Israeli Jews back Netanyahu’s snubbing of Jewish-American views on conflict with Palestinians, religious pluralism. But support from U.S. Jews still seen as essential

By Debra Nussbaum Cohen, HAARETZ

American Jews taking part in a protest outside of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, against the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem, May 14, 2018.
American Jews taking part in a protest outside of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, against the opening of the US Embassy in Jerusalem, May 14, 2018.AFP PHOTO / Mandel NGAN

NEW YORK – Many American Jews feel the current Israeli government has repeatedly snubbed their views or taken actions that broaden the divide between the two communities. Now, a new study of Israeli Jews’ attitudes toward their American peers shows that the decisions by Israel’s political leaders have broad backing at home.
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T. Belman. At the same time, Ataturk founded the Republic of Turkey and embraced secular nationalism. It lasted for almost a century and ended with the election of Erdogan. Azebirjan remained a secular democratic republic of the parliamentary model.

This is a model for Jordan to emulated.

The Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan was short-lived, but served as a model for today’s friend of Israel.

By Yunis Abdullayev, INN

[…]
The National Council, led by Mammad Amin Rasulzadeh, proclaimed a declaration on the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan on 28 May 1918. The Declaration of Independence indicated formation of the first democratic republic of the parliamentary model not only in the Turko-Moslem, but the whole Oriental world.

The major provisions of the Declaration adopted by the National Congress read as follows:

• Starting from now on, Azerbaijan embracing the area of the South-Western Transcaucasia shall exist as an independent entity, enjoying all rights and realizing right of the people of Azerbaijan to have their own government.
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DEBKA

A large Syrian army/Hizballah force is massing at Izra in the southern Daraa region poised to fight through to the Jordanian border and come within reach of Quneitra.  This is reported by DEBKAfile’s military sources. The big Izra base also houses the Iranian command for eastern Syria. Bashar Assad has freed up substantial military strength for his drive to capture the south after beating back rebel forces from the Damascus area and proclaiming it under his control.

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The IDF spokesperson is taking heavy flak for his handling of last week’s border clashes; some say he’s a scapegoat

By Judah Ari Gross, TOI

While the army of Israel succeeded in fending off repeated infiltration attempts from the Gaza border during mass protests and clashes over the past seven weeks, the State of Israel lost the fight for public opinion — resoundingly, according to some.

“There’s a war being waged, and we’re not even on the battlefield,” Deputy Minister for Public Diplomacy Michael Oren told The Times of Israel.
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By Josh Kantrow, AMERICAN THINKER 

I am an outspoken Zionist, Jewish Republican, and Trump-supporter, and as such, I have a number of conservative friends.  Given that I live in a trendy neighborhood in a large metropolitan area, I have many liberal Jewish friends as well.  Many of my conservative friends have approached me over the years and asked me why more Jews aren’t Republicans.  Given my unique personal and political situation, I will do my best in this piece to answer this question.
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According to a report, sources close to the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow identified previous Israeli raids on Iranian positions in central Syria, “but did not respond.”

BY Herb Keinon, JPOST

By Yoram Schweitzer

INSS Insight No. 1060, May 22, 2018

In view of the public promise by senior Iranian spokespersons that Israel would soon weep over its soldiers just as Iran mourned its soldiers, it remains to be seen if and how Iran will retaliate against Israel’s recent broad counter-attack against Iranian targets in Syria: with what intensity, with what method, and in what location. However, notwithstanding declarations from Iranian leaders that ongoing Israeli actions against its forces and proxies will lead to the destruction of Haifa and Tel Aviv, it appears that Iran is not genuinely interested in war, particularly not on Syrian or Lebanese territory, fearing the consequences for both the survival of the Assad regime and for Hezbollah’s status. (Israel too is not interested in an all-out war.)
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IMRA

The presence of Iranian forces in Syria depends on what the settlement of the domestic conflict in this country will end with, expert notes
http://tass.com/politics/1005351

MOSCOW, May 21. 2018 /TASS/. The confrontation between Iran and Israel in Syria will remain and the strikes will continue, but a massive war between the two countries is hardly probable, said chief research scientist of the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at the RAS Institute of Oriental Studies Irina Zvyagelskaya at a presentation of the report on the situation in the Middle East at a Valdai Discussion Club venue.
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It’s self-evident that if Israel gives Fatah Judea and Samaria and Jerusalem, Hamas will quickly take over those areas as well.

By Caroline Glick, JPOST

Imagine what would happen if all the horse racing experts in the world got together and bet their money on a dead horse to win the Kentucky Derby. As far-fetched as that sounds, today all the who’s who in foreign affairs are either supporting or actively enacting an analogous policy toward the Palestinian Fatah movement. Cheered on by the Olmert-Livni-Barak government, this week the Security Council passed Resolution 1850, which among other things calls on all UN member nations to provide political and financial support for Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas’s government. And no doubt the call will be answered with enthusiasm.
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By Jack Cashill, AMERICAN THINKER

The idea is floated frequently that the still nameless Russian collusion scandal is “worse than Watergate.”  It may well be, but that comparison overlooks a more useful parallel.

The gold standard of government conspiracy remains the investigation into the July 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800 off the south coast of Long Island.  The ensuing cover-up involved many of the same players as in the Russia conspiracy and for the same immediate goal: to secure a presidential election for a Clinton.

As with the Russia scandal, not all the collaborators in the TWA 800 case were equally motivated or equally powerful.  The White House drove the conspiracy through its Justice Department.  The CIA executed it without conscience.  The FBI grudgingly yielded to the CIA.  And the New York Times dutifully reported what the FBI whispered in its reporters’ ears.
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Maj. Gen. Amikam Norkin says Iranians fired 32 rockets, more than 100 surface-to-air missiles launched from Syria at Israeli jets during the flare-up earlier this month

By Yaniv Kubovich, HAARETZ

An Israeli Air Force F-35 fighter jet flies during an aerial demonstration at a graduation ceremony for Israeli air force pilots at the Hatzerim air base in southern Israel December 29, 20, 2016\ Amir Cohen/ REUTERS

Pompeo call to kill Iran’s nuclear program gaining traction

By Adam Kredo, FREE BEACON

The Trump administration, in a major reversal of Obama administration policy, is seeking to shutter every Iranian nuclear enrichment site, including its heavy water reactors, which could provide Iran with a second, plutonium-based pathway to a nuclear weapon, according to U.S. officials and others familiar with the policy shift.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in his first major policy address, called on Iran to shutdown its heavy water nuclear power plants, which were allowed by the Obama administration under the landmark nuclear agreement and laid the groundwork for Tehran and Russia to ink multi-billion dollar deals to build new nuclear reactors throughout the country, construction that is already underway.
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New measure recognizes Israel’s control of Syrian territory

By Adam Kredo, FREE BEACON

Congress is set to consider a new measure to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the contested Golan Heights region that separates Israel from Syria, a key piece of territory that has become all the more important since the civil war in Syria brought scores of jihadist fighters, including those backed by Iran, into the region.

Rep. Ron DeSantis (R., Fla.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced on Thursday a resolution that could lead to an historic recognition by the United States that the contested area fully belongs to Israel, according to a copy of the amendment obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
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Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat says any peace agreement must be between Israel and Palestinians, not U.S. • Prospect of Palestinian interest in the peace proposal appears dim, while U.S. aid cuts to PA likely to further distance Palestinians.

Israeli ministers condemn U.N. Human Rights Council vote to probe Israel’s conduct in response to Gaza border violence • Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked: Council for “anything but human rights” • Public Security Minister Erdan: “Terrorist rights council.”

By Erez Linn, Mati Tuchfeld and Gideon Allon, ISRAEL HAYOM

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted a United Nations Human Rights Council decision on Friday to establish a special team to investigate Israel’s conduct during the recent violence on the border with the Gaza Strip.

“There is nothing new under the sun,” Netanyahu tweeted. “An organization that calls itself the Human Rights Council once again proves that it is hypocritical and biased and that its purpose is to harm Israel and support terror. But mostly it has proved that it is irrelevant.”
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By Jack Crowe, NATIONAL REVIEW

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that Washington would impose the “strongest sanctions in history” on Iran if the regime does not comply with a list of U.S. demands intended to bolster nuclear non-proliferation verification measures and reign in the rogue state’s support for terror groups and involvement in foreign proxy wars.

Pompeo, speaking at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, laid out a “diplomatic road map” for future relations with Iran that includes the reimplementation of the sanctions lifted under the 2015 agreement, which the U.S. withdrew from earlier this month, as well as the imposition of additional sanctions intended to bring the regime back to the negotiating table.
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