Free Republic

Fareed speaks with Naftali Bennett, the economic minister in Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet, about Iran's nuclear program. Watch the full interview on GPS this Sunday at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET on CNN. Iran - you have said that you thought a bad deal would lead to war, but a good deal could lead to peace. So the question is, do you regard the deal that is under discussion as a good deal or a bad deal? From what we can tell, the area where they seem to be at right now is that Iran would go from about 19,000...

Public opinion polls just conducted in Israel indicate a steep drop in the popularity of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It may be a temporary process, it may be a transient phase, but as of this very moment the numbers do not lie and reflect a clear trend. Support for Netanyahu is in steep decline. The results of two surveys publicized in Israel, one for the “HaMate” program on Israeli TV Channel 10 and the other for the Knesset TV Channel (“Panels”), point to an amazing fact: more than 60% of the Israeli public does not want Netanyahu to serve another...

Speeaking at the 19th annual Rabin memorial rally Saturday night, former president Shimon Peres issued scathing criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the peace process with the Palestinians and of his government’s approach to the conflict. “There are those who have turned the word ‘peace’ into a derogatory term, and there are those who consider ‘peace supporters’ as delusional people,” declared Peres. “I say clearly today: Those who have given up on peace are the delusional ones. Those who gave up and stopped looking for peace. they’re the naive ones, the ones who are not patriots,” Peres added...

President Obama Talks to Thomas L. Friedman About Iraq, Putin and Israel ... Asked whether he should be more vigorous in pressing Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian Authority’s president, Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, to reach a land-for-peace deal, the president said, it has to start with them. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s “poll numbers are a lot higher than mine” and “were greatly boosted by the war in Gaza,” Obama said. “And so if he doesn’t feel some internal pressure, then it’s hard to see him being able to make some very difficult compromises, including taking...

"Here's the difference between us," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained on "Fox News Sunday." "We're using missile defense to protect our civilians, and they're using their civilians to protect their missiles." It's a classic talking point. It's also objectively true, and that truth is very frustrating for Israel's critics. All one needs to do is delve into the muck of Twitter and read the timelines for such hashtags as #GazaUnderAttack and #GenocideInGaza: "They're killing the women and children to ensure there won't be a new generation of Palestine." "One Holocaust can NEVER justify another." And let's not even...

By Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem --- Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Israel President-elect Reuven Rivlin ‘agreed to agree’ on Wednesday, embracing with a hug and a smile for the cameras. Formal congratulations from the Prime Minister to the President-elect were in order despite the fact that Netanyahu worked very hard to find a different Likud candidate for the office – and Rivlin knew it. They’ve been at odds for years in fact; but they’re both professional enough and smart enough to know they must now set aside those differences. Given the many political differences between Netanyahu and Rivlin, the...

" Sorry, Candy. Whoa." That was the sound of Candy Crowley about to be vigorously schooled by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on CNN's State of the Union. As if he were a teacher attempting to straighten out an errant student with the facts, Netayahu added, " No, Candy. No, no. I'm sorry. I heard that. I hear people write that up, but, in fact, it's the very opposite." Chastened student Crowley finally corrected corrected herself. If only more guests on her show were as strenuous in correcting Crowley. You can see Crowley, starting at the 3:40 mark in the...

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signaled on Saturday that he remains committed to troubled U.S.-backed peace talks, saying that any unity government agreed with the militant group Hamas would recognize Israel. Abbas’s comments appeared aimed at soothing U.S. concerns about the unity deal he reached on Wednesday with Hamas, an Islamist faction sworn to Israel’s destruction and designated by the West as a terrorist organization. […] Hamas’s opposition to Israel does not necessarily contradict Abbas’s position, as both sides have agreed that the unity government will not include Hamas members but be comprised of technocrats. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu...

Benjamin Netanyahu Under Fire for Not Bowing Down to Mythical Idol Nelson Mandela By Julio Severo The mainstream international media were chocked when Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres said they would not be attending the funeral of Nelson Mandela in South Africa, citing costs and health reasons. Benjamin Netanyahu In contrast, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did not miss the funeral. Why so much fuss about it? Russian President Vladimir Putin decided not to attend it, and he has not received the widespread criticism Netanyahu did. For Putin, who was an active leader in the infamous...

Editor's Note: This column was coauthored by Bob Morrison. Christians are certainly familiar with Jesus’ words to the woman at the well. “Salvation is from the Jews,” he tells her in John 4:22. And this has always stood as a stumbling block to anti-Semitism in the Church. It is hard to imagine how one can be a true Christian and be an anti-Semite, too. But this wonderful phrase is also true in a worldly sense—and especially so in the nuclear age. In August 1939, Albert Einstein’s letter warning President Roosevelt of Nazi capabilities in atomic weapons research was hand-carried to...

The Obama administration appears to be on the verge of a diplomatic breakthrough with Iran after three and a half decades of low-level warfare. Now comes the hard part: convincing Congress. Skeptical lawmakers are gearing up to thwart efforts to lift the pressure on Iran. Senate Foreign Relations ranking member Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) warned this week that he may introduce legislation making it harder for President Obama to loosen existing sanctions, while several others have vowed to slap on new ones. “The United States should negotiate from a position of strength, not weakness,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a possible 2016...

The Talk Shows October 20th, 2013 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Roy Blunt, R-Mo.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew; Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Mark Warner, D-Va. THIS WEEK (ABC): Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla.STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): Cruz; Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

So far Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's peace ruse is still bearing some fruit. President Obama was eager to talk with him at the United Nations -- only to be reportedly rebuffed, until Obama managed to phone him for the first conversation between heads of state of the two countries since the Iranian storming of the U.S. embassy in 1979. Rouhani has certainly wowed Western elites with his mellifluous voice, quiet demeanor and denials of wanting a bomb. The media, who ignore the circumstances of Rouhani's three-decade trajectory to power, gush that he is suddenly a "moderate" and "Western educated."...

When Air Force One touches down in Israel for meetings this week, President Barack Obama has his hands full. Iran is about a year away from developing a nuclear weapon and Obama must convince Israel he is trustworthy before he can suggest to anyone that taking a preemptive strike against Iran is a lousy idea. Obama has a terrible track record when it comes to Israel. In fact, a recent survey done by algemeiner.com shows most Israelis don't like him. Of those surveyed, just 10 percent held a favorable opinion of Obama, 17 percent held highly unfavorable regard, 19...

As President Obama prepares for his first trip to Israel, I hope when he gets there he sees what I saw. Several weeks ago I returned from my first trip to Israel. I went with a delegation headed by Governor Mike Huckabee, who visits Israel at least once every year. What did I see? I saw kids, no more than 18 years old, walking down the street, waiting at bus stops, wearing Army green khakis, and carrying machine guns on their backs. One young girl was as black skinned as me. Kids doing their compulsory army service as part...

Were Barack Obama re-elected, I predicted two months before the Nov. 2012 presidential vote, "the coldest treatment of Israel ever by a U.S. president will follow." Well, election's over and that cold treatment is firmly in place. Obama has signaled in the past two months what lies ahead by: Choosing three senior figures – John Kerry for State, John Brennan for the CIA, and Chuck Hagel for Defense – who range from clueless to hostile about Israel.Approving a huge gift of advanced weapons - 20 F-16 fighter jets and 200 M1A1 Abrams tanks - to the Islamist government in Egypt...

This past week, I made an audio recording endorsing the re-election of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel's general election Tuesday, Jan. 22. I explained in the endorsement: "You might think I'm a tough guy in my films, but in a rough neighborhood like the Middle East, Israel has its own tough guy. His name is Bibi Netanyahu." Netanyahu's leadership and strength were evident as far back as 1967, when he was a part of the Israel Defense Forces' elite commando unit, Sayeret Matkal. And they were just as obvious in his public service through the years, as I...

Exclusive: Chuck Norris shares effective strategy for protecting little children (Editor’s note: This is Part 1 of Chuck Norris’ two-part series on reducing violent crime in the U.S.) Last week, I made an audio recording endorsing the re-election of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel’s general election on Jan. 22. I explained in the endorsement, “You might think I’m a tough guy in my films, but in a rough neighborhood like the Middle East, Israel has his own tough guy. His name is Bibi Netanyahu” (the prime minister’s nickname). Netanyahu’s leadership and strength were evident as far back as 1967,...

President Obama's gun-control package was always going to be a tough sell in the Republican-led House -- but the plan is already running into resistance, or at least hesitation, from moderate Democrats in the Senate. The lukewarm response in the Senate to Obama's highly anticipated anti-gun violence plan portends an uphill climb for the legislation. And it underscores how, as the president's backers prepare to launch a veritable campaign to promote the plan, they will be pressuring members of their own party as much as reluctant Republicans. No Democrat in the Senate came out against Obama's gun plan. But several...

Two days ago we posted a discussion around a newly released photo from the White House. The picture was taken in the oval office on Sept 11th 2012: (Snip) The picture was taken at exactly 7:28:16pm DC time. It was dusk outside, and President Obama had just completed a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Why is this important? Because we know the conversation lasted an hour. (Snip) So this phone call between Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama started three hours after the attack began.