DEBKA

[..]
But once the final accord is in the bag – expected in the coming hours – Clinton will have to come out in the open, because she holds the key to a Senate majority for blocking it. The 54 Republican senators are committed to voting against it: Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell told Fox News Sunday: “I think it’s going to be a very hard sell, if it’s completed, in Congress. We already know it’s going to leave Iran as a threshold nuclear state. It appears as if the administration’s approach to this was to reach whatever agreement the Iranians are willing to enter into,” he said.

But the 44 Democratic senators are wobbling between being loyal to the president and their profound misgivings about the deal with Iran. It would take 13 Democrats to cross the floor and join the Republicans to achieve the necessary majority for annulling the promised presidential veto of a negative vote.
Read more…

Abe Foxman says that banning the use of public money to support companies that boycott Israel is unconstitutional and illegal. Is he right?

By Eugene Kontorovich, TABLET

In the latest act of a decades-long fight against discriminatory boycotts of Israel, two states have passed, and several are considering, legislation that protects their taxpayers from inadvertently underwriting such boycotts. Legislation recently passed by Congress denounced “politically motivated” boycotts of Israel.

In recent months, South Carolina has passed a law restricting state contracting with those who boycott on a nationality basis (the law is not limited to Israel; I advised on the drafting), and Illinois will prevent its pension fund from holding stock in boycotting companies. Legislators in these and other states have concluded that the movement to undermine the world’s only Jewish country through boycotts—while professing noble motives—is a thinly veiled form of anti-Semitism.

These laws have bipartisan support, and they passed unanimously. They enjoy the broad support of mainstream Jewish organizations. Yet some, including Anti-Defamation League head Abraham Foxman, have expressed concerns that legislation that “bars BDS activity by private groups” would raise First Amendment concerns.
Read more…

Announcement of final nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers expected to be announced Monday • Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon calls deal “a historic mistake,” saying Iran is a “merciless, bloody regime that disseminates global terror.”

Israel Hayom Staff and Associated Press

Meanwhile, in Israel, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon warned on Monday against what he called a “bad deal” with Iran.

Speaking to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee hours before the deal was anticipated to be finalized, Ya’alon said that “at the bottom line, we are headed toward a bad deal, after which we will continue to be ready to defend ourselves, by ourselves.”

“The deal that is taking shape in Vienna will affect our diplomatic-security status more than anything else, and as we understand it, it will be signed very soon,” Ya’alon said.
Read more…

Studies show descendants of Jews from Medieval Germany, throughout Europe have IQ 20% higher than global average

By Nelly Lalany, YNET

Is it possible for your ancestry, religious affiliation, or nationality to determine your intellect?

According to a study performed by Cambridge University called, “From Chance to Choice: Genetic and Justice,” Ashkenazi Jews have a median IQ of 117.

That’s 10 points higher than the “accepted” IQ of their biggest competition, Northeast Asia, and 20% higher than the global average.

The Ashkenazim make up approximately 80% of all Jews with descendants from Medieval Germany and throughout Europe. The other 20% is made up of Sephardic Jews. I bet you’re frantically searching ancestry.com right now.
Read more…

By David Gertsman, LEGAL INSURRECTION

President Barack Obama has, at least since 2012, claimed that he has Israel’s back regarding his engagement with Iran.

But as the Iran nuke negotiations move closer to an agreement, with reports it could happen by tomorrow, it is clear that Obama’s words are empty rhetoric.

In May ahead of his talk at a Washington D.C. synagogue, Obama said it once again, telling Jeffrey Goldberg, “It’s because I think they recognize, having looked at my history and having seen the actions of my administration, that I’ve got Israel’s back…”
Read more…

By Vic Rosenthal

“You were given the choice between war and dishonor. You chose dishonor and you will have war.” – Winston S. Churchill

American policy toward the Middle East in the past two administrations has been disastrous. Maybe I’m missing something, indulging my historical hindsight or being dense myself, but it looks to me that nonpartisan ignorance and poor planning are the rule in Washington.

The Bush Administration kicked off the debacle by ending the “dual containment” policy of sanctions and restraints on both Iran and Iraq by overthrowing Saddam Hussein. Saddam was a murderous thug who well deserved hanging, but the vacuum created by his removal and the breakup of his Sunni-dominated army could not be filled, as Bush apparently believed, with a democratic regime.
Read more…

By Steve Forbes

THE NEGOTIATIONS over Iran’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons are about to be completed. This will trigger one of the most important congressional debates in American history. From all that we now know the agreement will set off a chain reaction of nuclear proliferation in the most unstable region of the world; enable Iran both to become a major nuclear power—with ballistic missiles capable of hitting any part of the U.S.—and to dominate the Middle East’s oil fields; and give Iran more than $50 billion that could be used to finance its global terrorist activities. Under current law the Senate can reject the lifting of sanctions against Iran. The Senate will do so. This rejection will then be vetoed by President Obama. Can his veto be overridden?
Read more…

By Mehmet Yegin, JTW

President Barack Obama addresses reporters at the Pentagon, July 6, 2015, after meeting with Defense Secretary Ash Carter, left. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the joint Chiefs of Staff, stands at right.

The Obama administration has updated its strategy towards the Islamic State. The updates were announced by President Obama on July 6 at the Pentagon and were delineated by U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter one day later during the Senate Armed Services Committee’s hearing on the counter-ISIS strategy. The update introduces additional precautions and proposes new solutions to the problems faced in the implementation of the already existing four-pillar approach. Supplementing the items already outlined in the original strategy, Secretary Carter identified “nine synchronized lines of efforts” that are hoped to further realize the aim of degrading and destroying ISIS.
Read more…

Israel’s Good News Newsletter to 12th July 2015

• An Israeli-US project will ensure that you never forget to take your meds.
• Israeli pensioners are the workforce of a new environment public awareness program.
• Israeli technology is providing free Wi-Fi on buses in South Africa.
• An Israeli sensor advises farmers on how to improve the health of their crops.
• Parents will love the portability of a new tiny Israeli car booster seat.
• Read about the Israeli connections to the world’s 50 smartest companies.
• An ancient Jewish necropolis is Israel’s 9th UNESCO World Heritage site.
• Book for an outstanding tour of Eastern Jerusalem.
• My Mum’s 90th birthday today.

Read more…

By Paul Vallely (MG, US Army Ret)

I have had the opportunity over the past 12 years to be a member of the Iran Policy Planning Group and have engaged in a positive manner the members of the Iran Opposition who defected from Iran after the Shah fell. My heart and soul yearned for them when the tyrannical government under the ayatollahs would be replaced by a democratic government. But that has never happened. All we have seen is an evil and radical Islamic regime gain in strength over the years and support international terrorism, torture and murder of its own people and others throughout the world. Can you only imagine what chaos and turmoil they will create with an expanded and stronger Armed Forces and with a nuclear capability that can reach any target by air, land and sea launched weapons?

Aiding and abetting an enemy (and Iran is) of the United States is a treasonous offense under the Constitution.
Read more…

T. Belman. The only reason given is to defeat ISIL. The former British Amb to the US  argues that ISIL is a bigger danger to the UK than Iran is.  But the consequences of such a policy means that we are giving Lebanon, Syria and Iraq to Iran. Can Yemen and Jordan be far behind. Israel will be forced to defend itself against a nuclear Iran. Where will the US stand.

Instead of aligning with Iran, Europe and America should be going all in to support the Kurds and to recognize their independence. They should also back the Sunni states led by Saudi Arabia in cooperation with Israel to replace ISIL. Though they support ISIL now, they would prefer this than having Iran do the job.

Do not think that this thinking is limited to him. It is probably shared by the Obama administration. And to cinch the deal, if they have to give Iran the bomb, so be it.

By Christopher Meyer, Telegraph

Bombing Syria is back. Almost two years ago MPs gave David Cameron a bloody nose when they voted against his plan to launch air strikes with the US and France against President Assad of Syria. This gave President Obama cover for declining also to take military action. President Hollande was left swinging in the wind, much to his irritation.

Read more…

By Vitaly Naumkin, Al Monitor

The dynamic changes in the Middle East have been a source of new challenges and threats to Russia, but they are also offering new opportunities. The challenges and threats include the ongoing buildup of jihadist groups; the greatly increased erosion of an established system of nation-states — especially, but not exclusively, in the Mashreq countries; and growing tensions between the Sunni and Shiite regimes and movements, as well as among various Sunni factions, against the backdrop of intensified competition for leadership among the key Sunni states.

Read more…

By Abnan Abu Amer, Al Monitor

Relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority have been witnessing a political deadlock since the negotiations sponsored by US Secretary of State John Kerry stopped in April 2014.

In November 2014, Amin Maqboul, the secretary-general of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council, revealed that an official Israeli threat was made to the Palestinian Authority of a total invasion and military control of Ramallah.

Tension escalated between both parties and relations seem to have reached a dead end following the announcement of the Israeli elections’ results in March, which resulted in the formation of the most extreme right-wing coalition in Israeli history, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Read more…

By Akiva Eldar,  Al Monitor

Let’s start from the end. Even in 2015, which marks the 10th anniversary of the target date set by the 2003 Road Map of the Quartet (European Union, United States, United Nations and Russia) for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the flag of Palestine will not be flying outside UN headquarters in New York. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, the man who cooked up the proposed resolution turning the Palestinian Authority (PA) into a Palestinian state, and sought to serve his stew to the UN Security Council, has decided to put his initiative on the back burner, if not in the deep freezer. Israelis who spoke to him at the end of his lightning visit to Jerusalem and Ramallah on June 22 got the impression that the French diplomat had come to the grim conclusion that there are no serious buyers for the initiative on either side.

Read more…

Kurdish Official Confirms Coordination With Arab Countries to Counter ISIS

Germany Delivers New Weapons to Kurds

As Iraq splinters, Kurds’ own unity put to test

US Strikes Help Kurdish Militia Reclaim Ain Issa in Syria

CAMERA Snapshot

Ever hear the story about the cub reporter sent to cover a city council meeting who comes back empty-handed? “Nothing to report,” he tells his city editor. “City hall burned down.”

In that manner, major U.S. news media covered U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Martin Dempsey’s June trip to Israel. Dempsey made a headline-worthy prediction about Iran while visiting Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot and Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on June 9, 2015, Dempsey’s comments about Iran using sanctions relief to fund its terrorist activities and imperial ambitions has gone unnoticed by The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other major media outlets.
Read more…

Channel 2 analyst Ehud Yaari says agreement will be signed early next week after US drops demand for snap inspections; Obama faces challenge of securing Congress’ approval

TOI

A deal has been reached between the world powers and Iran over the latter’s nuclear program after a series of major American concessions, Ehud Yaari, the Middle East affairs commentator for Israel’s Channel 2 television, said Friday night. “It is done. It is done,” he said, and will be signed “early next week.”

The aim of the agreement is to put a negotiated end to a 13-year standoff with Iran over its suspect nuclear program and to block its pathway to developing a nuclear bomb in exchange for lifting biting global sanctions. Israel’s leadership has relentlessly opposed the emerging agreement, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning that it will pave Iran’s path to a nuclear arsenal.

According to Yaari, Israel’s most respected Middle East analyst, the deal was reached because the Americans “have made a series of capitulations over the past two to three weeks in almost every key aspect that was being debated.”
Read more…

See also: The mutually-beneficial, two-way-street US-Israel ties
An Israel-like ally in the Persian Gulf would’ve reduced, dramatically, the US military involvement in the Gulf.

By Yoram Ettinger, CFP

In recent years, Israel has evolved from a supplicant—benefitting from US generosity—to a strategic partner, benefitting vital US national security interests. From a national security consumer, Israel has been transformed into a national security producer.

In 2014, General Chuck Krulak, former Commandant of the US Marine Corps, remarked that “the formulation of US battle tactics is based on the Israeli book.”

In March, 2007, General John Craddock, the Supreme Commander of NATO, told the House Armed Services: “In the Middle East, Israel is the closest ally of the US, consistently supporting our interests through security cooperation.”
Read more…

T. Belman. Agreed. More than anything the dominance of the orthodox in Israel serves to alienate American Jewry. Including Shas and UTJ in the coalition was a huge step backwards. For reasons best known to Netanyahu, he sealed a deal with them before talking to any one else. He should have cut a deal with Liberman and Lapid or even Herzog to avoid bringing Shas and UTJ into the government.

Bibi should have made a deal with American Jewry to support his right wing policies in exchange for Israel accepting some measure of pluralism. Israel must partner with them rather than exclude them.

Just announced: Government to form Jewish denominations roundtable

By Jonathan Tobin, COMMENTARY

When Israel’s current government was formed this spring after the March Knesset elections, there were a number of clear winners and losers in terms of the country’s political rivals. But one of the big losers from the reshuffling of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s cabinet was the overwhelming majority of American Jews who do not identify with Orthodox Jewry. Since then, a number of incidents have occurred in which government officials have made statements that have further alienated the many Diaspora Jews who bitterly resent the way their denominations are treated as non-Jewish religions rather than equal partners in the Jewish future. To date, Netanyahu, like his predecessors in both Likud and Labor, have tried to mollify American Jews with conciliatory statements. But after the latest such insult, it is clearly time for him to do more. Israelis on the left and the right, secular as well as religious need to come to grips with the fact that attacks on pluralism are more than an annoying public relations problem. They constitute a strategic problem for the Jewish state that needs to be addressed.
Read more…

By Ted Belman

The Jewish National Fund (JNF) commissioned a poll on elite attitudes toward Israel conducted by Frank Luntz.

World Net Daily reported:

Political consultant Frank Luntz says a new survey of elite Democrats shows three-quarters believe Israel has too much influence on U.S. foreign policy, with half of them believing the Jewish state is racist.

The survey shows Democratic opinion elites are now backing Arab Palestinian demands and turning away from Israel.

“Israel can no longer claim to have the bipartisan support of America,” Luntz said. “Israel has won the hearts and minds of Republicans in America, while at the same time it is losing the Democrats.”

Read more…