“We must realize Iranian leadership refuses to acknowledge Israel’s
right to exist, and, in fact is hell-bent on Israel’s, and ultimately
our, annihilation,” Palin wrote on her Facebook page.
“The
only thing standing between a president who’d jeopardize our country by
ignoring our Constitution, and foes capitalizing on lopsided
international treaties that weaken our allies, is Congress,” she said.
“Congress
must not sit back and watch our own president flirting with the devil,”
Palin, a GOP vice presidential candidate in 2008, added.
Palin
also argued Obama’s tentative framework with Tehran had severely
damaged U.S. relations with Israel. She called on Republican lawmakers
to repair the frayed bonds between the two nations in Congress.
“Our
president and his anti-peace foreign policy supporters have not acted
in the interest of our ally, Israel, resulting in dangerously
compromised American interests,” Palin said.
“The
GOP majority must stop giving lip service to halting liberals’
fundamental transformation of our relationships with friendly nations
and finally take a stand by exercising its constitutional right and
responsibility to approve international treaties,” she wrote.
“Certainly they must with such grave consequences involved.”
Former U.S. Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin made headlines in America on Wednesday when she toured New York wearing a big Star of David.
Asked by reporters why she, a Christian woman, was wearing a Jewish star around her neck, Palin responded, “Today is the 44th anniversary of Jerusalem being reunited. We want to call attention to that.”
Every news photo snapped of the former vice presidential candidate – and possible presidential candidate this time around – prominently showed the Jewish star around her neck.
It's not the first time Palin has worn that piece of jewelry, however. She was seen wearing the star throughout her trip to Israel in March, for instance.
Obama sees the Passover message in Muslim uprisings, Palin says 'next year in Jerusalem'
And you thought he couldn't top last year's 'Passover message' in which he managed not to mention God, Israel or Jerusalem.... Here's this year's message.
In a signed letter, Obama noted that the story of Passover – "the passage of the children of Israel from bondage and repression to freedom and liberty" – applies to the "modern stories of liberation" in the Middle East.
"The Seder instructs each generation to remember its past, while appreciating the beauty of freedom and the responsibility it entails," Obama wrote. "This year, that ancient instruction is reflected in the daily headlines as we see modern stories of social transformation and liberation unfolding in the Middle East and North Africa."
"Against the backdrop of change, we continue to pray for peace between Israel and her neighbors, while reaffirming our enduring commitment to Israel's security."
Obama wished Jewish families around the world a happy Passover and urged that the world must work to "alleviate the suffering, poverty, injustice, and hunger of those who are not yet free."
Once again, God gets no mention. Neither does Jerusalem despite the fact that Jews around the World ended their seder with 'next year in Jerusalem.' (What does that mean, Barack? Hint - no it doesn't mean a 'Palestinian state' nor Egyptian 'democracy). Israel gets a mention but only for the pipe dream of Obama's brand of peace with our neighbors.
Passover recalls the bondage and suffering of Jews in Egypt and the miracle of the Exodus, but U.S. President Barack Obama says its message is reflected in Muslim uprisings.
In his annual message, prior to his third straight participation in the Passover Seder, President Obama stated, “The story of Passover…instructs each generation to remember its past, while appreciating the beauty of freedom and the responsibility it entails. This year that ancient instruction is reflected in the daily headlines as we see modern stories of social transformation and liberation unfolding in the Middle East and North Africa.”
Having constructed a link between the Arab uprisings and Chosen People's experiencing the miracles of the Creator that led them out of Egypt and towards the receiving of the Ten Commandments, the President concluded, "As Jewish families gather for this joyous celebration of freedom, let us all be thankful for the gifts that have been bestowed upon us, and let us work to alleviate the suffering, poverty, injustice, and hunger of those who are not yet free.”
For good measure, he also added the Hebrew term “Chag Samayach,” which means “Have a happy holiday.”
Let me add what I said about this last year.
Obama's concept of the 'lessons from the Exodus from Egypt' is so obtuse, it must be answered lest silence be interpreted as acquiescence.
The lesson of the Exodus from Egypt is that God came and redeemed His people from bondage because, as the Rabbis tell us, "they did not change their names [to Egyptian names] and they did not change their language [to Egyptian]." Instead, the Jews maintained their unique identity throughout the 210 years of bondage in Egypt, and as a reward God gave them two mitzvoth (commandments) to perform (circumcision and the sacrifice of the Paschal lamb). Our reward for performing those mitzvoth was that God redeemed the Jews from Egypt.
There was no 'oppression to fought' or 'freedom to be won.' As the Hagaddah relates the story, God himself (not through an angel or a spirit or a messenger, but God himself) came to Egypt and redeemed our forefathers from Egyptian bondage. This had nothing to do with 'suffering and discrimination' in the sense that Westerners think of those words. The story of the Exodus from Egypt is a Jewish story and not a universal one. That's one reason why any Pesach message that omits God is false. It was God who took us out of Egypt. We did not take ourselves out.
Read the whole thing. Obama did hold a 'seder' on Monday night, although from the picture above, it is clear that it started before sundown (a no, no) and the New York Times reports that the seder was not Kosher (YNet was more politically correct and reported that it was not "Kasher l'Mehadrin").
The LA Times tried to help Obama save face by saying that his Passover message was 'similar' to Sarah Palin's Passover message posted on her Facebook page. Far from it. Here's Palin's message. Note what I've highlighted.
Tonight is Passover, the Jewish people’s celebration of their deliverance from bondage and their Exodus to the Land of Israel. Passover contains poignant spiritual and historical meaning for Jews, but it also reminds all of us of mankind’s universal aspiration to be free from bondage and oppression. Today, in the same region where the story of Exodus took place, Arabs suffering under despotic regimes are seeking their own freedom and self-determination. As Jews in Israel, the Middle East’s only liberal democracy, gather for Passover, we hope for the spread of freedom and peace throughout the region. On this Passover holiday, our family sends our best wishes to the Jewish community. Chag kasher V'Sameach. Happy Passover. And next year in Jerusalem.
Yes, she didn't mention God either. But in her case, if she did, she'd probably be accused of having someone else in mind.
Here are two videos from Sarah Palin's visit to Israel. The first one is mostly about her dinner with her husband and the Netanyahu's on Monday night (Seudat Purim?).
Let's go to the videotape.
Here's a more extensive video of Palin's trip. Some of this is in Hebrew.
While the rest of us were busy celebrating Purim on Sunday night, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin took a tour of the Western Wall tunnels and had some advice for Israel.
World Likud chairman and Likud MK Danny Danon and Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz served as Palin’s tour guides on Sunday night. Palin was told that Jews were not allowed to pray openly on the Temple Mount and about the Arab riots that accompanied Netanyahu’s decision to authorize the creation of an exit from the Western Wall tunnels in 1996.
“Why are you apologizing all the time?” Palin asked her guides.
Palin expressed regret that she would not be able to visit Nazareth or Bethlehem during her brief stay in Israel, but promised that she would soon come back for longer.
“It’s overwhelming to be able to see and touch the cornerstone of our faith,” Palin told reporters upon exiting the tunnels. “I’m so thankful to be able to be here, and I’m thankful to know the Israel-American connection will grow and strengthen as the peace negotiations continue.”
Rabinowitz said that Palin prayed at the point closest to the Holy of Holies and left a note with a personal prayer. Unlike the incident that occurred when then-presidential candidate Barack Obama visited the Western Wall in July 2008, nobody removed her note from the Wall and gave it to the press.
“She said that she absolutely supports Israel and that America is the biggest friend that Israel has,” Rabinowitz said.
When Rabinowitz shared the story of Purim with Palin, she told him it was especially meaningful to be at the Kotel on Purim.
Danon said that Palin’s visit to the Western Wall Tunnels was very exciting.
“She really connected to the story of the Jewish nation,” Danon said. “She knows the material but there’s nothing like standing in front of those big stones and hearing about the connection. I know that she loves Israel, and after a visit like this, she has a personal connection to the Western Wall.”
He called upon Obama to make his first visit to Israel as president as soon as possible.
Palin, who was wearing a large Star of David, told Danon that she had flags of Israel “on my desk, in my home, all over the place” and that she would carry around a flag she bought in Israel.
“She didn’t go into diplomatic issues, but I can clearly say from the questions she asked in relation to our conflict here with the Muslims in these holy sites that she knows that we are right and that the Muslims are just claiming things for provocation and they’re not right,” Danon said.
I hope that Palin repeated her comments to Prime Minister Netanyahu when they dined together on Monday night, because unfortunately, the State of Israel doesn't appear to be listening (Hat Tip: Shy Guy).
The State's representatives have determined that the "Kotel HaKatan" ("Small Kotel" or "Small Wailing Wall"), a wall which is a continuation of the Kotel in Jerusalem, is not a holy site. The statement was submitted to the court as part of the reply to a damages lawsuit filed by a group of Jews who prayed at the Small Kotel on Rosh HaShana of 5767 (2006).
One member of the group, Elihu Kleiman, was arrested after he blew the ram's horn, or shofar. The group of Jews who sued for damages also said they were beaten by police, who denied them their freedom to worship at a holy site.
The "Small Kotel" is nothing but "an inner courtyard of several residential homes in the Muslim quarter," the State determined in its response.
Like the Kotel, the Kotel HaKatan is an exposed face of the original western wall of the Temple Mount, built by King Herod over 2,000 years ago. However, compared to its famous "bigger brother," the Small Wall is less accessible and looks less impressive: it is barely 10 meters long, less of its height has been exposed and its plaza is much narrower.
In fact, however, the Kotel HaKatan can be considered holier than the better known Kotel, because it is located 200 yards to the north – and therefore practically opposite the actual site of the Holy of Holies in the original Holy Temples.
On her way back to the US from a speech in India, Sarah Palin and her husband Todd are stopping in Israel. Their visit will coincide with the Purim holiday.
In their two-day visit, Palin and her husband Todd intend to pack in tours of Jerusalem’s Old City and Nazareth, as well as meetings with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the chairman of World Likud, MK Danny Danon, who is close to Republican officials. She also may visit Masada, the Western Wall tunnels, and Christian sites in Bethlehem.
"I’m thankful to be able to travel to Israel on my way back to the US,” Palin said. “As the world confronts sweeping changes and new realities, I look forward to meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu to discuss the key issues facing his country, our ally Israel.”
Palin had been planning a longer visit for more than a year, and she still is. Sources with knowledge of her plans called the current trip “an appetizer” for a more official visit later in the year.
A likely candidate for the Republican nomination for president, Palin’s visit will follow in the footsteps of other expected candidates like Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Haley Barbour and Rudolph Giuliani, who all met with Netanyahu during their respective visits.
Palin’s meeting with Netanyahu is expected to take place Monday night. An official in Netanyahu’s office said that Netanyahu understands well the importance of meeting US politicians, and makes every effort to meet them, regardless of party affiliation.
Palin kept an Israeli flag in her office when she was governor of Alaska. She has been a frequent critic of US President Barack Obama’s policies on Israel.
“The Jewish settlements should be expanded upon because the population will continue to grow,” she said in a recent interview. “The Obama administration does not have the right to tell them not to grow.”
In a Facebook post last year, Palin wrote that “as Israel makes concessions (and is still criticized by the Obama Administration), Arab leaders are just sitting back waiting for the White House to further pressure Israel. The Obama Administration needs to open its eyes and recognize that it is only Iran and her terrorist allies that benefit from this manufactured Israeli controversy.”
Better make sure Bibi doesn't get drunk on Monday. Heh.
Palin comes out strongly against cutting aid to Israel
Former Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin was interviewed by Judge Jeanine Pirro on Foxnews on Sunday. In one of the highlights, Palin came out strongly against cutting aid to Israel. That part of the interview starts around the 4:40 mark, and much of the rest deals with foreign policy and anti-terrorism issues.
Senator Joseph McCarthy was exposed by the phrase "Have you no decency, Sir?" as if the American people suddenly realized that McCarthy was a demagogue. But the left has no decency; it has smeared and slandered decency over and over again, until whole generations of young people can no longer recognize decency as a basic human virtue. The left will never hold itself to that standard. It desires power and control too much. Everyday decency is just bourgeois morality, and the left holds such concepts in contempt. That is why an appeal to their conscience never works.
Then Sarah Palin comes along, and by gum, they tear their own masks off, over and over again. It's a kick to watch. If you can stand the tension.
The American people are watching. If the people rally to Sarah, instinctively, they will be going for wholesomeness and decency. If the people don't even recognize all this Snidely Whiplash rage from the left, you can kiss the culture goodbye. The left will have triumphed at last.
Sarah Palin is therefore a last-chance test of our cultural health. If the people don't get what's right in front of their eyes, if we allow Palin to be scapegoated like Clarence Thomas and Newt Gingrich were scapegoated by a "high tech lynch mob," as Justice Thomas called it, we've lost the culture.
That's how important this is.
How Governor Palin is treated in public is therefore is even more important than the presidency. If the left manages to whip up a mob assault on her, that will tell us all we need to know about ourselves -- and whether the American experiment in constitutional government has come to an end.
I am thrilled that warm support for Israel is part of a package of wholesomeness and decency in the United States.
Alan Dershowitz rips J Street over the 'blood libel' charge
Alan Dershowitz goes after J Street for its criticism of Sarah Palin's use of the term 'blood libel,' on the one hand, and its silence in the face of even worse references to the Holocaust by Representative Steve Cohen (D-Tn), Norman Finkelstein and other on the Left. I recommend that you read the whole thing. Here's his bottom line.
Yet, although J Street, which claims to be a pro-Israel lobby, went out of its way to criticize Palin's remarks, it has not leveled comparable criticism against Finkelstein and other prominent leftists who abuse the language of Jewish suffering. The reason is obvious: Many J Street supporters adore Finkelstein, cheer him at his lectures and echo his demonization of Israel. J Street does not go after Finkelstein for the same reason it refused to go after Richard Goldstone: If it did, it would lose support from many on the hard left, which it is trying to cultivate. (One of J Street's leading activist and supporters, Letty Pogrebin, has praised Goldstone as a modern day prophet and supported the most egregious statements made in his report.)
Why J Street felt it necessary to enter the kerfuffle about the use of blood libel may not be obvious to those who actually believe that J Street is a "pro-Israel, pro-peace" lobby that limits its activities to issues surrounding the Israeli Arab conflict. After all, J Street does not claim to be in the business of defending the Jewish people against defamation as does the ADL. Nor is it a protector of Jewish sensitivities as is the Wiesenthal Center. But to those of us who understand what J Street really is, its attack on Palin makes perfect sense. J Street is a lobby for the Democratic Party in general and for the Obama Administration in particular. That's why it doesn't deviate from the Obama line, doesn't criticize the Obama Administration, and doesn't miss an opportunity to dump on Republicans, even those who support Israel.
J Street will respond to this charge of a double standard by arguing that Sarah Palin is a prominent public figure, a potential presidential candidate, while Finkelstein and others on the hard left who abuse the language of Jewish suffering are marginal figures. But that misses the mark. Those of us who are liberals have a special obligation to criticize abusers of the left, just as those who are conservatives have a special obligation to criticize abusers of the right, such as Patrick Buchanan. It's too easy for J Street to pile on when the alleged abuser is a conservative Republican. It's far more difficult, and costly, for J Street to go after fellow leftists who abuse language, especially those with large followings among its supporters. But that is their responsibility if they are to assume the role of protector of Jewish sensibilities. I doubt it is a role they are willing to assume, except when it serves the interests of their real clients: the Democratic Party, the Obama Administration and the left. That is why they went after Sarah Palin, even though her remarks had nothing to do with Israel or peace.
Any genuine lobby group for Israel and for peace must assure that support for Israel and for peace remains a bipartisan concern. J Street wants to turn it into a partisan wedge issue that divides Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, young and old. That's why they focus so much criticism against Republicans who support Israel. Such divisions do not serve the interests of peace or Israeli security.
Unfortunately, much of the Jewish community (including a lot of the comments and emails I get) seems to be afflicted with Palin Derangement Syndrome. It's good to see someone like Dershowitz - who was still considered a liberal the last time I checked - put them in their place.
With Sarah Palin under attack for 'inciting' the maniac in Tucson last weekend, perhaps this is the time to remind people of some of those who have attacked Palin in the past.
The Nazi website Stormfront - which I will not link - attacked Sarah Palin during the 2008 election campaign because of this 2008 article from The American Thinker in which the picture at the top is shown. If you look at the right side of the picture by the window, you will see an Israeli flag on display.
One of the commenters on the thread also raised the issue of Palin's lapel pin, which includes both an Israeli and an American flag.
I don't believe the Stormfront crowd is the kind of company most of us want to be keeping.
Details of the trip, including the timing, have not yet been worked out. But Palin sources confirm that plans are being considered for foreign travel in the new year, with Israel and Britain at the top of the list.
...
Potential presidential contenders frequently plan highly publicized foreign trips ahead of announcing runs as a forum to boost their foreign policy credentials.
The move could be an opportunity for the Republican former vice presidential nominee to bolster any perceived weaknesses as a candidate. She has little travel experience on her resume, and GOP insiders worry that she’s weak on issues outside of her comfort zone.
...
Some of Palin’s potential GOP presidential rivals already have taken foreign trips. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee traveled to Israel last year and is returning in January. And Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty traveled to Asia in September as part of a trade mission.
Palin has long wanted to visit Israel, and in a recent Facebook post wishing the Jewish community a Happy Hanukkah she reconfirmed her support for the Jewish state: “Today we should all recommit ourselves to ensuring that the miracle of a Jewish state endures forever. The dreidel is one of the most familiar symbols of Hanukkah, with Hebrew letters on it representing the phrase Nes Gadol Haya Sham—‘a great miracle happened there.’ Indeed a great miracle is still happening there.”
...
The former Alaska governor was criticized in 2008 for her limited global travel, but this first foreign trip post-governorship would burnish her foreign-policy credentials and would certainly be accompanied by a media frenzy as both the Israeli and English press follow her closely.
Palin has a foreign-policy team of two allies from her time on the McCain campaign, Randy Scheunemann and Michael Goldfarb briefing her, and she has taken to her Facebook page of late to weigh in on global issues. In a post titled “An Open Letter to Republican Freshmen Members of Congress” she tells new members to “say no to cutting the necessities in our defense budget when we are engaged in two wars and face so many threats—from Islamic extremists to a nuclear Iran to a rising China.” She also urges the freshmen to “push job-creating free trade agreements with allies like Colombia and South Korea.” And she even counsels them on Israel writing, “You can stand with allies like Israel, not criticize them. You can let the President know what you believe—Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, not a settlement.” And she shares her opposition to the START treaty, something her potential 2012 rival Mitt Romney has also expressed his opposition toward, “don’t listen to desperate politically motivated arguments about the need for hasty consideration of the ‘New START’ treaty. Insist on your right to patient and careful deliberation of New START to address very real concerns about verification, missile defense, and modernization of our nuclear infrastructure. No New START in the lame duck!”
Another potential 2012 rival, Mike Huckabee has also announced a trip to Israel in the new year. He will be making his 15th trip to the Holy Land in January.
I'd love to see Palin come here. In fact, I'd like to see all the candidates come here. But I can think of one who won't come here. Hint: He's a Democrat.
The Jewish Week (surprisingly) publishes a report that Sarah Palin is gaining ground among 'educated Jews' (Hat Tip: Memeorandum). Here's the bottom line:
Lieberman, Kristol, Lipsky, and the Podhoretz’s are sophisticated, educated, thinking Jews who appreciate Palin's heartfelt support for Israel, her forceful and informed advocacy for energy independence, her strong stance on national security, and her fealty to traditional moral values (sometimes we forget these are Jewish values, too!). All are bellwethers of the increasing respect for Sarah Palin amongst us – the educated and affluent American Jews.
The comments are - for the most part - a den of hostility. God forbid any Jew who considers himself an intellectual should support Palin! (/sarc).
Let's be blunt: Any Jew to whom Israel matters more than abortion rights and gay marriage would be intellectually dishonest if they supported Barack Obama over Sarah Palin or Mike Huckabee or just about any other conservative candidate for the Presidency (with the exception of Ron Paul - I'd stayrun away from home if the choice was Ron Paul or Barack Obama).
These people may be Jewish and they may be intellectual but they're not Jewish intellectuals because they don't give primacy to Jewish concerns. They should drop 'Jewish' from their titles.
For those who have been in a cave all week, Sarah Palin accidentally referred to North Korea as an American ally on the Glenn Beck show this week. Unchastened by their humiliation at the hands of Christine O'Donnell (whom they accused of gaffing when she said it was time to party like 1773, and then discovered that was the year of The Tea Party), the Leftist media has gone after Palin with a vengeance. The Barracuda came back at them with a hard-hitting post on her Facebook page exposing their double standards (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).
Of course, the paragraph above is based on a series of misstatements and verbal gaffes made by Barack Obama (I didn’t have enough time to do one for Joe Biden). YouTube links are provided just in case you doubt the accuracy of these all too human slips-of-the-tongue. If you can’t remember hearing about them, that’s because for the most part the media didn’t consider them newsworthy. I have no complaint about that. Everybody makes the occasional verbal gaffe – even newsanchors.
Obviously, I would have been even more impressed if the media showed some consistency on this issue. Unfortunately, it seems they couldn’t resist the temptation to turn a simple one word slip-of-the-tongue of mine into a major political headline. The one word slip occurred yesterday during one of my seven back-to-back interviews wherein I was privileged to speak to the American public about the important, world-changing issues before us.
One of the people who got to meet with Ben Smith last week is my friend Yisrael Medad, who had some very positive thoughts about former Alaska governor Sarah Palin.
Israelis follow American politics as closely as most Americans, and there was a great deal of curiousity when I was there last week about who is the likeliest Republican presidential nominee.
Most Israelis didn't express a strong preference on that subject -- all the leading Republicans have at least generically hawkish, pro-Israel stands -- with a sole exception: Settlers love Sarah Palin.
I heard this from a few people, but most clearly from Yisrael Medad, a Queens-born dual citizen of the the U.S. and Israel who has lived for 30 years on top of a hill in Shilo, deep in the West Bank and inside any future Palestinian state. His is one of the settlements that the Israeli government would have to dismantle -- likely as not by force -- in any future peace deal. Medad had met Mike Huckabee, who has visited and backed both settlements in the West Bank -- though the one he visited is less remote, and more likely to be swapped into Israel, than Medad's -- and controversial Jewish expansion into an Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem.
Palin, though, is Medad's favorite.
"I want to get Sarah Palin out here," he told me during an interview at his kitchen table. "She made a very good statement -- even if it was a little factually off."
Aside from a sort of general sympathy between settlers -- who see themselves as frontiersmen of sorts -- and the former Alaska governor, they've also gotten specific -- if somewhat hazy -- encouragement from Palin.
...
As Medad wrote on his blog earlier this year, "Whether she believes our communities will grow due to God or plain old Zionism, [this] is a very good base to build on. There are many other good reasons and she should be hear to see, learn and be impressed by all the factors: geopolitical, ideological, legal rights, military and more."
Well, yes, people on the Right here (and not just 'settlers') love Sarah Palin. But I could see them getting equally comfortable with Mike Huckabee or Mike Pence or Marco Rubio or even Rudy Giuliani to name a few.
Palin's attraction is that she's very outspoken about being pro-Israel (she wears it on her sleevelapel), that just about everything she does attracts a lot of attention, and that love her or hate her, everyone has an opinion about her. I'd love to see Palin come here - I've already been involved in one effort to bring her here.
Will Palin wink back at Winkie (Yisrael's nickname)? I hope so.
Sarah Palin tells incoming Republicans to stand by Israel
Sarah Palin has written an open letter to Republican Freshmen Members of Congress and posted it on her Facebook page (Hat Tip: Memeorandum). It includes this:
On foreign policy and national security, I urge you to stick to our principles: strong defense, free trade, nurturing allies, and steadfast opposition to America’s enemies. We are the most powerful country on earth and the world is better off because of it. Our president does not seem to understand this. If we withdraw from the world, the world will become a much more dangerous place. You must push President Obama to finish the job right in Iraq and get the job done in Afghanistan, otherwise we who are war-weary will forever question why America’s finest are sent overseas to make the ultimate sacrifice with no clear commitment to victory from those who send them. You should be prepared to stand with the President against Iran’s nuclear aspirations using whatever means necessary to ensure the mullahs in Tehran do not get their hands on nuclear weapons. And you can stand with the Iranian people who oppose the tyrannical rule of the clerics and concretely support their efforts to win their freedom – even if the President does not.
You need to say no to cutting the necessities in our defense budget when we are engaged in two wars and face so many threats – from Islamic extremists to a nuclear Iran to a rising China. As Ronald Reagan said, “We will always be prepared, so we may always be free.” You will also have the opportunity to push job-creating free trade agreements with allies like Colombia and South Korea. You can stand with allies like Israel, not criticize them. You can let the President know what you believe – Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, not a settlement. And for those of you joining the United States Senate, don’t listen to desperate politically-motivated arguments about the need for hasty consideration of the “New START” treaty. Insist on your right to patient and careful deliberation of New START to address very real concerns about verification, missile defense, and modernization of our nuclear infrastructure. No New START in the lame duck!
And not a word about reaching a goal of cutting Israel in two.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
