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1. B'tselem Report Timed to Sabotage Netanyahu-Obama Meeting
by Hillel Fendel
The B’tselem civil rights organization has become an anti-Zionist tool for the destruction of Israel, charges Yesha Council head Danny Dayan. It has timed its latest anti-Israel report’s appearance to coincide with Netanyahu’s visit to Obama. The media in Israel has had the report for several days, but largely played along and acceded to B’tselem’s request not to publicize it until Tuesday, when Netanyahu and Obama meet.
The report has some good news for supporters of the Jewish settlement enterprise, such as the fact that the growth of the Jewish population in Judea and Samaria (Yesha) was nearly three times higher than growth in all of Israel (5.1% to 1.8%). In addition, Yesha’s population has tripled since the beginning of the Oslo process in 1993.
However, there are some other stats in the report that are meant to be very damning for the Yesha population. For instance, B’tselem declares that 21% of the built-up areas within the Jewish towns are private Arab property. This is as if to say that every fifth Jewish home in Yesha is built on private property.
Danny Dayan says this is a distortion of the truth. “Not one Arab has been deprived of his land to build Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria,” he told Arutz-7’s Shimon Cohen. “Unlike in previous settlement enterprises, such as the kibbutzim of several decades ago, when there was no other choice… Since 1974, not one piece of privately-owned Arab land has been confiscated – and those that were, were totally compensated for, either in money or land. And the properties that were thus confiscated and compensated add up to much less than 21% - so that no matter how you slice it, this number is a brazen lie of the kind one can expect B’tselem to disseminate.”
Dayan had even stronger criticism of B’tselem for their purposeful publication of the report precisely as Netanyahu is to meet with Obama. “This is an act of an organization that is hostile to the State of Israel – and B’tselem has become exactly that. It is playing a central role in the campaign to divest Israel of its defensive means… Timing the report in this manner is an act that borders on treason.”
“B’tselem was the organization that was most quoted in the Goldstone Report,” said Dayan, who then delivered his sharpest blow: “It has become an anti-Zionist organization at the forefront of the effort to liquidate the State of Israel.”
“The media, as well,” he said, “is collaborating in this effort by agreeing not to publicize the findings until Tuesday, in accordance with B’tselem’s request. If anything, the very fact that B’tselem is making such a transparent move to influence political events should be more of a news item than all the nonsense written in the report.”
The B’tselem report to be published tomorrow also says that Israel’s government offers various incentives and benefits to people who live in Yesha. “This is an absolute lie,” Dayan said. “Other areas have such benefits, but here we pay high property taxes, as well as community taxes in many areas. The government promised the Americans that there would be no benefits, and unfortunately that is the case.”
“A few months ago,” Dayan continued, “there was a lot of noise about the classification of some Yesha communities as high-priority areas. We received much flak about the report, but in the end, it was not even implemented – such that we lost out on both ends.”
He noted that the original founders of B'tselem, "[ex-MK] Dedi Tzucker and [MK] Chaim Oron, are Zionists. But it has now been taken over by anti-Zionists who want to flood Israel with Arabs and turn Israel into something different than what it is. Their concern for human rights is just an excuse in their drive to weaken Israel."
2. Israel Philharmonic to Play for Shalit Outside Gaza
by Maayana Miskin
Zubin Mehta, internationally renowned conductor who has been chief conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra for many years, will conduct the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra outside Gaza, demanding that Hamas allow a Red Cross visit to Gilad Shalit.
The orchestra will play classical music in an open air concert sponsored by private donors. Singer Shlomo Artzi is expected to appear as well.
Mehta said he hopes the concert will inspire Gaza residents to pressure Hamas to allow the International Red Cross to see Shalit, who has been denied contact with human rights groups since being kidnapped in 2006. “Four years without a single visit is too long,” the Indian-born musician told reporters.
The concert coincides with a 12-day march to Jerusalem calling for Shalit's freedom. The march is led by Shalit's parents, Noam and Aviva, who have called on the government to do more on behalf of the young soldier.
The Shalit rallies are not without controversy. Maj.-Gen. (res.) Elazar Stern warned Sunday that the pressure to free Shalit at “any price” - a view supported by many pro-Shalit organizers – is prolonging Shalit's stay in captivity.
Organizers of the Shalit rally have called on the government to give in to Hamas demands, a move which Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned over the weekend would strengthen Hamas and increase terrorism.
3. Barak Gaining Influence, Meeting With Fayyad
by Hillel Fendel
With declining influence in the party he leads, Defense Minister Ehud Barak is assigned more responsibility within the government – meeting with PA prime minister Salam Fayyad today.
Barak Supports Unilateral Withdrawals
Though generally talks with foreign entities are led by the Foreign Minister, Defense Minister Barak is scheduled to meet with Fayyad at 1:30 this afternoon. No details have been provided on location or on the agenda to be discussed.Famous for his unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon in one night a decade ago, his offer of 98% of Judea and Samaria to Yasser Arafat seven years ago, and his recent praise for the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza of five years ago, Barak has apparently been recently assigned a position of strong influence in the Netanyahu government in the framework of talks with the Palestinian Authority.
Barak told reporters last week that a meeting was to be held, and said, “This is not the first time we are meeting... I assume we will talk about the situation on the ground and security coordination.”
Netanyahu to Washington
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, on his way today (Monday) to Washington to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama, called yesterday for direct talks with the PA. He said that the time has come for PA chairman Abbas to meet with him directly. “One who wants peace is not afraid of direct talks,” he said.
More Pressure Feared
Israel agreed to a ten-month freeze on Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria simply in order to get the PA to agree to indirect talks. It is now feared that Israel will be pressured to agree to the continuation of the freeze in order to enable direct talks.
Barak Under Fire Within Party
Barak, for his part, has long been under fire within his own Labor Party, and tensions between him and others have intensified in recent days. Former party leader Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, currently the Industry and Trade Minister, yelled at Barak and threatened him in front of reporters and party members yesterday.
The issue concerned Ben-Eliezer’s secret meeting with Turkey’s Foreign Minister last week. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was not informed in advance of the meeting, and publicly criticized Prime Minister Netanyahu for this. Barak, for his part, capitalized on the tensions by telling Lieberman and reporters that he had opposed the meeting – which angered Ben-Eliezer, who said that Barak had told him privately that he supported the meeting.
Barak does not enjoy great support within his abbreviated, 13-MK, left-wing faction. Many of the MKs do not support the party’s membership in the Netanyahu coalition.
On the nationalist side of the spectrum, Netanyahu has been criticized for giving Barak too much say in political matters, particularly the construction freeze. Barak has unilaterally expanded the freeze to include more than the original Cabinet decision stipulated.
4. Obama-Linked PR Firm Runs Anti-Israel Campaign
by Maayana Miskin
A top United States public relations firm has taken on a new job: Making Israel look bad on behalf of Qatar. Fenton Communications is working with Qatar on the Al Fakhoora project – an Internet campaign dedicated to breaking Israel's blockade of Hamas in Gaza.
Fenton Communications will be paid almost $400,000 for the project, which describes Israel's insistence on controlling naval access to Gaza as “brutal and inhumane” and “crippling.” It has registered under America's Foreign Agent Registration Act.
The PR group works on behalf of a variety of clients, many of them politically liberal. Among its more well-known clients is MoveOn.org, an American group dedicated to ending the war in Iraq. It endorsed U.S. President Barack Obama in the last presidential elections and raised millions of dollars for his campaign.
Fenton also represents the American Medical Association, Human Rights Watch, and various United Nations-linked groups.
The Fakhoora project ostensibly aims to assist Arab students in Gaza, Judea and Samaria. However, its top call to action is a “call for a complete and final end to the blockade on Gaza,” and its website is filled primarily with stories accusing Israel of human rights violations for preventing foreign ships from reaching Gaza.
The Al Fakhoora site currently features an interview with Farooq Burney, a Fakhoora worker who was aboard a Turkish ship that attempted to defy the naval blockade of Gaza. Burney accuses Israel of attacking innocent activists, and fails to mention that Turkish activists bearing weapons attacked Israeli soldiers. A second testimony on the site refers to the Turkish ship incident as a “Zionist massacre.”
Qatar is one of the top donors to Gaza, and sends millions of dollars a month to the area. Individual Hamas supporters living in Qatar have sent millions of dollars to the terrorist group; among them is Sheikh Yusef al-Qaradawi, who has given Hamas $21 million to buy buildings in Jerusalem.
The few student stories included on the Al Fakhoora project website focus on blaming Israel for allegedly making it difficult to obtain a university education in Gaza. Israel is blamed for everything from a shortage of pens to cuts in electricity – despite the fact that current electric outages are due to an internal struggle between Fatah and Hamas.
In cases where there are no physical impediments to education, Israel is accused of making it psychologically difficult for students to learn. “Whenever I think about the siege, I become exhausted, which impacts my studies,” one female student complains.
Al Fakhoora is named after a United Nations school in Gaza which Israel was accused of shelling during the counterterrorism battle Operation Cast Lead in early 2009. Though it was revealed in early 2009 that Israel had not hit the school, the Fakhoora project continues to refer to the school as “ a United Nations school in Gaza's Jabaliya refugee camp that was the scene of an attack by Israeli tank shells.”
5. Saudi Denies Telling Obama Iran and Israel Should not Exist
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The Saudi Arabia monarchy has denied a report in the French newspaper Le Figaro that King Abdullah told U.S. President Barack Obama that the countries of Iran and Israel should not exist. The king allegedly made the remark after the May 31 flotilla clash between Israeli Navy commandos and Turkish terror activists.
He visited President Obama at the White House last week.
The report is "untrue altogether,” an official source told the Saudi Press Agency. “The positions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are clear and declared," the source added.
The report was given credence because it was written by a journalist who has a respected reputation as a Middle East specialist. Le Figaro reported that the quote was confirmed by military and diplomatic sources.
King Abdullah has said he is concerned by the growing nuclear threat posed by Iran. As a Persian and not an Arab country, Iran is not part of the Arab League, is distrusted by most Muslim states in the region, and threatens to become the dominant power in the Muslim world.
Saudi Arabia does not recognize Israel, and distances itself from any association with Israel officials or even shaking hands with them. The Saudi 2002 Initiative calls on Israel to surrender all of the land restored to the country in the Six Day War in 1967, in return for normalization of relations with the Arab world. There is no specific mention of recognizing Israel as a country.
6. Activists: Obama, Send Pollard Home
by Maayana Miskin
Ahead of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's planned Tuesday meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, activists are calling Obama and asking him to release Jonathan Pollard, who has served nearly 25 years in prison for providing Israel with classified security information.
Activists wrote a letter to Obama from “the People of Israel” asking him to send Pollard home. “Your principled signature on Jonathan Pollard's pending clemency papers would be the consummate act of friendship towards the People of Israel,”” they wrote.
The meeting with Netanyahu is “an opportunity to demonstrate what real change means,” the letter states, playing on Obama's campaign promise of “change.”
Next Monday, July 12, will be the 9,000th day that Jonathan Pollard has spent in prison in the United States. In Israel, the Committee to Bring Jonathan Pollard Home will mark the occasion by kicking off a three-day rally.
Activists will hold the rally at the Light Rail Bridge at the entrance to Jerusalem. Over the three days, they plan to hold lectures and discussions, and to write and send 9,000 letters of support to Pollard.
Every person who stops by the rally will be given a chance to be photographed while holding a sign of support for Pollard. The photographs will be sent to Pollard along with the letters.
Letters and photographs will also be sent to Netanyahu, Obama, and other senior U.S. and Israeli officials, in order to emphasize the extent of public support for Pollard's release.
7. Syria Reaches Out from Iran to Argentina for Allies
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Syria has branched out from its alliance with Iran, which is supplying it with advanced radar systems. Syria has promised Argentina support for its claim on the Falkland Islands, and in return, Argentina has offered Damascus its support for Syrian claims on the Golan Heights.
Syrian President Bashar Assad, on his first tour of Latin America, is trying to broaden the growing Iranian-Syrian axis, which now includes close ties with Turkey, Venezuela, Cuba and Brazil as well as the Hizbullah terrorist organization.
Assad assured Argentinean President Cristina Kirchner he would back her efforts to take sovereignty over the Falklands, which it calls the Malvinas. Argentina invaded the British held Falkland Islands located off the shore of Argentina in1982 but the ensuing war was won by Great Britain who had reclaimed the islands in 1833 after a period when they were left in the hands of France and Spain. Kircher replied that Argentina supports Syrian claims to the Golan Heights, an addition to the backing Assad received from Brazil and Cuba during his tour.
Syria has denied as “classic Israeli PR stunts” a report in The Wall Street Journal that Iran has supplied it with sophisticated radar that could reduce Israel’s ability to launch a surprise aerial attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The system, which one report stated has been placed in the mountains of Lebanon near Israel’s northern border, also would allow Hizbullah to achieve accuracy if it attacks Israel with missiles. In the Second Lebanon War, Israeli planes were able to fly over southern Lebanon without interference.
U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley, commenting on the report in the Journal, told reporters, "We don't believe that Iran's designs for the region are in Syria's best interest.”
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| 'Israeli Gowns' Cause Outrage in Jordan |
| US Intelligence Officers: Accept Hamas and Hizbullah in Armies |
| Lebanese Flotilla with 'Women's Boat' May Be Drydocked |
| Cabinet Shoots Down Law that would Stymie Freeze Extension |
