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1. 87 Senators Tell Obama: Stand Behind Israel!
by Hillel Fendel
An overwhelming majority of the United States Senate has signed a letter to President Obama encouraging him to stand strongly behind Israel in the face of "challenges" to its international standing.
The letter, written in the midst of a continuing international onslaught against Israel in the wake of the flotilla-Gaza blockade situation, emphasizes that it is in “our national interest to support Israel at a moment when Israel faces multiple threats from Hamas in Gaza, Hizbullah in Lebanon, and the current regime in Iran.”
The missive has been signed by 87 senators, and was spearheaded by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nv) and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky).
“Israel’s opponents have developed clever diplomatic and tactical ploys to challenge its international standing,” the letter states, including “the effort to isolate Israel at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference [and] the recent effort to breach the naval blockade around Gaza… Israel’s naval blockade, which is legal under international law, allows Israel to keep dangerous goods from entering Gaza by sea.”
IHH Connections With Hamas
Describing Israel’s response to the terror activists who attempted to break the blockade, the letter states that the Israeli forces who boarded the ship owned by the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH), were “brutally attacked with iron rods, knives, and broken glass. They were forced to respond to that attack and we regret the loss of life that resulted. We are deeply concerned about the IHH’s role in this incident and have additional questions about Turkey and any connections to Hamas. The IHH is a member of a group of Muslim charities, the Union of Good, which was designated by the US Treasury Department as a terrorist organization. The Union of Good was created by and strongly supports Hamas, which has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the US State Department. We recommend that your administration consider whether the IHH should be put on the list of foreign terrorist organizations…”
The Senators commend Obama on the prevention of an “unfair United Nations Security Council resolution” against Israel, and “deplore the actions of the United Nations Human Rights Council which, once again, singled out Israel… We ask you to stand firm in the future at the United Nations Security Council and to use your veto power, if necessary, to prevent any similar biased or one-sided resolutions from passing.”
The letter concludes with the hope for the continuation of peace talks leading to a two-state solution.
Similar House Letter
The Senate letter comes four days after a similar letter in the House of Representatives, signed by 75% of the members. It was initiated by Rep. Ted Poe (R-Tx) and Rep. Gary Peters (D-Mi), and bears the signatures of more than 320 of their colleagues. The House letter to Obama details the true intentions of the IHH and the Gaza flotilla, and calls on the president to use his veto power in the U.N. Security Council to block one-sided, anti-Israel resolutions.
“We urge you to remain steadfast in the defense of Israel in the face of the international community’s rush to unfairly judge and condemn Israel in international fora such as the UN Security Council,” the House letter states.
2. Netanyahu Lashes Out at Iran and Hamas
by Hillel Fendel
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took the opportunity, while greeting Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann, to mock and castigate Iran, Hizbullah and Hamas for exploiting women and others - while organizing a "human rights" boat to Gaza of women.
Chancellor Faymann, on an official two-day visit to Israel, met Wednesday night with Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres, and others. He is the first government leader to visit Israel since the flotilla incident nearly four weeks ago.
Faymann has been a friend of Israel, recently describing a Vienna city council resolution that unilaterally condemned Israel’s seizure of the Gaza-bound flotilla as “unbalanced.” He also resisted internal Austrian pressures to call off his visit to Israel.
Netanyahu greeted Faymann at a joint press conference, and praised his country for voting for sanctions against Iran in the UN and other steps. He then took the opportunity to describe Israel’s new Gaza policy – and explained harshly that continuing “flotilla” attempts to break Israel’s blockade are hypocritical and anti-peace.
“From now on,” Netanyahu said, “all civilian goods will be able to enter Gaza. Weapons and war materiel will not be allowed to enter the Gaza Strip… We are already seeing a significant increase in the scope of civilian goods entering Gaza, and this trend will continue.”
No Reason or Justification
“I have learned of Iran and Hizbullah's plans to dispatch additional flotillas to Gaza,” Netanyahu continued. “If anyone had any doubts before, it is now clear that there is no reason or justification in organizing these flotillas. Whoever wishes to bring genuine civilian goods to Gaza – food, toys and medicine – will be able to do so via the Port of Ashdod. Therefore, the claims that were made in the past are no longer relevant. These flotillas are not organized by peace supporters but by those who oppose peace – Iran and Hizbullah.”
“Their real goal,” he said, “is to instigate a provocation against Israel in order to disrupt the security blockade - not the civilian blockade, but the blockade against importing missiles, rockets and other weapons.”
Cynical Use of Women
“I just heard of a new method they have. They intend to make cynical use of women in order to cover up their hostile activities. My friends, I want to show you the extent of the absurdity. The darkest forces in the world – Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas, who want to return the world to the Middle Ages, who prevent their women from dressing, working and expressing themselves freely, where their women live in slavery and oppression, frequently without their basic rights, often subject to violence; they dare to organize a boat of women as propaganda against Israel?!
“The time has come to put a stop to this hypocrisy and work towards genuine women's rights and human rights in our region. I call upon all peace and human rights activists in the enlightened world: Go to the places where they oppress women; Go to the places where they hang homosexuals in town squares and deny the rights of minorities; Go to the places where there is no freedom of expression, no freedom of the press, no independent courts, no human rights organizations and no human rights. Go to Teheran. Go to Gaza.
“Anyone for whom human rights are truly important needs to support the democratic and liberal Israel against these dark forces. This is the change that will help us advance peace together and to push aside the forces opposed to it.
“If someone is really concerned with human rights, they should concern themselves with Gilad Shalit's most basic rights. He has been in captivity for four years, in darkness, with no visit from the Red Cross, with his family's terrible suffering, that of his parents and of his grandfather with whom I had a heart-wrenching conversation yesterday. The international community needs to stand beside Israel in firmly demanding Gilad Shalit's immediate release.”
3. Egyptian Oil Spill Befouls Red Sea Resorts
by Hana Levi Julian
An oil spill from an Egyptian rig has polluted several tourist sites along a large stretch of coastline along the Red Sea.
The leak, which Egyptian government spokesman Magdy Rady described as “limited,” was caused by a spill from an offshore platform in Jebel al-Zayt, north of the Red Sea resort town of Hurghada.
The government managed to keep the news of the oil spill quiet internally for days, an extraordinary feat that might have been related to the fact that Hurghada is one of the country's top tourist destinations. The area, a vital source of income for Egypt, was once a major diving site with extensive coral reefs. However, extensive development has caused damage to the area.
Oil company officials in the port city of Suez spoke with the Associated Press about the spill on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with media.
There was also no mention of the leak for days in any Israeli news media, which might otherwise have put off Israeli tourists who typically travel to Red Sea resorts for quick vacations.
Rady told the state-run Middle East News Agency that the spill was discovered last week and had quickly been mostly contained. However, Ahmed el-Droubi, a biologist with the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA), flatly accused the government of a cover-up this week.
“Just today I received news that the oil had started leaking again this afternoon after it had stopped Thursday,” he told an Associated Press reporter on Tuesday. The HEPCA, founded by divers in 1992, was one of the first groups to raise the alarm about the spill.
“The northern islands protected area is very heavily impacted,” el-Droubi added. “This area is very important because it is the last pristine spot, there is a lot of sea life there that will be harmed... there are dead birds and dead sea turtles scattered across the island, covered in oil.”
Approximately 100 miles (160 kilometers) of coastline were polluted, including a number of tourist beach sites.
Meanwhile, Egyptian Environmental Crisis Department head Mahmoud Ismail said that most of the beaches would be cleaned up in a few days. He admitted that the situation on the islands was worse, however.
“The hardest work will be cleaning up the coral and Tawila Island,” he said, adding that he had already had complaints from some of the local hotels.
4. Jewish Births and Aliyah – Up, Arab Births – Stable
by Hillel Fendel
A demographic study in Israel analyzing the past 15 years shows a dramatic drop in Arab births per woman, a rise in births among secular Jewish women, and a continued very high rate among religious Jewish women.
Dr. Adam Reuter, writing on Arutz-7’s Hebrew site, presents a set of statistics showing that the dire predictions of an Arab demographic takeover of Israel that have become “common knowledge” are actually not true.
The statistics were compiled by the American-Israeli Demographic Research Group, including Dr. David Passig, Yoram Ettinger, and others. They have been presented to the National Security Council, IDF Intelligence, the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, the Prime Minister’s Office, Congress members in Washington, and countless others instrumental in shaping public policy in Israel and the U.S.
For one thing, the fertility gap between Arab and Jewish women dropped from six births per woman in 1969 to 0.7 in 2009. At the same time, the proportion of Jewish births has grown from 69% of total births in 1995 to 75% in 2008.
Secular women now give birth to an average of 2.6 babies, as opposed to their mothers, who bore only 2.1 children each.
Over the past 15 years, the number of Arab births in Israel has remained more or less steady at around 39,000, while Jewish births grew over this period from 80,000 to 120,000.
The number of Bedouin births has dropped drastically, by 30%, ever since a sharp cut in child allowance payments was introduced several years ago.
Of the 20% Arab minority in Israel, 3.5% are residents of eastern Jerusalem and do not have the right to vote in national elections; 2% are Druze, who serve in the army; and 2% are Christian Arabs.
Average aliyah in recent years has been 16,000 or more. The number of returning Israelis is balanced out by those leaving, about 11-12,000 of each – though Reuters predicts that the former will soon outweigh the latter by far, for various economic reasons and in the merit of Israel’s proactive programs to this end.
For more information, click here.
5. Israeli "Trophy" Anti-RPG System to be Installed on US Tanks
by Hillel Fendel
FoxNews reports that Israel’s Trophy double-radar anti-RPG system will soon be installed on US Army armored vehicles in Iraq on a trial basis.
The report details the system that “works like a futuristic force field,” and which other sources say has already been installed in Israeli Merkava 4 tanks as a pilot project. Trophy, which looks “no more menacing than an automatic tennis ball launcher,” one analyst said, is designed to be mounted on a fighting vehicle while it provides it a virtual bubble of protection.
Trophy uses one radar to detect the launching of an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) or the like at it. Another radar then tracks the incoming missile and detects when it is in range. At that point, Trophy employs a counter-measure, whose details are still secret, to directly hit and neutralize the head of the threat, thus detonating it before it makes contact with the targeted tank or vehicle.
The now-powerless RPG might still hit its target, but with no more force than any other metal object, and would certainly not be able to penetrate.
John Pike, director of the GlobalSecurity.org website, says, "The future of the the United States Army is riding on the proposition that something like this can work."
The report emphasizes that Trophy does not work against IED’s (improvised explosive devices, otherwise known as roadside bombs) or land mines, but is rather designed to eliminate the explosive capability of threats flying at a vehicle. It can also be outfitted for helicopeters, but not on ships.
Only IED’s have killed more American soldiers in Iraq than have RPG’s.
6. Obama Might be Surprised as Likud Convenes
by Hillel Fendel
The Likud Central Committee is convening today to discuss the “day after” the construction freeze. Activists will distribute a list of selected anti-two-state quotes from Likud ministers as a reminder of the Likud’s positions – and as a shocker for Obama.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu himself is quoted as saying, “Judea and Samaria will not be Judenrein. I will not evacuate communities, and I will not establish a Palestinian state… The supreme test of every public figure is whether he keeps his promises to the public, and this test my colleagues and I have passed.”
Among the other quotes are the following:Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon: “I do not believe in the solution of two states for two peoples.”
Minister Benny Begin: “No to a Palestinian state, no to a foreign entity in Judea and Samaria.”
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz: “A Palestinian state will lead to the end of Israel.”
Education Minister Gideon Saar: “Any blow to the settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria will be a blow to the security of Tel Aviv and Netanya. Preserving the Land of Israel is our guarantee for security. We will not agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
Coalition whip MK Ze’ev Elkin: “I will fully oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria.”
7. Jon Voight Rips Obama for "Putting Israel in Harm's Way"
by Malkah Fleisher
An American actor known for his allegiance with Israel has authored a scathing open letter to US President Barack Obama, accusing him of "putting Israel in harm's way.
Academy Award-winning actor and ardent Israel supporter Jon Voight published a missive to the US president in The Washington Times on June 22. "You will be the first American president that lied to the Jewish people, and the American people as well, when you said that you would defend Israel… against all their enemies," the letter began.
Voight went on to accuse President Obama of "propagandiz[ing] Israel" and "promot[ing] anti-Semitism throughout the world."
"You have brought this to a people who have given the world the Ten Commandments and most laws we live by today," Voight said, and signed the letter, "With heartfelt and deep concern for America and Israel."
In early June, following a brutal attack against Israel Defense Forces soldiers by self-described peace activists aboard the vessel Mavi Marmara headed for Gaza, and the world's subsequent fervent anti-Israel backlash, Voight joined a demonstration of several thousand people gathered in Los Angeles to stand with Israel.
Voight has been consistent in his defense of Israel, arriving in the Jewish state in May 2008 to celebrate Israel's 60th birthday, and visiting the missile-bombarded town of Sderot in the country's south, near Gaza. During his visit, he was interviewed by Israel National Radio's Yishai Fleisher, and reminded listeners "those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed."
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