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Israel Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 06, 2017 21 Comments
The so-called "Day Without A Woman" strike scheduled for March 8 was first conceived by a group of extremists under the banner of the International Women's Strike, through a call to action posted in The Guardian newspaper, Women of America: we're going on strike. Join us so Trump will see our power:
As a first step, we propose to help build an international strike against male violence and in defense of reproductive rights on 8 March. In this, we join with feminist groups from around 30 countries who have called for such a strike.... The women’s marches of 21 January have shown that in the United States, too, a new feminist movement may be in the making. It is important not to lose momentum.

Posted by David Gerstman on March 05, 2017 4 Comments
Last week Gen. (ret.) Michael Herzog (brother of Israel's opposition leader Isaac Herzog) wrote a remarkable article (.pdf) in The American Interest. Herzog, who has been involved in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations since 1993 didn't write his article to place blame (though he does) for the failure of the 2013-2014 talks overseen by then-Secretary of State John Kerry but "it is my sincere hope that this analysis will inform a meaningful policy debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." But if you Google Herzog's name for the past week, precisely one news organization covered the article: The Times of Israel. Some blogs such as The Tower and Yaacov Lozowick have written about it too. One would think that an insider's view of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians would draw a lot of attention, but it didn't. Presumably that is because Herzog didn't blame Bibi first.

Posted by Miriam Elman on February 27, 2017 4 Comments
Breaking the Silence (BtS)—Shovrim Shtika in Hebrew—is a group of Israeli veterans who collect and disseminate ‘testimonies’ of alleged breaches of military ethics which they claim were witnessed and perpetrated by soldiers while they were serving in the West Bank and Gaza. BtS activists present themselves as patriotic Zionists who love their country. They also defend their organization as a whistleblower that works to keep the state moral by speaking out against IDF atrocities committed against Palestinians. But the reality is that BtS has long been discredited as a fringe group that acts to “fuel BDS.” The group once garnered a fair share of admirers during its formative years. Today it’s rejected by most of the Israeli mainstream public.

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 23, 2017 2 Comments
CPAC 2017 has shown its support for Israel in numerous ways, but the panel on the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) provided excellent points to defeat the movement. "BDS isn't about taking Israel out of business," said Lisa Daftari from Foreign Desk News. "It's about taking Israel off the map."

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 23, 2017 15 Comments
An Iranian commander with the Revolutionary Guard has threatened America with a "slap in the face" should she underestimate's the regime's military. From Reuters:
"The enemy should not be mistaken in its assessments, and it will receive a strong slap in the face if it does make such a mistake," said General Mohammad Pakpour, head of the Guards’ ground forces, quoted by the Guards' website Sepahnews.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 21, 2017 12 Comments
Nikki Haley always has been pro-Israel. But as U.N. Ambassador, she doesn't get to voice purely personal opinions, but rather, speaks for the administration. Yet, any ambassador cannot help but bring his or her own style and wording to the job. We certainly saw that with Ambassador Daniel Patrick Moynihan, when he lambasted the U.N. General Assembly after passage of the infamous (and now revoked) 1975 "Zionism is Racism" Resolution 3379. Given that the rhetoric from the anti-Israel boycott movement, including far-left regressive Jews, mirrors the "Zionism is Racism" resolution, it's worth revisiting Moynihan's words.

Posted by David Gerstman on February 19, 2017 11 Comments
Barak Ravid, the diplomatic correspondent for the Israeli daily Haaretz, has a reputation of getting great scoops, especially of the sort that makes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu look bad. In a story with a sensational headline that has lit up anti-Netanyahu social media, Ravid reported, Exclusive Kerry Offered Netanyahu Regional Peace Plan in Secret 2016 Summit With al-Sissi, King Abdullah. The sub-headline read, "Kerry's outline included Arab recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. Netanyahu claimed he couldn't get his coalition to back it."

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 15, 2017 9 Comments
The press conference is now over. Video below. Quick Takes: Much warmer relationship than the tense Obama-Bibi appearances, where they could hardly contain their disdain for each other. Substantively, Trump did exactly what any good mediator would do -- not try to impose a solution on the parties. His point was that whatever form a peace deal takes that is acceptable to the parties, it's acceptable to him.

Posted by David Gerstman on February 15, 2017 4 Comments
Hamas, the terrorist group dedicated to Israel's destruction, in the Gaza Strip has a new leader, and it shouldn't be surprising that he's a convicted murderer. Convicted of the murder of other Palestinians who had been accused of helping Israel, Yehya Sinwar was imprisoned in 1989 and served 22 years until he was released six years ago as part of the deal to release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Sinwar is on the U.S. "Specially Designated [Terrorist] Nationals" List.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 13, 2017 10 Comments
Isreali Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is visiting the U.S. this week, and will meet President Trump. An important question is what is the status of the American popular opinion towards Israel. There is a misconception that American political support for Israel is a result of the "Israel Lobby" and "Israel Firsters." Those are terms frequently thrown around by regressive leftists and anti-Israel activists, a not too subtle play on the traditional antisemitic claim that Jews are disloyal to their home countries. Polling consistently shows, however, that Americans overwhelmingly support Israel, and that support has increased over the past decade, as we reported last year, Gallup: Americans still overwhelmingly support Israel. The "Israel Lobby" actually is the American people, and political support reflects popular opinion.

Posted by Miriam Elman on February 10, 2017 11 Comments
On Wednesday, the New York State Education Department apologized for including an ‘anti-Israel’ political cartoon on its global studies Regents Exam. The exam was administered to 10th graders back on January 24. In an earlier post on the controversy, we wrote that critics—including students, teachers, and a prominent NY politician—had charged that the cartoon was offensive anti-Israel propaganda.

Posted by Miriam Elman on February 02, 2017 23 Comments
Anti-Israel and antisemitic propaganda are common on America’s college and university campuses. But as we’ve highlighted in a number of recent posts, this discriminatory and biased messaging and materials appears to be filtering down into the public education system. In a post last April we noted how anti-Israel materials have been systematically introduced into the curriculum of a Newton, MA high school. Then at an Ithaca, NY third grade classroom we recently documented efforts to indoctrinate kids into becoming “freedom fighters for Palestine”:

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on February 01, 2017 3 Comments
This week, India and Israel celebrate 25 years of bilateral diplomatic ties. On January 29, 1992, foreign ministers from Israel and India signed an agreement establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Jerusalem in June or July to highlight the significance of this growing bilateral relationship, India's envoy to Israel Ambassador Pavan Kapoor confirmed. "The time is ripe for our two countries to explore the full potential of commonality and the complementary nature of our respective economies and work in tandem for the mutual benefit of our peoples," Indian Embassy in Tel Aviv said in a statement marking this occasion. Israel's embassy in New Delhi also issued a statement marking 25 years of diplomatic relations:
Twenty-five years ago today, on 29 January 1992, the foreign ministers of Israel and India signed the agreement to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Posted by Miriam Elman on February 01, 2017 4 Comments
On Monday Jan. 30, Israel’s parliament (the Knesset) was set to pass into law a bill that bars BDS (boycotts, divestments and sanctions) advocates from the country. The bill would extend the ban to those who back the anti-Israel BDS movement as well as those who support the boycott of settlement goods in Judea and Samaria/the West Bank. The bill has been in the works for over a year, passing its first Knesset reading back in November.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 22, 2017 21 Comments
Donald Trump has repeatedly promised to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Despite reports that an announcement could come as soon as Monday morning, January 23, 2017, The White House says it is still in the early stages of discussions:
The White House said on Sunday that it is only in the early stages of talks to fulfill President Donald Trump's pledge to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, an action that would likely spark anger in the Arab world.

Posted by Mark Finkelstein on January 19, 2017 52 Comments
Mike Barnicle might not bring much to the table, but he is still capable of passing along nasty remarks by unnamed sources. On today's Morning Joe, discussing Nikki Haley's preparations for her confirmation hearing as UN Ambassador, Barnicle said, "I was told by somebody within the world of diplomacy and international relations that Nikki Haley makes Sarah Palin sound like Henry Kissinger." Joe Scarborough seemed to have intentionally teed Barnicle up to take his anonymous shot at Haley, asking him "what are you hearing about her?" After Barnicle's gossip, Scarborough weighed in, saying that he'd been hearing for weeks "real concerns with the people that had been prepping her over her complete ignorance of foreign policy."
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