PM Netanyahu to US media: U.S.-Israel mutual understandings surmount our differences

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel and the United States had mutual understandings that surpassed their differences, in an apparent attempt to defuse a recent row over Israeli plans to construct more homes in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Netanyahu told  a group of senior American journalists from many of the major media organizations including CNN, CBS, ABC, Fox News and the Wall Street Journal.  before his meeting with former U.S. statesman Henry Kissinger in New York that he would discuss with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday ways to jump start the Middle East peace process again.

"We have broad understandings with the United States on this issue and many others that surmount the disagreements over other matters".

He added that his goal was to reach a peace agreement based on broad understandings with the Palestinians and other willing Arab states.

Earlier Wednesday, Clinton told reporters in a joint video conference with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad that a peace deal in the Middle East was still possible and necessary.

"This announcement was counterproductive to our efforts to resume negotiations between the parties," Clinton told reporters, but said: "We still believe that a positive outcome is both possible and necessary."

When asked what she would tell Netanyahu during their meeting the following day, Clinton responded: "I believe strongly that negotiations are the only means by which the parties will be able to conclude an agreement that will lead to a Palestinian state and Israel living in security with its neighbors. That is our view. That is our commitment...Like any very difficult political challenge, it is often hard to find the path forward. But we are absolutely committed to doing everything we can to assist the parties in doing so.‬"

Ari Harow/ Netanyahu must make clear to our US allies our Red lines on key issues

(Ari Harow, Former Director of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Bureau-Ynet).For those who closely follow American politics, there was a strong sense of déjà vu as last week's elections results started coming in. Once again a newly elected popular president watched his poll numbers drop as initial euphoria evaporates once the harsh economic realities refuse to disappear and it becomes apparent that all can not be cured with a few speeches.

Here in Israel the immediate question that inevitably crops up once the dust has settled is: "what does this mean for us?" While the long-term answer to this question is heatedly debated, what is clear is that this new political reality offers a unique window of opportunity for Prime Minister Netanyahu to further clarify and crystallize Israel's red lines in negotiation with the Palestinians when he meets with key administration officials in the United States this week.

As President Obama and his advisors contemplate which of these paths to chose, it is vital that Prime Minister Netanyahu take this opportunity to once again clearly state Israel's red lines in negotiating with the Palestinians. Whether this clarification serves to bolster our friends in Congress, or remind the Administration as they plan any new initiatives, it is crucial that our American allies understand where we stand on these issues as we inch closer to returning to direct negotiations with the Palestinians.

Thankfully, the prime minister does not need to start from scratch. In his historic speech at Bar Ilan University in June of 2009, Netanyahu laid out three key areas where Israel's red lines cannot be crossed.

The Palestinians must agree to recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people. While some Palestinians have belittled this demand as an unnecessary game of semantics, nothing can be further from the truth. We unfortunately are witnesses on a daily basis to the indoctrination of the next generation of Palestinians as children are taught to deny the Jewish people's right to a state in ANY part of the Land of Israel.

This is the message that Palestinian youths are taught in official Palestinian Authority schools, broadcasts and even in children programming. We cannot hope to live in peace with neighbors who do not believe that we have even the most basic right of existence in this land.

Israel must remain within defensible borders as the result of any peace agreement. We cannot compromise on territorial concessions in the Jordan Valley or on the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria which overlook the center of our country. We have learned the lessons of the Lebanon and Gaza withdrawals and we simply cannot let ourselves repeat these mistakes when the population centers of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and the strategic Ben Gurion Airport are at stake.

Finally, Jerusalem can never be divided again. Jerusalem – Zion itself – is the raison d'être for our national existence here in Israel and it is the glue that holds the entire Jewish people together. We are already witness to a steady elimination of our sovereignty in the capital. Daily news reports are full of stories of PA officials funding schools and social clubs, ambulances refusing to serve certain neighborhoods due to stone throwing, and Jews fearing to visit the graves of their ancestors on the Mount of Olives where they are subjected to daily violent attacks.

Without a clear stance on this most basic issue we will soon find ourselves chased out of the city we dreamed of for 2,000 years.

As fate (or good planning) would have it, the prime minister finds himself in the US this week meeting with Vice President Biden and Secretary of State Clinton during this pivotal period. Now is the time to explain to these and other Administration officials that just as the US has vital interests that it works tirelessly to safeguard, Israel too must stand strong on our principles or the chance of reaching a just, lasting and true peace will quickly fade and collapse as happened too many times in the past.

The new Congress in Washington, and the policy choices that the Administration will soon make, present an opportunity for the prime minister to reiterate and elaborate on the important points that he made in his Bar Ilan speech. These points are all vital in ensuring that Israel's basic interests are protected.

May our friends in Washington know that while our yearning for peace is genuine and strong, Israel will not waver on these key fundamental issues.

Obama, End daily dispute over E. Jerusalem, to move Peace process forward

(Dov Zakheim/shadow.foreignpolicy.com)The to-ing and fro-ing between the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government continues unabated, with each new verbal clash further dimming any chances for an agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. On Friday the Israeli government moved another step closer to lifting its construction freeze by publishing in the Israeli press its plans to build 1,345 new housing units in mostly Jewish neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. Two days later Prime Minister Netanyahu met with Vice President Joe Biden in New Orleans, where the impasse between Jerusalem and Washington remained as firm as ever.

Two days after that, President Obama, responding to a question at his Jakarta news conference about Israeli construction, first stated that he had not received "a full briefing on Israel's intentions," but then went on to say that such activity was "unhelpful." Naturally, the world press focused on the latter part of Obama's remarks, with breathless headlines proclaiming, in tabloid fashion, "Obama Rips Israel." Not to be outdone, Netanyahu responded to Obama's remarks by pointing out that Jerusalem was "not a settlement," and that the new housing units would not affect the outcome of peace talks. In effect the Israeli Prime Minister dismissed the entire flap as much ado about nothing (his actual term was "overblown"). At which point the State Department issued its own retort, arguing that there was indeed a linkage between construction and the peace process.

President Obama has clearly determined that construction in East Jerusalem is a "red line" that the Israeli government should not cross. The problem is that "East Jerusalem" does not merely consist of Arab neighborhoods in the Old City or even outside its walls. Many districts of what is East Jerusalem have been home to tens of thousands of Israelis for years, even decades. Construction in these neighborhoods never was an obstacle to peace talks until the Obama administration put the Palestinians in an impossible position by insisting that construction should stop.

Given Washington's position, the Palestinian Authority has had no alternative but to focus on the construction issue. It clearly cannot not take a softer line on construction than Obama has done. Meanwhile, Israelis of all political stripes, including many who otherwise have no truck with Netanyahu, are puzzled and angered by Washington's stance. Many suspect that he is simply trying to curry favor with the Muslim world at Israel's expense. His performance at the Jakarta press conference does nothing to allay that suspicion. After all, having said he needed to study the issue, he need not have gone any further. But he did, and Netanyahu responded in turn and in kind.

Why does the president continue to harp on settlements in East Jerusalem, as opposed to expansion of West Bank settlements that would be dismantled under the terms of any peace agreement between the parties? Obama may feel that he has crossed a Rubicon and must push forward. Or he may feel that he must put Netanyahu in his place; there is no love lost between the two men, and the Israeli reportedly feels that the recent Congressional elections have strengthened his position. Obama may want to show the Israeli that his grasp of the balance of power in Washington is not as strong as he thinks it is. (Which of the two men is right is another matter, and in any event will not be determined for some time.)

There is, however, another possibility: the president may simply not realize that while Israel might give up parts of Jerusalem, as both Prime Ministers Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert were willing to do, even they were not ready to cede major Jewish neighborhoods in what every prime minister since 1967, of whatever party, considers to be Israel's capital.

Whatever the reason, Obama's behavior in Indonesia, and his constant harping on the construction issue, has complicated his avowed search for an agreement between Israelis and Palestinians. Israel will not give in to his demands, and the Palestinians will not proceed unless the Israelis do so. The peace process is stalemated, and it is up to the president, who has, perhaps unwittingly, brought on this latest dead end on the long-standing saga of Israeli-Palestinian misery, to come up with a way that lets both sides move forward, even if it means that he personally has to take several steps back in order to do so.

In new memoir President Bush rejects claims that Israel was behind Iraq war

(Jpost).In his new memoir out Tuesday, former US president George W. Bush flatly rejects the notion that Israel was behind his decision to invade Iraq.

Referring to critics who cast aspersions on his motives, Bush dismisses those who “alleged that America’s real intent was to control Iraq’s oil or satisfy Israel.”

“Those theories were false. I was sending our troops into combat to protect the American people.”

In the 30 pages he spends in Decision Points detailing the frantic diplomacy, military planning and consultations with international figures in the run-up to the Iraq war, Bush never once mentions a conversation with an Israeli official or member of a pro-Israel organization.

Bush does mention the threat of Israel being bombarded with missiles among his many concerns about fallout from an invasion – including the well-being of Iraqi civilians and the possibility of chemical weapons being used against US soldiers..”

The only reference Bush makes to a pro-Israel figure having a role in his Iraq deliberations is the Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, a supporter of military intervention whose opinion the president solicited as he weighed his options.

“Elie is a sober and gentle man. But there was passion in his seventy-four-year-old eyes when he compared Saddam Hussein’s brutality to the Nazi genocide,” Bush writes.

The other major pro-Israel figure whose influence Bush notes in his work comes during his discussion of the “Freedom Agenda.” Bush cites a passage from Natan Sharansky’s book The Case for Democracy in making the argument that America needed to “put pressure on the arms of the world’s tyrants.”

Bush sees his Freedom Agenda as being most needed in the Middle East to help diminish the appeal of terrorism, and speaks sympathetically of the terror that visited Israel during the second intifada.

“I was appalled by the violence and loss of life on both sides. But I refused to accept the moral equivalence between Palestinian suicide attacks on innocent civilians and Israeli military actions intended to protect their people,” Bush writes.

“The Israeli people responded to the violent onslaught the way any democracy would. They elected a leader who promised to protect them, Ariel Sharon.”

Bush says the blame for the violence that followed fell squarely on Yasser Arafat, whom he describes as someone who “didn’t seem very interested in peace.”

His wariness about Arafat only increased in early 2002 after Israel intercepted the Karine A, an Iranian ship it believed was smuggling deadly weapons to Palestinians. Arafat pleaded his innocence in a letter to Bush, who notes that both the US and Israel had evidence refuting his claim.

“Arafat had lied to me. I never trusted him again,” Bush relates. “In fact, I never spoke to him again. By the spring of 2002, I had concluded that peace would not be possible with Arafat in power.”

Bush also details differences with Sharon, particularly his feeling that Sharon’s sweeping West Bank offensive against Palestinian terrorists following the Pessah bombing of the Park Hotel in Netanya had gone too far and become “counterproductive.”

“‘Enough is enough,’ I said, Still Sharon wouldn’t budge,” he writes.

During the offensive, Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia arrived at Bush’s ranch in Texas for a visit. Bush recounts that the Saudis expected the US to have put a stop to the operation by then, and threatened to leave soon after arriving should it continue.

“They were insisting that I call the Israeli prime minister on the spot. I wasn’t going to conduct diplomacy that way,” Bush writes.

He was, however, able to convince a miffed Abdullah, who happened to be a farming enthusiast, to take a tour of the ranch. While driving along, a hen turkey stood in the middle of the road, blocking their progress.

Bush recalls that he then felt Abdullah grab his arm and tell him, “It is a sign from Allah. This is a good omen.”

The visit continued without a hitch, with Bush concluding, “I had never seen a hen turkey on that part of the property, and I haven’t seen one since.”

Bush confirms in his memoir that the target of a 2007 Israeli airstrike was a Syrian nuclear reactor and suggests he quietly approved - a revelation with special relevance at a time when Israel is calling for a "military option" against Iran's nuclear program.

Offering insight into how high-stakes diplomacy can play out very differently in private, Bush says the raid showed the Jewish state would go it alone and "made up for the confidence I had lost in the Israelis" because of the indecisive war in Lebanon a year before. In public, by contrast, the United States certainly did not offer praise.

Bush writes that in spring 2007 US officials strongly suspected that Syria, a bitter enemy of Israel, had been caught "red-handed trying to develop a nuclear weapons capability with North Korean help." This was based on photos obtained by a foreign intelligence partner of a suspicious building in eastern Syria.

Olmert asked the president "to bomb the compound," The US refused, saying it had only "low confidence" Syria was developing nuclear weapons. Bush wrote that Olmert was disappointed.

"Prime Minister Olmert's execution of the strike made up for the confidence I had lost in the Israelis during the Lebanon war, Olmert told me he wanted total secrecy. He wanted to avoid anything that might back Syria into a corner and force (Syrian President Bashar) Assad to retaliate. This was his operation, and I felt an obligation to respect his wishes," Bush wrote.

"The bombing demonstrated Israel's willingness to act alone. Prime Minister Olmert hadn't asked for a green light, and I hadn't given one, He had done what he believed was necessary to protect Israel."

Rabbi Dr. Gerald Meister on Jewish Self Destruction and anti-Israel Week at Brandeis University

(Press release by Eric Voogd).On Monday, 8 November 2010, Rabbi Dr. Gerald Meister, retired Adviser on Christian Affairs for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and renowned international speaker, joined Eric Voogd and Jacob Kornbluh for an exclusive interview on The BIBI Report. On the eve of the 72nd Anniversary of Kristallnacht, Rabbi Meister discussed his rabbinical and professional work of several decades while addressing crucial issues of importance for both the Jewish and Christian communities. When he was asked about the highest levels of violence and anti-Semitism witnessed since the Shoah, Rabbi Meister spoke with deep conviction from his heart delivering a strong message about anti-Semitism to Christians and Jews.

Today, the anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, anti-Zionist agenda is endemic on the university and college campuses across the United States. The academic campuses are increasingly the scene of hostile anti-Israel demonstrations and Israel apartheid weeks with activities sponsored by the Muslim Student Association and the Council on American Islamic Relations. Tragically, the most destructive aspect is when the Jewish students and faculty join the Muslim Student Association and the Council on American Islamic Relations in the anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, anti-Zionist demonstrations. Most horrific is when Jewish organizations sponsor and lead these demonstrations to demonize and delegitimize the Jewish people and the State of Israel.

This week from the 8th to 12th of November 2010, the self flagellating, leftist organizations Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace are co-hosting despicable anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, anti-Zionist demonstrations at Brandeis University near Boston, Massachusetts. This is truly an abomination given the history of this Jewish university named after Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis who was a passionate Zionist and past President of the Zionist Organization of America. During this interview, Rabbi Meister, who has lectured at universities across the United States, weighed in on this matter and had stern words for the administration, faculty and students at Brandeis University and the rabbinical community.

When asked by Eric Voogd, “Rabbi Meister, is there no end to this self destruction? In your position as a lecturer who has taught students across the United States, what words do you give to the administration of Brandeis University regarding these planned activities?...” here is the opening of a profound and weighted response from Rabbi Meister:

“Let’s say something that is very, very difficult and unpleasant. Let’s tell it. Brandeis is a university that seeks its major funding from the Jewish world. It has a spiritual obligation to do no harm to the Jewish world. A university is more than a place, or ought to be more than a place of imparting information and perfunctory knowledge. It ought to be a place that disseminates wisdom. In the academic world today, there is little discussion of wisdom. Let me offer a suggestion, that if Brandeis University is willing to aid and abet under the cover of First Amendment and other nonsense the right of students to deliberately misstate and lie as part of their supposed freedom that perhaps Jewish contributors ought to rethink their generosity to that university. And where you have Jews who deliberately sabotage the Jewish national effort, these Jews, if there enough rabbis with intestinal fortitude... I would run these types out of the Jewish people root....I would even go so far as to forbid them access to Jewish sacrament life, including Jewish burial. They have excommunicated themselves....”

This heinous activity of Jewish Voice for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine unfolding on the campus of Brandeis University this week requires the immediate attention and action of the entire Jewish community in the United States. The anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, anti-Zionist incitement of these two organizations is simply beyond unacceptable and must be condemned in the strongest terms. The reckless behavior and actions of these two organizations create unspeakable and incalculable harm for the Jewish people and the State of Israel.

The full audio interview with Rabbi Meister on The BIBI Report on 8 November 2010 regarding Brandeis University and other pressing issues involving the Jewish and Christian communities.

For the latest updates on Israel, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, current news, reports, polls and opinion, please follow The BIBI Report at the following URL addresses:

http://www.bibireport.com/ and http://www.bibireport.blogspot.com/.

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Netanyahu talks to FOX Business on Iran and Peace: "The settlement issue was overblown"

"Israel sees no connection between the peace process and the planning and building policies in Jerusalem that have not changed for the last 40 years, Building in Jerusalem has never interfered with the peace process'' said today a statement from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speaking today to Fox Business Network in New York, Netanyahu said the settlement issue was "overblown.''

"That will be an issue that we'll discuss but I think it's overblown,''.

"You are talking about a handful of apartments that really don't affect the (peace) map at all contrary to impressions that might be perceived from certain news reports. So it's a minor issue that might be turned to a major issue.''

In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Netanyahu called Palestinian complaints about Israeli settlement construction “a minor issue” that has become “way overblown.” He said previous settlement construction hadn’t prevented Egypt or Jordan from concluding peace agreements with Israel.

“In many ways it’s a minor issue that has assumed center stage for no objective reason.” .

Netanyahu said he doesn’t believe the U.S. midterm elections will change Israel’s relationship with Washington, D.C.

“The outgoing Congress was friendly to Israel, the incoming congress will be friendly to Israel".

“I think there is fundamental misunderstanding about the nature of - the close nature between Israel and the United States. It is so close…It is a powerful bond and President Obama has expressed it more than once. We have had security cooperation in the last year that people don't know about but I think has surpassed all previous levels,”

A Nuclear Iran Netanyahu told Fox Business anchors Liz Claman and David Asman, "would be a global threat to the Economy...Iran’s reach is far and wide. A nuclear Iran would be a global economic threat.”

For that reason, Iran’s efforts to obtain nuclear weapons is not a problem for Israel alone. “It has to be dealt with by the international community.”

Netanyahu said he is pleased that President Barack Obama “is determined” to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear arms.

PM Netanyahu on FBN tells Americans: Removing Gov't control is secret to Economy growth

Netanyahu: A fiscal policy that has successfully combined government spending cuts, lower taxes and fewer obstacles to competition has helped Israel’s economy grow at a healthy 4% clip.

Obama: Building in Israel's capital of Jerusalem is 'unhelpful' to peace efforts.

U.S. President Barack Obama warned that Israel's new building plan could obstruct the peace process.

On Monday, the Jerusalem District Planning and Construction Committee approved the construction of 32 housing units in the eastern part of Pisgat Ze'ev, a neighborhood located beyond the Green Line.

"This kind of activity is never helpful when it comes to peace negotiations," said Obama, adding that he was concerned Israel and Palestinian were not making enough of an effort to advance peace negotiations.

Netanyahu, on the other hand, stressed that building in Jerusalem hasn't impeded the peace process in 40 years, so there is no reason it would be an obstacle now.

"Israel does not see any connection between the peace process and the building and planning policy in Jerusalem, which hasn't changed for 40 years," Netanyahu's statement said.

"Every Israeli government in the last 40 years has built in all parts of the city. During this period, peace agreements were signed with Egypt and Jordan and for 17 years, peace negotiations with the Palestinians were carried out. These are historical facts. Construction in Jerusalem has never disrupted the peace process.

Our difference of opinion with the United States regarding Jerusalem is well-known. This, also, isn't a new development and is something that has been going on for 40 years. We hope to overcome this and continue moving forward with the peace process. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is looking forward to his meeting on Thursday with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in order to push peace talks forward."

The Bibi Report live show on israel 11/08

(1st hour) With Orthodox PR consultant Yossi Gestetner on the Midterm Election outcome, Jewish vote and the Future of the Republican party nationally and in New York.

(2nd Hour) With Rabbi Dr. Gerald Meister from NY, a Previous adviser for Israel's Ministry of Foreign affairs on Israel Christian affairs, and serving the Consulate general for Israel - on Israel Christian relations, Judeo-Christian history, the fight against antisemitism and what action Jews should take on themselves across Jewish campuses and universities.

(3rd Hour) Susan Michaels the  ICEJ (International Christian Embassy for Jerusalem) USA director, on the Christian strong support of Israel and Jerusalem, and actions to be taken on behalf of every individual advocating for the defense of Israel.