WarSclerotic

Obama Israel Visit 2013: How the President Can Learn to Speak Israeli | New Republic.

BY YOSSI KLEIN HALEVI

The Israeli government that President Obama will encounter this week may charitably be called a unity coalition—and less charitably, a schizophrenic coalition. From Tzippi Livni on the left, responsible for negotiations with the Palestinians, to former settler leader Uri Ariel on the right, the new construction minister responsible for, well, construction, this is a government deeply divided on the future of the West Bank.

Obama, though, isn’t only coming to speak to the Israeli government but also—perhaps primarily—to the Israeli public. Ever since Obama’s Cairo speech in 2009, when he cited the Holocaust—rather than the historic connection of the Jewish people to its land—as justification for Israel’s existence, Israelis have regarded him as, at best, tone-deaf to their sensibilities. The Holocaust may help explain why Israelis fight with such determination to protect their country, but it doesn’t explain why Israel exists.

Now Obama will try to mend that mistake with a series of gestures. He will lay a wreath at the grave of the founder of modern Zionism, Theodore Herzl. And he will visit The Israel Museum’s exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls, honoring Israel’s ancient rootedness. Those gestures will resonate widely among Israelis.

But Obama’s Israel problem goes deeper than misunderstandings over history. Though Israelis of course realize that Obama isn’t to blame for the radicalization of Egypt or the implosion of Syria, they do blame him for his failure to project American power and a coherent Middle East policy. Nor do Israelis, according to polls, believe that the president is serious about bombing Iranian nuclear facilities if sanctions and negotiations fail. Obama is widely seen here as naïve—for Israelis, a cardinal sin.

That’s especially true regarding Obama and the Palestinians. A majority of the Israeli public has consistently told pollsters that it supports a two-state solution in theory but believes that, in practice, a Palestinian state will continue the war against Israel. Few here take seriously the notion that Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas could make peace with Israel even if he wanted to—that he could offer the necessary concessions on the “right of return” and survive. While Yasser Arafat was the Palestinian leader who never intended to make peace, Abbas is the leader who is always on the verge of an agreement which somehow never happens. And with the Palestinian national movement divided between two authorities, the likelihood of a solution is more remote than ever.

If Obama presents a “yes we can” approach to peace, Israelis will tune him out. Nor will they be especially receptive to a warning about the threat of occupation to the Israeli soul and to the future of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state—not because Israelis disagree with that, but because they do agree yet see no safe way to end the occupation. That’s one reason why the Israeli documentary film, The Gatekeepers—which features devastating critiques of the occupation by six former heads of the Shin Bet security service—has enjoyed little of the popularity here that it has abroad. Israelis listen to those critiques and generally nod, but then ask themselves, So what’s the alternative?

Still, for all this wariness, there is a way that Obama could be heard here—and that is to separate the issue of peace from the issue of settlements.

Many Israelis would be receptive to a message from Obama that went something like this: I understand that this is hardly an opportune moment to expect Israelis to take dangerous risks for an elusive peace. The instability around Israel’s borders has little to do with Israel itself, but threatens its security and undermines the prospects of a stable peace. Tragically, we are unlikely to get closer to an agreement anytime soon.

Yet the current stalemate doesn’t absolve either side from the need to refrain from actions that could preclude an eventual peace. On the Palestinian side, that means avoiding unilateral actions like declaring statehood at the U.N. rather than aiming for a negotiated agreement, the only hope for genuine Palestinian sovereignty. And on the Israeli side, that means avoiding settlement expansion, which will make it ever harder to separate Palestinians and Israelis into two viable states.

That is a nuanced argument likely to penetrate Israeli skepticism. Settlement building is hardly popular these days. In one recent poll, over 80 percent of Israelis said they want government resources diverted from the settlements to social and educational spending.

And what of Israel’s schizophrenic government? My sense is that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu understands that, as Israel approaches the moment of decision on the Iranian nuclear program, settlement-building is not in the country’s best interests. That’s one reason why he initially tried to keep out the pro-settlement party, Jewish Home, from his coalition.

Public support for another settlement freeze—Netanyahu imposed a ten-month freeze three years ago—could help the prime minister overcome opposition within his coalition and his own party. A freeze could force the Jewish Home to quit the coalition (the Labor Party might well join in its place), or else split into two factions, one of which would remain in government, despite a freeze.

Creating the conditions for another settlement freeze also requires that Obama overcome his Netanyahu problem, and begin seeing him as an ally. As much as Obama is hoping to speak directly to the Israeli public, the public will be watching to see how Obama speaks to its prime minister.

FULL President Obama – Israel PM Netanyahu News Conference – Mar. 20, 2013 – YouTube.

U.S. has pinpoint attack ready on Iran, says Israeli official – National Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper.

Potential American strike meant to avoid major regional conflagration, source claims.

By Amos Harel | Mar.20, 2013 | 5:05 AM | 22

A U.S. Air Force long-range B-52 bomber arrives in western England, March 3, 2003. Photo by APBy Haaretz | Mar.20,2013 | 5:05 AM | 116

A senior Israeli security official who has been clued in on parts of the American plans for possible military action against Iran said: “The Americans are planning for this scenario very seriously.”

With U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit here beginning Wednesday, the senior Israeli official said: “Obama’s administration, as opposed to that of his predecessor, George Bush, has prepared a pinpoint military option in the event that the United States decides to attack in the end. The Americans, if they choose, will be able to mount a focused operation on the Iranian nukes without necessarily sparking a comprehensive regional war.”

The Israeli security establishment is aware of the Americans’ ongoing moves to tighten the sanctions on Iran and to prepare a military option. “It’s very important for them to convey determination,” the official said. “We saw this in the words of Vice President Joe Biden at the AIPAC conference earlier this month [where Biden said “this president doesn’t bluff”] and we’ll hear it again from the president in Israel. They mean what they say. Their problem is historical precedent: After North Korea obtained nuclear capability, Israel is skeptical.”

The Iranian question will be discussed in depth during Obama’s visit. In his declarations over the past few months, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has frequently stressed Iran’s progress toward nuclear capability and has argued that the time to stop the Iranian regime’s advance is running out. During the visit the president is apparently expected to announce more steps to assist Israel in the framework of the security cooperation between the two countries, which in recent years has reached unprecedented levels.

May be window for Israeli attack this year

Israel has seriously weighed initiating an air force attack over the past several years. In the past, former defense minister Ehud Barak described 2012 as the year Iran’s nuclear program could enter the “immunity zone” against attack, but despite this assessment Israel didn’t attack last year.

However, there may still be a window of time for an Israeli attack at least until the end of this year, and such an attack could have some effect, delaying the realization of the Iranian plans by 18 months to two years.

Because America’s attack capabilities far exceed Israel’s, it’s assumed that the final “deadline” for an American attack is considerably later than the Israeli one.

In September of last year, in his address to the United Nations, Netanyahu defined the red line − before which Iran must be attacked − as Tehran’s accumulation of 90 percent of the uranium needed to manufacture a nuclear bomb ‏(around a quarter of a ton‏). The prime minister was referring to uranium that is 20-percent enriched ‏(the highest level Iran has reached to date‏), from which it’s possible to later produce a nuclear weapon, after the uranium is enriched to an even higher level ‏(93 percent‏). This, said Netanyahu, is the unacceptable point as far as Israel is concerned, and this line is likely to be crossed by this summer if Iran isn’t stopped before then.

Meanwhile, according to International Atomic Energy Agency reports, Iran has been proceeding at a relatively slower pace because it is diverting some of its 20-percent enriched uranium to fuel rods meant for scientific research ‏(and it is very difficult to later convert the nuclear material back for military purposes‏).

The U.S. administration wasn’t happy with Netanyahu’s UN declaration, which was also controversial among Israeli officials. The United States is speaking in general terms of a policy that is “deterrence and not acceptance” of an Iranian nuclear threat, but various remarks by senior administration officials show that Washington sees the red line, whose crossing would require action, as the acquisition of full ability to produce a nuclear weapon − a bomb that could be fitted to a warhead on a ballistic missile.

Thawing tension between Obama and Netanyahu is a welcome relief for Israelis – Obama visits Israel Israel News | Haaretz.

At Ben Gurion International Airport the two leaders show some warmth; Obama throws in a few Hebrew phrases but none on a Palestinian state.

U.S. President Barack Obama poses with Israeli defense personnel as he views an Iron Dome battery with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion International Airport, March 20, 2013. Photo by Reuters

It was hot and humid Wednesday at Ben Gurion International Airport, but the atmosphere mattered more than the weather. When the door of Air Force One opened, Barack Obama leapt forth and attacked. He did everything in the book to show Israelis that the president was in love with them.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also did everything to show warmth and friendship toward his guest from Washington. He fell on the president’s shoulders as if he had found a long lost brother. The disputes, the tensions and the suspicions were set aside. Mitt Romney? Who remembers him?

Obama, who looked loose and relaxed as ever, hugged Netanyahu and said to President Shimon Peres, “How are you, my friend? Good to see you.” Later he joked to Netanyahu that it was good to get away from Congress, the same Congress Netanyahu has often used to pressure the U.S. president.

Twenty ministers waited on the red carpet for their turn to shake the president’s hand. Obama looked like someone who had come on a mission and had memorized basic details about certain ministers, especially the new ones.

He complimented Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid on his electoral feat but noted that his wife Michelle always told him to be careful what you wish for. Some people within earshot thought he was talking about the role of finance minister, but others took it as a hint at Lapid’s ambitions to win the next election and become prime minister.

Obama also warmly shook Naftali Bennett’s hand and congratulated him on his electoral achievement. A member of Bennett’s Habayit Hayehudi party, Housing Minister Uri Ariel, used his handshake to ask for the release of spy Jonathan Pollard. Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat, who waited further down the red carpet, joined him in the request.

Obama told only two ministers that he was eager to work with them, Lapid and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni. In contrast to Lapid, Netanyahu invited Livni to a meeting with Obama and a dinner afterward. He also invited Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and International Relations Minister Yuval Steinitz. Netanyahu’s advisers said Bennett and Lapid were not invited because they deal with internal, not diplomatic affairs.

Two other curiosities marked Obama’s welcome ceremony. Energy and Water Resources Minister Silvan Shalom patiently waited to shake Obama’s hand to inform the president that they share the same birthday. Environmental Protection Minister Amir Peretz was surprisingly added to Obama’s visit at an Iron Dome battery, where he would have the privilege of telling the president he deserves the credit.

Peres, who spoke during the welcome ceremony, showered every possible praise on Obama and exaggerated somewhat when he called Obama a historic friend of Israel and compared him to Harry Truman, who recognized Israel at its moment of birth.

While one would expect Peres’ speech to be full of praise, Netanyahu’s rapid-fire speech was exceptional. Over the last four years, Netanyahu almost never said thank you to Obama for the aid he provided Israel. On Wednesday, he couldn’t stop thanking him and even volunteered to provide him with a list of hip bars and cafes in Tel Aviv. He added that the Israelis “even picked out a fake mustache for you,” hinting at things Obama had said in his Channel 2 interview. If a cafe/bar list did exist, it’s not clear Netanyahu would know any of the places.

In his speech at the airport, Obama said all the right things to be liked by Israelis. He recalled the Jewish connection to Israel, referring to “the sons of Abrahams and the daughters of Sarah.” He spoke about common values between the United States and Israel – “pioneers who forged a nation” – and didn’t once mention the term Palestinian state.

But the main gimmick was one that always works: speaking in Hebrew. “Tov lehiyot kan ba’aretz,” Obama said; “It’s good to be here in Israel.” Later he added that relations between Israel and the United States would forever be strong, and he even added the Hebrew word for forever, lanetzach.

After the hugs, the mushy speeches and the joking with Israeli ministers, Obama and Netanyau pulled out the heavy weapons. In what is likely to turn into a victory photo for each of them, the American president and the Israeli prime minster took off their jackets and demonstrated informal familiarity as they strode to the Iron Dome battery that was brought especially to Ben Gurion airport.

Over the last four years we got used to every meeting between Obama and Netanyahu ending in a murky atmosphere. In this visit, it was the first time we could say the words Netanyahu and Obama in the same sentence without mixing in terms like crisis or tension. That’s a nice change. It seems both Obama and Netanyahu hope this atmosphere lasts until the end of the visit.

The full text of Barack Obama’s arrival speech in Israel – Obama visits Israel Israel News | Haaretz.

‘I see this visit as an opportunity to reaffirm the unbreakable bonds between our nations, to restate America’s unwavering commitment to Israel’s security,’ Obama says upon arrival to Israel for his first official visit as U.S. president.

By Haaretz | Mar.20, 2013 | 3:59 PM | 6

US President Barack Obama waves upon his arrival at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on March 20, 2013. Photo by AFP

By Chemi Shalev | Mar.20,2013 | 3:59 PM

Shalom.  President Peres, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and most of all, to the people of Israel, thank you for this incredibly warm welcome. This is my third visit to Israel so let me just say tov lihiyot shuv ba’aretz.

I’m so honored to be here as you prepare to celebrate the 65th anniversary of a free and independent State of Israel. Yet I know that in stepping foot on this land, I walk with you on the historic homeland of the Jewish people.

More than 3,000 years ago, the Jewish people lived here, tended the land here, prayed to God here. And after centuries of exile and persecution, unparalleled in the history of man, the founding of the Jewish State of Israel was a rebirth, a redemption unlike any in history.

Today, the sons of Abraham and the daughters of Sarah are fulfilling the dream of the ages — to be “masters of their own fate” in “their own sovereign state.” And just as we have for these past 65 years, the United States is proud to stand with you as your strongest ally and your greatest friend.

As I begin my second term as President, Israel is the first stop on my first foreign trip. This is no accident. Across this region the winds of change bring both promise and peril. So I see this visit as an opportunity to reaffirm the unbreakable bonds between our nations, to restate America’s unwavering commitment to Israel’s security, and to speak directly to the people of Israel and to your neighbors.

I want to begin right now, by answering a question that is sometimes asked about our relationship — why? Why does the United States stand so strongly, so firmly with the State of Israel? And the answer is simple. We stand together because we share a common story — patriots determined “to be a free people in our land,” pioneers who forged a nation, heroes who sacrificed to preserve our freedom, and immigrants from every corner of the world who renew constantly our diverse societies.

We stand together because we are democracies. For as noisy and messy as it may be, we know that democracy is the greatest form of government ever devised by man.

We stand together because it makes us more prosperous. Our trade and investment create jobs for both our peoples. Our partnerships in science and medicine and health bring us closer to new cures, harness new energy and have helped transform us into high-tech hubs of our global economy.

We stand together because we share a commitment to helping our fellow human beings around the world. When the earth shakes and the floods come, our doctors and rescuers reach out to help. When people are suffering, from Africa to Asia, we partner to fight disease and overcome hunger.

And we stand together because peace must come to the Holy Land. For even as we are clear-eyed about the difficulty, we will never lose sight of the vision of an Israel at peace with its neighbors.

So as I begin this visit, let me say as clearly as I can –the United States of America stands with the State of Israel because it is in our fundamental national security interest to stand with Israel. It makes us both stronger. It makes us both more prosperous. And it makes the world a better place.

That’s why the United States was the very first nation to recognize the State of Israel 65 years ago. That’s why the Star of David and the Stars and Stripes fly together today. And that is why I’m confident in declaring that our alliance is eternal, it is forever – lanetzach.

Thank you very much.

Khamenei urges Iran to stand up to sanctions – Alarabiya.net English | Front Page.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said economic sanctions had failed to “cripple” Iran. (AFP)

Iran began the Persian New Year on Wednesday with its most senior leader asking the people to stand up to piling Western economic sanctions and also warning that the pressure was unlikely to ease.

If Iranians show more “readiness” to face Western pressure, the next 12 months will be a “political and economic epoch” for the country, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a recorded message on state television.

The year will be filled with “development, activity and dexterity,” Khamenei vowed in the message aired shortly after Iranians celebrated the Persian New Year, or Nowruz, marking the transition of winter to spring.

But, he warned, “it does not mean that the enmity of enemies will subside,” alluding to Western opposition to Iran’s nuclear program and harsh sanctions against the economy of the Islamic republic.

Western powers and Israel suspect Iran’s atomic activities have military objectives, despite repeated denials.

Coupled with unilateral sanctions by the United States and the European Union, UN Security Council punitive measures have been implemented to all but coerce Iran into curbing its nuclear work.

Final decisions on the nuclear drive rest with Khamenei, and Iran has vowed to continue with its program of uranium enrichment.

On Wednesday, Khamenei said economic sanctions had failed to “cripple” Iran, while also noting an increase in pressure.

“It appeared that the enemy was toughening up against Iran” in the past 12 months, he said. “They said and insisted they wanted to cripple the Iranian nation with sanctions. But they failed.”

The ailing economy, which has long struggled with high inflation and unemployment, was further buffeted in 2012 by increasingly severe US and EU sanctions targeting its vital oil and financial sectors.

Iran’s currency, the rial, has lost nearly two thirds of its value since late 2011.

“Economic pressure was exerted on the people and problems arose,” Khamenei said, while implicitly criticizing the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for its “negligence” in handling the economy.

However, Khamenei said that those problems had let Iran gain “dexterity” in battling the sanctions, and also claimed the nation was making progress despite these woes.

Six world powers — the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — have engaged with Tehran to seek a diplomatic solution to the nuclear stand-off.

Iran’s next round of talks with the so-called group of P5+1 is scheduled for April 5 and 6 in the Kazakh city of Almaty.

‘Obama’s Red Line on Iran – Fiction’ – Middle East – News – Israel National News.

Obama and Netanyahu

Flash 90

United States President Barack Obama’s “red line” on Iran is a pretense, according to a senior diplomatic source quoted by Ma’ariv/nrg.

“His ‘red line,’ according to which he’ll attack if the Iranians get a nuclear weapon or get very close, is fiction,” the source accused.

“The gap between Israel and the United States regarding the ‘red line’ is enormous, and is not expected to shrink during the visit,” he continued.

The source also expressed concern over Obama’s planned speech in the Binyanei Ha’uma convention center in Jerusalem. “In his speech to the Israeli public, Obama is trying to delegitimize any decision by Netanyahu to attack in Iran,” he warned.

His statement came just hours after former Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin warned that Obama’s choice not to speak in Knesset was “a worrying sign… a statement a lack of faith in the representatives of the nation he’s addressing.”

Obama recently told Israeli media that he believes Iran is “over a year or so” from obtaining a nuclear bomb. All options are “on the table” for preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, he said.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is expected to thank Obama for his strong criticism of Iran’s nuclear program and his public support for Israel’s right to defend itself.

Former IAF commander urges credible Iran plan | The Times of Israel.

Chief of staff Gantz says Israel must remain alert in face of growing dangers

Former air force chief Ido Nehushtan (photo credit: Gideon Markowicz/Flash90)

A concrete plan is needed on the Iranian front, former Israeli Air Force commander Ido Nehushtan said Tuesday evening, hours after IDF Chief of General Staff Benny Gantz warned that the dangers facing the country are growing.

“There must be a credible military option against Iran, both as a deterrent and for practical purposes,” Nehushtan said at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

The two most serious problems facing Israel are Iran’s nuclear program and the use of rockets to rain terror on Israel’s citizens by Hamas and other organizations, the former pilot said, calling for the decision makers to treat them as such.

“We don’t know where the winds are blowing, which regimes will rise and which will topple,” Gantz told soldiers earlier in the day. The dangers facing the country are ever growing, and “we must stay alert at all times and improve our abilities,” he said.

Israel has indicated it will turn to military action against Iran if left no other choice. Confronting the Iranian threat is set to be one of the main talking points during US President Barack Obama’s meetings with Israeli leaders on Wednesday and Thursday.

Led by the US, the international community has leveled harsh economic sanctions against Tehran in an attempt to pressure it into backing down from its quest for nuclear weapons. Several rounds of talks between Western powers and Iran have been held, most recently in Kazakhstan in February, but have yielded no substantive results.

In a pre-visit interview to Channel 2 News, Obama intimated Thursday that should diplomatic efforts fail this year or early next year, America will be forced to carry out military action against Iran.

“There is a window, not an infinite period of time, a window of time where we can resolve this diplomatically,” Obama said. ”Right now we think that it would take over a year or so for Iran to actually develop a nuclear weapon, but we obviously don’t want to cut it too close.”

“If we can resolve it diplomatically, that’s a more lasting solution,” Obama said, but added: “When I that say all options are on the table, all options are on the table. And the US obviously has significant capabilities.”

“It’s clear to everyone that the Iranians don’t intend to halt their efforts to reach nuclear capability,” Israel’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chair Avigdor Liberman said last month. Iran is buying time while the world looks on, he charged, speaking after the most recent round of talks between the sides.

In February, US legislators pushed for a bill that would guarantee Jerusalem would be backed and aided by Washington if it decides to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Israeli sources: Chemical weapons used in Syria | JPost | Israel News.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, REUTERS

Weapons movement in Syria an issue as Obama visits Israel – CNN Security Clearance – CNN.com Blogs.