Free Republic

The Israeli prime minister addresses his concerns about standing by while Iran potentially obtains nuclear capabilities.

<p>The Obama administration and its supporters insist that, although the agreement on Iran’s nuclear program now taking shape may not be perfect, the only alternative is war with Iran. A failure of the nuclear talks, they also contend, would sacrifice important temporary agreements that now restrict Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.</p>

Polls published in Israeli media on Friday showed the center-left Zionist Union gaining some ground against its right-wing Likud rivals ahead of March 17’s general elections. Zionist Union had a slight edge over Likud in two polls: 25-23 mandates in a Maariv poll and 23-22 in an Israel Radio poll. A survey on the Walla news site had the two parties tied at 23, while the website’s poll last week had Likud leading by one seat. Meanwhile, the Jewish Home party saw a slight dip in the surveys. While four different polls last week placed Naftali Bennett’s national religious party...

Thanks to a partial boycott by Democrats, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won’t be speaking to every member of Congress when he addresses Tuesday’s joint session. But just because certain members won’t be on the House floor, doesn’t mean they won’t be paying attention to Netanyahu’s remarks. It also won’t preclude those lawmakers from weighing in publicly afterwards. Following Netanyahu’s address on Tuesday, Rep. John Yarmuth, a Kentucky Democrat who is part of the tiny Jewish population in his district and doesn’t plan to attend the speech, will headline a news conference to give fellow disgruntled Democrats an opportunity to...

An assault is underway in Iraq aimed at liberating the city of Tikrit, Saddam HusseinÂ’s former hometown, from the control of Islamic State forces. If it is a successful operation, it would be a major victory in the war against ISIS in Iraq. But it is unclear if it would be an Iraqi triumph or another coup for Iran in its quest to carve out a buffer zone within the Iraqi state. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the start of the Salahuddin operations on Sunday during a visit to the government-held city of Samarra, where some of the thousands...

ROME - The Vatican is on alert in case of an attack by Islamist militants against the city-state or Pope Francis, but officials are not aware of any specific plot, the head of Vatican security said in a rare interview. "The threat exists. This is what has emerged from conversations with Italian and foreign colleagues," Domenico Giani told Polizia Moderna, the magazine published by Italian police, when asked if threats from Islamic State militants were credible. "(But) at the moment I can say that we are not aware of any plan to attack the Vatican or the Holy Father," he...

The United States and Israel have stopped intelligence cooperation on Iran's nuclear program, Channel 10 reported Monday. The reported halt in intelligence cooperation comes amid tensions in the relationship between Israel and the administration of US President Barack Obama over differences of opinion on an emerging diplomatic deal with Iran and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to the US Congress in which he is expected to speak out against such a deal on Tuesday. The intelligence cooperation between the two countries has helped the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency collect information for reports on Iran's nuclear program in the past,...

In response to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's opposition to the nuclear deal he warns threatens Israel's very existence, US President Barack Obama's administration has reportedly cut American intelligence cooperation with Israel. A report on Monday night by the Hebrew-language Channel 10, notes that the cooperation between Israeli and American intelligence agencies until now has aided the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in formulating reports on Iran's nuclear program, reports that advanced the sanctions against the Islamic regime. At the moment, while Israel is cooperating with various countries in terms of intelligence on Iran's nuclear program, the cooperation with the United...

On Tuesday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will fulfill his invitation from House Speaker John Boehner to warn the world about the grave threat Iran poses to the Jewish State and the United States. Because Boehner didn't consult the White House about the invitation, Democrats are throwing a fit about Netanyahu's planned address to a joint session of Congress. The Congressional Black Caucus has loudly proclaimed its members will not attend Netanyahu's speech, citing a perceived disrespect from the Prime Minister toward President Obama. Dozens of other Democrats also plan to skip out. Vice President Joe Biden will be jetting...

State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf says leaks on the Iran nuke talks by Israel would “betray” the US’s trust. “We’ve continuously provided detailed classified briefings to Israeli officials to keep them updated and to provide context for how we are approaching getting to a good deal,” she told reporters in Washington. “Any release of any kind of information like that would, of course, betray that trust.”

US Secretary of State 'concerned' by reports of an information leak; Iranian foreign minister says agreement dependent on removal of sanctions. US Secretary of State John Kerry is warning that public discussion of details of the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran will make it more difficult to reach a deal that prevents the country from developing atomic weapons. In comments to reporters in Geneva on Monday, Kerry said he was concerned by reports that some details of the talks would be revealed in coming days. He did not elaborate, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak in opposition to...

This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com •Reports indicate Egypt, Italy, Russia planning military action in Libya •Egypt court declares Hamas to be a terrorist organization •Egypt and Turkey may try to create a ‘Sunni front’ with Saudi Arabia Various unconfirmed reports are emerging indicating that there may be joint international action planned in Libya as early as next week. Egypt is already conducting air strikes against ISIS-linked targets in Derna, close to where Egyptian Coptics were massacred recently,... Al-Jazeera television reports that the Italian navy is getting ready to carry off sophisticated military drills off the coast of Libya as...

President Obama earned a double-barreled rebuke Monday from The Washington Post's fact-checker, for repeating a faulty claim that the Keystone XL pipeline "bypasses" the U.S. -- and for saying it would only carry "Canadian oil." The president made the claims in an interview last week with WDAY of Fargo, N.D. Obama continued to downplay the impact of the Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline, just days after vetoing a bipartisan-backed bill that would approve the construction project. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has teed up a vote to override that veto later this week. In the local interview, Obama said: "I've already...

Some 30,000 Iraqi troops and militias have launched a full-scale offensive backed by airstrikes to retake the major city of Tikrit from Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants, Al Arabiya’s correspondent in Iraq said. “Security forces are advancing on three main fronts towards Tikrit, Ad-Dawr (to the south) and Al-Alam (to the north),” an army lieutenant colonel on the ground told Agence France-Presse by telephone. Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi had announced on Sunday the “zero hour” of an operation to liberate ISIS-held territories in the province of Saladin, with its capital Tikrit, according to Al Arabiya News...

WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday opened his high-profile visit to the American capital by playing down any personal dispute with President Obama, but he said that he had a “moral obligation” to warn against the dangers of an American-brokered nuclear deal with Iran. Previewing his hotly disputed address to Congress, which is scheduled for Tuesday, Mr. Netanyahu said at the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that he was grateful to Mr. Obama and the United States for their support over the years and never meant to inject partisan politics into the relationship. He...

“When the Israeli prime minister argues that his speech will stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, he is not only misleading Israel, he is strengthening Iran,” Amnon Reshef, former head of the army’s armored corps, said at a news conference Sunday. -- -- -- TEL AVIV — Hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set off Sunday for Washington, a group of 180 retired Israeli generals and former top security officials warned that his upcoming address to a joint meeting of Congress on Iran’s nuclear program will cause more harm than good. It will not only damage Israel’s special relationship with...

In June 2008, candidate Barack Obama spoke before thousands of delegates to the pro-Israel lobbying group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, to assuage concerns that he harbored animosity toward the Jewish state. In a paragraph of his speech that began with the phrase "Let me be clear," Obama declared that under his vision for peace, "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided." The next day, after the statement triggered fierce criticism from Palestinian leaders, Obama backtracked. The reversal was an early signal of what has become a pattern during his presidency — professing profound...

Washington (AFP) - The United States pledged its unwavering committment to Israel on Monday, and insisted it will take "whatever steps are necessary" to deny adversary Iran a nuclear bomb. As international negotiators seek a deal with Tehran to rein in its nuclear program, Washington's UN ambassador Samantha Power reiterated President Barack Obama's commitment to prevent the Islamic republic from developing atomic weapons. "He will keep his commitment whether the negotiations collapse or produce a diplomatic solution that meets our bottom line," she told some 16,000 attendees at US pro-Israel lobby AIPAC ahead of a speech by visiting Israeli Prime...

How do you feel about those who won't attend Netanyahu's speech to Congress on March 3? Read this and find out what they said and how you can tell them what you think. The following members of Congress have confirmed that they will not be attending Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s speech on Tuesday. There are four Senators and 31 House members. In addition to their names, however, we have provided their twitter handles, their Washington office address and their phone and fax numbers for their Washington offices. Just in case you want to tell them what you think. In...

Reports came out overnight about a story which, if true, will be another damaging blow to the US – Israeli relationship. According to “an unnamed Israeli minister” who is quoted in a Kuwait newspaper, a 2014 plan by Israel to bomb Iranian nuclear facilities was scotched, in part, because the United States may have threatened to shoot down their planes if they tried it. The Bethlehem-based news agency Ma’an has cited a Kuwaiti newspaper report Saturday, that US President Barack Obama thwarted an Israeli military attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities in 2014 by threatening to shoot down Israeli jets...