Saturday, 17 August 2013

IsraPundit


A Tale Of Two Housing Tenders  

For the second time in the past three months, Israel on Sunday declared its intention to build over 1,000 housing units in areas beyond the 1967 lines.
n a notice published on its website, the Housing Ministry said that public tenders for the construction of 1,187 new homes in eastern Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria were being issued.
This most recent declaration was greeted by howls of protest, with the Palestinian Authority, the U.S. State Department and the UK Foreign Office all going on record to condemn the move in no uncertain terms.
And yet, back in June, when Israel said it would build 1,140 homes near Palestinian-controlled Jericho, not a peep was heard from the international community. (Read more…)

Greenfield: CRUSH THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD  

Like all terrorist organizations, the Muslim Brotherhood has only one commodity to trade in. Blood.
In the war of ideas for the future of Egypt, the Brotherhood had nothing to offer but the blood of its followers and victims. It has no new ideas. It has no record of accomplishments. It has no vision for the future except the same old corruption and authoritarianism cloaked in a deceptive Islamist garb.
The outcome of any interaction with the Brotherhood could have been predicted from its motto; “Allah is our objective. The Prophet is our leader. The Qur’an is our law. Jihad is our way. Dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.”
(Read more…)

How Can Israel Entrust Its Security to People Who Got Egypt So Wrong?  

To the many reasons why the current Israeli-Palestinian “peace talks” are a nonstarter, we can now add another: the situation in Egypt. The problem isn’t just that the chaos on Israel’s previously stable southern border decreases its willingness to take “risks for peace” that could replicate this situation in the West Bank. It’s also what the situation says about the Obama administration’s judgment.
As the Hudson Institute’s Samuel Tadros reminds us, when the Egyptian revolution broke out two years ago, the administration sought guidance in historical precedents:
    According to the New York Times, President Obama asked his staff to study transitions in more than 50 countries around the world in order to understand and predict where Egypt and other countries in the Middle East might be heading. After extensive study, his staffers predicted “that Egypt is analogous to South Korea, the Philippines and Chile.” Months later, the administration was still confident in its assessment. While aware of the obstacles that were on the way during the desired transition to democracy, Benjamin Rhodes, a deputy national security advisor was adamant that, “The trajectory of change is in the right direction.”

The Pernicious Price of Capitulation  

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/30#.Ug4xsW3-uSq
After the release of 26 murderers as a gesture of good faith to Abu Mazen’s relatively moderate terrorist organization, I wondered if anyone viewed Israel in a more favorable light. After all, what other nation would negotiate with terrorists in order to achieve a semblance of peace with those same terrorists? Would America release hundreds of terrorists from Guantanamo Bay in an effort to make peace with the Taliban and al Qaeda? Would America do so to improve its image in the Muslim world? The answer is obvious but I think it’s necessary to examine why.
America would not release hundreds of terrorists in order to appease al Qaeda because it recognizes that al Qaeda will only be ultimately satisfied with the dissipation of Western civilization, the leader of which is the United States. So, to release terrorists would only serve as the first step in its own national suicide. The quid pro quo America would gain for its appeasement would be its eventual self-destruction.
(Read more…)

What should Israel do about Europe?  

Last Friday morning, on Israel’s popular morning radio station, Reshet Bet, broadcaster Aryeh Golan interviewed Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin about the latest demands by the European Union that its research and development grants not be applied to territories beyond the 1967 lines.
Since mid-July, there have been reports of new EU guidelines that are expected to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2014, and are to apply to grants, prizes, and other financial instruments to Israeli bodies. Reflecting some of the growing rage in Israel at the latest EU initiative, Golan asked Elkin whether Israel could find alternative economic partnerships in India and China. Apparently, the idea of turning away from Europe to new Asian partners was raised in certain governmental circles as well.
(Read more…)

‘They Shocked Him Again and Again’  

Wife of Yitzhar resident who was arrested provides a chilling description of the police brutality during the arrest.

Boaz Albert

Boaz Albert
Yitzhar Spokesman 
Irit Albert, wife of Yitzhar resident Boaz Albert who was arrested for ignoring a restraining orderdistancing him from Judea and Samaria, described her husband’s arrest in an interview with Arutz Sheva on Thursday evening.
Albert provided a chilling description of the arrest, saying that the officers repeatedly used a taser gun on her husband, even as he yelled out in pain.
“We knew that Boaz would be arrested eventually and were prepared for this, but I have no words to describe the brutality of the police during the arrest,” she said. (Read more…)

Jonathan Pollard: Restoring Israel to greatness  

Speaking up for the first time in 28 years, Pollard reserves some tough words for Israel; says that a country with no respect for the dead has no respect for the living. FREED PRISONER Atiya Salem Moussa returns to a hero’s welcome in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
FREED PRISONER Atiya Salem Moussa returns to a hero’s welcome in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. Photo: REUTERS
When tragedy strikes anywhere in the world, the State of Israel is always among the first to offer help, sending experienced rescue teams, portable hospitals and world-class medical experts to the scene. Israel is a world leader in medical research, farming technology, and military innovation. The country that made the desert bloom is the undisputed champion of hi-tech innovation, all of which it generously shares with the world.
Unfortunately, when it comes to morale, the State of Israel has the distinction of holding a number of world records which no other country would want.
(Read more…)

US-Egyptian relations on the rocks. El-Sisi wouldn’t accept Obama’s phone call  

When the clashes between Egyptian security forces and pro-Morsi protesters were at their peak in Cairo Wednesday, Aug. 14 – 525 dead and 3,700 wounded to date – President Barack Obama put in a call to Egypt’s strongman, Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah El-Sissi, DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources report.
The US president wanted to give the general a dressing-down much on the lines of the call he made to former president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011 at the high point of the Arab Spring Tahrir Sq demonstrations against his rule, namely: Stop repressing the protesters and firing live ammunition. Step down!
When Mubarak asked for a three or four days’ grace to break up the massed rally, Obama shot back that he has to quit NOW!
(Read more…)

John Bolton: As Egypt erupts, US dithers  

Egypt’s security forces have now moved decisively to eliminate Muslim Brotherhood protest camps in Cairo, producing the bloodshed foretold by daily confrontations between the Brotherhood’s supporters and opponents. Six weeks after the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi, Egypt remains deeply and violently divided — and American policy is confused and irresolute.
While confusion and irresolution are nothing new to the Obama administration, this is not the place to dither or make strategic mistakes. We must define precisely what U.S. priorities are in light of Egypt’s strategic significance, and given the potential for protracted hostilities there between armed combatants.
By identifying our interests, we can concentrate our energies and resources on advancing them in practical ways, avoiding an essentially academic debate over issues we can’t significantly influence. Because our resources are not unlimited, we have to focus our political time and attention, as well as our more tangible assets and capabilities, where they can do the most good.
(Read more…)
 


Ted Belman
Jerusalem, Israel

Posted by Britannia Radio at 15:27