T. Belman. The PA is also responsible for its failure so its only right.

ARAB NEWS

The “deal of the century” is a farce. We suspected that, of course, but, upon his return from Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed in more detail why the long-anticipated US plan has no basis in reality. Netanyahu told his cabinet there are “no concrete details” to report on the White House peace plan. One has to suspect that the “plan” was, all along, the US disavowal of the so-called peace process and the dropping of the “honest peace broker” act.

In fact, that much has been achieved, especially with the US decision last December to accept Israel’s illegal annexation of East Jerusalem by agreeing to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Since then, Israel has initiated a clear strategy to annex the West Bank. Its top officials are contending that the “two-state solution” is not even deserving of a conversation. “We are done with that,” said Israel’s Education Minister Naftali Bennett in remarks to students in New York. “They have a Palestinian state in Gaza.”
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In 2018, Israel is the sole Western democracy and modern economy that benefits from a tailwind of fertility and net migration, providing for sustained economic growth with minimal foreign labor.

By Yoram Ettinger

The “demographic time bomb” concept accords mythical standards to Arab fertility and European standards to Jewish fertility, ignoring the Westernization of Arab fertility and the surging secular Jewish fertility, while significantly underestimating the potential of Jewish immigration (aliyah) to Israel, which has been steady and continuous since 1882.

In March 1898, the leading Jewish demographer historian, Shimon Dubnov, published a demographic projection, aiming to dissuade Theodor Herzl from the vision of the reconstruction of the Jewish State in the Land of Israel: “in 1998, there will be only half a million Jews in the Land of Israel. … Political Zionism is wishful-thinking.” Herzl was not deterred, although there was a meager 9 percent Jewish minority in the combined area of Judea, Samaria and pre-1967 Israel.
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Diaspora Ministry recommends ‘strategic plan’ for communities with ‘affinity’ to Judaism or Israel, some of which can be converted ? Plan calls for introducing Jewish and Israeli studies, launching public diplomacy projects and even finding a framework for them to make Aliyah

By Noa Landau and Chaim Levinson, HAARETZ

A committee appointed by Israel’s Diaspora Affairs minister says that there are some 60 million people around the world with an “affinity” to Judaism or Israel. The committee says that among them there are communities that could be brought to Israel and converted to Judaism. The committee’s recommendations call for reaching out to these communities and introducing them to content related to Israel and Judaism.

In response to the report, the ministry said that the committee’s recommendations have not yet been adopted and their goal is to strengthen ties with those who feel an affinity to Israel and not to push for mass conversions to Judaism.

The committee was set up in 2016 by the ministry to examine Israel’s policies towards the “large communities” that in recent years, according to the report, have asked for recognition from Israel, ties with the Jewish state, aid and even citizenship.

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It is a battle for Israeli democracy and the right of Jews to live in the heartland of the Jewish people; we cannot afford to lose it.

By Moshe Dann, JPOST

A bill under consideration by Israel’s ruling coalition to extend Israeli law and administrative court jurisdiction to Area C of Judea and Samaria, and protect the civil and legal rights of Israeli citizens living there, has prompted accusations of “creeping annexation.” These accusations are based on the assumption that the entire area is part of the “Occupied Palestinian Territories” (OPT) and that therefore all Israeli “settlements” are “illegal.”

“Creeping annexation,” however, has another dimension which is not widely acknowledged or understood, even by the Israeli government: the massive movement of Palestinian Arabs from Areas A and B (under Palestinian Authority control) to Area C (under full Israeli control).
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THE NEW ARAB

The US military has strongly denied reports it is planning to move its forces from airbases in Qatar and Turkey, in a statement issued Sunday.

US Central Command issued a short statement via its Twitter account late Sunday, saying that it had no intentions to close Incirlik in Turkey or al-Udeid in Qatar, insisting reports to the contrary are false.

“The US is not leaving Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, nor is the US leaving Al Udeid AB, Qatar. These reports are false and without merit,” the tweet read.
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By Eli Lake, AAWSAT

[..]

Bolton also laid out options that come very close to regime change. He urged the White House to encourage discussions in Congress to consider pressing allies to end landing and docking rights for Iranian vessels and aircraft; demand Iran pay US court orders in favor of the victims of terrorism; announce US support for Iran’s democratic opposition; and provide assistance to Iranian minority groups such as the Balochis, Khuzestan Arabs and Kurds as well as “internal resistance among labor unions, students and women’s groups.”

[..]

There’s much more to the Arab world’s newfound friendship with Israel than ganging up on Iran.

By Shai Feldman, Tamara Cofman Wittes, FOREIGN POLICY

This talk was given two years ago. Those of you who were interested in the Obama presidency, will enjoy being reminded what it was all about.

by: Janet Aslin, BRIDGES FOR PEACE

No one knows for certain when the first Jews arrived in Yemen. Some say they were sent by King Solomon to collect gold and silver to be used in constructing the First Temple. Another legend holds that under the prophet Jeremiah some 75,000 Jews, including priests and Levites, traveled to Yemen. Archaeological evidence of the Jewish presence in Yemen began appearing around 110 BC. Today many Yemenite Jews are able to trace their lineage back to specific tribes—Judah, Benjamin, Levi and Reuben. One family is able to trace its ancestry to Bani, son of Peretz, son of Judah.

Regardless of the lack of a concrete arrival date, we know for certain there was a thriving Jewish presence in Yemen until the birth of the State of Israel in 1948 resulted in the forced expulsion of Jews from Arab lands, including Yemen. The story of how the Yemenite Jews arrived in Israel is a fascinating one.
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Mohammed bin Salman has one aim: to be the most powerful figure in the Middle East in the coming decades. But that goal didn’t end so well for Nasser and Saddam

By Anshel Pfeffer, HAARETZ

Two events last week excited mainly aviation geeks but really should have received much wider attention. On Thursday, the first Air India flight from New Delhi to Ben-Gurion Airport landed after flying over Saudi (and Omani) territory. This was the first direct scheduled flight to Israel taking the much shorter route through Saudi airspace.

Former senior U.S. diplomat Aaron David Miller recalled recently how even at the peak of the Oslo process, when Israel and the Palestinians seemed close to reaching a peace deal, the Saudis refused American entreaties to make such a gesture to Israel. It’s happening now, when the diplomatic process has never been so stagnant and hopeless.

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An accurate count of real refugees now alive numbers around 20,000.

By Prof. Daniel Pipes, INN

In the words of a veteran Washington hand, the problem of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the main UN agency dealing with Palestinians, is always important but never urgent.

Well, it just became urgent.

That’s because President Trump tweeted “with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?” Then, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley added that the U.S. government is prepared to cut off funds to UNRWA. And, Axios reported, a U.S. payment of $125 million was not delivered (though that was later denied).
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Five new communities, 2,783 new housing units, and 6,742 housing permits for Judea and Samaria during Trump’s first year in office.

By David Rosenberg, INN

A new report issued by the left-wing Peace Now organization suggests that 2017 was a bumper year for the settlement movement in Judea and Samaria, with roughly two and a half times as many housing units advanced through the approval process during President Donald Trump’s first year as compared to former President Barack Obama’s last year in office.

According to the report released Sunday evening, there was a slight decrease in the number of new housing starts in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, with construction started on 2,783 new units in 2017, compared to 3,027 new housing starts in 2016.
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By Khalil Ashawi, AL MONITOR

All eyes are on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan now that the Turkish military has defeated the Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG) forces in Afrin.

Cengiz Candar writes, “Experts, observers and even international anti-Islamic State coalition officials thought that the Syrian Kurdish fighters would have put up a stronger resistance to protect the land and that Turkey’s victory would come at a great cost. … Following the decision by the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) to hand over the city center without engaging in urban warfare against the Turkey-led Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces, most now believe that Turkey’s military intervention in Afrin is a prelude to a wider offensive against other cities under the control of Syrian Kurdish forces.”

“Turkey’s Operation Olive Branch, which began Jan. 20, concluded its 58th day with a Turkish flag hoisted over Afrin’s city center,” Candar adds. “At the same time, Turkey-led FSA factions, including Salafi jihadi groups, were busy plundering the city. The images emerging from the city resembled the taking of a medieval era war booty.”
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By Bret Stephens, NYT

John Bolton speaking to the media in 2006, when he was the American ambassador to the United Nations. Jason DeCrow/Associated Press 

In 1994, John Bolton said that if the United Nations Secretariat building in New York “lost 10 stories, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference.” The quote makes an appearance nearly every time Bolton’s critics compile a hit parade of his alleged infamies.

My question is: Why is the remark even controversial?

The U.N. is a never-ending scandal disguised as an everlasting hope. The hope is that dialogue can overcome distrust and collective security can be made to work in the interests of humanity. Reality says otherwise. Trust is established by deeds, not words. Collective security is a recipe for international paralysis or worse. Just ask the people of Aleppo.
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U.S. President Donald Trump signs into law the Taylor Force Act, which slashes U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority over the practice of paying terrorists • The U.S. won’t back measures that seek to harm our ally, Israel, says bill’s author.

Israel Hayom Staff and Reuters

American citizen Taylor Force, who was killed by a Palestinian terrorist in Tel Aviv in 2016 

U.S. President Donald Trump signed Congress’ newly passed $1.3 trillion spending bill on Friday, thereby signing into law legislation that would sharply reduce the annual $300 million in U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority, over what lawmakers describe as payments that reward terrorism.

The measure, known as the Taylor Force Act, was named after a 29-year-old American military veteran who was fatally stabbed by a Palestinian terrorist while visiting Israel in 2016.

The act is intended to stop the Palestinians from paying stipends, referred to as “martyr payments,” to the families of terrorists killed or imprisoned by Israeli authorities. The payments can reach up to $3,500 a month.
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The council approved five anti-Israel resolutions during the Geneva body’s 37th session.

BY TOVAH LAZAROFF, JPOST