Leaders of 21 nations expected to reaffirm 2002 peace plan offering normalization with Israel after deal with Ramallah

BY KARIN LAUB AND MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH, TOI

AD SEA, Jordan (AP) — Arab leaders held their annual summit Wednesday, poised to endorse key Palestinian positions in the conflict with Israel — a signal to US President Donald Trump that a deal on Palestinian statehood must precede any Israeli-Arab normalization.

Jordan’s King Abdullah told the summit’s opening session that there can be no peace or stability in the region without setting up a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

The Arab summit was to adopt a series of resolutions, several dealing with the Palestinian issue. The statements, subject to last-minute change, were previously endorsed by Arab foreign ministers.
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FOX NEWS

President Trump moved Tuesday to unravel a host of energy regulations imposed by his predecessor, targeting in particular the Obama administration’s signature program that was intended to curb carbon emissions – but blasted by Republicans for hurting the already-struggling coal industry.

With a sweeping executive order signed at EPA headquarters, Trump initiated an immediate review of the Clean Power Plan, which restricts greenhouse gas emissions at coal-fired power plants. Surrounded by coal miners, the president described that plan as a “crushing attack” on workers and vowed to nix “job-killing regulations.”
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By EVELYN GORDON / COMMENTARY 3-28-17 

DEBKA

If the Arab summit opening in Amman Wednesday, March 9 meets the expectations of Washington and Jerusalem, the session will ratify a pivotal initiative for promoting an historic peace process between the Arab world and Israel. This effort, which matured through five months of mostly secret diplomacy, was launched by Donald Trump in November, shortly after he was elected US President.

The official Arab summit agenda covers the disastrous war crises preying on the Arab world in Syria, Yemen and Iraq, as well as economic issues. But the rulers will also quietly discuss off-stage a proposal brought by Saudi King Salman and Egyptian President Abdel-Fatteh El-Sisi to embark on steps destined to lead to peaceful relations between the moderate Arab regimes and Israel and exponentially to a resolution of the Israeli-P\alestinian conflict.
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ISRAEL HAYOM

In 2005, 60% of Israeli Jews said they would support a peace deal that included Israeli withdrawal from territory and a Palestinian state • Poll shows that number has dropped to only 36% today, and 81% want Israel to retain sovereignty over Jordan Valley.

Support among the Jewish population of Israel for a peace deal with the Palestinians that would include an Israeli withdrawal from territory and the establishment of a Palestinian state is waning, according to a poll commissioned by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, headed by former Foreign Ministry Director General Dr. Dore Gold.

The poll indicates that while in 2005, 60% of respondents said they would agree to such a peace deal, the number has dropped to 36% today. The current poll results also show that only 10% of respondents said they supported conceding the Temple Mount to the Palestinians, whereas an overwhelming majority of 83% said they opposed it.
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Stranger Things Happened

By CONRAD BLACK, NY SUN

The health-care-reform fiasco illustrates perfectly why the United States has been an ineffectual, gridlocked failure at legislative self-government for more than 20 years. It is not only not a system with two parties ready to govern; it is not a system with one party ready to govern.

The Cruz Right took 30% of the vote in the Republican primaries and the Sanders Left took almost 50% of the vote in the Democratic primaries. The Clinton-Obama Democrats are chasing pathetically after the itinerant base of their party as it has scurried to the left like a frightened lobster, and the Republican Right has cooled down to some degree, but shows no disposition to take one for the team.

There is little point in assessing blame for how the Trump administration and the Democratic congressional leadership have reached such a lamentable state of vituperative hostility, but deescalating it will take time, work, and a will that is not now visible.
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By JNi.Media

Habayit Hayehudi activists, led by attorney Yossi Fuchs, Chairman of the Legal Forum for Israel, are convinced Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked is a more capable leader for their party than Chairman Naftali Bennett, one who could help Habayit Hayehudi establish itself as a prominent power in the next Knesset.

To prove their point, Fuchs et al have ordered a poll from one of Israel’s most reliable pollsters, Rafi Smith, and the results backed them up.

Shaked “increases and changes the part supporters,” Smith told Army Radio on Tuesday. “While Bennett attracts his traditional supporters, she draws a different crowd.”
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By Edwin Mora, BREITBART

The U.S. and Russia-backed Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) has offered the people of Raqqa the opportunity to join its autonomous federal region in northern Syria once the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) is pushed out of the city.

Saleh Muslim, the co-chair of the PYD party, told Reuters that the residents of Raqqa would be the ones to decide their fate once the city is liberated from ISIS, adding that he believes the city will join the Kurdish autonomous “democratic federal” system.

“We expect [this] because our project is for all Syria… and Raqqa can be part of it,” Muslim told Reuters during a telephone conversation. ”Our only concern is that the people of Raqqa are the ones who take the decision on everything.”
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The terrorists were freed on condition that they did not engage in either terrorism or incitement of terrorism subsequent to their release.

BY CAROLINE B. GLICK, JPOST

Ahlam Tamimi is a mass murdering monster.

And today she is living the good life, as a “journalist,” inciting jihad in Jordan under the protection of the King Abdullah.

On August 9, 2001, in the service of Hamas, Tamimi led a suicide bomber to the Sbarro Pizzeria in central Jerusalem. It was summer vacation. The streets were filled with children and parents.
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Trump’s envoy thrills crowd at annual event, says ‘the days of Israel-bashing at the UN are over’

BY ERIC CORTELLESSA AND REBECCA SHIMONI STOI, TOI

WASHINGTON — Thrilling a crowd of almost 18,000 at AIPAC’s annual policy conference Monday, US envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley promised a new era at the world body — one in which America is an unabashed and unequivocal ally of Israel and any other nation that stands in the way will feel its wrath.

“I wear heels. It’s not for a fashion statement,” she said. “It’s because if I see something wrong, we’re going to kick ’em every single time.”
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T. Belman. Read this carefully. AIPAC appears to fashion its policies on what would keep it bipartisan rather than on what is good for Israel. I always thought that AIPAC existed to fight Israel’s battles in Congress. No longer. Why does AIPAC stay committed to the two-state solution or stand against settlement construction. If Trump gives Israel a lot of leeway to build will AIPAC remain against settlement construction? If it backed the new policy, it will lose their bipartisan appeal.

Shmuel Rosner in Notes from AIPAC: The lobby’s greatest battle of all time writes “(AIPAC) is battling the forces that make America a much more polarized society, a place in which a consensus, or a bipartisan cause, are a rarity.” and asks “Is it really in AIPAC’s power to prevent Israel from falling “victim to the same divisiveness that overwhelms nearly every other political issue?”

BY MICHAEL WILNER, JPOST

Their message was clear: AIPAC is a deeply bipartisan organization, and will continue to represent the political center in Washington that is committed to a two-state outcome.

Several lobbies in Washington have pioneered the two-state solution in recent years, but the American Israel Public Affairs Committee has not been one of them, offering what Democrats considered lip service to US-led peace initiatives conducted throughout the Obama administration.
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House Speaker Paul Ryan at AIPAC: The United States stands with Israel now, tomorrow and always.

By Elad Benari, INN

House of Representative Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) addressed the 2017 AIPAC policy conference on Monday, saying he was encouraged to see so many young people in the crowd.

“You are the next generation of leaders and I can’t thank you enough for getting involved,” he said.

Ryan recalled that his first trip as House Speaker was to Israel, where he “saw the difference that our support for Israel makes.”
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T. Belman. Please notice that Trump and Netanyahu both talk about achieving peace. Neither mention two states or Palestine.

Following are Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks (via satellite) to the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, DC:

“I wanted to be with you today, but I heard that you have 18,000 participants and I began to worry that the registration line waiting would be too long, so I’m happy to be with you from Jerusalem. Thank you, AIPAC. Thank you Howard Kohr and Lillian Pincus for your leadership. Thank you to the 4,000 students, the leaders of tomorrow, who have come to the conference today. Thank you to the bipartisan leadership of Congress and to the many members of the House and Senate who have come to show support for the great US-Israel alliance.
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T. Belman. As you know, Pres Trump keeps talking about destroying ISIS and its ideology. I decided to write an article about its ideology. This is the first article I came upon. Maybe he said it all. Maybe he didn’t.

By Alistair Crooke, HUFFINGTON POST

BEIRUT — The dramatic arrival of Da’ish (ISIS) on the stage of Iraq has shocked many in the West. Many have been perplexed — and horrified — by its violence and its evident magnetism for Sunni youth. But more than this, they find Saudi Arabia’s ambivalence in the face of this manifestation both troubling and inexplicable, wondering, “Don’t the Saudis understand that ISIS threatens them, too?”

It appears — even now — that Saudi Arabia’s ruling elite is divided. Some applaud that ISIS is fighting Iranian Shiite “fire” with Sunni “fire”; that a new Sunni state is taking shape at the very heart of what they regard as a historical Sunni patrimony; and they are drawn by Da’ish’s strict Salafist ideology.
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Ukraine seeks to follow the Palestinian strategy of turning defeat and victimhood at the hands of a foreign power into a continuous flow of billions in aid.

By Alexander G. Markovsky, AMERICAN THINKER

The future of American-Russian relations and the balance of power in Europe will – at least in the short run – depend on a resolution of the Ukrainian conflict.

While  President Trump expresses the desire to have good relations with Russia, his UN envoy Nikki Haley stated, “The United States continues to condemn and call for an immediate end to the Russian occupation of Crimea.” She added, “Crimea is a part of Ukraine. Our Crimea-related sanctions will remain in place until Russia returns control over the peninsula to Ukraine”– the administration unaware, apparently, that the historical experience of “return” is hardly a Russian specialty.

Impervious to political reality, the Trump administration refuses to recognize that Crimea has   turned its clocks to Moscow time, both literally and figuratively. It has joined Russia, and regardless of Western sanctions and condemnations, there is no turning back of this historic clock; Crimea is irreversible and non-negotiable. But the Eastern Ukraine is open to negotiations and an amicable resolution.
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Five members of Abayudaya community studying in Israel for 5 months.

BY TAMARA ZIEVE, JPOST

A group of five young Conservative converts from Uganda’s Abayudaya community are currently living their dream of studying Torah and Hebrew in Israel, following a three-year struggle to obtain A-2 visas for their participation in a Marom- MASA program.

The A-2 visa is granted according to the Law of Return, and until last year, the Abayudaya community was not formally recognized by the Israeli government, impeding their path to Israel.

Since the early 20th century, members of the Abayudaya community, now 1,500, have been observing Judaism, and in 2002, the majority formally converted.
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“The facts on the ground in this region are irreversible and render the concept of a two-state solution obsolete.”

ARUTZ SHEVA

The complete Judea and Samaria (West Bank) Jewish Population Stats report was released on Sunday with data updated to January 1, 2017. The report is available to the public in English via the mailing list at the http://WestBankJewishPopulationStats.com website. The Associated Press picked up the newly-released report as well.
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‘Trump seriously considering embassy move’

By Ido Ben Porat, INN

Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday addressed the 2017 AIPAC policy conference, where he expressed gratitude to Jews in America who helped elect President Donald Trump and stressed the administration’s unwavering commitment to Israel.

“I’m proud to call [Trump] my friend. I’m proud to call him my president, but I was never more proud when, at the outset of his first address to Congress, he condemned the vandalism and hate against Jewish communities in the United States,” said Pence.
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One of my regular followers, Michael Derfler, just told me of this book he wrote and I thought you might be interested in looking into it.

Amazon writes:

This unique book is a thought-provoking journey through the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. The focus is on the fundamental ideas that shape society, reframing the values that unite us and suggesting one core issue that divides us. All material is drawn from among the greatest minds in Jewish history. Most topics are broad enough to make them relevant to the widest audience. The content demands thoughtful readers who have the initiative to look up and review relevant Biblical passages. Open mindedness to new and challenging ideas is required. The rewards are a deeper appreciation of the Bible and a new way of speaking about life and the world.

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