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1. 'Break the Silence' Speaker: Obama's 'Alice-in-Wonderland' Gov't
by Hana Levi Julian
A former aide to New York State Governor George Pataki slammed the Obama administration's treatment of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the State of Israel in a prelude to Sunday's “Break the Silence' rally, set to begin at 1:00 p.m. (EDT) outside the Israeli Consulate in Manhattan.
The event will take place rain or shine, according to organizer Beth Gilinsky, head of the Jewish Action Alliance.
Among those on the podium will be Jeff Weisenfeld of Bernstein Global Wealth Management, a long-time leader in New York's “mainstream” Jewish community who for years was also active in the National Committee for Jewish Education. Weisenfeld spent four years as chief of staff in the city administration of former Mayor Ed Koch, a Democrat before becoming an aide to Governor George Pataki, another Republican.
Speaking late Friday afternoon in an interview with Israel National News, Weisenfeld called the current diplomatic crisis “the biggest accidental or deliberate miscalculation in American-Israeli relations made by any American president.” He added that the Obama administration's overtures to the Muslim world, and the contrast with its hostility to the State of Israel, had transformed the U.S. executive branch into a “complete Alice-in-Wonderland government. I don't want to make light of it here,” Weisenfeld said with some sarcasm, “but it's like Purim, when Mordechai becomes Haman, and Haman becomes Mordechai.”
He reserved special criticism for White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Special Presidential Adviser David Axelrod, both traditonal Jews in the Obama administration who are among the president's closest aides. “I had positions like theirs, I worked for a governor, a senator... I always made sure that I was representing the Jewish community to the governor, and the governor to them. But there are some who see their power as an end in itself. They don't want to tell the boss when he's wrong. And they are the worst kind of people to have in government,” Weisenfeld said.
“Islam has evolved backwards, has become more violent than perhaps it was even in its inception, since they did not have the weapons then, that they have today. And you have Emanuel and Axelrod, who have bad judgment, and who do not see the need to fight this moral equivalency.”
Weisenfeld also noted that most “mainstream” Jewish community organizations did not – and could not – officially sign on to sponsor Sunday's rally for fear of retribution from the Obama administration. “The mainstream groups are about access and response to a direct threat from the White House.
“The [Jewish] Federations and their beneficiaries and subsidiaries have been warned by Rahm Emanuel to stay away from public criticism of the president on Israel. But unless the weather is horrendous,” he added, “there will be an abundance of “establishment-affiliated” people. Maybe we can wake up this president and pull him back from the abyss.”
2. Schumer Blasts White House on Israel Policy
by Hana Levi Julian
U.S. Democratic Senator Charles Schumer and a leading Demcoratic Congressman have strongly criticized Obama administration policies against Israel. New York Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner, who once worked for Sen. Schumer and is the fiancé of a Muslim aide to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, also came out swinging.
“The appropriate response was a shake of the head – not a temper tantrum," Rep. Weiner said. “Israel is a sovereign nation and an ally, not a punching bag. Enough already.”
Sen. Schumer told listeners on the Nachum Segal Show in New York that the White House stance on Israel has been “counterproductive”. The senator, who faces elections in the fall, said he had told White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel weeks ago that he would take a public stand if the State Department did not back down from its “terrible” treatment of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
“This has to stop,” Schumer said he told the White House.
Schumer said there was an internal “battle” going on in the White House between members of the president's staff. “One side agrees with us, one side doesn't, and we're pushing hard to make sure the right side wins – and if not, we'll have to take it to the next step,” he said.
“Palestinians don't really believe in a State of Israel,” Schumer noted. “They, unlike a majority of Israelis, who have come to the conclusion that they can live with a two-state solution to be determined by the parties, the majority of Palestinians are still very reluctant, and they need to be pushed to get there.
“If the U.S. says certain things and takes certain stands the Palestinians say, 'Why should we negotiate?' [State Department spokesman P.J.] Crowley said something I have never heard before, which is, the relationship of Israel and the United States depends on the pace of the negotiations,” Schumer added.
This was apparently the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back for the senior senator, who until now has been one of Obama's closest allies among the Jewish Democrats. Schumer was referring to a briefing in which the State Department spokesman said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “made clear that the Israeli government needed to demonstrate not just through words, but through specific actions, that they are committed to this relationship and to the peace process.”
Up to this point, Schumer had been largely silent about the growing hostility of the Obama administration towards the State of Israel, despite numerous calls by grassroots groups for legislators to stand up and support the Jewish State.
The contention of the State Department that the so-called “unbreakable bond” between Israel and the U.S. could now depend on the pace of talks with the PA, however, was the red line for Schumer.
He explained, “That is the dagger because the relationship is much deeper than the disagreements on negotiations, and most Americans – Democrat, Republican, Jew, non-Jew – would feel that. So I called up Rahm Emanuel and I called up the White House and I said, 'If you don't retract that statement you are going to hear me publicly blast you on this.”
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs responded Friday, “We have an unwavering commitment to the security of Israel and the Israeli people. You heard General [James] Jones speak about that earlier in the week. We have said that from the beginning of the administration. I don't think it is a stretch to say we don't agree with what Senator Schumer said.”
3. Diplomatic Coup for PA: Obama Invites Abbas
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has scored a diplomatic coup with an invitation from U.S. President Barack Obama to visit Washington as media analysts conclude that the president is toning down his criticism of Israel.
One day after the invitation reportedly was delivered, Abbas urged President Obama on Saturday to impose on Israel the acceptance of a new PA state based on its demands. Meanwhile, U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Sunday morning, both of whom issued positive statements on the background of no real achievements except to agree to further talks.
Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator for the PA said that Abbas will visit Washington next month, but other PA officials said that the trip depends on Israel’s accepting American-backed PA demands.
President Obama officially has not imposed on Israel the conditions for the establishment of a new Arab state within the current borders of the Jewish State. However, his administration in the past year has gradually adopted most of the PA's demands, bypassed PA commitments to halt incitement and violence against Israel, and demanded that Israel stop building for Jews in united Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.
Israel fears that doing so would be a de facto division of the capital.
In a speech to Fatah party officials in Ramallah on Saturday, Abbas said, "Mr. President and members of the American administration, since you believe in [an independent PA state], it is your duty to take steps toward a solution and to impose this solution.”
The U.S. State Department has stated that the United States would not impose its own solution “for the time being.”
Israel continues to be on the defensive in the PA-American diplomatic maneuvers. Following several weeks of unprecedented public condemnation of Israel by the Obama administration, Mitchell called Sunday morning’s discussions with Prime Minister Netanyahu “productive and positive. He added that he will return to the region next week for more discussions.
Reporters covering the State Department have grown increasingly skeptical of American efforts to bring the PA and Israel together. One journalist sarcastically asked U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley on Friday, “So what grand accomplishments has he [Mitchell] come up with in his meetings so far?”
Crowley responded with the routine answer that “we [are] trying to move the parties to a point where they agree to proximity talks and to begin to address the substance, the core issues of the process, but there’s still work to do.”
He added, “If you’re signaling are we expecting a breakthrough through on this visit, probably not.”
Prime Minister Netanyahu told the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday morning that Israel has been and continues to be prepared to begin direct talks with the PA immediately. Abbas has held out for acceptance of a halt to building for Jews in parts of Jerusalem where it claims sovereignty. The areas include the Temple Mount area and Western Wall, as well as the neighborhoods of Ramot, French Hill among others.
4. Iran Trades Oil for Enriched Uranium from Zimbabwe
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Iran last month sealed a secret deal to trade oil for enriched uranium from Zimbabwe, which hosted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week, according to the London Telegraph. The deal was signed last month “away from the media glare” when an Iranian minister visited Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, a source from the African country told the newspaper.
The oil-for uranium agreement gives Zimbabwe badly needed oil and allows Iran free and unsupervised access to material that can be used to produce a nuclear weapon. Israel, the United States and several Western countries have assumed that Iran is lying in claiming it has no intentions of building a nuclear weapon, which it presumably would try to use to carry out its repeated threat to “wipe Israel off the map.”
The reported deal with Zimbabwe would violate United Nations sanctions on Iran, which suddenly stated last week that it is willing to let U.N. nuclear watchdogs inspect its nuclear facilities.
Ahmadinejad last week visited Zimbabwe, whose Muslim population accounts for only one percent of its citizens. He showed support for Mugabe against “expansionist countries’ satanic pressures on the people of Zimbabwe” by allegedly trying to manage the country’s natural resources.
Mugabe responded, "We remain resolute in defending Zimbabwe's right to exercise its sovereignty over its natural resources. We have equally supported Iran's right to peaceful use of nuclear energy as enshrined in the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.”
Zimbabwe is estimated to have nearly half a million tons of uranium, five percent of which can be extracted.
Ahmadinejad was the first leader outside of Africa to open the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, where Iran was the biggest foreign exhibitor.
5. Arabs MKs Visit Libya; Nationalist MK: ‘Let them Stay There’
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Six Israeli Arab Knesset Members are visiting Libya, where Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is Our Home) MKs said they should stay for traveling to a country hostile to Israel. Libya is not a declared enemy state, such as Syria and Lebanon, but is among the most bitter anti-Zionist Muslim countries. It has no diplomatic ties with Israel.
The MKs flew to Tripoli via Amman, along with Libya’s ambassador to Jordan, and are meeting Sunday with Libya’s eccentric dictator Muammar Gaddafi, the first time Israeli legislators have set foot in the country. The Arab MKs previously were not able to travel there because Libya would not recognize their Israeli passports. MK Talab El-Sana said the Israeli delegation’s arrival was a “breakthrough.”
Yisrael Beiteinu MK Moshe Matalon commented, “I suggest the Arab MKs stay in Libya with Gaddafi," who currently is the rotating president of the Arab League. "Israelis will not shed a tear if they stay there with one of the worst Israel-haters. Time after time Arab MKs prove where their loyalty is, and the nation must reach the obvious conclusion from their visit to a hostile state.”
Arab MK Mohammed Barakeh, who often has been accused of inciting Arabs to violence, said it is “natural” for him and his colleagues to visit Libya. The legislators are staying in a luxurious beachside hotel in Tripoli, and the local scenery prompted Barakeh to compare one beachside site with Akko (Acre).
Barakeh has often condemned Israel for allegedly denying rights to Arabs throughout Israel, including Israeli citizens. Bar-Ilan University’s Dr. Mordechai Kedar noted the contradiction of the Arab MKs visiting a country that denies civil rights to its citizens.
He said that the Arab legislators should “remain in Libya and sit around the campfire with Gaddafi.” He also called on Israeli authorities to revoke the citizenship of the legislators’ entourage from Israel.
Knesset Law Committee chairman David Rotem, also of Yisrael Beiteinu, stated, “Their visit to a country that identifies with Israel’s worst enemies is a slap in the face to Israeli citizens and again reveals their lack of loyalty” to Israel. “This visit is a direct continuation of the demonstration that they held on Independence Day with hundreds of Arab citizens.”
6. Iranian Nuclear Scientist Seeks Asylum in Israel
by Gil Ronen
An Iranian nuclear scientist has asked for asylum in Israel, Deputy Minister Ayoub Kara, of the Druze community, said Saturday.
"My office has received a request from an Iranian scientist who is currently staying in a friendly country, by means of an Israeli Jewish woman of Iranian birth,” Kara revealed in a interview panel appearance in Ramat Gan. “I am making an effort to assist in this matter because I believe in helping anyone to remove the strategic and nuclear threat upon the enlightened and democratic world.”
He said he had received permission from Israeli intelligence officials to reveal the matter publicly, without going into details that could compromise the scientist. The woman who is mediating between the scientist and Israel was in Kara's office on Wednesday, he said.
Kara added that Arab countries are also “not indifferent” to the Iranian nuclear threat. “They are aware of the Iranian ambitions to go back to being the Persian superpower, and they are aware that they are on the Iranian crosshairs no less than Israel.” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, however, “is lulling them to apathy by focusing his threats upon Israel, but no one has any doubt that the Arab countries will be part of the [targets of] Iranian nuclear attack, if the world continues to sleep and allows this option to materialize, G-d forbid.”
Second defector in a month?
If the information is true, this would apparaet to be the second case involving an Iranian defector-scientist to be revealed in less than a month. On March 31, an award-winning Iranian nuclear physicist was reported to have defected to the CIA and been resettled in the United States.
ABC news quoted officials who termed the defection of the scientist, Shahram Amiri, "an intelligence coup" in the CIA effort to undermine Iran's nuclear program. Amiri went missing in June 2009 while in Saudi Arabia on a pilgrimage, according to the Iranian government. He had worked at a Tehran university that is closely connected to Revolutionary Guard, according to the Associated Press.
7. Syria Responds to 'Stone Age' Warning with 'Prehistoric' Threat
by Gil Ronen
Syria has threatened it will “send Israel back to prehistoric times” if the Jewish state attacks it with unconventional weapons. Kuwaiti paper Al-Rai quoted on Saturday a source described as being close to the decision-making hub in Syria's leadership as saying that in case of an unconventional Israeli attack, “we will respond in kind.”
According to the Kuwaiti report, which was quoted by Ynetnews, the anonymous source said that Syria's strategy is based, among other things, upon the possibility of opening a wide front against Israel, from Rosh HaNikra in the west to the southern Golan Heights. This threat seems to imply that a ground offensive could be launched simultaneously from the Lebanese and Syrian borders with Israel.
The unnamed Syrian also boasted that his country could deliver 60 ballistic missiles and 600 tactical missiles per day into Israel. He threatened further that Syria could use sea-to-surface missiles against Israel civilian and military targets, including sea ports.
Sending Syria to 'stone age'?
Last week, an unidentified Israeli minister was quoted in London's Sunday Times as saying: “We’ll return Syria to the Stone Age by crippling its power stations, ports, fuel storage and every bit of strategic infrastructure if [Hizbullah] dares to launch ballistic missiles against us."
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said earlier this year that “If a war breaks out, the Assad dynasty will lose its power and will cease to reign in Syria.”
The concern in Israel is that Syria and Hizbullah might attack it if it attacks the Iranian nuclear program. Iran sponsors Hizbullah and has close ties with Syria. Israel would rather see the United States and its allies take care of the Iranian nuclear threat, but US President Barack Obama has been dragging his feet on the matter, and has repeatedly failed to respect deadlines he himself set for taking solid action against Iran.
Kara sends warning too
Deputy Minister Ayoub Kara warned Saturday that any Israeli action to remove the Iranian threat will not just involve hitting Iran – but also any element that might respond to the strike against Iran. “Israel's security is above all other considerations,” he said. “If Israel is attacked by an element supported by the Syrians there will be no avoiding a retaliatory attack on Syria, and I hope it elects to avoid such a provocation.”
Kara said Saturday that along with Syria's tough words, it is also showing “flexibility” on humanitarian and economic matters. In the coming weeks, he revealed, “a Druze delegation from the Golan Heights will be leaving [Israel] for negotiations with the Syrians on the supply of 200 million cubic meters of water from Syria to the Golan Heights. Israel will not be participating in this negotiation and it will be conducted between Syria and the Golan agriculturalists, regarding water reserves that are in the Syrian reservoirs and which are dumped back into the ground because Syria lacks the technology and means to transfer them to areas that suffer from a shortage.”
T-shaped pillar with relief depicting a fox at Göbekli Tepe, a stone-age site near the Turkey-Syria border / Creative Commons
