It all depends on the other side,” the Defense Ministry official said. “If a barrage of missiles falls in a town and there are casualties, that will change the situation – but if a rocket lands in an open field we will look at that differently.”

At the same time, a Palestinian official close to UN-and Egyptian-mediated negotiations told Reuters on Sunday that Israel and terrorist groups in Gaza had agreed to a truce, as cross-border violence abated.

"Palestinian factions have agreed to halt rocket fire and Israel agreed to cease attacks on the Gaza Strip," the Palestinian official said.

A senior IDF officer said Sunday that the IDF has a list of 19 names of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists who have been killed in air strikes and ground attacks since Israel stepped up military operations following Thursday’s anti-tank missile attack against a school bus near Nahal Oz.

Another 47 terrorists have been wounded, and there are two known deaths of civilians.

“We believe that Hamas has understood the message,” the senior defense official, who requested anonymity, said.

“We are ready to escalate our operations, however, if the attacks continue.”

Meanwhile, the star of the latest round of violence between Israel and Hamas continued to be the Iron Dome counter-rocket defense system, which has intercepted eight rockets since Thursday.

On Sunday, the Defense Ministry’s MAFAT Research and Development Directorate released video footage from the Iron Dome, showing how the Tamir interceptor shot down a number of Katyusha rockets over the weekend.

Israel plans to increase the number of operational batteries to six in the coming years, with the arrival of $205 million the Obama administration has pledged it will provide Israel to purchase additional rocket defense systems. The money is supposed to be included in the US’s upcoming annual budget.

The Defense Ministry recently completed negotiations with Iron Dome manufacturer Rafael about the upcoming deal.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the system’s success “has deeply impacted Israel’s ability to act operationally and to maneuver diplomatically against challenges, not just routinely, but also during much broader events.”

Once the money is received, it will still take at least 18 months before the first of the four batteries is delivered to the Air Force and up to two-and-a-half years before the last of the four is operational.

Reuters contributed to this report.  via jpost.com Photo by: REUTERS/Darren Whiteside  By YAAKOV KATZ AND JPOST.COM STAFF

Golda Meir fatal flaw was in thinking the Arabs had nothing to gain by attacking

Ehud Barak says a STRONG country uses RESTRAINT?

Strong countries don't defended themselves? Then be weak and survive. A country who takes constant rocket fire is strong? Fight back!
Ehud Barak image via snydertalk.com

Obama Indifferent: Palestinian Terrorists Murder Family in Israel – Including 3 Month-Old Infant

The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades
is part of Fatah
  which is run by
  Palestinian Authority
President Abbas.
In other words
it was an official act
of the Palestinian Authority.

---

The Obama administration’s criticism of Israel is based on its acceptance of the Palestinian Authority demand that Israel surrender all of the land restored to the Jewish state in the Six Day War in 1967. The political lines before the war were later referred to as the “Auschwitz borders" by then-Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, Abba Eban.
The Israeli response of “they murder and we build” was tempered with a statement that “measured construction” will be limited to the major Jewish population centers of Maaleh Adumin, Ariel, Kiryat Sefer and Gush Etzion.
Nevertheless, U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the Obama administration was “deeply concerned" over the new construction for Jews. He repeated U.S. President Barack Obama’s declaration that the Jewish communities in the area are “illegitimate” and added that the new building plans "run counter to efforts to resume direct negotiations'' between Israelis and the Palestinian Authority.
The PA also denounced the new building plan.
Prime Minister Netanyahu imposed an unprecedented 10-month freeze on building new homes for Jews in Judea and Samaria in September 2009 to satisfy PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s condition for resuming negotiations for the establishment of the PA as an independent country. However, Abbas then rejected the freeze as not being extensive enough. After the freeze ended, the government allowed the continuation of previously approved homes.
A de-facto freeze continues on new homes in most of Judea and Samaria that have not yet been approved, due to Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s refusal to sign necessary documents. He said he would agree to the 500 new units that a government ministerial committee approved Saturday night, 24 hours after the Itamar massacre.

via israelnationalnews.com

When the current violent  confrontation broke out (September 2000), Fatah operatives in the PA-administered territories who supported the PA, and most of whom worked for the Palestinian Security Services, began taking an active part in terrorist activities against Israel. Initially they confined themselves to shooting attacks and planting side charges to blow up soldiers and Israeli civilians in the West  Bank and the Gaza Strip.  They claimed responsibility for the attacks using the name Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, which has become the became the generic name for all Fatah field operatives.  Today, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades consists of an unknown number of small cells of Fatah-affiliated terrorists that aims to drive the Israeli military and settlers from the West Bank, Gaza  Strip, and Jerusalem and to establish a Palestinian state.  Al-Aqsa has carried out shootings and suicide operations against Israeli civilians and military personnel and has killed Palestinians suspected of collaborating with Israel. At least five U.S. citizens — four of them dual U.S.-Israeli citizens — were killed in al-Aqsa’s attacks. In January 2002, al-Aqsa claimed responsibility for the first suicide bombing carried out by a female. via jewishvirtuallibrary.org

Photos of the murder of the Fogel family in the town of Itamar, north of Jerusalem, on March 11, 2011 by Arab terrorists.
WARNING: THESE PHOTOS ARE EXTREMELY GRAPHIC AND NOT INTENDED FOR CHILDREN.
These photos were released by the family. They have given full permission for their use in order to report on the horrific reality of murdering children and babies in their sleep, "simply because they are Jewish."

via israelnationalnews.com

Eleven-year-old Jewish son, Yoav

Three-year-old Jewish boy

Father and 3-month-old infant, Hadas

Three year old, Elad

Carl in Jerusalem’s Israel Matzav has been a first-stop blog on news and opinion from Israel and the Middle East generally. Today, following the truly horrific terrorist murder of the five members of the Fogel family in the Samarian town of Itamar (including the unimaginably savage stabbing of a three-month old baby), Carl posted this video. It’s hard to watch, but it’s a must. As human beings, we have a responsibility to stare into pure evil– if only to steel ourselves to fight it with all the energy we have. Don’t watch the video with children or the weak of heart.
According to Israel Matzav, Israeli radio reported that this video has been taken down and ‘flagged’ by pro-Palestinian internet activists, apparently to hide the absolute savagery of their brothers-in-arms. Meanwhile, in Gaza, Hamas has heralded the attack and– like after 9/11– they’re passing out candy. Please make sure as many people as possible see this; as the video makes clear in the end, these are the “peace partners” Israel is to make concessions to.

From Israel National News:

Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency told Iranians that the attackers “managed to kill all the five Zionists who were in the house…. The Palestinian combatant has returned home safely after conducting his mission successfully.”
“The operation was a natural response to the crimes of the Zionist regime against the Palestinian people.”

via bigpeace.com

South American countries recognize Palestinian state

JORDANA HORN, HILARY LEILA KRIEGER AND HERB KEI
12/06/2010
After initial recognition by Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay follow suit, recognize "free and independent" Palestine with 1967 borders; Israel: recognition contradicts road map; Clinton to make major statement on talks.


Following in Brazil’s footsteps from last Friday, Argentina announced on Monday it recognized a “free and independent” Palestinian state, sparking an immediate condemnation from Israel.
Argentina’s President Cristina Kirchner told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in a letter that her country recognized a Palestine defined by 1967 borders, Argentine officials said. The Argentine Foreign Ministry said in an e-mailed statement that the move was designed to help “definitively advance the negotiation process that will lead to the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.”
Uruguay announced soon afterward that it would recognize a Palestinian state next year. “Uruguay will surely follow the same path as Argentina in 2011,” Deputy Foreign Minister Roberto Conde told AFP.
Israel expressed “regret and disappointment” on Monday night at Argentina’s decision to join Brazil in recognizing an independent Palestinian state.
“Recognition of a Palestinian state is a violation of the interim agreement signed by Israel and the Palestinian Authority in 1995, which established that the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip will be discussed and solved through negotiations,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The statement said that recognition of a Palestinian state also contradicted the road map.
“All attempts to bypass negotiations and to unilaterally determine issues in dispute will only harm the trust of the sides and their commitment to agreed upon frameworks for negotiations,” the statement read.
The American Jewish Committee called the recognition of an independent Palestinian state by Brazil and Argentina both worrisome and counterproductive.
Such actions would only “encourage the PA to unilaterally declare independence,” which would “undermine the prospect for durable peace,” according to AJC Executive Director David Harris.
“If Latin American countries truly want to support Arab- Israeli peace, they should be pressing President Abbas to return to the direct talks that were revived with US assistance three months ago, and suspended a few weeks later by Abbas,” he added.
Over 100 countries have endorsed the Palestinians’ 1988 unilateral declaration of independent statehood.
Clinton preparing major statement on peace process
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is preparing a major statement on the process this week, as talks between the US and Israel over a plan to restart negotiations have stalled.
“I will be making a very formal set of remarks,” Clinton told the American-based Arabic TV station Al Hurra during her trip to Bahrain this weekend, declining to offer details of her plans.
She is scheduled to give a keynote address at the Saban Forum of the Brookings Institution Friday night, where she will be appearing with Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
Clinton indicated that the US had “made progress” in continuing conversations with Israelis and Palestinians, but that the obligation remained on both sides to make the necessary compromises.
“We have been talking with both parties very substantively, and I think that the United States can play a role to help each make decisions about very difficult matters that then can be presented to the other side,” she said.
One source close to the issue said the remarks could include an announcement of a US-Israeli deal that has been in the works for weeks if it were completed on time, but he said there was a very low probability of it being worked out by the end of the week.

via docstalk.blogspot.com

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