Khamenei Praises Ahmadinejad's Nuclear Defiance
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday affirmed that he and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were in ideological accord, especially in regards to Tehran's illicit nuclear drive, The International Herald Tribune reported. "Some bullying and demanding countries wanted to impose their will on our country," Khamenei said, referring to international insistence that Iran halt its uranium enrichment activities. "But our people, and the president and his ministers, stood up to such demands." Khamenei praised the Iranian government's refusal to halt its nuclear work, as called for by the U.N. Security Council, calling it a symbol of the country's "national identity." Iran has rebuffed multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions demanding that it abandon efforts to enrich uranium and faces more stringent sanctions as a result of its non-compliance. Click here to learn more about the need for sanctions against Iran.
Syria Seeks to Purchase Advanced Russian Weaponry
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said last week that he would use his visit to Russia to significantly expand military ties with Moscow, Reuters reported. "Of course military and technical cooperation is the main issue," Assad said. "Weapons purchases are very important." A diplomatic source in Moscow said that Damascus was interested in Russian missile defense systems and military aircraft, and the two countries are preparing a number of deals involving anti-aircraft and anti-tank missile systems, of the sort Hizballah has used with great success against Israel. The State Department consistently lists Syria as one of the world's leading state sponsors of international terrorism.
Report: Hamas Can Launch 100 Qassams a Day
Israeli defense officials monitoring Hamas' arms buildup in Gaza have detected major advances in both the quality and quantity of the terrorist group's rocket arsenal, the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported. Despite recent pledges by the terrorist group to halt its stockpiling of weapons, Hamas has managed to smuggle some 8,000 iron pipes, which serve as the base of the rocket, as well as toxic chemicals used to produce explosives with an extended "shelf life" and significantly longer range. Under its current operation, which resembles the massive arms buildup undertaken by Hizballah in Lebanon, Hamas will have the capability to fire upwards of 100 Qassam rockets per day at the Jewish state.
U.N.: Lebanon-Syria Border Open for Arms Transfers
According to a report submitted to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday, Lebanon's eastern border with Syria is wide open to weapons smugglers, enabling the terrorist army Hizballah to replenish its arsenal, the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported. The U.N. report harshly criticized both Lebanon and Syria for failing to seal their shared border despite the arms embargo imposed by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War in 2006, and repeated promises by both countries to address the issue. In the two years since the Second Lebanon War, Hizballah has tripled the size and scope of its rocket arsenal and constructed a sophisticated network of underground bunkers throughout southern Lebanon. Click here to learn about Hizballah's dangerous arms buildup.
Israel Warns of Hizballah Attacks Worldwide
Israel's counterterrorist unit warned Wednesday that the Lebanon-based terrorist army Hizballah intends to attack and abduct Israelis abroad, the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported. Officials say Hizballah is seeking revenge for the assassination of its military commander, Imad Mughniyeh, killed earlier this year by a car bomb in Damascus, Syria. Security experts said Hizballah is likely to attempt a terrorist attack in Third World countries, especially in South America and south Asia, but reports suggest the group has carried out surveillance of Jewish and Israeli institutions in North America and Europe as well. Hizballah has been responsible for attacks against Jews around the world, including a string of bombings in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the mid-1990s that killed 115 people.
Red Cross in Kenya Adopts Israeli Cholera Prevention Program
The Red Cross in Kenya has adopted a unique cholera prevention program developed by students at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Despite the fact that cholera is one of the most understood and preventable diseases, the World Health Organization estimates that there were about 180,000 cholera cases in 2007, and that it still accounts for 65 percent of deaths in cases of diarrheal diseases in children under five years old in developing countries. The Hebrew University program aims to take a comprehensive approach to preventing cholera by increasing safe drinking water sources, promoting awareness in the community about the disease, mobilizing rapid response teams to areas of suspected cholera cases and much more. Israel has long been at the forefront of efforts to fight disease worldwide.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
aipac summary
www.aipac.org August 19, 2008
U.S. Radar to Help Israel Maintain Qualitative Military Edge
Iran Seeks to Build More Nuclear Plants
Palestinian Terrorists Build Rockets Despite Gaza Calm
Monitoring Group Condemns UNIFIL, Hizballah
IMF: Sanctions Hurting Iranian Economy
Israeli Olympian Still in Contention for Medal
take action!
Affect Israel's future and promote U.S. interests in the Middle East by urging your members of Congress to support critical legislation.
Click here to learn about these important initiatives and to email your elected representatives.
Learn more
Click here for AIPAC analysis of issues affecting the U.S.-Israel alliance.
U.S. Radar to Help Israel Maintain Qualitative Military EdgeIn a sign of its strong commitment to Israel's security, the United States will soon link the Jewish state to an advanced missile detection system. The powerful radar, known as the X-Band, will be deployed by early 2009 and will be operated by staff from the U.S. European Command. Reps. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Jane Harman (D-CA) played a critical role in ensuring that Israel was given access to the X-Band. Last May, the two lawmakers spearheaded a letter to President Bush that called on him to share the system with Israel. For decades, the United States and Israel have maintained a deep strategic and military relationship aimed at confronting the threats to both nations.
Iran Seeks to Build More Nuclear PlantsAs Iran presses ahead with its illicit atomic work, the Islamic Republic has signed new contracts for preliminary work on new nuclear power plants, the Iranian Students' News Agency reported. Six companies have been elected out of 62 applicants in a bid among foreign companies, according to Ahmad Fayazbakhsh, the director of production of atomic energy at Iran's nuclear agency. With Russia's help, Iran is already building its first nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr, which many experts fear could one day be used to extract weapons grade plutonium. Iran has rebuffed multiple U.N. Security Council demands that it end its efforts to enrich uranium and faces more stringent sanctions as a result of its non-compliance.
Palestinian Terrorists Build Rockets Despite Gaza CalmThe Gaza-based Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) terrorist organization recently showed off what it said was a new rocket that is capable of striking the major Israeli population centers of Ashkelon and Ashdod—more than 16 miles away from Gaza, CNN reported. Israeli officials expressed serious concern at the weapons on display. "If the [Egyptian-mediated] cease-fire is just a front for extremists in Gaza to rearm and regroup, of course we have the right to act," Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said. "Any arms buildup is a direct violation of the calm that was achieved." Since the calm went into effect, Palestinian terrorists have fired more than two dozen rockets at the Jewish state. Click here to learn more about the threat from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
Monitoring Group Condemns UNIFIL, HizballahAn independent monitoring group in Lebanon has strongly criticized the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), calling its members "hostages of Hizballah," The Jerusalem Post reported. Toni Nissi, the general coordinator of the monitoring group, said Resolution 1701 "calls for the...disarmament of the militias, and calls for sealing the border between Lebanon and Syria and forbidding the entering of arms and weapons via the border, especially to Hizballah. So Hizbullah is violating 1701 big time, and not only by hiding its weapons in warehouses in the south." Nissi added: "Also, we haven't seen any weapons coming out of the south after the war of 2006, so did Hizballah throw its weapons used in the 2006 war into the sea?" In addition, Nissi criticized the U.N. force for "coordinating with Hizballah and not with the Lebanese government."
IMF: Sanctions Hurting Iranian EconomyThe International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday said that stepped-up international pressure and sanctions over Iran's refusal to halt its illicit nuclear activities are hurting the country's economy, making trade financing and payments difficult and discouraging foreign investment, Reuters reported. U.S. and U.N. economic sanctions have had a major impact on state-owned banks, and many of the world's top financial institutions have severed ties with the Islamic Republic, limiting the regime's access to foreign capital and restricting trade, the IMF report stated. International sanctions have also taken a toll on Iran's energy sector, leading several major oil companies to withhold investments in the country's oil and natural gas sectors. Click here to learn about international efforts to isolate Iran.
Israeli Olympian Still in Contention for MedalIsraeli windsurfer Shahar Tzuberi on Tuesday continued his fantastic performance at the Olympics in Beijing, finishing a race in fourth place in the tenth overall race of the competition, The Jerusalem Post reported. Despite the good result, 22-year-old Tzuberi is still fourth overall. His last chance to improve his position and win the first Israeli medal at the Beijing games will take place on Wednesday. Tzuberi is just one of the dozens of athletes on the Israeli Olympic team. From swimming and fencing to judo and tennis, Israeli athletes have competed in a wide array of sports in the XXIX Olympiad
U.S. Radar to Help Israel Maintain Qualitative Military Edge
Iran Seeks to Build More Nuclear Plants
Palestinian Terrorists Build Rockets Despite Gaza Calm
Monitoring Group Condemns UNIFIL, Hizballah
IMF: Sanctions Hurting Iranian Economy
Israeli Olympian Still in Contention for Medal
take action!
Affect Israel's future and promote U.S. interests in the Middle East by urging your members of Congress to support critical legislation.
Click here to learn about these important initiatives and to email your elected representatives.
Learn more
Click here for AIPAC analysis of issues affecting the U.S.-Israel alliance.
U.S. Radar to Help Israel Maintain Qualitative Military EdgeIn a sign of its strong commitment to Israel's security, the United States will soon link the Jewish state to an advanced missile detection system. The powerful radar, known as the X-Band, will be deployed by early 2009 and will be operated by staff from the U.S. European Command. Reps. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Jane Harman (D-CA) played a critical role in ensuring that Israel was given access to the X-Band. Last May, the two lawmakers spearheaded a letter to President Bush that called on him to share the system with Israel. For decades, the United States and Israel have maintained a deep strategic and military relationship aimed at confronting the threats to both nations.
Iran Seeks to Build More Nuclear PlantsAs Iran presses ahead with its illicit atomic work, the Islamic Republic has signed new contracts for preliminary work on new nuclear power plants, the Iranian Students' News Agency reported. Six companies have been elected out of 62 applicants in a bid among foreign companies, according to Ahmad Fayazbakhsh, the director of production of atomic energy at Iran's nuclear agency. With Russia's help, Iran is already building its first nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr, which many experts fear could one day be used to extract weapons grade plutonium. Iran has rebuffed multiple U.N. Security Council demands that it end its efforts to enrich uranium and faces more stringent sanctions as a result of its non-compliance.
Palestinian Terrorists Build Rockets Despite Gaza CalmThe Gaza-based Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) terrorist organization recently showed off what it said was a new rocket that is capable of striking the major Israeli population centers of Ashkelon and Ashdod—more than 16 miles away from Gaza, CNN reported. Israeli officials expressed serious concern at the weapons on display. "If the [Egyptian-mediated] cease-fire is just a front for extremists in Gaza to rearm and regroup, of course we have the right to act," Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said. "Any arms buildup is a direct violation of the calm that was achieved." Since the calm went into effect, Palestinian terrorists have fired more than two dozen rockets at the Jewish state. Click here to learn more about the threat from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
Monitoring Group Condemns UNIFIL, HizballahAn independent monitoring group in Lebanon has strongly criticized the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), calling its members "hostages of Hizballah," The Jerusalem Post reported. Toni Nissi, the general coordinator of the monitoring group, said Resolution 1701 "calls for the...disarmament of the militias, and calls for sealing the border between Lebanon and Syria and forbidding the entering of arms and weapons via the border, especially to Hizballah. So Hizbullah is violating 1701 big time, and not only by hiding its weapons in warehouses in the south." Nissi added: "Also, we haven't seen any weapons coming out of the south after the war of 2006, so did Hizballah throw its weapons used in the 2006 war into the sea?" In addition, Nissi criticized the U.N. force for "coordinating with Hizballah and not with the Lebanese government."
IMF: Sanctions Hurting Iranian EconomyThe International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday said that stepped-up international pressure and sanctions over Iran's refusal to halt its illicit nuclear activities are hurting the country's economy, making trade financing and payments difficult and discouraging foreign investment, Reuters reported. U.S. and U.N. economic sanctions have had a major impact on state-owned banks, and many of the world's top financial institutions have severed ties with the Islamic Republic, limiting the regime's access to foreign capital and restricting trade, the IMF report stated. International sanctions have also taken a toll on Iran's energy sector, leading several major oil companies to withhold investments in the country's oil and natural gas sectors. Click here to learn about international efforts to isolate Iran.
Israeli Olympian Still in Contention for MedalIsraeli windsurfer Shahar Tzuberi on Tuesday continued his fantastic performance at the Olympics in Beijing, finishing a race in fourth place in the tenth overall race of the competition, The Jerusalem Post reported. Despite the good result, 22-year-old Tzuberi is still fourth overall. His last chance to improve his position and win the first Israeli medal at the Beijing games will take place on Wednesday. Tzuberi is just one of the dozens of athletes on the Israeli Olympic team. From swimming and fencing to judo and tennis, Israeli athletes have competed in a wide array of sports in the XXIX Olympiad
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Iran strike?
Israel mulls military option for Iran nukes By STEVEN GUTKIN, Associated Press Writer
24 minutes ago
JERUSALEM - Israel is building up its strike capabilities amid growing anxiety over Iran's nuclear ambitions and appears confident that a military attack would cripple Tehran's atomic program, even if it can't destroy it.
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Such talk could be more threat than reality. However, Iran's refusal to accept Western conditions is worrying Israel as is the perception that Washington now prefers diplomacy over confrontation with Tehran.
The Jewish state has purchased 90 F-16I fighter planes that can carry enough fuel to reach Iran, and will receive 11 more by the end of next year. It has bought two new Dolphin submarines from Germany reportedly capable of firing nuclear-armed warheads — in addition to the three it already has.
And this summer it carried out air maneuvers in the Mediterranean that touched off an international debate over whether they were a "dress rehearsal" for an imminent attack, a stern warning to Iran or a just a way to get allies to step up the pressure on Tehran to stop building nukes.
According to foreign media reports, Israeli intelligence is active inside Iranian territory. Israel's military censor, who can impose a range of legal sanctions against journalists operating in the country, does not permit publication of details of such information in news reports written from Israel.
The issue of Iran's nuclear program took on new urgency this week after U.S. officials rejected Tehran's response to an incentives package aimed at getting it to stop sensitive nuclear activity — setting the stage for a fourth round of international sanctions against the country.
Israel, itself an undeclared nuclear power, sees an atomic bomb in Iranian hands as a direct threat to its existence.
Israel believes Tehran will have enriched enough uranium for a nuclear bomb by next year or 2010 at the latest. The United States has trimmed its estimate that Iran is several years or as much as a decade away from being able to field a bomb, but has not been precise about a timetable. In general U.S. officials think Iran isn't as close to a bomb as Israel claims, but are concerned that Iran is working faster than anticipated to add centrifuges, the workhorses of uranium enrichment.
"If Israeli, U.S., or European intelligence gets proof that Iran has succeeded in developing nuclear weapons technology, then Israel will respond in a manner reflecting the existential threat posed by such a weapon," said Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz, speaking at a policy forum in Washington last week.
"Israel takes (Iranian President) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's statements regarding its destruction seriously. Israel cannot risk another Holocaust," Mofaz said.
The Iranian leader has in the past called for Israel's elimination, though his exact remarks have been disputed. Some translators say he called for Israel to be "wiped off the map," while others say a better translation would be "vanish from the pages of time" — implying Israel would disappear on its own rather than be destroyed.
Iran insists its uranium enrichment is meant only for electricity generation, not a bomb — an assertion that most Western nations see as disingenuous.
Israeli policymakers and experts have been debating for quite some time whether it would even be possible for Israel to take out Iran's nuclear program. The mission would be far more complicated than a 1981 Israeli raid that destroyed Iraq's partially built Osirak nuclear reactor, or an Israeli raid last year on what U.S. intelligence officials said was another unfinished nuclear facility in Syria.
In Iran, multiple atomic installations are scattered throughout the country, some underground or bored into mountains — unlike the Iraqi and Syrian installations, which were single aboveground complexes.
Still, the Syria action seemed to indicate that Israel would also be willing to use force preemptively against Iran.
"For Israel this is not a target that cannot be achieved," said Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi-Farkash, former head of Israel's army intelligence.
However, it's unlikely Israel would carry out an attack without approval from the United States.
Recent signs that Washington may be moving away from a military option — including a proposal to open a low-level U.S. diplomatic office in Tehran and a recent decision to allow a senior U.S. diplomat to participate alongside Iran in international talks in Geneva — are not sitting very well with Israel.
That may help explain recent visits to Jerusalem by Mike McConnell, the U.S. director of national intelligence, and Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, each of whom delivered a message to Israel that it does not have a green light to attack Iran at this time.
Senior Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they do not wish to appear at odds with their most important ally, said they were concerned about a possible softening of the U.S. stance toward Iran.
Apparently to allay Israeli concerns, Bush administration officials last week assured visiting Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak that the U.S. has not ruled out the possibility of a military strike on Iran. And the U.S., aware of Israel's high anxiety over Iran's nukes, is also hooking Israel up to an advanced missile detection system known as X-Band to guard against any future attack by Iran, said a senior U.S. defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions over the issue have not been made public.
With sanctions and diplomacy still the international community's preferred method to get Iran to stop building the bomb, an Israeli strike does not appear imminent.
If it did attack, however, Israel would have to contend with upgraded Iranian defense capabilities, including 29 new Tor-M1 surface-to-air missile systems Iran purchased from Russia last year in a $700 million deal.
Russia has so far not gone through with a proposed sale to Iran of S-300 surface-to-air missiles, an even more powerful air defense system than the Tor-M1. An Israeli defense official said the deal is still on the table, however. This is a big source of consternation for Israel because the system could significantly complicate a pre-emptive Israeli assault on Iran.
Military experts say an Israeli strike would require manned aircraft to bombard multiple targets and heavy precision bombs that can blast through underground bunkers — something Israel failed to do in its 2006 war against Hezbollah. It's widely assumed that Israel is seeking to obtain bunker buster bombs, if it hasn't already done so.
Elite ground troops could also be necessary to penetrate the most difficult sites, though Israeli military planners say they see that option as perhaps too risky.
America's ability to take out Iran's nuclear facilities is far superior to Israel's.
Unlike Israel, the United States has cruise missiles that can deliver high-explosive bombs to precise locations and B-2 bombers capable of dropping 85 500-pound bombs in a single run.
Yet the cost of an attack — by the U.S., Israel or both — is likely to be enormous.
Iran could halt oil production and shut down tanker traffic in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which could send the price of crude skyrocketing and wreck Western economies.
It could stir up trouble for the U.S. in Iraq by revving up Shiite militias there just as Washington is showing some important gains in reining in Iraqi chaos.
It could activate its militant proxies in both Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, from where Israel could come under heavy rocket attack. And it could strike Israel with its arsenal of Shahab-3 long-range missiles — something Israel is hoping to guard against through its Arrow missile defense system.
Perhaps most importantly, any strike on Iran — especially if it's done without having exhausted all diplomatic channels — could have the opposite of the desired effect, "actually increasing the nationalist fervor to build a nuclear weapon," said Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-born Israeli and expert on Iranian affairs.
Whether an attack on Iran would be worth its cost would depend on how long the nuclear program could be delayed, said Chuck Freilich, a former Israeli deputy national security adviser and now a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.
"A two, three-year delay is not worth it. For a five to 10-year delay I would say yes," he said.
24 minutes ago
JERUSALEM - Israel is building up its strike capabilities amid growing anxiety over Iran's nuclear ambitions and appears confident that a military attack would cripple Tehran's atomic program, even if it can't destroy it.
ADVERTISEMENT
Such talk could be more threat than reality. However, Iran's refusal to accept Western conditions is worrying Israel as is the perception that Washington now prefers diplomacy over confrontation with Tehran.
The Jewish state has purchased 90 F-16I fighter planes that can carry enough fuel to reach Iran, and will receive 11 more by the end of next year. It has bought two new Dolphin submarines from Germany reportedly capable of firing nuclear-armed warheads — in addition to the three it already has.
And this summer it carried out air maneuvers in the Mediterranean that touched off an international debate over whether they were a "dress rehearsal" for an imminent attack, a stern warning to Iran or a just a way to get allies to step up the pressure on Tehran to stop building nukes.
According to foreign media reports, Israeli intelligence is active inside Iranian territory. Israel's military censor, who can impose a range of legal sanctions against journalists operating in the country, does not permit publication of details of such information in news reports written from Israel.
The issue of Iran's nuclear program took on new urgency this week after U.S. officials rejected Tehran's response to an incentives package aimed at getting it to stop sensitive nuclear activity — setting the stage for a fourth round of international sanctions against the country.
Israel, itself an undeclared nuclear power, sees an atomic bomb in Iranian hands as a direct threat to its existence.
Israel believes Tehran will have enriched enough uranium for a nuclear bomb by next year or 2010 at the latest. The United States has trimmed its estimate that Iran is several years or as much as a decade away from being able to field a bomb, but has not been precise about a timetable. In general U.S. officials think Iran isn't as close to a bomb as Israel claims, but are concerned that Iran is working faster than anticipated to add centrifuges, the workhorses of uranium enrichment.
"If Israeli, U.S., or European intelligence gets proof that Iran has succeeded in developing nuclear weapons technology, then Israel will respond in a manner reflecting the existential threat posed by such a weapon," said Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz, speaking at a policy forum in Washington last week.
"Israel takes (Iranian President) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's statements regarding its destruction seriously. Israel cannot risk another Holocaust," Mofaz said.
The Iranian leader has in the past called for Israel's elimination, though his exact remarks have been disputed. Some translators say he called for Israel to be "wiped off the map," while others say a better translation would be "vanish from the pages of time" — implying Israel would disappear on its own rather than be destroyed.
Iran insists its uranium enrichment is meant only for electricity generation, not a bomb — an assertion that most Western nations see as disingenuous.
Israeli policymakers and experts have been debating for quite some time whether it would even be possible for Israel to take out Iran's nuclear program. The mission would be far more complicated than a 1981 Israeli raid that destroyed Iraq's partially built Osirak nuclear reactor, or an Israeli raid last year on what U.S. intelligence officials said was another unfinished nuclear facility in Syria.
In Iran, multiple atomic installations are scattered throughout the country, some underground or bored into mountains — unlike the Iraqi and Syrian installations, which were single aboveground complexes.
Still, the Syria action seemed to indicate that Israel would also be willing to use force preemptively against Iran.
"For Israel this is not a target that cannot be achieved," said Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi-Farkash, former head of Israel's army intelligence.
However, it's unlikely Israel would carry out an attack without approval from the United States.
Recent signs that Washington may be moving away from a military option — including a proposal to open a low-level U.S. diplomatic office in Tehran and a recent decision to allow a senior U.S. diplomat to participate alongside Iran in international talks in Geneva — are not sitting very well with Israel.
That may help explain recent visits to Jerusalem by Mike McConnell, the U.S. director of national intelligence, and Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, each of whom delivered a message to Israel that it does not have a green light to attack Iran at this time.
Senior Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they do not wish to appear at odds with their most important ally, said they were concerned about a possible softening of the U.S. stance toward Iran.
Apparently to allay Israeli concerns, Bush administration officials last week assured visiting Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak that the U.S. has not ruled out the possibility of a military strike on Iran. And the U.S., aware of Israel's high anxiety over Iran's nukes, is also hooking Israel up to an advanced missile detection system known as X-Band to guard against any future attack by Iran, said a senior U.S. defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions over the issue have not been made public.
With sanctions and diplomacy still the international community's preferred method to get Iran to stop building the bomb, an Israeli strike does not appear imminent.
If it did attack, however, Israel would have to contend with upgraded Iranian defense capabilities, including 29 new Tor-M1 surface-to-air missile systems Iran purchased from Russia last year in a $700 million deal.
Russia has so far not gone through with a proposed sale to Iran of S-300 surface-to-air missiles, an even more powerful air defense system than the Tor-M1. An Israeli defense official said the deal is still on the table, however. This is a big source of consternation for Israel because the system could significantly complicate a pre-emptive Israeli assault on Iran.
Military experts say an Israeli strike would require manned aircraft to bombard multiple targets and heavy precision bombs that can blast through underground bunkers — something Israel failed to do in its 2006 war against Hezbollah. It's widely assumed that Israel is seeking to obtain bunker buster bombs, if it hasn't already done so.
Elite ground troops could also be necessary to penetrate the most difficult sites, though Israeli military planners say they see that option as perhaps too risky.
America's ability to take out Iran's nuclear facilities is far superior to Israel's.
Unlike Israel, the United States has cruise missiles that can deliver high-explosive bombs to precise locations and B-2 bombers capable of dropping 85 500-pound bombs in a single run.
Yet the cost of an attack — by the U.S., Israel or both — is likely to be enormous.
Iran could halt oil production and shut down tanker traffic in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which could send the price of crude skyrocketing and wreck Western economies.
It could stir up trouble for the U.S. in Iraq by revving up Shiite militias there just as Washington is showing some important gains in reining in Iraqi chaos.
It could activate its militant proxies in both Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, from where Israel could come under heavy rocket attack. And it could strike Israel with its arsenal of Shahab-3 long-range missiles — something Israel is hoping to guard against through its Arrow missile defense system.
Perhaps most importantly, any strike on Iran — especially if it's done without having exhausted all diplomatic channels — could have the opposite of the desired effect, "actually increasing the nationalist fervor to build a nuclear weapon," said Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-born Israeli and expert on Iranian affairs.
Whether an attack on Iran would be worth its cost would depend on how long the nuclear program could be delayed, said Chuck Freilich, a former Israeli deputy national security adviser and now a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.
"A two, three-year delay is not worth it. For a five to 10-year delay I would say yes," he said.
AIPAC update
www.aipac.org August 5, 2008
Iranian Letter Ignores Demands for Nuclear Halt
Hizballah: We're Keeping War Option Alive
Norwegian Oil Group Ends Iran Investments
United States and Israel Engage in Strategic Dialogue
State Dept. Criticizes Egypt for Sentencing Human Rights Activist
Israeli Doctors Treat Palestinian Children in Gaza
take action!
Affect Israel's future and promote U.S. interests in the Middle East by urging your members of Congress to support critical legislation.
Click here to learn about these important initiatives and to email your elected representatives.
Learn more
Click here for AIPAC analysis of issues affecting the U.S.-Israel alliance.
Iranian Letter Ignores Demands for Nuclear HaltAfter weeks of stalling, Iran has failed to deliver a concrete response to an incentives offer by world powers aimed at halting its nuclear program, Reuters reported. In a one-page letter to E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana, Iran said it had "carefully considered" views proposed by the P5+1 countries (United States, Great Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany) at a meeting in Geneva last month, but certain issues needed to be clarified. One Western official said the letter contained "absolutely nothing" and that Tehran delivered no concrete proposals to the world powers' offers of trade, financial and diplomatic incentives, in exchange for a freeze of its uranium enrichment activities. Click here to learn why Iranian stalling must be met with tougher sanctions.
Hizballah: We're Keeping War Option AliveIn a rare interview, a senior commander for the Lebanon-based terrorist army Hizballah said his group was far stronger now than before its war against Israel two years ago, and was prepared for future combat against the Jewish state, The Telegraph reported. "The resistance is now stronger than before and this keeps the option of war awake," said Sheikh Nabil Kaouk, who leads Hizballah's forces on Lebanon's border with Israel. Kaouk also touted Hizballah's close ties to Iran and Syria, who have helped the terrorist army triple the size of its rocket arsenal and have provided it with vital financial support. Since its 2006 war with Israel, Hizballah has amassed more than 40,000 rockets and missiles capable of striking major Israeli population centers. Click here to learn more about Hizballah's arms buildup.
Norwegian Oil Group Ends Iran InvestmentsDealing a significant blow to Iranian hopes for Western investment in its energy sector, StatoilHydro, the Norwegian national oil company, has announced its decision not to invest in Iran, the Financial Times reported. In light of international pressure over Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability, Statoil decided not to develop a major oil field in Iran's Anran block, Statoil CEO Helge Lund said, adding that his company would also be reducing its involvement in the South Pars gas project. Statoil's decision follows similar moves by Royal Dutch Shell and Total of France, whose chief executive, Christophe de Margerie, told the Financial Times last month that the political risk of investing in Iran was too high due to international sanctions. Click here to take important action thanking House members for cosponsoring a resolution that calls for tougher sanctions on Iran.
United States and Israel Engage in Strategic DialogueTop U.S. and Israeli officials conducted a strategic dialogue in Washington last week, discussing the threat of Iran's nuclear program and other challenges in the Middle East. The dialogue was led by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns and Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz. The talks were "another demonstration of the strong cooperative security partnership between the United States and Israel, based on a long-standing friendship, shared values and common interests," according to a joint statement. For decades, the United States and Israel have worked together to confront mutual threats. Click here to learn more about the threats Israel faces.
State Dept. Criticizes Egypt for Sentencing Human Rights ActivistThe State Department on Monday decried the recent sentencing in absentia of exiled Egyptian human rights activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim to two years in prison for defaming his country, Agence France Presse reported. "We are disappointed by the recent conviction in Egypt of democracy activist Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim," said spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos. "Lawsuits should not be used to undermine the principles of freedom of expression. We strongly advocate—in all countries—the protection of civil and political rights, including freedom of speech and due process." Ibrahim was sentenced for "tarnishing Egypt's reputation," following a series of speeches and articles in which he criticized the Egyptian regime. Ibrahim currently lives in the United States.
Israeli Doctors Treat Palestinian Children in GazaTwo Israeli doctors and volunteers at the Physicians for Human Rights organization crossed into the Gaza Strip last week to perform complex plastic and orthopedic surgeries on Palestinian children, the Israeli Web site Ynet reported. For nearly three days, the Israeli surgeons worked with a Palestinian medical team at Shifa Hospital, Gaza's main medical center. "During that period, I examined and treated over 30 children ranging from two months to 14 years of age," said Dr. Kassis Shukri, an Israeli plastic surgeon. "I managed to perform four complicated surgeries, treat congenital anomalies such as a cleft palate, deformities, cuts and burns." He added: "I believe medicine is one of the fields that can bring the two sides together."
Iranian Letter Ignores Demands for Nuclear Halt
Hizballah: We're Keeping War Option Alive
Norwegian Oil Group Ends Iran Investments
United States and Israel Engage in Strategic Dialogue
State Dept. Criticizes Egypt for Sentencing Human Rights Activist
Israeli Doctors Treat Palestinian Children in Gaza
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Iranian Letter Ignores Demands for Nuclear HaltAfter weeks of stalling, Iran has failed to deliver a concrete response to an incentives offer by world powers aimed at halting its nuclear program, Reuters reported. In a one-page letter to E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana, Iran said it had "carefully considered" views proposed by the P5+1 countries (United States, Great Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany) at a meeting in Geneva last month, but certain issues needed to be clarified. One Western official said the letter contained "absolutely nothing" and that Tehran delivered no concrete proposals to the world powers' offers of trade, financial and diplomatic incentives, in exchange for a freeze of its uranium enrichment activities. Click here to learn why Iranian stalling must be met with tougher sanctions.
Hizballah: We're Keeping War Option AliveIn a rare interview, a senior commander for the Lebanon-based terrorist army Hizballah said his group was far stronger now than before its war against Israel two years ago, and was prepared for future combat against the Jewish state, The Telegraph reported. "The resistance is now stronger than before and this keeps the option of war awake," said Sheikh Nabil Kaouk, who leads Hizballah's forces on Lebanon's border with Israel. Kaouk also touted Hizballah's close ties to Iran and Syria, who have helped the terrorist army triple the size of its rocket arsenal and have provided it with vital financial support. Since its 2006 war with Israel, Hizballah has amassed more than 40,000 rockets and missiles capable of striking major Israeli population centers. Click here to learn more about Hizballah's arms buildup.
Norwegian Oil Group Ends Iran InvestmentsDealing a significant blow to Iranian hopes for Western investment in its energy sector, StatoilHydro, the Norwegian national oil company, has announced its decision not to invest in Iran, the Financial Times reported. In light of international pressure over Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability, Statoil decided not to develop a major oil field in Iran's Anran block, Statoil CEO Helge Lund said, adding that his company would also be reducing its involvement in the South Pars gas project. Statoil's decision follows similar moves by Royal Dutch Shell and Total of France, whose chief executive, Christophe de Margerie, told the Financial Times last month that the political risk of investing in Iran was too high due to international sanctions. Click here to take important action thanking House members for cosponsoring a resolution that calls for tougher sanctions on Iran.
United States and Israel Engage in Strategic DialogueTop U.S. and Israeli officials conducted a strategic dialogue in Washington last week, discussing the threat of Iran's nuclear program and other challenges in the Middle East. The dialogue was led by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns and Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz. The talks were "another demonstration of the strong cooperative security partnership between the United States and Israel, based on a long-standing friendship, shared values and common interests," according to a joint statement. For decades, the United States and Israel have worked together to confront mutual threats. Click here to learn more about the threats Israel faces.
State Dept. Criticizes Egypt for Sentencing Human Rights ActivistThe State Department on Monday decried the recent sentencing in absentia of exiled Egyptian human rights activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim to two years in prison for defaming his country, Agence France Presse reported. "We are disappointed by the recent conviction in Egypt of democracy activist Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim," said spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos. "Lawsuits should not be used to undermine the principles of freedom of expression. We strongly advocate—in all countries—the protection of civil and political rights, including freedom of speech and due process." Ibrahim was sentenced for "tarnishing Egypt's reputation," following a series of speeches and articles in which he criticized the Egyptian regime. Ibrahim currently lives in the United States.
Israeli Doctors Treat Palestinian Children in GazaTwo Israeli doctors and volunteers at the Physicians for Human Rights organization crossed into the Gaza Strip last week to perform complex plastic and orthopedic surgeries on Palestinian children, the Israeli Web site Ynet reported. For nearly three days, the Israeli surgeons worked with a Palestinian medical team at Shifa Hospital, Gaza's main medical center. "During that period, I examined and treated over 30 children ranging from two months to 14 years of age," said Dr. Kassis Shukri, an Israeli plastic surgeon. "I managed to perform four complicated surgeries, treat congenital anomalies such as a cleft palate, deformities, cuts and burns." He added: "I believe medicine is one of the fields that can bring the two sides together."
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
How to Get the World To Hate Israel
How to Get the World To Hate Israel
By Richard L. Cravatts
Mr. Cravatts, PhD, director of Boston University’s Program in Book and Magazine Publishing at the Center for Professional Education, writes frequently on terrorism, higher education, politics, culture, law, marketing, and housing, and is currently writing a book about the world-wide assault on Israel taking place on college campuses.
As part of evaluating the competitive landscape of the popularity of nations, in a process referred to in marketing circles as ‘place branding,’ Israel, to no one’s great surprise, comes up short in brand likeability, ranking last out of 35 nations included in an August 2006 survey conducted by nation branding expert Simon Anholt, even less attractive to respondents than Indonesia, Estonia, and Turkey.
How could this have happened to a country that is the Middle East’s only thriving democracy and enjoys a remarkably robust economy that has spawned some 1000 startup high tech companies, for example, second only to the U.S.? How, in short, would you go about making the world hate Israel?
This is how you would accomplish that objective if you were an enemy of Israel:
Even after 60 years of its existence, you question the fundamental right of Israel to even exist and regularly, though falsely, condemn it for being created “illegally”—through the “theft” of Palestinian lands and property—and thus decide, because of its original sin, it has no “right to exist.” You accuse the government of a “brutal,” illegal “occupation” of Palestinian lands, especially Gaza and the West Bank (but for many, all of Israel), of being a “colonial settler state,” a Zionist “regime” or “project,” a land-hungry nation, a usurper of property that was lived on and owned by a Palestinian “people” “from time immemorial.”
You describe the very existence of the country as being the “greatest threat to world peace,” the core cause of all Muslim anger toward the West, the root of all of the Palestinians’ suffering and economic plight, and describe Israel as a nation that has even been referred to publicly as a “shitty little country” by the French ambassador to Britain.
You make ‘Palestinianism’ into a virtual cult whose members offer a world-wide reverence for the Palestinian cause and repeat without end that their nationalistic striving is inviolable, a basic human right, Of all the 100 million refugees who were dispersed around the globe and were re-assimilated since World War II, you chose only the Palestinians to languish, as if in amber, in barbaric refugee camps where their lives are used as political fodder to denounce the existence of an Israel that supposedly has deprived them of a home.
You have the United Nations set up an agency whose sole function it is to make sure that this one group of refugees in the whole world are coddled, advocated for, and repeat, mantra-like, that a human “right of return” has been sanctified and assured by international law for the Palestinians, giving only this group of refugees a collective, as opposed to individual, right of return—and not only to those refugees who supposedly lived in and left what is now Israel, but all of their descendents, as well.
You use the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council of the United Nations to further demonize and delegitimate Israel, making it a pariah in the world community and issuing an edict that equates Zionism with racism. In 2006-07, if you are the Human Rights Council, you pass one hundred percent of your condemnatory resolutions against Israel.
If you are the autocratic, despotic states of the Arab world, you initiate a prolonged, unceasing propaganda war against Israel and Zionism, in which it is your intention to encourage your citizens, not to question why they live under tyranny and despair under their own corrupt, defective governments, but that their circumstances are bleak because of the success and very existence of Israel. You depict Jews as apes, pigs, and subhuman monsters, and regularly produce Nazi-like propaganda and cartoons in your state-owned media that accuses Jews and Israelis of blood libels, bloodthirstiness, militarism, a desire for world domination, imperialism, and complicity with the U.S. and the West to destroy Islam—all which make Jew-hatred inevitable
You inculcate Palestinian children, nearly from birth, with seething, blind, unrelenting, and obsessive hatred of Jews and the 'Zionist regime,' so that kindergartners graduate with blood-soaked hands while toting plastic AK 47s and dedicate their lives to jihad, and older children are recruited to hide explosives on their bodies to transform themselves into shahids -- a new generation of kindling for radical Islam's cult of death.
When Israel launches a military strike against nests of terrorists or in response to ceaseless rocket barrages, you term their response “disproportionate,” another escalation in the “cycle of violence,” a violation of human rights, aggressive, militaristic, with Apache gunships “pounding” terrorist neighborhoods.
If you are the Palestinian media, and members of the world media who are either intentionally biased or willing to be duped by anti-Israel propaganda, you repeatedly report on supposed Israeli human rights violations, such as an alleged “massacre of the 21st century,” a horrible war crime and example of “genocide” committed by Israel against Palestinians in the village of Jenin.
You talk about the Israeli security barrier as an “apartheid wall,” and describe it as a massive, soaring, unbroken division through Palestinian neighborhoods and communities, overlooking the fact that the wall is towering and solid concrete only in those regions that have been repeatedly assaulted by terrorism, and that 90 percent of the hundreds of miles of barrier is comprised merely of wire fence.
You use the “apartheid wall” image to create a broader misconception about the Palestinians living under a South African-style apartheid regime, disingenuously equating race restrictions that blacks lived under in Soweto with the open society of Israel in which Israeli Arabs have more rights than in any Arab state and are asked only not to murder Jews in their midst.
On campuses where a coddled and insulated professoriate often express antipathy for the perceived ills of capitalism, the usurpation of “Palestine” by Israel, “land grabs” through occupation, and the denial of the civil and economic rights of the Palestinians, you contend that Israel’s very existence is not at all about self-determination (something you deem appropriate only for the Palestinians) and all about greed, globalism, colonialism, exploitation, and undeserved political and economic might. No longer able to fight apartheid in South Africa, you now try to transmogrify that racist social system onto Israel, holding rallies and encouraging the signing of petitions which call from divestiture from companies doing business in Israel.
You fund Middle Eastern Studies centers on university campuses and use them as anti-Israel, anti-American “think tanks” where scholarship is tainted with ideology and singularly focused on the Palestinian cause. You fund the active and vocal Muslim Students Association on campuses across the country that hold “Israel Apartheid Week” and “Holocaust in the Holy Land” festivals at which propaganda, Jew-hatred, apologies for terrorism, and further demonizing of Israel takes place.
In the Arab world, you play fast and loose with history in your attempt to create a historical narrative conforming to your own political agenda, erasing any link between Palestine and the Jews. Though Jerusalem is mentioned not once in the Koran and over 669 times in the Jewish Bible, you claim that Jerusalem is now the “third holiest site to Muslims,” that, as Yasser Arafat announced at Camp David in 2000, the Temple Mount was never a Jewish site, that Jews now “occupy” Muslim lands, and that the archeological and historical evidence that confirms an uninterrupted 3000-year presence by Jews in the Holy Land is merely a “construct,” yet another lie promulgated by Israeli historians and archeologists as way of erasing and obscuring an Islamic past.
If you are in the traditionally Arabist U.S. State Department, or in the “realist” school of diplomacy, or part of the European Union, and you have an insatiable need for oil, you overlook the tyrannies and unfaithfulness of our Middle Eastern “friends,” and ask nothing of them, but demand that Israel, the only democracy in a sea of despotism, continually prove its loyalty to us and embrace policies that could potentially threaten their own security. You write academic books questioning the strength of the "Israel Lobby," and wonder out loud if Jewish influence and wealth forces us to lose credibility and threaten our national security on behalf of Israel.
You do all of these things, as part of a concerted effort and also as random, independent efforts on the part of Israel’s enemies, and you do it for the 60 years of Israel’s existence, and then you are shocked, shocked, when Israel is shown to rank unfavorably in surveys which measure the public’s perception of nations and how they compare to one another in the world community. But you are pleased, because you know that if Israel cannot be annihilated with armaments and rockets, perhaps you can make it cease to exist simply by making the entire world loathe it for being what it
By Richard L. Cravatts
Mr. Cravatts, PhD, director of Boston University’s Program in Book and Magazine Publishing at the Center for Professional Education, writes frequently on terrorism, higher education, politics, culture, law, marketing, and housing, and is currently writing a book about the world-wide assault on Israel taking place on college campuses.
As part of evaluating the competitive landscape of the popularity of nations, in a process referred to in marketing circles as ‘place branding,’ Israel, to no one’s great surprise, comes up short in brand likeability, ranking last out of 35 nations included in an August 2006 survey conducted by nation branding expert Simon Anholt, even less attractive to respondents than Indonesia, Estonia, and Turkey.
How could this have happened to a country that is the Middle East’s only thriving democracy and enjoys a remarkably robust economy that has spawned some 1000 startup high tech companies, for example, second only to the U.S.? How, in short, would you go about making the world hate Israel?
This is how you would accomplish that objective if you were an enemy of Israel:
Even after 60 years of its existence, you question the fundamental right of Israel to even exist and regularly, though falsely, condemn it for being created “illegally”—through the “theft” of Palestinian lands and property—and thus decide, because of its original sin, it has no “right to exist.” You accuse the government of a “brutal,” illegal “occupation” of Palestinian lands, especially Gaza and the West Bank (but for many, all of Israel), of being a “colonial settler state,” a Zionist “regime” or “project,” a land-hungry nation, a usurper of property that was lived on and owned by a Palestinian “people” “from time immemorial.”
You describe the very existence of the country as being the “greatest threat to world peace,” the core cause of all Muslim anger toward the West, the root of all of the Palestinians’ suffering and economic plight, and describe Israel as a nation that has even been referred to publicly as a “shitty little country” by the French ambassador to Britain.
You make ‘Palestinianism’ into a virtual cult whose members offer a world-wide reverence for the Palestinian cause and repeat without end that their nationalistic striving is inviolable, a basic human right, Of all the 100 million refugees who were dispersed around the globe and were re-assimilated since World War II, you chose only the Palestinians to languish, as if in amber, in barbaric refugee camps where their lives are used as political fodder to denounce the existence of an Israel that supposedly has deprived them of a home.
You have the United Nations set up an agency whose sole function it is to make sure that this one group of refugees in the whole world are coddled, advocated for, and repeat, mantra-like, that a human “right of return” has been sanctified and assured by international law for the Palestinians, giving only this group of refugees a collective, as opposed to individual, right of return—and not only to those refugees who supposedly lived in and left what is now Israel, but all of their descendents, as well.
You use the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council of the United Nations to further demonize and delegitimate Israel, making it a pariah in the world community and issuing an edict that equates Zionism with racism. In 2006-07, if you are the Human Rights Council, you pass one hundred percent of your condemnatory resolutions against Israel.
If you are the autocratic, despotic states of the Arab world, you initiate a prolonged, unceasing propaganda war against Israel and Zionism, in which it is your intention to encourage your citizens, not to question why they live under tyranny and despair under their own corrupt, defective governments, but that their circumstances are bleak because of the success and very existence of Israel. You depict Jews as apes, pigs, and subhuman monsters, and regularly produce Nazi-like propaganda and cartoons in your state-owned media that accuses Jews and Israelis of blood libels, bloodthirstiness, militarism, a desire for world domination, imperialism, and complicity with the U.S. and the West to destroy Islam—all which make Jew-hatred inevitable
You inculcate Palestinian children, nearly from birth, with seething, blind, unrelenting, and obsessive hatred of Jews and the 'Zionist regime,' so that kindergartners graduate with blood-soaked hands while toting plastic AK 47s and dedicate their lives to jihad, and older children are recruited to hide explosives on their bodies to transform themselves into shahids -- a new generation of kindling for radical Islam's cult of death.
When Israel launches a military strike against nests of terrorists or in response to ceaseless rocket barrages, you term their response “disproportionate,” another escalation in the “cycle of violence,” a violation of human rights, aggressive, militaristic, with Apache gunships “pounding” terrorist neighborhoods.
If you are the Palestinian media, and members of the world media who are either intentionally biased or willing to be duped by anti-Israel propaganda, you repeatedly report on supposed Israeli human rights violations, such as an alleged “massacre of the 21st century,” a horrible war crime and example of “genocide” committed by Israel against Palestinians in the village of Jenin.
You talk about the Israeli security barrier as an “apartheid wall,” and describe it as a massive, soaring, unbroken division through Palestinian neighborhoods and communities, overlooking the fact that the wall is towering and solid concrete only in those regions that have been repeatedly assaulted by terrorism, and that 90 percent of the hundreds of miles of barrier is comprised merely of wire fence.
You use the “apartheid wall” image to create a broader misconception about the Palestinians living under a South African-style apartheid regime, disingenuously equating race restrictions that blacks lived under in Soweto with the open society of Israel in which Israeli Arabs have more rights than in any Arab state and are asked only not to murder Jews in their midst.
On campuses where a coddled and insulated professoriate often express antipathy for the perceived ills of capitalism, the usurpation of “Palestine” by Israel, “land grabs” through occupation, and the denial of the civil and economic rights of the Palestinians, you contend that Israel’s very existence is not at all about self-determination (something you deem appropriate only for the Palestinians) and all about greed, globalism, colonialism, exploitation, and undeserved political and economic might. No longer able to fight apartheid in South Africa, you now try to transmogrify that racist social system onto Israel, holding rallies and encouraging the signing of petitions which call from divestiture from companies doing business in Israel.
You fund Middle Eastern Studies centers on university campuses and use them as anti-Israel, anti-American “think tanks” where scholarship is tainted with ideology and singularly focused on the Palestinian cause. You fund the active and vocal Muslim Students Association on campuses across the country that hold “Israel Apartheid Week” and “Holocaust in the Holy Land” festivals at which propaganda, Jew-hatred, apologies for terrorism, and further demonizing of Israel takes place.
In the Arab world, you play fast and loose with history in your attempt to create a historical narrative conforming to your own political agenda, erasing any link between Palestine and the Jews. Though Jerusalem is mentioned not once in the Koran and over 669 times in the Jewish Bible, you claim that Jerusalem is now the “third holiest site to Muslims,” that, as Yasser Arafat announced at Camp David in 2000, the Temple Mount was never a Jewish site, that Jews now “occupy” Muslim lands, and that the archeological and historical evidence that confirms an uninterrupted 3000-year presence by Jews in the Holy Land is merely a “construct,” yet another lie promulgated by Israeli historians and archeologists as way of erasing and obscuring an Islamic past.
If you are in the traditionally Arabist U.S. State Department, or in the “realist” school of diplomacy, or part of the European Union, and you have an insatiable need for oil, you overlook the tyrannies and unfaithfulness of our Middle Eastern “friends,” and ask nothing of them, but demand that Israel, the only democracy in a sea of despotism, continually prove its loyalty to us and embrace policies that could potentially threaten their own security. You write academic books questioning the strength of the "Israel Lobby," and wonder out loud if Jewish influence and wealth forces us to lose credibility and threaten our national security on behalf of Israel.
You do all of these things, as part of a concerted effort and also as random, independent efforts on the part of Israel’s enemies, and you do it for the 60 years of Israel’s existence, and then you are shocked, shocked, when Israel is shown to rank unfavorably in surveys which measure the public’s perception of nations and how they compare to one another in the world community. But you are pleased, because you know that if Israel cannot be annihilated with armaments and rockets, perhaps you can make it cease to exist simply by making the entire world loathe it for being what it
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