WarSclerotic

Michael Danby is most likely not well known among people in the northern hemisphere. He is a politician and member of the Australian national parliament, the House of Representatives.

But he has been a long-time staunch defender of Israel. I have heard him referred to, sympathetically, as the “Member for Israel”.

He has stood firmly and proudly at the front of the battleline to defend Israel and the Jewish people, unwavering in his commitment despite the onslaught against him.

I hope he continues to stand in the shield-wall after he leaves public office!

Here is his wiki page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Danby

Danby passion will be missed by many

From The Australian, 5 July 2018, behind paywall

By Greg Sheriden

The member for Melbourne Ports is not contesting his seat at the next election.

At the funeral of Sir Zelman Cowen almost seven years ago, former prime minister John Howard ran into the Labor member for Melbourne Ports. Howard remarked: “Ah, Michael Danby, we’ll never win this seat while you remain the Labor member.” Howard was right, but now the Liberals will have a chance. For a Labor lion will roar no more, at least not in parliament. After 20 years and seven successive election wins, Danby has decided to retire from federal parliament at the next election.

Danby’s political career was of a type not much celebrated in Australia but one that should be celebrated much more. He was a courageous and highly influential backbencher who used parliamentary committees and every bully pulpit opportunity afforded by politics to further the causes he cared about deeply.

Because he is so passionate in his commitments, he is sometimes impetuous and prone to overstatement, and I don’t think he is one of nature’s born administrators. But, by God, Australia would benefit if there were more like him in parliament. For Danby is utterly fearless, utterly committed to the causes he believes in, he sticks in good times and bad, and the causes he champions are good causes.

He is not remotely an identikit professional politician. But his straightforward political achievements should not be overlooked.

In 1997 he beat the formidable Tim Pallas, now Victoria’s treasurer, for preselection. He won what was a marginal seat and has held it ever since. Really, Melbourne Ports is a natural Liberal seat with a deep green tinge. It is the eighth most affluent seat in Australia and its electors would make it the fifth biggest beneficiary of Malcolm Turnbull’s tax cuts.

Danby has sometimes achieved swings to him and sometimes recorded swings against him. But his personal vote and his indefatigable networking throughout the electorate and beyond have kept the seat Labor.

I asked him to nominate his three biggest achievements in office. He is immensely proud of all the local work he has done for Melbourne Ports but the three he listed off the top of his head were activism for international human rights in cases such as the Darfuris, the Baha’is in Iran and the Tibetans; activism on national security issues around terrorism, foreign interference and the US alliance; and No 3 was this: “I think over 40 years I’ve had some effect both on people who have worked on my staff and other Labor Party members to help make the Australian Labor Party a middle-of-the-road party that can still credibly be elected to office, unlike the Corbynistas in Britain.” It is hard to capture quite the distinctive political personality of Danby. He is Jewish, and proudly so, as he should be. Melbourne Ports, with Wentworth in Sydney, is one of the two most Jewish federal electorates. Danby’s father escaped from Germany as World War II was approaching. His father’s parents died at Auschwitz.

Danby is a strong, though not uncritical, supporter of Israel. This, too, is a good cause.

Being a Labor right-winger and a strong Israel defender ensured that he never got a fair go from the ABC or Fairfax, and all his parliamentary career he has laboured under the settled hostility of both organisations.

But he has never flinched, never backed down. It is a career that truly exemplifies independence of mind and courage of spirit. And while he occasionally overstates his own arguments, this is as nothing compared with the calumnies routinely flung at him.

But while Danby has been important in Australia’s Israel debate, his effect on politics has been much broader. Because he doesn’t just drift into parliamentary committees but consciously fashions them to advance his issues, and because he is at heart always an activist, he has used the opportunities of parliament’s committees to secure big results.

He used his position on the electoral affairs committee to secure much simpler and more automatic registration of voters on the electoral roll and helped gain support for these reforms with the Senate crossbench. Perhaps hundreds of thousands more people are entitled to vote at each election as a result.

Most significant of all has been Danby’s activism on human rights and national security. The causes he supports, such as the Tibetans, or the Muslim Uighurs in western China, or the Baha’is, or the Darfuris, don’t lead to promotion, lavish grants or remunerative post-politics career opportunities. But I am very glad that somebody significant supports them.

Although he briefly served as a parliamentary secretary in the Gillard government, Danby’s talents would have been wasted, or misapplied, as a generic minister for potholes and drains or some such. I thought he reached the zenith of his public influence when he was chairman of the foreign affairs, defence and trade committee. Very much like a powerful US congressman, he would call witnesses to highlight issues and achieve outcomes.

His committee got Huawei to talk about the role of the Communist Party committee in its headquarters. It got the vice-president of the Chinese National People’s Congress to testify about the South China Sea.

When Danby was a member of the treaties’ committee, he was a central player in getting Labor to oppose ratification of a mutual extradition treaty between Australia and China. He gave powerful speeches about the unreliability of the Chinese legal system, pointing, for example, to its higher than 99.6 per cent conviction rate. This was one of the most significant moments in our recent history when the Australian polity registered in the starkest manner its objection to the operation of Chinese government law on Australian territory.

A decade ago, with only the small resources of a backbencher’s office, Danby staged in Melbourne a big international conference on human rights in North Korea. For two days in Melbourne, somebody cared about the unspeakably foul wickedness of the North Korean gulag. There was absolutely no political pay-off for Danby in this.

It was at heart an expression of human solidarity.

On another occasion, Danby introduced me to an activist for free trade unions in China. A Labor Party politician actively supporting free trade unions in China – now there’s an idea.

I have known Danby for more than 40 years and have greatly enjoyed his humour and his connoisseur’s delight in ideological eccentricities, the strange and florid plants to be observed if you journey far enough into the labyrinths of political obsession.

There is a Yiddish word perhaps designed to describe such as Danby. He is a mensch.

Following on from this post by joop about the Aussie government taking action in regard to aid $ being put towards “pay for slay” payments….

Australia ends direct aid to PA over payments to terrorists

Australia ends direct aid to PA over payments to terrorists

… we now have the Palestinian response.

Can you guess their response?

Yep, that’s right, they do what they always do.

They whine.

And lie.

Boo. Hoo.

The Palo’s sickening response is below.

PA lambastes Australia for nixing aid, says decision ‘not grounded in facts’

https://www.timesofisrael.com/pa-lambastes-australia-for-nixing-aid-says-decision-not-grounded-in-facts/

Ramallah accuses Canberra of siding with Israeli ‘colonialism’ under US pressure, insists foreign aid was never used to pay stipends for Palestinian terrorists

The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday slammed Australia’s “cruel” decision to end its direct aid to the Ramallah government, calling the move politically motivated and saying it “has no grounding in facts.”

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop announced Monday that Australia had ended its direct government aid to the PA over fears its funds would be used to pay welfare stipends to families of Palestinians killed or jailed for attacks on Israel.

The funds will instead be provided to UN aid efforts to Palestinians.

In a statement, the Palestinian envoy to Australia, Izzat Abdulhadit, expressed the PA’s “deepest disappointment and concern” at the decision.

He asserted the Australian aid was never used to pay the stipends of convicted terrorists, and said the “stringent auditing procedures” of the governing World Bank trust fund could prove it.

“We have therefore concluded that this decision is political in nature, for its justification has no grounding in facts,” the statement said. “It has less to do with genuine concerns about terrorism and the stifled peace process than it does with domestic political expediency.”

Abdulhadit went on to say that by “ignoring Israel’s ever-expanding colonial project,” Australia had sided with the Jewish state, and “again apportioned all blame to only one side, the much weaker and disenfranchised one at that.”

PA official Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, said in a statement that Australia “seems to have succumbed to the US administration’s pressure in compounding the injustice of Israel’s military occupation by punishing its Palestinian victims.

“This unjustified and cruel move further targets the Palestinians who are already being held captive, while ignoring the persistent violations and war crimes being committed by the Israeli occupation.”

The statement insisted that the Palestinians are committed to nonviolent resistance, and urged Bishop to reverse the decision.

“We strongly urge the government of Australia to reconsider its decision and not embolden Israel in its unilateral and illegal policies,” Ashrawi said. “Bringing Israel to compliance with international law and international humanitarian law would be the most constructive action for governments interested in peace and justice.”

Israel has long accused the PA and its leader, Mahmoud Abbas, of encouraging terror attacks against Israelis by rewarding perpetrators and their families with monthly stipends, and on occasion has withheld millions of dollars in tax revenues over Ramallah’s unwillingness to change the controversial policy.

On Monday, Bishop announced that state funding to the World Bank trust fund for Palestinians had been cut after she requested assurances from the PA earlier this year that Australian funding was not being misspent.

The minister expressed concern that providing further aid would allow the PA to use the funds for activities that “Australia would never support.”

“Any assistance provided by the Palestine Liberation Organization to those convicted of politically motivated violence is an affront to Australian values, and undermines the prospect of meaningful peace between Israel and the Palestinians,” Bishop said in a statement. “I wrote to the Palestinian Authority on May 29, to seek clear assurance that Australian funding is not being used to assist Palestinians convicted of politically motivated violence.”

“I am confident that previous Australian funding to the PA through the World Bank has been used as intended,” Bishop added. “However, I am concerned that in providing funds for this aspect of the PA’s operations there is an opportunity for it to use its own budget to activities that Australia would never support.”

Australia’s AUD 10 million ($7.4 million) donation to the trust fund will now be rerouted to the United Nations’ Humanitarian Fund for the Palestinian Territories, which provides Palestinians with health care, food, water, improved sanitation and shelter.

Bishop said the UN body “helps 1.9 million people. Approximately 75 percent of its funding will be spent in Gaza where the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate.”

Australia allocated AUD $43 million for humanitarian assistance in the region for the current fiscal year, which began on July 1.

According to Israel’s Defense Ministry, the PA in 2017 paid NIS 687 million ($198 million) to the so-called “martyrs’ families fund” and NIS 550 million ($160 million) to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club — some 7 percent of its overall budget.

Palestinian prisoners serving 20- to 30-year sentences for carrying out terror attacks are eligible for a lifetime NIS 10,000 ($2,772) monthly stipend, the Defense Ministry said last week, citing PA figures. Those prisoners who receive a three- to five-year sentence get a monthly wage of NIS 2,000 ($554). Palestinian prisoners who are married, have children, live in Jerusalem, or hold Israeli citizenship receive additional payments.

The Defense Ministry last month released figures alleging that some terrorists who killed Israelis will be paid more than NIS 10 million ($2.78 million) each throughout their lifetimes by the PA.

Hours after the Australian announcement, Knesset lawmakers voted in favor of a bill that would officially see Israel deduct customs fees it collects on behalf of the PA by the amount Ramallah pays out to convicted terrorists each year.

The bipartisan bill, proposed by Yesh Atid MK Elazar Stern and Likud MK Avi Dichter, passed by 87 to 15 in a late-night vote.

The PA has refused to cease its payments to Palestinian prisoners.

Obviously take this with a grain of salt but…

Arab (more precisely, Arabic – Palestine Today) media has provided a description of what role Egypt would play in Trump’s so-called “deal of the century” – the deal to end the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

The article is in Arabic, but I have used Google translate to get an English version. Google translate does a pretty good job converting Arabic to English, so I have not amended anything.

This proposal sounds very interesting. More interesting is that Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan are all (apparently) prepared to accept it, even if the Pally’s don’t… (and they would never accept anything that doesn’t include the so-called “right of return” and destruction of Israel’s jewish character).

The deal would seem to also have the effect of driving out of the Sinai the Isis-types, which have been a cause of concern for Egypt, hence it seems feasible that Egypt would be on side (as per the bit in blue). Trump sure does know how to do crafty deals…

Be good to see the Israel haters response if everyone (including Arab states) accepts the plan, but the Pally’s don’t. That would fully expose what most of us have known all along: the Pally’s and their supporters aren’t interested in “peace”, but instead are only interested in the eradication of the Jewish state.

I have seen this approach referred to as the “outside in” approach. Traditionally, the resolution of the Israel-Pally conflict was seen as a precusor to Israel achieving peace/acceptance with the Arab nations.

On the other hand, the “outside in” approach seeks to gain the support/acceptance of the Arab nations before peace is achieved in the Israel-Pally conflict (ie acceptance from other Arab nations is seen as driving the peace deal).

Of course, the beauty of the “outside in” approach is that will make abundantly clear to everyone the true motivation of the Pally’s when they refuse to accept the deal, and yet again, they fail to accept the opportunity placed right before their eyes. They never fail to achieve defeat in the face of victory….

But before the article I have pasted links-only to two other articles: the first where the Pally’s refute the speculated deal and that the Arab nations are on side with the US, and the second where Hamas claims Russia is against the speculated deal.

I suggest you take these two articles with an even bigger grain of salt…

PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY: NO ARAB PRESSURE TO ACCEPT TRUMP’S PEACE PLAN

https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Palestinian-Authority-No-Arab-pressure-to-accept-Trumps-peace-plan-560864

Hamas claims Russia opposes Trump peace plan

https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-claims-russia-against-trump-peace-plan/

Egyptian agreement on the “deal of the century”: Sinai is essential in the plan

https://paltoday.ps/ar/post/325810/%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9-%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%B5%D9%81%D9%82%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%B1%D9%86-%D8%B3%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A1-%D8%A3%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AE%D8%B7%D8%A9

Trump to settle the Palestinian issue known as the “Deal of the Century”, which was discussed during the last round in the region by his brother-in-law and adviser, Jared Kouchner, and his envoy to the region, Jason Greenblatt, From Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Qatar.

The sources said the meeting, which brought together Kouchner and Greenblatt with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri and intelligence chief General Abbas Kamel in Cairo last week, touched on the details of the deal, which is being hampered by the Palestinian Authority’s refusal to respond.

The sources explained that the talks of Kouchner in Cairo touched on the details of the Egyptian contribution to the deal, which will be through the Sinai Gate, specifically North Sinai, which has been identified a major role in the plan, to serve as a “cornerstone,” the sources said, pointing to That the establishment of a free trade zone on the border between the Gaza Strip and Rafah, Egypt, in addition to the establishment of a giant power station in the area dedicated to production of the Gaza Strip with full funding of more than $ 500 million.

The North Sinai section of the US plan for the settlement of the Palestinian issue also includes the establishment of a joint Egyptian-Gaza seaport, which will be fully supervised by Egypt and will be operated by the sector. In addition, the project includes, according to the sources, the allocation of an Egyptian airport in the north of Sinai to serve the people of the sector, to be under the supervision and employment of Egypt in full, as well as the establishment of a large industrial area on the border between the two countries, funded by the Gulf.

The sources stressed that this formula has become very welcome in the Egyptian political circles, instead of the principle of land exchange, which was a popular Egyptian rejection, pointing out that the current perception will facilitate the popular marketing, especially as these projects will be implemented on Egyptian territory, Which will join a group of Saudi projects in South Sinai as part of the giant Neum project, which is being adopted by the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, with the participation of Egypt, Jordan and Israel.

The sources stressed that there are Israeli requirements to implement these steps and all the projects allocated to the Gaza Strip within the framework of inflating it into a Palestinian state, in addition to what is left of the West Bank that has not been consumed by the settlements and other than Jerusalem as well. These requirements are to be subject to supervision, , To ensure that they are not used in “any activities hostile to Israel”.

The sources pointed out that the Egyptian government in the context of the semi-final scenario, will in the coming period, specifically the new fiscal year, to start expanding the buffer zone in Sinai, and the evacuation of larger areas, to facilitate the implementation of those proposed projects after that, to be all the land is allocated uninhabited.

In the same context, the Egyptian parliament approved the opening of a new appropriation in the state budget, about 70 billion pounds (about 4 billion dollars) earmarked for additional government expenditure items, which included payment of compensation expected to the people of Sinai. The text of the law, which was approved by the parliament on Sunday in its first article, stipulates that an additional appropriation of the state budget for the fiscal year 2017-2018 of 70 billion three hundred million pounds, distributed on the third section of the “benefits”, will be added to the amount of 57 billion pounds The benefits of local and external public debt, and also the fifth section “other expenses”, in the amount of two billion and three hundred million pounds, to meet the payment of compensation in the province of North Sinai.

Egyptian and Arab diplomatic sources confirmed to the “new Arab” earlier that the first phase of the Trump plan includes a package of measures estimated at about 3 billion dollars pledged by Gulf countries to bear them in full.

The White House issued a statement after Kouchner and Greenblatt’s visit to Cairo, saying that the meeting “discussed increased cooperation between the United States and Egypt, the need to facilitate humanitarian access to Gaza, and Trump’s efforts to facilitate peace between Israelis and Palestinians.” Egyptian Ambassador to Egypt, Ambassador Bassam Radhi, said that Sisi affirmed Egypt’s support for international efforts and initiatives aimed at reaching a just and comprehensive settlement in accordance with agreed international terms and on the basis of the two-state solution according to the 1967 borders. To review the efforts exerted by Egypt to complete the process of Palestinian reconciliation and calm the situation in Gaza and its measures to alleviate the suffering of the residents of the Gaza Strip, including the opening of the Rafah crossing throughout the month of Ramadan.

Another great video from Bibi (1 min 12 sec long)

Reaching out to the Iranian people, using the World Cup.

Stoking the fires of discontent amongst the Iranians by telling the uncomfortable truth about the Iranian leadership… 

Good tactics, good skills from Bibi.

And right at the start of the video he shows off some pretty good soccer skills as well.

This is a follow up post to Joseph’s post here on Charles Krauthammer:

https://warsclerotic.com/2018/06/23/off-topic-a-tribute-to-charles-krauthammer/

Find below 15 quotes from Charles, which are well worth a read. I have highlighted the Israel/Jewish specific ones (being 1, 2, 5, 10, 14 and 15). Quote 11 about mourning the death of a dog is also something I would attest to.

He was a true warrior in the fight to defend Israel, and stood firm and strong and true.

Raise your glasses to him!

But before that, have a read of the letter that Bibi Netanyahu sent to him just before his death, when his illness was announced.

“We have been like brothers”

https://twitter.com/netanyahu/status/1010148401042919425

15 Quotes from Charles Krauthammer

http://www.aish.com/ci/s/15-Quotes-from-Charles-Krauthammer.html?s=mm

1. Israel is the very embodiment of Jewish continuity: It is the only nation on earth that inhabits the same land, bears the same name, speaks the same language, and worships the same God that it did 3,000 years ago. You dig the soil and you find pottery from Davidic times, coins from Bar Kokhba, and 2,000-year-old scrolls written in a script remarkably like the one that today advertises ice cream at the corner candy store.
   
2. I knew I’d always be a Jew, and I’d always be an outsider.

3. Where religion is trivialized, one is unlikely to find persecution.
4. Science has everything to say about what is possible. Science has nothing to say about what is permissible.
5. …the Jews have done something never done before by anybody else. Even the Jews didn’t imagine it could be done, they returned. No one’s ever returned. We can’t even read the Etruscan language. Everybody disappears. The ten tribes have disappeared… This is a story that is so improbable, the revival of Hebrew. That’s never happened. No language has ever been revived to become the language of everyday life, ever. This is the uniqueness of our history.

6. Obsession with self is the motif of our time.
7. Loyalty to the President is great, but loyalty to truth, integrity, and country is even better.
8. Life and consciousness are the two great mysteries. Actually, their substrates are the inanimate. And how do you get from neurons shooting around in the brain to the thought that pops up in your head and mine? There’s something deeply mysterious about that. And if you’re not struck by the mystery, I think you haven’t thought about it.
9. Great leaders are willing to retire unloved and unpopular as the price for great exertion.
10. My theology can be summed up as, the only theology I know is not true, the only one I’m sure is untrue is atheism. Everything else I’m unsure about…I have this sense that there is transcendence in the universe, but we are in no position ever to understand it…I have an enormous attachment to the Jewish tradition and to the depth and the subtlety of its understanding of life, morality, and of metaphysics. I’ve always been interested in it, and that to me, I think, is important for Jews to try to continue that tradition, to make sure it lives, and to make sure that culture is nourished.

11. Some will protest that in a world with so much human suffering, it is something between eccentric and obscene to mourn a dog. I think not. After all, it is perfectly normal—indeed, deeply human—to be moved when nature presents us with a vision of great beauty. Should we not be moved when it produces a vision—a creature—of the purest sweetness?
12. There is no comparing the brutality and cynicism of today’s pop culture with that of forty years ago: from High Noon to Robocop is a long descent.
13. The joy of losing consists in this: Where there are no expectations, there is no disappointment.
14. Some geopolitical conflicts are morally complicated. The Israel-Gaza war is not. It possesses a moral clarity not only rare but excruciating. […] For Hamas, the only thing more prized than dead Jews are dead Palestinians.

15. You’ve got to learn the texts, you have to know Talmud, you have to be able to read Rashi, you have to know what’s there. My father said, “I can’t make you religious. I can’t make sure that you’ll be religious, but I am going to make sure that you’re not ignorant.”

Interesting article, good to have an insight into what the sanctions mean in terms of examples on the ground.

For example, looks like Iranian soccer players won’t be getting the Nike cleats for their boots for the World Cup.

Oh well, that’s the price you gotta pay. Actions have consequences.

Good on ya Trump, and good riddance Obama for throwing money at the Iranians. 

P.S. Interesting comment at the end about the Iranian announcement to increase enrichment capacity.

Trump’s Pressure on Iran Working Better Than Expected, Says Israeli Intel

Tehran had hoped for high profits from deals with Europe and U.S. companies – but now the regime faces abandonment by them – and the economic woes have started to create pressures on Tehran

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-north-korea-summit-trump-iran-pressure-working-israel-says-1.6170642

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference after his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore June 12, 2018

The decision by U.S. President Donald Trump to pull his country out of the Iran nuclear deal has already wreaked widespread economic damage to Iranians. According to intelligence assessments presented to Israeli leaders, the chain reaction of the American decision last month has been more severe than originally forecast.

Trump announced his decision last month, threatening at the same time to reinstate harsh sanctions against the Iranian oil industry and foreign firms that trade with it. These steps are supposed to go into full effect at the beginning of November. Some American companies, among them airplane manufacturer Boeing and General Electric, which signed contracts to supply equipment to Iran’s outdated oil industry, are already preparing to halt their investments in the country.

It was reported this week that sports equipment maker Nike canceled at the last minute a delivery of soccer cleats to the Iranian national squad, which is participating in the World Cup starting Friday in Russia. In Europe, British Petroleum announced that it would end its investment partnership with the Iranian oil company in deep-sea drilling off the Scottish coast.

Ministers from Great Britain, France, Germany and the European Union sent a letter at the beginning of June to Trump administration cabinet members, in which they asked the United States to exempt energy, aviation and health companies from the secondary American sanctions – which target European companies trading with Iran. European giant Airbus signed contracts worth $1 billion with Iran after the nuclear deal was signed in 2015. Another large European company liable to be hurt by the sanctions is French energy company Total.

According to Israeli intelligence, Iran had hoped to reap sizeable profits from deals with European and American companies during the coming period. However, now the Tehran regime faces abandonment by companies that already signed contracts, in addition to the negotiations with other companies, because of the American move. Thus, internal pressure on the regime, in the form of frequent demonstrations by the opposition in cities across the country, is also coming into play. Most of the demonstrations focus on the cost of living.

Israeli intelligence officials have the impression that the double economic pressure, domestically and from abroad, is accelerating the division at the top of the regime between the conservative camp and the more moderate one. Part of the dispute involves the question of Iranian foreign aid to terrorist and guerilla organizations across the Middle East. According to various assessments, Tehran disburses nearly $1 billion annually to these clients, including Hezbollah, Shi’ite militias fighting on its behalf for the Assad regime in Syria, Houthi rebels in Yemen and two Palestinian organizations in the Gaza Strip, Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The moderate camp supports cutting these expenditures. Some protesters in Iran have made vocal calls or waved signs condemning the use of government funds for these purposes at the expense of the Iranian people.

Still, despite the combination of developments worrying the Iranian regime, Israeli intelligence officials do not rush to conclude that the regime’s stability is under threat. Iran’s leadership has already coped well with previous waves of protest, including early this year.

In the wake of America’s departure from the nuclear agreement, Iran announced last week that it would renew the process of increasing its uranium enrichment capability. However, these moves are still being taken within the limits set in the Vienna agreement and do not constitute a violation of it. It looks mainly like a declarative action aimed at the European nations signed onto the agreement, and not as a prelude to an Iranian withdrawal from it.

Sounds like someone might be getting scared.

Trump and the Norks getting cosy, Israel kickin Iranian ar*e in Syria, Russia plus Syria trying to move away from Iran….

Things are adding up, bound to be breaking into a sweat.

Let’s hope so.

Toning down rhetoric, Khamenei claims Iran never wanted to throw Jews in sea

https://www.timesofisrael.com/khamenei-seeks-to-explain-israel-policy-after-saying-it-must-be-eradicated/

Supreme leader says only Egypt’s Nasser called for expulsion, while Tehran wants a referendum of descendants of all who lived in Palestine 100 years ago, including Jews

Iran’s supreme leader has sought to clarify his position on Israel after threatening its destruction and now says his country has never expressed genocidal aims against the Jewish people.

Earlier this month, a tweet posted on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s official Twitter account said Iran’s “stance against Israel is the same stance we have always taken. #Israel is a malignant cancerous tumor in the West Asian region that has to be removed and eradicated: it is possible and it will happen.” The account is run by Khamenei’s office and it’s not known if he dictates the tweets himself.

But in a series of tweets early Monday, Khamenei said the conflict should be resolved through a popular referendum among those who trace their roots back to before the creation of Israel, including Muslims, Jews and Christians.

“To define #Palestine’s destiny, original Palestinians—those who lived in Palestine over 100 years ago, #Muslims, #Jews & #Christians—in/outside occupied territories, will be polled: whatever they decide will happen,” he wrote.

That would seem to include the Palestinians as well as the small community of Jews who lived in the Holy Land before the mass immigration of Jews in the 20th century and the creation of Israel in 1948.

To define #Palestine’s destiny, original Palestinians—those who lived in Palestine over 100 years ago, #Muslims, #Jews & #Christians—in/outside occupied territories, will be polled: whatever they decide will happen. Is this a bad proposal? Does Europe not want to understand it? pic.twitter.com/mJfdlPJVr5
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) June 10, 2018

Khamenei did not address the fate of the vast majority of Jewish Israelis, who claim historical and biblical roots to the land but whose immediate ancestors arrived in the last century.

However, he said Iran had never expressed a desire to “throw the Jews in the sea,” accusing late Egyptian leader Gammel Abdel Nasser of seeking the watery genocide instead.

“The Islamic Republic has never said anything like that since its inception,” he tweeted.

The Islamic Republic plays rationally in all issues. On the issue of the Zionist regime, Gamal Abdel Nasser would say ‘we will throw the Jews in the sea’. The Islamic Republic has never said anything like that since its inception.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) June 10, 2018

Khamenei and other senior Iranian officials have relentlessly encouraged the destruction of Israel, and Iran finances, arms and trains terror groups on Israel’s borders. Officials occasionally clarify that Iran would only attack Israel in “self-defense” and bears no hostility toward Jews as a religious community.

Khamenei also chided Europe for listening to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s warnings about Iran’s aims during a recent trip to Europe. During the trip to Germany, France and the UK, Netanyahu discussed the need to end the nuclear deal with Iran and support pushing Iranian forces out of southern Syria.

The children-killer PM of Zionist regime–the Shimr of the time– visits Europe to play the victim, claiming, ‘#Iran wants to eliminate our population of a few millions.’ European audience listens, nods& refuses to say, ‘you [Zionist regime] are committing crimes in Gaza & Quds.’
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) June 10, 2018

On Friday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned that Israel “can never” feel safe, as many thousands of Iranians marched in an annual day of protest against Israel.

Khamenei has previously branded Israel as “barbaric,” “infanticidal,” and the “sinister, unclean rabid dog of the region.” More recently, he blamed “Zionists” for the anti-government demonstrations held across Iran earlier this year.

Netanyahu was asked last week about Khamenei’s threat at a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

“Iran calls for our destruction, but it’s also seeking nuclear weapons to carry out its genocidal design,” said Netanyahu, who was visiting Europe to press for the further dismantling of the Iranian nuclear deal after the US pulled out.

Merkel also condemned the tweet, while insisting the nuclear agreement was the best way to keep Iran from developing atomic weapons.

Khamenei, in his remarks on Sunday, also called Netanyahu a “criminal” who had “lied” to European leaders by saying that Iran wanted to annihilate Jews.

Iran is home to the largest Jewish community in the Middle East outside of Israel, and has a number of synagogues and popular shrines. The Jewish community has a representative in Iran’s parliament.

Iran had between 80,000 and 100,000 Jews before the 1979 Islamic Revolution but most have since fled, mainly to the United States, Israel and Europe. There are now only about 8,500 left, mostly in Tehran but also in Isfahan and Shiraz, major cities south of the capital.

Interesting tactic.

Wonder what those BDS haters would say about this? *crickets*

WATCH: BYPASSING REGIME, NETANYAHU OFFERS WATER TECH TO IRANIANS

“The Iranian regime shouts: “Death to Israel!’ and in response, Israel shouts, ‘life to the Iranian people!'”

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/WATCH-Netanyahu-bypasses-the-Ayatollahs-offers-water-tech-to-Iranians-559618

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu  went over the heads of the Iranian regime with a message delivered via social media directly to the Iranian public on Sunday.

“Today I am going to make an unprecedented offer to Iran,” Netanyahu said after pouring water from a pitcher into a glass and taking a drink in a two-minute YouTube video.

“It relates to water,” continued Netanyahu.

“The Iranian people are the victims of a cruel and tyrannical regime that denies them vital water. Israel stands with the people of Iran and that is why I want to save countless Iranian lives.”

Netanyahu explained that Iran’s meteorological organization has said that nearly 96% of Iran suffers from some level of drought, and after highlighting Israel’s achievements in water management, Netanyahu offered to help: “Sadly, Iran bans Israelis from visiting – so we’ll have to get creative. We will launch a Farsi website with detailed plans on how Iranians can recycle their waste-water… We will show how Iranian farmers can save their crops and feed their families… The people of Iran are good and decent. They shouldn’t have to face such a cruel regime alone. We are with you, we will help so that millions of Iranians don’t have to suffer.”

“The hatred of Iran’s regime will not stop the respect and friendship between our two peoples,” concluded Netanyahu.