The US should not provide welfare to a nation that openly supports the indiscriminate slaughter of innocent people.

BY NITSANA DARSHAN-LEITNER, JPOST

On New Year’s morning 2018, US President Donald Trump tweeted, “The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies and deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” The ultimatum was long overdue.

Nevertheless, Trump’s tweet caught virtually everyone by surprise – from State Department diplomats in Foggy Bottom to the generals and politicians in Islamabad – and sparked a true and soul-searching debate about the relationship between America and what many believe to be a failed state that just happens to have a population of 193 million people, and nuclear weapons.
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Security forces arrested 17 men in November who planned coordinated attacks around the country, including shopping malls and mosques

By Dov Leiber, TOI

Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) President Morton A. Klein released the following statement:

The ZOA praises President Trump for proclaiming the United States should stop sending the Palestinian Authority (PA) $400 million of our American tax dollars each year – when the PA refuses to talk peace, and gives America no appreciation or respect.   In two tweets, President Trump wrote:

It’s not only Pakistan that we pay billions of dollars to for nothing, but also many other countries, and others. As an example, we pay the Palestinians HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect. They don’t even want to negotiate a long overdue. . . peace treaty with Israel.  We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more.  But with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?
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By Vic Rosenthal

UNRWA provides healthcare, education and welfare payments for about 5 million people with Palestinian refugee status. It received its mandate to temporarily provide relief for the 600,000 to 700,000 Arabs displaced by the 1948 war from the UN General Assembly’s Resolution 302 of 1949. The resolution notes that

…continued assistance for the relief of the Palestine refugees is necessary to prevent conditions of starvation and distress among them and to further conditions of peace and stability, and that constructive measures should be undertaken at an early date with a view to the termination of international assistance for relief.

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“A peace process and a credible conclusion to that process can’t happen without the US– they know that. And once the plan is revealed, it will speak for itself,” a senior White House official said.

BY MICHAEL WILNER, JPOST

WASHINGTON — In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s decision to declare Jerusalem as Israel’s capital— as Palestinian leaders began dismissing his administration as a serious arbiter of peace— top officials in the West Wing and nearby Executive Office Building made a decision: They would proceed with a flurry of scheduled inter-agency meetings on their plan for Middle East peace as if nothing had changed.

The White House “peace team” labored for a year to build a delicate trust with the Palestinians, compromised virtually overnight by a series of dramatic decisions made by the president himself. Trump’s Jerusalem move came on the heels of the US threatening the Palestinian Authority with the closure of its Washington offices. Now the temperamental commander-in-chief was tweeting threats of aid cuts unless Ramallah began showing him some respect.
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By Joan Swirsky, CFP

When my husband Steve was almost 13, his grandfather died––just a few months before the old man he loved and respected had tutored him for his Bar Mitzvah. To this day, Steve remembers the burial ceremony vividly.

When the rabbi had finished the prayers at the outdoor burial site and his grandfather’s son and daughters and grandchildren were wiping the tears from their eyes, Steve told me that “my grandmother let out a blood-curdling scream and jumped into the grave––literally––right on top of the wooden coffin! And I remember three or four men had to reach in and jump in after her to lift her out.”

This is certainly not a typical reaction to loss, but it’s not unheard of. Especially if the loss is unanticipated and therefore traumatic.

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T. Belman. Shalev reviews the attempt by the Peel commission in 1936 to solve the conflict between Jews and Arabs and compares their efforts to Trump’s efforts today. He writes “Israelis will then have to ask themselves whether they wish to live in a Jewish state that represses Palestinians on a permanent basis or in a democratic state that would inevitably precipitate civil war, as the Peel Commission envisioned. ”

“An irrepressible conflict has arisen between two national communities within the narrow bounds of one small country” the Commission’s summary states. “There is no common ground between them. Their national aspirations are incompatible. Neither of the two national ideals permits of combination in the service of a single State.”

This is what Martin Sherman keeps arguing but he offers a third option, namely compensated emigration whereas “Ze’ev Jabotinsky demanded, in fact, that Britain revoke the autonomy it had set up in Trans-Jordan, today’s Jordan, and earmark it forthwith for future Jewish settlement; the socialist left, meanwhile, decried the loss of a binational state based on complete equality and mutual respect.”

I might add that the Jordan Option that Zahran and I have been promoting effectively draws from Sherman and Jabotinsky.

The president’s recognition of Jerusalem was like the Balfour Declaration – a godsend for Jews but a knife in the back for Arabs

By Chemi Shalev, HAARETZ

The concept of dividing Palestine between Arabs and Jews was first presented formally in July 1937, by the British-appointed Peel Commission, charged with investigating the Great Arab Revolt that had broken out a year earlier.  After hearing witnesses from both sides, the Commission asserted that the violent rebellion stemmed from the steadfast resistance of Palestinian Arabs to the establishment of a Jewish National Home, their fear that Jews would one day lord over them and their suspicion that this is exactly where the British Mandate was heading. The 400-page report is riveting, especially today, when Palestinians once again feel betrayed and the report’s brainchild, the two-state solution, is slowly dying. Read more…

T. Belman. Author claims Trump and his father were antisemites. I don’t believe it. There is a lot in this article that I disagree with but it is worth reading nevertheless.  Remember, Bannon isn’t calling the shots. Bannon may have said “Let Jordan take the West Bank”.  I say “Let Jordan take the West Bank Arabs and let Israel take the west Bank.”

Book creates context in which Trump’s recent moves on Jerusalem mesh with plot to snuff out Palestinian nationalism

By Chemi Shalev, HAARETZ

From an Israeli point of view, the most intriguing revelation in Michael Wolff’s book “Fire and Fury,” which has sparked both, is a blast from the past of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to Wolff, former White House firebrand and strongman Steve Bannon expounded on the Trump administration’s formula for solving the conflict. “Let Jordan take the West Bank, let Egypt take Gaza,” says Bannon. “Let them deal with it. Or sink trying.”

The discovery that the White House was contemplating a formula that negates Palestinian nationhood and advocates a return to the days when “territorial compromise” with Jordan, Egypt (and Syria) was the main motto of Middle East peacemaking would be more sensational if it was less ambiguous. Bannon is quoted as saying that Sheldon Adelson and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are “all in” on the plan, but it’s not completely clear whether their supposed acquiescence only applies to “moving the Embassy to Jerusalem on day one,” which precedes the “all in” assertion, or whether it also encompasses the hairbrained scheme for the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, which follows it. Judging by context, the latter is true.
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By Nadav Shragai, ISRAEL HAYOM

By Gerald A. Honigman | Ekurd.net

Regarding President Trump’s declaration on Jerusalem on December 7, 2017, let’s forget about political correctness or downright ignorance by many of those now commenting. For some credentials, I’ve done extensive doctoral studies in this area and am a widely-published author whose work is found in many leading universities all over the world.

Putting it bluntly, to state that Muslims and Jews have equal claims to Jerusalem and its Temple Mount (Muslims call it Haram al-Sharif) is to simply tell a lie.Besides the above designation, Arabs/Muslims and friends who claim this also refer to the Jews’ Temple Mount as “Al-Buraq’s Mount.” According to Islam, Al-Buraq was Muhammad’s winged horse with the head of a woman who carried him from Arabia to the site of both ancient Israel’s King Solomon and Judaea’s (hated) Roman ally, King Herod’s, temples. Via this assertion and the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque built on top of it (after the Arab conquest of the land and city in the 7th century C.E.), the Arab/Muslim connection to Jerusalem is established.
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Though Cairo publicly critical of Trump for recognizing Israel’s capital, recordings obtained by NY Times show leaders pushed for conciliatory messaging by TV hosts

By TOI STAFF

Though Egypt has publicly condemned US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and even sponsored a UN resolution rejecting the move, Cairo has quietly sought to convince the Egyptian public to accept it, the New York Times reported Saturday.

The newspaper obtained audio recordings in which an Egyptian intelligence officer, speaking with influential talk show hosts, asked them to downplay the significance of US President Donald Trump’s decision.

The officer, Cpt. Ashraf al-Kholi, is reported to have told hosts that widespread unrest over Washington’s move would “not serve Egypt’s national security interests,” as it would “revive the Islamists and Hamas. Hamas would be reborn once more.
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DEBKA

Palestinian leaders in Ramallah were wrong to assume that President Donald Trump does not seriously mean to cut off US aid. He meant exactly what he said when he tweeted on Wednesday, Jan. 3: …we pay the Palestinians HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect. They don’t even want to negotiate a long overdue… peace treaty with Israel. We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more.” He then asked rhetorically: “But with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?”
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By JNi.Media, JEWISH PRESS

Israel Police estimates that, in 2017, some 80% of property crimes, such as burglaries and car thefts, were committed by Arab residents of Judea and Samaria, Israel Hayom reported Friday. Police data also shows that 80% of the property crime cases that were closed because the identity of the offender was unknown – said offender resides in Judea and Samaria. This despite the check post and the costly so-called security fence.

Of the burglary cases police did solve, 47% involved PA Arabs, as well as in 40% of car theft cases.

According to findings from the police Hawkeye system, which documents vehicles passing through the crossings between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, in 2017, more than 2,000 vehicles that had been stolen from their Israeli owners and transferred to the Palestinian Authority were identified at the crossings.
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By LAWRENCE KUDLOW, NY SUN

There were two big money-and-politics stories in the first week of the new year: The Dow Jones soared 577 points and Steve Bannon ended his political career. Are these two events related? Perhaps more than you might think.

Mr. Bannon’s peculiar notions of populism were essentially anti-growth. He believed higher taxes, ultra-protectionism, and a cheap dollar would help the middle class. Supply-siders know these policies only damage the economy, with the middle and lower classes suffering the most.

Although Mr. Bannon was pushed out of the White House months ago, he apparently still had the president’s ear. So his influence has continued to worry investors and business. Mr. Bannon went belly-up politically this week, and the stock market soared. Some are calling it the Bannon-is-gone rally.
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Decision time on nuclear deal, waiving sanctions on regime frustrates Trump administration

By Adam Kredo, FREE BEACON

White House national security officials are focused on developing strategies to support and foster demonstrations in Iran that have gripped the country for more than a week, but are in a deadlock over whether to preserve the landmark nuclear deal and continue providing a financial lifeline to the hardline Islamic regime, according to multiple sources briefed on the Trump administration’s ongoing discussions.

The White House is facing a deadline that could force the administration to provide continuing sanctions relief to Iran—including to several key entities that bolster the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, or IRGC.

Within the next week, the Trump administration will have to decide whether it will again waive economic sanctions on key Iranian entities, including its Central Bank, which provides the IRGC with a significant portion of its funding. Insiders worry this decision could solidify Iran’s hardline ruling regime at a time when protesters are coming out en masse against it.
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T. Belman. No mention here of the fact that continuing the aid for all this time has served only to perpetuate the problem and mabey its time to try something different. Trump isn’t asking for much. Just that the PA return to the negotiating table. The PA could easily comply without jeopardizing any of their demands. I would have prefered that Trujhmp not give them such an option. Better to deny the funding in order to force a serious change in UNRWA leading to its dissolution.

The United States threatens to pull the plug on hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to the Palestinians.

By Colum Lynch, FOREIGN POLICY | JANUARY 5, 2018,

Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, started her diplomatic career as a champion for Palestinian refugees, visiting refugee camps and assuring her U.N. colleagues that she would protect the nearly $300 million in U.S. funding each year that provides schooling for half a million Palestinian children.

Today, she is championing the White House drive to sever the Palestinians most vital economic lifeline unless they participate in U.S.-mediated peace talks. The reversal reflects White House resentment over the Palestinians’ decision to put forward resolutions before the U.N. Security Council and General Assembly denouncing President Donald Trump for his Dec. 6 decision to move the U.S. Embassy to the disputed capital of Jerusalem.
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POTUS unleashes another barrage in the war against the establishment