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forwarded with major commentary by Emanuel A. Winston, New York Times Makes It Official: Obama Has Shifted U.S. Policy Against Israel
By Jonathan Tobin
Freeman Center Middle East Analyst & Commentator
President Barack Hussein Obama’s policy toward the Jewish Nation/State of Israel is ominously hostile. Some will recall that Adolph Hitler developed a plan to blame the Jews for Germany’s economic collapse into Super Hyper Inflation.
Never mind the twisted logic that the minuscule population of Jews had mysteriously caused the Deutschmark to become worthless paper which was printed by the tonnage by Hitler’s regime. The people were in pain over the government’s mishandling of the economy and welcomed Hitler’s demand to blame the Jews. Now we have OBAMA-CARE Welfare with working taxpayers’ money picking up the bill in a planned transfer-of-the-wealth scheme bragged about by Obama in his election campaign which is beyond the wildest dreams of America every actually paying off the huge debt that it costs. But yet, Obama, Pelosi, Reid and the Democrats are spending frantically with money America doesn’t have - except for the newly printed dollar which is worth less and less.
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Jewish World Review April 19, 2010 / 5 Iyar 5770
Presently, Obama’s regime is similarly printing tonnage of green paper money while at the same time spending trillions America doesn’t have. Someone must take responsibility for a proud nation in free-fall over the mortgage fiasco, initiated by Freddie Mac and Fannie May who pushed lending to poor voters who not only didn’t have a credit rating but could never pay a monthly mortgage fee.
Many were in a welfare category which Obama understood very well as he was an experienced 'community organizer' who wanted indigent people to have a house paid for by working taxpayers - or the so-called rich who were already paying most of the nation’s taxes.
Obama and the Left Liberal Democrats needed voters in the black and Latino communities who would flock to unaffordable mortgages where ‘somehow’ they wouldn’t really have to pay. But, they were joyfully delighted to vote for a President who looked like them...one of their own...who promised to take the savings of those who worked and give it to the non-working poor. This was called "re-distribution of wealth".
But, every Rainbow touches the ground and disappears. Now the only problem was to find someone to blame for bankrupting the country. As Hitler did, the logical choice was the Jews who had nothing to do with the German nation’s failure. But, who would listen to the denial of the Jews when a great charismatic orator told the crowds that it wasn’t their fault or the fault of the State, it wasn’t the fault of the good German people - it was the Jews. Hitler had Joseph Goebbels, the newspapers, the radio and the judges in the courts to pick up the idea that the German nation was suffering - because of the Jews.
Now it’s 2010 and Barack Hussein Obama is whipping up the idea that the Jews of Israel are somehow not complying with Obama’s idea of national suicide for Israel. Since the hard-working Jews of Israel and the Jews of America are really one, clearly, the imminent further collapse of America’s dollar and her high unemployment meet the test and logic of Hitler’s policies of prodding good Germans into a rage against the Jews. Why not employ the same plan to explain away Obama’s failure in managing the American economy?
It really doesn’t matter where the fuse is lit, people in pain will accept any rationale to explain away their hurt, their lost money and their lost security. They always need to blame someone else.
Note! The attack against Goldman-Sachs, directing the peoples’ anger at Wall Street - despite the revealed facts that the start of America’s collapse was in the American government and the deliberate continuation of the Welfare State policy by the politicians behind Fannie May and Freddy Mac as well as those "community organizers" - like Barack Hussein Obama who was ‘guiding’ ACORN.
The New York Times Makes It Official: Obama Has Shifted U.S. Policy Against Israel
By Jonathan Tobin
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
If there were any lingering doubts in the minds of Democrats who care about Israel that the president they helped elect has fundamentally altered American foreign policy to the Jewish state's disadvantage, they are now gone. The New York Times officially proclaimed the administration's changed attitude in a front-page story last week that ought to send chills down the spine of anyone who believed Barack Obama when he pledged in 2008 that he would be a loyal friend of Israel.
As the Times notes, there is a great irony to Obama's blazing anger at the Israelis and the urgency with which he views the issue. It comes at a time when the overwhelming majority of Israelis have "become disillusioned with the whole idea of resolving the conflict. Mr. Netanyahu's right-wing coalition government has long been skeptical about the benefits of a peace deal with the Palestinians. But skepticism has taken root in the Israeli public as well, particularly after Israel saw little benefit from its traumatic withdrawal from Gaza in 2005." In other words, after countless concessions made to the Arabs at Oslo, and in subsequent accords and after offers from Israel of a state comprising Gaza, the West Bank, and parts of Jerusalem were refused by the Palestinians in 2000 and 2008, most Israelis have finally figured out that the other side doesn't want to end the conflict. And they are baffled as to why Obama and his advisers haven't come to the same all too obvious conclusion.
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Death of a City
Paul Eidelberg
Although he lived some 2,500 years ago, one can learn much from the Greek historian Hieronymus.
Perhaps no chapter of his history of the ancient Mediterranean world is more interesting than that which discusses Aleris, a city of high culture. Located on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean, Aleris preceded Athens in the arts and sciences, as well as in commerce and agriculture. Hieronymus claims that descendants of exiled Aleri citizens, who had settled in Athens, were the originators of Greek philosophy.
Be this as it may, Aleris was the envy of the Mediterranean. The city often found itself at war with other cities (or city-states). But such was the undaunted courage of her citizens and the advanced state of her military arts, that Aleris readily defeated her enemies on the battlefield.
According to Hieronymus, war in those days was the norm of “international” relations. Pacifism was unheard of. Yet, toward the end of the sixth century before the common era, something unprecedented happened: a peace party called the “Praxites” came to power in Aleris. The peace party constantly magnified the danger of war in order to make citizens feel dependent on their rulers and on the new political order. Hieronymus explains:
“Prior to the reign of the Praxites, the people of Aleris were spirited warriors: proud of their heritage, disdainful of their enemies, superior to all in battle, and second to none in their love of liberty. Fearing only the gods, and believing in a life after death, they were all the more disposed to fight and die in defense of their fatherland.
“Now, by means of deception and bribery, the Praxites came to power. The new rulers, consisting of sophists, rejected Aleris’ sacred tradition. They realized, however, that they would have to undermine the religion of their people to render them fearful of war, pliable, and dependent on their government.
“Accordingly, the priests were given lucrative government positions to silence them about the warlike intentions of Aleris’ enemies. Also, the Praxites curtailed and eventually eliminated public funds for the religious education of youth. In this way the anti-traditionalist peace party diminished the likelihood of any popular revolution led by the old religious leaders.
“Recognizing that war fosters public-spiritedness which could threaten their own power, the peace party established schools to foster pacifism. Paltry self-indulgence became the way of life of a once austere city. Gone was the manliness of previous times.
“The new educators of Aleris constantly intoned peace as the highest value. In truth, they were only animated by the desire for comfortable self-preservation. But by making the city’s educators part of the ruling elite, the Praxites had no fear of revolution from that source.
“Meanwhile the Praxites corrupted the Aleris army. Officers were allowed to retire at the age of 40, and with a pension that would make them virtually independent. High-ranking officers were co-opted into the peace party or made the overseers of some commercial or other enterprise. This bound the military to the ruling elite and the existing political order. There was no fear of a military coup.
“To further consolidate their power, the Praxites abolished private enterprise in Aleris. They understood that nothing makes a people more spirited than possessing their own means of livelihood. By making citizens dependent on government largesse, the peace party rendered the people of Aleris servile.
“Consistent therewith, the ruling elite greatly multiplied the number of government jobs. Although most of these jobs had little or no economic justification, they increased the number of citizens who would oppose any change in the political and economic status quo. In this way the peace party precluded revolution from below as well as from above.
“Despite the veneer of democracy, the peace party thus controlled all the levers of power in Aleris for many years. And since the mantras of 'peace' and 'democracy' were always on the lips of politicians, priests, and educators, the people were held in blissful ignorance of the tyranny that held sway in their city. They believed that their safety and welfare depended not only on the ruling elite but on the existing form of government.
“When any brave soul spoke up and sought to awaken people from this thralldom, he was ignored or maligned as an enemy of peace and democracy, incarcerated or exiled.
“Of course this condition could not possibly last. Although the rulers of Aleris signed peace treaties with their neighbors, the latter regarded such treaties as preparation periods for the next war, which eventually descended on Aleris like a thunderbolt. These peace treaties only gulled the people of Aleris and made them less vigilant.
“And so, a slavish craving for peace produced only war—the last to be fought by a once brave and noble people.”
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A MUST READ essay explaining why a strong Israel is essential for US national security. Its author is one of the foremost commentators on Middle East affairs.
Today, as the Obama administration is openly distancing the US from Israel while giving the impression that Israel is a strategic impediment to the administration's attempts to strengthen its relations with the Arab world, recalling why Israel is the US's most important ally in the Middle East has become a matter of some urgency.
Much is made of the fact that Israel is a democracy. But we seldom consider why the fact that Israel is a representative democracy matters. The fact that Israel is a democracy means that its alliance with America reflects the will of the Israeli people. As such, it remains constant regardless of who is power in Jerusalem.
All of the US's other alliances in the Middle East are with authoritarian regimes whose people do not share the pro-American views of their leaders. The death of leaders or other political developments are liable to bring about rapid and dramatic changes in their relations with the US.
For instance, until 1979, Iran was one of the US's closest strategic allies in the region. Owing to the gap between the Iranian people and their leadership, the Islamic revolution put an end to the US-Iran alliance.
Egypt flipped from a bitter foe to an ally of the US when Gamal Abdel Nasser died in 1969. Octogenarian President Hosni Mubarak's encroaching death is liable to cause a similar shift in the opposite direction.
Instability in the Hashemite kingdom in Jordan and the Saudi regime could transform those countries from allies to adversaries.
Only Israel, where the government reflects the will of the people is a reliable, permanent US ally.
America reaps the benefits of its alliance with Israel every day. As the US suffers from chronic intelligence gaps, Israel remains the US's most reliable source for accurate intelligence on the US's enemies in the region.
Israel is the US's only ally in the Middle East that always fights its own battles. Indeed, Israel has never asked the US for direct military assistance in time of war. Since the US and Israel share the same regional foes, when Israel is called upon to fight its enemies, its successes redound to the US's benefit.
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Here it bears recalling Israel's June 1982 destruction of Syria's Soviet-made anti-aircraft batteries and the Syrian air force. Those stunning Israeli achievements were the first clear demonstration of the absolute superiority of US military technology over Soviet military technology. Many have argued that it was this Israeli demonstration of Soviet technological inferiority that convinced the Reagan administration it was possible to win the Cold War.
In both military and non-military spheres, Israeli technological achievements - often developed with US support - are shared with America. The benefits the US has gained from Israeli technological advances in everything from medical equipment to microchips to pilotless aircraft are without peer worldwide.
Beyond the daily benefits the US enjoys from its close ties with Israel, the US has three fundamental, permanent, vital national security interests in the Middle East. A strong Israel is a prerequisite for securing all of these interests.
America's three permanent strategic interests in the Middle East are as follows:
1 - Ensuring the smooth flow of affordable petroleum products from the region to global consumers through the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Aden and the Suez Canal.
2 - Preventing the most radical regimes, sub-state and non-state actors from acquiring the means to cause catastrophic harm.
3 - Maintaining the US's capacity to project its power to the region.
A strong Israel is the best guarantor of all of these interests. Indeed, the stronger Israel is, the more secure these vital American interests are. Three permanent and unique aspects to Israel's regional position dictate this state of affairs.
1 - As the first target of the most radical regimes and radical sub-state actors in the region, Israel has a permanent, existential interest in preventing these regimes and sub-state actors from acquiring the means to cause catastrophic harm.
Israel's 1981 airstrike that destroyed Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor prevented Iraq from acquiring nuclear weapons. Despite US condemnation at the time, the US later acknowledged that the strike was a necessary precondition to the success of Operation Desert Storm ten years later. Richard Cheney - who served as secretary of defense during Operation Desert Storm - has stated that if Iraq had been a nuclear power in 1991, the US would have been hard pressed to eject Saddam Hussein's Iraqi army from Kuwait and so block his regime from asserting control over oil supplies in the Persian Gulf.
2 - Israel is a non-expansionist state and its neighbors know it. In its 62 year history, Israel has only controlled territory vital for its national security and territory that was legally allotted to it in the 1922 League of Nations Mandate which has never been abrogated or superseded.
Israel's strength, which it has used only in self-defense, is inherently non-threatening. Far from destabilizing the region, a strong Israel stabilizes the Middle East by deterring the most radical actors from attacking.
In 1970, Israel blocked Syria's bid to use the PLO to overthrow the Hashemite regime in Jordan. Israel's threat to attack Syria not only saved the Hashemites then, it has deterred Syria from attempting to overthrow the Jordanian regime ever since.
Similarly, Israel's neighbors understand that its purported nuclear arsenal is a weapon of national survival and hence they view it as non-threatening. This is the reason Israel's alleged nuclear arsenal has never spurred a regional nuclear arms race.
In stark contrast, if Iran acquires nuclear weapons, a regional nuclear arms race will ensue immediately.
Although they will never admit it, Israel's non-radical neighbors feel more secure when Israel is strong. On the other hand, the region's most radical regimes and non-state actors will always seek to emasculate Israel.
3-- Since as the Jewish state Israel is the regional bogeyman, no Arab state will agree to form a permanent alliance with it. Hence, Israel will never be in a position to join forces with another nation against a third nation.
In contrast, the Egyptian-Syrian United Arab Republic of the 1960s was formed to attack Israel. Today, the Syrian-Iranian alliance is an inherently aggressive alliance against Israel and the non-radical Arab states in the region. Recognizing the stabilizing force of a strong Israel, the moderate states of the region prefer for Israel to remain strong.
From the US's perspective, far from impairing its alliance-making capabilities in the region, by providing military assistance to Israel, America isn't just strengthening the most stabilizing force in the region. It is showing all states and non-state actors in the greater Middle East it is trustworthy.
On the other hand, every time the US seeks to attenuate its ties with Israel, it is viewed as an untrustworthy ally by the nations of the Middle East. US hostility towards Israel causes Israel's neighbors to hedge their bets by distancing themselves from the US lest America abandon them to their neighboring adversaries.
A strong Israel empowers the relatively moderate actors in the region to stand up to the radical actors in the region because they trust Israel to keep the radicals in check. Today's regional balance of power in which the moderates have the upper hand over the radicals is predicated on a strong Israel.
On the other hand, when Israel is weakened the radical forces are emboldened to threaten the status quo. Regional stability is thrown asunder. Wars become more likely. Attacks on oil resources increase. The most radical sub-state actors and regimes are emboldened.
To the extent that the two-state solution assumes that Israel must contract itself to within the indefensible 1949 ceasefire lines, and allow a hostile Palestinian state allied with terrorist organizations to take power in the areas it vacates, the two-state solution is predicated on making Israel weak and empowering radicals. In light of this, the two-state solution as presently constituted is antithetical to America's most vital strategic interests in the Middle East.
When we bear in mind the foundations for the US's alliance with Israel, it is obvious that US support for Israel over the years has been the most cost-effective national security investment in post-World War II US history.
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by Hana Levi Julian
- ArutzSheva.comA former aide to New York State Governor George Pataki slammed the Obama administration's treatment of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the State of Israel in a prelude to Sunday's “Break the Silence' rally, set to begin at 1:00 p.m. (EDT) outside the Israeli Consulate in Manhattan.
The event will take place rain or shine, according to organizer Beth Gilinsky, head of the Jewish Action Alliance.
Among those on the podium will be Jeff Weisenfeld of Bernstein Global Wealth Management, a long-time leader in New York's “mainstream” Jewish community who for years was also active in the National Committee for Jewish Education. Weisenfeld spent four years as chief of staff in the city administration of former Mayor Ed Koch, a Democrat before becoming an aide to Governor George Pataki, another Republican.
Speaking late Friday afternoon in an interview with Israel National News, Weisenfeld called the current diplomatic crisis “the biggest accidental or deliberate miscalculation in American-Israeli relations made by any American president.” He added that the Obama administration's overtures to the Muslim world, and the contrast with its hostility to the State of Israel, had transformed the U.S. executive branch into a “complete Alice-in-Wonderland government. I don't want to make light of it here,” Weisenfeld said with some sarcasm, “but it's like Purim, when Mordechai becomes Haman, and Haman becomes Mordechai.”
He reserved special criticism for White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Special Presidential Adviser David Axelrod, both traditonal Jews in the Obama administration who are among the president's closest aides. “I had positions like theirs, I worked for a governor, a senator... I always made sure that I was representing the Jewish community to the governor, and the governor to them. But there are some who see their power as an end in itself. They don't want to tell the boss when he's wrong. And they are the worst kind of people to have in government,” Weisenfeld said.
“Islam has evolved backwards, has become more violent than perhaps it was even in its inception, since they did not have the weapons then, that they have today. And you have Emanuel and Axelrod, who have bad judgment, and who do not see the need to fight this moral equivalency.”
Weisenfeld also noted that most “mainstream” Jewish community organizations did not – and could not – officially sign on to sponsor Sunday's rally for fear of retribution from the Obama administration. “The mainstream groups are about access and response to a direct threat from the White House.
“The [Jewish] Federations and their beneficiaries and subsidiaries have been warned by Rahm Emanuel to stay away from public criticism of the president on Israel. But unless the weather is horrendous,” he added, “there will be an abundance of “establishment-affiliated” people. Maybe we can wake up this president and pull him back from the abyss.”
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Sunday, April 25, 2010 |
by Hana Levi Julian
U.S. Democratic Senator Charles Schumer and a leading Demcoratic Congressman have strongly criticized Obama administration policies against Israel. New York Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, who once worked for Sen. Schumer and is the fiancé of a Muslim aide to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, also came out swinging.
“The appropriate response was a shake of the head – not a temper tantrum," Rep. Weiner said. “Israel is a sovereign nation and an ally, not a punching bag. Enough already.”
Sen. Schumer told listeners on the Nachum Segal Show in New York that the White House stance on Israel has been “counterproductive”. The senator, who faces elections in the fall, said he had told White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel weeks ago that he would take a public stand if the State Department did not back down from its “terrible” treatment of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
“This has to stop,” Schumer said he told the White House.
Schumer said there was an internal “battle” going on in the White House between members of the president's staff. “One side agrees with us, one side doesn't, and we're pushing hard to make sure the right side wins – and if not, we'll have to take it to the next step,” he said.
“Palestinians don't really believe in a State of Israel,” Schumer noted. “They, unlike a majority of Israelis, who have come to the conclusion that they can live with a two-state solution to be determined by the parties, the majority of Palestinians are still very reluctant, and they need to be pushed to get there.
“If the U.S. says certain things and takes certain stands the Palestinians say, 'Why should we negotiate?' [State Department spokesman P.J.] Crowley said something I have never heard before, which is, the relationship of Israel and the United States depends on the pace of the negotiations,” Schumer added.
This was apparently the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back for the senior senator, who until now has been one of Obama's closest allies among the Jewish Democrats. Schumer was referring to a briefing in which the State Department spokesman said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “made clear that the Israeli government needed to demonstrate not just through words, but through specific actions, that they are committed to this relationship and to the peace process.”Up to this point, Schumer had been largely silent about the growing hostility of the Obama administration towards the State of Israel, despite numerous calls by grassroots groups for legislators to stand up and support the Jewish State.
The contention of the State Department that the so-called “unbreakable bond” between Israel and the U.S. could now depend on the pace of talks with the PA, however, was the red line for Schumer.
He explained, “That is the dagger because the relationship is much deeper than the disagreements on negotiations, and most Americans – Democrat, Republican, Jew, non-Jew – would feel that. So I called up Rahm Emanuel and I called up the White House and I said, 'If you don't retract that statement you are going to hear me publicly blast you on this.”
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs responded Friday, “We have an unwavering commitment to the security of Israel and the Israeli people. You heard General [James] Jones speak about that earlier in the week. We have said that from the beginning of the administration. I don't think it is a stretch to say we don't agree with what Senator Schumer said.”
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by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has scored a diplomatic coup with an invitation from U.S. President Barack Obama to visit Washington as media analysts conclude that the president is toning down his criticism of Israel.
One day after the invitation reportedly was delivered, Abbas urged President Obama on Saturday to impose on Israel the acceptance of a new PA state based on its demands. Meanwhile, U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Sunday morning, both of whom issued positive statements on the background of no real achievements except to agree to further talks.
Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator for the PA said that Abbas will visit Washington next month, but other PA officials said that the trip depends on Israel’s accepting American-backed PA demands.
President Obama officially has not imposed on Israel the conditions for the establishment of a new Arab state within the current borders of the Jewish State. However, his administration in the past year has gradually adopted most of the PA's demands, bypassed PA commitments to halt incitement and violence against Israel, and demanded that Israel stop building for Jews in united Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.
Israel fears that doing so would be a de facto division of the capital.
In a speech to Fatah party officials in Ramallah on Saturday, Abbas said, "Mr. President and members of the American administration, since you believe in [an independent PA state], it is your duty to take steps toward a solution and to impose this solution.”
The U.S. State Department has stated that the United States would not impose its own solution “for the time being.”
Israel continues to be on the defensive in the PA-American diplomatic maneuvers. Following several weeks of unprecedented public condemnation of Israel by the Obama administration, Mitchell called Sunday morning’s discussions with Prime Minister Netanyahu “productive and positive. He added that he will return to the region next week for more discussions.Reporters covering the State Department have grown increasingly skeptical of American efforts to bring the PA and Israel together. One journalist sarcastically asked U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley on Friday, “So what grand accomplishments has he [Mitchell] come up with in his meetings so far?”
Crowley responded with the routine answer that “we [are] trying to move the parties to a point where they agree to proximity talks and to begin to address the substance, the core issues of the process, but there’s still work to do.”
He added, “If you’re signaling are we expecting a breakthrough through on this visit, probably not.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu told the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday morning that Israel has been and continues to be prepared to begin direct talks with the PA immediately. Abbas has held out for acceptance of a halt to building for Jews in parts of Jerusalem where it claims sovereignty. The areas include the Temple Mount area and Western Wall, as well as the neighborhoods of Ramot, French Hill among others.
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4. Iran Trades Oil for Enriched Uranium from Zimbabwe
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu 
Iran last month sealed a secret deal to trade oil for enriched uranium from Zimbabwe, which hosted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week, according to the London Telegraph. The deal was signed last month “away from the media glare” when an Iranian minister visited Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, a source from the African country told the newspaper.
The oil-for uranium agreement gives Zimbabwe badly needed oil and allows Iran free and unsupervised access to material that can be used to produce a nuclear weapon. Israel, the United States and several Western countries have assumed that Iran is lying in claiming it has no intentions of building a nuclear weapon, which it presumably would try to use to carry out its repeated threat to “wipe Israel off the map.”
The reported deal with Zimbabwe would violate United Nations sanctions on Iran, which suddenly stated last week that it is willing to let U.N. nuclear watchdogs inspect its nuclear facilities.
Ahmadinejad last week visited Zimbabwe, whose Muslim population accounts for only one percent of its citizens. He showed support for Mugabe against “expansionist countries’ satanic pressures on the people of Zimbabwe” by allegedly trying to manage the country’s natural resources.
Mugabe responded, "We remain resolute in defending Zimbabwe's right to exercise its sovereignty over its natural resources. We have equally supported Iran's right to peaceful use of nuclear energy as enshrined in the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.”
Zimbabwe is estimated to have nearly half a million tons of uranium, five percent of which can be extracted.
Ahmadinejad was the first leader outside of Africa to open the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, where Iran was the biggest foreign exhibitor.
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Deja vu — Judith Apter Klinghoffer
Judith Apter Klinghoffer
AMERICANS, IF NOT OBAMA, KNOW ISRAEL'S STRATEGIC VALUE
ZAKARIA: Rashid, what do you think? Does - does it strike you as a shift for the - the United States to be suggesting that this stalled peace process hurts America's ability to pursue its interests?KHALIDI: What they're saying is that Israel is a drag on the United States. It's not a strategic asset, and this is a discursive shift of some significance.I don't think they're saying, you know, remove Settlement X from Hilltop Y and the Arab will sing Hosannas to, you know, American power. What they are saying is that Israel is not the strategic asset it was touted as during the Cold War. . . .ZAKARIA: Do you see the shift is as dramatic as - as you were just describing? Because what Obama has said and what Petraeus' report says is not Israel is a strategic drag, it's that the lack of progress in the peace process is the problem, you know, that - that we need this process to be energized. Otherwise, it is pointed to by the - by Jihadis, it is used as a recruiting tool. That's a - that's very different from saying Israel is a strategic drag.KHALIDI: I think that discursively, if you sit down and parse what they're saying, at - at base, at root, that is essentially the message. . . .
In coming years, the greatest threats to the United States are likely to emanate from states that cannot adequately govern themselves or secure their own territory. The U.S. government must improve its ability to help its partners defend themselves or, if necessary, fight alongside U.S. troops.
When the US, for its own reasons, went to war against Muslim states, Israel possessed the most extensive knowledge base of the type of fighting involved as a consequence of her experience in Lebanon and in fighting Palestinian terror. Since 2003, the American army in Iraq made extensive use of Israeli technology in using and fortifying vehicles. Operational methods, defensive measures, identification and diffusion of mines as well as training methods were transferred from Israel to the American army and saved the lives of hundreds of American soldiers.Israel has in its possession a wide array of correspondence from various American agencies gratefully acknowledging Israel’s contribution and even estimating the number of lives it saved in Iraq and Afghanistan. Israel helped to militarize and make more precise American drones technology thereby improve the efficacy of its targeted assassinations.
Indeed, it was the use of Israeli methods which enabled the US to increase significantly its use of drones in the past year because those methods increased the number of enemy casualties while at the same time decreasing civilian casualties. Foreign sources estimate that up to 400 American military personnel went through Israeli training in real time intelligence gathering to identify and pin point military targets.
Israel stood alone but her victory also helped save the American position in the Middle East at a time when the US was mired in the jungles of Vietnam. The role played then by Egypt is played today by Iran. The role played then by Nasser is played today by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. That is the reason, Lebanese journalist Elias Bejjani has already concluded that Iran, not Israel, will start the war Now, unlike then, US forces are stationed in the Middle East and the weapons involved are nuclear. Need I write more?!
April 12, 2010
The Second War of Independence
Elyakim HaEtzni
Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu avoided attending the international nuclear conference in Washington in order to side step the mine that President Barack Obama had planted there for him and us.
What was the nature of that mine?
It’s not just Jerusalem or any particular clause in the document that Obama set before Netanyahu for his signature at their last meeting. At stake is the independence of the State of Israel. We are poised at the edge of a Second War of Independence, in which the Quartet, under America ’s leadership, is playing the role of the British High Commissioner. Alex Fishman, in an article in “Yediot Achronot” from April 9th, details what Obama presented to Netanyahu for his signature:
n The withdrawal of the IDF from all the Arab cities of Judea and Samaria and a large proportion of the countryside, precluding all future Israeli military operations in those areas (pretty much the only way of preventing terrorist attacks against Israeli targets);
n Allowing the Palestinian Authority to resume operations unhindered in Jerusalem ;
n Obligating Israel to cease any present or future building in Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem , amounting to the de facto division of the capitol.
In addition, Obama demanded that Netanyahu continue the building freeze in Judea and Samaria indefinitely and hand over parts of Area C to the Ramallah authorities, changing its status to Area A, which prohibits Israelis from setting foot there. Obama required Netanyahu to relinquish the northern Dead Sea and parts of the Jordan Valley to enable the PA to develop tourism there.
All this must take place immediately, before the beginning of negotiations, while the negotiations themselves will determine the final border and, according to the American timetable, will be signed and sealed within two months.
“What if Israel doesn’t respond to Obama’s plan or only responds partially?,” Fishman asked a senior State Department official. The man replied, “What do you mean we won’t receive full answers? Where do you think you’re going from here?”
The American commentator Barry Rubin listed three substantive breaches of agreement by the Obama administration towards Israel :
- A breach of the agreement to recognize Israel ’s right to maintain settlement blocks.
- A breach of the agreement for Israel to continue building in eastern Jerusalem, given in return for Israel’s acceding to the administration’s demand for a 10-month building freeze in Judea and Samaria.
The subject of the third breach completes the process of Israel ’s loss of sovereignty. First by forcing Netanyahu to create in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria conditions under which the territory is de facto handed over to the Arabs, and then by giving him a few months to play at the farce of negotiations, with the predetermined result of arriving at the American “peace plan.”
And that’s not all. There’s the Quartet’s declared intent to base the forced “peace” on foreign armies. The Americans and Europeans are offering Israel the services of foreign troops as a beneficence in response to Israel ’s complaint that it will no longer be able to defend itself within the borders of the Green Line. Their answer to this is “security guarantees” backed up with a military presence in the Jordan Valley and along the Green Line. They tell us that their intention is to defend us from the Arabs while they tell the Arabs that their intention is to defend them from us. In effect, this military presence will tie our hands and will prevent the Israeli government from taking any independent military action. From then on, Israel will be a sovereign nation in name only. In fact, Israel will be a protectorate under international control, led by America .
Obama masterfully stage-directed the threat of a forced solution upon us. A meeting was called of past security advisors that all shared a common attribute: hostility to Israel . The chairman was General Jim Jones who served in Israel and became known as favoring a forced solution with foreign military backing. Obama named him as his National Security Advisor. The other participants were Zbigniew Brzezinski, Brent Scowcroft, and Samuel Berger, men with reputations as fierce opponents of Israel . Colin Powell – not a great friend but a bit more neutral – also participated. With Powell as the sole dissenter, they all reached the conclusion that America must adopt a policy of forcing a solution. The fact of the meeting as well as its conclusions were leaked by the White House to The New York Times and The Washington Post, who were also told that the President himself had dropped in to listen in on the discussion – this to let us know that it wasn’t just another discussion by another committee, but a working meeting sponsored by the President. In this discussion too, the participants agreed on the need to station American or NATO armed forces along the Jordan River .
Another figure in Obama’s circle is Samantha Power, who in 2002, answering the question of how she would advise the President about the Arab-Israeli conflict, replied that instead of giving Israel three billions dollars annually, the money should go towards building a Palestinian state and to funding “a huge army” with substantial capabilities for “forced outside intervention”. Obama appointed this woman as an advisor, a fact that says it all.
The Arabs caught on to the new rules of the game before Netanyahu, and are acting like they don’t have to do a thing since the Americans are doing it all for them. We, the Israelis, don’t count, since we’re not considered as having any independent power of decision. Instead of talking to the puppet, the Arabs prefer to address the one who pulls the strings.
America has a rich past of coercive foreign interventions. She had a hand in the coup in Chile that overthrew and killed Salvador Allende, Chile ’s democratically elected president. America orchestrated the revolt of “Solidarity” in Poland that overthrew the communist regime. She was involved in the overthrow of the pro-Russian regime in the Ukraine (since then, the Russians overturned things once again), and helped to overthrow Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze in order to set up a pro-American government there. Her intervention in numerous Latin American countries coined the phrase “banana republic”.
The Americans call their hostile subversion of other countries’ governments “destabilization,” and the press is indeed reporting that the sources close to the prime minister fear that Obama intends to bring down Netanyahu’s government if he doesn’t accept American dictates. In economics, this is known as a hostile takeover.
The hostile Israeli press sides with Obama, of course. Orly Azoulay, Yediot Achronot’s Washington bureau chief, acts as a “court reporter” for Obama, as if she works for him and not for us. And Alex Fishman, quoted above, criticizes “the problematic behavior of the Prime Minister in Washington .” Obama puts Neyanyahu through a hazing in Washington , and instead of defending his prime minister and condemning the one who insulted him – and thereby insulted us, one of Israel ’s prominent reporters throws mud on the “problematic behavior” of the victim. What was Netanyahu’s sin? That he didn’t immediately sign the decree of surrender?
Another example of the slavish and servile language of the Israeli press is the headline of Yediot Achronot from Sept. 17, 2009, which proclaims “The U.S.: Our Patience With Israel is Ending.” The paper’s editors composed this formulation, as if Israel were a stubborn child getting on the nerves of the teacher.
Israelis aren’t sufficiently cognizant of the threat of foreign military forces entering the country even though the writing has been on the wall for some time now. For example, as far back as October 2008, the newspaper A-Shark al-Aussat citing French sources reported that the European Union had offered to deploy a European “peace force” along a future Israeli-Palestinian border. The Jerusalem Post reported on November 26, 2008 about a recommendation by one of Obama’s most senior advisors to station American or NATO armed forces in the Jordan Valley . Brzezinski also spoke of an “American line” along the Jordan Valley.* Aaron Klein reported on January 12 about secret discussions in which the possibility of placing Jordanian forces in Judea and Samaria was weighed.
Another blow to Israeli sovereignty that Klein publicized (April 8, 2010), is the spy network that George Mitchell has established here. There is detailed American oversight in eastern Jerusalem and the highest echelons become involved in every tiny building or development project. Mitchell set up the operation from within the American consulate in Jerusalem that also oversees building in Judea and Samaria , including every tractor that moves in Ma’ale Adumim. David HaIvri, spokesman of the Samaria Local Council, also noted that the Americans patrol the settlements and stick their noses everywhere. According to HaIvri, they present themselves as advisors to the consul, “but we know that in fact they’re spies for the Obama administration.”
In truth, the deterioration leading to the loss of sovereignty, G-d forbid, started back in 2003, when Ariel Sharon’s government obligated itself to the Road Map. It is the Road Map that the Americans rely on when they accuse Israel of not fulfilling her obligations.
However, during the government vote on the Road Map, Netanyahu agreed to support it only on condition that 14 “reservations” were appended to it. The reservations included dismantling the terror organizations, including Hamas, stopping the incitement, confiscating unauthorized arms, and an end to arms smuggling and arms manufacture. These conditions, to say the least, haven’t been met – suffice it to mention that the Hamas state in Gaza , whose raison d’etre is to conduct a terror war against Israel until the Jewish State is destroyed, comprises almost half the Palestinian population.
Another reservation stated that as long as the Arabs fail to honor their commitments to put an end to terror and incitement, Israel is also absolved of her commitments (for example, to dismantle outposts and freeze building in the settlements).
Another reservation said that “final status issues, including the settlements in Judea and Samaria and the status of the Palestinian Authority in Jerusalem , will not be dealt with.” In another reservation, Israel rejected “any reference to international or other decisions,” (referring to the Saudi-Arab Initiative).
In light of these reservations, Obama’s attack on Israel is groundless since the conditions that would obligate Israel to the Road Map haven’t been met at all. Since May 23, 2003, the date the government obligated itself to these reservations, we’ve heard nothing about them, as if they vanished into a black hole. At the time, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice told us: you can decide among yourselves whatever you want, but just as no one consulted you when we formed the Quartet or formulated the Road Map, no one’s cares about your “reservations” now. Today, it appears that she was right: Israel ’s reservations aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. The Secretary of State’s position was indeed correct: the Road Map was a dictate and no one heard the Israeli poodle’s whimper of protest in the form of “reservations”.
Here, with the Road Map, was the beginning of our loss of independence: we subjugated ourselves to the Quartet, we agreed to be supervised and judged by their inspectors, we gave them the authority to convene international conventions with the power to declare Palestinian independence, and we accepted the principle that the Arabs have legitimate claims to Jerusalem and regarding the refugees -- all under the umbrella of the Saudi Initiative. All this, in addition to the obligation to freeze settlements and destroy outposts.
We waged our first war of independence against the British and the Arab armies when we were very weak – we had a population of 650,000, which is the same as the population of Judea, Samaria , and eastern Jerusalem today. We had almost no arms, only a nascent army, and no economy -- we were like a newborn baby, naked and vulnerable. Those conditions are incomparable with our situation now. And yet, despite our current strength and resources, if we aren’t now willing to undertake the risks and hardships entailed in a second war for our independence, we’re likely to loose everything we achieved in our first war of independence.
*On April 26th, Channel One’s Ehud Yaari interviewed Palestinian Authority head Abu Mazen on Israeli television. There, Abu Mazen asserted that he and former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had reached an agreement that Israel ’s security concerns would be safeguarded in a final peace accord by stationing NATO troops under American command along the future Israeli-Palestinian border.
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