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A large assembly was held this evening, Sunday 21/6, at the Kotel to pray for the preservation of Israel's territorial integrity. I don't know if it got on the MSM or any media at all, but I was there until we had to take the young-uns home, and left during the impassioned speech of a Sephardic rabbi. Just thought people might want to know.

Only 6 percent of Jewish Israelis consider the views of American President Barack Obama's administration pro-Israel, according to a new Jerusalem Post-sponsored Smith Research poll. The poll, which has a margin of error of 4.5%, was conducted among a representative sample of 500 Israeli Jewish adults this week, following Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's speech in which he expressed his support for a demilitarized Palestinian state. Another 50% of those sampled consider the policies of Obama's administration more pro-Palestinian than pro-Israeli, and 36% said the policies were neutral. The remaining 8% did not express an opinion. The numbers were a stark...

The relationship of “good friends agree to disagree” took a tough test Wednesday afternoon as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman standing at her side, told reporters, "We want to see a stop to the settlements.” The Foreign Minister, who lives in the community of Nokdim in the eastern part of Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem, did not flinch and retorted, “We think that as in any place, babies are born, people get married, some pass away and we cannot accept this vision about an absolutely complete freezing of settlements."

The U.S. administration is prepared to show flexibility on construction in West Bank settlements, a government source in Jerusalem says. The Americans will apparently not demand a full freeze on construction, but will agree that projects now underway can be completed, Israeli officials say. A week from Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to meet with U.S. special envoy George Mitchell in Paris to discuss the details.

The population of 21 West Bank settlements was static or declined in 2007, and the population at another 74 grew by 100 people or less, according to figures compiled by The Jerusalem Post from the Central Bureau of Statistics. Palestinian workers are seen at a construction site of a new housing project in the West Bank Jewish city of Maaleh Adumim, near Jerusalem, Sunday, June 7, 2009. Photo: AP Yet the overall settlement population grew by 5.6 percent in 2007 - close to three times the growth rate in the rest of the country - primarily because of the increase...

Carter on Settlements: Gush Etzion Will Remain Israeli “Forever” Posted by Chana on Mon 15 Jun 2009 Yesterday former U.S. President Jimmy Carter visited Neveh Daniel and met with Shaul Goldstien, who leads the Gush Etzion Regional Council, in Goldstien’s home. Here are some of President Carter’s comments as reported by The Jerusalem Post:"This particular settlement area is not one I ever envision being abandoned or changed over into Palestinian territory.” He added that the Jewish communities in Gush Etzion are among a number of West Bank settlements “…that I think will be here forever.” The former President also thanked...

I thought it would be interesting to go back to then-candidate Barack Obama’s speech to an AIPAC in 2008 forum in 2007 to see what he said then and what agenda he was presenting to the voters. He had this to say about Iran: Iran’s President Ahmadinejad’s regime is a threat to all of us. His words contain a chilling echo of some of the world’s most tragic history.Unfortunately, history has a terrible way of repeating itself. President Ahmadinejad has denied the Holocaust. He held a conference in his country, claiming it was a myth. But we know the Holocaust was...

Netanyahu may have an easier time in his “big speech” on Sunday if Ahmadinejad wins Friday’s election. Much ado about nothing?

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will listen to his Likud caucus Wednesday evening as he tries to build support for his opposition to US demands to immediately accept a PA state.

Obama has the strong hand and the options. Netanyahu has the weak hand and fewer options. It is hard to see how he will solve the problem. And that’s what Obama wants. He wants Netanyahu struggling with the problem. In the end, he wants Netanyahu to fold on the settlements issue and keep on folding until he presides over a political settlement with the Palestinians. Obama wants Netanyahu and the right to be responsible for the agreement, as Menachem Begin was responsible for the treaty with Egypt and withdrawal from the Sinai. We find it difficult to imagine how a...

1. The Obama administration is demanding additional Israeli concessions beyond Oslo. 2. Current settlement activity no longer diminishes Palestinian territory. 3. The Gaza disengagement proves that a settler presence does not undermine future territorial compromise. 4. Does the Obama administration reject defensible borders and settlement blocs and expect Israel to return to the 1967 borders?

Amid the rhetoric of U.S. President Barack Obama’s speech June 4 in Cairo, there was one substantial indication of change, not in the U.S. relationship to the Islamic world but in the U.S. relationship to Israel. This shift actually emerged prior to the speech, and the speech merely touched on it. But it is not a minor change and it must not be underestimated. It has every opportunity of growing into a major breach between Israel and the United States. The immediate issue concerns Israeli settlements on the West Bank. The United States has long expressed opposition to increasing settlements...

Whenever I write an article criticizing President Obama's treatment of Israel, the comments from liberal Obama apologists trying to convince me that in general, Israelis, support Obama’s “plan.” The average Israeli loves and trusts Obama, just like everyone else in the world.Palestinian President Abbas has even said that he is banking on that to bring down the Netanyahu government, so he could get a Prime Minster that will be more likely to give-in to all the Palestinian demands. That would be an interesting position, if it were true. A new poll of Israelis release today reported that by more than...

The liberal-leaning Washington Post, often noted as reflecting U.S. policy, editorialized Sunday that U.S. President Barack Obama’s demand that Israel stop all building for Jews in Judea and Samaria may leave him without Israel as an ally and without Arab support. The daily traditionally has taken a harsh view of Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria.

The matter of Israeli settlements in territory captured and under its control as a result of the 1967 war has very suddenly been pushed into the spotlight by President Obama and, even more glaringly, but his henchwoman, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Some of what are called "settlements" are merely small outposts, checkpoints, or a group of squatters who've set up housekeeping illegally under Israeli law. Others, however, are relatively large, legal under Israeli law, and have been expanding -- in construction, if not in land area -- to accommodate the "natural growth" that occurs when people marry and...

The old joke asks "How do you know if a politician is lying ?" The answer is of course, "Their lips are moving." Hillary Clinton fits snugly into that category. When the Secretary of State was first lady every time she showed her Anti-Israel bias, she lied about it afterward, like her kiss of Mrs Arafat right after the terrorists wife accused Israel of poisoning Palestinian Arab children (her translator screwed up), or when she called for a Palestinian State even when US policy was against it (she was taken out of context). Now as Secretary of State she continues...

President Obama repeatedly insists that American foreign policy be conducted with modesty and humility. Above all, there will be no more "dictating" to other countries. *snip* In Middle East negotiations, he told al-Arabiya, America will henceforth "start by listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating." *snip* In his much-heralded "Muslim world" address in Cairo yesterday, Obama declared that the Palestinian people's "situation" is "intolerable." Indeed it is, the result of 60 years of Palestinian leadership that gave its people corruption, tyranny, religious intolerance and forced militarization; leadership that for three generations rejected every offer of independence...

WASHINGTON -- Obama the Humble declares there will be no more "dictating" to other countries. We should "forge partnerships as opposed to simply dictating solutions," he told the G-20 summit. In Middle East negotiations, he told al-Arabiya, America will henceforth "start by listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating." An admirable sentiment. It applies to everyone -- Iran, Russia, Cuba, Syria, even Venezuela. Except Israel. Israel is ordered to freeze all settlement activity. As Secretary of State Clinton imperiously explained the diktat: "a stop to settlements -- not some settlements, not outposts, not natural-growth exceptions." What's...

... addressing the demand to freeze the settlements, Mr. Obama stated that “the United States has to follow through on what it says.” If he truly means that, then a dramatic change in American policy is coming. Hopefully President Obama will deliver, because he is playing with fire. ...

Via his actions over the past two weeks or his speech in Cairo today, it is clear that president Obama is putting most of the blame for the lack of Middle East peace on Israel and the settlements. His demand of a settlement building freeze requires a prohibition on construction inside the footprint of communities that today are de facto Israeli territory. These are the city-settlements that have long been slated for inclusion into Israel in any final-status agreement, with equivalent Israeli territory awarded to the future Palestinian state through land swaps. Obama has chosen to ignore previous agreements between...