Contents:Weekly Quotes|Short Takes|On Topic
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Clarifying the Misconceptions
“Hopefully, from [Barack] Obama’s vantage, he may have appreciated that bullying or demeaning Netanyahu was counter-productive…Should Obama revert to his earlier approach of continuously publicly reprimanding Israel while treating the duplicitous Palestinian leaders with kid gloves, he could bring about a confrontation with Congress. By now, Obama may also have independently reached the conclusion that by distancing the US and exerting harsh pressure on Israel, all he achieved was to embolden the radical Islamists and encourage the Palestinians to become more intransigent in their demands….We should therefore, at least at the outset, adopt a positive approach to the new administration and assume that Obama will adhere to his commitments and that the improvement in relations with Israel created over the past six months will be sustained. We may be facing difficult times. But we must remain optimistic in the knowledge that the United States is a democracy. As long as public opinion continues to support Israel, the relationship between both countries may, as in the past, undergo strains and stresses, but will remain intact.” —Isi Liebler, commenting on the re-election of Barack Obama as President. (Jerusalem Post, November 7, 2012)
“[A]lthough I think Romney would have been a more effective president than Obama, with a better program, I am in fact more in sympathy with President Obama’s declared goals in judicial and welfare matters…. It is scandalous that such a rich country as the United States has 45-million poor people, and I agree with the spirit of the Democratic effort to assist those people. But I do not think their professed methods would be any more successful than the well-intentioned, but largely counter-productive programs of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society legislation of 45 years ago — which I also ardently supported at the time…. — Conrad Black in response to the re-election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. (National Post, November 7, 2012)
"Four years ago, Obama … announced he would extend the hand of cooperation to Iran. But he pursued a different path and imposed unprecedented sanctions and it is natural the Iranian people will never forget such crimes. After all this pressure and crimes against the people of Iran, relations with America cannot be possible overnight and Americans should not think they can hold our nation to ransom by coming to the negotiating table," —Sadeq Larijani, head of the Iranian judiciary as quoted by IRNA news agency following the re-election of President Barack Obama. (Jerusalem Post, November 7, 2012)
"I am a refugee but I am living in Ramallah. I believe that the West Bank and Gaza is Palestine. And the other parts [are] Israel. I want to see Safed. It is my right to see it but not to live there. Palestine now for me is ’67 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. This is now and forever …This is Palestine for me..” —Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in an English language statement to Israel Television’s Channel 2 which was widely interpreted to be a renunciation of the so called “right of return” of all Palestinian “refugees” to their original homes in Israel proper. However, following an angry backlash from other Palestinians, notably Hamas and members of Fatah, he clarified his remarks telling Egypt’s al-Hayat television, in Arabic, “Speaking about Safed was a personal position and it did not mean conceding the right of return. No one would give up their right of return. But all those international formulas, especially that of [UN Resolution] 194 speak of a just and agreed-upon solution to the refugee issue, and agreed-upon means on the part of Israel.” (National Post, November 1, 2012)
“I watched President Abbas’ interview at the weekend, and I heard that since then he has already managed to recant. Peace can be advanced only around the negotiating table, and not through unilateral resolutions at the U.N. General Assembly, which will only put peace further away and bring about instability,” — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in response to Mahmoud Abbas’ interview with Channel 2 Television. (National Post, November 4, 2012)
“If it is true that Abbas’ statement can be understood to be relinquishing the “right of return,” then this is nothing more than a purely tactical mistake because a position like this should be declared in the context of negotiations and bargaining, and not to be offered as a free offering ahead of time. …[M]ore importantly, “the right of return” is inconsistent with the two-state solution…While the Middle East unravels into religious, sectarian and ethnic groups that fear one another…it would take us a great deal of naivety to believe that the Jews of Israel would accept the “return” of 5 to 6 million Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims, to live in their midst. This is pure delusion whose only purpose is to undermine the two-state solution as a prelude to doing away with it completely. This is particularly the case when the call for “the right of return” is coupled with threats about numerical and demographic shifts in favor of the Arab population. In a region that is unable to resolve the question of Kirkuk and whether it is Arab, Kurd or Turkish, the question of the return of Palestinians to the territories of 1948 is closer to being a matter of innocence possessed by a lot of devilry that rejects any kind of peace and does not want to see any end to the suffering of the Palestinian people.” — Hazem Saghieh in an opinion article translated from the original Arabic on the Egyptian online news site Dar al-Hayat. (Dar-al-Hayat, November 6, 2012)
"We told Bashar [al-Assad] he needed to find a political solution to the crisis. We said, 'These are our people that we are killing.' We suggested that we work with Friends of Syria group, but he categorically refused to stop the operations or to negotiate. He is trying to replicate his father's fight in the 1980s." — Riyad Hijab, former Prime Minister of Syria who fled to Jordan in August of this year. "Bashar used to be scared of the international community – he was really worried that they would impose a no-fly zone over Syria," he said. "But then he tested the waters, and pushed and pushed and nothing happened. Now he can run air strikes and drop cluster bombs on his own population." (The Telegraph, Nov4, 2012)
“Anything, anything to get that man out of the country and to have a safe transition in Syria. Of course, I would favour him facing the full force of international law and justice for what he's done. I am certainly not offering him an exit plan to Britain but if wants to leave, he could leave, that could be arranged.“ —British Prime Minister David Cameron, in an interview with al-Arabia while on an official visit to Abu Dhabi, floating the idea of offering Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad immunity from prosecution as a way of persuading him to leave power.
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OBAMA WINS A SECOND TERM —(Washington) President Barack Obama narrowly won re-election, overcoming public doubts about his performance on the economy. Obama won 60,297,130 votes or 50.4% of the popular vote to Romney’s 57,527,755 votes or 48.1% of the popular vote. This translated into 303 Electoral College votes for Obama to 206 Electoral College (EC) votes for Romney out of a total of 538 EC votes available. 270 EC votes were required to win the presidency. Florida, with 29 EC votes, has not yet been declared at this writing. For Mr. Obama, the victory sets up a test of whether he can forge a productive second term in a still deeply divided political system. The Democrats have retained their majority in the Senate while Republicans maintain their stranglehold on the House of Representatives, at least for the next two years until the next Congressional elections in 2014. (Wall Street Journal, November 7, 2012)
ELECTION FAILS TO END DEBATE OVER OBAMA’S SHARE OF JEWISH VOTE —(Washington) Expect four more years of tussling between Jewish Republicans and Democrats about the meaning of Obama’s dip from 78 percent Jewish support in 2008 exit polls to 69% this year in the national exit polls run by a media consortium. Is it a result of Obama’s fractious relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? Or is it a natural fall-off in an election that was closer across the board than it was four years ago? Does it reflect a significant shift in Jewish voting patterns toward the Republicans? A separate national exit poll released Wednesday by Jim Gerstein, a pollster affiliated with the dovish Israel policy group J Street, had similar numbers: 70 percent of respondents said they voted for Obama, while 30 percent…said they voted Republican…Matt Brooks, who directs the Republican Jewish Coalition, said the $6.5 million spent by his group and the $1.5 million doled out by an affiliated political action committee to woo Jewish voters was “well worth it.” “We’ve increased our share of the Jewish vote by almost 50 percent,” he said, noting that Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican nominee, won 22 percent in exit polls to Romney’s 30 percent. “What yichus is there in the possibility of having picked up a handful of Jewish votes having spent so many millions of dollars?” [Steve] Rabinowitz, a consultant to Jewish and Democratic groups, asked, using the Yiddish word connoting status. (Times of Israel, November 7, 2012)
PA STATEHOOD BID A 'POLITICAL SUICIDE' —(Herzliya) According to Middle East expert Dr. Guy Bechor, the Palestinian Authority’s unilateral [statehood] bid to the United Nations is a political suicide. Dr. Bechor noted that the United States has warned Abbas that going ahead with the unilateral initiative would result in the closing of the PLO office in the U.S., the end of American funding to the PA and that he will be considered persona non grata in the U.S. Abbas has also been warned of harsh Israeli measures as a result of the UN bid, such as curbing the flow of funds to the PA, a move which would mean the end of the PA financially. [T]he U.S. informed the United Nations that there is a law that prohibits the U.S. from funding international organizations which recognize a Palestinian state, and that if the UN recognizes ‘Palestine’ it will no longer receive funds from the U.S., similar to what happened when UNESCO recognized ‘Palestine’. “It is well known that the Palestinians commit suicide every few years, but this time they can take the United Nations with them," he said. (Israel National News, November 7, 2012)
3 SYRIAN TANKS CROSS INTO GOLAN DEMILITARIZED ZONE, ISRAEL RAISES ALERT —(Tel Aviv) The Israeli army, which has been braced for Syrian fighting spilling into Israel, reports the incident to UN peacekeepers. The Israel Defense Forces raised its alert level in the Northern Command area, and a military spokeswoman said Israel complained to the U.N. peacekeeping force in the area after the tanks entered. The incident — the first such violation in 40 years — was not regarded as an incident of hostility toward Israel. Rather, the Syrian tanks were apparently facing off against Syrian rebel forces. Nonetheless, Syrian-Israeli relations are relentlessly fraught, and any border incident raises tensions.(Times of Israel, November 3, 2012)
MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD MEETS WITH JEWISH BILLIONAIRE, ARABS UPSET
—(Cairo)Al Masry al Youm reports that U.S. billionaire David Bonderman left Cairo on Tuesday after a one-day visit to Egypt where he met Khairat El-Shater, the deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. Sources said that Bonder was seeking investment opportunities in Egypt. AlArab Online, a London-based pan-Arab newspaper, says that the Muslim Brotherhood "revealed its true face" by meeting with a Jewish businessman. It raised questions about why Shater, who is not a member of the government, would be meeting with Bonderman, ranked #683 in Forbes list of billionaires. It accuses him of supporting Israel (I didn't see any particularly Zionist ties) and said that this shows that the Brotherhood will do anything to stay in power, even reaching out to "Israel." (Elder of Ziyon, November 7, 2012)
AFTER NEARLY 25 YEARS OF SECRECY, ISRAEL ADMITS TO KILLING ARAFAT DEPUTY —(Jerusalem) Lifting a nearly 25-year veil of secrecy, Israel is admitting that it killed the deputy of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in a 1988 raid in Tunis. Israel has long been suspected of assassinating Khalil al-Wazir, who was better known by his nom de guerre Abu Jihad. But only Thursday did the country’s military censor clear the Yediot Ahronot daily to publish the information, including an interview with the commando who killed him. Dozens of brazen operations have been attributed to Israel over the decades. But Israel rarely takes responsibility. The acknowledgement gives a rare glimpse into the country’s covert operations. Abu Jihad founded the Palestinian Liberation Organization with Mr. Arafat and was blamed for a series of attacks against Israelis. (Globe and Mail), Nov. 1 2012)
YES, ANTI-SEMITISM IS STILL A PROBLEM ON CAMPUS — (Washington) Mitchell Bard and Jeff Dawson’s new study, “Israel and the Campus: The Real Story,” led many newspapers to trumpet that anti-Semitism is not a problem on American campuses. They pointed to the study’s finding that significant anti-Israel incidents occurred at only about three percent of schools, with most occurring in only a handful of colleges. But the headlines got the wrong take-away message from the study… Nearly half of the students interviewed for the study – 43% – reported that anti-Semitism is a problem at their schools. The authors acknowledge this is a “shockingly high” level. Nor should we take comfort from the finding that anti-Israel events occurred at “only” 108 out of 4,000 schools, and that one-third occurred at only 10 schools. These were not obscure schools. The list included some of the largest, most prestigious and influential schools in the country: Harvard, Columbia, four University of California campuses including UCLA, and the University of Maryland. Fortunately, not all schools are a problem, but the challenge is serious and should not be minimized. (Jerusalem Post, November 6, 2012)
CONDEMNING ISRAEL’S DEMOCRACY WHILE SERVING IN KNESSET —(Jerusalem) Contrary to the illiberal politics in most of the Arab Middle East, democracy in Israel is thriving, and Jamal Zahalka is certainly using it to full advantage. Jamal Zahalka is an Arab citizen of Israel, an Israeli MK, and the leader of the Balad Party (National Democratic Assembly) a political party which opposes his state’s existence. He has received a BA, MA and PhD at Hebrew University. In April of 2006, after a Palestinian suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, during Passover, killed nine Israelis and wounded more than sixty, Zahalka met, not with families of the victims, but with top Hamas members, in a show of solidarity. He and three of his colleagues visited Syria and Lebanon in September 2006, after the 2nd Lebanon War in a show of solidarity with Hezbollah. In 2009, Zahalka attended a pro-Hamas rally near the Gaza border, on the one-year anniversary of Cast Lead, and accused Defense Minister Ehud Barak of enjoying “…killing children in Gaza.” In 2009, the Israeli Central Elections Committee accused the party which Zahalka belongs to of incitement, supporting terrorist groups and refusing to recognize Israel’s right to exist. [On] Nov. 4, Zahalka penned an essay at ‘Comment is Free’, calling for sanctions against Israel, which he characterized as a “racist”, “extremist” state that is suffering form an erosion in democracy. (Jewish Press, November 6th, 2012)
ARABS SENDING CHILDREN TO PROVOKE ISRAELI SOLDIERS —(Nabi Salih, West Bank) A video shot at a Friday protest in the village of Nabi Salih, in the central West Bank, captured an image of a young Palestinian girl attempting to provoke Israeli soldiers. Soon thereafter the girl is joined by many other seemingly young-looking people from the village. A senior IDF source told Ynet News that intelligence indicates that pro-Palestinian activists pay Palestinian children from Nabi Salih and other nearby villages to confront the soldiers. “The soldiers are briefed on the fact that these protests are staged for the sake of provocation, so that they could be filmed acting violently and so that those videos could be distributed worldwide in an effort to harm the IDF’s image,” the officer said. (Algemeiner, November 5, 2012)
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The Elections, Gridlock and Foreign Policy: George Friedman, Real Clear World, November 7, 2012
Obama does not have enough congressional support for dramatic new initiatives, and getting appointments through the Senate that Republicans oppose will be difficult.
Foreign Policy: Obama Facing Iran Dilemma: Tim Marshall, Sky News, November 7, 2012
The biggest foreign policy issue facing newly re-elected President Barack Obama is the prospect of a nuclear armed Iran. It is a scenario that will take up a lot of the president's thinking, and one which has consequences that might even keep 'No drama Obama' awake at night.
Startling puzzle of O’s second chance: Michael Goodwin, New York Post, November 7, 2012
His first four years were mostly a bust, he offered no promises or agenda for the second four—and Barack Obama won anyway.Go figure. I’ll always be proud of my country, but Obama’s victory defies political logic and economic reality. It was a stunning personal triumph for a president who was ripe for a downfall.
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