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Tag Archives: netanyahu
Netanyahu Divides As He Conquers In Israeli Election
Much of Israel and the rest of the Middle East went to bed late Tuesday with initial exit polls showing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party in a virtual tie with its main rival, the center-left Zionist Union, but awoke Wednesday to a vastly different outcome.
PLO Breaks Security Pacts With Israel
After monopolizing the political agenda with his controversial speech to the US Congress, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear that security in Israel is the centerpiece of his campaign.
The latest polls seem to show that Netanyahu's speech has been modestly effective in gaining him more support. The Likud leader assigned only had a slight improvement after his speech at the Capitol.
However, there is topic of which almost no one in Israel, including Netanyahu is talking about. The Palestinian issue.
Israel's relation with the Palestinians is as old as its history. Since it was established as the "birth of the Jewish state" in 1948, no one seems to want to solve the conflict between the Israeli regime and the right it denies to Palestinians to live in peace. In this election cycle, politicians in Israel are more worried about the "Iranian threat" and domestic problems.
Not long after Netanyahu heard the last cheers in Washington, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called the Central Council of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and in a closed session celebrated on Thursday in Ramallah, both parts agreed to cut ties with Israel since the Oslo Accords of 1993.
"We are forced to reset the security cooperation with Israel," admitted Kamal al Sheik, board member of Fatah, the party of Abbas.
Contacts between Palestinian security services and Israelis, that have helped prevent attacks and defuse tension, will be broken as long as Netanyahu is in power, said a source of the PLO in Ramallah, "but they will be reconsidered after the elections ".
The president of the Palestinian Authority accused Israel on Wednesday of blackmailing his government since December to suspend the transfer of taxes it collects on its behalf by an amount that has now reached $450 million.
The transfer of tax accounts for two-thirds of budget revenues, which means that 140,000 Palestinian officials have had their salaries discounted by 40%.
"The Palestinian Authority has been reluctant to cut the last ties with Israel, but needs to make a gesture of firmness to the population affected by the pay cut," argued Said Zidani, a University professor and political analyst.
The Executive led by Netanyahu took the step of blocking the funds immediately after the Palestinian government requested his accession to the treaty governing the International Criminal Court (ICC), which will take effect next April 1.
"We will not formally file any lawsuit against Israel," revealed a source in the PLO, "but we expect that the court acts on its own, after an investigation carried out with respect to the conflict in Gaza last summer."
Ramallah analysts understand that although Israel has not signed the Rome Statute of 1998, establishing the ICC, the International Criminal Justice can examine events in the Palestinian territory, including Gaza.
The Arabs with Israeli citizenship represent 20% of the population and around 15% of voters in Israel. The list of political groups that oppose Likud is composed of three Arab parties and one Arab-Israeli group.
"Polls now assign a range of 10 to 15 seats, depending on the participation of Arab voters at the polls," explains Professor Zidani. "It seems clear that it will be almost impossible to block Netanyahu's reelection for a third consecutive term without the Arab group of Knesset".
"The Arab parties have had no choice but to join forces to survive," says Gideon Raat, election analyst and professor of Political Science at the Hebrew University. "The outgoing center-right government has forced them to do that to raise the minimum bar which allows access to parliament, between 2% to 3.25% of the vote," he adds.
Luis R. Miranda is an award-winning journalist and the founder and editor-in-chief at The Real Agenda. His career spans over 18 years and almost every form of news media. His articles include subjects such as environmentalism, Agenda 21, climate change, geopolitics, globalisation, health, vaccines, food safety, corporate control of governments, immigration and banking cartels, among others. Luis has worked as a news reporter, on-air personality for Live and Live-to-tape news programs. He has also worked as a script writer, producer and co-producer on broadcast news. Read more about Luis.
Benjamin Netanyahu In 2002 – "If You Take Out Saddam, I Guarantee, It Will Have Enormous Positive Reverberations On The Region" (VIDEO)
By: Michael Krieger | Liberty Blitzkrieg –
This man's plan in Iraq only led to death, chaos, and the emergence of ISIS.
In 2002, Benjamin Netanyahu already harbored some extremely strong convictions on how to deal with both Iran and Iraq. Back then, his opinions on how to handle the particular challenges each presented were quite divergent. On the one hand, he suggested beaming "reruns of Melrose Place" into Tehran, as a way of inspiring a popular uprising. In contrast, he suggested such an approach could never work in Iraq, and instead advocated for his preferred solution: violence.
Naturally, he believed that a violent overthrow of Saddam Hussein would be a great thing. Specifically predicting that:
If you take out Saddam's Regime, I guarantee you, that it will have enormous positive reverberations on the region.
Fast forward nearly thirteen years, and rather than recognizing that this man's plan in Iraq only led to death, chaos, and the emergence of ISIS, Congress felt the need to ask him for advice once again. Since as we all know, being wrong in America doesn't lead to consequences, it leads to promotions.
Obama-Netanyahu "Fallout" Is Theater – Planned In 2009
By: Tony Cartalucci | Land Destroyer Report –
In a 2009 US policy paper published by the corporate-financier funded Brookings Institution, it was made clear that the US was determined to provoke Iran into a conflict and effect regime change at any cost – up to and including an outright military invasion and occupation of Iran with US troops.
However, before it came to that, the Brookings Institution's policymakers explored other options including fomenting US-backed political unrest coupled with covert, violent force, the use of US State Department listed foreign terrorist organizations to carry out assassinations and attacks within Iran, and limited airstrikes carried out by either the US or Israel, or both.
In retrospect, 6 years on, all of these tricks have not only been attempted to one degree or another in Iran, but have been demonstrably employed in neighboring Syria to diminish its strength – which according to Brookings – is a necessary prerequisite before waging war on Iran.
And of particular interest – considering what appears to be a growing diplomatic row between the United States and Israel – is just how precisely the US planned to covertly back what would be made to appear as a "unilateral" Israeli first strike on Iran – an attack that appears to be in the process of being justified through a carefully orchestrated propaganda campaign now unfolding.
From the Mouths of US Policymakers Themselves
The Brookings Institution's 2009 policy paper titled, "Which Path to Persia? Options for a New American Strategy Toward Iran," makes clear that negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program is merely theater, and that it will be used to give the world the impression that the United States explored all possible "peaceful" options before resorting to violent regime change. The report states specifically that:
…any military operation against Iran will likely be very unpopular around the world and require the proper international context— both to ensure the logistical support the operation would require and to minimize the blowback from it. The best way to minimize international opprobrium and maximize support (however, grudging or covert) is to strike only when there is a widespread conviction that the Iranians were given but then rejected a superb offer—one so good that only a regime determined to acquire nuclear weapons and acquire them for the wrong reasons would turn it down. Under those circumstances, the United States (or Israel) could portray its operations as taken in sorrow, not anger, and at least some in the international community would conclude that the Iranians "brought it on themselves" by refusing a very good deal.
Of course, Iran – as admitted to by Brookings themselves – is not governed by irrational leadership, and would not turn down a genuinely "superb offer." The Brookings Institution admits openly that the US pursues a dual track foreign policy – one for public consumption (making "superb offers") and another aimed at ensuring Iran looks as unreasonable as possible.
At one point in the policy paper, Brookings would state:
The truth is that these all would be challenging cases to make. For that reason, it would be far more preferable if the United States could cite an Iranian provocation as justification for the airstrikes before launching them. Clearly, the more outrageous, the more deadly, and the more unprovoked the Iranian action, the better off the United States would be. Of course, it would be very difficult for the United States to goad Iran into such a provocation without the rest of the world recognizing this game, which would then undermine it. (One method that would have some possibility of success would be to ratchet up covert regime change efforts in the hope that Tehran would retaliate overtly, or even semi-overtly, which could then be portrayed as an unprovoked act of Iranian aggression.)
Yet despite this open admission, conspiring against world peace, what is of more interest is the United States' plans to disavow any responsibility for an attack it would use its regional proxy, Israel, to carry out in its place. It states specifically under a chapter titled, "Allowing or Encouraging an Israeli Military Strike," that:
…the most salient advantage this option has over that of an American air campaign is the possibility that Israel alone would be blamed for the attack. If this proves true, then the United States might not have to deal with Iranian retaliation or the diplomatic backlash that would accompany an American military operation against Iran. It could allow Washington to have its cake (delay Iran's acquisition of a nuclear weapon) and eat it, too (avoid undermining many other U.S. regional diplomatic initiatives).
To no one's surprise the British Daily Mail now reports in an article titled, "President Obama threatened to shoot down Israeli jets if they attacked Iranian nuclear facilities last year, claim sources," that:
President Obama is alleged to have stopped an Israeli military attack against Iran's nuclear facilities in 2014 by threatening to shoot down Israeli jets before they could reach their targets, according to reports to emerge from the Middle East at the weekend
The threat from the U.S. forced Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to abort a planned attack on Iraq, reported Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida.
Netanyahu will be in Washington for an address to Congress on Tuesday aimed squarely at derailing Obama's cherished bid for a diplomatic deal with Tehran.
Here, the Daily Mail repeats a growing narrative that dovetails neatly into long-standing US foreign policy described by the Brookings Institution's report in 2009 – down to the letter. In fact, the prospect of "shooting down" Israeli planes was discussed as one of many props used in this geopolitical theater.
The US, as prescribed by Brookings, is portrayed as desperately trying to hammer out an almost unreasonably accommodation with Iran, while "mad dog" Israel seeks to unilaterally attack Iran – thus giving the US the plausible deniability it openly claimed it would disingenuously attempt to create ahead of any Israeli attack on Iran. It should be noted that the summation of Israel's military might is a result long, extensive, and continuous US military support meaning that Israeli military operation is even possible without it.
Also of interest is Israel's habitual, belligerent, serial acts of inhumanity against both its own people and the Palestinians whose land Tel Aviv has seized and continues to occupy. The nature of these acts is not one of self-preservation, but of intentional provocation – creating predictable political divides across the West easily manipulated particularly at times like these where a "regrettable" attack made upon Iran, a nation the West has thus far failed to topple with terrorism, US-backed sedition, sanctions, and covert provocations, is now in the cards.
It is also clear that the 2009 "Which Path to Persia?" policy paper still represents a vivid window into a much deeper and well-entrenched doctrine still to this day being used to reorder the Middle East into alignment with Western special interests. It is a signed confession of a now evident conspiracy against global peace and stability. It should be read, in full, before the United Nations Security Council before those who wrote it and the corporate-financier interests who sponsored it are brought to international justice.
Anything less proves that the United States and its regional proxies, not Iran, are the rogue states, working against global peace and stability, with many standing examples already of their atrocities on display, and more – apparently – still to come.
Tony Cartalucci's articles have appeared on many alternative media websites, including his own at Land Destroyer Report, Alternative Thai News Network and LocalOrg.
Mossad Discredits Netanyahu's Claims On Iran
The foreign intelligence agency of Israel, Mossad, acknowledged in 2012 that Iran was not pursuing the "necessary means to produce nuclear weapons,".
In spite of such statement, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, warned at the United Nations that Iran was in the final stages of completing their plans to manufacture nuclear weapons. In fact, Netanyahu said Iran was in the "final phase".
In September 2012, Netanyahu proclaimed from a podium at the General Assembly of the U.N. that if Iran continued its uranium enrichment, it could reach the "final phase" before the summer of 2013.
"From there, the country," Netanyahu said, "would only be months away, possibly weeks away from having enriched uranium for the first bomb."
Israel's prime minister showed a picture of a bomb in which a red line marked 90 percent, the level of enrichment that Iran would need to develop nuclear weapons.
However, a document prepared by the Mossad, before Netanyahu's speech, which was sent in October to South African Intelligence, contradicts the official version of the Israeli government.
According to this text, secret but leaked by Al Jazeera and The Guardian, Iran was not developing the ingredients "needed to produce weapons."
The Mossad admits that Iran "does not seem to be prepared" to enrich uranium to a level of 90 percent and estimated to have only "some 100 kilos of material enriched to 20 percent."
Mossad also warned that the regime of the ayatollahs would be moving in "areas that seemed legitimate" to "reduce the time needed to produce weapons once the order was given." Nothing on the report or in later documents provided any proof of such affirmation.
The document is part of a new package of leaks which includes hundreds of dossiers relating to secret communications, mainly between the intelligence services of South Africa and authorities in other countries.
A senior Israeli government official told The Guardian that there is no contradiction between Netanyahu's alerts and the content "supposedly obtained from Israeli intelligence, since both agree that Iran is producing uranium with the ultimate aim of making weapons."
The official also failed to show any proof that such Iran was working on obtaining more materials to produce enriched uranium and that the country intended to use it to make a nuclear weapon.
Luis R. Miranda is an award-winning journalist and the founder and editor-in-chief at The Real Agenda. His career spans over 18 years and almost every form of news media. His articles include subjects such as environmentalism, Agenda 21, climate change, geopolitics, globalisation, health, vaccines, food safety, corporate control of governments, immigration and banking cartels, among others. Luis has worked as a news reporter, on-air personality for Live and Live-to-tape news programs. He has also worked as a script writer, producer and co-producer on broadcast news. Read more about Luis.
US Senator Rand Paul's Top Aide Working For Netanyahu: Report
A top aide for US Senator Rand Paul is working for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's re-election campaign.
Vincent Harris, the 26-year-old top digital strategist for Paul, is helping Netanyahu win his fourth term as prime minister, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Harris, who is based in Austin, Texas, has made two trips to Israel and has been working for Netanyahu's Likud party for more than six weeks, he told the Israeli newspaper.
Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, hired Harris last November to be his chief digital strategist. Harris has also worked for Republican senators Mitch McConnell and Ted Cruz.
Harris has denied that he was sent by Senators McConnell or Cruz to help Netanyahu.
"I have not spoken to Sen. Cruz or to Mitch McConnell about my job here," Harris told the newspaper. "My Israeli work is completely separate from my work in the US, so what is being reported is not true."
In 2012, Harris served as an online strategist for Texas Governor and then presidential candidate Rick Perry. He was hired by Newt Gingrich to run his campaign's online and social media operations after Perry dropped out of the White House race and endorsed Gingrich.
In 2011, Paul came under pressure by members of the American right who hold strong pro-Israel views for proposing a budget that would eliminate all foreign aid, including to Israel. As a consequence, Paul's more recent budget proposals have included aid to Israel.
Harris is not the only US political strategist involved in the Israeli election. Jeremy Bird, the former national field director for President Barack Obama, is advising a coalition of groups that are working to unseat Netanyahu.
Netanyahu's planned trip to the US in March has sparked controversy because House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner invited him to address Congress about Iran without informing Obama. Some Democrats are planning to boycott the speech.
via, PressTV
Condemn Islamic Terror And Shield Zionist Atrocities (VIDEO)
"I would have joined a terrorist organization."– Ehud Barak's response to Gideon Levy, a columnist for the Ha'aretz newspaper, when Barak was asked what he would have done if he had been born a Palestinian.
Surviving in a world of offensive double standards comes easy for people who lost their moral compass. Most culturally deficient pawns have such limited intellectual capacities and ethical fortitude to apply the same critical standards to zealots, who practice and defend barbarism no matter where it is committed. The narration that masquerades as objective news reporting out of the mass media, acts as a gatekeeper to provide political cover for Zionist protection. If the eternal struggle between Muslims and Jews was the supreme existential conflict, why would Christians take sides, when the purported feud between cousins, drips blood no matter whose hand holds the sword?
Oh how dare equivocate between both pseudo religious cultures, when both are engulfed in political warfare as their primary tenant. If moral principle was the essence of either society, this obscene charade of state sponsored terrorism would be exposed for what it really represents. Now before the do-gooder Christians bask in their own moral superiority, your own secular humanism surrender does not bode well for your final judgment.
The point is that unholy religious and politically inspired violence against a perceived enemy to achieve an atmosphere of panic is simply wrong. When government special operations, globalist intelligence interests and elite NWO sociopaths plan, fund, recruit, direct and cover-up false flag attacks, designed to complete a global despotism; all citizens of exploited countries lose their rights and become duped into thinking insecurity stems from radical psychopaths. The collective mental health of most societies is in a crisis of terminal proportions.
Ponder the linkage of France's lower house of parliament votes 339 to 151 in favor of symbolic motion to recognize statehood of Palestine and Netanyahu's Chilling Threat To France Prior To The Charlie Hebdo Tragedy. Surely, a coincidence in what is widely seen as consistent with a pattern of a sponsored Mossad scenario, the Charlie Hebdo murders in Paris has the world primed for even more draconian measures that in fact, extinguishes genuine security.
Benjamin Netanyahu's latest ruse to advance the victimhood claim is transparent.
The real reason Bibi wants French Jews to move to Israel reports "By calling on France's Jews to move to Israel, Netanyahu is promoting a worldview in which there is no national conflict, no occupation and no Palestinian people. There are only Jews and radical Muslims."
"The leader of a country that is constantly in a state of war, and that every few years actually goes to war, is imploring France's Jews to leave their country in the wake of two terrorist attacks (one of which was not directed at a Jewish target), and move to Israel. Even if we ignore the downright chutzpah of his demand vis-a-vis the French government (try imagining a leader of a Western state calling on Israelis to immigrate to his country because of the security situation in Israel), no one doubts that French Jewish immigrants will be in much greater danger living in Israel. Perhaps our foreign minister would do well to update Netanyahu on the travel warnings issued fairly often for our country?"
The insecurity hysteria that infects Western countries from the Zionist bias media about a terrorist under every bed refuses to speak the truth. Honest reporting would require coverage of the following. The same old story, Israeli atrocities against Palestinians, but where in the controlled propaganda and fantasy viewpoint of corporatist political correctness, will such factual Zionist atrocities be reported and condemned?
Once upon a time fair play was a well established standard in international affairs. Even if it was often ignored in practice, the objective was seen as a condition that established moral authority. The reality is that governance of Israel maintains a hostility that sabotages any attempts for coexistence. EXAMPLES OF HATE SPEECH BY ISRAEL AGAINST PALESTINE illustrates the savage attitude that earns world enmity for the Zionist apartheid state. Watch the chilling documentary video, Israeli Genocide in Gaza which supports righteous outrage.
The boycott Israel movement may not have taken off to a level that its proponents hoped. Yet, such non violent opposition goes unnoticed with all the hype about terrorism. The Boycott Israel Campaign provides a list of companies and answered frequently asked questions about their efforts. If this cause gained traction, the screams would be deafening from media sentinels.
In order to maintain the storyline of extreme Islamophobia terrorism, it is necessary to eliminate any debate that analyzes the established policies that foster "Greater Israel" dominance in the Middle East. Just examine the Saudi Israeli alliance forged in blood.
"The attack on Gaza comes by Saudi Royal Appointment. This royal warrant is nothing less than an open secret in Israel, and both former and serving defense officials are relaxed when they talk about it. Former Israeli defense minister Shaul Mofaz surprised the presenter on Channel 10 by saying Israel had to specify a role for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the demilitarization of Hamas. Asked what he meant by that, he added that Saudi and Emirati funds should be used to rebuild Gaza after Hamas had been defanged."
Reports: Saudis Looking for Alliance With Israel presents a chilling prospect for the beleaguered Palestinians.
"Given the successes of the radical Sunni Islamic State (formerly ISIS), the lingering threat of the Muslim Brotherhood (which birthed Hamas), and the rising Shiite power in Iran, Riyadh is seen as more keen than ever to complete that process so it can formerly align with Israel, and thereby gain the advantage of its military and economic might.
The only problem is that the Saudis want to solve that "minor conflict" by asking Israel to take severe security risks by surrendering strategic positions to a Palestinian populace that has sadly proved its unwillingness to eradicate the violent anti-Israel elements within."
Well, there you have it. Those radical Palestinian elements are dedicated terrorists, while the Saudi's benefactor funds their barbaric wahhabi client fanatics, who miraculously never have a map to locate Israel.
If you are not allowed to discuss who really is behind the ISIS band of cutthroats, fall back on a proven tactic of diversion. $1B trial opens against PLO over Israel terror attacks in a U.S. courtroom. "The victims allege that the Palestinian groups violated the US Anti-Terrorism Act by giving money and weapons — and employment — to terrorists in the attacks that occurred between 2001 and 2004."
Do not hold your breath waiting for a similar suit against Saudi financiers must less about U.S. covert agencies supplying arms and coordination to their new best friend, ISIS hit squads.
In this obscene world of select memory, a terrorist is your friend if they are killing an enemy of Israel, especially if a high profile attack can garnish mass public opinion support to keep the phony "War of Terror" rolling along.
When it comes to actual non state sponsored terrorism, the number of definite instances can be disputed. The GTD Global Terrorism Database lists information on over 125,000 terrorist attacks. A search of Jewish Terrorists provides results of well over 100 instances. The JDL, Jewish Defense League is a leading "Perpetrator" with a long list of crimes within the United States. The savage legacy of Rabbi Meir Kahane has a long record of terrorism to use as inspiration.
Past Zionist-Jewish Terrorism – Some Historical Facts provides both Israeli Defense Force missions and the tactics used during the formatting years of the Zionist State. Such examples seldom get a whisper of notice much less coverage in the Newspeak media. The Jewish ownership and financial control of the establishment media allows for a self prophecy of inevitability if one believes the distortions, omissions and outright lies.
Imbalance in culpability that condemns terrorists with the same intensity and blame, no matter who is responsible for the violence, will never allow for a peaceful resolution to the mutual hate that propels the globe towards oblivion.
Pat Buchanan makes a profound point in the essay, To Die for Charlie Hebdo?
"As for the "glorification of terrorist acts," Israel's Menachem Begin, the ANC's Nelson Mandela, and the PLO's Yasser Arafat were all credibly charged with acts of terrorism in their liberation struggles.
And all three won the Nobel Prize for Peace."
His observation is not that terrorists are rewarded by the World Community, but that the hypocrisy of the establishment fabrication that makes heroes out of thugs with blood stained hands goes with the political objectives to demonize your enemy, while crowning the butchers.
Islamic bombers who eagerly evaporate themselves as long as they can kill others, is a sickness that no authentic religion could justify. Governments that employ aerial bombing to obliterate entire neighborhoods, and have an official policy, that kills children; practices true terrorism.
If the Christian West is ever to regain its moral foundation, their governments must no longer encourage continued terrorism because of their insane foreign policies. Abandoning the teaching of Jesus Christ, a Jew, and Son of God has allowed the apocalyptic demons to run wild. Looking for a rapprochement between Muslim and Jew will never be realized until the final carnage and tribulation is stopped with His Second Coming at the end of this satanic age.
It Turns Out Hamas May Not Have Kidnapped And Killed The 3 Israeli Teens After All
When the bodies of three Israeli teenagers, kidnapped in the West Bank, were found late last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not mince words. "Hamas is responsible, and Hamas will pay," he said, initiating a campaign that eventually escalated into the present conflict in the region.
But now, Israeli officials admit the kidnappings were not Hamas's handiwork after all.
Was The Netanyahu Government Behind The Killings Of The Three Israeli Teenagers?
By, Michel Chossudovsky
"Justified Vengeance", The Pretext for Bombing Gaza.
The pretext for bombing and shelling Gaza was the death of three Israeli teenagers allegedly killed by Hamas.
'Operation Protective Edge (OPE) directed against Gaza in reminiscent of the infamous 2001 Dagan Plan entitled "Operation Justified Vengeance" in which the deaths of innocent Israeli civilians had been envisaged and foreseen by IDF military planners.
The deaths are then used to muster the support of the Israeli public as well as provide a justification for a "legitimate" counter-terrorism operation in the eyes of the international community directed against the Palestinian occupied territories.
Contrived behind closed doors in July 2001, the Dagan Plan [named after Mossad chief Meir Dagan] was slated by its IDF and Mossad architects to be "launched immediately following the next high-casualty suicide bombing, would last about a month and is expected to result in the death of hundreds of Israelis and thousands of Palestinians." (See Ellis Shuman, "Operation Justified Vengeance": a Secret Plan to Destroy the Palestinian Authority, Intelligence Ploy behind the "Suicide bombings", Global Research, February 01, 2006)
'Operation Protective Edge (OPE) directed against Gaza was planned well in advance of the kidnapping and murder of the three Israeli teenagers. Prime Minister Netanyahu has called up 40,000 reservists. In the wake of the shelling and bombing raids, a major ground operation scenario is envisaged.
Moreover, similar to the logic of the Dagan Plan, the head of Israeli intelligence (Mossad) had "predicted" the kidnapping of the three teenagers. Under the title Mossad chief's chillingly prescient kidnap prophecy, Haaretz confirms that
"Mossad chief Tamir Pardo had "outlined a scenario that was spookily [sic] similar to the kidnapping of three teens missing in the West Bank" (Haaretz, July 13, 2014, emphasis added)
Israeli civilian deaths are blamed on Hamas without evidence to justify military action against Gaza. The ultimate objective of "Operation Protective Edge" is to break the institutional base of the Hamas leadership and destroy Gaza's civilian infrastructure, with a view to eventually carrying out the annexation of the Gaza Strip to Israel. As of July 13, Israel is reported to have struck 1,320 sites within Gaza, resulting in 167 deaths and more than 1,000 injured (Mannam News, July 13, 2014)
Were the three boys killed by Hamas?
Israeli press reports intimate that the three teenagers could have been executed by the Al Qaeda affiliated jihadist entity the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) which just so happens to be supported "covertly" as well "overtly" by the State of Israel.
Under the title Jihadist group takes credit for teens' killings, the Times of Israel confirms that:
A new Palestinian jihadist group pledging allegiance to the Islamic State (formerly known as ISIL) has claimed responsibility for the killing of three Israeli teenagers last month in the West Bank, … as well as other recent deadly attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians…..
The actions were carried out in honor of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed "caliph" of the Islamic State, the reincarnation of the Islamic State in Syria and the Levant (ISIL)declared last month, the statement said."(Times of Israel, July 3, 2014)
The ISIL (renamed the Islamic State) (see image) constitutes the main Al Qaeda rebel fighting force in Syria directed against the government of Bashar Al Assad. More recently, ISIL brigades have entered Iraq, confronting government forces.
While ISIL is an Al Qaeda affiliated entity funded by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, retribution by Israel against Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States is not contemplated.
The supportive role of the US and Israel to the Al Qaeda affiliated entity is not limited to the realm of covert operations. The Israeli military (IDF) is supporting the jihadist entity out of the occupied Golan Heights. Moreover, amply documented, there are Western and well Israeli Special Forces within ISIL rebel ranks.
In March, an Austrian military officer of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the occupied Golan Heights "confirmed that Israel has provided large-scale logistical and military support to the [ISIL and Al Nusrah] terrorists and rebels in different parts of Syria"
The UNDOF official confirmed the existence of "a joint operation room" between Israel and the Al Qaeda rebels pertaining to "the delivery of [Israeli] assistance to the terrorists."
This assistance is not limited to logistics:
"According to the Israeli Channel 1 television, 'security sources' informed of a new missile system named 'Mitar', established in Golan for giving backup coverage to anti-Syria militant groups.
The system includes middle-range and long-range missiles, according to the report." (Al Alam May 3, 2014 emphasis added)
An IDF military hospital in the occupied Golan Heights was established to treat wounded Al Qaeda rebels.
In February, The Jerusalem Post reported that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's visited the IDF field hospital in the occupied Golan heights, which was set up in support of the jihadist rebels operating in Syria. The hospital was set up to treat wounded Al Qaeda rebels.
The Jerusalem Post acknowledges that the hospital is being used to support the jihadist insurgency. Netanyahu referred to the Hospital as the place which "separates the good in the world from the evil in the world."
"The good", according to Netanyahu "is Israel", which in a bitter irony wholeheartedly supports the Al Qaeda "freedom fighters" in Syria; "the bad" refers to Iran which supports Bashar Al Assad.
The good, the prime minister said, is Israel, which "saves lives from the daily slaughter taking place in Syria. This is the true face of Israel."
The evil, he continued, is Iran, which is arming those carrying out the slaughter. (Jerusalem Post, February 19, 2014)
While the IDF field hospital was established to support Al Qaeda in an operation coordinated by IDF Special Forces, Netanyahu casually accuses Iran for "its support of terrorist groups around the world". (JP, February 19, 2014)
Netanyau does not deny his government's support of the jihadists. The IDF top brass tacitly acknowledged that "global jihad elements inside Syria" are supported by Israel:
Netanyahu toured the Golan Heights with Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz.
At a lookout point overlooking the Syrian border, OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Yair Golan briefed Netanyahu on the presence of global jihad elements inside Syria, as well as on the work being done to fortify the Israeli-Syrian border fence. (Ibid)
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Shakes Hand with an Al Qaeda Terrorist
Is the wounded terrorist an Israeli intelligence asset? In the image below:
"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Moshe Ya'alon next to a wounded mercenary, Israeli military field hospital at the occupied Golan Heights' border with Syria, 18 February 2014″ (ibid, emphasis added)
Who killed the three Israeli teenagers?
Ironically, the same jihadist group which is reported to have kidnapped and killed the three teenagers is supported by Israel's IDF out of the occupied Golan Heights.
A mere coincidence.
Michel Chossudovsky is an award-winning author, Professor of Economics (emeritus) at the University of Ottawa, Founder and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), Montreal and Editor of the globalresearch.ca website. He is the author of The Globalization of Poverty and The New World Order (2003) and America's "War on Terrorism"(2005). His most recent book is entitled Towards a World War III Scenario: The Dangers of Nuclear War (2011). He is also a contributor to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. His writings have been published in more than twenty languages.
Imminent Ground Attack On Gaza
At least 22 Palestinians were killed last Tuesday in a massive military operation against the Gaza Strip carried out by Israel. There are over a hundred injured. The military struck 160 targets from the air and from warships that block sea access to the Palestinian region. It is the largest military operation in the area ruled by the Islamist organization Hamas, which took control since late 2012. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his troops to "be prepared" for a possible ground invasion of Gaza, which would be the first since the end of 2008. Netanyahu also ordered the mobilization of at least 40,000 reservists.
Israel, who baptized Tuesday's attack as Operation Margin Protector entered a new phase in the level of hostilities with Hamas. The offense is, according to the Israeli Army, "an answer" to the more than 160 rockets and mortar shells fired at Israel last Monday. The air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem on Tuesday night, shortly before a loud explosion and then a smaller one were felt in the southwest of the city. Hamas retaliated against Israel after the Army invaded Gaza and shot Palestinians after three Israeli police beat up a teenager in plain sight.
In addition, the armed forces intercepted a rocket in the metropolitan area of Tel Aviv. A witness of the attack said that the air raid sirens interrupted the Peace Conference organized in the city. Alarms were triggered in major Israeli cities suggesting that Hamas was getting ready to use its arsenal to answer Israel's violent attack on Palestinian citizens. The Army requested that the population within a radius of up to 40 kilometers from the Gaza Strip remained near bomb shelters.
The rocket attacks are the most dangerous for Israeli civilians. On July 8th, the Israeli government began opening the doors of bomb shelters in Jerusalem. According to Army sources, the military attacked nearly 100 Palestinian rocket launcher positions in Gaza. They also bombed alleged military buildings and infrastructure that the Army said belonged to Hamas, as well as the homes of several of his alleged militants.
Netanyahu asked the Army to "remove its silk gloves." A military spokesman said the attacks had "reached" the locations of various Islamist militants. But, according to emergency services in Gaza as well as hospital records, the victims of the Israeli attacks were seven children and 10 adult civilians.
Only a few of the dead are Hamas militants or members of other groups including a local leader of the Islamic Jihad, who died on Tuesday night in an air raid on his home in which his parents and two his brothers were also killed. The armed wing of the organization announced a "widening of the attacks" against Israel as a response for the air strikes over civilian population. The Israeli army reported an attempted landing on the beach of Zikim, near Gaza, which was repelled by Israeli soldiers. In the event, five militants were killed and one Israeli was slightly injured. The skirmish allowed a spokesman for the military to speak of "attacks by land, sea and air."
The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, called for the "immediate end of the attacks on Gaza." The Israeli defense minister, Moshe Yaalon warned however that the military operation "will not end in a matter of days." The Israeli military highlighted that two brigades of infantry would be located in the vicinity of the Strip. Netanyahu said he ordered "a long, continuous and powerful operation" in Gaza. He acknowledged that the attacks "could be prolonged" but the time is yet undetermined. He argues that it is directed against Hamas and that it will serve to stop the rocket fire against Israeli territory.
On Monday, some 165 different caliber projectiles were launched from Gaza as Hamas threatened to mass bomb Tel Aviv and its vicinity with more powerful missiles.
Tensions have escalated between the two governments since June 12, when three young students of Jewish religion disappeared in the West Bank. The discovery of their bodies created a wave of consternation among the Israelis.
Hours after the burial, Israel began a series of attacks on Palestinian residents in Jerusalem, culminating that evening with the murder of a young man who, according to the Palestinian authorities, was burned alive. Israel arrested six Jewish extremists for the crime.
Luis R. Miranda is the Founder and Editor of The Real Agenda. His 16 years of experience in Journalism include television, radio, print and Internet news. Luis obtained his Journalism degree from Universidad Latina de Costa Rica, where he graduated in Mass Media Communication in 1998. He also holds a Bachelor's Degree in Broadcasting from Montclair State University in New Jersey. Among his most distinguished interviews are: Costa Rican President Jose Maria Figueres and James Hansen from NASA Space Goddard Institute. Read more about Luis.
An Attack On Iran Is Still On The Pentagon's Drawing Board. Israel Prepares To Launch "The First Strike"
Under the title "Netanyahu orders IDF to prepare for possible strike on Iran during 2014″, Haaretz confirms that a war on Iran is still contemplated and that Israel is actively preparing to launch a first strike, despite talks between the West and Iran concerning Iran's nuclear weapons program.
The IDF has received orders "to continue readying for a possible independent strike" on Iran. Moreover, a sizable amount of Israeli tax payers money has been earmarked for to this renewed military endeavor:
Despite talks between Iran and West, senior officers tell MKs 10b shekels ($2.9b) allocated to IDF to prepare for possible attack.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon have ordered the army to continue preparing for a possible military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities at a cost of at least 10 billion shekels ($2.89 billion) this year, despite the talks between Iran and the West, according to recent statements by senior military officers.
The IDF representatives said the army had received a clear directive from government officials from the political echelon – meaning Netanyahu and Ya'alon – to continue readying for a possible independent strike by Israel on the Iranian nuclear sites, regardless of the talks now happening between Iran and the West, the three MKs said.
….Ever since the interim accord between Iran and the six powers was reached, Netanyahu has stressed that Israel will not consider itself bound by it. …
Netanyahu has upped his rhetoric on the Iranian issue, and is again making implied threats about a possible unilateral Israeli strike on the Iranian nuclear sites.
[Defense Minister] Ya'alon recently indicated … that his view has shifted and he is now likely to support a unilateral Israeli strike on Iran, in light of his assessment that the Obama administration will not do so. (Barak Ravid, Netanyahu orders IDF to prepare for possible strike on Iran during 2014, Haaretz, March 19, 2014)
Israel's Role as a US Military Proxy: "Doing the Bombing for Us"
It is important to analyze these latest threats in a broader context. While Israel is part of a military alliance, it cannot wage a war on Iran on its own. This is something which is known and recognized by military analysts.
An attack on Iran is part of a coordinated operation led by the Pentagon, which has been envisaged since the mid-1990s as part of a strategic "sequencing" of theater operations. During the Clinton administration, US Central Command (USCENTCOM) had formulated "in war theater plans" to invade first Iraq and then Iran.
Israel is integrated into the "war plan for major combat operations" against Iran first formulated in 2006 by US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). In the context of large scale military operations, an uncoordinated unilateral military action by one coalition partner, namely Israel, is from a military and strategic standpoint almost an impossibility. Israel is a de facto member of NATO. Any action by Israel would require a "green light" from Washington.
An attack by Israel (approved by US-NATO) could, however, be used as "the trigger mechanism" which would unleash an all out war against Iran, as well as retaliation by Iran directed against Israel.
While Israel does not decide, Israel may be used by Washington as a proxy, namely to fire the first shot, without the US being officially involved.
In this regard, there are indications that Washington is still envisaging the option first formulated during the Bush Jr Administration of an initial (US backed) attack by Israel rather than an outright US-led military operation directed against Iran.
While the Israel first strike option does not officially have the blessing of the Obama administration, let us be under no illusions, it has, for several years been part of the Pentagon's war plans.
Its called "indirect warfare" whereby US proxies (including Israel) wage war on behalf of Uncle Sam and in liaison with the Pentagon.
This strategy of involving allies to "do the dirty work" has characterized several US sponsored military undertakings including Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and to lesser extent Iraq. In Syria, the covert terrorist war was largely waged with the support of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar, in close coordination with the US.
"Defending Israel"
Were it to be launched by Netanyahu, an Israeli attack on Iran –although led in close liaison with the Pentagon and NATO– would be presented to public opinion as a unilateral decision by Tel Aviv. It could then be used by Washington to justify, in the eyes of World opinion, a broader military intervention of the US and NATO (on humanitarian grounds) with a view to "defending Israel", rather than attacking Iran. Under existing military cooperation agreements, both the US and NATO would be "obligated" to "defend Israel" against Iran.
It is worth noting, in this regard, that at the outset of Bush's second term, (former) Vice President Dick Cheney defined in no uncertain terms, the proxy role of Israel.
[Dick Cheney with Israel's Defense Minister Eyud Barak and IDF officers, October 2007]
Israel would, so to speak, "be doing the bombing for us", without US military involvement and without us putting pressure on them "to do it" (See Michel Chossudovsky, Planned US-Israeli Attack on Iran, Global Research, May 1, 2005): According to Cheney:
"One of the concerns people have is that Israel might do it without being asked… Given the fact that Iran has a stated policy that their objective is the destruction of Israel, the Israelis might well decide to act first, and let the rest of the world worry about cleaning up the diplomatic mess afterwards," (Dick Cheney, quoted from an MSNBC Interview,January 2005, emphasis added)
The political intent of this diabolical statement by the former Vice president is crystal clear: the destruction of Israel is tantamount to "collateral damage".
Netanyahu is a US puppet. A "first strike attack" by Israel has, for the last ten years, been contemplated by US military planners. In the case of an attack, Israel rather than the US would bear the brunt of Iran's retaliation.
Our message to the people of Israel: remove Netanyahu, call for peace in the Middle East, implement "regime change" in Tel Aviv.
By Prof Michel Chossudovsky, globalresearch.ca
Copyright © Prof Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, 2014
Michel Chossudovsky is an award-winning author, Professor of Economics (emeritus) at the University of Ottawa, Founder and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG), Montreal and Editor of the globalresearch.ca website. He is the author of The Globalization of Poverty and The New World Order (2003) and America's "War on Terrorism"(2005). His most recent book is entitled Towards a World War III Scenario: The Dangers of Nuclear War (2011). He is also a contributor to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. His writings have been published in more than twenty languages. He can be reached at [email protected]
Netanyahu Orders Israel Army To Prepare For Possible Military Strike Against Iran In 2014
Back in 2013 it was Syria where the world was gearing for imminent military action after a relentless series of false flag provocations by the United States (intent on securing a Qatar gas pipeline to Europe) which in the last minute was deftly diffused by Vladimir Putin. In 2014, it was the Ukraine's turn, and after a prolonged campaign orchestrated by Victoria Nuland and the US State Department (again) which succeeded in the now traditional violent coup (see Egypt and Libya), once again saw Putin victorious, after yesterday's annexation of the all important Crimean peninsula, achieved without the firing of one shot. So now that Putin has succeeded in trouncing the US twice in a row, it is time to poke some old, well-known geopolitical wounds, such as Iran. And who better to do it than Israel, where as Haaretz reports, "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon have ordered the army to continue preparing for a possible military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities at a cost of at least 10 billion shekels ($2.89 billion) this year, despite the talks between Iran and the West, according to recent statements by senior military officers."
To be sure there is a tangible benefit for all those involved: more war means more military spending means more "broken windows" means more "GDP."
Three Knesset members who were present at Knesset joint committee hearings on Israel Defense Forces plans that were held in January and February say they learned during the hearings that 10 billion shekels to 12 billion shekels of the defense budget would be allocated this year for preparations for a strike on Iran, approximately the same amount that was allocated in 2013.
Yet unlike the US where warmongering has become an art, if not a science, in Israel these things are taken far more seriously:
The IDF representatives said the army had received a clear directive from government officials from the political echelon – meaning Netanyahu and Ya'alon – to continue readying for a possible independent strike by Israel on the Iranian nuclear sites, regardless of the talks now happening between Iran and the West, the three MKs said.
As for the diplomatic cover for a potential attack, it is well-known, and the same one used for the past 3 years – attack Iran before it can nuke Israel and obliterate it from the face of the earth.
Ever since the interim accord between Iran and the six powers was reached, Netanyahu has stressed that Israel will not consider itself bound by it. In the last few weeks, as talks on a permanent accord have resumed, Netanyahu has upped his rhetoric on the Iranian issue, and is again making implied threats about a possible unilateral Israeli strike on the Iranian nuclear sites.
"My friends, I believe that letting Iran enrich uranium would open up the floodgates," Netanyahu said at the AIPAC conference earlier this month. "That must not happen. And we will make sure it does not happen."
Ironically, this time Israel may see pushback from none other than the US itself, which mysteriously over the past 6 months has transformed itself from Iran's most hated enemy to a willing partner who sees Iran as nothing short of a frontier market (not to mention source of natural resources).
However, the US too realizes that it needs "military outs" with Ukraine seemingly diffused for the time being. Which is why yesterday, a few hours after Russia peacefully annexed Crimea, the US made its feeble response known, when it suspended operations of the Syrian Embassy in Washington and its consulates and told diplomats and staff who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents to leave the country. The justification of this oddly timed move came from the U.S. special envoy for Syria Daniel Rubinstein who said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had refused to step down and was responsible for atrocities against Syrians.
And this was news to the US? More from Reuters:
"We have determined it is unacceptable for individuals appointed by that regime to conduct diplomatic or consular operations in the United States," said Rubinstein, whose appointment was announced by the State Department on Monday.
"Consequently, the United States notified the Syrian government today that it must immediately suspend operations of its embassy in Washington, D.C., and its honorary consulates in Troy, Michigan, and Houston, Texas," he said in a statement.
In other words, the US tried to impose its "moral superiority" codex on yet another country, which for all intents and purposes was a proxy of Russian strength in the middle east, i.e., punish the Kremlin by kicking out Syria. Surely Putin was in tears.
The only problem is that it is now beyond obvious to virtually everyone in the world that the framework of Pax Americana is only applicable to the increasingly self-deluded United States, and of course the Group of 7 most insolvent nations, whose debt ponzi schemes are ever more reliant on a centrally planned regime of low interest rates and free money. For everyone else it is now just as obvious that when provoked, the best the US can do is simply impose some sanctions, and shut down embassies… while it prints trillions of dollars in "paper wealth" each year of course.
Source: zerohedge.com
Palestinian Authority Accepts A Three Year Transition Period During Peace Negotiations
In one of his major concessions in this round of the peace process initiated in July, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday he would accept an Israeli military presence in a future sovereign and independent State, for a period of three years.
"Whoever proposes a transition period of 10 or 15 years does not really want to retreat," Abbas said in an interview played Tuesday at a security conference. He referenced proposals by Israeli ministers who support the creation of a Palestinian state, but who estimate a transition period to be of 10 and 40 years.
"A transition period may not exceed three years, during which Israel would withdraw gradually," Abbas said in the interview, conducted in Arabic. The interview was conceded at the Institute for National Security Studies and was aired by the Palestinian news agency Maan. "We are also willing to have a third party take place during and after Israel 's withdrawal to allay concerns and provide assurances to both sides that things will proceed normally," he added.
Israel, however, has rejected negotiations in the presence of an international force such as the United Nations or NATO on Palestinian soil. Both parties have until April 29 to negotiate and reach an agreement, at the request of the Secretary of State, John Kerry.
On Tuesday a Palestinian delegation met with Kerry in Washington. In recent weeks, the head of U.S. diplomacy has prepared a framework agreement to be submitted to Israelis and Palestinians to accept it in whole or in parts, in an attempt to facilitate an extension of the negotiating process which had been frozen for three years.
The White House has commissioned retired Gen. John Allen, former commander of international forces in Afghanistan, to come up with a security plan in the event of a peace agreement, with special attention to the Jordan Valley, which separates the territories of Palestine and Jordan.
There is a big resistance from the Israeli military leadership to leave the area, which is considered as a crucial barrier to safety. In a speech in October Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that for the Israeli state it is necessary to have a "security border at the Jordan Valley."
If Israel maintains control of the Jordan Valley, it would surround almost all the borders of the territory of a Palestinian state in the West Bank. Palestinian negotiators reject the Israeli presence in the Jordan Valley due to economic reasons. According to the Organization for the Liberation of Palestine, agricultural settlements in the area provide the Israelis more than $600 million dollars a year. The Palestinians complain that they are allowed only on 4.7% of the land of this fertile valley.
The peace process has been, at least publicly, to break the coalition government in Israel, which is represented by several leading colonists. On Friday, in the course of three interviews with Kerry at an economic conference in Davos, Netanyahu said he has no intention to evacuate any Jewish settler in the West Bank and is willing to accept that anyone who wants to live under Palestinian sovereignty can do so. His own finance minister, Naftali Bennett, from the Habayit Hayehudi, described those assurances as "irrational" and "dangerous".
Israel invaded and occupied what is now the West Bank and East Jerusalem, a land that used to be under Jordanian control before the war of 1967. Today, the area is occupied by some 500,000 Jewish settlers. The vast majority, live in settlement blocs which in the future, according to diplomatic sources would be annexed to Israel in exchange for similar lands elsewhere.
In his interview Tuesday, Abbas wanted to dispel one of the big questions about the Palestinian commitments in this negotiating process. How can Israel be assured that peace will be reliable and durable if the Gaza Strip, separated from the West Bank, is governed by the Islamist group Hamas, a declared enemy of them? "Hamas is not a problem, leave it to us," he said. "We will seal an agreement with Israel on behalf of the entire Palestinian people in the West Bank, Gaza and in exile."
Luis R. Miranda is the Founder and Editor of The Real Agenda. His 16 years of experience in Journalism include television, radio, print and Internet news. Luis obtained his Journalism degree from Universidad Latina de Costa Rica, where he graduated in Mass Media Communication in 1998. He also holds a Bachelor's Degree in Broadcasting from Montclair State University in New Jersey. Among his most distinguished interviews are: Costa Rican President Jose Maria Figueres and James Hansen from NASA Space Goddard Institute. Read more about Luis.
Netanyahu's General Assembly Dissembling
Last year he made a fool out of himself. He did so before a world audience. His cartoon bomb went viral. It bombed.
He looked more cartoonish than his prop. One cartoonist showed a picture of Daffy Duck's head exploding. An observer referred to Bibi's "Clint Eastwood chair" moment.
Another compared his explosive to what Warner Bros.' animated character Wile E. Coyote used in Looney Tunes cartoons.
A Washington Post op-ed asked if his stunt was a "poor choice of a ridiculously-looking, over-simplified bomb cartoon (or) a calculated choice (to) create (an) indelible image everyone would be talking about?"
He didn't calculate what they'd say. The Wall Street Journal compared his stunt to Nikitia Krushchev's shoe-banging incident.
Netanyahu unconscionably rages against Iran every chance he gets. He's more lunatic than leader.
Last year, he unjustifiably accused then President Ahmadinejad of anti-Semitic rants.
He falsely claimed he wanted Israel destroyed. He did again calling him a holocaust denier.
"This Iranian regime is fueled by an extreme fundamentalism that burst onto the world scene three decades ago after lying dormant for centuries," he ranted.
"In the past thirty years, this fanaticism has swept the globe with a murderous violence and cold-blooded impartiality in its choice of victims."
"It has callously slaughtered Moslems and Christians, Jews and Hindus, and many others."
Iran threatens no one. Netanyahu knows it. Israel and America menace world peace. They commit daily violence. They do so against innocent civilians.
They're waging war on humanity. Don't expect Netanyahu to explain. He spoke last at this year's 66th General Assembly.
He should have been denied the right to speak. Israel should be expelled from the world body. So should America.
Both countries violate core UN Charter provisions. They do so systematically. They do it repeatedly. They do it because no one stops them.
The UN Charter Preamble highlights "sav(ing) succeeding generations from the scourge of war."
Israel and America wage it lawlessly. They do so against nonbelligerent states. They've never been held accountable. It's high time that injustice changed.
Both countries live by the sword. They exploit millions ruthlessly. They risk humanity's survival. Stopping them matters most.
Netanyahu's speech began by lying. It finished the same way. It repeated one lie after another. It made painful listening.
"Israel has extended its hand in peace from the moment it was established 63 years ago," he claimed.
"On behalf of Israel and the Jewish people, I extend that hand again today."
"I extend it to the people of Syria, Lebanon and Iran."
He does so through the barrel of a gun. He does it by partnering with Washington's wars.
He does it by murdering innocent civilians. He does it because he knows he can get away with it.
"(M)ost especially," he said, "I extend my hand to the Palestinian people, with whom we seek a just and lasting peace."
He does it by lawless militarized occupation. He does it by brutalizing repression.
He does it by stealing Palestinian land. He does it by targeted assassinations.
He does it by shooting children for target practice. He does it by murdering farmers in their fields.
He does it by attacking fishermen at sea. He does by massacring humanitarian activists trying relieve Palestinian suffering.
He does it by bulldozing their homes. He does it by wanting all valued Judea and Samaria areas Judaized.
He does it by ethnically cleansing Palestinian residents. He does it by denying diaspora Palestinians their lawful right of return. He does it by stealing their water and other valued resources. He does it by torturing Palestinian children.
He does it by denying Palestinians the right to live free on their own land in their own country.
He does it by ruthless racist persecution. He does it by considering Arabs subhuman. He does it by treating them that way. He does it by calling praying to the wrong God terrorism.
He does it by letting thousands of Palestinian political prisoners languish unjustly in Israel's gulag.
He does it by systematically violating core international laws, treaties and conventions. He does it by committing slow-motion genocide.
He does it by lying about all of the above. He's a world class thug. He menaces world peace. He has no place in polite society. He belongs in prison not high office.
World officials suffered through his rant. It made painful listening. It repeated one bald-faced lie after another.
It did so nonstop. It was beginning-to-end duplicitous rubbish. It didn't surprise. It was typical Netanyahu. He doesn't speak. He rants. He rages. He lies.
He mocks democratic values. He shames legitimate governance. He spurns rule of law principles. He exceeds Sharonian evil. Israelis have themselves to blame for electing him.
"(I)n Israel, our hope for peace never wanes," he said.
He deplores peace. He once called the so-called peace process "a waste of time."
He thrives on violence and instability. He lied saying otherwise. He's a serial liar. Nothing he says can be believed.
He disgracefully called Hezbollah a "terror organization." It's a legitimately elected part of Lebanon's government. Netanyahu didn't explain.
"As Israel's prime minister, I didn't come here to win applause. I came here to speak the truth," he said. He wouldn't recognize it if it bit him on the rump. He won't accept it under any circumstances.
"The truth is that I want peace," he said.
The truth is he rejects every chance to achieve it. He deplores it. He won't tolerate it.
He heads the world's second most belligerent/lawless country. America by far takes top honors. Both countries threaten humanity's survival.
"The truth," said Netanyahu, "is that we (can only) achieve peace through direct negotiations between the parties."
"The truth is that so far the Palestinians have refused to negotiate. The truth is that Israel wants peace with a Palestinian state, but the Palestinians want a state without peace. And the truth is you shouldn't let that happen."
The so-called peace process was stillborn from inception. It's the greatest hoax in modern times.
Israel rejects peace. It's done so for decades. Former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir once said he wanted to drag out peace talks for a decade while vastly expanding settlements.
Current and past Israeli officials call occupation permanent. It's lawless. Israel doesn't care.
Fundamental Palestinians rights have been violated for decades. The so-called peace process is more fiction than fact.
It's been so for over 40 years. Since the 1960s, Israeli policy has been "maximum land with minimum Arabs," stealing Palestine's most valued parts, creating a Greater Jerusalem, and calling it Israel's exclusive capital.
It's been enforcing occupation harshness, dispossessing Palestinians from their own land, building permanent settlements, protecting them with army bases, and developing areas exclusively for Jews.
So-called "territorial compromise" and "land for peace" are convenient fictions. Duplicitous rhetoric substitutes for equitable policy.
Since 1967, peace process rejectionism has been official Israeli policy. It remains so. Netanyahu didn't explain.
A "malignancy threatens the peace of all," he claimed. "It seeks not to liberate, but to enslave, not to build, but to destroy."
"That malignancy is militant Islam. (It) slaughter(s) countless innocents."
"I believe that the greatest danger facing our world is that this fanaticism will arm itself with nuclear weapons. And this is precisely what Iran is trying to do."
"Can you imagine that man who ranted here yesterday. Can you imagine him armed with nuclear weapons?"
"The international community must stop Iran before it's too late. If Iran is not stopped, we will all face the specter of nuclear terrorism."
Iran's nuclear program is entirely peaceful. Netanyahu knows it. He lies claiming otherwise.
Israel is nuclear armed and dangerous. Mordechai Vanunu exposed it.
In his 1997 book, "Open Secrets: Israeli Nuclear and Foreign Policies," Israel Shahak explained, saying:
"Israel (is) clearly prepar(ing) itself to seek overtly a hegemony over the entire Middle East (with no) hesitati(on) to use for the purpose all means available, including nuclear ones."
Longstanding Israeli policy is one way. It wants regional nuclear exclusivity. It won't let another Middle East nation acquire these weapons. It wants them denied the right of self-defense with or without them.
It'll wage war to stop them. It'll use nuclear, chemical and biological weapons weapons to win it.
Netanyahu lied saying "the world around Israel is is definitely becoming more dangerous."
"Militant Islam has already taken over Lebanon and Gaza. It's determined to tear apart the peace treaties between Israel and Egypt and between Israel and Jordan."
"It's poisoned many Arab minds against Jews and Israel, against America and the West. It opposes not the policies of Israel but the existence of Israel."
Some "people say to me constantly: Just make a sweeping offer, and everything will work out."
"You know, there's only one problem with that theory. We've tried it and it hasn't worked."
"In 2000, Israel made a sweeping peace offer that met virtually all of the Palestinian demands. Arafat rejected it."
"The Palestinians then launched a terror attack that claimed a thousand Israeli lives."
Fact check
Israel's definition of "militant Islam" doesn't wash. Hezbollah is part of Lebanon's government. Its representatives were democratically elected.
In January 2006, Palestinians elected Hamas to represent them. It's Palestine's legitimate government.
Abbas is a longtime Israeli collaborator. Israel rigged his election. His tenure expired in January 2009.
He refuses to call new elections. His West Bank regime is illegitimate. It rules by coup d'etat authority.
Israel's so-called 2000 good faith, "generous," "unprecedented," "final agreement," "end of conflict" offer was a sham.
It was made to be rejected. It wasn't in writing. No documents or maps were presented. It demanded Arafat relinquish all rights to occupied Palestinian land.
Gaza was left in limbo. The West Bank was divided it into four isolated cantons. Expanding Israeli settlements surrounded them.
Militarized occupation harshness protected them. Palestinians were denied all fundamental rights they deserve.
Terms offered excluded self-determination, fixed borders, water and other resource rights, diaspora Palestinians lawful right of return, East Jerusalem as Palestine's capital, and other final status issues.
Arafat had no choice but to reject it. Accepting it would have been unconditional surrender. It would have doomed peace, equity and justice.
Ariel Sharon's September 28 provocative Al-Aqsa Mosque visit ignited the second Intifada.
Palestinians were unfairly blamed. They were viciously confronted. Israel massacred them ruthlessly.
Thousands were killed. Many more were injured, disabled or otherwise harmed. Hundreds were extrajudicially assassinated.
Nearly 900 children and 300 women died. Around 8,600 were imprisoned. Around 2.3 million dunums of land were stolen. Thousands more dunums were razed.
The five-year toll was horrific. Israel's decades-long genocide on Palestine is incalculable.
Palestinians are consistently blamed for horrendous Israeli crimes. Netanyahu didn't explain.
He lied claiming Palestinians rejected subsequent generous peace offers. Since 1967, Israel never once offered any.
Its policy remains hardline. It demands unconditional Palestinian surrender. Netanyahu calls rejecting it "terrorism."
He defines legitimate Palestinian self-defense the same way. He calls premeditated Israeli aggression defending its national security.
He calls war peace. He calls lawless occupation Israel's legitimate right. He calls massacring Palestinian civilians the right thing to do.
He blames them for Israeli crimes. He demands Palestinians "make peace with Israel." His terms make doing so impossible.
He said he welcomes Palestinian statehood. He's gone all out to block its recognition.
He called Israel a democratic nation. It never was. It isn't one now. It's a racist apartheid one. It exceeds the worst of former South African inhumanity.
Israel is its own worst enemy. Netanyahu exceeds the worst of his predecessors. None were profiles in courage. All were war criminals.
Hassan Rohani outshone him in New York. He made a fool out of him. His candor, straightforwardness, and honor were sincere.
Both leaders are polar opposites. Rohani urges peace, equity and justice. Netanyahu prioritizes war on humanity and occupation harshness.
He's unfit to serve. He spurns peace. He menaces humanity. He heads a repressive police state apparatus. He enforces occupation harshness.
He's an embarrassment to legitimate governance. It bears repeating. He belongs in prison not high office.
So do other likeminded Israeli war criminals. Obama and other US counterparts belong there with them.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity." www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs Fridays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour
Israeli Business As Usual
Hardline extremists run Israel. Netanyahu's the worst. He's lawless. He's unprincipled. He's duplicitous.
So are other coalition partner members. They say one thing. They do another. Same old, same old is policy.
Netanyahu's incorrigibly hardline. He exceeds the worst of previous Israeli leaders. On August 12, Haaretz said he takes "(o)ne step forward, three steps back."
If he "wants the Americans, Palestinians and most of all the Israelis to take him seriously, he must leave his old tactics behind." He shows no signs of doing so.
On August 14, peace talks resume. At the same time, 26 Palestinian political prisoners will be released. They've been held longterm.
They've been held lawlessly. They were convicted on bogus charges. They include Hamas, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Islamic Jihad members.
They're freedom fighters. They're not terrorists. Fifteen are from Gaza. They'll be returned there. Four are from Nablus, another four from Jenin, and one from Hebron.
On Monday, Israel's Prison Service posted their names online. It did so to allow possible court appeals. Tuesday night release is scheduled.
It's a fig leaf. It's a meaningless gesture. They'll be hounded. They'll be harassed. They'll be closely monitored. Their movements are severely restricted. They'll feel like they're still imprisoned.
What good's freedom without rights? They're greatly compromised. Many likely will be rearrested. It's standard Israeli practice.
Supporting Palestinian liberation is criminalized. Israel's special ministerial committee said so. It called doing it "resum(ing) terrorist activity."
According to committee members Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, and Science and Technology Minister/former Shin Bet head Yaakov Peri:
"If one of those released returns to hostile activities against Israel, he will be returned to complete his prison sentence."
In other words, supporting right over wrong won't be tolerated. Human rights defenders are ruthlessly targeted. Military order 101 criminalizes:
• organizing protests;
• participating in them;
• doing so in assembles and vigils;
• displaying Palestinian flags and other symbols;
• printing and distributing Palestinian political material; and
• influencing public opinion by "political incitement."
Supporting so-called "hostile organizations" are prohibited. Demonstrations sympathetic to Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Palestine, and similar groups are strictly forbidden.
Human rights defenders and others doing so face "security offense" charges. Guilt by accusation is policy. Coerced confessions are extracted.
Due process and judicial fairness are denied. Prosecutions and imprisonment follow. Police states operate that way. Israel's one of the worst.
It agreed to release 104 Palestinian prisoners. Implementation's in four stages. After an initial 26, a second group will follow. So will others after six and eight months.
Doing so's at Israel's discretion. It depends on how peace talks go. It depends on if PA negotiators unconditionally surrender.
It depends on whether Israel keeps its promise. It never did before. It won't now. This time's no different.
Palestinians shouldn't have been imprisoned in the first place. Their announced release ignores thousands of others wrongfully held.
Reports suggest future prisoners released won't be allowed to go home. Israel claims security threats. It does so spuriously. Some West Bank residents will be sent to Gaza.
Others will be deported. They'll be exiled. They'll be denied their fundamental right of return.
According to Haaretz, Abbas and chief negotiator Saeb Erekat told John Kerry and US special envoy Martin Indyk that Israel violated peace talk conditions.
It did so by settlement construction announcements. It did it by changing prisoner release terms.
"Senior Israeli and Palestinian officials said that Abbas and Erekat told senior US officials they would not agree to the deportation of any prisoner released," said Haaretz.
Major settlement construction plans were also condemned. Why begs the question. Abbas and Erekat knew about them in advance.
They said nothing. Why object now? Why not when it mattered? Both men are longtime Israeli collaborators. Disapproving now is disingenuous.
It's red meat for constituents. It belies longtime complicity with occupation harshness. PA officials are Israeli enforcers.
They have no say over what Palestinians want most. They never did. They don't now. They don't care. They pretend otherwise.
"The Palestinians are now threatening not to show up to the first meeting between the negotiation teams scheduled for Wednesday," said Haaretz.
"Abbas' office is seriously considering skipping out on the session, due to the continued settlement drive" and prisoner release terms.
"A final decision will be reached in a meeting of the Palestinian leadership in the next 48 hours, according to a Palestinian sources in the negotiations."
An unnamed senior Fatah official said:
"Ever since the announcement that negotiations would resume, the Israeli government has announced the construction of hundreds of housing units in the settlements, and has not voiced any commitment 1967 borders."
"This is reflected in meetings with the Europeans. Concerning the prisoner issue as well, we are already hearing conditions and Israeli demands to deport some of the prisoners, and this too, is in complete violation of the agreements with Kerry."
"This means that the Palestinians have nothing to gain from such a process."
Expect reality to replace bluster. Expect talks to go ahead as planned. On Friday, Martin Indyk flew to Israel. He did so for resumed talks. He didn't do it to head home.
At the same time, families of Palestinian prisoners expressed outrage. They reject release terms. They do so justifiably.
They want their loved ones sent home. They want them there soon as possible. They want no conditions imposed. They reject Israeli terms.
Karim Younis is Israel's longest held prisoner. He's an Israeli citizen. He rejects being a bargaining chip. He wrote PA leaders, saying:
"We believed the position that you presented for years, according to which any renewal of the talks would necessitate the release of all veteran prisoners who were convicted before the Oslo Accords, without any division or postponement, and that the release would be in one stage."
"Unfortunately, today, after 20 years of fruitless negotiations that led to no practical results, we are sinking back into a labyrinth of Israeli evasiveness and geographical distinction."
He added that making future releases conditional of negotiation progress assures denying them altogether.
He urged no talks under present conditions. Previous ones failed. They were exercises in futility. They were a waste of time. Pursuing them now betrays Palestinian trust.
Palestinian Prisoner Society president Kadoura Pharis read Younis' letter. It represents other prisoners' views, he said. He expressed support. He "agree(s) with every word."
Israeli officials are duplicitous. They can't be trusted. Their agreements aren't worth the paper they're written on. Promises are hollow. Terms are made to be broken. It happens every time.
The so-called Almagor Terror Victims Association calls Palestinian political prisoners terrorists. It ignores decades of Israeli crimes.
Its director Meir Indor promised to keep contesting prisoner releases. Monday demonstrations are planned. They'll be held at the Ministry of Defense.
According to Indor, "it has to be stated directly that the terrorist organizations have defeated Netanyahu and his government."
Almagor will "turn over heaven and earth to fight terrorism and ensure that terrorists are punished," he said.
On Sunday, High Court president Asher Grunis headed a three justice panel. It heard Israeli family complaints. Proceedings were highly charged.
They ended surprisingly. One family alone got to speak. It did so for others. It expressed opposition to prisoner releases.
Others were cut off trying to express their views. They did so emotionally. Justices interrupted them. They heard enough. They ended the session. They walked out.
Families shouted dissent. "This must not happen," they said. "Where is the rule of law?" "Listen to us." Listen to our hearts." They have no time for us." Proceedings ended surprisingly quickly. Justices decided in advance.
Israel's High Court tilts right. In February 2012, Dorit Beinisch retired. Grunis replaced her as president. He's ideologically hardline. He defers to executive and legislative decisions. Extremist Israeli politicians and bureaucrats love him.
Smoothing his way to become court president, Israel's Knesset abolished the rule requiring justices to have at least three years left to serve before mandatory age 70 retirement.
Asher reaches it in 2015. Doing so leaves him five weeks short of eligibility. Knesset hardliners enacted the so-called "Grunis bill." Netanyahu wanted him appointed.
In January 2012, Noam Sohlberg became Israel's first settler High Court justice. Controversy surrounds him. His appointment ignored conflicts of interest. Living on stolen land should have disqualified him.
He'll rule on international law issues. His record is anti-liberal. At age 50, he'll likely become next court president. Seniority is the main qualification.
Israel's High Court routinely spurns Palestinian rights. It's longstanding practice. Refusing to block prisoner releases supports Netanyahu. Go along is policy.
Earlier, Gunis fined human rights groups. He did so unjustifiably. He accused them of filing unnecessary petitions. The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) was fined NIS 45,000 (about $12,000). It petitioned against Ashdod medical center's unfair treatment.
If peace talks continue, further sessions may be held. How Grunis and other court extremists react remains to be seen.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity." www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs Fridays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour
Israeli Referendum Measure Blocks Land for Peace
Netanyahu heads Israel's worst government in history. It's hardline. It's extremist. It's fascist. It spurns Palestinian rights. It deplores peace. It enforces occupation harshness.
On August 1, Haaretz headlined "Bill requiring referendum on ceding land passes first Knesset reading."
Doing so lacks legitimacy. Israeli's have no legal authority. Palestinians alone may vote up or down on issues relating to their land.
Israelis have no right to decide for them. Territorial residents have sole authority. A previous article explained. Netanyahu called enactment essential, saying:
"Any agreement, if it is achieved in negotiations, will be brought as a referendum."
"It is important that every citizen will directly vote on fateful decisions like these that determine the future of the state."
Doing so effectively blocks land for peace. Netanyahu and other hardliners want all parts of Judea and Samaria Judaized. They want Jerusalem as Israel's exclusive capital. They want Palestinians denied all rights.
The referendum law puts another nail in the peace process. It was already dead on arrival. Claims otherwise ring hollow.
The measure requires referendum approval on ceding territory. Doing so assures Palestinians won't get areas Israel wants. They include resource rich and other valued parts.
East Jerusalem, Golan, and pre-1967 territory are excluded. Netanyahu, Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, and other hardliners endorsed it.
Israel's High Court will address current referendum law. "Critics say the current law contradicts four Basic Laws."
They include the 1958 Basic Law on the Knesset and 1992 Basic Law on the Government. They do so by improperly letting referendum authority countermand fundamental Israeli law.
Israel has no constitution. Basic Laws substitute. "Referendum law as a Basic Law would need 61 of the Knesset's 120 MKs to be revoked."
Preliminary voting occurred before parliament recessed at week's end. Second and third readings will follow. Knesset hardliners want the measure toughened. They oppose land swaps.
Many want Greater Israel Judaized. They want apartheid and then some. They want Palestinians denied all rights.
They want stiffer police state laws. They approve state terror. They enact racist laws. The Prawar Plan passed its first reading. It targets 40,000 Palestinian Bedouins.
If enacted, they'll be ethnically cleansed. They'll be displaced from their homes. Their villages will be destroyed.
They'll lose their land, property and historical rights. Exclusive Jewish development will replace them. Its happening across the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Free expression in Israel is threatened. Independent NGOs are targeted. Advocacy for right over wrong is endangered. Israel wants critics silenced.
At issue is wanting Israeli war criminals tried in international courts, supporting BDS activism, denying Israel's right to exist as a Jewish democratic state, and/or resisting occupation harshness.
According the the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Palestinians and Israeli Arab citizens "face entrenched discrimination in all fields of life."
Racist hate is virulent. Arabs are considered a fifth column and demographic threat. They're treated like subhumans.
They're denied fundamental rights. They're victimized by racial profiling. They're treated like aliens on their own land.
Glaring socioeconomic differences exist between Jews and Arabs "with regard to land, urban planning, housing, infrastructure, economic development," education, healthcare, and other life essentials.
Institutionalized racism makes peace impossible. Proposed Knesset legislation aims to limit or eliminate Arab party representation.
It raises the electoral threshold from 2 to 4%. Doing so effectively eliminates small Arab parties. A Knesset panel approved the bill. Doing so reinforces Jewish exclusivity.
"Governance legislation" goes back to Knesset committees. Amendments may be added. Second and third readings will follow. Enactment seems likely.
Legislative and numerous other examples are important. They show the enormous cross Palestinians bear. They're unwanted. They're denied fundamental rights. They're viciously persecuted.
Peace for our time is more illusion than reality. It's perhaps the greatest hoax in modern times.
Separately, Shin Bet summoned political activists for "warning conversations." They're unrelated to criminal activity. They're about silencing dissent.
Sin Bets intimidates. It threatens. It warns activists against participating in "disturbances of the peace." Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) attorneys Lila Margalit and Karen Tamir petitioned Israel's High Court.
They did so for injunctive relief. They want intimidating "warning conversations" prohibited. They exceed Shin Bet's authority. They violate fundamental Israeli and international laws.
They include free expression, the right to dignity, privacy, equity, due process and judicial fairness.
According to ACRI, "Shin Bet tap(s) citizens' phones (with approval of the Prime Minister) and use(s) communications metadata without judicial oversight."
"In a democratic society, political activity does not constitute a 'security threat' that justifies the intervention of an organization like the Shin Bet."
"Any concerns about violations of the law during political protests should be addressed by the police within the confines of the regular criminal law."
ACRI's petition cites a section from Shin Bet's 2012 Annual Summary. Under the heading "Radical Right and Left," Shin Bet obtains information lawlessly. State authorities use it illegitimately. Doing so contributes to Israel's delegitimization.
According to Margalit:
"Calling political activists in for friendly conversations over a cup of tea with undercover Shin Bet agents is not a practice that characterizes a democratic regime."
"The Shin Bet, entrusted to deal with serious security threats, possesses far-reaching powers, some of which are very problematic."
"It is intolerable for civil protest or political activism – even if it involves disruptions of the peace – to be classified as a security threat."
"The policy of calling in activists for warnings violates the constitutional rights not just of the activists actually called in, but also of all those individuals who refrain from political involvement as a result."
Israel's a racist police state. It threatens world peace and security. It's a global menace. It partners with Washington's worst crimes. It supports the worst regional despots.
It seeks regional domination. It's waging war on Palestine. It's a major weapons producer. It's the world's sixth largest arms exporter. Since 2008, sales increased 74%.
In 2012, exports totaled $7.5 billion. Most were aerial defense systems, missiles, other high-tech equipment, and sophisticated state terror instruments.
Israeli technology is valued. It drives economic growth. It does so destructively. It terrorizes Palestinians. It destroys hope for peace.
Israel's a warrior state. It's a modern day Sparta. It deplores peace. It menaces humanity. It lives by the sword. Doing so risks perishing by it.
A Final Comment
AP's Matthew Lee continues to challenge State Department spokespersons. Few do. He does. On July 30, excerpts from his Q & A with Jennifer Psaki went as follows:
ML: So what do you mean when you say that the next meeting is going to be to begin the formal process?
JP: Well, Matt, I apologize if I caused – any confusion. Today was the beginning of the formal process.
ML: Okay.
JP: The agreement just a few weeks ago was to move forward on final status negotiations.
ML: Okay. So –
JP: That's exactly what they did today. It's only natural that the first part of the discussion would be on putting a work plan together and making plans for the months ahead.
ML: Okay. So they did put a work plan together.
JP: That was the goal of today, yes.
ML: And so they succeeded in that?
JP: I will defer to our officials who will be briefing you later on more specifics.
ML: Okay. All right. Will they be able to offer us more specifics, or will they say it's a secret?
JP: I will. We'll discuss after the briefing.
ML: Okay. Then, you also said that the Secretary's comments about him being the only person who would comment, quickly followed by him saying he would never comment – (laughter) – so I'm not sure if that was very helpful at all that you said the point was that, 'Don't believe everything you read or every rumor that you hear.'
I'm assuming that that's going to go for your comments and the Secretary's comments claims that progress is being made when there is absolutely no evidence that any progress is being made. Is that correct?
JP: Well, Matt – we'll let the final results – we'll let you judge the final results. Our goal here is to move to a final agreement.
And obviously, we know – or the Secretary strongly believes, as do both parties, that in order to do that, we need to give the process the room and the space to make progress.
ML: Right. Okay. There was a lot of complaining upstairs about cynics and people who are skeptics and how they shouldn't be.
I'm assuming that you agree with all that, and I particularly want to point out that last line that (Israeli) Justice Minister (Tzipi) Livni said: 'I believe that history is not made by cynics. It is made by realists who are not afraid to dream.'
You don't think that the dreamer – you think the dreamers are realists?
I'm serious. I want to know what you think – why you think that all of the skepticism and all of the cynicism is misplaced.
JP: Because they're here today. You heard all parties speak about how they're committed to taking this process seriously and pursuing it in the weeks and months ahead…
The Secretary has spoken a bit about how, in order to make progress and hopefully achieve a successful outcome, you need to take a different approach.
And part of that is certainly keeping the negotiations and the discussions quiet…
ML: Sorry. Taking a new approach is keeping everything quiet? That's been an approach that's been used every time going back to 1999, keeping everything secret.
That's not a new approach. The attempt to keep it quiet is not a new approach.
But since you raised this idea of the fact that people who are up there and are being involved have done this again, I wanted to go back to yesterday's announcement of Ambassador (Martin) Indyk and the Secretary's quotation from the Coleridge poem that is in the preface.
Is the Secretary aware of the three lines that follow the line that he read?
JP: I'm sure you're going to provide them to all of us right now.
ML: Well, the first line, which he did read, is: 'If men could learn from history, what lessons would it teach us!' That's where he ended.
But the line goes on: 'But passion and party blind our eyes, and the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern, which shines only on the waves behind us,' which doesn't really lead – is not particularly an optimistic comment.
Was he aware of the rest of the lines from that stanza? (Laughter.)
JP: He's been pretty busy.
ML: So no?
JP: I'm not sure how much time for a poetry reading he's had in the last couple of days.
Lee's AP report added:
"Despite words of encouragement, deep skepticism about the prospects for success surrounded the initial discussions."
"Despite the presence of so many people whose past experience does not include success, Kerry and other officials voiced cautious optimism about the resumption of talks which he painstakingly negotiated during six months of shuttle diplomacy that began with Obama's own trip to Israel in March."
"Previous attempts to get talks started have foundered on Israel's continued construction of Jewish settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians and Palestinian attempts to win international recognition as a sovereign state in the absence of a peace deal.
Actual negotiations have died because the two sides have been unable to compromise on the most serious disagreements between them: borders, the status of Jerusalem, refugees and security.
"With a US-imposed gag order on revealing any details about the substance or framework of the talks, gauging progress will be difficult."
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity." www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs Fridays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour
Israel Waging Undeclared War on Syria
Israel reflects the worst of rogue state governance. It's contemptuous of international laws, treaties, conventions, its own statutes, and High Court decisions.
It's out-of-control. It's unaccountable. It makes its own rules. It maintains lawless militarized occupation harshness. It force-feeds austerity on its own citizens. It suffocates 1.7 million Gazans. It attacks other countries with impunity.
It's waging undeclared war on Syria. It's partnering with Washington doing so. It supports terrorist fighters. It supplies arms and munitions. It hospitalizes wounded ones.
Netanyahu lied saying Israel's sole interest is preventing Syrian weapons transfers to Hezbollah. At issue is partnering with Washington's war.
It's about regime change. It's about ravaging another country doing so. It's about eliminating a regional rival.
Since conflict began in March 2011, Israel launched several cross-border ground attacks. It made one or more incursions. It conducted four air attacks. These incidents are acts of war. They're lawless aggression.
No nation may attack another except in self-defense. Israel does it often. UN condemnation doesn't follow.
US vetoes prevent Security Council action. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's a complicit imperial tool. He disgraces the office he holds. He betrays the world community.
He spurns his oath "to exercise in all loyalty, discretion and conscience the functions entrusted to (him) to discharge these functions and regulate (his) conduct with the interests of the United Nations only in view, and not to seek or accept instructions in regard to the performance of (his) duties from any government or other authority external to the Organization."
He lets America and Israel get away with mass murder. He virtually ignores Israeli air attacks. Doing so lets them strike Syria with impunity.
His pro forma statements are deplorable. They're offensive. They're reprehensible. They reflect gross hypocrisy. Calling "on all sides to exercise maximum calm and restraint" shows contempt for UN Charter provisions.
Since January, Israel struck Syria four times by air. It acted preemptively. It did so lawlessly. It remains unaccountable for clear acts of war.
On July 5, Israel's most recent attack occurred. A major Latakia-based weapons depot was struck. Reports indicated total destruction. Russian-made S-300 anti-aircraft missile components were targeted. Perhaps Yakhont anti-ship cruise missiles also.
Free Syrian Army forces initially took credit. They had nothing to do with it. They later denied it. Netanyahu said he's "not in the habit of saying what we did or didn't do."
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon evaded the subject when asked, saying:
"We have set red lines in regards to our own interests, and we keep them."
"There is an attack here, an explosion there, various versions – in any event, in the Middle East it is usually we who are blamed for most."
It's for good reason. Ya'alon didn't explain. In late January, Israel struck one or more targets on the Syrian-Lebanese border.
Around the same time, Israeli warplanes attacked a military research center in Jamraya. It's about 10 miles from the Lebanese border.
On May 3 and 5, the Damascus al-Hameh area was struck. Syria called doing so naked aggression. The attacks show direct involvement in Washington's war. They indicate support for armed terrorist groups.
Video footage showed multiple explosions. Huge fires followed. Obama ignored Israel's naked aggression. He claimed it's entitled to defend itself against enemies.
He lied saying so. Israel and Washington share responsibility. These type incidents are jointly planned. They're acts of aggression.
Both nations partner in imperial wars. Doing so is longstanding. Syria remains in the eye of the storm.
On July 5, Israel targeted Russian-made SA-300 air defense missile components. Perhaps Yakhont anti-ship cruise missiles also.
On July 14, Russia Today (RT) cited Britain's Sunday Times. It claimed Israeli Dolphin-class submarines were involved.
It said "50 Russian-made Yakhont P-800 missiles" were struck. Doing so was "closely coordinated with the US."
Israeli "German-built submarines launched a cruise missile at the weapons cache after which Syrian rebels reportedly attested to hearing early-morning explosions at a Syrian port-side naval barracks."
Israel neither confirmed or denied involvement. On July 12, CNN headlined "Israel believed behind recent Syria strike," saying:
Three anonymous US officials said Israeli warplanes struck Latakia. No one officially claimed responsibility.
On July 15, RT headlined "Israeli strike on Syria was carried out from Turkish base," saying:
A "reliable source" said so. According to RT's Paula Slier:
"Our source is telling us that Israeli planes left a military base inside Turkey and approached Latakia from the sea to make sure that they stayed out of Syrian airspace so that they cannot become a legitimate target for the Syrian air force."
Perhaps warplanes and submarines launching cruise missiles carried out the attack jointly. Doing so would assure greater chance for success. It shows Israel has multiple ways to strike targets. It does so without fear of retaliation.
Israel and Turkey normalized relations months earlier. Killing nine Turkish nationals attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza no longer matters. Perhaps it never did.
Each side values strategic ties to the other. Petty squabbles are less important. They're NATO partners. Israel's a Mediterranean Dialogue member.
So are Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. Imperial priorities matter most.
Israel and Turkey are Washington partners against Syria. They're involved in other imperial initiatives. They're rogue states. Rule of law principles don't matter.
Hurriyet News said Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu denied reports about Israel using one its air bases against Syria. It's "totally untrue," he said.
"Turkey will neither be a part nor a partner of such 'attacks,' " he stressed.
"The ones who claim this want to damage Turkey's power and reputation."
"It is out of the question that Turkey and Israel are part of a joint military operation."
An anonymous "high ranking Turkish official" told Hurriyet the same thing. Plausible deniability is standard practice unless or until nations wish to tip their hands.
Separately, Netanyahu warned Iran. He told CBS News Face the Nation "(t)here edging up to the red line. They haven't crossed it yet."
"They're getting closer and closer to the bomb. And they have to be told in no uncertain terms that that will not be allowed to happen."
Israel has a narrower timetable than Washington, he stressed. He stopped short of saying Israel would act unilaterally. He's more bluster than follow-through. He prefers joint US/Israeli action.
He won't attack unilaterally without Washington's permission. He lets words substitute for action. Attacking Iran assures certain retaliation. Israel's small and vulnerable.
If Iranian nuclear sites are struck, Israel's likely will in response. Doing so is lose-lose for both sides. Whether Israel's foolish enough to risk enormous harm remains to be seen.
It doesn't deter Netanyahu's bluster. He said "(o)ur clocks are ticking at a different pace. We're closer than the United States. We're more vulnerable."
"And therefore, we'll have to address this question of how to stop Iran, perhaps before the United States does."
Asked when he'll decide whether to attack, he said "I can tell you one thing – before it's too late."
"I am determined to defend my country from a regime that threatens us with renewed annihilation."
Netanyahu repeats this canard often. He knows it's untrue. He claims it anyway. It's red meat for hardliners. It's wearing thin. Iran hasn't attacked another country in centuries. Israel does it often.
Tehran's program is peaceful. Israel knows it. So does America. Bluster persists anyway. Iran's building "faster centrifuges that would enable them to jump the line, so to speak, at a much faster rate – that is, within a few weeks," said Netanyahu.
He expects no change under President-elect Hassan Rohani. He called him a "wolf in sheep's clothing." His strategy is "(s)mile and build a bomb."
He lied saying so. Netanyahu and Obama are serial liars. They're rogue leaders. They menace humanity. They make more enemies than friends. They do so for good reason.
They spurn peace. They prioritize regional conflicts. They consider mass killing and destruction strategically important.
Netanyahu wants Obama to stand by his red line. He wants Iran told military force "is truly on the table."
"We've spoken many times, President Obama and I, about the need to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons," he said.
"What is important is to convey to them that (the) policy will not change."
"If sanctions don't work, they have to know that you'll be prepared to take military action – that's the only thing that will get their attention."
He claimed Tehran's developing ICBMs. They're to reach America, he said. He lied saying so.
On Sunday, he told cabinet ministers "(n)ow more than ever it's important to intensify the economic sanctions and present a credible military option."
"A month has passed since the Iranian presidential elections and Iran continues to surge forward quickly toward developing its nuclear military capability."
"Iran is expanding and refining its enrichment process and developing a plutonium reactor at the same time."
Netanyahu wants all uranium enrichment stopped. He wants enriched materials inside Iran's borders removed. He wants its Qom facility closed.
Tehran intends to continue its peaceful program. It has every right to do so. On August 3, Rohani will be inaugurated. He's been clear saying legitimate activities will continue.
He's conciliatory. He'll negotiate responsibly with P5 +1 countries. He deserves similar treatment in return. He won't get it. Washington remains hardline.
US officials said pressure won't ease. Doing so assures no resolution. What follows remains to be seen.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected]. His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity." www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. It airs Fridays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour