A BRIBE TOO MANY: Obama to Netanyahu on peace: 'If not now, when?' WHAT A CHEEK

This is a disgusting example of how the world has ended up. The US Administrstion is basically BRIBING Israel and 'assuming' that it just must be Israel's fault if the peace talks fail. And even if it's obvious it isn't Israel's fault , Israel will still take the blame and have to concide if it is to be 'accepted' 

Ahead of meeting with Netanyahu, Obama hints US will be unable to protect Israel from "international fallout" if peace process fails, settlement building continues.

America’s ability to “manage the international fallout is going to be limited” if Israel does not strike a peace deal with the Palestinians and there is “continued aggressive settlement construction,” US President Barack Obama said in an interview published on the eve of hisMonday meeting with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

Washington’s inability to manage this fallout will have consequences, Obama said in the interview with Bloomberg’s Jeffrey Goldberg that appeared Sunday.

Asked whether Israel’s settlement policy will impact on the way the US will deal with Israel and Palestinian-related questions at the UN, or on US aid to Israel, Obama said that America’s commitment to Israel’s security “is not subject to periodic policy differences. That’s a rock-solid commitment and it’s one that I’ve upheld proudly throughout my tenure.”“In today’s world, where power is much more diffuse, where the threats that any state or peoples face can come from non-state actors and asymmetrical threats, and where international cooperation is needed in order to deal with those threats, the absence of international goodwill makes you less safe,” Obama said. “The condemnation of the international community can translate into a lack of cooperation when it comes to key security interests. It means reduced influence for us, the United States, in issues that are of interest to Israel. It’s survivable, but it is not preferable.”

He said that the “affection that Americans feel for Israel,” as well as the bond and bipartisan support will not be affected. “So it is not realistic nor is it my desire or expectation that the core commitments we have with Israel change during the remainder of my administration or the next administration.”

Obama, who said US Secretary of State John Kerry reports to him almost weekly about the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, and occasionally asks for direction, stopped short of saying that the current diplomatic efforts were “the last chance” for a peace deal.

But, he said, “with each successive year, the window is closing for a peace deal that both the Israelis can accept and the Palestinians can accept.”

He said this was partly because of changes in demographics, partly because of the settlement policy and partly because of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s age.

“We do not know what a successor to Abbas will look like,” Obama said.

Obama, who has had a famously rocky relationship with Netanyahu, said the prime minister was smart, tough, a great communicator and a “very skilled politician.”

“And I take him at his word when he says that he sees the necessity of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I think he genuinely believes that,” Obama said, adding that he believes Netanyahu needed to “seize the moment.”

“When I have a conversation with Bibi, that’s the essence of my conversation: If not now, when? And if not you, Mr. Prime Minister, then who? How does this get resolved?” he said.

More so than Obama, Kerry – in an interview Sunday with NBC’s Meet the Press – placed more of the burden for moving the process forward on Abbas.

He said that the Netanyahu- Obama meeting was not going to be a “showdown or anything.”

Responding to a question about whether this was “a moment of truth” for Netanyahu, Kerry replied that “everybody has to act.”

“He’s been very courageous,” Kerry said of Netanyahu, whom he will meet Monday morning before Netanyahu meets Obama. “And he’s made tough decisions with respect to entering into these negotiations and some of the things that he’s indicated he’s willing to do in the negotiations.

“It’s also up to Abbas. The Palestinians need to decide whether or not they’re prepared to compromise,” he said, “whether or not they’re willing to do some of the things necessary.”

Kerry, who had what has been widely reported as two difficult meeting with Abbas in Paris two weeks ago, said “this is not a burden exclusive to one party or the other.”

In addition to meeting Obama and Kerry on Monday, Netanyahu is scheduled to meet Vice President Joe Biden as well as the House and Senate leadership.

Before leaving for his five-day trip to the US, during which he will speak to the annualAmerican Israel Public Affairs Committee conference and spend two days in California, Netanyahu said that Israel has successfully withstood strong pressure over the last few years, and will continue to do so.

“I am leaving for an important trip to the US,” Netanyahu said before boarding the plane. “I will meet President Obama, and we will discuss Iran and the diplomatic process. I will stand firm on Israel’s vital interests, first and foremost security.”

In recent years, Netanyahu said, “Israel has come under various pressures, and we deflected them in the face of the unprecedented storm and unrest in the region. We maintained stability and security. That is what has been and what will be.”

Jerusalem post

THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM: It's their aim and it MUST NOT happen

"No Palestinian state without east Jerusalem as its capital" 

The sentiments of the PA.

OK people let's be frank, these talks aren't about peace, they're not about trying to resolve the problems of the Middle East; instead it all about John Kerry bending over backwards, like he's doing with Iran, to appease an ideology of hate. It's about Jew hatred and it's about wiping Israel off the map. 

Obama and John Kerry are helping this happen .

Jerusalem IS the Jewish capital. The evidence is there historically, biblically, in Jewish and Christian script and even in archaeologically proven, yet the PA just won't have it. 

The PA, Abbas and the whole Palestinian cause couldn't give a damn for Jerusalem, in reality means nothing to them, if it did Muslim Arabs would use the area of Temple Mount as a football pitch and they certainly wouldn't riot there.

The Muslim Arabs want Jerusalem for one reason and one reason only: Because it will help contribute to the destruction of Judaism; plain and simple, their life long dream, the goal of their existance. 

Their dream was shattered in 1917 when the Turks of the Ottoman Empire were driven out of the holy city by the British and now that dream has resurfaced in these new peace talks. 

The coming of Obama opened up many doors for the Islamist dream and one of those doors opened up to the falling of Jerusalem and it's conquest by the Islamist hordes. 

Jerusalem is the key and they know it, which is why they it so bad. The 'Palestinian state' 'settlements' and negotiation over land is to their benefit, yes, but the big prize is the holy city. They know that to capture it will spell the heralding of everything they've fought for, everything they've dreamed of and everything that's been pumped into them from birth.

If Jerusalem falls civilisation is doomed as well as Judaism as a religion. The whole Jewish religion, everything it stands for will eventually crumble if Jerusalem falls and with it Christianity. 

Jerusalem is the spiritual embodiment of the Jewish people and without it will be like for Islam to lose Mecca. The only victor in Jerusalem falling will be Islam and the only thing Israel will get out of Kerry's 'peace deal' will be the eventual destruction of the Jewish State.

This we must not let happen, not just for Israel's sake but the sake of humanity. 

PA being as uncompromising as usual: " No Palestinian state without east Jerusalem as its capital"

No Palestinian state without east Jerusalem as its capital, no recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, says Abbas spokesman.

The Palestinian Authority won’t accept anyframework agreement that does not accept the Palestinian and Arab positions, which are based on international legitimacy, presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh said on Thursday.

Abu Rudaineh’s remarks came as PA President Mahmoud Abbas and US Secretary of State John Kerry met in Paris for the second time in 24 hours to discuss the latter’s proposed framework agreement between Israelis and Palestinians.

Kerry had set nine months for the two sides to complete the peace talks. PLO Ambassador to France Hayel Fahoum said that Kerry proposed extending the peace talks with Israel for several months.

The deadline expires in late April.

Fahoum told the Voice of Palestine radio station that Abbas did not oppose the idea of extending the peace talks, on condition that real progress is achieved.

Fahoum said that Kerry still hasn’t presented Abbas with a draft of a framework agreement. He said that the discussions focused on “certain ideas.”

Abu Rudanieh, reiterated Abbas’s “firm and permanent” position regarding any agreement with Israel, saying there would be no Palestinian state without east Jerusalem as its capital and no recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.

Abbas’s positions, that all settlements are illegitimate, that a Palestinian state should be established on the pre-1967 lines, that all Palestinians be released from Israeli prisons and that the issue of the refugees be solved in a just way, were also restated.

Abu Rudaineh said that Abbas clearly relayed his position to Kerry during their discussions in Paris.

A PA official in Ramallah said that Abbas had sent two letters to US President Barack Obama since last December, outlining the Palestinian position regarding a peace agreement with Israel The official said that Abbas made it clear in his letters that the issue of the refugees should be solved on the basis of UN General Assembly Resolution 194, while granting them the right to choose whether they want to return to Israel, live in the pre-1967 lines, stay where they are today, move to another country or receive compensation.

Abbas’s letters to Obama said that Israel must withdraw from all the “1967 occupied territories in line with UN [Security Council] Resolution 242.” He also demanded the establishment of a sovereign and independent Palestinian state in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 181, with the possibility of land swaps.

Abbas also insisted that east Jerusalem become the capital of a Palestinian state and that no settlements remain in a future Palestinian state, the official said.

Abbas did not rule out the possibility that a third party would be deployed to maintain security for Palestinians and Israelis.

Jerusalem post

Obama’s War on Israel

If the left’s foreign policy these days had a slogan, it would be, “Boycott Israel, not Iran.” The double standard, dishonest as it is ugly, is also the motto of Obama’s foreign policy, which benevolently blesses Iran’s nuclear program with one outstretched hand in the name of peace and chokes concessions out of Israel to the terrorists with the other also in the name of peace.

Both peace plans are going disastrously according to plan.

Iran has made it clear that it will dismantle nothing and that it will go on developing ballistic missiles and nuclear technology. Its military commanders threaten to attack the United States and boast that their ships are encroaching on America’s maritime borders.

The Palestinian Authority has shed the last vestiges of democracy as its leader begins the tenth year of a four-year term and its elected legislature has been discarded in favor of the PLO Council. Instead of a representative government, the Palestinian Authority has reverted back to what it always was; the PLO.

A Palestinian state has receded into the figment of a dream as elections have become a distant memory and Hamas continues to hold Gaza, leaving a PLO mafia in the West Bank to maintain its monopoly on cigarettes and other commodities while passing around Western aid money to its terrorist militias.

The more Kerry pressures Israel, the more bellicose PLO leaders have become. Fatah officials have accused Kerry of threatening to poison Abbas, the Palestinian Authority’s current President-for-Life. The accusation is ridiculous, but the PLO, like Iran, is feeling emboldened by American weakness.

The softer American power gets, the harder its enemies hit.

Obama Inc. however has eyes only for Israel. Its officials and its allied media apparatus in New York and Washington have decided to hold Israel’s Prime Minister personally accountable for any criticism of Kerry and Obama not only by Israeli Jews … but also by American Jews.

An Obama Inc. official said that Obama and Kerry were disturbed over “Jewish activism in Congress” and that the administration had informed Israel of its displeasure over criticism of them by American Jews.  Holding Netanyahu accountable for the comments of American Jewish leaders is an ugly Alinskyite tactic in which Obama uses Israel as a hostage in order to silence domestic Jewish criticism.

“Shut up or the Jewish State gets it.”

The constant monitoring and suppression of Israeli criticism was so pervasive that Kerry’s handler

Jen Psaki, denounced a comedy video mocking his disastrous diplomacy put out by an Israeli political group, sight unseen, while discussing expectations that Israeli leaders would rein in criticism of Kerry.

Psaki described criticism of Kerry as “not an attack on him; that’s an attack on the process. And of course that kind of rhetoric we find unacceptable.” John Forbes Kerry had become the living embodiment of peace. The peace process, whether in Iran or Israel, had become reducible to peace. Opposing it meant opposing peace and supporting war. And Kerry had become reducible to the process and therefore to peace. Louis XIV had only claimed to embody the State. Kerry claims to embody peace.

Meanwhile Kerry makes poorly coded threats about international boycotts and intifadas to Israel while promising Jerusalem to the PLO.

The lack of options is the theme of both peace plans. Sanctions on Iran mean war, claims Obama. A failure to reach a deal that will let Iran keep its nuclear program also means war. And so, in true Chamberlainian fashion, the only alternative to war is to accept any offer that the enemy makes.

The willingness to accept any deal is the traditional negotiating posture of the losers of a war, but when any alternative to a peace deal is considered unacceptable, the peace negotiators come to the table as the losers of a war that was never even fought because they had already surrendered in all but name.

When the Senate attempted a little bit of bipartisan pressure on Iran, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes began denouncing the vast Jewish war conspiracy and the left-wing of an already left-wing media shrieked that we were about to be plunged into a war by the Zionist warmongerers. The same outlets that give a hearing to proposals to boycott Israel, chant in angry unison that any boycott of Iran is an act of war.

Every good progressive in Obama Inc. and in its media corps knows that Iran, which took American hostages and murdered hundreds of Americans, is a victim of American foreign policy, while Israel, which is being cut up into a completely indefensible, broken territory for a peace that will never come, is its beneficiary. The terrorist peace processes are unworkable, but they were never supposed to work.

The peace process with the Palestinian Authority has always failed because it was always meant to fail. Peace was the brass ring that Israel was supposed to reach for, but never actually get close enough to reach, carving itself to pieces under the bloody knives of the negotiators in the hopes of proving its moral worth to the world. Dying so that it might be allowed to live. The Iranian deal is more of the same.

Perhaps there is enough tie dye in Obama’s blood for him to genuinely want a world without nukes, but if the US is to retain its nuclear capability, then like Oppenheimer and the other scientists who helped the USSR get the bomb in the name of world peace, he wants Iran to have the bomb for world peace.

Prime Minister Netanyahu thought that he might be able to trade one peace process for another, but he hasn’t even been able to trade concessions to terrorists for sanctions on Iran. Instead he has made the worst possible bargain, trading a self-inflicted punch in the face for an enemy’s kick in the teeth. Israel has once again ended up with the worst of both worlds in the name of peace.

Obama’s dual peace processes have the same agenda. They are both meant to destroy Israel. If the PLO can’t get the job done with intermittent terrorism and negotiations, maybe a nuclear Iran will. The goal is to create enough threats to Israel that it either ceases to be a viable state or simply ceases to exist.

The destruction of Israel flows naturally from the destruction of American power. Israel has to be undone, just as Mubarak was undone, just as the United States military was undone, to heal the humiliations of the Muslim world. The United States had to lose in Afghanistan and Iraq, it had to destroy its allies in the Middle East, to make Muslims feel good about finally defeating the United States.

http://www.frontpagemag.com

US yet AGAIN betrays Israel as Kerry Works to Scuttle Israel-India Arms Deal

Not content with giving Iran a blank cheque and stitch up Israel in the Middle East now the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is pressuring the Indian government to pull out of a pending deal to purchase Spike missiles from Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Ltd., one of the Jewish state’s top arms manufacturers, Israeli daily Ma’ariv reported on Thursday.

Until recently, it appeared that the major arms contract between Israel and India was all but finalized, according to the report. The Spike missiles were tested extensively by the Indian army, which had reportedly agreed to spend millions of dollars on the rockets.

At the last moment however, John Kerry along with other senior U.S. government officials began to exert political pressure on the Indians to renege on their agreement with Israel.

According to Ma’ariv, the Americans’ motivation for meddling is financial. The U.S. government is reportedly trying to lure India into acquiring American-made Javelin missiles instead of the Israeli Spike. Washington is allegedly making an offer that it hopes New Delhi won’t be able to refuse: active participation in the development of the next U.S. anti-tank missile.

Evidently, serious cuts to the U.S. defense budget have resulted in a scramble by the U.S. government to line up contracts for the mammoth American defense industry in an effort to prevent this major provider of American jobs from drying up, according to Ma’ariv.

To date, it is unclear whether the Indians will back out of their deal with Israel.

The Algemeiner 

LET HIM SEE THE TRUTH: Kerry expected to meet Israel victims of terrorism

Its a great idea but let's hope Kerry doesn't use it to try to dupe Israelis into thinking he cares, because we know HE DOESNT!

US Secretary of State will meet with terror victims on next trip to Israel; NGO Almagor head wants Kerry to understand the victims' plight.

In an apparent attempt to reach out to Israelis who are opposed to the US-brokered talks between Israel and the Palestinians, US Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to meet with victims of Arab terrorism from the Almagor organization on one of his upcoming trips to Israel.

According to Almagor head Meir Indor, US officials this week promised the meeting would take place. Indor said he wanted Kerry to see the victims of terrorism and their families so he would understand their plight.

US officials have also been meeting with right-wing MKs and leaders of organizations over the past two weeks. For instance, US Ambassador Dan Shapiro has met family members of terrorism victims from Almagor and with coalition chairman MK Yariv Levin (Likud).

At Shapiro’s request, he will meet in two weeks with the Knesset’s Land of Israel Caucus, which is headed by Levin and Bayit Yehudi MK Orit Struck. Struck was the first MK to heckle European Parliament President Martin Schultz during his address to the Knesset on Wednesday.

Bayit Yehudi chairman Naftali Bennett defended his faction on Thursday for walking out of the speech, saying that now world leaders would be more careful with what they say in Israel. But Labor faction chairman Eitan Cabel warned that world leaders would stop coming to the Knesset due to the way Bennett’s MKs treated Schulz.

During his speech, Schulz criticized the blockade of the Gaza Strip and Jewish settlements in the West Bank. His remarks regarding the consumption of water allowed to Palestinians was what set off the angry responses by some Knesset members.

Schulz defended his speech in interviews with the German media on Thursday.

“At the Knesset I was required to explain the stance of the European Parliament,” he told De Welt. “Obviously I can’t just say things that please everybody. I’m also obliged to express contested matters. I was surprised and affected by the harsh reaction I received after giving a pro-Israel speech. The people who interfered with my speech belong to the hard-liners who criticize and respond in this fashion to every critical word that bothers them.”

70% of Israelis don’t trust US

Asked whether they agreed with recent criticism of Kerry by top Israeli officials, 67% said yes and only 32% said no.

Seventy percent of Israeli Jews do not believe the US can be relied upon to maintain key Israeli interests and security requirements in the American- brokered agreement being drafted with the Palestinians, a Geocartography Institute poll taken this week found.

When the pollsters asked respondents whether they trusted the US under President Barack Obama to maintain Israel’s interests in a deal, 23% said definitely no, 25% said no, 22% said not completely, 17% said yes, 8% said definitely yes and 5% had no opinion.

Asked whether they agreed with recent criticism of US Secretary of State John Kerry by top Israeli officials, 67% said yes and only 32% said no.

But among the respondents who answered affirmatively, 13% said Israeli officials should be careful not to criticize the US publicly.

Sixty-seven percent said they agreed with the concerns about a potential boycott of Israel that Kerry raised. Only 17% said they were not concerned at all about such a boycott.

Geocartography Institute director Avi Degani, who took the poll, said middle-class Israelis were most concerned about a boycott.

The poll of 500 respondents representing a sample of the adult Jewish Israeli population has a 4.2% point margin of error.

Jerusalem post

Candidly speaking: Friends of Israel must speak up now

Our ability to cope with failed peace efforts, however, should not preclude us from presenting our positions with strength.

US Secretary of State John Kerry no longer pretends to be even-handed in overseeing the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

His most recent move was to indirectly threaten Israel with boycotts if it refuses to accede to additional demands on issues of borders and security.

Despite the fact that he represents our closest ally, Kerry is demanding compromises from us that could impact on our very survival. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon rightly responded that a European boycott is preferable to rocket attacks on Ben-Gurion Airport.

Kerry has put no comparable pressure on the Palestinians.

He has not insisted that they deviate from positions that he knows are unacceptable to any Israeli government.

He has failed to even publicly condemn their ongoing incitement. By selectively pointing the gun at Israel’s head, Kerry has reinforced the belief that the Palestinians can only benefit by remaining intransigent.

Although Kerry is aware that Congress and the American public would vigorously oppose any initiative that threatened Israel with sanctions, this has not prevented him from encouraging European countries, including Germany, to do so. Kerry is capitalizing on European anti-Israelism, which is proliferating at an alarming rate, as demonstrated by a recent opinion poll indicating that nearly half the citizens of the EU believe that Israel is engaged in a genocidal campaign against the Palestinians.

Incredibly, in a recent communiqué about International Holocaust Commemoration Day, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton could not even bring herself to mention the Jews.

Israel’s political leaders are contributing to this situation.

President Shimon Peres told the Americans that the Palestinians need not concede to Israel’s central demand for recognition as a Jewish state – one of the government’s crucial demands which the Obama administration had already taken on board. Such behavior by a president does not merely represent a major breach of his constitutional limitations but under the circumstances can only be considered unconscionable.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennet provided a bonanza for global anti-Israel entities seeking to portray Israel as the obstacle to peace by publicly bickering over whether Israelis could live under Palestinian jurisdiction – a currently utterly unrealistic scenario.

Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni have both made histrionic remarks about the potential economic impact of a European boycott should the peace talks fail, providing grist for the mills of the global BDS movement’s propaganda.

A group of leading Israeli businessmen, purporting to promote a non-partisan two-state policy together with Palestinian counterparts via a body called “Breaking the Impasse” also engaged in actions to weaken Israel’s negotiating position. While attending the Davos World Economic Forum, they distributed a petition calling for one-sided demands on Netanyahu to be flexible and accommodating to the Palestinians and warning of devastating repercussions to the Israeli economy if peace negotiations fail.

Like the panic-stricken politicians, these businesspeople are chanting empty mantras about the value of peace that cynically imply government warmongering and contribute nothing to the real challenge of negotiating a peace accord: how to come to an understanding with duplicitous partners who rule over a criminal society and are committed to the elimination of Jewish sovereignty.

Critics are entitled to differ with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s negotiating position. But what do they mean by “flexibility?” Does flexibility mean that Israel should agree to freeze all construction in the major settlement blocs, including Jerusalem, until an (unlikely) settlement is reached? Does flexibility mean we should accept the right of return of six million descendants of Arab refugees as a basis for negotiations? How should we interpret the Palestinians’ vicious incitement, sanctification of released murderers, and over recent weeks, the ghoulish depiction on Palestinian state TV of the released murderers’ detailed accounts of their monstrous acts? Is this what is expected of a genuine peace partner? Do the prime minister’s critics want Israel to be flexible in terms of security knowing that Hamas, which has resumed missile launches against us, could either merge with or assume control of the PA? Would the businessmen who pressure Netanyahu to be more accommodating, encourage him to entrust the security of our children and grandchildren to Kerry’s electronic fences or NATO forces rather than the IDF? Thankfully, the prime minister is fully aware of the risks that such “flexibility” represents. He therefore directs his negotiations toward the creation of a Palestinian state which provides for Israel’s security. He is juggling in this mad hatters’ game, seeking interim progress, and working to retain American support and to demonstrate to a hostile world our absolute commitment to peace – all while resisting the enormous pressure to capitulate on long-term security issues.

The results will not bring us closer to peace. Netanyahu’s government is poised to accept the forthcoming, non-binding US framework agreement with sufficient reservations to make it meaningless, yet enabling Kerry to demonstrate a “successful diplomatic coup.” The Palestinians are likely to follow suit. Both parties are likely to continue negotiations in the hope that they will be the ultimate winners in the blame game.

Our ability to cope with failed peace efforts, however, should not preclude us from presenting our positions with strength, unity and dignity during these negotiations.

As Defense Minister Ya’alon has aptly stated, “I am not ready to talk about [ceding] an inch of territory unless the PA accepts recognition of our right to exist as a nation-state of the Jewish people, giving up the right of return, and addressing our security needs... I hope we achieve this, if not, we will manage.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu must refrain from making independent statements that do not have cabinet approval, curtail the counterproductive flow of ministers’ inflammatory remarks, and insist that ministers support or remain silent on established positions. Discipline is essential.

The prime minister must also remain committed to working against anti-Israel forces seeking to delegitimize and demonize us by distorting our policies and objectives. To achieve this will require the more intensive support of friends of Israel throughout the world, especially in America, which Netanyahu has yet to fully capitalize on.

American Jewish leaders will have to review their approach. Over the years, AIPAC, the President’s Conference, the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, ZOA and other committed Jewish bodies have displayed consistent devotion, loyalty and support for Israel. But today they face a dilemma. Their hitherto fully justified determination to maintain bipartisanship becomes counterproductive if it precludes them from standing up and confronting an administration which is clearly bullying Israel and not acting evenhandedly toward its only democratic ally in the region.

They can do so in a respectful manner. But when a US secretary of state indirectly encourages Europeans and others to pressure Israel with sanctions unless it makes further concessions, friends of Israel must protest publicly or this could develop into a tsunami and we will be abandoned.

Not surprisingly the traditionally outspoken ZOA immediately protested. But it was significant that ADL head Abe Foxman, hardly a hawk, sent Kerry an open letter bitterly criticizing his remarks, which he charged would be construed as “an incentive by Palestinians not to reach an agreement” and “as legitimizing boycott activity.” Israel’s supporters around the world should today unite and speak out.

The government and Diaspora leaders should initiate a Day of Global Solidarity with Israel in which Israelis, Americans and Israel supporters worldwide gather in Jerusalem to express their support for Israel’s commitment to peace, and condemn those seeking to force Israel to compromise on its basic security needs. We must demonstrate that a genuine peace can only be attained when both sides are committed to peace and treated fairly.

Jerusalem post 

KERRY INSTIGATING ANTI ISRAEL BACKLASH : ADL raps Kerry, says talk ofboycott invites anti-Israel backlash if peace talks fail

In a letter to Kerry, ADL chief Abe Foxman says that secretary's warning of boycott has the opposite effect.

The Anti-Defamation League, one of the US's most powerful Jewish organizations known for its advocacy on behalf of Israel, criticized Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday for comments he made in Munich regarding the negative consequences that Israel can expect if efforts to achieve a two-state solution break down.

In a letter to Kerry, ADL chief Abe Foxman said that while he appreciated Kerry's efforts to move the peace process forward, the remarks about Israel's likely ostracism in the event that no deal is reached will only spur the pro-boycott elements and the Palestinians to become further entrenched in their positions while being less likely to compromise.

"Describing the potential for expanded boycotts of Israel makes it more, not less, likely that the talks will not succeed; makes it more, not less, likely that Israel will be blamed if the talks fail; and more, not less, likely that boycotts will ensue," Foxman wrote. "Your comments, irrespective of your intentions, will inevitably be seen by Palestinians and anti-Israel activists as an incentive not to reach an agreement; as an indicator that if things fall apart, Israel will be blamed; and as legitimizing boycott activity.""In speaking about the price Israel will pay if the peace talks break down and Israel is blamed, you may have thought you were merely describing reality," Foxman said. "But as the key player in the process, the impact of your comments was to create a reality of its own."

Kerry's comments, which also drew sharp reaction from Israeli politicians, including cabinet ministers in Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government, were initially made during his appearance at last week's Munich Security Conference.

"You see, for Israel there’s an increasing delegitimization campaign that has been building up,” Kerry said. “People are very sensitive to it. There are talk of boycotts and other kinds of things. Are we all going to be better with all of that?”

Israeli politicians’ sharp criticism of Kerry led to the State Department issuing an unusual statement Sunday imploring Kerry’s critics not to distort his words.

“Secretary Kerry has a proud record of over three decades of steadfast support for Israel’s security and well-being, including staunch opposition to boycotts,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki wrote.

US National Security Advisor Susan Rice came to Kerry's defense on Tuesday after he wasroundly criticized by a number of Israeli government officials over comments that he made on the weekend  about the Israeli Palestinian peace talks. 

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'Kerry has declared war on God,' say hardline rabbis; warn of divine punishment

Rabbis warn Kerry to stop negotiations, "In order to avoid severe Heavenly punishment for everyone involved."

A group of rabbis, including the founder of Our Land of Israel party, wrote in an open to letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry that he had declared war against God through his current mediation efforts between Israel and Palestinian negotiators, and said he must cease such activities to avoid divine punishment.

The letter was sent by the Committee to Save the Land and People of Israel, founded by Rabbi Sholom Dov Wolpo, who also founded the Our Land of Israel party, as an activist group to oppose political accords with the Palestinians involving territorial concessions.

The rabbis argue that Kerry’s plans endangers Israeli Jews by bringing them within close range of potential rocket and missile fire from the West Bank should it be ceded by Israel to the Palestinians.“Your incessant efforts to expropriate integral parts of our Holy Land and hand them over to Abbas’s terrorist gang, amount to a declaration of war against the Creator and Ruler of the universe! For G-d awarded the entire Land of Israel to our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in order that they bequeath it, as an everlasting inheritance, to their descendants, the Jewish people, until the end of all time,” the letter reads.

“If you continue on this destructive path, you will ensure your everlasting disgrace in Jewish history for bringing calamity upon the Jewish people,” continued the rabbis

“By the power of our Holy Torah, we admonish you to cease immediately all efforts to achieve these disastrous agreements – in order to avoid severe Heavenly punishment for everyone involved,” they threatened.

The letter was signed by Rabbi Wolpo, along with four other rabbis including Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, the founder and Chairman of the Temple Institute; Rabbi Yigal Pizam, the Dean of a Yeshiva and a leader of the Chabad community in the Haifa neighborhood of Kiryat Shmuel; Rabbi Gedalya Axelrod, the emeritus head of the Haifa Rabbinic Court; and Rabbi Ben Tziyon Grossman from the town of Migdal Haemek.

Jeruselam post

US Secretary of State labelled anti Semite:

•US Secretary of State has been labelled an 'anti Semite' for warning of a possible economic boycott if Israel failed to reach a peace accord with the Palestinians.

• US accused of holding a gun to Israel's head as a threat

John Kerry, the US secretary of state, triggered an angry backlash from Israeli leaders on Sunday after warning Israel faces economic boycott if it failed to reach a peace accord with the Palestinians.

The uproar came as Mr Kerry held cordial talks with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif in Munich at which the pair vowed to intensify nuclear diplomacy.

Ministers in Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet accused Mr Kerry of effectively endorsing "anti-Semitic" efforts to impose sanctions on Israel by issuing the warning.

"The risks are very high for Israel," Mr Kerry told the conference. "People are talking about boycott. That will intensify in the case of failure.

"Do they want a failure that then begs whatever may come in the form of a response from disappointed Palestinians and the Arab community?"

While the US secretary of state's remarks were made against a backdrop of new US drawn up, negotiated and approved EU regulations barring deals with Israeli businesses based in West Bank settlements, they provoked accusations that he was threatening Israel in on-going peace talks with the Palestinians.

Yuval Steinitz, the intelligence and strategic affairs minister and a close ally of Mr Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said America's top diplomat was "holding a gun to [Israel's] head".

"The things Kerry said are hurtful, they are unfair and they are intolerable," Mr Steinitz told reporters.

"Israel cannot be expected to negotiate with a gun to its head when we are discussing the matters which are most critical to our national interests."

Naftali Bennett, the industry minister and leader of the Jewish Home party, said: "We expect of our friends in the world to stand by our side against the attempts to impose an anti-Semitic boycott on Israel, and not to be their mouthpiece."

His comments were echoed by Adi Mintz, a senior official in the Settler's Council, who accused Mr Kerry of "an anti-Semitic initiative".

"The anti-Semites have always resorted to a very simple method - hit the Jews in their pockets," he told Israel's Channel 10 TV station.

Mr Netanyahu was more restrained, telling Sunday's cabinet meeting that efforts to impose a boycott were "immoral and unjust" and doomed to fail.

The row overshadowed a meeting on Sunday between Mr Kerry and Mr Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, to discuss forthcoming talks on Tehran's nuclear programme, scheduled to resume in Vienna this month.

Telegragh

Kerry slammed by right for 'encouraging' Israel boycott

US Secretary of State says status-quo between Israelis, Palestinians is unsustainable, warns of de-legitimization of Israel.

Economy Minister Naftali Bennett slammed US Secretary of State John Kerry Saturday night, saying he should be supporting Israel rather than encouraging boycotts against it.

Bennett’s post – coming weeks after Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon was quoted as calling Kerry “obsessed” and “messianic” about the Israeli- Palestinian conflict – was in response to comments that the secretary of state made Saturday at the Munich Security Conference.“Let’s make clear to all those giving advice: A nation has not been born – including us – that will give up its land because of economic threats,” Bennett said in a Facebook post. “The Jewish people is stronger than the threats against it.”

“Today’s status quo, absolutely to a certainty, I promise you 100 percent, cannot be maintained,” Kerry said of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “It is not sustainable. It is illusionary.

You see for Israel there is an increasing delegitimization campaign that has been building up. People are very sensitive to it, there is talk of boycott and other kinds of things. Are we all going to be better with all of that?” Kerry’s comments were similar to ones he made during a television interview during one of his visits in November, though this time he did not warn, as he did then, of the outbreak of a third intifada.

Bennett, on his Facebook page, said that only security would bring economic stability, not a terror state next to Ben-Gurion Airport.

“We expect our friends in the world to stand by our side against anti-Semitic boycott efforts against Israel, and not be their trumpet,” he said.

“Either way, we knew in the past, and will know today, how to remain strong.”

Kerry, during his comments, made an allusion to Ya’alon’s comments last month.

“I’m a little surprised at some of the articles that tend to write about an obsession or fanatical effort to try to achieve this,” he said. “We are just working hard, because the consequences of failure are unacceptable.”

He said he remained hopeful that the Obama administration’s effort to broker a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians could succeed.

“I believe in the possibility or I wouldn’t pursue this,” he said. “I don’t think we’re being quixotic.

Ya’alon was also in Munich for the conference, and met with US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

“The US is Israel’s best friend, and our appreciation is great,” Ya’alon said. “We have common values, interests, and deep ties that overcome disagreements, when they appear.”

The defense minister, who has expressed deep skepticism about chances of success in the Kerry-led negotiations, said that “despite the gaps, we support a continuation of negotiations with the Palestinians.”

Last week, Bennett lashed out at Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for suggesting that some settlers would live in a Palestinian state following a peace deal, and while the criticism nearly caused a coalition crisis, it found support on the Right. Likewise, Bennett was not alone when he turned his sights on Kerry for mentioning a threat of boycotts.

“The only fantasies are the slogans of peace Kerry is trying to sell to Israel,” Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Bayit Yehudi) said. “These slogans are trying to cover up an existential threat on the State of Israel. The Palestinians do not believe their luck at receiving such a ‘fair’ mediator.”

Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon said that while Israel respected Kerry, there could not be negotiations “with a gun to our heads.”

“Friends don’t make ultimatums about the security of the State of Israel,” Danon stated. “We will make decisions that protect our interests. If we would make decisions according to predictions of boycotts, we wouldn’t be here today. We’ve seen in the past that terror arrives in any place the IDF doesn’t have a presence.”

And Deputy Transportation Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud Beytenu) added, “Kerry’s unprecedented threats of a boycott are an attempt to terrorize Israel and force it into an agreement that opposes the government’s position. Such an agreement would endanger Israel more than any economic boycott.”

Meanwhile, the fog thickened over the weekend regarding what exactly is and is not being discussed between the sides and the US regarding the document Kerry is expected to present that will form a basis for continued negotiations. Israel and the Palestinian negotiators have not met for a number of weeks, and all the talks now are between the sides separately with the Americans.

The State Department on Friday issued a clarification regarding an off-record telephone briefing that US envoy Martin Indyk gave Jewish leaders on Thursday, saying the description Indyk gave of a possible US-drafted framework was not final.

“During an off-the-record briefing with Jewish leaders, Ambassador Indyk reiterated the well-known United States position in support of 1967 borders plus swaps as a part of a broad discussion on ideas being discussed for a framework,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement. “But given this is an ongoing process and these decisions have not yet been made, at no point did Ambassador Indyk make a prediction of the final contents of a framework.”

In the call, Indyk detailed security arrangements on the Jordan-West Bank border, the terms for mutual recognition of Israel as the nation state of the Jews and Palestine as the nation state of the Palestinians, land swaps, and the settlement of the refugee question, including, for the first time in a formal document, compensation for Jewish refugees from Arab lands.

“I hope that Jewish refugees, who suffered greatly under physical persecution, will get reparations,” Knesset Caucus for Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries chairman MK Shimon Ohayon (Likud Beytenu) said. “This is an opportunity to learn and recognize the story of their exit and expulsion.”

According to Ohayon, the progress on this front is a result of the Foreign Ministry putting Jewish refugees from Arab countries on its agenda.

State Department officials said that there was no expectation that the framework would be completed in “weeks,” although Indyk had said it was his hope that it would.

Indyk said in the call that there would be “no surprises” for the Israeli and Palestinian leaders, and that Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas would be expected to accept the agreement, with reservations, as the basis of continued negotiations.

Making it a US-drafted framework permitted the leaders to distance themselves from politically sensitive issues, Indyk said. “There may be things we need to say because they can’t say them yet,” he said, according to the notes of one participant.

On some sensitive issues – particularly the status of Jerusalem – the framework would be vague, Indyk said.

Regarding Indyk’s reference during the call to the expectation that land swaps would allow 75-80% of settlers to stay in Israel, the officials said that that arose not from the current talks but from previous estimates during the 20-year-long peace process. Indyk, during the call, said his impression was that Abbas was not averse to allowing settlers who want to remain to be citizens of the Palestinian state.

Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria head Dani Dayan disputed Indyk’s claim on Friday morning, saying Indyk was including east Jerusalem in the 80% of settlers that would stay under Israeli rule.

“Martin Indyk’s vision for the Jews of Judea and Samaria is extremely misleading,” Dayan said in a statement.

“When Indyk speaks of 80% of our communities remaining under Israeli rule, he is including eastern Jerusalem. Which would mean the forceful uprooting and eviction of up to 150,000 Israelis from their homes, which is morally repugnant and unacceptable to all,” he added.

In a related development, representatives of the Quartet – the US, EU, UN and Russia – met on the sidelines of the Munich conference and issued strong support for Kerry’s efforts. They reiterated, in a reference to the EU’s promise of upgraded relations with both sides if a deal is reached, that there would be unprecedented support for both Israel and the Palestinians if an accord was signed.

Jeruselam post

SOMEONE SPEAKS SENSE ABOUT KERRYS MOTIVATION : Jewish Home MK implies Kerry guided by anti-Semitism

Moti Yogev says top US diplomat has ‘anti-Israel foundations,’ pressure on Israel has undertones of Jew-hatred

Jewish Home party MK insinuated on Thursday morning that US Secretary of State John Kerry was at least partially motivated by anti-Semitism in his efforts to forge a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians.

“The prime minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) is maneuvering under the obsessive and unprofessional pressures that might also bear an undertone of anti-Semitism on Kerry’s part,” MK Moti Yogev told Israel Radio.

He has an anti-Israel foundations in that he does not come to compromise, but instead comes with unequivocal answers about shrinking the Land of Israel and establishing a Palestinian state,” Yogev added. “The members of my faction also think that he is not a fair broker and he is not fit to mediate here because his positions are predetermined.”

Yogev also lambasted Netanyahu in the interview, saying that “there is no circus performer like the prime minister in his maneuverings.”

The comments come in the wake of a public spat this week between Netanyahu and Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett, revolving around Bennett’s reaction to a statement by an official close to Netanyahu – first reported by The Times of Israel – to the effect that the prime minister was insisting that West Bank settlers be given the choice to remain in their homes under Palestinian rule.

Bennett had said on Tuesday that leaving settlers in a Palestinian state was unthinkable because, among other reasons, it would represent a reversal of Zionism and the settlers would would be killed by their Palestinian neighbors. In an apparent thinly veiled reference to Netanyahu, he added that history “won’t forgive” an Israeli leader who relinquishes parts of the Land of Israel under a peace deal.

Bennett was forced to issue a semi-apology after Netanyahu threatened to fire Bennett if he failed to produce it.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said Thursday that Bennett was right to apologize. “One may disagree with the prime minister, and one may argue with him, but one cannot lash out at the prime minister.

“There was never any intention to leave Israeli residents under Palestinian rule, he asserted. Analysts and critics had said that Netanyahu’s statement about leaving settlers in a future Palestine may have been a ruse meant to elicit a strong public reaction from the Palestinians.

On Wednesday, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman said that Kerry’s pending framework for Israeli-Palestinian peace would include a shared capital in Jerusalem and recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.

The “Kerry Plan,” as he called it, would also include land swaps based on the 1967 lines, security arrangements in the Jordan Valley, and no “right of return” to Israel for Palestinian refugees and their descendants.

The two sides began a nine-month track of US-backed peace negotiations in July but so far there has been little visible progress, with the Palestinians warning that after the deadline, they could take legal action in the international courts against Israel over its settlement expansion on land they want for their future state.

Times if Israel