By Michael Curtis, AMERICAN THINKER

On June 11, 2013 Austria began withdrawing some of its 377-member contingent of the five-country United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) from the demilitarized zone on the cease-fire line between Israel and Syria in the Golan Heights. The withdrawal was occasioned by the injury of two of the contingent caused by rebels who were fighting against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and briefly captured the town of Quneitra, the major crossing point between Syria and Israel in the zone. Austria felt the risk to its other soldiers was too great since the civil war had made the Golan a target area for both Assad’s forces and the rebels.
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By Abraham Katsman, AMERICAN THINKER

Syria spirals out of control. Iran marches toward nuclear Islamageddon. So, naturally, Secretary of State John Kerry schedules yet another trip to “solve” the region’s relatively stable, if not ideal, Israel-Palestinian dispute.

Like so many in foreign policy circles, Kerry and the Obama administration know — absolutely know — the key to peace in Israel’s neighborhood: Israel’s withdrawal, with perhaps minor adjustments, from all West Bank territory conquered in 1967. 

Yet, history indicates that withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines, absent major changes, is arguably the single most counterproductive act imaginable for long-lasting peace. There is no greater obstacle to peace than the perpetual temptation to launch another war against Israel from such lopsided lines. 
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Comment by James E. Horn
The case against it is that Barack Obama, and every single person in his Obamanation including Lowest Learner and Hillbillary Clinton, spell terrorism T-E-A–P-A-R-T-Y not, as they should, I-S-L-A-M. Lowest Learner has not merely contributed to distrust of government, she has proved, beyond a reasonable doubt and to a moral certainty, that the entire Obama administration and every single one of its regulatory agencies and every single one of its regulatory agents, are Enemies of the State; and should be dealt with accordingly when power shifts back to where it belongs (and it will; soon; legally; politically; at the ballot box.

by George F. Will, WaPo

As soon as the Constitution permitted him to run for Congress, Al Salvi did. In 1986, just 26 and fresh from the University of Illinois law school, he sank $1,000 of his own money, which was most of his money, into his campaign to unseat an incumbent Democratic congressman.

He lost. Today, however, he should be invited to Congress to testify about what happened 10 years later, when he was a prosperous lawyer and won the Republican Senate nomination to run against a Democratic congressman named Dick Durbin.
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By MARTIN SHERMAN, JPOST

Into the Fray: How is it that, time after time, the electorate ends up with a gov’t adopting precisely the policy it urged voters to reject?

On the one hand, the state invests billions of dollars in building a modern army; purchasing state-of-the-art warplanes and constructing modern airfields; equipping and training reserve battalions; and deploying Arrow missiles. All this is right and proper and necessary. But on the other hand, it has permitted a situation to develop in which these selfsame modern, expensive systems are liable to be rendered irrelevant. On the basis of such wishful thinking, battles, and wars, are lost
– Yuval Steinitz, “When the Palestinian Army Invades the Heart of Israel,” Commentary, December 1, 1999.

To a dispassionate observer, unfamiliar with the mechanisms – and machinations – of Israeli politics, the events of the past two-and-a-half decades must seem to defy explanation, flying in the face of both logic and common sense, and a gross violation of the rationale of democratic principles.
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[THE MOST UNUSUAL THING ABOUT THIS ARTICLE IS THAT THE NYT PUBLISHED IT ABOUT A YEAR AGO.]

By DANI DAYAN, NYT

WHATEVER word you use to describe Israel’s 1967 acquisition of Judea and Samaria — commonly referred to as the West Bank in these pages — will not change the historical facts. Arabs called for Israel’s annihilation in 1967, and Israel legitimately seized the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria in self-defense. Israel’s moral claim to these territories, and the right of Israelis to call them home today, is therefore unassailable. Giving up this land in the name of a hallowed two-state solution would mean rewarding those who’ve historically sought to destroy Israel, a manifestly immoral outcome.

Of course, just because a policy is morally justified doesn’t mean it’s wise. However, our four-decade-long settlement endeavor is both. The insertion of an independent Palestinian state between Israel and Jordan would be a recipe for disaster.
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By Evelyn Gordon, COMMENTARY  

Israel – a global leader in bio-tech and defense products

Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, “Second Thought: US-Israel Initiative”
Straight from the Jerusalem Boardroom #176, June 14, 2013, http://bit.ly/ZIzfAZ

1.  Google is acquiring Israel’s Waze for $1.1BN.  Microsoft controls 10% of Waze. Google acquired, in 2012, two Israeli start ups for $25MN (Globes Business Daily, June 10, 11, 2013).  China’s Fusson acquired Israel’s Alma Lasers for $221MN (Globes, May 29).  Singapore’s Biosensors Internationalacquired Israel’s Spectrom for $51MN (Globes, May 24).  The Pennsylvania-based $3.2BN Teleflex acquired Israel’s Eon Surgical for over $20MN (Globes, June 11).

2.  France’s National Electric Company has invested $400MN in Israel’s solar market (Globes, June 5).

3.  The Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, the largest investment fund in the world (funded by Norway’s oil explorations), has invested $686MN in the Tel Aviv stock exchange, $$552MN during the last four years (Globes, June 10). Read more…

By Barry Rubin, PJ MEDIA
Gloria-center.org

One day people will ask how the United States and several European countries became involved in mass killings, genocide, corruption, arms smuggling, and the creation of another anti-Western and regionally destabilizing government. Even if a single Western soldier is never sent, the West is on the verge of serious intervention in Syria. The choices are unpalatable and decisions are very tough to make but it appears to be still another in a long history of Western leaps in the dark, not based on a real consideration of the consequences.

At least people should be more aware of the dangers. As I entitled a previous book on Iran (Paved with Good Intentions), the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. People are dying and suffering in Syria. That’s true. But will this make more people or fewer people die and suffer?
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DEBKA REPORT

The White House, in a second statement, said early Friday said the US would provide “direct military support” for the first time to the Syrian opposition after obtaining proof that the Syrian government had used the chemical weapon sarin against rebel forces. The nature of the package was not specified. The rebels responded to this apparent evasion with a demand for anti-aircraft and other advanced arms to save them from Syrian air bombardment. The first White House statement, eagerly awaited for months, amounted to a rejection by President Barack Obama of proposals to intervene to save Aleppo and Idlib from a defeat that would give Bashar Assad a decisive victory.

It followed a special consultation on Syria by the president and his national security team, necessitated by the need for drastic action to thwart the Syrian-Hizballah offensive to capture Aleppo, Syrian’s biggest city of more than 2 million..
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Spy Drone Can See What You are Wearing From 17,500 Feet

By Robert Spencer, FPM

A UC Berkeley senior who is a venomous supporter of the jihad against Israel and member of several Islamic supremacist groups with links to jihad terror has been nominated to become the University of California student regent for the 2014-15 academic year.

The student regent participates in a board that sets policies for the entire University of California system, which consists of ten campuses throughout the state. Sadia Saifuddin is expected to be confirmed as student regent by the full Board of Regents next month.

The hijabbed Saifuddin would be the first Muslim student regent. “My faith,” she explained, “is a big part of my life. What I love the most about Islam is that it preaches tolerance and love, which is the reason that I have close friends and networks outside of the Muslim community as well.”
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THIS IS A VERY INFORMATIVE INTERVIEW

This week’s edition of the Stakelbeck on Terror show provided an up-close look at the “agricultural jihad” that local Arabs are waging against Israeli communities in the Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria.

The popular CBN broadcaster spoke to Israeli leaders on the ground in Judea and showed how rockets and bombs are not the only way that Arabs are trying to erase Israel from the map.

PM Binyamin Netanyahu faces steep opposition after being booed by his own party members at last year’s convention.