ISRAEL HAYOM

The California legislature passed a bill barring all state bodies, including universities, from maintaining ties with organizations that support anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions activities, Israel Hayom learned Thursday.

The move marks a significant achievement for the Israeli American Council (IAC), which seeks to counteract the BDS movement on legal, technological and public diplomacy levels.

The bill prohibits the state from investing in companies “engaging in actions that are politically motivated and are intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or otherwise limit commercial relations with the state of Israel, or companies based in the state of Israel or in territories controlled by the state of Israel.”
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A close look at Benjamin Netanyahu’s foreign policy reveals an underappreciated and misunderstood record of accomplishment

By LazAr Berman, COMMENTARY

In June, the Israeli journalist Amir Tibon wrote an article for Politico detailing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long-standing and bitter fights with Israel’s defense leaders. Former IDF chiefs of staff and spymasters described Netanyahu as messianic, driven by personal calculations, and incapable of protecting Israel’s interests. His former defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, said the prime minister’s conduct had caused him to lose faith in Netanyahu, and ex- Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin said he “represents six years of constant failures.”

Bibi-bashing of this sort is neither new nor limited to Israel. Diskin’s remarks echoed the charges of former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who wrote in his 2014 memoir, Duty, that under Netanyahu “Israel’s strategic situation is worsening, its own actions contributing to its isolation.” Gates claimed that the Jewish state was acting “strategically stupid” as it pursued tactical gains. “Time,” he concluded, “is not on Israel’s side.”
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By Paul Eidelberg and Will Morrisey, The Israel-America Renaissance Institute

Winston Churchill defined Mein Kampf as “the new Qur’an of faith and war.”  Consistent therewith, Haj Amin al-Husseini, the notorious former Mufti of Jerusalem, declared, “There is a definite similarity between the principles of Islam and the principles of Nazism.”

Although Hitler and Muhammad shared an enthusiasm for military adventurism and a hatred of Jews, still, their world views would seem to be diametrically opposed.  Let us see.

Hitler grounds his Jew-hatred in racism as well as atheism.  His Jew-hatred flows from the sewers of nineteenth-century ‘race theory.’ Its calculated blasphemy, its materialism (despite Hitler’s self-described ‘idealism’), and most obviously its idolatry of a ‘master race,’ ought to offend, and deeply offend, any serious student of the Qur’an.  Islam calls for the conversion of all ‘races’ to Islam, and it does much more than merely call for such conversion – it conquers for it.  Moreover, the insistent legalism of Islam sets strict limits on any would-be tyrant.  To be sure, Islam is ‘totalistic,’ as are most religions.  Islam seeks to explain and to regulate all of human life. This suggests that Islam is ‘totalitarian.’ Various scholars, Bernard Lewis and Daniel Pipes among them, deny this.^[1]
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Wikipedia. Neturei Karta (literally “Guardians of the City”) is a religious group that split from normative Judaism, formally created in Jerusalem, British Mandate of Palestine, in 1938, splitting off from Agudas Yisrael. The Neturei Karta see themselves as the “true Jews”, but are viewed as a cult on “the farthest fringes of Judaism” by the US-based Anti-Defamation League.[1] Neturei Karta opposes Zionism and calls for a dismantling of the State of Israel, in the belief that Jews are forbidden to have their own state until the coming of the Jewish Messiah.[2][3] They live in a fashion similar to Haredi communities around the globe.
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Soros can try to stifle opponents of Islamism, but he cannot suppress the truth about political Islam and its Sharia agenda.

BY Bruce Cornibe, COUNTER JIHAD | August 17, 2016

George Soros knows how to throw his money around in order to champion liberal-progressive causes.

We have seen how the Hungarian billionaire has contributed significant funds to immigration activist groups, LGBT organizations, the Black Lives Mattermovement, and anti-Israel groups among many others.

Apparently, Soros is also trying to silence groups and individuals who speak out against radical Islam. The Daily Caller reports on how Soros’ groups are targeting the counter-jihad movement:
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By Prof. Paul Eidelberg

Back in 1985, I wrote an article on Professor Zbigniew Brzezinski in The Intercollegiate Review. I bring this article to your attention because I therein revealed something unheard of in academia: the tyrannical mentality lurking in moral relativism, a doctrine linked to modern liberalism! I see this tyranny latent or lurking in the mentality of President Barack Obama. We need to elucidate and expose Mr. Obama’s mentality because at stake is nothing less than the national security of both America and Israel.
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T. Belman. This analysis is very superficial. It totally ignores what Israel should be trying to achieve. It starts with the advice “Don’t do stupid things”. It ignores the policy of “Don’t let a crises go to waste.” This analysis is based on the desire to achieve peace. It ignores the goal of keeping the land.

A consensus of experts: Conflict management is currently the least-worst option.

By David Weinberg, JPOST

With Obama’s term as president of the US coming to an end, and Mahmoud Abbas’s tenure as Palestinian leader winding down too, the Israeli government will soon have an opportunity to recalibrate its diplomatic policies on the Palestinian issue, which has been ham-fistedly frozen for two decades.
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By MARTIN SHERMAN

What are the political ramifications of the security prescription authored by the former Defense Minister and the current Director-General of the Foreign Ministry?

Israel’s security depends on its retaining defensible borders. This means maintaining control over key areas of Judea and Samaria and certainly over an undivided Jerusalem…This is also why it is crucial for Israel to control the strategically vital Jordan Valley. If it does not do so, the situation along the Jordan border may become similar to that of the Gaza-Egyptian border…[S]afeguarding Israel’s vital security requirements is the only path to a viable and durable peace …This includes defensible borders, a demilitarized Palestinian entity, control of a unified airspace with Judea and Samaria, electromagnetic communications frequency security. –Lt.-Gen. (res.) Moshe “Bogy” Yaalon, Former Defense Minister, and IDF Chief-of-Staff, 2014. Read more…

By Yoram Ettinger, ISRAEL HAYOM

The misperceptions, misrepresentations and ignorance over the legal status of Jewish settlements in the disputed area of Judea and Samaria reflect the general attitude toward the unique phenomenon of the reconstruction of the Jewish national home in Israel.

“Fidelity to law is the essence of peace,” opined Professor Eugene Rostow, a former dean of the Yale University Law School, undersecretary of state and a co-author of the Nov. 22, 1967, U.N. Security Council Resolution 242. Rostow resolved that under international law, “Jews have the same right to settle in the West Bank as they have in Haifa.”
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WHERE IS ISRAEL AND THE US IN ALL THIS

By Hemin Lihony, RUDAW

Russian President Vladimir Putin was one of the first world leaders to call his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan only hours after the July failed coup attempt, expressing his full support for Ankara and his government. That phone call became the basis for a new understanding. On his visit to Moscow this month, Erdogan explicitly told Putin that his phone call on the night of the coup provided a psychological boost for him.

An understanding on resolving the Middle East crises, especially in Iraq and Syria, is fast coming into being among Turkey, Qatar, Russia and Iran. Saudi Arabia and the United States will not play a main acting role in this scene.  With regard to the US, the Obama administration seems intent on keeping out.
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Netanyahu has until the end of October to review the matter and decide whether or not to take action against the illegal construction.

By Tova Lazaroff, JPOST

Sussiya

The IDF could demolish 30 of the 100 illegal structures in the Palestinian herding village of Sussiya, according to a draft of the state’s response to the High Court of Justice, submitted on Wednesday. The draft also says the question of the West Bank village’s overall fate rests with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and not solely with Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman.

The High Court of Justice mandated that the state submit its opinion on demolitions at Sussiya by the end of Wednesday. However, the state explained that Netanyahu needed until the end of October to review the matter, the choice being either demolitions or support for a compromise deal now in the works between the Civil Administration and villagers on the possible legalization of the structures.
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T. Belman. I have yet to read that one of the carrots is construction permits.  In any event, I disagree that if Arabs get permits so should Jews. I say Arabs shouldn’t get permits in Area C without them going through the planning process, just like the Jews do. But Jews have the right to live there. Arab construction should be limited to carefully defined areas and should be contingent on removal of all illegal construction.

Prominent MKs write to Defense Minister saying his plan to combat terror in Judea and Samaria leaves Jewish residents out in the cold.

By Heski Baruch, INN

The leaders of the Knesset’s Land of Israel Lobby have made their view clear to Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman that his new “carrot and stick” plan to combat terror in Judea and Samaria also damages the Jewish residents – and is unacceptable in its present form.
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By David Bedien, BEFORE ITS NEWS

By David Bedien, BEHIND THE NEWS IN ISRAEL

One of the drawbacks of longevity is that when that person dies, his impact on history may be lost on a new generation who did not know who he was. Such is the case with Hillel Kook, who died on August 18, 2001, at the age of 87.

On my 37th birthday, on August 31st, 1987, the day that I initiated a news agency, “Israel Resource”, I interviewed and consulted with Hillel Kook, an older maverick who had made an imprint on Jewish and Zionist history. Hillel was introduced to me by the Jerusalem Post’s late Louis Rappaport, whose book, published posthumously, “Shake Heaven and Earth: Peter Bergson and The Struggle to Rescue The Jews of Europe”, by Gefen Publishers in Jerusalem, chronciled the amazing feats of this man.

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By Ted Belman

In my article, America’s Limited Options, written in 2007, I wrote:

Bush has taken the first step by dropping the use of the phrase “war on terror” and now refers to the battle “as a global war of ideology against a network of terrorists”. He remains unwilling to finger the Saudi support for the Wahhabist ideology which leads to terrorism. To talk about root causes of terror, that has to rank way up there.

The Rand Corporation issued a major report, Building Moderate Muslim Networks in which they advocated that:

“the United States must do more to develop and support networks of moderate Muslims who are too often silenced by violent radical Islamists. 
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T. Belman.  I listened to both speeches and heartily agree. In fact I have long been a supporter of defeating the Jihad ideology and restricting US immigration to people who share her values. I also applaud Trump’s attack on political correctness.

Beyond that, Trump’s position on Israel couldn’t be any better. The GOP platform on Israel says it all.

Many people are against the messenger but embrace the message.  I embrace both and do not believe what the MSM says about Trump and what it has said about what he has said.

And now, Steve Bannon of Breitbart has been appointed to run the campaign. This is great news.  Bannon has been at the forefront, along with Andrew Breitbart, of the battle for exactly what Trump is embracing. I believe in Trump’s policies and hope that American’s will too, at least in numbers that will get him elected.

By James P Pinkerton, BRIETBART

Sometimes, the Main Stream Media can surprise you.

In a string of tweets, CBS News’ Major Garrett offered guarded praise for Donald Trump’s speech on Tuesday night in Milwaukee. As Garrett put it:

Having been listening [to Trump’s speeches] since August 2015, [this was] objectively best drafted and best delivered @realDonaldTrump speech of the campaign. Will resonate.

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Millions clandestinely funneled to organizations dedicated exclusively to opposing the Jewish state

By Liel Leibowitz, TABLET

The Open Society Foundations, the network of philanthropic organizations funded by billionaire George Soros, appears to have been hacked earlier this weekend, and its confidential reports made available on the website DC Leaks. These newly revealed documents provide a granular look into the extent of the network’s operations in Israel and the Palestinian Authority, with millions of dollars designated annually to organizations highly critical of the Jewish state, some of whom deny its right to exist.

Even more troubling, the documents repeatedly indicate that the network actively tried to conceal its engagements in Israel and the Palestinian territories, and has worked to set up an extensive network of organizations designed to support and promote its views. “For a variety of reasons,” reads the report, “we wanted to construct a diversified portfolio of grants dealing with Israel and Palestine, funding both Israeli Jewish and PCI (Palestinian Citizens of Israel) groups as well as building a portfolio of Palestinian grants and in all cases to maintain a low profile and relative distance—particularly on the advocacy front.”
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By Eli Lake, BLOOMBERG

After the election of Barack Obama in 2009, the George Soros organization saw an opportunity to weaken the pro-Israel lobby’s influence in Washington. So his Open Society Foundations began an ambitious project in 2009 to persuade Europe and the U.S. to “hold Israel accountable” for violations of international law.

This plan was outlined in two internal papers from the Open Society Foundations that were published online this month. They disclose how a web of grants to Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups were part of a larger strategy to influence Congress, reporters and government officials.
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By J.E. Dyer, CDR, USN (Ret.), LIBERTY UNYIELDING

Plenty of news outlets have commented already on Russia’s use of an Iranian air base to launch bomber strikes on Syria.  Tu-22M3 Backfires flew from Hamadan, Iran on Tuesday, 16 August to conduct strikes against targets in Aleppo, Idlib, and Deir Ez-Zor (the latter in eastern Syria), supporting the ground fight against Syrian rebel groups.

It’s always worth taking a moment to remind readers that these are not systematic attacks on ISIS.  Russia’s targets are the rebel groups that hold portions of western Syria, in defiance of the Assad regime.  The main effort right now is the battle for Aleppo, in which ISIS has no real part.  For what it’s worth, some of the groups Russia is attacking are (or have been) supported by the U.S.
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T. Belman. As far back as Nov 2003, I wrote Israel must shift the battlefield from its security to its rights

“It is very clear to students of the Middle East, that the Quartet has decided that the Saudi Peace Plan is the object of all processes put forward. This plan provides for ’49 lines with negotiated trades of some land and a shared Jerusalem. The Plan itself doesn’t require the Right of Return but the endorsement of it by the Arab League does. The West wasn’t ready to kill the Right of Return, so Bush resisted Israel’s demand (request) that it be removed.

Rather than to focus everyone’s attention on this end result, we are given (forced to accept) a Roadmap, which focuses on process, i.e. the steps toward “peace”. These include namely that the Palestinians dismantle their terror infrastructure and Israel cease settlement activity. When the US says they are committed to the Roadmap, they mean the Saudi Peace Plan.“

The fact remains, that the process or Roadmap is of no concern to anyone. What matters is that Israel be forced, by hook or by crook, by obfuscation or relentless pressure, to return to the ’49 lines. The rest is smoke and mirrors.

By Prof. Paul Eidelberg

Security has ever been the mantra (and exalted goal) of Israeli prime ministers. Why did Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently say, in effect, that his fondest wish is to go down in history as having brought security to the people of Israel? Of course, this wish is not unreasonable in the Islamic Middle East.

Besides, no sound person would deny the importance of security to the life and happiness of any nation. What great good could we accomplish in the arts and sciences in the absence of security?
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