#Israel #USA #World
#German #Students #Attack #Jews In #Nazi #Costumes; #Netanyahu Slams #UN!!!

Netanyahu misuses the Holocaust for political gain, but no one in the U.S. can say so

Efraim Halevy, former director of Israel’s national intelligence agency, Mossad, speaks with Al Jazeera English’s UpFront. (Photo: Al Jazeera English)


After the killings in a Tel Aviv market last night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called an emergency cabinet meeting for today, but what will he say? Surely that Palestinians as a whole have to be punished even more for acts of violence a few undertake. Look for more restrictions on the movements of West Bank Palestinians, more house demolitions of families related to assailants, more denunciations of Palestinian leadership.

But Israel is in the midst of a political crisis, with one military/security leader after another saying that Netanyahu’s government is inciting violence; and that without a path to freedom, Palestinians are bound to resist the occupier.

The latest is the former head of the Israeli intelligence service, #EfraimHalevy, who said last week that the wave of Palestinian knife attacks was inevitable because of the occupation, and that Israel should stop demonizing Hamas because military leaders want to work with Hamas. Exactly the opposite of what Netanyahu has said.

Halevy was interviewed on Al Jazeera by Mehdi Hasan [part 1], and began by criticizing Netanyahu’s approach to alleged terrorism. Halevy said there are “various types of terrorism”– and some terrorists need to be bargained with!

I do not subscribe to the way that Netanyahu describes terrorism. I believe that there are various types of terrorism. There are certain groups in the terrorist world with which we should have a dialogue…

He criticized Netanyahu for getting angry at #UN Secretary General Ban #Ki-moon for saying that the occupation produced violent resistance.

I think it was a kneejerk reaction to a statement of the secretary general. I believe it was probably politically motivated. I personally would have avoided such a statement.

Asked if there is a relationship between Israel’s military occupation and the violence of some #Palestinians, Halevy said Yes.

Unfortunately, yes. I think one has to admit that since we are in control of the West Bank and since there is no political movement to move the situation in the West Bank to somewhere else and to give it a different either status or whatever you like to call it, I think one should expect unfortunately that there will be people who think that they have to rise up and who have to fight against it. That’s why I believe that we always have to offer our enemies alternatives to violence and I think we have not been all that good in doing so.

This is just what Lt. General #YairGolan said in his Holocaust remembrance day speech that so angered the prime minister. Palestinians are normal people who are going to resist occupation, while Israel is exhibiting traits of Nazi Germany. “There is nothing easier than hating the alien. Nothing is easier and more simple than provoking anxiety and horror. Nothing is easier and simpler than brutalization, jadedness and self-righteousness,” Golan said, then a week later Moshe Ya’alon resigned as defense minister, warning about fascism in Israeli society, and Netanyahu appointed the rightwinger Avigdor Lieberman to replace Ya’alon.

Halevy said that Netanyahu’s days are numbered. These recent events

herald the beginning of the countdown to the end of the administration of Mr. Netanyahu. This is going to be the first shot in a series of events which I believe might come about in the next year or two which will bring the transition from the Netanyahu era to a different era.

The 82-year-old former spook further defied Netanyahu by dismissing the premier’s spirit of militant chauvinism. He said Hamas must be treated as a normal political force– and all the Israeli military brass know it. “You have to have a political policy and not just a military policy,” he said, a direct slap at Netanyahu’s policy of repressing #Gaza.

Let me let you into a secret, OK? If you go now to Israel and speak to the commanders in the field of the #IDF… Every brigade commander who has been commanding a unit opposite the Gaza strip believes that the best situation for Israel at this point in time is that the Hamas should be there rather than anybody else. They are there to stay for a long period of time… You have to have a political policy and not just a #military policy.

Halevy said that Israel invades Gaza with a disregard for civilian casualties, and he approved of former American officials talking to #Hamas.

Echoing Golan, he expressed the concern that “Jewish terror” is on the rise and has gained support from the Israeli public and ministers and politicians.

And meantime, Netanyahu is misusing the Holocaust to justify fearful policies, Halevy said. Because Israel’s security is assured “for 1000 years,” and Iran was never an existential threat.

*I believe there is no existential threat to Israel from anybody in the world including the Iranians…  The total of all our capabilities, both defensive and offensive, are such that we can be sure and assured, that the existence of Israel is assured for the next 1000 years….\

I know many people in the establishment who believe what I’m saying, that we have sufficient capability to assure our existence. Why is fear being used as a tool to assure Israel’s support of one side or another? This unfortunately goes back to our recent history of the last 100 years. Because those who quote the existential threat also go back to the Holocaust. I believe there is no comparison between the Holocaust and what is happening now. Because in the Holocaust we were defenseless; and today we are the strongest military power in the middle east.

So all of Netanyahu’s ferocious bluster against the deal– paralyzing the entire world as it tried to achieve a breakthrough in diplomacy, by marshaling the U.S. Jewish community and Israel lobby behind him — was for domestic political consumption. Halevy described Netanyahu as a complete cynic:

Because.. look how silent most of the Israeli leaders are on Iran. Suddenly, it’s almost a deafening silence. Whereas before the deal was signed, almost every day people were railing against it and so forth, suddenly the tone has changed and suddenly it’s possible for the Israeli prime minister to go to #Moscow, and to talk to the Russian president at the same time that the Iranians are coming to Moscow too, and they are now probably one of the biggest allies of the Russians in the Middle East.

The bottom line on this interview is that Halevy is trashing Netanyahu right and left on Al Jazeera and none of this is in the American press. Netanyahu is still treated as a sacred figure in our #MSM, even after he insulted our president; and the head of a #Democratic thinktank fawns over him like Ghandi or Mandela and Hillary Clinton says he’ll be coming to the White House if she’s elected in the first month. He is never questioned like a normal politician, while everyone in Israeli leadership knows him as the most cynical politician they have ever met. What contempt Netanyahu has for American politics.

Of course Bernie #Sanders sought to end that bar in April when he said, “There comes a time when if we pursue justice and peace we are going to have to say that Netanyahu is not right all of the time.”

But no politician in the U.S. could make this series of honest accusations and criticisms against Netanyahu and withstand the storm of criticism that would follow. #Clinton has yet to utter a word against him; and Donald #Trump will be visiting Israel soon to get his photo-op with the leader called a #fascist by the men who know him best.

This interview shows that the Israeli government has lost everyone at this point but the right wing and the American power structure: it’s lost Europe, it’s lost the American left, it’s lost young American #Jews, it’s lost its own security establishment. And still it hangs on to our elites.

Look what happened to James Fallows a year ago when he dared to murmur what Halevy and other Israeli security leaders have said baldly, that Netanyahu is manipulating the #Holocaust to oppose a deal that poses no risk to Israel and is good for the world. Tablet magazine’s James Kirchick jumped in to say that Fallows was an anti-Semite:

To be a warmonger out of unreasonable and misplaced fears that impel you to manipulate the entire world into wars is one thing; to do so out of sheer lust for power is straight out of Christopher Marlowe, or Henry Ford.

By such smears, the American discourse is twisted in the pro-Israel direction. But the propagandists cannot keep #Israel’s political crisis from coming here. And its own leaders’ criticisms of #Netanyahu begin the countdown to the end of an orthodoxy.

Former Israeli defense minister calls Netanyahu a fearmonger who hypes threats

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, speaks with then-Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon in 2015. (Sebastian Scheiner/AP)

#JERUSALEM — Israel’s popular former defense minister, who was shoved aside last month by his boss, warned on Thursday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a fearmonger who hypes threats against Israel in order to stay in power.

It was a blunt, even bitter, declaration of political war by Moshe Yaalon against his former governing partner Netanyahu, whom the ex-defense minister also accused of stoking #ethnic and #religious hatreds to cling to office.

Many tough things are said about Netanyahu all the time, but Yaalon’s speech was blistering — and potentially damaging coming from a fellow #Likud party member who held the second most powerful post in Israel until May.

Netanyahu came under attack on Thursday from multiple critics, including two former heads of Israel’s armed forces and a former prime minister, Ehud Barak, who asserted in a speech that there had been “a hostile takeover” of a “hijacked government” that had swung Israel so far to the right that it would alienate the world, as well as young #Jews in the United States.

“No leader in the world believes a word that Netanyahu and his government says anymore,” Barak said.

The past two chiefs of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, the highest position the military, also went after the prime minister. Benny Gantz and Gabi Ashkenazi formed a movement to challenge Netanyahu on domestic issues, such as affordable housing and support for underdeveloped Israeli communities.

Still, it was Yaalon’s desertion and attack that must have stung the most.

Yaalon charged that Netanyahu and his top ministers exaggerate the security threats Israelis face — from #Hamas, #Hezbollah or Iran — to distract the people from what he called the real challenges facing Israel.

"At this time and in the foreseeable future, there is not an existential threat to Israel,” the former defense minister said. “Israel is the strongest state in the region and there is an enormous gap between it and every country and organization around it. Therefore, it is appropriate for the leadership in Israel to stop scaring the citizens and to stop telling them that we are on the verge of a second #Holocaust."

Netanyahu is seen by many Israeli voters as especially strong on security issues.

In his speech, spoken in #Hebrew before an international audience at a security gathering at the Herzliya Conference, Yaalon said he is running to replace Netanyahu in the next election.

Yaalon did not refer to Netanyahu by name, but the prime minister was clearly the target of his broadsides.

Netanyahu responded that just four months ago, at a conference in Munich, Yaalon called #Iran an existential threat to Israel.

“One cannot express full confidence in the leadership when one is part of it and then say the complete opposite when you are outside,” the prime minister said. “Therefore, no importance should be ascribed to such political attacks."

Interestingly, Yaalon did not say in which political party he would run.

Yaalon was pushed from his post by Netanyahu in May and replaced by ultranationalist Avigdor #Lieberman, a former foreign minister and leader of a party composed mostly of Russian-speaking immigrants to Israel. Bringing Lieberman aboard increased Netanyahu’s governing coalition to 66 of 120 seats.

Yaalon said Israeli leaders had hyped the dangers posed by the #Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran.

Yaalon himself was one of those staunch opponents to the deal, but no one more vociferously fought against the nuclear pact than Netanyahu, who condemned it in a speech before #Congress last year.

The #Iranian nuclear program, which Netanyahu has repeatedly declared the greatest danger facing Israel, “has been frozen in light of the deal signed by the world powers and does not constitute an immediate, existential threat for Israel," Yaalon said.

In a statement following Yaalon's speech, the Likud party said, "It's amusing to see how fast Yaalon has changed his tune.”

In his remarks, Yaalon accused Israel's right-wing government of trying "cynically" to divert citizens' attention.

"It is a mistaken approach to think that if we fill citizens with fear, it will make them forget the corruption, the social gaps, the high cost of living and other challenges at the doorstep of the leadership," he said.

Yaalon didn’t stop there. He called out Netanyahu and his circle for incitement and divisiveness.

"The leadership of #Israel in 2016 is busy with inflaming passions and causing fear between #Jews and #Arabs, between right and left and between different ethnic groups in order to survive in power and earn another month or year,” he said, repeating a common jab against #Netanyahu that he is most interested in staying in power — a common goal of many politicians.

“The job of leadership is to bring together the people and not to tear it apart, incite and urge attacks," Yaalon said.

#Yaalon said he has received “thousands” of appeals to run for high office: "There is an aspiration that crosses party lines of the vast and sane majority of the country to see a stately leadership that will lead the country according to a compass of conscience and not according to polls or reactions on social media.”

Analysis: Netanyahu, usually outspoken, dares not criticize Putin

The prime minister has no problem causing high-profile confrontations with the Elysee Palace or the White House over any critical word regarding the settlements, but won’t demonstrate an iota of the same courage toward the Kremlin vis-à-vis Russian steps that harm Israeli interests.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu inspects the honour guard during a welcoming ceremony upon his arrival at Moscow's Vnukovo airport, Russia, June 6, 2016. Sergei Karpukhin, Reuters

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address on Sunday at the state ceremony on Ammunition Hill to mark Jerusalem Day didn’t yield any special headlines. Most of the speech was a combination of Netanyahu’s usual talking points and worn-out slogans about how #Jerusalem will never again be a wounded and divided city, which raised some questions about how familiar Netanyahu is with the daily reality in :Israel’s capital.

But there was one paragraph in the speech that was somewhat interesting, and it referred to relations with Russia.

“On the eve of the Six Day War, the armies around us were armed, trained, supplied and supported by the Soviet Union,” #Netanyahu said. “Look at the difference, the enormous difference, over the years. #Russia is a world power and the relationship between us is getting closer all the time. I’m working to tighten this connection; it serves us and our national security at this time, and has also prevented superfluous and dangerous confrontations on our northern border.”


Netanyahu, who arrived in Moscow Monday to mark 25 years of bilateral relations, vividly portrayed what many in Israel and Russia who are dealing with these tightening relationships have described as a romance. It wouldn’t be exaggerating to say that the ties between Israel and Russia have never been better. It’s a fact. The volume of trade and tourism, as well as security and diplomatic cooperation, are at their peak.

The meeting between Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday will be their fourth within a year. Just to compare, during this same period Netanyahu has met with U.S. President Barack Obama only once. That fact well represents the spirit of the times. Relations with Russia have been improving steadily since 2009 and some of the credit goes to former foreign minister and current Defense Minister #AvigdorLieberman.

But over the past year, on the background of the active Russian involvement in the Syrian civil war and the deploying of troops there, the ties between the two countries have turned from a pastime to essential for both sides. “We and the Russians have become neighbors, with all that implies,” said a senior Israeli official who deals with these bilateral ties.

If there is one diplomatic-security issue for which Netanyahu deserves a lot of credit for his handling and decision making, it is his calculated and prudent policy toward the crisis in Syria. His conduct toward Russia in recent months, ever since Putin sent troops to Syria, has served Israel’s security interests well and kept the northern front relatively quiet.

There is still the empty half of the glass, however. Despite the much improved ties with Russia, the latter is still blatantly operating against Israel in both the diplomatic and security spheres. Putin has bestowed many honors on Netanyahu, rolled out the red carpet and is giving back an Israeli tank from a Moscow museum and Paula Ben-Gurion’s candlesticks, but on major issues he has taken measures that seriously undermine vital Israeli interests.

Thus, for example, the Russians have supplied advanced S300 :missile batteries to #Iran and plan to sell a lot more #weapons to the Islamic republic. The Russians are also fighting in :Syria on the same side as #Hezbollah, and aren’t being careful enough (at best) or are turning a blind eye (at worst) to the Syrian army’s transfer of weapons it gets from Russia to the #Shia terror group.

During the last nine months alone the Russians voted against Israel on a series of crucial votes in the United Nations. In September they voted for the #Egyptian resolution in the International Atomic Energy Agency that called for inspection of Israel’s nuclear facilities. In March the Russians voted against Israel in the #UN Human Rights Council, supporting a #Palestinian resolution for the compiling of a blacklist of companies that do business with the settlements, and in April Russia was one of the countries that supported the Palestinian resolution in UNESCO that erased all trace of the Jewish people’s connection to the Temple Mount.

Israel hasn’t dared to publicly criticize Russia about any of these things. Netanyahu, who enjoys slapping around the French over their support for the #UNESCO resolution on the #TempleMount, and publicly slamming the American administration over the Iran issue, seems to have swallowed his tongue when it comes to Russia. He wouldn’t dare deliver a critical speech in the #Duma, Russia’s parliament, or send the leaders of the Moscow #Jewish community to place anti-Kremlin ads in the papers.

OK, it’s true that Russia is not the United States or France. Firstly because it’s not a democracy, and second because Israel has unique interests in regard to it. But Israel’s alliances with the United States and #France are no less deeply rooted and loaded with interests. The United States gives Israel $3 billion annually in military aid and diplomatic backing in the United Nations. Because of France we have #Dimona, and #Paris also worked to toughen the #nuclear agreement with Iran. Yet Netanyahu still has no problem causing high-profile confrontations with the Elysee Palace or the White House over any critical word regarding the settlements. He can lord it over #Obama in Washington, but won’t demonstrate an iota of the same courage toward Putin.

Israeli officials argue that they raise all these issues in quiet diplomatic discussions and that behind closed doors Netanyahu does conduct a critical dialogue with :Putin. That could be true. But as Netanyahu himself has said, sometimes it’s important to tell the truth publicly. And when it comes to Russia, this truth is not heard from the prime minister at all. It’s hard not to wonder whether in diplomacy it’s the same as in politics – that Netanyahu humiliates and belittles his allies and benefactors, yet honors and appeases those who pose a threat to him.



Has Netanyahu Met His Match?


Throughout the seven-plus years since his return to the prime minister’s office, Benjamin Netanyahu’s Israeli and #American critics have longed for a credible challenger who could beat him, to no avail. But this week the #NeverBibi crowd—which consists of a broad range of Netanyahu critics from the left, center, and right—got a new white knight. Moshe Yaalon, the recently ousted minister of defense, announced that he would run for prime minister in the next election.

Yaalon has the gravitas and security experience an Israeli prime minister must have. In theory, a new political force led by Yaalon and peopled by popular former members of Netanyahu’s party would be perfectly positioned to steal crucial Likud votes and change Israel’s political landscape.

The expectation is that Yaalon will join with former Likudniks Moshe Kahlon (who now serves in the government at the head of his own #Kulanu Party) and Gideon Saar to create a new party. The latest polls show such a group finishing second to Netanyahu and the Likud. But if it were able to combine forces with Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party and perhaps include former prime minister and defense minister #EhudBarak, this new coalition might have a path to victory.

Yaalon is more formidable than the many other Likud members who have been forced out of the party by Netanyahu. Being a potential successor to Netanyahu in the Likud has not gone well for anyone thus far. Bibi will tolerate no rivals, and that’s why the ranks of other centrist and right-wing parties are peopled with refugees from the Likud. But unlike his predecessors, Yaalon has the status of a former top general as well as the reputation of being a thoughtful intellectual.

But the problem with the #NeverBibi dream team is that Yaalon is probably never going to be as popular in the future as he is now. He isn’t the first former general to think he can parachute into the prime minister’s office only to learn that his limited political skills aren’t equal to the challenge. Yaalon always been considered somewhat unpredictable, and unlike Kahlon and Saar, does not have a large personal following within #Likud. Nor would a party with so many big-ego stars seem manageable, especially if Lapid and Barak are added to the mix.

The other problem is that Yaalon’s developing critique of Netanyahu contradicts everything he did in office as defense minister. Can election-eve Yaalon and Barak credibly assert, as both did yesterday, that there are no existential threats to Israel and that Netanyahu has been scaring the people with fear-laden scenarios—after Yaalon himself for years made the same points about the threat from #Iran?

Still, the fact that, as #Haaretz’s Barak Ravid points out, so many former military and defense officials are on the warpath against Netanyahu doesn’t speak well for him. They can’t all be disgruntled former employees (though many clearly are) or leftists (which #Yaalon is not), as #Netanyahu’s apologists claim. Moreover, Israeli voters are bound to get sick of the prime minister eventually. If he runs for a fourth consecutive term, his fifth overall, that really might be a bridge too far.

By the time the next election happens—and it’s not likely to be for at least another two years—Netanyahu may be ripe for defeat. But those who assume that the #NeverBibi dream team will knock Netanyahu off should be wary of underestimating the man who is without question the most formidable politician in his country’s history.

Benjamin Netanyahu told a French reporter in 2014 that “the terror plague will come to France” if the country’s leaders did not sufficiently support Israel’s ongoing war against and occupation of the Palestinians. “It’s not Israel’s battle. It’s your battle, it’s the battle of France,” said Netanyahu, adding that if Israel and not the Palestinians was faulted for the Middle East impasse, “then this terror plague will come to you. It’s just a question of time.” He continued:

It’s already on the move. It’s on its way to you. If it’s seen as successful, if they can target democratic societies, get them blamed, get them to break their solidarity and what they know is the moral case that Israel is making, then it will encourage them to move from one step at a time. It’s right now across your waters. It’s already in North Africa.

The comments were made in the middle of Israel’s Operation Protective Edge, the latest of Tel Aviv’s brutal, murderous and unprovoked military assaults on the Gaza Strip. That campaign extinguished the lives of 2,200 Palestinians, mostly civilians (including 550 children), and damaged or destroyed 150,000 Palestinian homes. Thousands more were severally injured and 100,000 were internally displaced.

Harebrained pro-Israel commentators are using Netanyahu’s ominous forecast to fawn over the Zionist leader’s ‘prophetic powers.’ However, the correct interpretation of the remarks is that they were a brutish ultimatum: Netanyahu himself was promising to ‘bring terror’ to France if he didn’t get his way on the political front.

A classic bully, Netanyahu is accustom to getting what he wants, when he wants it. And if he wishes for France to unconditionally support Israel (as it presently does) and crack down on pro-Palestinian activity within the country, then he expects it will be done at the snap of his fingers… or else ‘terror’ will reach you where you are.

This interview was given at a time when Israel was coming under increasing international pressure to make a lasting peace deal with the Palestinians and to end all illegal settlement activity. The pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestments and Sanction (BDS) movement was on the rise and some European parliaments, including that of France, voted to symbolically recognize a Palestinian state that same year, whichangered Netanyahu immensely.


Also recall that in January of 2016 Netanyahu bitterly rebuked the EU, calling on it to “change its attitude towards Israel” after the institution approved the policy of labeling products produced in illegal Israeli settlements. The Brussels airport attack manifested a couple months later. It seems that whenever Netanyahu issues a thinly-veiled threat to European countries that are not in lockstep with everything he wants, ‘terror’ magically follows, which is quickly accompanied by renewed Zionist pleas for Western “solidarity” with the regime of terror in Tel Aviv.

A Machiavellian schemer through and through, Netanyahu can be credited with the very conception of the “War on Terror” (both its tactics and agendas), the US-led wars of aggression in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, and as the mastermind of the “New Pearl Harbor” trigger incident which kick-started it all, the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Netanyahu’s father, Benzion, was the press secretary of Ze’ev Jabotinsky, the maniacal Zionist ideologue who founded the Beitar, HaTzohar and Irgun terrorist groups, the latter of which blew up the British Army headquarters in the Jerusalem King David Hotel in 1946, killing 91 people, many British. The founding fathers of Israel and its modern military and intelligence agencies were ruthless terrorists, all disciples of Jabotinsky’s retrograde brand of ‘Revisionist  Zionism’ that called for the forceful physical removal – by any means necessary – of all Arabs from Palestine.

This is the violent extremist culture in which Benjamin Netanyahu was raised. The consequences of this madman’s policies, as we can clearly observe, have been and will continue to be catastrophic for the world

#Netanyahu #Psychopath #ZionistIsrael #Extremism #ZionistJew #TerroristNetanyahu #FreePalestine #FreePalestine

ZIONIST JEWS ARE A PARASITE THAT CONTINUES TO SPREAD DISEASE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD!



Netanyahu's two-state bluff

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman (L) during a special Cabinet meeting to mark Jerusalem Day in Ein Lavan spring located on the outskirts of Jerusalem, June 2, 2016. (photo by REUTERS/Abir Sultan)

*It was a theater of the absurd:\ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, minutes after Liberman took the oath of office May 30, talking to the press about their desire/agreement for a “two states for two peoples” solution and about recognizing positive elements in the 2002 'Arab Peace Initiative, which the government would be ready to negotiate. Netanyahu actually believes that he can fool all the people all the time. Indeed, he succeeded this time, at least partly: The press was taken by surprise, Liberman’s entry into the Defense Ministry went over relatively smoothly in the world and not a single government publically called his bluff. The main purpose of these statements was to convince the US administration to take a more balanced position at the June 3 Paris conference in order to avoid a binding timeline.

Yet a bluff it was. There is no 'two-state solution process without a settlement freeze and a readiness to accept the 1967 lines with mutual land swaps as a basis for the negotiations. The #Palestinians and the #Arab countries will not engage anymore in negotiations for the sake of negotiations.

Furthermore, the phrase “two states for two peoples” was chosen carefully by the two right-wing leaders. It brings back to the scene the Israeli condition for the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish nation-state, knowing all too well that even the most moderate of Palestinian leaders will not accept what was not asked at the time (when peace treaties were negotiated) of neither #Egypt nor #Jordan.

As to the Arab #Peace Initiative, the new odd couple of Israeli politics recognized the obvious — that there are positive elements in the initiative. They are referring to two clauses: the normalization of relations of Arab countries with Israel after conflict resolution and an “agreed and just” settlement to the Palestinian refugee problem. According to the initiative, Israel has to agree to the latter, thus giving Israel a veto power over the Palestinian right of return. Yet what was not mentioned at the May 30 press conference was that these positive elements of the Arab Peace Initiative are conditioned in the initiative on Palestinian statehood on the 1967 lines with mutual land swaps, with East #Jerusalem as a Palestinian capital. Obviously, these are the components that Netanyahu wants to negotiate away. The wording matters and the devil is in the details. Israel can negotiate on the basis of the Arab Peace Initiative, but cannot negotiate the Arab Peace Initiative — this is a matter for the Arab League.

At the June 3 #Paris conference, #Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said that the Arab Peace Initiative could not be diluted. #Netanyahu and #Liberman are aware of this position. Hence, the press conference on May 30 was merely a masquerade for two leaders whose declared intention is to prevent a Palestinian state through the enhancement of settlement construction. They have no intention of engaging in serious peace negotiations. The European Union listened with curiosity and skepticism to the Israeli statements. No one in Brussels and the main #EU capitals believes that Netanyahu, now with Liberman at his flank, is actively interested in a two-state solution.

A senior EU official close to Federica Mogherini, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, told Al-Monitor after the Paris conference on condition of anonymity that the fact that Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) were not present was helpful to achieve a relatively successful outcome of the conference. In the view of the senior official, the principal outcome of the conference is the highlighting of the “importance of the implementation of the Arab Peace Initiative” in parallel to relevant UN Security Council resolutions (primarily Resolutions 243 and 338). The #US administration’s adherence to this text is important for future efforts, the EU official said.

This wording is very different than the reserved and qualified support for elements of the Arab Peace Initiative by Netanyahu and Liberman, who rejected the Paris communique outright. Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the PA are on board with this wording. According to the EU official, the wording of the joint communique of the Paris conference will now impact the content of the soon-to-be-published Quartet report. Mogherini is of the opinion that without a serious international diplomatic effort building on the outcome of the Paris conference, the situation in the #PA will deteriorate dangerously in relation to violence and the threats to the stability of the #Abbas regime.

The next steps that were discussed on the sidelines of the conference are related to an eventual Security Council resolution on halting violence and settlement expansion and on terms of reference for the two-state solution negotiations, along the Paris communique. The United States is opposed, at this point, to such a move. The #French will continue to work in favor of an international peace conference before the end of 2016, with the two parties invited.

All parties are now working with the Nov. 8 deadline (US presidential election) in mind, wishing also to create a policy platform for the next US administration.

Herzog blames Netanyahu for White House rejection of increased missile defense funding

Herzog calls for committee to be formed to investigate "Netanyahu's decision making process when it comes to national #security."

Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu's ego was to blame for US president Barack Obama administration opposing increasing defense aid for Israel's missile defense program, opposition leader Isaac Herzog said Wednesday. 

On Tuesday the White House released a statement opposing a call by US lawmakers to increase government funding for Israel's missile defense program by $455 million above the 2017 fiscal year budget request. Netanyahu's office denied that there was a rift with the Obama administration on the issue, but opposition MKs did not accept the denial.

 "This peculiar fight with our most important ally has erupted and now the citizens of Sderot and Kiryat Shmona will pay the price for Netanyahu's arrogance," #Herzog said in reference to Israeli border communities that are affected by rocket fire from #Gaza and #Lebanon. 

 #Herzog called for a committee to be formed to investigate Netanyahu's decision-making process when it comes to national security.

 Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid expressed concern saying "The White House's message this morning underlines the need to reach an agreement on an aid package as soon as possible, while maintaining our security interests." Lapid stressed the need to "rehabilitate" the ties with Washington "without waiting for the next administration."

 #Zionist Union MK Nachman Shai said #Netanyahu was mistaken if he believed Obama had a blank check for Israel.

 "There is a limit to how much we can bargain and argue and how much we can jeopardize our relationship with the US and sacrifice American Jews on the altar of funding," Shai said.

 By contrast, Kulanu MK Michael Oren indicated Wednesday that Congress, which supports the increased aid package, represented the American people's interests more accurately than the Obama administration.

 "Congress represents the will of the American people, and it transcends the administration of this president or any other," said Oren, who is a former ambassador to the #US.

 Oren's veiled criticism of the #Obama administration's decision was coupled with praise for congressional efforts to aid Israel.

 "While we appreciate the White House's willingness to sign a security agreement with us for the decade, #Congress' right and ability to strengthen #Israel's #security must be respected and upheld," #Oren said.

State Department Purged Emails About Secret Anti-Netanyahu Campaign
Key emails deleted despite requirement to archive
+Adam Kredo, +Washington Free Beacon  

A State Department official deleted emails that included information about a secret campaign to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the country’s last election, according to a Senate investigatory committee that determined the Obama administration transferred tax funds to anti-Netanyahu groups.

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations disclosed in a massive report on Tuesday that the Obama administration provided U.S. taxpayer dollars to the OneVoice Movement, a liberal group that waged a clandestine campaign to smear and oust Netanyahu from office.

OneVoice, which was awarded $465,000 in U.S. grants through 2014, has been under congressional investigation since 2015, when it was first accused of funneling money to partisan political groups looking to unseat Netanyahu. This type of behavior by non-profit groups is prohibited under U.S. tax law.

The investigation determined that OneVoice redirected State Department funds to anti-Netanyahu efforts and that U.S. officials subsequently erased emails containing information about the administration’s relationship with the non-profit group.

The disclosure comes amid a massive effort by Congress to reform the State Department’s email practices in light of former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential frontrunner’s Hillary Clinton’s mishandling of classified materials.

Keep reading: http://bit.ly/29CGjry

#obama  
#israel  
#netanyahu  
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#Egyptian president: #Putin willing to host #Netanyahu and #Abbas

OMG it's Alfred Hitchcock...

How Benjamin Netanyahu Is Crushing Israel’s Free Press

Benjamin Netanyahu AMIR COHEN/REUTERS

By RUTH MARGALIT
July 30, 2016
#NYT

In its annual report released this spring, Freedom House, an American democracy advocacy organization, downgraded #Israel’s freedom of the press ranking from “free” to “partly free.” To anyone following Israeli news media over the past year and a half, this was hardly surprising. Freedom House focused primarily on the “unchecked expansion” of paid content in editorial pages, as well as on the outsize influence of Israel Hayom (“Israel Today”), a free daily newspaper owned by the American casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and widely believed to promote the views of Prime Minister Benjamin #Netanyahu.

Israel Hayom’s bias is well documented. A 2013 investigative report on Israeli television revealed drafts of several articles written by the paper’s journalists that had been systematically changed by the editor in chief to remove criticism of the prime minister. For a newspaper to have a political agenda is, of course, nothing new. But Israel Hayom isn’t conservative or right wing in the broad sense. Rather, the paper megaphones whatever is in the interest of the prime minister. Naftali Bennett, a far-right government minister, has said

“Israel Hayom is Pravda — the mouthpiece of one man.”

In many ways, the Freedom House report missed the real worrying shifts. Mr. Netanyahu’s attempts to control the country’s pages and airwaves go much further than Israel Hayom. For the past 18 months, in addition to his prime ministerial duties, he has served as Israel’s communications minister (as well as its foreign minister, economy minister and minister of regional cooperation). In this role, he and his aides have brazenly leveraged his power to seek favorable coverage from outlets that he once routinely described as “radically biased.”

Efforts to stifle freedom of the press can be seen as part of a broader attack by Mr. Netanyahu and his ministers on Israel’s democratic institutions, including the Supreme Court and nongovernmental organizations. Dissent from the official government line is consistently called into suspicion. In this climate, the news media has become a personal battleground for Mr. Netanyahu. Nahum Barnea, a pre-eminent Israeli columnist, said last year that Mr. Netanyahu’s “obsession” with the news media showed him to be “gripped by fear and paranoia.”

On the first day after he was carried into a fourth term in office, Mr. Netanyahu took a seemingly small but unusual step: He fired the Communications Ministry’s director general and named in his stead a man best known for having once served as Mr. Netanyahu’s chief of staff. Any objections that this move may have raised were pre-empted by Mr. Netanyahu, who had already required all members of his coalition to sign a “communications clause,” guaranteeing their automatic support for any decision made in the future by the communications minister — in other words, by him.

Since the appointment of its new director general, the ministry has ruled on a series of decisions that have been highly advantageous to Bezeq, Israel’s largest telecommunications group. Bezeq also operates Walla News, one of the most popular news sites in the country, and a close associate of Mr. Netanyahu’s, Shaul Elovitch, owns a controlling stake.

It didn’t take long before the site’s coverage of the Netanyahu government turned decidedly positive. According to a recent report in the liberal newspaper #Haaretz, the site’s C.E.O. has issued directives to produce puff pieces about Mr. Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, and her “fashionable makeover”; to tone down headlines of op-eds critical of the prime minister; and to keep unflattering statistics, such as a recent poverty report, off its home page.

“What can management do?” a Walla News journalist lamented to me. “We’re threatened here by a combination of the most powerful politician in the country and one of the most powerful commercial companies in the country.”

:Walla News isn’t alone. An atmosphere of intimidation has begun to take hold in many, if not most, of the country’s newsrooms. A source in Israel Hayom,speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job, told me that the prime minister “holds everyone on a leash — everyone — not just us. With the other outlets, you might not realize what their interests are but they exist all the same.”

In broadcast journalism, Mr. Netanyahu has installed associates in positions of authority where he can, and has cast doubt on the financial future of places he can’t. All three of Israel’s main television news channels — Channel 2, Channel 10 and the Israel Broadcasting Authority — are now in danger of being fragmented, shut down or overhauled, respectively. The government’s official reason behind these moves is to open up the communications industry to more competition. But there seems to be a double standard: On other issues, like natural gas, the prime minister has been loath to take a stand against monopolies. As Ilana Dayan, a leading investigative journalist for Channel 2, told me: “Sometimes competition is the refuge of the antidemocrat.”

While journalists tend to rue these latest developments, many Israelis view Mr. Netanyahu’s battle for control over the news media as a long-overdue corrective after years of a liberal or left-wing bias. “Netanyahu’s supporters might be tired of him, but more than they are sick of him they despise the old leftist elites,” Amit Segal, a political correspondent for Channel 2, told me. This antagonism was two decades in the making. In 1999, speaking about the news media and its reaction to the prospects of his winning another general election, Mr. Netanyahu famously coined the slogan:

“They’re a-f-r-a-i-d.”

“At some point Netanyahu realized that his battle with the media makes him very popular among his base supporters,” Ms. Dayan said. “By catering to this base, the result has been a phenomenal success for him.”

If Mr. Netanyahu’s efforts to control the news media are indeed aimed at correcting a liberal bias, his actions have proved awfully narrow. His and his associates’ repeated interventions in editorial content haven’t propped up the ideological right or given voice to marginalized, conservative sectors of society. For Mr. Netanyahu, the stakes are personal. “Every time you see an appointment by Bibi of someone in the media, it’s meant either to help Sara or to help advance his own private affairs,” Mr. Segal told me, using the prime minister’s nickname.

Although for years the most widely read daily, Yediot Ahronot, and its owner took a decidedly anti-Netanyahu line, claims of left-wing bias fall flat these days, when most Israelis are getting their news from Israel Hayom or Walla News, and when the only remaining liberal bastion — Haaretz — struggles to stay afloat. And yet Mr. Netanyahu continues to present himself as a victim of a vindictive press.

The only heartening thing in all this is that news outlets are pushing back to maintain their independence. Investigative “60 Minutes”-type programs like “Uvda” (“Fact”) and “Hamakor” (“The Source”) continue to delve into government corruption and to air in prime-time slots. “Despite the assault on the press, the Israeli media remains very critical, very aggressive, and has a lot of chutzpah. It’s a kind of basic instinct that’s part of our DNA,” Ms. Dayan, who hosts Uvda, told me.

Earlier this year, Walla News’ diplomatic correspondent Amir Tibon wrote an article critical of Mr. Netanyahu’s response to the latest wave of Palestinian violence under the headline “Netanyahu’s Promises of Calm Replaced by Cheerleading.” Soon after the piece was published, Mr. Tibon was told that the prime minister’s office was pressuring editors to remove it from the website. Taking to Twitter, Mr. Tibon wrote of the prime minister’s “attempts to silence criticism.” Apparently as a result, his article remained in place. One thing did change, however: The word “Netanyahu” was removed from its headline.

Barak: Countdown to Netanyahu’s ouster has begun

Stepping up attack, ex-PM says government endangers Israel’s future, is anti-Zionist, and Netanyahu has ‘great talent for deceit’

Barak, 74, says he won't run again for PM, but will work to bring down coalition


Former prime minister Ehud Barak on Friday night charged that the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was anti-Zionist and a danger to the State of Israel, but said “the countdown” to its defeat had begun.

He said the prime minister was no political magician but “has a great talent for deceit.” And he urged party leaders of the center and left to work to oust him.

Stepping up his critique, Barak also charged that Netanyahu had presided over vicious incitement against Yitzhak Rabin in the period before the prime minister was assassinated in 1995.

Speaking to Channel 2 a day after a fiery anti-Netanyahu speech at the #Herzliya conference on Thursday in which he called for the government to be toppled by popular protest, Barak repeated the plea and asserted that a popular protest was a “legitimate form of protest in politics.”

In a sharp rebuke of #right-wing critics, Barak said he wanted to remind those on the right what their popular protest against the left looked like 20 years ago, in the lead up to the assassination of then prime minister Rabin, and to make clear he was advocating no such actions.


“I did not suggest we stage a symbolic funeral for the Right at the entrance to Ra’anana; I did not suggest I stand on a balcony in #Zion Square [in #Jerusalem] where down [in the street] there are pictures of Netanyahu dressed in an SS uniform; and I did not suggest we put up an effigy of the prime minister’s wife with her legs pointing upward. These three things happened with the personal involvement and guidance of [then opposition leader] Benjamin Netanyahu in the framework of the political battle against Yitzhak #Rabin who was then assassinated,” Barak said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) with then defense minister Ehud Barak attend a press conference at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, November 21, 2012. (Miriam Alster/FlashH90)

The former prime minister, who also served as defense minister under Netanyahu until 2013, repeated the criticisms he had made a day earlier in Herzliya that this government had lost its way, adding that Netanyahu’s days were numbered as prime minister.

“He needs to be replaced and thanked for everything he has done for the state — he’s done some things — but it’s time to go. We need to tell him: ‘For some reason, you’ve gone off the rails and you can’t get back on,'” Barak said, speaking of a “hijacked government with a heavy influence from the Likud central committee that has systematically ousted Likud members who adhered to the traditional values of the party.”

“What has happened this year was a turning point and came as a result of this #hijacking of the #Likud by the radical right,” Barak said.

“This government is made up only of right-wing parties; there is no balancing element. It is operating in devious ways, ways that endanger the State of #Israel,” he charged.

By contrast, when he was in government under Netanyahu, the key security cabinet included such Likud democrats as Benny #Begin, Moshe #Yaalon and Dan Meridor — all of whom are “committed to the rule of law” and all of whom are now gone, leaving a government without the necessary checks and balances.

Barak said he warned a year ago — at last year’s Herzliya conference — that Israel, under Netanyahu’s leadership, was losing its way.

“I said that the prime minister and the government have resorted to passivity, fear, victimhood and negativity [to run the country] and this is not how you run a country. That’s #anti-Zionism,” he said.

On Netanyahu’s popularity among Israelis, which saw his Likud party soar to 30 seats in last year’s elections, Barak said that as someone who defeated Netanyahu in national elections (in 1999), he remembers that the polls indicated a popularity with voters back then too, but that Netanyahu eventually lost.

“I can tell you that he has no magic. He knows how to work, he’s an intelligent guy, [but] there’s no magic, there’s nothing that can’t be overcome through some systematic work,” he said.

“Netanyahu has a significant talent for politics, and a great talent for deceit and, therefore, there are a lot of people who have been exposed for some time to false propaganda dealing with basic issues to do with the state — for example, this lie that #Israel’s security needs are incompatible with the idea of a two-state [solution to the #Palestinian conflict] — this is a lie,” he added.

Barak alleged that reading #Netanyahu’s responses over the past 24 hours, since his sharp remarks on Thursday, he could see the panic setting in.

“I’ve known Netanyahu since he was 20 years old, I can see the edges of panic. Netanyahu understands clearly that his days as prime minister are numbered, even if it takes months or years, they are numbered,” he said. “He recognizes that the countdown to the end of his prime ministership has begun, whether it now takes months, or a year, or a year and a half.”

The current leadership, he said, “speak like they have a spinal cord made of stainless steel. But they are the living representatives of the saying that it’s easier to take the people out of the Diaspora than the Diaspora out of the people.”

Barak urged all center and center-left parties to work together to change the government, naming party leaders Yair #Lapid (Yesh Atid), Moshe Kahlon ( #Kulanu), Isaac #Herzog (Zionist Union), Arye Deri ( #Shas) and Zehava Galon ( #Meretz).

Following Thursday’s speech, pundits speculated that Barak, 74, intended to return to political life, a move Barak did not reject outright on Friday. But he made clear he would not run for prime minister.

“I don’t believe the only options are to either run for prime minister or sit at home and shut up. There’s lots to do and I intend to act to change the situation. I intend to support the effort to change this situation, to bring down the government,” he said.

In a long response to #Barak’s remarks, the #Likud party said that Barak was a “failed politician and prime minister looking for a way back into the political fold.”

“It’s the reason he’s trying to stay in the public consciousness at any price, including his recent statements that contradict what he would say when he was sitting at the government table. Barak’s call to topple an elected government a year after the people have spoken so clearly, reminds us of the famous leftist slogan ‘change the people,'” the Likud said.



Israel's Netanyahu frequents Russia as U.S. influence in Mideast recedes

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu inspects the honour guard during a welcoming ceremony upon his arrival at Moscow's Vnukovo airport, Russia, June 6, 2016. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

With the Obama administration in its final months, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been a more frequent and feted visitor to Moscow than Washington, his eye on shifting big-power influence in the Middle East.

No one expects Netanyahu, who was hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday for the third time in the last year, to break up Israel's bedrock alliance with the United States. But he is mindful of Putin's sway in the Syrian civil war and other Middle East crises as the U.S. footprint in the region wanes.

"Netanyahu's not defecting, but what we see here is a bid to manoeuvre independently to promote Israel's interests," said Zvi Magen, a former Israeli ambassador to Russia now with Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies.

With Russian forces fighting alongside Iran and Lebanese #Hezbollah guerrillas to keep Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in power, Putin is the closest thing to a guarantor that Israel's three most potent enemies will not attack it from the north.

He is also the first port of call for Netanyahu's argument that #Assad's loss of central control vindicates Israel's de facto annexation of the #Golan Heights in 1981, a move never recognised internationally. Israel took the area in a 1967 war.

Netanyahu can offer Putin reciprocal Israeli restraint in Syria, where Russia maintains a strategic :Mediterranean base, and a chance to play a greater role in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking that has long been dominated by the United States.

With the Obama administration and France hinting they might back a future U.N. Security Council resolution against Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land, Netanyahu also has an interest in sounding out the views of veto-wielding #Russia.

Moscow's guest-list suggests mediation may be under way.

When Netanyahu last came, in April, it was three days after a visit by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. On Wednesday, when Netanyahu departs, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is scheduled to host Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Maliki.

FRIENDLY FIRE

Yaakov Amidror, one of Netanyahu's former national security advisers, played down the scope of Israeli-Russian relations. He said they focused on preventing the sides accidentally trading fire over Syria and were underpinned by Netanyahu's personal rapport with Putin - hence their meetings every few months.

By contrast, while Netanyahu and Obama have feuded on #Iran and the #Palestinians and are wrangling over a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) for future U.S. defence aid to Israel, their countries' partnership ticks over thanks to a network of military, diplomatic and parliamentary channels, Amidror said.

"In Syria, there is liable to be a clash tomorrow morning that neither we nor the Russians want," said Amidror, now with the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Israel's Bar-Ilan University and the U.S. think-tank JINSA, alluding to the risk of a friendly-fire incident.

"It's not like the MOU, which we can spend months discussing with the Americans and be assured a resolution will be found."

Russia has been closed-lipped about any wider statecraft initiatives it may have in store for Israel. The two countries "each express their positions in a pretty constructive manner, and all of this contributes to this rather frequent and intensive communication", #Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"But of course, there cannot be any talk of the intensity of these contacts reflecting any kind of rivalry with anyone," he added, alluding to Washington, where Netanyahu was last hosted by U.S. President Barack #Obama in November. A trip expected in March was cancelled given the difficult MOU talks.

That's different from the dignified optics #Netanyahu can be assured of in Russia. This time, he will leave with state gifts likely to buoy Israeli public opinion: an Israeli army tank captured by Syrian forces during battles in #Lebanon in 1982 and recovered by #Russia, and #Moscow's agreement to pay pensions to tens of thousands of Russian immigrants to #Israel.

NETANYAHU THE FIDDLER

Israel’s Willingness to ‘Negotiate’ With Egypt

Once I heard the following story from the then Swedish ambassador in Paris:

"In 1947, when the UN was discussing the plan to partition Palestine, I was a member of the subcommittee dealing with Jerusalem. One day, the Jews sent a new representative. His name was Abba #Eban. He spoke beautiful English, much better than the British or US members of the committee. He talked for about half an hour, and at the end there was not one person in the room who did not hate his guts."

I was reminded of this episode when I saw on TV the press conference held by Dore Gold, the Director General of our Foreign Office. Its subject was the recent Paris peace conference, which was vehemently denounced by our government.

From the moment I saw Gold for the first time I disliked him. He was our new ambassador to the UN. I told myself that my attitude was an unworthy rejection of foreign Jews ("Exile Jews" in Israeli slang). Gold speaks Hebrew with a very pronounced American accent and is no Apollo. I would have preferred as our representative an erect, Israeli-looking pioneer-type who speaks English with a pronounced Hebrew accent. (I know this sounds racist, and am thoroughly ashamed of myself.)

Gold’s conference was about the French peace initiative concerning the #Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

I have a lurking suspicion – it is still lurking around – that this is not really a French initiative, but a camouflaged American one.

It arouses the fury of the Israeli government, and no American president can do that if he wants – himself or his party – to be reelected.

There is a terrible fear haunting our government. Barack Obama abhors Netanyahu, and for good reason. But he cannot do anything against him openly – not until midnight on election day. Whether Hillary #Clinton or (God forbid) Donald #Trump is elected, #Obama remains in office for almost another three months after the elections – and in this period he is as free as a bird (as the Germans would say). He can do whatever he likes. Whatever he dreamed about, day and night, for eight long years. And what he dreamed about was Binyamin Netanyahu.

Ah, the sweet revenge. But only in November. Until then he has to dance to Netanyahu’s tune, unless he wants to hurt the #Democratic nominee.

So what can he do in June? He can farm things out. For example, ask the French to convene a peace conference to prepare the way for recognition of the State of Palestine.

Asking the French to convene a high-ranking conference in Paris is like asking the cat if it wants some milk. You don’t have to wait for an answer.

France, like Great Britain, is mourning its imperial past, when Paris was the center of the world and educated Germans and Russians, not to mention Egyptians and Vietnamese, spoke French. The passports of many nations were printed in that language.

That was the time when almost half the world appeared on the maps in French blue, while the other half appeared in British red. The time when the French diplomat Georges #Picot and his British colleague #Mark Sykes divided between them the #Ottoman Middle East, exactly a hundred years ago this week.

Having the foreign ministers (not to mention kings and presidents) of the world congregate in one of the many beautiful palaces of Paris is a French dream. The 'British, in much the same situation, would like the same, but are busy with the infantile urge to leave the European Union.

Whatever, what we have now is this French initiative, a glittering assembly of foreign ministers or their representatives, demanding the resumption of the peace negotiations within a limited time frame, with the declared aim of recognizing the Palestinian state.

Netanyahu loves France. He loves to amuse himself with his wife on the French Riviera, dine in the most expensive #Paris restaurants and live in the most luxurious Paris apartments – as long as others pay for it. This came out last week in the trial of a French Jew who is accused of swindles amounting to hundreds of millions of Euros, and who paid for several of the Netanyahu’s trips. Netanyahu does not believe in paying for his pleasures himself, and like the Queen possesses no credit card.

But enjoying French luxury is one thing, enjoying French diplomacy is something else. At this moment Netanyahu, when he is not occupied with his lawyers, devotes his time to defeating the French initiative.

Why, for god’s sake? What’s so bad about a gathering of the world’s top statesmen and stateswomen to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process? Well, practically everything!

This peace process is like a sleeping dog. A dangerous dog. While it sleeps, Netanyahu can get away with everything – deepening the #occupation of the Palestinian territories, expanding the settlements (quietly, quietly, don’t wake the dog!), do all the hundred daily things that make the occupation "irreversible". And here come the French and poke the dog in the ribs.

So what? people might ask. There have been conferences before, peace processes galore, international resolutions. If another large conference is convened and the details of a peace agreement discussed, Israel will not attend and Netanyahu will ignore the whole thing. How many times has this happened before? It will hardly deserve a yawn.

But this time it may be different. Not in itself, but because of the international atmosphere.

Slowly, very slowly, #Israel’s international horizon is darkening. Small things are happening every day all around the world. A resolution here, a boycott there, a condemnation, a demonstration. The Israel that was universally admired disappeared long ago.

The BDS movement is immensely successful. It does not really hurt the Israeli economy. But it creates a mood, first on the campuses and then around them. Jewish institutions are sending SOS messages.

By now, the Jewish institutions themselves have been infected. The daily news about the happenings in the occupied territories and even in Israel proper hurt #Jews, and especially the young ones. Many of them turn their backs on Israel, some become actively engaged against it.

Israel is a strong country. It has a very large #military, the most modern weapons, a sound economy (especially high-tech), frequent diplomatic successes.

This is no second South Africa, as the #BDS people would like to see it. There are huge differences. The apartheid regime was led by #Nazi sympathizers, while Israel is still riding the worldwide wave of #Holocaust era penitence and remorse. South Africa depended on its rebellious black labor force, Israel imports foreign labor from many countries.

Israel does not really depend on #American financial aid. This aid is a luxury, not more. It needs the #US veto against hostile proposals in the UN, but it can – and does – generally ignore the #UN.

Yet, taken all in all, Israel’s worsening international standing is worrying. Even #Netanyahu is worried. Slowly but surely the world is accepting the State of Palestine as a fact of life and as a condition for peace.

So Netanyahu is looking around for a new trick. And what does he see? Egypt!

Israel’s relations with #Egypt go back a few thousand years. Egypt was already a regional power when the original Israelite people came into being. After the exodus from Egypt (which never really happened) the #Bible tells us of many ups and downs in the relations between powerful Egypt and little Israel.

When the Assyrians laid siege to Jerusalem and the Judeans hoped for help from Egypt, the Assyrian general mocked: "Thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, upon #Egypt, on which, if a man lean, it will go into his hand and pierce it!" (2 Regnum 18 and Isaiah 36)

Now the current Pharaoh, Abd al-Fattah a-Sisi, is Netanyahu’s great hope. Egypt, bankrupt as ever, depends on Saudi Arabia. The #Saudis (secretly) depend on Israel in their fight against Iran and Bashar Assad. So a-Sisi is also a (secret) ally of Israel.

To bolster his stature, a-Sisi also poses as a peacemaker. He calls for a "regional" peace initiative.

In his diatribe against the #French, Dore Gold lauded the Egyptian peace initiative. He accused the French of sabotaging it, and thereby preventing peace.

Netanyahu also verbally accepted the Egyptian initiative, adding that it needs only "a few changes".

Indeed it does. #Sisi bases his plan on the 2002 #Saudi peace initiative, which had been adopted by the Arab league and become the Arab peace initiative. This demands that Israel leave all the occupied territories (including the #Golan and East #Jerusalem), accept the State of Palestine, the Right of Return of Palestinian refugees etc.) Netanyahu would die a thousand deaths before accepting any one of these.

Using the Egyptian plan as a pretext for rejecting the French plan is sheer chutzpah, based on the cynical assumption that one can indeed cheat all the world all the time.

"Regional", by the way, is the new buzzword. It came up some time ago, and even some well-meaning Israelis adopted it. "Regional peace", how beautiful.

Instead of talking about peace with the hated Palestinians, let’s talk about peace with the "region". Sounds good. But it is total nonsense.

No Arab leader, from Morocco to Iraq, will sign a peace agreement with #Israel that does not include the end of the occupation and the creation of a Palestinian state. No one can. The masses of his people will not let him. Even Anwar #al-Sadat included these provisions in his peace treaty with Menachem #Begin (though in terms that could easily be broken).

When in 1949 my friends and I first put forward the solution that has become known as "two states for two peoples", it included, as a matter of course, peace with the entire #Arab world. And peace with the Arab world will include, as a matter of course, peace with the State of #Palestine. The two go together, like Siamese twins.

Speaking now of "regional peace" as an alternative to peace with the #Palestinians is nonsense. "Regional peace" in that sense means no #peace.

http://original.antiwar.com/avnery/2016/06/10/israels-willingness-negotiate-egypt/

When Doves Cry: Labor MK Yacimovich calls out Netanyahu and Lieberman's dovish remarks as hypocrisy

"When I see Netanyahu and Lieberman suddenly floating words of peace, surrounded by the humming of doves, I cannot but imagine them next wringing those doves' heads and baking them in an oven, stuffed with what's left of the Labor Party if we join them based on these words, god forbid."

O.k. now we have the ovens out, metaphorically. Chef Bibi's recipe for peace, Dove Avigdor? "If talk turns to deeds," Yacimovich said. Well, what if they don't? Don't you think that will be a little hard to swallow for #Erdogan #Sisi and the rest of the Middle East? Sounds like a recipe for disaster unless he's going to serve up a two state proposal not a two course meal. Got Peace or is that extra? I thought this was a coalition, not a dinner party.

Labor lawmaker uses gruesome metaphor to describe what would happen if her party joined the coalition based on the prime minister and defense minister's 'words of #peace.'

New calls for peace with the #Palestinians made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor #Lieberman are nothing but talk, prominent Labor Party lawmaker Shelly #Yacimovich said Saturday, even as her party leader was rumored to have resumed his efforts to bring the party into #Netanyahu's government. 


During the past few weeks, Netanyahu tried to form an alternative political process with a few #Arab nations, led by #Egypt. This push, started by opposition leader Isaac 'Herzog together with former British prime minister Tony #Blair and other international sources, was meant to legitimize a deal for Herzog's entry into the government. When the far-right Lieberman entered the government instead, he issued several dovish statements, including an affirmation of support for the #two-state solution. 

Yacimovich, however, was less than impressed, saying that Zionist Union can support a push for peace just as easily from the opposition's benches. "If Netanyahu and Lieberman lead a real process, our finger will be there, we'll be a constructive opposition."

If talk turns to deeds, Yacimovich said, the discussion over #ZionistUnion's joining the coalition can be reopened. "I pledge that in an opportunity for real drama I'll be the one who makes sure we don't miss it," she said. 

Yacimovich warned that joining Netanyahu's government under current conditions would annihilate the party, "politically, ideologically and morally," and slammed her party leader #Herzog for weakening Zionist Union. 

"Herzog never accepted the fact that he's the head of the opposition, and never led a strong opposition to Netanyahu," she said, adding that there was a strong chance that she would seek the party leadership herself. 

Signs that the move to add the Zionist Union to the government is still on the table grew in recent days. Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon publicly called on Herzog to join the coalition. Netanyahu even clarified in a speech to the Knesset plenum that he's holding on to the foreign affairs portfolio and other portfolios ahead of the party's possible entrance to the coalition.

In the meanwhile, the past few weeks have seen a real weakening in the Zionist Union lawmakers' opposition to joining the government.


HIS DAYS ARE NUMBERED - Prime Minister Benjamin #Netanyahu is suspected of being involved in a money laundering scheme and will face questioning by police soon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to be questioned as a criminal suspect over money laundering allegations after police questioned his former aide in a 14-hour integration that reportedly focused largely on the prime minister, Israel's Channel 2 reported Friday. Ari Harow, Netanyahu's former chief of staff, was detained for questioning Thursday upon landing at Ben-Gurion International Airport.

It was first believed that the integration concerned Harow's own legal issues regarding the sale of his consulting firm. However, Channel 2 aired a report Friday indicated that law-enforcement officials were instead interested in the conduct of #Netanyahu. The report said that information was provided to police by a source close to the prime minister, prompting the investigation.

Attorney General Avihai Mandelblit announced last Sunday that an investigation related to Netanyahu would be opened concerning an alleged money laundering operation. The investigation will not only be carried out in Israel but the #UnitedStates and France as well. Netanyahu is accused of receiving foreign funding for trips abroad during his time as foreign minister, as well as receiving illegal campaign funds from French fraudster Arnaud Mimran.

Two senior officials who worked with Netanyahu and members of his family are also expected to brought in for questioning. One associate has already been questioned by police.  Netanyahu is expected to be questioned soon. The Channel 2 report specified that Netanyahu will be brought in for questioning “under caution,” which in #IsraeliLaw means the subject might be charged with a crime.

Israeli police recommended in May that Netanyahu's wife, Sara, be arrested and indicted on counts of fraud over using government funds to pay for improvements to their private home in Caesarea, a town located midway between #TelAviv and Haifa.



Ugandan President Refers to Israel as 'Palestine' during Netanyahu Visit-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin #Netanyahu (L) walks with Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni (R) after arriving to commemorate the 40th anniversary of #Operation Entebbe at the Entebbe airport in Uganda

KAMPALA UGANDA- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited #Uganda on Monday, kicking off a four-country tour of East Africa. The trip is seen as a significant event for the region, which no Israeli leader had visited in 30 years."

However, the day was marred by controversy when Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's repeatedly referred to #Israel as Palestine during a speech. The president was talking about Operation Entebbe, in which Israeli commandos rescued hostages from Uganda's Entebbe International Airport after an Air France flight was hijacked by Palestinian militants.

"The sad event, 40 years ago, turned into another bond linking #Palestine to #Africa," Museveni said. "I said this is yet another bond between Africa and Palestine because there were earlier bonding events." Many Ugandans openly wondered on Twitter who could have written his speech, predicting that heads would roll for the mistake. Others called the mix-up "gafffetastic," while some wondered about Museveni's state of mind.

Israelis on Twitter also lashed out at the mix-up, calling the president's speech rambling and bizarre, and reporting that the Israeli radio broadcaster cut off the speech before it finished.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) inspects a guard of honor after arriving at the Entebbe airport in Uganda, July 4, 2016.

So far there has been no response from Netanyahu.

Ofwono Opondo, a spokesperson with the Ugandan government, quickly tweeted out a defense of the Israel/Palestine mix-up, saying, "The whole of that land was originally known as Palestine so Museveni's reference isn't wrong.

Palestinians claim the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip as land for a prospective future state.

Opposition to commemoration

During the June 1976 hijacking, the airplane was flown to Entebbe. Then-president of Uganda, Idi Amin, threw his support behind the hijackers. However the standoff came to an end on the night of July 4th, when Israeli commandos stormed the airport and rescued 102 hostages.

The operation ended with 45 Ugandan casualties and one Israeli casualty, the older brother of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The 40-year anniversary of the event was marked with reflections on the budding relationship between Israel and Uganda.

However, some Ugandans are appalled that the Ugandan government would commemorate the Entebbe raid. One Ugandan man, who did not wish to be identified, says he lost his uncle during the raid, and he doesn't understand why the breaching of sovereign borders is being remembered in a positive light.

"Today goes down as a sad day to these brave men who abandoned everything to serve their country. Netanyahu thinks his brother who died here is the only life that matters," he said. "It's betrayal. Ugandan #soldiers stood up to defend the country's sovereignty from a foreign attack — it doesn't matter why they attacked — they breached our borders, our soldiers died in the line of duty. You can come here to celebrate the invasion and remember Netanyahu's brother? It's utter betrayal."

*The Israeli prime minister will also be heading to #Kenya, #Rwanda and #Ethiopia during his tour, in which he is expected to discuss issues of regional investment and security.



Netanyahu as mediator between Russia and Turkey?

Moscow and Ankara have softened their rhetoric after months of bitter exchanges. Does this indicate that they are ready to begin a dialogue? Analysts discuss whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can help Russia and Turkey arrive at an understanding.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Moscow on June 7. Source: Mikhail Metzel / TASS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Moscow on June 7 was officially stated to commemorate 25 years of diplomatic relations between Russia and Israel. Some analysts, however, also see a hidden agenda. Russia and Turkey are both seeking a mediator to help them re-establish ties, and Israel is ideal for this role.

Softening rhetoric

The harsh rhetoric between Moscow and Ankara since Turkey shot down a Russian jet on its border with Syria last November has shown recent signs of softening. During a visit to #Greece on May 27, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly said he wished to improve relations with Turkey.

"We have not heard any apologies. And we have not heard of Turkey's readiness to compensate for the damage. But we have heard statements expressing the desire to re-establish relations,” said #Putin.

“We also wish to re-establish relations. We did not destroy them. We had done everything possible over the last decades to elevate Russian-Turkish relations to an unprecedented level of partnership and friendship," he said.

Turkey reacted three days later, on May 30, when Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt #Çavuşoğlu proposed the creation of a working group to normalize bilateral relations. The #Kremlin responded saying that a working group would not solve the problems. Only the Turkish government could do that.

Responding to journalists’ questions on May 31, Turkish President Recep Tayyip #Erdogan said, "It is difficult for me to understand which first steps Russia expects us to take. We as a country are not at fault. We want to develop our relations with Russia."

Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, perforce, had to reiterate Moscow’s requirements for the benefit of his Turkish counterparts: an apology, compensation and punishment of those responsible for downing the Russian jet and subsequent death of one of its pilots.

Will Ankara accept the demands?

"Moscow has clearly stated its position," said Viktor Nadein-Rayevsky, a Turkey specialist and senior scientific collaborator at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations. "Turkey must act in accordance with these requirements."

However, Nadein-Rayevsky doubts that Turkey will make any concessions.

"The Turks really want to improve relations with Russia. They are facing bigger economic losses, in agriculture and in tourism,” he said. “Currently Turkey is actively looking for loopholes to normalize relations. But I don't think that Erdogan will apologize personally. This would be a big blow to his name."

In Nadein-Raevsky's view, without an apology from #Ankara, it is meaningless to speak about normalization of relations between Turkey and Russia.

Israel not the best candidate for the role of mediator

There has already been talk of a mediator defusing the Russia-Turkey conflict. Names including those of #Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have been proposed.

Nadein-Rayevsky believes the Israeli Prime Minister is not the best choice.

"The choice of Netanyahu as mediator is completely illogical," he said. "Turkey and Israel themselves need a mediator. They still haven't re-established their relations 100 percent."

There was an incident between them in May 2010, involving Turkey's Freedom Flotilla, which was then bringing humanitarian aid to the blockaded #Gaza Strip. As the ship broke through the blockade, Israeli border guards opened fire, and eight Turkish citizens died. After the incident, relations between the two countries drastically deteriorated, becoming so bad that diplomatic ties were downgraded and low-ranking officials maintained them.

Hasan Oktay, a Turkish analyst and head of the Baku-based Caucasus Strategic Studies Centre, however believes Israel could play a successful role as a mediator to defuse the Russian-Turkish conflict. He argues that the June 7 appointment as Turkish vice prime minister of Tuğrul Türkeş, famed for his good contacts with #Israel, was no coincidence.

“Israel can definitely become a mediator. Such a move would guarantee security in the region and both #Russia and #Turkey would only gain from this mediation," said Oktay.

Nadein-Rayevsky does not agree, however, describing talk of #Netanyahu as a mediator as “just journalistic fantasies and nothing else."

My Time With the Netanyahu Brothers
Jeffrey Gettleman, +The New York Times 

...Yoni is an icon. He was the ideal Israeli. It wasn’t simply that he was handsome, intelligent, adventurous and patriotic; he seemed to embody a sense of sacrifice, of serving a cause greater than his own — one he deeply believed in, though it wasn’t easy on him. He left behind hundreds of letters that were posthumously published, illuminating a man who was half warrior, half poet and who constantly struggled to reconcile the two.

“When you are wounded, and alone, in the midst of a scorched field, surrounded by smoke — mushrooms of smoke from exploding shells, with your arm shattered and burning with a terrible pain,” he wrote to his parents, “then life becomes more precious and craved-for than ever. You want to embrace it and go on with it, to escape from all the blood and death, to live, live, even without hands and feet, but breathing, thinking, feeling, seeing.”

He toggled back and forth between war and college, getting wounded, going to Harvard, getting married, getting divorced — all by age 26. His life was a window into such a different time, when Israel was new and its existence incredibly fragile. I found it hard to read about Yoni without thinking that the things I had done at his age — going to grad school, painting houses, backpacking around the world — were small and inconsequential. By age 30, Yoni had been promoted to commander of one of the most elite, secretive and deadly commando units anywhere in the world: the Sayeret Matkal of the Israeli Army, known simply as “The Unit.”

“I’ve learned since how to kill at close range, too — to the point of pressing the muzzle against the flesh,” Yoni wrote toward the end of his life. “It adds a whole dimension of sadness to a man’s being. Not a momentary, transient sadness, but something that sinks in and is forgotten, yet is there and endures.”

About Benyamin Netanyahu, Gettleman writes:

We climbed the steps of a blocklike office building on a sunny hillside in Jerusalem. The prime minister’s office suite was about the size of my high school principal’s and not much fancier. Mr. Netanyahu, several aides, a photographer, a lean security guard, Isabel and I all crammed into a small room adjacent to Mr. Netanyahu’s primary office. I eased myself down into a scabby chair with some of its leather rubbed off.

...When it came time to fly from Tel Aviv to Entebbe, I was struck again by the shabby surroundings. The prime minister does not have his own plane; he basically borrows a jet from El Al, Israel’s national airline. For this trip, it was an older one. The bathroom sinks were scratched-up stainless steel; the carpet was worn and nubby. This was no Air Force One.

Read the whole thing: http://nyti.ms/29HSINM

Below: Follow Me: The Yoni Netanyahu Story Official Trailer #1 (2012) HD Movie Video by Movieclips Trailers

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