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Friday, October 31, 2014

There he goes again

President Hussein Obama's mouthpiece seizes upon an editorial in The Jewish Week to bash Israel yet again.
When future historians write about this period in U.S.-Israel relations, this editorial will warrant serious mention. The unease felt by some American Jews about Israel's direction is moving into the mainstream. Over the past few months, I've spoken with lay leaders of many of the largest Jewish organizations (organizations that would very much prefer not to be affiliated with such left-wing outfits as J Street), and the question they ask is this: Just what is Bibi doing? If American Jews are forced to choose between their liberal values (and most American Jews are liberal) and support for a Jewish state that seems to be growing increasingly illiberal, these leaders say that Israel -- and not the Democratic Party -- will be the one to suffer.
Do those unelected 'American Jews' speak for American Jewry? Does American Jewry still back the Democratic party (Goldberg's holy grail) to the extent that he thinks they do? Given the poll numbers in the upcoming midterm election, one has to wonder.
The Israeli government doesn't seem to understand that the status quo is unsustainable. As I've written (over and over again), I am not arguing for an immediate pullout from the West Bank; the times are too dangerous, and the Palestinian Authority too weak and corrupt and cowardly, for such a move. But in the meantime, Israel could help create conditions so that a Palestinian state could one day be born. What this means is simple: Netanyahu should take no steps that further entangle Israel in the lives of Palestinians. It also means that Israel should try to negotiate in good faith with President Mahmoud Abbas, who is the best interlocutor Israel is going to have, despite his many obvious flaws. If nothing else, Netanyahu should call his bluff.
Netanyahu and his predecessors have called Abu Mazen's and his predecessor's bluff numerous times. There was Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat (2000), Ehud Olmert and Abu Mazen (2008) and Netanyahu and Abu Bluff (2010). How many more times does it have to be called? What incentive do the 'Palestinians' have to negotiate seriously if everything is going to be frozen forever anyway? Why should they ever compromise?

And yes, the status quo is sustainable. It's been 47 years since 1967. The 'Palestinians' have shown no indication that they are ready to accept Israel's 'right to exist' in any borders. What alternative do we have but to sustain the status quo?
It also means understanding that while most settlement expansion that is now taking place in the West Bank is happening in areas that will most likely come under Israeli control in the event of a final peace deal, the Palestinians haven't agreed to this division yet. Unilateral moves do not help. They certainly don't help Israel's international standing, which is lower than it has ever been, and they certainly don't help maintain Israel as a cause that garners bipartisan support in the U.S.
So let's make sure the 'Palestinians' have nothing to lose by not compromising? That's going to get them just rushing to the table.  /sarc.

There really is no alternative to the status quo.

Shabbat Shalom.

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From chicken***t to bull***t

Does anyone actually believe that Susan Rice is telling the truth here?
Apparently not.

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Day of rage rain

We have a saying in Hebrew, צדיקים מלאכתם נעשית בידי שמים (the work of the righteous is done by Heaven). A call by 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen for a 'day of rage' on the Temple Mount was a washout on Friday, thanks to rains from the Heavens. It poured.
Police were on high alert in Jerusalem on Friday, deploying 3,000 officers after Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction pledged a "day of rage" - but aside from a few incidents, it has been more of a "day of rain" in the wet capital after Jews changed to reciting the ten tal u'matar seasonal prayer for rain Thursday night.
Not all Arab rioters took a rain check however, as several of them shot fireworks from rooftops adjacent to the Council Gate (Bab al-Majlis in Arabic) which leads to the Temple Mount.
Several of the Arab rioters then tried to force their way through a police barricade at the Gate, where they were repulsed by police forces who used crowd dispersal means to break apart the violent crowd.
Then rioters launched a barrage of rocks on police and Border Patrol officers in nearby Wadi Joz neighborhood, where Arab assailants ambushed a Jewish car last night (Thursday). In the clash police used dispersal means, and no injuries were reported.
The police bowed to President Hussein Obama and opened the Temple Mount to Muslim savages.
Police folded to international pressure from America and Arab states on Thursday night, allowing Muslim men over 50 and all Muslim women access to the site on Friday despite the danger of riots that has turned into an epidemic at the site.
What could go wrong?

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Haaretz joins the 9/11 'truthers'

In an inflammatory cartoon in Thursday's editions, Israel's Hebrew 'Palestinian' daily is blaming Prime Minister Netanyahu for 9/11.
The cartoon struck many as tone deaf, akin to depicting Netanyahu as Hitler.
Not surprisingly, it inflamed those who already believe Haaretz is so left wing as to verge into anti-Israel territory. But it also left even many diehard Bibi haters raising their eyebrows.
Haaretz is standing by the cartoonist, Amos Biderman, publishing another article article on Thursday in which Biderman claims - get this - that he didn't know that Americans were so sensitive about 9/11.
“It was certainly not my intention to insult or upset anyone,” Biderman told Haaretz on Thursday. “I wasn’t sufficiently aware of the great sensitivity that 9/11 holds for Americans.”
According to Biderman, his cartoon contained criticism of Netanyahu.
“I was mocking Bibi,” he said. “He’s been acting like a bull in a china shop with the United States, which is Israel’s most important strategic asset.”
Is that what it was? I thought cartoons were supposed to be funny. This one obviously is not.

Mike Doran came up with this response:
Hmmm.

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Majority of Israeli Jews believe Obama is pro-'Palestinian'

A new Smith poll taken for the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday night shows that a majority of Israeli Jews believe that the American President is pro-'Palestinian.'
Only 16 percent of Israelis believe US President Barack Obama’s administration is more pro-Israel than pro-Palestinian, according to a Smith Research poll taken Wednesday night, exclusively for The Jerusalem Post.

The poll of 500 respondents representing a statistical sample of the adult Israeli Jewish population was taken following a report in The Atlantic in which officials close to Obama were quoted sharply criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and calling him “chickenshit.”

The report resulted in a major backlash among Israelis and in criticism of Obama across the political spectrum. Smith Research has asked Israelis in 11 Jerusalem Post polls throughout Obama’s tenure whether his administration is more pro-Israel, more pro-Palestinian, or neutral, which is seen as the bellwether question of whether Israelis believe a US president is on their side.

The new poll found that 53% consider the administration more pro-Palestinian than pro-Israel, 20% called it neutral, and 11% did not express an opinion. The margin of error of the poll was 4.5 percentage points.

By contrast, the last Smith Research poll that asked the question, following Obama’s March 2013 visit to Israel, found that 27% considered his administration more pro-Israel, 16% said more pro-Palestinian, 39% neutral and 18% did not express an opinion. Since then, Obama’s administration has gone from an 11% majority calling it more pro-Israel, to a majority of 37% deeming it more pro-Palestinian.
And it's only going to get worse.... 

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Greta van Sustern: President Obama should apologize to Prime Minister Netanyahu

Fox News' Greta van Sustern has blasted President Obama for his behavior toward Prime Minister Netanyahu and has called on Obama to apologize.

Let's go to the videotape.



There's not a chance in hell that Obama will apologize.


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Thursday, October 30, 2014

'Freedom of worship,' State Department style

After Wednesday night's terror attack in which Yehuda Glick, an advocate of Jewish prayer rights on the Temple Mount, was shot and seriously wounded, the Israel Police announced on Thursday that no one would be allowed on the Temple Mount.

Here's the State Department's reaction:
Only to Muslims? Not to Jews or Christians?

Regardless of the security situation? (Oh wait - the US has become really expert on maintaining security at important sites these days, hasn't it?).

Unbelievable....

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No Jews? What difference does it make?

I received the following via email, unsourced. It's spot-on.
"Israel TV have been showing the massive destruction of hundreds of homes by the Egyptians as they create a 500 meter buffer zone with Gaza on their side of the ...border.
1165 families have been removed as their homes are destroyed.
Isn't it strange that this is a yawn for the Western media. Not worth a mention. No angry street demonstrations. No condemnation by UN human rights organizations. No criticism by the Obama Administration. Nothing. There's no Jewish state to blame and accuse of terrible crimes.
It has to be said that the Egyptians were uncovering Hamas tunnels as they cleared the area, which was part of the reason for the operation.
Egypt and Israel have a common cause in eliminating this joint Islamic threat, albeit Palestinian."
Here's a comment from Jeff Jacoby on Twitter.
What a double standard the 'international community' has adopted. What difference does it make?

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'Palestinian' terrorist who shot Yehuda Glick worked at Begin Center restaurant

Mu'taz (or Moataz) Hijazi, the 'Palestinian' terrorist who shot and severely wounded Temple Mount prayer activist Yehuda Glick outside the Begin Heritage Center on Wednesday night, didn't have to go very far to carry out his crime. Hijazi was employed at the Terasa restaurant, which is located inside the Begin Center having served time in prison on terror charges until 2012.
32 year-old Islamic Jihad terrorist Mu'taz Hijazi was released from prison in 2012, after serving 11 months for terrorism against Jews.
Upon his release, he made the following remarks in an interview shortly after his release:
"I am happy to return to Jerusalem. I wish to be a thorn in the throat of the Zionist plan to Judaize Jerusalem." 
Arutz Sheva reached out to the Terasa restaurant for clarification as to how a convicted terrorist could be employed there, but the restaurant refused to issue a response. 
Apparently Hijazi presented a good front, with multiple witnesses telling Arutz Sheva that they had encountered him in the past and that he had been, for all intents and purposes, civil. 
But it appears Hijazi had been leading a double life: the Israel Security Agency (ISA), or Shin Bet, is now stating (10:45 am IST) that Hijazi was likely responsible for August's shooting attack on a soldier near Hebrew University on Mount Scopus, after police found and examined the scooter used in both incidents. 
Hijazi had even specifically sought out Glick, checking extensively where and when he would be speaking before striking, according to Channel 10
Police are currently investigating how the restaurant could have missed Hijazi's criminal record before hiring him.
But JPost is reporting that Hijazi spent 11.5 years in prison - not 11 months - which makes the restaurant's hiring him even more shocking.
Begin Heritage Center spokesman Ofer Inbar said Hejazi worked in a privately-owned restaurant within the center and passed a background check before being employed.
“The restaurant does not belong to the Begin Center, so we have no idea about the personal details of the man, but we do know that people who work in the restaurant have to get a background check from the police first,” Inbar said.
“And we know that the owner of the restaurant got the OK to hire him.”
Hejazi was a kitchen hand at the center’s upscale Terasa, a gourmet mehadrin dairy restaurant.
Okay from whom?

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Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Abu Mazen's prayers answered: Temple Mount advocate shot by terrorist, critically wounded

Just 11 days after 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen called for 'Palestinians' to 'defend' the Temple Mount against Jewish visitors 'by any means,' a prominent advocate for Jewish prayer rights on the Temple Mount has been shot and critically wounded by a 'Palestinian' terrorist. Yehuda Glick, 50, was shot and wounded by a terrorist outside the Begin Heritage Center across the street from the Old City's walls. The terrorist asked Glick who he was before opening fire.

Let's go to the videotape.



Here's more:
Glick was shot outside the Begin Heritage center in the capital, witnesses said, after a terrorist pulled up in a scooter or motorcycle and shot him before fleeing the scene. 
Initial reports are indicating that Glick - who founded and heads the LIBA Initiative for Jewish Freedom on the Temple Mount - was deliberately targeted for nationalistic reasons, but police have not yet officially announced a motive. 
The Begin Center had been hosting an event to help in efforts to re-establish a greater Jewish presence on the Mount Wednesday night, just before the activist was shot. 
He has been rushed to Sha'arei Tzedek Medical Center for immediate medical treatment.
Magen David Adom (MDA) spokesman Zaki Heller said that Glick was shot in the upper body no fewer than three times and paramedics had barely had time to speak to him during the initial stages of treatment.
But let's keep pretending that Abu Chickensh*t is a 'moderate.' What could go wrong?

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Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tx) blasts Obama's chickensh*t comments

The Republicans have been nicer to Israel than the Democrats have been for a long time now, and as many of you know, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tx) is one of my personal favorites.

No real surprise to see him doubling down on Obama's chickensh*t comments.

But note when this was posted and how many times it's been shared. As of this writing, over 3,000 shares in the first hour....





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Chickensh*t Obama can't even own his own comments

Yellow-bellied Barack Hussein Obama cannot even own the comments that were attributed to an anonymous official by his designated mouthpiece. This is from the first link.
The White House has issued a cautious criticism of the anonymous Obama administration official who called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “chickenshit” in an interview with The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, but stopped well short of an outright apology.
“Certainly, that’s not the administration’s view, and we think such comments are inappropriate and counter-productive,” National Security Council spokesman Alistair Baskey told The Hill. “Prime Minister Netanyahu and the president have forged an effective partnership, and consult closely and frequently, including earlier this month when the president hosted the prime minister in the Oval Office.”
There was no indication that the White House would either name the official who made the remark, nor issue a full apology to Netanyahu for insulting him with various epithets, including the word “coward.”
Unfortunately, much of the mainstream American Jewish 'leadership' thinks this ought to be enough to bring the controversy to an end. It's not. And they're cowards for saying that it is or ought to be. I'm sure they're laughing all the way to the bank about this in Tehran.

Read the whole thing

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Netanyahu hits back at the chickensh*t comments

Speaking at the Knesset on Wednesday, Prime Minister Netanyahu hit back at the chickensh*t comments emanating from an anonymous official in the Obama administration.

Let's go to the videotape.



You don't think he's trying to drive a wedge between President Hussein Obama and the American people do you? As if such a wedge doesn't exist already....

Would love to see some real polling numbers as to what the American people think about what Obama's mouthpiece published last night. I suspect that most Americans would side with Netanyahu rather than with the chickensh*t occupant of the White House.

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Likud MK: After the elections, we'll call him President Chickensh*t

Here in Israel, our politicians are really paranoid about interfering in other countries' elections (something the Democratic party in the US has never hesitated to do). So this statement from Likud MK Miri Regev is probably about as big a blast against President Obama's chickensh*t comments as you're likely to get before next Tuesday.
"With all due respect for Obama, who is he to hand out grades to the prime minister?” – Regev asked rhetorically in an interview with Arutz Sheva. “The utterances exhibit chutzpah, are unacceptable and constitute intervention in Israel's affairs by President Obama.
She added: "With all due respect to Obama, and I recognize the importance of our relationship with the Americans, but to say that Netanyahu has no courage and to compare him to other leaders? We do not want to say what we think of Obama out of respect and because of the elections.”
"Jews will build homes everywhere in the Land of Israel, including eastern Jerusalem, and the Arabs can also live anywhere in the state of Israel,” she said, regarding a major point of contention between the US and Israel.
 Next Wednesday morning, we may see more politicians referring to Chickensh*t Obama.

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Whose chickensh*t?

Whose chickensh*t? Obama's, writes Jonathan Tobin.
It’s quite an indictment but once you get beyond the personal dislike of the individual on the part of the president, Secretary of State Kerry, and any other “senior officials” that speak without attribution on the subject of Israel’s prime minister, all you have is a thin veil of invective covering up six years of Obama administration failures in the Middle East that have the region more dangerous for both Israel and the United States. For all of his personal failings, it is not Netanyahu—a man who actually served as a combat soldier under fire in his country’s most elite commando unit—who is a coward or a small-minded failure. It is Obama and Kerry who have fecklessly sabotaged a special relationship, an act whose consequences have already led to disaster and bloodshed and may yet bring worse in their final two years of power.
It was, after all, Obama (and in the last two years, Kerry) who has spent his time in office picking pointless fights with Israel over issues like settlements and Jerusalem. They were pointless not because there aren’t genuine disagreements between the two countries on the ideal terms for peace. But rather because the Palestinians have never, despite the administration’s best efforts to tilt the diplomatic playing field in their favor, seized the chance for peace. No matter how much Obama praises Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas and slights Netanyahu, the former has never been willing to recognize the legitimacy of a Jewish state no matter where its borders would be drawn. They also chose to launch a peace process in spite of the fact that the Palestinians remain divided between Abbas’s Fatah and Hamas-ruled Gaza, a situation that makes it impossible for the PA to make peace even if it wanted to do so. The result of their heedless push for negotiations that were bound to fail was another round of violence this summer and the possibility of another terrorist intifada in the West Bank.
On Iran, it has not been Netanyahu’s bluffing about a strike that is the problem but Obama’s policies. Despite good rhetoric about stopping Tehran’s push for a nuke, the president has pursued a policy of appeasement that caused it to discard its significant military and economic leverage and accept a weak interim deal that began the process of unraveling the international sanctions that represented the best chance for a solution without the use of force.
Even faithful Obama supporter Goldberg understands that it would be madness for Israel to withdraw from more territory and replicate the Gaza terror experiment in the West Bank. He also worries that the administration is making a “weak” Iran deal even though he may be the only person on the planet who actually thinks Obama would use force to prevent an Iranian nuclear weapon.
So why is the administration so angry with Netanyahu? It can’t be because Netanyahu is preventing peace with the Palestinians. After the failure of Kerry’s fool’s errand negotiations and the Hamas missile war on Israel, not even Obama can think peace is at hand. Nor does he really think Netanyahu can stop him from appeasing Iran if Tehran is willing to sign even a weak deal.
The real reason to target Netanyahu is that it is easier to scapegoat the Israelis than to own up to the administration’s mistakes. Rather than usher in a new era of good feelings with the Arab world in keeping with his 2009 Cairo speech, Obama has been the author of policies that have left an already messy Middle East far more dangerous. Rather than ending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, his decision to withdraw U.S. troops and to dither over the crisis in Syria led to more conflict and the rise of ISIS. Instead of ending the Iranian nuclear threat, Obama is on the road to enabling it. And rather than manage an Israeli-Palestinian standoff that no serious person thought was on the verge of resolution, Obama made things worse with his and Kerry’s hubristic initiatives and constant bickering with Israel.
Read the whole thing.

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The chickensh*t stops here

Hat Tip: MFS - The Other News.

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Israel needs to separate itself from the Obama chickensh*t

Tell me that quote isn't a perfect description of the Obama administration and how it relates to Israel. Here's Bret Stephens to explain why (Hat Tip: Gershon D).
“Despite the fact that Yaalon’s requests to meet with the senior members of the Obama administration were declined over a week ago, Washington waited until the visit ended before making the story public in order to humiliate the Israeli defense minister,” Ha’aretz reported. Mr. Yaalon is now said to be under an Obama administration “quarantine” until he performs additional penance, perhaps by recanting his hard-line views about the advisability of a nuclear deal with Iran or a peace deal with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The good news here is that at least there’s one kind of quarantine this administration believes in. The bad news is that it seems to give more thought to pursuing personal vendettas against allies like Israel than it does to waging effective military campaigns against enemies like ISIS.
The administration also seems to have forgotten that two can play the game. Two days after the Yaalon snub, the Israeli government announced the construction of 1,000 new housing units in so-called East Jerusalem, including 600 new units in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood that was the subject of a 2010 row with Joe Biden. Happy now, Mr. Vice President?
The real problem for the administration is that the Israelis—along with all the other disappointed allies—are learning how little it pays to be on Barack Obama’s good side. Since coming to office in 2009, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed, against his own inclination and over the objections of his political base, to (1) recognize a Palestinian state; (2) enforce an unprecedented 10-month settlement freeze; (3) release scores of Palestinian prisoners held on murder charges; (4) embark on an ill-starred effort to reach a final peace deal with the Palestinians; (5) refrain from taking overt military steps against Iran; and (6) agree to every possible cease-fire during the summer’s war with Hamas.
In exchange, Mr. Kerry publicly blamed Israel for the failure of the peace effort, the White House held up the delivery of munitions at the height of the Gaza war, and Mr. Obama is hellbent on striking whatever deal the Iranians can plausibly offer him.
Oh, and Mr. Kerry also attributes the rise of Islamic State to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Maybe if the Israelis grovel a bit more, Mr. Obama will oblige them by recognizing a Palestinian state as his parting act as president. Don’t discount the possibility.
Which brings me to the concept of a trial separation.
Last year, Mustafa Alani, a Saudi foreign policy analyst, observed of Riyadh’s evolving attitude toward Washington: “We are learning from our enemies now how to treat the United States.” Sure enough it wasn’t long after the Saudis turned down a seat on the Security Council and threatened a fundamental re-evaluation of their ties to the U.S. that Messrs. Kerry and Obama went bowing and scraping to King Abdullah when they needed the kingdom’s help against ISIS.
At least the Saudis understand the value of showing they’re prepared to be, as someone once wrote, co-dependent no more. The administration likes to make much of the $3 billion a year it provides Israel (or, at least, U.S. defense contractors) in military aid, but that’s now less than 1% of Israeli GDP. Like some boorish husband of yore fond of boasting that he brings home the bacon, the administration thinks it’s the senior partner in the marriage.
Except this wife can now pay her own bills. And she never ate bacon to begin with.
Small-minded. Ignoble. Takes the trivial seriously. Sounds like the Obama administration. Sounds like a prescription for a bad marriage. Stephens is right: it's time to get away for a while.

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Real chickensh*t

No further comment needed.

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Too bad Netanyahu's too chickensh*t to do this

Mark Levin got it right three and a half years ago, and he has it right today (Hat Tip: Sunlight).
The problem is that there is something to labeling Netanyahu 'chickensh*t.' But it's not, as Obama, Kerry and Indyk would claim, because he's afraid to make 'peace.'

It's because he's afraid to tell Obama and Co. where to get off.

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Just whom are you calling 'chickensh*t', Mr. President?

Simon Wiesenthal Center founder and director Rabbi Marvin Hier is demanding that President Hussein Obama 'name, apologize for and repudiate,' the anonymous official who called Prime Minister Netanyahu 'chickenshi*t.' This is from the first link.
In a telephone call with The Algemeiner from his Los Angeles office, an incensed Rabbi Hier declared: “It is rather ironic that a senior American official is prepared to curse his friends, yet when it comes to the mortal enemies of the United States – as the Iranians discovered during the recent nuclear negotiation – praise is heaped on them.”
Goldberg’s piece extensively quoted an anonymous “senior Obama administration official” who showered Netanyahu with invective, saying, “The thing about Bibi is, he’s a chickenshit.”
Goldberg then observed: “Over the years, Obama administration officials have described Netanyahu to me as recalcitrant, myopic, reactionary, obtuse, blustering, pompous, and ‘Aspergery.’ (These are verbatim descriptions; I keep a running list.)”
The word “Aspergery” is a derogatory term for individuals with Asperger Syndrome, a form of autism that affects the part of the brain that processes emotions.
The same official is quoted as saying: “The good thing about Netanyahu is that he’s scared to launch wars. The bad thing about him is that he won’t do anything to reach an accommodation with the Palestinians or with the Sunni Arab states. The only thing he’s interested in is protecting himself from political defeat.”
Another senior official, Goldberg wrote, “agreed that Netanyahu is a ‘chickenshit’ on matters related to the comatose peace process, but added that he’s also a ‘coward’ on the issue of Iran’s nuclear threat.”
Commenting on the remarks of this second official, Hier asserted: “He said Netanyahu is a coward for not taking pre-emptive action against Iran, but I suppose this anonymous official who is hiding behind his desk is very brave.”
Asked whether he thought Obama should fire the officials who made these comments, Hier said “that’s up to the president.” However, he added, “a senior American official who doesn’t name himself and then hurls curse words at one of our strongest allies should be repudiated by the president. President Obama needs to make it clear that these officials don’t speak for him.
Most of all, an apology is in order: That is not the way a senior American official should speak to the Prime Minister of Israel, that is not the way to conduct foreign policy.”
But what if the 'senior official' is Obama himself? Could he repudiate himself? (He wouldn't - nor would he apologize or name himself because Obama is as yellow-bellied as they come, so the second question is almost beside the point). Goldberg is known to be close to Obama, and to allow himself to be used as a mouthpiece when Obama wants to get something out there. It's definitely not beyond Obama to make that kind of comment and to use Goldberg to spread the word.

In the meantime, Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett has rushed to Netanyahu's defense.
“The United States administration is planning to throw Israel under the bus,” Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett said on Tuesday night, responding to harsh words against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu which were attributed to senior officials in the Obama administration.
“Israel is stronger than all those who curse it,” said Bennett, after Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic quoted officials in Washington as having described Netanyahu as “chickens**t”, among other things.
“The prime minister is not a private individual, but the leader of the Jewish State and the Jewish world as a whole. Serious curses such as these against the Israeli Prime Minister are harmful to millions of citizens of Israel and Jews worldwide,” added Bennett.
“Neither the leader of Syria, who has slaughtered 150,000 of his citizens, nor the leader of Saudi Arabia, who stones women and gays, have been called ‘chickens**t. If what is written is true, then the current administration intends to throw Israel under the wheels of the bus,” he said.
...
“Instead of attacking Israel and forcing suicide conditions upon it, it should be strengthened.  I call upon the U.S. administration to renounce these abusive remarks and reject them outright,” he concluded.
Fat chance. I honestly believe that comment was made by Obama himself. In fact, the second 'anonymous official' who agreed is likely John Kerry. Anyone want to argue with me?  Anyone looking at the picture above have any doubts about who is 'chickensh*t' and who is not?

UPDATE 8:44 AM

Now that I think about it, one of the officials is likely Martin Indyk, who is known for blaming Israel and for his foul mouth

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Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Time to shoot the messenger: Jeffrey Goldberg's chickensh*t article

Since I started writing this blog, I have not often agreed with Jeffrey Goldberg except when he was discussing his former colleague Andrew Sullivan. But at least he generally seemed capable of independent thought. No more. Goldberg has become a tool of the lame duck Obama administration. He's become the kind of Jew we should all love to hate.
The other day I was talking to a senior Obama administration official about the foreign leader who seems to frustrate the White House and the State Department the most. “The thing about Bibi is, he’s a chickenshit,” this official said, referring to the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, by his nickname.
This comment is representative of the gloves-off manner in which American and Israeli officials now talk about each other behind closed doors, and is yet another sign that relations between the Obama and Netanyahu governments have moved toward a full-blown crisis. The relationship between these two administrations— dual guarantors of the putatively “unbreakable” bond between the U.S. and Israel—is now the worst it's ever been, and it stands to get significantly worse after the November midterm elections. By next year, the Obama administration may actually withdraw diplomatic cover for Israel at the United Nations, but even before that, both sides are expecting a showdown over Iran, should an agreement be reached about the future of its nuclear program.
The fault for this breakdown in relations can be assigned in good part to the junior partner in the relationship, Netanyahu, and in particular, to the behavior of his cabinet. Netanyahu has told several people I’ve spoken to in recent days that he has “written off” the Obama administration, and plans to speak directly to Congress and to the American people should an Iran nuclear deal be reached. For their part, Obama administration officials express, in the words of one official, a “red-hot anger” at Netanyahu for pursuing settlement policies on the West Bank, and building policies in Jerusalem, that they believe have fatally undermined Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace process.
...
“The good thing about Netanyahu is that he’s scared to launch wars,” the official said, expanding the definition of what a chickenshit Israeli prime minister looks like. “The bad thing about him is that he won’t do anything to reach an accommodation with the Palestinians or with the Sunni Arab states. The only thing he’s interested in is protecting himself from political defeat. He’s not [Yitzhak] Rabin, he’s not [Ariel] Sharon, he’s certainly no [Menachem] Begin. He’s got no guts.”
I ran this notion by another senior official who deals with the Israel file regularly. This official agreed that Netanyahu is a “chickenshit” on matters related to the comatose peace process, but added that he’s also a “coward” on the issue of Iran’s nuclear threat. The official said the Obama administration no longer believes that Netanyahu would launch a preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities in order to keep the regime in Tehran from building an atomic arsenal. “It’s too late for him to do anything. Two, three years ago, this was a possibility. But ultimately he couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger. It was a combination of our pressure and his own unwillingness to do anything dramatic. Now it’s too late.”
...
Israel and the U.S., like all close allies, have disagreed from time to time on important issues. But I don’t remember such a period of sustained and mutual contempt. Much of the anger felt by Obama administration officials is rooted in the Netanyahu government’s periodic explosions of anti-American condescension. The Israeli defense minister, Moshe Ya’alon, in particular, has publicly castigated the Obama administration as naive, or worse, on matters related to U.S. policy in the Middle East. Last week, senior officials including Kerry (who was labeled as “obsessive” and “messianic” by Ya’alon) and Susan Rice, the national security advisor, refused to meet with Ya’alon on his trip to Washington, and it’s hard to blame them. (Kerry, the U.S. official most often targeted for criticism by right-wing Israeli politicians, is the only remaining figure of importance in the Obama administration who still believes that Netanyahu is capable of making bold compromises, which might explain why he’s been targeted.)
And then... OOPS!
One of the more notable aspects of the current tension between Israel and the U.S. is the unease felt by mainstream American Jewish leaders about recent Israeli government behavior. “The Israelis do not show sufficient appreciation for America’s role in backing Israel, economically, militarily and politically,” Abraham Foxman, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, told me. (UPDATE: Foxman just e-mailed me this statement: "The quote is accurate, but the context is wrong. I was referring to what troubles this administration about Israel, not what troubles leaders in the American Jewish community.")
And then Goldberg passes along Obama's threats.
What does all this unhappiness mean for the near future? For one thing, it means that Netanyahu—who has preemptively “written off” the Obama administration—will almost certainly have a harder time than usual making his case against a potentially weak Iran nuclear deal, once he realizes that writing off the administration was an unwise thing to do.
This also means that the post-November White House will be much less interested in defending Israel from hostile resolutions at the United Nations, where Israel is regularly scapegoated. The Obama administration may be looking to make Israel pay direct costs for its settlement policies.
Next year, the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, will quite possibly seek full UN recognition for Palestine. I imagine that the U.S. will still try to block such a move in the Security Council, but it might do so by helping to craft a stridently anti-settlement resolution in its place. Such a resolution would isolate Israel from the international community.
It would also be unsurprising, post-November, to see the Obama administration take a step Netanyahu is loath to see it take: a public, full lay-down of the administration’s vision for a two-state solution, including maps delineating Israel’s borders. These borders, to Netanyahu's horror, would be based on 1967 lines, with significant West Bank settlement blocs attached to Israel in exchange for swapped land elsewhere. Such a lay-down would make explicit to Israel what the U.S. expects of it.  
Let Hussein Obama lay down his 'vision.' After 2016, Obama's vision would have about as much meaning as George W. Bush's 2004 letter had after 2008. That letter was endorsed by Congress. The odds of any 'vision' Obama lays down for the Middle East being endorsed by what is almost certainly going to be a Republican-controlled House and Senate come January is somewhere between 'slim' and none.

Joel Pollak rips Goldberg some new body parts.
Nowhere in Goldberg's article is there any acknowledgment that Gaza rockets, Hamas tunnels, and Fatah/PA incitement are what have made a Palestinian state in the West Bank unthinkable, for the moment, to the vast majority of Israelis. Nor is there any admission that Obama--and Vice President Joe Biden, and Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry--have inflamed relations by publicly berating Israel on various occasions.
Goldberg also omits Obama's Cairo speech in 2009, which cast Israel in the Arab mould, as a post-Holocaust sop; his disastrous display of contempt for Bibi at the White House in 2010; or his attempt to sandbag Bibi in 2011 with a proposal for peace on the 1967 lines (which Goldberg says today would be a new idea). Obama did some work last year to undo the damage--then re-did it by cozying up to Qatar and Turkey in the recent war.
The list goes on: Obama's repeated leaks to forestall any Israeli preemptive strike on Iran (which Goldberg omits, preferring the White House narrative that Bibi was afraid to act), Obama's decision to join the Durban II conference and the UN Human Rights Council long after both had been established to be anti-Israel farces; and on and on. There are no equivalents on the Israeli side, and few precedents in any prior U.S. administration.
It would be a refreshing change if Goldberg were to stop acting as Obama-Kerry's mouthpiece. Don't hold your breath waiting for it to happen.

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Will the UN condemn this 'security fence'?

Egyptian President Abdel Fateh al-Sisi has finally had it with Hamas attacks on his territory. So he's doing what all good neighbors do: He's building a fence.
In the wake of Friday’s attack in northern Sinai, which killed 33 Egyptian soldiers, Cairo has raised the idea of a building an eight-mile barrier along its border with Gaza to deter Islamist terrorists from moving in and out of the Palestinian territory.
“There is a big conspiracy against us,” Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi said in a live, televised address Saturday, in which he blamed “foreign powers” for the atrocity and said Egypt is locked in an “existential war”.
Egypt, which has declared a three-month state of emergency in northern Sinai, also cancelled its planned role as mediator between Israel and Hamas in talks aimed at maintaining a ceasefire that has held since the end of the summer conflict.
Friday’s sophisticated terrorist attack - which Egyptian authorities have indicated likely came from Gaza - was launched on Egyptian troops with devastating effect. Old tunnels that had yet to be destroyed by Egyptian forces or newly-dug tunnels that had not been detected were likely used in the attack that combined the use of a suicide bomber on one hand, with rocket propelled grenades and roadside bombs on the other.
Egypt has also closed its borders with Gaza. Will anyone care about this 'blockade'? Will countries like Norway and Turkey send ferries to run Egypt's 'blockade' and deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza?
Following Friday’s attack, the Rafah crossing between southern Gaza and Egypt was closed immediately and will reportedly remain closed indefinitely. Hamas leaders have reportedly stated that Gaza will “explode” if the Rafah crossing is not re-opened quickly.
While the southern crossing into Egypt is closed, other border crossings with Israel remain open. Humanitarian and trade supplies are being delivered by Israel to the more than 1.8 million residents of Gaza whose Hamas government fought a 50-day war against them this summer. The war cost the lives of a reported 2,000 Gazans, according to Hamas government figures, and 70 Israelis. Recent independent analysis of the Gazan dead suggests that as many as half were terrorist combatants.
By the way, that article is Fox News - not Arutz Sheva.

But here's one from Arutz Sheva, which reports that Egypt plans to expel anyone who lives within 500 meters of the border to prevent tunnels from being dug under their homes.
Egyptian military sources revealed details on the plan to the Palestinian Arab Ma'an News Agency on Tuesday, divulging that all homes and farmland up to a depth of 500 meters (over 1,640 feet) into Gaza from the Sinai border will be seized and evacuated, other than Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid.
The expulsion will take place to that depth all along the 13 kilometer (over eight mile) border. Additionally, a channel with a depth and width of 20 meters (over 65 feet) will be dug along the Gaza border.
The military source added that residents faced with evacuation are being offered compensation for abandoning their homes, and around 200 families have already accepted the financial package to vacate.
There are still 680 more families in the area faced with impending expulsion.
Egypt's buffer zone plans are expected to be completed by the end of the year....
Here's betting that the United Nations, the US State Department and the European Union will all have nothing to say about this. After all, what difference does it make? 

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Of course: Security Council to hold 'emergency session' over Israeli construction in Jerusalem

The massacre of hundreds of thousands of Syrians - first by Assad and then by Islamic State - doesn't merit a Security Council meeting. The massacre of thousands of Kurds by Islamic State doesn't merit one either. Nor does Iran's unwillingness to accept any limitations on its burgeoning nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles program. But 1,000 Jewish apartments in Jerusalem - that's something for the Security Council to call an 'emergency.'
The UN Security Council will hold an "emergency meeting" on Wednesday to discuss Israeli plans to build more Jewish homes in Jerusalem, diplomats said.
The "urgent" talks were requested by Jordan following a letter from Palestinian Authority envoy Riyad Mansour who called on the 15-member council to "address this crisis situation in occupied east Jerusalem."
The announcement follows harsh criticism by senior Israeli officials of the negative international response to building projects for Jews in Jerusalem. 
Contrary to Mansour's statement, the building plans announced include neighborhoods throughout Jerusalem, and not just in its eastern sector. "East Jerusalem" is a euphemism for parts of the capital liberated from Jordanian forces, when Jerusalem was reunited by Israeli forces after the 1967 Six Day War.
If there were a Republican in power, the US would announce in advance an intention to veto any anti-Israel resolution, and that might even thwart the meeting in its tracks. But with Obama and Power, you know this is going to come down to the last minute, and Israel may be condemned or worse.

What could go wrong?

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Netanyahu, Edelstein hit back at Obama

Prime Minister Netanyahu and Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein have both hit back at the Obama administration's criticism of Israeli construction in 'east' Jerusalem. This is from the first link.
Netanyahu, at a ground-breaking ceremony for a new port in Ashdod, said Israel would continue to build new ports, pave roads, lay rail road tracks and “continue to build in our eternal capital.”

“I heard the claim that our building in Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem makes peace more distant, but it is the criticism itself that makes peace more distant,” Netanyahu said of criticism that poured in following his announcement of plans to develop 660 more units in Ramot Shlomo in the northern part of the city and 400 in the southern neighborhood of Har Homa.

This criticism, he said, is “detached from reality” and feeds false Palestinian hopes.

...

Netanyahu said the international community remains quiet when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas “incites to the murder of Jews in Jerusalem,” but strongly condemns Israel when it builds in Jerusalem.

“I don't accept that double standard,” he said. “We built in Jerusalem, we build in Jerusalem, and we will continue to build in Jerusalem.”
Arutz Sheva adds (quoting Netanyahu):
"The French build in Paris, the English build in London - that's the same as Israel building in Jerusalem," he concluded. "We will continue to build in Jerusalem and will continue to build here in Ashdod."
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein also slammed Obama.
"Building in Jerusalem is not something to be done under the table or under the cover of night," Edelstein told Arutz Sheva.
"It has been part of the policy of every Israeli government and anyone who even thinks that in a peace agreement we will need to evacuate (the Jerusalem neighborhoods) Gilo, Talpiot and Pisgat Ze'ev apparently doesn't understand what they're talking about," added the MK.
...
The Knesset Chairman emphasized that currently there are more than 350,000 Jews living in Judea and Samaria, and "the overwhelming majority of them are people of action who are dedicated to the state, and there is no reason to discriminate between them and others."
"Just as the north and the south must be developed, and Jerusalem and Tel Aviv - so too there is room for student villages and neighborhoods in Samaria, Gush Etzion (in Judea) and Har Homa (in Jerusalem)," added Edelstein.
Meanwhile, Israel's Justice Minister and chief negotiator bottle washer, Tzipi Livni, criticized her own government.
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, meanwhile, decried the move in an Israel Radio interview, saying these types of steps will make it more difficult for Israel to thwart Palestinian efforts in the UN Security Council .

Livni said while she feels that Israel has the right to build in Jerusalem, these announcements not only hurt Israel diplomatically, but also worsen the volatile security situation in the capital.
Livni was apparently for building in Jerusalem before she was against it. But the problem is that Israel is not actually building in Jerusalem (or in Judea and Samaria).
Indeed, many have argued that the solution to the current housing crisis in Israel lies precisely in the development of Judea and Samaria, a region which according to some estimates is over 90% unpopulated.
Instead, Netanyahu has until now imposed a covert freeze on Jewish construction. The newest announcements still leave much room for doubt as to whether they constitute a policy change, or are merely a case of political maneuvering giving the upcoming Likud primaries. Many similar announcements in the past have not actually led to any physical construction.
 And you thought the American government was weak?

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Last survivor of Hebron massacre passed away

Shlomo Slonim is no longer with us in this world. He has gone to join his family in the next world.




I posted an interview with Slonim here.

UPDATE 4:09 PM

Unfortunately, YouTube removed that video. 

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State Department: Throwing Molotov cocktails at passing cars doesn't make you a terrorist

Another gem from State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki's Monday press briefing.
QUESTION: In the case of the Palestinian American teenager who was killed on Friday, are you – do you know the circumstances under which he was shot?
MS. PSAKI: I don’t have any more details.
QUESTION: There are – okay. The reason I ask is because there are reports out there that he was throwing Molotov cocktails at cars on a highway. And I’m wondering, if that is the case, would you have still been so speedy in putting out a statement and offering your condolences to the family? The argument that is being made by some in Israel is that this kid was essentially a terrorist. And you don’t agree with that, I assume, but I don’t know, so that’s why I’m asking.
MS. PSAKI: Correct, we don’t. I don’t have any more details on the circumstances now.
QUESTION: So you – does that – that would apply even if he was throwing Molotov cocktails?
MS. PSAKI: I’m not going to speculate. I don’t have details to share.
QUESTION: All right. The other thing --
QUESTION: Back to the baby – back to the --
QUESTION: Well, I’ve got – I’ve got to get one more on this and then I’m done. There is a photograph of this teenager’s – this teenager being buried today, and he’s wearing a Hamas headband. It was put on him, obviously. Is that of concern at all to you guys?
MS. PSAKI: I just don’t have any more on this particular case.
So according to Psaki, standing at the exit from the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel and throwing Molotov cocktails at passing cars is AOK and does not warrant police using deadly force to put a stop to it? Just askin'... Wait, there's more:
QUESTION: To go back to Matt’s question about – were you aware when you put out the statement on Friday night that there were allegations that the Palestinian American teenager had been throwing – our story said a Molotov cocktail and it was – it had run before your statement came out. So didn’t you – did you know at the time when you put out the statement that there were allegations that he was engaged in violence?
MS. PSAKI: Well, there were media reports, Arshad.
QUESTION: Yes.
MS. PSAKI: Beyond that, I don’t have anything to read out for you.
QUESTION: Right, no. But I just wanted to get on the record that you knew about those reports when you put out the call for the speedy investigation.
QUESTION: Matt – I mean Arshad, I’m happy to talk to our team and see if there’s more --
QUESTION: But just to clarify what Matt was saying, and you said – you kind of said something but it was just very short --
MS. PSAKI: Okay.
QUESTION: -- you do not believe that this teenager was throwing Molotov cocktails. Is that right?
MS. PSAKI: That’s – I don’t have any more to outline or confirm for you in terms of the circumstances.
QUESTION: No, he said that you don’t believe that to be the case.
MS. PSAKI: That’s not what I said.
QUESTION: Do you? And you said no, you – no.
MS. PSAKI: He asked me if we thought he was a terrorist, and I said no.
QUESTION: Oh, okay.
QUESTION: Is that no longer the case? Do you think you were too precipitous, perhaps, in issuing that statement condemning --
MS. PSAKI: I think we’re going to have to move on now.
 Well, that's pretty clear, isn't it?

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State Department calls Jerusalem construction 'illegitimate,' maintains claim to being 'most pro-Israel administration evah'

From State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki's Monday press briefing.
QUESTION: On Israel, could you talk about Israel accelerating new settlement units that was just announced today, and if you – we could just follow on last week. It just seems that there’s a little bit of acrimony between the U.S. and Israel right now surrounding the defense minister’s visit, Israel now with these settlements and what’s going on.
MS. PSAKI: Well, we’ve seen – they’ve been reports. There haven’t been an official announcement at this point in time. We’re certainly deeply concerned by the reports. We are engaging at the highest levels with the Israeli Government from our Embassy on the ground to get --
QUESTION: Does that mean the President’s called?
MS. PSAKI: No. We’re – I said on the ground – from our Embassy on the ground to get more information. And we continue to make our position absolutely clear that we view settlement activity as illegitimate and unequivocally oppose unilateral steps that prejudge the future of Jerusalem. Israel’s leaders have said they would support a pathway to a two-state solution, but moving forward with this type of action would be incompatible with the pursuit of peace, and that is certainly a message that we are conveying directly.
In terms of our relationship, the defense relationship, as you know, remains as strong as ever and the ties between us are unshakable. There are times when we disagree with actions of the Israeli Government, including settlements, the issue of settlements, where we have deep concerns about some of the steps the government is taking. We express those, but it does not mean that we don’t have a strong and formidable relationship that continues.
The areas in which Israel approved construction over the weekend - Ramat Shlomo and Har Homa - are nowhere near any 'Palestinians' (okay, they're both near 'Palestinians,' but the areas in which the construction was approved are adjacent to already-existing Jewish housing). 

The State Department is hung up on steps that 'prejudge the future of Jerusalem,' but through its opposition to construction in the city, it is prejudging the future of Jerusalem (and of the entire enterprise of a 'Palestinian state') by ensuring that the 'Palestinians' have no incentive to compromise on their zero sum demands. Israel has shown (Gaza disengagement) that it is willing to uproot 'settlements' (although it would need far stronger assurances that real peace is at hand than are currently on the horizon) for even a remote chance of peace. 'Settlements' are not an obstacle to peace. 'Settlements' are the only consequences that might have any hope on having any effect on the recalcitrance of the 'Palestinians.' by declaring 'settlements' 'illegitimate,' the United States ensures that the 'Palestinians' have NO incentive to compromise.

Additionally, the lack of construction has led to an impossible housing crisis in the city in which most construction is luxury construction that is being sold to foreign investors at prices that young couples can only dream about having the money to pay. A storage room with a window and a corner walled off as a bathroom can rent for nearly $1,000 per month in many neighborhoods in Jerusalem.

There's much more that's disturbing in this briefing and I suspect it's only going to get worse as there will be no consequences for Obama's behavior over the next two years and two months after November 4.

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For those who can....

I know that the picture is in Hebrew, but if you can't read the notice, you may not be able to do what it asks anyway. It's a request for people to study Mishna in memory of (Karen) Yamima Mosquera HY"D (May God Avenge her blood), who passed away yesterday. If you're dialing from outside Israel, drop the first zero and add +972.

I'm proud to tell you that my sons' school took on to study the entire six orders of Mishna within the thirty-day mourning period and that my 12-year old took on three tractates.

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Monday, October 27, 2014

Why the White House hates Boogie

As many of you may have heard, Defense Minister Moshe (Boogie) Yaalon was denied meetings with Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Adviser Susan Rice in Washington last week.
U.S. officials said the Obama administration had rejected requests by Ya'alon for meetings with Vice President Joe Biden, National Security Adviser Susan Rice and Secretary of State John Kerry during Ya'alon's five-day trip to the U.S. last week.
While in the U.S., Ya'alon did meet with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power. The Obama administration had sought to stop Ya'alon from meeting Power, but the objections were made too late to cancel the meeting, according to U.S. officials.
The Obama administration is miffed with Ya'alon over negative comments he has made about Kerry's efforts to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal and the nuclear negotiations being held between world powers and Iran.
But it's not that the administration is miffed with Yaalon's comments about Kerry. It's something far deeper than that. Yaalon is a straight shooter
Secretary Kerry recently said the lack of resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian issue is leading to street anger and recruitment for the Islamic State. What is your response?
Unfortunately, we find the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is dominated by too many misconceptions. We don’t find any linkage between the uprising in Tunisia, the revolution in Egypt, the sectarian conflict in Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mainly, these come from the Sunni-Shia conflict, without any connection to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The core of the conflict is their reluctance to recognize our right to exist as a nation state of the Jewish people — whether it is [Palestinian Authority President] Abu Mazen or his predecessor [Yasser] Arafat. There are many who believe that just having some territorial concessions will conclude it. But I don’t think this is right.
Will territorial concessions bring peace?
No, they would be another stage of the Palestinian conflict, as we experienced in the Gaza Strip. We disengaged from the Gaza Strip to address their territorial grievances. They went on attacking us. The conflict is about the existence of the Jewish state and not about the creation of the Palestinian one. Any territory that was delivered to them after Oslo became a safe haven for terrorists.
Bearing that in mind, to conclude that after the [recent] military operation in Gaza this is a time for another withdrawal from Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] is irrational. If we withdraw now from Judea and Samaria, we might face another Hamastan.
...
Do you believe in a two-state solution?
You can call it the new Palestinian empire. We don’t want to govern them, but it is not going to be a regular state for many reasons.
What does that mean — the Palestinian empire?
Autonomy. It is going to be demilitarized.
In Gaza and the West Bank?
It is up to them. According to the agreement, they should be demilitarized. It is up to Abu Mazen if he is able or if he wants to demilitarize Gaza. Otherwise, we are not going to talk about any final settlement.
Is Abu Mazen the best Palestinian leader you’re going to get?
I don’t know, but he is not a partner for the two-state solution. He doesn’t recognize the existence of the Jewish state.
He says he is against violence.
Fine. But this is a tactical consideration. He believes he might get more by what he calls “political resistance” — going to the United Nations or to international bodies to delegitimize us. He prefers it to violence because in his experience, terror doesn’t pay off.
Is that why you said Secretary Kerry should just get a Nobel Prize and go home? Do you think the West just doesn’t get it?
I spoke about misconceptions. It is a misunderstanding, without naming anyone. It might be naivete or wishful thinking — ‘We the Westerners know what is good for the Arabs.’ To believe that you can have democratization with elections . . . it is collapsing in front of us. And part of it is ignorance, yes.
 Anyone want to count how many sacred cows Yaalon just slaughtered?

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Theresa Heinz Kerry underwriting restaurant distributing anti-Israel propaganda

A foundation financed by Theresa Heinz Kerry - wife of US Secretary of State John FN Kerry - is underwriting a Pittsburgh restaurant that distributes anti-Israel propaganda with its food (picture from The Federalist Papers via Leah P).
A food cart that hands out anti-Israel propaganda with each of its sandwiches has received funding from a foundation run by Secretary of State John Kerry’s wife.
Conflict Kitchen, a pop-up restaurant located at the intersection of Carnegie Mellon University and Pittsburgh University the University of Pittsburgh, seeks to use food to educate locals and college students about countries that are allegedly in conflict with the United States.
It recently began serving Palestinian food wrapped in leaflets that include quotes from Palestinians defending terrorism and opposing the existence of Israel.
“How can you compare Israeli F-16s, which are some of the best military planes in the world, to a few hundred homemade rockets?” states one quote on the wrapper, a reference to Hamas rocket attacks against Israelis. “You’re pushing them to the absolute extreme. So what do you expect?”
“Palestinians are not going to just let [Israel] in and drop their arms,” it adds. “No, they’re going to kill and they are going to die.”
The statements on the wrappers were taken from interviews with Palestinians. They are published without quotation marks and do not appear to be edited for accuracy.
Another section of the wrapper refers to the creation of Israel as “an intentional and ongoing offensive.” It also alleges that Israel deliberately blocks Palestinians from obtaining drinking water, opposes non-Jews from becoming citizens, and has assassinated or imprisoned all of the non-corrupt Palestinian leaders.
According to the wrapper, Conflict Kitchen is supported in part by the Heinz Endowment, which is chaired by Kerry’s wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry.
A spokesman for the Heinz Endowment told the Washington Free Beacon that it gave Conflict Kitchen a $50,000 grant last April to support its relocation to another site in Pittsburgh.
The Conflict Kitchen claims to be interested in other conflicts. And indeed, it is.
Previously, Conflict Kitchen served Iranian food along with leaflets that included quotes that claimed a nuclear Iran would not be a threat and that the United States would profit from any military intervention.
“Iran should equally have the right to develop nuclear weapons,” said one quote on wrapper.
“In general, Iranian people have no issues with the Jews,” said another quote. “What Iranians resent is the creation of the state of Israel because of the disaster that it created for millions of Palestinians. To this day, Israel refuses to recognize the United Nation’s resolutions for Israel to leave the occupied lands.”
The Heinz Endowment was not listed as a supporter of Conflict Kitchen on the Iranian food wrapper.
According to Conflict Kitchen’s Palestinian leaflets, it also receives funding from the Sprout Fund, the Benter Foundation, and the Studio for Creative Inquiry. The Benter Foundation is run by horse-racing tycoon and Democracy Alliance member Bill Benter, who was revealed to be a major funder of liberal Middle East lobbying group J Street in 2010.
Gee, does anyone see a pattern here?

Oh, by the way, guess where Benter's home town is....

But no, none of this could possibly color John Kerry's views on Israel.... /sarc

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