Barack Obama -- Israel

Obama v Israel

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Obama is no friend of Israel

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Obama Says No To Israel

Jim Hoft says that Obama has refused all Israeli military requests since entering office in 2009, reminding us that last week Obama refused to have his picture taken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. There were reports that he refused to dine with Netanyahu, too. But, his angst against Israel does not stop there.

The World Tribune reported that officials said the U.S. Defense Department and Israeli Defense Ministry concluded an agreement that would enable the sale of at least three C-130J Super Hercules aircraft to Israel.

They said the agreement was signed in Washington on March 24 but has not been announced.

"There is a signed agreement," an official said. "The announcement requires a political decision."

Under the accord, Israel would be able to purchase three C-130Js from manufacturer Lockheed Martin. The agreement called for an option of another six air transports for a total value of $1.9 billion. The Israeli request for the Super Hercules had been approved by the administration of then-President George W. Bush in 2007.

The administration of President Barack Obama has refused to approve any of Israel’s military requests since it entered office in January 2009. The Pentagon did not announce any weapons contracts to Israel over the last 14 months.

Israel was expected to receive its first C-130J in 2013, officials said. They said the next step would be to sign a contract with Lockheed Martin, which has been processing requests from such Middle East countries as Iraq, Oman and Tunisia.

Obama Administration Won't Rule Out Firing on Israeli Jets

Jim Hoft draws our attention to another warning -- the Obama Administration won't rule out firing on Israeli jets if Iran is attacked.

America's top military officer wouldn't rule the possibility today of U.S. forces firing on Israeli jets, if Israel launched a pre-emptive strike on Iran.

In a town hall on the campus of the University of West Virginia, a young Air Force ROTC cadet asked Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen to respond to a "rumor." If Israel decided to attack Iran, the speculation went, those jet would need to fly through Iraqi airspace to reach their targets. That airspace is considered a "no-fly" zone by the American military. So might U.S. troops shoot down the Israeli jets, the airmen asked the chairman, if they breached that airspace?

Mullen tried to sidestep the question. "We have an exceptionally strong relationship with Israel. I've spent a lot of time with my counterpart in Israel. So we also have a very clear understanding of where we are. And beyond that, I just wouldn't get into the speculation of what might happen and who might do what. I don't think it serves a purpose, frankly," he said. "I am hopeful that this will be resolved in a way where we never have to answer a question like that."

This isn't the first time we've heard this.

Last September, Zbigniew Brzezinski, former foreign adviser to US president Jimmy Carter and current advisor to Barack Obama, called for the US to shoot down Israeli jets.

Netanyahu To Obama: Pound Sand

Ed Morrissey says Benjamin Netanyahu delivered an unequivocal message to the Obama administration this morning, rejecting completely a call from Barack Obama to stop building settlements in Jerusalem. The rejection creates a standoff between the two traditional allies in the region and all but halts Obama's efforts to force Israel back to the bargaining table (via JWF):

Aides to Israel's prime minister said Thursday that he has officially rejected Barack Obama's demand to suspend all construction in contested east Jerusalem, a move that threatens to entrench a year-old deadlock in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.

The aides said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered his government's position to Obama over the weekend, ahead of the scheduled arrival later Thursday of Obama's special Mideast envoy, George Mitchell. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the contact between the two leaders was private.

Washington had put Mitchell's shuttle diplomacy on hold for more than a month as it awaited a reply from Israel. Aides to Netanyahu provided no information on whether the Israeli leader had offered any other concessions to the Palestinians in an effort to restart the long-stalled talks.

The AP sounds almost disbelieving in reporting this, adding in this odd paragraph:

But with Israel eager to ease tensions with its closest and most important ally, it appeared likely the Jewish state tempered its rejection with other confidence building gestures toward the Palestinians.

Really? "It appeared likely" isn't even rumor-mongering. It's complete fantasy by the writer. Nothing in the article reports on "gestures," confidence-building or otherwise, and AP reporter Amy Teibel doesn't provide even an anonymous source for the reporting. It's nonsensical spin aimed at somehow keeping this from becoming an abject diplomatic failure by Barack Obama.

Netanyahu just taught Obama a lesson, which is that a nation that has been surrounded by terrorists and other enemies for decades isn't going to be intimidated by an Ivory Tower academic, even if he sits in the Oval Office. After Obama's shameful treatment of Netanyahu on his visit to Washington DC, he could hardly have expected any better response. Instead of cowing Netanyahu into submission, Obama has alienated him -- and as a side effect, made Netanyahu more popular at home because of it.

That's what makes Teibel's reporting so disingenuous. If Netanyahu was so eager to "ease tensions" with Obama, he would have found some sort of face-saving compromise for his ally. Instead, Netanyahu just told Obama to pound sand.

Related: Poll -- 65 percent of Americans disagree with how Obama is handling Israel according to a Quinnipiac University survey.

PLO Wants Obama To "Impose" Solution

Sweetness & Light is reporting that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged the Obama administration on Saturday to impose a solution to the Middle East conflict that would give his people an independent state.

"Mr. President (Barack Obama) and members of the American administration, since you believe in this (an independent Palestinian state), it is your duty to take steps toward a solution and to impose this solution," Abbas said in a speech.

Abbas made the remarks to members of his Fatah party in the West Bank city of Ramallah a day after talks there with Obama's Middle East envoy.

"We've asked them (the Obama administration) more than once: 'Impose a solution'," Abbas said.

Abbas's appeal to Obama came amid widespread media reports that he was considering floating a proposal that would set the contours of a final peace deal.

Any such move would likely be opposed by Israel, which says only negotiations can secure a final settlement to the conflict.

Obama has been sharply at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, land Palestinians want for their state, and in East Jerusalem, which Abbas wants as a future capital.

Signals Of Weakness

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) said Tuesday that Barack Obama has encouraged Israel’s enemies by sending "signals of weakness" in the U.S. commitment to its ally.

"We have to ask if the Obama administration remains committed to the state of Israel and the right of Israel to exist and defend herself," Bachmann told POLITICO. "The Obama administration, through its word and its actions, has been sending the world mixed signals at best."

Bachmann’s criticism came a day after a raid by Israeli commandos aboard a ship headed for Gaza turned violent. Nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed, prompting condemnation of the raid by Turkey and other Islamic countries.

After reviewing a video tape, Bachmann insisted that the commandos who dropped onto the ship from helicopters were attacked by the activists. "Yet, Israel is being called upon to apologize," she said.

While the incident sparked outrage around the world, the administration has been cautious in its response -- which Bachmann argued sends an unmistakable signal of its own.

Obama has demonstrated "less than clear, full support for the state of Israel," Bachmann said. "Now Israel’s detractors act as though Israel has no friends. … It’s more important now than ever that the Obama administration and the United States are committed to the state of Israel."

"It appears that from the time the Obama administration came into office they have been stepping away from Israel," she said.

Bachmann pointed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s March visit to the White House, where he was perceived to have been coolly received by Obama, as a key moment in the deteriorating relationship between the two countries.

"Some of those signals haven’t gone unnoticed by Israel’s detractors and aggressors. Those signals of weakness in coming to Israel’s defense will only lead to further aggression," the congresswoman said. "That hasn’t led to peace. That was an unwise decision, and I think this weekend shows how that has played out."

"Peace Activists" Were Al Qaeda Mercenaries

Jonatan Urich says that in a special meeting of the Israeli Security Cabinet it was disclosed that a group of 40 people on board the Mavi Marmara with no identification papers belong to Al Qaeda.

According to intelligence disclosed during that meeting, the terrorists wore bullet-proof vests, and carried with them night-vision goggles, weapons, and a package of cash. While the civilian protestors were sent to the lower deck during the Shayetet Naval Special Force's interception of the ship, the group divided into cells and remained on the upper deck in order to attack the soldiers.

An announcement delivered at the completion of this special meeting stated that blocking the entrance of these ships into Gaza is an act of self defense. The Cabinet places full responsibility for the incident on those who started the violence which clearly endangered the lives of the IDF soldiers, and commends the IDF for the way it responded. The meeting on this subject will continue on Wednesday (June 2).

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during the meeting that he regrets all loss of life, but gives full support to the IDF. "This was not a flotilla for peace, but instead was a violent and organized force. We have films and photographs which show what our soldiers faced, but the last thing that can be said about this ship is that it was a flotilla of peace," he said.

"We know from the experience of Operation Cast Lead, and beforehand, that weapons entering the Gaza Strip are used against our civilians. Within Gaza there is a terror state aided by Iran, and therefore we attempt to prevent the entering of weapons to Gaza by land, air and sea. On the Francop ship alone we caught approximately 200 tons of weapons which were smuggled by Iran to Hezbollah," he added.

The Prime Minister emphasized that "Opening a maritime channel to Gaza will present a grave danger to the security of our civilians. Therefore we are upholding the policies of the maritime blockade, and check the ships. There is no possibility to establish these policies without checking the contents of the ships. It is true that there is international pressure on and criticism of this policy, but we must understand that it is necessary in order to ensure the security of Israel and her right to self defense."

Obama To Netanyahu: Go Home

Hillel Fendel says that in the hubbub surrounding the "battle of the flotilla," Netanyahu’s quick reversal of his decision to remain in the United States has been largely ignored. It turns out that Obama told him to leave because he didn’t want Netanyahu to use the White House as a stage on which to present Israel’s side of the story.

The flotilla violence caught Netanyahu in the midst of a diplomatic trip to North America. He was in the Canadian capital of Ottawa at the time, about to leave for Washington for a meeting with Barack Obama. The meeting was to have been a way for Obama to make up for the humiliation he dealt Netanyahu on his last visit, when he refused to be seen with the Israeli leader in public.

Netanyahu announced immediately after the flotilla news broke that he would remain in North America and would meet with Obama as scheduled. However, within minutes after media reported Netanyahu would continue with his trip as scheduled, he abruptly announced a change of plan and set off immediately for Israel to "deal with the flotilla crisis."

Behind the scenes, it was Obama officials who caused the turnabout. Globes cites sources in both Jerusalem and Washington who say that Obama officials gave a clear message to Netanyahu’s people: "Don’t come."

Officials in both Washington and Jerusalem deny that this was the case.

Some sources said that it was precisely the high-profile nature of the visit that scared the Americans. The White House did not wish Obama to be seen sharing the stage with the leader of the country that was under international attack for having "attacked peace activists."

Netanyahu, for his part, was looking forward to explaining to the world from Washington that the violent activists on the boat in question were "terror activists" with ties to Hamas and Al-Qaeda, who attempted to lynch the minimally-armed soldiers as they rappelled down down their helicopter.

Obama's actions, or lack thereof, are setting the stage for war in the Near East, Iran, and the Koreas. He's a pushover, and our enemies know it.

Birds Of A feather

John Hinderaker says Helen Thomas has been a White House correspondent for decades; how many decades, I can't even guess. She is a hard-core left-winger who thinks Barack Obama is nowhere near radical enough. She is also, frankly, an idiot, and has been humored by White House press secretaries for about as long as I have been alive.

Thomas revealed her lunacy once again last week, when she confided that Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and go "home" to Germany and Poland. Click the image to view the video; as usual, Thomas gives hags a bad name.

Someone should remind the old Arab that there ain't no such place as "Palestine."

Obama’s Flotilla, Obama’s War

Gary Bauer says the flotilla of boats intercepted by Israel this week flew the Turkish flag and was paid for by a "charity" deeply implicated in Islamic terrorism. But the "captain" of the fleet was none other than Barack Obama.

From the day he took the oath of office eighteen arduous months ago, Obama has followed a Middle East foreign policy that’s been as hostile toward Israel as it’s been hospitable toward the Islamic world.

Over those months Obama has seldom showed anger toward rogue Muslim governments -- not toward the appalling human rights abuses of the genocidal Bashir regime in Sudan. Not toward the government of Iran as it pursues its nuclear weapons program.

Obama refused "to meddle" in Iran’s affairs after the deadly crackdown against protestors following the Islamic Republic’s sham elections. But he was described as "seething" with anger only moments after hearing about a routine decision by Jerusalem’s municipal government to authorize housing units in a well established Jewish neighborhood.

The administration’s latest betrayal of Israel came a couple days before the flotilla episode, when the U.S. joined an international conference that singled out Israel -- not Iran -- to renounce its nuclear weapons.

From Tehran to Ankara, from Damascus to Beirut, radical Islamists have read the signals as well. They see Obama as weak and they know he feels no bond with Israel. They sense opportunity. That is why missiles are being launched from Gaza again, why Hezbollah says it is yearning for war, why Syria has rejected every U.S. overture and why Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatens a second Holocaust.

"Mr. Obama, you are a newcomer. Wait until your sweat dries and get some experience," Ahmadinejad taunted Obama ahead of his nuclear summit in D. C. two months ago.

Obama’s "It’s-Better-To-Be-Loved-Than-Feared" foreign policy also explains why Turkey, a U.S. ally and NATO member, allowed the flotilla to be launched. Did Obama even try to convince Turkey to stop the ships? Did he object when Turkey signed a nuclear deal with Iran two weeks ago?

No.

Continue reading here . . .

Investigate This

From Scott at PowerLine blog: Bill Kristol reports that senior Obama administration officials have been telling foreign governments that the administration intends to support an effort next week at the United Nations to set up an independent commission, under UN auspices, to investigate Israel's behavior in the Gaza flotilla incident. Bill comments that the White House has apparently shrugged off concerns from elsewhere in the U.S. government that: a) this is an extraordinary singling out of Israel, since all kinds of much worse incidents happen around the world without spurring UN investigations; b) that the investigation will be one-sided, focusing entirely on Israeli behavior and not on Turkey or on Hamas; and c) that this sets a terrible precedent for outside investigations of incidents involving U.S. troops or intelligence operatives as we conduct our own war on terror. The Obama administration is once again demonstrating its unerring instinct for opposing friends and supporting enemies.

Kristol's report comes just as Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed Israel's representatives the world over that there were never any humanitarian supplies or equipment aboard the Mavi Marmara, where Israeli commandos were ambushed by armed mercenaries posing as peace activists. Of related interest are the videotaped statements of two Mavi Marmara crew members showing that preparations for a violent confrontation with IDF forces were put in motion about two hours before the boarding began, when the Israeli Navy hailed the ship and told it to halt; according to the statements, the atmosphere aboard the Mavi Marmara; IHH operatives on the main deck were cutting the ship's railings with metal disks they had brought with them into lengths suitable to be used as clubs.

Despite outward appearances, the Obama administration is not clueless. It has plenty of clues. Let's just say now is a good time to meditate further on Dorothy Rabinowitz's Wall Street Journal column on "The alien in the White House."

UPDATE: The Standard has posted the White House response to Kristol's report here. Senators Reid and McConnell have in addition circulated a joint letter to Obama for signature by their colleagues. The letter raises the role of the IHH in the incident and recommends investigation of the IHH for inclusion among the designated state sponsors of terror. The letter further states: "[W]e 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 [such as the UN Human Rights Council's] from passing."