End Times and Current Events

General Category => Israel => Topic started by: Mark on November 08, 2013, 09:18:00 am



Title: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on November 08, 2013, 09:18:00 am
Obama secretly lifted Iran sanctions months ago...

Long before a nuclear deal was in reach, the U.S. was quietly lifting some of the financial pressure on Iran, a Daily Beast investigation reveals. How the sanctions were softened.

The Obama administration began softening sanctions on Iran after the election of Iran’s new president in June, months before the current round of nuclear talks in Geneva or the historic phone call between the two leaders in September.

While those negotiations now appear on the verge of a breakthrough the key condition for Iran—relief from crippling sanctions—began quietly and modestly five months ago.

A review of Treasury Department notices reveals that the U.S. government has all but stopped the financial blacklisting of entities and people that help Iran evade international sanctions since the election of its president, Hassan Rouhani, in June.

rest: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/08/exclusive-obama-s-secret-iran-d-tente.html


Title: Re: Obama secretly lifted Iran sanctions months ago...
Post by: Mark on November 08, 2013, 09:20:11 am
Obama secretly lifted Iran sanctions months ago...

Long before a nuclear deal was in reach, the U.S. was quietly lifting some of the financial pressure on Iran, a Daily Beast investigation reveals. How the sanctions were softened.

The Obama administration began softening sanctions on Iran after the election of Iran’s new president in June, months before the current round of nuclear talks in Geneva or the historic phone call between the two leaders in September.

While those negotiations now appear on the verge of a breakthrough the key condition for Iran—relief from crippling sanctions—began quietly and modestly five months ago.

A review of Treasury Department notices reveals that the U.S. government has all but stopped the financial blacklisting of entities and people that help Iran evade international sanctions since the election of its president, Hassan Rouhani, in June.

rest: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/08/exclusive-obama-s-secret-iran-d-tente.html

Kerry says aims to close 'important gaps' in Iran nuclear talks

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday important gaps needed to be bridged in high-stakes talks with Iran on curbing its nuclear program and he would meet Tehran's foreign minister shortly to try to clinch an interim deal.
 
"I want to emphasize there is not an agreement at this point," Kerry said shortly after arriving in Geneva, tempering rising anticipation of a breakthrough that would reduce the risk of a Middle East war over Iran's nuclear aspirations.
 
"We hope to try to narrow these differences but I don't think anybody should mistake there are some important gaps that have to be closed," he told reporters.
 
Midway through the second round of negotiations since Iran elected a moderate president who opened doors to a peaceful solution to the nuclear dispute, Kerry joined fellow big power foreign ministers in Geneva to help cement a preliminary accord, with Israel warning they were making an epic mistake.


rest: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/israel-rejects-completely-mooted-nuclear-deal-iran-081555128.html


Iran nuclear talks: Benjamin Netanyahu lashes out against deal

 Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, warns that US and West are handing Iran the 'deal of the century'


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/10435430/Iran-nuclear-talks-Benjamin-Netanyahu-lashes-out-against-deal.html


Netanyahu: 'This Is a Bad Deal--a Very, Very Bad Deal'

A very unusual statement from the Israel prime minister on the eve of a possible nuclear detail between the U.S. and Iran:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/netanyahu-bad-deal-very-very-bad-deal_766449.html


Report: Kerry Threatening Israel with Sanctions

Is Secretary of State John Kerry using the threat of tougher European Union sanctions on Israel to press Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into land concessions with the Palestinians? Kerry is in Israel in an effort to advance negotiations between the Jewish state and the Palestinian Authority.   

http://www.bibleprophecyblog.com/2013/11/report-kerry-threatening-israel-with.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BibleProphecyBlog+%28Bible+Prophecy+Blog%29#

Under Muslim Obama, Amerika has turned its back on Israel.


Title: Re: Obama secretly lifted Iran sanctions months ago...
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 08, 2013, 12:02:56 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/173771#.Un1CSTHTnIV
Kerry to Meet with Ashton, Zarif for Talks; Imminent Deal?

Kerry travels to Geneva for 3-way Iran nuclear talks with Iranian FM and EU's Ashton, concerns of sanctions relief for token gestures.

11/8/13

US Secretary of State John Kerry is travelling to Geneva Friday for three-way talks on Iran's nuclear program with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton according to the AFP.

The ongoing talks, conducted by six global powers (G5+1), appear to be reaching an imminent deal which is feared to relieve sanctions on the Iranian regime in exchange for a token partial freezing of the country's nuclear program.

Agreements appear to be approaching, as Thursday Zarif closed the first day of talks saying a deal could be reached Friday. US President Barak Obama reflected the conciliatory stance, saying a deal with Iran was better than a confrontation.

Ashton's involvement in the negotiations is also seen as troubling, since she has displayed antagonism towards Israel in the past.

In 2012 Ashton joined Arab olive pickers on land which is in Area C, the Judea and Samaria territory that is under Israeli military and administrative control according to agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). The controversial move was seen by many as supporting the ongoing incitement campaign against Israel in the international media by the PA, which preys on the ignorance of Western journalists to claim that normal olive harvesting techniques are incidents of anti-Arab vandalism.

In late October Ashton, also called on the PA-based Fatah and Hamas factions to reconcile so as to hasten the "two state solution" creating a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria.

Iran for its part is anxious to have the economic sanctions lifted on it. AFP reports that the sanctions have cut oil revenues by more than half, caused the state currency, the rial, to plunge, and pushed inflation over 40%.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu strongly rejected the proposals in a meeting with Kerry right before his departure for Geneva. Netanyahu said Israel "utterly rejects" the deal which gives Iran all it wants and requires mere token gestures from it.

The Israeli PM warned Thursday that a deal with Iran is shaping up to be a mistake of "historic proportions," while on Wednesday he warned Kerry directly that the recent "death to America" day held in Iran showed the regime's true face.

Many are concerned over the proposals, as just this Thursday Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said the Iranian nuclear threat is Israel's greatest security challenge.


Title: Re: Obama secretly lifted Iran sanctions months ago...
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 09, 2013, 07:49:26 pm
Talks between Iran and West end without nuclear deal

Prospect of Saturday signing scuppered by France’s insistence on harsher terms; sides to meet again in Geneva on November 20


By Times of Israel staff and AP November 10, 2013, 1:28 am
http://www.timesofisrael.com/talks-between-iran-and-the-west-continue-into-the-night/

Talks in Geneva between world powers and Iran ended early Sunday morning without a deal on Iran’s rogue nuclear program, after hitting a snag on Saturday when France questioned the terms of a proposed agreement. The sides agreed to meet again in Geneva on November 20, but at the level of “political directors” rather than foreign ministers.

France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the talks had managed to narrow differences without eliminating them and that there were still questions to be dealt with in future rounds.

“From the start, France wanted an agreement to the important question of Iran’s nuclear program,” he said, according to Sky News. “The Geneva meeting allowed us to advance, but we were not able to conclude because there are still some questions to be addressed.”

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton also said a lot of progress had been made. At a joint press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Ashton said, “We’re not going into the details of our discussions but I pay tribute to all the ministers, including Laurent Fabius’s attempt to try and help support this process.”

Ashton appeared more disappointed than Zarif that the marathon negotiations had failed to yield an agreement. A relaxed and smiling Zarif, indeed, said it was “natural that when we start dealing with the details there would be differences of views, and we expected that.”

He said he was “not disappointed at all” that a final deal had proved elusive, and asked directly whether he attributed the failure to France, chose not to assign blame. He said he had been hoping to find “the political will to end this” nuclear standoff, and said, “I think we’re all on the same wavelength.” This would give the sides the “impetus” to move forward next time — “something to build on,” he said. If there weren’t differences, he added, smiling again, the sides would not have needed to meet.

Chances of bridging all differences appeared to diminish as the day went on, but efforts continued until after midnight. The foreign ministers of the P5+1 delegations held a last-ditch meeting late Saturday, and were later joined by Zarif, in an apparent effort to salvage the talks.

Zarif earlier held a reported five-hour trilateral meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry and Ashton over the contents of a draft agreement.

The Iranian foreign minister also held meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ashton, after which Lavrov and Kerry also met.

Israel lobbied hard against the deal on Saturday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz reported to have spoken to representatives of some of the P5+1 nations. US President Barack Obama called Netanyahu on Friday after the prime minister publicly castigated the emerging deal as “very, very bad” and “dangerous” and said he had pleaded with Kerry not to sign it. Netanyahu also spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Fabius said earlier that Tehran was resisting demands that it suspend work on a plutonium-producing reactor and downgrade its stockpile of higher-enriched uranium to a level that cannot quickly be turned into the core of an atomic bomb. His remarks to France-Inter radio were the first to provide some specifics on the obstacles at the Geneva talks.

more


Title: Re: Obama secretly lifted Iran sanctions months ago...
Post by: Mark on November 18, 2013, 11:53:11 am
International Negotiations With Iran Are a ‘Facade’ — Secret Deal Allegedly Already Struck Directly With Valerie Jarrett

An Israeli television network reported Sunday night that Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to President Barack Obama, has been holding secret talks with the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, and that the international negotiations underway in Geneva are merely a “facade” covering up a deal whose terms have already been decided.
 
The report on Israel’s Channel 10 quoted unnamed senior Israeli officials who said that the talks, which have reportedly been underway for a year, have been held in various Persian Gulf states.
 
Exactly one year ago, the Israeli newspaper Ynet reported that Jarrett was beginning to communicate behind the scenes with representatives of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
 
Israeli government officials are reportedly angry that the Obama administration has reportedly not been keeping Israel abreast of the latest developments regarding talks with Iran over curbing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
 
“…(T)he administration did not keep Israel fully informed on those talks, Channel 10 news reported, but Jerusalem nonetheless has a pretty clear picture of what has been going on in the secret channel,” the Times of Israel reported.
 
But according to the Israeli outlet Haaretz, White House National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said that the report about the deal was “absolutely, 100 percent false.”
 
The Times of Israel provided more information on the Hebrew report:
 
In the course of the talks, the report said, the Americans offered the Iranians a series of “confidence-building measures,” which underlined American readiness to conclude a deal and undercut sanctions pressure.
 
It was the deal discussed in these secret talks, the report said, that the Americans then brought to Geneva earlier this month, where it was largely adopted by the P5+1 nations — the US, Britain, France, Russia, China, plus Germany.[…]
 
According to Channel 10, the secret channel marginalized [Secretary of State John] Kerry, and was overseen by the president. The idea had been for Kerry merely to fly to Geneva, as he did last Friday, to sign a deal in which he had been a bit player.

The last round of talks in Geneva broke up without agreement after France reportedly objected to its terms, with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius calling it “a sucker’s deal.” A new round of talks resumes Wednesday.
 
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly called the proposed deal “bad” and “dangerous.” The Israel Hayom new site characterized Israeli officials as being “vexed” by learning of the alleged Jarrett meetings.
 
TheBlaze cannot verify if the meetings did indeed take place. Some Middle East watchers have expressed skepticism via Twitter due to the report being based on unnamed Israeli sources.
 
Israeli sources also told Channel 10 that they believe an agreement with Iran is “closer than ever.”

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/11/18/report-international-negotiations-with-iran-are-a-facade-secret-deal-allegedly-already-struck-directly-with-valerie-jarrett/


Title: Re: Obama secretly lifted Iran sanctions months ago...
Post by: Mark on November 20, 2013, 02:09:16 pm
Obama Turns On Israel

Barack Obama’s March 2013 trip to Israel had a too-good-to-be-true feel about it. While barely pressuring on Israel, he instructed Palestinians not to set preconditions for negotiations and admonished them to “recognize that Israel will be a Jewish state.” It felt out of character, suggesting a price to be paid later.

Well, that price has now, eight months later, been revealed and it has two components. If I might paraphrase the U.S. position: “First, sit by quietly as we reach an accord with Tehran that freezes but does not dismantle its nuclear buildup. Second, stop the illegitimate residential construction on the West Bank or the Palestinian Authority will, with American acquiescence, start a third intifada.”
Israeli responses to the two demands have been stark, blunt unlike anything in memory. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu blasted the prospective Iran deal as a “monumental mistake” and after meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry warned:

I reminded him that he said that no deal is better than a bad deal. And the deal that is being discussed in Geneva right now is a bad deal. It’s a very bad deal. Iran is not required to take apart even one centrifuge. But the international community is relieving sanctions on Iran for the first time after many years. Iran gets everything that it wanted at this stage and pays nothing. And this is when Iran is under severe pressure. I urge Secretary Kerry not to rush to sign, to wait, to reconsider, to get a good deal. But this is a bad deal, a very, very, bad deal. It’s the deal of a century for Iran; it’s a very dangerous and bad deal for peace and the international community.
Economy and Commerce Minister Naftali Bennett was even more direct, even raising the prospect of an Iranian nuclear bomb destroying New York City:

These critical days in November will be remembered for years to come. The Free World stands before a fork in the road with a clear choice: Either stand strong and insist Iran dismantles its nuclear-weapons program, or surrender, cave in and allow Iran to retain its 18,500 centrifuges. Years from now, when an Islamic terrorist blows up a suitcase in New York, or when Iran launches a nuclear missile at Rome or Tel Aviv, it will have happened only because a Bad Deal was made during these defining moments.

Like in a boxing match, Iran’s regime is currently on the floor. The count is just seconds away from 10. Now is the time to step up the pressure and force Iran to dismantle its nuclear program. Not to let it up. It would be dangerous to lift the sanctions and accept a deal which allows Iran to retain its entire uranium-production line. It would be dangerous because Iran would, a year, two or three from now, just turn everything back on and obtain a nuclear weapon before the world can do anything to stop it. It is not enough to shut off the centrifuges. They need to be completely dismantled. We call upon the West to avoid signing a Bad Deal.
Israel’s responsibility is to ensure the security of its citizens and that is exactly what we will do. We will never outsource our security.
On the Palestinian issue, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon took the lead:

There is no need to fear threats of whether there will or won’t be a third intifada. We have been in an open and ongoing conflict [with the Palestinians], which as far as the Palestinians are concerned does not end in 1967 lines. There is Sheikh Munis, [their name for] Tel Aviv, Majdal, [their name for] Ashkelon. We got out of the Gaza Strip and they continue to attack us. They raise their youth to believe that Haifa and Acre are Palestinian ports and more. There is no sign of compromise here. … We will have to be smart, and not fear threats of whether there will or won’t be a third intifada.

I wrote before the last presidential election that “Israel’s troubles will really begin” should Obama win second term. At Obama’s second inauguration, I predicted that he, “freed from re-election constraints, can finally express his early anti-Zionist views after a decade of political positioning. Watch for a markedly worse tone from the second Obama administration toward the third Netanyahu government.”


http://balfourpost.com/obama-turns-on-israel/


Title: Iran, six world powers clinch breakthrough nuclear deal
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 23, 2013, 09:41:01 pm
It's OFFICIAL now!

http://news.yahoo.com/iran-nuclear-deal-reached-geneva-021222943.html
11/23/13
Iran, six world powers clinch breakthrough nuclear deal

GENEVA (Reuters) - Iran and six world powers reached a breakthrough agreement early on Sunday to curb Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for limited sanctions relief, in a first step towards resolving a dangerous decade-old standoff.

The deal between the Islamic state and the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia was nailed down after more than four days of negotiations.

"We have reached an agreement," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced on his Twitter feed. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius also confirmed the deal.

Iran will get access to $4.2 billion in foreign exchange as part of the accord, a Western diplomat said. No other details of the agreement were immediately available.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and foreign ministers of the five other world powers joined the negotiations with Iran early on Saturday as the two sides appeared to be edging closer to a long-sought preliminary agreement.

The talks were aimed at finding a package of confidence-building steps to ease decades of tensions and banish the specter of a Middle East war over Tehran's nuclear aspirations.

The Western powers' goal had been to cap Iran's nuclear energy program, which has a history of evading U.N. inspections and investigations, to remove any risk of Tehran covertly refining uranium to a level suitable for bombs.

Tehran denies it would ever "weaponise" enrichment.

The draft deal that had been under discussion in Geneva would see Iran suspend its higher-grade uranium enrichment in exchange for the release of billions of dollars in Iranian funds frozen in foreign bank accounts, and renewed trade in precious metals, petrochemicals and aircraft parts.
Refined uranium can be used to fuel nuclear power plants - Iran's stated goal - but also provide the fissile core of an atomic bomb if refined much further.

Diplomacy was stepped up after the landslide election of Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, as Iranian president in June, replacing bellicose nationalist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Rouhani aims to mend fences with big powers and get sanctions lifted. He obtained crucial public backing from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, keeping powerful hardline critics at bay.

On a Twitter account widely recognized as representing Rouhani, a message said after the agreement was announced, "Iranian people's vote for moderation & constructive engagement + tireless efforts by negotiating teams are to open new horizons."

The OPEC producer rejects suspicions it is trying covertly to develop the means to produce nuclear weapons, saying it is stockpiling nuclear material for future atomic power plants.

Israel says the deal being offered would give Iran more time to master nuclear technology and amass potential bomb fuel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told local media in Moscow that Iran was essentially given an "unbelievable Christmas present - the capacity to maintain this (nuclear) breakout capability for practically no concessions at all".


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on November 25, 2013, 06:55:11 am
Israel Betrayed

For years, I have documented the betrayal of Israel at the hands of the US government, but this latest betrayal is the most open and blatant that I have ever seen. And, more than Israel has been betrayed. The Arabs have been betrayed and hung out to dry. Worse, the head of Saudi Intelligence, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, painted a big bull’s-eye on them by demonstrating to the Russians that the Saudis are their biggest, baddest, worst enemy – come get us. Do you smell a setup?

Yeah. I smell a setup.

There is no logical reason why the US and Europe did this deal with Iran. None. This isn’t going to stop the Iranian nuclear weapons program. It’s not even going to slow it down. No, in fact, it’s going to provide the Iranian mullahs with MORE money to speed up their program. And, in so doing, engulf the Middle East in apocalyptic war.

And, THAT is the setup.

Whoever is pulling the strings wants a war that will destroy Israel, destroy the Middle East, and bring down the financial system – all of which will cause a realignment of the power structure of the world. How do I know this?

Because I can do math. The great thing about math is that two plus two will ALWAYS equal four. You could be on the other side of the galaxy and two plus two would STILL equal four.

This is why I know there is a grand design at play here. The US State Department knows EXACTLY what will happen as a result of the deal signed with the Iranians. They KNOW that Israel must attack Iran. And, they KNOW that Iran will close the Straits of Hormuz. They KNOW that this will cause a catastrophic increase in the price of oil. They KNOW that this will crash the economies of the world.

They know this, and did it anyway.

This means that it’s what they want. So, either they are insane, or they have a plan. Would you believe that they AREN’T insane?

No, these are the most dead-eyed rational people on the planet. The problem is that there are wheels within wheels at work here, and even the soulless psychopaths that have offered up Israel to the Iranians don’t even know that they are bit players in the biggest game of all.

The final plan of the global elite has been put in play. We’ll be talking about more of this tomorrow.

Are you ready for this?

http://www.omegashock.com/2013/11/25/israel-betrayed/


Title: Mr. Obama assures Israelis if they like their country they can keep it
Post by: Mark on November 25, 2013, 07:00:10 am
Cheering for Annihilation

Ben Stein has a recent article in The American Spectator titled, Is This Really Happening? The sub-title reads, "Obama Accedes to Israel's Possible Annihilation." 

Stein writes, "I really cannot believe what I am seeing in the news about the U.S. and Iran. In 2013, less than 70 years after the end of the Hitler regime in Europe that killed half of all of the Jews in the world, roughly half of the Jews in the world are threatened with annihilation again--and the U.S. administration is not only going along with it, but cheering on the possibility."

He further writes, "Hitler did not have nuclear weapons, thank God, and there was no tiny little country like Israel where 7 million of the race he hated with such a crazed vengeance lived. So he had to send police and militia and the Gestapo and the SS and local anti-Semites to round up the Jews. 

"The Iranians in the recent past, have pledged to destroy the Jewish people in the Middle East. Some of their leaders have boasted that if Iran gets nuclear weapons, Iran will have 'a holocaust in an afternoon' by rocketing a few nuclear weapons into Israel. 

"Naturally, the Israelis are desperately worried.

"The problem is that Iran has made many promises about stopping the nuclear program. It has not kept any of them. It has not signed the non-proliferation treaty. It has not allowed inspectors in its most secret plants. It has raced on towards nuclear weapons that could, in a half hour or less, cause another holocaust.

 "Iran is the world's leading state sponsor of terror. Many of its top brass have expressed a wish to see an earth rid of Jews altogether. For Mr. Obama to trust these people--the same ones who killed 300 Marines in a terror attack in Beirut 30 years ago last month--to actually change their stripes and suddenly become trustworthy, is deeply naive or worse. 

"It's death for Israel. It's another Holocaust and the world--except for France--is standing by saying, 'Go for it, Iran. We trust you.' There is something biblically horrifying about the whole situation. 

 "This is no time to reduce the sanctions. If Iran actually destroys its nuclear factories and labs, that's a better bet. But just for a promise of a freeze to stop the sanctions that can be reversed in hours?

Stein closes by asking, "Have we learned absolutely nothing from Hitler? Will we have the most wicked stain possible on the human race again within one lifetime? Obviously, Mr. Obama is willing to take the chance--with the lives of seven million Jews. Maybe Congress will have more heart."

Who would have anticipated that America would one day cheer for the annihilation of Israel? But that's what is happening. And for that there are consequences. Horrific consequences.

Ken Blackwell writes a penetrating article in The Christian Post stating, "Now, the world is distracted and distressed. Financial meltdowns, ethnic conflicts, and a toxic popular culture combine to unfocus our gaze. Iran is proceeding -- boldly, defiantly -- toward nuclear weapons. The Obama administration clearly has no idea how to prevent this.

"Mr. Obama assures Israelis if they like their country they can keep it. But his word is not to be relied upon."

Blackwell continues, "Can it be that salvation--at least in this temporal sense--is once more to come from the Jews? Nothing can be clearer than that if the world must rely on Barack Obama to stop the Iranians, they will not be stopped."

Blackwell concludes, "For these reasons, we need to look to Jerusalem for our security. Once again, the peace of Jerusalem is linked to the fate of the world. This time, let us pray the leaders of the Jewish state do their duty without fear, without interference, and without deference to a muddled leadership in the White House."

 Of course we look to God for our security, but Blackwell is double emphasizing the importance of Israel and our dependence on her rather than Israel's dependence on America. Our foolish leaders cannot see this. He that keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps (Psalm 121). I don't think she is going to be annihilated! America may be, but not Israel. 

America is currently in a Luke 21 scenario: We have "distress with perplexity." We have dilemmas for which there are no solutions. There is no way out of the ObamaCare steel trap. No matter which way we turn in the maze, we run into a wall! 

How about 80 tornadoes close to Christmas? Is there a message to us in that nightmare?  Perplexity.

Despite the fact that we have a more than trillion dollar deficit, an almost 17 trillion dollar debt, and roughly 100 trillion dollars in unfunded Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security liabilities, we seem incapable of slowing down our spending. Our country will be bankrupt in 5-15 years unless something is done. Perplexity.

The more government expands, the more freedom contracts and less vibrant and healthy our society becomes. This is producing an Orwellian country. Perplexity. 

The degenerate and dishonest behavior of our politicians, school shootings, abortion, trashy reality TV, drug use, gang activity, gay marriage and children being born out of wedlock, among many, many other issues, are eating away at the core of our once-solid values. Perplexity.

I believe some of this national decline is directly tied to our support or abuse of one of our best allies, Israel.   

Always pay attention to the meaning of Genesis 12:3. There are blessings and cursings involved with the treatment of Israel.

It just never ever pays to stick your finger in the "apple of God's eye." No nation, denomination, church, political party, ministry, or individual, will get away with it forever. Behavior has consequences.

http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs138/1101818841456/archive/1115508595788.html


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on November 27, 2013, 07:52:46 am
Does this White House EVER stop lying? Just mind blowing...

Iran: White House Lying About Details of Nuke Deal

Iranian officials say that the White House is misleading the public about the details of an interim nuclear agreement reached over the weekend in Geneva.
 
Iran and Western nations including the United States came to an agreement on the framework for an interim deal late Saturday night in Geneva. The deal has yet to be implemented
 
The White House released a multi-page fact sheet containing details of the draft agreement shortly after the deal was announced.
 
However, Iranian foreign ministry official on Tuesday rejected the White House’s version of the deal as “invalid” and accused Washington of releasing a factually inaccurate primer that misleads the American public.
 
“What has been released by the website of the White House as a fact sheet is a one-sided interpretation of the agreed text in Geneva and some of the explanations and words in the sheet contradict the text of the Joint Plan of Action, and this fact sheet has unfortunately been translated and released in the name of the Geneva agreement by certain media, which is not true,” Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham told the Iranian press on Tuesday.
 
Afkham and officials said that the White House has “modified” key details of the deal and released their own version of the agreement in the fact sheet.
 
Iran’s right to enrich uranium, the key component in a nuclear weapon, is fully recognized under the draft released by Tehran.
 
“This comprehensive solution would enable Iran to fully enjoy its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes under the relevant articles of the NPT in conformity with its obligations therein,” the agreement reads, according to a copy released to Iranian state-run media.
 
“This comprehensive solution would involve a mutually defined enrichment programme with practical limits and transparency measures to ensure the peaceful nature of the programme,” the Iranian draft reads. “This comprehensive solution would constitute an integrated whole where nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”
 
Iran’s objection to the deal as presented in the fact sheet raises new concerns about final stage talks meant to ensure that the deal is implemented in the next few weeks.
 
The White House confirmed to the Washington Free Beacon on Monday that the final details of the plan have yet to be worked out, meaning that Iran is not yet beholden to a six month freeze its nuclear activities.
 
“Technical details to implement the Joint Plan of Action must be finalized before the terms of the Plan begin,” a senior administration official told the Free Beacon. “The P5+1 and Iran are working on what the timeframe is.”
 
The White House could not provide additional details on the timeframe when approached by the Free Beacon on Tuesday.
 
As the details are finalized, Iran will have the ability to continue its most controversial enrichment program. This drew criticism from proponents of tough nuclear restrictions.
 
“The six month clock should have started early Sunday morning,” said former Ambassador Mark Wallace, the CEO of United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI). “If this is a serious agreement, the P5+1 must ensure that these negotiations do not become a tool for Iran to further increase its enrichment abilities.”
 
Christians United for Israel (CUFI) Executive Director David Brog said he fears that the White House may have been “played by the Iranians.”
 
“This may prove to be yet another worrisome sign that the Obama Administration was played by the Iranians,” Brog told the Free Beacon in a statement. “Their concessions were either illusory or meaningless, while ours will resuscitate the Iranian economy.”
 
The White House said in its fact sheet on the deal that it could release up to $7 billion dollars to Iran during the first phase of the agreement.
 
The United States additionally agreed to suspend “certain sanctions on gold and precious metals, Iran’s auto sector, and Iran’s petrochemical exports, potentially providing Iran approximately $1.5 billion in revenue,” according to the now disputed fact sheet.
 
Iran could earn another $4.2 billion in oil revenue under the deal.
 
Another “$400 million in governmental tuition assistance” could also be “transferred from restricted Iranian funds directly to recognized educational institutions in third countries to defray the tuition costs of Iranian students,” according to the White House.
 
While Iranian foreign ministry officials did not specify their precise disagreements with the White House, they insisted that “the Iranian delegation was much rigid and laid much emphasis on the need for this accuracy.”

http://freebeacon.com/iran-white-house-lying-about-details-of-nuke-deal/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 27, 2013, 10:14:42 pm
Quote
Iranian officials say that the White House is misleading the public about the details of an interim nuclear agreement reached over the weekend in Geneva.

And this is IRAN officials saying he's lying, NOT Israel officials right here - looks like Obama is trying to double-cross everyone.


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Kilika on November 28, 2013, 02:40:22 am
I think the White House wanted to make sure the American public didn't know of the details of the deal, so they wouldn't know just how bad the US government sold out Israel. Of course Iran says the US is lying. Iran wants the truth out so they can rub Israel's nose in it.

I don't think Obama is trying to double-cross anybody, he doesn't need to. All he has to do is act like he's not Muslim and continue to lean towards support of Islam, which is exactly what's he been doing. He's consistently anti-Israel.


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on November 28, 2013, 01:46:11 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/obama-adviser-urges-israel-not-to-strike-at-iran/
11/26/13

Obama adviser urges Israel not to strike at Iran

Ben Rhodes: Military action has no guarantee of eliminating nuclear infrastructure, and could incentivize Iranians to break out to bomb


By Times of Israel staff November 26, 2013, 11:03 pm

The US on Tuesday urged Israel not to strike at Iran so long as the international community’s diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis over Tehran’s rogue nuclear program continue.

Speaking two days after world powers signed an interim deal with Iran in Geneva, and in the wake of blistering criticism of the deal from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Barack Obama’s close aide and deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes encouraged Israel to give the negotiations a chance, and warned that military action could be counterproductive. 

Asked in an interview with Israel’s Channel 10 news whether the US was asking Israel to refrain from launching military action to thwart Iran’s march to the bomb, Rhodes said first that “Israel’s a sovereign nation and will make its own decisions about its self-defense.”

He went on, though, to set out the US argument to Israel for refraining from military action: “Our case to Israel will be: Let’s give the negotiations a chance to succeed. A military strike has no guarantee of eliminating the nuclear infrastructure or what they [the Iranians] already know how to do, and could incentivize them to break out” to the bomb.

Rhodes said the US was keeping its own military option on the table, “but we want to see if we can get this done diplomatically.” It was clearly preferable, he said, to thwart Iran without a resort to force, “at the negotiating table.”

Still, he added again, “the prime minister of Israel has to make his own decisions.”

Rhodes acknowledged that the relationship between the US and Israeli leaderships over the handling of the Iran crisis was in one of its more strained periods, but said there had been “ups and downs” in the past and he was confident that the two sides would “weather” the storm.

He also said the administration did not consider that “the time was right” for Congress to impose new sanctions on Iran. Among other factors, such a move could divide the P5+1 countries, Rhodes claimed. Still, he noted, “Israel can express its view, of course, as a sovereign nation.”

Rhodes said he thought it unlikely that Iran would be stripped of all elements of its nuclear activity in the way that Libya had been. In separate comments to Channel 2 news, he also said that, in a permanent accord, provided Iran met all of the international community’s concerns over its program, it might be allowed to retain “a limited enrichment capacity.”


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on December 02, 2013, 06:46:00 am
‘I Will Not Shut Up’: Netanyahu Defiant After Predecessor Calls His Criticism of Iran Nuke Deal ‘Declaration of War’ on U.S.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says his successor Benjamin Netanyahu’s criticism of the U.S. after the Iran nuclear deal amounts to a declaration of war, according to the Jerusalem Post.

“We have declared war on the US. That cannot be disputed,” Olmert said Sunday, noted the Post, adding that Israel needs to stay away from what might appear to be a “fight” with its closest ally.
 
Speaking before a security conference, Olmert said Netanyahu’s public barbs over the American-led nuclear deal were provocative and counterproductive. He said he too would differ with the American president, but always made sure to do so in private.
 
Netanyahu isn’t backing down, though.
 
“In contrast to others, when I see that the vital security interests of Israeli citizens are at stake, I will not shut up,” he said following critical remarks made by Olmert, the Post noted.
 
“It is very easy to keep quiet. It is easy to receive pats on the shoulder from the international community, to bow one’s head, but I am committed to the security of my people,” he stated, the Post said. “I am committed to the future of my country, and in contrast to periods in the past, we have a loud and clear voice among the nations and we will make it heard in order to warn – in time – against dangers”
 
Netanyahu has called the interim deal with Iran an “historic mistake,” declared Israel not bound by the agreement, and said he believes Iran is determined to produce a nuclear bomb and that offering it relief from sanctions at this time amounts to appeasement.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/12/01/i-will-not-shut-up-netanyahu-defiant-after-predecessor-calls-his-criticism-of-iran-nuke-deal-declaration-of-war-on-u-s/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on December 02, 2013, 12:40:40 pm
White House: ‘No Truth’ to Report Suggesting Obama Is Arranging Visit to Iran

How can anyone believe what the White House says?

The White House on Monday denied a report circulating on the Internet that suggested President Barack Obama was actively arranging a trip to visit Iran next year.
 
“There is no truth to the report,” White House spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan told TheBlaze in an email.

Kuwaiti news outlet Al-Jarida reported last month that Obama wanted to visit the Islamic Republic in 2014.
 
“Al-Jarida has learned from a U.S. diplomat that President Barack Obama is seeking to visit Tehran in the middle of next year,” the report stated, based on a Google translation of the website.

“He wants to be the first U.S. president to visit Iran since the Khomeini revolution in order to show that he is an advocate of peace and dialogue even with those who chant death to America,” Al-Jarida added in their report.
 
On Monday that report was published by a conservative outlet and then widely circulated on the Internet
 
Late last month, the Obama administration struck a landmark deal with Iran over its nuclear program. After long negotiations, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear ambitions in exchange for the U.S. easing sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
 
The deal came after Obama held a historic phone call with new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in September. That phone call represented the highest level contact the two countries have had in decades.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/12/02/white-house-no-truth-to-report-suggesting-obama-is-arranging-visit-to-iran/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on December 04, 2013, 01:53:18 pm
White House Exploring Ways to Let Iran Enrich Uranium

The White House is currently examining ways to enable Iran to have its own “domestic” uranium enrichment program... As the details of a six month interim nuclear deal between Iran and Western nations are hashed out, the White House is exploring the practicality of permitting Iran to continue certain enrichment activities, an issue that Iranian officials have described as a “redline.”   

http://freebeacon.com/white-house-exploring-ways-to-let-iran-enrich-uranium/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 07, 2013, 08:44:30 pm
http://www.debka.com/article/23476/Jerusalem-Riyadh-stunned-Obama-makes-Iran-7th-world-power-on-regional-issues-including-Palestinians
Jerusalem, Riyadh stunned: Obama makes Iran 7th world power on regional issues, including Palestinians

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report November 25, 2013, 10:04 PM (IDT)

debkafile’s exclusive Washington sources reveal exclusively: President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry secretly agreed to elevate Iran to the status of seventh world power, as a strong inducement for signing the interim nuclear accord in Geneva Sunday, Nov. 24, for living up to its obligations in the coming six months and for then signing a comprehensive agreement.

While Iran has always demanded respect and equal standing as a regional power, never in their wildest dreams had the ayatollahs expected to be granted big power standing, with an authoritative role recognized by the six big powers for addressing issues in a broad region spanning the Persian Gulf, the Middle East and Western Asia, including Afghanistan.

debkafile’s Iranian sources report that President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif presented this awesome achievement Monday to their hard-line critics at home, who accused them of giving away too much in terms of Iran’s nuclear program for the sake of a deal with the West.

We come home from Geneva with recognition as a world power, they replied.

The small print of Iran’s new rating is not yet in place, but Western sources familiar with the new US-Iranian understandings say they would not be surprised to find President Rouhani sitting in future summits on the same side of the table as the six powers who faced Iran in the Geneva negotiations. Zarif would also attend future foreign ministers’ meetings as an world-class equal.

 Jerusalem and Riyadh are aghast at this development. Our Jerusalem sources report that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who has kept it back from his cabinet colleagues, has been holding back-to-back confidential consultations with the heads of Israel’s security and intelligence services and the high IDF command to decide how to handle Obama’s sudden replacement of Israel with Iran as America’s No. 1 ally in the region.
 Most immediately, a hostile Iran with a role in the ongoing US-sponsored negotiations with the Palestinians does not bear thinking off.

The Saudi royal house is deep in similarly anxious and angry discussions.

 Some of debkafile’s Western and Israeli sources in the two capitals say Israel and Saudi Arabia both find Iran’s promotion to world status more shocking and deleterious even than its pretensions to a nuclear weapon. Neither had imagined the Obama administration capable of an about face so extreme.

debkafile has obtained full details of the secret US-Iranian deal as concluded between Kerry and Zarif in Geneva and endorsed by the Russian and Chinese foreign ministers. They will be revealed in the coming DEBKA Weekly Issue No. 613 out next Friday, Nov. 29.



Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 08, 2013, 11:35:57 am
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/59716
Iran is Now Obama’s BFF
12/8/13

News about events in Syria took a nosedive the moment the Russians stepped in to take on the job of destroying Bashar Assad’s arsenal of poison gas. It’s not as if Syrians aren’t still dying.

One of the few reliable journalistic enterprises, The Wall Street Journal, put Syria on its front page on December 3. “U.S., Allies Reach Out to Syria’s Islamist Rebels.”  One is tempted to wonder out loud whether the U.S. still has any allies given the way Obama has betrayed those who stuck with us through the Cold War and since, along with the Gulf State nations for whom the U.S. has provided an umbrella of military protection.

“The U.S. and its allies held direct talks with key Islamist militias in Syria, Western officials say, aiming to undercut al Qaeda while acknowledging that religious fighters long shunned by Washington have gained on the battlefield,” reported the Journal.

Translation: The U.S. has no influence left in the Middle East and President Obama, desperately seeking “a legacy”, has decided to give Iran whatever it wants even though it has essentially been at war with us since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

Whatever has passed for his foreign policy these past five years has proved to be a failure. Even Americans have concluded that the nation is no longer the influential force it has been since the end of World War Two.

So, Iran has become Obama’s new Best Friend Forever. Or at least until it acquires nuclear weapons of its own and, by then, he is likely to be out of office and hailed as a “statesman” by the slavish mainstream press. He is the only U.S. President who was given a Nobel Peace Prize for having accomplished nothing in the early months of his first term.

“Some officials in Western capitals remain wary about courting these groups, whose ultimate goal is to establish a state ruled by Islamic law, or Sharia,” noted the Journal article. That did not deter the U.S.-led coalition that signed onto the recent agreement with Iran. It is an agreement that Iran immediately reinterpreted as permission to continue enriching uranium and plutonium. In short, the U.S. has legitimized Iran’s goals, but not without some empty expressions of concern while providing Iran with several billions in money sequestered in earlier years.

The UN sanctions were working, but they have been undercut by the “agreement.”

“President Obama is overseeing a radical rupture with past American policy in the Middle East,” said Tony Badren in a commentary from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “It has become evident that the White House is determined to extract the U.S. from the region and upend the American order that has been in place for decades. In the process, the Obama administration is building up Iran at the expense of historical partners.”

We now understand that Obama’s decisions in Syria over the last two and a half years were all geared toward a deal with Iran,” wrote Badren. “The U.S. is now effectively hostage to the deal with Tehran.”

“Islamists’ slaughter of Syrian Christians (is) ignored by Obama, major media

The deal with Iran has been widely compared to the deal that Britain agreed to in Munich with the Nazi regime, said to have produced “peace in our time” that was quickly ended when Germany invaded Poland after having signed a secret agreement with the then-Soviet Union to divide the nation between them. It is an accurate comparison, but one made worse by the element of nuclear weapons in the hands of a nation that either has or will have the ability to deliver them anywhere in the Middle East and to Europe via intercontinental missiles.

The fate of Christians in Syria and anywhere else in the Middle East grows more ominous by the day. In late November, the WorldTribune.com reported that “Islamists’ slaughter of Syrian Christians (is) ignored by Obama, major media.”  Presumably, the fate of Christians is of less importance in the Middle East than the expansion of what is being called “the Shiite crescent.”

Saudi Arabia—the epicenter of Sunni Islam—fears Iran’s growing expansion of Shiite influence and has been providing support for the Islamic Front, but the Front collaborates with al Qaeda and advocates ethnic cleansing while rejecting democracy.

If all this seems confusing, it is.

There is less confusion about Obama’s aims. He has wanted to get the U.S. out of the Middle East and made no secret of it. Both the Saudis and the Israelis are now on their own and the former is expected to purchase its own arsenal of nuclear weapons, presumably from Pakistan.

Obama’s foreign policy portends some very ugly confrontations in the Middle East along with the growth in influence that al Qaeda and comparable Islamist groups are seeking to acquire.

This is extremely bad news for the West. It raises the question of which side Obama is on. His sympathies for Muslims have long been a matter of record.

© Alan Caruba, 2013


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 11, 2013, 10:58:24 am
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=15753
BOMBSHELL! Obama Has Created An Iran-US Chamber Of Commerce Partnership

US president Barack Hussein Obama has picked a winner in the Middle East, and it’s not Israel. In an unprecedented move, Obama is restoring all trade, diplomatic and commercial travel ties with the terror-sponsor nation of Iran.

Chance of Iran getting a working nuclear bomb in 6, 3, 2 months: 100%

Please READ THIS STORY to understand Obama’s debt to the nation of Iran, and why he has chosen them over Israel: Proof That Muslim Millions Purchased The Obama Presidency Starting Way Back In 1979

Yahoo News: Tehran (AFP) - Iran and the United States are to establish a joint chamber of commerce within a month, with direct flights also planned, an Iranian official said Wednesday in a newspaper report.

“Iran-US chamber of commerce will be launched in less than one month,” Abolfazl Hejazi, a member of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, told the English-language Iran Daily.

In the wake of a historic accord on Sunday between Tehran and major powers on Iran’s controversial nuclear programme, Hejazi also said his country was ready to start direct flights to the United States.

After the 1979 revolution in Iran, Washington severed diplomatic relations with Tehran following the seizure of its embassy in Tehran, during which Islamist students held 52 US diplomats hostage for 444 days.

According to Hejazi, the project which he said had already been registered in the United States would allow the two countries to work towards restoring ties.

Hejazi also said the government has authorised the private sector to launch joint activities and that Iran was ready to establish direct flights to the United States.

Flights would connect Kish Island in southwest Iran with New York, he said
.

“This is because Kish Island is a free trade zone and Iranian passengers who have US citizenship will not need to obtain visas to enter it,” he said.

Hejazi said direct flights would “enable us to export domestic products to the US and import high-tech products and raw materials from the country.”

On the sidelines of his visit to the UN General Assembly in late September, President Hassan Rouhani pledged to ease travel to Iran for the hundreds of thousands of Iranians living in the United States. source – Yahoo News


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Kilika on December 11, 2013, 12:03:15 pm
Okay, so that's what an Iranian official is claiming. What does the US have to say about it? Apparently nothing yet if it's true.


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 11, 2013, 12:35:24 pm
Okay, so that's what an Iranian official is claiming. What does the US have to say about it? Apparently nothing yet if it's true.

From Yahoo...

http://news.yahoo.com/iran-us-open-joint-chamber-commerce-205325752.html
Iran, US to open joint chamber of commerce
11/27/13

Tehran (AFP) - Iran and the United States are to establish a joint chamber of commerce within a month, with direct flights also planned, an Iranian official said Wednesday in a newspaper report.

"Iran-US chamber of commerce will be launched in less than one month," Abolfazl Hejazi, a member of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, told the English-language Iran Daily.

In the wake of a historic accord on Sunday between Tehran and major powers on Iran's controversial nuclear programme, Hejazi also said his country was ready to start direct flights to the United States.

After the 1979 revolution in Iran, Washington severed diplomatic relations with Tehran following the seizure of its embassy in Tehran, during which Islamist students held 52 US diplomats hostage for 444 days.

According to Hejazi, the project which he said had already been registered in the United States would allow the two countries to work towards restoring ties.

Hejazi also said the government has authorised the private sector to launch joint activities and that Iran was ready to establish direct flights to the United States.

Flights would connect Kish Island in southwest Iran with New York, he said.

"This is because Kish Island is a free trade zone and Iranian passengers who have US citizenship will not need to obtain visas to enter it," he said.

Hejazi said direct flights would "enable us to export domestic products to the US and import high-tech products and raw materials from the country."

On the sidelines of his visit to the UN General Assembly in late September, President Hassan Rouhani pledged to ease travel to Iran for the hundreds of thousands of Iranians living in the United States.


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Kilika on December 11, 2013, 01:51:37 pm
Quote
"Iran-US chamber of commerce will be launched in less than one month," Abolfazl Hejazi, a member of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, told the English-language Iran Daily.
Right, the story is out of Iran, and there is no mention of any US official commenting on the story. Smells like Iranian propaganda.


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on December 20, 2013, 03:33:12 pm
President Obama says there is no need for new sanctions legislation regarding Iran - live video

ya, hed just secretly undo them anyways....  :P


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on December 23, 2013, 06:09:08 am
Israel must never be betrayed

Unfortunately, recent actions of the Obama administration represent a sharp reversal of the historical precedent of unshakable support to the Jewish state.

Since its rebirth on May 15, 1948, Israel has stood as an immensely strong democratic ally, and unqualifiedly a best friend to the United States of America.

Unfortunately, recent actions of the Obama administration represent a sharp reversal of the historical precedent of unshakable support to the Jewish state, and have left Israel vulnerable and more isolated in the region than ever before in its history.

Look no further than the recently negotiated “diplomatic resolution” with Iran to see where the Obama administration’s priorities lie. The proposed framework does little if anything to stop Iran from continuing to enrich uranium, does little if anything to comprehensively halt construction of the Iran heavy water plutonium reactor, does little if anything to permanently change Iran’s belligerent posturing, and does not require the dismantling of Iran’s centrifuges.

In short, this agreement does next to nothing to benefit Israel or the United States. In the words of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, “This is a very, very bad deal.”

And for Iran, it is the deal of the century. Quite a gift for the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.

What has been missing from the discussion is why the US is even negotiating with Iran in the first place. There should be no negotiation as long as Iran asserts they have the right to enrich uranium.

The fact is, despite the less than consummate enforcement of sanctions by the Obama administration, the sanctions being enforced against the Iranian regime were working.

So why would the US give any sanctions relief to a regime that is arguably the greatest sponsor of terrorism the world has ever known? Why, when the Iranian regime was being brought to its knees, would the US offer a reprieve unless the Iranians agree to completely curtail their nuclear program? And what does our negotiation acquiescence do for the interests of the US and Israel other than weaken us both, while at the same time strengthening and legitimizing the Iranian regime and its nuclear ambitions? The Obama administration’s foreign policy positions have left Israel and the state of the Middle East more dangerous and more nihilistic than ever before. There is no better example than the Obama administration’s Egyptian policy strategy of encouraging the rise and influence of the Muslim Brotherhood, a violent terrorist organization.

When the Muslim Brotherhood was removed from power by the Egyptian people, the Obama administration responded by cutting off funding to the Egyptian military. The very same military that was aggressively fighting terrorists in the Sinai, shutting off the infiltration of arms into Gaza, and working to restore order after the oppressive rule of the Muslim Brotherhood.

And does anyone think that US policy toward Syria has benefited either the US or Israel? Bashar Assad continues to rule with impunity in Syria while radical Islamists gain weapons, power and influence across the country. Or in Libya, which since our military action to remove Gaddafi, has dissolved into absolute chaos as highlighted by the horrific attacks on our diplomatic mission in Benghazi in 2012.

It’s bad enough that Israel is faced with Hezbollah missiles and violence in the north, a radicalized Syria in the east, tumult in Egypt in the west, a Hamas-controlled government in Gaza, and now the ever-growing prospect of a nuclear Iran.

And now add to this US Secretary of State John Kerry’s insistence that Israel negotiate with the Palestinians, castigate Israel’s sovereign right to build on its own land, and insist that Israel all but geographically cut itself in two, which would compromise Israel’s ability to defend itself.

While Secretary Kerry pressures Israel to give up its rightful land, our good friend Israel has a goal too: the maintenance of the Jewish State of Israel. And the right to live peacefully in their entire biblical Jewish homeland, and the right to have Jerusalem as their undivided capital.

Secretary Kerry’s dangerous phase 1 plan would initiate disorder, destabilization, violence and eventually a civil war by inciting conditions for, in his words, a third Palestinian intifada. This intifada could differ however, as it would likely involve committed Arabs, the UN, the US and committed Jews unwilling to uproot their families and their lives from their biblical homeland.

The reality is the Jewish citizens of Samaria and Judea are there to stay. They are not leaving and they won’t be pushed from their homes – nor should they ever be. And shame on anyone who attempts to draw a moral or territorial equilibrium between Judea and Samaria for the Jewish people, and Gaza for the Palestinian people. Let me clearly reiterate, Judea and Samaria is the biblical, historical and cultural heartland of the Jewish people, as it contains many of Judiasm’s holiest and most important sites.

Israel has always been a beacon of hope and the best chance for peace in the Middle East. Secretary Kerry misses the positive humanity of Jews and Arabs living side by side, working together, and making a life together. This is a present reality, that can and should be encouraged to improve.

While Israelis have reason to question the commitment of the Obama administration, they should never doubt the strong bipartisan contingent of support for Israel in the United States Congress, and the constituents we represent.

And they should feel assured, without any equivocation, we will always be proudly standing together with them, in their corner, side by side.

http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/Israel-must-never-be-betrayed-335212


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 12, 2014, 12:29:26 am
http://news.yahoo.com/us-iran-common-ground-chaos-middle-east-033154481.html
US, Iran find common ground in chaos of Middle East
1/11/14

Washington (AFP) - To Iran, the United States was the "Great Satan," while Washington slammed Tehran as a "rogue state" that was part of an "axis of evil."











But as chaos engulfs the Middle East, the two are cautiously eyeing ways to work together.

An ideological chasm separates the Shiite Islamic republic from its long-time enemy in the West, yet overlapping concerns from Afghanistan to Syria and even Iraq are sowing the seeds of a hesitant rapprochement.

Restoring full diplomatic ties, severed some 35 years ago amid the 1979 storming of the US Embassy in Tehran and the painful 444-day hostage-taking, remains far off on a distant horizon.

But the willingness of the Obama administration to engage in secret negotiations in Oman last year and the new leadership of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani have already borne fruit, facilitating an interim deal in November on reining in Iran's nuclear program.

"There is a high degree of pragmatism in the way the two countries are approaching each other, and it partly arises from a lack of other options," said John Bradshaw, executive director of the National Security Network.

"The US has strong allies, like Israel, but is looking to find other pragmatic ways to help us achieve our goals," he told AFP.

Afghanistan is one place where the concerns of both countries converge, with neither wanting to see the Taliban regain power.

And there is historic precedent, highlighted Alireza Nader, senior international policy analyst with the RAND Corporation, pointing to their cooperation in setting up a post-Taliban government in 2001 and 2002.

Both countries are also "concerned about narcotics emanating from Afghanistan. That is a huge problem for Iran, " he said.

"If the nuclear issue is resolved, I see that possibly as the best case for cooperation."

Syria is another theater where, despite being on opposite ends of the conflict, both want to see an end to the fighting and thwart any rise by extremist Sunni Al-Qaeda militants.

Top US diplomat John Kerry has hinted that despite Iran's fully-fledged support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which has included plying him with arms, cash and military advisers, Tehran might be able to play a role on the sidelines of Syria peace talks later this month.

Using its sway over Damascus to halt the bombardments of civilians and open up humanitarian corridors would be a way for Tehran to show that it aims to be a constructive player, US officials have said.

But while Washington is motivated by ending the fighting and ousting long-time foe Assad, Iran wants to retain its hold over a country that has long been a conduit to funnel weapons to Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants, seen as a front against America's staunch ally, Israel.

Mutual opposition to the rise of Al-Qaeda extremists could also lead to a paradoxical cooperation in Iraq.

more


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 12, 2014, 04:26:27 pm
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/12/22277192-iran-nuclear-deal-to-take-effect-on-jan-20?lite&ocid=msnhp&pos=1
1/12/14
Iran nuclear deal to take effect on Jan. 20

TEHRAN — Iran's interim nuclear deal with the world's major powers is scheduled to begin on January 20, officials with Iran and the European Union said Sunday.

"Capitals have confirmed the result of the talks in Geneva ... the Geneva deal will be implemented from January 20," Marzieh Afkham, a spokeswoman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry told reporters in Tehran, the semi-official Mehr news agency said.

The EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton also confirmed the news in a statement on Sunday.

Ashton represents the six nations — the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany — in diplomatic contacts with Iran related to the nuclear standoff.

She said the sides would now ask the United Nations' nuclear watchdog to verify the deal's implementation.

"We will ask the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) to undertake the necessary nuclear-related monitoring and verification activities," she said.

Under the November 24 agreement, Iran has promised to curb its most sensitive nuclear activities in return for some relief from Western economic sanctions.

Iran's deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Iranian TV that the main sticking points of the deal had been resolved, and his country will receive $4.2 billion in frozen assets in return for diluting a cylinder of 20 percent enriched uranium every three weeks.

In a statement from the White House after the announcement Sunday, U.S. President Barack Obama cheered the news.

"With today's agreement, we have made concrete progress," he said, "I welcome this important step forward, and we will now focus on the critical work of pursuing a comprehensive resolution that addresses our concerns over Iran's nuclear program."

Obama added, "I have no illusions about how hard it will be to achieve this objective, but for the sake of our national security and the peace and security of the world, now is the time to give diplomacy a chance to succeed."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the next stage in talks with Iran on its nuclear program would be "very difficult" after an announcement on Sunday that an interim deal with world powers, designed to create space to reach a comprehensive pact, would take effect on January 20.

"The negotiations will be very difficult," Kerry said at a news conference in Paris with his Qatari counterpart.


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on January 14, 2014, 08:08:22 am
OBAMA: 'Give peace a chance'...
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-give-peace-chance_774191.html

'Win' for Iran...
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/jan/14/irans-rouhani-casts-nuke-deal-as-win-for-nation/

ROUHANI: 'World Powers Surrendered to Iranian Nation's Will'...
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/irans-rouhani-world-powers-surrendered-iranian-nations-will_774616.html

Foreign minister lays wreath at grave of Beirut Marine barracks bomber...
http://www.thetower.org/experts-iran-fm-signals-insincerity-honoring-american-murdering-hezbollah-terrorist/

'SECRET SIDE DEAL' WITH TEHRAN
http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-iran-nuclear-side-deal-20140113,0,4116168.story

US concerned about Iran-Russia oil deal
Iran and Russia are negotiating an oil-for-goods swap worth $1.5bn a month which could trigger further US sanctions

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/01/us-concerned-about-iran-russia-oil-deal-201411401720864604.html


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on January 19, 2014, 11:02:05 am
New Evangelical Movement Seeks Split From Pro-Israel Line

Dissent within the fold. “This message is resonating with the rising generation,” says Brog.


Figures with deep roots in America’s religious right have launched a quiet effort aimed at pushing evangelical Christians away from decades of growing loyalty to Israel and toward increased solidarity with the Palestinians.

The campaign by a coalition of religious leaders, international nonprofits, and activists has taken place in recent years largely behind the scenes and away from the prying eyes of the political press — and it’s being driven by a generation of Evangelicals alienated by the way their faith was yoked to Republican foreign policy during the Bush years. Now, organizations like the Telos Group and the large Christian nonprofit World Vision have joined a small army of ministers and Christian opinion-makers working to reorient Evangelicals’ stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — producing documentaries about the plight of Palestinian Christians, providing theological rationale for a more “balanced” view of the issue, and taking Evangelicals on trips to the Middle East.

The goal is to soften the bulletproof political alliance between American Evangelicals and Israel — forged over decades of successful courtship by Israeli governments and pro-Israel forces in the U.S. — and to make room on the religious right for Palestinian sympathies. If the movement is successful, it would represent a move toward mainline, politically liberal Christian denominations that have long been aligned with the Palestinian cause. The Presbyterian Church USA, for instance, briefly adopted a policy of divesting from some companies doing business in Israel.

The campaign has alarmed America’s most committed Christian supporters of Israel, who acknowledge their rivals’ message is gaining momentum within the church.

“This effort is being led by Palestinian Christians who, while not always Evangelicals, are quite adept at using evangelical language and imagery in their effort to blame Israel and Israel alone for Palestinian suffering,” said David Brog, executive director of Christians United For Israel, a key group in rallying American Christians to the Jewish state. “The movement has gotten louder because they have more money to spend. So we’re seeing more anti-Israel Christian films, speakers, and conferences. It’s very much grasstops, not grassroots.”

Brog said his rivals’ fledgling success should push Zionists to engage more actively in the evangelical debate over Israel.

“We’re also seeing some signs that this message is resonating with the rising generation of Evangelicals — the millennial Evangelicals,” Brog added. “So we can’t afford to wait. We must speak out and correct the record before more of our young people are led astray.”

One of the evangelical leaders calling for a more “nuanced” view of the conflict is Todd Deatherage, who spent five years in the Bush State Department before co-founding the Telos Group to expose Evangelicals to the complexities of the issue. He said their purpose is not to persuade Christians to turn against Israel, but rather “to affirm and support the dignity of all the people of the Holy Land, to be truly pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian at the same time.”

To achieve this, his group organizes about 15 trips to Israel every year, where American participants — mostly Evangelicals determined to be open-minded and influential in their respective communities — meet with peace activists, victims of violence on both sides of the conflict, and members of the Bethlehem Bible College, which trains Arab Christian pastors. The objective, Deatherage says, is to “change the conversation” among conservative Christians in the U.S.

“We want people to go on these trips and then go back and change others’ minds by talking about their own experience, taking the things they’ve learned and using them to help others understand what it means to be global citizens,” he said.

Lynne Hybels, an evangelical writer and minister heavily engaged in what she calls the “pro-peace” movement in Israel, was even more blunt about their intentions. She said they hope to “build a political constituency that supports peace and supports policymakers with the courage and commitment to work for peace.” As Hybels sees it, that means occasionally standing up for Palestinians — and not allowing Christian critics to get away with accusing them of “abandoning God’s chosen people.”

There has always been a small vocal minority of American evangelical provocateurs who rail against modern-day Israel at progressive political rallies and in the pages of Sojourners magazine. But the current campaign is attracting attention in large part because its leaders boast the kind of conservative Christian credentials even Mike Huckabee could appreciate.

For example, a 2010 documentary questioning the wisdom of Evangelicals’ unwavering commitment to Israel was endorsed by a top official at World Vision, one of the largest Christian humanitarian organizations in the world. The film has since been screened several times at World Vision events, and it received a favorable review in America’s leading evangelical magazine, Christianity Today, which declared, “Christian Zionism is officially on notice.”

Meanwhile, Gabe Lyons — a young evangelical organizer and graduate of Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University — has put on series of Christian conferences aimed, in part, at promoting an “open, honest discussion” on the Middle East conflict. Like many of his peers, he believes the evangelical conversation on this topic has been hijacked by political activists — and he wants to reclaim it.

“The evangelical community has only heard one narrative on this issue. Part of the responsibility we have is to make sure they hear the rest of it,” said Lyons, who believes he’s witnessing a shift in opinion among “younger Evangelicals who are just getting full exposure to what’s really happening in the region.”

The foreign policy of the conservative Christian movement has long been defined by a fervent, often biblically inspired, devotion to Israel, with top Republican leaders frequently citing their faith as a driving force in their commitment to protecting the “Promised Land.” This dynamic was most visible during the presidency of George W. Bush, a political icon of Christian conservatism who often framed his agenda for the Middle East — which included an unwavering alliance with Israel — in terms of divine destiny. In the 2012 Republican primaries, Texas Gov. Rick Perry declared, “As a Christian, I have a clear directive to support Israel.”

The case for Israel in American politics is hardly based solely on faith. Evangelicals, like other Americans, hear arguments about Israel’s place as a free-market democracy in a region that’s broadly hostile to American interests. But for many believers, the widespread evangelical view that modern-day Israel represents the fulfillment of God’s covenant with the Jewish people is rooted in the “dispensationalist” theories of 19th-century theologian John Nelson Darby. The idea was popularized among U.S. Christians over several decades, with books like the 1970 best-seller The Late Great Planet Earth — a sort of end-times catalog of world events that supposedly proved Armageddon was only a decade away — and the massively popular Left Behind series. For the vast majority of conservative Evangelicals, it has become an article of faith that Israel deserves the absolute support of America’s diplomatic efforts and military might.

If Evangelicals’ minds are beginning to change — as advocates on both sides of the church’s Israel divide contend — the trend has yet to be borne out in public polling. A Pew survey last year found that a staggering 82% of white Evangelicals believe God gave Israel to the Jewish people — more than twice the proportion of American Jews, and up 10 points from a similar poll in 2005.

Still, Deatherage says Evangelicals don’t need to abandon their theological beliefs about Israel in order to feel Christian sympathy for the suffering of the Palestinians. In fact, Deatherage said the most eye-opening experience for many of the people he takes on Telos trips is interacting with the Palestinian Christian community.

“The fact is that there is a church on the ground,” Deatherage said. “We imagine this conflict to be between Jews and Muslims, and so when people see that there are Christians there, and even Palestinian Evangelicals, they didn’t know that. I mean, there’s a Bible college in Bethlehem, where people talk about their faith the very same way they do, they read the same books, many of them studied in the same universities in the U.S.”

And as several advocates pointed out, even a minor retreat from the religious right’s current hard-line position on Israel would give Republicans substantially more flexibility in their foreign policy. Already, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul — whose frequent dustups with Israel hawks in his party have been well-documented — is emerging as a legitimate contender for the 2016 GOP nomination. What’s more, Rex Elsass, a Paul adviser with close ties to the conservative Christian movement, said the senator has managed make inroads with conservative Christian voters despite his mixed record on Israel.

“I love Israel. It’s a place I have a lot of passion for, and a lot of interest in personally,” said Elsass, who is making his third trip to the Holy Land, with Huckabee, later this year. “But obviously, Palestinian Christians need to be treated with respect, and their rights need to be respected… We always prefer that the weapons of war be beaten into ploughshares. And that is certainly something the Judeo-Christian faith is ultimately called to.”

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/new-evangelical-movement-seeks-split-from-pro-israel-line


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on January 19, 2014, 11:03:45 am
Obama's Scheme For Israel Disaster

Peace in the Middle East: It’s been the elusive, dream-like goal of every president – and half of America’s beauty-pageant contestants – for decades. But as yet another president attempts to achieve the seemingly impossible, that loud smacking sound you hear is the collective facepalm of thousands of Israelis who know this president, like too many before him, is going about it all the wrong way. “U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is preoccupied with the attempt to establish a Palestinian state, as a means to advance peace and American interests,” writes Ambassador Yoram Ettinger, before the former minister for congressional affairs at Israel’s Embassy in Washington lists in painful detail America’s many blunders in trying to engineer peace in the Mideast.

http://www.wnd.com/2014/01/obamas-full-steam-scheme-to-israel-disaster/


US Iran Agreement Includes Faustian "Secret" Side Deal, Tehran Admits

Key elements of a new nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers are contained in an informal, 30-page text not yet publicly acknowledged by Western officials, Iran’s chief negotiator said Monday. Abbas Araqchi disclosed the existence of the document in a Persian-language interview with the semiofficial Iranian Students News Agency. The new agreement, announced over the weekend, sets out a timetable for how Iran and the six nations, led by the United States, will implement a deal reached in November that is aimed at restraining Iran’s nuclear ambitions. When officials from Iran and the world powers announced that they had completed the implementing agreement, they didn’t release the text of the deal, nor did they acknowledge the...

http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-iran-nuclear-side-deal-20140113,0,4116168.story#axzz2qNmSdZyB


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 19, 2014, 01:51:31 pm
Quote
“We’re also seeing some signs that this message is resonating with the rising generation of Evangelicals — the millennial Evangelicals,” Brog added. “So we can’t afford to wait. We must speak out and correct the record before more of our young people are led astray.”

It seems like the millennial generation has been the worst liberalism indoctrinated the most - and to boot, their further liberalism was passed on from their previous baby boomer generation. For example, even these so-called "conservative" millennials are pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage.

Guess this shouldn't be surprising b/c of all of the demonic entertainment that has infiltrated these churches since the 1980's, and has further intensified since the turn of the century.

Quote
One of the evangelical leaders calling for a more “nuanced” view of the conflict is Todd Deatherage, who spent five years in the Bush State Department before co-founding the Telos Group to expose Evangelicals to the complexities of the issue. He said their purpose is not to persuade Christians to turn against Israel, but rather “to affirm and support the dignity of all the people of the Holy Land, to be truly pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian at the same time.”

Not to pick on George W, but pretty much b/c of Churchianity's blind support for GWB(b/c supposedly he was a "Christian"), that was when the NWO minions really started to implement a lot of their agendas right under everyone's noses. Bush was NOT pro-Israel(ie-gave away the Golian Heights to the Palestinians in 2005).

And it was during his admin when Rick Warren's Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan was implemented(with Bush, Gingrich, etc endorsing it), which was around the same time the Emergent Church movement started, partly thanks to Churchianity supporting it. The same Emergent Church that supports the Palestinians. Now since Obama got into office, Churchianity is in a state of confusion over why they're seeing all of this happen?

Quote
Lynne Hybels, an evangelical writer and minister heavily engaged in what she calls the “pro-peace” movement in Israel, was even more blunt about their intentions. She said they hope to “build a political constituency that supports peace and supports policymakers with the courage and commitment to work for peace.” As Hybels sees it, that means occasionally standing up for Palestinians — and not allowing Christian critics to get away with accusing them of “abandoning God’s chosen people.”

She's also the wife of Bill Hybels, who is not only one of the Emergent Church leaders, but also has one of the largest churches in the country budgeted north of $90m(like Rick Warren). Pretty much most of his church members are divorced, sodomites, and couples cohabitating with each other, and most of his "worship service" is entertainment without any preaching(from what I've read). Like Warren, he also works with the United Nations.

Quote
There has always been a small vocal minority of American evangelical provocateurs who rail against modern-day Israel at progressive political rallies and in the pages of Sojourners magazine. But the current campaign is attracting attention in large part because its leaders boast the kind of conservative Christian credentials even Mike Huckabee could appreciate.

Only "small vocal minority"? To be frank, it looks like a BIG MAJORITY of American "evangelicals" are pretty indifferent. Pretty much the same thing as being "vocal".

Quote
Meanwhile, Gabe Lyons — a young evangelical organizer and graduate of Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University — has put on series of Christian conferences aimed, in part, at promoting an “open, honest discussion” on the Middle East conflict. Like many of his peers, he believes the evangelical conversation on this topic has been hijacked by political activists — and he wants to reclaim it.

He was trained at Falwell's university? The same Jerry Falwell who professed to staunchly support Israel?

Either way, talk about some very rotten fruit here.

Quote
The case for Israel in American politics is hardly based solely on faith. Evangelicals, like other Americans, hear arguments about Israel’s place as a free-market democracy in a region that’s broadly hostile to American interests. But for many believers, the widespread evangelical view that modern-day Israel represents the fulfillment of God’s covenant with the Jewish people is rooted in the “dispensationalist” theories of 19th-century theologian John Nelson Darby. The idea was popularized among U.S. Christians over several decades, with books like the 1970 best-seller The Late Great Planet Earth — a sort of end-times catalog of world events that supposedly proved Armageddon was only a decade away — and the massively popular Left Behind series. For the vast majority of conservative Evangelicals, it has become an article of faith that Israel deserves the absolute support of America’s diplomatic efforts and military might.

Why does this lie keep getting repeated? This was being taught even as far back as the EARLY church. If anything, it was St. Augustine(among others) in the early centuries that made up this replacement theology nonsense.

And as for Hal Lindsey(author of The Late Great Planet Earth) - he's nothing more than a evangelical celebrity out for filthy lucre. And his books were ghostwritten to boot(TLGPE was written by a WOMAN, believe it or not).

Quote
And as several advocates pointed out, even a minor retreat from the religious right’s current hard-line position on Israel would give Republicans substantially more flexibility in their foreign policy. Already, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul — whose frequent dustups with Israel hawks in his party have been well-documented — is emerging as a legitimate contender for the 2016 GOP nomination. What’s more, Rex Elsass, a Paul adviser with close ties to the conservative Christian movement, said the senator has managed make inroads with conservative Christian voters despite his mixed record on Israel.

Looks like the Pauls have close ties with NWO groups like the "religious right" too. But en yet the "truth" movement embraces the Pauls?


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on January 22, 2014, 06:14:06 am
Israel Bash-Fest Comes to Washington

A press release published by Reuters has announced that America’s first National Summit to Reassess the U.S.-Israel “Special Relationship” will be held on March 7 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. In reality, the conference will be little more than an Israeli bash-fest. It is being organized by a host of virulently anti-Israel entities, including the Council for the National Interest Foundation (CNIF), If Americans Knew (IAK), the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy (IRmep), and the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs (WRMEA). The unifying feature of these organizations is their obsession with the so-called U.S. “Israel Lobby” that allegedly manipulates America into going to war and is responsible for the deaths of Americans and Palestinians, among other smears. “Research indicates the U.S.-Israel ’special relationship’ is a major factor in foreign hostility towards Americans,” states the press release.

Right off the bat, the organizers reveal a tenuous relationship with the truth. “U.S. financial, military, and diplomatic support for Israel … now dwarfs annual American foreign assistance to all other nations,” the organizers contend.

Not exactly. In 2012, Israel received $3.075 billion in financial aid from the United States, more than any other nation in the world. However, the next four nations on the list, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt, and Iraq are all countries with Muslim-dominant populations. They received a combined total of $6.97 billion in U.S. assistance, more than double the Israeli total. In projected aid for 2014, Iraq drops to 7th on the list, while Nigeria with a population of 75.7 million, of which 47.9 percent are Muslims, moves up to fifth. The more than 2-1 ratio in aid remains constant.

Another constant with regard to the conference is the reality that the organizers are little more than anti-Israel apologists for the Palestinian cause.

CNIF, which counted as one of its board members convicted terrorism funder Abdurahman Alamoudi, claims that it “advocates for Middle East policies that serve the national interest; that represent the highest values of our founders and our citizens; and that work to sustain a nation of honor, decency, security and prosperity.” Yet on the first page of its website it insists that the “greatest danger facing Americans today” is our “highly unusual relationship with Israel.” It is a relationship that has ostensibly “diminished our moral standing in the world, lessened our domestic freedoms, and exposed us to unnecessary and growing peril” and one that a “majority of Americans oppose.”

That is also a lie. A Gallup poll taken last March reveals that Americans support Israel over the Palestinians by a margin of 64 percent to 12 percent, matching an all-time high. Seventy-four percent say Israel can be counted on as a strong U.S. ally.

In recent years, CNIF has sent delegations to the Middle East to meet with U.S.-designated terror groups Hezbollah and Hamas. It has run several anti-Israel ads in major national newspapers condemning Israeli “occupation” of Palestine, and its “apartheid polices.” It blames Israel for getting the United States into war with Iraq and for trying to push us into war with Iran. While Islamic terror is scrupulously ignored, CNIF accuses the Jewish State of ”metastasiz[ing] terror around the world,” and for “acts of aggression, provocation, and massive retaliation” against neighboring Arab states.

IAK claims it is is “an independent research and information-dissemination institute with particular focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, U.S. foreign policy regarding the Middle East, and media coverage of this issue.” On its website it contends the American media systemically misinforms, or keeps the public uninformed, about what is really happening in the West Bank and Gaza. That point of view is based largely on the personal experiences of Alison Weir’s “independent travels” through the region in 2001, and the “dozens of books” she has read on the topic. According to Weir, charges of anti-Semitism made against her are an attempt to divert attention from the “facts” she presents to the public.

IAK’s main agenda is to lend support to those they deem have been unfairly attacked by the pro-Israel establishment in the U.S. Chief among its defendants was the late White House press correspondent Helen Thomas, following Thomas’s statement that Jews should “get the hell out of Palestine” and go back to “Germany, Poland, America, and everywhere else.” IAK considered Thomas’s statement to be reasonable because Jews are “settlers” in the region, and the “Nazi holocaust ended well over half a century ago.” The IAK also continues to promote the now-debunked conspiracy theory that Israeli forces intentionally attacked the U.S.S. Liberty during the Six-Day War in 1967, and the “murder” of peace activist Rachel Corrie who was unintentionally killed by a bulldozer while she blocked the demolition of terrorist tunnels in Gaza. Both incidents are cited as examples of Israeli “brutality.”

IMrep is ”a Washington-DC based nonprofit researching U.S. Middle East policy formulation and how warranted law enforcement and civil action can improve outcomes.” In reality its main agenda is to provide a series of “news” releases designed to ramp up anti-Israeli sentiment among the American public. They include such topics as the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) ”rushed campaign to insert Stanley Fischer straight from his position leading Israel’s central bank into the number two spot at the Federal Reserve,” how the Israel lobby will undermine the Obama administration’s deal with Iran, and an FBI investigation of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for espionage. One article posits that the assassination of JFK should be commemorated as “National Ignorance Day” because the “common origin of some of America’s worst regional policies [in the Middle East] is the void created by the JFK assassination.” Another article speaks to the “Ten Explosive U.S. Government Secrets about Israel,” a compendium whose sub-headline asserts that absent greater transparency, (undoubtedly provided by IMrep) Americans “should assume the worst” about the Jewish state.

All of the articles reek of conspiracy theories in which high-ranking American or Israeli government officials, government organizations, Jewish lobbyists or Jewish political organizations plot to promote Israel’s interests and deceive the American public.

WRMEA bills itself as “a magazine published by the American Educational Trust focusing on news and analysis from and about the Middle East and U.S. policy in that region.” The American Educational Trust (AET) is an anti-Israeli organization responsible for the fiscal sponsorship of the Free Gaza Movement that has made numerous attempts to break the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip terror enclave. The AET accepted tax-deductible donations for the movement, despite its extensive ties to Hamas. At the WRMEA website, the AET makes the claim that it “does not take partisan domestic political positions” and that it supports Middle East solutions deemed to be “consistent with the charter of the United Nations, international law, the Geneva Conventions, and traditional American support for human rights, self-determination, and fair play.”

The magazine, published 9 times a year, makes the same claims as its publisher regarding its non-partisanship and support for Middle East “solutions.” Yet since its launch in 1982, the WRMEA has often defended Muslim groups who have advocated anti-Semitism and supported terrorism.

The current crop of stories on the main page of its website are telling. One is a column about Secretary of State John Kerry “facing down” Israel and AIPAC to reach an agreement with Iran that should earn him a Nobel Peace Prize. Another contends that the greatest danger to Israel is not an Iranian nuclear bomb, but the “stupidity of our leaders.” Iran, by contrast, “now looks like a responsible country, led by sober and shrewd leaders,” and AIPAC “has started to order its senators and congressmen to work out new sanctions” in order to save itself “from the image of utter failure.” Still another story accuses Israel of plundering Palestinian natural resources. There is also a piece written by Marwan Barghouti, one of the leaders of the Second Intifada against Israel. Barghouti who was unconditionally released from prison by Israel despite being convicted on five counts murder, likens his struggle against Israeli “apartheid” to that of Nelson Mandela’s triumph in South Africa.

Considering this lineup of organizers, there is little doubt that the self-described National Summit to Reassess the U.S.-Israel “Special Relationship” will have nothing to do with “reassessing” anything. More accurately it will be a rehash of tiresome, extreme anti-Israel accusations with no references to terror, other than that committed by Israeli “aggressors” seeking to preserve their “apartheid” regime. That preservation can only continue because of an American Congress utterly beholden to the interest of Jewish lobbyists such as AIPAC, and a Jewish-controlled media that serves as the Israel’s propagandists, either by commission or omission. No doubt a fun, Israel-bashing time will be had by one and all.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/arnold-ahlert/israel-bash-fest-comes-to-washington/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on January 23, 2014, 07:11:09 am
Russia throwing Iran lifeline: Negotiating big oil-for-goods deal

Iran and Russia are negotiating an oil-for-goods swap worth $1.5 billion a month that would let Iran lift oil exports substantially, in defiance of Western sanctions that helped force Tehran to agree a preliminary deal to end its nuclear program.   

http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Russia-throwing-Iran-lifeline-Negotiating-big-oil-for-goods-deal-337770


Iran: We did not agree to dismantle anything

“We did not agree to dismantle anything,” Mohammad Javad Zarif told CNN in an interview on Wednesday, charging that the Obama administration had created a false impression in the language it used to describe the six-month agreement.   

http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-we-did-not-agree-to-dismantle-anything/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 25, 2014, 12:10:56 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/kerry-peace-ultimately-requires-full-idf-pullout-from-palestinian-areas/
Kerry: Peace ultimately requires full IDF pullout from Palestinian areas
1/24/14

US secretary of state tells Davos conference that benefits of talks’ success, dangers of their failure, are enormous for whole world

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday that a permanent peace agreement must ultimately involve the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian territories, and warned that the failure of the current round of talks to yield an accord would be catastrophic for both parties.

In a far-ranging speech to participants at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Kerry dismissed claims that the US was withdrawing from the Middle East, called for Syrian President Bashar Assad’s removal from power, and said Iran must back up its words with actions if it truly seeks better relations with the world. “If you are serious about a peaceful [nuclear] program,” he said of Iran, “it is not hard to prove to the world that your intentions are peaceful.” 

The bulk of his address, however, focused on the US commitment to resolving ”this intractable conflict [that] has confounded administration after administration,” and the “unprecedented” efforts made by the US in the past year toward reaching an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord.

Everyone knows what the endgame to the conflict looks like, Kerry said, hinting at the outline of a possible framework agreement: “An independent state for Palestinians wherever they may be; security arrangements for Israel that leave it more secure, not less; a full, phased, final withdrawal of the Israeli army; a just and agreed solution to the Palestinian refugee problem; an end to the conflict and all claims and mutual recognition of the nation-state of the Palestinian people and the nation-state of the Jewish people.”

For their part, Kerry said, the Palestinians need assurances ”that at the end of the day their territory is going to be free of Israeli troops, that occupation ends.”

“But the Israelis rightfully will not withdraw unless they know the West Bank will not become a new Gaza, and nobody can blame any leader of Israel for being concerned about that reality,” he said. Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in 2007, two years after Israel withdrew unilaterally from the Strip.

While the top American diplomat did not detail the content of the current negotiations between the two sides, which he has been brokering since last July, he said that a central obstacle in the way of an accord was the resolution of security issues. US President Barack Obama shared his view, Kerry said, “that there cannot be peace unless Israel’s security and its needs are met.”

“Security is a priority, because we understand that Israel has to be strong to make peace. But we also believe that peace will make Israel stronger,” he said.

Kerry mentioned that the US, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians have discussed the creation of a high-tech “security structure that meets the highest standards anywhere in the world” along the border with Jordan, capable of thwarting “an individual terrorist or a conventional armed force.”

But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that an agreement with the Palestinians must involve Israeli security forces stationed along the strategically critical Jordan Valley even after Palestinian statehood; Netanyahu said earlier Friday that he would not dismantle settlements either. And Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has derided Kerry’s high-tech security package as inadequate to fight terrorism on the ground.

Critical to an agreement, said Kerry on Friday, was managing to get the leaders on either side to make the “courageous decisions necessary to embrace what would be fair and what would work.”

Kerry warned that a breakdown in talks would be catastrophic. According to recent reports, the Palestinian leadership has already decided in principle to reject Kerry’s framework proposals for a deal and instead launch a global diplomatic and legal assault on Israel.

“The benefits of success and the dangers of failure are enormous for the United States, for the world, for the region and, most importantly of all, for the Israeli and Palestinian people,” he said.

Kerry lauded Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s commitment to nonviolence and negotiations, and warned that failure “will only embolden extremists and empower hardliners at the expense of the moderates.” He said a deterioration in security would jeopardize Israel’s economic juggernaut and increase isolation, and bring the Palestinians no closer to the independence they seek.

“If they fail to achieve statehood now, there’s no guarantee another opportunity will follow anytime soon,” he said.

Kerry added that “this issue cannot be resolved at the United Nations,” a path the Palestinians have attempted previously by seeking international recognition of statehood. “It can only be resolved between the parties.” He warned that unilateral acts by either side would precipitate a spiraling return to conflict.

The secretary of state emphasized the benefits both sides stood to gain through a peace agreement, pointing out that the Palestinians would achieve statehood and economic prosperity.

“For Israel, the benefits of peace are enormous as well, perhaps even more significant,” he said, stating that Israel would have immediate diplomatic recognition and economic ties with the Arab and Muslim world. It would potentially see a six percent increase in GDP per year, he argued.

“There are some people that assert this may be the last shot,” Kerry said of the current talks. “I don’t know the answer to that. I don’t want to find out the hard way.”

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is just my opinion, but I don't think any "peace agreement" will happen until the 1st seal in Revelation gets opened(and hence the Daniel 9:27 prophecy starts).



Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on February 11, 2014, 05:54:31 am
Loyal U.S. Jewish Democrats worry as pressure mounts against Israel

Over the last few months, supporters of the Obama administration have been questioning the loyalty of American Jews amid U.S. pressure on Israel to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Jerusalem. In Congress, American Jews who support U.S. sanctions on Iran have been portrayed as disloyal war-mongers. 

“The Obama administration’s trashing of anyone expressing doubts about the deal struck last November with the Iranian regime over its nuclear program contains, of course, an Israeli dimension,” Ben Cohen, an analyst for the Jewish Institute for National Security, said.

http://www.worldtribune.com/2014/02/07/loyal-u-s-jewish-democrats-worry-as-pressure-mounts-against-israel/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 11, 2014, 12:01:04 pm
Loyal U.S. Jewish Democrats worry as pressure mounts against Israel

Over the last few months, supporters of the Obama administration have been questioning the loyalty of American Jews amid U.S. pressure on Israel to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Jerusalem. In Congress, American Jews who support U.S. sanctions on Iran have been portrayed as disloyal war-mongers. 

“The Obama administration’s trashing of anyone expressing doubts about the deal struck last November with the Iranian regime over its nuclear program contains, of course, an Israeli dimension,” Ben Cohen, an analyst for the Jewish Institute for National Security, said.

http://www.worldtribune.com/2014/02/07/loyal-u-s-jewish-democrats-worry-as-pressure-mounts-against-israel/

I know both "political" parties are controlled-opposition, but nonetheless I can't imagine anyone that is Jewish, or even Christian, even giving 2 thoughts about voting for Obama, much less supporting him.


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on March 02, 2014, 09:22:59 am
Obama pushes Israel to stop assassinations of Iran nuclear scientists – report

President Barack Obama is pressuring Israel to stop carrying out assassinations of top nuclear scientists in Iran as the Islamic Republic continues its negotiations with world powers over its uranium enrichment program, according to a new book.

Apart from pressure from Washington that Israel give up the assassination program, sources close to Israel's intelligence agencies told CBS News’s Dan Raviv that Mossad itself viewed the campaign as too dangerous to continue. Raviv, who was updating a book he co-wrote about the history of Israel's intelligence agencies, said the pressure form the Obama administration was “more than a hint.”

Mossad itself was apparently undergoing a sea change regarding the program. Fearing their ‘best combatants’ – Israel's term for its most accomplished spies – could be captured and hanged, the agency is reportedly set to shift its focus to other activities. According to security sources, Netanyahu ordered the intelligence agency to focus its efforts on proving the Islamic Republic is cheating on a landmark preliminary agreement made with six world powers in November to curtail its uranium enrichment program in return for limited sanctions relief.

At least five Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed since 2007, with men on motorcycles sticking magnetically attachable bombs to their victims' cars. The head of the country’s ballistic missile program was also killed, while in October Mojtaba Ahmadi, who served as commander of the Cyber War Headquarters, was found shot dead. No Israeli national has ever been arrested in collusion with the targeted assassination program, which is reportedly intended to thwart advances in Iran’s nuclear program and dissuade Iran’s best and brightest from working in the sphere.

The killing of Ahmadi was widely viewed as an attempt to derail nuclear negotiations between Tehran and the P5+1 – the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.

Israel has never publically claimed responsibility for the attacks.

In 2012, however, an NBC News report concluded that "deadly attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists are being carried out by an Iranian dissident group that is financed, trained and armed by Israel's secret service."

The report cited two senior Obama administration officials as confirming that Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) is behind the killings, though the officials denied the US played any role in the program.

Mohammad Javad Larijani, a senior aide to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, told NBC that Mossad worked through the MEK because "Israel does not have direct access to our society. [The MEK], being Iranian and being part of Iranian society, they have … a good number of places... to get into touch with people."

The MEK has denied colluding with Israel, though Israeli officials have confirmed links between MEK and Israeli intelligence.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told defense officials on Saturday the country had given up its nuclear program because owning weapons of mass destruction is a sin.

“Even if there were no NPT (nuclear non-proliferation treaty) or other treaties, our belief, our faith, our religion and principles tell us not to seek weapons of mass destruction,” Rouhani said.

In November, Iran agreed to stop enriching uranium beyond 20 percent and to dilute its already enriched stockpiles in return for an estimated $7 billion in sanctions relief. That deal came into effect January 20.

Following the latest round of Iran nuclear talks in Vienna on February 20, Iran and the P5+1 agreed to a framework on which to strike a final agreement within the coming months. Both sides have agreed to hold an additional round of talks in Vienna later this month.

http://rt.com/news/iran-obama-assassination-scientists-443/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: FervorForFaith on March 02, 2014, 04:07:09 pm
This is just my opinion, but I don't think any "peace agreement" will happen until the 1st seal in Revelation gets opened(and hence the Daniel 9:27 prophecy starts).

Could be, but it might be sooner than that, even. I've always had a question as to who the "prince of the covenant" is in Daniel 11:22.

Daniel 11:21-22 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant.

I can see that being read two different ways (and one of them has to be correct, imo)

1. The "prince of the covenant" is one of "they" in "with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown... and shall be broken"
2. The "prince of the covenant" is the "vile person"

I lean toward the former, truthfully. That makes me think that the 7 year covenant is written by someone else (Obama?) and the Antichrist confirms it, or puts it into effect. That also fits with my personal theory that Obama is the counterfeit Antichrist, the scapegoat for the real Antichrist to conquer.


Title: Obama: US won’t be able to defend Israel if peace talks fail
Post by: Mark on March 03, 2014, 04:52:43 am
Obama: US won’t be able to defend Israel if peace talks fail
Ahead of meeting with Netanyahu, president says unprecedented ‘aggressive settlement construction’ detrimental to peace process


Israel can expect to face international isolation and possible sanctions from countries and companies across the world if Benjamin Netanyahu fails to endorse a framework agreement with the Palestinians, US President Barack Obama cautioned on Sunday ahead of a meeting with the Israeli prime minister.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Obama stressed that time was running out for Israel to achieve a peace deal, and added that he believed Netanyahu had the capacity to rally Israel’s citizens behind an agreement.

But if Netanyahu “does not believe that a peace deal with the Palestinians is the right thing to do for Israel, then he needs to articulate an alternative approach,” Obama said.

“There comes a point where you can’t manage this anymore, and then you start having to make very difficult choices,” he said.

The president went on to stress that he would convey to Netanyahu, in the spirit of the Jewish sage Hillel the Elder, that the prime minister could lead Israel toward peace if he chose to do so.

“If not now, when? And if not you, Mr. Prime Minister, then who?” Obama said.

The president went on to condemn in no uncertain terms Israel’s settlement activities in the West Bank, and said that though his allegiance to the Jewish state was permanent, building settlements across the Green Line was counterproductive and would make it extremely difficult for the US to defend Israel from painful repercussions in the international community.

“If you see no peace deal and continued aggressive settlement construction — and we have seen more aggressive settlement construction over the last couple years than we’ve seen in a very long time — if Palestinians come to believe that the possibility of a contiguous sovereign Palestinian state is no longer within reach, then our ability to manage the international fallout is going to be limited,” Obama said.

The president added that Israel must come to a decision over its future character and weigh whether its current policies are conducive to achieving its true aspirations.

“Do you resign yourself to what amounts to a permanent occupation of the West Bank?” he inquired of the Israeli public.

“Is that the character of Israel as a state for a long period of time? Do you perpetuate, over the course of a decade or two decades, more and more restrictive policies in terms of Palestinian movement? Do you place restrictions on Arab Israelis in ways that run counter to Israel’s traditions?” he asked.

Obama further stated that in his opinion, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas “has proven himself to be somebody who has been committed to nonviolence and diplomatic efforts to resolve” the conflict.

“We do not know what a successor to Abbas will look like,” he added.

Asked whether he felt Abbas was sincere about his willingness to recognize Israel and its right to exist, the president replied that he was sure that was the case.

“I think that this is a rare quality not just within the Palestinian territories, but in the Middle East generally,” Obama said of the Palestinian leader. ”For us not to seize that opportunity would be a mistake.”

Netanyahu left for Washington Sunday for talks about the US-led peace process and nuclear negotiations between world powers and Iran.

Although Netanyahu would like the conversation with Obama to focus primarily on Iran, the White House appears to have a different agenda.

“Obama will press him to agree to a framework for a conclusive round of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations that is being drafted by Secretary of State John Kerry,” The New York Times quoted senior US officials as saying last week.

Direct peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, which began last July with the goal of reaching a deal within nine months, have made no visible progress.

Kerry is now focused on getting the two sides to agree on a framework proposal which would extend the deadline until the year’s end.

Although the document has not yet been made public, it is understood to be a non-binding proposal laying out guidelines for negotiating the central issues of the conflict, such as borders, security, Jerusalem, Israeli settlements and the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

The proposal, or its outline, is likely to be presented to Netanyahu this week and to Abbas on March 17 when he meets Obama at the White House.

Read more: Obama: US won't be able to defend Israel if peace talks fail | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/obama-us-wont-be-able-to-defend-israel-if-peace-talks-fail/#ixzz2utbbO6Q6



Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on March 17, 2014, 08:48:42 am
White House seeks to replace Netanyahu?

U.S. delegates brought up the possibility of replacing Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister, according to an informed Jerusalem diplomatic source. The meetings were held with Israel’s popular finance minister, Yair Lapid, founder and leader of the Yesh Atid Party, which became the second-largest party in the Knesset winning 19 seats in the last election. 

http://www.wnd.com/2014/03/white-house-seeks-to-replace-netanyahu/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Kilika on March 17, 2014, 06:02:21 pm
Quote
Israel can expect to face international isolation and possible sanctions from countries and companies across the world if Benjamin Netanyahu fails to endorse a framework agreement with the Palestinians, US President Barack Obama cautioned on Sunday ahead of a meeting with the Israeli prime minister.

So how does Obama treat Netanyahu before an official US visit? He threatens him! And they are talking replacing him? He's the leader of a country! What are they going to do, assassinate him?

How much doubt can be left that Obama is at the very least particular to Islam over Israel, if not an outright closet Muslim himself.

Bible prophecy or not, Obama is making it clear that he is no friend of Israel.


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on March 19, 2014, 01:41:41 pm
US irate with Israeli defense minister comments

 The Obama administration is venting its anger at insults and criticism of President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry by Israel's defense minister.

The State Department said Kerry called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH'-hoo) on Wednesday to protest recent remarks by Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon (MOH'-shuh YAH'-uh-lohn). He had accused Obama administration of being weak on Iran and questioned its commitment to Israel's security.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki (SAH'-kee) said the remarks were "not constructive" and "inconsistent" with the close relationship between the U.S. and Israel. She declined to characterize Netanyahu's response.

In remarks quoted in Israeli reports on Tuesday, Yaalon criticized the U.S. for not leading a campaign against Iran. He has been quoted as saying Kerry is "obsessive" and "messianic" about Middle East peace.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/us-irate-israeli-defense-minister-comments

 :D


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on March 28, 2014, 11:53:18 am
In new row, Israel at odds with US over visas

With the United States irked at Israel over its settlement policies and the lack of progress in peace talks, an obscure diplomatic classification has emerged as a new sticking point between the two close allies.

To ease the travel of its citizens, Israel is pressing to join 38 other countries in the U.S. Visa Waiver Program - a prestigious club of nations whose citizens don't need a preapproved visa to visit America. So far, their efforts have not only been rebuffed, but Israel has seen a spike in the number of young people and military officers rejected entry to the U.S.

Washington says Israel has not been let into the program simply because it has not met the requirements - and has pointed in part to Israel's treatment of Arab-American travelers, drawing sharp denials by Israeli officials of any discrimination. U.S. officials say there is no policy in place to make it more difficult for Israelis to get "B'' visas, which allow a 90-day stay in the United States for business or travel purposes.

Figures show that the percentage of Israelis whose visa requests are rejected is lower than that of many other countries, and other countries' rejection rates have grown as well amid an overall stricter approach taken by American Homeland Security officials. For example, in 2013 Belarus had a rejected rate of 20.7 percent, Bulgaria's was 19.9 percent and Ireland's was 16.9 percent.

Even so, Israel saw its visa rejection rate jumped to 9.7 percent last year, up from 5.4 percent the year before - a startling 80 percent increase.

Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, has called on the State Department to "end its widespread, arbitrary practice of denying young Israelis tourist visas." Other pro-Israel members of Congress have also pressed for answers. Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin said some Congress members are pushing for legislation that would exempt Israel from the requirements to qualify for the waiver program altogether.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki responded this week by saying that Israelis are still overwhelmingly granted entry.

"Over 90 percent of Israeli applicants for tourist visas to the United States are approved. For young Israelis, over 80 percent of visa applicants are approved for a visa," she said at a briefing.

The 90-day visas are either approved or rejected after a brief interview with a U.S. embassy official in the applicant's country of origin. Americans do not need a visa to enter Israel, though Americans of Palestinian origin often face problems and cannot enter through Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport, instead entering either through Jordan or Egypt.

The visa issue brings another irritant in U.S.-Israeli ties at a time of strains over Secretary of State John Kerry's stagnating peace efforts. The Obama administration has been critical of Israel for continuing to press forward with Jewish settlements in the West Bank while Kerry has been brokering peace talks over a future Palestinian state.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon recently called Kerry "obsessive" and "messianic" over making peace between Israelis and Palestinians and dismissed a U.S. security plan for the region as worthless. He also called the U.S. weak when it comes to its stance on Iran's nuclear program and questioned Washington's commitment to Israel's security.

During the same briefing last week, Psaki said the U.S. was disappointed that Yaalon has yet to apologize for his "offensive" remarks.

Among younger Israelis, the visa issue has put a damper on plans for a post-army trip to America, a common rite of passage after completing three or more years of compulsory military service. For this demographic, the American concern appears to be less a matter of security and rather a fear that they will abuse their tourist visas to work illegally and peddle products at malls.

Yoav Rosenbaum, 23, said he had no such intention. He and three friends just wanted to go on a 10-day trip to the New York area to see a comedy festival. But even though he holds down a hi-tech job, rents an apartment in Tel Aviv and lived in the U.S for the three years when he was younger, he was immediately rejected at the American embassy.

"I brought documents, showed my return flight and the tickets to the festival, paid the fee and the guy just looked at me and said 'it's not going to happen,'" he recalled, saying the official told him he didn't have enough ties to Israel to be trusted to return. "I wasn't that shocked because I knew that they give a hard time to people of my age group."

It hasn't stopped dozens of others from lining up outside the American embassy in Tel Aviv to seek visas on a daily basis.

For the Israeli government, the larger issue is membership in the Visa Waiver Program.

As one of America's closest allies, Israel wonders why countries like Slovakia, Iceland and Latvia qualify while they are left out.

U.S. diplomats say it is merely a matter of countries meeting stringent conditions, such as issuing biometric passports, properly reporting lost or stolen documents and allowing the free access of Americans into their country.

Psaki said American authorities "remain concerned with the unequal treatment that Palestinian Americans and other Americans of Middle Eastern origin experience at Israel's border and checkpoints, and reciprocity is the most basic condition of the Visa Waiver Program."

Elkin, the Israeli deputy foreign minister, rejected long-standing accusations that Arabs were unnecessarily targeted with aggressive questioning, long luggage examinations and strip searches, saying that U.S. Homeland Security had just as tough techniques for people - including Israelis - of Middle Eastern descent.

He told The Associated Press that Israel had addressed all matters under its control to be able to qualify for the program. He said it will now allow Palestinian-Americans to begin entering the country through the airport.

The only obstacle remaining was the rate of Israelis rejected for U.S. visas, which needs to drop below 3 percent before Israel can be considered for the program.

"That depends on the Americans. If they wanted, a creative solution could be found," Elkin said. "Israel is among the friendliest countries to the U.S. and there is no reason why we shouldn't be part of the program."

Read more: http://www.myfoxny.com/story/25100402/in-new-row-israel-at-odds-with-us-over-visas#ixzz2xHFYZ5X8


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on April 28, 2014, 07:27:44 pm
Kerry warns Israel could become 'apartheid state' -- on Holocaust memorial day...
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/27/exclusive-kerry-warns-israel-could-become-an-apartheid-state.html

Top official blasts: 'Shame on you'...
http://www.timesofisrael.com/mks-pan-kerry-for-saying-israel-could-become-apartheid/

Cantor calls for Kerry apology...
http://thehill.com/policy/international/204564-cantor-demands-kerry-apologize-to-israel

CRUZ: RESIGN...
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/cruz-kerry-should-resign-for-his-offensive-remarks-about-israel/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on April 29, 2014, 04:25:05 am
Kerry Apologizes for Remark That Israel Risks Apartheid

Secretary of State John Kerry issued an unusual statement Monday evening expressing his support for Israel after a controversy erupted over a politically charged phrase he used in a private appearance.

 Speaking to a closed-door meeting of the Trilateral Commission last week, Mr. Kerry said that if a Middle East peace agreement was not achieved, Israel risked becoming an “apartheid state,” according to an article in The Daily Beast, an online publication. The comments were noted in the Israeli news media and were severely criticized by some American Jewish organizations.

 “Any suggestion that Israel is, or is at risk of becoming, an apartheid state is offensive and inappropriate,” the American Israel Public Affairs Committee said. “Israel is the lone stable democracy in the Middle East, protects the rights of minorities regardless of ethnicity or religion.”
Continue reading the main story
Related Coverage

    Secretary of State John Kerry with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority in Amman, Jordan, in March, one of their 34 meetings over nine months of negotiations.
    Arc of a Failed Deal: How Nine Months of Mideast Talks Ended in Disarray APRIL 28, 2014
    Israel Appears to Raise New Peace Talks Issue With U.S.APRIL 28, 2014

Republican lawmakers were also critical. Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican and possible presidential contender, said Mr. Kerry’s comments were “outrageous and disappointing.”

During his push for a comprehensive peace agreement, Mr. Kerry has repeatedly warned that Israel could face economic pressure from European nations as well as Palestinian violence and a demographic time bomb at home — meaning Jews could become a minority in Israel and the territories they control — if Israel did not negotiate an agreement that led to an independent Palestinian state.

His recent comments came at a particularly sensitive moment with the peace talks put off, after Israel’s decision to suspend negotiations because of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s announcement of its reconciliation with Hamas, the Islamic militant group that governs Gaza.

 In the statement that Mr. Kerry issued Monday, which bore the title “On Support for Israel,” he said that he had been a staunch supporter of Israel during his years as a senator and had spent many hours since working with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials.

“For more than 30 years in the United States Senate, I didn’t just speak words in support of Israel,” Mr. Kerry said in his statement. “I walked the walk when it came time to vote and when it came time to fight.”

Mr. Kerry added that he did not believe that Israel was an “apartheid state” or intended to become one. Mr. Kerry did not dispute he had used the phrase but said it had led to a “misimpression” about his views.

“If I could rewind the tape, I would have chosen a different word to describe my firm belief that the only way in the long term to have a Jewish state and two nations and two peoples living side by side in peace and security is through a two state solution,” he said.

“In the long term, a unitary, binational state cannot be the democratic Jewish state that Israel deserves or the prosperous state with full rights that the Palestinian people deserve,” he added.

J Street, a pro-peace Jewish organization,  defended Mr. Kerry. “Instead of putting energy into attacking Secretary Kerry, those who are upset with the secretary’s use of the term should put their energy into opposing and changing the policies that are leading Israel down this road,” it said in a statement.

But Aaron David Miller, a former American peace negotiator now at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, said that Mr. Kerry’s comment had drawn him into an “unproductive fight with a close ally.”

“Baker and Kissinger used tough language when they thought they would not only be able to make a point, but would be able to make a difference,” Mr. Miller said of James A. Baker III and Henry A. Kissinger, both former secretaries of state.  “But Kerry’s closed-door comment was ill timed, ill advised and unwise.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/29/world/middleeast/kerry-apologizes-for-remark-that-israel-risks-apartheid.html?_r=2


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on April 30, 2014, 12:56:19 pm
U.S. Diplomat Reluctant to Link U.S. Aid to Palestinian Prisoner Payments

A senior administration official on Tuesday played down the significance of the Palestinian Authority’s payments to thousands of Palestinians jailed in Israel for terrorist offenses, saying it was a “political issue” for the P.A. and voicing reluctance to tie the matter to U.S. funding.

“I frankly know that they’re going to try to phase that out, and we should give them the opportunity to do so,” Assistant Secretary for the Near East Anne Patterson told lawmakers pressing for the U.S. to use its financial leverage to stop the P.A. from paying stipends to terrorists and their families.

Patterson, a former U.S. ambassador to Egypt and Pakistan, was testifying before the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa on the administration fiscal year 2015 budget request relating to the region, which includes $440 million for the P.A.

Two issues that came up repeatedly during a hearing were the prisoner stipend payments – which have been going on for years – and P.A. chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ latest attempt to form a unity government with the Hamas, the U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization that ruled the Gaza Strip.

Several members asked Patterson why the U.S. does not make funding to the P.A. contingent on an end to the prisoner payment practice.

“I would be hard pressed – hard pressed to say which of the programs for the Palestinian Authority we should cut,” she said in reply to a question from Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas).

rest+vids: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/us-diplomat-reluctant-link-us-aid-palestinian-prisoner-payments

WOW!!! We are paying terrorist who are sitting in Israeli jails. Nice one Obama


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on May 05, 2014, 07:10:57 am
In Newly Uncovered Audio, Young Senator Joe Biden Slammed Previous Administrations for Pressuring Israel to Make Concessions to Arabs

 :D

When Ronald Reagan was president and Joe Biden was a senator from Delaware, Biden criticized the Republican administration and President Jimmy Carter for pressuring Israel to make concessions that could threaten the Jewish state’s very survival, newly uncovered audio shows.

Israel’s Army Radio on Friday first reported on the existence of the recording from the mid-1980s in which Biden emphasized Israel’s delicate position in a hostile Middle East, comparing the Jewish state to a farm pig about to be slaughtered for breakfast ham.

TheBlaze has obtained excerpts from Biden’s speech which were found in the archives of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem.

Though almost three decades old, Biden’s remarks are noteworthy, because the Obama administration’s current push for a Middle East peace agreement spearheaded by Secretary of State John Kerry is predicated on Israel making wide territorial concessions to the Palestinian Authority.

Then-Senator Biden warned in his speech to Los Angeles Jewish leaders of the “grave injustice” were Israel to be pushed into a position where it had to say “no” to concessions, while he dismissed the notion that the Palestinian issue was key to tranquility in the Middle East, a worldview that has been promoted by Obama officials.

As the recent round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks floundered before they wrapped last week with no agreement, Kerry and President Barack Obama appeared to lay the blame on Israel.

The Daily Beast last week published quotes from a recording it obtained of Kerry warning that Israel could become an apartheid state or face concerted new Palestinian violence if it does not move toward a two-state solution.

President Obama in March suggested in a Bloomberg View interview that Israel could face international isolation and the prospect of losing its Jewish majority if it did not agree to the peace framework promoted by Kerry.

But Biden three decades ago said, “When we push Israel into a position where she has no alternative but to say no, we do a grave injustice to Israel.”

“It is very easy for us, sitting in the security of this country, whether we are Christian or Jew, to conclude that Israel – now being the military Goliath of the David and Goliath team – is in a position to do more than she has been willing to do, when in fact Israel cannot afford to make mistakes. There is little or no margin for error on the part of Israel,” Biden said in his speech.

rest+audio: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/05/04/in-newly-uncovered-audio-young-senator-joe-biden-slammed-previous-administrations-for-pressuring-israel-to-make-concessions-to-arabs/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on May 06, 2014, 06:37:59 am
Kerry's 'apartheid' comment not a mistake, says Middle East expert

A U.S.-born Israeli author and Middle East expert says he is skeptical that Secretary of State John Kerry has sincerely backtracked on a recent comment where he suggested that Israel could become "an apartheid state."

Peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians collapsed after Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas publicly reunited with the terrorist group Hamas and triggered Israel's exit from further negotiations.

Rubin, DavidBut Kerry reacted by suggesting that failure to embrace a two-state solution with the Palestinians could leave the only Middle East democracy branded as "an apartheid state."

David Rubin, former mayor of the Israeli city of Shiloh, calls that "very disturbing considering that Israel has gone way beyond where it should be going in trying to accommodate the Palestinian Authority, which has proven itself now to be just another band of armed Islamic terrorists."

Kerry made the statement at a meeting of the Trilateral Commission, where speakers' statements are not public. But his words were recorded and leaked to the press and published by news website The Daily Beast.

Kerry later attempted to backtrack when he said, "If I could rewind the tape, I would have chosen a different word."

Rubin, however, is not convinced of Kerry's sincerity.

"When you make a statement like that, that's a carefully chosen statement, whether he backtracks or not," Rubin mainstains.

Media and political pundits have also noted Kerry was not expecting his words to reach the public. 

Sen.Ted Cruz of Texas and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, both Republicans, have called for Kerry's resignation over the remarks.

- See more at: http://www.onenewsnow.com/national-security/2014/05/02/kerrys-apartheid-comment-not-a-mistake-says-middle-east-expert#.U2jG01ehFyI


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on May 06, 2014, 11:32:51 pm
Quote
Kerry's 'apartheid' comment not a mistake, says Middle East expert

Yep, he said it...

Matthew 12:34  O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 14, 2014, 11:42:14 am
http://news.yahoo.com/religious-freedom-not-serve-jews-131600509--politics.html
‘Religious Freedom’ Not to Serve Jews?
6/14/14

“I don’t think about—things I don’t think about.” So said William Jennings Bryan, the lawyer arguing against evolution, at the infamous Scopes “monkey trial.” The question was about Cain’s wife; the answer was about willful ignorance.

The same philosophy was on display this week in Congress, when Mat Staver of the U.S. Liberty Counsel—which, like its better-known cousin the Alliance Defending Freedom, works in courts and legislatures to carve out religious exemptions to anti-discrimination laws—struggled to distinguish between a wedding photographer turning away gay customers and one turning away black or Jewish ones.

“I think that’s fundamentally different,” Staver said, when asked by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who is Jewish. Why? Because “she’s not saying ‘I don’t want to go to a wedding where there are people who are gay or lesbian.’ She’s saying she doesn’t want to photograph a celebration of same-sex unions.”

Ah, so as long as gay people marry people of the opposite sex, they’re perfectly welcome.  Just not when they get gay-married.

Congressman Nadler didn’t buy it. He changed his hypothetical. “Well, what about a celebration of black unions? Suppose I don’t think black people should get married—that’s my religion. Is it an imposition on my religious freedom for the government to say I can’t discriminate?” In other words: not just black people getting married, but people getting black-married.

“I think it’s fundamentally different, and I don’t think that’s the issue in that case,” Staver said without explaining why.

Nadler, knowing he had him, said, “So suppose a photographer had a religious belief that she shouldn’t photograph a Jewish wedding?”

“I think it would be something she wouldn’t object to.”

But what if she did, Nadler pressed.

“She would have an issue there—a violation potential in that case.”

Bingo. What LGBT activists have been saying for years—that discrimination is discrimination—has finally been admitted. Protecting Jews from anti-Semitism is a “violation potential” of the anti-Semite’s religious freedom. The Liberty Counsel said Uncle.

The Nadler-Staver battle (Nadler 1, Staver 0) was eerily similar to a hilarious but little-reported exchange in Houston last month between City Councilwoman Ellen Cohen and the aptly-named Paster Betty Riggle of Grace Community Church.

Like Nadler, Cohen—who is also Jewish—substituted “Jewish” for “gay” and watched Riggle wriggle. The judge asked: “If somebody owns a store …. and I come in as a woman, or a senior, or a person of the Jewish faith … they have a right to refuse me business, is that what you’re saying?”

“I don’t have any problem with that. That’s not the issue,” Riggle replied. As Cohen continued, Riggle said, “They have the right … to be able to refuse service that goes against their religious belief.”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Cohen said.  “So … they have a right to refuse me service.”

“Yes,” Riggle said quietly.

“So you’re saying ‘Yes,’ they do have the right to refuse me service as someone of the Jewish faith.” And here’s the best line, unedited:

“No. No, I’m not saying—Yes, I am saying that, but that is not the issue that we’re talking about.”

What both of these exchanges indicate is that, indeed, there is no difference between turning the gays away and turning the Jews, blacks, seniors, or women away. There are people with religious beliefs that disfavor all those groups. Just decades ago, Southerners argued that being able to keep their schools segregated was a matter of “religious freedom.” The only difference is that some discrimination is bad, but other discrimination is good.

Of course, religiously-motivated racial discrimination used to be “good,” right up through the 1980s. One of the most notorious desegregation cases, about the Heart of Atlanta Motel, centered around a restaranteur who said his religion forbade mixed-race seating. And the evangelical Bob Jones University went all the way to the Supreme Court to defend its religiously-grounded racist policies, as recently as the Reagan administration.

Now, of course, Staver, Riggle, and the like are shocked, shocked, that anyone might want to discriminate against blacks or Jews. (Although it’s interesting that Staver refused to fold when Nadler asked about African-Americans; perhaps a Jewish wedding, unlike a “black wedding,” is really a thing, and something that someone might object to supporting.)

Ironically, these real-life slippery slopes come right on the eve of a Supreme Court case, Hobby Lobby, that court-watchers expect will ratify exactly the kind of religiously-motivated discrimination that these exchanges are really about. There, the context is health insurance and contraception, not gays and weddings. But the same principle should hold: if you can opt out of some laws because they offend your religious freedom, why not opt out of others?

This, of course, is exactly the aim of the ‘religious liberty’ crowd. The ship may have sailed on African-Americans and Jews, but it is just leaving the harbor when it comes to LGBT people—and it is sinking fast when it comes to women’s healthcare. If people don’t have to obey the laws protecting women and gays, they aren’t really laws.

In the meantime, look forward to more squirms and wriggles like these. To be fair, Riggle and Staver are right about one thing: there probably aren’t as many overt racists and anti-Semites out there as there are homophobes and sexists. But then again, isn’t that the point?


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 20, 2014, 09:27:57 am
http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/us-christians-consider-actions-to-punish-israel-presbyterian/1940030.html
US Christians Consider Actions to Punish Israel
6/20/14

One of America’s oldest Christian groups is holding leadership meetings this week.  The assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA is taking place in Detroit, Michigan.

One proposal under consideration is a plan to end investments with companies that do business with Israel.  Delegates are set to vote on the measure this Friday.  If approved, the Presbyterian Church would be the largest religious organization in the U.S. to approve sanctions against Israel.

Beverly Dempsey is the acting head of the Western Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C.  She offers prayers for the Presbyterian leaders meeting in Detroit.

“As the general assembly moves into full swing, there are many issues that do threaten to tear the PCUSA apart.”
 
Like other traditional Protestant groups, the Presbyterian Church USA has been losing members.  The Church has fewer than two million members.  Same-sex marriage and other issues have often divided church goers.

One of those other issues is a proposal to cancel investments in American companies whose products are used by Israel in the occupied territories.  If the plan is approved, it would be a major victory for the Boycott Divest and Sanctions movement.  The movement wants sanctions to punish Israel, similar to those used against South Africa during its white minority rule.

Susan Wilder is with the Presbyterian Israel/Palestine Mission Network.  She says the proposal is not aimed at reducing or destroying the rights of Israel.

“But we do need to shine a spotlight on Israel’s – on bad policies.  You know we’re not -- This isn’t about good guys and bad guts, or being against Israel, or wanting to isolate Israel or even punish Israel.  This is about wanting to shine a spotlight on actions that are harming everyone.”
 
John Wimberly is a retired clergyman.  He formerly served at the Western Presbyterian church.

“There is a 2,000 year history of economic sanctions being used by Christians aimed at Jews, and it’s a bloody and it’s a nasty history, and that is kind of my bottom line opposition is right there.”
 
John Wimberly says the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement ignores Palestinian attacks on Israel.  And he thinks the movement has been pushed by activists from outside the church.

“This divestment thing has come up ever since 2004 at every general assembly.  And every general assembly, the Presbyterian church, which is kind of a progressive body, has defeated it.  So Israel has lots of friends in the mainline churches.”
 
But supporters of Israel fear a vote in support of the proposal could lead similar action by other religious groups.  That would leave Israel with fewer friends among more liberal Protestant Christians.


Title: U.N. Condemns Israel, U.S. for Not Sharing Iron Dome with Hamas
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 01, 2014, 10:24:07 pm
http://nation.foxnews.com/2014/08/01/un-condemns-israel-us-not-sharing-iron-dome-hamas
U.N. Condemns Israel, U.S. for Not Sharing Iron Dome with Hamas
8/1/14

The United Nations slammed Israel for possibly committing war crimes in its fight against Hamas — and then backed that accusation by suggesting the Jewish nation ought to be sharing its Iron Dome defensive technology with the very terror group it’s fighting.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said to members of the media at an “emergency” meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council that Israel was falling short in its duty to protect citizens in the Gaza Strip from getting killed by its rockets.


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 14, 2014, 10:29:03 pm
US Post Offices Reportedly Refusing Mail to Israel
ADL complains to US Postmaster General after mail to Israel turned away in several states.

8/14/14

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/184046#.U-yzBODD-Uk

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has written to complain to the US Postmaster General, after receiving widespread reports that US post offices around America have been refusing to accept mail to Israel.

In the last several days ADL reports that it has received complaints from Massachusetts, Michigan and New Jersey, revealing postal customers were incorrectly told that the US Postal Service is not accepting mail for Israel due to Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.

"The postal employees have told these individuals that current USPS policy says that mail to Israel cannot be accepted because of the current crisis,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director.

Foxman added that "only once employees sought clarification from supervisors in Washington did these post offices accept packages and letters to Israel."

Writing to US Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe, ADL stated that the phenomenon presumably stems from a misunderstanding by postal workers, who apparently thought the temporary suspension of service to Israel during a 36-hour period in July was a permanent policy change.

That suspension came after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) banned flights to Israel, following a Hamas rocket landing near Ben Gurion International Airport. The ban was later lifted, but not before Hamas declared it a "great victory."

The issue of mail to Israel being denied comes as Wall Street Journal reports on Wednesday night revealed that US President Barack Obama's administration blocked a weapons transfer to Israel during the operation, and further ordered closer scrutiny of future Israeli weapons requests.


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 22, 2014, 05:55:50 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6izWR_vDqY0


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 24, 2014, 07:45:54 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2W1zxxSqSE


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 16, 2014, 10:33:54 pm
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/09/jews-to-the-gas-islamic-anti-semitism-rising-in-germany-synagogues-attacked
“Jews to the gas!”: Islamic anti-Semitism rising in Germany, synagogues attacked
Robert Spencer   Sep 16, 2014 at 7:23pm Eurabia, Germany, Islamic antisemitism   3 Comments

It has gotten so bad that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed to combat it, and even the New York Times has to acknowledge it. Of course, they don’t mention its Qur’anic roots — the fact that the Qur’an calls Jews the worst enemies of the Muslims (5:82), says they are under Allah’s curse (9:30) and more.

“What’s Behind Germany’s New Anti-Semitism,” by Jochen Bittner, New York Times, September 16, 2014:

    HAMBURG, Germany — Europe is living through a new wave of anti-Semitism. The president of Germany’s Central Council of Jews calls it the worst the Continent has seen since World War II. He may well be right. Attacks on synagogues are an almost weekly occurrence, and openly anti-Semitic chants are commonplace on well-attended marches from London to Rome. And yet it is here, in Germany, where the rise in anti-Semitism is most historically painful.

    On Sunday, thousands of people marched through Berlin in response, and heard both Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joachim Gauck denounce the resurgence in anti-Jewish hatred.

    We’ve seen this before, of course. But there’s an important difference this time. The new anti-Semitism does not originate solely with the typical white-supremacist neo-Nazi; instead, the ugly truth that many in Europe don’t want to confront is that much of the anti-Jewish animus originates with European people of Muslim background.

    Until recently, Germany has been unwilling to discuss this trend. Germans have always seen Muslim anti-Semitism as a less problematic version of the “original” version, and therefore a distraction from the well-known problem of anti-Jewish sentiment within a majority of society.

    And yet the German police have noted a disturbing rise in the number of people of Arabic and Turkish descent arrested on suspicion of anti-Semitic acts in recent years, especially over the last several months. After noticing an alarming uptick in anti-Semitic sentiment among immigrant students, the German government is considering a special fund for Holocaust education.

    Of course, anti-Semitism didn’t originate with Europe’s Muslims, nor are they its only proponents today. The traditional anti-Semitism of Europe’s far right persists. So, too, does that of the far left, as a negative byproduct of sympathy for the Palestinian liberation struggle. There’s also an anti-Semitism of the center, a subcategory of the sort of casual anti-Americanism and anticapitalism that many otherwise moderate Europeans espouse.

    But the rise of Muslim anti-Semitism is responsible for the recent change in the tone of hate in Germany. Until recently, the country’s anti-Semitism has been largely coded and anonymous. Messages might be spray-painted on walls at night; during the day, though, it would be rare to hear someone shout, as protesters did in Berlin in July, “Jews to the gas!” Another popular slogan at this and other rallies was “Jew, coward pig, come out and fight alone!” — shouted just yards from Berlin’s main Holocaust memorial. And this is the difference today: An anti-Semitism that is not only passionate, but also unaware of, or indifferent to, Germany’s special history.

    Talking to Muslim friends, I can’t help but believe that the audacity of today’s anti-Semitism is in part a result of the exploitation of a “victim status,” an underdog sentiment that too many European Muslims have embraced enthusiastically. This is not just the sort of social-science explanation we often hear for hatred, as racism from people who are themselves the victims of racism and discrimination.

    Yes, there is discrimination against and exclusion of Muslims in Europe, and many of them certainly have reason to be frustrated. But this sentiment is more complex, born not only from how someone feels about himself and his neighbors, but about himself and his country. It is twofold: Germany’s history is not my history. And: I’ll never fully belong to your nation anyway, so why should I take on its burdens as you do?

    One friend, whose parents are from Turkey, told me that when she learned about the Holocaust at her German school, she wondered what all that had to do with her biography. As someone born in 1973, though with blond hair, I could ask the same question.

    The point is, it’s not about personal involvement; it is not in our blood, but it is in our history, in the timeline of a place that migrants have become part of. For Germans, accepting responsibility for the Holocaust has to mean feeling ultimately and more than any other nations’ citizens responsible for keeping the memory of its horrors alive — simply because those crimes were ordered from our soil.

    Nothing more, but also nothing less has to be expected from every citizen of this country, no matter where her or his parents are from.

    What has become obvious this summer is that the “old” Germans have not yet managed to properly deliver this message to all the “new” Germans. Emotionally, this may have been understandable, given how many “bio-Germans,” as we call ethnic Germans, actually had Nazi family members that they still got to know, which may have made them wary of telling others what to think.

    But the lesson of the Holocaust is a lesson for mankind. And it’s every German’s job to make that clear at all times and to everyone, regardless of where you think you come from.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

20 years ago I visited both Germany and Turkey - Germany has(or had) a big auto industry, and they contracted to hire alot of workers from Turkey(which is why there are alot of Turkish immigrants there). Anyhow - the sentiment and concerns in Turkey at the time was over a potential Muslim takeover in their government(which is why non-Muslims chose to take the SECULAR position, instead of choosing any kind of religion. No, I'm NOT defending them, but this was what we were told). Eventually, Islam took over their government in 2000.


Title: Scottish Jewish community leader: Independence would not be ‘favorable’ for poli
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 17, 2014, 09:33:53 am
http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Scottish-Jewish-community-leader-Independence-would-not-be-favorable-for-policy-toward-Israel-375558
Scottish Jewish community leader: Independence would not be ‘favorable’ for policy toward Israel

LONDON – As campaigning for Scotland’s bid for independence from the rest of the United Kingdom starts its final day, Thursday’s voting is too close to call, with opinion polls hedging their bets as to whether the 300-year-old political union may end.

In an exclusive interview with The Jerusalem Post, Paul Morron, president of the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council, declined to make any prediction of the result.

“It’s absolutely on a knife’s edge. You can toss a coin and see which way it comes down,” he said.

However, either a vote for independence, as strongly advocated by the ruling Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP), or a vote for remaining within the union, as campaigned for by all the other UK political parties, will not have any significant effects on the 6,000-7,000-strong Jewish community, Morron said.

Only in one clearly identifiable area will there be a difference — that of foreign policy, especially concerning Israel.

Should Scotland vote “yes,” putting the Scottish Nationalists in the driving seat, “their foreign policy is not likely to be favorable for us,” Morron said.


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on October 25, 2014, 02:52:19 pm
Lapid: Israel-US relations in 'crisis'

After Ynet learns White House officials prevented defense minister from meeting Kerry and Biden, Lapid says 'We need to act with more respect. We must remember that US funds and technology helped Gaza operation.'


"There is a crisis with the Americans and it needs to be addressed as a crisis," Finance Minister Yair Lapid said Saturday after ongoing tensions between Washington and Jerusalem led US officials to block Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon from meeting with senior administration officials during his current US visit.
 
"We mustn't pretend there isn't a crisis," Lapid told a crowd in Tel Aviv Saturday. "Our relations with the US are vital and everything that can be done must be done to end this crisis."

Earlier on Friday, Ynet revealed that the Obama administration refused the Israeli defense minister's request to meet with other top officials, including Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, and the National Security Advisor Susan Rice.

Since then, reports have said the same officials tried to prevent Ya'alon from meeting with the US' UN ambassador Samantha Power – and when the two did meet, Ya'alon reportedly heard mostly of Power's objection to settlement construction.

During the last bout of US-led peace talks, Ya'alon dubbed Kerry's diplomatic efforts "obsessive and messianic," saying "Kerry should win his Nobel and leave us in peace." Ya'alon's current treatment is said to be an attempt to settle the score.

Ya'alon did hold a successful meeting with his US counterpart, Chuck Hegal, indicating that the reason for the cold shoulder was more a testament to personal tensions between Ya'alon and the White House than an attempt to sabotage Israel's relations with the US.

Nonetheless, Lapid, who has locked horns with Ya'alon over peace talks and the defense budget, said "I thought knew, but now I know the full extent to which our relations with the US are vital to our economy and security."

"The US needs to be thanked, we must remember that when we talk about Operation Protective Edge, we used technology and funds from America. We need to act with more respect. Disagreements are part of the deal and the Americans respect that," he said.

No comment

The White House and State Department declined to comment on internal deliberations about who Ya'alon should see. "I can't speak to any meetings that didn't occur," White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters.

The defense ministry also did not issue an official response, but sources close to Ya'alon said that "the aim of the trip was to meet with Hagel and the top security echelon in the US, and that happened. These meetings proved once again the strength of the ties between the defense establishments and between Ya'alon and Hagel."

The rejection was diplomatic blowback from Ya'alon's remarks on Kerry, which were first revealed by Yedioth Ahronoth in the spring. The Israeli politician had called the top US diplomat "messianic and obsessive" behind closed doors, adding that "the only thing that could save us is Kerry winning a Nobel Peace Prize and leaving us alone."

Ya'alon also infuriated officials in Washington with comments accusing the administration of being weak on Iran and by questioning the US commitment to Israel's security. That followed reports that Ya'alon had criticized Kerry for being unrealistic and naive in trying to forge an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

Ya'alon said he and Hagel had also talked about the conflicts in Iraq and Syria and the US-Israel defense partnership. Between Israel and the United States, he said, "arguments exist, but we must remember that the US is Israel's most important strategic ally in every respect."

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4584052,00.html


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on November 01, 2014, 07:26:42 am
Whatever it does next, the US will be taking Israel on

Analysis: While military understandings remain in tact despite tensions between Obama and Netanyahu governments, the political side remains fair game in American eyes.


When senior US administration officials say to you, "I won't be in town when you get here," they're actually saying, "It doesn't suit me to meet with you now." And sometimes, the response is a little more subtle: "I won't be in town, but let's coordinate your visit at a later date." In the case of Israeli Defense Minister Moshe (Bogie) Ya'alon, Washington experienced a mass exodus; all of a sudden, no one was home.

When Ya'alon departed, he was already aware that Washington wasn't waiting for him. All efforts to arrange meetings for him in keeping with diplomatic protocol – via the military attaché and the Israeli Embassy – were doomed to failure from the outset.

Not only is our ambassador in Washington, Ron Dermer, not the most popular figure at the White House, but Congress is in recess now, of all times, ahead of the elections.

When tensions between the White House and the government of Israel stem from political-ideological disputes, maintaining a semblance of business-as-usual is still possible. But when things spill over into the personal domain, the style and the insults become personal too.

Ya'alon wasn't able to pick up on this in his meetings with US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and America's ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power. He learned instead of the intensity of the affront and resentment on the part of the Americans in the informal talks he held in Washington, particularly with senior media representatives. There, he was told exactly what Washington thinks about Jerusalem.

The possibility that the United States will not veto a UN resolution calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state in keeping with the 1967 borders is not a theoretical threat. Jerusalem has internalized the fact that this is a realistic option and is preparing for it.

The battle on the Hill

The White House has tired by now of hearing about anti-President Obama briefings at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bureau in Jerusalem and the Israeli Embassy in Washington, about the badmouthing of Obama, and about Israel efforts to undermine US administration policy.

Official and non-official American guests – members of Congress, AIPAC officials and journalists – come to Israel, hear lectures from Israelis about their problematic president, and then return home to spill the beans.

Recent weeks have seen a further deterioration. From both Dermer's and Netanyahu's circles, according to the Americans, they are hearing statements to the tune of: "As from this Tuesday, Congress will be fully in the hands of the Republicans, and then we'll deal with issues such as the political initiative and the negotiations with Iran from the Hill."

As Washington sees it, the hostility towards President Obama in the Prime Minister's Office is firmly fixed in place. It's a mutual hostility. When someone in the Prime Minister's Office describes Obama as a novice, cowardly and indecisive, the White House hears of it right away, and barbs are fired in return.

Today, Netanyahu associates believe that the expression, "chickenshit," quoted by journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, was a case of "premature ejaculation," and that's why the White House was quick to distance itself from it. The Americans had planned to launch an attack on Netanyahu only after the mid-term elections this Tuesday.

Israel is refusing to be banished to the corner. How, officials here are asking, can the secretary of state be trying to bribe Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas with far-reaching political commitments in return for the delaying of his appeal to the UN Security Council until after the elections to Congress? Can't, they're asking here, a superpower like the United States simply instruct Abbas to postpone such a move?

The defense minister, with whom the State Department has a separate score to settle for what it defines as "the sabotaging of Kerry's peace initiative," paid a price on his visit to Washington for his close ties with Netanyahu too. Ya'alon can take comfort in the fact that he's not the first Israeli defense minister to undergo a hazing in Washington.

In 1981, then-newly appointed U.S. defense secretary Caspar Weinberger taught Israel's defense minister at the time, Ariel Sharon, a lesson he'd never forget. Weinberger, who wasn't enamored with Israeli policy at the time, was forced, on instructions from then-president Ronald Reagan, to sign a memorandum of understanding with Israel.

Weinberger arranged, however, for the signing ceremony to take place not at the Pentagon but in the lobby of the National Geographic Society building. Sharon got the message, learned a lesson; and as prime minister, all the doors of the US administration remained open to him. We're unlikely to witness the repeat of a happy ending like that one with the personalities currently in the ring.

Sharon was still living in an era in which even during the most bitter crises between the two sides, there was always someone who'd travel secretly to Jerusalem or Washington to clean out the blocked sewage pipes. There's no one like that around today – not on the Israeli side, and not on the American side either. And with every blockage, the sewage rises a little more.
 
The Clinton plan in an Obama sauce

Ya'alon believed his differences with Secretary of State Kerry had been resolved. In the time since the crisis between the two erupted last summer, they have spoken on numerous occasions about the most sensitive of issues, including during the fighting in Gaza. He was under the impression that when he said he was sorry if anyone had been offended by his statements, Washington had seen it as a public apology. He was wrong. Washington wasn't appeased.

No wonder Ya'alon feels that the US administration has marked him as responsible for undermining progress in the talks with the Palestinians. The defense minister and his bureau are convinced that immediately upon presentation of Kerry's initiative, the State Department launched a media campaign against Ya'alon to depict him as an enemy of any peace settlement. Even paranoid people are right sometimes.

But Ya'alon's mission in Washington was one pertaining to money, and he insisted therefore on traveling to the United States at this inconvenient time. After the 2015 budget was settled, the defense minister had to get to a meeting with his counterpart, Hagel, to sum up the work conducted over the past year by joint taskforces with respect to the military equipment Israel will be purchasing in the United States in the framework of the defense aid package from Washington.

There were no surprises waiting for Ya'alon in this regard. The US administration upheld every single one of its security commitments to Israel. Moreover, the defense minister's entourage got the sense that the deeper the political dispute between the sides, the stronger America's commitment to its security ties with Israel.

Not a single aid program was canceled, aside from those that Israel itself asked to alter, like the acquisition of Namer armored personnel carriers instead of an investment in V-22 Osprey aircraft.

The US also allowed Israel to make purchases based on the aid packages for the coming years – a loan of sorts to help with the shopping. Thus, Israel can acquire six more F-35 fighter jets to make up a full squadron, with the first aircraft to be delivered in late 2016, as well as an additional 25-aircraft squadron beginning in 2019.

US teams are in Israel to study the lessons learned during Operation Protection; and Hagel and his staff were very upfront when it came to the Iranian issue too.

The agreement based on which the United States provides Israel with foreign aid to the tune of $3.1 billion a year comes to an end in 2017. Obama has undertaken verbally to extend this agreement for another decade. He has yet to sign a thing, and Israel, too, is in no hurry to ask him to do so – further evidence of the rocky relationship. We can wait, officials in Israel are saying; the next president, who will take office in January 2017, will also be able to sign.

All is on hold now until after this coming Tuesday, the mid-term elections. There's a very real chance that the president will lose his small majority in the Senate. Under such circumstances, the White House won't be able to implement additional internal reforms, and will therefore turn its attention to achievements in the foreign affairs arena. This would ensure another two tough years for Israel, until Obama leaves office.

Right now, waiting for us just around the corner is another political plan that is being cooked up by Kerry's negotiation team. On the agenda are three alternative plans. The one involves reopening the talks on the security issue and the borders and to try to move forward from where the discussions came to a halt in April this year.

The Americans have tried to go down this path on four occasions already – and they've failed; they're unlikely to have the appetite to go this route a fifth time.

The second involves serving up a new-improved Clinton plan in an Obama sauce, which half the coalition in Israel will refuse to eat, while the other half won't be able to live with turning it down.

The third alternative suggests putting all regional players onto the field under the cover of the political flak jacket of the Arab League. Then, however, the talks would be based on the Saudi peace initiative, substantial portions of which Israel rejects.

However one looks at things, the Americans are again going to bash their heads up against the wall and take Israel on.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4586668,00.html


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on November 07, 2014, 06:56:34 am
Obama Threatened Netanyahu With Dropping UNSC Veto Against Anti-Israel Moves‏: Report (VIDEO)

In a dramatic development, Israeli cabinet members are warning that US President Barack Obama threatened Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the US may opt not to oppose future hostile UN Security Council votes, unless Israel accedes to American policy demands, Israel’s NRG News reported on Sunday.

“The prime minister told colleagues in recent days … that his office’s understanding of the issue and the government’s take on it is that the Americans will not cast a veto against a resolution that reaches the Security Council,” Ariel Kahana, diplomatic correspondent for the Makor Rishon and NRG dailies, told The Algemeiner on Monday, quoting ministerial-level sources.

The information was shared at a session of the Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) Party, led by Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, and at which party members Uri Ariel and Ze’ev Hever were present, according to Kahana.

The threat, at least as leaked, implies that the United States is prepared to abandon Israel in the dock of the world body, a step that could further destabilize relations between the two allies to an unprecedented degree, Kahana said.

The Palestinians, according to one version, are demanding Israeli pull backs to the pre-67′ war lines by 2016, while another version says the UNSC threat refers to halting any and all Israeli construction beyond those areas.

Palestinian Authority (PA) UN representative Riyad Mansour said on Friday that “The main option is to go with a vote.”

PA officials said a day earlier that they have seven out of a needed nine “yes” votes in the 15-member Security Council, and the resolution can be vetoed by one of the five permanent members – among the the US.

At the October 1 meeting at the White House between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Obama, the latter noted that “Israel is obviously in a very turbulent neighborhood, and this gives us an opportunity once again to reaffirm the unbreakable bond between the United States and Israel, and our ironclad commitment to making sure that Israel is secure.”

In his response, Netanyahu said that he remains “committed to a vision of peace of two states for two peoples based on mutual recognition and rock solid security arrangements on the ground.”

Kahana, however, pointed to a recent article in The Atlantic by Jeffery Goldberg – who is commonly seen as reflecting the US administration’s views towards Israel – referencing the US pressure, but from the American point of view:

Citing what he called “red-hot” anger by the Obama administration “over Israel’s settlement policies,” and his view that “the Netanyahu government openly expresses contempt for Obama’s understanding of the Middle East,” Goldberg warned that “Profound changes in the relationship may be coming.”

“This is a precedent and a very dangerous step,” Kahana cautioned about the American threat, and said it was the most chilling thing he’d heard uttered in decades of Israel-US relations.

“Beyond the abandonment of Israel, it also flies in the face of previous agreements with the Americans, including vis a vis the Egyptian peace deal in which the US would hold the line against such maneuvers,” Kahana noted.

“The point is that one can’t trust anything the US says anymore, if the information is accurate,” according to Kahana.

“If the US is able to betray Israel like this – what do other allies and foes think?” Kahana wondered aloud.

And not just the Bayit Yehudi is aware of the threat: “I can tell you with absolute authority that it was said elsewhere, as well — but I can’t reveal the source,” Kahana said.

However, in stark contrast to the hostility emanating from the White House, the US delegation to the UN, led by Samantha Power, is, as far as Kahana can see, working “shoulder-to-shoulder” with Israel according to its representative, Ron Prosor.

As well, Power met two weeks ago with Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on his visit to the States and stressed that the US was not planning or even considering such far-reaching moves.

Watch a video of the meeting between Netanyahu and Obama at the White House:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oWLQlZEYxu0

http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/11/03/obama-threatened-netanyahu-with-dropping-unsc-veto-against-anti-israel-moves%E2%80%8F-report-video/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on December 04, 2014, 08:33:34 pm
Obama Mulling Sanctions on Israel
White House, State Department refuse to confirm or deny


The Obama administration is refusing to discuss reports that emerged early Thursday claiming that the White House is considering imposing sanctions on Israel for continuing construction on Jewish homes in Jerusalem.

State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf dodged several questions on Thursday when confronted with reports that the administration had held secret internal meetings to discuss taking action against Israel for its ongoing building in East Jerusalem.

The classified meetings were reportedly held several weeks ago and included officials from both the State Department and White House, according to the Israeli daily Ha’aretz, which first reported on the meetings.

The possibility of sanctioning Israel for its ongoing construction sends a signal that the Obama administration is willing to go further in its denunciations of Israel then any previous White House.

At the same time, the White House is vigorously pushing Congress against passing new sanctions on Iran.

When asked to address the reports Thursday afternoon, Harf declined to take a stance.

“I’m obviously not going to comment one way or another on reported internal deliberations,” she said. “We’ve made clear our position on settlement activity publicly and that hasn’t changed.”

When pressed to address whether the White House has reached a point at which it believes its harsh rhetoric against Israel is not enough, Harf again demurred, stating that she would not “address hypotheticals.”

A White House National Security Council (NSC) official also would not comment on the report when contacted Thursday by the Washington Free Beacon.

News of the supposed meeting leaked to the press though Israeli officials who were apparently apprised of the discussion.

Senior Israeli officials told Haaretz “that White House officials held a classified discussion a few weeks ago about the possibility of taking active measures against the settlements,” according to the report.

The discussion about levying sanctions on Israel reportedly began after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s October meeting at the White House and the subsequent battle between Washington and Jerusalem over settlement construction.

The thought of the White House leveling sanctions on Israel as it works to lessen those already imposed on Iran prompted consternation on Capitol Hill and throughout the pro-Israel world.

One senior congressional aide who works on the issue of Israel expressed shock that a White House could even discuss such action.

“If these reports are true, this would mark a new era of unprecedented hostility from the White House against our strongest ally in the Middle East,” the source said. “It’s impossible not to notice the irony of the administration mulling sanctions on Israel while threatening to veto new sanctions against Iran.”

The aide added: “The president should be forewarned that taking such action against Israel would yield tremendous pushback from Congress.”

Those in the pro-Israel world expressed a similar view when reached for comment.

“Even this administration, which has been historically hostile to our Israeli allies, even as they worked overtime to bomb the enemies of Iranian proxies across the Middle East, could not possibly be so aggressively committed to undermining our alliances as to levy sanctions against Israel at the same time they’re lifting them on Iran,” said one senior official with a pro-Israel organization who agreed to speak only on background.

Others took a more critical view.

“The Obama administration is against sanctions on Iran, but for them on Israel,” said Noah Pollak, executive director of the pro-Israel organization Emergency Committee for Israel. “Is [White House deputy national security adviser] Ben Rhodes wearing a green headband to work these days?”

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/reports-obama-mulling-sanctions-on-israel/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 22, 2015, 06:54:28 pm
Jerusalem ‘unaware’ of Putin visit next month
Palestinian media report says Russian president will visit Israel, Palestinian territories during February regional tour

1/22/15

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday it was unaware of any planned visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin next month, rebuffing reports in Palestinian media that the strongman was headed to the region.

The Palestinian al-Quds newspaper reported Thursday that Putin was planning a trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories in early February as part of a tour of the Middle East.

Putin’s state visit was said to include meetings with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah and with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a bid to inject life into the peace process.

Jerusalem responded to the report saying that it was unaware of any plans for Putin to travel to Israel in February. There was no announcement of an upcoming visit to Israel on the Russian president’s website.

Putin last paid an official visit to Israel in June 2012.

Earlier this week Russia and Iran signed an agreement to expand their military ties and resolve a long-standing dispute over the sale of an advanced S-300 air defense system. It remained unclear whether Russia would provide Tehran with the S-300 missile system, however.



Read more: Jerusalem 'unaware' of Putin visit next month | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/jerusalem-unaware-of-putin-visit-next-month/#ixzz3PbqUVjRX


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 03, 2015, 08:22:35 pm
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/190326#.VNGdcjKvW4N
'Leave Canada' Spray-Painted on Synagogue

Temple Beth Israel in West Edmonton vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti and the message 'Leave Canada,' shocking congregants.

1/22/15



Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 09, 2015, 11:50:10 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFgP20TldoI


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on February 13, 2015, 08:18:29 pm
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4625160,00.html
Swedish, Palestinian forge deeper ties with more aid, embassy
During Abbas visit, Swedish prime minister says embassy will immediately open in Stockholm, months after Sweden became first western EU country to recognize Palestine as state; Abbas vouches to work for peace with Israel.

Reuters
Published:    02.10.15, 18:43 / Israel News

The Palestinians will open an embassy in Stockholm Tuesday night, cementing closer ties just months after Sweden became the first western European Union country to recognize Palestine as a state.
 
Visiting Sweden for the first time since recognition in October, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on other countries to follow Sweden's lead.
 
"Your recognition...should push forward negotiations in the peace process," Abbas said.
 
During his visit, Abbas said he will work to revive peace talks with Israel but skirted questions on how to end the conflict or tackle violence by the Islamic militant group Hamas.
 
Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking has been on hold since the last round of US-brokered talks collapsed a year ago, partly hampered by the gaps between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
 
Palestinian elections are long overdue, strained by the geographic and political split between Abbas and Hamas. In a jab at Hamas, Abbas said Tuesday that Palestinians must be able to decide "who should lead them and if they accept violence or not."
 
Relations between Sweden and Israel have nose-dived since the initial announcement and Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom called off a visit to Israel in January. Israel temporarily recalled its ambassador.
 
Palestinians seek statehood in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the blockaded Gaza Strip, with east Jerusalem as their capital.
 
Long-running peace talks collapsed nearly a year ago and the Palestinians forged ahead with an alternative strategy to achieve statehood.
 
Most Western European countries have yet to give a Palestinian state official recognition, as has the United States, although the UN General Assembly approved de-facto recognition in 2012.
 
A total of 135 countries recognize Palestine, including several East European nations that did so before they joined the EU.
 
Swedish Prime Minsiter Stefan Lofven said Palestine would open an embassy in Stockholm immediately. In most Western European countries, Palestine has a diplomatic mission, not a full embassy.
 
He promised more aid for Palestine but stressed he wanted progress on reform.
 
"There are challenges: we must help one another to fight corruption, increase gender equality, improve respect for human rights and of course continue the state building process," Lofven said.
 
A deal signed by the two leaders will see Sweden raise aid to Palestine by 1.5 billion crowns ($179.74 million) over the next five years.
 
Lofven used his inaugural address in parliament last year to fulfill a long-standing promise by his Social Democrat party to recognize a Palestinian state.
 
Their resolution in the UN Security Council calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state failed in December but they have also moved to join the International Criminal Court (ICC).
 
The parliaments of several European countries, including Britain, France and Spain, have in recent months passed non-binding votes recognizing Palestine, angering Israel.


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on March 09, 2015, 06:18:05 am
Feinstein Doubts Netanyahu is an Ally of America
Feels embarrassed and humiliated by his actions


Who really believes that Dian Feinstein or even ANY Liberal is an ally of Jesus or Israel?  The only thing this old hag has to look forward to is I NEVER KNEW YOU, and that is very sad.  :'(

For the second week in a row, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has used the Sunday news shows to slam Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Last week, Feinstein said that Netanyahu was "arrogant" to think he speaks for all Jews. Sunday, Feinstein appeared on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos and expressed doubt that the PM is truly an ally of the United States and said she now feels embarrassed and humiliated by his actions.

Stumping for a nuclear agreement with Iran, Feinstein said it promised to be a real "sea change" for that nation and would essentially "protect from a breakout" in production. That is, if Netanyahu doesn't stand in the way.

Feinstein said about the prime minister's speech before Congress:

    What Prime Minister Netanyahu did here was something that no ally of the United States would have done. I find it humiliating, embarrassing and very arrogant because this agreement is not yet finished. To trash it before you have the final period on it, before you know what it is, I think is a huge error in judgment for our number one ally in that area.

http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/feinstein-doubts-netanyahu-ally-america


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Christian40 on March 10, 2015, 05:13:18 am
Netanyahu Says Israel Will Not Be Divided To Create Palestinian State

The international community has long pushed for the creation of a Palestinian state on lands captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war.

I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. Joel 3:2 (KJV)

Jerusalem, Israel — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will not cede territory due to the current climate in the Middle East, appearing to rule out the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is riding high from pre-election bump after speech to the United States Congress on March 3rd.

Netanyahu said “any evacuated territory would fall into the hands of Islamic extremism and terror organizations supported by Iran. Therefore, there will be no concessions and no withdrawals. It is simply irrelevant.”

The statement was released by his Likud party Sunday. Netanyahu is seeking to appeal to hard-liners ahead of elections next week.

Party spokesman Elie Bennett says Netanyahu’s 2009 speech calling for a Palestinian state alongside Israel is not currently relevant.

The international community has long pushed for the creation of a Palestinian state on lands captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war."

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=31542


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on March 10, 2015, 06:27:43 am
Obama mocks Republican letter to Iran over nuclear talks

US President Barack Obama has criticised a letter from Republican senators to Iran, accusing them of "interfering" in ongoing nuclear talks.

He said the 47 senators made an "unusual coalition" with Iran's hard-line religious leaders.

The letter reminds Iran that any deal is just an executive agreement unless it gets congressional approval.

Talks on Iran's nuclear programme are at a critical stage, with an outline agreement due on 31 March.

Last week Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Congress the deal currently being negotiated could "pave Iran's path to the bomb".

Separately, officials confirmed that US Secretary of State John Kerry would meet his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, on Sunday in Switzerland, as part of the process.

The P5+1 group of major powers - the US, UK, France, Russia and China plus Germany - is seeking to persuade Iran to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for an easing of UN sanctions.

They are trying to address concerns that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons technology, something Tehran denies.

Republicans and some Democrats have long been pushing for Congress to get a vote on any deal.

But the White House insists such an agreement does not require the approval of legislators, the BBC's Gary O'Donoghue reports from Washington.
Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, was the lead author of the letter to Iranian leaders Senator Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, was the lead author of the letter to Iranian leaders

"I think it's somewhat ironic to see some members of Congress wanting to make common cause with the hardliners in Iran," Mr Obama said in response to the letter. "It's an unusual coalition."

He added that he would concentrate his efforts on trying to strike a deal.

Earlier, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the letter interfered with diplomatic negotiations. He called it a "rush to war, or at least the rush to the military option".

Mr Zarif dismissed the letter as a propaganda ploy, adding that if a future administration revoked a deal it would amount to a blatant violation of international law.

In their letter to Iran, published on the website of Senator Tom Cotton, the senators suggest Iran's leaders "may not fully understand our constitutional system".

Barack Obama described the Republicans' open letter to Iran's leaders as "somewhat ironic"

They note that any agreement without their support would exist solely between President Obama and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

"The next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen, and future Congresses could modify the terms of the agreement at any time," the senators wrote in the letter.

The signatories add that "most of us will remain in office well beyond [January 2017]" when Mr Obama's second term comes to an end.

    World powers imposed sanctions on Iran because they felt it was not being honest about its nuclear programme and was seeking the ability to build a nuclear bomb.

    Tehran denied this. Talks between Iran and six world powers known as the P5+1 have tried to allay the suspicions in exchange for easing the sanctions

Democrats including Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid denounced the letter.

"Let's be clear," Mr Reid said on the floor of the Senate on Monday. "Republicans are undermining our commander in chief while empowering the ayatollahs."

The letter comes shortly after Congress invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak on the issue of the Iran talks.

That move earned White House disapproval as Congress acted unilaterally.

Republicans now control both chambers of Congress after winning elections last November, giving them considerable leverage over Mr Obama.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-31796235


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on March 10, 2015, 06:35:36 am
Israel Critic and Hamas Defender Named As Obama's New Mideast Coordinator

Three days after Israel’s prime minister stood before Congress questioning the wisdom of a key Obama administration foreign policy initiative, National Security Adviser Susan Rice on Friday named as head of her Mideast desk an official who has stoked controversy with past criticisms of Israel and by meeting with Hamas terrorists.

Robert Malley, who has been serving as NSC senior director for Iran, Iraq, Syria and the Gulf states, is set to succeed Philip Gordon as special assistant to the president and White House coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf region.

“There could be no better successor to Phil than Rob Malley, who is already one of my most trusted advisers and ideally placed to provide a seamless transition,” Rice said in a statement.

“One of our country’s most respected experts on the Middle East, since February 2014 Rob has played a critical role in forming our policy on Iran, Iraq, Syria, and the Gulf.  I look forward to working with him in his new role.”

Malley was serving as an informal Mideast adviser to the Obama presidential campaign in 2008 when it was reported he had held meetings with Hamas, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization.

At the time Malley held a top Mideast post at the International Crisis Group (ICG) think tank, and he explained that in that position he met with “all kinds of people.”

That didn’t stop the campaign from cutting ties with him, however. The Times of London on May 10, 2008 quoted Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt as saying, “Rob Malley has, like hundreds of other experts, provided informal advice to the campaign in the past. He has no formal role in the campaign and he will not play any role in the future.”

Malley worked at the ICG as head of its Middle East program until early last year, when he took up the NSC post he has held until now. The promotion announced by Rice takes effect on April 6.

For some supporters of Israel, the concerns about Malley go back to an earlier stint in government, when he served as special assistant to President Clinton for Arab-Israeli affairs from 1998-2001, and was involved in the 2000 Camp David peace talks.

At those talks, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak made an unprecedented offer to the Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat of the Gaza Strip, around 95 percent of the West Bank, and parts of Jerusalem. The Temple Mount would remain under Israeli sovereignty, but the Palestinians would keep “custodianship.” Arafat balked, and the marathon talks ended in failure.

A year later, Malley published an assessment of the talks, challenging the general view that Arafat’s intransigence was largely to blame for the outcome. He said it was a “myth” that Israel’s offer had met most if not all of the Palestinians’ legitimate aspirations, and a “myth” that the P.A. had made no concessions.

After Hamas won legislative elections in the P.A. self-rule areas in 2006, Malley wrote that the victory could help the Palestinian terrorist group’s political transformation.

“If dealt with wisely, the Islamists’ victory could present an opportunity for the United States to promote its core interests without betraying its core principles,” he argued.

“The more Hamas exercises government responsibility, the less it is likely to revert to violence.”

In the event the U.S. and its Mideast “Quartet” partners laid down criteria for Hamas to have a political role – it must recognize Israel’s right to exist, renounce violence, and adhere to previous agreements signed between Israeli and P.A. leaders.

Hamas refused to comply – as it does to this day – and amid violent clashes with Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah faction, it seized control of the Gaza Strip the following year.

‘So much misinformation about’ Hamas

Interviewed as part of a pro-Palestinian filmmaker’s 2010 documentary, Cultures of Resistance,  Malley said it was a mistake to think of groups like Hamas and Hezbollah only “in terms of their terrorist violence dimension.”

“They’re social political movements, probably the most rooted movements in their respective societies.”

Hamas, he said, “has deep loyalty, it has a charity organization, a social branch – it’s not something you could defeat militarily either.”

“There’s so much misinformation about them,” Malley continued. “I speak to them, my colleagues speak to them. Now we may disagree with them, but they have their own rationale.”

“None of them are crazies,” he said. “They may do things that we consider belong to a different realm of rationality, but within their own system, it’s often very logical.”

Back in 2007, Malley’s views on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad raised eyebrows too.

When then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) visited Syria in April 2007 the Bush administration and others criticized her for doing so.

But Malley called the criticism “absurd,” and suggesting that Assad could change his policies on collaborating with Iran and terrorist groups if the Bush administration ended its “hostile policy.”

(Pelosi was the most senior U.S. politician to sit down with Assad since the Bush administration withdrew its ambassador two years earlier to protest the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

“We came in friendship, hope, and determined that the road to Damascus is a road to peace,” Pelosi said after the meeting, to which National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe responded, “Unfortunately, that road is lined with the victims of Hamas and Hezbollah, and the victims of terrorists who cross from Syria into Iraq. It’s lined with the victims in Lebanon, who are trying to fight for democracy there. It’s lined with human rights activists trying for freedom and democracy in Syria.”

“We have made it clear to high-ranking officials, whether they be Republicans or Democrats, that going to Syria sends mixed signals,” President Bush told reporters. “Photo opportunities and/or meetings with Assad lead the Assad government to believe they’re part of the mainstream of the international community.”

Then-Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) stepped in to defend Pelosi, saying that “America would be stronger if the White House started listening to Speaker Pelosi, Secretary James Baker, countless Republicans and everyone else who understands that effective foreign policy often requires talking with countries who aren’t our friends.”)

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/israel-critic-and-hamas-defender-named-obamas-new-mideast


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on March 11, 2015, 11:55:36 am
Netanyahu says sees 'real danger' of losing re-election bid

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he saw "a real danger" he might lose next week's closely contested election and asserted that there was a worldwide effort to ensure such an outcome.

In what Israeli media called an unannounced visit to a rally north of Tel Aviv, Netanyahu entreated supporters to make sure he defeats rival Isaac Herzog of the left-of-center Zionist Union party by casting ballots in the March 17 vote.

"It's far from being certain, there's a real danger," the said the right-wing premier, who has been in office since 2009.

In footage of the event obtained by Reuters Television, Netanyahu said Herzog would seek to renew peace talks with Palestinians and negotiate about "dividing Jerusalem, giving back territory". He was alluding to his rival's promises to seek to revive negotiations that collapsed in April.

Israeli Army Radio earlier aired what it said were comments Netanyahu made on Monday to party activists in which he said "it is a very tight race. Nothing is guaranteed because there is a huge, worldwide effort to topple the Likud government".

The radio interpreted his remarks as referring to foreign funding for advocacy groups campaigning for a change in government in Israel.

Likud and the center-left Zionist Union are running neck-and-neck in opinion polls ahead of the March 17 ballot, with Netanyahu widely seen by political commentators as having a better chance of forming a governing coalition after the vote.

As election day approaches, "Netanyahu is feeling the pressure ... he is shooting in all directions", Herzog told Israel Radio.

Netanyahu received rousing applause in the U.S. Congress last week during a speech against a potential nuclear deal with Iran sought by President Barack Obama's administration.

But the visit came on the invitation of Republican leaders in Congress who did not consult the White House and Democratic legislators beforehand. Critics accused Netanyahu of intervening in U.S. politics, and the Republicans of trying to boost his re-election prospects.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/netanyahu-says-sees-worldwide-effort-topple-him-114542253--business.html


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on March 14, 2015, 12:29:06 pm
Senate panel probing ‎possible Obama administration ties to anti-Netanyahu effort

A powerful U.S. Senate investigatory committee has launched a bipartisan probe into an American nonprofit’s funding of efforts to oust Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the Obama administration’s State Department gave the nonprofit taxpayer-funded grants, a source with knowledge of the panel's activities told FoxNews.com.

The fact that both Democratic and Republican sides of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations have signed off on the probe could be seen as a rebuke to President Obama, who has had a well-documented adversarial relationship with the Israeli leader.

The development comes as Netanyahu told Israel’s Channel Two television station this week that there were “governments” that wanted to help with the “Just Not Bibi” campaigning -- Bibi being the Israeli leader’s nickname.

It also follows a FoxNews.com report on claims the Obama administration has been meddling in the Israeli election on behalf of groups hostile to Netanyahu. A spokesperson for Sen. Rob Portman, Ohio Republican and chairman of the committee, declined comment, and aides to ranking Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, of Missouri, did not immediately return calls.

The Senate subcommittee, which has subpoena power, is the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs’ chief investigative body with jurisdiction over all branches of government operations and compliance with laws.

“The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations does not comment on ongoing investigations,” Portman spokeswoman Caitlin Conant told Foxnews.com.

But a source familiar with the matter confirmed for FoxNews.com that the probe -- undisclosed until now -- was both underway and bipartisan in nature.

According to the source, the probe is looking into “funding” by OneVoice Movement – a Washington-based group that has received $350,000 in recent State Department grants, and until last November was headed by a veteran diplomat from the Clinton administrations.

A subsidiary of OneVoice is the Israel-based Victory 15 campaign, itself guided by top operatives of Obama’s White House runs, which seeks to “replace the government” of Israel.

“It’s confirmed that there is a bipartisan Permanent Subcommittee inquiry into OneVoice’s funding of V15,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity about the American group, which bills itself as working for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In his television interview, Netanyahu said the coalition seeking to oust him is generously funded by foreign donors who are also encouraging a high voter turnout among Israel's Arab and left-wing voters in a bid to replace the existing leadership.

He characterized the campaign against him as "unprecedented." While Netanyahu pointed the finger at “European countries and left-wing people abroad,” some observers note that he held back from openly criticizing Obama during his recent trip to the U.S. to address Congress on problems his government sees with administration-backed efforts to reach a nuclear weapons inspection deal with Iran.

“We appreciate all that President Obama has done for Israel,” Netanyahu told lawmakers -- while Obama refused to meet with the Israeli leader, and later criticized his speech as “nothing new.”

No direct link has been confirmed between Obama and the anti-Netanyahu campaign in Israel, but polls have shown that a large majority of Israelis believe the administration has been interfering in the election, set for March 17.

One expert told FoxNews.com earlier this month the State Department grants constituted indirect administration funding of the anti-Netanyahu campaign by providing OneVoice with the $350,000 -- even though State Department officials said the funding stopped in November, ahead of the announcement of the Israeli election.

Gerald Steinberg, founder and president of NGO Monitor, which tracks money flows to unmask non-governmental organizations that deviate from their stated human rights or humanitarian agendas, said even ostensibly unrelated grants keep an organization going during periods it is not engaged in political activity.

Indeed, by January, OneVoice – whose focus on Israel’s 1967 borders as a negotiating starting point reflects Obama’s thinking but is counter to Netanyahu’s – had announced its partnership with V15.

Around the same time, Jeremy Bird, who served as Obama’s deputy national campaign director in 2008, and his national campaign director in 2012, arrived in Israel to help direct V15. Bird took with him additional former Obama campaign operatives to help V15 achieve its goal of knocking on one million doors to make the case for a change in Israel’s leadership.

OneVoice is barred from directly targeting Netanyahu by U.S. law regulating its tax-exempt status, and doing so would threaten that status.

"OneVoice is eager to cooperate with any inquiry,” spokesman Payton Knopf said Saturday. “And after a fair examination, we are confident no wrong doing will be found.”

But the recent FoxNews.com investigation showed that the nonprofit, in its 2014 Annual Report, said its Israel branch would be “embarking on a groundbreaking campaign around the Israeli elections.” In partnering with V15, the two groups have operated from adjacent offices in Tel Aviv.

In addition to McCaskill, other Democrats on the subcommittee are Sens. Jon Tester of Montana, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota.

 Republican subcommittee members, who form the majority, are Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Rand Paul of Kentucky, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, and Ben Sasse of Nebraska, in addition to Portman.

State Department documents say the grants to OneVoice were meant for the group’s work in encouraging both Palestinian grass-roots civic activism and Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. The State Department itself, meanwhile, denied any of the funds had been used for election campaign activities despite OneVoice’s backing of V15.

Launched in 2002 by snack bar mogul Daniel Lubetzky and boasting the star power of such celebrities as Brad Pitt, Danny DeVito, Rhea Perlman and Sir Paul McCartney among its honorary advisors, OneVoice was headed until November by Marc Ginsberg, who advised President Carter on Middle East policy and served as President Clinton’s ambassador to Morocco.

Ginsberg, who has described the administration’s approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a “window of opportunity,” is now serving OneVoice as “special advisor” after resigning as CEO at a time that turned out to be just ahead of the early December announcement of the Israeli election.

“I resigned on November 11, 2014, because I had only committed to serve as CEO for one year and my resignation was effective December 19, 2014,” he wrote in an email to FoxNews.com. “I agreed to be available after that as a Senior Adviser on an occasional basis to the organization…along with many others, but have had ZERO decision-making authority over personnel, budgets, programs, etc. That responsibility was transferred to the Executive Director of the OneVoice Europe organization after I resigned.”

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/03/14/senate-committee-probes-whether-obama-administration-funded-effort-to-oust/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on March 17, 2015, 08:17:46 am
US fails to renew emergency oil supply pact with Israel

The agreement guaranteeing Israel's oil supplies in wartime was first signed in 1975.

The US has not renewed a historic agreement under which it guaranteed a supply of oil to Israel in emergencies, that is, instances in which Israel might be cut off from its regular commercial sources of oil because of war or closure of sea lanes. The agreement expired in November 2014, and since then the US administration has done nothing to renew it, Washington sources told "Globes".

The sources said that it was not clear whether this was a deliberate step by the administration, stemming perhaps from renewed friction between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the White House, or a matter of bureaucratic inertia in Washington.

The agreement was first signed in 1975 during the Ford administration, two years after the Yom Kippur War and following the second disengagement agreement between Israel and Egypt in September 1975, under which Israel agreed to withdraw from the Egyptian oil fields in Sinai. The agreement by the US to guarantee Israel's oil supply in emergencies was one of the most important of the incentives that motivated Israel to give up the oil fields.

In 1979, during the Carter administration, Israel and Egypt signed the Camp David Agreements, which were accompanied by two agreements between the US and Israel in the format of the 1975 agreement. In these agreements, the US gave Israel guarantees that it would have access to American oil if it was unable to supply the demand of its internal energy market because of war constraints. The agreements even stipulated that the US would assist in transporting oil to Israel if Israel was unable to procure oil tankers on the open market. The two agreements were eventually consolidated into one document. The agreement was set to last for fifteen years, and was supposed to have expired on September 25, 1994. At that point, the Clinton administration extended the agreement for ten years, and in 2004 it was extended for a further ten years. As mentioned, it expired in November 2014, and nothing has been done about renewing it.

Now, apparently after a push by the pro-Israel lobby in Washington AIPAC, a group of Democratic and Republican senators has written to Secretary of State John Kerry calling on the administration to renew the historic agreement. The letter is signed by Lisa Murkowski, who is chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Mark Warner, the senior Democratic member of the committee, and four other senators.

Israel has never invoked the agreement, but Israel sources say that its importance lies in its very existence. An Israeli source compared the oil supply agreement to the loan guarantee agreement between the two countries that enables Israel to obtain commercial loans at low rates of interest. "Israel used the loan guarantee agreement very sparingly, but it is important that the loan guarantees agreement should exist, and the same applies to the energy agreement that guaranteed a regular supply of oil," the source said, "We never used it, but it's important that it should lie signed in a drawer."

http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-us-fails-to-renew-oil-supply-agreement-with-israel-1001018925


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on March 18, 2015, 06:47:37 pm
Netanyahu win dashes prospect for a thaw with Obama

The Obama administration signaled on Wednesday it could take a tougher stance toward Benjamin Netanyahu following his decisive Israeli election victory and campaign tack to the right, saying there will be consequences for his sudden reversal on the idea of an independent Palestinian state.

While senior American officials said the administration was still evaluating options, they suggested the U.S. could ease its staunch opposition to Palestinians turning to the UN Security Council to create a state.

"There are policy ramifications for what he said," one official said of Netanyahu's campaign rhetoric rejecting the creation of a Palestinian state. "This is a position of record."

If Netanyahu holds firm to his opposition to a two-state resolution to the Mideast conflict, it could force whoever sits in the Oval Office — now and in the next administration — to choose between the prime minister and a longstanding U.S. policy with bipartisan support.

Hours after the Israeli election results were finalized, the White House quickly reaffirmed its support for the idea of two independent nations living side by side, a central tenet of peace negotiations led by presidents from both U.S. political parties. And the White House sharply chastised Netanyahu's party for using anti-Arab rhetoric in the lead-up to the election.

"Rhetoric that seeks to marginalize one segment of their population is deeply concerning and it is divisive," Obama spokesman Josh Earnest said.

Frustrated by both Israel and the U.S., Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has become increasingly aggressive in efforts to secure a Palestinian state through other means, including the UN Security Council. The U.S. has veto power on the council and has repeatedly warned Abbas it would block his efforts to use that avenue.

But on Wednesday, a senior administration official said only that the administration was evaluating its options on Security Council action and other possible responses, notably not repeating administration threats to block the Palestinians. A second official confirmed the U.S. could decide not to veto Security Council action.

The officials were not authorized to speak by name about internal deliberations and commented only on condition of anonymity.

Most Republican presidential hopefuls welcomed Netanyahu's victory, but they were notably silent about whether they backed Palestinian statehood. Only Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker weighed in, saying the U.S. goal "must remain a two-state solution."

Former Republican President George W. Bush made a two-state solution a cornerstone of his efforts to secure peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Obama also has pursued Palestinian statehood, most aggressively in a months-long push for peace that ultimately collapsed last year.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic front-runner if she enters the 2016 campaign, did not comment on the Israeli elections. As Obama's first secretary of state, she worked closely with Netanyahu and championed an independent Palestinian state.

Aaron David Miller, a longtime Middle East adviser to secretaries of state from both parties, said it was unlikely a U.S. president of either party would abandon support for Palestinian statehood in the near future.

"I suspect it is the fate of both Democratic and Republican presidents to be caught in a situation in which a two-state solution is too difficult to implement on the one hand and yet too difficult to abandon on the other," said Miller, now a scholar at the Wilson Center in Washington.

Netanyahu announced his support for Palestinian statehood in 2009, shortly after Obama became president. He continued to publicly back that position even as he approved new settlements in East Jerusalem, raising questions about his level of commitment.

Earlier this year, the Palestinians joined the International Criminal Court in pursuit of war crimes charges against Israel. Any decision on a possible investigation is now up to the ICC prosecutor.

Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with Netanyahu Wednesday. The White House said Obama would speak with the prime minister in the coming days.

The Likud Party's decisive victory in Tuesday's elections marked a stunning comeback in a tight race that put Netanyahu in political jeopardy. In the campaign's closing days, Netanyahu abandoned his public commitment to Palestinian statehood.

While the White House publicly avoided taking sides in the election, it was no secret that Obama and his advisers would have welcomed a change in Israeli leadership. Netanyahu is a fierce critic of Obama's nuclear negotiations with Iran, a country Netanyahu says poses a deadly threat to Israel. Netanyahu also deeply angered the White House by accepting a Republican invitation to address Congress earlier this month and make his case against the emerging outlines of an Iran deal.

Netanyahu's shift on Palestinian statehood now seems certain to deepen the rift with Obama. Despite his past assurances to the West, Netanyahu said this week that any talk of Israel withdrawing from lands it seized in 1967 to make room for a Palestinian state is irrelevant because, in his view, Islamic extremists would seize such territory.

Though the prospects of a peace accord in Obama's final 20 months in office were already slim, Netanyahu's stance slammed shut any hope for a breakthrough without a dramatic shift in the region.

"A push now to try to get to the table would run the risk that you produce negotiations that are bound to fail," said Dennis Ross, a former U.S. Middle East envoy. "What you can't afford now is more failure."

http://news.yahoo.com/us-affirms-support-palestinian-state-netanyahu-win-170254844--politics.html


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on March 19, 2015, 05:51:49 am
Israel's shield no more?

In the wake of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decisive re-election, the Obama administration is revisiting longtime assumptions about America’s role as a shield for Israel against international pressure.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/israels-america-united-116203.html


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on March 21, 2015, 02:49:58 pm
Angry at Netanyahu, Obama Administration May Stop Defending Israel at UN. Why They Shouldn’t.

On Thursday, Obama administration officials indicated that the president was considering a fundamental shift in U.S. policy. Instead of using its veto to block United Nations Security Council pressure on Israel in peace negotiations with the Palestinians, the administration is now reportedly considering endorsing this effort.

It is hard to overstate the seriousness of such a policy change. For decades, the U.S. has used its veto in the U.N. Security Council to shield Israel from undue pressure from the world body, which has historically exhibited bias against Israel.

As affirmed by U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power a few weeks ago, “[I ]t is bitterly unjust that the United Nations—an institution founded upon the idea that all nations should be treated equally—is so often used cynically by Member-States to treat Israel unequally. These attacks on Israel’s legitimacy are biased. They are ugly. And the United States of America will not rest until they stop.”

Indeed, according to U.N. records, the U.S. has used its veto in the Security Council 79 times. Forty-two of those vetoes were cast to block resolutions deemed to be biased against Israel or harmful to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. In fact, America’s most recent veto was cast by the Obama administration in 2011 to block a resolution condemning Israeli settlements.

Don’t have time to read the Washington Post or New York Times? Then get The Morning Bell, an early morning edition of the day’s most important political news, conservative commentary and original reporting from a team committed to following the truth no matter where it leads.

In sum, over half of the times that the U.S. has used its veto, it has been in the defense of Israel. Now, in response to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s victory this week in the Israeli elections and his comments that cast doubt on his commitment to a two-state solution, the Obama administration is poised to reverse this longstanding policy position. The New York Times reports:

    [S ]everal administration officials said that the Obama administration may now agree to passage of a United Nations Security Council resolution embodying principles of a two-state solution that would be based on the pre-1967 lines between Israel and the West Bank and Gaza Strip and mutually agreed swaps.

This description is very similar to the substance of a December 2014 Security Council resolution offered by Jordan. The U.S. voted against that resolution, but did not technically veto it because there were insufficient votes for passage. In explaining its vote, Power stated, “Regrettably, instead of giving voice to the aspirations of both Palestinians and Israelis, this text addresses the concerns of only one side. It is deeply imbalanced and contains many elements that are not conducive to negotiations between the parties, including unconstructive deadlines that take no account of Israel’s legitimate security concerns.”

This was an entirely correct description of the text. Now, however, the Obama administration appears so vexed at Netanyahu, whom it undoubtedly hoped would lose Tuesday’s election, that it is willing to consider the very imbalanced and biased approach that it condemned only three months ago.

Netanyahu later clarified that he wanted a two-state solution but believed that it was “not achievable” today because terrorists could occupy any territory Israel withdraws from, and the Palestinians were unwilling to compromise on key issues, such as accepting Israel as a Jewish state.  Despite this realistic assessment, the Obama administration appeared eager to pressure Israel in the Security Council.

The president should take a step back and recall his own words from 2011, “[U ]ltimately, it is up to the Israelis and Palestinians to take action.  No peace can be imposed upon them—not by the United States; not by anybody else.”

For decades, the United States has advocated and facilitated efforts to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian issue through a negotiated peace agreement as called for in Security Council Resolution 242 and the United Nations–sponsored Road Map for Peace. These and other documents outline the parameters of a peaceful resolution of the situation. Multiple Israeli governments have offered concessions in pursuit of peace only to see them rejected by the Palestinians and a return to violence. In effect, Palestinian intransigence has resulted in increasing pressure on Israel.

Sadly, the recent statements by administration officials that implicitly place blame for the failure of negotiations solely at the feet of Israel mirror the very bias condemned by Ambassador Power.

Instead of threatening that the U.S. would “reassess” aspects of its relationship with Israel, Obama should place blame where it belongs and demand that the Palestinian Authority halt its incitement campaign against Israel, fully meet its commitment to fight terrorism, abandon its diplomatic effort to gain unilateral statehood through the U.N. and return to negotiating directly with Israel.

http://dailysignal.com/2015/03/20/angry-at-netanyahu-obama-administration-may-stop-defending-israel-at-un-why-they-shouldnt/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on March 24, 2015, 06:55:20 am
White House warns Netanyahu that 'occupation must end'

The White House on Monday bluntly warned Israel that its occupation of Palestinian land must end, dismissing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to take back controversial campaign pledges.

there we go, Obama just made Amerika an enemy of Israel.

rest: http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-warns-netanyahu-occupation-must-end-210401215.html


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on March 26, 2015, 10:14:35 am
Pentagon Exposes 20 Years of Data on Israel's Nuclear Program
Declassified report blacks out info on America’s NATO allies, but exposes all nuclear programs in Israel.


The Pentagon just exposed 20 years of formerly classified information on some of Israel’s most important secrets. A newly declassified 386-page report contains details about Israel's nuclear developments and cooperation with America up to the mid-1980s. Though the report blacks out information on America's NATO allies, it does not protect Israel, instead offering two decades-worth of data on Israel's nuclear programs for all the world to see.

The report, "Critical Technological Assessment in Israel and NATO Nations," was created in 1987 by the Institute for Defense Analysis, an NGO operating under the Pentagon. The report was declassified in early February supposedly in response to a Freedom of Information Act request three years ago, but news of its contents is just starting to circulate in Israel.

The Jewish Press, which condemned the declassification as a "betrayal," noting the suspicious nature and timing of the report's release, provides a summary of some of its more "revealing" findings, including Israel's work on codes for the fission and fusion process, "which will enable them to make hydrogen bombs," and the "almost exact parallel" in the capability of Israeli facilities to key American laboratories.

The report noted the "ingeniously clever" work of Israeli physicists at the research facility Rafael, but underscored that Israel had not attained a a level on par with America's nuclear programs, the Israeli nuclear technologies being largely based on "extrapolations of US equipment and ideas."

In some ways, however, Israel was "more advanced" than the U.S.. specifically in its "totally integrated" systems development operation. While American programs were separated in the various military branches, Israel used a "totally integrated" systems development operation.

http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/pentagon-exposes-20-years-data-israels-nuclear-program


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on March 26, 2015, 06:32:22 pm
U.S. Caves to Key Iranian Demands as Nuke Deal Comes Together
Limited options for Congress as Obama seeks to bypass lawmakers


The Obama administration is giving in to Iranian demands about the scope of its nuclear program as negotiators work to finalize a framework agreement in the coming days, according to sources familiar with the administration’s position in the negotiations.

U.S. negotiators are said to have given up ground on demands that Iran be forced to disclose the full range of its nuclear activities at the outset of a nuclear deal, a concession experts say would gut the verification the Obama administration has vowed would stand as the crux of a deal with Iran.

Until recently, the Obama administration had maintained that it would guarantee oversight on Tehran’s program well into the future, and that it would take the necessary steps to ensure that oversight would be effective. The issue has now emerged as a key sticking point in the talks.

Concern from sources familiar with U.S. concessions in the talks comes amid reports that Iran could be permitted to continue running nuclear centrifuges at an underground site once suspected of housing illicit activities.

This type of concession would allow Iran to continue work related to its nuclear weapons program, even under the eye of international inspectors. If Iran removes inspectors—as it has in the past—it would be left with a nuclear infrastructure immune from a strike by Western forces.

“Once again, in the face of Iran’s intransigence, the U.S. is leading an effort to cave even more toward Iran—this time by whitewashing Tehran’s decades of lying about nuclear weapons work and current lack of cooperation with the [International Atomic Energy Agency],” said one Western source briefed on the talks but who was not permitted to speak on record.

With the White House pressing to finalize a deal, U.S. diplomats have moved further away from their demands that Iran be subjected to oversight over its nuclear infrastructure.

“Instead of ensuring that Iran answers all the outstanding questions about the past and current military dimensions of their nuclear work in order to obtain sanctions relief, the U.S. is now revising down what they need to do,” said the source.  “That is a terrible mistake—if we don’t have a baseline to judge their past work, we can’t tell if they are cheating in the future, and if they won’t answer now, before getting rewarded, why would they come clean in the future?”

The United States is now willing to let Iran keep many of its most controversial military sites closed to inspectors until international sanctions pressure has been lifted, according to sources.

This scenario has been criticized by nuclear experts, including David Albright, founder and president of the Institute for Science and International Security.

Albright told Congress in November that “a prerequisite for any comprehensive agreement is for the IAEA to know when Iran sought nuclear weapons, how far it got, what types it sought to develop, and how and where it did this work.”

“The IAEA needs a good baseline of Iran’s military nuclear activities, including the manufacturing of equipment for the program and any weaponization related studies, equipment, and locations,” Albright said.

One policy expert familiar with the concessions told the Washington Free Beacon that it would be difficult for the administration to justify greater concessions given the centrality of this issue in the broader debate.

“The Obama administration has gone all-in on the importance of verification,” said the source, who asked for anonymity because the administration has been known to retaliate against critics in the policy community. “But without knowing what the Iranians have it’s impossible for the IAEA to verify that they’ve given it up.”

A lesser emphasis is also being placed on Iran coming clean about its past efforts to build nuclear weapons. The Islamic Republic continues to stall United Nations efforts to determine the extent of its past weapons work, according to the Wall Street Journal.

By placing disclosure of Iran’s past military efforts on the back burner, the administration could harm the ability of outside inspectors to take full inventory of Iran’s nuclear know-how, according to sources familiar with the situation.

It also could jeopardize efforts to keep Iran at least one year away from building a bomb, sources said.

On the diplomatic front, greater concessions are fueling fears among U.S. allies that Iran will emerge from the negations as a stronger regional power.

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/u-s-caves-to-key-iranian-demands-as-nuke-deal-comes-together/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on March 29, 2015, 05:15:43 am
Iranian Defector: 'U.S. Negotiating Team Mainly There to Speak on Iran’s Behalf'

An Iranian journalist writing about the nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran has defected. In an interview Amir Hossein Motaghi, has some harsh words for his native Iran. He also has a damning indictment of America's role in the nuclear negotiations.

“The U.S. negotiating team are mainly there to speak on Iran’s behalf with other members of the 5+1 countries and convince them of a deal," Motaghi told a TV station after just defecting from the Iranian delegation while abroad for the nuclear talks. The P 5 + 1 is made up of United States, United Kingdom, Russia, China, France, plus Germany.


(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CBNkmdFVIAADMpl.jpg:large)

The British Telegraph has details of Motaghi's defection:

    A close media aide to Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, has sought political asylum in Switzerland after travelling to Lausanne to cover the nuclear talks between Tehran and the West.

    Amir Hossein Motaghi, who managed public relations for Mr Rouhani during his 2013 election campaign, was said by Iranian news agencies to have quit his job at the Iran Student Correspondents Association (ISCA).

    He then appeared on an opposition television channel based in London to say he no longer saw any “sense” in his profession as a journalist as he could only write what he was told.

    “There are a number of people attending on the Iranian side at the negotiations who are said to be journalists reporting on the negotiations,” he told Irane Farda television. “But they are not journalists and their main job is to make sure that all the news fed back to Iran goes through their channels.

    “My conscience would not allow me to carry out my profession in this manner any more.” Mr Mottaghi was a journalist and commentator who went on to use social media successfully to promote Mr Rouhani to a youthful audience that overwhelmingly elected him to power.


http://m.weeklystandard.com/blogs/iranian-defector-us-negotiating-team-mainly-there-speak-iran-s-behalf_901776.html


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on April 03, 2015, 07:37:17 am
Obama's Iran deal will HELP Tehran develop a bomb and threaten the survival of Israel, says furious Netanyahu in televised address

    Israeli Prime Minister said agreement puts country in 'mortal danger'
    He said during a statement the deal 'paves' the way to the bomb for Iran
    Urged Western powers to carry on putting pressure on Tehran
    The White House reiterated they remain committed to Israel's security


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has slammed the Iran nuclear deal, claiming it threatens the Jewish state and puts his people in mortal danger.

After speaking to President Barack Obama on the phone, he said in a televised statement just hours after the agreement was signed on Thursday: 'A deal based on this framework would threaten the survival of Israel.

He added: 'Such a deal would not block Iran's path to the bomb. It would pave it.'

Scroll down for video

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3024067/Netanyahu-calls-Iran-nuclear-deal-threat-Israel-s-survival-dismisses-Obama-directly-president-phoned-explain.html#ixzz3WFWDkEYu



Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on April 07, 2015, 07:12:49 am
Obama nixes Israel clause in Iran nuclear deal

President Obama on Monday rejected an Israeli demand that a final nuclear deal with Iran include recognition of the Jewish state’s right to exist. Basing a deal on recognition of Israel is like “saying that we won’t sign a deal unless the nature of the Iranian regime completely transforms,” Obama said in an interview Monday with NPR. “And that is, I think, a fundamental misjudgment.” 

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/obama-nixes-israel-clause-iran-deal-article-1.2175648


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on April 08, 2015, 07:36:44 am
Obama's Iran deal falls on ominous Bible date
'When it looks as if there's no deliverance for the Jewish people, the hand of God begins to move'


When President Obama announced a “framework” nuclear agreement with Iran – which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warns threatens the very existence of his nation – few noticed the significance of the date.

On the Jewish calendar this year, April 1 coincided with Nisan 13, the date in history when a Persian king signed an agreement calling for the destruction of the Jews.

“King Obama has issued his decree putting the Jewish nation at risk of annihilation on the very same day that King Ahasuerus’ scribes came together and issued their statement to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language and sent letters by posts into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day.”

The ominous historical reference comes from Mark Biltz, pastor of El-Shaddai Ministries in Bonney Lake, Washington, and author of “The Feasts of the Lord,” “Blood Moons” and “Studies in our Hebrew Roots.”

The Obama administration’s negotiations with Iran have been shrouded in secrecy for months, and even now, only the broad outline of a proposed agreement has been disclosed. At one point the administration suggested there was not even a written agreement in place but rather a “gentlemen’s agreement.”

Already, another development in the attempt to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons has fallen on a significant date in Jewish history.

On the eve of the Purim holiday, March 3, Netanyahu addressed a rare joint session of Congress to discuss the Iran deal, warning it could lead to the destruction of Israel.

He told Congress that in just a short time the Jewish people would begin the celebration of a holiday established while they were in captivity to a Persian king.

“We’re an ancient people. In our nearly 4,000 years of history, many have tried repeatedly to destroy the Jewish people. Tomorrow night, on the Jewish holiday of Purim, we’ll read the Book of Esther,” Netanyahu told Congress. “We’ll read of a powerful Persian viceroy named Haman, who plotted to destroy the Jewish people some 2,500 years ago. But a courageous Jewish woman, Queen Esther, exposed the plot and gave for the Jewish people the right to defend themselves against their enemies.”

After Netanyahu’s speech, the Obama administration strongly rebuked the prime minister and concerned Congress members, insisting that a deal would take place by March 31.

At the last minute, the administration announced the deadline would be postponed for a day. On April 2, President Obama announced in a ceremony from the Rose Garden that a tentative deal had been reached the day before, Nisan 13.

image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2015/02/netanyahu.jpeg
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

The book of Esther declares, in Esther 3:12, 13, that on Nisan 13 the Persian king Ahasuerus was tricked by a viceroy by the name of Haman into signing an agreement to destroy all the Jews in the land at a future date.

Coincidental?

Joel Richardson, author of “End Times Eyewitness,” “When a Jew Rules the World,” “The Islamic AntiChrist,” “Mideast Beast” and more, said it might be a message from God.

“The God of Heaven and Earth frequently orchestrates world events in such a way as to demonstrate His perspective,” Richardson explained. “Those who are quick to brush aside the correspondence of profound global events, particularly as they affect the state of Israel, with important biblical dates often miss what may very well be purposeful thunderclaps from heaven.

“It is the cynic that dismisses the possibility of a divine hint as mere coincidence. I think we need to be looking at this very seriously and asking ourselves what it is indicating.”

Jonathan Cahn, author of “The Harbinger,” the inspiration behind “The Isaiah 9:30 Judgment,” and the creator of “The Mystery of the Leper King,” “The Hanukkah Endtime Mystery” and more, told WND that while the conflict between Iran and Israel is not new, it is noteworthy that America has chosen to intervene at this time and appears to be on the side of the Iranians.

“It’s an ancient war that begins when the Hebrews emerge out of Egypt and are attacked by the armies of Amalek,” Cahn said. “The war has continued down through the centuries through the Book of Esther and Haman and, amazingly, into modern times, even right now.

“Again we find the existence of the Jewish people is in jeopardy, and there are forces plotting their destruction. Again, the powers that be seem oblivious to the existential danger. And, amazingly, again, it all focuses on the land of Haman, Persia, and Iran. Only this time, America is involved and, unfortunately, it appears as if our government is placing Israel in danger.”

Franklin Graham, president of both the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the Samaritan’s Purse relief organization, confirmed as much.

In a Facebook posting, he said: “In an interview with the New York Times, President Barack Obama said he is committed to seeing that Israel maintains a military edge over Iran. With the possibility of nuclear weapons at stake, there’s a lot more to this than a military edge. Iran does not recognize the right of Israel to exist. In previous speeches their mullahs have said they would burn Tel Aviv. One nuclear weapon can wipe out this city of 400,000+ people. It’s not about maintaining a military edge, Mr. President; it’s about keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of people who have said they would use them.”

Graham noted Iran already has its soldiers in southern Lebanon serving with Hezbollah on Israel’s northern border and in Syria on Israel’s northeastern border.

“Iran already has its soldiers serving with the Iraqi army and now has controlling influence in much of the Iraqi government. Mr. President, the Iranian government is in many ways as brutal as ISIS and to give them an opportunity to possibly produce nuclear weapons would be devastating, not only to Israel, but to the Iranian people who would suffer their own nuclear holocaust when Israel would be forced to retaliate in their own defense. I pray that you will listen to Israel on this issue.”

image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2014/02/christian_israel1.jpg
christian_israel

Critics contend Obama’s deal only delays Iran from getting the bomb.

Nevertheless, Netanyahu told Congress that despite the agreement to destroy Israel in Esther’s time, the “plot was foiled.”

“Our people were saved,” he said.

Cahn had similar sentiments.

“We must remember, that the war is an ancient one, and God has sworn to be involved. As in the Book of Esther, when it looks as if there’s no deliverance for the Jewish people, the hand of God begins to move.”

Blitz told WND that the outcome may already be written down.

“History repeats itself, so may we keep the nation of Israel in our prayers!”

The Bible records Haman was hanged on the very scaffold he had prepared for Mordecai, a Jew, and the king dispatched a letter exposing Haman’s plot, instructing Jews to defend themselves.

The result, the site explains, is that 75,000 enemies of the Jews were slain.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/04/obamas-iran-deal-announced-on-ominous-bible-date/#vVitX2jYdJE2oQQZ.99


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on April 09, 2015, 05:36:07 am
Obama Gives Despicable Response to Netanyahu’s Clarion Call for Iran to Recognize Israel

If this “deal” with Iran is so good, then why aren’t we operating from a moral high ground against the world’s number one state sponsor of Islamic terrorism?

One of the conditions for even sitting with Iran should have been the release of all U.S. citizens being held by this theocratic-political Islamic regime. There are two that immediately come to mind, one being a former U.S. Marine — after all the Obama acolytes sing this song about leaving no troop behind. So much for the Marines they’ve abandoned in Mexico and Iran.

Perhaps what President Obama means is that the liberal progressives do not believe in leaving any DESERTERS behind. The other notable individual is a Christian Pastor, Saeed Abedini, and maybe that’s why Mr. President, Christians say those things about you, which you shamefully mentioned at the Easter breakfast to the cheers of your sycophants. I suppose we Christians just need to be taken down from our “high horse.” And for all those fawning members of the media — I think the Iranians are also holding a member of the U.S. press, a Washington Post reporter.

I can only assess that the lives of these Americans mean little when it comes to the arrogant pride of President Barack Obama. After all, it’s about his legacy.

However, there is something else very disturbing about conditions placed – or NOT placed — on the Iranians. A simple request from our best ally in the Middle East — which one would think would be a no brainer … one would think.

As reported by Politico, “President Barack Obama is rejecting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call for Iran to recognize the state of Israel as part of a final nuclear deal.”

“The notion that we would condition Iran not getting nuclear weapons in a verifiable deal on Iran recognizing Israel is really akin to saying that we won’t sign a deal unless the nature of the Iranian regime completely transforms. And that is, I think, a fundamental misjudgment,” Obama said in an interview with NPR on Monday.

On Friday, Netanyahu, a vocal critic of the Iranian nuclear talks, said that a nuclear deal with Iran must include “unambiguous Iranian recognition of Israel’s right to exist.” The Obama administration announced that the U.S., Iran and other world powers had reached a preliminary “framework” agreement on Thursday.

Now, let’s consider this, the leader of our best ally in the Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu (who survived Obama’s attempt at undermining his reelection bid) asked for a condition that Iran recognize the existence of his country — and U.S. President Barack Obama blew him off. Obama referred to this request as a “fundamental misjudgment.” I view this response as a flaw in character.

This request comes as we reported last week of an Iranian Basij Militia Commander stating that the destruction of Israel was “non-negotiable.” Now, how is it that we would go into an agreement with a country whose leadership joins in with chants of “death to America” and refuses to acknowledge the only stable democratic state in the Middle East’s right to exist? I can only assess that the existence of Israel means little to Barack Obama. After all, it is about his legacy.

And this actually confirms the reason why the Obama administration uses the reference ISIL and not ISIS — as we shared, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant is a reference that does not recognize the existence of Israel.

I asked before, and I ask again: When will the American Jewish community awaken and realize that Obama cares little for the Judeo-Christian faith, heritage and the inextricable bond between America and Israel? What more proof do you require than to read that Obama sees the recognition of Israel by Iran as a “fundamental misjudgment.” Try and excuse that awaythose who side with anti-Semitism or the J-Street crew, which I know you will.

What the entire Iranian nuclear “deal” episode uncovers is a person so enamored with his own personal ambition that he will sacrifice anyone, Americans and allies. I will make no apology, because someone has to make a stand against this abhorrent behavior that has blatantly gone over the edge.

In what has to be another of President Obama’s most convoluted and confusing statements, “I want to return to this point: we want Iran not to have nuclear weapons precisely because we can’t bank on the nature of the regime changing. That’s exactly why we don’t want [Iran] to have nuclear weapons. If suddenly Iran transformed itself to Germany or Sweden or France then there would be a different set of conversations about their nuclear infrastructure,” Obama told NPR.

What does that mean? It reminds me of the post November 2014 midterm election quote, when President Obama claimed to have heard the voices of the two-thirds of the Americans who didn’t vote. This weakened “deal” doesn’t stop Iran from pursuing a nuclear capacity — and we all know it has nothing to do with a peaceful energy solution. It just slows down their capability to attain the eventual goal. If that were not the case, then Saudi Arabia wouldn’t be fretting and chatting up Pakistan.

Obama revealed — and the State Department tried to correct — that in 13 years the “breakout” for Iran to attain a nuclear capacity is zero. Now, I don’t know about y’all, but I am 54. And I certainly plan on being around in 13 years. The greatest consideration for me is that my daughters are 22 and 18, and I don’t want them living in a world under threat of an Islamic terrorist regime with this capability — as none of you should want for your children and grandchildren.

This is especially true for those of you who want to see your children and grandchildren make their “birthright” trip back to Israel — unless I have something completely wrong in that statement.

No one is going to impeach Barack Obama, and he knows that. But that doesn’t mean we walk about on eggshells afraid to speak up. We have a very dangerous person as president, someone whose actions, policies, and rhetoric can no longer be excused away. He is an Islamist sympathizer.

He is certainly not a Jewish ally — as proven by his dismissal of Iran’s failure to recognize Israel’s right to exist. The fundamental misjudgment was America’s mistake in electing and reelecting this person — and his vision of fundamental transformation.

http://cnsnews.com/commentary/allen-west/obama-gives-despicable-response-netanyahu-s-clarion-call-iran-recognize-israel


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 16, 2015, 02:00:45 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/anti-semitic-attacks-surged-worldwide-2014-annual-survey-134503502.html
Anti-Semitic attacks surged worldwide in 2014: annual survey
4/15/15

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Anti-Semitic attacks surged worldwide in 2014, with the highest number of incidents occurring in France, according to an annual study published in Israel on Wednesday.

The report, by Tel Aviv University's Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry, said 766 violent anti-Semitic acts, with or without weapons, were carried out around the world last year -- a 38 percent increase over 2013.

Arson, vandalism and direct threats against Jews, synagogues and other Jewish institutions were included in the figure, making 2014 the worst year for such attacks since 2009.

"The overall feeling among many Jewish people is one of living in an intensifying anti-Jewish environment that has become not only insulting and threatening, but outright dangerous," the study said, citing "alarming reports especially from Western Europe and North America".

Anger in Western Europe over Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip last July and August, as well as anti-Jewish caricatures in the media and social networks had helped to turn anti-Semitism into an "almost daily phenomena seen and felt in every sphere of life", the report said.

In France, the number of anti-Semitic attacks rose to 164 in 2014 compared with 141 in 2013. In January this year, four hostages were killed in a Paris kosher supermarket in violence that began when Islamist militants carried out a massacre in the office of the Charlie Hebdo satirical weekly.

Britain registered 141 violent incidents against Jews in 2014 after 95 a year earlier. The number of anti-Semitic acts in Germany and Italy more than doubled, to 76 and 23 respectively.

In Western Europe in particular, the study said, "the issue is not only a matter of having more security means provided by the respective states, but rather the ability to lead a full Jewish life ... especially under heavy police and even army protection".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stoked controversy in February when he called for "mass immigration" of European Jews to Israel following a deadly shooting at a synagogue in Denmark.

Under Israel's Law of Return, anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent has a right of immigration to Israel and, once there, can receive Israeli citizenship automatically.

(Reporting by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Crispian Balmer)


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on April 19, 2015, 10:03:27 am
‘This Is the New America’: Israeli Reporter Says ‘Jaws Dropped’ in Studio After Obama’s Russia Comment


A prominent Israeli television and print reporter said that “jaws dropped” in the studio Friday following President Barack Obama’s apparent defense of a Russian decision last week to lift a ban on selling sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles to Iran, which Israel worries could complicate possible future efforts to strike Iranian nuclear facilities.

The Times of Israel described the discussion of Obama’s comments on Israel Channel 10’s Friday news broadcast:

    “Jaws dropped” around the studio, said the Channel 10 News diplomatic commentator Ben Caspit, as news broke of Obama’s declared empathy for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to supply Tehran with the S-300 missile defense system.

    “Obama is something else,” Caspit added. “He’s decided to take America out of the wars…”

    The station’s news anchor, Alon Ben David, chipped in, “He’s amazed that the Russians honored an agreement with him [for this long]? That’s what is astonishing.”

    Responded Caspit, “This is the new America. We had better get used to it.”

“I will tell you this is actually a sale that was slated to happen in 2009,” Obama said at a White House news conference Friday with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. “When I first met with then-Prime Minister Putin, they actually stopped the sale, paused or suspended the sale at our request. And I’m, frankly, surprised that it held this long, given that they were not prohibited by sanctions from selling these defensive weapons.”

Obama added, “When I say I’m not surprised — given some of the deterioration in the relationship between Russia and the United States, and the fact that their economy is under strain and this was a substantial sale.”

News that the Russian missile system would go to Iran sparked alarm in Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, “Israel views with utmost gravity the supply of S-300 missiles from Russia to Iran, especially at a time when Iran is stepping up its aggression in the region and around the borders of the State of Israel.”

While the prime minister did not comment directly on Obama’s lack of surprise to the arms deal, he criticized the fact that the framework agreement between Iran, the U.S. and five world powers includes “no reference” to Iran’s regional “aggression.”

“There is no stipulation that this aggression be halted, whether at the start of the agreement or as a condition for the lifting of sanctions,” Netanyahu said.

While he did not explicitly mention the threat of military action, Netanyahu said Israel would “do whatever is necessary to defend the security of the state and its citizens.”

The U.S. has insisted that the deal with Iran would address only Iran’s nuclear ambitions, not wider issues including its support for Shiite militants in Yemen or its support of terrorist groups including Hezbollah.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/04/19/this-is-the-new-america-israeli-reporter-says-jaws-dropped-in-studio-after-obamas-russia-comment/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on July 24, 2015, 09:19:50 am
Watch: Kerry Indicates US Will Defend Iran from Israel

Kerry indirectly tells Senate deal will have US protect Iranian nuclear program from Israeli sabotage; 'wait till we get to that point.'

US Secretary of State John Kerry indirectly conceded that the US would defend Iran's nuclear program from Israeli sabotage on Thursday, in a hearing at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in which he was grilled over the deal reached last Tuesday.

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) put Kerry on the spot when he asked him and Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz whether the controversial articles in Annex III on page 142 of the 159-page deal would stipulate that the US block Israeli attempts to scupper the Iranian nuclear threat.

The articles in question state that the US, world powers and the EU obligate to "co-operation through training and workshops to strengthen Iran’s ability to protect against, and respond to nuclear security threats, including sabotage."

https://youtu.be/4ZwHhTmPuLw

Moniz did not reject the possibility but tried to deflect the implication of betrayal of Israeli security interests, saying, “I believe that refers to things like physical security and safeguards. All of our options and those of our allies and friends will remain in place.”

Undeterred, Rubio responded, "I guess that's my point. If Israel conducts an airstrike on a physical facility, does this deal...require us to help Iran protect and respond to that threat?"

The secretary of energy hesitatingly replied by claiming that the clause would not obligate the US to respond to an Israeli airstrike.

Kerry then got involved, saying, "the purpose of that is to be able to have longer-term guarantees as we enter a world in which cyber warfare is increasingly a concern for everybody. If you are going to have a nuclear capacity, you clearly want to be able to make sure that those are adequately protected.”

Responding to Kerry's hint that the clause is meant to defend Iran from "cyber warfare," Rubio asked if the deal obligates the US to defend Iran from an Israeli cyber attack.

"I assure you that we will be coordinating very, very closely with Israel as we do on every aspect of Israel's security," said Kerry, tellingly refusing to directly answer what the deal obligates the US to do in such a scenario.

"That's not how I read this," replied Rubio.

"I don't see any way possible that we will be in conflict with Israel with respect to what we might want to do there, and I think we just have to wait until we get to that point," responded the secretary of state, essentially indicating that America's actions won't be clear until the moment of truth.

Coordination with or against Israel?

Despite the claims of "coordination" with Israel, the Israeli response to the clause shows that the Jewish state understands it to be a promise to defend Iran's nuclear program from Israel's attempts to defend itself.

"The US needs to defend Iran from an attack on its march to an Iranian (nuclear) bomb, because of the excuse that the nuclear (facilities) are for civilian purposes?," a senior Israeli diplomat at the Prime Minister's Office said Monday.

The clause is all the more significant given that a number of cyber sabotage attempts in recent years have successfully halted Iran's presumed march to the nuclear bomb - most famously the 2010 Stuxnet virus. Those cyber attacks have been popularly attributed to Israel, as well as US President Barack Obama.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon in May 2012 indirectly hinted that Israel may have been behind a computer virus that followed Stuxnet and was launched against Iran, known as the "Flame" malware.

The cyber sabotage option is all the more important due to Iran's development of its physical defense systems potentially blocking an airstrike; a top Iranian general announced last week that Iran will unveil new missile defense systems in September including its own version of the Russian advanced S-300 system.

It has been warned that the advanced systems would be able to block an Israeli or American airstrike aiming to take out Iran's covert nuclear program that reportedly is aiming to build a nuclear arsenal.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/198565#.VbJJF_lrWk5


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on July 24, 2015, 09:34:11 am
Obama Admits: Iran Being Given Billions for Terror Funds
POTUS states during BBC interview that Iranian terror groups will be given more resources, but denies it will actually increase attacks.

US President Barack Obama admitted Friday that the Iranian nuclear deal gives Iran - the leading state sponsor of terror - ample funding to extend its terror network, in a revealing interview with BBC.

"Does the IRGC [Revolutionary Guard] or the Quds Force have more resources?" he asked. "Probably, as the economy in Iran improves."

Obama denied, however, that the funding would lead directly to more terror attacks on Israel and other US allies.

"The challenge that we've had, when it comes to Hezbollah, for example, aiming rockets into Israel is not a shortage of resources," he said.

"Iran has shown itself to be willing, even in the midst of real hardship, to fund what they consider to be strategy priorities."

The President instead maintained that preventing Iran from attaining a nuclear bomb is far higher priority for the West than preventing the spread of its large terror network on the ground, echoing the same stance on the issue he has advocated since the deal was announced.

"Well, keep in mind, first of all, we've shut off the pathways for Iran getting a nuclear weapon, which was priority number one," he insisted. "Because if Iran obtained a nuclear weapon, then they could cause all those same problems [...] with the protection of a nuclear bomb. And create much greater strategic challenges for the United States, for Israel, for our Gulf allies, for our European allies."

​https://youtu.be/YdU7fUXDLpI

Obama's comments surface just as Rep. Adam Schiff (D - California) admitted on CNN that Iran is due to get some $56 billion from the deal, and that Iran will "absolutely" have more money to fund terrorism if the deal passes.

"Iran has proven very cost-effective in terms of supporting Hezbollah," he said. "They have been able to stretch a few dollars a long way, they'll have a lot more dollars."

He also noted that while the Gulf states have spent a "fortune" combating terrorism, Iran has somehow been far more cost-effective in funding terrorism, even with limited means.

Schiff also referred to the revelation that Washington prevented an attempt by Iranian terrorists on US soil to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the US, Adel Al Jubair, at the last second in 2011 - and noted it proved Iran could easily carry out a terror attack in the US.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/198576#.VbJMpflrWk4


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on August 18, 2015, 01:52:54 pm
BRAZIL TO REMOVE ‘JERUSALEM, ISRAEL’ FROM ALL PASSPORTS
8/9/15
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=34629#comments

CITIZENS OF BRAZIL WHO WERE BORN IN JERUSALEM WILL HAVE THEIR PASSPORTS AMENDED TO ELIMINATE “ISRAEL” FROM THE LINE DENOTING PLACE OF BIRTH.

“Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.” Psalm 129:5 (KJV)

Existing passports are to be reissued with the “offending” term deleted, and passports that are not changed will be invalid at the end of the year. While the rule change would appear to have been influenced by the U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier this year that Americans born in Jerusalem could not have their birthplace listed as Jerusalem, Israel – but rather would be listed as Jerusalem alone – Brazil had apparently made the decision on dropping Israel a year ago, according to the Brazilian embassy in Tel Aviv.

In a statement quoted by JTA, Floriano Passero, a Brazilian-Jewish opposition lawmaker said that the ruling was “unfair” and would encourage “bias against Israel.” It was unrealistic, as well, he said.

“Regardless of the path to peace between the two peoples, Jerusalem certainly will remain an inseparable part of Israel and a citizen born in Jerusalem has every right to display their country of birth: Israel,” he wrote in a statement.

THE CHANGE IS EXPECTED TO AFFECT 60 PEOPLE OUT OF 15,000 ISRAELIS WHO HOLD BRAZILIAN CITIZENSHIP.

In June, the Federal University of Santa Maria in the State of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil came under pressure after the dean requested a list of Israeli students and lecturers due to pressure from various organizations. Jose Fernando Schlosser justified the move by stating that the list was requested by the teacher’s union, the student association, and The Association of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

Just last week, former Yesha Council chairman Dani Dayan was appointed as Israel’s ambassador to Brazil.

Dayan, 59, who was born in Argentina, is married and father to one. He has a master’s degree in finance, was chairman of the Yesha Council between 2007-2013 and worked on a daily basis in information campaigns in Israel and abroad. source


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on August 19, 2015, 04:22:26 pm
UN to let Iran inspect alleged nuke work site

Iran will be allowed to use its own inspectors to investigate a site it has been accused of using to develop nuclear arms, operating under a secret agreement with the U.N. agency that normally carries out such work, according to a document seen by The Associated Press.

The revelation on Wednesday newly riled Republican lawmakers in the U.S. who have been severely critical of a broader agreement to limit Iran's future nuclear programs, signed by the Obama administration, Iran and five world powers in July. Those critics have complained that the wider deal is unwisely built on trust of the Iranians, while the administration has insisted it depends on reliable inspections.

A skeptical House Speaker John Boehner said, "President Obama boasts his deal includes `unprecedented verification.' He claims it's not built on trust. But the administration's briefings on these side deals have been totally insufficient - and it still isn't clear whether anyone at the White House has seen the final documents."

Said House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce: "International inspections should be done by international inspectors. Period."

The newly disclosed side agreement, for an investigation of the Parchin nuclear site by the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, is linked to persistent allegations that Iran has worked on atomic weapons. That investigation is part of the overarching nuclear-limits deal.

Evidence of the inspections concession is sure to increase pressure from U.S. congressional opponents before a Senate vote of disapproval on the overall agreement in early September. If the resolution passes and President Barack Obama vetoes it, opponents would need a two-thirds majority to override it. Even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, has suggested opponents will likely lose a veto fight, though that was before Wednesday's disclosure.

John Cornyn of Texas, the second-ranking Republican senator, said, "Trusting Iran to inspect its own nuclear site and report to the U.N. in an open and transparent way is remarkably naive and incredibly reckless. This revelation only reinforces the deep-seated concerns the American people have about the agreement."

The Parchin agreement was worked out between the IAEA and Iran. The United States and the five other world powers were not party to it but were briefed by the IAEA and endorsed it as part of the larger package.

On Wednesday, White House National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said the Obama administration was "confident in the agency's technical plans for investigating the possible military dimensions of Iran's former program. ... The IAEA has separately developed the most robust inspection regime ever peacefully negotiated."

All IAEA member countries must give the agency some insight into their nuclear programs. Some are required to do no more than give a yearly accounting of the nuclear material they possess. But nations- like Iran - suspected of possible proliferation are under greater scrutiny that can include stringent inspections.

The agreement in question diverges from normal procedures by allowing Tehran to employ its own experts and equipment in the search for evidence of activities it has consistently denied - trying to develop nuclear weapons.

Olli Heinonen, who was in charge of the Iran probe as deputy IAEA director general from 2005 to 2010, said he could think of no similar concession with any other country.

The White House has repeatedly denied claims of a secret side deal favorable to Tehran. IAEA chief Yukiya Amano told Republican senators last week that he was obligated to keep the document confidential.

Iran has refused access to Parchin for years and has denied any interest in - or work on - nuclear weapons. Based on U.S., Israeli and other intelligence and its own research, the IAEA suspects that the Islamic Republic may have experimented with high-explosive detonators for nuclear arms.

The IAEA has cited evidence, based on satellite images, of possible attempts to sanitize the site since the alleged work stopped more than a decade ago.

The document seen by the AP is a draft that one official familiar with its contents said doesn't differ substantially from the final version. He demanded anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the issue in public.

The document is labeled "separate arrangement II," indicating there is another confidential agreement between Iran and the IAEA governing the agency's probe of the nuclear weapons allegations.

Iran is to provide agency experts with photos and videos of locations the IAEA says are linked to the alleged weapons work, "taking into account military concerns."

That wording suggests that - beyond being barred from physically visiting the site - the agency won't get photo or video information from areas Iran says are off-limits because they have military significance.

While the document says the IAEA "will ensure the technical authenticity" of Iran's inspection, it does not say how.

The draft is unsigned but the proposed signatory for Iran is listed as Ali Hoseini Tash, deputy secretary of the Supreme National Security Council for Strategic Affairs. That reflects the significance Tehran attaches to the agreement.

Iranian diplomats in Vienna were unavailable for comment, Wednesday while IAEA spokesman Serge Gas said the agency had no immediate comment.

The main focus of the July 14 deal between Iran and six world powers is curbing Iran's present nuclear program that could be used to make weapons. But a subsidiary element obligates Tehran to cooperate with the IAEA in its probe of the past allegations.

The investigation has been essentially deadlocked for years, with Tehran asserting the allegations are based on false intelligence from the U.S., Israel and other adversaries. But Iran and the U.N. agency agreed last month to wrap up the investigation by December, when the IAEA plans to issue a final assessment.

That assessment is unlikely to be unequivocal. Still, it is expected to be approved by the IAEA's board, which includes the United States and the other nations that negotiated the July 14 agreement. They do not want to upend their broader deal, and will see the December report as closing the books on the issue.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAN_NUCLEAR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-08-19-13-06-05


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on August 22, 2015, 07:18:15 am
Netanyahu Vindicated As Obama Nuclear Deal Allows Iran To Conduct Their Own Inspections

Iran, in an unusual arrangement, will be allowed to use its own experts to inspect a site it allegedly used to develop nuclear arms under a secret agreement with the U.N. agency that normally carries out such work

The revelation is sure to roil American and Israeli critics of the main Iran deal signed by the U.S., Iran and five world powers in July. Those critics have complained that the deal is built on trust of the Iranians, a claim the U.S. has denied.

The investigation of the Parchin nuclear site by the International Atomic Energy Agency is linked to a broader probe of allegations that Iran has worked on atomic weapons. That investigation is part of the overarching nuclear deal.
un-obama-nuclear-deal-allows-iran-to-inspect-their-own-nuclear-facilities

The White House has denied claims by critics that a secret “side deal” favorable to Tehran exists.

The Parchin deal is a separate, side agreement worked out between the IAEA and Iran. The United States and the five other world powers that signed the Iran nuclear deal were not party to this agreement but were briefed on it by the IAEA and endorsed it as part of the larger package.

Without divulging its contents, the Obama administration has described the document as nothing more than a routine technical arrangement between Iran and the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency on the particulars of inspecting the site.

Any IAEA member country must give the agency some insight into its nuclear program. Some countries are required to do no more than give a yearly accounting of the nuclear material they possess. But nations- like Iran – suspected of possible proliferation are under greater scrutiny that can include stringent inspections.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s full anti-Iran deal speech
https://youtu.be/6oyrFnsYnxQ

But the agreement diverges from normal inspection procedures between the IAEA and a member country by essentially ceding the agency’s investigative authority to Iran. It allows Tehran to employ its own experts and equipment in the search for evidence for activities that it has consistently denied – trying to develop nuclear weapons.

    Evidence of that concession, as outlined in the document, is sure to increase pressure from U.S. congressional opponents as they review the July 14 Iran nuclear deal and vote on a resolution of disapproval in early September. If the resolution passed and President Barack Obama vetoed it, opponents would need a two-thirds majority to override it. Even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, has suggested opponents will likely lose.

The White House has denied claims by critics that a secret “side deal” favorable to Tehran exists. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said the Parchin document is like other routine arrangements between the agency and individual IAEA member nations, while IAEA chief Yukiya Amano told Republican senators last week that he is obligated to keep the document confidential. source

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=34914


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on September 09, 2015, 07:36:19 am
Khamenei: Israel won’t survive next 25 years
Taking to Twitter, Iranian leader says Zionists won’t find serenity until destruction, calls US ‘Great Satan’ and rejects any talks with Washington beyond nuke deal


Israel will not survive the next 25 years, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday, making a series of threatening remarks published online.

Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email
and never miss our top stories   Free Sign up!

In a quote posted to Twitter by Khamenei’s official account, Khamenei addresses Israel, saying, “You will not see next 25 years,” and adds that the Jewish state will be hounded until it is destroyed.

The quote comes against a backdrop of a photograph showing the Iranian leader walking on an Israeli flag painted on a sidewalk.

“After negotiations, in Zionist regime they said they had no more concern about Iran for next 25 years; I’d say: Firstly, you will not see next 25 years; God willing, there will be nothing as Zionist regime by next 25 years. Secondly, until then, struggling, heroic and jihadi morale will leave no moment of serenity for Zionists,” the quote from Iran’s top leader reads in broken English.

The quote was apparently taken from a speech given earlier in the day.

The remarks came as US lawmakers began to debate supporting a recent nuclear agreement between Tehran and six world powers. Critics of the deal have pointed to fiery anti-US and anti-Zionist rhetoric as proof that the regime should not be trusted.

The White House and other deal boosters argue that the pact, meant to keep Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, is based on verification, not trust.

rest: http://www.timesofisrael.com/khamenei-israel-wont-survive-next-25-years/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on September 10, 2015, 11:17:21 am
Palestinians want to raise flag at UN headquarters

As non-member observer states, Palestinians seek to raise their flag, as well as that of the Vatican, at UN ahead of pope's visit; Palestinians betting US, Israel won't block plan in fear of risking offending the Holy See.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4694550,00.html

8/26/15

The Palestinians are seeking to raise their flags at UN headquarters in New York, in a resolution proposing to allow non-member observer states - the Palestinians and the Vatican - to display their flag with the 193 member states - just in time for Pope Francis' visit next month.
 
Supporters of the idea hope the UN General Assembly will adopt a resolution on the flag-raising shortly before the pope arrives. They're betting that the United States or other allies of Israel will not block the plan and risk offending the Holy See on Francis' first US visit.
 
But the Vatican on Tuesday asked the Palestinian UN mission to remove all references to it from the draft resolution.
 
The Palestinians' proposal, which has been tabled and is expected to circulate to the full assembly as early as on Wednesday, had apparently been prepared without the explicit consent of the Vatican's mission to the United Nations.
 
In a note circulated to some UN members and seen by Reuters, the Vatican made clear that while it did not object to the Palestinians proposing a resolution to fly their own flag, the Holy See had no plans to join the initiative - even though the Vatican formally recognized the State of Palestinian earlier this year.
 
"The Holy See does not intend to co-sponsor a draft resolution that the State of Palestine may eventually present on the matter," the note said.
 
"The Holy See asks the Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations kindly to remove in its draft resolution any reference to the 'Holy See' and any generic reference 'on behalf of the Observer States'," it added.
 
The United States and Israel oppose recognizing the Palestinian state, arguing that it undermines efforts to negotiate a peace agreement. That process, however, has largely been at a standstill since the deadly conflict in Gaza a year ago.
 
Many states have shown support for the Palestinians' pursuit of statehood, including the Holy See.
 
In May, the Vatican officially recognized the state of Palestine in their first formal, bilateral treaty. Israel's Foreign Ministry said it was "disappointed." During Francis' 2014 visit to the Holy Land, the Vatican's official program referred to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as the president of the "state of Palestine."
 
In 2012, the Vatican welcomed an overwhelming vote in the General Assembly to upgrade the Palestinians' status to a UN non-member observer state. Their delegation promptly unfurled the flag in the chamber.
 
The pope has not been shy about ambitious diplomacy. He helped bring the United States and Cuba together for their historic reestablishment of diplomatic ties. Last year, he invited the Israeli and Palestinian presidents for a day of peace prayers at the Vatican.
 
Most countries in Western Europe have held off on recognizing a Palestinian state, but some have hinted that their position could change if peace efforts remain deadlocked. Most countries in Africa, Asia and South America have recognized Palestine.
 
Francis is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Sept. 25, opening a gathering of world leaders to launch a set of development goals aimed at ending both poverty and hunger over the next 15 years.

More than 100 heads of state and government are expected at the gathering, which leads into the annual UN General Assembly of world leaders the following week. President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani are scheduled to speak on the first morning.


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on September 11, 2015, 05:16:28 am
Dems Block GOP Resolution, Secure Iran Deal
You own this, Democrats.


 Senate Democrats today successfully blocked a bipartisan disapproval resolution meant to kill President Obama's disastrous nuclear deal with the terrorist regime of Iran, ensuring its survival, reports Politico.

With a 58-42 vote, Democrats filibustered a resolution that would have gone to Obama's desk for consideration, even though the President had already promised to veto it anyway. Republicans immediately branded Democrats as obstructionist for using the Senate's supermajority requirement to kill the resolution. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell moved to set up a do-over for next week, but Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said,

    "Any future attempts to re-litigate this issue in the Senate will meet the same outcome and will be nothing more than wasted time."

Obama declared that he was “heartened that so many Senators judged this deal on the merits, and am gratified by the strong support of lawmakers and citizens alike.”

As Democrats cleared the 41-vote bar that ensured the deal would survive, Sen. Dianne Feinstein shouted "Yes! Yes!"

Only four Democrats sided with Republicans: Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Ben Cardin of Maryland.

    "There's bipartisan opposition to this deal. Only Democratic support," McConnell told Democrats. "You own it!"

A frustrated Sen. Lindsey Graham said,

    "Sen. Reid has come out of nowhere to change what was the common understanding of how we would proceed. But no, we couldn't do that. We're more worried about protecting Barack Obama from having to veto this than you are about having a debate on the floor of the Senate."

Republicans had won the vote of Schumer, but that wasn't enough. Schumer never tried to get his colleagues to change their minds:

    "While I came to a different conclusion than many in my own caucus, I recognize for them, this is a vote of conscience," Schumer said in his floor remarks. "Just, as it is, for me."

Many Democrats who backed the deal still complained that the agreement is flawed, but better than nothing. Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, one of the last Democratic senators to announce a position on the Iran deal, said afterward,

    "This is one of those votes of conscience where you have to look in the mirror and feel comfortable with what you're doing and have no regrets, This is one you will remember the rest of your life."

This is one we will all remember, Senator.

http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/dems-block-gop-resolution-secure-iran-deal


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on September 16, 2015, 08:39:43 am
Vatican Releases Official Papal Statement Supporting Obama’s Iranian Nuclear Deal

The Vatican released a statement Tuesday officially welcoming the nuclear agreement between the P5+1 world powers (U.S., UK, China, France, Russia, Germany) and Iran, stating that the Holy See believes Tehran will reduce its nuclear capabilities in exchange for sanctions relief. In calling for a Middle East free of nuclear weapons, the Vatican also appeared to target Israel, given that it is the lone nuclear power in the region.   

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=35552


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on October 14, 2015, 02:14:04 pm
ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
44m
US considers attack on 4 Arab men by Jewish assailant in Dimona, Israel, an 'act of terrorism,' State Department says - @Reuters
end of alert


 :o  >:(

http://www.breakingnews.com/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on October 27, 2015, 06:20:32 pm
OBAMA TELLS FALSEHOODS ABOUT ISRAEL, RETRACTS, THEN REPEATS FALSEHOODS
The top propaganda tactics the administration is using to demonize the Jewish State.


After weeks of murderous Palestinian stabbing attacks upon innocent Israelis, how has the Obama Administration responded?

Although Israel has been killing or apprehending knife-wielding terrorists, while Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority (PA) has been inciting and glorifying their acts of murder, the Administration presents both sides as morally equivalent, while insinuating or even asserting Israeli responsibility.

Obama officials have been doing this in five ways:

1. Condemning violence and incitement on both sides: Specifically condemning attacks on innocent Israelis, Secretary of State John Kerry nonetheless also called upon “all sides to take affirmative steps to restore calm” and called for “leadership that condemns the tit-for-tat.” And State Department spokesman John Kirby explicitly stated, “we recognize that incitement can go both ways here.”

2. Refusing to identify or condemn PA incitement to violence: Despite disseminating falsehoods  about Palestinian terrorists being innocents murdered in cold blood by Israel and Muslim supremacist calls by Abbas for Muslims to block imaginary Israeli take-over and “desecration” of Muslim shrines with “their filthy feet,” Administration officials don’t allude to this, much less condemn it. Quite the contrary: State Department spokesman Mark Toner implied Israel isn’t upholding the status quo on Temple Mount, while Mr. Kirby explicitly endorsed this false Palestinian claim, saying, “certainly, the status quo has not been observed, which has led to a lot of the violence.”

3. Refusing to identify which side is using terrorism: Secretary Kerry has spoken of “a revolving cycle,” while Mr. Toner has referred to the “recent wave of violence,” not Palestinian terrorism, and refused to “assign blame” for the attacks. So did Mr. Kirby (“this isn’t about affixing ... blame on either side”).

4. Accusing Israel of using excessive force in dealing with the knife-wielding terrorists: Mr. Kirby baldy stated that “we’ve certainly seen some reports of what many would consider excessive use of force.”

5. Rationalizing the Arab violence as partly the product of Jews moving into or living in the West Bank: Secretary Kerry spoke of  a “massive increase in [Jewish] settlements over the course of the last years,” which is neither a warrant for murder nor even true: construction within Jewish communities in the West Bank has dropped during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s six-year tenure to its lowest point since the Rabin government.

When the Obama Administration nullifies and voids the meaning and worth of its original condemnation of attacks on Israelis with defamatory charges and moral equivalence, it exposes its hostility and bias against Israel.

It is also inflammatory –– if Kerry can assign blame for Arab terrorism on Jews building houses in the West Bank, why can’t Arabs?

It is also untenable: one cannot credibly condemn terrorist acts and then include under the rubric of restoring calm forbearing from lawful actions of self-defense taken in response to them.

Under consequent pressure to to clarify the U.S. position, White House spokesman Josh Earnest denied that Secretary Kerry assigned any specific blame for the recent tensions –– which, of course, he had. Mr. Kirby avowed that “we have never accused Israeli security forces with excessive force with respect to these terrorist attacks” –– which, of course, he had –– and recanted his false statement, saying, “I did not intend to suggest that status quo at Temple Mount/Haram Al-Sharif has been broken” –– which, of course, he did.

These disavowals and retractions are correct and necessary –– but do not dispose of the root problem of hostility and bias.

Recall, for example, Secretary Kerry last year publicly bolstered the Palestinian delegitimization campaign by suggesting that Israel could become an apartheid state and would be understandably the target of boycotts if negotiations then on foot failed. Kerry later retracted his words –– but the damage was done.

The Administration seems to be seeking the damaging effects of these subsequently triangulated statements. The clarifications are just sufficiently retractive to mollify critics, while nonetheless preserving the original, damaging impact.

In this instance, President Obama seems to think they retracted too much.

Accordingly, on October 16, he himself doubled down on the original misrepresentations uttered by his officials on October 13 and 14, but retracted on October 14 and 15,  saying, “We must try to get all people in Israel, and the West Bank” to oppose “random violence.” President Obama also urged both Messrs. Netanyahu and Abbas to tamp down rhetoric, and again called into question Israel’s maintenance of Jerusalem’s status quo.

As for Abbas’ incitement –– still not a word from him, nor from UN Ambassador Samantha Power, who has also doubled down on some of the earlier false charges in the UN Security Council.

The Obama Administration is telling falsehoods about Israel, retracting them and then restating them. When someone persists with falsehoods, even after admitting them to be untrue, he intends them to stick.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/260564/obama-tells-falsehoods-about-israel-retracts-then-morton-klein


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on December 30, 2015, 05:34:06 pm
Report: NSA Spied on Netanyahu, Members of Congress
"The intercepted information could be valuable to counter Mr. Netanyahu's campaign."


The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the National Security Agency has continued to spy on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and may have recorded private conversations between Israeli leaders and members of the U.S. Congress.

President Obama promised to end the surveillance on world leaders who are U.S. allies but Obama wanted to continue surveilling some world leaders, including Netanyahu.

The original reason for the stepped up surveillance of Netanyahu, according to the WSJ, was the fear that he would "strike Iran without warning." By 2013, that fear had dissipated. The administration then became concerned about the Iran nuclear deal that was being negotiated. U.S. officials believed that the Israelis were spying on the negotiations and would try to scuttle the deal, the report said.

Further, the Journal reports that intercepted conversations between Israeli leaders confirmed Israel's knowledge of the talks, as well as its intent to undermine any nuclear deal with Iran by leaking its details. When Netanyahu and his top aides came to Washington to talk with Jewish-American groups and members of Congress to lobby against the deal, the NSA was there to pick up the conversations.

Senior officials said the conversations collected raised fears "that the executive branch would be accused of spying on Congress."

The White House wanted the information anyway, saying they "believed the intercepted information could be valuable to counter Mr. Netanyahu's campaign."

National Security Council Spokesman Ned Price said, "[W]e do not conduct any foreign intelligence surveillance activities unless there is a specific and validated national security purpose. This applies to ordinary citizens and world leaders alike."

http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/report-nsa-spied-netanyahu-members-congress


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on January 19, 2016, 08:46:15 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/secret-hillary-clinton-emails-reveal-her-advisor-on-israel-and-middle-east-is-antisemitic/
SECRET HILLARY CLINTON EMAILS REVEAL HER ADVISOR ON ISRAEL AND MIDDLE EAST IS ANTISEMITIC
Max Blumenthal wrote a book entitled "Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel", in which he makes some amazing anti-semitic statements about the sovereign nation of Israel.

1/18/16

MAX BLUMENTHAL, WHO WAS REVEALED BY THE HILLARY CLINTON FORCED EMAIL DUMP AS A SECRET SOURCE AND ADVISER TO HER ON ISRAEL AND MIDDLE EAST AFFAIRS, IS ONE OF THE GREAT ISRAEL HATERS IN AMERICA TODAY.

“Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.” Psalm 129:5 (KJV)

A website called observer.com has revealed some stunning facts about a shadowy figure on the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign team that only came to light in her now-infamous web server scandal for which she may face prosecution. His name is Max Blumenthal, son of longtime Clinton aide Sidney Blumenthal, and he is absolutely anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian. Oh, almost forgot to tell you his role. He is Clinton’s advisor on Israel and the Middle East.

Max Blumenthal wrote a book entitled “Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel“, in which he makes some amazing anti-semitic statements about the sovereign nation of Israel.

“A Nazi-like mentality also exists in our country… “That says a great deal about the Nazi mentality that is dominant here… “In modern day Israel, the African refugee occupied a similar role as the devious Jew in Weimar-era Nazi propaganda… ” There are Judeo-Nazis…” source
Blumenthal then went on to compare the Israeli army’s elite Sayeret Matkal unit to the “Nazi SS.” Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Wiesenthal Center, called Max someone “who conflates the Shoah [Holocaust] and Holocaust imagery with phantom Israeli crimes.”  In the Wiesenthal’s Center’s 2013 list of worst anti-Semitic and anti-Israel quotes, Max received 9th place, in part for having quoted “approvingly characterizations of Israeli soldiers as “Judeo-Nazis.”

HUMA ABEDIN, TOP ASSISTANT TO HILLARY CLINTON, IS DISCUSSED, HAS TIES TO MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD

So when thinking about whether or not to vote for Hillary Clinton, keep a few things in mind. Her closest advisor is Huma Abedin, an Iranian who worked for many years at a journal that promotes Islamic-supremacist ideology that was founded by a top al-Qaeda financier, Abdullah Omar Naseef. Abedin also has some interesting family connections. Her father is said to be close with the Saudi government’s Muslim World League, and her mother is said to be a member of the Muslim Sisterhood. World Trade Center bombing prosecutor Andrew McCarthy wrote in National Review: “The ties of Ms. Abedin’s father, mother and brother to the Muslim Brotherhood are both specific and substantiated.”

On top of that she has Max Blumenthal, a self-loathing Jew who is anti-Israel and serves as her Middle East advisor.

Are you really “ready for Hillary“? I don’t think so.


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on May 10, 2016, 06:26:34 pm
Obama Administration Fighting Netanyahu Via AP Leak

The Obama Administration has apparently decided on its course of action regarding Judea and Samaria until the inauguration of a new president in January: threats and attacks delivered through well placed leaks with the major news outlets, which are intended to foster anxiety in Jerusalem. A case in point is this weekend’s AP story, citing US and other diplomats who say Obama plans to endorse a “tougher tone” against Israel in the upcoming report by the so-called “Quartet” of mediators from the US, the EU, Russia and the UN. Said diplomats have promised that the US will no longer endeavor to temper the language of the report, criticizing settlements construction, demolitions and property seizures. They also promise to place the blame for the impasse in the peace negotiations squarely on Israel.

The report, due in late May or early June, will bear no intrinsic penalties against Israel, an island of violence and unrest in an otherwise peaceful and idyllic Middle East, but the diplomats who leaked the news have told AP it could be used by the UN assembly and “possibly sent to the Security Council for an endorsement.”

It is curious why the Obama White House would want to create yet another problem for the Democratic presumptive presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who would be forced to comment on such a report and run the risk of alienating either the left- or right-flank of the party. Is the Obama need for revenge against the Jewish State stronger than his support for his own party’s campaign? Time will tell.

On its face, the AP leak looks more like a taunt than a change in policy, reminiscent of the reference to the comparison by an anonymous Administration official of Netanyahu to chicken droppings in the famous October 2014 Jeffrey Goldberg article. Like that and so many other poisoned arrows, the report will probably enrage Netanyahu and his circle, and will also endorse complaints on the part of the PA, but its influence on policy changes is doubtful. Scores of anti-Israeli, pro-Arab reports cannot change the math of the 20th Knesset nor the precarious balance of Israel’s Labor party under Chairman Itzhak Herzog.

As the AP story put it soberly, “The Quartet, which is supposed to guide the two parties to peace, has been largely irrelevant for the past several years. It was created in 2002 at a low point in the Israeli-Palestinian relationship and in the years since has held sporadic meetings. Most have ended with bland statements condemning violence, criticizing settlements and calling for both sides to improve security and the atmosphere for peace talks. … The new report will repeat those calls, but the diplomats said they hoped the new criticism of Israel, in particular, would jolt the parties into action.”

Not in this Knesset, apparently.

http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/analysis-obama-administration-fighting-netanyahu-via-ap-leak/2016/05/08/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on June 17, 2016, 06:11:39 pm
Iran: If Trump Breaks Nuclear Agreement, We Will "Set Fire to the Deal"

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has threatened to “set fire” to the nuclear deal with world powers “if the threat from the American presidential candidates to tear up the deal becomes operational.” In that case, “the Islamic Republic will set fire to the deal,” Khamenei said, reacting to comments made last August by presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump that he would “police that contract so tough they don’t have a chance.”

http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/69897/iran-vows-set-fire-nuclear-deal-u-s-reneges/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 24, 2016, 07:50:45 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edFUanAZYn0


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on July 18, 2016, 05:34:58 pm
SECRET DOCUMENT LIFTS IRAN NUKE CONSTRAINTS...
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAN_NUCLEAR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-07-18-14-12-14

CUTS TIME TEHRAN WOULD NEED TO BUILD BOMB IN HALF...
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAN_NUCLEAR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-07-18-14-12-14

FLASHBACK: How Obama Admin Lied To Sell Deal...
http://www.weeklystandard.com/obamas-foreign-policy-guru-boasts-of-how-the-administration-lied-to-sell-the-iran-deal/article/2002252


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on August 02, 2016, 09:50:46 pm
U.S. Sent Cash to Iran as Americans Were Freed
Obama administration insists there was no quid pro quo, but critics charge payment amounted to ransom


The Obama administration secretly organized an airlift of $400 million worth of cash to Iran that coincided with the January release of four Americans detained in Tehran, according to U.S. and European officials and congressional staff briefed on the operation afterward.

Wooden pallets stacked with euros, Swiss francs and other currencies were flown into Iran on an unmarked cargo plane, according to these officials. The U.S. procured the money from the central banks of the Netherlands and Switzerland, they said.

The money represented the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement the Obama administration reached with Iran to resolve a decades-old dispute over a failed arms deal signed just before the 1979 fall of Iran’s last monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

The settlement, which resolved claims before an international tribunal in The Hague, also coincided with the formal implementation that same weekend of the landmark nuclear agreement reached between Tehran, the U.S. and other global powers the summer before.

“With the nuclear deal done, prisoners released, the time was right to resolve this dispute as well,” President Barack Obama said at the White House on Jan. 17—without disclosing the $400 million cash payment.


Senior U.S. officials denied any link between the payment and the prisoner exchange. They say the way the various strands came together simultaneously was coincidental, not the result of any quid pro quo.

“As we’ve made clear, the negotiations over the settlement of an outstanding claim…were completely separate from the discussions about returning our American citizens home,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said. “Not only were the two negotiations separate, they were conducted by different teams on each side, including, in the case of The Hague claims, by technical experts involved in these negotiations for many years.”

But U.S. officials also acknowledge that Iranian negotiators on the prisoner exchange said they wanted the cash to show they had gained something tangible.

Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas and a fierce foe of the Iran nuclear deal, accused President Barack Obama of paying “a $1.7 billion ransom to the ayatollahs for U.S. hostages.”

“This break with longstanding U.S. policy put a price on the head of Americans, and has led Iran to continue its illegal seizures” of Americans, he said.

Since the cash shipment, the intelligence arm of the Revolutionary Guard has arrested two more Iranian-Americans. Tehran has also detained dual-nationals from France, Canada and the U.K. in recent months.

At the time of the prisoner release, Secretary of State John Kerry and the White House portrayed it as a diplomatic breakthrough. Mr. Kerry cited the importance of “the relationships forged and the diplomatic channels unlocked over the course of the nuclear talks.”

Meanwhile, U.S. officials have said they were certain Washington was going to lose the arbitration in The Hague, where Iran was seeking more than $10 billion, and described the settlement as a bargain for taxpayers.

Iranian press reports have quoted senior Iranian defense officials describing the cash as a ransom payment. The Iranian foreign ministry didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The $400 million was paid in foreign currency because any transaction with Iran in U.S. dollars is illegal under U.S. law. Sanctions also complicate Tehran’s access to global banks.

“Sometimes the Iranians want cash because it’s so hard for them to access things in the international financial system,” said a senior U.S. official briefed on the January cash delivery. “They know it can take months just to figure out how to wire money from one place to another.”

The Obama administration has refused to disclose how it paid any of the $1.7 billion, despite congressional queries, outside of saying that it wasn’t paid in dollars. Lawmakers have expressed concern that the cash would be used by Iran to fund regional allies, including the Assad regime in Syria and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, which the U.S. designates as a terrorist organization.

The U.S. and United Nations believe Tehran is subsidizing the Assad regime’s war in Syria through cash and energy shipments. Iran has acknowledged providing both financial and military aid to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and deploying Iranian soldiers there.

But John Brennan, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, said last week that there was evidence much of the money Iran has received from sanctions relief was being used for development projects. “The money, the revenue that’s flowing into Iran is being used to support its currency, to provide moneys to the departments and agencies, build up its infrastructure,” Mr. Brennan said at a conference in Aspen, Colo.

The U.S. and Iran entered into secret negotiations to secure the release of Americans imprisoned in Iran in November 2014, according to U.S. and European officials. Switzerland’s foreign minister, Didier Burkhalter, offered to host the discussions.

The Swiss have represented the U.S.’s diplomatic interests in Iran since Washington closed its embassy in Tehran following the 1979 hostage crisis.

Iranian security services arrested two Iranian-Americans during President Obama’s first term. In July 2014, the intelligence arm of Iran’s elite military unit, the Revolutionary Guard, detained the Washington Post’s Tehran bureau chief, Jason Rezaian, and charged him with espionage.

A fourth Iranian-American was arrested last year. A former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, Robert Levinson, disappeared on the Iranian island of Kish in 2007. His whereabouts remain unknown.

The Swiss channel initially saw little activity, according to these officials. But momentum shifted after Tehran and world powers forged a final agreement in July 2015 to constrain Iran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of most international sanctions. A surge of meetings then took place in the Swiss lakeside city of Geneva in November and December.

The U.S. delegation was led by a special State Department envoy, Brett McGurk, and included representatives from the Central Intelligence Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to U.S. and European officials. The Iranian team was largely staffed by members of its domestic spy service, according to U.S. officials.

The discussions, held at the InterContinental Hotel, initially focused solely on a formula whereby Iran would swap the Americans detained in Tehran for Iranian nationals held in U.S. jails, U.S. officials said. But around Christmas, the discussions dovetailed with the arbitration in The Hague concerning the old arms deal.

The Iranians were demanding the return of $400 million the Shah’s regime deposited into a Pentagon trust fund in 1979 to purchase U.S. fighter jets, U.S. officials said. They also wanted billions of dollars as interest accrued since then.

President Obama approved the shipment of the $400 million. But accumulating so much cash presented a logistical and security challenge, said U.S. and European officials. One person briefed on the operation joked: “You can’t just withdraw that much money from ATMs.”

Mr. Kerry and the State and Treasury departments sought the cooperation of the Swiss and Dutch governments. Ultimately, the Obama administration transferred the equivalent of $400 million to their central banks. It was then converted into other currencies, stacked onto the wooden pallets and sent to Iran on board a cargo plane.

On the morning of Jan. 17, Iran released the four Americans: Three of them boarded a Swiss Air Force jet and flew off to Geneva, with the fourth returning to the U.S. on his own. In return, the U.S. freed seven Iranian citizens and dropped extradition requests for 14 others.

U.S. and European officials wouldn’t disclose exactly when the plane carrying the $400 million landed in Iran. But a report by an Iranian news site close to the Revolutionary Guard, the Tasnim agency, said the cash arrived in Tehran’s Mehrabad airport on the same day the Americans departed.

Revolutionary Guard commanders boasted at the time that the Americans had succumbed to Iranian pressure. “Taking this much money back was in return for the release of the American spies,” said Gen. Mohammad Reza Naghdi, commander of the Guard’s Basij militia, on state media.

Among the Americans currently being held are an energy executive named Siamak Namazi and his 80-year old father, Baqer, according to U.S. and Iranian officials. Iran’s judiciary spokesman last month confirmed Tehran had arrested the third American, believed to be a San Diego resident named Reza “Robin” Shahini.

Friends and family of the Namazis believe the Iranians are seeking to increase their leverage to force another prisoner exchange or cash payment in the final six months of the Obama administration. Mr. Kerry and other U.S. officials have been raising their case with Iranian diplomats, U.S. officials say.

Iranian officials have demanded in recent weeks the U.S. return $2 billion in Iranian funds that were frozen in New York in 2009. The Supreme Court recently ruled that the money should be given to victims of Iranian-sponsored terror attacks.

Members of Congress are seeking to pass legislation preventing the Obama administration from making any further cash payments to Iran. One of the bills requires for the White House to make public the details of its $1.7 billion transfer to Iran.

“President Obama’s…payment to Iran in January, which we now know will fund Iran’s military expansion, is an appalling example of executive branch governance,” said Sen. James Lankford (R., Okla.), who co-wrote the bill. “Subsidizing Iran’s military is perhaps the worst use of taxpayer dollars ever by an American president.”

http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-sent-cash-to-iran-as-americans-were-freed-1470181874


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on August 02, 2016, 09:51:49 pm
Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, on report US cash shipment to Iran coincided with hostage release: 'For decades, American foreign policy has been to not pay ransom for hostages, because to do so only encourages more kidnapping of Americans. Not only did the Obama administration violate this common-sense policy, it did so secretly. I will call on the Speaker of the House to appoint a special investigation committee to get all the facts on this very serious violation of American policy. If true, this would make the Iran-Contra affair look like jaywalking.'

read more on house.gov
http://billjohnson.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398988


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on August 05, 2016, 05:21:06 pm
Iran: $400 Million in Cash Was Part of ‘Expensive Price’ to Free U.S. Hostages

Iranian television has broadcast what some say is purported footage of the $400 million pallets of cash that officials claim was part of the “expensive price” paid by the Obama administration to free several U.S. hostages.

The footage, which could not be independently verified, shows images of large stacks of hard currency and features claims that the Obama administration sent this money over as part of an effort to free several U.S. hostages. The White House vehemently denied these claims this week following new reports about the cash exchange.

BBC Persian reporter Hadi Nili posted the footage on Twitter, describing it as showing the “pallets of cash” and quoting officials as saying “this was just part of the ‘expensive price’ to release Americans.”

ADVERTISING


The footage, which is from an Iranian documentary published a few months ago, contradicts claims by Obama administration officials maintaining that the payment was completely unrelated to the release of these U.S. hostages, despite the payment having been supplied on the same day these individuals were freed by Iran.

Iran experts who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon said that it is impossible to verify if the images show the same pallets of cash transferred by the Obama administration.

The footage also claims that the Obama administration insisted the negotiations over the matter take place in secret and threatened Iranian officials who may have leaked information to the media.

Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump referenced the footage in remarks this week, claiming that it is part of an effort by Iran to embarrass the United States.

“They have a perfect tape, done by obviously a government camera and the tape is of the people taking the money off the plane, right?” Trump said. “That means that in order to embarrass us further, Iran sent us the tapes, right?”

“It’s a military tape; it’s a tape that was a perfect angle, nice and steady, nobody getting nervous because they’re gonna be shot because they’re shooting a picture of money pouring off a plane,” Trump said.

The footage is part of a February documentary published by Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The documentary purported to reveal behind-the-scenes details of the negotiations with the United States to free the American hostages. It maintains the negotiations were tied up in efforts to push the Iran nuclear agreement forward as it moved towards implementation.

http://freebeacon.com/national-security/iran-400-million-cash-part-expensive-price-free-u-s-hostages/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on August 05, 2016, 05:21:58 pm
Freed Iranian Hostage: Iranians Told Me They Were Waiting For Another Plane To Arrive Before Letting Us Go

On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “The Intelligence Report with Trish Regan,” Saeed Abedini, one of the four hostages released from Iran back in January, stated that on the night he was freed, his captors told him they were waiting on another plane to arrive before letting him go.

Abedini said, “I just remember the night that we’d been in a[n] airport, just take hours and hours there. And I asked one of the…police that was with us, that, why are you not letting us to go to the…plane? And he told me we are waiting for another plane, and if that plane take off, then we’re going to let you go.”

He added, “[T]hey told us you’re going to be there for 20 minutes. But it took like hours and hours. We slept at the airport, and when I asked them why you don’t let us go, because the plane was there, pilot was there, everyone was ready that we leave the country, they said we are waiting for another plane, and until that plane doesn’t come, we never let you go.”

Abedini was then asked, “Were they effectively waiting for the money to come in before they then let you take off?” He answered, “Yeah. They didn’t talk about money. They just told us about the — they told me about the plane. … So, the reason that they said you’re here in the airport is — was just because we are waiting for another plane.”

Abedini was also asked if he believed a ransom was paid, to which he stated he was grateful for his freedom, but there are others still left behind in Iran.

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2016/08/04/freed-iranian-hostage-iranians-told-me-they-were-waiting-for-another-plane-to-arrive-before-letting-us-go/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on August 05, 2016, 05:23:29 pm
ISRAEL REJECTS OBAMA'S LATEST REMARKS ON IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL

 Israel is rejecting remarks by President Barack Obama contending it no longer opposes the nuclear deal that world powers struck with Iran in 2015.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that "Israel's view on the Iran deal remains unchanged."

Israel's Defense Ministry reportedly compared the deal to the 1938 Munich Pact ahead of World War II, which Britain and France signed with Germany and which averted war at the time but effectively gave then-Czechoslovakia to the Nazis.

Obama said in remarks on Thursday that the Iran deal is working and that "it's the assessment of the Israeli military and intelligence community ... that acknowledges this has been a game-changer."

Netanyahu has been one of the fiercest critics of the nuclear deal and butted heads with Obama over the issue.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_ISRAEL_OBAMA_IRAN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-08-05-13-58-18


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on August 05, 2016, 06:52:23 pm
Freed Iranian Hostage: Iranians Told Me They Were Waiting For Another Plane To Arrive Before Letting Us Go

On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “The Intelligence Report with Trish Regan,” Saeed Abedini, one of the four hostages released from Iran back in January, stated that on the night he was freed, his captors told him they were waiting on another plane to arrive before letting him go.

Abedini said, “I just remember the night that we’d been in a[n] airport, just take hours and hours there. And I asked one of the…police that was with us, that, why are you not letting us to go to the…plane? And he told me we are waiting for another plane, and if that plane take off, then we’re going to let you go.”

He added, “[T]hey told us you’re going to be there for 20 minutes. But it took like hours and hours. We slept at the airport, and when I asked them why you don’t let us go, because the plane was there, pilot was there, everyone was ready that we leave the country, they said we are waiting for another plane, and until that plane doesn’t come, we never let you go.”

Abedini was then asked, “Were they effectively waiting for the money to come in before they then let you take off?” He answered, “Yeah. They didn’t talk about money. They just told us about the — they told me about the plane. … So, the reason that they said you’re here in the airport is — was just because we are waiting for another plane.”

Abedini was also asked if he believed a ransom was paid, to which he stated he was grateful for his freedom, but there are others still left behind in Iran.

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2016/08/04/freed-iranian-hostage-iranians-told-me-they-were-waiting-for-another-plane-to-arrive-before-letting-us-go/


Iran Takes Another American Hostage After Taking Millions In Payoff Money

Wooden pallets stacked with euros, Swiss francs and other currencies were flown into Iran on an unmarked cargo plane, according to these officials. The U.S. procured the money from the central banks of the Netherlands and Switzerland, they said. 

http://en-volve.com/2016/08/05/iran-takes-another-american-hostage-after-taking-millions-in-payoff-money/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on October 06, 2016, 03:25:51 am
U.S. government condemns new Israeli plan on settlements

 The United States sharply criticized Israel on Wednesday over plans to build a new Jewish settlement in the West Bank that it said would damage prospects for peace with the Palestinians and contradicted assurances made to Washington.

The White House and State Department "strongly condemned" Israel's decision to advance a plan that they said would create a new settlement "deep in the West Bank" and undermine a two-state solution.

In unusually harsh words for its Middle Eastern ally, Washington also accused Israel of going back on its word.

"We did receive public assurances from the Israeli government that contradict this announcement," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said at a news briefing. "I guess when we're talking about how good friends treat one another, that's a source of serious concern as well."

U.S. President Barack Obama raised concerns about West Bank settlements when he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York last month.

A senior U.S. official told reporters afterwards those concerns included the "corrosive effect" settlement activity had during 50 years of occupation on prospects for negotiating a peace deal based on a two-state solution.

The United States contends that the project constitutes the establishment of a new settlement in the West Bank, contrary to assurances by Netanyahu that no new settlements would be built.

Israel regards the planned housing units as part of an existing settlement called Shilo, which is about halfway between the Palestinian seat of government in Ramallah and Nablus farther north.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement the new housing units do not constitute a new settlement.

"This housing will be built on state land in the existing settlement of Shilo and will not change its municipal boundary or geographical footprint," the statement said.

It added that Israel remains committed to a two-state solution.

The municipal boundaries of many settlements in the West Bank are extensive, enabling Israel to argue that housing units built near the fringes of those boundaries are not new settlements, but only neighborhoods of exiting ones.

In its tough words on Wednesday, the Obama administration is effectively challenging that practise.

The State Department statement cited Israeli authorities' retroactive authorization of nearby settlements and the redrawing of local settlement boundaries.

The new settlement would be closer to Jordan than Israel and link a string of Jewish outposts, dividing the Palestinian region, the statement said.

"It is deeply troubling" that Israel would make this decision shortly after it reached an agreement with Washington on U.S. military aid designed to bolster Israel's security, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in the statement.

The United States will give Israel $38 billion in military assistance over the next decade, the largest such aid package in U.S. history, under a landmark agreement signed on Sept. 15.

Toner also noted it was "disheartening" for the decision to come as the world mourned former President Shimon Peres, a passionate proponent of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Earnest attributed the strong U.S. reaction as being driven by the location of the proposed settlement and the timing of the announcement.

"All of that combined would explain why the United States is so disappointed and even sharply critical of this decision announced by the Israeli government," Earnest said.

Israelis have to choose between expanding settlements and a peaceful two-state solution with the Palestinians, Toner said.

"Proceeding with this new settlement is another step toward cementing a one-state reality of perpetual occupation that is fundamentally inconsistent with Israel's future as a Jewish and democratic state," Toner said.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/u-condemns-israeli-plan-settlements-state-department-162039504.html


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on October 28, 2016, 08:23:03 pm
Iran Takes More Hostages: What Did the US Expect?

Iran is not only detaining and arresting more Iranian-Americans, but also boasting about it and publicly asking for more money to release them.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) pointed out recently: "We should wait and see, the U.S. will offer ... many billions of dollars to release" two particular Iranian-American businessman, Siamak Namazi and his father Baquer Namazi.

According to Alex Shirazi's nuanced profile, Siamak Namazi was one of the intellectual architects of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), which has been accused of lobbying for the Iranian regime and pursuing policies that benefit themselves and the Iranian regime. Accordingly, the organization was founded "as a way to continuously lobby for the removal of sanctions against Iran and to promote Iran's foreign policy, while combating the pro-Israel sentiment in America, according to documents from a Cyprus convention that featured the two men."

Mr. Namazi worked for Iran's Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning from 1994 to 1996. He also joined a company in Tehran called Atieh Bahar Consulting (AB), which was founded by Pari Namazi and her husband, Bijan Khajehpour.

The Tehran-based Atieh Bahar Consulting "offered a range of legal and industrial services to foreign enterprises, most importantly the access it provided to the [Iranian] regime, and the advice it dispensed on how best to navigate the vagaries of the regime's entrenched factions and competitive interests."

In addition, Siamak Namazi seemed to advocate doing business with the Iranian regime, as he pointed out to Lebanon's Daily Star newspaper: "If oil companies want to operate in the Iranian market they need to link up with a local partner, and this is where we step in and help them to find the right partner." This apparently occurred at a time that there were US economic sanctions imposed on Iran, including sanctions on firms dealing with the Iranian government. Baquer Namazi was governor of Iran's Khuzestan province one of the most oil-rich areas in the nation.

Earlier this year, the Obama administration paid nearly $1.7 billion in cash to make sure that Iran would release four Iranian-Americans who were taken as hostages. According to one report, "Future payments to Iran could reach as much as $2 billion, according to sources familiar with the matter."

One of the hostages was Jason Rezaian, who according to his family, has been trying to improve the Islamic Republic's image to the world through his work. Improving Iran's image would undoubtedly benefit the Islamic Republic's political establishment and the ruling politicians of Iran in many ways such as re-entering the international community, enhancing its global legitimacy, re-engaging in the world financial system, improving business opportunities, and bringing more revenues which would empower the IRGC, the hardliners, and the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

One of the American hostages that Iran this year released in exchange for $1.7 billion in cash was Jason Rezaian, who according to his family, has been working to improve the Islamic Republic's image to the world. Rezaian is pictured above with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on January 28, 2016. (Image source: U.S. State Department)

One major question that many would then ask is: why the Iranian government would arrest Iranian-Americans who seem to be benefiting the Iranian government's interests, enhancing Iran's legitimacy, doing business, making money for themselves, making money for the Iranian government, or supporting an Iranian lobby group? Is this all part of a tactical game to extort more money from the US, as some might argue?

Other questions raised are that while the State Department has long warned American citizens against traveling to Iran, why do some dual nationals, primarily Iranian-Americans, continue to travel to Iran for business or other reasons? Does not this place the US in a grave situation where it has to plead with Iranian leaders and pay money, while the Iranian government gains the upper hand and enjoys more leverage against Washington?

There are several other issues at stakes as well. First of all, from the IRGC and Khamenei's perspective, while some dual nationals, Iranian-Americans, might appear to be advocating for the Iranian government and advancing Iran and their own interests, the IRGC still can play the tactical game that these individuals are siding with specific Iranian leaders such as Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and Iran's foreign minister Javad Zarif, rather than siding with other Iranian leaders.

Secondly, and more fundamentally, the Iranian government has learned that arresting dual nationals and Iranian-Americans not only can lead to the flow of billions of dollars to Iran, but also can ratchet up Iran's political leverage against the US and Western allies.

Finally, U.S. President Barack Obama appears to have forgotten the basic rule of foreign policy and international law, that a state should not engage in negotiation or paying ransom to other state or non-state actors listed as top sponsors of terrorism or as terrorist organizations.

Paying ransom only reinforces their behavior. The State Department's own report in 2016 found Iran to be still the "top state sponsor of terrorism." Iranian-Americans who travel to Iran despite the warnings put the US in a difficult situation. President Obama is dangerously encouraging the Iranian leaders' detaining and arresting dual nationals to extort money and play hardball.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9207/iran-takes-more-hostages


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 31, 2016, 12:01:55 am
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-campaign-manager-supporter-who-shouted-jew-s-a-at-media-is-deplorable-160243745.html
Trump campaign manager: Supporter who shouted ‘Jew-S-A!’ at media is ‘deplorable’
10/30/16

Donald Trump’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway says the man who shouted “Jew-S-A!” at reporters covering the Republican nominee’s rally in Phoenix on Saturday would have been removed had she been there.

“His conduct is completely unacceptable and does not reflect our campaign or our candidate,” Conway told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” Sunday.

When asked by Tapper whether she would call the man’s conduct “deplorable” — a term used by Hillary Clinton to describe some of Trump’s supporters — Conway said she would.

“That man’s conduct was deplorable,” Conway said. “And had I been there, I would have asked security to remove him immediately. Clearly, he doesn’t speak for the campaign or the candidate, and what he had to say was disgusting.”

The man — who was wearing a “Hillary for Prison” T-shirt — began heckling the traveling press corps while Trump was speaking, turning his back on the candidate to glare at the media assembled inside the press pen.

“You’re going down! You’re the enemy!” he shouted.

Then — as the crowd chanted “U-S-A!” — the man returned to offer his anti-Semitic version.

 

    Guy shouting "Jew-S-A" at the media covering the Trump rally in PHX pic.twitter.com/BhbqIOntrx

    — Holly Bailey (@hollybdc) October 29, 2016


    Guy chants "Jew-S-A" in front of press pen pic.twitter.com/2yqgA6dD4k

    — Nick Corasaniti (@NYTnickc) October 29, 2016


    This is the man who started chanting "JEW-S-A" at the media pen. Does anyone know what those hands signs mean? pic.twitter.com/64yseZFSVZ

    — Candace Smith (@CandaceSmith_) October 29, 2016

    The irony of someone lobbing anti-Jewish slurs at media at the Trump rally is that the candidate’s daughter is Jewish

    — Holly Bailey (@hollybdc) October 29, 2016

Reporters covering the Trump campaign are often targeted by the brash billionaire’s supporters at his raucous rallies. But the frequency of the attacks and the venom displayed within them have increased in recent weeks as Trump has amplified his rhetoric — warning of a “rigged” election and accusing the media of conspiring with the Clinton campaign to derail his candidacy.

    Man shouts at press pen (and spits on me in the process of shouting) that we are the "enemy" who must be defeated & then screamed "JEW-S-A"

    — Ali Vitali (@alivitali) October 29, 2016

    This dude was reaching over the barricade, pointing at us and screaming. I'll be honest: I've been to hundreds of rallies. That was not OK. https://t.co/H0QzQ9ytSi

    — Ali Vitali (@alivitali) October 29, 2016

But Conway dismissed Tapper’s assertion that Trump has failed to condemn “a lot of anti-Semites and racists and misogynists” who support him.

“He has never seriously said, ‘I don’t want the support of those people,’” Tapper said.

“Yes, he has,” Conway replied. “And let me just repeat on his behalf that that’s the way his campaign feels.”

She added, “Don’t besmirch the good name of the tens of thousands, the millions of Trump supporters.”

The identity of the Trump supporter seen shouting anti-Semitic slurs at Saturday’s rally was not immediately clear. But a tipster to Yahoo News said he appears to be the same man who became an unlikely viral video star in 2011 when he reenacted a car crash to local television reporters arriving on the scene, telling them, “Reality hits you hard, Bro.”


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on November 23, 2016, 07:21:03 pm
Iran warns of retaliation if U.S. breaches nuclear deal

Extending U.S. sanctions on Iran for 10 years would breach the Iranian nuclear agreement, Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said on Wednesday, warning that Tehran would retaliate if the sanctions are approved.

The U.S. House of Representatives re-authorized last week the Iran Sanctions Act, or ISA, for 10 years. The law was first adopted in 1996 to punish investments in Iran's energy industry and deter Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons.

The Iran measure will expire at the end of 2016 if it is not renewed. The House bill must still be passed by the Senate and signed by President Barack Obama to become law.

Iran and world powers concluded the nuclear agreement, also known as JCPOA, last year. It imposed curbs on Iran's nuclear program in return for easing sanctions that have badly hurt its economy.

"The current U.S. government has breached the nuclear deal in many occasions," Khamenei said, addressing a gathering of members of the Revolutionary Guards, according to his website.

"The latest is extension of sanctions for 10 years, that if it happens, would surely be against JCPOA, and the Islamic Republic would definitely react to it."

The U.S. lawmakers passed the bill one week after Republican Donald Trump was elected U.S. president. Republicans in Congress unanimously opposed the agreement, along with about two dozen Democrats, and Trump has also criticized it.

Lawmakers from both parties said they hoped bipartisan support for a tough line against Iran would continue under the new president.

President-elect Trump once said during his campaign that he would "rip up" the agreement, drawing a harsh reaction from Khamenei, who said if that happens, Iran would "set fire" to the deal.

The House of Representatives also passed a bill last week that would block the sale of commercial aircraft by Boeing and Airbus to Iran.

The White House believes that the legislation would be a violation of the nuclear pact and has said Obama would veto the measure even if it did pass the Senate. (Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin, editing by Larry King)

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/iran-warns-retaliation-u-breaches-nuclear-deal-khamenei-100458641.html


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on November 27, 2016, 05:23:12 pm
Report: Nuclear material said stolen from Iran could yield 'dirty bomb'

The identity of the alleged thieves remains unknown, according to London-based Arabic newspaper.

Radioactive material produced at Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Plant has reportedly been stolen raising concerns about the use of a so-called dirty bomb in the future, according to London-based, Arabic language newspaper Asharq al-Awsat. The identity of the alleged thieves remains unknown.

The missing material, Iridium-192, was reported to the International Atomic Energy Agency by Iran’s nuclear regulatory body earlier this month, warning neighboring Gulf states of its possible nefarious use.

A dirty bomb, or radiological dispersion device, is a conventional weapon equipped with nuclear material. The idea behind a dirty bomb is to blast radioactive material, such as powder or pellets, into the area around the explosion.

Citing Saudi intelligence sources, Asharq al-Awsat reported Friday that the Iridium- 192 was stolen as it was being transported from the Bushehr facility. The vehicle carrying the nuclear material was later found abandoned with its contents seized.

It remains unclear who stole the nuclear material and for what purpose.

The IAEA defines Iridium-192, a highly unstable isotope which emits both electrons and gamma-rays, as a category-2 radioactive substance. Substances with a category-2 classification can permanently injure or even kill a human being if exposed to the material within hours or days.

Iridium-192 is generally used for industrial reasons, utilized to locate flaws in metal components, despite the danger it poses to humans.

In July 2015, Iran and six world powers (Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany) reached a nuclear deal over the country’s nuclear program.

The deal, which went into effect in January, requires Iran to scrap the bulk of its nuclear activities in return for the ease of international sanctions on the country’s energy and financial sectors. It allows regular inspections of the facilities inside Iran.

Earlier this month, the UN nuclear watchdog said Iran must stop repeatedly overstepping a limit on its stock of a sensitive material set by the landmark deal.

The IAEA, which is policing the deal, said in a report in early November that Iran had slightly exceeded the 130-metric ton soft limit on its stock of heavy water for a second time since the deal was put in place in January.


http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Report-Iran-says-nuclear-material-stolen-could-yield-dirty-bomb-473776


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on December 23, 2016, 04:45:48 pm
Israel accuses Obama of anti-Israeli ‘shameful move’ at UN

An Israeli official on Friday accused President Barack Obama of colluding with the Palestinians in a “shameful move against Israel at the U.N.” after learning the White House did not intend to veto a Security Council resolution condemning settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem the day before.

“President Obama and Secretary Kerry are behind this shameful move against Israel at the U.N.,” the official said. “The U.S administration secretly cooked up with the Palestinians an extreme anti-Israeli resolution behind Israel’s back which would be a tail wind for terror and boycotts and effectively make the Western Wall occupied Palestinian territory,” he said calling it “an abandonment of Israel which breaks decades of US policy of protecting Israel at the UN.”

Earlier he said Israel’s prime minister turned to President-elect Donald Trump to help head off the critical U.N. resolution.

Although the U.S. opposes the settlements, it has traditionally used its veto power as a permanent member of the Security Council to block resolutions condemning Israel, saying that disputes between Israel and the Palestinians must be resolved through negotiations. But after eight years of failed peace efforts during the Obama Administration, Israel has expressed concern the outgoing president would take an audacious step to leave his mark on the region. In recent weeks, the White House had been especially secretive about its deliberations.

The Israeli official’s admission marked a final chapter in the icy relations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama over the last eight years, and signaled an era of close ties between Israel and the incoming Trump administration.

Israel knew even before the Egyptian draft resolution that the White House was planning an “ambush” and coordinating it with the Palestinians, said another Israeli official, who requested anonymity to discuss internal diplomatic conversations.

Israeli diplomats believe they were misled by the U.S. during a meeting last week between high-ranking Israeli and Obama administration officials in which the U.S. side offered reassurances about its efforts to support Israel but declined to explicitly state that the U.S. would veto such a resolution if it came up. The Israelis told their counterparts that “friends don’t take friends to the Security Council,” the official said.

The Egyptian-sponsored resolution had demanded that Israel halt settlement activities in occupied territories claimed by the Palestinians and declared that existing settlements “have no legal validity.”

But under heavy Israeli pressure, Egypt called off a planned vote in the Security Council hours before it was to take place. In the diplomatic activity ahead of the postponement, both Netanyahu and Trump issued nearly identical statements urging the U.S. to veto the measure.

“After becoming aware that the administration would not veto the anti-Israel resolution, Israeli officials reached out to Trump’s transition team to ask for the president-elect’s help to avert the resolution,” the Israeli official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing behind-the-scenes diplomatic activity.

On Friday, Egypt said its president had received a call from Trump in which they both agreed to give the incoming U.S. administration a chance to try and resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The call came hours after Egypt indefinitely postponed the U.N. vote.

A statement from the Egyptian presidency said the two men spoke by phone early Friday and agreed on “the importance of giving a chance for the new American administration to deal in a comprehensive way with the different aspects of the Palestinian issue with the aim of achieving a comprehensive and a final resolution.”

A senior Palestinian official, speaking anonymously according to protocol, said Egypt didn’t consult with the Palestinians about delaying the vote and it was a “complete shock” for them. Egypt represents Arab states on the security council.

Egypt is the first Arab country to make peace with Israel, and the two countries have close security ties in a shared struggle against Islamic militants.

The Palestinian mission to the United Nations said the Security Council will vote later in the day on the resolution condemning Israel’s settlement construction, now sponsored by New Zealand, Malaysia, Senegal and Venezuela.

The U.S., along with the Palestinians and nearly all of the international community, opposes Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem as obstacles to peace. Some 600,000 Israelis live in the two territories, which the Palestinians seek as part of a future independent state. Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Mideast war.

Trump has signaled he will be far more sympathetic to Israel. His campaign platform made no mention of the establishment of a Palestinian state, a core policy objective of Democratic and Republican presidents over the past two decades. He also has vowed to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that would put the U.S. at odds with the Palestinians and almost the entire remainder of the international community, and his pick for ambassador to Israel, Jewish-American lawyer David Friedman, is a donor and vocal supporter of the settlements.

The proposed resolution would have been more than symbolic. While it did not call for imposing sanctions on Israel, its language could have hindered Israel’s negotiating position in future peace talks. Given the widespread international opposition to the settlements, it would have been nearly impossible for the Trump administration to reverse it.

It remained unclear Friday whether the measure would come up for a vote in the council before Obama leaves office.

In a Christmas greeting on Friday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said: “Despite the Israeli occupation, our presence in our homeland and the preservation of our cultural and national heritage are the most important form of resistance in the face of the darkness of a foreign colonialist occupying power.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/official-israel-turned-to-trump-to-head-off-un-resolution/2016/12/23/bfd84306-c8ef-11e6-acda-59924caa2450_story.html?utm_term=.31f2e8ce418e


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on December 23, 2016, 05:20:36 pm
Congress Threatens to Defund UN over Anti-Israel Vote

Ambassador Samantha Power, who represents the United States at the UN Security Council, sat mum on Friday when the chair called for votes against an anti-Israel resolution declaring Israeli settlements illegal. But she raised her hand high when the chair called for abstentions.
She, and her boss, President Barack Obama, could have voted no, in keeping with precedent, and in deference to the incoming administration of President-elect Donald J. Trump. Instead, they let the resolution pass.

In anticipation of Obama’s suspected — now confirmed — abstention, members of Congress threatened to de-fund the UN. The U.S. accounts for some 22% of the UN’s budget, supporting a large, comfortable bureaucracy and its various programs.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) issued a statement, warning:

This provocative action by the United Nations is an outrage and must be dealt with sternly and forcefully.

As the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Foreign Operations of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I oversee the United States assistance to the United Nations. The United States is currently responsible for approximately 22 percent of the United Nations total budget.

If the United Nations moves forward with the ill-conceived resolution, I will work to form a bipartisan coalition to suspend or significantly reduce United States assistance to the United Nations.

In addition, any nation which backs this resolution and receives assistance from the United States will put that assistance in jeopardy.

Others joined Graham’s call to defund the UN, including Sen. James Lankford (R-OH). The Republican Jewish Coalition issued a statement also calling for defunding the UN:

By allowing the United Nations’ anti-Israel resolution to be adopted by the Security Council, in the face of fierce bi-partisan opposition, the actions of the Obama Administration will forever be remembered as a dark, shameful moment for our country. The resolution passed today will only serve as a greater barrier to peace, which can only truly be achieved through negotiations. Instead of pressuring the Palestinians to be a partner for peace, President Obama chose to break with long standing diplomatic practices and allowed the one-sided, anti-Israel United Nations to be used as a tool to bludgeon Israel, our greatest ally in the Middle East.

We applaud the efforts of Republican Senators, led by Senator Graham, to strip funding to the United Nations, which has time and again showed their anti-Israel bias. What happened today will forever be on the heads of the President, his Party, and groups like J Street that remained silent.

The passage of the resolution marks the Obama administration’s final stab in the back against Israel, on its way out the door and in defiance of the results of the November election, when voters chose Trump’s more assertive U.S. foreign policy.

In the hours before the vote, American Jewish organizations otherwise friendly to the Obama administration, such as the Union for Reform Judaism, belatedly mobilized to urge the Obama administration to veto the resolution. It was all to no avail.

In her statement attempting to justify the Obama administration’s failure to exercise its veto, Power cited a statement by President Ronald Reagan in 1982 opposing further Israeli settlements. She argued — incorrectly — that opposition to Israeli settlements had been the policy of every U.S. administration since 1967, ignoring the fact that President George W. Bush had assured Israel it would accept some settlements, as a reward for Israel’s recognition of the Palestinian aspiration to statehood.

Power attempted to cover the Obama administration’s backstabbing by noting that Israel is unfairly singled out for criticism by the UN: “Israel continues to be treated differently than other UN member states,” she said.

Yet even as Power said those words, she and the Obama administration participated in precisely that kind of singling out — subjecting Israel to criticism that no other states in similar situations had ever faced, in a week when the city of Aleppo fell to the genocidal Syrian regime.

She further argued that the U.S. would have blocked any resolution that threatened Israeli security. The implication was that a resolution that is factually and legally false, and which rewards Palestinians for decades of terror, does not harm Israel.

Power stated that “we cannot stand in the way of this resolution as we seek to preserve a chance to attain” the goal of a two-state solution. The claim flies in the face of Israeli efforts to renew negotiations — even to freeze settlement construction — in vain.

President-elect Trump had managed to keep the resolution at bay the day before by opposing it publicly, and by convincing Egypt to withdraw it from the agenda. But the Obama administration, aided by temporary Security Council members New Zealand, Malaysia, Venezuela, and Senegal, persisted.

The vote is a watershed: Israel faces a new and more hostile diplomatic reality, and the myth of bipartisan support for Israel has been shattered forever. Democrats will now bear an anti-Israel legacy.

http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2016/12/23/anti-israel-day-infamy-obama-allows-resolution-pass-samantha-power/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on December 23, 2016, 05:21:29 pm
Obama Wishes Jews ‘Happy Hanukkah’ — as He Stabs Israel at UN

Even as he allowed an anti-Israel resolution to pass at the UN Security Council, President Barack Obama wished Jews a “Happy Hanukkah” on Friday.
“As night falls over each of the next eight days, Jews in the United States, Israel and around the world will gather to light their Hanukkah menorahs, display them proudly in the window and recall the miracles of both ancient times and the present day,” the president said in a statement, as reported by The Hill.

He continued: “For more than two millennia, the story of Hanukkah has reminded the world of the Jewish people’s perseverance and the persistence of faith, even against daunting odds.”

Obama’s statement emphasized religious freedom — and downplayed Hanukkah’s themes of political independence.

The holiday (also transliterated as “Chanukah”) commemorates the successful revolt of the Jewish community of ancient Israel against the Seleucid dynasty in 165 B.C., led by the Maccabees.

It is among the most nationalistic holidays in the Jewish calendar, turning Obama’s greeting into something of an ironic insult.

The UN Security Council resolution calls for an end to Israeli settlements in the West Bank and declares them illegal under international law. Israel argues that the settlements are not illegal, since there is no prior legitimate sovereign in the territory, and argues — referring to precedent and existing peace agreements — that the matter is a subject for bilateral negotiation.

Prior to the vote at the UN Security Council, a senior Israeli official told Breitbart News that President Obama had pushed the anti-Israel resolution “behind Israel’s back”:

President Obama and Secretary Kerry are behind this shameful move against Israel at the UN. The US administration secretly cooked up with the Palestinians an extreme anti Israeli resolution behind Israel’s back which would be a tailwind for terror and boycotts and effectively make the Western Wall occupied Palestinian territory. President Obama could declare his willingness to veto this resolution in an instant but instead is pushing it. This is an abandonment of Israel which breaks decades of US policy of protecting Israel at the UN and undermines the prospects of working with the next administration of advancing peace.

The Maccabees’ revolt was also against the repression of the Jewish faith, and the desecration of the Holy Temple. When the Maccabees recaptured the Temple, they found only enough oil to light the sacred menorah lamp for one night, but it lasted miraculously for eight days and nights — hence the tradition of lighting candles during the holiday in commemoration.

Israel’s UN Ambassador, Danny Danon, referred to Hanukkah and the ancient revolt in his defiant statement against the resolution at the UN Security Council, concluding: “Who gave you the right to such a decree denying our eternal rights in Jerusalem? … We overcame those decrees during the times of the Maccabees, and we will overcome this evil decree today.”

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/12/23/hanukkah-obama-wishes-jews-happy-chanukah-stabs-israel-un/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on December 29, 2016, 04:50:15 pm
http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/insiders-now-say-obama-will-move-create-palestinian-state-paris-mid-east-peace-conference-january-15th/
Insiders Now Say Obama Will Move To Create Palestinian State At Paris Mid-East Peace Conference January 15th

“The goal is for these moves to be binding for the incoming American administration, which would have to adopt them as its platform, and also for the European Union, which is expected to step up should there be clashes with Trump,” he said.

12/29/16

The Paris Middle East Peace conference is expected to call on all sides to establish a Palestinian state within the so-called 1967 borders in a relatively short period of time.

“As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.” Isaiah 31:5 (KJV)

Knowing that Donald Trump will keep his campaign promise to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, insiders are now say that Barack Obama is working furiously behind the scenes at this moment to get passed a UN resolution calling for a Palestinian state, awarding control of Jerusalem to the Muslims.

Only one thing can stop Donald Trump from keeping his campaign promise about Jerusalem, and that’s if Obama beats him to the punch and declares a state in Palestine before January 20th. Could that actually happen? Insiders are saying it’s happening right now. Will it happen? That remains to be seen. But if it doesn’t, it won’t be for lack of trying on Obama’s part.

A senior Palestinian Authority official told Breitbart Jerusalem the following:

The Paris Middle East Peace conference is expected to call on all sides to establish a Palestinian state within the so-called 1967 borders in a relatively short period of time, perhaps by the beginning of 2019.

    “The goal is for these moves to be binding for the incoming American administration, which would have to adopt them as its platform, and also for the European Union, which is expected to step up should there be clashes with Trump,” he said.

    “In the next few days we’ll know whether we’re headed to the UNSC,” the official said. “Right now, the chances of that are very high. From our viewpoint, the goal is partially achieved. The settlements have been designated as the main obstacle to the peace process and now it’s up for the world to make clear that, in the event of failure, the side that would refuse to comply with the will of the international community, as codified in the UN resolution, is the guilty side.” source

Obama knowing his time is short has gone on a rampage

Donald Trump promised to move the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which would also recognize Jerusalem as the singular capital of Israel. As we have told you over a year ago, that move could be so explosive that it could trigger the Psalm 83 War. But what could be even more explosive than that would be if Barack Obama in Paris next month gets the UN to pass a resolution to declare a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Back in 2011, Obama was all for allowing Israel and Palestine to work out their differences betweens themselves. Not any more. Start watching at the 17:55 mark.

As I sit here and write this, the Paris Mid-East conference is only 17 days away, with Obama’s last day in office being a mere 22 days away. If you were watching the Steelers play the Bengals last weekend, then you know how much damage can be inflicted in 118 seconds. In the blink of an eye, the Steelers went from likely losers with the Bengals already celebrating, to being crowned the 2016 AFC North Champions because of what they did in the closing seconds of the game.

“Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” Revelation 12:12 (KJV)

Barack Hussein Obama is in the closing seconds of his game, and his “championship dream” is to see Jerusalem ripped from the hands of the Jews and given to the Muslims along with Israeli land stolen to create a Palestinian state. Obama is highly motivated, highly funded, and has the full backing of the demonic, corrupt United Nations.

The next 17 days could very well change the course of world history. In fact, we contend it absolutely will.

Are YOU ready for what comes next?


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on January 08, 2017, 04:34:49 pm
Those That Bless Israel Will Be Blessed And Those That Curse Israel Will Be Cursed – So Now America Is Greatly Cursed

There are consequences for our actions, and on a national level we are going to experience tremendous consequences for the very foolish decisions of our national leaders. When Barack Obama decided to betray Israel at the United Nations, he made the most fateful decision of his entire presidency. Because the Scriptures tell us that those that curse Israel will be cursed, and so America is now under a great curse due to what Barack Obama has done.

All throughout the Scriptures there are equations. What I mean by that is there are many passages that tell us that if we do things God’s way we will get one result, and if we do things another way we will get another result. One of my favorite examples of this is Matthew 5:19. I have been on both sides of that particular equation, and being on God’s side of the equation is much better by far.

As far as Israel is concerned, all throughout the Bible we see the principle that those that bless Israel are blessed and those that curse Israel are cursed. The very first place where we find this is in Genesis chapter 12 where God makes his famous promise to Abraham. The following is what Genesis 12:1-3 says in the Modern English Version…

    Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country, your family, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless them who bless you and curse him who curses you, and in you all families of the earth will be blessed.”

In the Book of Numbers, we see almost the exact same wording being used. In this case, Balaam had been summoned to cast a curse on Israel, but God had him deliver a blessing instead. This is what Numbers 24:9 says…

    He crouches, he lies down as a lion, and as a lion, who will stir him up? “Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you.”

So how does one curse Israel? There are lots of ways to do that, but one thing that God really doesn’t like is when someone tries to divide up His land. In Joel chapter 3 we find a prophecy about the last days, and one of the things that God says He will really be upset about is the fact that the nations have “divided up My land”…

    In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations, and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. I will enter into judgment with them there regarding My people and My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; they have also divided up My land.

This warning has been around for well over 2000 years, but our leaders are completely ignoring God’s warning that He will judge them for dividing up His land. On Friday, UN Security Council Resolution 2344 declared that all Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank are illegal, and it gave the Palestinians legal ownership of those territories.

Is this the dividing of the land that Joel chapter 3 warns about? If not, it is pretty close. Many are still anticipating that there may be another UN Security Council resolution that would formally establish a Palestinian state, and if that happens that would definitely fulfill Joel 3.

In Zechariah chapter 12, we are told that the city of Jerusalem will be particularly troublesome in the last days. The following is what Zechariah 12:3 says in the Modern English Version…

    And it will be on that day that I will set Jerusalem as a weighty stone to all the peoples. All who carry it will surely gash themselves, and all the nations of the land will be gathered against it.

And of all the issues that separate the Israelis and the Palestinians, the status of Jerusalem is perhaps the most controversial. You see, the truth is that the Palestinians will never accept any solution that does not give them East Jerusalem as their capital, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged that the city of Jerusalem will remain undivided forever.

By attempting to divide God’s holy city, Barack Obama and the United Nations are setting themselves against God, and the consequences are likely to be quite dramatic.

Sadly, relatively few Christian leaders are speaking out about this. There has been only a limited uproar against this betrayal of Israel, and this is something that I simply do not understand.

Fortunately, there are a few that are speaking out. One of them is Franklin Graham, and I really like what he had to say about this crisis on his Facebook page…

    Israel is America’s closest ally in the Middle East and the only true democracy in that region of the world. I’m disappointed that the current administration in Washington seems to have such contempt for this nation and its elected leaders. For the U.S. not to stand with Israel is shameful.

Without a doubt, what we have done to Israel is shameful. And now that we are on the wrong side of the equation, we will most definitely be cursed.

Nothing extremely dramatic has happened so far, but there have been some rumblings. For example, it is being reported that there have been nearly 700 earthquakes in California and Nevada over the past week…

    A reporter for KWTV News tweeted that there have been at least 28 reported earthquakes since the early morning hours in California and Nevada.

    A map put out by the Southern California Earthquake Data Center shows that in the last week that have been almost 700 light-to-moderate tremors in the area.

And on the east coast, a horrible winter blizzard is set to dump nearly two feet of snow on some areas of New England…

    A powerful winter storm will unleash heavy, wet snow and howling winds across portions of New England from late Thursday through midday Friday, with blizzard conditions possible in some areas.

    Much of New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine should see a foot of snow, with nearly two feet expected in some spots, the National Weather Service said. “This looks to be a high-impact storm with power outages and significant drifting issues likely,” the weather service warned.

But if God continues to respond to U.S. moves toward diving the land of Israel as He has in the past, we could potentially see something much more dramatic happen in the days ahead. In a previous article, I detailed ten of the most striking examples of how God has hit America with disaster when our government has cursed Israel…

#1 The last time the U.S. government refused to veto an anti-Israel resolution at the UN Security Council was in 1979. On March 22nd, 1979 the Carter administration chose not to veto UN Resolution 446. Four days after that on March 26th, the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty was signed in Washington. As a result of that treaty, Israel gave up a tremendous amount of territory. Two days later, on March 28th, the worst nuclear power plant disaster in U.S. history made headlines all over the globe. The following comes from Wikipedia…

    The Three Mile Island accident was a partial nuclear meltdown that occurred on March 28, 1979, in reactor number 2 of Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station (TMI-2) in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States. It was the most significant accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant history.[2] The incident was rated a five on the seven-point International Nuclear Event Scale: Accident With Wider Consequences.[3][4]

#2 On October 30th, 1991 President George H. W. Bush opened the Madrid Peace Conference which brought Israelis and Palestinians together to negotiate for the very first time. In his opening speech, Bush told Israel that “territorial compromise is essential for peace”. At the exact same time, “the Perfect Storm” was brewing in the north Atlantic. This legendary storm traveled 1000 miles the wrong direction and sent 35 foot waves slamming directly into President Bush’s home in Kennebunkport, Maine.

#3 On August 23rd, 1992 the Madrid Peace Conference moved to Washington D.C., and the very next day Hurricane Andrew made landfall in Florida causing 30 billion dollars in damage. It was the worst natural disaster up to that time in U.S. history.

#4 On January 16th, 1994 President Clinton met with President Assad of Syria to discuss the possibility of Israel giving up the Golan Heights. Within 24 hours, the devastating Northridge earthquake hit southern California. It was the second worst natural disaster up to that time in U.S. history.

#5 On January 21st, 1998 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived at the White House but received a very cold reception. In fact, President Clinton and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright actually refused to have lunch with him. That exact same day the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke, sending the Clinton presidency into a tailspin from which it would never recover.

#6 On September 28th, 1998 Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was working on finalizing a plan which would have had Israel give up approximately 13 percent of Judea and Samaria. On that precise day, Hurricane George slammed into the Gulf Coast with wind gusts of up to 175 miles an hour.

#7 On May 3rd, 1999 Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was supposed to hold a press conference to declare the creation of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as the capital. On that precise day, the most powerful tornadoes ever recorded in the U.S. ripped through Oklahoma and Kansas. At one point one of the tornadoes actually had a recorded wind speed of 316 miles an hour.

#8 On April 30th, 2003, “the Road Map to Peace” that had been developed by the so-called “Quartet” was presented to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon by U.S. Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer. Over the next seven days, the U.S. was hit by a staggering 412 tornadoes. It was the largest tornado cluster ever recorded up to that time.

#9 In 2005, President George W. Bush (the son of George H. W. Bush) convinced Israel that it was necessary to remove all of the Jewish settlers out of Gaza and turn it over entirely to the Palestinians. According to the New York Times, the very last of the settlers were evacuated on August 23, 2005. On that precise day, a storm that would be given the name “Katrina” started forming over the Bahamas. The city of New Orleans still has not fully recovered from the damage that storm caused, and it ranked as the costliest natural disaster in all of U.S. history up to that time.

#10 On May 19th, 2011 Barack Obama told Israel that there must be a return to the pre-1967 borders. Three days later on May 22nd a half-mile wide EF-5 multiple-vortex tornado ripped through Joplin, Missouri. According to Wikipedia, it was “the costliest single tornado in U.S. history.”

Barack Obama is scheduled to leave the White House on January 20th, and many are hoping that the new Trump administration will rapidly repair the damage that has been done to our relationship with Israel. One of the things that is already being discussed is cutting off U.S. funding for the United Nations…

    Congress is already setting the stage to cut off U.S. funding to the United Nations in the wake of a contested vote last week in which the Obama administration permitted an anti-Israel resolution to win overwhelming approval, according to congressional leaders, who told the Washington Free Beacon that the current administration is already plotting to take further action against the Jewish state before vacating office.

    Other punitive actions by Congress could include expelling Palestinian diplomats from U.S. soil and scaling back ties with foreign nations that voted in favor of the controversial measure, according to multiple sources who spoke to the Free Beacon about the situation both on and off the record.

Hopefully members of Congress will take very swift and decisive action once they return to Washington in early January. Because at this moment we are definitely under a curse, and we need to do whatever we can to change direction.

And let us pray that the Obama administration will not betray Israel again by supporting a UN Security Council resolution that would officially establish a Palestinian state before January 20th. If that happens, all hell is going to break loose in America.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/those-that-bless-israel-will-be-blessed-and-those-that-curse-israel-will-be-cursed-so-now-america-is-greatly-cursed


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on January 08, 2017, 04:35:31 pm
Barack Obama’s All-Out Attack On Israel

During the very last month of his presidency, Barack Obama has decided to launch an all-out attack on Israel. On Friday, Barack Obama’s decision to allow UN Security Council resolution 2334 to pass without a veto was the greatest betrayal of Israel in modern American history, and now there are reports that the Obama administration is planning to introduce another resolution that would officially recognize a Palestinian state. Throughout his eight years in the White House, many have accused Obama of being the most anti-Israel president in our history, and now he is proving them right. Obama has also been accused of harboring sympathies for the agenda of the radical Islamic world, and at this point it is hard to argue that he doesn’t. Everyone always knew that Obama greatly disliked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but the way that Obama is currently behaving goes way beyond just being vindictive.

If it wasn’t for the election of Donald Trump, there would be little hope of salvaging U.S.-Israeli relations at this point. On Twitter, Newt Gingrich actually used the phrase “waging war” to describe what Obama is doing to Israel…

    Meanwhile, back in the US, Newt Gingrich continued his outspoken ways, and slammed President Obama for not vetoing the resolution, likening the move to a “war” against the key ally in the Middle East. “Why is the Obama team waging war against Israel? Why are they taking steps to isolate and then kill a democracy and an ally?” Gingrich tweeted.

    “President-elect Trump must prepare a comprehensive offensive for Jan 29 to undo the damage to Israel the Obama team is inflicting.”

    “Congress should pass resolutions January 3-4 condemning Obama attacks on Israel and demanding he not participate in French or (U.N. Security Council) attacks,” Gingrich, a key Trump ally, wrote online.

I can’t help but agree with Gingrich on this point. Barack Obama definitely seems to be acting out a secret vendetta against Israel during the last few days of his presidency.

And there seems to be little doubt that it was Obama that was the driving force behind the passage of UN Security Council resolution 2334. In fact, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that the information that his government has been given has led him to the conclusion that Obama “initiated it, stood behind it, coordinated on the wording and demanded that it be passed”…

    Netanyahu escalated his criticism of the U.S. for abstaining, even accusing President Obama of orchestrating the resolution himself.

    “From the information that we have, we have no doubt that the Obama administration initiated it, stood behind it, coordinated on the wording and demanded that it be passed,” Netanyahu said in Hebrew.

According to the Times of Israel, Israel’s ambassador plans to pass this evidence along to Donald Trump once he takes office…

    Israel’s ambassador to the United States said Tuesday that the country will present President-elect Donald Trump with “evidence” that the Obama administration orchestrated an anti-settlement resolution at the United Nations Security Council on Friday.

Now that resolution 2334 has passed and there hasn’t been much of a global uproar, the Obama administration has been emboldened to go for broke and push for another resolution which would grant full UN Security Council recognition to a Palestinian state. In the article that I just posted on The Economic Collapse Blog, I explained that this resolution would use the 1967 ceasefire lines as the basis for the borders between the Israelis and the Palestinians, it would include “land-swaps” so that most Israeli settlers in the West Bank could stay where they currently are, and it would officially designate East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.

Needless to say, the events of the past several days have absolutely infuriated Netanyahu and the rest of his government. On Sunday, Netanyahu ordered the Israeli Foreign Ministry to suspend all ties with 12 of the nations that voted in favor of resolution 2334…

    Activities involving the embassies of Britain, France, Russia, China, Japan, Ukraine, Angola, Egypt, Uruguay, Spain, Senegal and New Zealand will be suspended, and the ambassadors of those countries will not be received at Israel’s Foreign Ministry, an official said.

And in a show of defiance against resolution 2334, the Israelis have approved the construction of hundreds of new housing units in areas that the UN Security Council says belong to the Palestinians. The following comes from the Jerusalem Post…

    Three days after the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution condemning Jewish construction over the 1949 armistice line, multiple sources reported on Wednesday that the Jerusalem Municipality will approve hundreds of housing units in contested areas.

    Angered by what the council deemed an “illegal” and “flagrant violation” of international law, Jerusalem’s Local Committee for Building and Construction is prepared to approve the construction of 618 homes, Haaretz reported on Monday.

    The approvals will purportedly include 262 units in Ramat Shlomo, 216 in Ramot and 142 in Pisgat Ze’ev. Additionally, the municipality’s District Zoning Committee is expected to discuss approval of 5,600 more residential units in Gilo, Ramot and Givat Hamatos when it meets on Wednesday, according to Israel Hayom.

In addition, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman is encouraging all Jewish people living in France to leave and come home to Israel…

    Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Monday called on French Jews to leave their country to protest a Paris-hosted conference planned for next month aimed at restarting Palestine-Israel peace talks, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth has reported.

    The Israeli government has repeatedly stated in recent months that it would not participate in the conference, which is scheduled to be held on Jan. 15 with the participation of representatives from 70 countries.

    Speaking at a meeting of his right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, Lieberman reportedly said: “Perhaps it’s time to tell the Jews of France, ‘This isn’t your country, this isn’t your land. Leave France and come to Israel’.”

If Donald Trump had not won the election, the Israeli government would be severely lashing out at the U.S. as well.

Many are hoping that Trump can repair some of the damage that has been done to U.S.-Israeli relations, and Trump already appears to have a very good working relationship with Netanyahu.

But there will be certain things that Trump will not be able to undo.

For example, any UN Security Council resolutions that are passed while Obama is still in office will not be able to be reversed. It would take another vote of the Security Council to reverse a resolution once it has been adopted, and the votes simply would not be there to do that. And even if Trump could cobble together the votes needed, either Russia or China could just use their veto power to block Trump.

On November 17th, I warned that we would be in “the danger zone” until January 20th, and I specifically warned about the kind of UN Security Council resolution that was just passed.

Over the next several weeks, Barack Obama can still do quite a bit more damage to Israel, and the biggest thing that we are watching for is a potential UN Security Council resolution that would formally recognize a Palestinian state.

That would essentially be “the nuclear option”, and without a doubt it would set the stage for a major war in the Middle East.

I have always warned that the worst of Obama was still ahead of us, and we are seeing that play out right in front of our eyes.

Unfortunately, what is happening doesn’t just have implications for Obama and Israel.

By betraying Israel like this, Obama is greatly cursing America, and ultimately the consequences of his very foolish decisions will be felt by every man, woman and child in the entire country.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/barack-obamas-all-out-attack-on-israel


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on January 11, 2017, 04:44:18 pm
John Kerry Literally Won't Say the Western Wall Is Part of Israel

I cannot think of something more anti-Semitic than saying that the Western Wall, the last remnant of the Jewish Temple, isn't part of the Jewish State. But that's exactly what John Kerry, our none-too-soon outgoing secretary of State, said in this CNN interview. I guess Kerry figured he'd add insult to injury on top of the Obama administration's abstention at the UN. I'm not a fan of everything Donald Trump has said, but the silver lining is that he cannot be worse for Israel or more anti-Semitic than the Obama gang has been. 

https://pjmedia.com/video/john-kerry-literally-wont-say-the-western-wall-is-part-of-israel/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on January 18, 2017, 12:21:05 am
NOTR - Obama & The Betrayal of Israel - 1.5.16
Thursday, January 5, 2017 at 9:46AM

Today's Show: OBAMA & THE BETRAYAL OF ISRAEL - 1.5.16

Chris discusses the recent controversy over the Obama administration's treatment of Israel at the United Nations just weeks before the current president is to leave office.  Israel's Prime Minister has argued that the entire affair was orchestrated by the Obama administration -- which has refused to acknowledge that the city of Jerusalem is part of Israel -- from the beginning.  Is the activity of the United Nations against Israel the fulfillment of Bible prophecy? 

http://www.noiseofthunderradio.com/noise-of-thunder-radio-show/2017/1/5/notr-obama-the-betrayal-of-israel-1516.html

http://www.noiseofthunderradio.com/show-downloads/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on January 24, 2017, 07:14:31 pm
Sneaky: Obama Slips Palestinian Authority $221 Million on His Way Out the Door

President Obama used every last second in the White House to push his progressive agenda. Weeks, to days, to hours before he walked out of the doors for the last time, he was making executive actions.

One of the more despicable ones, the commutation of traitor Bradley (Chelsea) Manning notwithstanding, is now being reported by the Associated Press:

    Officials say the Obama administration in its waning hours defied Republican opposition and quietly released $221 million to the Palestinian Authority.

    GOP members of Congress had been holding up the money.

    A State Department official and several congressional aides say the outgoing administration formally notified Congress it would spend the money Friday morning, just before Donald Trump became president.

According to the report, at least two GOP lawmakers placed a hold on those funds which aren’t legally binding but “generally respected” by the office of the president. In total, Obama released $227 million in foreign affairs which also included millions for climate change programs and for organizations within the U.N.

The PA is a fierce anti-Israel governing body with well-documented Hamas terrorists among its ranks. Of course to the Obama administration, the PA was “moderate." For more info on the very not moderate PA, visit our Discover the Networks resource.

http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/sneaky-obama-slips-palestinian-authority-221-million-his-way-out-door


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on January 25, 2017, 05:19:52 pm
Trump Freezes $221 Million Obama Gave 'Palestinians' as Parting Gift
"The Obama Administration's decision to release these funds was inappropriate."

As a  final destructive act before leaving the White House, former community organizer Barack Obama and former Vietnam War protester John Kerry sent a parting gift of $221 million to their cohorts in the terror organization Palestinian Authority on Friday. Now the Trump administration has frozen that gift.

Israel National News reports that the new U.S. State Department reviewed the issue and decided to freeze the money until a new Secretary of State is appointed. If the transfer then fits with Trump’s policies, the money will be given to the PA.

Texas Congresswoman Kay Granger said on Tuesday night, "I worked to make sure that no American taxpayer dollars would fund the Palestinian Authority unless very strict conditions were met.

"While none of these funds will go to the Palestinian Authority because of those conditions, they will go to programs in the Palestinian territories that were still under review by Congress. The Obama Administration's decision to release these funds was inappropriate."

That's putting it mildly.

http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/trump-freezes-221-million-obama-gave-palestinians-parting-gift


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on February 02, 2017, 06:48:01 pm
US planning additional sanctions on Iran following missile test

The White House is expected to impose additional sanctions on Iranian entities under existing executive orders that predate President Donald Trump, according to sources familiar with the move.

The additional sanctions are in response to Iran's ballistic missile test Sunday. They are similar to actions taken by former President Barack Obama after Iran's previous ballistic missile tests.

In a letter to Trump Thursday, a bipartisan group of senators said "Iranian leaders must feel sufficient pressure to cease deeply destabilizing activities, from sponsoring terrorist groups to continued testing of ballistic missiles."

"Full enforcement of existing sanctions and the imposition of additional sanctions on Iran for its ballistic missile program are necessary," the letter said.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/02/politics/us-planning-additional-sanctions-on-iran/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on February 03, 2017, 07:03:58 pm
Trump hits Iran with new sanctions for missile test

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Trump administration ordered sanctions against more than two dozen people and companies from the Persian Gulf to China Friday in retaliation for Iran's recent ballistic missile test, increasing pressure on Tehran without directly undercutting a landmark nuclear deal with the country. Those targeted by the Treasury Department include Iranian, Lebanese, Emirati and Chinese individuals and firms involved in procuring ballistic missile technology for Iran. They are now prohibited from doing any business in the United States or with American citizens. The overall impact is likely to be minimal on Iran's economy, though some of the people and companies have relationships with Iran's hard-line Revolutionary Guard military forces.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TRUMP_IRAN_SANCTIONS?SITE=7219&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-02-03-16-49-43


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on February 04, 2017, 05:19:19 pm
Iran tests missile systems, defying US sanctions

Iran is holding a military exercise on Saturday to test its missile and radar systems, a day after US President Donald Trump’s administration imposed sanctions on Tehran for a recent ballistic missile test. The United States sanctioned 13 individuals and 12 entities related to Iran’s missile program and Trump’s national security adviser Michael Flynn said the United States was putting Iran on notice over its “destabilizing activity”.

http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iran-tests-missile-systems-defying-US-sanctions-480534


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on February 08, 2017, 08:06:08 pm
Iran fires another missile from launch pad, US official says

Iran launched another missile Wednesday from the same launch pad east of Tehran where it conducted a previous ballistic missile test last month, an official told Fox News.

The Semnan launch pad was the same as the one where Fox News reported exclusively on Tuesday, satellite photos showed Iran had placed a Safir rocket poised to put a satellite into space before it was taken off the launcher. The reason Iran scrubbed the previous launch is not yet known.

The missile used in Wednesday's launch was a short-range Mersad surface-to-air missile, which impacted 35 miles away, according to a U.S. official.

This latest test comes less than a week after the U.S. placed new sanctions on Iran. There's been a flurry of activity at the Semnan launch pad, located about 140 miles east of Tehran, in recent weeks, officials have told Fox News.

rest: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/02/08/iran-fires-another-missile-from-launch-pad-us-official-says.html


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on April 13, 2017, 05:59:32 pm
As Middle East Tempers Flare, China Demands Creation Of A Palestinian State With East Jerusalem Capital
"This year marks the 70th anniversary of the United Nations' passing of Palestine-Israel Partition Plan. According to the resolution at that time, Israel had the right to statehood, Palestine also had the right to statehood. However, after 70 years, what we can see is that Palestinian brothers have yet to establish an independent country with full sovereignty. This is unfair. This kind of historical injustice must be corrected and cannot continue," Yi stated during a joint briefing with al-Maliki.


4/13/17

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/as-middle-east-tempers-flare-china-now-demands-creation-of-a-palestinian-state/


Palestinians must be allowed to build an independent state, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday after meeting Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, who pushed Beijing to do more in the Middle East peace process.

“For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.” Jeremiah 29:10 (KJV)

EDITOR’S NOTE: As Middle East tempers flare between Russia and Iran a and the United States, China now has renewed its call for the creation of a Palestinian state. Russia nows says that Palestinians should have East Jerusalem. This year is the 70th anniversary of the partition plan, and next year will be the 70th anniversary of the regathering of Israel. Everywhere you look, you see the number 70. Jeremiah said that “after 70 years”, the LORD will “again visit Israel”. We KNOW that that visit will result in the kickoff of the time of Jacob’s trouble. May 14, 2018 will be 70 years. Let that sink in for a moment. For more on that, click here.

“This year marks the 70th anniversary of the United Nations’ passing of Palestine-Israel Partition Plan. According to the resolution at that time, Israel had the right to statehood, Palestine also had the right to statehood. However, after 70 years, what we can see is that Palestinian brothers have yet to establish an independent country with full sovereignty. This is unfair. This kind of historical injustice must be corrected and cannot continue,” Yi stated during a joint briefing with al-Maliki. Chinese envoys occasionally visit Israel and the Palestinian Territories, though China has traditionally played little role in Middle East conflicts or diplomacy, despite its reliance on the region for oil.



Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 23, 2017, 12:07:10 pm
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/al-quds-day-2017-anti-israel-flag-burning-chants-rallies-tehran-a7804596.html
Al Quds Day: Protesters burn flags and chant 'death to Israel' at annual rallies held across Tehran

Calls decrying Saudi Arabia and Isis mingled with the more traditional anti-Israeli and “imperial” American sentiment in the yearly 'Jerusalem Day' demonstration

6/23/17

Protesters across Iran are taking part in the country’s annual display of support for the Palestinian Territories, burning blue and white Israeli flags and chanting “Death to Israel!”

Calls decrying regional rival Saudi Arabia and Isis, which carried out its first terror attack on Iranian soil earlier this month, mingled with the more traditional anti-Israeli and “imperial” American sentiment on Friday.

Al-Quds Day (Arabic for Jerusalem) has been held on the last Friday of Ramadan in the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution.

more


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on June 27, 2017, 05:00:20 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH_J0d8vaqE&t=32s


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on July 08, 2017, 02:11:44 pm
Exodus 3:14  And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
Exo 3:15  And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 12, 2017, 03:48:24 pm
http://redstatewatcher.com/article.asp?id=99243
10/12/17

BREAKING!!! US Withdraws!!!

The US has withdrawn from UNESCO, the UN’s cultural body.

RT.com reporters; The US State Department confirmed the country is officially withdrawing from UNESCO, the UN's cultural body it helped found back in 1945. The move is to take effect on December 31, Washington announced.

This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects US concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO," the State Department said in a Thursday statement cited by Reuters.

Washington will remain in the organization "as a non-member observer state in order to contribute US views, perspectives and expertise," the statement said.

There has been no immediate comment from the US government.


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Psalm 51:17 on October 12, 2017, 05:10:41 pm
https://twitter.com/AP/status/918520811308441600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.embedly.com%2Fwidgets%2Fcard.html%23sid%3De6b688dfc1104f4c951aed145494b9df

BREAKING: Netanyahu says Israel will follow the United States in pulling out of the United Nations' cultural agency.

9:56 AM - 12 Oct 2017


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on May 01, 2018, 01:46:43 am
Obama Bros. Speechless After Netanyahu Exposes Iran Deal Lies  :o

The vaunted “echo chamber” that President Barack Obama’s aide Ben Rhodes created to sell the Iran deal was quiet on Monday, in the aftermath of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s revelations of new intelligence proving that Iran had lied to the world about its nuclear weapons program.

Netanyahu presented a trove of over 100,000 files, both paper and electronic, that he said Israel had obtained from a “vault” where Iran had stored an archive of its nuclear research. The files included diagrams of nuclear detonation devices, nuclear warhead designs, and plans for nuclear testing sites, among other incriminating information.

The intelligence haul, Netanyahu said, shows that Iran lied to the world when its leaders said it had never had a nuclear weapons program.

(In 2015, “moderate” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said: “Iran has never sought to build nuclear weapons.”)

Netanyahu also said that the files show that Iran also failed to come clean about its past nuclear research, as required by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — the “Iran deal” — in 2015.

Moreover, Netanyahu said, the files suggested strongly that Iran’s past nuclear weapons program was continuing under the guise of scientific research within the Iranian defense department, conducted by exactly the same people. And the files also show that Iran’s intent was to revive the nuclear weapons program at a later date, he said.

Supporters of the Iran deal were silent.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry, who said in 2015 that the U.S. had “absolute knowledge” about Iran’s past military uses of nuclear research, had nothing to say on his Twitter feed.

Former UN Ambassador Samantha Power, who urged Congress not to reject the Iran deal in 2015, was active on Twitter, but said nothing about the new revelations about Iran.

Former National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor — one of the co-founders of the “Obama bros.” podcast, Pod Save America, found time to call Trump an “idiot” on Twitter, but said nothing about the Iran news.

And Rhodes himself, who established the pro-Iran deal “echo chamber,” said nothing.

A few pro-Iran deal observers weighed in, mostly arguing that the Iran deal was working — and that it allowed for monitoring Iran’s nuclear activities (ignoring the fact that Iran has been able to keep international inspectors out of military sites).

The Rand Corporation’s Dalia Dassa Kaye minimized Netanyahu’s revelations: “Is this news? That’s why there was a major international agreement to curb Iranian nuclear development and most of the world believes it is working.”

Matt Duss, a foreign policy advisor to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), tweeted sarcastically: “Based on Netanyahu’s presentation, it seems like it would be a really great idea to have a multilateral agreement that restricts and monitors Iran’s nuclear program.”

CNN analyst John Kirby, a spokesman for the State Department under Obama, essentially ignored the news entirely and insisted that the alternative to the Iran deal would be worse:

None of these defenses grappled with the fundamental weaknesses of the Iran deal — namely, its lack of full monitoring, its failure to control Iranian missile development, and the fact that its major provisions expire over time.

And none acknowledged the fundamental problem of Iran lying to the world about its nuclear weapons research — as the Obama administration defended Iran’s good intentions, insisting that it had “absolute knowledge” of past and present Iranian activities.

http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2018/04/30/obama-bros-speechless-netanyahu-exposes-iran-deal-lies/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on May 01, 2018, 01:47:52 am
100,000 Secret Files Prove Iran ‘Lied Big Time’ About Nukes

 In a dramatic press conference in Jerusalem aimed at the international community, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday unveiled a cache of secret files he says were obtained from inside a hidden Iranian site and clearly demonstrate that Tehran maintained a secret nuclear weapons program despite declarations to the contrary.

Netanyahu explained that the structure of the U.S.-led international nuclear agreement was in part based on deceptive Iranian descriptions of its previous nuclear work. He said Iran’s failure to disclose its secret program while misleading the world shows the nuclear deal is “based on lies based on Iranian deception.”

The Israeli leader presented evidence that Iran continued research for a nuclear weapons program even after signing the 2015 nuclear deal.

“Iran’s leaders repeatedly deny ever pursuing nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu began. “Tonight I’m here to tell you one thing: Iran lied.”

“After signing the nuclear deal in 2015, Iran intensified its efforts to hide its secret files,” he said. “In 2017 Iran moved its nuclear weapons files to a highly secret location in Tehran.”

Netanyahu said the secret nuclear files prove the following:

    Iran lied about never having a secret nuclear program. Second, even after the deal it continued to expand its nuclear program for future use. Third, Iran lied by not coming clean to the IAEA. Finally, the nuclear deal is based on lies based on Iranian deception.

The prime minister’s speech was based on 55,000 pages of documents and 183 CDs that Netanyahu said were smuggled out of an “atomic archive” painstakingly preserving Iran’s secretive nuclear program so that the country would have the option of restarting its nuclear weapons activities after the nuclear deal expires or in the case of Tehran prematurely bolting the agreement. Israel’s ability to acquire the archive marks a massive intelligence coup for the Jewish state.

“Iran lied. Big time,” Netanyahu said of the half-ton of material obtained by Israel.

The trove, Netanyahu added, contains “incriminating documents, incriminating charts, incriminating presentations, incriminating blueprints, incriminating photos, incriminating videos and more.”

He said Israel shared the material with the U.S., and that “the United States can vouch for its authenticity.”

The “atomic archive” was compiled by Iran with the express purpose of preserving its secretive nuclear weapons plan known as Project Amad, which aimed to “design, produce and test… five warheads, each with a 10 kiloton TNT yield, for integration on a missile.”

“That is like five Hiroshima bombs to be put on ballistic missiles,” asserted Netanyahu.

Netanyahu outlined Project Amad as containing five key elements described by the Times of Israel thusly: “Designing nuclear weapons, developing nuclear cores, building nuclear implosion systems, preparing nuclear tests and integrating nuclear warheads on missiles.”

Netanyahu said that in 2003, Iran shut down the version of Project Amad that existed at the time and instead divided its nuclear program into both covert and overt components. Besides archiving the material for future use, Netanyahu said Iran continued to research nuclear weapons.

Netanyahu called on President Donald Trump to “do the right thing” as the May 12 deadline to recertify the nuclear agreement approaches.

“The right thing for the United States. The right thing for Israel. And the right thing for the peace of the world,” he concluded.

http://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2018/04/30/netanyahu-100000-secret-files-prove-iran-lied-big-time-about-nukes/


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on May 20, 2018, 05:54:57 pm
European Union ‘forbids companies from complying’ with US sanctions on Iran
European leaders on Friday agreed on a plan that “forbids EU companies from complying” with U.S. sanctions on Iran, as part of an effort to blunt the effect of President Trump’s withdrawal from the pact.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/european-union-forbids-companies-from-complying-with-us-sanctions-on-iran


French minister: EU could compensate firms hit by U.S. sanctions over Iran
France is looking to see if the European Union could compensate European companies that might be facing sanctions by the United States for doing business with Iran, said French finance minister Bruno Le Maire on Sunday. Le Maire referred to EU rules going back to 1996 which he said could allow the EU to intervene in this manner to protect European companies against any US sanctions, adding that France wanted the EU to toughen its stance in this area.

https://www.jpost.com/International/French-minister-EU-could-compensate-firms-hit-by-US-sanctions-over-Iran-557889


Title: Re: Israel Betrayed
Post by: Mark on June 06, 2018, 06:09:35 pm
New Report Shows That Obama Gave Iran Illegal Secret Access To US Financial System In Exchange For Signing Nuclear Deal

The gist is that after the Iran nuclear deal was signed and implemented, Iran was given access to its frozen assets in banks around the world, including $5.7 billion at a bank in Oman, the small country on the southeast tip of the Arabian peninsula. Those funds were in Omani rials, and the Iranians wanted them in euros. But in order to access them quickly, they sought to exchange the funds for U.S. dollars first, before converting them to euros.

The Obama administration quietly gave a special license to Iran to access the U.S. financial system despite U.S. sanctions and its own statements to the contrary, according to a new report by Senate Republicans.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Former president Barack Obama has recently bragged that his administration was ‘scandal free’, even though it was riddled with dozens of outright scandals that resulted in the deaths of not a few people. Now a bipartisan report from the Senate reveals that the Obama administration illegally allowed the sanctions-blocked Iran to access the US financial system, to receive and convert into euros the $150 billion that was frozen in their accounts.

While the report stops short of accusing the Obama administration of lying, the investigators who worked on the report said it was clear to them that top officials misled Congress and the American people about the transactions.

“The Obama administration misled the American people and Congress because they were desperate to get a deal with Iran,” said Sen. Rob Portman, the GOP chairman of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, who published the report.

    Granting the license was not illegal, but the new disclosure gives more ammunition to critics of President Obama who say the Iran nuclear deal gave too much to that country’s regime, allowing it to fund a new wave of destabilizing activity in the region.

“Senior U.S. government officials repeatedly testified to Congress that Iranian access to the U.S. financial system was not on the table or part of any deal. Despite these claims, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, at the direction of the U.S. State Department, granted a specific license that authorized a conversion of Iranian assets worth billions of U.S. dollars using the U.S. financial system,” according to the report.

https://youtu.be/XOGuRCgI0zA

The gist is that after the Iran nuclear deal was signed and implemented, Iran was given access to its frozen assets in banks around the world, including $5.7 billion at a bank in Oman, the small country on the southeast tip of the Arabian peninsula.

Those funds were in Omani rials, and the Iranians wanted them in euros. But in order to access them quickly, they sought to exchange the funds for U.S. dollars first, before converting them to euros.

    For the Omani bank, that would have violated the U.S. sanctions that remained in place after the deal that bar Iran from accessing the U.S. financial system. Iran instead approached the U.S. about a waiver — one that the Obama administration granted in February 2016, in a move that had not been previously disclosed.

No bank or institution ever completed the transaction, despite outreach from Obama administration officials to two U.S. banks, asking them to do so. Instead, Iran ultimately withdrew the funds from the account at a slower rate and converted them to euros using European banks.

But the license was something that Obama officials had previously ruled out entirely. Then-Treasury Secretary Jack Lew testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in July 2015 that Iran “will continue to be denied access to the [U.S.] financial and commercial market” under the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA.

In September 2015, Adam Szubin, Obama’s Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said in a speech, “Iran will not be able to open bank accounts with U.S. banks, nor will Iran be able to access the U.S. banking sector, even for that momentary transaction to, what we call, dollarize a foreign payment” – the very move Treasury granted Iran.

The report, an advanced copy of which was obtained by ABC News, even shows senior officials explaining that the move violated U.S. sanctions. As part of the nuclear deal, the U.S. agreed to lift secondary sanctions that targeted other countries or institutions doing business with Iran, its oil industry, and more – but it kept in place most of its own sanctions, including blocking Iran from U.S. banks.

A senior State Department official, who is not named in the report, told an Iranian counterpart in an email that the kind of transaction Iran was requesting was “prohibited by U.S. sanctions that are still in place, and which we were clear we would not be removing as part of the JCPOA. Nevertheless, as a gesture of support for Iran’s getting access, we helped on this as we will on other cases.”

U.S. officials went further, asking then Secretary of State John Kerry or Treasury Secretary Jack Lew to reach out to banks and encourage them to complete the transaction.

“It would be a good idea to have Lew engage” the second bank, whose name is redacted, one State Department official emailed in April 2016. “If they refuse, we can suggest Kerry will call, which will drive them nuts,” adding later that Kerry was “more than eager to engage.”

    It’s unclear if either cabinet official did so, the report says. Even after the license was granted, Obama administration officials continued to say in Congressional testimony that Iran would not be granted this kind of access to the U.S. financial system.

Talking points prepared for Lew before congressional testimony said he should disclose the specific license “if pressed.” But instead, even when asked on several occasions, he was vague, saying in March 2016, “Part of the agreement was to give Iran access to money that it has a right to. We will work on making that happen. It is not going to be our goal to block transactions that are legitimate under the JCPOA.”

But when Szubin, the Under Secretary of the Treasury, was asked in May 2016, he said he was clarifying for Lew, “I know he was looking forward to me being here to be able to relay his views on this. Iran will not have access to our financial system.”

    The Senate Permanent Subcommittee’s investigation was conducted in a bipartisan fashion, but the Democrats did not sign on to the report or issue their own.

Investigators said the episode should illustrate the importance of the U.S. financial system and how much leverage that gives the U.S. over Iran now that the Trump administration has violated the nuclear deal and withdrawn the U.S. from it.

As the clock counts down until U.S. secondary sanctions are snapped back into place, European countries must weigh whether doing business with Iran is worth losing access to the U.S. financial system or facing U.S. sanctions penalties. source


http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/new-report-shows-that-obama-gave-iran-illegal-secret-access-to-us-financial-system-in-exchange-for-signing-nuclear-deal/