Turkey is sending a seismographic vessel to explore areas in the Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone.

By Mark Langfan, INN

On Friday, October 3, a day after US Vice President Joe Biden pontificated about Turkish President Recep Ayyip Erdogan’s “desire” to have “no Turkish soldiers” remain in Cyprus, Turkey sent Turkish-Greece-Cyprus tensions soaring by issuing a Navigational Telex, or NAVTEX, according to which Turkey was sending a seismographic vessel to explore areas in the Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in Cyprus’s southern waters.

In response, Nikos Christodoulides, the Cypriot government spokesman, said that Turkish “harassment in any way of the company which operates within the EEZ of the Republic, is in no way compatible with the orderly conduct of the talks,” adding that “this is a clear message, which we expect to reach its target and to have results.”
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When the location of the fence was adjudicated upon, the High Court decided that the location of the fence was to be determined by defense needs only but these needs must be balanced with Arab demands and rights.  The security value of the fence in this location should be balanced with the prejudice it puts the 80,000 Jews living on the other side. Both their security needs but also the political needs. Israel would be jeopardizing its right to annex Gush Etzion, if not legally, certainly from a negotiating point of view.  Building it would send a very strong message of abandonment. Israel is far better off not building it. What was Yaalon thinking. Ted Belman

PM has adopted settlers’ stance against Defense Minister Ya’alon, says delighted Gush Etzion Regional Council chief

BY ELHANAN MILLER, toi,  October 6, 2014,

Gush Etzion Regional Council head Davidi Perl, October 6, 2014 (photo credit: Elhanan Miller/Times of Israel)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is stalling the construction of the security barrier south of Jerusalem out of belief that the only way to ensure Israel’s safety is a permanent Israel Defense Forces presence in the West Bank, a settler leader told The Times of Israel on Monday.

Davidi Perl, head of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, said that he and other settler leaders appealed to Netanyahu against Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s decision to resume construction of the barrier that would physically separate the Etzion settlement bloc’s almost 80,000 residents from the State of Israel. Read more…

While the WH was quick to assert all the things it does in accordance with American values, it was silent on the one accusation Bibi made, namely that objecting to Jews living in Jerusalem, is un American.

Also I have heard rumours that prior to entering the WH Obama insisted that Bibi reaffirm two states for two people which he did in order to meet with Obama. Ted Belman

NEWSMAX

The White House rejected criticism from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a withering response on Monday, accusing him of refusing to acknowledge how much help the United States has been to Israel over the years.

A long-time split between President Barack Obama and Netanyahu appeared to widen further after the Israeli leader’s visit to the White House last week.

Netanyahu, on the CBS program “Face the Nation” on Sunday, said U.S. criticism of an Israeli move for a new Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem was “against American values.”
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Calling Obama’s condemnation of Jewish housing in Jerusalem as “unAmerican” or not “the American way” was a brilliant stroke. It harkens back to the day that Communists in America were accused of “unAmerican” activities. Ted Belman

Ynet AP

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed Sweden’s announcement it will recognize a Palestinian state, saying “Unilateral steps are in contradiction to past agreements, and they do not contribute to peace, but rather distance it.”

“Peace will be achieved only by negotiation between the sides.” Netanyahu added.

On Friday, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said that his new government was going to recognize a Palestinian state, the statement led to a diplomatic crisis, with Israel summoning Sweden’s ambassador for a reprimand talk at the Foreign Ministry.

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BY ISAAC KIGHT, TOI

Recently published polls in Israel show that right-leaning voters are dissatisfied with Likud and are turning to Naftali Bennett’s Bayit Hayehudi (Home for the Jews) Party. Lapid has seriously declined in popularity.

A recent poll by the Maagar Mochot Research Institute shows that in the wake of Operate Protective Edge many Israelis are choosing to shift still farther right. Dissatisfied with Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu’s pragmatic approach to the security situation some Likud (coalition) supporters are going farther to the right. Eager to profit from this dissatisfaction stands Naftali Bennet, a former aide to Bibi. Bennet defected from Likud several years ago to take the helm of the floundering Bayit Hayehudi (Home for the Jews) Party. In the 18th Knesset this party stood with only three seats having split from its former partnership with the National Union Party.
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By Dan Margilit, ISRAEL HAYOM

In a rare interview, Lt.-Col. M., tasked with understanding the Palestinian ‘enemy,’ looks at how Hamas sees the summer’s war, and how the West Bank reality might play out

BY AVI ISSACHAROFF, TOI

Lt.-Col. M., the head of the Palestinian desk at Military Intelligence’s Research Department, was tasked with a near-impossible mission during the 50 days of fighting in Gaza: understand the intentions of Hamas’s leadership, and assess its resilience.

Now M., the man ultimately charged with gauging the Palestinian “enemy,” be it Hamas or the Palestinian Authority, is trying to understand what exactly happened in the last conflict, and how Hamas views things in its wake.

“When we evaluate how Hamas leaders see the war, and I am referring to both public and private conversations, their conclusion is negative. At the same time, they are not entirely devoid of accomplishments,” M. said in a rare interview with Times of Israel. Read more…

In precedent-setting case surrounding murder of three Israelis, Jerusalem court rejects PA’s ‘statehood’ claim as grounds for ‘immunity’

By Shlomo Pitrikovsky and Cynthia Blank, INN

Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorists

.

The suit was filed by the estates and relatives of the victims Yaniv Ben-Shalom, his wife, Sharon Ben-Shalom, and her brother Doron Yosef Sawari, who were killed in a shooting in August 2001 during the Second Intifada.

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Reuters reports are often biased. If you have links that better report the attitude of the Saudi government please post in comments. Ted Belman

REUTERS

Muslim pilgrims cast stones at pillars symbolizing Satan, during the annual haj. (photo credit:REUTERS)

MINA, Saudi Arabia – Taking aim at Islamic State, Saudi Arabia has mounted a battle for hearts and minds at this year’s haj, warning pilgrims that the hardline group is “evil” and seeking to recruit their children to fight in Iraq and Syria.

As millions of pilgrims visited the holiest sites in Islam on the second day of the annual pilgrimage on Saturday, global leaders condemned the fourth beheading of a Westerner by Islamic State insurgents.

Saudi Arabia declared Islamic State a terrorist organization in March and sharply stepped up denunciations of the group after its fighters made rapid territorial gains in Iraq in June.
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Sunday Times cites manifesto written by member of ISIS war council, proposing to offer Russia control of Anbar gas fields in return for Moscow cutting ties with Tehran and handing over its nuclear knowhow.

Ynetnews

The manifesto, believed to have been written by Abdullah Ahmed al-Meshedani, calls on ISIS militants to prepare for war against the Islamic Republic.

The document, thought to be a policy manifesto prepared for senior members of the organization’s leadership, was found in the home of one of the ISIS commanders during a Iraqi special forces raid in March, the paper reported.

Western security officials believe the document to be authentic.

According to the document uncovered by the British newspaper, ISIS intends to obtain Iran’s nuclear secrets through Russia. The organization will offer Russia access to Iraqi gas fields it seized in the Anbar area in return for Moscow cutting its ties with Tehran and pass on Iran’s nuclear knowhow to ISIS.

Moscow must also cut its ties with the regime of Bashar Assad in Syria, and move its support to Sunni Gulf states opposing the Shiite Ayatollah regime.
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By Caroline Glick

Although media commentators overlooked it, the Obama administration did it again. They blindsided Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on the eve of his trip to Washington.

The last time it happened was in May 2011 when US President Barack Obama set out his policy toward Israel and the Palestinians as Netanyahu was in flight, en route to Washington to meet with him.

In that speech Obama announced his support for an essentially full Israeli withdrawal to the entirely indefensible 1949 armistice lines in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria. Obama adopted this position despite the fact that Netanyahu and the Israeli public rejected it and viewed it as a threat to Israel’s survival.
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By Martin Sherman, JPOST

In Israel, the negative impact of the judicialization of politics on the Supreme Court’s legitimacy is already beginning to show its mark. Over the past decade, the public image of the Supreme Court as an autonomous and impartial arbiter has been increasingly eroded… the court and its judges are increasingly viewed by a considerable portion of the Israeli public as pushing forward their own political agenda… – Prof. Ran Hirschl, Towards Juristocracy: The Origins and Consequences of the New Constitutionalism, Harvard University Press, 2004.

The public is further losing its faith in… the legal system, with only 36 percent of the Jewish public expressing confidence in the courts…– “Public’s faith in Israel’s justice system continues to plummet,” Haaretz, August 15, 2013.

The Haifa District Court on Sunday blocked the state from setting a precedent that would help it deter flotillas by legalizing confiscating captured flotilla vessels and their cargo under international law never before used in Israel. – “Court blocks major state initiative to deter blockade-busting flotillas,” Jerusalem Post, September 7, 2014

A recent Post editorial (September 27) was right on the money when it asserted that “The High Court of Justice dealt Israeli democracy a grievous blow last week.” It was a sentiment echoed by the Post’s veteran columnist Michael Freund, who wrote: “High Court of Justice struck a decisive blow to Israel’s democracy last week, one that should send a shudder down the spine of anyone who cherishes basic principles such as the separation of powers….”
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President Obama gradually disengaged his country from the Middle East with no consideration for his old allies.

By Zvi Mazel, JPOST

Fate has not been kind to US President Barack Obama, who twice was forced to admit over the course of a few days that he had failed: Failed to devise an adequate strategy against Islamic State, and worse, failed to obtain real-time information on what was becoming a major threat to the West.

Obama is now making an all-out effort to convince ever more Arab states to join the grand alliance he is building in order to show that far from fighting Islamic countries, he is defending them against the threat of extremist elements.

Immediately after the barbaric murder of journalist Steven Sotloff, Obama proclaimed the murderers were not representative of any religion, insisting the Islamic State terror group did not represent Islam.
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By Ted Belman

Two speeches at the United Nations General Assembly illustrate the vast gulf separating the leaders of the United States and Israel.  Not only is there daylight between Pres. Obama and PM Netanyahu, there are intractable differences.

PM Netanyahu, when addressing the UNGA last week, started out calling the brazen lies uttered at the UN as just that, “brazen lies.”  His language was anything but diplomatic. One of those lies had been uttered by Mahmoud Abbas (aka, Abu Mazen) when he charged Israel with genocide and ethnic cleansing. Netanyahu singled him out for living in a reverse moral universe: “I suppose it’s the same moral universe where a man (Abu Mazen) who wrote a dissertation of lies about the Holocaust, and who insists on a Palestine free of Jews, Judenrein, can stand at this podium and shamelessly accuse Israel of genocide and ethnic cleansing.” No more pussy footing around here.

Abu Mazen is no longer considered a peace partner. Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz, in a major speech on Monday said Mahmoud Abbas “is a more serious enemy” than Yasser Arafat.
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MEMRI

In a recent TV interview, Fatah spokesman Ahmad Assaf accused Hamas leaders of corruption. “They received 700 million dollars, which went into the Gaza Strip, but they did not give a single cent to the people of Gaza. The Hamas leaders took it all,” Assaf said in the interview, which aired on the Palestinian Authority’s Al-Awda TV channel on September 16, 2014.

Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV

Fatah Spokesman Ahmad Assaf: “I was shocked by the recent public opinion poll, which showed that over 50% of the people of Gaza had tried to emigrate from Gaza, or would like to do so. That’s half the population of Gaza.

[…]

“It is common knowledge that Hamas has complete control over the tunnels. The tunnels are controlled by the leaders of Hamas, to be precise. Even a bird can not travel between Gaza and Egypt, or fly over sea, without the approval of Hamas. This is well known to our people in Gaza.
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Local residents say hundreds of Jews are expected to move into their neighborhood after Yom Kippur

SILWAN, East Jerusalem — Elias Karaki awoke at 2 a.m. on Tuesday morning to a loud banging noise coming from the house next door, formerly owned by his son Nabil.

“I saw settlers go into the house, and asked one of them what he was doing. He said, ‘This is my house,’” Karaki recalled. “We argued with them and my son scuffled with the police, but it was all in vain. My son still has furniture inside.”

Three months earlier, Nabil had sold the house to an Arab Israeli named Farid Hajj Yahya, whom he met outside the Islamic Endowments office on the Temple Mount. Hajj Yahya — who was distributing food to worshipers breaking their fast on Ramadan — claimed to be working with the Islamic Movement in Israel, headed by Sheikh Raed Salah.
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Israel rejects not peace but capitulation.

The EU and the US concede that Israel has the right of self-defense but demands that it not exercise that right.

The EU and the US concede that the final solution of the conflict will be solved by direct negotiations but deny Israel the right to negotiate as Israel sees fit. Instead they demand that Israel accept an outcome dictated by them. Furthermore they say that if Israel rejects their dictate, Israel is not interested in peace. This is a lie. Negotiations to end a conflict require reciprocal compromises. Barring such compromises the conflict remains. But to suggest that Israel’s refusal to accept the dictate is tantamount to rejecting peace is a libel. Israel is seeking compromise while the PA backed by the world is seeking Israel’s capitulation. Ted Belman

The European Union (EU) on Friday condemned Israel’s plans to build 2,610 new homes in a Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem, calling it “highly detrimental” to diplomatic efforts for Israeli-Palestinian peace, according to AFP.

Brussels called on Israel to “urgently reverse” actions leading to expansion in Jerusalem, which the Palestinian Authority (PA) hopes to claim as the capital of a future state, following a smear campaign against the project launched by extreme leftist group Peace Now.
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By Ben Caspit, AL MONITOR

Staff Benny Gantz gestures during a press conference at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, July 28, 2014. (photo by GIL COHEN MAGEN/AFP/Getty Images)

Do not be fooled by the participation by Qatar and Saudi Arabia in the anti-ISIS coalition. Not only is Kedar bang on but he neglects to mention that these countries view ISIS as a Sunni response to Iranian Hegemony. Ted Belman

By Mordechai Kedar, INN

A masquerade party is a social event in which participants’ faces are covered, allowing them to say and do all the things they would either be ashamed or afraid to say if they could be identified. A mask frees its wearer from limitations that derive from his status, identity, family situation, past, friends and even the ideas he ordinarily defends. It gives him a new identity, a different one, untouched and free of constraints.

Some participants even change masks during a ball, giving themselves another identity and further liberties that differ from the first false image created by the previous costume they wore earlier in the evening. Masks allow their wearers to lie to others present at the party without anyone being able to notice them blush and blink their eyes. The only way to know the true identity of participants is to tear the masks from their faces. And that is what academicresearch is supposed to do.
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BY TIMES OF ISRAEL STAFF October 1, 2014, 7:54 pm 22

A Jerusalem committee gave its final approval last week to advance the construction of some 2,500 housing units in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Givat Hamatos, the city’s deputy mayor said Wednesday.

The committee’s approval, given on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah last week according to anti-settlement group Peace Now, marks the final step before tenders can be issued in the area.

The neighborhood lies in territory annexed by Israel but claimed by Palestinians to be an integral part of a future Palestinian state.

Critics say Jewish housing there would cut the West Bank city of Bethlehem off from Arab parts of the capital.
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