WE DON'T TRUST YOU: Right-wing MKs skeptical, hostile at meeting with US envoy

Coalition and opposition lawmakers tell Dan Shapiro that US had not been supportive of Israel when there were differences of opinion.

"We don't trust you" was the message right-wing MKs had for US Ambassador Dan Shapiro, at a spirited meeting at the Knesset Tuesday with lawmakers to discuss the peace process.

 

A recording of the meeting obtained by Army Radio reveals angry lawmakers expressing their displeasure at the direction of the current US-led negotiations with the Palestinians.

 

"There will be an American document with ideas from both sides, but it has not yet been presented," Shapiro told the MKs. Secretary of State John Kerry has been shuttling between Israeli and Palestinian leaders for months to discuss key elements for a final deal.

  

Shapiro also hinted that the framework agreement would not be ready by April, the agreed-upon end date for the talks.

 

But veteran Likud MK Reuven Rivlin accused the Americans of siding with the Palestinians, saying that the US statement of principles could not be viewed as impartial, or document about which Israel could express its reservations. 

 

"Maybe we will need more time, I hope that it will be possible to extend the initial period (of talks), but the aim is to build a framework agreement so that the sides can move ahead with the negotiations, even if they do have reservations."

 

According to the ambassador, there is at least one central issue on which President Barack Obama is on the same page as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – the latter's long-standing demand for the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

 

"The end to the conflict is an end to all claims and (includes) the mutual recognition of the nation state of the Jewish people and the nation state of the Palestinian people," Shapiro said.

 

This, however, did not mollify the MKs, who have been openly skeptical of the direction of the talks.

 

"Why should we believe you?" asked MK David Rotem of Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu party, "When have you ever seen the US support Israel when there have been differences of opinion?"

 

In response, Shapiro reminded Rotem that even between good friends there could be differences of opinion. "So why should I trust you?" Rotem shot back.

 

As the meeting moved on to other subjects, all those present demanded the release of Jonathan Pollard, the American Jewish naval analyst jailed for spying for Israel.

Shapiro said the prison sentence was a judicial and not political issue, an explanation which angered Bayit Yehudi MK Orit Struck. 

"You can't use such unintelligent arguments," Struck said. "Ultimately, you can – but know that we aren’t buying it."

Ynetnews

ANTI SEMITISM IN AMERICA: An Israeli Soldier to American Jews: Wake up!

A former liberal Israeli, shocked by anti-Israeli anti-antisemitism in America.

As a young Israeli who had just completed five years of service in the IDF, I looked forward to my new job educating people in the Pacific Northwest about Israel. I was shocked, however, by the anti-Israel bigotry and hostility I encountered, especially in the greater Seattle area, Oregon, and Berkeley. I had been very liberal, a member of the leftist Zionist party, Meretz, but the anti-Semitism and hatred for Israel that I have seen in the U.S. has changed my outlook personally and politically.

As part of my work as an educator at StandWithUs, between January and May of this year, I  traveled to college campuses, high schools and churches, sharing the history of modern Israel.  I also shared personal stories about growing up in the Jewish state, and about my family. I always spoke about my military service as an officer in an IDF COGAT unit that attends to the needs of Palestinian civilians who are not involved in the conflict and promotes Palestinian civil society. Each time I would speak and take questions for an hour or more. I have shared my personal story with over 16,000 people at many, many college campuses and high schools, including UC Berkeley, Stanford, the University of Washington, Seattle University and many others. Many of those to whom I spoke were supportive, friendly, and open to hearing about my Israel. But, sadly, far too many were not.

When I served as a soldier in the West Bank, I got used to having ugly things said to me, but nothing prepared me for the misinformation, demonization of Israel, and the gut-wrenching, anti-Israel, anti-Semitic hostility expressed by many students, professors, church members, and even some high school students right here in the Pacific Northwest.

I was further shocked by how unaware the organized Jewish community is and how little they are actually doing to counter this rising anti-Semitism, which motivated me to write this article.

This new form of bigotry against Israel has been called the “new anti-Semitism,” with “Israel” replacing “Jew” in traditional anti-Semitic imagery and canards, singling out and discriminating against the Jewish state, and denying the Jewish people alone the right to self-determination. The new anti-Semitism is packaged in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign (BDS), which claims to champion Palestinian rights though its real goal is to erode American support for Israel, discredit Jews who support Israel, and pave the way for eliminating the Jewish state. One of BDS’ central demands is the “complete right of return” for all the descendants of the original Palestinian refugees, subtle language that means the end of Israel as the Jewish homeland because it would turn Israel into a Palestinian-Arab majority state.

It is surprising that an extremist group like BDS is ever taken seriously, but BDS advocates have found receptive audiences in some circles. Their campaigns are well organized and in many cases, well financed. They have lobbied universities, corporations, food co-ops, churches, performing artists, labor unions, and other organizations to boycott Israel and companies that do business with Israel. But even if these groups don’t agree to treat Israel as a pariah state, the BDS activists manage to spread their anti-Israel misinformation, lies and prejudice simply by forcing a debate based on their false claims about Israel.

To give you a taste of the viciousness of the BDS attacks, let me cite just a few of the many shocking experiences I have had. At a BDS event in Portland, a professor from a Seattle university told the assembled crowd that the Jews of Israel have no national rights and should be forced out of the country. When I asked, “Where do you want them to go?” she calmly answered, “I don’t care. I don’t care if they don’t have any place else to go. They should not be there.” When I responded that she was calling for ethnic cleansing, both she and her supporters denied it. And during a presentation in Seattle, I spoke about my longing for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. When I was done, a woman in her 60’s stood up and yelled at me, “You are worse than the Nazis. You are just like the Nazi youth!” A number of times I was repeatedly accused of being a killer, though I have never hurt anyone in my life. On other occasions, anti-Israel activists called me a rapist. The claims go beyond being absurd – in one case, a professor asked me if I knew how many Palestinians have been raped by IDF forces. I answered that as far as I knew, none. She triumphantly responded that I was right, because, she said, “You IDF soldiers don’t rape Palestinians because Israelis are so racist and disgusted by them that you won’t touch them.”

Such irrational accusations are symptomatic of dangerous anti-Semitism. Yet, alarmingly, most mainstream American Jews are completely oblivious to this ugly movement and the threat it poses. They seem to be asleep, unaware that this anti-Jewish bigotry is peddled on campuses, by speakers in high schools, churches, and communities, and is often deceptively camouflaged in the rhetoric of human rights.

The American Jewish community and its leaders are not providing a united front to combat this latest threat. Unfortunately, this repeats a pattern of Jewish communal groups failing to unite in a timely way to counter threats against us individually and as a community.

Shockingly, a small but very vocal number of Jews actively support BDS. They often belong to organizations that prominently include “Jewish” in their names, like Jewish Voice for Peace, to give cover to BDS and the anti-Semitism that animates it. A question that we, as a Jewish community must ask ourselves, is whether it is ever appropriate to include and accept Jews who support BDS and directly or indirectly advocate the ultimate elimination of the Jewish State of Israel.

I think it is not.

My experiences in America have changed me. I never expected to encounter such hatred and lies. I never believed that such anti-Semitism still existed, especially in the U.S. I never knew that the battlefield was not just Gaza, the West Bank, and hostile Middle Eastern countries wanting to destroy Israel and kill our citizens and soldiers. It is also here in America, where a battle must be waged against prejudice and lies.

I implore American Jews: do more.

Israel cannot fight this big battle alone. If you are affiliated with a Jewish organization, let it know you want it to actively, openly and unequivocally oppose the BDS campaign and those who support it. Inform yourself, your friends and families, by visiting websites of organizations like StandWithUs, Jewish Virtual Library, AIPAC, AJC and others that will update you and provide information about BDS and anti-Semitism.

I urge the organized Jewish community and its members to wake up and stand up for the Jewish state of Israel, and for all it represents, and for all it works to achieve.

Times of Israel 

Islamic extremism in America : NEW TERROR COMPOUND FOUND IN HEART OF TEXAS

Muslims shoot firearms 'without interference from law enforcement'

Declassified FBI documents confirm the existence of an Islamic jihadist enclave in Texas that is part of a network in the U.S. identified by the Department of Homeland Security as a terrorist organization.

The enclave belongs to the network of Muslims of the Americas, which is linked to the Pakistani-based militant group Jamaat al-Fuqra, according to an investigation by the Clarion Project and ACT! For America Houston.

Jamaat al-Fuqra was founded in New York in 1980 by Sheik Mubarak Ali Gilani, an Islamic cleric in Pakistan who at one time was in Pakistani custody in connection with the abduction of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

Muslims in America says it has a network of 22 “villages” around the U.S., with headquarters at an encampment in the Catskill Mountains near Hancock, N.Y., called Holy Islamberg, as WND reported in 2006. An investigative report at the time found neighbors of Islamberg were deeply concerned about military-style training taking place there and frustrated by an apparent lack of attention from federal authorities.

WND also reported in 2006 that Jamaat al-Fuqra has collaborated with major terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah and al-Qaida.

See the remarkable investigative film that exposed the subversive plans of the Muslim Brotherhood in America, “Jihad in America: The Grand Deception”

The FBI describes the compound in Texas, called Mahmoudberg, as an “enclave” and “communal living site.” Located in Brazoria County along County Road 3 near Sweeny, Texas, it was discovered by the FBI through a tip from an informant in New York, according to the Clairon Project.

The Texas commune, in a heavily wooded area, is estimated by a local resident who spoke to ACT researchers to encompass about 25 acres. It dates back to the late 1980s, the resident said, which is confirmed by the FBI documents.

The FBI reported in 2007 that one commune resident formerly was a leader at the Muslims of America compound in Badger, Calif., called Baladullah.

In March 2001, a Baladullah member was arrested for transporting guns between New York and South Carolina. Another was charged with murdering a police deputy that caught him breaking and entering a home.

The declassified FBI documents show that the enclave is not the only affiliate of the organization that has operated in the state.

In 1991, after a MOA/Jamaat-ul-Fuqra bomb plot in Toronto was foiled, a federal search warrant for three suspects was issued and a nearly 45-acre “compound” about 70 miles south of Dallas was raided.

The location of the compound corresponds to a reference in an FBI document obtained by the Clarion Project that says about seven MOA members purchased property near Corsicana, Texas.

The suspects fled before the raid, and the children at the compound suddenly disappeared from school. Federal officials found four mobile homes; three military, general-purpose tents; and six vehicles. Also discovered were loose ammunition, books on counter-terrorism techniques and weaponry and various items with “Jamaat Fuqra Land” written on them.

Surveillance photos of a post office building and the Greenhead Station in Los Angeles were discovered as well.

The activities of Muslims in America continued after the October 1991 raid, however. Two 1992 FBI documents say MOA members in the state were using false aliases, Social Security numbers and birth certificates.

Murder, firebombing

Muslims of America is identified as a terrorist group in the FBI documents obtained by the Clarion Project.

A 2007 FBI record states members of the group have been involved in at least 10 murders, one disappearance, three firebombings, one attempted firebombing, two explosive bombings and one attempted bombing.

“The documented propensity for violence by this organization supports the belief the leadership of the MOA extols membership to pursue a policy of jihad or holy war against individuals or groups it considers enemies of Islam, which includes the U.S. Government,” the document states. “Members of the MOA are encouraged to travel to Pakistan to receive religious and military/terrorist training from Sheikh Gilani.”

The document also says Muslims of America is now “an autonomous organization which possesses an infrastructure capable of planning and mounting terrorist campaigns overseas and within the U.S.”

A 2003 FBI report states that investigation of the Muslims of the Americas “is based on specific and articulate facts giving justification to believe they are engaged in international terrorism.”

The Clarion Project said MOA members believe the holiest Islamic site in the country is at their Islamville commune in South Carolina. Along with Islamberg, other MOA entities include the International Quranic Open University, United Muslim Christian Forum, Islamic Post, Muslim Veterans of America and American Muslim Medical Relief Team.

An FBI report states the Sweeny, Texas, enclave is in an area “so rural it is quite common for residents to shoot firearms for target practice or hunting on private property without interference from law enforcement.”

ACT said that when its researchers were spotted in the area, they were immediately and repeatedly approached. At one point, a commune resident gave them a final warning to leave, despite the fact that they were not trespassing or harassing any members.

“It was definitely very threatening and menacing,” an ACT member said.

Multiple sources confirmed, according to the Clarion Project, that a resident of the commune is a police officer. Another, a neighbor has said, formerly drove trucks for the U.S. Army in Kuwait.

The commune is also linked to a nonprofit called the Muslim Model Community of Texas. Members, the Clarion Project said, travel to Houston to worship at the Muslims of America Dawah (Outreach) Center that is linked to another organization called First Muslims of Texas.

According to FBI documents and a police report, one of the MOA members was shot and killed by another member in 2002.

The report said the death of Salminma Dawood, also known as Terrance C. Davis III, was an accident. He reportedly was shot by another MOA member who “returned gunfire to unknown individuals who were harassing the MOA commune.”

Law enforcement reported they met about a dozen African-American males at the scene of the shooting. About five of the men lived at the commune, and there were an estimated seven women and children who also lived there.

Police said they were denied access to the trailer homes and were not allowed to directly interview the women, who covered their faces.

Local residents told researchers with ACT that they were aware of a few visits by government investigators to the commune. The locals said the MOA members refused to talk. One neighbor said two ambulances were denied entry into the compound until police intervened. The Clarion Project said Brazoria County criminal records show that two residents of Mahmoudberg were arrested in April 2013 and charged with “interference with public duties.” A trial is pending, the Clarion Project said.

Terror designation

In 2005, the Department of Homeland Security privately agreed to list Jamaat al-Fuqra and Muslims of America as a possible sponsor of a terrorist attack on the U.S.

The State Department, however, has not designated it as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and it continues to organize in the U.S.

In 1998, the State Department’s Patterns of Global Terrorism report described Jamaat al-Fuqra as an “Islamic sect that seeks to purify Islam through violence.” It said that Fuqra members engaged in assassinations and bombings in the U.S. in the 1980s and still live in “isolated rural compounds” in the country.

A State Department spokesman was asked in January 2002 why Jamaat al-Fuqra stopped appearing in the department’s annual terrorism reports.

“Jamaat al-Fuqra has never been designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization,” the spokesman said. “It was included in several recent annual terrorism reports under ‘other terrorist groups,’ i.e., groups that had carried out acts of terrorism but that were not formally designated by the Secretary of State. However, because of the group’s inactivity during 2000, it was not included in the most recent terrorism report covering that calendar year.”

The Clarion Project noted that Jamaat al-Fuqra has not appeared since then in the annual report, yet the declassified FBI documents from as late as 2007 discuss the terrorist threat posed by Muslims of America.

Last year, Muslims of the Americas filed a lawsuit against the nonprofit Christian Action Network for defamation and libel after CAN’s publication of the book “Twilight in America: The Untold Story of Islamist Terrorist Training Camps Inside America.”

The book accuses Muslims of America of  “acting as a front for the radical Islamist group Jamaat al-Fuqra.”

Much of the book is based on the investigation of a former NYPD undercover informant who spent eight years posing as a member of the group.

The authors of the book, Martin Mawyer and Patti Pierucci, told Fox News they welcome the lawsuit because it will expose the Islamic group’s activities.

Tied to Daniel Pearl abduction

The Jamaat al-Fuqra leader, Gilani, at one time was in Pakistani custody for the abduction of American journalist Daniel Pearl.

Intelligence sources determined Pearl was attempting to meet with Gilani in the days before he disappeared in Karachi in 2002 and later was beheaded. Intelligence sources also suggest a link between al-Fuqra and Richard Reid, the infamous “shoe bomber” who attempted to ignite explosives aboard a Paris-to-Miami passenger flight Dec. 22, 2001.

Beltway sniper John Muhammad also has been tied to the group, and there is circumstantial evidence that links it to Oklahoma University bomber Joel Hinrichs.

Joseph Bodansky, the former director of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, has affirmed Jamaat al-Fuqra operations in the U.S. have been known to the FBI and CIA for decades.

Gilani was a close associate of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed, who sent convicted conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui to live with Jamaat al-Fuqra member Melvin Lattimore and attend flight school in Norman, Ok

WND

Iranians Simulate What Attack on Israel and US Would Look Like

Ironic......Obama pussyfooting around Iran doing everything he can to please them....and this is the thanks, video from Iranian TV showing their real intentions, bragging and shouting about attacking Israel and blowing up America.. How ironic, way to mess up Obama, what a joke.

WELL NO SUPRISES THOUGH.

Iranians Simulate What Attack on Israel and US Would Look Like

In a video released on Iranian state television on Friday, it is possible to see how the Iranians imagine attacking Israel and the United States with drones and missiles, a hypothetical response to the destruction of Iran’s nuclear facilities by one or both of the countries.

In a video released on Iranian state television on Friday, it is possible to envision a hypothetical attack of Iran on Israel and the United States, if the latter two countries were to destroy the former’s nuclear facilities. The video is computerized, showing an attack on Israel’s Azreali Towers in Tel Aviv, and the U.S. aircraft carrier the USS Abraham Lincoln.

The video also contains clips of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warning Iran’s enemies that they should not intervene in the country’s affairs. “Anybody who thinks of attacking the Islamic Republic of Iran should be prepared to receive strong slaps and iron fists from the Armed Forces”, he says in the film. Another clip of one of his speeches is also added to the video, “And America, its regional puppets and its guard dog—the Zionist regime—should know that the response of the Iranian nation to any kind of aggression, attacks, or even threats will be a response that will make them collapse from within”. 

The video was broadcast following anti-American statements made by the Ayatollah Khamenei yesterday, calling the United States Iran’s ‘archenemy’. A senior commander in the Iranian navy also said that Iranian warships had been sent across the Atlantic Ocean. This is despite the nuclear deal made between President Rouhani and the world powers to decrease Iran’s enrichment of uranium to acceptable international levels.

Feb 09, 2014, 11:02AM | Maya Yarowsky

Jerusalem Online

For more on the turn in Iran-US relations—click here.

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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 

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

Bennett: Only Israel can defend itself as US has made mistakes

Economy minister says Israel bears consequences of "wrong decisions" made by Washington during peace process; charges that only IDF, not NATO could defend Israeli security in light of any future Palestinian state.

Economy Minister Naftali Bennett has accused the United States of making mistakes in regional diplomatic efforts that have lead to threats on Israeli security.

The Bayit Yehudi leader told Israel Radio on Thursday that "wrong decisions" made by Washington during the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace process have partially lead to the deluge of recent missile attacks from Gaza on southern Israel.

While Bennett insisted that he had nothing against US Secretary of State John Kerry - the leading US diplomat involved in the negotiating process - the economy minister stressed that only Israel could be relied upon to defend itself.He said Washington's insistence for new Palestinian elections has riled the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip and has in turn increased the threat of rocket strikes.

In light of security issues currently facing Israel and those that could emerge if the current round of peace negotiations result in an agreement that establishes a future Palestinian state, Bennett said only the IDF could be charged with protecting Israel.

He reiterated his rejection of a proposal forNATO troops to be stationed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem in a future Palestinian state to defend Israel's security.
 
He added that any peace agreement reached by Israeli and Palestinian negotiators would be brought to a referendum for final approval.

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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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

Let's blame Israel and the Jews: 'US perceives Israel as encouraging anti-Obama backlash among Jews'

In a case of blatant anti Semitism Obama administration now blames Israel and the Jews for Obamas mishandling of Middle East situation.

Israeli diplomats tell Israel Radio: Netanyahu government seen by Obama, Kerry as encouraging US Jewish leaders to criticize White House.

A US official close to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry said both men are disturbed over what is being perceived in their inner circle as "Jewish activism in Congress" that they think is being encouraged by the Israeli government, Israel Radio reported on Thursday.

The official has informed Israeli government figures that the president and secretary of state are disappointed over repeated attacks made against them by leading members of the Jewish community in the US.

According to Israel Radio, Israeli diplomats and foreign officers have warned against this trend. According to officials based in foreign missions, the Israeli government is increasingly being viewed as fanning the flames among American Jews by encouraging them to promote the official government position while making no room for opposing viewpoints.

Earlier this month, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon apologized after it was reported that he called Kerry “obsessive” and “messianic.”

The daily tabloid Yedioth Ahronoth  quote Ya’alon as telling associates in private conversations that Kerry “should take his Nobel Prize and leave us alone.”

“Abu Mazen lives and dies by our sword,” Ya’alon is quoted as saying by Yedioth. “Once we leave Judea and Samaria, he is finished. In effect, during these past months, there haven’t been negotiations with the Palestinians, but with the Americans.”

“The only thing that can ‘save’ us is for John Kerry to win his Nobel Prize and leave us alone,” the defense minister reportedly said.

Original story from Jerusalem post with title changed and isn't paragraph added.

As Obama wreaks America his own marrage seems wreaked

With invitations warning guests to ‘EBYC’ — Eat Before You Come — and rumours they’ll be dancing to star turns from Beyonce and her rapper husband Jay Z, it won’t be your usual White House knees-up.

Michelle Obama was 50 yesterday and President Barack Obama will be feting his redoubtable First Lady tonight with a party that will give them the chance to let their hair down and forget their troubles for a few hours.

The email inviting guests to the ‘snacks & sips & dancing & dessert’ advised them to wear comfortable shoes and practise their dance moves.
Purse-lipped Washington etiquette experts have tutted at the informality of it all, but the Obamas have always been keen to appear accessible, even if the stand-offish reality is somewhat different.

The Obamas are the world’s most scrutinised couple at the best of times, but it will be rare to find a guest at the bash who won’t be secretly watching them with particular interest.
After all, the last time they were pictured together — at Nelson Mandela’s memorial — the First Lady was looking none too pleased as the her husband posed for a ‘selfie’ photograph with the leggy blonde Danish Prime Minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt.

Indeed, if the U.S. tabloids are to be believed, the relationship of Washington’s golden couple is facing problems that go far beyond dirty looks.
Under the headline Obama Divorce Bombshell!, the National Enquirer claims their 21-year marriage has dissolved in a string of ugly fights that were prompted by the Mandela memorial incident and — far more outrageously — Mrs Obama’s discovery that Secret Service bodyguards had been covering up infidelity on her husband’s part.

It’s an allegation the White House has declined to comment on, though after Bill Clinton’s trouser-dropping scandals, Americans would be rather less sanguine about any extra-marital activity than the French appear to be over President Francois Hollande’s behaviour.
Mrs Obama, the Enquirer claims, intends to stand by her husband until his presidency is over, at which time he will move back to Hawaii, where he grew up, and she will stay in Washington with their children.

For the moment, they are allegedly sleeping in separate bedrooms after Mr Obama’s attempt to ‘mend fences’ backfired so badly on a recent Christmas getaway to Hawaii that he returned to Washington with their two daughters, leaving his wife behind.

 

The National Enquirer, it must be said, quoted only anonymous insiders in support of these sensational claims, and is hardly the most reliable source of hard news.
Obama advisers are certainly not talking as if there is any scandal in the offing.
The couple are ‘role models for parents all across the country’, according to old friend and adviser Valerie Jarrett. ‘She’s at the top of her game. She’s fabulous at 50.’

- Washington reporter Richard Wolffe

Washington’s media has ignored the story.

But everyone remembers how the Enquirer famously got it right when it claimed the supposedly squeaky clean Democrat presidential contender John Edwards had fathered a love child by a former campaign worker.
Thin as its story may seem at the moment, might it be on to something again?
At least it was right on one point — Mrs Obama did remain in Hawaii. The White House quickly offered an explanation, saying the extended stay had been a birthday present from her husband.

‘If you have kids, you know that telling your spouse they can spend a week away from home is actually a big present,’ said his spokesman.

Before returning home on Wednesday, Mrs Obama holed up for more than a week at TV star Oprah Winfrey’s spectacular 12-bedroom house on a mountainside estate on Maui, the second largest of the Hawaiian islands.
Their girls-only get-together was joined by Oprah’s close friend, the TV presenter Gayle King, White House aide Valerie Jarrett and Sharon Malone, wife of the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

 

Oprah has described the estate as a place where she and guests sit on the porch sipping guava cocktails, and ride horses to the top of the mountain to watch the sun go down.
Why would anyone rush back to chilly Washington from such an idyll? 

But if the rumours are true, and there were more painful reasons for Michelle’s reluctance to rejoin her husband, this would not be the first time such tensions have apparently surfaced.
Since he was elected President, two books have claimed the couple came close to splitting in their early years together, with Mrs Obama even drawing up divorce papers after deciding his burning political ambition was ruining their chances of domestic happiness.

In 2009, veteran Washington reporter Richard Wolffe claimed that the marriage almost collapsed nine years earlier because of Obama’s political drive and the family’s shattered finances.

‘There was little conversation and even less romance. She was angry at his selfishness and careerism; he thought she was cold and ungrateful,’ wrote Wolffe.

At the time, Mrs Obama had only recently become a mother — their daughters Malia and Sasha are now 15 and 12. Her husband, whom she had met while they were both working for a Chicago law firm in 1989, was a mere State Senator in Illinois who had just been thrashed in a battle for a seat in Congress.

‘She hated the failed race for Congress in 2000 and their marriage was strained by the time their younger daughter, Sasha, was born,’ wrote Wolffe in Renegade.

Michelle was holed up for more than a week at TV star Oprah Winfrey’s spectacular 12-bedroom house on a mountainside estate on Maui

Wolffe noted, though, that they seemed to have got over their past issues by the time they made it to the White House.
‘We’re going to be fine,’ he quoted Mrs Obama as saying. ‘We’re strong enough to take anything on and be OK at the end.’

Yet, according to some accounts, Mrs Obama didn’t take well to Washington life.

Former French First Lady Carla Bruni revealed in a book how she had asked what life was like there. ‘Don’t ask! It’s hell. I can’t stand it!’ Mrs Obama reportedly told her. Mrs Obama later insisted she had never said that.

In 2012, meanwhile, political writer Edward Klein claimed Mr Obama had become so depressed about his failing marriage in 2000 that friends feared he was contemplating suicide.
Mrs Obama had been furious because she had warned him not to fight the disastrous Congress election battle which he lost, said Klein.
‘During the dark days that followed his defeat, he turned to Michelle for comfort. But she was in no mood to offer him sympathy,’ wrote Klein, who claimed Michelle’s friends told him she had even drawn up divorce papers.

‘He had dashed Michelle’s hopes of creating a stable and secure future,’ he wrote. ‘As a result their marriage was on the rocks, and Obama confided to friends that he and Michelle were talking about divorce.’ 

Could the couple have reached such a crisis again?
In an interview published to coincide with her birthday, Mrs Obama provided glimpses of a woman who — after devoting years to her husband’s career and raising their children — now feels ready to put herself first.

The formidable and often forthright First Lady, who has routinely been portrayed as the one who really wears the trousers in the Obama household, says she wants to be more like her mother.

‘She does exactly what she wants to do every single day without apology,’ Michelle said.
Long an icon of wholesomeness with her campaigns for regular exercise and healthy eating, Mrs Obama even admits she wouldn’t rule out plastic surgery or Botox to keep her looks: ‘Women should have the freedom to do whatever they need to do to feel good about themselves.’
 
Her life is ‘ever-evolving’, she says, adding: ‘I’ve got to keep figuring out ways to have an impact.’
Her husband knows the feeling. He must wish the rumours of marital strife were the only cloud hanging over the big party.
For the truth is that the promise of the most anticipated presidency since that of John F. Kennedy has long since dimmed.

During the dark days that followed his defeat, he turned to Michelle for comfort. But she was in no mood to offer him sympathy
- Political writer Edward Klein
 

Mr Obama’s popularity rating is just over 40 per cent, with two-thirds of voters saying the U.S. is heading in the wrong direction. Only the Watergate-plagued Richard Nixon was doing worse at this stage of his time in office.
What don’t Americans like? Pretty much everything.
 
After winning a second term from unenthusiastic voters, largely because his Republican opponent Mitt Romney was so uninspiring, Obama spent much of last year making many voters contemplate the unthinkable: perhaps even Romney would have been better.

Obama recently joked that if the Washington press is to be believed, his presidency has suffered ‘15 near-death experiences’.

The disenchantment of even some of his most senior deputies has now been forcefully revealed by his former Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

In an incendiary autobiography, Gates portrays Mr Obama as dangerously aloof, arrogant, naïve, indecisive and a worryingly detached ‘commander in chief’ who has no passion for his nation’s armed forces.

Whether forging policy on Iraq or Syria, Obama ignored his military commanders but then rowed back on his promises — such as that ‘red line’ he set over Syria’s use of chemical weapons — when it suited him.

Gates admits being ‘deeply uneasy’ with the Obama administration’s ‘lack of appreciation, from the top down, of the uncertainties and unpredictability of war’.
Hardly a ringing endorsement for the leader of the free world.

And this week, Gates’ icy verdict on his old boss was echoed by another defence insider.
Sir Hew Strachan, an adviser to the Chief of the Defence Staff in Britain, claimed the U.S. President was ‘chronically incapable’ of formulating military strategy, falling short even of George W. Bush.

At home, the second term to-do list has been mired in problems, in particular the furious political rows that surrounded the introduction of ‘Obamacare’, his big idea for a new healthcare plan to reform America’s grossly inefficient health care system and extend health insurance to millions of poor Americans.

So what can he do in his final three years in power to win back the admiration he once inspired? Apart from reforming America’s immigration laws, the White House has run out of ideas.

It emerged this week that the Clintons keep a ‘grudge book’ listing the names of those who have wronged them.
Given the damage Mr Obama must have done to Hillary Clinton’s chances of succeeding him in the White House in 2016, his name is surely top of the list.
As for the First Lady, she plans to show she’s young at heart tonight by doing the Dougie, a hip-hop dance popular with cool American teenagers.
Whether she’ll feel the urge to slow dance with the President remains to be seen.

Full story at mailonline
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2541580/Is-Obama-marriage-rocks-Ugly-fights-selfie-Even-Presidential-affair-Astonishing-claims-emerge.html