Saturday, January 21, 2017

ExxonMobile and the ACA are only child's play. It is only money.

President Trump needs to end his election hubris; lives hang in the balance and some are taking such ideas seriously.

Donald, look up the word genocide. Seriously. Destroying Palestine is genocide. Perhaps once Donald understands it he can explain that to the Israeli settlers that came to his party.

January 20, 2017
By Neri Zilber

Tel Aviv, Israel, and Ramallah, West Bank (click here) — “We are entering a new era,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proclaimed last month, the day after the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution condemning Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. “Just as President-elect [Donald] Trump said … it will happen much sooner than you think. In the new era there is a much higher price for those who try to harm Israel, and that price will be exacted not only by the U.S., but by Israel as well.”

Israelis and Palestinians are already preparing for this new era, and drawing battle lines against their foes....

I think most people would admit ignoring the settlers haven't done a bit of good. The men brought to Washington, DC are influential and well known. That is strategic and not simply indulgent.

You know, the leader of Turkey took a trip and the military got restless.

January 20, 2017
By Jennifer Williams

...Then Donald Trump won the presidency. (click here) And today, three prominent leaders of Israel’s settler movement are being treated as honored guests at Trump’s inauguration ceremony and ball, both of which they were explicitly invited to attend.

“I definitely agree that we are now getting the VIP treatment, which is something that we have been working on for many years,” Oded Revivi, the mayor of the West Bank settlement of Efrat and a top official with the Yesha Council, the main advocacy group for Jewish settlers, told the Times of Israel. “You could basically argue that it has taken 50 years, since 1967, to be recognized on such a level for such an event.”

Revivi came to Washington with two other prominent leaders in the settler movement — Benny Kashriel, mayor of Ma’aleh Adumim, the third largest Jewish city in the West Bank, and Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, which provides municipal services for the 35 Jewish towns and settlements in the northern region of the West Bank....

Ah, yes, all the greats of policy from the Republican Party.

January 19, 2017
By Zaid Jilani

...Speaking to a gathering (click here) that included a who’s who of Christian right leaders — including Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins, Faith & Freedom Coalition founder Ralph Reed, and Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson — Israeli Knesset member Yehuda Glick, who belongs to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, spoke about Trump’s election in messianic terms.

He began his remarks by approvingly quoting Psalm 72, which speaks of welcoming a new king. “It is a prayer for King Solomon, and it is the prayer for all kings and especially a prayer for the king of the United States.”

He then pivoted to explaining his own path to politics — how he went from a hardline rabbi advocating permanent settlements in the Palestinian territories to being elected as a Likud lawmaker — describing his victory as a miracle.

“Tomorrow, 21 hours from now, and 14 minutes, there will be another miracle!” he said, speaking of Trump’s election to sustained applause.

“Trump throughout his campaign, again and again and again repeatedly spoke about Israel and Jerusalem,” he reminded them, his voice escalating as if giving a sermon. “We’re so close, friends of Jerusalem and Israel! […] He can choose to be a Cyrus! He can choose to say Jerusalem, all nations should recognize Jerusalem!”

(Cyrus is the Persian King referred to in the Hebrew Bible who rescued Jews from their exile in Babylon.)...

Iran? No one is going to undo the economic movement within Iran and Trump would be a fool to try.

January 20, 2017
By Amos Harel

Israeli intelligence agencies (click here) find the agreement holds and Iran complies to its terms. If U.S. goes back on deal and conflict develops with Iran, other powers would leave Israel hanging, former Military Intelligence chief tells Haaretz....