By Dana Milbank, WaPo

A slide projected onto the wall at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee gathering Monday contained a warning to delegates: “AIPAC is Bipartisan,” it said, next to an image of a Democratic donkey and Republican elephant in boxing gear. “Check your gloves at the door.”

They checked their gloves, all right — but less to practice bipartisanship than to pummel the Obama administration with bare knuckles. In the brawl between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Iran nuclear negotiations, AIPAC has joined congressional Republicans in siding wholeheartedly with the Israeli hard-liner.

The rift with Obama is nothing new; four years ago, AIPAC delegates were urged not to boo Obama when he spoke to the group (most obeyed). But this situation is worse, because Netanyahu, by accepting House Speaker John Boehner’s invitation to address Congress Tuesday — snubbing Obama, who wasn’t consulted — is exploiting a partisan rift in American politics and driving a wedge through the American Jewish community. And congressional Republicans, by giving Netanyahu their pulpit 14 days before Israel’s elections, are brazenly taking sides in that country’s politics. This all is likely to backfire by firming Democratic resistance to more Iran sanctions — and, in the long run, by politicizing U.S.-Israeli relations.
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By David Efune, ALGEMEINER

The prophets of doom are out in full force predicting the great harm that will befall Israel as a result of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s upcoming speech to Congresson the Iranian nuclear threat.

Forgive me, but I just don’t see it that way. Israel and Netanyahu have everything to gain from the speech and relatively little to lose. And, as in the past when Obama and Netanyahu have publicly gone head to head, the Israeli premier will emerge the diplomatic victor.

Firstly, all the talk about the “fabric” of the US-Israel relationship being undermined, or the claim that support for Israel is becoming partisan is hardly credible. The pitifully small number of lawmakers who have said they will skip Netanyahu’s talk serves as testament to that. Recent polls show that the American public supports the Jewish State’s right to express its concerns about Iran and the mostly full attendance at the speech is a reflection of that.
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ALGEMEINER

WASHINGTON, DC—Amid a rocky week for the relationship between U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice and the pro-Israel community, Rice’s assessment of the nuclear talks between Iran and world powers put her at odds with attendees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference on Monday night.

After Rice noted that some members in the AIPAC audience would be going to Congress to urge that a nuclear deal suspend all of Iran’s enrichment capacity, she followed a round of applause for that concept by stating, “As desirable as that would be, it is neither realistic or achievable.” If a complete halt to Iranian enrichment is the goal, Rice said, America would lose its negotiating partners within the P5+1 nations and sanctions against Iran would be undermined.
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T.Belman. Samantha Poiwer spoke to AIPAC before Netanyahu did and she promised “U.S. will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon, period.” She added that Obama will “keep his commitment whether talks with Iran collapse or an agreement is reached.” John Bolton was asked about this claim and he said its a lie.

By Ted Belman

PM Netanyahu delivered what I consider to be a very smart speech. He said all the right things and said them well.

One excellent line was that “never in history has so much been said and written about a speech that has not yet been delivered.” Then he went on to talk about what was being said. Those who say that the Israel/American relations have been irreparably damaged are flat out wrong.” To make his point, he recalled in the past violent disagreements when Ben Gurion declared a state, when Eshkol preemptively attacked Egypt in ’67 and when Begin blew up Osirak. Israel’s relationship with America only got stronger.

He said he respects the office of President and President Obama and thanked Obama for all the security and intelligence cooperation that he backed. He also thanked him for the financing of the Iron Dome. This was smart because he didn’t want the fight with Obama to be a personal fight. He wanted it to be about a difference of opinion on Iran.

Also our perspectives are different. “America worries about its security whereas Israel worries about its survival, every day.

He said our shared values are much stronger than our differences.

He set the stage perfectly for tommorrow’s much talked about speech.

White House denies Obama threatened to down Israeli jets

JPOST

Amid tensions between US and Israel over an emerging nuclear deal with Iran and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to fight the White House on such a deal, US Secretary of State John Kerry defended Israel on Monday in a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council.

“No one in this room can deny the bias against Israel in the UN Human Rights Council,” Kerry said at a meeting of the body at its Geneva headquarters.

“Every year there are five or six resolutions against Israel,” Kerry said.
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Ted Belman. The Jewish Left is getting hysterical in their attempts to denigrate Netanyahu and his upcoming speech to Congress. I have never seen anything like it. Just look at the headlines at both Haaretz and YNET today. Algemeiner reports, More Than 70% of US Legislators Skipping Netanyahu’s Speech Endorsed by J Street. (YNET) reports, “Over 180 former officials from Israel’s security establishment have called on Netanyahu to cancel his speech before Congress: ‘Instead of working with Obama, Netanyahu is poking him in the eye.’ ” . i24News reports, AIPAC opposes Netanyahu’s Congress speech. JPOST reports Jewish groups line up to denounce Boteach ad on Susan Rice Although the ad is a separate issue, it amazes me how many organizations came out against it. But Rice said Netanyahu’s speech was “destructive”. So what is wrong with calling her out for ignoring genocide?

HAARETZ

5 Things You Need to Know About the U.S.-Israel Relationship Under President Obama

Here are the five key facts you need to know about the U.S.-Israel relationship under President Obama:

1. A strong defender: President Obama has strengthened Israel’s defense in concrete and unprecedented ways:
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By Jonathan Hayward, Breitbart

By Pamella Geller, Breitbart

The scandal of it cannot be overstated: Jewish leaders and philanthropists, including UJA-Federation President Alisa Doctoroff; Karen R. Adler, President of the Jewish Communal Fund and JCRC Board member; David Hochberg, Carole and Saul Zabar, Sally Gottesman, Edith Everett and others are prominent donors (p.26-27) to The New Israel Fund, an organization which funds BDS and other anti-Israel initiatives.

Alisa Doctoroff hoisting cocktails with the NIF in her lavish apartment is no different from the uniformed Nazis who were invited and attended Jewish communal gatherings, and from the hope expressed by Dr. Heinrich Stahl, the Berlin Jewish community leader, for a better Nazi understanding of the Jewish situation.
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By Richard Baehr, ISRAEL HAYOM

[..]
There is a point at which it is obvious that the current administration has no shame and will say or do anything to accomplish its objectives.

What are the administration’s objectives. It seems there are at least three in play related to Iran and Israel:

The administration has been working to move the Democratic Party leftward on both domestic and foreign policy issues since Obama took office. The further left one goes, the more likely one is to be hostile toward Israel. Obama and the Left’s agenda on foreign policy can best be described as an updated version of the Pete Seeger approach — lay down your swords and shields, and give peace a chance. So withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan, make peace with our enemies, and make enemies of our friends (since they worked together with Republican presidents to get us into wars). Iran and Cuba are our new friends, Israel is now much less of one.

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By Ted Belman.

Pipes is right about the Middle East being reshaped on ethnic lines. Syria’s civil war could stabilize the region.

Various ethnic groups are congregating in their own communities that will result in new countries being formed. Diversity doesn’t work in the ME. The Israeli left understands this imperative and therefore rejects annexing any land with more Arabs in it. It even wants to divide Jerusalem to exclude parts of it dominated by Arabs.  Save for Caroline Glick and her supporters, most rightwing Israelis want to have it both ways; Judea and Samaria in and the Arabs out. Now that the Palestinians have been diluted in Jordan, Jordan will be able to treat them in a more democratic manner (i.e. stop discriminating against them)  and even allow more in.
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By Daniel Pipes, ISRAEL HAYOM

Population shifts resulting from Syria’s four-year long civil war have profoundly changed Syria and its three Arabic-speaking neighbors: Iraq, Lebanon, and Jordan. (Turkey and Israel have changed, too, but less so.)

Ironically, amid tragedy and horror, as populations adapt to the brutal imperatives of modern nationalism, all four countries are becoming a bit more stable. That’s because the fighting has pushed peoples to move from ethnic minority status to ethnic majority status, encouraging like to live with like.

Before looking at each country, some background:
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By Ted Belman

Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.Winston Churchill

Sarah Palin, in her speech at CPAC 2015, said we have “to get serious about victory”. She also took issue with the “PC rules of engagement” and said they must be “rules of engagement to win”.

US Troops fed up with Insane Rules of Engagement

COIN – the failed Counterinsurgency strategy also known as “winning the hearts and minds of the enemy.” This and “our government’s incessant tightening of already restrictive ROE (Rules of Engagement), have made an otherwise primitive enemy formidable.” The Obama Administration is telling our young men to win a war with their hands tied behind their backs. Slaughtering them.

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[OBAMA SAYS HE WILL VETO IT.]

Bipartisan group of senators unveil legislation that would require a congressional review of any deal made with Iran.

By Ben Ariel, INN

A bipartisan group of senators unveiled legislation Friday that would require a congressional review of any deal the Obama administration and other western powers strike with Iran on its nuclear program, reports The Associated Press (AP).

According to the news agency, the measure would mandate that President Barack Obama submit the text of any pact to Congress and bar the administration from suspending congressional sanctions on Iran for 60 days.

In that time, Congress would hold hearings and have a chance to approve, disapprove or take no action on the agreement, the legislation says.
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See also Sisi speaks of stability, relations with Gulf nations, need for joint Arab force

DEBKAfile

Egyptian President Abdel-Fatteh El-Sisi has deployed his troops for all-out war on ISIS strongholds in Libya, the first Arab ruler to challenge the Islamists in a fellow Arab country, DEBKAfile’s military sources report.

His intiative dramatizes the spillover of the Islamist State’s threat across the Middle East, and the fading impetus of the US-led coalition effort to reverse Islamic State gains in Iraq and Syria.

Our Washington sources report that the Obama administration’s planned spring campaign to free Iraqi Mosul from the Islamic State’s occupation is stuck in the sand. Democratic and Republican lawmakers alike accuse the president of having no clear war strategy and of holding back from the US-led coalition the fighting manpower necessary for a successful operation.
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By Giulio Meotti, INN

The next issues of the monthly magazine of the Jewish community in Berlin, the Judisches Berlin, will be delivered to subscribers in an anonymous envelope without any written identification. “We decided to do it, despite the considerable additional costs, to reduce the likelihood of hostility towards our more than ten thousand members” said the spokesman of the newspaper Ilan Kiesling to the newspaper Tagesspiegel. Frightened by the number of terrorist threats and the alarms, many readers had already called to unsubscribe.

Henryk Broder, one of the most famous pens of German journalism, the Jewish intellectual and columnist at Die Welt after a long experience at Der Spiegel, interprets the decision of the magazine as a sign of capitulation. “The Jews of Europe do not want to take their destiny into their own hands, they love to be protected, but that they do not understand that this is the same of being persecuted,”
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No Senate Democrats block measure backing Bibi’s speech

By Adam Kredo, FREE BEACON

The Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution welcoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to America and endorsing his speech before a joint session of Congress.

Critics of the Obama administration view the unanimous approval as a rebuke to the White House and Democrats, who have vowed to boycott Netanyahu’s address and work to counter his warnings about the dangers of a nuclear Iran.

No Senate Democrats sponsored the measure, which attracted 50 Republican cosponsors. However, none attempted to block its passage, signaling that support for Israel and Netanyahu’s message has outweighed a pressure campaign by the Obama administration to sabotage the address.
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By P David Hornik, PJ MEDIA

Reported details of a possible U.S.-Iranian nuclear deal indicate more than ever that President Barack Obama is under the deadly delusion that he has the magic power to transform the Iranian regime into a responsible, peaceful player on the world stage. As Times of Israel editor David Horovitz sums it up:

Iran is to be allowed to keep 6,500 centrifuges spinning, and there will be a sunset clause providing for an end to intrusive inspections in some 10-15 years…. Some of the terms reported by the AP are even more worrying than those that were leaked in Jerusalem: “The idea would be to reward Iran for good behavior over the last years of any agreement,” the AP said, “gradually lifting constraints on its uranium enrichment program and slowly easing economic sanctions.” There is also no indication of restrictions on Iran’s missile development—its potential delivery systems.

Meanwhile the Middle East Media Research Institute—or MEMRI, an essential resource for translations of Middle Eastern media—has published an alarming report on Iran’s growing military presence along Israel’s border with Syria. The authors are Yigal Carmon, founder of MEMRI and a former counterterrorism adviser to two Israeli prime ministers, and MEMRI director Yossi Yehoshua.

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Signatories of public letter announcing support of ultra-right party include rabbis Dov Lior, Zvi Tau, and Shlomo Aviner, among others.

By Yair Ettinger, HAARETZ

A group of senior rabbis from the religious Zionist movement announced Thursday it had withdrawn its endorsement of Habayit Hayehudi in the March 17 election in favor of Yahad, the party established recently by former Shas chairman Eli Yishai.

The announcement was in the form of an open letter published as an advertisement in the religious Zionist weekly BeSheva.

“At this time, we are called upon to make our calculations according to the Torah’s truth,” the letter said.

“Of all the tickets running for the next Knesset, there’s one whose representatives promise to listen to the Torah’s instructions on matters of principle in their leadership of the public, so as to maintain the state’s Jewish character, and with special attention to the integrity of the Land of Israel.”
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