Netanyahu to Visit Obama Again
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
May 26, 2010, Sivan 13, 5770
U.S. President Barack Obama will invite Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to visit the White House for the third time in a year, according to Israeli officials. The two leaders will meet next week after the Prime Minister’s trip next week to Canada.
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, who is using a private visit to Israel to try to repair relations with the government, will meet with Netanyahu on Wednesday, when he is expected to deliver the official invitation. He also will meet with President Shimon Peres and possibly with Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
Emanuel came to Israel to celebrate his son's Bar Mitzvah but has kept a low profile following warnings of protests by nationalist activists.
The Prime Minister will leave on a week-long trip Thursday, first flying to Paris to mark Israel’s acceptance into to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and then to Canada to meet with Jewish leaders in Toronto and Ottawa and with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a staunch supporter of Israel.
The Obama-Netanyahu meting will take place several days before Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ turn for a White House appearance.
President Obama gave Prime Minister Netanyahu a chilly reception two months ago, without a shared meal, press conference or even an opportunity for photographers to show them shaking hands. Following harsh criticism by pro-Israel leaders, both Jewish and non-Jewish, next week’s meeting is expected to be more cordial.
In contrast, President Obama warmly received Defense Minister Barak, who is viewed by the American government as more likely to accept most of the PA conditions for an agreement to establish a new Arab state within Israel’s borders. Barak has said that Israel should surrender almost all of Judea and Samaria, and when he was Prime Minister in 2000, he offered former PA leader Yasser Arafat almost all of the land restored to Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967. Arafat refused the offer and launched the Second Intifada, also known as the Oslo War.
Mayor Barkat: Netanyahu Protected Jerusalem in Washington
by Gil Ronen
April 2010
Mayor Nir Barkat of Jerusalem said Thursday that construction in all parts of the city will continue and expressed his support for the Prime Minister for standing up to US President Barack Obama's pressure on the matter. Obama wanted Israel to freeze construction projects for Jews in the eastern part of the city while allowing projects for Arabs to progress without hindrance.
Speaking at the municipal council meeting, Barkat said: “I want to express my support for the Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu who protected Jerusalem during his visit to Washington.”
"I also want to utilize the podium of the municipal council to make clear to our important ally, the United States, that construction in Jerusalem will continue,” he said. “There is no freeze in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is a developing city, it has needs and we will continue to build in its eastern and western sides, for all of its inhabitants, Jews and Arabs,” he added.
1/3 of homes – for Arabs
The city – founded as the Jewish capital by King David, 3,000 years ago – is currently using a zoning
plan that has taken shape over the past decade, Barkat explained. The plan calls for about 50,000 housing units to be built throughout the city, in both its eastern and western sides. One third of the units are intended for the Arab sector and two-thirds for the Jewish sector – a reflection of the sectors' relative sizes.
"Some of the plans were approved in the past and some will be brought for approval in the coming years in the local and district committees,” he clarified. The construction is being carried out in order to stop the emigration of young people from the city by making housing affordable for them, and to enable natural growth for the general public, Barkat said.
Prime Minister Netanyahu arrived in Ben Gurion National Airport Thursday evening and will convene the seven-minister inner forum at 9:00 PM. He will update the ministers about the US's demands and inform them of his reply to the Obama administration.
Netanyahu: We’ll Respond Strongly to Every Rocket
by Hillel Fendel
April 13, 2010, Nisan 29, 5770
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s remarks before today’s Cabinet meeting focused on the recent rocket attacks from Gaza: “Twenty rockets and mortar shells were fired from Gaza last week… The IDF responded immediately, attacking rocket-manufacturing facilities and tunnels through which Iran smuggles rockets to Gaza. Our policy is clear: Every missile or other attack will be met with a strong response.”
Last week’s rockets landed near Ashkelon and Netivot, in addition to the closer and more frequent targets in the western Negev. No one was hurt in the attacks.
Netanyahu did not restrict his strong remarks to Hamas, and lashed out at Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah as well: “Not only rockets endanger our security, but also words. Those who name a Ramallah square after a terrorist who murdered tens of Israelis on the Coastal Highway [in are encouraging terrorism.”
Hamas blames the IDF for the reported death or wounding of three Gazan Arabs over the past two days. The IDF denies any involvement.
A former Commanding Officer of the IDF Southern Command, Maj.-Gen. Yom Tov Samiya, says that another clash between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is inevitable.
“We are now facing another round [of fightin in Gaza,” Samiya told Army Radio on Sunday morning. “I don’t believe that Hamas will surrender or change its ways without having been made to suffer a much stronger attack than that which we gave them last year in Operation Cast Lead. It must be a more focused blow, with longer -range consequences, and a take-over of certain areas in Gaza. Hamas must be made to understand that it loses territory as a result of provoking us.”
Is the US Eroding Israel's Qualitative Edge?
by Avi Yellin
March 26, 2010
The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) revealed in a January report that was updated recently that the government of Israel has been concealing a change in arms policy by the United States against the Jewish state. The Institute further stated that the Likud-led government of Binyamin Netanyahu has also refrained from protesting massive American weapons sales to Arab states in the region, an initiative that has eroded Israel’s military edge over its neighbors.
The Institute reports that over the last year, the Obama administration has refused to approve any major Israeli weapons requests. Government sources asserted that the refusal represents a new White House policy to link arms sales to the Jewish state with the Netanyahu government’s willingness to submit on Washington’s demands that Israel surrender Judea, Samaria and most of Jerusalem to the American-backed Palestinian Authority.
Key weapons denied
The report revealed that the White House has so far blocked key weapons projects and upgrades for Israel, rejecting requests for AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters while approving advanced F-16 multi-role fighters for Egypt. Israel has meanwhile refrained from objecting to American plans to sell F-16s, Harpoon Block 2 anti-ship missiles, Hellfire air-to-ground missiles, fast attack craft and helicopters to the Egyptians. In addition to the advanced weapons sold to Egypt, Washington has also approved more than $10 billion worth of arms sales to Arab League states, including Kuwait, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
“Indeed, Israel’s request for six AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters was blocked by the Obama Administration in June — the same time the Egyptian sale was approved,” the JINSA report stated.
According to the report, the failure to sponsor Israel’s qualitative edge, which violates a pledge given more than 40 years ago to maintain Israel’s military superiority over its neighbors, began not with Obama but under the previous administration of President George W. Bush. “The concept of the Qualitative Military Edge failed to keep up with the changes in U.S. arms sales and training policy over the decades.” Israel has to now stay ahead through other means.
Shift in 2004
A major U.S. policy shift came in 2004, when the Bush Administration needed Gulf Arab help for the American-led invasion of Iraq – particularly after Turkey denied Bush entrance into Iraq from the north – and wanted to bolster Washington’s influence and ability to deal with regional problems.
JINSA dismissed Israeli government claims that the White House was ready to address the erosion of Israel’s defensive capabilities. The Institute said the January 2010 visit by U.S. National Security Advisor James Jones did not concern the Washington's pledge to Israel’s qualitative military edge but was to push Israel into making further concessions to the Fatah-led PA.
According to the report, the U.S. aid to Arab states has hampered Israeli military cooperation with Washington. More than 20 years ago, the Israel Air Force stopped participating in American sponsored regional exercises in order to prevent the leakage of combat tactics.
Obama Dresses Down Netanyahu: No Photo Ops or Statements
by Gil Ronen
President Barack Obama appeared to carry on a policy of intentionally humiliating Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu this week, by ignoring custom and abstaining from any public appearance with him during Netanyahu's visit to the White House.
In a particularly unusual step, no press coverage or photographs of Netanyahu's meeting Tuesday with Obama at the White House were permitted.
Photographers had to make do with paparazzi-style shots of a somewhat grim-faced Netanyahu, accompanied by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, shot from a distance as they passed though a corridor between meetings.
An administration official who declined to be identified told the Associated Press that “photographs would have been inappropriate given the current situation.” A photographer was allowed, however, into a meeting between the Israeli leader and Vice President Joe Biden on Monday.
Barak and Netanyahu meet with Biden / White House
Although Obama and Netanyahu met twice for a total of two hours, the White House did not issue a formal statement on the content of either meeting, in yet another break with tradition. Obama left it to spokesmen to issue terse statements on the talks with Israel.
Mark Toner, the deputy State Department spokesman, said that “the US made clear it is looking for steps to increase confidence and show commitment to the process."
Construction 'destructive'
A White House spokesman, Tommy Vietor, said the White House continues to believe that Israeli building in eastern Jerusalem is “destructive” to the Middle East peace process. He said the US was asking for "clarification" regarding the building plan for the Shepherd Hotel compound and called on Israel and the Palestinian Authority “to refrain from acts that could undermine trust.”
Netanyahu was reported to be conferring with his top diplomatic advisers Wednesday, in a sign of the tension and uncertainty that appear to characterize the current visit to Washington.
He showed no sign of straying from Israeli policy regarding Jerusalem, however, telling congressional leaders he was concerned that peace talks “could be delayed for another year” unless the Palestinian Authority lets go of its demand for a full freeze on construction for Jews in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem.
"We must not be trapped by an illogical and unreasonable demand," Netanyahu said, according to his spokesman.