Continuing the Vision

Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar, WOMEN IN GREEN

Eretz Israel, the Land of Israel, is on the international negotiating table. Nothing else. Only Eretz Israel. The world is interested in the welfare of Arabs only where it is possible to attack the Jews. Syria is drowning in rivers of Arab blood, demonstrations in Egypt end with many dead, all of Europe is swept by an extremist Islamic wave that threatens to drown it, the entire Middle East shakes and seems to be hanging by a thread, and the world is so good as to utter a few pretty, hypocritical condemnations, and then quickly goes on as usual – to the “most problematic conflict” in the world – the “territories,” a code name for Eretz Israel.

What is in Eretz Israel that draws so much attention? Read more…

Isranet

Israel and the Gulf States: It’s Complicated: Raphael Ahren, Times of Israel, Aug. 9, 2013—In February 2009, a few days after Israel concluded its Operation Cast Lead against Gaza terrorists, the chief of protocol at Qatar’s Foreign Ministry invited Roi Rosenblit, who at the time headed Israel’s interest office in Doha, for a meeting in his office.

Qatar’s Geopolitical Gamble: How the Gulf State May Have Overreached: Viviene Walt,Time World, July 23, 2013—Qatar, the tiny gas-rich peninsula in the Persian Gulf, had poured nearly $5 billion into Morsi’s government in its one short year in office, propping up Egypt’s teetering economy, and investing — or so it thought — in a lasting relationship with the Arab world’s most populous nation. Read more…

The US says it is there “as a facilitator” and that it has an “indispensable role”. But how does a mere facilitator play an indispensable role?

By Ted Belman

Barack Obama, when running for President the first time, surrounded himself with a host of vehemently anti-Israel advisors including Lee Hamilton, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Samantha Power, Susan Rice and Gen Jones, many of whom advocated imposing a solution on Israel.

In his second administration, Samantha Power is U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Chuck Hagel is Secretary of Defense and Martin Indyk is one of the peace process facilitators and all of them support pre-’67 lines plus swaps and wouldn’t be averse to imposing such a solution on Israel.

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By Vice Adm. (res.) Eliezer Marom, ISRAEL HAYOM

[..]
Egypt and Israel share coinciding interests, and Egypt does not object in any way to the weakening of the Muslim Brotherhood (and essentially hurting Hamas in the process). Egypt needs Israeli permission to deviate from the security appendix of the peace agreement to deploy significant forces into Sinai capable of tackling the Islamic terrorist cells there.

Again, Israel facilitates this due to its shared interests. The Israel Defense Forces, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and the Mossad have built an efficient intelligence array providing an abundance of information about activities in Sinai and Gaza, and which serves as an important tool for the Egyptian army in its efforts to hit the terrorist cells there. The outstanding cooperation between the IDF and Egyptian military is a valuable strategic asset for Israel, and is necessary for the sides to operate in a synchronized manner. The accusations against the Egyptian army for being an Israeli collaborator and the attempts to delegitimize Sissi’s rule require both sides to maintain secrecy in order to keep the channels of communication open.
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By Erez Linn, ISRAEL HAYOM

Not many people are aware of the fact that some Israeli kibbutzim farm their land on Jordanian territory.

When Israel signed a peace deal with Jordan, certain Israeli communities south of the Sea of Galilee lost some land because it lay east of the Jordan River, the internationally recognized border.

Israel withdrew from the farms and they were placed under Jordanian sovereignty. Nevertheless, the kibbutzim still enjoy unimpeded access to their fields, and a special provision was inserted into the annex of the peace deal guaranteeing that the Israeli farmers retained ownership status over that area. Basically, that small enclave became yet another Israeli-held asset abroad.
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By Zalman Shoval, ISRAEL HAYOM

Negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli representatives are starting this week. It is unclear how long they will last, or whether they will even last at all.

After all, as of now, there is no sign that the Palestinians will stray from their intention of sabotaging any progress that would require compromising on core issues. Commentators in Israel and abroad have tediously repeated the mantra that “all the components for peace are well-known” based on the “Clinton parameters,” and all that’s left to do is decide. But the truth is different.

Delving further, it turns out that nothing is settled — nothing regarding borders, not regarding which restrictions to Palestinian sovereignty and security would be imposed, nothing regarding Jerusalem and “the refugees,” and nothing regarding whether the Palestinians are ready to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his negotiating staff, including our friend Martin Indyk, apparently intend to focus on borders and security at the outset of negotiations. But this approach ignores the reality that the two issues are mutually dependent. In other words, marking future borders, such as those defined in U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, must reflect Israel’s security needs.
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By Stuart Winer, TOI

By Arnold Ahlert, FPM

Barak Raz, TOI

Reflecting on the past two years representing the IDF in the West Bank, so many thoughts run through my mind – lessons learned, ideas discovered, emotions felt, and experiences had. For the past two weeks, I have tried to sum it all up, rather unsuccessfully. Overwhelmed with ideas, emotions and experiences, it has been difficult for me to write a comprehensive summary of all that I’ve seen, heard, felt, thought and learned. Nonetheless, this is my attempt at doing so, so that I can share with all of you – my friends, family, colleagues, and those who have joined me digitally – my final reflections before I leave my position as Spokesperson for the Judea and Samaria Division. (I urge you read my post from last Friday.).)

Whenever I brief on the situation in the West Bank, I am consistently struck by the complexities and intricacies of the IDF’s critical mission in the area. While I have spent the past two years explaining incidents that involve our troops, this past Tuesday (Aug. 6, 2013), I found myself in the midst of a security event that could have ended very badly. Read more…

This referendum bill is totally unacceptable for two reasons
1. It doesn’t require a super majority to pass and
2. It doesn’t apply to give aways of Judea and Samaria.
Since no one expects there will be a deal this time around to give up Jerusalem or the Golan, the referendum will not be needed. But if there is to be an interim deal, it will include give aways of Parts of Judea and Samaria. The public should also have the right to vote on such giveaways. Ted Belman

By Jason Maoz, JEWISH PRESS

The Israeli Cabinet approved a measure that would require a public referendum or vote on any peace agreement that involves withdrawing from land Israel captured in the 1967 Six Day War.
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by PATRICK POOLE, PC MEDIA

A series of horrific car bombings in Baghdad yesterday have reportedly left more than 80 dead and many more injured. The attacks appeared to target festivities marking the end of Ramadan in Shi’ite neighborhoods, which prompted comment from State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, who said in an official statement:

The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms the cowardly attacks today in Baghdad. These attacks were aimed at families celebrating the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The terrorists who committed these acts are enemies of Islam and a shared enemy of the United States, Iraq, and the international community. (HT: Alim Haider)

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By Joseph Klein, FPM

President Obama’s misguided attempt to bend Egyptian political affairs in the Muslim Brotherhood’s favor is unravelling the carefully nurtured military and economic alliance between the United States and Egypt, which has served for decades to stabilize that vital part of the Middle East.

First, after throwing former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak under the bus, the Obama administration did everything it could to portray the Muslim Brotherhood as a worthy organization committed to democratic principles of governance. The United States was seen by many secular Egyptians, including those who spearheaded the original revolution that led to Mubarak’s overthrow, as helping to unfairly tip the scales in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidates.
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TIMES OF ISRAEL

Opposition says it detonated a car bomb next to a building packed with foreign pro-Assad forces; no official confirmation

By CONRAD BLACK, Special to the Sun

The events of the last week prompt me to write a sequel to last week’s column about the general withdrawal of the United States from world affairs.

First, I retract my apology for having written that the Bust of Sir Winston Churchill in the Oval Office was returned by President Obama to the British. It was returned, and is now in the British embassy in Washington. Readers had, with perfect good faith, sent me a denial of that event from a White House official, which itself has now been retracted and made the subject of an apology from the official who wrote it.
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FRESNO IONISM

MEXICO CITY (AP) — U.S. law enforcement officials expressed outrage over the release from prison of Mexican drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero and vowed to continue efforts to bring to justice the man who ordered the killing of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent.

Caro Quintero was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the 1985 kidnapping and killing of DEA agent Enrique Camarena but a Mexican federal court ordered his release this week saying he had been improperly tried in a federal court for state crimes.

I can understand how they feel.

The Association of Former Federal Narcotics Agents in the United States said it was “outraged” by Caro Quintero’s early release and blamed corruption within Mexico’s justice system.

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In the next rounds of release, the prime minister will demand that dangerous prisoners be exiled • Terror victims to appeal releases to Supreme Court • Netanyahu to Kerry: Abbas continues to incite, peace and incitement cannot coexist.

Mati Tuchfeld, Daniel Siryoti, Efrat Forsher, Eli Leon and News Agencies
ISRAEL HAYOM

Bereaved families protest the release of Palestinian prisoners, July | Photo credit:

The special ministerial team for the release of Palestinian prisoners convened on Sunday to approve the release of 26 terrorists serving time in Israeli prisons since before the Oslo Accords of two decades ago. The move is intended to move the peace process forward. This week will see a second round of peace talks, beginning on Wednesday in Jerusalem.

Senior diplomatic sources said on Saturday night that after the release of prisoners this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to demand that dangerous prisoners released in the coming rounds not be allowed to return to their homes in Judea and Samaria but that they be exiled.
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DEBKAFILE

The formal Israeli-Palestinian meeting announced by the US State Department as scheduled for next Wednesday, Aug. 14 is but the outer shell of the secret hard-core negotiations bouncing back and forth for weeks between US Secretary of State John Kerry, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, DEBKAfile reports.

The real talks are approaching a climax on the fundamental issues of borders, Jerusalem, refugees and settlements. Every afternoon in past weeks, Kerry has called the Israeli prime minister and Palestinian leader on secure phone lines and taken the talks a step further. Any incoming calls from the two leaders are switched directly through to the Secretary of State, an unheard of procedure in his department.

As early as June 30, DEBKAfile revealed exclusively that the three-cornered negotiations had secretly got down to the brass tacks of core issues.
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By Martin Sherman, JPOST

Martin Sherman thoroughly castigates our prime minister for either failing to implement the policy [he] believes in or implementing a policy he does not believe in. In Sherman’s world, once a political position has been taken, you are stuck with it. Alter your posture, adapt to changing circumstances and you have betrayed your principles.Basic principles are one thing, political tactics quite another.

Martin Sherman and Caroline B. Glick are well-informed and knowledgeable political pundits…This is why it is so hard for me to understand how both of them fail to understand that our prime minister is trying to deal with an almost impossible diplomatic situation… [B]oth fail to fully understand that entirely apart from international pressure, Israel deeply wants and needs peace and security for itself and its Palestinian neighbors. This is why our government is willing to make disproportional concessions in the hope of moderating Palestinian rejectionism, even though the Palestinians have not yet disabused themselves of their vile dreams of our destruction.

The column I wrote last week calling on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to “Resign, just resign,” unsurprisingly provoked a flood of responses from readers. Read more…

By Asher Zeiger, TOI

Israel on Thursday signed an agreement with Greece and Cyprus that promises to link the three countries’ electricity grids via an underwater cable.

The underwater, 2,000-mega-watt EuroAsia Interconnector “will lift Cyprus out of energy isolation, with cheaper electricity which will help our economy become more competitive,” Lakotrypis said.

Shalom said the “historic” agreement “demonstrates the strong and tightening relations between the countries.” He added that the “electric conduit can easily become a cable that will supply and export electricity to the European energy market, and provide us with energy security.”

The agreement also dealt with natural gas and water issues.
Read more…