PM freezes E1 plans, so as not to deflect attention from Iran.

PMO: PM slammed housing minister for settlement plans

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Housing Minister Uri Ariel to reexamine the plan to build thousands of housing units in the West Bank. According to a PMO statement, Netanyahu slammed Ariel for “circulating the plan without coordination.”

Netanyahu said any further settlement construction may stir “unnecessary clashes with the international community – at a time when we are making an effort to convince the international community to reach a better agreement with Iran.”

In a statement issued late Tuesday evening, Netanyahu said the plan would make “no contribution” to settlements and would only hurt the cause. 

The statement said his Housing Minister Uri Ariel had accepted the request.

The plan announced by Israel‘s Housing Ministry earlier in the day, prompted a Palestinian threat to walk out of Mideast peace talks. US officials said they were blindsided by the Israeli announcement and demanded an explanation.

Elior Levy YNET 11.12.13

In response to reports that Israel issued tenders for construction of some 20,000 housing units in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, the Palestinian Authority and the US White House expressed opposition to the move.
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Nashville, TN (November 11, 2013)

– Laurie Cardoza Moore, President & Founder of the International Christian, pro-Israel organization, Proclaiming Justice to The Nations (PJTN), is calling on Congress to demand the resignation of Secretary of State John Kerry for his recent inflammatory statement’s inciting a third intifada by the Palestinians against the Jews in Israel and his comments delegitimizing Israel’s rights to her ancient homeland.
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Alongside lobbying Congress, Netanyahu to enlist Putin and Hollande to “negotiate a better deal” • Ya’alon: Iran needs to be faced with dilemma of choosing between a bomb or survival • Foxman: Kerry’s moral preaching to Israelis was counterproductive.

Shlomo Cesana, Eli Leon, Yoni Hirsch, Dan Lavie, Israel Hayom Staff

“We can negotiate a better deal,” says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Israeli diplomatic officials realize that a deal between the six world powers and Iran on curbing Iran’s controversial nuclear program is simply a matter of time, and could even be signed as early as next week, when talks between the sides resume in Geneva. The Prime Minister’s Office is planning a diplomatic blitz to ensure the agreement is as good as it can be from Israel’s perspective.
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Abbas is in no position to commit to ending the conflict.

By Moshe Arens, HAARETZ

Before leaving Israel for Geneva, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry tried his best to scare the hell out of us. In a television interview with an Israeli and a Palestinian reporter he warned that unless Israel reaches an agreement with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas it will be isolated in the international community, and, what’s more, will face another intifada. There you have it – sign on the dotted line, or else. More bad news for Israel came from Geneva, after his arrival there.

Actually, as Kerry knows only too well, the “international community” is not what it was 30 years ago, nor is it what it is made out to be by those trying to frighten Israel into giving in to Abbas’ demands. Europe is not what it used to be, and the European Union is struggling to stay afloat. The anti-Israel voices emanating from the Brussels bureaucracy of the EU do not necessarily reflect the policies pursued by the leaders of the European nations, while the eastern European nations who are members of the EU continue to pursue a policy of friendship and cooperation with Israel. Read more…

Retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel Allen West has called for a Congressional investigation, noting that almost two hundred high-ranking officers have been dismissed from the military during Oama’s administration.

by PETER FARMER, FAMILY SECURITY MATTERS

During the years 1934-1939, Soviet dictator and Communist Party General Chairman Josef Stalin ordered what later became known to history as the “Great Purge” – a period of brutal political repression, torture, imprisonment and mass murder in the Soviet Union.

Launched under the auspices of purifying the Communist Party of ideologically-unreliable elements and rooting out fifth columnists within its ranks, the purges focused initially on party leadership.  However – fueled by Stalin’s paranoia – they soon expanded into the military, government bureaucracy and wider Soviet society.
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By Dore Gold, JCPA

YNET NEWS

Israeli sources told the French news agency AFP that Iran invested $170 billion in its nuclear program. According to the sources, $40 billion were invested in the past 20 years in building and operating nuclear facilities.

The sources further noted that the Islamic Republic lost $130 billion since 2012 following the sanctions that were imposed against it. (AFP)

LiveLeaks

Asking questions as Judge Andrew Napolitano did in a recent broadcast on his now cancelled daily show may very well be the reason behind his recent dismissal from Fox. Though specific details are hard to come by because the Judge has yet to give any interviews on the matter, it’s believed that his refusal to bow to commonly manufactured media narratives is among one of several key reasons he his no longer with the network.

By Michael Ledeen, PJ MEDIA

It’s not easy to make a deal with Iran (and even when you think you’ve made one, you might be wrong). The failure of the Geneva talks is just another in a long series of such failures. Even the public events are part of the well-established pattern: the secretary of state jumps on a plane and flies to meet with the Iranians. But when he gets there, he finds it’s not quite a done deal. And in the wee hours of the morning two days later, there’s no deal at all.

Remember that something very similar happened in September 2006, when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice jumped on a plane in Washington and flew to New York, expecting to sign a deal at the United Nations with Iran’s Ali Larijani. The deal had been negotiated in secret over several months, and both sides had agreed to the final language. But Larijani never showed up. This time the deal had again been negotiated in secret over several months, and, unlike 2006, the Iranians actually showed up, smiling broadly and brandishing their signing pens. But it turned out that there was no deal. What went wrong?
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Bedouin to be evacuated to make way for Jewish town
Residents and environmental organization protest plan to construct two settlements in Negev, one on the site of a Bedouin village.

This is the title and sub-title on an article in the Times of Israel and other internet sites. It is misleading.

To set the record straight, Ari Briggs of Regevim wrote to me.

Hi Ted,
Many articles/blogs/comments are now being written about the government decision at Sunday’s cabinet meeting held in Sde Boker to build new towns in the Negev. This is fast becoming another awful firestorm created again by lack of planning/preparation/smarts of our government.
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I worked with Mike Wise 10 years ago when he was developing this plan. He is convinced that it is the way to go as opposed to Sherman’s “humanitarian Solution” i.e compensated emigration for Arabs. Ted Belman

The One State Plan was proposed in 2003. In January 2005, it was confirmed that fewer than 1.4 million Arabs lived on the West Bank. The fact that fewer Arabs live on the West Bank than in green line Israel has dramatic implications and is discussed elsewhere. Though the Plan made no proposals with respect to Gaza, the unilateral disengagement in August 2005 and the war in Lebanon highlight the urgent need to resolve the status of the West Bank.

One State Plan, Annex West Bank, Regional Representation, and Citizenship
Michael L. Wise, Fall 2003′ mlwise@gmail.com

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By Barry Rubin, PJ MEDIA

I’ve always been amazed that anyone thought the United States would ever act against the Iranian nuclear threat. There was never any chance that such a thing would happen. The United States would never go to war with tens of millions of people.

Moreover, there was never any chance the United States would let Israel “attack” Iran.

In a Huffington Post article by Steven Strauss, the author quotes Netanyahu:
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By Yerevan Saeed, RUDAW

Foreign and local investors in the Kurdistan Region should remain confident and secure, despite improving ties between Ankara and Baghdad. That is because geography and regional circumstances mean that Ankara’s relations with Erbil are of greater strategic importance to Turkey than its ties with Baghdad. Turkey, the Kurdistan Region’s largest trade partner, has already shown that it overwhelmingly backs investments and trade with the Kurdish enclave.

Late last month, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari visited Ankara and met with his Turkish counterpart, nearly two years after diplomatic relations between the neighboring countries soured over different views on the war in Syria and Baghdad’s treatment of its very large Sunni population. Both officials vowed to put aside past differences and turn a new page in relations.
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A new-old paradigm is taking hold in Israel: a secularism based on a renewed embrace of Judaism

By Micah Goodman, MOSAIC
[..]
My point is this: Halkin’s penetrating words are not just a critique of the Jews; they are a critique of Judaism. As for the secular Hebrew culture celebrated by Halkin, furthermore, my contention is that it has not so much enlarged the Jewish heritage as betrayed it.

As it happens, I too am excited by the promise embodied in the Hebrew culture of Israel; but how is that promise to be fulfilled? This, in fact, was one of the key questions confronting the founding fathers of Zionism, and in particular those among them who attempted to envision the new Jewish culture that would be shaped by the return to the land of Israel. Two of the greatest figures to grapple with this issue took opposing positions.
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[The US should have attacked Iran in 2003 rather than Iraq]

By Dr. Jonathan Rynhold, BESA

[..]
The deeper problem goes back to the Iraq War. Following the defeat of Saddam in 1991, Israel was mainly concerned with the potential threat of a nuclear Iran; Iraq was a secondary issue. In contrast, the West focused on Iraq, which was diplomatically isolated and militarily weak. It was relatively easy to target Saddam precisely because he did not constitute such a threat to Middle East security. This was as true of the policy of Clinton administration as of the George W. Bush administration. Tellingly, in 2003 the Israeli defense establishment did not hand out gas masks to the public as it was convinced there was virtually no chance that they would be needed, unlike in 1991.
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by Isi Leibler

Israel is heading for what could be its most severe confrontation with the United States, despite reassuring words from the Obama administration to the contrary.

President Obama’s policies have led to a US retreat at all levels in the global arena, particularly in the Middle East where his disastrous policy of “engaging” with rogue states coincided with alienating, even abandoning, traditional US allies like Egypt and Saudi Arabia. His administration has also totally failed to mitigate the rampant bloodshed with hundreds of civilians being killed daily in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere in the Arab world.
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