Israel must finally wake up and stop letting its enemies win on the propaganda front.

By Noah Klieger, YNET

Joseph Goebbels, the Third Reich’s minister of propaganda, was undoubtedly more dangerous to the world and to the Jews than the Führer Adolf Hitler. The reason is that Goebbels knew how to spread lies which would be accepted as facts and how to convince the majority of the Germans of the necessity of their criminal acts in favor of the future of the “thousand-year old Reich.”

There is no doubt that Israel’s enemies have studied Goebbels’ doctrine very well. For decades, they have been spreading lies about the Jewish state and about its allegedly criminal acts, and have slowly managed to convince quite a few Westerners, who in most cases aren’t even aware of the facts.
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By Ted Belman

The Citizens Empowerment Center in Israel, founder in 2003,  issued a Joint Outline for Changing the Government System.  Its worth reading.

This system recommends the threshold be increased from 2 to 4 percent and that half of the Knesset seats be set aside for regional representation. There are many other recommendations of interest all of which are intended to stabilize the government of Israel.

As you know the threshold was amended prior to the last election to 3.25.  The result was that the four Arab parties coalesced into one party and got 12 seat  and Yachad created by Eli Yishai failed to make the cut.
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By Steve Lende, JPOST

Irwin Cotler sits in my Jerusalem Post office after attending the Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism in Jerusalem in May, and recalls what he considers a particularly important moment in his – and Canada’s – history.

“The Canadian Parliament unanimously adopted a resolution against anti-Semitism, which I’m sharing with you because I think it’s an important template for other parliaments or all those concerned about anti-Semitism,” he says. “It’s a wonderful call to action against the phenomenon of anti-Semitism, if you will.”

Cotler, a Liberal MP who is a former justice minister and internationally acclaimed human rights advocate, presented the motion to Canada’s House of Commons on February 24, together with Jason Kenney, the minister of multiculturalism.
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In remarkably open attack against Netanyahu, Obama says if Israel doesn’t renew peace talks he will not be able to defend it in the UN.

By Ari Yashar, INN

US President Barack Obama gave an interview with Israeli media on Tuesday, in which he threatened that an Israeli refusal to renew peace talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA) will “make it hard” for the US to veto motions in the UN against Israel.

In an interview with Ilana Dayan for Channel 2’s “Uvda” (Fact) TV show aired Tuesday night, Obama commented on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s statements before elections in which he said that a Palestinian state won’t be founded on his watch.

Obama noted that later Netanyahu distanced from the statement and “suggested that there is the possibility of a Palestinian state. But it has so many caveats, so many conditions, that it is not realistic to think that those conditions would be met anytime in the near future.”
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by Prof. Efraim Inbar, BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 300

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: European intentions may be laudable, but seem far removed from Middle Eastern realities. While partition of the Land of Israel between the Jews and the Arabs living in this small part of the world is desirable, the Palestinian national movement has proved to be the wrong partner to implement partition and is largely responsible for the failure of the two state solution. Conflict management is the only approach that has a chance to minimize suffering on both sides and achieve a modicum of stability in a stormy Middle East.

The Europeans have decided that the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Holy Land, now over one century long, must finally end. The High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini came to Israel last week to convey EU impatience with the impasse in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. France has signaled its intention to bring the matter to the UN Security Council in order to delineate the parameters for conflict resolution within 18 months.
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INSS Insight No. 700, May 21, 2015
Gabi Siboni, A. G.

Despite the heavy price paid by Hamas in Operation Protective Edge, it is not wasting any time preparing for the next war. For the organization, war against Israel is a tool for strategic change to entrench its rule in the Gaza Strip and establish itself as a key player in the Israeli-Palestinian arena and surpass the power base of the PA, headed by Fatah and Mahmoud Abbas.

In order for Israel to postpone the next conflict with Hamas for as long as possible, two main efforts are necessary. One is to prevent the organization’s arming itself with standard and advanced weapons and raw materials liable to be used to manufacture such weapons. The second is the economic lever, namely, improving the dire economic and humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. Easing the plight of the local population will reinforce Hamas’ sense of governmental sustainability in the area. In this context, however, the unstable and hostile relations between Hamas and the PA, particularly concerning the distribution of the money promised for rebuilding the Gaza Strip, play a key role in blocking any progress toward the vital reconstruction.
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By Zaki Shalom, INSS

Recent statements by President Obama on the Israeli-Palestinian political process include a number of interesting and even new aspects. First, the President demonstrated a clear intention to maintain a balanced approach toward Israel and the Palestinians.

Second, his comments reflected his inclination to draw away from his commitment to achieve a comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian agreement – a goal he had embraced since his entry into office. Rather, he expressed clear support for measured and limited steps, mainly of an economic nature, aimed at creating an atmosphere of trust and cooperation even in the absence of a political agreement. A further change in the administration’s approach to the political process was the President’s lack of reference to any set timetable for reaching an agreement. In addition, there was an absence of linkage between the political process and the Iranian issue.
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By Shmuel Rosner, JJ

I wrote a piece about an interesting poll from which a provocative headline could be drawn: How Many Israelis Would Gladly Intermarry? Quite a Few… It was a survey of Jewish Israelis – 54% of whom opposed intermarriage. But not many Israeli youngsters and seculars opposed intermarriage. If only 17% of Israelis ‘strongly support’ intermarriage, the poll by Menachem Lazar showed that among the younger generation the strong support category goes up to 29%, and among secular Israelis it goes up to 33%.

A year and a half later, another poll makes things seem more complicated. The poll was conducted professionally by the Marketwatch Institute. But the commission of the poll was by an NGO, Itim, that promotes hospitable conversion to Judaism. The good people of Itim agreed to share the data with the public, and the data is interesting. On the one hand, it somehow contradicts the conclusion from the other poll: “86% of the respondents said it was important or very important to them that their children marry Jewish spouses”. On the other hand, it affirms other conclusions. For example, it shows that for older Israeli Jews this issue is more important than it is for younger ones (the gap between the youngest group and the oldest one on this question is almost 12%).
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Conference reportedly being organized by top Jewish donors, including Hollywood entertainment mogul Haim Saban.

By Nathan Guttman, THE FORWARD

Leading Jewish mega donors have summoned pro-Israel activists for a closed-door meeting in Las Vegas to establish, and fund, successful strategies for countering the wave of anti-Israel activity on college campuses.

The meeting, taking place this weekend, will be hosted by casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson and was organized by several other top Jewish funders, including Hollywood entertainment mogul Haim Saban, Israeli-born real-estate developer Adam Milstein, and Canadian businesswoman Heather Reisman.
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Liberman says that PM has no right to speak for the nationalist camp.

By Lahav Harkov, JPOST

Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman, Avidor Liberman slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as weak and inconsistent on Monday, after the latter said the former is helping the Left.

Speaking to Likud central committee members Sunday night about difficulties in forming a government, Netanyahu said: “An error happened here, and that error is simple: Six seats that were supposed to be part of the nationalist camp’s coalition went from one side to the other.
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Shurat HaDin-Israel Law Center pens urgent letter to food co-op company after violent clash in meeting over BDS resolution.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

Israeli legal rights  group Shurat HaDin-Israel Law Center sent a letter this morning to the Park Slope Food Co-op (PSFC) President William Penner and General Manager Joseph Holtz warning them not to implement a boycott of Israeli manufacturers, products or services.

The PSFC, located in Brooklyn recently debated a resolution to discontinue the sale of Israeli products including those manufactured by the SodaStream Company.

The boycott resolution was promoted by members of the BDS – boycott, divestment and sanctions – movement which seeks to delegitimize the Jewish State internationally as a means of supporting the Palestinians in their war against Israel.
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Obama’s carte blanche has set the predators free, among them, but far from alone, Iran.

By Alexander Maistrovoy, INN

They are not empires yet. They don’t have enough power or the resources for becoming such. However, all of them – Russians, Turks, Arabs, Persians, – are dreaming about empires, recalling old conquests and victories. And all of them should be grateful to the West, and the US president in particular.

Turkey was first. In April 2009, speaking in a joint news conference with Erdogan in Ankara, Obama named Turkey a “leading US ally” and a “role-model partnership” of the world.

By this time the “leading US ally” had a very impressive track record.
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By Dr. Michael Berenbaum, JEWISH JOURNAL

This past week President Barack Obama went on a Jewish offensive trying to gain support for the forthcoming agreement with Iran by giving an interview to Jeffrey Goldberg, the wise and deeply committed Jewish writer for The Atlantic, and by speaking at Adas Israel Congregation, the largest and most prestigious Conservative Congregation in Washington, D.C. While others have focused ad naseum on his remarks to the synagogue, I want to concentrate on a brief but highly instructive exchange with Jeffrey Goldberg.

Obama: You know, if you look at the history of anti-Semitism, Jeff, there were a whole lot of European leaders—and there were deep strains of anti-Semitism in this country—
Goldberg: And they make irrational decisions—
Obama: They may make irrational decisions with respect to discrimination, with respect to trying to use anti-Semitic rhetoric as an organizing tool. At the margins, where the costs are low, they may pursue policies based on hatred as opposed to self-interest… (italics mine)

The president presumes that anti-Semitic leaders indulge their hatreds at the margins of national policy but when push comes to shove, they follow rational self-interest.

Would that it were so!
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By Nachi Eyal, JPOST

Those who thoroughly read through the 89 pages of the Levy Committee Report will find it extremely difficult to comprehend that, absurdly, the only place in the free world where racial discrimination takes place in regard to land, is actually in Judea and Samaria.

In not one of the revised countries of the world are there discriminatory laws and rules in practice that discriminate against Jews who wish to acquire land or build on it. There are a multitude of orders and directives aimed at preventing Jews from building, owning land and cultivating and developing communities in Judea and Samaria.

The Legal Advisers of the Civil Administration are a link in the chain which begins with the Attorney General.
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By Ari Yasher, INN

Finance Ministry economist Assaf Geva has spent the last 18 months analyzing the long-term demographic projections published by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) two years ago, which project how Israel will look in 2059.

According to Geva’s estimation, government spending will swell by 1.2 percentage points faster than the GDP every year as Israel’s population ages, reports Haaretz.

While government revenues will grow 0.4 points faster than the GDP, largely thanks to Israel tapping into its natural gas reserves, work-related taxes will diminish as more and more Israelis retire.

However aging isn’t the only reason the government will have less work-related taxes to pull from; according to the CBS forecast, the haredi and Arab population will both grow rapidly, with both groups featuring high unemployment rates. Among the Arab population critics have said unemployment rates belie rampant off-the-books employment, while many haredim opt to spend their time in Torah study instead of working.
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PA Prime Minister Hamdallah tells WaPo: ‘We count on the United States and are sure they will deliver.’

By Gil Ronen, INN

Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah broadly hinted in a Washington Post interview Monday that the US has promised the PA to renew pressure on Israel to negotiate the giveaway of its land, once the nuclear deal with Iran is signed.

Hamdallah sat down in his Ramallah office with The Post’s Lally Weymouth and told her: “We hope negotiations will be resumed, but within a new framework. We need a time limit for the Israeli withdrawal from our territories and a date for the establishment of the [Palestinian] state — the leadership in Palestine has put the date as the end of 2017.”

Hamdallah spoke approvingly of a French initiative for peace between Jews and Arabs, which he said was drafted in coordination with the United States, and which sets a time limit for Israeli retreat from Judea and Samaria. “This UN resolution can be issued which would set a time to end the occupation and establish a state along the ’67 borders,” he explained. “If this is issued, I’m sure we can go back to negotiations.
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by Sha’i ben-Tekoa  (June 2015)

One benefit of the bloody fiasco that became the Oslo Peace Process launched on the White House lawn on September 13, 1993 by President of the United States William Jefferson Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak ben-Nehemiah Rabin, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon ben-Yitzhak Peres and the world’s most successful terrorist Yasir ibn Abdel Rauf al-Qudwa Arafat and his aide Dr. Mahmoud Abbas, PhD, was how it provided fresh evidence that the Jews are indeed a chosen people — if not in the traditional, religious sense.

Even an atheist must admit that the Jews have been uniquely chosen in every generation by (if not the Almighty then) gentiles for special abuse and persecution, expulsion and the theft of all their immovable wealth that goes along with such expulsions. They have been selected for torture, mutilation, rape, medical experiments and massacres at the hands of gentiles who mocked their claim to Chosenness even as they singled them out for unusual treatment.
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By Loren Thompson, FORBES

Recent setbacks suffered by Iraqi forces in the country’s contested Sunni areas have led senior Pentagon officials to question their courage. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said the Iraqis “showed no will to fight” when ISIS moved to seize the Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi despite greatly outnumbering their enemy, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey observed that Iraq’s military wasn’t driven out of the city, “they drove out.” The reality, though, is that Iraqi forces had been fighting for over a year in Anbar with little support from Baghdad. So Marina Ottaway of the Wilson Center got it right when she told the Associated Press that the defeat at Ramadi was not a failure of courage, but a failure of politics.

Unfortunately, that assessment could be accurately applied to Iraq’s entire modern history, which began a century ago when European powers invented the nation without any real understanding of the region. That flawed beginning nearly guaranteed that Iraq would one day become a failed state, just like Lebanon, Libya, Syria and other Arab countries that the Europeans played a role in creating. The discovery of vast quantities of oil in Iraq may have delayed its dissolution by giving the central government the resources needed to impose order, but in the end Iraq will cease to exist. So a U.S. strategy focused on stabilizing the country is unrealistic. Here are five basic reasons why Iraq can’t be fixed.
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Mixed reactions as Egyptian president recruits scholars to counter radical ideology with moderate Islam

BY TAMAR PILEGGI, TOI

A campaign by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi to combat radical jihadist ideology with Islamic education has been met with mixed reactions.

According to a Reuters report on Sunday, Sissi sees Al-Azhar University — the 1,000-year old center for Islamic learning — as a key to combating radicalism and reforming Islam. And while the institution is cooperating, critics say the president’s two-year crackdown on Islamists and Islamism has been too heavy-handed.
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