Netanyahu Calls Iran Nuclear Agreement a Threat to Israel's Survival

.@netanyahu responded to the deals reached in the #Irantalks with a tweet. pic.twitter.com/Rkw0Kpdxrg
— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) abril 2, 2015

Any deal must significantly roll back Iran’s nuclear capabilities and stop its terrorism and aggression. #IranTalks pic.twitter.com/BOQ7YcHxyn
— בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) abril 2, 2015

             

          

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Obama wrote secret letter to Iran on Islamic State

Mary Greeley

While Refusing to Support Hong Kong's Democracy, Obama Strongly Condemns Israel

www.channelnewsasia.com

breitbart

By Thomas Rose 

Hong Kong's pro-democracy demonstrators protesting China’s attempts to quash their rights to self government appear to be only the latest pro-Western group forsaken by the Obama administration. Meanwhile, its high volume criticism of Israel continues unabated. 

First, Hong Kong. Protests in that former British colony have grown massively since they started last Friday. The demonstrators-- and, if opinion polls are correct, also the overwhelming majority of Hong Kong People-- oppose the communist government in Beijing’s refusal to stand by provisions of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration that spelled out the conditions under which Hong Kong would be governed after its return to China from Britain. Hong Kong’s constitution, or Basic Law negotiated as part of the of Joint Declaration, guarantees Hong Kong’s right to govern itself on all non-defense or foreign affairs matters through 2047.

Protestors claim that China reneged on that agreement in June when it announced that Beijing would decide which candidates would be permitted to run in the 2017 elections to pick the self governing city’s next Chief Executive thereby insuring it would have full control over all the candidates that seek that office.

As up to a quarter million protestors peaceably took to Hong Kong streets demanding freedom last weekend, neither President Obama nor any other senior administration official said anything at all. It wasn’t until Tuesday that the US consulate in Hong Kong got around to issuing its first statement and it sided not with the protestors or their freedom cause:

We do not take sides in the discussion of Hong Kong's political development, nor do we support any particular individuals or groups involved in it... We encourage all sides to refrain from actions that would further escalate tensions, to exercise restraint and to express views on (Hong Kong's) political development in a peaceful manner.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was again forced to downplay harsh criticism against the Jewish state leveled by President Obama and other members of the administration during their White House visit Wednesday. Media reports claim that Obama harshly condemned the recent issuance of building permits for 2,610 apartment units inside the Israeli capital city, without seeming to understand that those decisions are made at the local, not the national level.

A Jerusalem real estate developer recently purchased seven apartment buildings in the predominantly Arab neighborhood of Silwan and purchased advertising to encourage Jewish families to buy them.

Netanyahu pushed back hard against the President’s condemnation. He told Spanish language Univisión TV that “Jews buy apartments in Arab neighborhoods. Arabs buy apartments in Jewish neighborhoods. I wouldn’t dream of interfering with that, and couldn’t even if I wanted to." "It is a municipal issue,” he said.

Pointing out President Obama’s hypocrisy of siding with those who seeking to prevent Jews from certain neighborhoods in Israel’s capital city, Netanyahu pointed out “there would be an uproar” if neighborhoods in the US, Mexico, or anywhere but Israel tried barring Jews from moving in. In comments that also appeared aimed at the Obama Administration, Netanyahu seemed to chide the White House and State Department for thinking they were empowered to micromanage the Jewish state down its most granular bureaucratic level: “It would be worth at least learning the correct information before jumping to take a position like that.”

Both the White House and State Department issued harsh condemnations of the new Jewish housing units, going to so far as to threaten the Jewish state with abandonment if it continued allowing Jews to move into neighborhoods that are predominantly Arab.

Former Israeli Deputy Prime Minister and Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky writes and speaks regularly about how vital it is for freedom movements to know their struggles are neither desperate nor lonely. That they fight for values espoused by and embodied in the United States of America. When that support is not forthcoming, as in so many recent cases where President Obama has refused to offer even strong verbal support for freedom demonstrators in Iran and Venezuela, the effect can be devastating. Telling this author of the moment he heard of President Reagan’s denunciation of the Soviet Union as the ‘evil empire’ destined to fail while himself suffering a tortuous prison sentence in the Soviet Gulag abuses, Sharansky said: “It was one of the most important, freedom-affirming declarations, and we all instantly knew it. For us, that was the moment that really marked the end for them, and the beginning for us. The lie had been exposed and could never, ever be untold."

Netanyahu gives Merkel a Hiter mustache: Unfortunate Photo-Op Hall of Fame

slate

In this video grab, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gesture during a joint press conference in Jerusalem on Feb. 25, 2014. That's all that's going on here./  

Photo by Yoav Lemmer/AFP/Getty Images

By Joshua Keating

As if relations between Israel and Europe weren’t rocky enough right now, with disputes over settlements in the West Bank and sanctions on Iran, the photo above, from German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Israel, has gone superviral today, particularly in Europe and Israel. 

The original version of the photo to make the rounds was by Jerusalem Post photographer Marc Israel Sellem. JPost Knesset reporter Lahav Harkov tweeted that "none of the higher-ups at JPost are pushing that picture. It's not on our site and won't be in the newspaper." However, JPost reporter Ben Hartman did share it, calling it the "picture of the year." The version above is a video grab posted on Getty Images.

Yes, it's a complete accident, and dispite some recent disagreements, Merkel is far friendlier to the Israeli government than most European leaders.  But it's still far too good to ignore.

Obama says 'still time' for diplomacy with Iran, Netanyahu suggests time running short | Fox News

Fox News

Just see their faces

President Obama, while seeking to reassure Israel that America has its back in the face of a nuclear Iran, said Wednesday he believes there's "still time" to resolve the stand-off diplomatically -- as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested time is running short. 

Both leaders, in a joint press conference on Obama's first trip as president to Israel, stressed that their goal is to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But the two appeared to diverge on the effectiveness of diplomacy. 

In his opening remarks, Netanyahu said sanctions and diplomacy "so far have not stopped" Iran's ambitions. 

"Diplomacy and sanctions must be augmented by a clear and credible threat of military action," he said. 

Later on, Obama said: "We prefer to resolve this diplomatically, and there is still time to do so." 

Still, he added that "all options are on the table" if diplomacy falls short. "The question is, will Iranian leadership seize that opportunity," he added. The president said Iran's past behavior indicates that "we can't even trust yet, much less verify." 

The meeting, and the two-day swing through Israel, was a chance for both leaders to reaffirm their ties, and for Obama to try and boost his image in the country after avoiding it for the last five years. Though Obama visited as a presidential candidate, this is his first visit to Israel since taking office in 2009. 

In Israel, Obama stopped briefly in Tel Aviv before flying to Jerusalem for meetings with senior leaders including Israeli President Shimon Peres. Peres praised Obama for an "impressive record of answering our needs," and welcomed the message that "no one should let skepticism win the day" when it comes to the peace process. 

Pressed during the press conference with Netanyahu on the lack of progress toward an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, Obama said he's certain he could have done things differently when it comes to the Mideast. 

But he said bringing peace to the region is "a really hard problem" to solve -- one that's lingered for more than 60 years. Obama also suggested that failure to reach an agreement in his first term between Israelis and Palestinians doesn't mean that he "screwed up somehow." 

The conversation turned repeatedly to the civil war in Syria and Iran's nuclear program. 

Obama started out his remarks with the prime minister by stressing that the security of Israel is "non-negotiable." The president said America's commitment to Israel's security is a "solemn obligation." 

Netanyahu, thanking Obama for his statements, stressed that: "Today we have both the right and the capability to defend ourselves."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/20/obama-says-till-time-for-diplomacy-with-iran-netanyahu-suggests-time-running/#ixzz2O7a85s00

Obama To Make First Trip To Israel In His Entire Muslim Brotherhood Presidency

patdollard

frontpagemag.com

Excerpted from Fox News: President Obama will visit Israel, the West Bank and Jordan in the spring, the White House said Tuesday, marking his first visit since becoming president.

Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the visit to Israel by phone in late January, when Obama congratulated Netanyahu on his success in Israel’s recent election. The White House has not released the date of Obama’s trip or details about Obama’s itinerary, but Israel’s Channel 10 reported that a visit had been scheduled for March 20.

“The start of the president’s second term and the formation of a new Israeli government offer the opportunity to reaffirm the deep and enduring bonds between the United States and Israel and to discuss the way forward on a broad range of issues of mutual concern, including Iran and Syria,” said National Security Council Spokesman Tommy Vietor.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said during Obama’s visit to Jordan and the West Bank, the president would work closely with Palestinian Authority and Jordanian officials on regional issues.

Although Obama visited Israel and Jordan while running for president in 2008, he hasn’t been back since, drawing intense criticism from some pro-Israel groups who have claimed he is insufficiently supportive of the United States’ closest ally in the Middle East. Other top administration officials, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, have visited.

The trip could help repair Obama’s tarnished image in Israel, where many view him as cold to the Jewish state. Israelis vividly remember Obama’s decision not to visit when he stopped in neighboring Egypt early in his first term to deliver a speech.

“This country’s commitment to Israel’s security is unshakeable,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said last week. “It has been reflected in this administration’s commitment to Israel’s security, demonstrated by the very specific actions that are unprecedented that have been taken by this administration on behalf of Israel’s security.”

Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem had no immediate comment on the report of Obama’s visit.

The announcement of Obama’s visit comes at a time of uncertainty for Netanyahu, whose relationship with Obama was notoriously rocky during Obama’s first term. Netanyahu emerged weakened from January’s election but is still poised to remain prime minister if he can successfully build a governing coalition before the mid-March deadline.