By Mark Langfan, INN

Earlier this month, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni stated that “the boycott is moving and advancing uniformly and exponentially.”

Exactly to her point, Defense Minister Ya’alon responded that if security compromises would lead to “rockets from Nablus, Ramallah and Jenin onto Ben Gurion Airport, then I would rather have a European boycott” on Israel.

Unable to intellectually or rationally respond to Ya’alon, Livni resorted to sophistry and made an even more intellectually specious statement: “In the context of priorities, I prefer the Galilee, Kiryat Shemona, Tiberias and the Negev over the isolated settlements outside the ‘settlement blocs.’”
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GREAT VIDEO INTERVIEW OF CAROLINE GLICK ON THE TWO STATE SOLUTION

Why not let all infiltrators work providing they consent to repatriation after 3 or 5 years? To include their children even if born in Israel. Ted Belman

Work restrictions on 50,000 Africans to be tightened; meanwhile, government’s housing reform stalls over shortage of 34,000 builders from abroad.
As the cabinet moves to restrict the conditions under which around 50,000 asylum seekers are permitted to work, on Wednesday representatives of the construction industry said 34,000 additional foreign workers are needed in order to meet the government’s building targets.

MK Miri Regev, chairwoman of the Knesset Interior and Environment Committee, said Wednesday she would work to block the government’s planned zoning and building reform because of the difficulties in bringing in the tens of thousands of workers from abroad it required. Read more…

The Truth Provider

I really feel sorry for those on the Israeli left. They have clearly lost their way, or if you wish, hit a brick wall at the end of a cul de sac.

They are fast running out of invented mantras. Since all their previous phony mantras, such as “disengagement,”  “occupation” and “Demography,” failed to destroy Jewish presence in Judea & Samaria, they now cling to a newly fabricated mantra: “Isolation.”

ISOLATION

PM Netanyahu and his policies, so they charge, are pushing Israel towards total isolation. If Israel does not make major territorial concessions to her enemies, dismantle the settlements, retreat to the 1948 armistice lines and re-divide Jerusalem, the world will isolate Israel and boycott her as if inflicted with leprosy. Read more…

Iconoclast:  

Pinhas Inbari  published this timely Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) brief on the issues and dramatis personae at the opening round of the Geneva II talks in Montreaux, Switzerland that began today..

We consider insightful  Inbari’s analysis of the roiling seemingly intractable, inconclusive  civil war in Syria now in its 35 month. Israel is concerned about what may arise from these fractious discussions given the presence of both Assad regime and Syrian opposition, including  potenntially intrusive  Al Qaeda-affiliates operating in the demilitarized zone on the Golan plateau.

Further, as Inbari points out in this brief, should , mirabile dictu, should  an agreement  be reached and a new government installed in Damascus  are the be renwal of demands for return of the Golan, annexed by Israel in December 1981.
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I24 NEWS

US embassy, Jerusalem Convention Center among targets al-Qaida-linked group planned to attack

Israel’s Shin Bet security agency revealed on Wednesday that it had arrested a terrorist unit that planned to blow up the Jerusalem convention center and the US embassy in Tel Aviv.

According to the Shin Bet’s statement, the three terrorists who were arrested belong to a Gaza based terror group that is linked to al-Qaida and the attacks themselves were planned by the global terror group’s leader Ayman al-Zawahri.
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To find out who the Friends of Israel Initiative are go HERE.

Friends of Israel Initiative

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is intensively working to achieve a framework deal between Israelis and Palestinians in order to create a negotiation basis for peace talks. Such a framework deal, according to Mr. Kerry’s expectations, will be signed by both parties at the end of this month.

However, some core issues to be agreed, which are also traditional key points of the conflict, have triggered controversy and doubts about the success of Kerry´s initiative. The issues focus on the Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish State; the Israeli presence, both civilian and military, in the Jordan Valley; and Jerusalem´s status. In spite of statements by Mahmoud Abbas regarding these matters, Israel cannot afford to surpass several limits.
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China Law Flash

China, one of the world’s largest countries and the second biggest economy in the world has hit its spotlight on Israel. By investing billions of dollars in Israel in the last three years, China has shown the world that it has targeted Israel and has plans for future investments as well.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry wrote on Sept 18, 1967.

TOP SECRET

Here is the attached memorandum:
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By Zeev Bar’el, HAARETZ

Six months from now, maybe sooner, we’ll know if January 20, 2014 will be remembered as Iran’s Nuclear Day – in a good sense – or if it’s just another date in the history of Tehran’s frustrating relations with the West. January 20 is the day the agreement signed in November goes into effect. It’s the day the implementation test begins.

Iran must show that it’s halting 20-percent uranium enrichment, and then, in the first stage, the Western countries will release the half-billion dollars Iran has deposited in their banks. The International Atomic Energy Agency will then monitor the implementation of the agreement, stage after stage.

If the IAEA is satisfied, more and more funds will be released, as much as $8 billion. Actually, this number will top $20 billion if we take into account permission for Iran to sell oil at current levels and to import gold.
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JPOST

Adrian Agassi is best known as the tireless lawyer of the families of murder victims Asher and Yonatan Palmer who has aided in securing murder convictions against their rock-throwing assailants.

The Palmers were killed by a group of Palestinians in a widely publicized rock-throwing incident in 2011.

But Agassi, a one-time relatively lenient IDF West Bank Court judge, may also be on the verge of founding a new right-wing party that, among other things, calls for establishing the Third Temple and large-scale annexations of disputed post-1967 territory.
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B’nai Brith Canada reports:

January 20, 2014, Toronto — B’nai Brith Canada was proud to be present as Prime Minister Stephen Harper gave his historic address to the Israeli Knesset.

The excitement and deep emotion were palpable among the broad and diverse Canadian delegation which filled the visitors’ gallery. Everyone present rose to their feet in yet another standing ovation as their Prime Minister vowed that Canada will stand with Israel “through fire and water.”

Frank Dimant, CEO, B’nai Brith Canada, stated: “The Prime Minister’s office, in making recommendations for the trip, has done a superb job in demonstrating the diversity of the Canadian Jewish community. The group was made up of a broad range of representatives including B’nai Brith Canada, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, religious Zionists, Agudat Israel, Rabbis from the Modern Orthodox, Conservative, Chabad and Reform movements, the Jewish National Fund, United Israel Appeal, Jewish Federations of Canada, the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee and Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre For Holocaust Studies, among others.
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By Ted Belman

Haaretz reports on Harper’s speech but includes this:

On the eve of Harper’s visit to Israel, the Foreign Ministry in Ottawa issued an updated policy paper on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Although many on the right believe the Harper government to be a full-fledged supporter of Israeli policy on the Palestinian issue, the policy paper states that Canada believes the settlements are illegal and an obstacle to peace.

The policy statement, published on January 13, six days before Harper’s arrival in Jerusalem, points out that Canada does not recognize permanent Israeli control over territories conquered in 1967 and says the settlements constitute a violation of UN Security Council resolutions. “Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The settlements also constitute a serious obstacle to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace,” it reads.

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The following is the full transcript of remarks made by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to Israel’s Knesset on January 20th, 2014.

“Shalom.

“And thank you for inviting me to visit this remarkable country, and especially for this opportunity to address the Knesset.

“It is truly a great honour.

“And if I may, Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my wife Laureen and the entire Canadian delegation, let me begin by thanking the government and people of Israel for the warmth of your hospitality.

“You have made us feel extremely welcome.

“We have felt immediately at home.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Canada and Israel are the greatest of friends, and the most natural of allies.
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