Israel's Protector

Don't Think of it as Toxic Black Smoke...

...HAMAS is "recycling" tires!

The Game of Israel

Barack Obama Pays His Respect in Israel

What if Obama Had Been President During the Civil Rights Movement?

Statement by President Barack Obama on Attack in Selma, AL

Source: WH, 11-18-1962

I strongly condemn today’s terrorist attack, the burning of a black church in Selma, which killed four innocent people, and injured several more. There is and can be no justification for such attacks against innocent civilians. The thoughts and prayers of the American people are with the victims and families of all those who were killed and injured in this horrific attack and in other recent violence. At this sensitive moment in Selma, it is all the more important for blacks and Klan leaders and ordinary citizens to work cooperatively together to lower tensions, reject violence, and seek a path forward towards peace.

Fortunately, our leaders back then did not suffer under a sense of false moral equivalency.

Under the Dome

Original art by John Cox. More at John Cox Art

Cross posted at LCR, Political Clown Parade

"Jerusalem Will Remain the Capital of Israel and it Must Remain Undivided"

As Obama finally makes his way into Israel as president, let us keep in mind the words he uttered in 2008 in order to get the job:

"Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided"

...and something about "defensible borders".

Obama's Passover Gift to the Nation of Israel

AFP - President Barack Obama has told Iran the United States would accept Tehran having a civilian nuclear program if the Islamic state can prove it is not seeking atomic weapons, the Washington Post said Friday.

Obama sent such a message to Tehran via Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who delivered it to Iran's Supreme leader Ali Khamenei last week, said the newspaper's foreign affairs columnist David Ignatius.

"President Obama has signaled Iran that the United States would accept an Iranian civilian nuclear program if Supreme leader Ali Khamenei can back up his recent public claim that his nation 'will never pursue nuclear weapons'," said Ignatius.

Sounds like a good news story for the administration to dump on an Easter weekend! If only that poor energy starved country (sarc) can prove a negative, the use to which Iran won't put their nuclear capabilities, (and pay no attention to all those centrifuges), then it's all okey dokey with Obama if Iran continues with its "civilian" nuclear program. In a related story, Obama is not sure what the civilians who rule Iran would do with a nuclear device if they had one...

Ron Paul on Israel: "Give it Back to the Arabs"

...according to a senior aide of his.

He (Ron Paul) is however, most certainly Anti-Israel, and Anti-Israeli in general. He wishes the Israeli state did not exist at all. He expressed this to me numerous times in our private conversations. His view is that Israel is more trouble than it is worth, specifically to the America taxpayer. He sides with the Palestinians, and supports their calls for the abolishment of the Jewish state, and the return of Israel, all of it, to the Arabs.

-Eric Dondero

Fmr. Senior Aide, US Cong. Ron Paul, 1997 – 2003
Campaign Coordinator, Ron Paul for Congress, 1995/96
National Organizer, Draft Ron Paul for President, 1991/92
Travel Aide/Personal Asst. Ron Paul, Libertarian for President 1987/88

So, how does this jibe with Paul's statements that he would treat all countries equally...(except for the ones he wishes would vanish from the face of the earth)?

Got to love a man of principle, don't you? /sarc

H/T Memeorandum
Cross posted at Say Anything

Explosion at Second Iranian Nuclear Facility

Image from Der Spiegel

"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."

-Auric Goldfinger (Ian Fleming)

AN IRANIAN nuclear facility has been hit by a huge explosion, the second such blast in a month, prompting speculation that Tehran's military and atomic sites are under attack.

Satellite imagery seen by The Times confirmed that a blast that rocked the city of Isfahan on Monday struck the uranium enrichment facility there, despite denials by Tehran.

The images clearly showed billowing smoke and destruction, negating Iranian claims yesterday that no such explosion had taken place. Israeli intelligence officials told The Times that there was "no doubt" that the blast struck the nuclear facilities at Isfahan and that it was "no accident".

Actual, twice seems like quite a coincidence. And all, apparently without the need for F-16's, bunker busters or brinksmanship. At least, not yet.

The explosion at Iran's third-largest city came as satellite images emerged of the damage caused by one at a military base outside Tehran two weeks ago that killed about 30 members of the Revolutionary Guard, including General Hassan Moghaddam, the head of the Iranian missile defense program.

Iran claimed that the Tehran explosion occurred during testing on a new weapons system designed to strike at Israel. But several Israeli officials have confirmed that the blast was intentional and part of an effort to target Iran's nuclear weapons program.

If, indeed, this is an Israeli plan to take out Iran's nuclear capabilities, they are doing a bang up job (pun intended). That would require a highly sophisticated intelligence network and impressive covert capabilities, to penetrate two highly sensitive targets deep within Iran.

On the other hand, if this were a matter of Iranian incompetence in their nuclear projects, what better way to crawl inside their heads than to imply that you had?

Either way, looks like a win-win to me!

H/T Memeorandum

"Israeli Women Nude"...

...has "Google bomb" just written all over it! For pics (and a link to at least one NSFW pic) check out The Other McCain: Israeli Women Nude = Feminist Solidarity

(Why should Stacy get all the hits? )

Update : Some of my readers complained about the lack of photojournalism present in this post. (And you know who you are!) Here are a couple of nice Israeli ladies to fill in the blanks.

"Obama Sold Israel Bunker-Buster Bombs"

In keeping with our policy of highlighting anything that President Obama does right, (counted on one hand with fingers left over), Obama has apparently sold Israel the weapons it may need someday to potentially defang its enemies. And take out a rogue nuclear program at the same time??

While publicly pressuring Israel to make deeper concessions to the Palestinians, President Obama has secretly authorized significant new aid to the Israeli military that includes the sale of 55 deep-penetrating bombs known as bunker busters, Newsweek has learned.

In an exclusive story to be published Monday on growing military cooperation between the two allies, U.S. and Israeli officials tell Newsweek that the GBU-28 Hard Target Penetrators—potentially useful in any future military strike against Iranian nuclear sites—were delivered to Israel in 2009, just several months after Obama took office.

As a member of the California Rifle and Pistol Association, they regularly send me stickers, which say, "Society is safer when criminals don't know who's armed".

In this case, the world is safer when surrounding neighbors know that Israel is. Although, that early in the Obama presidency, the deal was probably brokered by Bush. The fact that Obama followed through on it and did not obstruct it in any way was the right thing to do.

Update : What was I thinking??? I'm supposed to be criticizing Obama, just because he's black!!! It totally slipped my mind! I apologize for any confusion or palpitations I've caused any liberals here.

H/T Memeorandum

Cross posted at LCR, Reaganite Republican, Say Anything

The Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act

US Embassy Tel Aviv

Are you at all familiar with the Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act? This act, to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was passed overwhelmingly on October 23, 1995, by both the Senate (93-5) and the House (374-37).

The Act then states what henceforth will be not Congressional preferences but the official policy of the United States toward Jerusalem: that it should remain a united city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected; that it should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel; and that the U.S. Embassy should be established there no later than May 31, 1999.

1995. If you were born in 1995, you would be sixteen years old this year. For sixteen years, the will of the people, as reflected by the vote of their representatives has been overridden, delayed and virtually ignored by the executive branch. What are the odds that a president who advocates a return to a border which divides Jerusalem, would ever implement this act of Congress?

In June of last year, Obama, like his predecessors before him, delayed the implementation of this law.

For the third time, U.S. President Barack Obama delayed for six months moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Ever since 1995, when the Jerusalem Embassy Act was passed ordering the transfer of the U.S. embassy, U.S. presidents have routinely delayed the move.

The fourth time would be December 3, 2010

Anyone want to make book if he'll go for five? Me, neither.

Update: If he were serious that "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided", as he told AIPAC in 2008 when he was running for president, he would back up his words with deeds. Don't look for that to happen anytime soon.



Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Obama's Israeli Peace Proposal in Cartoons

There seem to be a lot of these floating around. Pretty good ones, too!















H/T Brutally Honest, Wyblog, Michael Ramirez,

Netanyahu on Hannity -video

We've seen a lot of Benjamin Netanyahu this week, prompted by his visit to the US, preceded by the colossal blundering of Barack Obama in his latest foreign policy speech.

This man is plain spoken and a breath of fresh air compared to some of his US counterparts.

Israeli Prime Minister Gets 29 Standing Ovations in Congress

...at his 2011 SOTU, Obama got 25. (Not that anyone's counting!)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech before a joint meeting of Congress had all trappings of a State of the Union address by a president with sky-high approval ratings.

Speaking to a packed House chamber with Speaker Boehner and Vice President Biden over his shoulders, Netanyahu was repeatedly interrupted by applause – including more than 20 standing ovations. One of his biggest applause lines was aimed directly at President Obama.

“Israel will not return to the indefensible boundaries of 1967,” Netanyahu said, prompting a big standing ovation.

Prime Minister Netanyahu seems to be getting a lot warmer reception for his views than Obama is getting for his. And rightly so!

H/T Memeorandum

Netanyahu Heckled Speaking Before Congress -video

...and gets a standing "O" for his comeback.



More at Mediaite

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu At AIPAC -video

An excellent counterpoint to the insincere rhetoric of any previous speaker you may have heard. (For those who were impressed by the applause that Obama received here, wait til you get a load of this!)

H/T Real Clear Politics

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

The Least Serious President in the History of the Republic™ Speaks at AIPAC, Again

Israel can sleep safely tonight! Barry has imposed sanctions on Iran!

The Least Serious President in the History of the Republic™ addressed an AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington today. (Candidate Obama addressed them in 2008.) A couple of things jumped out at me.

We also know how difficult that search for security can be, especially for a small nation like Israel in a tough neighborhood.

A "tough neighborhood"??? Excuse me, Mr. President, but Israel is a nation under siege from its enemies. Chicago has rough neighborhoods, Israel is in a war zone.

"You also see our commitment to our shared security in our determination to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Here in the U.S., we’ve imposed the toughest sanctions ever on the Iranian regime."

Tough sanctions against Iran? How'd that work out for us against Saddam Hussein in Iraq?
Did tough sanctions bring down his regime or bring about peace in the region or extinguish his desire to rebuild his WMD capabilities? Israel can sleep safely tonight! Barry has imposed sanctions! /sarcasm

"...a new generation of Arabs is reshaping the region."

Oh, you mean like the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, after you were instrumental in the removal of Mubarak, who are avowedly hostile to Israel? And whatever factions are rebelling in Libya, about whose ideologies and intentions towards Israel you haven't a clue?

So, let me see...we have turmoil in Egypt, Syria, and Libya, where you just started a military action. We have shooting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and you sent a military mission into Pakistan, without the knowledge or permission of their government, and now you want to impose your will on our lone democratic ally in the Middle East, because...you needed to draw attention away from your golf outings??

"The borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps"

Here's where you plan goes off the rails, Mr. President. Take the city of Jerusalem, the city of David, the capitol of Israel. Your proposal not only has it jutting like a peninsula into what would then be another country, but the old lines transect Jerusalem. Which part of Jerusalem do you envision either side would "mutually agree" to give up? On what would you base that belief? Certainly not on the last 44 years of history! And you have publicly stated that Jerusalem "must remain undivided". Who mutually agreed to that swap, Mr. President?

In the end, you have a pretty speech, which is only as dependable as the man who gives it. Too often in the past, Obama's promises have come with an expiration date. Why should we believe these are any different? And why should the nation of Israel risk its security and existence based on your words, Mr. Obama?

Full Text Of Obama's Speech To AIPAC

Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Barack Obama's "Peace" Prize Explained

"Here's a piece of Israel for the Palestinians, and a piece for Egypt, and a piece for Jordan and a piece for Syria and a piece for Lebanon... "

Update: Lest anyone should think that this old joke originated with me, it didn't. Sadly, we used to tell it about Soviet dictators.


Cross posted at LCR, Lady Cincinnatus , Say Anything.