 |
||
 |
        |
 |
 |
||
| MP3 Radio | Website News Briefs: | |||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
 |
 |
1. Fast Day in Memory of Esther’s ‘Life-Threatening Request’
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Wednesday’s “Fast of Esther” is in memory of Queen Esther of Persia's risking her life by approaching King Ahasueros, her husband, to save the country’s Jews.
No one, she tells her relative Mordecai when he asks her to intercede for the Jews, was allowed to enter the king's court without receiving an invitation to do so. Anyone uninvited risked death unless the king held out his scepter to that person. She had also never revealed that she was a Jewess.
Esther asked Mordecai to get all the Jews to fast and pray for her welfare for three days, and they did, prior to her approaching the king in order to launch a series of events that ended with her asking him to save the Jews from the king’s wicked second-in-command, Haman, who had convinced the king that the Jews should be murdered.
Mordecai had told her that despite her being a queen, there is no way she can avoid eventual retribution if she does not help her brethren. She bravely answered, “Go and gather all the Jews who are found in Shushan and fast for me, and do not eat and do not drink three days, night and day; and I and my maidens will also fast thus. Then I will go to the king and if I am lost, so be it.”
The fast day started at 4.29 a.m. in Israel and ends at 6:04 p.m., followed by the reading of the Biblical book known as the Scroll of Esther, or Megillat Esther. This is the day on which the Jews turned the table on Haman and his loyalists. In Jerusalem and other cities that have a wall from the days of Joshua, the reading is on Thursday night, to commemmorate the Jews in the walled city of Shushan, who were saved a day later.
The aim of fasting is for Jews to remind themselves that HaShem is the true source of their strength.
Wednesday, the fast day is the 13th day of the Hebrew month of Adar, the day that Haman chose by a lottery to exterminate the Jews to satisfy his anger against Mordechai, who raised the orphaned Esther and who refused to bow down to him.
Esther had actually asked the Jews to fast three days during the following month of Nisan, but the fast day is observed the day before the holiday of Purim, the scheduled date of the massacre and on which topsy-turvy events resulted in Haman’s death and the elevation of Mordechai as the king’s new second-in-command.
Another reason for not observing the fast in the following month of Nissan is because it is a month in which fasting is forbidden.
The fast is mentioned in the Scroll of Esther, which states, “And as they accepted upon themselves and upon their children, the matters of their fastings and their cry.”
Conversos, the converted Jews of Spain who kept their religion secret on pain of torture and death during the time of the Inquisition, observed this fast with particular solemnity. They identified with Queen Esther, the Jewess, who, in the words of the Scroll of Esther, "did not reveal her nation's identity or her birthplace", making her a crypto- Jew as they were.
Comment on this story
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Wednesday’s “Fast of Esther” is in memory of Queen Esther of Persia's risking her life by approaching King Ahasueros, her husband, to save the country’s Jews.
No one, she tells her relative Mordecai when he asks her to intercede for the Jews, was allowed to enter the king's court without receiving an invitation to do so. Anyone uninvited risked death unless the king held out his scepter to that person. She had also never revealed that she was a Jewess.
Esther asked Mordecai to get all the Jews to fast and pray for her welfare for three days, and they did, prior to her approaching the king in order to launch a series of events that ended with her asking him to save the Jews from the king’s wicked second-in-command, Haman, who had convinced the king that the Jews should be murdered.
Mordecai had told her that despite her being a queen, there is no way she can avoid eventual retribution if she does not help her brethren. She bravely answered, “Go and gather all the Jews who are found in Shushan and fast for me, and do not eat and do not drink three days, night and day; and I and my maidens will also fast thus. Then I will go to the king and if I am lost, so be it.”
The fast day started at 4.29 a.m. in Israel and ends at 6:04 p.m., followed by the reading of the Biblical book known as the Scroll of Esther, or Megillat Esther. This is the day on which the Jews turned the table on Haman and his loyalists. In Jerusalem and other cities that have a wall from the days of Joshua, the reading is on Thursday night, to commemmorate the Jews in the walled city of Shushan, who were saved a day later.
The aim of fasting is for Jews to remind themselves that HaShem is the true source of their strength.
Wednesday, the fast day is the 13th day of the Hebrew month of Adar, the day that Haman chose by a lottery to exterminate the Jews to satisfy his anger against Mordechai, who raised the orphaned Esther and who refused to bow down to him.
Esther had actually asked the Jews to fast three days during the following month of Nisan, but the fast day is observed the day before the holiday of Purim, the scheduled date of the massacre and on which topsy-turvy events resulted in Haman’s death and the elevation of Mordechai as the king’s new second-in-command.
Another reason for not observing the fast in the following month of Nissan is because it is a month in which fasting is forbidden.
The fast is mentioned in the Scroll of Esther, which states, “And as they accepted upon themselves and upon their children, the matters of their fastings and their cry.”
Conversos, the converted Jews of Spain who kept their religion secret on pain of torture and death during the time of the Inquisition, observed this fast with particular solemnity. They identified with Queen Esther, the Jewess, who, in the words of the Scroll of Esther, "did not reveal her nation's identity or her birthplace", making her a crypto- Jew as they were.
More on this topic
Comment on this story
2. WikiLeaks: Netanyahu Said Obama Wears ‘Rose-Colored Glasses’
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said two years ago that President Barack Obama is wearing “rose-colored glasses” when looking at the Iranian nuclear threat, WikiLeaks reported.
The Prime Minister also reportedly said in a conversation with a U.S. Congressman that Israel will use the “Mossad, bunker busting bombs, whatever it takes,” to prevent Iran from obtaining the ability to build a nuclear bomb.
The leaked email was reported by the Algemeiner website and was among 5 million emails that WikiLeaks says it obtained in cooperation with the hacker Anonymous group. It hacked the U.S.-based Stratfor intelligence company.
Stratfor allegedly sent an email in May 2010 concerning Prime Minister Netanyahu’s conversation with the American legislator, in which he said that President Obama wears “rose-colored glasses” in misunderstanding the gravity of Iran’s nuclear development.
In the same email, the Prime Minister allegedly wrote that he will “use every means at his disposal” to stop Iran. Since then, several Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed and wounded in car bomb attacks by unidentified motorcyclists, allegedly working for the Mossad.
Prime Minister Netanyahu is on his way back from the United States after a trip that he said was highly successful in solidifying the relationship with the Obama administration.
Comment on this story
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said two years ago that President Barack Obama is wearing “rose-colored glasses” when looking at the Iranian nuclear threat, WikiLeaks reported.
The Prime Minister also reportedly said in a conversation with a U.S. Congressman that Israel will use the “Mossad, bunker busting bombs, whatever it takes,” to prevent Iran from obtaining the ability to build a nuclear bomb.
The leaked email was reported by the Algemeiner website and was among 5 million emails that WikiLeaks says it obtained in cooperation with the hacker Anonymous group. It hacked the U.S.-based Stratfor intelligence company.
Stratfor allegedly sent an email in May 2010 concerning Prime Minister Netanyahu’s conversation with the American legislator, in which he said that President Obama wears “rose-colored glasses” in misunderstanding the gravity of Iran’s nuclear development.
In the same email, the Prime Minister allegedly wrote that he will “use every means at his disposal” to stop Iran. Since then, several Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed and wounded in car bomb attacks by unidentified motorcyclists, allegedly working for the Mossad.
Prime Minister Netanyahu is on his way back from the United States after a trip that he said was highly successful in solidifying the relationship with the Obama administration.
Tags: Netanyahu ,Obama ,Iran Nuclear threat ,Wikileaks
More on this topic
Comment on this story
3. Rabbi Druckman to Receive Israel Prize
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Leading nationalist religious Rabbi Chaim Druckman will receive the Israel Price for his contributions to society and education, Education Minister Gideon Saar announced Wednesday.
Rabbi Druckman, who heads the Bnei Akiva movement, was nominated by the Israel Price selection committee headed by retired High Court Justice Yaakov Turkel.
The rabbi was noted for his “special contributions to the society and to the country and for his work in the area of education and religious Zionist youth.”
He helped found the hesder yeshiva program, which combines Torah study with service in the IDF, and he founded the Ohr Etzion yeshiva, where students also learn the fundamentals of the military.
Rabbi Druckman, born in Poland in 1932, has worked for decades for “uniting the people of Israel,” the selection committee noted. He also has been active in absorbing immigrants from the former Soviet Bloc and from Ethiopia, and he heads a special rabbinical court for conversions.
He moved to pre-state Israel in 1944 after having been rescued from the Holocaust. Rabbi Druckman learned at the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem and was a leader in the establishment of the Gush Emunim movement that promoted a Jewish presence in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
He served in the Knesset but lost his position as Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs in 1982 for opposing the Camp David Accords in which Israel agreed to major concessions to the Palestinan Authority.
Comment on this story
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Leading nationalist religious Rabbi Chaim Druckman will receive the Israel Price for his contributions to society and education, Education Minister Gideon Saar announced Wednesday.
Rabbi Druckman, who heads the Bnei Akiva movement, was nominated by the Israel Price selection committee headed by retired High Court Justice Yaakov Turkel.
The rabbi was noted for his “special contributions to the society and to the country and for his work in the area of education and religious Zionist youth.”
He helped found the hesder yeshiva program, which combines Torah study with service in the IDF, and he founded the Ohr Etzion yeshiva, where students also learn the fundamentals of the military.
Rabbi Druckman, born in Poland in 1932, has worked for decades for “uniting the people of Israel,” the selection committee noted. He also has been active in absorbing immigrants from the former Soviet Bloc and from Ethiopia, and he heads a special rabbinical court for conversions.
He moved to pre-state Israel in 1944 after having been rescued from the Holocaust. Rabbi Druckman learned at the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem and was a leader in the establishment of the Gush Emunim movement that promoted a Jewish presence in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
He served in the Knesset but lost his position as Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs in 1982 for opposing the Camp David Accords in which Israel agreed to major concessions to the Palestinan Authority.
Tags: Israel Prize ,Rabbi Druckman ,hesder
More on this topic
Comment on this story
4. PA Arabs and Supporters Prepare for Marches on Israel
by Ernie Singer
The Jordan River Valley has been chosen by Arabs as a gathering point for a planned mass march on Israel at the end of the month. Violent attempts by Arabs to cross the Lebanese and Syrian borders took place in 2011 on the anniversaries of Israel's independence and the start of the Six Day war.
As part of preparations for the Muslim marches on Israel, plans were laid out at a conference in Jordan, according to the Intelligence and Terror Information Center (ITIC).
The convoy is scheduled to leave India on Friday and spend four days in Karachi, Pakistan. From there it will be flown to Iran, where it will tour for five days before making its way to Turkey, and then by boat to Beirut, where it is expected near the end of the month. The ITIC expects that the regime in Tehran will exploit the convoy's time there, as it has in the past, for a public relations campaign on its own behalf and slander against Israel and the West.
Sources in Judea, Samaria and Gaza say efforts have been made to recruit senior Palestinian Authority officials and activists in the effort. Khatem Al-Bitawi, a member of the Palestinian Authority Legislative Council and the Association of Muslim scholars, stressed that religious and national obligation require all Muslims and Arabs to protect the Al-Aksa mosque and liberate Jerusalem, and that these issues must be returned to the greater Arab and Muslim picture after having been reduced to a local issue.
ITIC also referred to a program broadcast on Al-Quds television - associated with Hamas - in which march spokesman Zahar Birawi, a Hamas activist in Britain, who called the march a "widespread popular process" which includes Israeli Arabs as well as residents of the Palestinian Authority. He called it a turning point in the nature of the struggle against Israel, which he said would be forced to deal with "millions of people".
In the ITIC's estimate, "Despite intensive preparations, it seems that organizers prefer at this time to lower expectations." They noted that the march's coordinator stressed that the event is not being called the "March of the Million" but the "World Jerusalem March" because it's important that the march is taking place with the participation of representatives of many countries around the world and the number of participants is less important.
Comment on this story
by Ernie Singer
The Jordan River Valley has been chosen by Arabs as a gathering point for a planned mass march on Israel at the end of the month. Violent attempts by Arabs to cross the Lebanese and Syrian borders took place in 2011 on the anniversaries of Israel's independence and the start of the Six Day war.
As part of preparations for the Muslim marches on Israel, plans were laid out at a conference in Jordan, according to the Intelligence and Terror Information Center (ITIC).
The convoy is scheduled to leave India on Friday and spend four days in Karachi, Pakistan. From there it will be flown to Iran, where it will tour for five days before making its way to Turkey, and then by boat to Beirut, where it is expected near the end of the month. The ITIC expects that the regime in Tehran will exploit the convoy's time there, as it has in the past, for a public relations campaign on its own behalf and slander against Israel and the West.
Sources in Judea, Samaria and Gaza say efforts have been made to recruit senior Palestinian Authority officials and activists in the effort. Khatem Al-Bitawi, a member of the Palestinian Authority Legislative Council and the Association of Muslim scholars, stressed that religious and national obligation require all Muslims and Arabs to protect the Al-Aksa mosque and liberate Jerusalem, and that these issues must be returned to the greater Arab and Muslim picture after having been reduced to a local issue.
ITIC also referred to a program broadcast on Al-Quds television - associated with Hamas - in which march spokesman Zahar Birawi, a Hamas activist in Britain, who called the march a "widespread popular process" which includes Israeli Arabs as well as residents of the Palestinian Authority. He called it a turning point in the nature of the struggle against Israel, which he said would be forced to deal with "millions of people".
In the ITIC's estimate, "Despite intensive preparations, it seems that organizers prefer at this time to lower expectations." They noted that the march's coordinator stressed that the event is not being called the "March of the Million" but the "World Jerusalem March" because it's important that the march is taking place with the participation of representatives of many countries around the world and the number of participants is less important.
Tags: Arabs ,Jerusalem ,Palestinian Authority
More on this topic
Comment on this story
5. Eldad: Why Did JNF Give in to Bedouin Land Thieves?
by Maayana Miskin
MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) is demanding to know why the Jewish National Fund (JNF) has stopped planting trees in the Negev following protests from Bedouin land thieves. In a letter to honorary JNF co-chairman Eli Aflalo, Eldad said the JNF’s inaction means it no longer has a purpose.
“I was shocked to read the article by [journalist] Kalman Liebskind on February 26. From the article I learned that, despite repeated court rulings in its favor, the JNF has decided to halt plantings in Arkib in the Negev,” Eldad wrote.
“As is known, these plantings were aimed at foresting the Negev and preventing illegal takeovers of national land by Arab criminals,” he added.
“We are already used to the fact that the JNF does not ‘redeem’ land in the land of Israel anymore. That is considered ‘un-PC [politically correct],'"Eldad said. “But if it turns out that the JNF is also avoiding carrying out its second purpose – foresting and protecting state lands – we will have no choice but to call on JNF donors around the world to give their donations elsewhere, to organizations that are not ashamed to be Zionist, and do not deny that the land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel.”
The JNF began planting trees south of the Bedouin city of Rahat in 1999. At that point, the Arkib area was uninhabited. After the planting began, a Bedouin family claimed ownership to the land, but their claims were rejected by courts.
In 2002, the family decided to establish an illegal outpost in Akrib to defend their claims. Courts continued to reject the claims, and termed residents of Akrib “invaders” with “no right [to the land] whatsoever.”
Liebskind recently revealed that the JNF had stopped planting trees near Arkib weeks earlier. The organization’s decision followed “ceaseless pressure from the extreme left, and lying propaganda and incitement worldwide,” he said.
“Courts approved the plantings… regional prosecutors confirmed that the work is legal, but the JNF prefers not to fight,” Liebskind wrote.
Pressure on the JNF was led by prominent Israeli leftists like Shulamit Aloni and A.B. Yehoshua and was picked up by foreign organizations such as Amnesty International, he said. “The propaganda pushed by our Israel Prize winners and ‘humanities’ leaders ran across the world like a brushfire. If Shulamit Aloni does not care what the facts are, there’s no reason that German human rights activists or United Nations representatives should care either.”
Comment on this story
by Maayana Miskin
MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) is demanding to know why the Jewish National Fund (JNF) has stopped planting trees in the Negev following protests from Bedouin land thieves. In a letter to honorary JNF co-chairman Eli Aflalo, Eldad said the JNF’s inaction means it no longer has a purpose.
“I was shocked to read the article by [journalist] Kalman Liebskind on February 26. From the article I learned that, despite repeated court rulings in its favor, the JNF has decided to halt plantings in Arkib in the Negev,” Eldad wrote.
“As is known, these plantings were aimed at foresting the Negev and preventing illegal takeovers of national land by Arab criminals,” he added.
“We are already used to the fact that the JNF does not ‘redeem’ land in the land of Israel anymore. That is considered ‘un-PC [politically correct],'"Eldad said. “But if it turns out that the JNF is also avoiding carrying out its second purpose – foresting and protecting state lands – we will have no choice but to call on JNF donors around the world to give their donations elsewhere, to organizations that are not ashamed to be Zionist, and do not deny that the land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel.”
The JNF began planting trees south of the Bedouin city of Rahat in 1999. At that point, the Arkib area was uninhabited. After the planting began, a Bedouin family claimed ownership to the land, but their claims were rejected by courts.
In 2002, the family decided to establish an illegal outpost in Akrib to defend their claims. Courts continued to reject the claims, and termed residents of Akrib “invaders” with “no right [to the land] whatsoever.”
Liebskind recently revealed that the JNF had stopped planting trees near Arkib weeks earlier. The organization’s decision followed “ceaseless pressure from the extreme left, and lying propaganda and incitement worldwide,” he said.
“Courts approved the plantings… regional prosecutors confirmed that the work is legal, but the JNF prefers not to fight,” Liebskind wrote.
Pressure on the JNF was led by prominent Israeli leftists like Shulamit Aloni and A.B. Yehoshua and was picked up by foreign organizations such as Amnesty International, he said. “The propaganda pushed by our Israel Prize winners and ‘humanities’ leaders ran across the world like a brushfire. If Shulamit Aloni does not care what the facts are, there’s no reason that German human rights activists or United Nations representatives should care either.”
Tags: JNF ,Liebskind ,Aryeh Eldad ,Bedouin
More on this topic
-
IDF Kills Terrorist in Sinai Border Shootout -
Bedouin Blood Feud Leads to Murder in Northern Negev
-
Bedouin Kidnap 18 Egyptian Soldiers Near Border with Israel
-
Eldad Vows Filibuster Over Security Services Law
-
Kibbutz, Bedouin Tribe Rallies at Egyptian Embassy in Tel Aviv
-
Bill: Ask Social Worker before Evicting Bedouins
Comment on this story
6. Savior of Hundreds of Jews Dies at the Age of 91
by Rachel Hirshfeld
Tina Strobos, a Dutch woman who rescued more than 100 Jews during the Holocaust, passed away, on February 27 at the age of 91, at her home in Rye, N.Y.
Strobos, who died of cancer, was honored as “righteous among the nations” by the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem in 1989.
Executive Director of the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center in White Plains, N.Y., Donna Cohen said that to save one person “was an extraordinary feat,” but Dr. Strobos, who saved dozens, was “the ultimate rescuer.”
Yad Vashem documented that about 80 percent of the 140,000 Jewish residents of Holland were murdered at the hands of the Nazis.
Anne Frank, the teenage girl whose diary came to symbolize the story of countless Jews who were forced into hiding in an attempt to escape the Nazis, hid with her family in an Amsterdam attic just blocks away from Dr. Strobos’s home.
Dr. Strobos maintained a life long regret for not being able to help Anne Frank. “If I knew they were there, I would have gotten them out of the country,” she said.
The Washington Post reported that, “In the beginning, she worked primarily on arming and equipping the resistance fighters. She ran guns, explosives and radios, sometimes hiding them in her bicycle basket during journeys of 50 miles. But as armed resistance became increasingly dangerous, she turned her efforts to helping her Jewish friends and, later, others seeking a way out of the country.”
As the situation in the Netherlands became more dire, Dr. Strobos and her mother turned their three-story home, which was just behind the Royal Palace of Amsterdam, into a Jewish shelter and provided their guests with food and medical care as well as falsepassports.
The Talmudic saying, "Whoever saves a single soul, it is as if he had saved the entire world," may best articulate the heroic life of Dr. Strobos and the memory she will leave behind.
Comment on this story
by Rachel Hirshfeld
Tina Strobos, a Dutch woman who rescued more than 100 Jews during the Holocaust, passed away, on February 27 at the age of 91, at her home in Rye, N.Y.
Strobos, who died of cancer, was honored as “righteous among the nations” by the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem in 1989.
Executive Director of the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center in White Plains, N.Y., Donna Cohen said that to save one person “was an extraordinary feat,” but Dr. Strobos, who saved dozens, was “the ultimate rescuer.”
Yad Vashem documented that about 80 percent of the 140,000 Jewish residents of Holland were murdered at the hands of the Nazis.
Anne Frank, the teenage girl whose diary came to symbolize the story of countless Jews who were forced into hiding in an attempt to escape the Nazis, hid with her family in an Amsterdam attic just blocks away from Dr. Strobos’s home.
Dr. Strobos maintained a life long regret for not being able to help Anne Frank. “If I knew they were there, I would have gotten them out of the country,” she said.
The Washington Post reported that, “In the beginning, she worked primarily on arming and equipping the resistance fighters. She ran guns, explosives and radios, sometimes hiding them in her bicycle basket during journeys of 50 miles. But as armed resistance became increasingly dangerous, she turned her efforts to helping her Jewish friends and, later, others seeking a way out of the country.”
As the situation in the Netherlands became more dire, Dr. Strobos and her mother turned their three-story home, which was just behind the Royal Palace of Amsterdam, into a Jewish shelter and provided their guests with food and medical care as well as falsepassports.
The Talmudic saying, "Whoever saves a single soul, it is as if he had saved the entire world," may best articulate the heroic life of Dr. Strobos and the memory she will leave behind.
Tags: Holocaust ,Jews ,Righteous Gentile
More on this topic
-
Hacker Group ‘Anonymous’ Threatens AIPAC
-
Fast Day in Memory of Esther’s ‘Life-Threatening Request’
-
Korean Jewish Community Welcomes First Torah Scroll
-
Billboards Calling G-d a "Myth" to Appear in Williamsburg
-
Italian Daily: Holocaust "The Greatest Lie of Modern Times"
-
Veteran Nazi Hunter Nominated to Run for German Presidency
Comment on this story
7. Obama Comes Out Swinging at GOP on Iran
by Gavriel Queenann
President Obama came out swinging and took his Republican presidential rivals to task on Tuesday for talking “casually” about going to war with Iran.
“What is said on the campaign trail — those folks don’t have a lot of responsibilities,” Obama told reporters on Tuesday. “They are not commander in chief. When I see the casualness with which those folks talk about war, I am reminded of the costs involved in war.”
“When we have [made decisions to go to war] in the past, when we haven’t thought it through, and it gets caught up in politics, we make mistakes,” Obama said. “And it’s not usually the people popping off who pay the price. It’s these incredible men and women in uniform who pay the price.”
Speaking hours after GOP candidates put his Iran policy in the crosshairs at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Obama said, “Those who are suggesting or proposing or beating the drums of war should explain clearly to the American people what they think the costs and benefits would be.”
“It’s also not just a question of interests to Israel if Israel acts prematurely,” he said. “Any time we consider military action — the American people understand — there’s going to be a price to pay. Sometimes it’s necessary. But we don’t do it casually.”
Analysts say Obama’s first White House news conference since October was aimed at ensuring he was not eclipsed by the GOP on Iran as the Democratic National Committee worries over Obama's poor Israel record and the Jewish vote.
Jewish voters are traditionally strongly pro-Israel and, while only constituting a small percentage of America's popular vote, are concentrated in key electoral states where previous elections have been contested, or won by mere thousands of votes.
The president's other press conference topics — immigration, women’s health, and housing — were eclipsed by by questions over his management of Israel, Iran, and the daunting prospect of a Middle East war.
The press conference followed Obama's weekend address to AIPAC, and an Oval Office meeting Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who asserted Israel's sovereign right to self defense in the face of Obama's attempts to dissuade an Israeli attack.
Obama's comments on Iran likely underscored his own concerns that an Israeli strike on Iran could trigger a chain of events in the Middle East that could cost him his bid for reelection.
Comment on this story
by Gavriel Queenann
President Obama came out swinging and took his Republican presidential rivals to task on Tuesday for talking “casually” about going to war with Iran.
“What is said on the campaign trail — those folks don’t have a lot of responsibilities,” Obama told reporters on Tuesday. “They are not commander in chief. When I see the casualness with which those folks talk about war, I am reminded of the costs involved in war.”
“When we have [made decisions to go to war] in the past, when we haven’t thought it through, and it gets caught up in politics, we make mistakes,” Obama said. “And it’s not usually the people popping off who pay the price. It’s these incredible men and women in uniform who pay the price.”
Speaking hours after GOP candidates put his Iran policy in the crosshairs at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Obama said, “Those who are suggesting or proposing or beating the drums of war should explain clearly to the American people what they think the costs and benefits would be.”
“It’s also not just a question of interests to Israel if Israel acts prematurely,” he said. “Any time we consider military action — the American people understand — there’s going to be a price to pay. Sometimes it’s necessary. But we don’t do it casually.”
Analysts say Obama’s first White House news conference since October was aimed at ensuring he was not eclipsed by the GOP on Iran as the Democratic National Committee worries over Obama's poor Israel record and the Jewish vote.
Jewish voters are traditionally strongly pro-Israel and, while only constituting a small percentage of America's popular vote, are concentrated in key electoral states where previous elections have been contested, or won by mere thousands of votes.
The president's other press conference topics — immigration, women’s health, and housing — were eclipsed by by questions over his management of Israel, Iran, and the daunting prospect of a Middle East war.
The press conference followed Obama's weekend address to AIPAC, and an Oval Office meeting Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who asserted Israel's sovereign right to self defense in the face of Obama's attempts to dissuade an Israeli attack.
Obama's comments on Iran likely underscored his own concerns that an Israeli strike on Iran could trigger a chain of events in the Middle East that could cost him his bid for reelection.
Tags: Barack Obama ,GOP ,US Election 2012 ,AIPAC ,Iran ,Iran Nuclear Program
More on this topic
Comment on this story
8. Video: Soldiers, Dogs and Robots in Urban Warfare
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
A new IDF video shows the elite “Yahalom” urban combat unit preparing for battle with the help of dogs and robots that help reduce the danger from terrorists.
Military officers from the United States and other countries have visited and trained at the urban combat center to learn how to cope with the new battlefield of urban areas used by terrorists.
The Yahalom unit, the Hebrew term for “diamond,” uses the latest tools available to deal with sabotage, bomb disposal and the threat from tunnels used by terrorists. The intensive training course lasts for 16 months before they are considered prepared for maneuvers in the field.
The unit is involved in many classified activities, including preventing terrorist attacks and weapons smuggling in the area along the Israel-Egypt border.
Last month, Yahalom soldiers neutralized a powerful explosive device in the border region.
Comment on this story
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
A new IDF video shows the elite “Yahalom” urban combat unit preparing for battle with the help of dogs and robots that help reduce the danger from terrorists.
Military officers from the United States and other countries have visited and trained at the urban combat center to learn how to cope with the new battlefield of urban areas used by terrorists.
The Yahalom unit, the Hebrew term for “diamond,” uses the latest tools available to deal with sabotage, bomb disposal and the threat from tunnels used by terrorists. The intensive training course lasts for 16 months before they are considered prepared for maneuvers in the field.
The unit is involved in many classified activities, including preventing terrorist attacks and weapons smuggling in the area along the Israel-Egypt border.
Last month, Yahalom soldiers neutralized a powerful explosive device in the border region.
Tags: IDF ,urban warfare ,robots
More on this topic
Comment on this story
More Website News:
 |
Knesset Says No to Natural Growth in Judea and Samaria  |
|
|
Gingrich Vows to Replace Iran's Regime |
|
|
Panetta on Iran: 'We Will Act If We Have To' |
|
|
Santorum: Obama Turned His Back on Israel |
|
|
While Santorum Performed Credibly, Super Tuesday Helped Romney |
