Archive for March 2019

Israeli official says US Golan recognition paves way for other territories

March 26, 2019

Diplomatic source says Washington’s backing for sovereignty over plateau seized from Syria shows Israel can hold on to land it captures in a defensive war

US President Donald Trump, left, and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold up a Golan Heights proclamation outside the West Wing after a meeting in the the White House in Washington, DC, March 25, 2019.(Brendan Smialowski/AFP)

A senior Israeli diplomat said Tuesday that the US recognition of Israeli sovereignty on the Golan Heights will help Jerusalem lay claim to other lands it captured during defensive wars.

US President Donald Trump broke with decades of US policy on Monday by signing a proclamation recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan, a strategic plateau it captured from Syria during the 1967 Six Day War.

“This is important from a historical and political point of view,” said the official who spoke to media on condition of anonymity as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s entourage returned from Washington.

“We are in a confrontation with Iran and this [Golan recognition] hurts the Iranians [also because it] demonstrates that the US gives us absolute and powerful backing.” the official said. “The second thing is a principle that everyone says it is impossible to hold an occupied territory, and behold — it is possible if it is ours in a defensive war.”

Israel also took control of East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan during 1967’s Six Day War, which Jerusalem terms a defensive war, even though it struck first, because it was facing mobilized Egyptian forces, but the matter remains contested.

Israel extended Israeli law to the Golan in 1981, a step tantamount to annexation.

Israel has also extended sovereignty to East Jerusalem, though not the West Bank.

The official made no mention of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas the Palestinians want for a future state. Right-wing Israelis, including some cabinet ministers, are in favor of extending Israeli sovereignty to, or formally annexing, the West Bank.

Netanyahu has said in the past that under any future agreement Israel will maintain security control of the Jordan Valley, a strategic passage along the West Bank.

On Monday, Netanyahu said the US recognition underlines “one important principle in international relations: When you start wars of aggression, and lose territory, don’t come back and claim it later. It belongs to us.”

The official said that during talks with Trump, the prime minister also presented the US with a plan to solve the crisis in Syria, where Israel fears Iran or its proxies is working to establish a military foothold on Syrian territory from which to attack Israel.

A line of Sherman M-50 tanks and trucks full of soldiers ride towards East Jerusalem to confront the Jordanians on June 5, 1967. (Benny Hadar/Defense Ministry’s IDF Archive)

The UN Security Council and successive US administrations have always regarded the Golan as occupied territory whose return would be negotiated as part of a comprehensive peace deal between Israel and Syria.

In the wake of Trump’s proclamation, fellow veto-wielding UN Security Council permanent members Britain and France have both said they will continue to consider the Golan Heights Israeli-occupied in line with council resolutions, as have China and Russia.

Israel claims a unified Jerusalem — including the eastern parts of the city — as its indivisible capital and has established settlements throughout the West Bank. Israel’s authority over East Jerusalem is not recognized by the international community which views the eastern part of the city and the West Bank as occupied territory.

Trump is posed to reveal his “Deal of the Century” plan for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, reportedly after coming Israeli national elections on April 9. The Palestinian Authority has already said it will reject the plan.

Agencies contributed to this report.

PM Netanyahu Addresses the AIPAC 2019 Policy Conference – YouTube

March 26, 2019

 

 

It are not the Jews but it is the islam !

March 26, 2019

Systemic Western ‘Islamophobia’ Is Not to Blame for the Christchurch Mosque Attack

By Andrew G. Bostom March 22, 2019

https://pjmedia.com/homeland-security/systemic-western-islamophobia-is-not-to-blame-for-the-christchurch-mosque-attack/

Workers are seen cleaning up at the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, Thursday, March 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Brenton Tarrant gunned down 50 defenseless Muslims at two Christchurch, New Zealand, area mosques on March 15, 2019, in a heinous, cowardly act of mass murder. Tarrant’s own alleged manifesto declared that “The Peoples Republic of China [PRC], a bigoted ethno-nationalist, Marxist-Leninist Communist state, was “the nation with the closest political and social values to my [Tarrant’s] own.”  The PRC’s brutal behavior on a grand scale—forcibly interning and “re-educating” an estimated 1.5 million Xinjiang province Uighur Muslims—comports neatly with Tarrant’s ideologically-driven violence.

Despite hysterical claims by the Jew-hating Turkish President Erdogan—echoed by supposedly more staid Muslim organizations, “expert” media commentators, and “academics”—Tarrant himself bears complete responsibility for the carnage he wrought, not systemic Western “Islamophobia.” All those perseverating dishonestly on “Islamophobia,” are silent about disproportionate Muslim vs. non-Muslim, especially Christian, violence. Due to this continuous anti-Christian jihad, a Christian in a Muslim country is at least 143 times more likely to be killed than a Muslim in a Christian country. The global context of internecine Muslim vs. Muslim violence also passes without comment. Specific events ignored by all those perseverating dishonestly on “Islamophobia,” alone, include:

  • The last 30-days of worldwide jihad depredations, through 3/20/19, witnessed 111 Islamic attacks in 21 countries, during which 768 people were murdered, and 780 injured.
  • The specific jihad carnage of Nigerian Christians perpetrated by a combination of Boko Haram and Fulani tribesmen jihadists, resulting in nearly 300 Christian deaths since February of this year (2019).
  • The 4-year anniversary of a coordinated series of Sunni jihadist bombings (ISIS claimed “credit”) of Zaydi Shiite mosques in Yemen on March 20, 2015 — internecine Muslim on Muslim mosque carnage — which killed 142 Shiite Muslims.
  • As reported February 2018, in Christchurch, New Zealand [NZ] itself, a jihad mass murder by a young Muslim convert to Islam was prevented. The thwarted jihadist planned to ram a car into a group of people in Christchurch and then stab them “for Allah.” NZ Crown prosecutor Chris Lange told the court of the would-be perpetrator ’s significant premeditation and hostility towards non-Muslims.
  • As reported in 2014, the very Christchurch Al-Noor mosque that bore the brunt of anti-Muslim carnage, “successfully” preached jihadism to Muslim convert Islam Chris Havard, killed in Yemen fighting for Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and perhaps many others. This 2014 report also included observations from a man who attended a converts’ weekend at the mosque 10 years earlier. He insisted a visiting speaker from Indonesia talked about violent jihad and many attendees shared his views. “Most of the men were angry with the moral weakness of New Zealand. I would say they were radical.”

Yet, lunatic as it may seem outside Islamdom, Sudanese cleric Sheikh Abd Al-Jalil Al-Karouri has assigned blame for the Christchurch mosque mass killings to the most fitting Islamic culprit: “the Jews.” During a March 15 sermon the good sheikh, citing themes of conspiratorial Islamic Jew-hatred, stated:

I am asking: Who was [the NZ mosque attacker] working for? The Christians are not hostile to the Muslims, as it is said in the Koran [ 5:82  ]: “You shall find the people strongest in enmity towards the believers to be the Jews and the polytheists, and you shall find the nearest among them in love to the believers to be those who say: ‘We are Christians.’” We are talking about a Christian country. So where did the Jews come from? We are not talking about Gaza. No, we are talking about Australia [sic; NZ]. As I’ve said before, this aggression [in NZ] was meant to incite Christians and Muslims against one another. The Jews are the ones who stand to gain. Even if the perpetrator was not Jewish, he was acting in the interest of the Jews, because he was fanning the flames of enmity between Christians and Muslims. The truth is that the Jews are enemies of both the Christians and the Muslims. They are the ones who claimed that they killed [Biblical prophets; Koran 2:613:112  , 4:155 ] Christ, and they killed John the Baptist. Who tried to poison the Prophet of Islam [in the traditions and earliest pious Muslim biographies of Muhammad ] if not the Jews ?

Unfortunately, such paranoid, conspiratorial Muslim hatred of Jews reflects a global pandemic consistent with canonical Islam, and sanctioned by the most authoritative Islamic religious teaching institutions.

Ahmed al-Tayeb is the current grand imam of Al-Azhar University, Sunni Islam’s most important religious teaching institution. The profile of Sunni Islam’s de facto pope, and number 1 ranked Muslim figure for 2017 in “The Muslim 500—The World’s 500 Most Influential Muslims,” reads: “Influence: Highest scholarly authority for the majority of Sunni Muslims, runs the foremost and largest Sunni Islamic university.”

Al-Tayeb, in an interview that aired on Channel 1, Egyptian TV, October 25, 2013, gave a concise explanation of the continuing relevance of the Koranic verse 5:82, which was also cited by Sudanese Sheikh Al-Karouri, and has been invoked—“successfully”—to inspire violent Muslim hatred of Jews since the advent of Islam. It is important to note that al-Tayeb was explicit in equating Zionism with Judaism, and Zionists with Jews.

A verse in the Koran explains the Muslims’ relations with the Jews… This is an historical perspective, which has not changed to this day. See how we suffer today from global Zionism and JudaismSince the inception of Islam 1,400 years ago, we have been suffering from Jewish and Zionist interference in Muslim affairs. This is a cause of great distress for the Muslims. The Koran said it and history has proven it: “You shall find the strongest among men in enmity to the believers to be the Jews…”

Within a year—because of his belief in (and promotion of) Islam’s conspiratorial Jew-hating canon, Grand Imam al-Tayeb insisted that the scourge of jihad terrorism ravaging the Middle East, then epitomized by ISIS, is due to the machinations of “Global Zionism,” i.e., Judaism. During a televised statement which aired on Channel 1 Egyptian TV, September 8, 2014—consistent with Sudanese Sheikh Al-Karouri’s recent unhinged claim regarding “the Jews’” culpability for the Christchurch mosque murders—al-Tayeb intoned:

All the [fundamentalist terrorist groups] are the new products of imperialism, in the service of global Zionism in its new version, and its plot to destroy the [Middle] East and tear region apart.

Al-Tayeb’s predecessor, the late Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi, Al Azhar Grand Imam from 1996, until his March, 2010 death, authored what can be aptly characterized as modern Islam’s Koranic Kampf on the Jews, entitled “Banū Isrāʼīl fī al-Qurʼān wa-al-Sunnah,” or “Jews in The Koran and The Traditions”. Tantawi’s magnum opus, a 766 page Muslim academic religious treatise, includes this summary Koranic rationalization for Muslim Jew-hatred:

[The] Koran describes the Jews with their own particular degenerate characteristics, i.e. killing the prophets of Allah [see Koran 2:613:112 ], corrupting His words by putting them in the wrong places, consuming the people’s wealth frivolously [4:161], refusal to distance themselves from the evil they do [3:120; 5:79], and other ugly characteristics [see a fuller 2004 litany with Koranic citations by Tantawi’s Al-Azhar colleague, and head of the religious edict, or “fatwa” committee, Sheikh Saqr: “Jews’ 20 Bad Traits As Described in the Qur’an”]  caused by their deep-rooted (lascivious) envy [2:109]…only a minority of the Jews keep their word…[A]ll Jews are not the same. The good ones become Muslims [Koran 3:113], the bad ones do not.

More ominously, Tantawi’s exhaustive modern analysis of Islam’s defining, canonical sources concluded by sanctioning these bigoted—even violent—Muslim behaviors towards Jews:

[T]he Jews always remain maleficent deniers….they should desist from their negative denial…some Jews went way overboard in their denying hostility, so gentle persuasion can do no good with them, so use force with them and treat them in the way you see as effective in ridding them of their evil. One may go so far as to ban their religion, their persons, their wealth, and their villages.

Al-Azhar’s authoritative teaching of traditional, institutionalized Islamic Jew-hatred is ultimately manifest in the global pandemic of strongly bigoted Muslim attitudes toward Jews as documented by unprecedented Anti-Defamation League (ADL) surveys conducted in 2014, updated in 2015, and again, during 2016-2017, in the U.S. “Scaling” conspiratorial Jew-hatred, based upon an index of eleven antisemitic stereotypes, 50% of the world’s Muslims harbored the most intense animus (affirming ≥ 6/11 stereotypes), a rate two- to threefold higher than among any other major faith (i.e., Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism), or those professing no religion. Fully 75% of Middle East and North Africa Muslims, overall, expressed this level of Jew-hating intensity, ranging between 92%-93% in Gaza/ Judea-Samaria (“the West Bank”) and Iraq, to 74%-75% in Saudi Arabia and Egypt respectively. Predictably, when queried, canonical Islamic Jew-hatred emerges as a critical etiologic factor in shaping these Muslim attitudes. Follow-up 2015 ADL data from Western European Muslims (an oversample of the Belgian, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and UK Muslim populations) revealed that 55% shared this level of Jew-hatred. These Western European ADL findings are consistent with prior analyses of the indoctrination of Muslim European youth and adults with textual Islamic Jew-hatred, and European Union data that acts of overt antisemitic violence are at least ~25-fold more likely to be committed by Muslims, relative to non-Muslims.

Based on 3,600 interviews conducted by the ADL in the U.S. in January and February 2017, and another 1,500 interviews in October 2016, 34% of American Muslims hold extreme antisemitic views (believe >=6/11 Jew-hating stereotypes), vs. only 14% of the general non-Muslim U.S. population. This relative 2.4-fold increased rate of extreme Jew-hatred amongst U.S. Muslims is very consistent with ADL’s global data on Muslims, although the absolute rates are, thankfully, lower across all American religious groups. The documented promulgation of canonical Islamic Jew-hatred in U.S. mosques (here; here; here), through early 2019, and Muslim primary and secondary schools (here; here), may have already contributed to sporadic violent acts (or attempted acts) by Muslims against American Jews (here; here; here). Should this traditionalist, mainstream Islamic Jew-hating incitement continue unchecked, it will likely generate levels of Muslim antisemitic violence on par with those now occurring in Europe.

Netanyahu says Israel prepared to do ‘a lot more’ after Gaza bombardment 

March 26, 2019

Source: Netanyahu says Israel prepared to do ‘a lot more’ after Gaza bombardment | The Times of Israel

Addressing AIPAC conference via satellite from Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, PM vows to do whatever is necessary to defend Israel

A picture taken on March 26, 2019, shows Palestinians gathering next to the rubble of a building in Gaza City, after Israeli air strikes hit dozens of sites across the Strip overnight in response to rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave. (MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)

A picture taken on March 26, 2019, shows Palestinians gathering next to the rubble of a building in Gaza City, after Israeli air strikes hit dozens of sites across the Strip overnight in response to rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave. (MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday threatened to step up Israel’s response to rocket attacks from Gaza as he huddled with security chiefs amid a fragile calm on the restive border.

“I can tell you we are prepared to do a lot more. We will do what is necessary to defend our people and to defend our state,” he told a conference of 18,000 pro-Israel activists at a conference in Washington via satellite.

Netanyahu was originally scheduled to address AIPAC’s annual Policy Conference in person, but on Monday cut short his trip to DC in light of the volatile security situation in Israel.

While in Washington, he authorized the Israeli Air Force to launch a large-scale retaliatory bombing campaign, destroying dozens of targets, including the offices of Hamas chairman Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza City.

“We responded with great force,” he said, speaking via a shaky satellite connection from the Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv, where he headed immediately upon landing in Israel. “In the last 24 hours, the IDF destroyed major Hamas terrorist installations on a scale not seen since the end of the military operation in Gaza four years ago.”

Netanyahu’s speech to AIPAC came as he was in Tel Aviv for security consultations with IDF chief Aviv Kohavi and other top defense officials. He continued the consultations after the speech.

The latest round of violence was kindled when, just after dawn on Monday, a rocket from the southern Gaza Strip that Israel says was fired by Hamas struck a home in the town of Mishmeret, northeast of Tel Aviv, leveling the building.

Two of the people inside were moderately wounded and five others, including two small children, were lightly injured.

It was the farthest-reaching rocket strike from the Strip since the 2014 Operation Protective Edge.

Netanyahu has been criticized by some political rivals and others for not pushing back against Gaza’s Hamas rulers hard enough.

Israeli troops and tanks along the Gaza border remained at the ready on Tuesday afternoon, hours after an unofficial ceasefire went into effect following the latest bout of warfare between the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas terror group in the coastal enclave.

Minutes before landing in Israel, a senior official in Netanyahu’s entourage told reporters that Israel did not agree to a ceasefire with Hamas, and is ready to continue its airstrikes on targets in the Gaza Strip.

“There was no ceasefire,” the senior official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Netanyahu was in constant contact with the IDF chief of staff and other security officials throughout the 12-hour flight back to Israel, the official added.

Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.

 

Hamas leaders head underground in fear of Israeli reprisals

March 26, 2019

Source: Hamas leaders head underground in fear of Israeli reprisals – Israel Hayom

Armed Gazan factions: Cease-fire talks have failed, we are preparing for confrontation with Israel • Hamas warns that Gazans who relay information over internet, telephone about location of its forces and launching pads risk being charged with treason.

Daniel Siryoti // published on 26/03/2019
   
Smoke and flames are seen during an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Monday 


Prior to reports of a ceasefire, Monday night, the Hamas terrorist organization threatened to escalate its response to IDF airstrikes on the Gaza Strip. In the late evening hours, the group announced that “the resistance would expand its missile range as long as the Zionist enemy’s attacks continued.”

Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri threatened, “We will respond with force to the criminal Zionist onslaught. Red lines have been crossed, and we will not remain silent.”

Ahead of the Israeli strikes on the coastal enclave in response to a rocket launched from Gaza that struck a home in the central Israeli moshav Mishmeret, injuring seven, Islamic Jihad head Ziad al-Nakhla had warned that “an Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip will result in a forceful response.”

In a joint statement, Monday, armed Gazan factions said talks aimed at reaching a cease-fire with Egyptian mediators had failed and that they were now preparing for a confrontation.

According to reports coming out of the terrorist enclave, the rocket that struck Israel’s central Sharon region was likely launched from the vicinity of Rafah, in southern Gaza. Nevertheless, senior Hamas officials told the Al Arabiya news channel and Al Jazeera network that the rocket’s launch had been the result of “human error.”

Hamas’ national security mechanism, Monday, issued a message according to which “residents of the [Gaza] strip must not relay information over the internet or by telephone of the location of Hamas activists, the launching areas, the movement of forces and activists in the strip.” According to the report, Hamas said that “those who violate the emergency regulations are expected to face serious charges, up to and including treason.”

The assessment in Gaza is that senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials will head underground out of concern of targeted assassinations. It has also been reported that Hamas and the armed factions in Gaza have ordered the evacuation of command centers and bases. In addition, armed Palestinian factions convened in a joint operations room, Monday. Unlike previous instances, no information was given as to where and when the meeting was held.

 

A soldier, a statesman and a star

March 26, 2019

Source: A soldier, a statesman and a star – Israel Hayom

Dror Eydar

It was interesting to hear Benny Gantz address the AIPAC conference. With customary America patience, the large audience waited in line for the security checks.

And then he took the podium. Pleasant on the eyes, gesturing with his hands, talking as a teacher would to his students. It was a reasonable speech if somewhat bland. Nothing more. He discussed (almost) all the issues that every speaker before him had already exhausted: the Holocaust, our strength in unity, peace, immigration, family, the Jewish people’s common historical destiny, Israel takes care of all Jews across the globe, the Western Wall belongs to everyone and no to a Kahanist government; the unbreakable alliance between Israel and the United States, and thanks to President Donald Trump for thus far giving us recognition of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. (There was nothing about the historic withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran, which was a gift of equal importance. Why mention Netanyahu?) And then he issued a warning to Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas and all other thorns in our side. The applause from the crowd was somewhat restrained. There were scattered standing ovations. It didn’t electrify or ooze with charisma. There was even a joke or two sprinkled in. It was all well and good. He’s still an unknown commodity and didn’t give the impression that he felt at home.

2.

The interesting part of his speech was outlining Blue and White’s diplomatic policies, which are the same policies, more or less, as Netanyahu’s: a united Jerusalem; the Jordan Valley as a security buffer; the IDF will remain solely responsible for security (in other words, rejection of international peacekeeping forces), and “we will never retreat from the Golan Heights.” He didn’t offend anyone but also didn’t show how he was different from the Likud. These policies are more compatible with Moshe Ya’alon’s, although Gantz apparently leans more to the left of them, more in the vein of Yesh Atid MK Ofer Shelah. But we are in the home stretch before elections and every word counts. The running theme throughout his speech was “I’m a soldier” and “I have dedicated my life to the State of Israel and the Jewish people.” It was reminiscent of a speech Yitzhak Rabin gave at the White House back in the day: “I, I.D. No. 30743….” And now, Gantz wants us to similarly extrapolate that just as he commanded and led in the army, he can do the same with the country. What about the economy, technology, foreign policy and other critical areas – does military experience ensure success?

3.

And then U.S. Vice President Mike Pence took the stage and repeatedly brought the crowd to its feet. He also touched on the same topics but in his own colorful manner. He mentioned Trump often and discussed the current administration’s uncompromising commitment to Israel. Indeed, the list of accomplishments and gestures of friendship toward Jerusalem is long – not just withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal or recognizing Jerusalem and the Golan but shuttering the PLO’s offices in Washington after the Palestinian Authority refused to stop paying salaries to terrorists and their families, and cutting American payments to the United Nations, UNRWA and more. He mentioned Netanyahu in the same breath as Trump, as it pertains to the recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

And then he changed gears to assail the leftist radicalization of the Democratic Party, to the point of unabashed anti-Semitism in the House of Representatives. Most interesting was his call for those who attack the relationship between Israel and the U.S. to be barred from sitting on the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives. It was a response to the anti-Semitic sentiments voiced by Rep. Ilhan Omar. She and her ilk sought to isolate those who support Israel and to mark them as disloyal and as seeking to undermine U.S. interests. Pence instead turned the spotlight back around, to isolate them as suspects in their own right. It’s clear the Democratic presidential candidates are afraid of the progressives and thus avoided appearing at AIPAC (Pence said they “boycotted” the conference), and addressed them directly: “Anyone who aspires to the highest office in the land should not be afraid to stand with the strongest supporters of Israel in America.”

4.

Similar to all of Pence’s important speeches to Jewish audiences, here too he mixed in some Hebrew. He said the U.S. and Israel were more than friends, partners or allies – but a family (using the Hebrew word “mishpucha” for family). Wonderful. And the next time disagreements arise between Israel and the administration, we must remember that family members do disagree on occasion, regardless of their obvious loyalty to it. To better understand Pence, one needs to remember that he is a religious person and his support for Israel stems from his Christian faith. It is also the source for the idea of family: two faiths stemming from the same root. He ended his speech with a blessing for his fellow Americans: “May the Lord bless you and keep you. May His countenance shine upon you and be gracious unto you. And may all your ways be paths of peace.”

And then Nikki Haley approached the podium and the stadium shook from the ovation. She is still the star of the conference. She, too, touched all the basic bases. But what does it matter? The entire crowd was on its feet the majority of the time, cheering her on. She deserves it. Netanyahu won’t address the conference this year. It’s a shame. Someone already tweeted that the AIPAC conference without Netanyahu is like an omelet without eggs.

Dror Eydar has been appointed Israeli ambassador to Italy.

Trump officially recognizes Israeli sovereignty on Golan Heights 

March 26, 2019

Source: Trump officially recognizes Israeli sovereignty on Golan Heights – Israel Hayom

U.S. President Trump says move cements Israel’s ability to defend itself from regional threats should a broad Arab-Israeli peace deal ever be reached • U.N.: Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights “null and void and without international legal effect.”

News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff // published on 26/03/2019
   
U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a proclamation recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks on at the White House, Monday 


U.S. President Donald Trump signed a historic proclamation on Monday recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Standing alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Trump made formal a move he announced in a surprise tweet last week.

The president said it was time for the U.S. to take the step after 52 years of Israeli control of the strategic highlands on the border with Syria. The U.S. is the first country to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan, which the rest of the international community regards as Israeli-occupied.

Syria and neighboring Lebanon denounced the move, and at least two NATO members, Canada and Turkey, said they would not follow suit.

Trump said his decision would cement the Jewish state’s ability to defend itself from regional threats should a broad Arab-Israeli peace deal ever be reached. Trump’s action also likely gives Netanyahu a political boost ahead of what’s expected to be a close Israeli election.

During his 90-minute visit to the White House, reporters and photographers were invited to see Netanyahu at least four times, including his arrival at the South Lawn and in the Oval Office.

Israel has long argued that the strategically important area has, for all practical purposes, been fully integrated into Israel since it was captured from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and that control of the strategic plateau is needed as protection from Iran and its allies in Syria.

“Today, aggressive acts by Iran and terrorist groups, including Hezbollah in southern Syria continue to make the Golan Heights a potential launching ground for attacks on Israel,” Trump said in the proclamation.

The proclamation noted the “unique circumstances” presented by the Golan, language that appeared to be aimed at countering criticism that the recognition would be used by other countries to justify control of disputed territory, such as Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region.

But criticism was speedy and intense.

Syria slammed the U.S. step as “blatant aggression” on its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The foreign ministry said Trump’s move represented the “highest level of contempt for international legitimacy” and showed that Washington was “the main enemy” of Arabs.

Lebanon, which Secretary of State Mike Pence visited over the past weekend, said that the Golan Heights is “Syrian Arab” territory and that “no country can falsify history by transferring” land from one country to another.

Saudi Arabia denounced U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition of Israel’s 1981 annexation of the Golan Heights, a statement released by the Saudi Press Agency said early on Tuesday.

“Attempts to impose fait accompli do not change the facts,” the statement said. It said the Golan Heights was an “occupied Syrian Arab land in accordance with the relevant international resolutions.”

“It will have significant negative effects on the peace process in the Middle East and the security and stability of the region,” it said.

The Saudi Press Agency report described Monday’s declaration as a clear violation of the United Nations Charter and of international law.

Kuwait and Bahrain said they regretted the decision while Qatar called on Israel to end its occupation of the Golan Heights and comply with international resolutions.

Canada also expressed opposition.

“In accordance with international law, Canada does not recognize permanent Israeli control over the Golan Heights. Canada’s long-standing position remains unchanged,” the Canadian foreign ministry said. “Annexation of territory by force is prohibited under international law.”

Turkey’s foreign minister said that the U.S. had ignored international law and that the decision would further increase tensions in the region.

And, at the United Nations, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said U.N. chief António Guterres adheres to Security Council resolutions that Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights is “null and void and without international legal effect.”

Amnesty International called the decision “irresponsible, reckless and yet another example of the Trump administration violating international law and consensus by condoning Israel’s illegal annexation.”

Eric Goldstein, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said Trump seems to want to “drive a wrecking ball” through international law that protects the people who live in “occupied Golan Heights.” He said it could embolden other “occupying states to double down on their own land grabs, settlements and plunder of resources.”

Netanyahu, even as he was somberly cutting short his visit to Washington to deal with a rocket attack in central Israel, was elated by Trump’s move.

“Israel has never had a better friend than you,” he told the president.

Netanyahu noted a series of steps Trump has taken since assuming office, including his withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving the U.S. Embassy there from Tel Aviv.

In addition to signaling U.S. support for Israel’s security, the decision appeared to show Trump’s support for Netanyahu, who is up for re-election April 9. Netanyahu is facing a tough challenge from a popular former military chief and reeling from a series of corruption allegations. He has repeatedly sought to focus attention on his foreign policy record and strong ties with Trump.

The two leaders met as the Israeli military was striking Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in response to a rocket that hit a house north of Tel Aviv, injuring seven people.

In a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee earlier Monday, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said the rocket attack “proves that Hamas is not a partner for peace.” Pence told AIPAC that “Hamas is a terrorist organization that seeks the destruction of Israel, and the United States will never negotiate with terrorist Hamas.”

Netanyahu arrived in Washington on Sunday for what was to have been a three-day visit but announced early Monday he would leave early to take charge of the response to the rocket.

 

Fragile calm emerges following day of clashes in Gaza 

March 26, 2019

Source: Fragile calm emerges following day of clashes in Gaza – Israel Hayom

In a statement to Palestinian media, terrorist groups vow to stop rocket fire into Israel and “commit to Egyptian mediation efforts” if Israel stops airstrikes • Israel on high alert; schools near the border closed • IDF “prepared for various scenarios.”

Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff // published on 26/03/2019
   
An Israeli soldier stands atop an armored personnel carrier near the Gaza border, Tuesday 

Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza announced a tentative truce with Israel on Tuesday morning after a day of clashes that continued well into Monday night.

In a statement to the Palestinian media, they announced they would stop their rocket fire into Israel and “commit to mediation efforts undertaken by Egypt aimed at reaching a full truce.” They conditioned this on Israel halting its retaliatory strikes.

Israel has yet to respond, although a tense calm has so far been maintained Tuesday and the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement it remained “prepared for various scenarios.”

Israel remained on high alert, with schools near the border kept closed and residents instructed to stay near bomb shelters.

The fighting on Monday was triggered by a rocket attack on Mishmeret in central Israel, which destroyed a home and injured several family members.

During the height of clashes Monday, sirens sounded in Israeli towns near the border because of repeated rocket attacks, sending residents running for shelter.

The Israel Defense Forces, which amassed extra troops and tanks along the border, said it struck a variety of Hamas targets, including the office of Hamas political bureau chief (and former prime minister) Ismail Haniyeh.

Hamas, the Islamist terrorist group that controls Gaza, and smaller Palestinian factions issued a late-night statement that Egypt had mediated a cease-fire but the rocket fire continued until Tuesday morning, when the factions issued the new cease-fire statement.

The escalation came just two weeks before the April 9 election, in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is campaigning on a tough line against Hamas.

Netanyahu cut short a visit to the United States and left to Israel on Monday night.

“Israel will not tolerate this. I will not tolerate this,” Netanyahu said on Monday. “And as we speak … Israel is responding forcefully to this wanton aggression.”

 

Not time for a ground operation 

March 26, 2019

Source: Not time for a ground operation – Israel Hayom

Meir Indor

The following is a contradictory approach to Gaza, from a hawkish perspective:

  • Any comprehensive military operation – should be postponed until after the election, barring extreme developments. The response to rocket fire on Gaza-area communities must be the same as a rocket attack on Tel Aviv, Israel’s southern residents have justifiably shouted. The opposite is also true. We haven’t launched a war thus far and we won’t do so now because a rocket hit the Sharon region. After the election, bereaved families of the fallen and wounded will more readily accept that an operation was ordered free of political and personal interests, devoid of pressure from groups on WhatsApp, Facebook and various political rivals.
  • The enemy cannot be allowed to dictate the national agenda. The missile that was fired at the Sharon region was an entirely predictable “election terror attack.” Although Islamic Jihad pulled the trigger, the orders came from Tehran. The Iranians, who are operating in our area through Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have a clear interest in presenting the Netanyahu government as weak, in order to topple it and its leader.
  • The prime minister was right to shorten his trip to the United States and return to Israel. The decision was mostly for show – but a necessary show. In my estimation, he could have stayed in the U.S. rather than allow Hamas to disrupt his visit but, facing a contrarian press, there appeared to be little recourse.In retrospect, there are also benefits: The prime minister “isn’t ignoring the public’s feelings.” From home, after convening the relevant security forums, he will manage and explain Israel’s response.
  • As part of the response leading up to the election on April 9, Israel must gradually reinstate the policy of targeted assassinations against terrorist leaders. We must also target terrorist operatives in the field, who on a daily basis approach the Gaza border fence under the guise of protesters. To this end, there is no need to cross the border with tanks and soldiers. We can exploit our technological advantage for pinpoint attacks from the air, not just against weapons warehouses but against terrorist units.
  • And what will happen after the election? Although segments of the Left will continue pushing for the transfer of Gaza to the control of Mahmoud Abbas, this option should be rejected outright. Our soldiers are not a spear for the Palestinian Authority and PLO. The scope of the PA’s leadership should not be expanded, as it already causes us enough problems with the terrorists it harbors and encourages with money.

The ideal solution is the restoration of Israeli control over Gaza, as constituted prior to the Oslo Accords and a return to the days when women from Netivot shopped in Khan Younis and the residents of Gush Katif received their driver’s licenses in Rafah. Until, of course, the warriors for peace and the dreamers came along and welcomed Yasser Arafat and his armed regiments from Tunisia.

Lt. Col. (ret.) Meir Indor in the head of the Almagor Terror Victims Association.

 

Israel must end this round with tangible gains 

March 26, 2019

Source: Israel must end this round with tangible gains – Israel Hayom

Yoav Limor

Over the past year, Israel has tried to avoid reaching a major confrontation with Hamas.

The weekly riots that begun last March have occasionally resulted in violent clashes, but Israel has repeatedly chosen to de-escalate, knowing full well that a full-fledged war will exact a heavy military and economic price and won’t address the underlying problems in the Gaza Strip.

Likewise, Hamas wanted to avoid a real confrontation that would have only increased the despair in Gaza.

But in recent days Hamas has apparently changed its posture. There can be several reasons for this: the ongoing protests on the streets of Gaza; Egypt’s unwillingness to mediate an intra-Palestinian reconciliation; the insufficient cash from Qatar; Israel’s new measures against Hamas prisoners, and perhaps the realization that the election season is an opportune moment to extract concessions from Israel without going into war.

Whatever the reason,  Hamas has chosen to play with fire. Hamas claimed that it “accidentally” fired rockets on central Israel some ten days ago, but using this same excuse for Monday’s rocket on Mishmeret is would have a been over the top.

This time around, Israel knew it had no choice but to retaliate, particularly because of the Israeli casualties. This time around, it was imperative to act because Israel’s deterrence had significantly eroded.

As of Monday, Israel was still trying to make sure things would not spiral out of control. Israel’s airstrikes were intense but limited; Israel wanted to exact a price from Hamas, but it didn’t want all hell to break loose (not yet at least).

If Hamas acts with a similar degree of restraint, perhaps this round of escalation – the umpteenth such round over the past year – will not become war.

Israel sent two brigades to the border on Monday to prepare for a potential major confrontation. The move was also a message to Hamas that it should think twice before it enters a futile misadventure.

Likewise, Hamas’ rocket attack on Monday was a message to Israel. It was a warning that the terrorist group could have just as easily hit the Ben Gurion International Airport and other strategic assets. Another terrorist group, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, can also do the same.

Israel is operating under the assumption that Hamas would like to avoid an all-out war with Israel, but Hamas’ senior commanders went into hiding on Monday.

Israel has also taken various steps to prepare for any eventuality. This saw the deployment of Iron Dome batteries and the reinforcement of troops near border communities, in case Hamas would to launch a cross-border attack or kidnap Israelis through its tunnels.

As is the case with every round of hostilities, the first 24 hours are the most critical because this period defines the rules of the game. It is also the period where both sides either demonstrate their determination to go to war or seek a face-saving calm.

Israel will likely try to make sure this latest escalation ends with actual gains. It cannot let Hamas’ repeated harassment of border communities with airborne incendiary devices go unpunished.

Israel must also change the rules of the game by creating a secure perimeter near the border fence that would be off-limits to rioters. And above all, Israel must extract a clear cut statement from Hamas in which it would pledge not to engage in rocket fire and prevent others from doing so.

Such a statement would only be issued if Hamas feels it has something to lose. Israel must not yield on this because otherwise, the hostilities will erupt again.