Is Facebook responsible for 'Palestinian' terrorism?
These sorts of accusations are not new, but Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan has
accused Facebook of partial responsibility for Thursday's murder of 13-year old Hallel Yaffa Ariel.
Erdan said on Saturday that the social network fails to block posts inciting violence and also sabotages the work of Israeli police.
"Some of the victims' blood is on Zuckerberg's hands," he told Channel 2. "Facebook has turned into a monster. The younger generation in the Palestinian Authority runs its entire discourse of incitement and lies and finally goes out to commit murderous acts on Facebook's platform."
Erdan's comments touched on Facebook posts by the terrorist who murdered an Israeli girl, Hallel Yaffa Ariel, in Kiryat Arba last week. Mohammed Nasser Tra'ayra, 19, from the Palestinian village of Bani Na'im, had been praising terrorists and voiced his wish to die a "martyr's death" on Facebook in the days before the attack.
Erdan said Facebook "could have reported to the police or defense officials about the post put up by that despicable murderer."
Well yeah, if they saw it, but I have my doubts that Facebook reviews every post that goes onto its site within a few days after posting, particularly if no one calls it to their attention. The IDF, which
monitors Facebook itself, is far more likely to pick up a terror threat that quickly.
On the other hand, Erdan is right that Facebook does provide a platform for terrorists to plan and to incite others to join them.
Facebook's reaction to Erdan's accusations begs the question.
Facebook said in response that it works regularly with safety organizations and policy makers worldwide "to ensure people know how to use Facebook safely. There is no place for content encouraging violence, direct threats, terror or hatred on our platform. We have clear community rules intended to help people what is allowed on Facebook and we call on people to use our reporting devices if they find content they believe breaks these rules, so we can examine each case and take rapid action. Facebook has a regular dialog with the government on these issues."
Look at the picture atop this post and tell me whether you still believe Facebook has any credibility on this issue. In fact, Erdan's more general accusations against Facebook carry a lot more weight than the specific accusations relating to this incident.
He said that when the police ask Facebook for help, "when it comes to a Judea and Samaria [West Bank] settlers, Facebook doesn't cooperate and sets a high bar for removing inciting content and posts."
The Knesset is considering legislation requiring Facebook to immediately block and remove inciting posts. It will be interesting to see whether the legislation passes and whether it brings any change to Facebook's operations here.
Labels: Facebook, Gilad Erdan, Palestinian incitement, Palestinian terrorism
Netanyahu: The hell I'll do Obama's dirty work for him
Haaretz reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu has
refused to disavow former Ambassador Michael Oren's op-ed in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week, nor Oren's book which will be published on Tuesday (and will be an instant best-seller at this rate - mine has been ordered). The
Times of Israel summarizes what's happened.
The op-ed has drawn unhappy reactions from the
US, including an angry phone call from US Ambassador to Israel Dan
Shapiro to Netanyahu, asking the prime minister to renounce Oren’s ideas
in a public statement, according to a report in Haaretz Thursday.
Netanyahu refused Shapiro’s request and said
he had no intention of publicly addressing the piece, an anonymous
source told the newspaper.
The prime minister said Oren was no longer a
public official but a politician belonging to another party and
therefore he saw no reason he should intervene, Israel’s Army Radio
reported, citing a statement from Netanyahu’s office.
The Prime Minister’s Office refused to share Netanyahu’s views on the issue.
Shapiro’s office also refused to comment on the content of his call with Netanyahu.
...
Shapiro also reached out to Kulanu leader
Moshe Kahlon Wednesday to address the claims made in the opinion piece
and in a book Oren has written about his time as ambassador to the US.
Kahlon, in response, sent a letter to Shapiro
emphasizing that they were Oren’s personal views and did not reflect the
party line of Kulanu.
Oren, according to Kahlon’s letter, wrote his
book before he joined the party. Kahlon, who serves an finance minister,
said he had summoned Oren and made clear his appreciation for the US’s
commitment to Israel.
Speaking to Army Radio Wednesday morning,
Shapiro called Oren’s claims “imaginary” and accused him of creating
drama to sell books.
The sentiment was later echoed by a US State
Department spokesperson, who said Oren’s claims were not accurate and
did not reflect the reality of US-Israeli ties when Oren was a diplomat.
US Secretary of State John Kerry also denied Oren’s statements, saying they were made in order to sell his book.
Can't wait to read the book....
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, Dan Shapiro, Gilad Erdan, John Kerry, Michael Oren, Moshe Kahlon
Oh my: Benny Begin quits government UPDATED
Likud MK Benny Begin is a rarity in Israeli politics: an honest politician. It's a sad commentary on both Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government's prospects for survival that Netanyahu has in essence
forced Begin to resign from the government.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Facebook post Friday that
while he would “make every effort to incorporate MK Benny Begin into
the cabinet later,” Likud’s coalition partners had objected to changing
the agreed-on number of portfolios per faction, making it impossible to
keep both Begin and Erdan.
Netanyahu’s Facebook post seemingly left Begin no choice but to announce his resignation from the cabinet.
“Over the past few days I have turned to my friends
and partners, the heads of the coalition, with a personal request to
leave our friend, Benny Begin, as an additional Likud minister in the
government,” Netanyahu wrote. However, the coalition partners would not
permit the number of ministers per faction to change and allow Likud to
have 13 ministers.
Netanyahu, who effusively praised Begin in the post,
also wrote that “there is not a shred of truth to the claim that he
[Begin] said he would refuse to resign from the cabinet.”
...
Begin was first appointed minister without portfolio, while Erdan,
who was number two on the Likud Knesset list, remained outside the
cabinet after turning down an offer to become public security minister.
Erdan wanted the Foreign Ministry portfolio, which Netanyahu insists on
holding himself, or a ministerial portfolio that included elements of
both the interior and public security ministries.
When Erdan’s demands were not met, he refused to
join the cabinet. However, last week Erdan agreed to become minister of
public security, strategic affairs and public diplomacy.
Erdan’s appointment angered his fellow party member
MK Zeev Elkin, who was initially given the strategic affairs portfolio
along with immigrant absorption. He then demanded to be made Jerusalem
affairs minister and threatened that, otherwise, he would absent himself
from Knesset votes, which could put the coalition at risk considering
its razor-thin majority (61-59).
Netanyahu subsequently had to break his
commitment to Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat that the Jerusalem Affairs
Ministry would be abolished and its powers absorbed into the Prime
Minister’s Office.
One MK having a temper tantrum is enough to bring down this government. Anyone want to take bets on how long it will last?
UPDATE 3:57 PM
Get a load of these two tweets from JPost Knesset correspondent Lahav Harkov.
Until the next crisis....
Labels: Benny Begin, Binyamin Netanyahu, Gilad Erdan, Israeli Knesset, Knesset elections 2015, Likud party, Ofir Akunis, Zeev Elkin
Netanyahu to offer Likud MK (Benny Begin?) Ambassadorship to the United States - UPDATED UNITED NATIONS
The tweet above in Hebrew comes from a Knesset Channel correspondent, who claims that Prime Minister Netanyahu will offer Ron Dermer's position as Ambassador to the United States to a Likud MK, in order to allow another MK into the Knesset, and 'dilute the list of disappointed' candidates.
Some of you might recall that the Obama administration named
replacing Dermer as the price of reconciliation for Netanyahu with Washington.
The comments to the tweet include much speculation that the MK in question is Miri Regev, who served as IDF spokesperson before becoming an MK, but whose English language skills may or may not be up to snuff. She was number 5 on the Likud list. Another MK mentioned in Gilad Erdan, but given that he was a minister in the last government, that seems hard to believe.
I don't know who is number 31 on the Likud list (you can find the first 30
here). But my bet is that it's Benny Begin. His English is fluent. He's number 11 on the Likud list - probably not in line for a senior ministry. He's an elder statesman already. He didn't want to run for the Knesset - Netanyahu begged him to run because he wanted him on the list. And it would be very difficult for the Obama administration to reject the man whose father signed the Camp David accords.
Just my humble speculation....
UPDATE 2:56 PM
Thanks to commenter Hutzpan for pointing out that there was a typo in the
English language tweet from which I found this story, and that the MK is being offered the Ambassadorship to the United Nations and not to the United States.
So you can change the first paragraph above to read as follows:
The tweet above in Hebrew comes from a Knesset Channel correspondent,
who claims that Prime Minister Netanyahu will offer Ron Prosor's
position as Ambassador to the United Nations to a Likud MK, in order to
allow another MK into the Knesset, and 'dilute the list of disappointed'
candidates.
And then you can delete the second paragraph and delete the last sentence of the fourth paragraph.
I still think it's Begin.
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, Gilad Erdan, Israeli Ambassador to the United States, John Kerry, Miri Regev, Ron Dermer
It starts: Mayor of Ashkelon bans Arab workers from schools
It took a little longer than I thought, but good evening from 31,000 feet above the Atlantic. According to my trusty map, we are just about due south of Newfoundland right now, heading across 'the pond.' Air travel in the modern age is quite bizarre. First, we pulled away from the gate and they announced that we have a half hour hold because otherwise we will show up in London before their curfew ends at 6:00 am (you can't land at Heathrow before 6:00). And now we're going over 740 miles an hour and it keeps going up. I don't recall ever going more than a few miles per hour faster than 700....
In the wake of Tuesday's terror attack in Jerusalem, Ashkelon Mayor Itamar Shimoni has banned all Arab workers from his city's schools. 'Temporarily' of course. Here's what it gets rich: The workers were building shelters to
protect the kids from Hamas' rocket fire from Gaza. As you might imagine, the Left is seething....
The mayor explained that the increased presence of Arab workers in
close proximity to educational institutions is potentially harmful to
residents' security, and therefore their employment will stop until the
tense security situation improves.
The contractor which performs the work in the schools in the city is
employed by the Defense Ministry, and it should be noted that the work carried out in Ashkelon is done by Israeli Arabs and not by Arabs living
in Judea and Samaria.
The decision angered Meretz MK Issawi Frej, who accused Shimoni of "racism of the lowest kind.”
“Under the poor excuse of a 'sense of security', Shimoni wishes to
make the city of Ashkelon clean of Arabs and contaminate it with
anti-Semitic racism,” charged Frej. “I call on Interior Minister Gilad
Erdan and on the Chairman of the Local Government Center, Haim Bibas, to
publicly condemn Shimoni and ask him to reconsider his decision with
all its consequences."
The decision was also condemned by the President of the Israel Democracy Institute, former Kadima MK Yohanan Plesner.
But Shimoni was also condemned by Labor MK Nachman Shai of the 'sane' Left, as well as by Ofer Shelach of Yesh Atid, which is in the coalition (one has to wonder for how long). Here's guessing that Shimoni's decision will stand, at least for now. And here's hoping that every neighborhood in Jerusalem makes the same decision.
Labels: Ashkelon, Gilad Erdan, Labor party, London Heathrow Airport, Meretz, Nachman Shai, Ofer Shelah, Palestinian terrorism, personal stuff, racism, Yesh Atid party
Abu Mazen's success
With the end of the holiday and the Sabbath here in Israel, it's become clear that '
moderate' '
Palestinian' President
Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen's United Nations General Assembly speech was quite a success... but not quite for the reasons he wanted. Abu Mazen has managed to unite Israeli politicians across the board in
blasting him for his hatred.
"Mahmoud Abbas has again proved his only expertise is spreading lies
and incitement against Israel," Communications Minister Gilad Erdan
(Likud) slammed Saturday night. "He has denied the Holocaust in the past and now, in this surreal speech at the UN, he has accused us of 'genocide.'"
"This is not how a 'peace partner' talks, and certainly not anyone
who wants for 'reconciliation between peoples," Erdan continued. "Now it
is clear why he insists on partnering with the Hamas terrorist
organization, with whom he shares the 'struggle against Israel' and will
promote our delegitimization through false propaganda."
"Mahmoud Abbas always finds a soft spot for murderers, rocket
launchers, and our enemies in general," Jewish Home Chairman and
Economics Minister Naftali Bennett added. "We saw missiles launched at
Ben Gurion Airport two months ago, and it's good to know these launchers
are members of Mahmoud Abbas's 'Palestinian state.'"
"Now Israel must find new and creative ways to allow us to just
survive here," Bennett fumed. "A Palestinian state west of the Jordan
River is not one of them."
Even the extreme left took issue with Abbas's speech.
"While Israel has acted harshly in Gaza and made things difficult
[for the Palestinians], you cannot call it 'genocide," Meretz Chairman
Zahava Gal-On stated Saturday. Gal-On - who did not explicitly condemn
Abbas - did add, however, that Abbas's words were "serious and grave." [But see below. CiJ]
"These are false and outrageous statements," MK Eitan Cabel (Labor),
added. "It would have been better if they had not spoken, and these
words are worthy of condemnation from all who truly love peace."
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon had some more
biting remarks.
"Through his speech at the UN, Mahmoud Abbas proves for the umpteenth
time: this is not a leader who wants peace and the advancement of his
people's lives, but a person who distributes lies, incitement, and hate
speech against Israel," Ya'alon stated Saturday. "Mahmoud Abbas is not a
man of peace, and is not really interested in an agreement with Israel,
which means recognition of the Jewish national homeland."
"Time after time, Mahmoud Abbas goes on to deceive the international
community, to throw at Israel false and racist accusations out of the
hope that threats, pressure, and lies will scare us and make us
acquiesce [to his demands]," Ya'alon continued.
Ya'alon implied that Abbas's speech was particularly grave, and may have jettisoned future plans to renew peace talks.
"He has no partner for a political agreement - which is essential to
end the conflict - and we will therefore not compromise the security of
Israeli citizens," Ya'alon said, referencing plans to make a Palestinian
state in Judea and Samaria. "In every situation, we are responsible for
our own destiny and our own security, and we will be in the future."
Ya'alon concluded by blasting Abbas for "not really coming to terms
with our own existence" and added that the claims "are detached from
reality."
Prime Minister Netanyahu is on his way to the United States to counter Abu Mazen's (and Iranian President Hassan Rohani's) '
slander and lies.'
But despite the quotation above, Meretz leader Zehava Gal-On actually
backed Abu Mazen.
“Meretz supports Abbas’s international efforts to bring the end of the occupation and to get international recognition as a [Palestinian] state and member of the UN before and as a corridor to reaching peace in bilateral negotiations between equals,” the party leader said.
The speech reflected Abbas’s total distrust of Netanyahu as a partner for peace, Gal-On said.
According to Gal-On, “Netanyahu refused to negotiate for five years and the talks under American sponsorship led nowhere and wild construction continued in the settlements. Now Netanyahu wants to continue ‘managing the conflict’ instead of solving it,” she lamented.
Gal-On proves the prophet Isaiah right once again. Isaiah warned that those who would destroy us would spring forth from among us. What could go wrong?
Labels: Abu Mazen, Binyamin Netanyahu, Eitan Cabel, Gilad Erdan, Holocaust denial, Meretz, Moshe Yaalon, Naftali Bennett, United Nations General Assembly, Zehava Gal-On
Calls growing to annex 'Area C'
For those wondering, I took my 14-year old son on an all-day trip to northern Israel today. We came home around 9:00 and I immediately collapsed for a few hours....
With the 'peace process' officially over and done with for now, calls are growing within Israel's governing coalition to annex 'Area C,' the part of Judea and Samaria that includes the Jews who live in Judea and Samaria and the highways that Israelis use to traverse those areas. The latest minister to call for annexation is Gilad Erdan, who is the
highest-ranking Likud functionary to issue such a call.
On Sunday morning the newly appointed Coordinator of Government
Activities in the Territories Brig. Gen. Yoav (Paulie) Mordechai
announced that approvals of master plans for 19 Palestinian villages in
Area C had been frozen.
He spoke at a Foreign Affairs and Defense sub-committee on Judea and
Samaria, which focused on the issue of illegal Palestinian construction.
His statement was unusual. Israel is often accused of imposing a
de-facto policy that prevents Palestinian development in Area C, but its
officials have rarely publicly articulately a policy to halt such
building, even temporarily.
His spokesman Guy Inbar explained that defense minister Ehud Barak gave
his initial approval to the plans. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon
advanced them during the last nine-months, when Israeli and Palestinian
teams were negotiating, Inbar said.
Europe and the United Nations have increasingly in the last few years
focused on shoring up Palestinian development in Area C, including with
financial assistance, because they view it as vital to the viability of
a future Palestinian state.
But as they increase their support for Palestinian development of Area
C, political voices in support of Israel's annexation of Area C have
grown stronger.
Communications Minister Gilad Erdan – a cabinet minister considered
close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu – said that Israel should
also begin "preparing for the declaration of Israeli sovereignty" over
regions of Area C which have large Jewish populations, otherwise known
as the settlement blocs, and which it is "clear" will always remain a
part of Israel.
In the 1990s, the Oslo Accords divided the West Bank into three “areas:"
Area A, comprising some 18% of the territory, was transferred to the
Palestinian Authority, where it enjoys most governmental powers.
Area B, making up 22% of the territories, was divided between Israel and
the Palestinians, with Israel retaining security control, and civil
matters given to the Palestinian Authority.
Area C, the largest area comprising some 60% of the territory – including all the settlement lands – remained in Israeli hands.
Erdan told Israel Radio that as a result of the Fatah-Hamas unity plan,
Israel needed to send a "clear message" to the Palestinian leadership
and the Palestinian people that "they will lose with their unilateral
steps, which will be answered by unilateral steps on our part."
Erdan said that there were clear steps that he felt Israel should
already be taking, such as deducting debts the PA owes Israel – for
instance to the Israel Electric Company – from the duties and taxes
Israel collects for the PA and transfers to them each month.
"But if you ask me," he said, "we need to take more significant steps,
such as declaring Israeli sovereignty over Area C, where the Jewish
population lives, and is clear to us that they will [continue] to live
there."
While Erdan is not the first cabinet minister to suggest annexing parts
of Area C as a result of the Palestinian move – Economy Minister Naftali
Bennett has already made that suggestion – it has added significance
coming from Erdan because he is considered closely aligned to Netanyahu.
Hmmm.
Labels: Ehud Barak, Gilad Erdan, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Judea and Samaria, Moshe Yaalon
Israeli officials slam Kerry's 'Jewish state' statement
On Thursday, US Secretary of State John FN Kerry told a Congressional committee that there is no need for Israel to insist that the 'Palestinians' recognize it as a
Jewish state. On their way into Sunday morning's cabinet meeting, several ministers - not Netanyahu of course - slammed Kerry for taking the easy way out by pressuring only Israel, and not the '
Palestinians.'
Communications minister Gilad Erdan told Israel Radio that it was
unfortunate that the top US diplomat made the comments ahead of
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's arrival to Washington on
Monday.
Erdan charged that Kerry had erred in marking the statements and said they put pressure on the wrong side.
Meanwhile,
Deputy Foreign Minister Ze'ev Elkin told the radio station that Kerry's
remarks represented a pattern that had developed over the past 20 year,
in which the international community finds it easier to pressure Israel
rather than the Palestinians, despite who it believes is in the right.
Elkin called for Israel to stand up for its principles and bring an end to the "sad tradition."
In an interview that aired Saturday
on Channel 2’s Meet the Press, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon disputed
Kerry’s contention that Israel erred in demanding Palestinian
recognition of its Jewish character.
Ya’alon said that Abbas has
persistently refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, and it is
this refusal that makes it impossible to arrive at a final-peace deal.
And Netanyahu (and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman for that matter)? It remains to be seen whether they have the backbone to stand up to Kerry. Because I would not bet on Abu Bluff making any concessions nor would I bet on Kerry or Obama being honest enough to blame the 'Palestinians' when the 'talks' collapse.
Labels: Abu Mazen, Avigdor Lieberman, Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, Gilad Erdan, Israel is a Jewish state, John Kerry, Moshe Yaalon, Zeev Elkin
Minister slams Kerry for being biased
Communications Minister Gilad Erdan slammed US Secretary of State John FN Kerry as a '
biased intermediary' at a conference sponsored by Arutz Sheva on Monday.
"Currently threats are still heard against citizens of Israel and
they try to terrorize us. When we hear John Kerry and the American State
Department, we think they are wrong in their analysis of what's
happening in the Middle East," emphasized Erdan.
"It would be expected from someone who's supposed to be a fair and
objective intermediary to also tell the Palestinian side about the price
they will have to pay over their stubborn refusal to recognize the right of the Jewish people to their own nation state," remarked Erdan. "Where's the Palestinian price on all the continued incitement against Israel's existence?"
This kind of balanced approach of warning both sides isn't seen in
Kerry, who constantly "puts the pressure on the prime minister and the
government of Israel," Erdan noted.
Erdan added that while the US is an "important friend and ally," in
this "harsh dispute" Israel doesn't intend to submit to the US plan to
have Israel withdraw to the 1949 Armistice lines and create an Arab capital in Jerusalem.
"Yes - we won't divide the land of Israel; yes - we won't divide
Jerusalem, and our right to live in Shiloh and Beit El is no less than
the right of the people of Israel to sit in Tel Aviv and Ramle and Haifa
or any other place," declared Erdan, referring to two ancient Jewish
towns in the Samaria (Shomron) region.
If anyone sees Prime Minister Netanyahu's backbone, please let him know that most of his ministers will back him if he stands up to Kerry. And if anyone sees the ministers, please let them know that they must resist pressure from Netanyahu to succumb to Kerry.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Gilad Erdan, Israel is a Jewish state, John Kerry
NY Times: If Iran talks fail, it's Bibi's fault
The New York Times doesn't learn much from history, does it? Here's part of
Saturday's editorial.
Layers of sanctions, imposed separately since 2006 by the United Nations
Security Council, the United States and Europe, have been largely
responsible for moving Iran to the point of serious negotiations.
Constrained from selling oil, its main moneymaker, and boxed out of the
international financial system, Iran is reeling economically. Oil export
earnings have fallen from a range between $110 billion and $120 billion
annually to a range of $40 billion to $50 billion, of which about half
is available to the government. Hassan Rouhani, elected president
earlier this year, believes he has a popular mandate — as well as
support from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader — to seek an
easing of these sanctions through negotiations.
Even so, Israel, groups like the Washington, D.C.-based Foundation for
Defense of Democracies and lawmakers like Senator Mark Kirk, Republican
of Illinois, want to ratchet up the pressure. Their stated aim is to
force Iran to completely dismantle its nuclear program.
From a Western perspective, that would be an ideal outcome. But new
sanctions are unlikely to force Iran to abandon an enterprise in which
it has invested billions of dollars and a great deal of national pride.
Fresh sanctions would also shred whatever little good will the United
States and Iran have begun to rekindle. If Tehran walks away from the
talks, Washington will be blamed, the international unity supporting the
network of sanctions already in place will unravel, and countries that
have reduced imports of oil from Iran will find fewer reasons to
continue doing so.
The Iranians could conclude that America is determined to overthrow
their entire system, and, as a result, accelerate efforts to build a
nuclear bomb. This, in turn, could end up leading to American military
action (Mr. Obama has said Iran will not be allowed to acquire a
weapon), engaging a war-weary America in yet another costly conflict and
further destabilizing the region, while setting Iran’s nuclear program
back by only a few years.
Notice all the 'coulds' particularly in that last paragraph. So inside the Times wants the US to dismantle the sanctions with its own hands and make sure that Iran has a clear path to the bomb. And if that doesn't happen it's blaming - who else - Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu.
President Obama deserves more time to work out a negotiated settlement
with Iran and the other major powers. If the deals falls through, or if
inspections by the United Nations unearth cheating, Congress can always
impose more sanctions then. But if talks fail now, Mr. Netanyahu and the
hard-line interest groups will own the failure, and the rest of us will
pay the price.
Home Front Defense Minister Gilad Erdan came to Netanyahu's defense in an op-ed that - it goes without saying wasn't printed by the Times - entitled
Precisely the time to squeeze Iran.
But success must be measured
by what diplomacy achieves. The goal is to end Iran’s nuclear weapons program. A
deal should be a means to that end and not an end in itself.
The deal on
the table (the details of which have been widely reported) makes more likely the
very two outcomes its proponents seek to prevent – a nuclear-armed Iran or the
use of force against Iran’s nuclear weapons infrastructure before it’s too
late.
Some claim that the proposed deal will require Iran to freeze its
nuclear program for six months in exchange for mild sanctions relief. Neither
assumption will hold.
To freeze its program, Iran would not only have to
stop the construction of its plutonium-producing heavy water reactor and add no
further centrifuges. It would also have to halt all uranium enrichment, which
Iran refuses to do. An agreement that allows Iran to continue enrichment of
material for nuclear bombs while talks go on will not freeze Iran's nuclear
program.
Nor is the sanctions relief mild. Allowing the Iranian regime
access to billions of dollars would significantly ease the very pressure that
has brought Iran to the table in the first place. In a tanking economy like
Iran’s, these changes will make a big difference. The current sanctions regime
took years to put in place and is likely to fray quickly once the proposed deal
kicks in.
Thus this "first step" agreement would leave Iran closer to
nuclear weapons and under less pressure not to produce them.
On Iran, at least, there is still hope that the Prime Minister will have sufficient backbone to stand up to Obama. And if they fail because Obama negotiated a bad deal for the sake of making a deal, the blame should be laid at Obama's doorstep.
Read the whole thing.
Labels: anti-Israel media bias, Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, Gilad Erdan, Iran sanctions regime, Iranian nuclear threat, Israeli attack on Iran, liberal media bias, New York Times, P 5+1
Netanyahu's Likud rebels
A group of Likud MK's has banded together to stop our
spineless Prime Minister from giving half the country away to a group of terrorists.
Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon on Sunday convened the heads of right-wing
groups inside the Likud central committee he heads to plan strategies for
blocking Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu from advancing an interim agreement
with the PA.
The meeting was intended to counter-balance pressure to move
the diplomatic process forward that Netanyahu is expected to encounter in
Monday’s meeting with US President Barack Obama and over the next several
months.
Danon stressed that the event was not an anti- Netanyahu meeting.
He said the activists made a point of focusing their criticism on the head of
Israel’s negotiating team with the Palestinians, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni,
repeatedly citing her speech to the J Street conference in
Washington.
“We won’t sit silently while Livni cooks an unacceptable
deal,” Danon said. “We can’t let there be industrial quiet.”
The
activists decided to focus their pressure on the Likud’s top four ministers:
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Home Front
Defense Minister Gilad Erdan and Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom. The
activists, who are close to the ministers, will push them to make public
comments opposing an interim agreement with the Palestinians.
...
Some of the same central committee members were among
the signatories of a full-page ad in Hebrew papers on Sunday that praised two
ministers, four deputy ministers and four more MKs for statements they have made
against giving up land. The ministers were Erdan and Transportation Minister
Israel Katz.
Another full-page ad in the same papers called upon Sa’ar,
Erdan, Ya’alon and Shalom to stop further releases of Palestinian
terrorists.
The ad, which was taken out by families of terror victims,
called upon the public to sign an online petition that has already been endorsed
by more than 31,000 people.
Another campaign against concessions to the
Palestinians will begin soon by the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea,
Samaria and the Gaza Strip. The campaign will feature hawkish quotes by
Netanyahu from his 1995 book, A Place Under the Sun.
There needs to be lots of pressure like this on Netanyahu.
Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, Gidon Saar, Gilad Erdan, Middle East peace process, Moshe Yaalon, Sylvan Shalom, Yisrael Katz
Erekat says Peres has to convince Netanyahu to make peace, Steinitz says Peres doesn't speak for the government
With all of the problems with the world economy, it seems that the only issue of interest at the World Economic Forum in Jordan is Israel and the 'Palestinians.' Shimon Peres, who has never won a national election in this country, has become
the star of the show, with many so-called 'leaders' deciding that
Peres represents Israeli aspirations rather than our elected government.
This is from the first link.
"What
holds back the renewal of the peace negotiation are some gaps in the
bridge between the beginning and the conclusion. Knowing very well the
nature of the missing link, I am convinced that this gap can be
bridged," Peres said calling on leaders of both sides to advance peace
initiatives.
Peres called Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas a partner of Israel's and praised
recent US efforts to contribute to completing the peace process and the
the Arab Peace Initiative as a strategic opportunity for approaching
peace.
"We must depart from the skepticism that claims that war is inevitable. War is not inevitable. Peace is inevitable." he said.
"Despite
the many hurdles on the way to peace, we must never lose sight of the
positive developments in our region," Peres said citing peace agreements
that have been fostered between Egypt and Israel and Jordan and Israel.
Abu Bluff gave us his vision of peace, which ought to be enough to ensure that there will never be an agreement.
Just
peace must include the right of return to Palestinian refugees and the
release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said.
The PA president also
called on Israelis to read the Arab Peace Initiative, withdraw to the
pre-1967 lines, and allow Jerusalem to be the capital of both states.
For most Israelis the 'right of return' (a code word for democratically destroying the Jewish state by overwhelming it demographically) and the 'pre-1967 lines' (the 1949 armistice lines) are non-starters. You can read more about Abu Bluff's speech at the link, but I want to skip ahead to 'Palestinian' chief
negotiator bottle washer Saeb Erekat (and yes, I know he promised to resign, but he lied), who gave an incredible interview to Army Radio on Monday morning.
Speaking in an interview with Army Radio, Erekat welcomed President Shimon Peres's call
for an immediate resumption of peace talks in his speech to the World
Economic Forum in Jordan on Sunday, however, he stated that the
reactions of several ministers to Peres's speech was troubling.
Erekat said that after hearing Peres's speech, he woke up Monday morning and saw in the Israeli newspapers
Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz saying Peres was not a
government spokesman and Tourism Minister Uzi Landau referring to the
pre-1967 lines as "Auschwitz borders."
"I know you are a
democracy, but usually a coalition has a program," Erekat said in
response to the different opinions being voiced by Israeli politicians.
The
PA negotiator said that "everyone on Earth is convinced that a state on
the 67 borders is the answer, but the one person we must convince is
[Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu.
Erekat stated that the PA's
insistence that talks not resume until Netanyahu accepts a Palestinian
state based on the pre-1967 lines does not constitute a pre-condition,
but rather is an Israeli obligation to conform to UN resolutions as set
out in the Oslo Accords.
Bill Clinton and Barack Obama could not have done a better job than Saeb of explaining why a precondition is not a precondition, but Steinitz and Landau aren't the only government ministers who didn't find Saeb amusing.
Home Front Defense Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) accused Erekat of
"chutzpa," pointing out differing opinions among Israeli politicians
while the PA holds reconciliation talks with Hamas, which rejects a
two-state solution.
Erdan said that Netanyahu has made clear that he supports a two-state solution.
I think we ought to ask Saeb to point out where in the Oslo Accords or in UN resolutions 242 or 338 it says that Israel will or ought to return to the 1949 armistice lines. The answer is, it doesn't.
Other responses to Peres are
here.
Labels: 1949 armistice lines, Abu Mazen, Binyamin Netanyahu, Gilad Erdan, John Kerry, Oslo accords, Saeb Erekat, Shimon Peres, world economy, Yuval Steinitz
Anyone want to bet on how long this coalition lasts?
The new government will be sworn in on Sunday, and already the
problems have started from within the Likud.
Netanyahu is expected to face bitter opposition within his party from
those who feel slighted by the positions they are expected to receive
in the new government. Most current ministers are not expected to be
promoted to more prestigious positions, while young MKs who did well in
the party primary are unlikely to be made ministers at all.
While
Transportation Minister Israel Katz and Culture and Sport Minister Limor
Livnat will keep their jobs and Moshe Ya'alon will be defense minister,
others, like Gilad Erdan and Silvan Shalom, expressed dissatisfaction
with the portfolios they were offered.
Outgoing Education Minister
Gideon Sa'ar is the leading candidate for Interior Minister, but Erdan
is also a possibility, and MK Yariv Levin was asked to be the next
coalition chairman, but has yet to accept the position. Former coalition
chairman Ze'ev Elkin is likely to be Deputy Foreign Minister, at the
insistence of former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman, who will return
to his previous position if he is exonerated in his corruption trial.
Likud
activists have asked to call a central committee meeting, expressing
anger at the "disproportionate" amount of positions the Yisrael Beytenu
section of Likud Beytenu received – five portfolios (Foreign,
Agriculture, Tourism, Immigration and Absorption and Public Security)
and a committee chairmanship for 11 MKs.
On Friday, the last day
before Netanyahu's deadline to form a government, Yesh Atid and the
Bayit Yehudi signed coalition agreements.
There are plenty of other potential bones of contention, some of which are listed
here and
here. I give it a year at most.
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Danny Danon, Gidon Saar, Gilad Erdan, Likud party, Limor Livnat, Naftali Bennett, Sylvan Shalom, Yair Lapid, Zeev Elkin
Government ministers push back against Clinton
Israeli government ministers Gilad Erdan Eli Yishai and Yuval Steinitz
pushed back on Sunday against
remarks made by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday. This is from the first link.
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz called Clinton's claims "completely exaggerated." He claimed that Israel is a healthy democracy. "I don't know many better democracies in the world."
Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan suggested that "elected officials all over the world should first worry about their problems at home." He added, however, that he shared some of Clinton's concerns about the exclusion of women.
"I, of all people, who grew up in a religious home, think that these steps cause hatred of the Jewish religion and I hope that the government will take steps that demonstrate its obligation to maintain equality between men and women in Israel."
Interior Minister Eli Yishai said that "Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East and I believe that everything we do here will be done according to the law and I am not worried about it."
Gee guys, can we do a little better than that?
Labels: Eli Yishai, Gilad Erdan, Hillary Clinton, Yuval Steinitz
A shuffle in the government
The government announced on Sunday that Israel's ambassador to Britain, Ron Prosor, will become its
ambassador to the United Nations, and that Prime Minister Netanyahu's National Security Adviser, Uzi Arad, will become Israel's ambassador to Britain. But note this:
Netanyahu had favored returning Dore Gold to his former position as ambassador to the UN, but Lieberman preferred Jewish Agency chairman Natan Sharansky. The Foreign Minister already irked Prime Minister Netanyahu last summer by naming Meron Reuven as temporary ambassador, after Prof. Gabriella Shalev left the post.
Of course, Sharansky said last week that he had no interest in being ambassador to the United Nations....
JPost adds that Lieberman had
other candidates for the UN position, which has to make you wonder whether what he was really saying was "anyone but Dore Gold" (which seems kind of irrational given that Gold has ably performed in the position in the past).
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman have sparred over the post for nearly a year, with the prime minister wanting former ambassador Dore Gold to return to the UN and Lieberman suggesting Environment Minister Gilad Erdan and former consul-general in New York Alon Pinkas.
According to the report, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Meir Kalifi will replace Arad as national security advisor.
I know nothing about Kalifi, but I think that Dore Gold would be a great candidate for National Security Adviser.
Pinkas would have been a
disaster at the UN.
Labels: Alon Pinkas, Avigdor Lieberman, Binyamin Netanyahu, Dore Gold, Gabriella Shalev, Gilad Erdan, Meir Kalifi, Meron Reuven, Natan Sharansky, Ron Prosor, Uzi Arad
