T. Belman. Trump has to stop the US from dancing to the Arab tune. What better placer to start than here.

Jordan’s Information Minister says there will be “catastrophic” repercussions if Trump indeed moves the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

By Elad Benari, INN

Jordan’s government spokesman warned on Thursday of “catastrophic” repercussions if President-elect Donald Trump follows through with his campaign pledge to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Trump repeatedly promised during the campaign to move the embassy if elected. His campaign manager Kellyanne Conway indicated last month that moving the embassy to Jerusalem “is a very big priority” for Trump, while media reports in Israel at the time indicated the transition team for Trump is already looking into possible locations in Jerusalem for the embassy.

But, speaking Thursday with The Associated Press, Jordan’s Information Minister Mohammed Momani warned such a move could affect relations between the U.S. and regional allies, including Jordan.
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6-minute-video: Israel facing Western seduction

Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, “Second Thought: US-Israel Initiative”
YouTube 6-minute-video on-line seminar on US-Israel and the Mideast

Video#28: http://bit.ly/2j7jznT; entire 40-video-seminar: http://bit.ly/1ze66dS

T. Belman. I am hopeful that with a Trump administration that the US will no longer tolerate a hostile UN, particularly towards Israel and a PA that incites terrorism and supports terrorists and violates all agreements including the Oslo Accords. The US should insist that 1) UNCHR be done away with, as it exists only to delegitimate Israel, that 2) UNRWA be wound up because it makes peace impossible (They will not be going back) and it denies the refugees and their descendants what all other refugees get, normalization, and that 3) the PA be dismantled because it isn’t working in the interests of peace and it isn’t complying  with the Oslo Accords.

Cruz and Trump are ready to lead the charge.

Conservatives have long been longing for this …

By Chris Golden, WESTERN JOURNALISM,   December 28, 2016

Perhaps the most shameful act of President Obama’s long, sordid presidency may have been among his last.

As the voraciously anti-Western wolves of the United Nations prepared to take a vote on a measure condemning Israel, one nation stood in the way — the United States, supposedly the greatest ally of the Jewish state. The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. could cast a veto, condemning the resolution. It didn’t happen, thanks to the Obama administration.

Conservatives are furious, and none more so than Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. In a scorching statement issued by the one-time Republican presidential contender, he excoriated the President Obama and his regime for its cowardice and proposed a unique retribution for the U.N. once President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
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By Evelyn Gordon, COMMENTARY

The massive support in Israel for soldier Elor Azaria, who was convicted of manslaughter on Wednesday for killing a wounded Palestinian terrorist, has confounded some of its friends and supplied ammunition for its enemies. So it’s important to understand why that support is so widespread. Jonathan Tobin correctly explained some of the reasons yesterday, including the fact that most Israelis have limited sympathy for terrorists. But to a large extent, this is also a self-inflicted wound by the two people at the top of the military chain of command, who forgot the most basic principle of justice: Not only must it be done, but it must be seen to be done. By their own actions, they managed to create an appearance of injustice in a case where I believe none actually occurred.
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A pardon for Azaria would go some way toward repairing the damage the General Staff has done to its relationship with the public.

By Carolione B Glick, JPOST

Sgt Elor Azaria, who was convicted of manslaughter Wednesday for shooting a terrorist in Hebron last March, is a symptom of what may be the most dangerous threat to Israeli society today.

Azaria, a combat medic from the Kfir Brigade, arrived at the scene of an attack where two terrorists had just stabbed his comrades. One of the terrorists was killed, the other was wounded and lying on the ground, his knife less than a meter away from him.
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APF: Russia begins scaling down military presence in Syria, Moscow’s sole aircraft carrier set to be the first to quit the war-torn country

STRATFOR

Forecast

• Despite the shared cause of supporting Damascus, Moscow and Tehran will continue to differ in their commitment to the conflict.
• As Russia concocts an exit strategy, its relations with Iran will steadily sour.
• The divergences between the countries will exacerbate the differences among Syria’s loyalist forces.

Analysis

With their capture of Aleppo in late December, forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al Assad secured their biggest victory in the country’s nearly six-year civil war. It is now clear that al Assad has weathered the critical threat to his administration’s rule over key parts of the country. Military, diplomatic and financial support from Iran and Russia has played a tremendous role in the loyalist victory. But despite their shared cause in Syria and the considerable resources that each government has invested in the war, Moscow and Tehran do not see eye to eye on several issues related to the conflict. The two countries differ most notably in their commitment to the loyalist cause. Though Russia has already demonstrated its pledge to sustain and support loyalist forces in Syria, Moscow’s commitment in the conflict simply does not rise to the level of Tehran’s. Through its intervention in Syria, Russia is trying to boost its position in the Middle East, demonstrate its global stature, curtail the extremist threat and attain leverage in negotiations with the West. Iran, on the other hand, views the Syrian civil war as a critical front in an existential battle that directly relates to its geopolitical security.
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BY KENNETH R. TIMMERMAN, THE HILL

President-elect Donald Trump was right during the campaign to call the Iran nuclear agreement “the worst deal ever negotiated” by the United States government.

Not only did it reward a terrorist state with $100 billion of frozen oil revenues (some say, $150 billion), it dismantled an extensive armature of international sanctions that had cut Iran’s oil exports in half, banned it from the international financial system, and was beginning to threaten the regime with domestic unrest.

Obama tried to set this bad nuclear deal in concrete by incorporating most of its measures into a United Nations Security Council Resolution.
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By MARTIN SHERMAN

As their vision of two-states descends into irrelevance, two staters wax increasingly desperate &  delusional, and their policy proposals, increasingly unhinged & unethical

…we need a clear map showing Israel’s eastern border and the limits of its territorial demands. ..

The eastern border must be based on the required minimum to allow a significant number of settlers to join Israel, but no more than necessary. We must give up Ariel…The “no” to the settlements must be unambiguous. There is no need to evacuate them, and there is no need for a compensation plan for those who leave. The settlements beyond the border should be left to wither economically and be deprived of support. Anyone who wants to live in these areas will do so without the support or protection of the Jewish sovereignty within its borders… The Arab Palestinian people must eventually lay down their arms against the Zionist movement…Until this stage, Israel will continue to militarily hold territory east of the border…

 – Einat Wilf  “Yes to the Occupation, No to the Settlements”,  Haaretz  Dec 31, 2016.  Read more…

T. Belman. Freund has his numbers wrong and I told him. According to Wikipedia “As of December 2015, altogether over 800,000 Israeli Jews resided over the 1949 Armistice Lines (including east-Jerusalem neighborhoods), constituting approximately 13% of Israel’s Jewish population.[4]”. That would have increased by 35,000 in 2016 due to natural growth. This total number does not include the outposts or Nahal settlements.

Annexing Judea and Samaria will dash the delusions of those who continue to cling to the idea of the creation of “Palestine.”

By Michael Freund, JPOST

Finally, after decades of perseverance, one of the most energetic and enduring diplomatic delusions of the modern era is at last giving way to reality.

Notwithstanding the recent UN Security Council vote regarding Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, and US Secretary of State John Kerry’s subsequent temper tantrum on the same subject, it is time to formally pronounce the death of the so-called two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
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By: World Israel News Staff January 3, 2017

Trump’s team is reportedly in contact with the Palestinians but has set a new tone regarding negotiations with Israel.

President-elect Donald Trump’s transitional team has recently been in contact with the Palestinians on how to proceed with diplomatic negotiations.

Israel Radio, in a report on Tuesday, quoted sources within Trump’s team and among Palestinian Authority officials who affirmed that the contacts were taking place.

In the report, an unnamed “senior official” working for Trump is said to have asked a senior Palestinian official why they would object to moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to western Jerusalem.
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By Abraham Cooper, TOI

[..]

We thought we would list some of the scores of other “Occupied Territories” disputes that neither the Obama Administration nor anyone else has paid as much attention to as they do to apartment houses and kindergartens being built in peaceful Jewish communities on disputed territories in the Holy Land:

China/Japan–territorial disputes between China and Japan in the East China Sea continue, with both sides claim as their exclusive economic zone.

China/Korea–the historic Chinese-Korean historic dispute over land that was part of the ancient kingdom of Koguryo.
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by CONRAD BLACK, NATIONAL REVIEW

Trump must try to cope with his predecessor’s disastrous legacy.

Like most people, I had hoped for the customary settling down after the very tumultuous and nasty election. We have been denied that, not by the candidates, who have been dignified, but by the outgoing administration. I have written here and elsewhere before that this has been the most incompetent administration since James Buchanan brought on the Civil War, but I had not realized how the immunity to severe criticism afforded President Obama, because of his pigmentation, had been allowed to disguise how inept this administration has been, how authoritarian and sleazy, and how the president’s demiurgic vanity has gone almost unnoticed as the toadies and bootlickers like Tom Friedman and David Remnick went into overdrive.
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By Rabbi Aryeh Spero, AMERICAN THINKER

Normally, when the U.N. Security Council passes a resolution, a vote is taken and the result recorded. Period. Something very unusual happened after the Security Council voted to declare Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria as Arab/Islamic land. The representatives of the nations applauded and celebrated what they had just done by giving themselves a standing ovation. They clapped not so much in behalf of what they gave to “Palestinians” but more so in declaring the Jewish tie to the Old City of Jerusalem as illegitimate and Israel’s attachment to the Temple Mount and Judea and Samaria as illegal. It was a celebration by too many of the nations of the world against the history of the Jewish People and their Covenant to the Holy Land. It was an act of anti-Semitism.
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T. Belman. This is an excellent description  of the battle that is being waged. But it implies that Zionism is racism. The rule of law is the enemy of Zionism at least the rule of law that the left embraces.  The right also wants to live by the rule of law but a different one. It wants a rule of law that accommodates the Zionist project rather than one that insists on the equality of Arab and Jew in all matters. It wants a rule of law that limits the Court to interpreting the law and leaving it to the Knesset to pass the laws. The rule of law as it now stands enables the Court to negate Knesset legislation that violates the “dignity” of man. Unfortunately the Court defines what “dignity” requires turning it in effect to a bill of rights. But it is the Knesset that should legislate the Bill of Rights not the Court. Such a Bill of Rights would protect Zionism.  It would recognize the right of Jews to J&S and that Israel is the nation state of the Jews and so on. What is at stake here is what rule of law to be governed by.

The dismantlement of the liberal rule of law is a prerequisite for the establishment of Jewish ethnic supremacy in Israel and the West Bank.

By Chemi Shalev, HAARETZ

An Israeli woman holds a poster reading in Hebrew: ‘We never abandon soldiers’ as she demonstrates outside the defense ministry in Tel Aviv on January 4, 2017. JACK GUEZ/AFP

The unequivocal verdict against Elor Azaria, the IDF soldier accused of killing an unarmed terrorist in Hebron, was a rare victory for human rights, the IDF and the rule of law. Azaria was unequivocally convicted of manslaughter: the military court that tried him didn’t leave even a sliver of doubt in its judgment. It is a measure of the degree to which confidence in the legal system has been eroded in recent years that so many Israelis were taken by surprise by the clear-cut, no-ifs-or-buts decision rendered by the Tel Aviv Military Court.
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T. Belman. Traditionally AIPAC always pushed the government to protect Israel. But now it has a problem because the Government is going to pass pro Israel policies without the need for them to push. The Republican Congress agrees with such policies so there should be clear sailing.  If AIPAC continued to push for its favoured policies such as no settlement construction or the two state solution they would be fighting against the administration and what Israel wants.  The only role for them now is to move the Democratic Party to support the administration Israel policies. They have always wanted bi-partisan backing so it is incumbent on them to move the Democrats closer to the Republicans on Israel matters.

The flagship pro-Israel lobbying organization failed to stop Obama’s Iran Deal. It may lose even more influence under Trump.

By Armin Rosen, TABLET

At first blush, at least, a Trump presidency promises everything that AIPAC, America’s largest pro-Israel lobbying group, could ever wish for. After eight years of rocky relations between Jerusalem and Washington, Donald Trump promises that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will receive a much friendlier reception in the White House during his administration. The inclusion of Iran hawks such as CIA director Mike Pompeo, Trump’s nominee for CIA director, and defense secretary nominee James Mattis could even spell the end of the nuclear agreement with Iran, especially in light of Tehran’s repeated flirtations with violating the deal.

In reality, Trump poses a string of new problems for AIPAC. “There’s definitely no question that it was better and easier for [AIPAC] if Hillary won,” said one Democratic strategist recently. “Policy is only part of it. It would’ve been an opportunity or their best chance at hitting reset for Democrats.” Instead, after losing its fight against the Iran Deal, the lobbying group must try to stake out an unstable middle ground during an even more polarizing presidency than Obama’s while fending off challenges from its left and right. “In this new world where J Street really is a pro-Israel validator for segments of the Democrats and the Zionist Organization of America is a validator for segments of the Republicans, what’s AIPAC role?” the strategist wondered.
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Two resolutions being considered by lawmakers are supportive of Israel, but only one explicitly backs a peace settlement that establishes a Palestinian state

BY RON KAMPEAS, TOI

WASHINGTON (JTA) – There’s a striking difference between competing bids in Congress addressing last month’s UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements.

It’s not that they differ on the United Nations – the two nonbinding congressional resolutions under consideration condemn the Security Council, as well as the outgoing Obama administration for abstaining and not exercising the US veto.

Here’s the difference: Missing from one of the resolutions are the words “two states.” In the other resolution, the two-state outcome features prominently.
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T. Belman. INSS is a left of center think tank associated with Tel Aviv U. I agree with their thinking that Israel, in conjunction with the US, must move unilaterally and must build on what they agree Israel is to keep. I also agree that Israelis prefer a two state solution but with different borders.  I couldn’t find the proposed map but it redraws Area C:

“Besides carving out 17 percent of the area for the settlement blocs, where 86 percent of settlers live, Orion and Dekel suggest using up to 42 percent for development on behalf of the Palestinians and up to 33 percent for protection of “vital” security sites, including the Jordan Valley.”

It does not say who will have sovereignty over the 33% nor if whether the designation is permanent. Let us assume we have sovereignty over the 33%. This means that we can build there too  but I do not believe that’s what INSS has in mind. I disagree strongly that we should use the 42% for the Arabs. They should get nothing without an agreement. Better that we amend Bennett’s plan to give them some of Area C but less than INSS suggests and that we close down some  of Area B and move the Arabs to the new housing for them in Area C to do away with the swiss cheese effect. In other words rationalize the borders of A, B and C. This should be a proposal only waiting for their agreement. In the meantime build on the land we intend to keep.  We can always change the proposal if there are no takers.

Note also that they do not want to violate Oslo.  Why not? The Arabs do it all the time.

By Andrew Tobin, TOI

JTA — Israel’s leading security think tank has published a plan to redraw the map of the West Bank in a bid to consolidate major settlements and prevent the spread of others

The plan, presented Monday to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin as part of the Institute for National Security Studies’ yearly strategic survey, calls for the government to allow construction in West Bank settlement blocs and Jerusalem. At the same time, it recommends a halt to construction in the 90 percent of the territory outside the major settlements.  Read more…

Bill seeks to counter Obama admin refusal to call Jerusalem Israel’s capital

By Adam Kredo, NEW BEACON

A delegation of Republican senators is moving forward with an effort to freeze some funding to the State Department until the U.S. embassy in Israel is formally moved to Jerusalem, according to new legislation.

The legislation comes as the Obama administration continues to face criticism over its behind-the-scenes effort to forward a United Nations resolution condemning Israel.

The Obama administration, like previous administrations, does not formally recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city and has worked to stymie efforts to move the U.S. embassy there.
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But Republican leadership on the Hill is waiting for Trump to take the lead

By Michael Wilner, JPOST

of Representatives plans to vote on a resolution this week that will condemn the UN for its targeting of Israel, its leadership has already planned additional measures sure to please the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and its allies in Washington.

Over the course of the next hundred days, Republicans hope to punish the UN for its passage of a resolution condemning Israel over its settlement enterprise and Iran over its destabilizing actions in neighboring Middle East nations.
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“I believe that any American act of stupidity will ignite the Palestinian territories,” says senior Fatah official.

JPOST

The Palestinians will start a new violent uprising if Donald Trump’s incoming White House administration relocates the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a senior Fatah official indicated this week in an interview translated by MEMRI.

“I believe that any American act of stupidity will ignite the Palestinian territories,” Fatah Central Committee member Sultan Abu al-Einein told Egypt’s Alghad TV on Sunday.
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