Mike Wise’s One State Plan  

By Ted Belman

I had lunch with Mike Wise today. He originated the One State Plan about 13 years ago. Essentially he bolstered the idea of annexing all of Judea and Samaria and offering a path to citizenship for qualified Arabs. He went so far as to list what qualifications they needed to succeed. Aside from not being a member of a terrorist organization they had to read and speak Hebrew and many more hurdles. Mike also considered requiring them to fly an Israel flag over their house for seven years.

I participated in defining the requirements at that time.
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October 11, 2015 | 3:54 pm | 2 Comments »

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Reality-based demography  

By Yoram Ettinger, ISRAEL HAYOM

Top Israeli opposition figures — Isaac Herzog, Tzipi Livni and Yair Lapid — recently echoed the erroneous assumption, shared by the White House and State Department, that Arabs will eventually become a majority in the combined area of Judea and Samaria and pre-1967 Israel. Driven by demographic pessimism and fatalism — which has eroded Israel’s negotiation position — they urge a retreat from geography (the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria) so as to secure demography.

They rely on Israel’s demographic establishment, which regurgitates the numbers of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics without examination, ignores the dramatic transformation of Jewish and Arab demography, understates Jewish fertility, overstates Arab fertility, disregards the flawed practices of the PCBS, overlooks the burgeoning Arab net-emigration and Jewish net-immigration and discards the feasibility of significant waves of aliyah (Jewish immigration), which have occurred — in defiance of the demographic establishment — every two decades since the 1930s.
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October 11, 2015 | 3:29 pm | 1 Comment »

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Israelis are fighting back  

By Ted Belman

The Iran nuclear deal will trigger a major war in the Middle East and it is already triggering the Third Intifada. 21 Israeli Jews have been killed in terror attacks in the last year, the most important period of negotiations between Iran and the Western powers.

In all, 14 Palestinian stabbing attacks against Israeli civilians have occurred in the past week alone, and on Sunday morning police thwarted a suspected car bombing attempt as a Palestinian woman detonated a vehicle after she was stopped on an approach road to the capital. A policeman was lightly injured in the incident while the female bomber was severely injured.
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October 11, 2015 | 3:18 pm | 4 Comments »

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The Kurds, Russia, US and Turkey  

The bombing of a pro-Kurdish rally in Ankara highlights the ‘dangerous cocktail’ brewing in Turkey which killed 98 Kurds

US Shifts to Helping Kurds in Syria 

LONDON (CBS) — U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter says the America’s failed program to train Syrian rebels will be replaced with a more ‘strategic approach.’ The overhaul will focus on training Kurdish forces who have a proven track record fighting on the front lines.

“The work we’ve done with the Kurds in northern Syria is an example of an effective approach,” Carter said.

The U.S.’ earlier approach was largely ineffective. The $500 million program produced fewer than 100 soldiers, many who fled, were captured or killed. Some even turned over their U.S.-provided weapons to al-Qaida fighters in Syria.
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October 11, 2015 | 2:44 pm | Comments »

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Analysis Israel’s Hushed Military Ties With Russia Now Paying Off  

While U.S. gives Russia the cold shoulder in Syria, Kremlin’s ties with Israel grow warm.

By Anshel Pfeffer, HAARETZ Oct 09, 2015

The Pentagon announced on Wednesday that it was refusing to hold “de-confliction” talks with the Russian Defense Ministry to coordinate the two nations’ air-operations over Syria and would make do with just “technical details.” At the same time, de-confliction talks, of the kind the Americans rejected, between the Israel Defense Forces and their Russian counterparts, led by the deputy chiefs of staff of both militaries, were already wrapping up in Tel Aviv’s HaKirya headquarters.

Israel’s willingness to hold these talks reflects of course the recognition that after many years of operating nearly freely in Syrian airspace, things have changed with the arrival of a modern and well-equipped air force. But it also reflects the Russians’ desire not to have any confrontation with Israel in the region.
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October 11, 2015 | 9:39 am | 13 Comments »

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A Watershed for America’s Jews? And for US attitude to Israel  

Rael Jean Isaac, Mid East Outpost  

Are the years when the United States was a supremely comfortable place for American Jews coming to an end? Thanks to Obama’s polices, the answer may be yes, although most American Jews are not only blind to the dangers but actively promoting those very policies.

Challenged by what Secretary of State Kerry calls Germany’s “example to the world” in opening its borders to 800,000 (overwhelmingly Moslem) migrants this year, the Obama administration now proposes to boost the number of refugees it accepts to 100,000 annually, including 10,000 Syrians.

In practice this means a huge increase in Muslim immigrants, much larger than even that number suggests. Breitbart reports that in 2013 there were 280,276 immigrants from Moslem-majority countries. Of these just under 40,000 were refugees. The rest were divided almost equally into those given permanent resident status and those coming as temporary (in theory) migrants, including students and foreign workers. With Obama more than doubling the number of those admitted as refugees, there is little doubt there will be a substantial rise in the other categories—don’t forget, family unification is a major source of legal immigrants.
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October 11, 2015 | 8:21 am | 10 Comments »

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7 Palestinians killed in Gaza border riot  

Some 400 Palestinians riot near Gaza border fence; IDF troops open fire killing at least 7, wounding 60 (including 10 seriously), stirring fears of further conflict with Gaza.

By Elior Levy, Yoav Zitun, YNET

IDF troops killed seven Palestinians on Friday afternoon, after firing live rounds at violent riots near the northern border of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli troops reportedly fired at the Palestinians after they approached the no-go buffer zone enforced on the Gaza side of the northern border fence. Sixty others were wounded in the incident.

Ahmed Al Harbawi (19) from Nuseirat refugee camp and Houssam Dola (20), and Ziad Sharf were named as three of the deceased Palestinians according to medical sources inside Gaza.
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October 11, 2015 | 8:15 am | 1 Comment »

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Shaked urging harsh penalties for rock throwing  

The legislation would sentence convicted rock throwers to at least four years in jail.

By Yonah Jeremy Bob, JPOST

A Palestinian protester throws stones during clashes with Border Police in east Jerusalem

A Palestinian protester throws stones during clashes with Border Police in east Jerusalem

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked will introduce a bill on Sunday before the Ministerial Committee on Legislation to stiffen penalties on rock-throwers, including minors, and to fine parents of certain rock-throwing minors The measure is designed to “strike at the soft underbelly of terror,” she announced on Saturday night.  Read more…

October 11, 2015 | 8:07 am | 2 Comments »

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73% of Israelis ‘Dissatisfied’ with Bibi’s Handling of Terror  

T. Belman. I think that the attacks on Bibi are justified only in part.  It is easy for me to be critical of him especially when I don’t know the threats that Israel is under and the potential consequences. I have some basic disagreements with his policies but at the same time I cut him some slack.

New survey find 35% of Israelis ‘dissatisfied,’ 38% ‘very dissatisfied’ with Bibi’s leadership in face of recent terror.

By Matt Wanderman, INN

A new survey has found that Israelis are strongly disappointed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership during the ongoing wave of terror attacks.

Almost three quarters of respondents said that they are either “dissatisfied” (35 percent) or “very dissatisfied” (38 percent) with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s handing of the security situation. Read more…

October 11, 2015 | 7:55 am | 18 Comments »

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Bennett: Government Guidelines Say No Palestinian State  

Jewish Home chairman says that if Herzog wants to join the coalition, he will have to accept the coalition’s guidelines. Bennett also says there is no freeze.

By Orli Harari, INN

Naftali Bennett

Education Minister and Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett said on Saturday night that if opposition chairman MK Yitzhak Herzog plans on joining the coalition, he will have to accept the coalition’s guidelines which say that there will be no Palestinian state.

Speaking to Channel 2 News, Bennett said, “If Herzog wants to join the government on the basis of the absence of a Palestinian state – that’s great; if he wants to change the government’s guidelines, we will not be there.”

“The government’s guidelines are not talking about a Palestinian state, so what the Prime Minister says [regarding a Palestinian state] is his own stance – this is not the position of the Israeli government,” he stressed.
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October 11, 2015 | 6:00 am | 2 Comments »

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Is the Iran Deal a Fait Accompli?  

By Salomon Benzimra, AMERICAN THINKER

On September 11, 2015 – a fateful date for America – Congress failed to gather the 60 Senate votes required to pass a Resolution of Disapproval of the Iran nuclear deal, thus giving a green light to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as agreed to in Vienna on July 14.

A few days later, U.S. congressman Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) informed Secretary of State John Kerry that “the copies provided to Congress of the JCPOA are not signed by the parties,” thus making the binding character of “an international agreement of this magnitude” questionable.

Actually, the absence of signatures in the JCPOA document is not as pivotal as it seems.  Article 18 of the JCPOA anticipates the passing of a U.N. Security Council resolution that should promptly “endorse” the full text of the JCPOA and, therefore, make it binding on all U.N. member-states.
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October 10, 2015 | 1:28 pm | 8 Comments »

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Europe’s refugee crisis driven by Iran deal  

By Guy Bechor, YNET

Why is a wave of tens of thousands of migrants and refugees arriving in Europe on a daily basis? Why is there suddenly a huge jump in this wave, which the continent is facing astounded, confused and lost? The civil wars in the Middle East didn’t start today, but are about to enter their sixth year. So why now?The amazing answer is the nuclear deal with Iran. The millions of refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan had some vague hope that Syrian President Bashar Assad would fall one day, that the Islamic State would disappear one day, that one day all this might end. As soon as they saw that the nuclear deal had been signed, and that Iran would receive $150 billion and an end to the sanctions, they realized that what is happening in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon is not going to end in our lifetime. Read more…

October 10, 2015 | 1:22 pm | Comments »

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With Israel visit, Quartet aims to kick-start peace talks  

Envoys will engage directly with Israeli and Palestinian officials to find ‘concrete actions’ toward two-state solution

By Tamar Peleggi, TOI

Representatives of the Middle East Quartet will visit the region next week to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and push forward with a renewed effort to revive the stalled peace process.

Envoys from the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia will hold direct talks with officials in Jerusalem and Ramallah and explore “concrete actions” that are “consistent with prior agreements” in order to facilitate a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the group said.

The meetings come after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said in an address to the United Nations General Assembly last week that the PA would cease to abide by agreements signed with Israel, claiming Israel had shown that it, too, was no longer committed to them.
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October 10, 2015 | 10:08 am | 2 Comments »

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Huge Oil Discovery on the Golan Heights  

If the oil can be extracted at a reasonable cost, and that is a big “if” now, it would make Israel self-sufficient for decades.

By: Tzvi Ben-Gedalyahu, JP

golan-mapSyrian rebels, the Islamic State (ISIS) and the Assad regime, and today that means Russia, now have another reason to capture the Golan Heights – oil.

Drilling that began more than a year ago has exposed a huge find of billions of barrels of oil, but it is too early to know if the black gold can be extracted at a price that would make the oil commercially viable.

Afek Oil and Gas chief geologist Dr. Yuval Bartov was quoted by Globes as saying:
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October 10, 2015 | 7:21 am | 1 Comment »

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Dennis Ross: Netanyahu said in 2010 that Israel could withdraw from most of the territory  

T. Belman. Both the TOI amd HAARETZ used this title, “Dennis Ross: Netanyahu agreed to West Bank pullout in 2010”. This is not what he said Bibi said, so I changed it.

By Howard Goller, HAARETZ

REUTERS – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the United States five years ago that Israel could withdraw from most of the West Bank if his country’s security needs were met, former U.S. Middle East peace negotiator Dennis Ross recounts in a book to be published next week.

Prodded by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2010 to say what he could do to advance peace talks and citing Israeli security needs, “he said that Israel could withdraw from most of the territory,” Ross writes in “Doomed to Succeed: the U.S.-Israel Relationship from Truman to Obama.”

“He did not want to give percentages, but he understood what the Palestinians wanted, and if the Israeli security needs were accepted by us and met, he could be generally responsive.”
Ross has advised Republican and Democratic presidents, including Democratic President Barack Obama.
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October 10, 2015 | 6:54 am | 6 Comments »

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IDF troops kill 6 Palestinians who approached Gaza border fence  

An Israeli military spokeswoman said around 200 Palestinians massed at the border fence in northern Gaza, throwing rocks and rolling burning tires toward troops stationed on the other side.

JPOST

IDF soldiers storm a target during the ground incursion into Gaza

Six Palestinians who were part of a large group of rioters that approached the Gaza border with Israel were shot and killed by IDF soldiers on Friday, Palestinian medical sources said.

Some 200 Palestinians approached the Gaza – Israeli border fence from the Strip, burning tires and throwing rocks. They ignored calls by soldiers to stop, entering a 100-meter perimeter area that is a closed military zone, and getting to within 50 meters of the fence, an army spokeswoman said.

Soldiers first fired in the air to stop their advance. The rioters did not stop, however, and the IDF then fired at the legs of rioters, striking five of them, she added.
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October 10, 2015 | 4:45 am | 8 Comments »

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Let the Palestinians Have Their State  

T. Belman. This may be a plan but why just annex the Jordan valley and a small strip of land. We must annex a wide strip of land akin to all of C in order to make sure the highlands over looking the airport and Tel Aviv remain in our hands.

The Palestinians will start building rockets just as the Gazans did. We can’t stop this. When the rockets rain down on us, as they will, we will have to contend with them as we do with the rockets from Gaza.

Perhaps this is better than annexing it all and trying to avoid giving citizenship or paying $200 bullion to them to get them to leave.

By LIEL LEIBOVITZ, TABLET

You can call the recent onslaught of Palestinian violence against Israelis—six attacks on Wednesday and eight on Thursday, adding to the wave of bloodshed earlier this week—whatever you’d like. You can call it a new Intifada or the same old holy war; it hardly matters. What is obvious is that the situation demands resolution.

Where to begin? Not, sadly, with yet another round of negotiations. Even those who are, for some reason, still inclined to trust the despotic, corrupt, obfuscating and deeply illegitimate regime of Mahmoud Abbas would begrudgingly admit that bilateral talks can only work when there’s someone at hand to guarantee any agreement. The theater of carrots and sticks used to be an American production, which is why the Oslo Accords, having begun in secret in a chilly European capital, could only be made official with a handshake on the sunny White House lawn. But now that President Barack Obama has handed off regional hegemony to Iran and handed over Syria to Russia, no one in his or her right mind would pay a nickel for American guarantees. Vladimir Putin seems more trustworthy, in a horrible way, but with no strategic assets to be gained—the recent oil strike in the Golan notwithstanding—Putin has no conceivable interest in stepping in. The EU? The UN? Please.
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October 9, 2015 | 5:42 pm | 13 Comments »

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Fresh stabbings and revenge attacks: Violence continues to wash over Israel  

Within less than one hour, Palestinian stabs Jewish teen in Jerusalem, another stabs policeman in Kiryat Arba • Jewish assailant stabs four Arabs in Dimona, saying, “All Arabs are terrorists” • Jewish mob attempts to lynch three Arabs in Afula.

By Efrat Forsher, Danny Brenner, Avi Cohen, Yehuda Shlezinger, Shlomi Diaz and Israel Hayom Staff

Israeli police detain a Palestinian man suspected of stabbing an Israeli in Jerusalem on Friday | Photo credit: Reuters

A Palestinian terrorist stabbed a 16-year-old Israeli in Jerusalem on Friday, and within less than an hour another Palestinian stabbed a policeman in Kiryat Arba as the latest wave of terrorist attacks continued to spread throughout the country.

The 16-year-old stabbing victim in the capital was stabbed in his upper body and was lightly injured. The victim, who did not immediately realize he had been stabbed, tried to chase his assailant, who fled, only to be apprehended by police who were combing the area. The victim was taken to Hadassah Hospital for treatment. The weapon has not yet been found. Read more…

October 9, 2015 | 3:43 pm | 9 Comments »

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Into The Fray: What now?  

Persisting with its declared willingness to establish a Palestinian state while being unable to make the perilous concessions this calls for, makes Israel looks disingenuous and devious.

By Martin Sherman, JPOST

Al-Aksa [Mosque on the Temple Mount] is ours… they [the Jews] have no right to defile it with their filthy feet. We will not allow them to

– Mahmoud Abbas, on official PA television, September 16, 2015

The 70th session of the UN General Assembly has come and gone. The problems it was supposed to address remain – undiminished.

The toxic tirade of Mahmoud Abbas, brimming with bile; the abject apologetics of Obama peppered with platitudes, the reproachful rebukes of Putin saturated with scorn and the rousing rhetoric of Netanyahu with all its elevating eloquence, all echoes of the past, offer little in terms of solutions on the ground. Read more…

October 9, 2015 | 6:17 am | 35 Comments »

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Column One: Abbas must be stopped  

“The man who propagates this murderous lie and orchestrates the death and mayhem that is its bloody harvest is none other than the West’s favorite Palestinian moderate.”

By Caroline Glick, JPOST

All the Palestinian terrorist attacks that have been carried out in recent weeks share one common feature. All the terrorists believe that by attacking Jews they are protecting the Temple Mount from destruction.

And why shouldn’t they believe this obscenity? Everywhere they go, every time they turn on their televisions, read the paper, go to school or the mosque they are told that the Jews are destroying al-Aksa Mosque. Al-Aksa, they are told, is in danger. They must take up arms to defend it from the Jews, whatever the cost.

One man stands at the center of this blood libel. The man who propagates this murderous lie and orchestrates the death and mayhem that is its bloody harvest is none other than the West’s favorite Palestinian moderate: PLO chief and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
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October 9, 2015 | 6:12 am | 5 Comments »

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