Report: IDF had full al-Dura video the entire time, left defenders to fight France 2 on their own
Who decided to let the IDF shoot the country in the foot? This is simply beyond belief.
It turns out that while Phillippe Karsenty, Dr. Yehuda David and others were defending the IDF against charges that it shot Mohamed al-Dura, the IDF had the full video that proved the death was staged and didn't bother to tell anyone.
Now [Israel Police Weapons Lab director Elliot Springer] has revealed that just weeks after the alleged shooting,
senior IDF officials met and watched the entire video, rather than the
edited version presented by France’s Channel 2 that sparked the
accusations against Israel.
"Despite the media reports based on edited and doctored video
footage, we watched the original, and all sounds of IDF fire was muffled
- far away in the background. When the barrage fired at al-Dura was
fired, the audio was suddenly close by - in other words Arab gumen right
beside the camera near al-Dura fired them, not the IDF,” he reported.
Springer’s testimony strengthens those of other witnesses and experts
who have declared the IDF innocent of shooting Al-Dura. However, it has
also raised a disturbing new question: if the IDF had the original,
full footage of the shooting, why did it not share it with Dr. Yehuda David, French media analyst Philippe Karsenty, or others who attempted to advocate on Israel’s behalf?
Both David and Karsenty fought in court to force France’s Channel 2
to reveal the full footage. Both needed it to help their own cases:
Karsenty was sued for accusing French media of deliberately staging the
video, while David was sued by Al-Dura’s father, Jamal, for revealing
that scars Jamal had claimed were the result of bullet wounds sustained
in the shooting were in fact from an incident years earlier in which Jamal had been attacked by an Arab gang.
Both men fought lengthy legal battles over their attempts to defend
the IDF from libel – and yet the IDF apparently did not offer them help
when it could, by making the full video available to them.
It is also not clear why the IDF did not make the whole video public
in order to boost the growing body of evidence showing the IDF did not
cause Al-Dura’s death.
Yes, you guessed it. With the exception of Yaalon, who took over three months ago, every single one of them belongs to the Left (don't let the Likud next to Mofaz's name fool you - he's belong to Kadima since late 2005). In fact, Ehud Barak's two terms add up to nearly 8 of the 13 years in question. Do you think he knew about this? I would bet on it. So why didn't he tell anyone?
I leave speculation about that question to the reader rather than making my blood boil.
Bennett: 'Two-state solution has come to a dead end,' 'Palestinian problem like shrapnel in one's buttocks'
Well, this ought to set off the chattering classes. At a Yesha Council conference on public relations on Monday in Jerusalem, Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett announced that the 'two-state solution' has come to a dead end.
"Never have so many people invested so much energy in something that is
hopeless," he said, adding that "the challenge now is how do we move
forward from here, knowing that a Palestinian state within Israel is not
possible."
"We have to move from solving the problem to living with the problem,"
Bennett stated, calling on Israel to annex Area C of the West Bank "as
quickly as possible."
...
The economics and trade minister also suggested that instead of
investing money on peace conferences, Israel should direct funds to an
economic initiative to improve life for both Jews and Palestinians in
Area C by repairing West Bank interchanges and building industrial
parks.
As you might expect, Bennett has been attacked by the 'Palestinians' and by the Israeli Left, including members of the Left who are within Prime Minister Netanyahu's governing coalition.
In response to Bennett's comments, chief
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat accused Israel of not
being serious about peace, saying that "Israel has officially declared death of two-state solution."
Erekat added that efforts by US Secretary of State
John Kerry to restart the peace process are a mere obstacle to Israel's
plans to consolidate its occupation and negate Palestinian rights.
Hey Saeb - I don't know how official he is, but Bennett has officially declared the death of the two-state solution. What are you going to do about it? What evidence do you have that it's not so?
Bennett's comments raised the ire of both members of the opposition, and his own coalition partners in Yesh Atid.
Kadima
head Shaul Mofaz called Bennett's statement that the two-state solution
is at a dead end an "irresponsible comment that delegitimizes Israel in
the eyes of the world."
Mofaz accused Bennett of "supporting a
bi-national state" and said that with such statements "there is no
future to negotiations and there is no future for peace."
Mofaz
also aimed his attacks at Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, saying
Bennett's comments indicate that the prime minister "proves that he says
one thing and does another. This is why there is no trust between the
[party] leaders."
Meanwhile, Science, Technology and Space
Minister Yaakov Peri of Yesh Atid told Army Radio that he believes the
two state solution is the only solution that could prevent a bi-national
state.
When asked about the partnership between his party and
Bennett's Bayit Yehudi party, Peri said he didn't think the cooperation
could last in light of Bennett's statements.
Hey - it would be pretty cool if this coalition broke up. Which hand would Bibi follow - his left or his right?
But here are some more comments from Bennett, which have thus far only made it to Twitter:
Yes, Bennett compared the "Palestinian problem" to shrapnel in ones buttocks that one can live with rather than face surgical dangers.#Jpost
— Tovah Lazaroff (@tovahlazaroff) June 17, 2013
You got to love that comment.
. @naftalibennett : I hear the media is shocked that I oppose a Palestinian state. That was always our stance. #JPost
— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) June 17, 2013
Heh. I think Bennett is pointing out the elephant in the room, and I challenge anyone to make a coherent argument why the 'two-state solution' is still possible (and not 'it has to be because it's necessary/we want it to be').
Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) party leader Naftali Bennett has become an errand boy between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid in what one Bayit Yehudi insider is calling 'a game of chicken gone wrong' (Hat Tip: Eliana).
Bayit Yehudi chairman Naftali Bennett
is on his way to meet Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for the second
time Wednesday, after he met with Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid in
Lapid's Tel Aviv home.
Bennett is the interlocutor in a crisis between Netanyahu and Lapid that threatens to derail the coalition talks, just as they appear to be near conclusion.
"Hell is breaking loose," a knowledgeable Bayit Yehudi source told
Arutz Sheva Wednesday. "Lapid thinks Bibi will fold, but Bibi won't.
It's a game of chicken gone wrong."
The main points of contention are Yesh Atid's demand to receive the
Education Ministry and Knesset Finance Committee, as well as the roles
of MKs Amir Peretz (Tzipi Livni's party) and Shaul Mofaz (Kadima). Lapid
wants Mofaz in the government, while Netanyahu does not. He also wants
Netanyahu to reopen his agreement with Tzipi Livni and leave Peretz out
of the government, while Netanyahu does not want to do this.
One cannot help but wonder at what point Naftali Bennett will realize that his and his party's interests lie with Netanyahu and not with Lapid. In the campaign, they promised to be a Right anchor in a Netanyahu government. Bennett's moment of truth appears to be here.
By the way, no surprise that Netanyahu doesn't want Mofaz. Some of you may recall that Mofaz brought Kadima into Netanyahu's government in May of last year (leading to the cancellation of early elections) and removed them in July of last year.
Kadima party chairman Shaul Mofaz is opening a Kollel. For those who are Hebrew impaired, the ad campaign to which the yeshiva student in the cartoon is responding is explained here.
Former Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert, the most crooked politician in Israel's history, gave an interview to Israel's Channel 2 television on Saturday night, in which he whined about being 'persecuted' and claimed that he never intended to run in the upcoming election.
“I
have never faced such pressure in my whole political career from all over Israel
and the world, saying ‘Run, Olmert, run,” he said of requests that he return to
the political arena.
“I was never close to coming back, and I never told
any writers I was running.”
...
“I
looked at the [political field], saw what people said about the behavior of
those in the bloc close to my stances, and reached the conclusion that this is
not where I want to be in the near future, not with those norms of behavior,” he
said.
Olmert explained that if he would return to politics, it would be
to form a bloc that would “change Israeli policy and leadership,” but that the
behavior and atmosphere in the Center-Left were negative and “filled with
hatred.”
The former prime minister also blamed State Attorney Moshe Lador
for “personally persecuting” him.
“Just hours after the Central Elections
Committee said there is no reason for me not to run, he [Lador] submitted an
appeal [against Olmert’s acquittals in the Talansky and Rishon Tours affairs and
his sentence of probation and a fine for his conviction for breach of trust in
the Investment Center Affair],” Olmert pointed out. “This is an obvious attempt
to influence the political process by a man with a clear conflict of
interest.”
I don't even know to which political party Lador belongs, but given his position, it's unlikely that he's a man of the Right.
In the meantime, Olmert has probably killed the possibility that the egomaniac Livni will ever run as his number 2.
According to Olmert, the only politician with whom he
discussed a run was Tzipi Livni, who expressed willingness to be No. 2 on a list
he led.
Olmert also said that Livni told him his legal situation would
not influence her decision whether to run with him or not.
However, he
threw his support behind Kadima chairman Shaul Mofaz.
“We’ll let the voters decide
[if Livni is worthy of being prime minister]. If it was between her and [Prime
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu], I’d definitely pick her, but Mofaz is definitely
worthy.
And Olmert feels no compunction about undermining Israel's position abroad.
Responding to criticism that it was inappropriate for him to
disparage Netanyahu abroad, Olmert said it was important for him to express his
opinion against policies he thinks were harming Israel internationally, but that
he also showed respect for the prime minister.
The Justice Ministry and the Likud both slammed Olmert for the interview.
The Justice
Ministry on Sunday strongly criticized Ehud Olmert's Channel 2 interview
over the weekend, according to Army Radio, saying his comments were
false and were intended to hurt the state's appeal of his recent court
acquittal on corruption charges.
...
Prime
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's Likud party also condemned Olmert's
assertion that “Netanyahu is isolating Israel and we are paying a heavy
price.”
In a statement, the party said that "Olmert incites
against Israel throughout the world but he is the last person who should
be preaching morality."
Anyone want to take bets on how long it will be before Olmert moves to France? He's beneath contempt.
LATMA discloses the Left's plan to defeat Netanyahu
This week's LATMA tribal update presents the Left's plan to defeat Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Let's go to the videotape.
On, by the way,the scene where the guy is trying to register to the company is a very realistic depiction of how the Israeli bureaucracy works. It's amazing that this country has any industry at all.
Al-Reuters tries to give the impression of a crescendo of opposition to an Israeli attack on Iran within the government by reporting that Prime Minister Netanyahu's 'ex-deputy' has come out against an attack. The problems are that the 'ex-deputy' is Shaul Mofaz, that he was a deputy for about two months, and that he and his party left the government over something that was not at all about Iran.
Shaul Mofaz, a parliamentary opposition leader who quit Netanyahu's cabinet last month where he served as vice premier, said on Israeli television he thought Israel was "planning a hasty, irresponsible event".
The former general and defense minister said he thought Israel could not do anything to force a strategic change in Iran's nuclear program, which the West suspects is aimed at producing atomic weapons. Tehran says it is for peaceful purposes.
As a member of Netanyahu's security cabinet for two months, Mofaz was privy to deliberations on Iran's nuclear program.
He told Channel 2 television in a studio interview that any Israeli military action "can at the most delay it (Iran's program) by about a year, and it can bring upon us a disastrous war".
Naming both Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, he said he was "very worried at what they are preparing". He added: "I hope very much we don't reach such a war because it would be a disaster."
The guy is opposition leader - what do you expect him to say? How disingenuous....
An appalling editorial that misstates facts right and left graces the pages of Sunday's New York Times. Who wrote it? I'd love to know....
Six decades after Israel’s founding, its citizens remain deeply at odds over the future of their democracy. The latest illustration is the disintegration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new governing coalition after only 10 weeks.
The coalition is just fine thank you. Kadima, a party that currently has 29 seats, but which polls say will drop to single numbers in new elections, has left the coalition. Why do you think they joined in the first place? Hint: It wasn't because they actually care about the issues.
But when Shaul Mofaz and his centrist Kadima Party joined the government in May, the merger created a much broader coalition. It seemed to give Mr. Netanyahu — a disappointing, risk-averse leader — unprecedented authority to get things done.
Actually, Kadima joined the coalition to save itself from electoral defeat. They latched onto one populist issue - the need for a replacement for the Tal Law - and hoped to use it to bootstrap themselves back into the Knesset. Recent polls make it clear that no one was fooled by that ploy.
Mr. Mofaz became deputy prime minister and outlined an encouraging agenda. The first priority would be integrating minority populations of ultra-Orthodox Jews and Israeli Arabs into the military and civilian service.
Actually, one of the main reasons that the partnership with Kadima failed was the fact that Kadima was opposed to drafting 'Israeli Arabs.' They were only interested in 'getting' the ultra-Orthodox. The rest of the coalition had broader goals. No way you would know that from reading the New York Times.
The coalition would also revive peace negotiations with the Palestinians, pass a national budget and enact electoral reforms.
It takes two to tango on 'peace negotiations.' Is the Times even aware that Abu Mazen canceled a meeting with Mofaz? No Israeli coalition can decide to 'revive peace negotiations with the Palestinians' unless the 'Palestinians' also want to revive them. That is clearly not the case. The coalition actually did start work on a national budget, which is not something that happens overnight (although the Times is also loathe to point out that our most recent national budget - which was for two years - was passed more recently than the last Obama administration budget).
But the coalition quickly collapsed over the issue of military service, which has exacerbated tensions between secular and religious Jews and with Arabs. Secular Israelis are increasingly resentful of the tendency of the ultra-Orthodox to refuse to serve and to separate themselves from the country’s mainstream.
The issue came to a head after the Supreme Court invalidated a law that granted draft exemptions to thousands of religious students and mandated that it be rewritten by Aug. 1.
The Times acts like Mofaz joined the government after the court ruling. But that's not the case. The court ruling was the main reason Kadima joined the government. They saw an opportunity to save their political skins. It didn't work out that way.
There was also talk of doubling army enlistment for Arabs. Israeli Palestinians are not required to join the army, and most do not. Many feel like second-class citizens and are deeply conflicted about their place in Israeli society.
Whose talk was that? Not Mofaz's. And what's an 'Israeli Palestinian'? I would guess that anyone who describes themselves as an 'Israeli Palestinian' would feel quite conflicted about their place in Israeli society. But we refer to them as 'Israeli Arabs,' while some of them refer to themselves as 'Palestinians.' Unless the Times is referring to Arabs who live beyond the 1949 armistice lines, and no one is proposing to draft them.
Demographic changes are making political compromise harder. Experts say an influx of Jews from the former Soviet Union and a high birthrate in the ultra-Orthodox community mean that many Israelis have a cultural mistrust of the democratic values on which the state was founded.
Jews from the former Soviet Union and ultra-Orthodox Jews (especially the ones who come from New York City) have a 'cultural mistrust' of the 'democratic values' on which the state was founded? Who wrote that line? Bill Clinton? Two words: Prove it.
The Palestinian population is also expanding, hastening a day when Jews could be a minority.
Actually, the 'Palestinian population' is expanding at about the same rate as the Jewish population, and if the world would allow them to leave, many of them would opt to do so. So that line is nonsense. Based on current trends, Jews will not be a minority here.
Mr. Netanyahu’s past dependence on hard-line parties has manifested itself in aggressive settlement building and resistance to serious peace talks with the Palestinians — who themselves have not shown enough commitment to a solution. Without Kadima’s moderating force, these trends will continue.
Actually, Mr. Netanyahu has not built a single 'settlement' since taking office, implemented a 10-month 'settlement freeze' and has spent the last 3+ years calling for 'talks without preconditions' with the 'Palestinians.' It's the 'Palestinians' who have refused to come to the table. Oops.
There are other worrisome developments. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel has expressed concern over “intensifying infringements on democratic freedoms.” In the past two years, activists say, more than 25 bills have been proposed or passed by the Parliament to limit freedom of speech and of the press; penalize, defund or investigate nongovernmental groups; restrict judicial independence; and trample minority rights.
I think that throwaway line was referring to this. It's been more than a year, and the NGO's still seem to be around. Hmmm.
Heh: Plesner himself proposed deferring Haredi army service to age 26
In what is perhaps the best indication yet of the extent to which the battle over 'sharing the burden' is a populist gimmick, Channel 10 revealed over the weekend that MK Yochanan Plesner (Kadima), who is now leading the charge to draft all Haredim at age 18, proposed in May that Haredim be able to defer army service until age 26.
Likud officials said yesterday they believed that they could get Kadima to back down from its position on the bill. That is because it emerged over the weekend that Plesner had worded a bill on army service for Haredim, a week after his Kadima party joined the coalition in May, which was similar to the formula Ya’alon is now proposing. Plesner says he vehemently opposes Ya’alon’s plan.
The existence of Plesner’s May proposal was revealed by the news website Nana 10.
According to Ya’alon’s bill, the ultra-Orthodox could defer service until age 26. However, Plesner’s wording from his May bill says the same thing: “The defense minister may postpone for one year the drafting of a candidate for military service for purposes of study of the Jewish religion. He may postpone the candidate’s service for additional periods of one year each, as long as the sum total of the periods does not exceed eight years − in other words, from ages 18 to 26.
But the bill produced by the committee Plesner headed allowed for deferment of service only until age 22. After that, a yeshiva student would have to choose between national civilian service and military service. According to the Plesner committee’s bill, the defense minister could exempt from Israel Defense Forces service exceptionally bright students − known in Jewish tradition as iluim.
Plesner’s proposal from two months ago also sets milestones for the drafting of the ultra-Orthodox. “The defense minister will formulate regulations within three months of the drafting of this law, quantitative goals for the draft and for national civilian service, so that within five years from the passing of the law, it will be applied in full.”
Ya’alon’s proposal states that the full draft of the ultra-Orthodox will be completed by 2016.
When we last left the Plesner Committee, its Haredi representative had just joined the Yisrael Beiteinu and HaBayit HaYehudi parties by resigning over the failure to include Arabs in the recommendations. Prime Minister Netanyahu disbanded the committee two days ago, but given that Plesner is now the be-all-and-end-all of the Kadima party, which is in a fight for its life, Plesner released his report on Wednesday anyway. Now, Shaul Mofaz is backing Plesner by threatening to withdraw from the coalition if Plesner's recommendations are not implemented. This is from the second link.
Water and Energy Minister Uzi Landau said that the committee’s choice not to deal with Arab enlistment brings “unequal equality.”
“It is strange that the enlistment of haredim, who make up eight percent [of those who don’t serve], is obvious, while national service by Arabs, who make up half of those who don’t serve, is seen as illegitimate,” Landau stated.
The Yisrael Beytenu minister also pointed out that the number of secular Jews who do not serve in the IDF is significantly higher than the amount of haredim.
“Everyone should learn these numbers,” Landau said. “Yisrael Beytenu will oppose any partial recommendations and all attempts to soften the blow, as Plesner and his friends did.”
Landau called for the Knesset not to miss a “historic opportunity” to bring all Israeli citizens into “the army of the people.”
MK Danny Danon (Likud) said that the Keshev Committee marks Kadima’s end, because rather than seek to end inequality, Plesner was more concerned with pleasing his party’s Arab voters.
“The people of Israel are sick of seeing Arabs sit back while a small percentage of the population carries the whole burden,” Danon stated. “All Israeli Arabs must do national service.”
Meretz leader Zehava Gal-On called the report “Kadima’s swan song,” saying that it is meant to “strengthen their pointless partnership with [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu.”
“Instead of proposing a bill to bring equality, the report is meant to purify discrimination,” she stated. “Mofaz is a ‘paper tiger’ who creates fake crises and threats to leave the coalition to keep Kadima alive.”
Yesh Atid founder Yair Lapid accused Plesner of giving “discounts” to different sectors in society, such as postponing haredi enlistment to age 23, preventing equality.
“This is an impractical outline that will prevent many from enlisting,” Lapid said. “Expanding the number of those who serve and requiring it of all 18 year olds, is necessary in order to stop Israeli society from breaking apart.”
The Haredi representatives weren't very happy with the recommendations either.
“There has never been such a pile of evil and maliciousness as this document,” said MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism). “Plesner’s personal position was [already] known to us, and his conclusions were known from the outset,” he added.
Plesner said during the press conference called to unveil the final document that in order to implement this principle, the document recommends personal fines for those refusing to serve; the withdrawal of state benefits they may have been entitled to such as housing benefits and municipal tax breaks; and the cancellation of the monthly NIS 850 state paid subsidy granted to full time yeshiva students.
In addition, anyone refusing to serve would get a criminal record.
According to a report in Maariv, spiritual leader of Shas Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef told the party’s political leader Interior Minister Eli Yishai that the imposition of personal sanctions on yeshiva students would lead to Shas quitting the coalition.
UTJ Chiarman MK Yisrael Eichler warned that Israel could experience sectarian conflict similar to that of its neighbors if conscription is not ended and a professional army established in its stead.
But Kadima seems determined to push ahead, proving once and for all that they hate Haredim more than any other party in the Knesset. Kadima party chairman Shaul Mofaz on Wednesday asserted that the implementation of the Plesner Report is a condition for his party staying in the government.
"The ball is in Prime Minister [Binyamin Netanyahu's] hands and he has a matter of days," Mofaz added, declaring that "the Plesner plan is the only plan."
In his report published earlier Wednesday morning, Plesner recommended that 80 percent of ultra-Orthodox participate in national or military service within four years and that personal and criminal sanctions be imposed on those who do not serve.
Although Netanyahu dismissed the Plesner committee earlier this week after a number of its members quit in protest of various issues, sources close to Netanyahu said Tuesday that he would nonetheless use its recommendations as the basis for a new law.
While offering several tracks of service for haredi men, the report recommends that service be defined as a personal responsibility, and that failing to complete it result in criminal proceedings and/or a fine and the loss of potential government benefits.
The report further suggests limiting the number of haredi men who can receive "permanent [student]" exemptions from civil or military service to 1,500.
In addition, it contains a recommendation to shorten the service required of haredi men to 24 months. Currently, men are required to serve three years in the IDF. A civil service track would be shortened to 18 months.
Mofaz seems to forget that his party went into the coalition because poll after poll showed it being wiped out by elections. Maybe he thinks that by waving a red flag at the Haredim, he can draw more votes from other secular parties. I doubt it. Labor seems to be coming back, and both they and Meretz have a longer and richer history of baiting the Haredim than Kadima has.
But we could yet have the shortest national unity government evah....
When Prime Minister Netanyahu took Kadima into his coalition, most pundits thought that one of the main purposes was to create national unity for an attack on Iran. That hasn't worked out very well. It seems that Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz is undermining Netanyahu in Washington (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).
But instead Mofaz has publicly contradicted the whole thrust of Netanyahu’s strategy by downgrading the threat from Iran and suggesting that a peace settlement with the Palestinians is actually more important.
The role of Mofaz in suggesting a more moderate Israeli policy line on Iran is at least in part the result of more senior Israeli national security figures speaking out publicly against the Netayahu threat of war on Iran, according to Yossi Alpher, a former head of the Jaffee Center for Security Studies at Tel Aviv University and a special adviser to then prime minister Ehud Barak in 2000.
In April, both former Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin and the present Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) chief of staff joined former Mossad chief Meir Dagan in contradicting the official Israeli position that Iran was bent on obtaining nuclear weapons.
Alpher believes that the decision to bring Mofaz into the government reflects a policy adjustment by Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak to the views of the Israeli national security elite.
Alpher told IPS in an interview he believes the criticism by those senior military and intelligence officials of Netayahu’s Iran policy had “reached a critical mass”.
“At some point it registered with Netanyahu and Barak,” said Alpher.
Netanyahu and Barak wanted to show the national security chiefs that they were being listened to by bringing someone who reflects their views into the leadership circle, Alpher said.
The result of that decision may be a much deeper shift in policy toward Iran than Netanyahu and Barak wish to acknowledge.
Ever since late 2011, the impression of a heightened threat of an Israeli attack on Iran has been central to the crisis atmosphere over the issue. It has been the premise on which Israel has tried to reduce progressively Obama’s freedom of action on Iran with the ultimate objective of maximising the likelihood of an eventual U.S. attack on Iranian nuclear sites.
The strategy of pressure on Obama was to be carried out through a combination of Israeli demands regarding U.S. diplomatic positions on Iran’s nuclear programme and pressure from the U.S. Congress at the prompting of the right-wing pro-Israel lobby organisation AIPAC, which operates in close consultation with the Likud government.
The tandem of Israeli and Congressional targets of AIPAC would push for U.S. demands in the negotiations with Iran that would ensure their failure.
Netanyahu would then seek to force a shift in Obama’s red line on the Iranian nuclear programme from evidence of intent to build nuclear weapons to evidence of determination to maintain a weapons nuclear capability. Allies of Netanyahu have suggested that the pressure on Obama to adopt a new red line would peak during the 2012 presidential election campaign.
...
But as the third round talks with Iran were ending in Moscow, Mofaz, who was in Washington to consult with U.S. officials on the Palestinian issue, departed publicly and dramatically from Netanyahu’s policy on Iran.
In a speech at the pro-Israel Washington Institute for Near East Policy Jun. 19, Mofaz startled the audience by suggesting that the greatest threat to Israel did not come from Iran, as Netanyahu has insisted since becoming prime minister, but from its conflict with the Palestinians. Referring to the Palestinian issue – not the Iranian nuclear programme – Mofaz warned, “Time is not in favour of Israel” and added, “This year – next year – we have to decide.”
Mofaz sounded more like the Obama administration than the Netanyahu government on the question of an Israeli military option. “We should ask ourselves how much we would delay the Iran programme – for how many months, for many years,” he said, “and what will happen in our region on the day after.”
Even more significant, however, was his comment on the “time limit” on tolerance of Iran’s nuclear programme as being when “the Iranian leader will take the last step to having a bomb.” Mofaz thus appeared to align himself with Obama’s red line rather than the Netanyahu and Barak position, which is that Iran must not be allowed to have much more of its enrichment capabilities in an underground site protected from an Israeli strike.
On Sunday night, Israel Radio reported that Kadima is threatening to withdraw from the government over drafting Haredim. A Likud minister commented that they don't need Kadima and didn't bring them into the government so that they could start issuing threats to withdraw. Kadima has no ministers other than Mofaz, and therefore Netanyahu has very little hold over most of the party if push comes to shove in a Knesset vote. I believe he should let them go. They are more trouble than they are worth.
'Moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen has told Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz to stay home on Sunday, and some people are blaming Prime Minister Netanyahu.
The meeting, planned to take place Sunday in Ramallah, was originally scheduled at the behest of Mofaz, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Thursday. The meeting would have been the highest-level direct contact between Israel and the Palestinians since peace talks broke down in 2010.
Palestinian youth activists had announced opposition to and planned protests against the meeting, almost immediately after it was made public by Erekat, Ma'an reported earlier in the week. In addition, a group of activists said they had prepared a lawsuit demanding Mofaz's arrest for alleged war crimes upon his arrival in Ramallah. It was not clear if the suit was ever filed.
A Fatah official told Ma'an that Abbas decided to delay the meeting in consideration of the popular opposition to it.
Given Abu Mazen's 'mandate,' it's not surprising that the threat of 'protests' would convince him to call off a meeting that he probably didn't want to have anyway. But here's the amazing part.
Following the announcement that the meeting was cancelled, the Israeli media quoted government sources close to Mofaz as saying Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's associates applied pressure to quash the meeting.
According to the reports, associates of Mofaz claimed that Netanyahu pushed to cancel the meeting, proving "the depth of the crisis between Mofaz and Netanyahu on the question of IDF enlistment."
You've got to be kidding. What does the 'question of IDF enlistment' have to do with Mofaz meeting with Abu Mazen? And what makes anyone think that Netanyahu has any influence whatsoever over Abu Mazen, let alone enough to get him to cancel a meeting if he really wanted to have it?
Channel 10 quoted sources close to Netanyahu as responding that it was "embarrassing that there are people close to Mofaz trying to claim that their is a connection between the Tal Law and and the meeting with Abu Mazen [Abbas]. This is a claim that was made up after the Palestinians already announced that the meeting was cancelled because of the demonstrations in Ramallah against it."
Embarrassing to whom? Mofaz is obviously happy to have these kinds of intrigues. Maybe Bibi bit off too much when he added him to the coalition?
And in case you're wondering what the 'IDF enlistment' question is about....
Likud officials have blamed Mofaz and his Kadima party of trying to pressure Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party into quitting the coalition due to attempts to water down a plan for the recruitment of haredim and Arabs into the IDF.
Netanyahu recently told Mofaz that the Plesner Committee must drop a recommendation for personal sanctions against anyone who does not join the IDF.
During the meeting with the PM, Mofaz demanded that the Plesner Committee impose personal sanctions against those who don't enlist. The two agreed to meet early next week.
...
A government official who is familiar with the talks said the Kadima chairman retracted his demand to include the mandatory enlistment of Israeli Arabs in the new legislation.
“We came here today to the attorney general’s office to demand the arrest of Mofaz, rather than his reception,” activist Ali Bidaat told AFP.
“Mofaz is responsible for crimes against our people in Gaza and the West Bank,” he added.
The activists said they belong to a group called “Youth who love the nation,” adding they would seek to submit a letter to the attorney general formally requesting the arrest of Mofaz.
The rally attracted about 15 demonstrators only who waved signs reading “Mofaz is not welcome in Ramallah” and “Shame on our leadership for receiving killers.”
That last line is rich. Really rich. But I'd be happy to see Mofaz stay home.
Mofaz thinks he's going to get 'Palestinians' to negotiate without preconditions
Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz is currently in Washington and is making some awfully bold statements.
Vice Premier Shaul Mofaz said Thursday morning that he believed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks would be renewed soon without preconditions.
Speaking to Israel Radio from Washington, Mofaz said that "I believe that there is an opportunity to restart negotiations. I have a firm basis for believing this will happen in the near future."
...
In his interview with Israel Radio, Mofaz said that the Palestinians preconditions have become an obstacle, and that the upcoming negotiations must and will be restarted "without any preconditions."
"Over the past three years the Palestinians have been placing preconditions on restarting the negotiations, and Israel and the US were mistaken in allowing them to do so," Mofaz said.
Someone needs to tell Mofaz that Israel did not allow the 'Palestinians' to impose preconditions, the US did. Mofaz also needs to know that if God forbid Obama is reelected, those preconditions are likely to remain and there will be an awful lot of additional pressure to accede to them.
Maybe Mofaz needs to get his facts straight before he opens his mouth.
MK's from Shaul Mofaz's Kadima party are angry with him because he did not object to the construction of 851 new Jewish housing units in Judea and Samaria. They are particularly peeved that he did not object to the construction of homes in the Jewish stronghold of Kiryat Arba, outside of Hebron.
When the plan to build 851 housing units in the West Bank was announced Wednesday night, Mofaz objected to the plan to build in Kiryat Arba while acquiescing to build in the [settlement] blocs [near the green line]. Netanyahu initially removed Kiryat Arba from the list of building projects at Mofaz’s request, but the prime minister put it back on the list later that night after protests from the Right.
Mofaz faced criticism for not torpedoing the move not only from rebel MKs who want to leave Kadima and those who backed Mofaz’s rival Tzipi Livni in the March 27 leadership race but also from legislators who backed him.
“I support Mofaz but his silence on Kiryat Arba is very grave,” MK Shai Hermesh said.
“Kadima should have been criticizing this decision all day. Instead of getting credit as a moderate prime minister for abiding by the court’s decision on the Ulpana outpost, by building in Kiryat Arba, Bibi is once again absorbing international criticism on an issue that not only does the international community oppose but also his coalition partners.”
MK Shlomo Molla, who is eager to split from Kadima, went further. He said that he and other Kadima MKs would demand explanations from Mofaz at Monday’s Kadima faction meeting.
“Mofaz should have urged the prime minister to cancel the plan,” Molla said. “I am so angry at my party that no one is protesting. It is sad how irrelevant Kadima has become on such an important issue. It is intolerable that we have become spare change in a right-wing coalition.”
Yeah. After all, they were just so effective in three years in the opposition....
Looking forward to the next election, and the end of Kadima. It cannot come too soon.
If I could have picked one senior Likud minister who was most likely to criticize the new unity government, this is the one I would have picked: Moshe "Boogie" Yaalon.
“When you look at the latest political move, you definitely need to examine its material aspects and its negative consequences,” Ya’alon said. “Developments of this kind definitely do not encourage some people to be involved politically and not even come to vote. Because people zigzag, and a commitment is not a commitment and a declaration is not a declaration.”
And there are critics on Kadima's side as well, although one has to wonder what they would have said had we gone to elections and left them with only 10 MK's.
On Friday, Kadima MK Nino Abesadse sharply criticized Mofaz for "joining a Bolshevik coalition."
“I was in opposition and I followed the rules. I respected them,” Abesadse said, adding, “But here, this morning, after what happened this week, I feel I am not obliged to respect the rules of the game anymore.”
I'm a critic too, because I view the unity government as Netanyahu's ticket to veer left. It remains to be seen whether he will do that. In the meantime, at least with respect to Iran, the unity government has its advantages.
Obama White House in a panic over unity government's meaning for Iran
Charles Krauthammer and the population of Israel aren't the only ones who see the parallels between the current unity government and the one in June 1967. So does the Obama White House. And yes, they are worried - very worried - that the new unity government is going to mess up their reelection plans (Hat Tip: Dan F).
According to the report, officials are holding marathon talks in Washington out of concern that an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear program may take place before the US presidential elections in November.
Undisclosed Washington sources told Channel 10 that they worry Kadima was offered a place in the coalition to shore up support for a preemptive attack aimed at halting the Islamic Republic’s nuclear drive, and that Kadima chairman Shaul Mofaz would approve of such an attack.
The report added that the US officials believe early Israeli elections would have kept the F-15s at bay, but are now genuinely concerned that with political backing, there is little to stop Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from ordering the attack.
In a joint press conference held Tuesday, Netanyahu and Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz said they saw eye-to eye on a slew of issues, including Iran. In the past Mofaz has been a vocal critic of the notion of Israel striking Iran’s nuclear sites on its own, but Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are both believed to favor an early strike.
And I'm willing to bet that Mofaz favors an early strike too, but (a) wouldn't talk about it so long as Livni was in charge of Kadima and/or (b) wouldn't say so because until he was part of the coalition, he would not want to agree with the coalition on such an important issue.
Latma's Tribal Update brings you Shaul Mofaz's stand-up routine, Oxford Don Yusuf al-Mahali shows tolerance and explains why winter nights are long, and Peace Now CEO and great Zionist Yariv Googleheimer defends Israel.
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
