RUTHFULLY YOURS

Vice President Mike Pence gave an epic speech at the Knesset this week. His was the most powerful embrace of Zionism and the Jewish people any foreign leader has ever presented. Pence’s fluency in Jewish history, and his comprehension of the centrality of the both the Bible and the Land of Israel in the vast flow of that history in far-flung-exile communities across time and space was spellbinding. He touched the hearts of his audience, causing knots in the throats of most of the people sitting in the Knesset on Monday afternoon.

Pence’s speech was rendered poignant and the friendship he bore became tinged with urgency with the publication, the very next day, of the latest Pew Center survey on American views of Israel.

Speaking in the name of the American people he represents, Pence said on Monday: “The friendship between our people has never been deeper.”

And when it comes to the Republican voters who elected President Donald Trump and Vice President Pence a year and two months ago, Pence is certainly correct. But the Pew data showed that on Israel, as on so many other issues, the cleavage between Republicans and Democrats is vast and unbridgeable.

Most of the coverage of the Pew survey focused reasonably on its main finding. The good news is that overall American support for Israel over the Palestinians remains more or less constant, and overwhelming. Forty-six percent of Americans support Israel over the Palestinians while a mere 16% of Americans support the Palestinians against Israel. The numbers haven’t changed much since polling began in 1978.

But then the news becomes more fraught. The disparity between Republican support for Israel and Democratic support for Israel has never been greater. Whereas 79% of Republicans support Israel over the Palestinians, only 27% of Democrats do. Moreover, the further one goes to the Left among Democratic voters, the more anti-Israel the respondents become. Liberal Democrats are now nearly twice as likely to support the Palestinians over Israel as they are to support Israel over the Palestinians. Thirty-five percent of liberal Democrats support the Palestinians against Israel. A mere 19% support Israel more than the Palestinians.

Conservative and moderate Democrats still support Israel far more than they support the Palestinians with 35% of moderate and conservative Democrats supporting Israel over the Palestinians, and 17% supporting the Palestinians more than Israel. But the level of support for Israel among this demographic has dropped precipitously in the last year and a half. In the previous survey, which took place in April 2016, support for Israel was 53%, or 19 points higher.

The five journalists were arrested shortly after Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas signed the controversial cyber-crime law in June 2017. Critics say the new law is aimed at silencing and intimidating journalists and political opponents of the PA and its president.

Ammar Dweik, head of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights, said the new law is “one of the worst” since the PA was established in 1994.

The Palestinian Authority claims it does not tolerate “incitement.” The “incitement” it is referring to, however, is criticism of Abbas and his cronies. In fact, the PA tolerates incitement quite well, and has spent decades driving such incitement — when it is directed against Israel and the US. Indeed, Palestinians are free to incite against Israel and the US day and night.

Palestinian journalists have decided to renew their campaign against the Palestinian Authority’s assault on freedom of expression.

The decision came after the Palestinian Authority (PA) filed charges against journalist Tareq Abu Zeid, for “incitement” and “jeopardizing the security of the State of Palestine.”

Abu Zeid is the latest victim of a new Palestinian law targeting journalists and social media activists.

Earlier this week, a Palestinian magistrate’s court in Nablus, the largest Palestinian city in the West Bank, decided to refer the case of Abu Zeid to the PA’s Grand Criminal Court. Abu Zeid, who was arrested in August 2017 for 15 days, is facing charges over Facebook posts criticizing the Palestinian Authority. If convicted, he faces a minimum sentence of one year in prison and a fine.

Four other Palestinian journalists who were arrested by the Palestinian Authority around the same time are facing similar charges. However, it is still not clear when they will be brought to trial. The four are: Mamdouh Hamamreh, Kutaiba Qassem, Amer Abu Arafeh and Ahmed Halaikah. Many other journalists and Facebook users have also been summoned for interrogation over the past few months on suspicion of “incitement.”

The five journalists were arrested shortly after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas signed the controversial Palestinian cyber-crime law in June 2017. Critics say the new law is aimed at silencing and intimidating journalists and political opponents of the PA and its president.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. It’s great to be with Prime Minister Netanyahu. We’ve developed a great relationship, both as countries where I think it’s never been stronger — and I can honestly say that — and also, as personal friends.

We have discussions going with Israel on many things, including trade. But the big move and something that was very historic and very important was the fact that we will be moving our embassy, as you know, to Jerusalem. And as we also know, that is way ahead of schedule, by years, and we anticipate having a small version of it opened sometime next year. So that’s a long time ahead of schedule.

It’s an honor, and it’s great honor to be with you. Thank you very much.

PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Thank you. Mr. President, Donald — thank you.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much.

PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: Mr. President, I want to say something, because this is the first meeting we’ve had since your historic decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and to move the embassy, and now to expedite the movement of the embassy, to Jerusalem.

I want to say that this is a historic decision that will be forever etched in the hearts of our people for generations to come. People say that this pushes peace backward. I say it pushes peace forward because it recognizes history, it recognizes the present reality, and peace can only be built on the basis of truth. And by recognizing this history, you’ve made history. And we will always remember that.

We also support you completely in your stalwart position on the Iran nuclear deal. You’ve said it’s a disastrous deal. You’ve said that if its fatal flaws are not fixed, that you should walk away from it. And I want you to know that if you decide to do that, then we will back you all the way.

The PLO’s terror boss just got a nice $50 million jet. He might want to look into getting a refund before he flies it too far from the lot.

Speaking in Davos, with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, President Trump had some strong words for the terrorists of the PLO’s Palestinian Authority front group.

Israel has always supported the United States. So what I did with Jerusalem was my honor. And hopefully, we can do something with peace. I would love to see it.

You know, if you look back at the various peace proposals — and they are endless — and I spoke to some of the people involved, and I said, “Did you ever talk about the vast amounts of funds, money that we give to the Palestinians?” We give, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars. And they said, “We never talk.” Well, we do talk about it.

And when they disrespected us a week ago by not allowing our great Vice President to see them — and we give them hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and support — tremendous numbers; numbers that nobody understands. That money is on the table, and that money is not going to them unless they sit down and negotiate peace. Because I can tell you that Israel does want to make peace. And they’re going to have to want to make peace too, or we’re going to have nothing to do with it any longer.

But they have to respect the process also, and they have to respect the fact that the U.S. has given tremendous support to them over the years, in terms of monetary support and other support.