By Frank Filocomo, AM THINKER

American Jews, probably to no one’s surprise, tend to be overwhelmingly liberal. According to a Pew study conducted in 2021, “seven-in-ten Jewish adults identify with or lean toward the Democratic party, and half describe their political views as liberal.”

Being from Brooklyn, where I have befriended and become acquainted with plenty of Jews (both practicing and secular), I am actually surprised by this seven-in-ten statistic from Pew; I thought it would have been much higher!
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As the judicial coup bills near final votes, the protesters – who have already made significant achievement – could paralyze the country completely? President Herzog’s compromise includes a win for the ultra-Orthodox

By Amos Harel, HAARETZ 17.3.23

Israelis demonstrate during Day of Resistance, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nationalist coalition government presses on with its contentious judicial overhaul, in Tel Aviv, Israel March 16, 2023. Credit: Amir Cohen / REUTERs

If the Netanyahu government’s unseemly rush to complete the legislation that makes up the judicial revolution continues to go unchecked over the next two weeks, the mass protests across the country will become even more intensive and even more disruptive.

The government’s tone-deaf declarations and decisions, along with the proposed legislation, have continuously reignited the opposing camp for the last two-and-a-half months. President Isaac Herzog’s decision to present his latest compromise plan two days ago only managed to create another twist; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was on a trip to Germany at the time, immediately rejected “The People’s Directive,” under pressure from home, while two opposition leaders, Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz, responded positively.

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Cognitive dissonance in America and Britain undermines their key Middle East asset

By Melanie Phillips    MAR 17

America and Britain claim to be allies of Israel. There is no gainsaying the deep links between them of military assistance, intelligence and trade. Israel is the invaluable strategic asset for America and Britain in the Middle East, a crucial bulwark in the defence of the west.

And yet both America and Britain undermine Israel’s security and defence against existential attack by sanitising, promoting and funding Palestinian Arabs, whose active cause remains the destruction of the Jewish state.

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The Middle East Peace Process

by Mitchell Bard

MYTHS

Anwar Sadat deserves all the credit for the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty.
Israel must withdraw from the Golan Heights to achieve peace with Syria.
Israel’s occupation of Lebanese territory impedes peace.
Israel has no interest in peace with the Palestinians.
Solving the Palestinian question will bring peace to the Middle East.
A Palestinian state will pose no danger to Israel.
Jews will be welcome in a future Palestinian state.
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Saudi Arabia and the Peace Process (Posted on 2023-03-08 12:52:13)

The Plan to Eradicate Israel (Posted on 2012-09-30 12:14:18)

Long standing US Policy on Jerusalem is anti-Israel and pro-Arab. (Posted on 2012-08-03 20:34:57)

The Israel Lobby is nothing compared to the Saudi Lobby (Posted on 2010-08-29 14:10:54)

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by Bassam Tawil, GATESTONE  •  March 16, 2023

• [T]he Biden Administration officials recently proposed a plan “to provide 5,000 Palestinians with commando training in Jordan” and then deploy them to areas under the control of the PA. The 5,000 officers will bring with them 5,000 rifles to Palestinian cities and towns — where almost every Palestinian already has a weapon.
• Any time the US has funded, armed and trained Palestinian militias, the target has invariably ended up not terrorist groups but Israelis. Why is there any reason to think that this time will be different?

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T. Belman. “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” (Newton’s Third Law). Perhaps as a result, the US is going to back Israel and not the PA now, especially since the US is no longer taking marching orders from SA. The US needs a strong ally in the ME and that ally is Israel, perhaps in a confederation with Jordan. It wasn’t so long ago that Biden withdrew support for the East Med pipeline to Europe. Now it appears that pipeline is a lifesaver for Europe, US and Israel.

BY ELLIOT NAZAR, FOREIGN DESK

1. China’s Growing Presence in the Middle East

Following the shocking news that Chinese officials brokered the agreement between Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran, many experts warned that this move was significant for Beijing, which is trying to grow its influence in a region heavily dominated by the U.S. As the Communist government continues to strengthen its economic and military presence throughout the world, officials have hoped to make inroads in Saudi Arabia and Iran through economic and military benefits in the hopes that China’s military can have a presence in the Persian Gulf, a key strategic waterway for oil flow.

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By Raymond Ibrahim, AM THINKER

According to the U.N.’s website,

[t]he United Nations on Friday [03/10/2023] commemorated the first-ever International Day to Combat Islamophobia with a special event in the General Assembly Hall, where speakers upheld the need for concrete action in the face of rising hatred, discrimination and violence against Muslims.

António Guterres, secretary-general of the U.N., delivered the keynote address, “focusing attention — and calling for action — to stamp out the poison of Islamophobia.”  Below are key excerpts followed by correctives:

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While working non-stop to gain support for stopping Iran, the PM has to go to Europe to do damage control after Lapid’s incitement. Op-ed.

By Barry Shaw, INN    Mar 15, 2023, 7:26 PM 

After the Biden Administration destroyed Europe’s energy supplies by blowing up the Russia-Germany Nord-stream pipeline, it has taken the form of Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to step into the breach for a struggling Europe.

Netanyahu has wisely taken his initial diplomatic mission to help Europe by making Italy and Germany his initial stops, contracting with the Europe which is to be supplied with Israel’s maritime reserves of energy via natural reserves in the Mediterranean.

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‘Even if all the proposed reforms were enacted, they would simply align Israel with Canada, New Zealand, or Australia.’

Israel National News    Mar 16, 2023, 

Leading US attorney Prof. Alan Dershowitz, who has voiced his opposition to Israel’s judicial reform plan in the past, now admits that despite his opposition, the legislation would not make Israel any less democratic.

During a Zoom debate with legal scholar Eugene Kontorovich organized by J-AIR Jewish radio on the subject of the reforms, Dershowitz insisted that the majority of opposition to the reform is due to the fact that a right-wing government is proposing it. “If exactly the same proposals were being made by a centrist government, or left-wing government, no one would notice,” he claimed. “There would be no demonstrations. There would be some academic discussion, law school teachers would be teaching it, but hardly anyone would care.”

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T. Belman.  This ruling is outrageous. The AG must be sacked. The powers of the AG must be curtailed.

She limits the Minister to “outlining a general policy” but  “but he is not allowed to interfere in the operative and operational implementation of the policy”. What?  Is it “general policy” for the Minister to demand that terrorism be fought with full force without regard to whether calm is destroyed? Or is this a matter for police to decide based on their “professional judgement”?

Attorney General publishes position on petitions filed with the Supreme Court: Ben Gvir must refrain from giving operative instructions to the police even when they are given under the guise of policy instructions.

Israel National News    Mar 16, 2023, 3:01 AM (GMT+2)

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on Wednesday night published her position regarding petitions that were filed with the Supreme Court and which request that National Security Itamar Ben Gvir be ordered to refrain from outlining policy regarding the Israel Police’s conduct during protests against the judicial reform and the government.

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Caroline Glick Show

T. Belman. I am very happy to see Gateway Pundit supporting Israel to such an extent. It has a large following in the US and is very influential.

By Richard Abelson, GATEWAY PUNDIT     Mar. 15, 2023 10:00 am

While US banks fail and the world teeters on the brink of WW III, the criminal Biden Regime is embarking on a series of regime change “color revolutions” around the world, seeking to destabilize conservative governments and install Washington-controlled puppets to do their bidding. The Gateway Pundit will expose these Open Society / National Endowment for Democracy led coup attempts, which seem to be the only thing the Blinken / Nuland / Sullivan Regime is any good at.

Today: Israel.
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T. Belman. From day one I have supported compromising to get a consensus..  At the same time I recognized the the opposition is really not in favour of arriving at a consensus. They want to cause as much trouble as they can,  They will not make meaningful concessions. Kohelet wants Herzog to convene negotiations based on their draft. Hell he couldn’t do it based on his own draft.

Kohelet Policy Forum, one of thinktanks behind push for judicial reform, suggests Override Clause be abandoned.

Israel National News

The Kohelet Policy Forum, a conservative thinktank which for years lobbied in favor of the changes to Israel’s judiciary now included in the Israeli government’s reform plan, is now calling for the judicial overhaul to be softened in the hope of building a broad consensus behind it.

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Na’eh said everyone would do well to wait and see if the establishment of Iranian-Saudi ties even comes to fruition.

By HERB KEINON, JPOST   14.3.23

(photo credit: AMOS BEN-GERSHOM/GPO)

MANAMA – Reports of the death of Israeli-Gulf ties as a result of the announcement Friday of a renewal of Saudi-Iranian relations are greatly exaggerated, Israeli Ambassador to Bahrain Eitan Na’eh indicated on Tuesday.

“I don’t know what the future will bring. I know what I’m told, and I know what I see,” he told journalists at press briefing at Start-Up Nation Central’s “Connect2Innovate” conference in Bahrain. “I am not yet ready to start eulogizing Israel-Gulf relations.”

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MEMRI March 14, 2023

For a variety of reasons, Russia has welcomed the Chinese mediated agreement announced March 11, 2023, between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The agreement provides for a resumption of diplomatic relations between the two states and the reopening of embassies and missions within two months from the signing of the agreement. The document also noted that Tehran and Riyadh reaffirm mutual respect for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as commitment to non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.

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(March 13, 2023 / JNS) Media pundits spend a lot of time “explaining” to the rest of us why some political or social development just occurred. Last week, The New York Times presented what it claimed are the real reasons behind the controversy over Israeli judicial reform. The recent election results, which brought Israel a new government—and the judicial reform plan—are part of a “rightward drift” that goes back a number of years, according to the Times’ Jerusalem Bureau Chief Patrick Kingsley.

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