Coalition and opposition lawmakers say internal European document on Area C with plans to boost Palestinians represents ‘same flames of primitive hatred’

By LAZAR BERMAN, TOI        Today, 9:34 pm  

A Palestinian walks on a newly-made section of a road that was financed by the European Union, on the outskirts of the West Bank village of Taqoa, near Bethlehem, January. 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Dozens of right-wing lawmakers from both the presumed incoming coalition and its opponents on Wednesday called a leaked European Union document formulating a new program to protect Palestinian claims in the West Bank an “extremely grave breach” of the EU-Israel relationship.

In a letter to top EU officials, the Knesset members effectively accused the Europeans of antisemitism and of dismissing historical Jewish ties to the West Bank.

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T. Belman. Follow Mudar Adnan Zahran on twitter. He is reporting extensively every day.

Demonstrations in Amman under utter silence from world media.
The revolutionaries continue to upload videos despite the kinglet’s ban on the Tik Tok application and the apparent Arab-Western media collusion in order to obscure the Jordanian revolution…#?????_??????? #????? pic.twitter.com/zB4ebCQWKC

— Mudar Adnan Zahran ???????? ????? (@Mudar_Zahran) December 21, 2022

The Muslim Brotherhood in the Middle East is in decline in part because of the recent deaths of Yusuf al-Qaradawi in Qatar (above left) and Ibrahim Munir in London (above right). Qaradawi’s death may, however, may represent an opportunity for Muslim Brotherhood activists in Europe by removing an embarrassing and anachronistic presence from the world scene.

By Sara Brzuszkiewicz, MEFORUM      20.12.22<
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The Muslim Brotherhood in the Middle East has been experiencing the worst international crisis since its founding in Egypt in 1928. The movement is reeling from the death of its most prominent ideologue Yusuf al-Qaradawi in September and the November death of London-based Ibrahim Munir — who served as the organization’s operational leader. It is also experiencing a loss of support in the Middle East and suffering the lingering effects of a power struggle between its leaders in Egypt and Turkey. Put it all together and it appears the movement is on the verge of disintegrating in the region of its birth.
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UNLESS THE US CAPITULATES AND ACCEPTS PUTIN’S TERMS, UKRAINE WILL BE DESTROYED.

by Seth J. Frantzman, MEFORUM

Qatar has been trying to deflect critique from worker’s rights and human rights during the World Cup. Doha now faces a new challenge. Qatar has been accused of being involved in a corruption scandal in Europe that has ensnared several members of the European Parliament.

Over the past week it has been revealed that large sums of cash were found in two homes, and the EU Parliament voted to remove one Greek MEP as one of the 14 vice presidents of the body.

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For Saudis like me, nothing could be more disheartening than a divorce from the United States.

By Mohammed Khalid Alyahya, FOREIGN POLICY

Xi Jinping is welcomed by Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud at the Palace of Yamamah in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on December 8, 2022. (Royal Court of Saudi Arabia/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Chinese President Xi Jinping just returned from three days of back-to-back summits in Riyadh: the first with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the second with leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the third with a larger group of Arab governments. The result of the summit marathon was a number of public and not-so public agreements on energy, trade, investment, technology cooperation, and various other areas. The summits ratified an increasingly close economic and security relationship. Saudi Arabia supplies China with 18 percent of its energy needs, and it is expanding orders for petrochemical, industrial, and military equipment, much of which it previously obtained from the United States.
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By Steve Kramer

Why “defrocking,” a term usually used in the ecclesiastical sense? Well, The New York Times (NYT) has a quasi-religious following among American liberals, especially Jewish ones. It is “the” authority on most things, and one of those things is the paper’s peculiar relationship with the Jewish State of Israel. It says it supports Israel, while we know that it disparages Israel more than anything else.

While many NYT readers might take offense at the term “Jewish State,” that precisely describes this nation, which won its independence in 1948 as the one and only Jewish State. Yes, it’s democratic. Name another country that could have five elections within such a short period without a violent reaction.

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US officials quoted saying policy aimed at limiting influence of next coalition’s most hardline members; US policy on Iran, Saudi Arabia could be leveraged to pressure incoming PM

By JACOB MAGID, TOI 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) holds a joint press conference with then-US vice president Joe Biden at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, March 9, 2016. (Amit Shabi/Pool)

US President Joe Biden’s administration reportedly plans to hold expected incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally responsible for the actions of the far-right lawmakers he is expected to soon appoint as senior ministers in his next government.

The stance, revealed in a Tuesday report by the Politico website, is a central part of the policy that the White House has been crafting as it readies to once again work with a Netanyahu government in Jerusalem after a year in which ties warmed, thanks to a more moderate coalition led by former prime minister Naftali Bennett and outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid.

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Continuing the war harms the West and endangers its battle to attain other critical strategic objectives. 

By Professor Efraim Inbar, INN

Prof. Efraim Inbar, JNSS

The Western support for Ukraine in its war against Russia is unlikely to achieve a Russian defeat. Moreover, it has become an enormous burden, putting at risk the West attaining its other critical strategic objectives.

Everybody understands that the war will not end with restoring Ukrainian territorial integrity, as its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, demands. Crimea and the Donbas region, populated by ethnic Russians, are unlikely to revert to Ukrainian rule. The staying power of Russia is more substantial than Ukraine’s, and thus despite economic difficulties and military problems, Russia will not likely submit to Ukraine’s conditions. Moscow will probably continue its war of attrition, exacting a high price on Ukraine’s infrastructure and army.

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By Randy DeSoto, REPUBLIC BRIEF  December 20, 2022

Arizona Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson ruled Monday night that two issues at the heart of Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake’s election challenge will go to trial.

The lawsuit filed against Maricopa County election officials and Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs challenged the validity of Hobbs’ win over Lake by just over 17,000 votes in the Nov. 8 governor’s race.

Hobbs and Maricopa County had filed a motion to dismiss the entire election challenge.

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by Con Coughlin, GATESTONE 20.12.22

The Chinese and the Saudi flags fly in Riyadh, on December 7, 2022, ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the Saudi capital. (Photo by Fayez Nureldine/AFP via Getty Images)

Nothing better illustrates the utter ineptitude of the Biden administration’s dealings with the Middle East than Saudi Arabia’s decision to forge a strategic alliance with China.

• Biden set the tone for his strained relationship with the Saudi royal family during the 2020 presidential election contest when he denounced the kingdom as a “pariah” state over its involvement in the murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in 2018, although there has never any audible distress from the Biden administration over Iran’s 2007 abduction and presumed death of ex-FBI agent Robert Levinson.

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T. Belman. I know  Joseph Puder personally  and respect his work. Although I have been skeptical about the reports of a growing alliance, I don’t discount the possibility also. Puder is always worth reading.

The strengthening Unholy Alliance.

By Joseph Puder, FPM      20.12.22

The kamikaze drones the Ayatollahs of Iran provided Russia to aid Moscow’s war against Ukraine are merely a precursor for a full-fledged alliance. The pact between the two nations includes communist China as well. This emerging unholy alliance does worry the western world, and Israel. Iran has now permitted Moscow (for pay) to improve its drone accuracy and distance, as well as that of the Iranian provided rockets. This should concern not only the Ukrainians but Israel as well. Iran is more than likely to transfer the technologically improved drones to Hezbollah terrorists. Putin, Russia’s desperate president, may even seek to limit, if not deny, Israel’s preventive attacks in Syria against Iranian transfers of arms to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Perhaps even more worrisome is the prospect of Russia aiding the Islamic Republic to complete the weaponization of its nuclear program.

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T. Belman. I am concerned by what the Judge says she must prove. He set a criminal standard which requires intention on the part of Hobbs. Turley says the law is otherwise.

T. Belman. This article fails to mention what the US’s position is on the Iranian atomic threat. To my mind it is a huge issue and this article should have highlighted the US policy is regarding it.

“The strategy itself has a major section that discusses “out-competing China and constraining Russia” and terms climate change “the existential challenge of our time.”

The US is crazy.  First it allows China to grow so strong as to become a real economic threat to the US. Only now does it realize that it must out-compete  them. The US should be embracing Russia, not constraining it. Russia is no threat to the US but a Russian-Chinese alliance could be. The last item is misguided at best.

Nor does it mention that it is doing its utmost to constrain Israel from acting independently of the US.

by Dov S. Zakheim, JS TRBUNE     November 2022

Outlining his foreign policy objectives in 2020 in the magazine Foreign Affairs, then presidential candidate Joe Biden asserted that “it is past time to end the forever wars.” Indeed, as president, he withdrew all troops in a frenzied retreat from Afghanistan and reduced troop levels in Iraq by more than half. Ending the “forever wars” has been only a part of Biden’s longer-term strategy for the Middle East, however. Instead, his objective, like that of his two predecessors, is to downgrade the importance of the Middle East in American strategy.

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With low costs, immersion in the Start-Up Nation and antisemitism spiking, it’s no wonder students are choosing the Jewish state. Op-ed.

By Shlomo Annapolle, INN

Hi tech exhibitFlash 90

(JNS) There are many reasons why students choose to pack their bags and study in Israel. After all, there aren’t many destinations where you can get a world-class education in one of the most innovative countries in the world, while surrounded by history and basking in sunshine for (most of) the year.

This is why—according to the Israeli Council for Higher Education—approximately 12,000 foreign students each year choose to make Israel their home away from home. What’s more, in contrast to declining international student enrollment in other countries, the COVID-19 pandemic actually amplified interest in Israel as a study abroad destination.

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by David Mark. ISRAEL UNWIRED      March 7, 2022

American media has molded the current narrative about the Russia-Ukraine conflict to suit the needs of the political class in both major political parties. Across the political spectrum. Russia has become the unprovoked aggressor and Ukraine the innocent victim. Is this really the truth?

While most Americans and those living in Western Europe have adopted the Russia “bad guy” narrative, most people only tuned in days after the official conflict was said to begin – meaning when Russia invaded Ukraine. The media and the political class rely on their low informed, high distracted populace to be clueless about the actual event and the real historical record.

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A candle is a brief flare of light. A wick dipped in oil burns and goes out again. The Hanukkah light appears no different, but it is.

By Daniel Greenfield, INN  19.12.22

Out of the exile of Babylon, the handful that returned to resettle and rebuild the land faced the might of new empires. The Jews who returned from the exile of one evil empire some twenty-six hundred years ago were forced to decide whether they would be a people with their own faith and history, or the colony of another empire, with its history and beliefs.

Jerusalem’s wealthy elites threw in their lot with the empire and its ways. But out in the rural heartland where the old ways where still kept, a spark flared to life. Modi’in. Maccabee.
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T. Belman. Neither Russia nor the US is our friend. Bringing back the Quartet will achieve nothing. Israel must do what it must do and ignore the international community.

https://www.jns.org/biden-admin-demands-israel-provide-equal-allocation-of-resources-to-countering-israeli-extremists-and-palestinian-violence/

Moscow’s ambassador to United Nations slams Washington’s ‘monopoly’ over Mideast negotiations, accuses Israel of settlement expansion

by Jonathan Lis, HAARETZ  20.12.22

Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations has slammed recent efforts by the United States to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict, arguing that, since 2014, Washington’s involvement has created the stalemate that exists today.

During a Security Council meeting in New York on Monday, Vasily Nebenzya said that history has proven many times that the United States’ efforts to monopolize the Middle East peace process have been doomed to failure. He added that the U.S. only increases antagonism between Israel and the Palestinians.

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T. Belman. The public voted On Nov 1. Now its up to Netanyahu to form a government as he sees fit.

Channel 13 News poll finds 45% of the Israeli public prefers National Unity over Religious Zionist Party in the new government.

Israel National News

Aryeh DeriYonatan Sindel/Flash 90

A Channel 13 News poll conducted by Camil Fuchs and published on Monday evening shows that there is a significant majority among the Israeli public against changing the legislation in such a way that would allow Shas chairman MK Aryeh Deri to serve as a minister in the new government.

65% of the public is against changing the law and appointing Deri as a minister, with only 24% in favor of the move, the poll found.

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