By Raphael Aren, TOI

[After discussing the various resolution which are coming up in the UNSC]

Even if an anti-settlement resolution passed, what difference would it make?

In the internal Israeli debate over what could happen at the Security Council in Obama’s last days, very little attention has been given to the question of how much impact an approved resolution would actually have. The answer is quite simple: Not much.

“It won’t change anything immediately,” said Aeyal Gross, a professor of international law at Tel Aviv University, even though — as opposed to decisions taken by the General Assembly — countries are obligated to act according to Security Council resolutions. It is possible that a first resolution might pave the way for another one, which at some point could lead to additional resolutions under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which deals with “threat[s] to the peace, breach of the peace, or act[s] of aggression.”
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By Dr Mitchell Bard, TOI

The first semester of 2016-17 has been another phenomenal one for Jewish students across the country. While fear mongers have been scaring parents with exaggerated claims about how dangerous it is for Jewish students on campus, the truth is campuses across the country are beehives of pro-Israel activity that has gone unnoticed because it does not fit the narrative of Jews cowering in fear in their dorm rooms. In fact, more students are engaged in pro-Israel activity today than ever before.

While once a handful of pro-Israel groups such as Hillel, AIPAC and various uncoordinated Israel action committees operated on campus, today a multiplicity of organizations engage students from different perspectives. These organizations include (forgive me for any I’ve inadvertently left out): Hillel, AIPAC, AICE, StandWithUs, the David Project, AEPi, Hasbara Fellowships, ZOA, JNF, ADL, the Israel on Campus Coalition, Students Supporting Israel, Chabad, the Israeli American Council, The Maccabee Task Force, and Christians United for Israel.
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T. Belman. The NYT makes a big deal of Tillerson changing his tune. I see not problem at all. Its a matter of a risk/reward calculation. He decided to accept the risk in order to sign a $500 billion contract.

By NEIL MacFARQUHAR and ANDREW E. KRAMER, NYT, DEC. 20, 2016

MOSCOW — As a member of the U.S.-Russia Business Council and chief executive of Exxon Mobil, Rex W. Tillerson frequently voiced doubts about Russia’s investment climate, saying as late as 2008 that Russia “must improve the functioning of its judicial system and its judiciary. There is no respect for the rule of law in Russia today.”

This past February, however, Mr. Tillerson, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s choice to be the next secretary of state, was sounding a very different theme, telling students at the University of Texas that he has “a very close relationship” with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
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By Selwyn Duke, AMERICAN THINKER

“Islam is not the problem,” proclaims the Left. And if you say otherwise, you’re a “racist,” even though “Muslim” is not a race. Yet a fact remains: virtually all the world’s terrorists today claim Islamic motivations. So if Islam (belief) is not the problem, are we then left with a genetic explanation for this violence? Is there something inherent in the groups generally embracing Islam — Arabs, Persians, Indonesians, Punjabis, etc. — that would account for it? And, hey, I’m just asking; it’s the liberals who profess ideas suggesting this possibility.

Consider: When analyzing WWII and Germany, few claim the problem was Germans, but Nazism. When looking at 1917 Russia, we don’t say the problem was Russians, but Marxism. So fill in the blank: when evaluating the Muslim world and its violence, do we assume the problem is the people or _____?
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T. Belman. Neither renegotiation or sanctions will result in a better deal. The US should not talk. It should do. It must prevent the hegemonic ambitions of the Iranian regime. The best way to do this is cut a deal with Russia if possible or arrange for a massive Sunni Army to gain control of the remaining areas of Syria and Iraq. Perhaps the Gulf States care enough to prevent the expansion of Iran to finance the deployment of a 100,000 strong Egyptian Army to Syria.

Why the new Commander-in-Chief has few good options for rebuilding the Middle East order that Obama negotiated away

By Lee Smith, TABLET

Forget China and underwater drones, forget Russian hacks and leaks, because it’s all a sideshow: America’s big-ticket foreign-policy issue is still the Iran deal. Donald Trump has promised to rip it up on day one of his presidency, but that’s not going to happen because it means the freshly minted commander-in-chief may have America poised for conflict with the leading state sponsor of terror before the band even starts to warm up for the inaugural ball next month at the newly opened Trump International Hotel.
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Why hasn’t the administration done anything about Syria, and won’t? Because the Iran Deal.

By Tony Badran, TABLET First published Sept 24/16

America’s settled policy of standing by while half a million Syrians have been killed, millions have become refugees, and large swaths of their country have been reduced to rubble is not a simple “mistake,” as critics like Nicholas D. Kristof and Roger Cohen have lately claimed. Nor is it the product of any deeper-seated American impotence or of Vladimir Putin’s more recent aggressions. Rather, it is a byproduct of America’s overriding desire to clinch a nuclear deal with Iran, which was meant to allow America to permanently remove itself from a war footing with that country and to shed its old allies and entanglements in the Middle East, which might also draw us into war. By allowing Iran and its allies to kill Syrians with impunity, America could demonstrate the corresponding firmness of its resolve to let Iran protect what President Barack Obama called its “equities” in Syria, which are every bit as important to Iran as pallets of cash.
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By Prof. Eyal Zisser, ISRAEL HAYOM

The assassination of the Russian ambassador in Ankara, horrifying as it was, has sparked concerns over the possible consequences for regional stability.

Some experts warned of an escalation in hostilities and deterioration of Russian-Turkish relations, even to the point of war between the two, citing the example of the assassination of Austro-Hungarian Royal Prince Ferdinand in June 1914 in Sarajevo, which led to World War I.

The sense of upheaval over the Russian ambassador’s murder, however, appears to have mostly stemmed from the fact that it was broadcast live, as if it were a reality TV show.
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By Barbara Diamond, TOI

Most of what I have written over the past year regarding the recent US Presidential election has come to fruition. That having been said, I am not a political oracle, but simply a fascinated observer of the process. Reading between the lines of political behavior and actions is often more interesting and valid than taking it all at face value.

For some time, I have been making a prediction privately which I have been loath to put into print as it is just a bit provocative. Who would want that!?
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Founder of Belgian People’s Party tells Arutz Sheva wave of populism sweeping across West is a boon for Israel.

By Yoni Kempinski, INN

While the left has decried the rising tide of populism across the United States and Europe, claiming it is tied to racism, xenophobia, and anti-Semitism, the leader of one of the new wave of populist parties says the political revolutions reshaping the West are not connected to racism – and are a boon for Israel.

Speaking to Arutz Sheva at the 2nd Jerusalem Leaders Summit, Mischaël Modrikamen, founder of the Belgian People’s Party, discussed the nature of the populist wave and its implications for the Jewish state.

“[There is] a clear distinction between the right-wing, neo-Nazi, fascist movements – and they are – if you look at the [Greek party] Golden Dawn, or the [Hungarian] Jobbik [party]… they are fascist, racist, and anti-Semitic,” said Modrikamen.
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By: Barbara Opall-Rome, DEFENSE NEWS

Two Israeli F-35 “Adirs” fly in formation and display the US and Israeli flags after receiving fuel from a Tennessee Air National Guard KC-135, Dec, 6, 2016.Photo Credit: 1st Lt. Erik D. Anthony/US Air Force

TEL AVIV – About 30 Lockheed Martin specialists and three US Air Force representatives will remain in Israel indefinitely to help the Israel Air Force (IAF) operate and maintain its newest acquisition, the F-35I Adir.

The Lockheed Martin team, two USAF F-35 pilots and one USAF aircrew instructor are co-located at the IAF’s Nevatim base in the Negev desert, home of the 140th Golden Eagles Squadron, which received its first pair of Adir (Awesome/Mighty) Dec. 12.
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by Moshe Dann, JPOST

There are times in a nation’s history when it seems swept inexorably towards the next stage in its development and its destiny, often amidst inner conflicts and sometimes violently. The American Civil War is an example of a society divided over the issue of slavery which led to a devastating conflict.  The issue was complicated because the Supreme Court, under Chief Justice Roger Taney, had declared in the Dred Scott decision that slave-holding was a Constitutional right. Six years later, in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation which changed the course of American history. This was followed by Amendments to the Constitution which abolished slavery and guaranteed rights of all citizens.
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By Vic Rosenthal

ERETZ-ISRAEL was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave to the world the eternal Book of Books.

After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it throughout their Dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom. – Beginning of  Israel’s Declaration of Independence, May 14, 1948

Today there is a deepening ideological divide on one important issue among Israeli Jews. It’s not especially useful to simply refer to it as “left vs. right,” although one’s opinion on this issue usually predicts where one falls on the political spectrum. It is a divergence of opinion about what kind of country we want to have. It’s the disagreement about defining a “Jewish state.”
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Pew Center Survey shows rapid climb in the percentage of US Orthodox Jews – and their influence goes beyond their numbers.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/221990

By Benny Avni, THE SUN

Roughly translated, “dugri” means “straightforwardness.” Antonym: diplomatic ambiguity. The Turkic word, pronounced DOOH-gree, entered the Hebrew language and became a staple of Israeli discourse. President-elect Trump’s approach to diplomacy appears to appreciate dugri.

And, hey, an American non-ambiguous dugri may just be what Middle East diplomacy now requires. Take the nomination of David Friedman, Mr. Trump’s long time confidante, bankruptcy lawyer and friend, to be America’s next envoy in Israel.

“I expect the next U.S. ambassador in Israel to support, like I do, strong, close and warm relations between our countries and support security cooperation, as we did during the Obama presidency,” Daniel Shapiro, President Obama’s ambassador in Tel Aviv, told me several days before Mr. Trump’ named Mr. Friedman.
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By Leon Wieseltier, WaPo

Contemplating the extermination of Aleppo and its people, I was reminded of a sentence that I read this summer. It appeared in an encomium to Elie Wiesel shortly after his death. It was a sterling sentence. It declared: “We must never be bystanders to injustice or indifferent to suffering.” That was Wiesel’s teaching, exactly. The problem with the sentence is that it was issued by the White House and attributed to President Obama. And so the sentence was not at all sterling. It was outrageously hypocritical.

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Friedman, an Orthodox Jew, is staunchly in favor of moving the embassy to Jerusalem, and building in Judea and Samaria.

By Herb Keinon, JPOST

US President elect Donald Trump’s nomination of David Friedman as his ambassador to Israel sends a message to the world that “we are going to look at things anew,” Becky Norton Dunlop, a senior official in Trump’s transition team, said on Monday.

Dunlop, who is the deputy to Ed Feulner, the senior adviser on the Trump transition team for policy and personnel, pointed out that although it was very rare for presidents-elect to make ambassadorial nominations before inauguration, Trump has only named two: to Israel and China.
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By FP Staff

A file photo of Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan (R) with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Reuters

The conflict in Syria took another ugly turn on Monday night, after a 22-year-old Turkish policeman, Mevlut Mert Altintas, fatally shot the Russian Ambassador to Ankara, Andrei Karlov in broad daylight.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was quick to condemn the assassination, and said that the killing is aimed at straining ties between Russia and Turkey. He also added that the murder is intended at derailing Moscow’s effort to effect a solution for the four year long Syrian civil war.

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The chancellor talks a good game in trying to appeal to German voters wary of left-wing sympathy for Putin.

By John Vinocur, WSJ

With their re-election next year very much in mind, Angela Merkel and the members of her Christian Democratic Union are staking out positions on Russia that, for now, make them the toughest tough-talkers in the West.

The chancellor’s line on the likelihood of Germany’s 2017 political and voting process being hacked: “I say this simply—these cyber-attacks, including those that are called hybrid measures in Russia’s doctrine, now belong to every-day occurrence.”
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What is not at all clear is how the American Jewish community will fare in the coming years.

By Caroloine B Glick, JPOST

David Friedman, President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to serve as the next US ambassador to Israel, has his work cut out for him.

Right after Trump announced his appointment, the nameless bureaucrats at the State Department mounted a rebellion. Speaking to The Jerusalem Post, the permanent members of the State Department’s Israel policy shop let it be known that Friedman is not to their liking.

“These are the people,” the Post’s Washington reporter Michael Wilner wrote, “behind the carefully worded reactions to breaking news developments in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.”
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TIP

The Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas is allowing injured Islamic State militants into the Gaza Strip to be treated and the transfer of weapons into Sinai to be used by ISIS’ branch based on the desert peninsula, Avi Issacharoff of The Times of Israel reported Sunday.

Issacharoff wrote that “one of the main smuggling tunnels [connecting Gaza and Sinai] is operating under the protection of Hamas and belongs to a smuggler who works with [Hamas].” The weapons are mostly anti-tank missiles and roadside improvised explosive devices: “The roadside bombs are a major challenge to the Egyptian Army; every week they inflict heavy casualties.” Issacharoff continued, “Explosives experts from [Hamas]…have arrived in the Sinai to assist with the assembly of the devices.” He noted that a former Hamas operative, Abed al-Hila Qishta, had his death announced by ISIS’ Sinai branch several days ago – he trained ISIS fighters in the use of anti-tank weapons and, despite severing relations from Hamas and joining the Popular Resistance Committees (another terrorist organization), he “has remained in close contact with [Hamas’] commanders in the Gaza Strip.”
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