By Ofir Winter and Yogev Ben-Israel, INSS Insight No. 1089

In recent decades Egypt has suffered from a growing water shortage, and now it must tackle a host of challenges relating to a reliable water supply, the maintenance of water quality, and prevention of water loss from leaking pipes. Egypt’s openness to external assistance in dealing with its water problem, along with the pragmatic line led by President el-Sisi on this subject, creates an opportunity to extend normalization with Israel. Israeli knowhow in the fields of water management, recycling, and desalination technologies, streamlined water consumption, and desert agriculture offers enormous potential for a range of cooperation. For some time Israel has used the water resource to promote relations with Jordan, and the addition of a similar dimension to relations with Egypt would serve a range of interests: reinforcing Egyptian recognition of the benefits of peace; extending the range of bilateral relations at government and civilian levels on both sides; and preventing water poverty that threatens the future stability of Egypt and the region.

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“It’s a fact that the violence has gone down to almost zero in the last few days,” Minister Avigdor Liberman said.

BY TOVAH LAZAROFF, JPOST

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When Christian leaders like Bishop Harris falsely portray Israel as a murderous and marauding state, they portray Jews who support Israel as a murderous and marauding people.

BY DEXTER VAN ZILE, JPOST

What is Christianity about? Is it about experiencing and sharing the love of God with humanity? Or do Christians feed on the negative energy fueled by narratives that portray Jews as the repugnant, evil other?

Christians of every stripe need to ask themselves this in light of the scandal initiated by Suffragan Bishop Gayle Harris from the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. During the Episcopal Church’s General Convention in Austin, Texas, in July, Harris accused Israeli soldiers of shooting a 15-year-old boy in the back 10 times because he asked them a question that was not to their liking.

She made it sound like she was a first-hand witness to the murder she described. She did this to give credence to her story, which she offered to support a one-sided and polemical overture that condemned Israel for allegedly mistreating Palestinian children. (Predictably, the resolution made no reference to Palestinian crimes against children.)
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To the Editor:

I see that the publisher/editor of this newspaper is one of 350 or more editors around the country who have joined yet one more orchestrated attempt to undermine President Trump in their ongoing yet thunderously failed mission to destroy his presidency (Editorial: A threat to our basic freedoms; August 15, 2018).

This attempt has to do with their collectively bruised egos because, gasp, as the Great Neck News laments, the president “has slandered the media with calls of ‘fake news…more than 400 times.’”

I understand the amnesia factor among Democrats, given their history. In the 1940s, the leftwing media (newspapers and radio) concealed the fact of FDR’s paralysis for years, the better to insure his reelection. Fake news!
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The Channel 2 report claims the White House will announce its stance on the refugee matter– one of the core sticking points in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict– some time in the next few days.

BY MICHAEL WILNER, JPOST

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration will oppose Palestinian claims to a “right of return” for the descendants of refugees from modern-day Israel, according to an Israeli television report broadcast on Saturday.

The Channel 2 report claims the White House will announce its stance on the refugee matter – one of the core sticking points in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – some time in the next few days, ahead of the start of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Administration officials did not respond to requests for comment on the veracity of the report.
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By Dogan Akman

At a recent ceremony, the Prime Minister declared that hate speech and politics of division are creating “a dangerous path” for Canada and he vowed to steer clear of such roads and to continue calling out those who rely on “extremist” methods to make their voices heard.

At another  public meeting around the same time, he picked up where he had left off and said that he fears a rise in extreme populism particularly surrounding immigration issues with some feeding fear and intolerance using “partial truths” and “outright lies.” He went on to say, ”There has been in our political discourse…and there are  people who are trying to feed fears and intolerance for a broad range of reasons…I will remain positive and remain pulling people together, pulling communities together.”
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By Yoram Ettinger, CFP

General Omar Bradley, the first Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs-of-Staff, said in July, 1950, in the aftermath of Israel’s War of Independence: “The Israeli army would be the most effective force south of Turkey, which could be utilized for delaying action [extending the strategic hand of the USA]….” General Bradley’s assessment was rejected by the State Department and the Pentagon, which opposed the 1948 establishment of the Jewish State, contending that it would be decimated by the Arabs, a burden upon the US and probably an ally of the USSR.

Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan wrote in the Washington Post, on August 15, 1979: “The fall of [the Shah of] Iran has increased Israel’s value as perhaps the only remaining strategic asset in the region, on which the US can only rely….Only by full appreciation of the critical role the State of Israel plays in our strategic calculus can we build the foundation for thwarting Moscow’s designs on territories and resources vital to our security and our national wellbeing…. Israel is not a client but a very reliable friend…. American policy-makers downgrade Israel’s geopolitical importance as a stabilizing force, as a deterrent to radical hegemony and as military offset to the Soviet Union….”
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T. Belman. These giants know that what they are doing will be found by the courts to be illegal. Nevertheless they are doing it to impact the 2018 elections.

Pres Trump tweeted, “Social Media Giants are silencing millions of people. Can’t do this even if it means we must continue to hear Fake News like CNN, whose ratings have suffered gravely. People have to figure out what is real, and what is not, without censorship!”

By Lucas Nolan, BREITBART

Facebook is reportedly meeting with multiple other Silicon Valley Masters of the Universe Friday to discuss how to prevent the spread of “misinformation” across their platforms ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.

Business Insider reports that Silicon Valley tech giants including Facebook, Twitter, Google, Microsoft, and Snap will be holding a meeting at Twitter headquarters in San Francisco Friday to discuss the 2018 U.S. midterm elections. According to emails obtained by BuzzFeed News, Facebook’s head of cybersecurity policy Nathaniel Gleicher invited 12 representatives from the companies to the meeting.

“As I’ve mentioned to several of you over the last few weeks, we have been looking to schedule a follow-on discussion to our industry conversation about information operations, election protection, and the work we are all doing to tackle these challenges,” wrote Gleicher.
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T. Belman. This represents a cut of more than 60% of of the usual yearly amount.

State Department informs Congress that more than $200 million in bilateral assistance to the PA has been cut.

By Elad Benari, INN

The Trump administration has decided to cut more than $200 million in bilateral assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA), following a review of the funding for projects in the Judea, Samaria and Gaza, U.S. officials and congressional aides said Friday, according to The Associated Press.

The State Department notified Congress of the decision Friday, said the officials and aides, who spoke condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the move ahead of its formal announcement.
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A new book argues that the nation-state is the best form of political organization humanity has yet discovered.

By Evelyn Gordon

When Israel adopted a Basic Law in July defining the country as “the nation-state of the Jewish people,” opposition was instantaneous and widespread. The objections fell into two categories. Some opponents agreed with the law’s basic premise but objected to specific provisions. Others, however, were dismayed by the very idea of defining Israel as a Jewish nation-state, believing that this definition inherently discriminates against non-Jews. Indeed, liberal opinion today increasingly views the nation-state as a relic of an unsavory past that the West has thankfully moved beyond.  

It’s this view that Dr. Yoram Hazony, a longtime friend, challenges in his new book, “The Virtue of Nationalism.” Hazony argues that for all its flaws — and he’s far from blind to them — the nation-state is the best form of political organization humanity has yet discovered.
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If Israel has a case to make, the Trump White House is willing to listen.

BY CAROLINE B. GLICK, JPOST

President Donald Trump’s decision to appoint Ambassador John Bolton to serve as his National Security Advisor indicated clearly that Trump is advancing a national security strategy far different from those of his predecessors.

On and off for decades, Bolton has held some of the most senior foreign policy positions in the US government. And throughout his long career in foreign policy, Bolton has been the bane of the foreign policy elites. In part this owes to his extraordinary successes. After 15 years of fruitless and often half-hearted US efforts to repeal UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 from 1975 that branded Zionism as racism, as assistant secretary of state, Bolton got the job done in 1991.
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U.S. National Security Adviser says the United States intends to cut funding to the UNHRC after withdrawing from it.

By Ben Ariel, INN

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Thursday that the United States intends to cut funding to the UN Human Rights Council from which it withdrew in June.

“We are going to de-fund the Human Rights Council,” Bolton told The Associated Press in an interview, while warning that other UN agencies could also be up for cuts in U.S. funding.

Bolton rejected claims by some UN officials who insist the council gets its funding through the regular UN budget, meaning that its operating expenses can’t be specifically targeted.
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Social media networks silencing conservatives ahead of midterms

https://www.infowars.com/exclusive-see-trumps-battle-plan-to-stop-big-tech-censorship-and-election-meddling/

also

https://www.jihadwatch.org/2018/08/southern-poverty-law-center-gets-mastercard-and-visa-to-stop-taking-donations-for-david-horowitz-freedom-center