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Seminal Posts by Ted Belman
The UN acts in violation of International Law while claiming to uphold it (13327)
Can the UN impose a solution on Israel? (31093)
Long standing US Policy on Jerusalem is anti-Israel and pro-Arab. (16838)
The "peace process" is not dead (4237)
The Church planted the seeds of the Holocaust (50930)
The conspiracy to shrink Israel (44016)
"The UN Charter is a war document, not a peace document." (28606)
Trump calls Muslim migration “the all-time biggest Trojan Horse”. (60211)
Since when did the Palestinians become entitled to a state? (52961)
The 100 year betrayal of Israel by the West (43021)
Tiny Qatar casts a giant shadow. (9258)
The Historical Jesus  (50279)
International law and the State of Israel (27613)
The truth about UNRWA (25737)
Saudi Arabia and the Peace Process (19307)
Israel Should Declare Three Nos (25028)
The West should make amends to the Jewish people for this historical injustice. (22553)
Two-State Solution or Jordan Option? Your choice. (17500)
Israel is the legal owner of all lands west of the Jordan R. (38398)
In praise of Israpundit and Ted Belman (8771)
The US and the UK cannot be trusted. (11833)
In the International Arena there is no Rule of Law, only the Rule of Power (8730)
Current Posts
March 29, 2013

Qatar aims to take over Jerusalem with billion dollar investment  

By Dr. Mordechai Kedar..
Middle East and Terrorism..

One of the biggest complaints of the Syrian regime against the involvement of Qatar in Syria during the past two years is that the Emir of Qatar has been utilizing all of his wealth in fighting the wrong enemy: instead of fighting Israel, which is the true problem of Arabs and Muslims, the Emir of Qatar uses his strength and wealth in a fight against the “resistance” regimes, mainly Syria and Libya, who take a strong stand against Israel and Zionism. Qatar does not usually respond to accusations of this sort, because everyone knows that Israel has always been used to hide the real problems of the Arab and Muslim world, which center around corrupt, rotten, cruel and illegitimate regimes.
Read more…

March 29, 2013 | 10:34 am | 7 Comments »

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Rabbi Herschel Schacter Is Dead at 95  

Cried to the Jews of Buchenwald: ‘You Are Free’

via Yad Vashem

Rabbi Herschel Schacter leading the Shavuot prayer service for survivors in the Buchenwald camp in Germany in 1945. More Photos »

Published in NYT: March 26, 2013 49 Comments

The smoke was still rising as Rabbi Herschel Schacter rode through the gates of Buchenwald.

It was April 11, 1945, and Gen. George S. Patton’s Third Army had liberated the concentration camp scarcely an hour before. Rabbi Schacter, who was attached to the Third Army’s VIII Corps, was the first Jewish chaplain to enter in its wake.
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March 29, 2013 | 8:08 am | 2 Comments »

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Israel ‘s ongoing public diplomacy fiasco  

By David Isaac, Shmuel Katz Blog

On Feb. 28, at a meeting of something called the U.N. Alliance of Civilizations, Turkey ‘s Prime Minister Tacip Erdogan called Zionism “a crime against humanity.” Another day, another vicious slur on Israel , in this case from the leader of a country that only yesterday had been its strategic ally in the region. All that was unusual was that this one actually drew a comment from Secretary of State John Kerry — “objectionable” — after it was exposed by the private monitoring group U.N. Watch, awkwardly for Kerry at the very time he was visiting Turkey . The episode underscores the worldwide no-holds-barred attack on Israel ‘s legitimacy and how little push-back this meets from Israel herself.

A number of articles have appeared recently lamenting Israel ‘s public relations failures. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach writes in The Jerusalem Post on Jan. 7, “What good is having Apache helicopter gunships, or Merkava tanks, to defend your citizens against attack if you can’t even use them because the world thinks you’re always the aggressor?” On Jan. 11, in the same paper, Barry Shaw, author of “Israel — Reclaiming the Narrative,” says, “government-wise, we are barely on the battlefield for hearts and minds, while the Palestinians and their supporters seem to have endless resources and are succeeding to win the world away from us.”
Read more…

March 29, 2013 | 7:25 am | 1 Comment »

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International media demonizes and deligitimates Israel  

Op-ed: International media outlets covering Israeli-Palestinian violence accept lies as fact

Riccardo Dugulin, YNET NEWS

To many, the picture of a crying Arab father lifting his lifeless infant toward the sky will remain an image epitomizing Israeli injustice during the aggression initiated by Hamas in November 2012. The BBC reporter’s photograph depicting this personal tragedy has received an enormous amount of international attention leading to an almost unconditional outcry against the rules of engagement used by the IDF during Operation Pillar of Defense. Little has been said when a UN-mandated investigation concluded that the death of the young kid had been caused by a rocket misfired by Hamas that was originally aimed at Israeli civilian populations.
Read more…

March 29, 2013 | 6:58 am | 4 Comments »

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British justice denies Jewish self-determination  

How British Justice Failed Ronnie Fraser

By Ben Cohen, Commentary

On Monday night, as Jews around the world sat down for the first seder of the Passover holiday, anti-Zionists in the United Kingdom and elsewhere held a very different celebration to mark the comprehensive dismissal of a discrimination case brought by Ronnie Fraser, a Jewish math teacher, to an employment tribunal in London.
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March 29, 2013 | 6:17 am | 5 Comments »

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March 28, 2013

Israel’s Economy has the Power to Astound  

Israel’s Economy has the Power to Astound
Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, “Second Thought: US-Israel Initiative”
inFocus Quarterly, Jewish Policy Center, Spring 2013, http://bit.ly/Yi5A15

Global agencies assess Israel

During 2012, the three leading global credit rating companies, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) commended Israel’s economicperformance and expressed confidence in its long-term viability.

On September 30, 2012, Standard and Poor’s (S&P) reaffirmed Israel’s A+ credit rating, at a time when it lowered the credit rating of an increasing number of Western countries.  According to S&P, “the Israeli economy continues to generate solid economic growth….  Major security risks will be contained…. There is sufficient political will to prevent a sizable increase in the government’s debt burden…. We forecast that by the middle of the decade domestic natural gas production should contribute to improved external and fiscal balances.” Read more…

March 28, 2013 | 10:02 pm | 7 Comments »

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Israel’s apology to Turkey was a mistake  

by Efraim Inbar, The Jerusalem Post

Israel’s apology to Turkey for “operational errors” in the Mavi Marmara incident is a diplomatic mistake both in terms of substance and timing. It’s hard to understand or justify Israel’s weekend apology to Turkey. While the use of Israeli force in the Mavi Marmara “flotilla” incident was not very elegant, it was perfectly legitimate – as the UN-appointed “Palmer Commission” unequivocally determined. Moreover, the incident was a Turkish provocation that warrants a Turkish apology, not an Israeli one.

Worse still, the hopes in Jerusalem for a new era in Israeli-Turkish relations in exchange for the apology are simply illusory.

The Israeli apology will hardly stop Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s regular Israel-bashing rhetoric. Nor has it secured a clear Turkish commitment for the resumption of full diplomatic relations. Read more…

March 28, 2013 | 8:26 pm | 20 Comments »

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Righteousness of our cause – apology be damned  

Op-ed: MK Lieberman explains why he objected to Israeli apology for Turkish deaths during Gaza flotilla raid

Avigdor Lieberman, YNET NEWS

Shortly after the Six-Day War ended, then-IDF chief of staff Yitzhak Rabin delivered a speech that will be remembered as the “Tzidkat Haderech (righteousness of our cause)” address. In his speech, he spoke of the “recognition of the IDF’s superiority of spirit and morals, as was revealed in the heat of war.”

Rabin said: “It all starts and ends with the spirit. Our soldiers prevailed not by their weapons but by their awareness of their supreme mission, by their awareness of the righteousness of their cause, by their deep love for their homeland and by their recognition of the difficult task laid upon them – to ensure the existence of our people in our homeland.”
Read more…

March 28, 2013 | 1:09 pm | 14 Comments »

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Israel Law Ctr: Erdogan Should Be Tried for Mavi Marmara Deaths  

[Way to go Nitsana. Everyone should be outraged. MK’s are keeping a low profile generally. Even Bennett avoided the outrage. ]

By Chana Ya’ar, INN

An Israeli law activist contends that it is Turkey’s prime minister, rather than Israel’s naval commandos, who should have been tried for the deaths of the nine men who clashed with Israeli soldiers on the Mavi Marmara in May 2010.

Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, director of Shurat HaDin, the Israel Law Center, expressed outrage in a statement to Arutz Sheva slamming the apology to Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for the deaths of those killed by the commandos during the clashes.

Immediately following the incident which involved the Mavi Marmara flotilla vessel in an illegal attempt to break Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza, Israel’s long-time ally broke off high-level diplomatic relations with the Jewish State.
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March 28, 2013 | 1:01 pm | 5 Comments »

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Erekat: Arab delegation will present peace plan in Washington  

Ted Belman. Something is going on. Obama is forging new relations between the Arabs and Israel. The cease fire in Gaza involved Qatar and Egypt who both undertook to get involved and Israel agreed. Bibi apologized to Turkey as part of a bigger deal which included Obama agreeing to side with Israel on the right of return by saying the Palestinians had to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. He is building bridges between Saudi Arabia and Turkey and Israel. They all want a common front against Syria and Iran. Bibi is cutting deals all over the place. I see him compromising on the settlement blocs and on Jerusalem in order to have peace in our time. But don’t worry, he won’t jeopardize our security.

A few weeks ago I wrote , Maybe things aren’t so bad. referring to Obama’s visit.

Maan News

DOHA, Qatar (Ma’an) — A delegation of Arab ministers will head to
Washington to discuss the Arab Peace Initiative with US President Barack
Obama’s new administration, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said
Wednesday.

The delegation “aims to declare a joint stand towards the peace process so
America realizes this is not only a Palestinian issue but an Arabic and
Islamic one as well,” Erekat said.
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March 28, 2013 | 4:56 am | 3 Comments »

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March 27, 2013

Arab League Summit: The empty leadership chair in Doha  

DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis March 27, 2013,

After patching up the feud between Israel and Turkey, US President Barack Obama faces a much tougher ordeal: brokering ties between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, DEBKAfile’s Middle East sources report. To address the looming Syrian chemical arms crisis, President Obama needs a unified Arab-Islamic front to join the campaign against Bashar Assad.He must therefore confer the seal of leadership on either of the two rival blocs: Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Abu Dhabi, or Turkey and Qatar.

The rivalry between the two camps is unresolved for lack of an acknowledged leader.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made the gesture of apologizing to Ankara for the 2010 flotilla incident on the assumption that Obama had put in place an anti-Assad front consisting of Israel, Turkey, Qatar and Egypt for grappling with the escalating Syrian menace.
Read more…

March 27, 2013 | 11:18 pm | 3 Comments »

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Israel should never have apologized  

Ted Belman. The apology sets a bad precedent. We should never apologize when we are in the right. When our enemies are in the wrong we should demand they apologize. Even if the package deal included Obama demanding that the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state, we still shouldn’t have apologized. As we know this is short form for rejecting the right of return. As for Obama demanding negotiations to reach an agreement, he did this in the first term. He also supported Netanyahu’s position that there be no pre-conditions to negotiations. Obviously, since Obama offered concessions to Israel rather than demands, he wasn’t prepared to back away from demanding a divided Jerusalem and ’67 lines with swaps.

Israeli Apology May Restore Turkey’s Regional Influence

By Semih Idiz for Al-Monitor Turkey Pulse.

The apology, whose timing took many — this writer included — by surprise, however, also provides Turkey a chance to regain its lost political influence in a region where it once appeared set to play a key role as a major mediator.

Turkey and Israel will also have a chance to cooperate in the energy field, following the discovery of vast gas reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean, since the most economically profitable way of carrying the gas to world markets is through Turkey, according to industry experts.

Israel’s apology caught many off-guard coming as it did at a time when the already bad atmosphere in ties was soured further after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s recent remarks, during a UN forum in Vienna, in which said “Zionism” should be considered a “crime against humanity.”
Read more…

March 27, 2013 | 10:35 pm | 2 Comments »

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Israel renews regular tax revenue transfers to Palestinians  

Obviously Israel can’t complain when US releases $500 million in aid when we do it ourselves. Thus the PA escapes punishment for going to the UN for recognition. Our remaining threat is to build in E-1. No one believes that we will do it. Nor do we condition the flow of money on … on anything. Ted Belman

Israel Hayom

Just before the start of the Passover holiday on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would reinstate the regular transfer of tax revenue to the Palestinian Authority. The decision was approved by the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet.

The move came several days after U.S. President Barack Obama, while visiting Israel, called for confidence-building steps as means of resuming the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Israel suspended the transfer of funds — about $100 million in monthly customs fees and other commercial levies it collects on behalf of the PA according to economic articles stipulated in the Oslo Accords — in November, after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas succeeded in gaining nonmember observer state status for the Palestinians at the U.N.
Read more…

March 27, 2013 | 6:02 pm | 5 Comments »

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Israel’s apology to Turkey alters Mideast peace: Turkish PM  

Al Arabiya –

Israel’s apology to Turkey over the Mavi Marmara event will lead to an altered balance in the Middle East peace process, said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an in an address to lawmakers on Tuesday.

Israeli forces killed nine Turkish nationals aboard a vessel carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza in the 2010 incident.

A bilateral deal has been struck whereby Israel must cooperate alongside the Turkish government over the region’s peace process.

The move represents a more assertive stance for Turkey with regard to regional politics.

“The point we have arrived to as a result of our consultations with all our brothers in Palestine and peripheral countries is increasing our responsibility with regard to solving the Palestinian question and thus bringing about a new equation,” Erdogan was quoted as saying by the Turkish Hurriyet daily.
Read more…

March 27, 2013 | 5:56 pm | 7 Comments »

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Israel to sell $5 Billion worth of gas to Turkey yearly  

This is no reason to apologize when you are in the right. Turkey and Israel would have found a way to do this deal even if there was no apology. As they say countries only have interests.

Secondly why is Israel selling low cost gas to Turkey and Europe. Far better to sell value added products produced with low cost gas. Thus Israel would greatly increase her exports and created new industries and much employment. It may be that this deal is worth doing for Israel but I just wanted to make the point of producing value added products. Ted Belman

Turkey and Israel: interests over grudges

By Samdat Bat Adam, ISRAEL HAYOM

Turkish media reported this week that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s apology has paved the way for a massive joint pipeline project carrying natural gas from Israel to Turkey and from there to Europe. There is no overestimating the influence joint economic interests can have on stable relations between countries.

It is said that during a private conversation, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion once thanked French President Charles de Gaulle for France’s help to Israel, attributing it to the strong alliance and friendship between the two countries. To which De Gaulle replied, “France has no friends, only interests.”
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March 27, 2013 | 1:46 pm | 8 Comments »

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New nuclear site in Iran discovered  

Quds secret Iranian nuclear development facility

Reza Kahlili has  disclosed  in a new report  the existence of a massive underground nuclear development facility  located 15 miles northwest of Fordow near Qom.  Kahlili had previously disclosed that the Fordow facility may have been disabled in an alleged January 21st blast with casualties of Iranian and North Korean scientists.  This new underground nuclear complex is surrounded by a large quantity of Shahab 3 missiles in reinforced silos and may contain sufficient  stockpiles of enriched fissile uranium and plutonium for possible assembly of nuclear devices.   Moreover, in addition to advanced enrichment facilities, there are allegations that a separate facility is engaged in development of nuclear warheads for intercontinental ballistic missiles.  From satellite photos the Quds secret facility appears to be under military control.

Watch this impressive You Tube video illustrating this newly identified Quds  Iranian nuclear facility:

In a Washington Times report, Kahlili notes the overarching significance of the Quds site:

Images of a secret nuclear site known as Quds and recently revealed details of its operation clearly show the regime has crossed the nuclear red line. In collaboration with North Korea, it is now steps away from arming its missiles with nuclear warheads.
Read more…

March 27, 2013 | 8:11 am | 2 Comments »

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Now Israel is compensating terrorists  

INN

Justice Minister Tzippy Livni on Sunday spoke with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, discussing the possibility that Israel would pay reparations to the families of nine Turkish supporters of Hamas who were killed in 2010 aboard the Mavi Marmara, after they attempted to attack and murder IDF soldiers as part of the Gaza flotilla.

Turkey’s vice-premier, Bulenbt Arink, told Turkish media Sunday that a meeting and discussion in compensation had taken place, but gave no details.
Turkish media reported Sunday that the families were due to receive “tens of millions of dollars” in compensation. Israel has named former director general of the Foreign Ministry, Yosef Checanover, as responsible for the negotiations on compensation for the Israeli side.

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan told reporters that Turkey had made three demands from Israel as a condition for restoring relations with Israel. One of those was a demand for a full Israeli apology. “They wanted to express regret, but we said ‘no.’ We demanded that they use the word ‘apology,’” he said.

March 27, 2013 | 7:50 am | 7 Comments »

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Arab leaders set up $1 billion Arab fund for Jerusalem  

Reuters

The Arab League on Tuesday approved a Qatari proposal to set up a $1 billion fund for Arab east Jerusalem, which Palestinians want as the capital of an independent state under any peace deal with Israel. 

Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, said his country will contribute $250 million to the fund, which he called for in an opening speech to an Arab summit in Doha that focused on the crisis in Syria and stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

“The summit… calls for setting up a fund to support Jerusalem to the value of $1 billion to finance projects and programs that would maintain the Arab and Islamic character of the city and reinforce the steadfastness of its people,” the draft resolution said.

Read more…

March 27, 2013 | 7:27 am | 5 Comments »

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March 26, 2013

Obama said the Palestinians must accept Israel as a Jewish State.  

By Ted Belman

Daniel Pipes had this to say in the Washington Times:

    Then, in his Jerusalem speech last week, Obama suddenly and unexpectedly adopted in full the Israeli demand: “Palestinians must recognize that Israel will be a Jewish state.”

    That sentence breaks important new ground and cannot readily be undone. It also makes for excellent policy, for without such recognition, Palestinian acceptance of Israel is hollow, indicating only a willingness to call the future state they dominate “Israel” rather than “Palestine.”

    While not the only shift in policy announced during Obama’s trip (another: telling the Palestinians not to set preconditions for negotiations), this one looms largest because it starkly contravenes the Palestinian consensus. Bardawil may hyperbolically assert that it “shows that Obama has turned his back to all Arabs” but those ten words in fact establish a readiness to deal with the conflict’s central issue. They likely will be his most important, most lasting, and most constructive contribution to Arab-Israeli diplomacy.

Unfortunately he is sticking with ’67 line with swaps and a divided Jerusalem

March 26, 2013 | 8:53 pm | 10 Comments »

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March 25, 2013

The Meaning and Consequences of Israel’s Apology to Turkey  

March 25, 2013 By Caroline Glick, FPM

US President Barack Obama was on the line when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to apologize for the deaths of nine Turkish protesters aboard the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara on May 31, 2010.

For those who don’t remember, the Mavi Marmara was a Turkish ship that set sail in a bid to break Israel’s lawful maritime blockade of Hamas-controlled Gaza’s coastline. When Israeli naval commandos boarded the ship to interdict it, passengers on deck attacked them – in breach of international maritime law. Soldiers were stabbed, bludgeoned and thrown overboard. In a misguided attempt to show the good faith of Israeli actions, the naval commandos were sent aboard the ship armed with paintball guns. As a consequence, the soldiers pressed to defend themselves. In the hand-to-hand combat that ensued, nine of the Turkish attackers were killed.
Read more…

March 25, 2013 | 8:37 am | 18 Comments »

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