Free Republic

Obama administration worried about impact on Palestinian Authority after US lawmakers block some $200 million in 2011 aid.Washington -The Obama administration is lobbying Congress to unblock $200 million in aid for the Palestinian Authority that was frozen due to its bid for UN recognition of statehood over US and Israeli objections. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Monday the administration was in "intensive" discussions with key lawmakers who had put holds on the money, a financial lifeline for the fledgling Palestinian government-in-waiting. "We still have some money in the pipeline but the concern is that if we don't get...

The inaugural South Florida Interfaith Summit for Israel took place on the campus of Nova Southeastern University in Davie Sunday night. This non-partisan event was a celebration and a rally of sorts in support of the sovereign state of Israel in advance of a controversial United Nations vote on a resolution to recognize a Palestinian state. South Florida Congressional representatives Mario Diaz-Balart, Ted Deutch and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz each addressed those gathered about the unique relationship that exists between the United States and Israel. Wasserman-Schultz was one of the keynote speakers at the event, and while there is no agreement to...

Given how Obama has treated Israel, it would have come as no surprise if this had been intentional. In any case, the initial report was widely denied and dismissed as inaccurate; however, now Morton has confirmed that it was true, and says it was an error. An error that happens to coincide with the sitting president's consistent stance toward Israel, but apparently he can't be this open about it yet. "U.S. says Israel’s inclusion on terrorist watch list was a mistake," by Ron Kampeas for the Jewish Telegraph Agency, July 6 (thanks to all who sent this in): WASHINGTON (JTA)...

The United States has decided to resume formal contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday, in a step that reflects the Islamist group’s growing political weight but that is almost certain to upset Israel and its U.S. backers. “The political landscape in Egypt has changed, and is changing,” said the senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “It is in our interests to engage with all of the parties that are competing for parliament or the presidency.” The official sought to portray the shift as a subtle evolution rather than a...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has decided to resume formal contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday, in a step that reflects the Islamist group's growing political weight but that is almost certain to upset Israel and its U.S. backers. "The political landscape in Egypt has changed, and is changing," said the senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "It is in our interests to engage with all of the parties that are competing for parliament or the presidency." The official sought to portray the shift as a subtle evolution rather...

In an implicit admission that Israel is so threatened by terrorism that it is not only surrounded by countries and territories that produce terrorists but also unwillingly harbors terrorists within its own territory in a way the most other nations in the world do not, the Obama administration is currently listing Israel among 36 “specially designated countries” it believes “have shown a tendency to promote, produce, or protect terrorist organizations or their members.” Also included on the list--separately from Israel--are the Palestinian

Since the president’s Arab Spring speech, friends of Israel have been nervous about at least two issues: the promise Israel would not have to sit down with those who seek its destruction and the negotiations based on the “1967 borders with land swaps.” This weekend it became apparent that there is much to worry about and that the Obama administration has been playing a game usually practiced by the Palestinians, namely telling its domestic audience one thing and the negotiating parties something different. The trouble for the administration began on Friday afternoon when Eli Lake published a story for the...

The United States gave Netanyahu an ultimatum on renewing negotiations with the Palestinians, according to reports cited by Israel Radio Sunday morning. According to the ultimatum, Netanyahu has to decide within a month whether he agrees to accept US President Barack Obama's platform and resume talks based on 1967 lines. Meanwhile, Netanyahu was expected to travel to Italy on Sunday where he will meet his Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi

Obama Signs Document That Tells Israel Jerusalem Is Not Your Capital MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE SUBJECT: Suspension of Limitations Under the Jerusalem Embassy Act Obama signed this on June 3, 2011 – Pursuant to the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 7(a) of the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 (Public Law 104-45) (the “Act”), I hereby determine that it is necessary, in order to protect the national security interests of the United States, to suspend for a period of 6 months the limitations set forth in...

While President Obama’s apologists have been busy trying to spin his ambush of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month as not a sign of his hostility to the Jewish state, the administration spent the past week attempting to hammer Israel into submission on the question of the 1967 lines. As Eli Lake reported in the Washington Times on Friday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton renewed the demand that was the highlight of Obama’s May 26 Middle East policy speech: that Israel accept the 1967 lines as the starting point for future Middle East peace negotiations.

The White House is pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly adopt President Obama’s view that Israel’s pre-1967 border should be the basis for future peace talks. The Obama White House appealed to Jewish leaders on Friday that the request of Israel was part of an effort to head off Palestinian plans to declare an independent state at the United Nations in September. The request of Mr. Netanyahu was made Monday to the prime minister’s top peace negotiator, Yitzhak Molcho at a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the National Security Council, according to an Israeli diplomat...

Frontpage InterviewÂ’s guest today is Neal Sher, an attorney practicing in New York City. Along with Ed Morgan, a prominent Toronto barrister and law professor, he is presently representing Cherna Rosenberg, who has been subjected to the mortar attacks from Gaza into Sderot. Previously, Sher was the Director the Justice DepartmentÂ’s Office of Special Investigations, which investigated and prosecuted Nazi criminals in the U.S. In that capacity, he was responsible for bringing many dozens of prosecutions and for barring former UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim from coming to this country. He also served as the National Executive Director of AIPAC...

In what may lead to Israel finally ridding itself of the human debris constantly threatening to push her into the sea, waves of terrorists, taking Obama’s recent remarks as permission to act on their hatred for Jews, tried to overrun the Israeli border, and thankfully were pushed back. The only bad news is they stopped before Israel was able to kill more than 20 or so of the terrorists. Where is the great Muslim suicide mentality when you really need it? Israel was offering all takers 72 virgins, yet the Muslim cowards turned tail to continue to survive to breath...

In what may lead to Israel finally ridding itself of the human debris constantly threatening to push her into the sea, waves of terrorists, taking Obama’s recent remarks as permission to act on their hatred for Jews, tried to overrun the Israeli border, and thankfully were pushed back. The only bad news is they stopped before Israel was able to kill more than 20 or so of the terrorists. Where is the great Muslim suicide mentality when you really need it? Israel was offering all takers 72 virgins, yet the Muslim cowards turned tail to continue to survive to breath...

When my grandmother was still alive, when some domestic or international conflict came to her attention, she would ask, “Is it good for the Jews?” Many friends have told me they heard the same thing from their grandmothers, because this was a natural reaction for people of that generation after years and years of pogroms and finally the Holocaust. So somewhere in the subconscious of almost all Jews there is that inner grandmother talking to us. And what those bubbes are saying now is not good, not by a long shot. Many of us have thought the following I am...

A ship flying US colors and carrying 34 passengers is set to joint this year's Gaza-bound, IHH-sponsored “Freedom Flotilla 2” in June, the New York Times reported. This year's American vessel, named The Audacity of Hope after US President Barack Obama’s best-selling book, is being organized by an American group called “US Boat to Gaza.”

A ship flying US colors and carrying 34 passengers is set to joint this year's Gaza-bound, IHH-sponsored “Freedom Flotilla 2” in June, the New York Times reported. snip This year's American vessel, named The Audacity of Hope after US President Barack Obama’s best-selling book, is being organized by an American group called “US Boat to Gaza.” Obama links to the Audacity do not end there, however. Prof. Rashid Khalidi, director of the Middle East Institute at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and a friend from Obama’s time in Chicago, is among the supporters of an appeal launched...

Mysteriously, the Office of the President has requested that a video of a Jewish singing group performing at the White House be removed from the web. Matzav.com reports: Matzav.com, in the Featured Video section, recently presented a video of the famed Maccabetas singing group performing for President Barack Obama at a reception in the White House in honor of American Jewish Heritage Month, the month of May. American Jewish Heritage Month pays tribute to the American Jews who have helped form the fabric of American history, culture and society. As part of the entertainment at the event, the Maccabeats were...

Dems Fret Over Being Seen as Anti-Israel By Arnold Ahlert May 30, 2011 So, what do you do if you’re head of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), and a Democrat president “suggests” Israel should retreat to its pre-1967 borders, which the prime minster of Israel considers “indefensible?” If you’re Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, you demand Jewish Republicans “pledge to refrain” from making an issue of it during the 2012 election campaign.Ms. Wasserman-Schultz pulled this little stunt during a meeting last week of representative delegates from the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC), and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu....

Here is an unusual press release from the U.S. State Department, first noted by The Weekly Standard and later Arutz Sheva: State’s Steinberg’s Visit to Israel, Jerusalem and West Bank U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Spokesman May 18, 2011 MEDIA NOTE Deputy Secretary Steinberg's Visit to Israel, Jerusalem and the West Bank Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg visits Israel, Jerusalem and the West Bank May 18-19, 2011. In Israel, Deputy Secretary Steinberg met with Israeli academic and student leaders. In the West Bank, he met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and other