WarSclerotic

Netanyahu says he’ll uphold Israel’s interests even if ‘best of friends’ doesn’t agree | The Times of Israel.

( Bibi grows kahoonas… – JW )

Statement seen as pushback aimed at Washington over dispute on how to deal with Iran’s nuclear program

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (photo credit: Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear he would back Israel’s interests over those of “the best of friends” in thwarting a nuclear Iran, a seeming reference to a recent standoff between Jerusalem and Washington over how to tackle Iran’s nuclear program.

Speaking at the start of a meeting with visiting Bavarian State Prime Minister Horst Seehofer on Wednesday, Netanyahu said that Israel is facing great challenges in preserving its security, the greatest of which is preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

“As prime minister of Israel, it is my duty to uphold the vital interests of the State of Israel, to ensure its security and its future,” Netanyahu said. “I uphold these interests, not that it’s easy, because leadership is tested in upholding them even if there are disagreements with friends, even the best of friends.”

The remarks came amid a tense bout of accusations between Jerusalem and Washington over an alleged snubbing of Netanyahu by President Barack Obama. While officials in Israel claim Obama declined to meet with Netanyahu later this month, the White House claimed there was no such request made.

Both Israel and the US are publicly committed to preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, yet there remain grave differences of opinion on if, and when, to use military force.

The US has rebuffed requests by Israel to set a firm ultimatum for Iran on pain of military action, saying there is still time for sanctions and diplomacy to work.

Sources in Jerusalem said Netanyahu would continue to seek clear “red lines,” beyond which a military strike would be launched, Israel Radio reported Wednesday evening.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu launched an unprecedentedly bitter attack on the US administration, saying countries that refused to set deadlines for Iran to give up its nuclear program have no right to tell Israel to hold back on taking preemptive military action to thwart the regime’s nuclear ambitions.

“The world tells Israel to wait, because there is still time. And I ask: Wait for what? Until when? Those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don’t have a moral right to place a red light before Israel,” Netanyahu said.

Raphael Ahren contributed to this report.

Romney: Obama Snubbed Israeli Prime Minister – NationalJournal.com.

( Surprise, surprise… WTF was Obama thinking? – JW )

Chet Susslin

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Moments after reiterating his criticism of the Obama administration for its handling of the diplomatic crisis unfolding in Libya and Egypt, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney attacked the president on another foreign-policy front, telling supporters at his campaign office in Florida that he couldn’t “imagine ever saying ‘No’ ” to a request for a meeting with the Israeli prime minister.

The comment came a day after the Israeli news media reported that President Obama could not find time in his schedule to meet with Benjamin Netanyahu when the prime minister travels to the United Nations in New York City later this month.

“I can’t ever imagine, if the prime minister of Israel asked to meet with me, I can’t imagine ever saying ‘No,’ ” Romney said while shaking hands with supporters. “They’re our friends, they’re our closest allies in the Middle East.”

Trying to temper a potential controversy, Obama called Netanyahu on Tuesday evening and the two spoke for over an hour, according to the White House.

“President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu reaffirmed that they are united in their determination to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and agreed to continue their close consultations going forward,” the White House said in a statement after the phone call.

The statement also disputed the assertion that the president had refused to meet with Netanyahu, saying that although a meeting in New York could not be arranged, there was “never a request for Prime Minister Netanyahu to meet with President Obama in Washington, nor was a request for a meeting ever denied.”

Romney has frequently criticized the Obama administration’s relations with Israel on the campaign trail, recently saying that the president has “thrown Israel under the bus.”

Analysis: Netanyahu risks overplaying hand in Iran dispute | Reuters.

(Reuters) – The public row between Israel and the United States this week will make it hard for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to launch a unilateral strike against Iran and risks undermining his domestic standing.

Despite years of warning about the dangers of Iran gaining nuclear weapons, the Israeli leader has failed to convince any major world power of the need for military action and has yet to persuade his domestic audience that Israel should go it alone.

By raising the stakes with Barack Obama in the middle of the president’s re-election campaign, Netanyahu has drawn criticism from his own defence minister, Ehud Barak, and given Tehran the pleasure of watching its enemies argue over the case for war.

“Netanyahu is overplaying his hand and creating problems for himself with Obama. This could make life very hard for him should the president win re-election,” said Alon Liel, a former director-general of the Israeli foreign ministry.

Infuriated by Washington’s reluctance to lay down clear limits to Iran’s nuclear programme, Netanyahu fired a broadside at Obama on Tuesday, saying those who failed to set red lines did not have the “moral right” to prevent Israel from striking.

Further stirring the troubled waters, senior Israeli officials briefed journalists twice in two days to denounce U.S. policymaking, before announcing that the president had refused to see Netanyahu when both will be in New York later this month.

The White House denied ever receiving a request for a meeting and Obama swiftly got on the phone for a long chat with Netanyahu, with whom he has notoriously testy relations.

In the hours that followed, Israel sought to play down the differences between the two, but the damage was done, with the Israeli press bemoaning a new low in bilateral ties.

“The reality might be less serious than all the headlines are saying,” said Oded Eran, a senior research associate and former head of the Institute for National Security Studies.

“However, perceptions are just as important, and in that regard, serious damage has been done to the idea of Israeli deterrence, which may be very hard to rectify,” he added.

HOLDING BACK

Israel, believed to have the only nuclear arsenal in the Middle East, has long threatened to attack Iran unless it dismantles its ambitious nuclear programme that many countries in the West believe is aimed at creating an atomic bomb.

Iran denies this and, despite increasingly severe economic sanctions, has shown no sign that it intends to scale back its project or halt its contested uranium enrichment drive.

Regularly beating the drums of war, Netanyahu has succeeded in getting alarmed Western allies to turn the sanction screws, but has yet to persuade them of the need for military action, or even to win their backing for a lone Israeli initiative.

“The Israeli frustration stems from a sense that sanctions and negotiations are not as effective as they should be,” said Gidi Grinstein, founder of the Reut Institute think-tank.

“But Israeli action in defiance of the United States and without legitimacy is extremely risky.”

Aware that its armed forces might be hard pressed to do significant damage to Iran’s far-flung nuclear sites, Israel has said repeatedly that it wants the U.S. military to do the heavy lifting, arguing a nuclear Iran is a threat to the whole world.

But rather than bow to Israeli demands for further clarity, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said Washington would not set any deadline with Iran. Her comments triggered fury in Netanyahu’s office.

“The easiest thing would be to sit by and not tangle with Obama, but Netanyahu believes he has to state things plainly, even if they are unpopular and cause conflict,” said a senior Israeli official, denouncing “fuzzy remarks” out of America.

INTERNAL, EXTERNAL CRITICISM

Yet Netanyahu might come to rue his outspokenness.

Israelis know the United States is by far and away their most important ally and previous premiers who jostled in public with Washington have invariably drawn flak at home.

Sure enough, Israeli opposition politicians have denounced the prime minister’s handling of an increasingly complex situation.

“Who are you trying to replace? The administration in Washington or that in Tehran?” said Shaul Mofaz, head of the largest opposition party, Kadima, which was briefly part of Netanyahu’s coalition over the summer.

“The world is not sick of Israel, the world is sick of Netanyahu and does not believe him.”

Of more concern to Netanyahu was the fact he also received a clear rebuke from his own defence minister, Barak, who issued a statement saying problems with the United States should be worked out behind closed doors and not aired in public.

“Despite the differences and the importance of maintaining Israel’s independence of action, we should also bear in mind the importance of the partnership with the United States, and try not to harm it as much as possible,” he said.

Local media said Netanyahu was angered by Barak’s intervention and a senior member of the prime minister’s Likud party accused the defence minister of looking to score political points at a time of growing speculation about the prospect of an early parliamentary election in Israel.

Barak heads the small Atzmaut party in the governing coalition, and opinion polls have indicated it might not win a single seat in parliament in a new ballot.

“I am sorry that … the defence minister has chosen to start his campaign at the expense of national interests and on the back of the prime minister,” said vice prime minister Moshe Yaalon, who has long aspired to the defence portfolio.

Barak’s spokesman denied any rift with Netanyahu, but again, the damage was done, with the two men who must work closest together on Israel’s military strategies seemingly at odds over how best to proceed.

(Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

Jerusalem Post – Breaking News.

White House scrambles to contain controversy over Netanyahu snub claims | Fox News.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/12/early-frost-white-house-gives-chilly-response-to-proposed-obama-netanyahu-talk/#ixzz26H22EmWz

Speaker of Knesset in direct warning on Iran. – YouTube.

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538795_10151011743160448_1077841744_n | BARE NAKED ISLAM.

( Apologies for this sickening post.  I felt it important to make all readers understand what we’re up against. – JW )

AMBASSADOR STEVEN’S BODY BEING DRAGGED THROUGH THE STREETS OF BENGHAZI BY ANGRY MUSLIMS

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No time for Netanyahu – Obama’s doing Letterman – Israel News, Ynetnews.

( This is its own parody… – JW )

White House says US president, Israeli PM won’t be meeting over ‘conflicting schedules’ but reports claim Obama will be guest on late show instead

Ynet

How did US President Barack Obama find the time to meet with David Letterman on the exact day he announced that his tight schedule would not allow him to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu?

According to a report in the National Journal Obama will be a guest on “The Late Show with David Letterman” during a trip to New York on September 18 – the exact time he could have met with Netanyahu who will be visiting New York for the UN General Assembly.

Earlier on Tuesday, the White House said the meeting would not be possible over the two leader’s conflicting schedules. But later the white house denied reports that Obama had refused to meet Netanyahu in New York on the sidelines of the UN’s General Assembly

“Contrary to reports in the press, there was never a request for Prime Minister Netanyahu to meet with President Obama in Washington, nor was a request for a meeting ever denied,” the statement said.

Letterman is a fan of the US president, often sparing him from his stinging monologues, preferring to his opponents especially Mitt Romney and former US President George W. Bush.

The guest appearance next week will be Obama’s second during his term in office. In total the US president visited the show five times and was the first president in office to be a guest on the late show.

Egypt to offer Iran enhanced ties in exchange for dropping Assad support | The Times of Israel.

The move is the centerpiece of a diplomatic push by Morsi

Mohammed Morsi (left) shakes hands with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the NAM conference, August 30 (photo credit: AP)

CAIRO (AP) — Newly activist Egypt is trying to convince Iran to drop its unquestioned support of Syria’s embattled President Bashar Assad in order to end that country’s bloody civil war.

The move would come in exchange for help in easing Tehran’s regional isolation at a time of mounting pressure on it over its disputed nuclear program.

The offer is the centerpiece of a diplomatic push by Egypt’s new Islamist president, who is hoping his “Islamic Quartet” — grouping Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, all supporters of the Syrian rebellion, with Syria’s top regional ally Iran — can succeed where other initiatives have failed.

The grouping is the first major effort to involve Iran in resolving the crisis. But it may be a tough sell. Tehran’s influence in the Middle East is strongly tied to its alliance with Assad and his fall would be a major blow. Moreover, the quartet members themselves have their own divisions. Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia, along with other Gulf Arab nations, has been staunchly opposed to any Iranian expansion and may resist ending Tehran’s isolation.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi made the offer when he met last month with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran, officials close to the Egyptian presidency said. Morsi’s visit to Iran, to attend a summit of the 120-nation Nonaligned Movement, was the first by an Egyptian president since the 1979 Islamic Revolution there, when diplomatic ties between the countries were cut.

Morsi offered a package of incentives for Tehran to end its support of Assad, the officials said.

Cairo would agree to restore full diplomatic ties, a significant diplomatic prize for Iran given that Egypt is the most populous Arab nation and a regional powerhouse. Morsi would also mediate to improve relations between Iran and conservative Gulf Arab nations that have long viewed Shiite Iran with suspicion and whose fears of the Persian nation have deepened because of Iran’s disputed nuclear program.

Also, Morsi offered a “safe exit” for Assad, his family and members of his inner circle.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the terms of the offer. They did not give a timeframe for the offer or say what Ahmadinejad’s response was.

Morsi’s argument is that neither Assad nor the rebels fighting his regime appear to be capable of winning the civil war, creating a stalemate that could eventually break up the Arab nation with serious repercussions for the entire region, the officials said.

“Egypt is convinced that what is ahead in Syria under Assad will be much worse than anything the world has seen there so far,” said one of the officials. “In view of this, Egypt believes that preventing more bloodshed will be a huge achievement.”

Morsi, who took office less than three months ago as Egypt’s first elected and civilian president, voiced his support for the rebels against Assad’s “oppressive” regime in a speech at the summit in Tehran. The move angered the Iranians, but won accolades across much of the Arab world and in Washington. It also drove the point home to the Iranians that continuing to support Assad was untenable.

The Syrian conflict has defied diplomatic solutions. Cease-fires called for by the UN and Arab League have been still-born as Assad’s regime pushed ahead with its military campaign to stamp out the rebels, who drove ahead with their effort to bring him down.

The Syrian conflict started in March last year with a wave of mostly peaceful protests calling on Assad to step down. The uprising has morphed into a ruinous civil war. Activists say at least 23,000 people have been killed so far and the UN refugee agency says more than a quarter of a million people have fled the country. The conflict also has a dangerous sectarian tone: Syria’s Sunni majority make up the backbone of the rebellion, while the regime is dominated by minority Alawites, the Shiite offshoot to which Assad belongs.

Diplomats from the Quartet met in Cairo for the first time Monday, and Egypt said foreign ministers from the four nations would meet in the coming days.

One prominent Syrian anti-regime activist said Iran’s participation in the group suggests it realizes that supporting Assad may not be workable in the long run.

“There is a consensus among the four that the Syrian conflict must end before the country disintegrates. If this happens, the fallout will touch everyone in the region,” said Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the British-based Observatory for Human Rights in Syria, an activist group that monitors violence and abuses in Syria.

“If left to its own devices, the war will continue for four or five more years,” he said.

But abandoning Assad would be difficult. Iran provides Syria with substantial financial aid and weapons, both key for Assad to continue in his crackdown on rebels.

Syria is Iran’s gateway to Lebanon, where the Shiite Hezbollah group is a longtime ally. Syria has been a firm friend of Iran for decades — the only Arab nation to side with it against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq during their ruinous war in the 1980s.

Still, Iran needs allies now more than at any time in recent years as its fears grow of a possible strike against its nuclear facilities by Israel or the United States while a host of U.N. sanctions begin to hurt its vital oil industry. The US and its allies believe Iran’s nuclear program is aimed at producing weapons, a claim Tehran denies.

Ties with Egypt could bring other benefits. Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Ghasemi said Monday that talks were taking place with Egypt for Iran to sell it oil. There was no official confirmation from Egypt that such talks were taking place, but Cairo has in recent months suffered from acute fuel shortages, blamed in part on its dwindling foreign currency reserves and lower credit ratings.

The new head of Egypt’s diplomatic mission in Tehran, Khaled Emarah, may have been referring to those talks when he told a seminar in Cairo on Tuesday that Iran enjoyed a “surplus” in the oil sector and that it cooperated with many foreign nations in that field. In Washington, the US State Department said it was aware of the media reports on the talks, but “will not speculate on hypothetical scenarios.”

It said the US will continue to implement sanctions “and increase pressure on the regime” while helping other countries to find energy alternatives, the State Department said.

But while Morsi can deliver on restoring Cairo’s diplomatic relations with Iran, he may have a difficult time persuading Gulf leaders to improve their relations.

Iran has for decades occupied three Gulf islands that the United Arab Emirates claims as its own. Bahrain accuses Iran of inciting its Shiite majority against the ruling Sunni family. Saudi Arabia also sees an Iranian hand in the intermittent unrest in its mostly Shiite, oil-rich eastern region. Gulf states have been alarmed by Iran’s growing influence in Shiite-majority Iraq.

“This will be a difficult goal for Morsi to achieve success,” said Jamie Chandler, a political science professor at Hunter College in New York City. “The countries involved (in the quartet) have historically strained relations. But, if the conversation focuses on exile (for Assad), then Iran will be the most likely sanctuary.”

White House Spins Obama’s Israel Rebuff – Defense/Security – News – Israel National News.

White House

Flash 90

Within hours after President Barack Obama turned down Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s request to meet on the sidelines of a United Nations General Assembly gathering in New York, White House officials were working on damage control for Obama’s re-election campaign.

By late Tuesday, the White House made sure media outlets were fully informed the two leaders had spent “an hour-long phone call” discussing the Iranian nuclear threat. The call, framed as “part of their ongoing consultations,” nevertheless was unplanned and clearly was a response to the instant coverage of Obama’s rejection of Israel’s “greatest ally.”

It did nothing to hide Obama’s cold response to Israel’s routine request for a meeting on the sidelines of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly gathering. It will be the first time an Israeli head of state will attend the gathering, in fact, without meeting with an American counterpart.

The White House attempted to spin the matter with a denial that any formal offer for a meeting had been made:

“Contrary to reports in the press, there was never a request for Prime Minister Netanyahu to meet with President Obama in Washington, or was a request for a meeting ever denied,” the statement read.

But in the carefully worded statement, White House officials also sidestepped the issue of Israel’s request for a meeting at another venue.

Republican Senators who had already expressed “surprise and disappointment” at initial reports of Obama’s rebuff, pounced the White House statement and its follow-up – a report by Fox News who quoted Israeli sources that said Netanyahu had offered to travel to Washington for the convenience of the president, but that Obama’s staff insisted his schedule was too tight for a meeting.

Obama is scheduled to appear at the United Nations on September 24 and leave the next day. Netanyahu arrives in New York later in the week.

“If these reports are true, the White House’s decision sends a troubling signal to our ally Israel about America’s commitment at this dangerous and challenging time, especially as Iran continues to work actively toward developing a nuclear weapons capability,” U.S. Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham told Fox News.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton went farther, saying he was “astounded that [Obama] cannot find the time. I don’t see it so much as a snub as a horrible, substantive mistake in American foreign policy.”

Tensions between the sides have been high lately over perceptions of Iran’s nuclear program and how it should be dealt with. On Monday the two sides sparred over remarks made by Clinton about setting “red lines” for Iran regarding its nuclear program.

The issue of the Iranian nuclear threat to the Middle East — as well as to the rest of the world, is growing. Deputy Chief of Staff, Major General Yair Naveh, warned on Tuesday that there is a growing chance of regional war. “The terror along the borders is becoming bigger and bigger and there are activities going on in Syria, therefore the fear of deterioration is increasing,” Naveh said during a conference of school principals in Jerusalem. “The borders with Syria and Egypt, which are becoming active, are causing the chances of war to go up,” he added.

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have been actively assisting the government troops supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the raging civil war against opposition forces across Israel’s northern border, as well as providing weaponry and financial aid to the Hizbullah terrorist organization in Lebanon. To Israel’s south, Iran has also been generously funding, training and equipping the Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other terrorist organizations.