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It is hard to believe, but it appears that in the wake of the Palestinian unity deal that brings Hamas, the genocidal, al-Qaida-aligned, local franchise of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, into a partnership with Fatah, US President Barack Obama has decided to open a new round of pressure on Israel to give away its land and national rights to the Palestinians. It is hard to believe that this is the case. But apparently it is.
On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that while Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is in Washington next week, and before the premier has a chance to give his scheduled address to a joint session of Congress, Obama will give a new speech to the Arab world. In that speech, Obama will praise the populist movements that have risen up against Arab tyrannies and embrace them as the model for the future. As for Israel, the report claimed that the Obama administration is still trying to decide whether the time is right to put the screws on Israel once more.
On the one hand, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes told the Journal that Arab leaders are clamoring for a new US initiative to force Israel to make new concessions. Joining this supposed clamor are the administration-allied pro-Palestinian lobby J Street, and the administration-allied New York Times.
On the other hand, the Netanyahu government and Congress are calling for a US aid cutoff to the Palestinian Authority. With Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization, now partnering with Fatah in governing the PA, it is illegal for the US government to continue to have anything to do with the PA. Both the Netanyahu government and senior members of the House and Senate are arguing forcefully that there is no way for Israel to make peace with the Palestinians now, and that the US must abandon its efforts to force the sides to sign an agreement.
The Israeli and congressional arguments are certainly compelling. But the signals emanating from the White House and its allied media indicate that Obama is ready to plough forward in spite of them. With the new international security credibility he earned by overseeing the successful assassination of Osama bin Laden, Obama apparently believes that he can withstand congressional pressure and make the case for demanding that Israel surrender Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria to Hamas and its partners in Fatah.
THE SIGNALS that Obama is setting his sights on coercing Israel into agreeing to surrender its capital and heartland to Hamas and its partners in Fatah came in three forms this week. First, administration officials are trying to lower the bar that Hamas needs to pass in order to be considered a legitimate political force.
After Fatah and Hamas signed their first unity deal in March 2007, the US and its colleagues in the so-called Middle East Quartet - Russia, the EU and the UN - set three conditions that Hamas needed to meet to be accepted by them as legitimate. It needed to recognize Israel's right to exist, agree to respect existing agreements with Israel, and renounce terrorism.
These are not difficult conditions. Fatah is perceived as having met them even though it is still a terrorist organization and its leaders refuse to accept Israel's right to exist and refuse to abide by any of the major commitments they took upon themselves in precious agreements with Israel. Hamas could easily follow Fatah's lead.
But Hamas refuses. So, speaking to Washington Post columnist David Ignatius two weeks ago, administration officials lowered the bar.
They said Hamas had made major concessions to Fatah in their agreement because it agreed to accept provisions of the 2009 unity deal drafted by the Mubarak government that it rejected two year ago and because Hamas agreed that the unity government will be manned by "technocrats" rather than terrorists.
Even if these contentions are true, they are completely ridiculous. In point of fact, all the 2009 agreement says is that Hamas will refrain from demanding to join the US-trained and funded Fatah army in Judea and Samaria. As for the "technocratic" government, who does the Obama administration think will control these "technocrats"? And as to the truth of these contentions, in an interview last week with the New York Times, Hamas terror-master Khaled Mashal denied that he had agreed to the terms of the 2009 agreement.
Indeed, he said that Fatah agreed to add annexes to the agreement reflecting Hamas's positions.
The second pitch the administration and its friends have adopted ahead of Obama's address next week is that Hamas has become more moderate or may become more moderate.
Robert Malley, who in the past advised Obama's presidential campaign, made this argument last week in an op-ed in the Washington Post. Malley claimed that by joining the government, Hamas will be more moved by US pressure. A New York Times editorial last Saturday argued that Hamas may have moderated, and even if it hasn't, "Washington needs to press Mr. Netanyahu back to the peace table."
Adding their voices to the din, Middle Eastern leaders like Amr Moussa, the frontrunner to serve as Egypt's next president, and Turkish Prime Minister Recip Erdogan, have given interviews to the US media this week in which they denied that Hamas is even a terrorist organization.
Here it is important to note that none of the administration's statements about the Hamas- Fatah deal and none of the media coverage related to it have included any mention of the fact that Hamas deliberately murders entire families and targets children specifically. No one mentions last month's Hamas guided rocket attack which deliberately targeted an Israeli school bus. Hamas murdered 16-year-old Daniel Viflic in that attack. No one has mentioned the café massacres, the bus bombings, the university campus massacres, the breaking into homes massacres, the Passover Seder massacres Hamas has carried out and bragged about in recent years. No one has mentioned that when seen as a portion of the population, Hamas has killed far more Israelis than al-Qaida has killed Americans.
The final pitch the administration and its surrogates are making is that the deal needs to be seen as part of the overall regional shift towards popular rule. This pitch too is difficult to make.
After all, the first casualty of the Arab world's shift towards popular rule is the 30-year-old Camp David peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. Now that Egypt's citizens have gotten rid of US-ally Hosni Mubarak, they have committed themselves to getting rid of the peace he upheld with Israel throughout his long reign.
Again, despite the difficulties, the Obama administration is clearly willing to make the case. Regarding Egypt, they argue that the Muslim Brotherhood's rise to power is a good. This was the point of Obama's Passover and Israel Independence Day messages.
As for the regional shift, the fact that Obama reportedly intends to place the so-called Palestinian- Israeli peace process into the regional context signals that he sees potential for an agreement between Israel and Syria as well. His advisers telegraphed this view to Ignatius.
Obama's advisers made the unlikely argument that if Syrian leader Bashar Assad survives the popular demonstrations calling for his overthrow, he will feel compelled to distance his regime from Iran because his Sunni-majority population has been critical of his alliance with the Shi'ite mullocracy.
This argument is unlikely given that the same officials recognize that if Assad survives, he will owe his regime's survival to Iran. As they reminded Ignatius, US intelligence officials reported last month that Iran has "secretly supplied Assad with tear gas, anti-riot gear and other tools of suppression."
WHAT IS perhaps most remarkable about Obama's apparent plan to use the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt as an excuse for a new round of diplomatic warfare against Israel is how poorly coordinated his steps have been with the PLO-Fatah. Mahmoud Abbas and his predecessor Yasser Arafat always viewed the US obsession with getting the Arabs and Israel to sign peace treaties as a strategic asset. Anytime they wanted to weaken Israel, they just needed to sound the fake peace drum loudly enough to get the White House's attention. US presidents looking for the opportunity to "make history" were always ready to take their bait.
Unlike his predecessors, Obama's interest in the Palestinians is not opportunistic. He is a true believer. And because of his deep-seated commitment to the Palestinians, his policies are even more radically anti-Israel than the PLO-Fatah's. It was Obama, not Abbas, who demanded that Jews be barred from building anything in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. It is the Obama administration, not the PLO-Fatah, that is leading the charge to embrace the Muslim Brotherhood.
Like his belated move to demand a permanent abrogation of Jewish property rights in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, Abbas arguably embraced Hamas because Obama left him no choice. He has no interest in making peace with Israel, so the only thing he can do under the circumstances Obama has created is embrace Hamas. He can't be less pro-Islamic than the US president.
ALL OF this brings us to Netanyahu and his trip to Washington next week. Obviously Obama's decision to upstage the premier with his new outreach-to-the-Arab-world speech will make Netanyahu's visit more challenging than it was already going to be.
Obama is clearly betting that by moving first, he will be able to coerce Netanyahu to make still more concessions of land and principles.
Certainly, Netanyahu's earlier decisions to cave in to Obama's pressure with his acceptance of Palestinian statehood and his subsequent acceptance of a Jewish building freeze give Obama good reason to believe he can back Netanyahu into a corner. Defense Minister Ehud Barak's hysterical warnings about a diplomatic "tsunami" at the UN in September if Israel fails to capitulate to Obama today no doubt add to Obama's sense that he can expect Netanyahu to dance to his drums, no matter how hostile the beat.
But Netanyahu doesn't have to give in. He can stick to his guns and defend the country. He can continue on the correct path he has forged of repeating the truth about Hamas. He can warn about the growing threat of Egypt. He can describe the Iranian-supported butchery Assad is carrying out against his own people and note that a regime that murders its own will not make peace with the Jewish state. And he can point out the fact that as a capitalist, liberal democracy which protects the lives and property of its citizens, Israel is the only stable country in the region and the US's only reliable regional ally.
True, if Netanyahu does these things, he will not win himself any friends in the White House.
But he never had a chance of winning Obama and his advisers over anyway. He will empower Israel's allies in Congress, though. And more importantly, whether he is loved or hated in Washington, if Netanyahu does these things, he will be able to return home to Jerusalem with the sure knowledge that he earned his salary this month.
Originally published in The Jerusalem Post
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You're still vainly hoping Netanyahu has a spine. He'll hem and haw and offer further relaxed inspection of goods going into Gaza and release the frozen funds to the PA.
WHAT IS perhaps most remarkable about Obama’s apparent plan is that Israel still can't cut the umbilical cord.
Nobody in Jerusalem is capable of ending the farce at this late hour.
The doomed marriage does not end well but end it will.
Caroline, you’ve lost your focus and are hopelessly tangled in the details.
I see that you have diligently gathered data to prove your point. But you miss the BIGGEST POINT OF ALL: That the US, the UK and other countries have failed to abide by their own agreements dating back to the League of Nations.
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The OFFICE FOR ISRAELI CONSTITUTIONAL LAW (Justice Now for Israel) website has a compilation of legal documents from the time of the League of Nations supporting the present Israeli borders.
It includes some very interesting legal agreements that the US and the UK are violating right now, as they make demands for the further shrinking of the state of Israel.
http://www.justicenow4israel.com/
Also, let's not forget that the League of Nations’ successor, the United Nations, is legally bound by the League of Nations' previous agreements.
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Instead of getting lost in the myriad of post-1967 agreements and Arab non-compliance, I beg you Caroline to step back and take a look at the BIG PICTURE.
Israel is being defrauded and it is wrong to scrutinize the fraudulent papers without emphatically publicizing the much greater principle of Israel’s legal right to the land according to earlier international documentation.
This comment is directed to you, Caroline, because your analytical capabilities and honesty are widely respected. It’s time to call on the Israeli government to demand that the Meddling Powers and the UN itself abide by agreements from the early 20th century - still valid today.
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Israel just celebrated a new anniversary of its independence and many of us wonder, What independence? What is there to celebrate when Israelis cannot make their own decisions, implement national policies, or assert their sovereignty over the land without permission by foreign governments?
The most alarming sign of all is that the PM is making decisions without consulting with his MKs or with the public. He is going to the US to make a speech whose content is unknown by the coalition and even some of his closest advisors.
Minister Barak gave the media an unofficial peek the other day, but is this the way to deal with issues that will affect the survival of Israel? Perhaps it was nothing but a trial balloon to gauge Israelis public reaction. Apparently there was none. So the PM foresees no significant opposition, just the usual grumbling.
You write: “Netanyahu doesn't have to give in. He can stick to his guns and defend the country.”
Yes, we all wish he would do that....
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What you call Barak’s hysterical warnings of a tsunami are not hysterical at all. He is quite correct. There will be a diplomatic tsunami launched against Israel. Palestine will be recognized unanimously by the General Assembly, with maybe a couple of abstentions.
The real challenge is whether the Israeli government will rise to the occasion and cite solid international legal documentation that proves Israel’s right to the land - documentation the government has been silent about for decades.
Better still, Israel should build a dam against the coming tsunami by announcing the IMMEDIATE ANNEXATION of Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem.
Annexation means the end to “occupation” and “apartheid”. Arabs can be offered citizenship provided they swear allegiance to the Jewish state. We can safely predict that most would be under local pressure to decline the offer. That's their problem. Their presence within the state of Israel would be much easier to handle than a bigger and sovereign Gaza-style terror state established along your eastern border.
Unfortunately Obama seems to be on a path of no return, but what else can we expect from a man who sat in church for 25 years and listened to his pastor's vitriolic tirades against Jews and Israel and never uttered a word. This is a man who bows to kings and insists that documented acts of terrorism don't exist. What other president in the history of the US has alienated every friend and exalted every foe. Netanyahu has a monumental job ahead of him this coming week, but can take heart from the fact that we have many friends of Israel in Congress. Now is the time to be strong and trust in HaShem. Shabbat shalom.
I thought our president would be on his best behavior this time after the disgraceful treatment of Mr. Netanyahu last time. So many people in this country were steamed that a prime minister of a respected ally could be treated so shabbily by the White House. On the other hand, it might not be so surprising. Mr. Obama probably wants to upstage the addess to the joint session. The prime minister would be forced to react to Mr. Obama.
The administration cannot magically transform HAMAS into something it isn't in order to skirt US law. How many organizations has our Justice Department prosecuted for funding HAMAS? Fatah is crazy if it thinks it has the upper hand in this agreement. In the Darwinian dog-eat-dog world of the PA, it will be the most radical and vicious elements that will displace the more moderate. In addition, HAMAS has a better sponsor than Fatah: the mullahs. Where there is trouble in the Middle East, you can count on the Catalyst of Chaos being there. Their fortune has been rising since 1979. HAMAS has consolidated absolute power in Gaza. If HAMAS isn't dealt with, this cancer will spread to the West Bank.
You are absolutely correct. Netanyahu must also denounce the administration for instigating the overthrow of Murbarak with his Cairo speech. He must continue his attack on the administration regarding it's silence on the murders now taking place in Syria. Netanyahu should proceed to criticize the administration for dragging the country into another war in the middle east. And for supporting an unknown rebel faction that run by leaders who were once detained at Gitmo.
Obama is no friend to Israel. And it is doubtful that he regards the American way of life any more favorably.
Netanyahu should not cow. And if he does these things, he should return to Israel without meeting with Obama.
First, Obama has to be the ugliest individual to ever occupy the WHouse; even worse than the sex-driven saxophone player who so willingly screwed Israel by forcing them to embrace the killer, Arafat. That said, as usual Caroline, well put. What can one do if Israeli leaders are spineless (like Ehud)? We'll hope that some of his brother's memory resides in Bibi, and he will resist Obama. Obama is a passing ill wind. We in the US hope that minority votes (hispanic and not Jewish) will usher him onto the political garbage heap where he really belongs.
I pray that Israeli is ready to stand alone without USA government help because President Obama seems all too ready to abandon your country to the wolves. The Arabs are not yet ready to lay down their arms and will continue to do what they can to harm your country or even worse. I'm hoping that we'll wake up before our 2012 elections and vote in an American president to replace Obama's European, Socialist abomination of an administration.
Obama seems ready to tear down our own country and to sacrifice yours and the haters and patsies in the USA are ready to cheer your country's demise. Yet, that would be our own demise too.
Stay strong and be prepared to stand alone without another country's support. My God how did the world get to this point again? Don't answer, you do too.
come on ms. glick you cannot really believe that the "coward muslim " barry really is a fair man, with all people!!!!! wake up !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Netanyahu needs to grow a bigger set of balls!!!
There is no doubt that the hammer will fall. Even a blind man can feel it's swing as it travels to it's apogee. Israel will have help in two years time because Obama is done and so are his friends. They just don't know it yet. But that won't help Israel evade what it must do to protect it's people. The surrounding enemies also know this.
Time is on the side of her enemies and her enemies are in motion to some plan which they will undoubtedly execute just as soon as they can. That probably means nukes. They know what Israel will do, so they play for leverage and time. Obama and friends? well they just keep destroying as much of the country and as many of her allies as they can.
It's what a Marxist, elected by other Marxists in the media, does. Sounds like their are plenty of them in Israel too. I bet they'll be on vacation, when all this comes to a head though.
Hi Caroline,
Netanyahu is going to fold like a deck chair. What is more problematic is that the Israeli public cannot see beyond their narrow interests. THey should be angry by now. Beersheva, Ashkelon, Ashdod have been rocketed. What is it going to take for the Israeli public to wake up and demand a leader with backbone. What is it going to take for them to realize that the peace agreements are worthless? If Israelis really had a backbone they would turn off the electricity to Gaza and not turn it on until Shalit is returned.Personally, I am hoping that rockets will start landing in the center part of the country where the beautiful people live. Let them explain that away. Lastly, while we all rail against Netanyahu, perhaps he is a mirror of Israeli society. Educated, fat, spineless, and living off old achievements.
The similarities are eerie.
With all the warning signs ignored, the loyaly and devoted followers of Jim Jones would not be disuaded from following their false messiah to their end.
How could so many people get so brainwashed,so mesmerized that they would follow the commands of a charismatic devil to end their lives with a sweet mix of sugary lies and deadly reality ?
Caroline ,you've been mesmerized for a long time with America Babylon and her superior abilities to accomplish the impossible or so you thought.
You fell for the lies as many in Israel have.
Israel after all the disasters to befall the nation since signing onto the accord with death and hell at the White House in Spetember
of 1993 still follow the Pied Pipers of Hell believing they will lead Israel to peace.
The 2 state national suicide plan has been accepted by all but a few in Israel.
The very stubborn nation has embraced death rather than listen to the warning words of their God.
Now too weak and faithless to refuse their false messiah Obama,Israel follows the trail of crumbs to the slaughterhouse.
By going to Washington Netanyahu submits and sips more of the Kool-Aid for the nation.
He is too small a man to say no to those who now openly plot Israel's demise without the trappings and window dressing that so easily seduced the fools who refused to believe the words of their God.
"For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me."
Exodus 23
Nothing will ever change as long as the media everywhere remain overwhelmingly leftist. America's a conservative country, yet it elected the most left-wing member of Congress as president, thanks to the 24/7 media assault. It's even worse in Israel. Counteracting the brainwashing - that's where all effort should go.
Caroline, it’s not hard to believe.
First we have to recognize who Mr. Obama is and that will tell us what he is about and what he is up to.
He is a “non-transparent person with a mystery background, an acorn community organizing pamphlet distributer who I believe is an anti-Semite pretending to be a Christian [for political reasons] embracing Islam and an incompetent president supported by George Soros & company and the liberal left media.
Get the picture.
He is by no means a friend of Israel.
He is a habitual liar and again being supported by the liberal left media he gets a free pass and is not challenged by them.
Bottom line the PM Netanyahu should stay away from this president and enlist the aid of the conservative right in congress.
Mr. Obama cannot and should not be trusted.
The world knows Hams [Iranian proxy] is a terrorist organization out to destroy Israel and kill Jews.
This organization has buffaloed the Palestinians into believing they have rights to the Holy Land and are being denied this by the Israelis and should have the right to statehood in Israel.
Make no mistake, G-d led the Jewish people back to the Holy Land and will protect them as He has done in the past.
Hamas, Hezbollah and the Muslim Brotherhood are interested in one thing “Terrorism, especially directed towards Israel and the free world”.
Liberal American Jews need right now to get off the Obama kool-aid and get outraged at this president for his treatment of Israel.
Remember Israel is our only true, trusted friend and ally in the ME.
All of Israel’s Arab neighbors have the worst human rights violations, engage in terrorism and have no love for America and for what she stands for.
Wise up liberal American Jews, remember “No matter where you reside you are connected to Israel by heritage, by faith and by G-d” and don’t forget it.
It's OK to take pot shots at President Obama and to rightfully note that he set the bar too high in requiring a full settlement freeze that in turn compelled Palestinian President Abbas to ask for no less. But he has kept his eye and the eyes and ears of the US military on tracking and disposing of one Osama Bin Laden and effectively accomplished it last week. He has and continues to receive mixed reviews in the Middle East by friendly, Saudi Arabia and unfriendly, Libya, dictators. As for peace between Israel and the Palestinians he has choaked off some independent movement by European members of the Quartet and forestalled a critical censure against Israel in the United Nations. Many believe, (or at the very least hope), that Hamas, a US registered Terrorist organization can be led toward accepting a lengthy Hudna with Israel thus enabling a peace process, not a UN sponsored peace declaration to proceed based on the willingness of Hamas, Fatah and Israel each to abide to the terms of a new arrangement. I believe if Hamas dosen't fire over time there is reason for Israel to proceed in its diplomacy. If not then not.
Larry Snider
Once again Caroline you have written an excellent article. I find that you have once again written with 'great' discernment.
God Bless and Keep Israel forever Amen!
The LORD also shall roar out of Zion,
and utter His voice from Jerusalem,
and the heavens and the earth shall shake.
But the LORD will be the hope of His people
and the strength of the children of Israel.
May the LORD Almighty bless you and yours.
He is not a man that He should lie.
Remember the LORD and His mighty deeds.
Take care.
Israel is the Atlas of the Mideast. Its importance far exceeds its small size. Israel’s enemies and supposed friends like the United States know this. Apparently only her leaders are unaware of how important and crucial Israel is in world affairs. As a bastion of economic and political freedom and thus a military giant Israel can write her own ticket. It can transform the Mideast. Not through appeasement but through strength.
As to the unrealistic demands the U.S. and Europe try to lay on Israel’s shoulders to accommodate the treachery of the Palestinians the advice is simple: shrug.
Netanyahu should take Napoleon's advice: "Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake".
Obama has shown that he is an enemy of Israel (and a friend of our enemies to boot).
Let Obama do whatever he likes.
If history teaches anything, it's that Jew-hatred, in the end, is it's own punishment.
For the 6 million that dies in the Shoah, there were 50 million plus non-jews who died because they were stupid to face down Hitler (or to willing to let him do what he stated he would do).
Caroline,
Netanyahu hasn't seemed to stand up to Obama too well in the past, and I don't expect him to behave any differently now. This is especially so since he hasn't seen fit to discuss his thoughts with the Keneset before traveling to Washington. Maybe I am overly optimistic, but I am hoping that all of this soon becomes a moot point as a result of tomorrow's debut of Jerome Corsi's book laying out the truth about Obama's ineligibility and the upcoming Supreme Court hearings regarding this issue.
An appropriate warning. But, Obama ambushes always include escape provisions for himself. The best offense is backbone and a Rooster Cogburn grin.
The Kenyan/Indonesian citizen that presently occupies the Oval Office is doing all he can to spread anti-Israel and anti-U.S. sentiment and policy and war. You must know Obama is at least a dual citizen because of his birth father - Kenyan and his step-father - Indonesian (both Moslem). The ambush is effective because the Obama/Sutoro camouflage is hidden behind his mothers American heritage and the desire of Americans to give black men a helping hand. The Hebrew spelling of Sutoro (his Indonesian name) Samech Tav Resh Vav. meaning hidden or secret place or camouflage. His goal: to ambush the U.S. and Israel and the world. Read the linked affidavit below detailing the fraud and forgery he perpetrated with his recently released birth certificate. (Interested in prophecy, the 4 Hebrew letters add up to six hundred sixty six.)
http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/55594183