WarSclerotic

IDF ready to escalate Gaza action if rockets p… JPost – Defense.

By YAAKOV KATZ

03/12/2012 02:44

Over 160 rockets, mortar shells fall on Israel in 3 day period; additional rocket slams into residential neighborhood in Beersheba, damaging 15 homes.

By REUTERS

Despite ongoing attempts by European and Egyptian diplomats to obtain a cease-fire, Israel was poised Sunday night to escalate its operations against the Islamic Jihad terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip as rockets continued to pound southern Israel for the third straight day.

On Sunday, 40 rockets were fired into Israel and 14 were intercepted by the Iron Dome rocket-defense system. A fourth battery will be deployed in the coming weeks. IDF sources said that around 160 rockets have been fired into Israel since the beginning of the violence on Friday afternoon.

The IAF has carried out 24 air strikes in Gaza since Friday, killing 20 Palestinians. One of the dead was identified as 12- year-old Ayoub Assaleya, who the IDF said apparently walked into a launch site seconds before it was attacked.

On Sunday morning, Palestinian sources added that Assaleya was killed by IDF gunfire in Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip. The IDF said it was examining the report.

Two rockets slammed into Beersheba on Sunday, hitting an empty school and a nearby residential area. No one was injured.

“We will strike at anybody that plans to strike at us, tries to strike at us or actually does hit us, and the [military] is dealing very heavy blows at these terror organizations,” Netanyahu said during a visit to Ashdod.

Due to the ongoing violence, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.- Gen. Benny Gantz canceled a trip he had planned to the United States for talks with his counterpart Gen. Martin Dempsey, which were slated to focus on Iran. Gantz was also supposed to attend a Friends of the IDF dinner in New York City.

On Sunday afternoon, Gantz convened a meeting of the General Staff and instructed the Southern Command to continue targeting rocket cells caught trying to fire rockets into Israel.

According to assessments within the IDF, Islamic Jihad is increasingly frustrated with its failure to exact a heavy price from Israel despite the large number of rockets it has fired.

As a result of this frustration, the IDF predicts that Islamic Jihad will escalate its rocket fire and that the violence will potentially continue for several more days.

“This could go on for longer and we need patience,” Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Sunday.

In general, the short-range rockets launched into Israel are fired by members of the Popular Resistance Committees, the leader of which was assassinated by Israel on Friday due to suspicions that he was plotting an attack along Israel’s border with Egypt.

The longer-range rockets such as those fired toward Ashdod on Sunday are fired by the Islamic Jihad.

IDF spokesman Brig.-Gen.

Yoav “Poli” Mordechai pointed a finger on Sunday at Iran, which he said was actively encouraging Islamic Jihad to continue firing rockets into Israel.

“Iran finances Islamic Jihad and supports it with weaponry,” Mordechai told reporters.

“In these days, the Iranians are supporting them and actively encouraging them to continue.”

Mordechai said that while Hamas was not actively firing rockets into Israel, it is viewed as the ruling authority in Gaza and is therefore held responsible by Israel for terrorist attacks that originate inside the territory.

Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Egypt was working to stop the violence and was consulting with the various factions in Gaza but added that Israel would have to first stop its air strikes.

“Following contact with factions and the positive and responsible position they have taken, Egypt is working continuously to stop the aggression… the enemy must end its aggression now,” Haniyeh said.

The Home Front Command along with the heads of a number of local authorities in the South gave the order on Sunday night to cancel school in all towns and cities located between seven kilometers to 40 kilometers from the Gaza Strip for the second day in a row.

The order applies to the cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod, Beersheba, Netivot, Sderot, Kiryat Malachi, Gedera, Rahat, Yavne, Lakiyeh and the Gan Yavne Regional Council.

Schools in the western Negev that are closer than 7 kilometers to the Gaza Strip will hold class as usual, as they have the necessary reinforcement to protect against the incoming rockets, the Home Front Command said Saturday.

Yaakov Lappin, Ben Hartman and Reuters contributed to the report.

Hamas Has an Interest in Continued Rocket Fire – Defense/Security – News – Israel National News.

Israelis run for cover from rocket attack

Reuters

Prof. Hillel Frisch, Senior Research Associate at the Begin-Sadat (BESA) Center for Strategic Studies, said on Sunday that even if the rocket fire from Gaza comes from the smaller terror organizations such as the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees, Hamas is still in full in control of what is happening.

Speaking with Arutz Sheva, Frisch said that in the past, whenever Hamas wanted to end the firing on Israel it was able to do so.

“The basic formula is that of a ‘tahadiya’ truce between the Palestinians in Gaza and Israel, but the two sides interpret this term differently,” he explained. “Israel wants quiet, but Hamas wants rockets to trickle into Israel so that it can isolate itself from the Palestinian Authority under Abbas. Hamas wants to say that it’s part of the resistance and therefore it allows some rockets to trickle.”

Frisch added that in principle, Hamas is not interested in the escalation going on right now, but that it is uncomfortable about taking immediate action to stop the current firing and will only do so after another a day or two.

“The public in Gaza wants calm,” he explained, noting that the Islamic Jihad and Popular Resistance Committees have no backing by the Gazan public and therefore its plight does not bother them. Hamas, however, is different, Frisch noted. It seeks to prove that it can rule in Gaza and, therefore, maintaining the calm while allowing for a trickle of rockets and missiles is in the organization’s interests.

Prof. Frisch said that he does not believe that it would be possible to impose economic hardships on Gaza and thereby eliminate the continued rocket fire.

“There are economic groups on the Israeli side who are interested in the economic relation with Gaza,” he said, noting that these groups include some residents of southern Israel, whose livelihood depends on agriculture and trade ties with Gaza.

Frisch also said that government subsidies to residents of the south will not stop the rockets either. “It’s hard to find a formula that will stop the trickle of rockets,” he said. “In the first year it was fifty missiles throughout the year, then 200, then 400 and this year we’ll probably reach 600 and we’ll have to act militarily.”

He said, however, that even Israeli military action inside Gaza will not lead to quieter times.

“We’ll destroy infrastructure and hurt the leadership, but they’ll rise again after a break of two or three years and continue to shoot,” said Frisch, adding that this situation will continue as long as Iran continues to fund Hamas and as long as the Iranian interest is to continue the rocket fire

World inaction on Iranian nukes may force Israel’s hand | Peter Worthington | Columnists | Comment | London Free Press.

By Peter Worthington, QMI Agency

All the pesky troubles facing politicians today will fade into irrelevancy if Israel (read Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) decides to attack Iran’s nuclear weapon capabilities.

At the moment, Canada frets about robo phone calls during last year’s election; Americans are embroiled in their GOP primaries; Europe worries about the fate of its currency; Russians protest Vladimir Putin’s re-ascendency to the presidency.

And so on. All these issues will be sidelined, if Israel attacks Iran.

And that possibility has shifted from “possibility” to “probability,” judging from Netanyahu’s recent meetings with both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama.

There is virtually no disagreement among nuclear “experts” that Iran is on the threshold (at least) of developing nuclear weapons.

It’s the most critical issue of our times — making the troubles in Syria seem a blip.

Netanyahu’s visit to North America had the feel of quietly letting Israel’s allies know what is going to happen, without actually spelling it out, or giving ultimatums.

Despite his words, Obama is not seen as friendly to Israel. He stresses sanctions against Iran, but the situation has progressed beyond that.

Obama’s Number One priority is not Israel, but to be re-elected president in November.

Understandable, but it also encourages Iran to ignore pleas for restraint. Obama has made it clear he’ll not risk his future by pledging the U.S. military to bring Iran to heel.

Any air strike will have to be an Israeli one — incurring the wrath of critics. Netanyahu knows this, and his visit seems to confirm that Israel is ready to act unless there’s a dramatic change of direction by Iran.

Some say if Israel has a small nuclear arsenal, so why shouldn’t Iran have one?

The trouble is, the Iranian leadership is not Pakistan, nor India, nor like any other nuclear regime.

If Iran has nuclear weapons, one can be assured that some terrorist organization will also get access. What if Hamas had an Iranian-made nuclear device?

None of Iran’s neighbours want it to have nuclear capabilities. None like Israel, but also none fear Israel is likely to start a nuclear war — though it would retaliate if attacked.

Apparently, aerial photos show a massive cleanup of a remote area in Iran where there’s been nuclear testing.

And testing has reached a point where it may soon be too late to do anything about it — hence Netanyahu’s warning that time is running out.

Again, according to most reliable sources, the reality of Iranian nuclear weapons is not a myth like Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction.

The Iranian leadership is pledged to Israel’s destruction, and developing nuclear weapons makes this goal more than mere rhetoric. Mutual assured destruction isn’t a deterrence in this case.

A nuclear attack on Israel would be fatal for Israel, while Israeli nuclear retaliation on Iran would be absorbed by that large country. So the deterrence factor is lessened.

Maybe the point of no return has not yet been reached.

But it is close. And to ignore Benjamin Netanyahu’s concerns and warnings is a form of wilful deafness that has led to past wars.

Whatever happens in the Middle East, the outside world must bear responsibility because it did too little for too long, and convinced itself that evil would not prevail.

Grads fired at Beersheba; IDF strikes Gaza targets – Israel News, Ynetnews.

Strip’s terrorists fire two Grad rockets at Beersheba, 11 Qassam rockets at western Negev; none injured. IAF strikes Gaza targets; Palestinians report of 35 casualties

Elior Levy, Ilana Curiel

Israel Air Force jet targeted terror cells in Gaza Strip overnight, as the escalation in Israel’s south entered its fourth day.

Two Color Red alerts sounded in Beersheba overnight just moments before Islamic Jihad terrorists fired two grad at the city.

The Iron Dome system engaged and intercepted one of the rockets, while the second one landed on the city’s outskirts. No injuries or damage were reported.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit confirmed that pursuant to the attack, IAF jets struck several targets in Gaza Strip.

A spokesperson for the Eshkol Regional Council said that seven rockets were fired at the council’s communities overnight, landing mostly in open areas.

One rocket hit a building, causing some property damage, but no injuries.

Two other rockets were fired at the Lachish area, causing no harm.

‘IDF targeting top Jihadists’

Palestinian sources reported of two IAF strikes in the Strip’s north and south, causing 35 civilian casualties.

According to one report, an operative with the al-Quds Brigades, the Islamic Jihad’s military wing, was killed in one of the strikes.

‘Iron Dome’ Protects Israel From Gaza’s Missiles: Will That Embolden it to Strike Iran? | Global Spin | TIME.com.

Jack Guez / AFP / Getty Images

An Israeli missile is launched from the Iron Dome missile system in the city of Ashdod in response to a rocket launch from the nearby Palestinian Gaza Strip on March 11, 2012.

Another round of fighting broke out over the weekend between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip.   It was the usual thing, only more so:  Until Sunday morning, only militants were reported killed on the Palestinian side.  And on the Israeli side, no one was even badly hurt, except for a Thai farmworker who had the misfortune of toiling in a field outside the remarkable umbrella known as Iron Dome, the anti-missile batteries that are transforming how Israelis respond to the sound of air raid sirens.

Instead of the stark terror provoked by that rising, sickening wail, a kind of grateful curiosity has joined apprehension in the cities of southern Israel that lie within rocket range of Gaza.  Iron Dome works something like miracles. Stationed outside, say, Be’er Sheva, 22 miles from Gaza, the system reads the arc of incoming missiles to determine which may threaten populated areas.  Militants fired some 120 missiles since Friday. Iron Dome judged that about two-thirds of those would land far from populated areas, and simply left them alone.  Of the 37 that it calculated posed a significant danger to people, the system launched interceptor rockets that, in 32 cases, met the incoming missile and exploded it in mid-air.  That’s an 86 percent success rate.

On the ground, the relief was palpable.

“If you ask me, that’s the real issue, the psychological,” says Meir Elran, who runs the Homeland Security program at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank.

Missiles are what Israelis fear most.  Their powerful army,  far-reaching intelligence services and officially undeclared nuclear arsenal protect them against almost every other threat. But until Iron Dome there was only scant defense against rockets fired from Gaza, the Palestinian enclave under militant control, or from Lebanon, where Hizballah fired thousands of rockets into Israel in the Second Lebanon War of 2006 –  and is believed to have stockpiled some 40,000 since.

How many of those, if any, would be fired if Israel attacked Iran is a critical question.  Hizballah is routinely regarded as the proxy of its creator, Iran, though no one knows if it would obey an order to retaliate for an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.  Hamas, which also has been supported by Iran, recently said it would not be drawn in.  (Its ties with Iran, always looser, lately have frayed badly over Iran’s support for Syrian leader Bashar Assad.)

The sterling initial performance of Iron Dome would at least appear to make calculations about retaliation a bit less fraught, and might therefore make an Israeli strike on Iran marginally more likely. The safer the Israeli public feels from missiles, the thinking goes, the greater the leeway for its leadership to decide upon an action that risks blowback.  As Elran put it: “The more we are protected, the free-er we are.”  Indeed that was the logic behind the eleventh-hour postponement of Austere Challenge, the joint military exercise that would have brought U.S. Patriot and possibly other anti-missile systems to Israel this spring.  Washington postponed the deployment in January, when the drumbeat to war was growing uncomfortably loud, and the immediate prospect of sending American troops and anti-missile batteries to Israel looked entirely too much like something that encouraged the possibility of an Israeli strike on Iran – something that had occurred to some Israeli military officials as well.

Experts caution, however, that the skies are not nearly so clear as they seem.  Israel has only three Iron Dome batteries, enough only to protect the cities closest to Gaza (Ashkelon, Ashdod and Be’er Sheva).  At least three times as many would be needed to shield other population centers, and even with a special grant from Washington only three more are in the pipeline, for a total of six.

Nor is Israel’s umbrella against medium-range missiles yet on line. That system, known both as Magic Wand and David’s Sling,  is due to deploy in about a year.  It would aim to stop missiles fired from beyond about 50 miles, the outer range of Iron Dome.  A third system, dubbed Arrow and already in operation, is designed to intercept ballistic missiles such as Iran’s Shahab-3.

“Magic Wand would be a great help, but it would not be enough,” says Yiftah Shapir, a retired Air Force intelligence officer at INSS. “No amount of defense is ever enough. Some rockets always get through.”

That they do. The last Israeli civilian killed by one had gone outside to see Iron Dome knock down the missile that slipped through the system and exploded on his street, killing him.

“Everybody still has to be in shelters,” notes Shapir. “The damage to the economy is just the same.  Even if you have an Iron Dome protecting every town in Israel, children would not go to school. Their parents would not go to work. This is a major problem.”

Nor is it clear how well Iron Dome would perform in genuinely warlike conditions – that is, with missile barrages not in the dozens, but in the hundreds or even thousands.  Elran warns that, however reassuring its performance over the weekend, the system still must be regarded as untested: “You can’t really make an extrapolation from what’s happened in the last 36 hours,” he says.

Such a test does not appear imminent. In Gaza, the missiles so far have been launched not by Hamas, which has thousands in its stocks, but rather by rival militant groups such as Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committees. The weekend’s tit-for-tat began after Israel rocketed a car carrying the head of the PRC, who the Israeli military claims had been planning another attack similar to the August 2011 ambush outside Eilat, the Israeli Red Sea resort city.  The group responded with what rockets it had, and other smaller groups joined in.  Israeli forces responded each time, killing 15 militants and, on Sunday morning, a 12-year-old boy.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Soldier found dead; unrelated to hostile activity – Israel News, Ynetnews.

An IDF soldier was found dead in a car in the Gaza vicinity. His death was unrelated to the recent escalation in the south. His family has been informed and Investigating Military Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding his death. (Yoav Zitun)

International push to end Syria crisis stalls – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News.

(Surprise, surprise… – JW )

UN envoy Kofi Annan leaves country without securing a ceasefire; government forces shell Idlib and Homs.

By The Associated Press

An international push to end Syria’s conflict stalled on Sunday as UN envoy Kofi Annan left Damascus without a ceasefire and President Bashar Assad’s forces pounded opposition areas and clashed with rebels throughout the country.

Western and Arab powers are struggling for ways to stem the bloodshed in the year-old conflict while both the regime and the opposition reject dialogue. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan appeared to make little progress during two visits with Assad during his first trip to Syria as the joint UN-Arab League envoy.

	UN special envoy Kofi Annon meeting with Syrian Grand Mufti Ahmad Badr Al Din Hassoun in Damascus on Sunday, March 11, 2012.
	Photo by: AP

Annan was seeking an immediate ceasefire to allow for humanitarian aid and the start of a dialogue between all parties on a political solution. After meeting with Assad on Sunday, Annan said he had presented steps to ease the crisis, but gave no details.

“Once it’s agreed, it will help launch the process and help end the crisis on the ground,” he told reporters. He called for “reforms that will create a strong foundation for a democratic Syria … a peaceful, stable, pluralistic and prosperous society, based on the rule of law and respect for human rights.”

But he said a ceasefire must come first.

“You have to start by stopping the killing and the misery and the abuse that is going on today and then give time for a political settlement.”

Assad told Annan on Sunday that a political solution is impossible as long as “terrorist groups” threaten the country, according to Syria’s state news service, which reported identical comments after the men met on Saturday. The regime blames the uprising on armed groups acting out a foreign conspiracy.

Annan’s calls for reform also fall far short of opposition calls for Assad’s ouster and the end of his authoritarian regime. Opposition leaders say the thousands killed at the hands of his security forces, many while protesting peacefully, mean they’ll accept nothing less.

Annan acknowledged the difficulty of his task. “It’s going to be difficult, but we have to have hope,” he said before leaving for Qatar.

The conflict has become increasingly bloody during the year since protesters in some impoverished provinces first took to the streets to call for political reform. The government has cracked down hard, and protests have spread, with some in the opposition taking up arms to attack government troops and defend their towns and neighborhoods.

The UN says more than 7,500 people have been killed. Assad’s regime and military have remained largely intact while the opposition, though disorganized, shows no sign of relenting on its demands. Few expect a swift resolution.

Government troops shelled areas in and around the northern city of Idlib, activists said, part of a campaign launched Saturday to crush the opposition in its stronghold along the border with Turkey. In some areas they clashed with local rebels fighting under the banner of the loose-knit Free Syrian Army.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists around Syria, said 16 civilians had been killed in attacks by Syrian forces or in clashes with local rebels in Idlib province. More than five government soldiers were also killed.

An AP photographer in Turkish border villages heard constant artillery pounding, and Turkish residents said they saw Syrian refugees crossing during lulls.

The renewed violence has sent about 1,000 Syrians across the border in the past week, as many as fled during the previous month, a Turkish official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity under government protocol.

Turkey now hosts about 12,500 Syrians, some of the more than 100,000 refugees who have fled to Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.

Many fear the offensive in Idlib could end up like the regime’s campaign against the rebel-held neighborhood of Baba Amr in the central city of Homs. Troops besieged and shelled Baba Amr for almost a month before capturing it on March 1.

Activists say hundreds were killed, and a U.N. official who visited the area last week said she was “horrified” by the destruction in the nearly deserted district.

Activists said Syrian forces targeted other Homs neighborhoods on Sunday with shells and rocket-propelled grenades.

“There is very heavy destruction. Cars are burning and smoke is rising from the area,” said an activist from Homs who goes by the name Abu Bakr Saleh. “They are trying to punish all districts of Homs where anti-government protests still take place.”

Other activists said government forces shelled a bridge on a road to the Lebanese border often used by families fleeing violence. It was unclear whether the bridge was destroyed.

The Observatory said 25 civilians had been killed in military attacks and clashes between army and rebel forces across Syria on Sunday. Another group, the Local Coordination Committee’s said 32 were killed.

The death tolls could not be independently verified. The Syrian government rarely comments on specific incidents and bars most media from operating inside the country.

Also Sunday, gunmen in the northwestern city of Aleppo killed local boxing champion Gheyath Tayfour. Syria’s state news agency said an armed group ambushed the 43-year-old boxer in his car near Aleppo University and shot him dead.

Tayfour was not known to have voiced opinions on the country’s conflict, making it unclear whether his killing was politically motivated.

Syria has seen a string of mysterious assassinations lately targeting doctors, professors and businessman as the uprising has grown more militarized.

“BREAKING Zionist soldier was killed in a covert operation on the border with Gaza #Gaza #GazaUnderAttack #BREAKING”

No confirmation from any news source.  Could be simple Arab disinformation.

Crossing my fingers… – JW

Can Obama be trusted?.

President Obama greets AIPAC supporters following his speech to the group. Photo: Ruvi Leider.

Few would envy Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s role during the forthcoming months.

Whatever spin is applied, the Obama administration is refusing to draw red lines on timing prior to resorting to military action to forestall Iran’s nuclear threat. With an impending new round of “negotiations” with the Iranians virtually guaranteed to be futile, the situation for Israel remains highly disconcerting. Besides, much of the public debate on the issue is conjecture as most commentators are simply unequipped to assess the practicality of resolving the threat by military means.

But recent events in Washington do provide some grounds for optimism.

The American people and a bipartisan Congress are today more genuinely supportive about Israel’s security and well-being than they have been since the creation of the Jewish state. This was also reflected in U.S. President Barack Obama’s address to AIPAC.

Yes, during elections, many promises are made which are invariably subsequently repudiated. And yes, four years ago, when he stood for election, Obama at AIPAC also made warm statements concerning Israel.

But even allowing for election fever, Obama’s almost desperate efforts to persuade Jews and the American people that he supports Israel, “the historic homeland of the Jewish people,” went beyond anything this administration had previously expressed. And he would not have felt compelled to do so were it not for the genuinely supportive attitude of the American people.

We would have preferred the president to be more specific about his readiness to revert to a military option and he was clearly pleading for Israel to hold back and allow more time for sanctions to bite. But he has now explicitly recognized the “unacceptable” existential threat that Iran poses, not only to Israel but to the entire free world. Whether he meant it or not, he unambiguously disavowed reliance on containment and was more forthcoming than previously with regards to the employment of force should sanctions fail. His tacit approval for Israel to take whatever steps it considers necessary to defend itself was a major policy tilt from the harsh threats and warnings directed against us over recent months from various elements in the administration.

Yet by failing to specify a time frame by which diplomacy and sanctions could be deemed to have failed or to provide Iran with an ultimatum for a specific deadline, Obama is asking Israel to trust him and await the outcome of sanctions. In his time frame, military action would be unlikely prior to the elections and once re-elected, the current political pressures on him to act forcefully would be substantially eased.

Obama’s reticence is not surprising. This administration, which burned itself in successive wars in the Middle East and is currently seeking to extricate itself from the region, has little enthusiasm for military conflict with the Iranians. Obama also fears the economic repercussions which could impact on the elections if he becomes involved in a conflict with Iran in this volatile oil-producing region.

On the assumption that secret discussions behind closed doors between Netanyahu and Obama relating to a specific time schedule were inconclusive, Israel would in all likelihood be confronted with a “containment” policy by default if it blindly relied on the United States. In such a scenario, it would be of little comfort to us if the Obama administration subsequently disowns responsibility by citing failures of its intelligence agencies to adequately monitor Iran’s nuclear progress.

Netanyahu undoubtedly understands this and realizes that he must therefore independently prepare the nation to do whatever is deemed necessary to protect our national interests and ensure our survival. To this effect, complaints that Netanyahu overstated the threat by alluding to the Holocaust were entirely unwarranted. His analogy was entirely appropriate. After all, Ahmadinejad and other Iranian messianic cult leaders are today again explicitly directing genocidal threats against us and threatening to wipe us off the face of the map.

We would like to believe that the U.S. would support us if we became engaged in a military conflict with the Iranians. However, when one observes the indifference of the civilized world, including that of the Obama administration toward the current slaughter in Syria and recollects how, despite firm undertakings, the U.S. and others failed to support Israel prior to the 1967 Six-Day War, we require little persuasion to be convinced that ultimately we must rely on ourselves.

Netanyahu must therefore intensify efforts to clarify Obama’s future intentions and continue pressing the administration, at the very least, to strengthen sanctions, building on the goodwill which currently prevails among the American people. Even if re-elected, Obama must take into account public opinion and if Congress retains its strong bi-partisan support for Israel, it may at least inhibit a return to the bad old days.

On the other hand, Obama did not exaggerate when he boasted to AIPAC that his recent speech at the U.N. was the most pro-Israel address ever made by a U.S. president at a global forum. Nor can one fault our defense relationship with the U.S. which remains at an all-time high.

But expressions of love and abundant use of clichés such as “our unbreakable bonds” and “I have Israel’s back” are insufficient. The Palestinian issue will invariably return to the fore. Despite years of bullying us diplomatically, Obama has yet to condemn the Palestinians for their incitement, terrorism, intransigence and refusal to indulge in negotiations. We need clarification of U.S. support for the major settlement blocs and defensible borders as it is abundantly clear that the Obama prescription of Israel retaining 1967 armistice lines plus ‘mutual’ swaps will never be achieved with the current Palestinian leadership. Above all, he should decisively reject the “Arab refugee right of return” which if implemented would lead to our demise. If he moves in this direction, we could say that despite his former displays of animosity toward Netanyahu and his obsession with appeasing the Muslim world, his words of support are meaningful and not merely electoral rhetoric.

Viewed overall, Netanyahu’s visit to Washington achieved the best possible outcome. He can certainly take major credit for having effectively raised awareness of the Iranian threat to its highest global level. He has played the good cop-bad cop approach and clearly succeeded in encouraging Obama to adopt a far more positive attitude in relation to our existential concerns about Iran.

Regrettably, much of our future course of action remains in limbo. But we should constantly remind ourselves that notwithstanding the intensified feral hostility from our regional neighbors, we have never been in a stronger military position. And despite Obama’s subsequent warnings that a premature strike would “have consequences for the U.S. as well as Israel,” Obama has effectively provided Israel with a green light to act as it considers necessary to defend its vital interests if sanctions fail to deter the Iranians.

We should also feel satisfied that when Netanyahu told AIPAC: “As prime minister of Israel, I will never let my people live in the shadow of annihilation,” he meant it and that the Jewish state guarantees that the Jewish people have the capacity to defend themselves and overcome their adversaries.

The writer’s website can be viewed at www.wordfromjerusalem.com. He can be contacted at ileibler@netvision.net.il. This article was originally published by Israel Hayom.