By Scott Johnson, POWERLINE

Certain impediments complicate Barack Obama’s selling of the arrangement with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Obama seeks to camouflage the arrangement as one that deters Iran from the acquisition of nuclear weapons. In reality, the arrangement will finance and expedite the mullahs’ acquisition of nuclear weapons.

John Kerry has issued ludicrous “guarantees” in connection with the arrangement. One such guarantee is categorical, but it’s not a money-back sort of a guarantee: “I say to every Israeli that today we have the ability to stop [the Iranians] if they decided to move quickly to a bomb and I absolutely guarantee that in the future we will have the ability to know what they are doing so that we can still stop them if they decided to move to a bomb.”
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[I just finished the book and highly recommend it, both as a very enjoyable read and as as a first hand source of important information.]

By Vic Rosenthal

Are Israelis paranoid? Much of the world is out to get us, and I’m not talking about the Arabs.

In his travels about Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Tuvia Tenenbom (Catch the Jew) tells of encountering massive European-funded projects, costing millions of Euros. They arrange propaganda tours (including one to Yad Vashem that is all about how Israelis are the new Nazis), pay for illegal Arab construction in Judea/Samaria,  fund lawfare against the state and IDF personnel, support dozens of NGOs that work overtime generating material to demonize Israel, interfere with IDF soldiers and try to provoke violence, bring international volunteers to act as human shields in violent protests against the security fence, encourage boycotts and divestment, and — above all — support those Jewish left-wing extremists that are so important to the overall objective: to take down the Jewish state of Israel.
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By Evelyn Gordon, COMMENTARY

In honor of this week’s 5th Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism, I’d like to propose a new definition of the term: Anti-Semitism is when Jews, alone of all the world’s religions, are denied the right to decide for themselves what their religion’s core tenets actually are. Nobody would dream of telling Christians that, for instance, their religion really has nothing to do with Jesus. Nobody would dream of telling Muslims that their religion really has nothing to do with the Koran. Yet a growing number of people seem to feel they have a perfect right to tell Jews that their religion really has nothing to do with being part of a nation.

Thus you get people like Jannine Salman, a member of the Columbia University chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, blithely telling the New York Times last week that Jews have no call to feel their religion is under attack by strident anti-Zionists, because “There is a bifurcation: Zionism is a political identity, Judaism is a religious identity, and it does a disservice to both to blur the line.” And never mind that neither the Bible nor 4,000 years of Jewish tradition recognize any such bifurcation.
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JPOST

Wasal Abu Yousef of the PLO leadership, said Thursday that Palestinians would not return to the negotiation table with Israel unless a deadline for the end of the Israeli “occupation” is set, London-based newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported.

He also said that, should negotiations resume, Palestinians would not rely solely on American mediation due to their “bias” towards Israel.

“Bilateral negotiations under US auspices are no longer possible,” he said.

Yousef told the London daily that the decision to refrain from returning to negotiations stemmed from the results of Israel’s latest elections and government formation, which brought to power an even more right-wing government than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s last coalition.

“We believe that the political horizon is completely closed with this new settler government,” Yousef told Al-Sharq Al-Aswat.

By Shlomo Cesana, ISRAEL HAYOM

Government presents binding policy guidelines for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fourth government: A commitment to diminishing cost of living, protecting Israel’s security • Conspicuously absent: A commitment to the two-state solution.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fourth government was set to be sworn in on Thursday, a day after its policy outlines were outlined at the Knesset. All members of the coalition are bound by these guidelines, which include 18 clauses revolving around the most urgent issues in all areas.

Conspicuously absent from these guidelines are a few issues that may have been omitted due to their sensitive nature. For example, the guidelines do not include a commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
[nor do they mention an undivided Jerusalem or building in J&S]

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[T. Belman. This is a great start.]

By Doug Lamborn, a Member of Congress from Colorado, is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and co-chairs the bipartisan Congressional Israel Allies Caucus, TOI

A new Israeli coalition and government is taking form. Warnings have surfaced regarding the right-leaning government and its ability to cooperate with the Obama Administration. The chief worry on the mind of the White House is the hawkish character of this Israeli government that, in their mind, may hinder any efforts to reach a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Recently Under-Secretary of State Wendy Sherman indicated that the U.S. support of Israel in the international arena will depend on whether the new government will meet the administration’s expectations on support for a two-state solution. This was a hint that the President might support a U.N. Security Council resolution to force Israel’s withdrawal from the disputed territories.
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WND

The diplomatic recognition of the “state of Palestine” by the Vatican will open the door to a new wave of anti-Semitism and endanger millions of Israeli Jews and Arabs, charge several leading evangelicals who have written about the end times.

And the controversial decision by Pope Francis is even leading to allegations the Roman Catholic Church will be an adversary to Christians and the state of Israel during those times.
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By Shlomo Sphiro, ISRAEL HAYOM

Israel’s recent deal to purchase four navy patrol boats from Germany is yet another chapter in the two countries’ nearly 60-year-long naval cooperation. German shipyards are among the most experienced and knowledgeable in manufacturing small navy ships — exactly what Israel’s navy requires — as opposed to American shipyards, which specialize in building massive warships and aircraft carriers, less suited for Israel’s needs to defend its natural gas fields.
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Palestine and the ICC: QA New Lawfare Strategy Against Israel

ICC prosecutor says if Israel does not hand over information on Gaza op, she will be forced to open full-scale ‘war crimes’ investigation.

By Cynthia Blank, INN

See also, Israel shouldn’t give up on Europe, An increasing number of Europeans, who are realizing the dangers posed by radical Islam, hold the key to improved relations with Israel.

Op-ed: Israel and the European Union enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship in ground-breaking scientific research, and the EU delegation to Israel plays a key role.

By Lars Faaborg-Andersen, YNET

The slogan of Israel Science Day, held this year on May 12, is “Science is everywhere”. In scores of events throughout the country, the general public, especially young people, will be exposed to lectures and demonstrations on how science affects all of us in our daily lives.

Israel has good reason to be proud of its outstanding scientific achievements. However I wonder how many Israelis are aware of the important role that Europe has played in turning the ideas generated by Israel’s excellent scientists into real research projects.
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T. Belman. This talk was one of many at a BESA conference on U.S. – Israel Relations: Whereto?. I was there. Aside from saying Netanyahu was risk adverse, which he is, and that he was “geographically cautious” in his settlement policies, by which he meant that Netanyahu maintained the freeze, he said that progress was made on where the border would be. In other words that Netanyahu was agreeing to something akin to the Auschwitz borders, This agreement was alluded to during the end of the negotiations but quickly snuffed out. Similarly, though Netanyahu continues to demand an undivided Jerusalem, his policies belie his words in that he won’t build in Har Homa or E-1 because that would prevent the division of Jerusalem.

I think it was Elliot Abrams who said that participating in the “peace process” though it was doomed, was good politics. Expect that Netanyahu agrees and will be open to participating in negotiations and this will mean that he continues to be geographically cautious on the settlement policies.

By Herb Keinon, JPOST

During the nine months of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that ended in failure in 2014, 62 percent of Israel’s publicly announced tenders for housing beyond the Green Line were earmarked for the 1.9% of West Bank land that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had once consented would remain in Israel’s hands.

David Makovsky, who was a member of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s negotiating team during this period, pointed out this little-known fact during a speech Tuesday at a conference on US-Israel relations that took place at Bar- Ilan University’s Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies.
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J-Street joins anti-Israel groups in unsuccessful attempt to scupper legislation which would deal a death blow to BDS in America..

By Ari Sofer, INN

J-Street has been lobbying furiously to torpedo legislation currently making its way through the US Congress to combat the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott Divestment and Sanction) Movement.

In late April, the Senate Finance Committee adopted new amendments to the Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), which would require US trade negotiators to make rejection of BDS a principal trade objective in Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations with the European Union.

The amendments are backed by all major Jewish and pro-Israel groups in America, including AIPAC, The Israel Project, the Israel Allies Foundation and others.
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By Uri Savir, Al Monitor

One can sense despair in the corridors of power in the Muqata government building in Ramallah. Palestinian officials tell Al-Monitor that there is more irritation with the Arab world than with Israel. They are frustrated that the Arab regimes focus on the conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Yemen at the expense of Palestinian statehood. They sense that they have lost some lobbying power vis-a-vis the United States and Europe, which are now concentrated primarily on the Iranian nuclear agreement.

Thus, Palestinians are looking for creative ideas to revive international interest in the resolution of the conflict while actively engaging Arab countries. One senior Palestinian official told Al-Monitor of a deus ex machina concept he had in mind that could salvage the Palestinian predicament. The official, who entertains good contacts within the Jordanian court, would like to rekindle the idea of a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation, an issue he has apparently raised lately with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and with the entourage of the Jordanian king.
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NGO MONITOR

Jerusalem – In advance of the 2015 Global Forum for Combatting Antisemitism, and in response to rising levels of hatred in Europe, NGO Monitor has published a detailed report on the international, Palestinian, and Israeli NGOs (non-governmental organizations) that engage in egregious antisemitic activities and rhetoric. According to the report, despite the extensive evidence of NGO antisemitism, which contradicts claims to promote human rights and humanitarian agendas, governments continue to fund these groups with hundreds of millions of dollars, pounds, euros, and kroner.

“NGO Monitor’s research shows that by funding NGOs that engage in antisemitic activities and rhetoric, governments highlight a persistent double standard: hatred of Jews is tolerated in a way that would be unthinkable for other racial, ethnic, or religious groups.” stated Professor Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor. “Jewish and Israeli targets are often denied the right to define what constitutes discrimination against them.” Read more…

By Daniel Grynglas

The wars between Israel and its Arab neighbors were fought for many years on the battlefield between armies.  In recent decades the arena of conflict has shifted from hand-to-hand combat to a war of narratives.

Everybody agrees that the current affluence of Israel, its modern infrastructure and economy were developed by the Jews. The Palestinian Arab narrative is that as the ancient, indigenous people of Palestine they feel dispossessed and they deserve to take over Israel’s riches.

Jewish claims to their heritage in the land of Israel are supported by abundant archaeological artifacts and historical records. Meanwhile, there are no records to support the Palestinian narrative.  In history, art and literature there is no trace at all of any Muslim people referred to by anybody as “Palestinians.”
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Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked may be Israeli democracy’s last hope of overthrowing an elitist clique which enjoys all the trappings of a Middle East dictatorship – and that’s precisely why the Left are so determined to stop her.

By Ari Sofer, INN

From crude, sexist comments to outright death threats, the hysterical reaction to the appointment of Jewish Home MK Ayelet Shaked as Justice Minister has been shocking even by the low standards of the far-left.

Now, the incitement has reached such levels that Shaked will be assigned a personal security detail – a rare occurrence in Israel, where MKs and ministers can regularly be seen walking in public safely without bodyguards.

Why?

She is, we are informed, a “danger to democracy” – for wanting to curb the powers of an unelected clique which currently has the ability to veto any Knesset legislation it so chooses: the Supreme Court.
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By Sohrab Armani,  COMMENTARY

As Barack Obama’s presidency stretches into its final quarter, relations between the United States and Israel have reached the breaking point. Having come into office determined to put “daylight” between Washington and Jerusalem, as the president told Jewish leaders in 2009, the Obama administration is now discarding the basic assumptions underpinning the U.S.-Israel alliance. The equities of the Arab–Israeli conflict, the nature of the Iranian threat, the region’s security architecture—all the old certainties have given way to the president’s quest for a rapprochement with the Iranian regime and a new balance of power in the Middle East.

Even as it seeks a regional order that will come at Israel’s expense, however, the White House professes a great love of the Jewish state. Those who doubt this love, administration spokesmen say, are “politicizing” the Israel issue. This raises a critical question: What does it mean to be pro-Israel in the age of Obama?
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