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As relations between Washington and Jerusalem veer onto unusually rocky terrain, two separate delegations of Congressional Democrats and Republicans will visit Israel in the next couple of weeks bearing a crucial message to the Israeli people: Congress' commitment to the U.S.-Israel relationship remains steadfast. America stands with Israel for both moral and strategic reasons. Israel is not only a democratic ally and our only true friend in the Middle East; it is also a vital pillar of U.S. national security strategy. When it is strong - its borders secure, its people free from the threat of Iran and its terrorist...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, trying to garner support against the pressures of the Obama administration, spoke to the group on Wednesday via satellite after a conversation earlier in the day with leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. He told the Christians for Israel, "For centuries, the relationship between Christians and Jews was marked by conflict rather than partnership and friendship. But this is changing…. Today millions of Christians stand with Israel because they stand for freedom; millions of Christians stand with Israel because they stand for truth; and millions of Christians stand with Israel because...

Since 2003, Bangladeshi journalist and peace activist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury has been investigated by Bangladeshi authorities on charges of sedition, treason and insulting religious belief. Choudhury, 44, has spent years opposing Muslim extremism through his writings, especially the Weekly Blitz which he started in 2003. He has called for interfaith dialogue and for normalizing relations between Muslim countries and Israel. On Wednesday, Choudhury returns to court. He is accused of insulting Islam and harming the state's reputation abroad, charges which, when couched as "sedition," carry a possible death penalty.

It Takes Two By: Alan M. Dershowitz FrontPageMagazine.com | Thursday, July 09, 2009 st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; dummy:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> Melanie Phillips has written a critique of me because I remain a Democrat and continue to support President Barack Obama, despite his recent statements regarding expansion of Israeli settlements and other matters relating to the Middle East conflict.  Other conservative supporters of...

Tucked away in a far corner of northern Europe, the tranquil and resourceful nation of Finland often gets unjustly overlooked. Flanked by a swaggering and increasingly quarrelsome Russia to the east and its larger and blonder Swedish neighbor to the west, the Finns seem to receive neither the attention nor the consideration that they rightly deserve. Indeed, despite being beset by harsh winters and a dearth of arable land, as well as enjoying the dubious distinction of being the European Union's most sparsely populated country, Finland has nonetheless built one of the most pleasant and peaceful societies on the entire...

The Obama Administration insistently reiterated its support for Israel this weekend after a Jerusalem Post poll found that only 6 percent of Jewish Israelis now consider Barack Obama's presidency to be pro-Israel. The poll, which has a margin of error of 4.5%, was conducted by Smith Research among a representative sample of 500 Israeli Jewish adults last week.

Only 6 percent of Jewish Israelis consider the views of American President Barack Obama's administration pro-Israel, according to a new Jerusalem Post-sponsored Smith Research poll. The poll, which has a margin of error of 4.5%, was conducted among a representative sample of 500 Israeli Jewish adults this week, following Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's speech in which he expressed his support for a demilitarized Palestinian state. Another 50% of those sampled consider the policies of Obama's administration more pro-Palestinian than pro-Israeli, and 36% said the policies were neutral. The remaining 8% did not express an opinion. The numbers were a stark...

Only 6 percent of Jewish Israelis consider the views of American President Barack Obama's administration pro-Israel, according to a new Jerusalem Post-sponsored Smith Research poll. The poll, which has a margin of error of 4.5%, was conducted among a representative sample of 500 Israeli Jewish adults this week, following Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's speech in which he expressed his support for a demilitarized Palestinian state. Another 50% of those sampled consider the policies of Obama's administration more pro-Palestinian than pro-Israeli, and 36% said the policies were neutral. The remaining 8% did not express an opinion. The numbers were a stark...

Only 6 percent of Jewish Israelis consider the views of American President Barack Obama's administration pro-Israel, according to a new Jerusalem Post-sponsored Smith Research poll. The poll, which has a margin of error of 4.5%, was conducted among a representative sample of 500 Israeli Jewish adults this week, following Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's speech in which he expressed his support for a demilitarized Palestinian state. Another 50% of those sampled consider the policies of Obama's administration more pro-Palestinian than pro-Israeli, and 36% said the policies were neutral. The remaining 8% did not express an opinion.

What are we to make of the new poll that supposedly shows a decline in American support for Israel? According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, the survey was conducted by the Israel Project and the results were leaked by someone who obtained the data immediately after polling last week. Reportedly, the poll shows a precipitous drop in the number of those who call themselves supporters of Israel, with 44 percent believing the United States should support Israel as opposed to 69 percent last year

Mr. Prime Minister: We stand with you. I woke up this morning thinking about how alone you must feel. Please know that the current administration does not represent the views of Americans any more than Notre Dame's president, "Father" Jenkins, represents the Catholic faith. You are not alone. Christians in America stand with you and your right to exist. Know, also, that there are 60 million Americans who did not abandon our core values or our allies for the empty rhetoric of "hope" and "change." We are the ones who did not support the Hamas-endorsed, Muslim-bowing White House occupant, who,...

More than 250 Congressmen, including 76 senators, have signed a letter to U.S. President Barack Obama, telling him “that peace cannot come while terrorism continues to wrack Israel.” “The notion that Obama was linking Jerusalem's negotiations with Palestinians to its ability to thwart nuclear annihilation rankled many in the Jewish and non-Jewish Israel support community,” New York Times journalist Edwin Black wrote. “In a word, Israel has gone over the president’s head and appealed directly to the Congress.”

A powerful Christian activist group joined thousands of Jews Monday at a massive rally in Washington DC to protest the Obama administration’s pressure on Israel to accept the establishment of a Palestinian Authority state within its current borders. The Christian Friends of Israeli Communities (CFOIC Heartland), which links Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria with Christian churches and individual sponsors around the world, launched its internet initiative over the weekend. The group urged its members to contact the White House and oppose President Barack Obama’s plan to pressure Israel into dividing the country with the Palestinian Authority.

Barack Obama's obvious comfort level with leaders of unfree countries shouldn't surprise anyone. He is not only our first black president. He is also our first president who doesn't like the free country he was elected to lead and feels his job is to change it. Obama's cordial encounter with Venezuelan thug Hugo Chavez and his bow of deference in London to the Saudi Arabian king are extensions of behavior we have always seen on the black left. Jesse Jackson openly embraced Chavez, as well as having maintained relations with the likes of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi and Yasser Arafat....

The U.S. government may abandon espionage-law charges against two former lobbyists for a pro-Israel advocacy group, officials said yesterday, as a prominent House lawmaker denied new allegations that she offered to use her influence on their behalf. SNIP With the trial set to begin June 2, the Justice Department is reviewing whether to proceed as planned or withdraw the indictments after a series of adverse court rulings, according to law enforcement sources and lawyers close to the case. Defense attorneys recently subpoenaed a number of senior Bush administration officials, including former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, former national security adviser...

On March 30th DEBKA reported DEBKAfile’s Washington sources report that the Obama administration is on the threshold of a major rapprochement with Tehran, a reversal of US policy dramatic enough to block out international sanctions. Iran will be allowed to keep its nuclear program, including military elements and enriched uranium stocks, up to the point of actually assembling a weapon. [..] The US president is willing to ditch Israel as a friend. This will be brought home to Jerusalem when he makes his big speech on April 7 appealing for a grand US-Muslim global reconciliation. The US president is preparing...

William "Bill" Davidson, billionaire Jewish philanthropist, owner of the Detroit Pistons basketball team, and businessman, has passed away at the age of 86. Davidson was a long-time lover of Israel and philanthropist who gave to the Jewish State. After the Yom Kippur war, he and fellow Detroit area philanthropist Dr. Lloyd J. Paul were flown to Israel by Prime Minister Golda Meir and given the Prime Minister's Club award for outstanding philanthropic deeds towards Israel. In 2007, Davidson and his wife, Karen, gave $75 million to the Hadassah University Medical Center at Ein Kerem in Jerusalem. The gift is being...

Israel's Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu has signed a coalition deal with the far-right Yisrael Beiteinu party, officials say. Under the agreement, Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman would become foreign minister, said officials from Mr Netanyahu's Likud party. He is a strong supporter of the Israeli settler movement and opposes exchanging land for peace with the Palestinians. Likud still needs support from other parties to form majority in parliament. Yisrael Beiteinu would get five other cabinet posts, including internal security, infrastructure, tourism, and the integration of new immigrants. Mr Netanyahu has also been seeking the support of the centrist Kadima...

THE Obama administration is increasingly fixed on resolving the "Arab-Is raeli dispute," seeing it as the key to peace and stability in the Middle East. This is bad news for Israel - and for America. In its purest form, this theory holds that, once Israel and its neighbors come to terms, all other regional conflicts can be duly resolved: Iran's nuclear-weapons program, fanatical anti-Western terrorism, Islam's Sunni-Shiite schism, Arab-Persian ethnic tensions. Some advocates believe substantively that the overwhelming bulk of other Middle Eastern grievances, wholly or partly, stem from Israel's founding and continued existence. Others see it in process terms...

Barely a month into the presidency of Barack Obama, a profound realization is spreading among the pro-Israel community: we do not have an ally in the White House. The growing threat that Israel and the Jewish People now face demands an immediate acceptance of the "facts on the ground" regarding President Obama's perspective and agenda, and decisive action to prevent the frightening reality that he may play a leading role in creating.