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Most observers, right or left, pro-Israel or anti-Israel, would agree that Israeli-American relations are the worst they have been in memory. Among the many indications is that only 9 percent of Jewish Israelis think President Barack Obama's administration is more pro-Israel than pro-Palestinian, according to a Smith Research poll taken during the last week of March on behalf of The Jerusalem Post. Given how much Israelis love and admire (and emigrate to) America, this level of mistrust is all the more remarkable. Commentators on the left, of course, blame Israel. For them, this is a no-brainer; blaming Israel is as...

If there were any lingering doubts in the minds of Democrats who care about Israel that the president they helped elect has fundamentally altered American foreign policy to the Jewish state’s disadvantage, they are now gone. The New York Times officially proclaimed the administration’s changed attitude in a front-page story this morning that ought to send chills down the spine of anyone who believed Barack Obama when he pledged in 2008 that he would be a loyal friend of Israel. In the view of the paper’s Washington correspondents, the moment that signaled what had already been apparent to anyone who...

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Supporters of Israel were probably not surprised at the scolding Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shortly after Vice President Joseph Biden's March visit to Israel. Media reports said that Clinton chewed Netanyahu out over the decision to build new homes in the area that the Palestinians claim belongs to them and their future state, and she stressed that American officials saw this as "a major insult." A State Department spokesman related that Clinton told Netanyahu "she could not understand how this could happen, particularly in light of the United States' strong commitment to Israel's security."...

One day in early 2010 By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen There have always been periodic random displays of anti-Semitism in the world, perhaps to warn human kind to keep itself in check. Occasionally some sickness overtakes a large-enough population segment, and a terrible episode breaks out, usually in one, specific region. Lately, however, reports worldwide of frightening incidents seem to be proliferating. Making matters worse, in my view, is the fact that these reports are not typically found in the “mainstream” press, which tends to report, for instance, Israel’s response to an attack, but not the attack itself, thereby contributing to the...

Shortly after Vice President Joe Biden's Israel visit ended on March 11 in high dudgeon over the approval 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem, US president Barack Obama ordered a consignment of Joint Direct Attack Munition- JDAM already on its way to Israel to be diverted to the US Air Force base on the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia. This step, the pointer to a US arms embargo for preventing Israel attacking Iran's nuclear sites, is first revealed here by debkafile's military sources. US military sources describe the consignment as consisting of 387 JDAM kits for attachment to the...

In an unprecedented move, the U.S. has been conducting negotiations with Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, according to a senior PA negotiator and sources in the Israeli government. The U.S. has been calling for the resumption of indirect talks, with Obama administration officials publicly proposing to serve as a go-between to facilitate dialogue between Israel and the PA. Sources in both the PA and Israeli government told WND talks are underway on a number of issues, including future borders and security controls for a Palestinian state. A senior PA negotiator, speaking on condition of anonymity, said rather than...

The Obama administration is now denying U.S. visas to Israeli scientists who work at that nation’s Dimona nuclear reactor. This startling reversal of traditional policy was reported April 7, 2010, in the Israeli website/newspaper NRG/Maariv (link to the original Hebrew here and to an exclusive Pajamas Media translation here). This could be yet another flashpoint in the increasingly sensitive relations between the administration, the American Jewish community, and Israel. The revelation in Maariv came only a day before the arrival in New York of Tariq Ramadan — controversial grandson of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al Banna — whose visa was...

The Palestinian people plan on celebrating the Holy Fire vigil next year in Jerusalem, the "capital" of the Palestinian state, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Saturday. "Next year, Inshallah (God willing), we shall celebrate in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in east Jerusalem, the capital of the Palestinian state," Fayyad was reported as saying. "Our people, joined by all humanity, will celebrate the creation of the Palestinian independent state according to 1967 borders, a state whose capital shall be Jerusalem." Fayyad further noted, "The Palestinian state is being built these days brick by brick, step by step,...

(IsraelNN.com) The United States administration once again urged the government of Israel and the American-backed Palestinian Authority to promote dialogue on Friday...The American government, and much of the international community, strongly advocates an Israeli surrender of Judea, Samaria and most of Jerusalem to the PA.

By now we know that President Obama does not particularly like Israel. It is not fair that one small country should produce more technology, music, innovation, literature, science, patents and Nobel Prizes than the 22 Arab nations that surround her. Mainstream liberals who are honest, such as Morton Kondracke, observe that President Obama is taking his frustration out on Israel. President Acorn has taken every opportunity to push regime change . . in Israel. He knows that Prime Minister Netanyahu can never agree to stop building apartments for the fertile Orthodox Jews in Israel’s capital of Jerusalem. To agree to...

JERUSALEM – The Obama administration has encouraged "resistance" by Palestinians to protest Israel's presence in eastern Jerusalem, a senior Palestinian Authority official claimed to WND. The senior PA official, speaking from Ramallah on condition of anonymity, said that in recent meetings with U.S. envoys to the region, the American diplomats supported and encouraged the concept of Palestinian protests to pressure Israel into evacuating eastern sections of Jerusalem. The PA official's claim follows a meeting in Jordan last week between PA President Mahmoud Abbas and George Mitchell, Obama's envoy to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. At a press conference immediately following the meeting,...

(IsraelNN.com) Lt.-Col. (ret.) Ralph Peters, military analyst and author of a book on Middle East politics, says Obama apparently has a chip on his shoulder against Israel – and it’s not “helpful to our civilization.” Peters, who wrote “Endless War: Middle Eastern Islam vs. Western Civilization,” was asked to explain why he felt American-Israeli friendship appears to have been derailed so dramatically. “The answer is two words,” he said. “President Obama.” “Obama’s treatment of [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu [during their recent meeting in Washington] was disgraceful and shameful,” Peters told FoxNews. “We treat our enemies with greater courtesy! In addition,...

Why is President Obama so obviously humiliating Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu? Why is Secretary of State Clinton negating everything she said when she represented New York state and piling on the Jewish state? They want Benjamin Netanyahu out. Specifically, they want him to feel such pressure that he dumps his right-wing coalition partners and forms a new government with the center-left party Kadima headed by former Prime Minister Tzipi Livni. Livni, who thinks nothing of trading land for peace, no matter how flawed the peace might be, will then hold Netanyahu's government hostage and force it to bend to...

It is not every day that Human Rights Watch (HRW) comes out with a report that accurately highlights Hamas war crimes against Israel, but in the case of the Thai worker killed by a Gaza rocket on March 18, 2009, HRW did just that.The tragic story of Manee Singmueangphon , a Thai migrant worker who was killed when a rocket struck an Israeli greenhouse north of Gaza on Thursday March 18, was barely given any in-depth coverage in the mainstream media. Most news reports simply stated that a Thai migrant worker was killed in a rocket attack, not even giving...

Key Arab nations have pressured Palestinian leaders to quit peace talks with Israel and return to violence. Delegates from 14 Arab nations meeting in Libya have failed to reach consensus on whether Palestinian leaders should proceed with US-brokered moves to resume peace talks with Israel. Palestinians have reiterated their refusal to hold even indirect talks without a complete freeze on Jewish settlement construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. It is a reversal of an agreement made earlier this month, two days before Israel announced plans for 1,600 new Jewish homes.

The US is considering abstaining from a possible UN Security Council resolution against Israeli settlement expansion in East Jerusalem, the BBC has learned. The US usually blocks Security Council resolutions criticising Israel. But relations between the allies have been severely strained by the announcement of plans to build 1,600 homes in an East Jerusalem settlement during a recent visit to Israel by US Vice-President Joe Biden.

The US is considering abstaining from a possible UN Security Council resolution against Israeli settlement expansion in East Jerusalem, the BBC has learned. The possibility surfaced at talks in Paris last week between a senior US official and Qatar's foreign minister. The official said the US would "seriously consider abstaining" if the issue of Israeli settlements was put to the vote, a diplomat told the BBC. The US usually blocks Security Council resolutions criticising Israel. But relations between the allies have been severely strained by the announcement of plans to build 1,600 homes in an East Jerusalem settlement during a...

Former UN envoy Bolton says Washington pressuring Israel not to strike nuke facilities. Former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton expressed concern Sunday that Washington was coming to terms with a nuclear Iran. “I very much worry the Obama administration is willing to accept a nuclear Iran, that's why there's this extraordinary pressure on Israel not to attack in Iran,” Bolton told Army Radio. The former envoy claimed that this pressure was the focus of last week's meetings in Washington between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyhau and US officials, including President Barack Obama. Bolton said that the Obama administration had...

(IsraelNN.com) The Air Force this past week has tested new anti-missile systems by simulating a large-scale attack from several enemies using missiles ranging from the primitive Kassam rocket to Iran’s advanced Shihab missile. The computer-simulated tests involved several defense systems, including Iron Dome and Arrow 3, against simultaneous attacks from Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.

Two Israeli soldiers were killed in a gun battle with Gaza militants in some of the fiercest fighting in the territory since Israel's military offensive there more than a year ago. The deaths were the first for the Israeli military in Gaza since January 2009. Four militants died in the clashes and in another exchange of fire nearby. Gaza's Islamic Hamas rulers announced that their gunmen were involved — marking a shift from the group's tendency over the past year to avoid confrontation with Israeli forces. The outbreak of violence in Gaza, which subsided by early evening, highlighted the region's...

On Wednesday night in Washington Israeli and American officials worked feverishly—but failed—to produce a document stating Israel’s commitments regarding proximity talks with the Palestinian Authority. The U.S. was reportedly supposed to take the document to the Palestinians and then to the Arab League meeting in Tripoli, Libya, this weekend.Days earlier Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had outlined such commitments in a letter to secretary of state Hillary Clinton. It was deemed insufficient and, in Washington, President Barack Obama sent Netanyahu and his accompanying officials back to the drawing board. According to one report, Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman advised Netanyahu not...

Benjamin Netanyahu was left to stew in a White House meeting room for over an hour after President Barack Obama abruptly walked out of tense talks to have supper with his family, it emerged on Thursday. The snub marked a fresh low in US-Israeli relations and appeared designed to show Mr Netanyahu how low his stock had fallen in Washington after he refused to back down in a row over Jewish construction in east Jerusalem. The Israeli prime minister arrived at the White House on Tuesday evening brimming with confidence that the worst of the crisis in his country's relationship...

Desperate nations find friends wherever they can. Even nations like Israel, the foundation of our Western Civilization, can be coaxed away from the US' orbit if, for example, the Obama Administration creates a tempest in a teapot in order to de-legitimize Israel. Surrounded by enemies (Syria, the Palestinians and Hezbollah) and "friends" (Egypt and Jordan), Israel has relied on outside allies for strategic help since her rebirth in 1947-1948. What many forget is that America was not the first ally of Israel. The Soviet Union was the first to recognize Israel as a way to decrease British and French influence...

President Obama welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House yesterday in an unusually low-profile follow-up to their public spat over reviving the long-dormant Mideast peace talks. The two men made no public statements afterward and press coverage of the Oval Office talks was barred -- in contrast to the warm, highly public reception Netanyahu got earlier on Capitol Hill. "We in Congress stand by Israel," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at an all-smiles appearance before the cameras. "In Congress, we speak with one voice on the subject of Israel." House Republican leader John Boehner agreed: "We have...

America's brotherly love for Israel has turned into more than just a siblings spat. It is a down and out casting off of a family member, thanks to President Barack Obama. There has been much questioning of Mr. Obama’s true feelings and commitment for the security of the State of Israel, the longtime ally of the United States. There are those who think that because Mr. Obama spent a crucial part of his childhood in a Muslim country that his sympathies lie with Islam. There are others who say that because of his African-American heritage, he has an aversion to...

(IsraelNN.com) An advertisement featuring anti-Semitic imagery bearing the UNICEF logo was placed by an NGO that enjoys the United Nations agency's support.The advertisement was placed by a Palestinian Authority youth organization, PYALARA (Palestinian Youth Association for Leadership and Rights Activation), which is funded by UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund. The ad is for a PA television show produced by PYALARA. According to Palestinian Media Watch's Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik, the advertisement is “another example of the misuse of UN funding.” The ad shows an axe destroying a Star of David. The large Star of David that has...

Does building homes threaten peace? Or does holding a ceremony honoring as a hero and role model a terrorist who murdered dozens of civilians? Last week, Israel announced it would be doing the former. Palestinians did the latter. The Obama Administration condemned the Israeli words; it ignored the Palestinian deeds. What could be wrong with building 1,600 homes for Jews in eastern Jerusalem? Nothing, except for Palestinians who do not accept Israel’s existence and intend as a first step towards ending it to set up their own Jew-free state and divide Israel’s capital in the process. What could be wrong...

The decision of the Obama White House to pick a public fight with Israel over its interior ministry’s fairly routine announcement of progress towards approval of the construction (some years from now) of apartments in northeast Jerusalem has by now been subjected to sharp and justified criticism for its disproportionality; its bad faith in reneging on signed agreements with Israel; its mean-spirited spitefulness; its dogged attachment to the exploded assumption that “settlements” are the cause of Arab intransigence; its desire to keep intact the possibility of an apartheid state of Palestine that would not accommodate a single Jew; and its...

"Air Force strikes in Gaza" SNIPPET: "IDF retaliates for deadly Qassam attack: Air Force hits several Gaza targets, including metal foundry, smuggling tunnel; Vice PM Shalom says Israel to offer strong response to rocket attack that killed Thai worker Thursday" SNIPPET: "IDF aircraft struck at least four targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday, a day after a rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave killed a Thai worker in Israel, Hamas security officials and witnesses said." SNIPPET: "Israel also sent a letter of complaint to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is due to visit Israel at the weekend,...

(IsraelNN.com) Close to 200 people converged on the Gush Etzion intersection on Saturday night to protest what they called the “Obama Intifada.” The ongoing Arab violence, which has seen a sharp increase in rock-throwings and even live-fire attacks on Israeli vehicles over the past week, continued Sunday morning with riots near Tekoa and an attempted stabbing east of Shechem. The Gush Etzion demonstrators held signs reading, "Crush the Obama intifada! No more rock-throwing! Stop the building freeze against the Jews." Among the public figures who arrived and spoke at the Saturday night protest were Rabbis Dov Lior, Gideon Perl, Yosef...

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday that the Obama administration's decision to ramp up pressure on Israel over construction of Jewish homes in East Jerusalem was bringing results. In an interview with BBC television, Clinton was asked whether escalating the tone with Israel had paid off. She said: "I think we're going to see the resumption of the negotiation track and that means that it is paying off because that's our goal." Advertisement Over the past two weeks Israel has sought to cool American ire over plans for 1,600 new homes in Ramat Shlomo, a Jewish...

s there a new intifada in the works? This is what Israelis are asking one another following a difficult week full of unrest, tension, and violence. For five days, Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the West Bank rioted in a series of outbursts that peaked on their declared “Day of Rage” on Tuesday. Border Guard officers were attacked by dozens of masked rioters hurling stones and setting fire to tires. The rioters were dispersed with stun guns. Both rioters and police suffered injuries and there were multiple arrests. The timing of the unrest isn’t surprising. Israel has given the extremists...

Obama himself claims that he has launched a political war against Israel in the interest of promoting peace. But this claim, too, does not stand up to scrutiny. On Friday, Obama ordered Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to present Netanyahu with a four-part ultimatum. First, Israel must cancel the approval of the housing units in Ramat Shlomo. Second, Israel must prohibit all construction for Jews in Jerusalem neighborhoods built since 1967. Third, Israel must make a gesture to the Palestinians to show them we want peace. The US suggests releasing hundreds of Palestinian terrorists from Israeli prisons. Fourth, Israel must...

President Obama needs every vote he can get in the House of Representatives for health care this week. So it would not do to have some of his liberal friends on the Hill think there is a crisis in U.S.-Israeli relations right now. Asked by FOX News’ Bret Baer directly if the recent diplomatic storm was a crisis, the President said no. He spoke of the decision by a mid-level Interior Ministry official in Jerusalem to allow housing units to be built in the Jewish section of the city. “Not helpful,” the President described the routine issuance of a building...

Experts wonder whether U.S. has a real Israel strategy or 'talking points' By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, March 20, 2010; A06 The Obama administration signaled Friday that its 10-day spat with Israel may be nearing an end, with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton declaring to the BBC that the confrontation "is paying off" and would lead to a resumption of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. But as the dust from the diplomatic tussle settles, some analysts are questioning what the administration actually gained from it -- and whether U.S. officials have a strategy to achieve...

Funny, President Obama was supposed to be against an arrogant foreign policy. Remember his speech in Strasbourg last spring? There had been instances, he told the European students, “where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive.” Those days are over, he assured them. Leave aside the question of whether this characterization of past American arrogance was justified. President Obama now has a year of foreign policy under his belt, and in that time he has managed to snub the British prime minister, alienate the president of France, insult the nation of Honduras when it successfully defended its young...

Phew. We can breathe easier now that the Obama administration has taken a tough-as-scimitars line with Israel, whose existentially threatening architectural blueprints for new housing, the administration says, pose a dire threat to U.S. troops and interests. Or, as Vice President Joseph Biden put it, referring to a new housing project in Jerusalem, as reported by Yedioth Ahronoth: "This is starting to get dangerous for us. What you're doing here undermines the security of our troops who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan." In other words, maybe it's not the Muslim-made IED planted in the roads of Helmand Province...

No, you can't, Obama. If your temper tantrum over some houses means that you intend to give the terrorists part of Jerusalem, think again. There is nothing to negotiate with savages who riot when a synagogue is reopened. No sooner did the Obama Administration denounce Israel for its building activities in Jerusalem when hordes of violent Palestinian thugs took to the streets of holy Jerusalem. As always, the Arabs show the world how sacred Jerusalem is to them by filling it with violence. They rioted to demand that Jews be prohibited from opening a synagogue that had been destroyed by...

WASHINGTON — The United States has diverted a shipment of bunker-busters designated for Israel. Officials said the U.S. military was ordered to divert a shipment of smart bunker-buster bombs from Israel to a military base in Diego Garcia. They said the shipment of 387 smart munitions had been slated to join pre-positioned U.S. military equipment in Israel Air Force bases. "This was a political decision," an official said. In 2008, the United States approved an Israeli request for bunker-busters capable of destroying underground facilities, including Iranian nuclear weapons sites. Officials said delivery of the weapons was held up by the...

Senior ministers on Thursday vowed that Israel would issue a "strong" response after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip killed a migrant worker in the south earlier in the day. Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai declared Hamas responsible for the rocket that hit Moshav Nativ Ha'asara, even though it was not launched by militants from the ruling movement. Deputy Premier Silvan Shalon vowed that "the the Israeli response will be appropriate. It will be strong," adding: "This is a crossing of the red line, which Israel cannot accept. It was the first deadly rocket attack since...

If the Obama administration continues to betray Israel, will any ally ever trust us again? We've been viewed as a fickle (if mighty) partner at least since the 1970s, when we abruptly dumped allies from Saigon to Tehran. Now the White House not only delights in insulting our closest traditional ally, Britain, but has intensified its diplomatic pogrom against Israel -- our only respectable ally in the Middle East. President George W. Bush was mocked for shooting from the hip, but this administration fires with its eyes closed. Obama's unbalanced actions shrivel confidence among allies around the globe -- partners...

US President Barack Obama has denied there is a crisis in Washington's ties with Israel over its settlement plans, as a war of words continues. "Friends are going to disagree sometimes," he said, days after one of his top aides strongly attacked plans for 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has distanced himself from an attack on Mr Obama by his brother-in-law. Hagai Ben-Artzi had accused the US leader of being anti-Semitic. Mr Netanyahu said he "strenuously" objected to his brother-in-law's comment and expressed his "deep appreciation" for Mr Obama's commitment to Israel's security. Israel's approval...

Palestinians fueled by anger over what they see as Israeli expansions into Palestinian-dominated areas clash with police in East Jerusalem. Rising political and religious tensions in Jerusalem spilled into the streets Tuesday with a string of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police that left more than 100 people injured. In scenes reminiscent of past uprisings, dozens of Palestinian youths, some with scarves masking their faces, pelted police with rocks, blocked roads and burned tires in half a dozen neighborhoods around East Jerusalem. Israeli police, who have been on high alert for days, responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and stun...