The deconstruction of Israel: Has the countdown begun?
Into the fray: Last week I warned of the sinister subtext of Obama’s visit. This week, that subtext is emerging as headline news.
I am opposed to an independent Palestinian state, because in my own judgment and in the judgment of many leaders in the Middle East, including Arab leaders, this would be a destabilizing factor… and would certainly not serve the United States interests.- Jimmy Carter, February 25, 1980
The only way for Israel to endure… as a Jewish and democratic state is through the realization of an independent and viable Palestine.–Barack Obama, March 21, 2013
We oppose the creation of an independent Palestinian state…. Nothing will deflect us from these fundamental… commitments.– Jimmy Carter, March 23, 1980
We continue to believe in the two-state solution on the 1967 borders.– Barack Obama, March 21, 2013
Being a proverbial – and some would say, perennial – “prophet of doom” is neither easy nor fashionable in Israel today. After all, there is so much evidence of burgeoning power and prosperity that pessimism seems positively perverse: Surging GDP per capita, amazing advances in science and technology, massive gas finds and the prospect of soon-to-be-attained energy independence…
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Why are Israelis so damn happy?
It’s thanks to both the wars and the weather, and those Friday night dinners that keep us from feeling lonely.
By Allison Kaplan Sommer, Ha’aretz
It’s happened again. An international survey has been published showing that Israelis are, compared to their counterparts in other Western countries, very happy and content people. That information confounds everyone, not least Israelis themselves.
How in the world can it be, we ask ourselves, that citizens of a tiny embattled nation, surrounded by enemies, targeted by boycotts, officially and unofficially loathed by a major portion of the world, with compulsory army service, where regularly scheduled wars and “operations” take place at least once every few years, where complaining about the “situation” is a national pastime, can feel so fine and dandy? It makes no sense.
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Must we continue to be enablers of our own destruction?
Two events happened on Wednesday which should send a shiver down the spine of everyone concerned about the future of the American Jewish community. But to understand their importance it is important to consider the context in which they occurred.
On January 13, The New York Times reported on a series of virulently anti-Jewish comments Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi made in speeches given in 2010. Among other things, Morsi said, “We must never forget, brothers, to nurse our children and our grandchildren on hatred for them: for Zionists, for Jews.”
He said that Egyptian children “must feed on hatred; hatred must continue. The hatred must go on for G0D and as a form of worshiping him.”
In another speech, he called Jews “bloodsuckers,” and “the descendants of apes and pigs.”
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The Korean Crisis, China-US Relations, and the Global System
INSS Insight No. 417, April 12, 2013
By Evron, Yoram
By Evron, Yoram
The Korean Peninsula is reaching the boiling point. On February 12, 2013, after a series of harsh verbal exchanges between North Korea and the international community, Pyongyang announced that it had conducted a third nuclear test. Some three and a half weeks following, the United Nations Security Council approved new sanctions against North Korea, and less than one week later the United States and South Korea undertook a joint military exercise. In response, North Korea accused the United States of launching a cyber attack against it and announced that if necessary, it would use its nuclear capabilities to defend itself. In turn, the United States sent strategic bombers and stealth aircraft to the region, while North Korea disconnected its hotline with South Korea, which was intended for precisely such situations. Three days later, it announced that it was at war with South Korea (even though formally, this has been the state of relations for over six decades).
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Netanyahu’s challenge
The leading party in the current coalition, Likud Beytenu, has a near monopoly on matters of high politics.
The task of governance is often divided into two components – high politics and low politics.
High politics refers to those tasks which are closely related to the prerogatives and responsibilities of sovereignty, primarily foreign affairs and national defense. Low politics encompasses almost all other matters, from economics to culture to education, from the rule of law to the personal status of each and every citizen.
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Source: Israel will freeze settlement construction afterall
Why should Israel help Abbas “save face”? Isn’t that like appeasement. Isn’t a de facto freeze beyond the settlement blocks a concession? Of course it is. By agreeing to this, Netanyahu has effectively drawn a map. The settlement blocs are on our side of the border and the balance of settlements, where we will impose a freeze, are not. Ted Belman
Officials in Jerusalem say that while there will not be a de jure freeze, construction outside of major settlement blocs will be halted ‘It will take a while, but eventually talks will resume’
US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to the Mid-East may have ended without any obvious results, but official sources involved in the preliminary talks said Thursday night that “eventually the negotiations will resume. Israel is expected to quietly freeze construction outside of the major settlement blocs in order to resume bilateral talks.”
A few days ago Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas demanded that Prime Minister Netanyahu present a permanent agreement border outline.
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Ted Belman
Jerusalem, Israel
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