Defense Minister: Kerry is ‘Obsessive and Messianic’

By Gil Ronen, INN

Daily newspaper Yediot Aharonot cites Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, in closed conversations, as dismissing the US ‘peace plan’ out of hand and calling US Secretary of State John Kerry “messianic” and “obsessive.”

According to senior reporter Shimon Shiffer, Yaalon said in closed conversations ahead of Kerry’s latest visit that “the American security plan that was presented to us is not worth the paper it was written on. It contains neither security nor peace. Only our continued presence in Judea and Samaria and the Jordan River will guarantee that Ben Gurion Airport and (the northern city of) Netanya do not become targets for missiles from every direction.
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By Michael Curtis, Commentator

“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” Ariel Sharon was not born great in February 1928 in the cooperative farming village of Kfar Malal. But he had achieved greatness by the time he died on January 11, 2014, gaining legendary stature as the greatest field commander in the history of the Israel Defense Forces.

He was also proud to be a farmer, and he became a dynamic political leader. He lived up to his nickname Arik (“the Lion” in Hebrew) as the Lion of Israel. Not surprisingly, the title of his autobiography was Warrior. Read more…

INSS Insight No. 506, January 13, 2014

Erez Striem , Yoel Guzansky

2013 was the most violent year in Iraq since 2008, a reminder that the war for Iraq is far from over. The latest outbreak of violence in Anbar Province follows the dismantling of a Sunni protest tent and the arrest of a Sunni member of parliament, in the course of which the MP’s brothers and five bodyguards were killed. Forty Sunni MPs resigned in protest over the violent arrest, and armed clashes have broken out throughout the province. In addition, the organization known as “the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham” (ISIS) and armed Sunni tribes have taken control of large portions of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar Province, and the city of Fallujah. They have seized military posts and police stations and released prisoners, while security forces have responded with aerial bombardments.
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By Ted Belman

I was under the impression that Israel had a law preventing Israelis from hiring infiltrators. That law only applies to infiltrators without visas.

Now I learn that 90% of infiltrators have received temporary work permits and have jobs in the service sector.

Can anyone clarify this.

Contrary to this article the crises engulfing the Middle East can be blamed on Obama. Obama withdrew from Iraq leaving it to the tender mercies of Iran and al Qaeda. He should have stayed and not squandered to gains realizerd. Secondly he decided to remove the three secular dictators, Ghadaffi, Mubarak and Assad thereby remove the forces for stability resulting in chaos. His desire and actions to achieve detente with Iran further destabilized the Mid East and perhaps the world. Ted Belman

By Matthew Lee, Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Five years after pledging to remake the U.S. relationship with the broader Middle East and improve America’s image in the Muslim world, the Obama administration’s regional strategy appears to have come unhinged.

President Barack Obama has been confronted by fast-moving and ominous developments from Afghanistan to Tunisia, amid a bitter public power struggle between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and has adjusted his first term’s grand plan to restore Washington’s standing and influence.
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U.S. cables, Palestinian papers quote then-Israeli prime minister eyeing negotiated withdrawals from West Bank.

Ever since Ariel Sharon sank into a coma eight years ago, many have wondered whether he would have taken the peace process with the Palestinians any further after the 2005 withdrawal from Gaza.

A series of cables from the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv to the State Department that were leaked to Wikileaks show that in fact, even before the Gaza withdrawal, Sharon was planning his next big diplomatic move. Moreover, leaked Palestinian documents show that after Yasser Arafat’s death in November 2004, and even more so once Mahmoud Abbas was elected Palestinian president the following January, Sharon made efforts to coordinate the Gaza withdrawal with the Palestinian Authority.
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By Lori Lowenthal Marcus, JEWISH PRESS

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announcing Geneva Interim Agreement Photo Credit: State Dept. Website screen capture

In November the world was told that the P5+1 countries with Iran had entered into an agreement known as the Geneva Interim Agreement.

Not exactly.
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By Stewart Bell, National Post

Glenn Lowson photo for National PostA train crosses a bridge near Jordan Station, Ont.

On Sept. 17, 2012, Chiheb Esseghaier and Raed Jaser drove to Jordan Station, a community in Niagara, Ont., wine country where the Maple Leaf train crosses a trestle bridge each day on its way from New York to Toronto.
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Tower Magazine

Professor Eugene Kontorovich’s talk begins at the 12 minute mark.

In the Q&A Kontorovich said he disagrees with the Levy Report in some respects. Don’t put so much credence in his remark as his lecture suggests that Geneva doesn’t apply and if it did, the settlements are still legal just as Levy holds. He didn’t say in what way he disagrees.

By Caroline Glick

Ariel Sharon, who died Saturday at age 85, after being suspended comatose, between life and death for the past eight years, was the final Israeli prime minister from the generation that fought in the 1948 War of Independence.

And as with others of his generation, the growth and development of the country were reflected in his career.

Sharon was a dazzling military commander. He was one of the original authors of Israel’s trailblazing counter terror strategies. The large battles against regular armies that he commanded in the 1956 Suez campaign, the 1967 Six Day War, and the 1973 Yom Kippur War are still taught in military academies around the world for their tactical brilliance.
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Apparently the Government doesn’t want this find to be publicized.  In effect it is burying our historical claims just as it has buried out legal rights as per the Levy Report and just as it is burying our claims to the Temple Mount.  Ted Belman

‘David’s Castle’ to be Unveiled on ‘Palestinian’ Land

Friday, January 10, 2014 |  Israel Today Staff

• King David’s suburban palace unearthed
• Archeology again appears to back up biblical account
• Inscription from time of King David found in Jerusalem

We reported last year on the discovery of an ancient biblical-era palace probably dating back to the time of King David himself that was subsequently covered up for political reasons. Read more…

JPOST published an article under the heading, Poll: Netanyahu can stand up to US but who was polled.

The monthly Peace Index poll, taken by the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University, found that 51 percent of Israelis believe Netanyahu could stand up to such pressure and 43% think he cannot.

But

The poll found that 48% of Jewish Israelis answered the question affirmatively and 47% negatively. Among Arabs, 65% said yes and 21% said no.

So obviously Israeli Jews are very divided. That is further buttressed by this finding:

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Over the weekend after this article was written, Abbas delivered a firery speech:‘Palestinian people won’t kneel, and we tell the world, listen… without east Jerusalem as a capital of the state of Palestine, there will be no peace between us and Israel’. He also reiterated that he will not recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

This op-ed was published by the left of center YNET NEWS under the title I have used. Further evidence there is no chance for peace. Ted Belman

Op-ed: Bill banning talks on capital does not reduce chances of peace – it simply reduces illusions

Hagai Segal, YNET NEWS, 01.9.14

In a normal state of affairs, there would be no need for Miri Regev’s bill. Two important laws, which have been included in our book of laws since the past millennium, should prevent negotiations over Jerusalem to begin with.

One is Basic Law: Jerusalem, 1980, and the other is a more ancient law which prescribes an irreversible punishment for anyone working to remove sovereign territories from the State. Since Rabin’s murder, those who quote it are usually accused of incitement, so we’ll give up on the full wording here. A word to the wise is enough as is Miri Regev to Netanyahu.
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FINNISH KENNEL CLUB MAGAZINE PUBLISHES FACTUAL ARTICLE ON ISLAMIC ATTITUDES TOWARDS DOGS, THE USUAL OUTRAGE ENSUES…….