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1. Obama Losing the ‘G-d Vote’, Backer Chaim Saban Losing Sleep
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Strong signs at the polls show that U.S. President Barack Obama is losing the “G-d vote” as Jewish and religious Christian voters flee, chapter and verse, to the Republican camp.
He won more support in the "Bible Belt" than John Kerry did in 2004, with one Ohio town giving President Obama 43 percent of the “G-d vote," 10 percent more more than the 39 percent who supported John Kerry, according to polling results cited by political analyst and reporter Salena Zito on the Townhall.com website.
Democrats now have a “G-d vote” deficit. “It isn’t Armageddon yet, but it is the task of party activists to keep having broad, open and honest dialogue with the faith voters,” said Burns Strider, founding partner of the Eleison Group and former religious outreach director for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.
Mark Rozell, professor of public policy at George Mason University, estimates that voters in 2008 “really seemed to understand ‘G-d talk’” through President Obama’s oratorical skills, but his actions now speak louder than words.
“What is at issue is the administration's new openness to the Muslim world while maintaining a very icy relationship with and directing harsh criticism towards the government of Israel,” explains Keystone College political science professor Jeff Brauer.
Another professor, Bert Rockman of Purdue University, told Townhall.com, “There is a general pulling-away from the Democrats because of anger about the current state of affairs and pessimism about the direction of the country.”
President Obama and his advisors launched a campaign last month to try to reverse the near-zero popularity for the president in Israel and the rapidly fading support among American Jews.
Israeli-American billionaire Chaim Saban, one of the biggest backers of the Democratic party, says he is suffering from insomnia because of the Obama administration.
He told Channel 10 television, “To say I don’t sleep easily with the current administration’s relationship to Israel would be an understatement. They are leftists, really left leftists, so far to the left there’s not much space left between them and the wall,” he said, referring to the president’s aides.
President Obama has invited Jewish leaders to the White House, including those outside of the left-wing J Street lobby, for discussions. Last Thursday, two Jewish advisers hosted a second meeting with Orthodox rabbis as well as leaders from the Conservative and Reform movements in an effort to turn around current polls that show the possibility that the Democrats might even lose their majority control of Congress in this November’s mid-term elections.
Policy advisor Dennis Ross, one of the architects of the Oslo Accords, reminded the rabbis that there have been “manifestations of the change” of the administration’s tone since they met the first time a month ago.”
The split between President Obama and Israel has centered on the Iranian nuclear threat and the Obama administration’s acceptance of Palestinian Authority demands that Israel stop building for Jews in areas of Jerusalem that the PA claims as being part of a new Arab state it wants to create.
Virginia Conservative Rabbi Jack Moline said that President Obama invited rabbis who are popular in their communities but who are not outright opposed to him. However, not all of those who were invited left the meeting reassured.
Orthodox Rabbi Ephrem Goldberg of Florida said, "Among the rabbis, there was a diversity of those who support the administration policies and feel the message hasn't trickled down, and those who have problems with some of the policies.
"It's easy to repeat the phrases 'unbreakable bond' and 'shared values. We want to hear in no uncertain terms that Iran will not be allowed to go nuclear [and] that inevitably there will be an impasse” between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. “When that happens, will they only apply pressure to Israel, or have they learned something?"
2. Bolton: Obama Respects Afghani President More than Netanyahu
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
U.S. President Barack Obama recently treated Afghan president Hamid Karzai to a gala lunch at the White House and showed the kind of respect that should be displayed to Israel, “our staunchest ally in the Middle East,” John Bolton told supporters of Ateret Cohanim.
Speaking at the Ateret Cohanim annual dinner in New York Thursday night, the former American ambassador to the United Nations sharply condemned President Obama’s adoption of Palestinian Authority demands to stop a Jewish presence in areas of Jerusalem. "No country has the right to determine another country's capital and whether they can build in it."
“People should be able to buy and sell property in Jerusalem, as in any other country and clearly peace in the region is not dependent on Israel making territorial concessions,” he maintained.
Following Israel’s announcement two months ago of progress in plans for building more homes for Jews in the Ramat Shlomo Jewish neighborhood, President Obama gave Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu a chilly reception at the White House, and their discussions took place without the usual lunch or dinner for visiting dignitaries.
Bolton also said that the Obama administration is missing the boat, as it has all but ruled out the military option to deal with the potential of Iran to produce a nuclear weapon, which it apparently is accepting as a fact, leaving Israel to deal with it by itself. He implied that the U.S. would probably not supply weapons parts in such a case, but that Israel has its back to the wall.
He said Iran is the “cradle of terrorism, [and] has been developing nuclear weapons for the last 20 years and neither diplomacy nor economic sanctions will be effective deterrents against them.”
Unless the Iranian regime is toppled, it “cannot be contained or deterred,” according to Bolton.
Regarding the Palestinian Authority, Bolton declared, “The Palestinians are being exploited by their own leaders and the United States should not force either proximity or direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians because there is no legitimate Palestinian entity to negotiate with.
“The United States needs to stop digging the hole that they are in because undertaking this huge diplomatic task that will result in failed negotiations will leave [it] in a much weaker position.”
New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, also speaking at the dinner, said that an Israeli pre-emptive strike on Iran may be necessary to prevent a worse situation in the future. “The Obama administration has been a disaster for Israel and the United States,” he stated.” This administration has done everything in its power to undermine Israel’s security and thus, the ultimate security of the United States.”
Bolton thanked Ateret Cohanim and their Jerusalem Reclamation Project for their support in building Jerusalem, which he referred to as the “heart and soul” of the Jewish State. He will be accompanying Ateret Cohanim supporters on their coming mission to Jerusalem.
Philanthropists Joseph and Helen Mermelstein were this year’s recipients of the Jerusalem Chai award and were praised for their “tireless work on behalf of Jews around the world.” Dr. Joseph Frager, one of the founders of Arutz Sheva, and Mel Wadler were Guests of Honor. Bonei (Builders of) Yerushalayim honorees were Mark and Galina Moerdler and Mr. Moe Tawil.
3. In Support of Jailed Student-Soldiers
by Hillel Fendel
Hundreds of people took part in a post-Sabbath “Melave Malka” event at Prison Six, in solidarity with several hesder yeshiva soldiers imprisoned there.
The student-soldiers are being held there because they refuse to leave their yeshiva, Har Bracha, and sign up with another one. The army is demanding that they do so, following its breaking ties with yeshiva Dean Rabbi Eliezer Melamed because of his criticism of the army.
Rabbi Melamed once wrote that top officers are concerned with "their pensions, careers and politics." Specifically, he wrote, "It's been years that for many officers, personal advancement is their principal goal" – but preceded these remarks with this: "The commandment of defending the nation and land even at the risk to one's life still very much applies – and this can only be done in a national army framework. Therefore, even if the top brass is problematic, it is better to stand together against our enemy than to break down and surrender. For with all the criticism, the general goal of the politicians and commanders is to protect the Nation of Israel. The risk of coming under the command of corrupt commanders is less than the risk of detracting from our military strength… We must therefore strengthen ourselves in Torah deeds and enlist in the army to help our nation."
Later, Rabbi Melamed was also cited for his ruling that soldiers must refuse orders to evict Jews from Judea and Samaria and/or demolish their homes. Former Defense and Foreign Affairs Minister Moshe Arens said at the time that Defense Minister Ehud Barak was “endangering the country” by ousting the Har Bracha yeshiva from the Hesder Torah study-soldier program.
Barak went ahead with his threat, ousting Har Bracha from the program and demanding that the students sign up with another yeshiva or leave yeshiva studies altogether and sign up with the army for the full three-year service. Several soldiers refused both options, insisting that their rabbi had a right to his Torah-based opinion, that they had signed up at this yeshiva because they wanted to learn and serve there, and that their being shunted from one yeshiva to another was merely another part of Barak’s war against the Judea and Samaria population.
Among those who came to the Saturday night solidarity event at Prison Six in Atlit, near Haifa, was MK Aryeh Eldad of the National Union party. Protestors had earlier hung a huge banner on the hills above the prison that read, “We are all with the soldiers of Har Bracha. A good soldier does not expel Jews.”
The agitation in the IDF against anti-Jewish orders has even begun to touch on orders that are far from clearly anti-Halakhic. A Nachal brigade soldier was sentenced last week to 20 days in army prison, after he refused to take part in the arrest of Breslover hassidim who sneaked into Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem (Nablus), abandoned by the IDF several years ago as it was surrounded by hostile Arabs who attacked and then desecrated it. The Shechem Core Group (Garin Shechem) praised the soldier, adding, “It is obvious that the abandonment of Joseph’s Tomb has caused turmoil among the soldiers. The time has come to renew Jewish presence at the site and in the city of Shechem.”
4. Petition War over Israeli 'Settlements' - 'JCall' v. Reason
by Hana Levi Julian
A new war is heating up on the Internet over a petition sent around the world wide web by a group of French intellectuals urging Israel to freeze “settlements.” The original document was generated two weeks ago by JCall, the European version of the Washington DC-based leftist organization “J Street.”
The group sent a letter to the European Parliament asking the group to stop supporting Israel's government decisions. Signed by some 5,665 people, including leftist philosophers Bernard Henri-Levy and Alain Finkielkraut, it called for a halt to Jewish building in Judea, Samaria and parts of Jerusalem restored to the capital as a result of the 1967 Six-Day War.
But close to double the number of signatures on the leftist document -- more than 8,000 and in barely half the time -- were gathered by those who are determined to squelch it.
Opposition organizer Fiamma Nirenstein said the JCall petition “has an Obama flavor,” calling it “trendy” and “prissy.”
Nirenstein noted in her literary counter-punch this week that “intellectuals are often unable to say 'no.'” This “makes it possible nowadays for an increasing number of Israel's enemies to delegitimize the Jewish State, rejoicing that 'even the Jews are with us,'” she added.
Several Jewish members of the European Parliament had signed the JCall petition, which called Jewish construction in these areas “morally and politically wrong.” The petition also claimed that Jewish communities in these areas “feed the unacceptable delegitimization process that Israel currently faces abroad.”
In response, Nirenstein exhorted followers to sign a counter petition that asked people to “Stand for Israel, Stand for Reason.”
“Stand for Israel, Stand for Reason” notes that the JCall document “is inspired by a short-sighted view of the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict...” and charges that its signatories “do not have the clear perception of the global physical and moral threat to which Israel is currently exposed.”
Forcing Israel to continue to make concessions to the Palestinian Authority without any reciprocation, it points out, “simply means to surrender (sic) the enemy without any guarantee... they actually ignore the basic element that has prevented success of any peace process, namely the Arab and Palestinian refusal to recognize the very existence of the State of Israel as a permanent nation-state in the Middle East.”
5. Israeli Start-Up Makes Army Units Vanish Into Thin Air
by Hana Levi Julian
Remember the cloaking device used by the Klingon war ships in those old Star Trek television programs? Science fiction, right?
Not any more.
Meet the Black Fox Active Adaptive IR Stealth System, created by Israeli start-up firm Eltics Ltd., a company that produces electronic warfare systems in Ashkelon. The new technology can make a helicopter, tank or ship, vanish into thin air.
Or at least, that is how it appears. The system, financed by private investors, made its debut on Channel 10 TV last week. It comes with a FLIR camera that takes a snapshot of the environment in which the unit is operating. The equipment analyzes the thermal signature of the environment, and then screens the exact same signature on to plates fitted on to the machine.
“A tank, armored personnel carrier or ship equipped with this system can become invisible to thermal night vision systems, guided missiles and a missile's sight,” Eltics Ltd. CEO Ronen Meir explained to the interviewer. So far, Black Fox is in the advanced prototype stage.
“In the past, it has been customary to say 'We own the night.' But now, we say, 'We share the night,'” Meir later told the Xinhua news service, explaining that night vision technology has become all-too-commonplace among armies – and terrorist cells -- around the world.
Black Fox returns the advantage of night warfare, said Meir, “beginning at the intelligence level and up to the tactical and strategic level.” For obvious reasons, he revealed little else, other than to add that the firm was awaiting an infusion of funds to take the technology to the next level.
6. Two Israelis Lightly Hurt in Friday Shooting Near Ofra
by Gil Ronen
Two Israelis, a man and a woman, were lightly wounded near the Police Junction near Ofra Friday evening, in a shooting attack apparently carried out by Arab terrorists. The two entered Ofra in their car after being hurt by flying glass as a result of shots fired at the car. They received medical attention on the spot.
After the shooting, IDF forces combed the area in order to find the shooters. IDF Radio reported that the IDF's Civil Administration told “senior Palestinians” that Israel views the incident gravely and demands that they take action “to calm the atmosphere.”
According to PA news agency Ma'an, a Fatah terrorist faction took responsibility for the attack. A statement by the “Al Aqsa Martyrs” said that the shooting was a protest against the opening of talks between Israel and the PA, and also to exact revenge for the shooting of a PA Arab youth whose body was found near Ramallah Friday morning..
Ma'an said that the youth was 16-year-old Ayssar Yasser Al-Zaben, from the village of Mazra Ash-Sharquieh. It quoted PA “security sources” who said the youth had been throwing rocks at a car driven by “settlers,” and that the “settlers” had shot him.
7. IDF Updates Arms Strategy
by Maayana Miskin
The IDF has revealed a new strategy designed to secure the army's weapons and ammunition in case of war. Over the past two years, the army has been shifting equipment in order to keep it secure.
The policy was revealed by head of IDF Logistics Brigadier-General Nissim Peretz on Wednesday in a conference at the Institute for National Security Studies.
Top commanders looked into various methods of protecting supplies, and ultimately decided that fortification was not the answer, Peretz said. The new strategy will allow the IDF access to supplies in case of war while protecting equipment from targeted strikes, he explained.
A second new IDF tool revealed this week is the Magna thermal camera system. The IDF website reported that the system, developed by the Magna Company in its Dimona branch, is being installed in the Hevron region.
The system combines thermal and regular cameras, and can scan several miles of space. Regional commanders hope the system will provide security in areas where there is no fence between Judea and pre-1967 Israel.
