WarSclerotic

CANDIDLY SPEAKING: Obama’s shameless cheerleaders – Opinion – Jerusalem Post.

Those committed to overcoming the global threat of Islamic fundamentalism and preserving the well-being of the Jewish state should pray that Netanyahu succeeds in his efforts.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses US Congress in 2011. (photo credit:REUTERS)

While US President Barack Obama determinedly pursues his policy of appeasement, which may enable the world’s most dangerous terrorist state to become a nuclear threshold power, there are Israelis and American Jews who have initiated a campaign against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The campaign calling for the maintenance of bipartisanship toward Israel is in reality undermining the hitherto strong bipartisan congressional opposition to the catastrophic US policy toward Iran.

Israeli opposition groups and the anti-Netanyahu media are now concentrating their efforts on discrediting Netanyahu and calling on the prime minister to cancel his address to the joint session of Congress scheduled for March 3.

Disregarding the gravity of the negotiations with Iran – the underlying reason for the invitation – they accuse Netanyahu of destroying the US-Israeli relationship by failing to obtain Obama’s advance approval to address Congress (which would never have been forthcoming). The White House even falsely alleged that Netanyahu accepted the invitation before they were aware of it.

Labor leader Isaac Herzog, in an irresponsible breach of propriety while attending a conference on security in Munich, Germany, slandered the prime minister, calling on Netanyahu “to act as a patriot …cancel his speech … which was born in sin … and not throw Israel’s security under the bus of the elections.”

The timing of his comments was even more shameful as on that same day and in the same city, US Secretary of State John Kerry was meeting Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Zarif.

Similar sentiments were echoed by other political leaders, whose primitive electioneering tactics display utter indifference to and contempt for the repercussions on the greatest threat facing Israel. They warn that Israel would suffer serious consequences if Netanyahu persists in addressing Congress and demand that he postpone his address until after the elections – when the “negotiations” would be over.

They also accuse him of forcing Democrats to choose between supporting their president or undermining his policies, and thus destroying bipartisanship.

That surely sends the wrong message to Congress about limiting Obama’s actions. Worse still, it sends bad vibes to American Jews, reinforcing their inability to stand up and protest against Obama’s hostile policies. The White House, of course, uses this to discredit Netanyahu on the grounds that he is merely engaged in an electoral stunt.

Truth be told, a failure by Netanyahu in this area could cost him the election. But Iran has genuinely been Netanyahu’s greatest concern, and without his intervention would already be a nuclear state.

Israel remains the target for annihilation of the Holocaust-denying Iranians, who brazenly repeat their determination to eradicate the “cancerous” Israel from the map. Yet Israel is marginalized by the P5+1 nations determining the outcome.

Netanyahu regarded the invitation not only as a means to promote his case to Congress but as a platform to convey his message to the entire world. But this is ignored by his Israeli political opponents, who are more concerned with electoral populism than displaying a united front in the face of an existential threat.

Yet Obama is on extremely shaky ground. Even the normally supportive Washington Post published an editorial warning him against presenting the world with a fait accompli over Iran’s nuclear goals and granting them regional hegemony. It accused Obama of seeking “to avoid congressional review because he suspects a bipartisan majority would oppose the deal he is prepared to make.”

It is in fact Obama, not Netanyahu, who has made this a partisan issue, because of his fear that an effective presentation by Netanyahu at Congress could have a major impact on legislators and the public. It is this, rather than pre-election protocol, that explains the frenzied efforts and threats that the White House has engaged to discredit Netanyahu.

Netanyahu’s efforts are also being undermined by extreme left-wing groups like J Street calling on congressmen to boycott his speech and launching petitions proclaiming that he does not represent the views of American Jews.

This is buttressed by media “court Jews” like New York Times columnist Tom Friedman resurrecting the traditional anti-Semitic dual loyalties accusation, warning Jews that if they protested against Obama’s policies on Iran, Americans would be convinced that Israel controlled Washington, was responsible for the war in Iraq and was now dragging the US into another war.

American Jews claim that they live in a unique democratic country and enjoy full equality. Yet, whereas most Americans have no hesitation in criticizing their president when they disagree with his policies, the traditionally feisty and outspoken American Jewish leaders seem fearful to criticize their president even in the most respectful terms. This, even after Obama’s repeated and crudely appalling behavior aimed at humiliating his ally, the Israeli prime minister, in direct contrast to his servility to representatives of rogue states including Iran.

On this issue, most of the Jewish leadership establishment has remained silent. This includes the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, whose officials, according to the White House, privately distanced themselves from Netanyahu’s visit.

To his credit, Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, was one of the few mainstream leaders stressing that Netanyahu’s intention was neither to personally attack the president nor become engaged in US domestic politics. Rather, it was to promote Israel’s concerns about developments that it considers an existential threat and great danger to the world.

But shockingly, a number of Jewish leaders also publicly slammed Netanyahu. Abe Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, went so far as to describe the issue as a “circus” and called on House Speaker John Boehner “to withdraw” the invitation and Netanyahu to rescind his acceptance.

He was followed by Rabbi Rick Jacobs of the Reform movement, who said Netanyahu’s speech was “a bad idea” and urged him “to bite the bullet and postpone his address” or he would “turn Israel into a partisan issue.”

This was outrageous. Who gave Foxman and Jacobs a mandate to challenge the decision of Israel’s prime minister to appeal against enabling the Iranian terrorist state from becoming a nuclear state – an act of appeasement that would dwarf Chamberlain’s concessions to Hitler in Munich? Foxman’s subsequent effort to modify his outburst by condemning J Street’s “inflammatory and repugnant campaign” against Netanyahu did not detract from the damage he caused.

Jacobs and Foxman may have convinced themselves that by seeking to avoid a conflict with their president, they were acting on the side of the angels. It was left to the hawkish Zionist Organization of America to bitterly condemn their intervention and make chilling parallels between their behavior and that of Rabbi Stephen Wise who in 1944 urged Jewish leaders to cease campaigning to pressure the White House to intervene on behalf of the Jews in Europe in order not to embarrass president Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Today, Netanyahu is desperately appealing to the world to prevent an evil, apocalyptic Islamic terrorist state, committed to Israel’s destruction, from becoming a nuclear power. Yet Foxman and Jacobs seem more concerned about placating their president. In making such negative statements, it is they who are transforming this into a partisan issue – and providing enormous satisfaction to Iranian mullahs, who undoubtedly appreciate their efforts. Shame on them.

Not surprisingly, the White House exploited these outbursts as a means of encouraging Democrats to boycott the address. The president even shed crocodile tears bemoaning that Israel would become a partisan issue. Conveniently, Vice President Joe Biden announced that he would be out of the country and unable to attend. Yet very few Democrats have indicated that they would absent themselves.

Indeed, while unhappy with the timing, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said she would attend and dismissed calls for a boycott. Rep. Eliot Engel, the senior Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also made it clear that he intended to hear what Netanyahu had to say.

There is in fact a growing awareness that Obama’s proposed deal represents a sellout to the Iranians.

What were hitherto considered wild accusations that Obama was abandoning the traditional allies of the US in order to enter into an alliance with the Iranians has now become a genuine concern.

Netanyahu’s speech from a US Congress platform will undoubtedly enjoy massive media exposure and may bring about public pressure on the P5+1 countries to refrain from committing an act that would have horrific implications not only for Israel but the entire world. Those committed to overcoming the global threat of Islamic fundamentalism and preserving the well-being of the Jewish state should pray that Netanyahu succeeds in his efforts.

The writer’s website can be viewed at http://www.wordfromjerusalem.com. He may be contacted at ileibler@ leibler.com.

Egypt bombs ISIS targets in Libya after video of 21 Copts beheaded. Ten Egyptians earlier killed in Sinai.

Egyptian Copts lined up for mass murder by ISIS

Egyptian air strikes bombed Islamic State targets in Libya at dawn Mon. Feb. 16, hours after a video was released showing the mass beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians. The targets were officially described as “Islamic State camps, training sites and weapons storage areas” across the border. debkafile: The video released in Libya came six days after an ISIS-affiliated Sinai group aired a video depicting the beheadings of 10 alleged collaborators with Israeli and Egyptian intelligence – altogether 31 savage murders of Egyptians have been perpetrated in less than a week.
President Abdel Fatteh El-Sisi went on national television Sundaynight to warn that Cairo would “choose the necessary means and timing to avenge the criminal killings.”

He declared seven days of national mourning.

A major Islamist-Egyptian confrontation has thus spilled over into Libya from the multiple fronts already stretching from Sinai and the Suez Canal into the Egyptian heartland.

debkafile’s military sources report that late last month, the Egyptian military’s high command resolved to cut down on ground operations on its western border against ISIS infiltrators from Libya and focus on aerial operations. Large air force contingents were transferred to the Libyan border last week. Monday morning they took to the air for their first strike in pursuit of three objectives:

1. To obstruct the ISIS-linked group’s advance on the Libyan capital Tripoli, after the jihadis overran most of Sirte, the port town along the coast from the capital.

2. To break up the Islamist buildup concentrated in the eastern Libyan towns of Benghazi and Darnah.
3. To hit ISIS command centers in eastern Libya and its smuggling networks, which are currently regulating most of the arms traffic from Libya via Egypt into Sinai and thence to Iraq, Jordan and the Gaza Strip.
Our military sources expect Egypt to follow up on its air strikes with marine landings on the Libyan coast against the Islamic forces on the move there.
No one has fathomed until now how ISIS managed to surreptitiously transfer large numbers of fighters from Iraq to Libya. The officers smuggled into Sinai from Iraq most likely built a secret land bridge linking Iraq-Sinai, Egypt proper and Libya.

The 21 victims, Egyptian Coptic workers shown on the Libyan Islamists’ video, were seized in December and January from the coastal town of Sirte which has fallen under control of Islamic groups. The video was labeled “A message signed with blood to the nation.”

“We have seen the painful video and confirm the execution of Egyptians kidnapped in Libya,” Coptic Church spokesman Bolis Halim told the official Middle East News Agency in Cairo. The footage released by IS online shows handcuffed hostages wearing orange jumpsuits being beheaded by their black-suited captors in a coastal area.

Sunni Islam’s top body, Al-Azhar, condemned the “barbaric” beheading of the Copts. “Al-Azhar received the news of the execution of a group of innocent Egyptians with great sorrow and grief,” Al-Azhar said in a statement. “Al-Azhar stresses that such barbaric action has nothing to do with any religion or human values.”

Thousands of Afghan, Pakistani Shiites in Hizballah’s advance on Golan.

Afghan Hazara fighters in South Syria

The Iranian-backed “Operation Quneitra Martyrs named for Gen. Ali Allah Dadi” to capture the Golan brings Afghan and Pakistani Shiite fighters to an Israeli border for the first time, debkafile‘s military and intelligence sources reveal that 2,000 of these fighters have joined an equal number of Hizballah troops, who are spearheading a march on the Golan from southern Syria, directly behind the Syrian tanks. They are acting on an order from the Iranian high command in Syria to integrate Shiite fighters from Afghanistan and Pakistan in combat for the Golan sector of the Syrian-Israeli border.

These fighters were recruited from two Shiite militias which the Revolutionary Guards Al Qods Brigades have established among Iran’s minority communities, notably the Hazara and Zaynubian Militias.
Hazara has been drawn from the two million Afghan Shiite refugees who escaped to Iran in flight from persecution by Taliban and al Qaeda. Zaynubian Militia is made up of Pakistani Shiites brought to Iran for military training.
From the Israeli viewpoint, the arrival of these fighters to boost Hizballah’s push in southern Syria attests to Iran’s intention to expanding the Hizballah war effort against Israel – both from Syria and from Lebanon. The injection of this new strength is designed to consolidate Israel’s besiegement from the east and the north by a strong, continuous Lebanese-Afghan-Shiite Shiite military belt under Iranian command, and teach them to fight Israel as an integrated force

Still, not everyone in top IDF and security top circles rates the combat capabilities of the Afghan-Pakistani contingents too highly. Some account for the slowdown of the Iranian-Syrian offensive at the beginning of this week by the disappointing performance of those Shiite forces and their failure to fully pull their weight as expected.
debkafile’s military sources say that the truth of the matter is irrelevant, considering Tehran’s firm determination to win a foothold on the Golan willy-nilly – even if to attain this objective, it becomes necessary to import more manpower, be they Afghans or Pakistanis, as well as adding more heavy arms.

Interestingly, a small group of Hazaras had their first Syrian experience two years ago when they were thrown into the Syrian army’s battle for the town of Aleppo. They took a severe beating from Syrian rebel forces, against whom their unfamiliarity with urban guerrilla warfare and local conditions placed them at a serious disadvantage. They were pulled out and sent to Iran for extra training and reorganization and brought back to Syria at the beginning of the year.

Each of these Shiite militiamen is paid $500 per month, a sum which they may transfer to their needy families in Iran and Afghanistan.

Egyptian jets bomb Libya after jihadists behead 21 Copts | The Times of Israel.

Cairo targets Islamic State weapons caches and training camps ‘to avenge bloodshed’ of slain Christians; Libyan planes hit city taken over by Islamists

Report: US to halt updates to Israel on Iran nuclear talks in response to Benjamin Netanyahu speech plans – Breaking News – Jerusalem Post.

After Copenhagen attack, PM urges that Jews move to Israel | The Times of Israel.

‘Once again Jews are murdered on the soil of Europe just for being Jews,’ says PM; Israeli leaders blame Islamist ideology for attack

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on February 1, 2015. (photo credit: Alex Kolomoisky/POOL)

The deadly shooting attack at a Copenhagen synagogue early Sunday would not mark the end of extremist Muslim terror attacks against European Jews, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned at Sunday’s cabinet meeting.

“We send our condolences to the Danish people, and also to the Jewish community in Denmark,” said Netanyahu. “Once again Jews are murdered on the soil of Europe just for being Jews. This wave of terror attacks is expected to continue, including these murderous anti-Semitic attacks.”

The shooting at the Krystalgade synagogue in downtown Copenhagen came just hours after a deadly shooting at a free speech event at a local community center that featured an artist who had caricatured the Prophet Muhammad. One person was killed in the earlier shooting, while 38-year-old Dan Uzan, a member of the Copenhagen Jewish community, was killed outside the synagogue. Uzan was guarding the site at the time.

Five police officers were also wounded in the shootings, two of them outside the synagogue. On Sunday, police said they shot and killed a man they believed had carried out both shootings.

Police have not yet released information on the identity or motives of the attacker.

In his statement, Netanyahu called for the Danish Jewish community to move to Israel.

“Obviously Jews deserve protection in every country, but we say to the Jews, to our brothers and sisters: ‘Israel is your home,’” he told cabinet ministers in a prepared statement.

“We are preparing for a wave of mass aliya [Jewish immigration] from Europe; we are calling for a wave of mass aliya from Europe. I want to tell all the Jews of Europe, and Jews wherever they may be: ‘Israel is the home of every Jew…Israel awaits you with open arms,’” he said.

Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, who also serves as Israel’s diaspora affairs minister, spoke to Jewish community leaders in Denmark Sunday and offered his condolences.

“The State of Israel stands by you in this difficult time, ready to assist in any way,” Bennett said, according to a statement from his office. “We can’t accept that Jews are simply shot on the streets of Europe. We will not let Jews become easy targets for anti-Semitic attacks.”

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said terror incidents in Copenhagen over the weekend prove the need for “a truly uncompromising war against Islamic terror and its causes.”

The Jews, Liberman said, were the canary in the coalmine.

“The string of terror incidents in Copenhagen, at the synagogue and at the free speech event, prove what we have been saying for years, that Israel and the Jews are the first to experience this terror because they are the front line in the terror war against the West and the entire free world,” the foreign minister insisted.

“The international community in its entirety cannot be satisfied with declarations and demonstrations against this terror, but must throw off the rules of political correctness and conduct an a truly uncompromising war against Islamic terror and its causes,” Liberman said.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry was in constant contact with the Israeli embassy in Denmark and is closely following the events, a statement from Liberman’s office said.

World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder also condemned the shootings and urged the Danish government to find those responsible while stepping up efforts to protect the local Jewish community against rising anti-Semitic violence.

“The World Jewish Congress deplores these despicable attacks, and stands in solidarity with the Jewish community and the people of Denmark,” said Lauder. “We are confident the Danish government will take all necessary measures to bring those responsible for these attacks to justice, and we urge them to help secure the local Jewish community against anti-Semitic violence.”

“These attacks in Copenhagen follow the similar, brutal targeting of Jews and others in Paris and across Europe,” Lauder said. “European governments should recognize that we are facing a vicious new wave of anti-Semitism and violence. It is crucial that Europe contends with this growing threat.”

JTA contributed to this report.

One dead, two hurt in attack on Copenhagen free speech event | The Times of Israel.

( Must be those “Crusaders” again… JW )

Cafe hosting lecture by artist who caricatured Prophet Muhammad riddled with bullets; French ambassador unharmed in attack

By Justin Jalil, AFP and AP February 14, 2015, 6:26 pm

Policemen secure the area around a building in Copenhagen, Denmark, where shots were fired on February 14, 2015 outside the venue of a debate held on art, blasphemy and free speech. (photo credit: AFP Mathias Oegendal/Scanpix Denmark)

One man was killed and three policemen wounded Saturday in a shooting at a Copenhagen cafe where a meeting about freedom of speech was being held, organized by Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has faced numerous threats for caricaturing the Prophet Muhammad in 2007, local media reported.

Copenhagen police confirmed that a 40-year-old man was killed and three officers were injured, and that two suspected gunmen fled the scene in a dark Volkswagen Polo and were at large.

The TV2 channel said Saturday there were some 30 bullet holes in the window of the Krudttoenden cafe and said at least two people were taken away on stretchers, including a uniformed police officer.

“I heard someone firing with an automatic weapons and someone shouting. Police returned the fire and I hid behind the bar. I felt surreal, like in a movie,” Niels Ivar Larsen, one of the speakers at the event, told the TV2 channel.

Helle Merete Brix, one of the organizers of the event, told The Associated Press that Vilks was present at the event but not injured. When the artist is in Denmark, he receives police protection.

“I saw a masked man running past,” she said. “A couple of police officers were injured.”

“I clearly consider this as an attack on Lars Vilks,” she added, saying she was ushered away with Vilks by one of the Danish police guards that he gets whenever he is in Denmark.

The cafe in northern Copenhagen, known for its jazz concerts, was hosting an event titled “Art, blasphemy and the freedom of expression” when the shots were fired.

According to the BBC, the French ambassador to Denmark, François Zimeray, was present during the attack and at least three people were wounded.

The ambassador tweeted that he was “still alive” following the shooting.

“Bullets went through the doors and everyone threw themselves to the floor. We managed to flee the room, and now we’re staying inside because it’s still dangerous. The attackers haven’t been caught and they could very well still be in the neighborhood,” Zimeray said by telephone.

A Femen activist, Inna Shevshenko, said on Twitter that there were several dozen people in the room.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius condemned the attack, saying in a statement that France “remains by the side of the Danish authorties and people in the fight against terrorism.”

The French president’s office said Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve was headed to the scene.

This is not the first time the event’s organizer has been in harm’s way: The 68-year-old Swedish artist has faced several attempted attacks and death threats after he depicted the Prophet Muhammad as a dog eight years ago.

A Pennsylvania woman last year got a 10-year prison term for a plot to kill Vilks. In 2010 two brothers tried to burn down his house in southern Sweden and were imprisoned for attempted arson.

After jihadists attacked the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Paris last month, killing 12 people, Vilks told the AP that even fewer organizations were inviting him to give lectures over increased security concerns.

Vilks also said he thought Sweden’s SAPO security service, which deploys bodyguards to protect him, would step up the security around him.

“This will create fear among people on a whole different level than we’re used to,” he said. “Charlie Hebdo was a small oasis. Not many dared do what they did.”