Contents: | Weekly Quotes | Short Takes | On Topic Links
On the Brink of War, Israel Faces a Scandal and 'Bibi Fatigue': Vivian Bercovici, National Post, Feb. 16, 2018
Pressure Pays: Trump’s Threats to Pakistan: Clarion Project, Feb. 21, 2018
Poland-Israel Meltdown Demands Elisha Wiesel: Shmuley Boteach, Jerusalem Post, Feb. 19, 2018
WATCH: A Brave Polish Voice Stands Up Against Anti-Semitism (Video): United With Israel, Feb. 19, 2018
WEEKLY QUOTES
“Israel will not allow Iran’s regime to put a noose of terror around our neck…We will act without hesitation to defend ourselves. And we will act if necessary not just against Iran’s proxies that are attacking us, but against Iran itself.” — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During Netanyahu’s speech at the Munich Security Conference, he brandished a piece of an Iranian drone downed in Israeli airspace and threatened military action against Iran. Netanyahu singled out Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif in his speech as he lifted up a piece of the drone’s wreckage. “Mr. Zarif, do you recognize this? You should, it’s yours. You can take back with you a message to the tyrants of Tehran — do not test Israel’s resolve!” proclaimed Netanyahu to the audience, which included Zarif. The drone, which entered northern Israel from Syria near the Jordan border on February 10, was shot down by an Israeli attack helicopter. (Times of Israel, Feb. 20, 2018)
"The entire speech was trying to evade the issue. What has happened in the past several days is the so-called invincibility (of Israel) has crumbled." — Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister. Zarif slammed Netanyahu's speech at the Munich Security Conference, calling it "a cartoonish circus, which does not even deserve the dignity of a response." Zarif dismissed Netanyahu's challenge, saying Israel was trying "to create these cartoonish images to blame others for its own strategic blunders, or maybe to evade the domestic crisis they're facing." "Israel uses aggression as a policy against its neighbors," Zarif said, accusing Israel of "mass reprisals against its neighbors and daily incursions into Syria, Lebanon…Once the Syrians have the guts to down one of its planes it's as if a disaster has happened," Zarif said of the February 10 downing of an Israeli F-16. Anti-aircraft fire downed the jet as it was returning from a bombing raid on Iran-backed positions in Syria. (Ynet, Feb. 18, 2018)
“About Netanyahu’s unwise words, I should say that if they carry out the slightest unwise move against Iran, we will level Tel Aviv to the ground.” — Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council and former chief of the Revolutionary Guards. Adding a personal threat, Rezaei added that Tehran “will not give Netanyahu any opportunity to flee.” (Times of Israel, Feb. 20, 2018)
“We have stated many times that we won’t accept the statements that Israel, as a Zionist state, should be destroyed and wiped off the map. I believe this is an absolutely wrong way to advance one’s own interests… By the same token, we oppose attempts to view any regional problem through the prism of fighting Iran…This is happening in Syria, Yemen and even the latest developments around the Palestinian issue, including Washington’s announcement of its decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, are largely motivated by this anti-Iranian stance.” — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Lavrov issued a rare rebuke of Tehran on Monday as he sat next to his Iranian counterpart. Speaking at the opening of the Valdai International Discussion Club’s conference in Moscow, Lavrov slammed Iran's calls for Israel’s destruction. (Jerusalem Online, Feb. 19, 2018)
“What’s particularly concerning is that this network of proxies is becoming more and more capable, as Iran seeds more and more…destructive weapons into these networks.” — U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster. McMaster said the time has come to “act against Iran.” During this speech, McMaster also stated that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is still using chemical weapons in the ongoing Syrian civil war. “Public accounts and photos clearly show that Assad’s chemical weapons use is continuing,” he said. “It is time for all nations to hold the Syrian regime and its sponsors accountable for their actions and support the efforts of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.” (Newsweek, Feb. 17, 2018)
“We met with the president of the United States, Mr. Donald Trump, four times in 2017, and we have expressed our absolute readiness to reach a historic agreement…Yet this administration has not clarified its position…Is it a two-state solution, or one state?” — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas, the leader on whom three U.S. presidents have hung hopes for successful negotiations, all but wrote off Washington as a potential peace broker during an angry address to the U.N. Security Council. He appealed instead to the United Nations, and called for an international peace conference this year under U.N., not American, sponsorship. (Washington Post, Feb. 20, 2018)
“The Palestinians in Gaza live under Hamas terrorist oppression. I can't even call it a governing authority, as Hamas provides so little in the way of what one would normally think as government services. The people of Gaza live in truly awful conditions, while their Hamas rulers put their resources into building terror tunnels and rockets…The Palestinian leadership has a choice to make between two different paths. There is the path of absolutist demands, hateful rhetoric, and incitement to violence. That path has led, and will continue to lead, to nothing but hardship for the Palestinian people. Or, there is the path of negotiation and compromise. History has shown that path to be successful for Egypt and Jordan…The United States stands ready to work with the Palestinian leadership. Our negotiators are sitting right behind me, ready to talk. But we will not chase after you." — U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley. (U.S. Mission to the U.N., Feb. 20, 2018)
“You just addressed the members of the Security Council and spoke of your commitments to peace. This is what you often do when speaking to international forums; but, when you address your people, you convey a very different message…Mr. Abbas, your incitement does not end with rhetoric…You have made it official Palestinian policy to sponsor terrorism. In 2017, you spent $345 million paying terrorists for killing innocent Israelis. That is fifty percent of the total foreign aid donated to the PA. This is money you could have spent building forty hospitals. This is money you could have used to build over 170 schools. Every single year.” — Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon. Noting that Abbas left the chamber immediately after his speech, Danon said, “Unfortunately, he is once again running away. … Mr. Abbas came in, put his demands on the table, and left.” Danon said this was typical of Abbas’ approach to the conflict, since he always tries to “avoid the hard choices necessary for peace,” compounding “70 years of missed opportunities by the Palestinian leadership.” Nonetheless, Danan said that Israelis were an optimistic people, and expressed hope that a new, less intransigent Palestinian leadership would emerge. “Three times a day Jews in Israel and all over the world turn to Jerusalem, and pray for peace,” he concluded. “We have no doubt that the day will come when the Palestinian people will also be blessed with leadership that shares these noble aspirations.” (Algemeiner, Feb. 20, 2018)
“Our rulers are making this country an American colony…We want to make Pakistan a country of true Islam…Tragically, our rulers are bowing their heads before external powers and doing all they say.” —Hafiz Saeed, leader of Pakistan’s Jamaat-ud-Dawa. While Pakistan says it is shutting down Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Saeed, who has a $10 million bounty on his head, delivered a blistering attack on Islamabad and Washington last week. Under U.S. pressure that could put Pakistan on an international terror financing watch list, Islamabad said it is seizing the assets of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which is blamed for the 2008 attack on the Indian city of Mumbai that killed 166 people. The Trump administration has demanded that Pakistan take action against militants and last month withheld $2 billion in security aid. Islamabad says there are no terrorist havens in its territory. (Wall Street Journal, Feb. 15, 2018)
“It’s not going to be seen as criminal to say that there were Polish perpetrators, as there were Jewish perpetrators, as there were Russian perpetrators, as there were Ukrainian: not only German perpetrators.” — Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Morawiecki said at the Munich Security Conference that Nazis were not the only perpetrators of the Holocaust – there were Jewish perpetrators as well. The question was raised regarding Poland’s new law criminalizing public statements “falsely” blaming the government, nation or Polish citizens for perpetrating or collaborating with Nazi crimes during World War II. “Of course it’s not going to be punishable,” Morwaiecki claimed. Morawiecki was responding to an Israeli journalist who questioned whether writing the story of his own mother’s survival of the Holocaust in Poland wouldn’t land him in a courtroom. (Jewish Press, Feb. 17, 2018)
“In the course of being evicted she shouted ‘Polish animals.’ They beat her up but she was the one the police arrested and she was put in prison for two months for insulting the Polish nation…The pre-war maximum for insulting the Polish nation in the late 1930s was three years, exactly as stipulated in the contemporary Polish legislation. Where are the examples coming from? Go figure.” — Prof. Jan Grabowski. The maximum jail time given in Poland before WWII for insulting the Polish nation was three years – the same amount specified in the new “death-camp legislation,” Grabowski, a prominent Polish historian, said. Speaking in Tel Aviv, Grabowski showed a clipping from a Warsaw newspaper in 1936. The article was about a Jewish woman who was evicted from Warsaw University by nationalistic Poles, he explained. In his opinion, the new law is unlikely to actually be implemented: “In legal terms it’s nonsense. A non-starter. However, it has a ‘freezing effect…You throw on the table legislation that will probably, hopefully, will never be implemented – but it’s hanging over their heads,” he said. The law, he explained, is likely to deter history graduates or journalists, for example, from delving into related subjects for fear of losing jobs and opportunities as a result. “It is the freezing effect which will be the long-lasting legacy of this legislation, regardless of what happens with its implementation,” he opined. The historian says his research shows that more than 200,000 Jews were killed directly or indirectly by Poles during WWII. (Jerusalem Post, Feb. 20, 2018)
“Just waking up in Israel to news of heartbreaking school shooting in FL…Reminded that Israel pretty much eliminated it by placing highly trained people strategically to spot the one common thread–-not the weapon, but a person with intent.” — Mike Huckabee, the former Governor of Arkansas. Huckabee reacted to the school shooting in Parkland, Florida last week by comparing Israeli gun safety policy to America’s. Many, including a prominent Israeli commentator, took issue with Huckabee’s analysis, saying it isn’t tight security that protects Israel from mass shootings but laws that carefully control who can own and carry a gun, and when. Huckabee is a strict supporter of the right to bear arms. (Jerusalem Post, Feb. 18, 2018)
"Let me reassure you: the coalition is stable. No one, not I and no one else, plans to go to elections. We will continue to work together with you for the people of Israel until the end of our term…After I read the recommendations report, I can say it is biased, extreme, full of holes like Swiss cheese and doesn't hold water."— Prime Minister Netanyahu. Netanyahu vowed to carry on after police recommended indicting him on corruption charges, angrily dismissing the allegations and the critics calling on him to step down. The police announcement that Netanyahu's acceptance of nearly $300,000 in gifts from two billionaires amounted to bribery sent shockwaves through Israel. In his defense, Netanyahu took aim at police investigators saying their figures were inflated and tried "to create a false impression of exchanges that never existed." Though he is not legally compelled to resign, opposition figures called on Netanyahu to do so to avoid corrupting the office further. (CTV News, Feb. 14, 2018)
SHORT TAKES
GHOUTA RESIDENTS ‘WAIT TO DIE’ AS BOMBS KEEP FALLING (Damascus) — Residents of Syria's eastern Ghouta district said they were waiting their "turn to die" amid one of the most intense bombardments of the war by pro-government forces on the rebel-held enclave near Damascus. At least 27 people died and more than 200 were injured on Wednesday. At least 299 people have been killed in the district in the last three days. The eastern Ghouta, a densely populated agricultural district on the Damascus outskirts, is the last major area near the capital still under rebel control. Home to 400,000 people, it has been besieged by government forces for years. (Globe & Mail, Feb. 21, 2018)
BEZEQ OFFICIALS ARRESTED IN CORRUPTION CASE (Jerusalem) — Israel Securities Authority opened an investigation into the Israel telecommunications company Bezeq, part of an ongoing corruption investigation involving Prime Minister Netanyahu. Several suspects were arrested as part of the investigation, called Case 4000, looking into whether Netanyahu had a relationship with the company. The Israel Securities Authority recently completed an investigation into Bezeq majority shareholder Shaul Elovitch’s ties with Netanyahu and the allegation that he received political favors for Bezeq in return for favorable coverage of Netanyahu on the Walla! News website. (Arutz Sheva, Feb. 19, 2018)
ISRAEL TO EXPORT NATURAL GAS TO EGYPT IN $15 BILLION DEAL (Jerusalem) — The lead partners in Israel’s gas fields signed a $15 billion export deal with Egypt. Noble Energy Inc. and Delek Drilling-LP said they plan to supply around 64 billion cubic meters of natural gas over 10 years to Egypt from Israel’s Tamar and Leviathan reservoirs. The deal needs regulatory and government approval in Israel and Egypt. Substantial obstacles still remain — including how to transport the gas to Egypt — but the agreement suggests Israel and its neighbors are bolstering ties as they seek to benefit from large discoveries in the eastern Mediterranean in recent years. (Bloomberg, Feb. 19, 2018)
ISRAEL DESTROYS HAMAS TUNNEL FOLLOWING ROCKET FIRE (Gaza) —The Israel Air Force struck an underground network of terrorist tunnels in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, after a rocket southern Israel. It was the second Hamas tunnel in Gaza to be struck in as many days, and the sixth tunnel destroyed since October. Earlier on Sunday, incoming rocket sirens were activated in Israeli communities bordering the Gaza Strip. A rocket fell in open territory near the city of Sderot causing no damage or injuries. According to Palestinian reports, jets fired some 10 missiles towards the Hamas tunnel. No casualties were reported. (Jerusalem Post, Feb. 19, 2018)
IDF REVEALS IT THWARTED ATTEMPTED I.S. BOMBING OF AUSTRALIAN FLIGHT (Sydney) — The Israeli army on Wednesday revealed that the Military Intelligence Unit 8200 foiled an Islamic State attempt to bomb a flight from Australia last August. Wednesday’s revelation was an unusual move for the Israeli army, which generally keeps mum on the operations of the secretive Unit 8200, which is similar to the American National Security Agency, collecting information from electronic communication, also referred to as signals intelligence. (Times of Israel, Feb. 21, 2018)
ISRAEL BOYCOTTERS FACE ‘MASSIVE SETBACK’ AT NDP CONVENTION (Ottawa) — Canada’s third-largest political party will not be voting on a resolution that has been criticized for sanctioning economic warfare against Israel at its national convention in Ottawa. Members of the New Democratic Party (NDP) voted against re-prioritizing the “Palestine Resolution” on Friday. The resolution includes a number of demands targeting Israel — including an end to the “occupation and settlement program,” as well as the blockade of the Gaza Strip — but makes no mention of any Israeli concerns that spurred these policies, such as the sustained threat of Palestinian terrorism. (Algemeiner, Feb. 16, 2018)
LABOUR ACTIVIST WHO CALLED JEWS ‘ZIOS’ EXPELLED FROM PARTY (London) — Jewish groups in Britain are hailing the Labour Party’s expulsion of a virulent anti-Israel activist, but warned that further steps needed to be taken. Tony Greenstein was a prominent Labour supporter and a member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign who regularly employed slurs like “Zio” on his blog and social media accounts. “Zio” is a term used by American white supremacists to slander Jews. It has been adopted by the radical Left as well. Greenstein, who is Jewish, was expelled for “repeatedly using ‘zio’ as a term of derision, stating ‘Gay zionists make me want to puke’ and referring to others as ‘Zionist scum’”; accusing a Labour MP of supporting child abuse; and making a “distasteful joke” about the Holocaust in an email to the general-secretary of the Labour party. (Algemeiner, Feb. 19, 2018)
SWASTIKAS DRAWN ON POLISH EMBASSY IN ISRAEL (Tel Aviv) — Poland's embassy in Tel Aviv was daubed with swastikas a day after Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki caused outrage by claiming Jews were among the perpetrators of the Holocaust. Profanities were scrawled across a noticeboard outside the embassy and a swastika had been drawn on the entrance gate. Tensions between the two countries have ratcheted up since Poland passed a controversial new Holocaust-related bill. Israel has been vociferous in its criticism, accusing Poland of attempting to rewrite history. (CNN, Feb. 19, 2018)
POLISH JEWS REEL FROM WAVE OF ANTISEMITISM (Warsaw) — Poland’s Jews are reeling from a wave of antisemitism as a furious controversy intensifies over Poland’s role in the murder of three million Polish Jews during the Holocaust. Polish television commentators, government officials, and a prominent Catholic priest have since been caught making antisemitic statements. These public pronouncements have occurred in tandem with direct antisemitic incidents such as threatening phone calls and emails to the Jewish community, urination in front of a historic synagogue, and racist graffiti. There has also been a noticeable rise in inquiries about aliyah in Poland. (Jerusalem Post, Feb. 18, 2018)
On the Brink of War, Israel Faces a Scandal and 'Bibi Fatigue': Vivian Bercovici, National Post, Feb. 16, 2018—Last Tuesday night, four days after an Iranian anti-aircraft missile breached Israeli airspace and downed an F-16, forcing two pilots to eject to safety, the premiere evening television news program in Israel dropped another bomb, of sorts: following a long investigation, Israeli police were recommending to the attorney general that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be charged with two counts each of bribery and breach of trust.
Pressure Pays: Trump’s Threats to Pakistan: Clarion Project, Feb. 21, 2018—Addressing the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Israel “will act if necessary, not just against Iran’s proxies that are attacking us, but against Iran itself.”
Poland-Israel Meltdown Demands Elisha Wiesel: Shmuley Boteach, Jerusalem Post, Feb. 19, 2018—Our gala event in New York City celebrating Israel’s 70th anniversary will take place March 8 at the Plaza hotel and feature the awarding of the Elie Wiesel Defender of Israel Award posthumously to Yonatan Netanyahu for laying his life down for the Jewish state in modern history’s greatest military action against terrorism. The legendary leader of the Entebbe rescue mission was selected by Elie’s wife, Marion, and son, Elisha, and the award will be presented by them to a recipient that will be announced.
WATCH: A Brave Polish Voice Stands Up Against Anti-Semitism (Video): United With Israel, Feb. 19, 2018—The Polish Parliament and Senate approved a law that prohibits any references to Polish involvement in the Holocaust, severely hindering free speech and essentially censoring discussion of the Holocaust. The bill prohibits describing Nazi death camps in Poland as “Polish,” and sets fines or a three-year jail term as punishment. The bill’s objective is to hide any Polish complicity in the Holocaust.
