Analysis: 2-State Solution = demographic suicide for Israel  

The Arabs in the Jewish State are but a small percentage of those who will flood in.

Well, I’ll admit I was wrong. It happens.

In the body of an article of mine about 4 months ago, I asserted that if Israel allowed the creation of any type of ‘West Bank Palestinian State’ where Israel did not have the absolute right to restrict Palestinian immigration and entry “the Palestinian Arabs could invite anyone they want into their state, including thousands of Hezbollah and tens of thousands of Iranian volunteers for Palestine.”

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July 5, 2017 | 6:09 am | Comments »

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The F-35 Critics vs. the Facts  

The people working on various aspects of the F-35 fighter program must be very frustrated. The program is still highly classified, so that much that is taking place within the program is simply not available for discussion. And yet, the F-35’s critics are baying and howling and often deliberately misrepresenting the program and its products.

The F-35 program is not one program. It is several. Its products are three different aircraft and several brand-new, and highly innovative, technologies. It provides quantum leaps in aviation technology in many different areas. Simultaneously achieving all these technical breakthroughs has obviously proved difficult. But that is not surprising — it is the norm in innovative engineering.
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July 4, 2017 | 9:59 am | 6 Comments »

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Support for Muslim Brotherhood Terror Designation Bill Grows  

 

The Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act now has about 60 members of Congress supporting it. Although support is growing, the number of cosponsors is far less than what it was for the last version of the bill.

Voters must remind members of Congress who supported the previous bill to cosponsor the new bills (HR377 and S68).

Information on who is currently supporting the legislation is at the bottom of this article.
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July 4, 2017 | 9:29 am | 2 Comments »

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Jewish construction in Jerusalem to be unfrozen  

Thousands of units planned for Jerusalem neighborhoods frozen during Obama administration set to be approved, Arab squatters to be evicted.

 

The Jerusalem District Planning Commission is expected to grant permits for thousands of homes in united Jerusalem later this month, Haaretz reported Monday, marking the end of the de facto freeze on Jewish construction in large swaths of the capital.

In 2010, then-Vice President Joseph Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton blasted Israel for the approval of 1,600 housing units in the north Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo.

The approval of the planned project was given during Biden’s first visit to Israel since taking office in 2009, and sparked an angry backlash from the Obama White House.
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July 4, 2017 | 9:17 am | 1 Comment »

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OUR WORLD: Modi and Israel’s Coming of Age  

Modi’s historic visit is a good opportunity for Israel to understand where it now stands and what it must do to maintain and expand its current success into the future.

 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel this week marks more than the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two nations.

It marks as well Israel’s coming of age as a nation.

When in 1992, India and Israel forged full diplomatic relations, the Indian government was reacting to a transformation in the international arena, rather than to changes that were specifically related to the Jewish state.

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July 4, 2017 | 8:44 am | Comments »

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Modi: Israel is perceived as a technological powerhouse  

Ahead of his historic visit to Israel, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tells Israel Hayom that the two countries are ready to “take the relationship to a new level” • Israel “braved many odds” and has “amazing accomplishments,” he says.

It is not every day that one meets a prime minister representing 1.2 billion people, one considered a superstar at home and abroad. Maybe that is why the meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi felt so special.

Modi is set to arrive in Israel on July 4 for what will be a historic visit: the first to this country by a sitting Indian prime minister. Despite the disparity in the sizes of the two countries, the relationship between them is one of equals, as far as he is concerned.

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July 3, 2017 | 3:24 pm | 4 Comments »

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After spat, ministers agree to move ahead with ‘united Jerusalem’ bill  

Likud and Habayit Hayehudi parties agree to work together to finalize bill, which requires a two-thirds Knesset majority to approve any decision to divide Jerusalem under a peace deal • Compromise reached after PM Benjamin Netanyahu blocked legislation.

The Likud and Habayit Hayehudi parties reached a compromise on the so-called “united Jerusalem” bill on Sunday, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used his powers to scrap the bill from this week’s legislative agenda.
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July 3, 2017 | 2:43 pm | 1 Comment »

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Does the US have answer for Turkish threats against Syrian Kurds?  

Turkish military actions against US-allied Syrian Kurdish forces could threaten to upend plans for unseating the Islamic State (IS) in Raqqa, Syria, and for what comes next.

 

“Though pointing to Idlib as the next destination,” Fehim Tastekin reports, “Turkey’s field operations signal double objectives. First, Turkey wants its own troops in the de-conflicting, or ‘safe,’ zones determined during peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan. Second and more important to Turkey is to take advantage of the competition between rival coalitions west of the Euphrates. With the United States and Kurds on one side and Russia, Iran and the Syrian army on the other, Turkey hopes to break up the corridor carved out by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). Ankara considers this stretch of land a threat to Turkey’s national security.”

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July 3, 2017 | 10:39 am | 3 Comments »

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What is the Qatar-GCC showdown really about?  

REMEMBER WHEN READING THIS, AL JAZEERA IS OWNED AND OPERATED BY QATAR.

Was Trump duped? Is Qatar guilty?

Considering his tendency to value money above principle and all else, the US president was clearly 'bribed' by his Saudi hosts during his visit to the country, writes Bishara [Reuters]
Considering his tendency to value money above principle and all else, the US president was clearly ‘bribed’ by his Saudi hosts during his visit to the country, writes Bishara [Reuters]

US President Donald Trump‘s recent statements and tweets on the Middle East have puzzled US friends and foes alike by threatening further escalation of regional conflicts.

Last year, he said that he would “seek harmony” in the Middle East as US commander-in-chief. But after his first visit to the region, tensions began to rise, especially in the Gulf. Now Trump’s flip-flopping is threatening the stability of the area, which holds some 50 percent of the world’s energy reserves.

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July 3, 2017 | 6:46 am | 1 Comment »

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A Bridge to Nowhere in Israel  

The Mideast is full of stupid ideas, each one more ridiculous than the previous.  The newest confabulation comes this time from Israel.  Israel is seriously considering building an artificial island off Gaza, which it can police, in order to supply the strip.

Many members of the security cabinet favor building an artificial island off the Gaza Strip to serve as its port but due to opposition from Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, no decision was made when the forum discussed the idea Sunday night[.] …

The proposal … calls for the artificial island to be under international control. In addition to serving as a seaport, the island would contain infrastructure facilities that would provide water and power to Gaza residents.

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July 2, 2017 | 5:49 pm | 2 Comments »

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Like Haman Being Hanged on the Scaffold He Built for Mordechai  

An online friend watching the week’s events observes that they remind her of the villain Haman being hanged on the very scaffold he had built to hang Mordechai in the biblical Book of Esther. That sums up the week in which the federal investigators are themselves under investigation and the press is forced to recant the lies it has been publishing about the administration. Having watched the deep state eviscerate gentleman G.W. Bush and his administration on the Plamegate fiction, this turn of events warms my heart. It’s long overdue.

1. The Attempted “Russian Collusion” Coup Fails

The Plotters Are Under Scrutiny
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July 2, 2017 | 5:40 pm | 1 Comment »

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The Geneva Convention as a weapon against Israel  

Background

The language of Article 49 was crafted in the wake of World War II and the Nazi occupation – an occupation that led to a war of aggression in which Nazi Germany attacked its neighbors with impunity, committing a host of atrocities against civilian populations, including deportation and displacement of local populations in occupied Europe. Millions were sent to forced labor camps and those of particular ethnic origin, most notably the Jews, were sent to their deaths in the gas chambers. The drafters of Article 49 were concerned with preventing future genocide against humanity. Critics and enemies of Israel, including members of the UN and organs such as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) have come to use the Geneva Convention as a weapon against Israel, even when statements by authoritative analysts, scholars and drafters of the document contradict everything said by those who distort history for politically motivated reasons.
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July 2, 2017 | 5:31 pm | 2 Comments »

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Netanyahu blocks ‘United Jerusalem Bill’  

PM vetoes bill that conditioned giving up parts of Jerusalem in a diplomatic agreement on an 80-MK special majority.

Prime Minister Netanyahu used a short while ago his veto power to prevent a vote in the Law Committee on MK Shuli Moalem’s “Jerusalem Bill” which is supported by the Jewish Home faction.

Netanyahu used his veto after Education Minister Naftali Bennett refused to condition passage of the bill in the committee on the ability of the Prime Minister to veto the bill’s continued advancement.
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July 2, 2017 | 5:23 pm | 4 Comments »

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IDF is Working on a Plan to Overpower Hamas in the Next Round of Fighting  

IDF officers and officials of the Israeli defense establishment convened to contemplate the question of how to overpower Hamas. Also: Five comments on the tensions vis-à-vis Assad’s armed forces and Hezbollah.

This may be regarded as just another “seminar”: IDF officers and many other officials of the Israeli defense establishment convened earlier this week at an IDF base in southern Israel to contemplate the question of how to overpower Hamas.

On the other hand, this may be regarded as a possible indication of a change in Israeli strategy: will Israel, in the context of the next round of fighting, not settle for deterring Hamas, so that no more missiles and rockets would be launched out of the Gaza Strip into Israel, and instead opt for the actual crushing of its rule?
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July 2, 2017 | 11:33 am | 2 Comments »

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Who Is the Bush carrier meant to deter? Not Iran  

Who Is the Bush carrier meant to deter? Not Iran

 

The arrival of USS George H.W. Bush on Saturday, July 1, for the first visit a US aircraft carrier has paid to Israel in nearly tow decades is a happy event for the Jewish state. The 5.700-strong crew of the biggest nuclear-powered vessel in the world will be given a joyous welcome when they celebrate America’s Independence Day on July 4.

But amid the comings and goings of helicopters ferrying official VIPs and high officers between the port of Haifa and the decks of the Bush, one question remains unanswered. Why was this mighty ship, with its more than 80 warplanes and cruise missiles, deployed to the eastern Mediterranean at this time? And which bad guy is it meant to deter?

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July 2, 2017 | 10:13 am | 2 Comments »

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Israeli-Indian ties reach new heights  

It’s been a long and winding road. Here’s a brief history of those relations, from Gandhi to Modi.

 

When India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives on Tuesday for the first-ever visit to the country by an Indian prime minister, it will mark the apex of a century-old relationship that has plodded forward in fits and starts, despite domestic Indian impediments, ideological misunderstandings, and Cold War considerations.

For the Zionist enterprise and Israel, the road from Gandhi to Modi has been long and arduous. But over the last century Zionist activists and then Israel never gave up on the possibility of developing stronger ties with the South Asian giant, even when their overtures were rebuffed; even when Israel gave to India, but received little in return.
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July 2, 2017 | 9:56 am | Comments »

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At This Stage, The Trump Administration Consents To Iran’s Regional Expansion  

Trump team Exchanges Messages Seeking An Understanding With Iran; Qatar Crisis, Escalation Of Conflict Between Iran And Its Axis And Saudi-Sunni Camp Are Outcome Of U.S.’s Incoherent Dual Policy

Introduction

Recently, there have been significant developments in the conflict/rivalry between, on the one hand, Saudi Arabia and the Sunni axis that it established, and on the other hand Iran and the resistance axis. These developments concern not only the forces in the region but also the U.S. and Russia. Both these camps are vying for support from the U.S., which at this stage is striving for understandings and negotiations with Iran and, according to Iranian sources, is already conducting secret contacts with it; this is happening as the U.S. is, for now, coming to terms with Iran’s expansion in the region. These developments are impacting the reshaping of the Middle East as well as the power relations among the leading elements within it. The current Qatar crisis is a new manifestation of the generational geo-political Sunni-Shi’ite Saudi-Iranian struggle, and is the outcome of the policy of a U.S. administration in which two political camps are discernible. One is that of President Trump and his close advisors, who support Saudi Arabia and the Sunni axis, and the other is that of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who are showing sympathy for Qatar and acting to preserve the pro-Iran status quo of the Obama era.

This paper will review these developments and their ramifications:
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July 1, 2017 | 8:19 pm | Comments »

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TOLERATING THE INTOLERANT: The Tipping Point of Multiculturalism  

It is often necessary to look backward to move forward.

The United States of America was founded upon the democratic principles of freedom, equality, justice, and upward mobility – the opportunity to assert power over oneself and determine one’s own destiny. “Only in America” describes the wonder of upward mobility where success is determined by the individual not by the State. Unlike its English predecessor, American democracy guaranteed that in America it was not necessary to be born into wealth or born into the ruling aristocracy to achieve financial success or political power. The United States guarantees religious freedom to its citizens and further guarantees the separation of Church and State.

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July 1, 2017 | 2:33 pm | Comments »

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Why Jews are losing the war on college campuses  

According to a recent study conducted by the “Brand Israel Group,” support for Israel among Jewish college students has dropped 27% in the last 6 years. This mirrors a smaller but still significant drop in support among Americans generally, from 76% to 62%. According to Fern Oppenheim, the founder of the Brand Israel Group that conducted the survey, the source of this drop is the perceived lack of shared values between college students and the Jewish state. The same study found that 1 in 3 Jewish students reported anti-Semitic incidents on their campuses. Of these, 59% said that the incidents were related to anti-Israel attitudes. To explain this, Oppenheim blamed a political “atmosphere” on campus that divides the world into oppressor groups and victims, Israel being a symbol of the former.

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July 1, 2017 | 10:48 am | 1 Comment »

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