by Alana Goodman, Commentary

Peace Now is calling this a “deal breaker for the two-state solution,” which is a great joke after yesterday’s UN debacle. This is Israel’s reply to the Palestinian Authority’s resolution, and why not? You’d think shredding the 17-year-old Oslo framework might merit some sort of response.

The New York Times reports:

As the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to upgrade the Palestinians’ status Thursday night, Israel took steps toward building housing in a controversial area of East Jerusalem known as E1, where Jewish settlements have long been seen as the death knell for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A senior Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said on Friday that the decision was made late Thursday night to move forward on “preliminary zoning and planning preparations” for housing units in E1, which would connect the large settlement of Maale Adumim to Jerusalem and therefore make it impossible to connect the Palestinian cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem to Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. Israel also authorized the construction of 3,000 housing units in other parts of East Jerusalem and the West Bank, the official said.

Read more…

by Jerry Gordon and Mike Bates 
NEW ENGLISH REVIEW (December 2012)

November 2012 in the Middle East left the world wondering if the worst was yet to come. Casualties in the Syrian rebellion had reached over 40,000. Syrian opposition forces had taken over missile bases and were in battle with the beleaguered Assad regime’s forces along the demilitarized zone with Israel on the Golan Heights. Exchanges of shelling occurred with IDF units stationed there and cries of “allahu akbar” could plainly be heard. There was a new opposition group largely composed of Sunni Supremacists that was formed in Doha with the backing of Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia supported by the newly re-elected Obama Administration. The new group, the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces, was formed to back the Free Syrian Army fighting the Assad Regime. Late word came that the opposition forces in Syria were equipped with SA-7 MANPADS and had successfully shot down a Syrian military helicopter. That report set off concerns as to where and how those weapons were obtained and whether they might have come from the Gaddafi armories looted by al Qaeda militias in Libya.
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U.S. Must Impose Severe Economic Consequences for UN’s Irresponsible Support for Palestinian Statehood Scheme, Ros-Lehtinen Says

(WASHINGTON) – U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued the following statement regarding the United Nations General Assembly’s vote today to adopt a resolution granting “Palestine” (the Palestine Liberation Organization) the status of non-member observer state at the UN.  Statement by Ros-Lehtinen:

“Abu Mazen, instead of condemning the Gaza rocket fire and negotiating with Israel for lasting peace, spent the past week congratulating Hamas for its efforts to murder Israeli civilians, while offering condolences for Hamas’s ‘martyrs.’  Now the UN’s vote to grant de facto UN recognition of a non-existent Palestinian state has pushed peace with Israel even further away.  Read more…

By Walter Pincus, Washington Post

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to supervise construction of a five-story underground facility for an Israel Defense Forces complex, oddly named “Site 911,” at an Israeli Air Force base near Tel Aviv.

Expected to take more than two years to build, at a cost of up to $100 million, the facility is to have classrooms on Level 1, an auditorium on Level 3, a laboratory, shock-resistant doors, protection from nonionizing radiation and very tight security. Clearances will be required for all construction workers, guards will be at the fence and barriers will separate it from the rest of the base.

Only U.S. construction firms are being allowed to bid on the contract and proposals are due Dec. 3, according to the latest Corps of Engineers notice.
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Maan News
Published yesterday (updated) 28/11/2012 19:50

EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma’an) — Egyptian security services are planning an
“extraordinary” crackdown on smuggling tunnels under the Gaza border, a
security source said Wednesday.

The Egyptian security official said tunnels were operating at 5 percent of
previous levels, and were mostly smuggling construction material to Gaza.

Israel bombarded the tunnels area in the southern Gaza Strip during its
eight-day war which ended with a ceasefire on Nov. 24.

The official said Egypt’s planned campaign to end smuggling was part of the
truce agreement brokered by Cairo.
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Rush Limbaugh: Obama Urged Israel To “Destroy Itself” And “Submit Its People To Potential Genocide”

This radio talk was done in May 2011 and is as right today as it was then..

You’ve got to listen to it,

Israel’s operation was an intel coup to shut Iran’s gateway to Cairo via Hamas.

DEBKAFILE REPORT

The eight-day Gaza duel between Israel and Hamas was the showcase. Behind it, a coup went forward, masterminded by at least three intelligence wizards: Israel’s Mossad Direct Tamir Pardo, Turkish National Intelligence Organization – MIT chief, Hakan Fidan and the Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Jassim al Thani, who also heads the emirate’s intelligence service. The CIA was in close touch.

Their aim was to abort the military ties Tehran was cultivating with Hamas before the Gaza Strip is grabbed as Iran’s springboard to Cairo. To this end, wave upon wave of multiple missile assaults on Israel were provoked.

Obama’s overall Plan
The coup action was designed as Part One of US President Barack Obama’s overall plan, which is to harness the Arab Spring to key US objectives. His partners were – and are – Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
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Til now Israel made all kinds of threats,especially Liberman did, threatening to abrogate Oslo or annex the leand etc. Obasma counselled against such response. Guess Obama won again. Ted Belman

By HERB KEINON, JPOST

Senior diplomatic source says Israel doesn’t want to make moves that divert attention from PA’s violation of int’l agreements.

Israel will take a “low-profile” approach to the Palestinians’ expected bid to upgrade their status at the UN on Thursday, so as not to divert attention from the Palestinian Authority’s violation of international agreements, a senior diplomatic source said Tuesday.

The source said that if Jerusalem, as some in the international community feared, greeted the Palestinian move with a decision to build thousands of new housing units in the settlements, then that would become the center of attention, not the Palestinian step. Read more…