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ISRAEL

American Greatness in the Mideast Means Protecting Israel By Brandon J. Weichert

The American-led Middle East order is collapsing. Rival powers and regional actors now jockey for position in the region, in an attempt to form the next order there. While America’s position as the de facto regional hegemon has imploded, we still retain an immense amount of power—and, through our traditional allies in the Sunni Arab states and Israel—can help shape whatever comes next in that geostrategically vital place. For the United States to help establish a new regional order that remains relatively amenable to American national interests, the United States must protect Israel—and not just with rhetoric.

Israel is a fellow democratic state facing the same enemies that we face: Sunni jihadism and Iranian imperialism. Israel is also home to one of the world’s most capable militaries and houses one of the most dynamic economies. The United States effectively served as midwife at the birth of Israel as an independent country, so in addition to interest, we have sentiment and affection with Israel.

A Mideast without Israel would be a region that is still vitally important for the global economy and one lacking any conduit for real American influence. Loss of influence there would be a serious threat to our ability to preserve our own national independence. And make no mistake: an Israel-free Middle East is precisely what Iran (and even some of the Sunni Arab states) want.

Iran’s Genocidal Ambitions
Whereas Sunni Arab states with histories of exporting terrorism (such as Saudi Arabia) are now moving toward reform, Iran has made no effort to restrain its Islamist fervor. In fact, Iran’s constitution giddily declares that its armed forces “will be responsible not only for guarding and preserving the frontiers of the country, but also for fulfilling the ideological mission of jihad in God’s way; that is, extending the sovereignty of God’s law [Sharia] throughout the world.” As Ilan Berman observed, “Iran’s radical vision of Islamic governance . . . was intended from the start to be an export commodity.”

Antisemitism and anti-Americanism, not oil, are the true the lifeblood of Iran. More recently, the regime in Tehran has denied that the Holocaust ever happened—while simultaneously promising to usher in a new Holocaust (only this time with nuclear weapons). After the disastrous U.S. “war of choice” in Iraq, followed by our equally moronic support for regime change in Libya, Egypt, and (until Trump’s arrival) Syria, along with the Obama Administration’s foolish nuclear agreement with Iran, Israel’s position has never been more tenuous.

Carter Center Sued for Providing Support to Hamas Jimmy Carter’s unstinting hatred for Israel paved the way. Robert Spencer

The Washington Free Beacon reported Monday that the Zionist Advocacy Center is alleging in a suit that former President Jimmy Carter’s nonprofit organization, the Carter Center, “has used taxpayer funding to provide material support to international terrorist groups, including Hamas.” Given Carter’s longstanding and abundantly established hatred for the Jewish state, this allegation is no great shock. Nonetheless, the specter of an American President’s foundation funding a jihad terrorist group demonstrates how far we have fallen.

The Zionist Advocacy Center further alleges that the Carter Center “received more than $30 million in taxpayer grants while violating federal statutes barring it from using the cash to provide material support to terror groups.” Not only that: “The plaintiffs maintain the Carter Center has violated the law by hosting designated terrorists at is facilities, as well as by providing various forms of assistance to the Palestinian terror group Hamas and other known terror entities.”

No one who has watched Carter over the years can really be surprised. Back in 2008, Carter claimed that Hamas was prepared to accept the right of Israel to “live as a neighbor next door in peace.” He had no grounds for saying so, and it wasn’t remotely true, but this claim helped him perpetuate the fiction that the Israelis, not the Palestinians, were responsible for the failure of all peace talks and the ongoing tensions between the two.

At 70 – Israel’s economy exceeds expectations Ambassador (Ret.) Yoram Ettinger

1. In 1948, conventional wisdom considered the newly-reestablished Jewish State insolvent economically, indefensible militarily, a basket case, totally dependent upon handouts.

2. In 2018, Forbes Magazine quoted Warren Buffett (February 26, 2018): “I’m not Jewish, but Israel reminds me of the USA after its birth. The determination, motivation, intelligence and initiative of its people are remarkable and extraordinary. I’m a big believer in Israel’s economy.” According to Forbes, “Buffett just purchased a $358MN stake in Teva Pharmaceutical, 1.8% of Teva’s outstanding shares…. In 2006, Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway purchased an 80% stake in Israel’s Iscar for $4BN, its first international acquisition…. In 2013, Berkshire bought out the remaining 20% for $2BN…. Other Israeli companies purchased by Berkshire include eVolution Networks, creators of wireless network energy savings software, Ray-Q Interconnect, a distributor of electronic components and AgroLogic, a designer of electronic control units for agriculture….”

3. Amazon’s Israel – Island of Success by Adam Reuter and Noga Kainan provides critical data on Israel’s surging economy:

From 1987 to 2017, Israel’s population upsurged from 4.4MN to 8.75MN; GDP – from $35BN to $358BN; GDP per capita – from $8,000 to $41,000; tax burden – from 45% to 30%; foreign exchange reserves – from $4BN to $112BN; national debt to GDP ratio – from 155% to 59%; defense expenditures- from 17% to 4.5% of GDP; US foreign aid (actually, US investment in Israel) – from 7% to 1% of GDP; exports – from $10BN to $102BN; independent energy resources – from 4% to 65% (66% of electricity consumption); desalinated water – from 3% to 50%; annual inflation – from 16% (450% in 1985) to 0.30%; life expectancy – from 75 to 82 years; women’s participation in the job market – from 36% to 58%.

Since the year 2000, Israel’s economy has grown 65% – 2nd best among the OECD countries.

NYT Issues Correction after Labeling Palestinian Support for Terrorists Fake News By Jack Crowe

The New York Times issued a correction Tuesday to a report that cited Palestinian support for the families of terrorists as a prime example of the “far right conspiracy” theories that abound on Facebook, conceding that the Palestinian Authority has admitted to providing financial support to terrorists.

Ironically, the false reporting was included in a profile of Facebook’s media liaison, Campbell Brown, who has been tasked with combating fake news on the platform.

“Ms. Brown,” the piece originally read, “wants to use Facebook’s existing Watch product — a service introduced in 2017 as a premium product with more curation that has nonetheless been flooded with far-right conspiracy programming like ‘Palestinians Pay $400 million Pensions For Terrorist Families.’ — to be a breaking news destination.”

“An earlier version of this article erroneously included a reference to Palestinian actions as an example of the sort of far-right conspiracy stories that have plagued Facebook,” the correction reads. “In fact, Palestinian officials have acknowledged providing payments to the families of Palestinians killed while carrying out attacks on Israelis or convicted of terrorist acts and imprisoned in Israel; that is not a conspiracy theory.”

Palestinians: New Twist on an Old Lie by Bassam Tawil *****

Zomlot informed his Jewish audience, in English, what he would never dare say in Arabic — that the Palestinians will one day recognize the Jewish connection to Jerusalem.

If Zomlot made such a statement in his native Arabic language, he would be denounced as a traitor — if he were very lucky. If he were less lucky, he would end up in a hospital or morgue.

Zomlot knows that he can always deny (in Arabic) what he said in English.

Denial of Jewish history in Jerusalem and the existence of the Jewish Temple has always been a central component of the Palestinian narrative and ideology.

Palestinians, like members of all societies, disagree on many things. Nevertheless, when it comes to the historical connection between Jews and Jerusalem, Palestinians manage to unite in lies: Palestinian political leaders, academics and religious leaders have long promoted the false narrative that Jerusalem was, and remains, an Arab and Islamic city.

We are currently witnessing a new twist on this old lie.

It seems that some Palestinians are now trying to deceive the world into believing that they do, indeed, recognize the Jewish people’s historic connection to Jerusalem.

The problem is that Palestinian officials tell their people one thing in Arabic and the rest of the world another thing in English.

Shock in Israel as Senator “Bernie” Sanders backs Hamas and denies Israel’s right to defend its borders

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders has condemned the attempts of Israel to defend its borders following violent riots along the Gaza border , as he called on the Trump administration and Congress to take action against Israel, but not against Hamas, which provoked these riots.

Every week thousands of Islamists (Hamas terrorists & their supporters) take part in violent riots along the Gaza border.
During which rioters they threw rocks, firebombs and even opened fire at Israeli troops on the other side of the fence.
For many Israeli families, the Gaza Strip is a short walk from their backyard. IDF soldiers don’t just protect a border, but what lies behind it — our families, our homes, and our children.
The Muslim rioters in Gaza waved Nazi flags between two “Palestinian” terror flags during the riots But Bernie Sanders supports their right to demonstrate (call for the murder of Jews).
These are not peaceful demonstrations. There are many videos on social media that show the rioters yelling “Death to the Jews” throwing stones and Molotov cocktails and even using kites to fly Molotov cocktails into Israeli towns along the border.
Senator Sanders has a problem with the fact that Israel has a right to defend itself and its borders and shoot terrorists who are trying to invade Israeli towns from Gaza.
Hamas is responsible for the whole situation, Bernie Sanders supports a terrorist organization who cares nothing for the people of Gaza. Also, the word “occupation” is incorrect.
When Israel left the Gaza Strip, Gaza was free and all Jews were expelled.
Hamas took control on the Gaza Strip, imposed sharia law and declared war on Israel with the declared goal of destroying the Jewish state.

AMAZING ISRAEL AT 70-FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

Long-lasting MS treatment. Israeli biotech Mapi has developed a formulation of Glatiramer Acetate that Multiple Sclerosis patients only need take once a month, rather than daily. Glatiramer Acetate Depot is still in Phase 3 trials but Mapi has already sold the marketing rights to multinational giant Mylan.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/mylan-buys-rights-to-israel-developed-ms-treatment/

More generic alternatives. (TY Atid EDI) Israel’s Teva has launched generic versions of the anti-nausea treatment ALOXI and Lialda delayed-release mesalamine. It is good news for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy and ulcerative colitis sufferers respectively.
https://www.tevagenerics.com/product/palonosetron-hydrochloride-injection
https://www.tevagenerics.com/product/mesalamine-delayed-release-tablets-usp

Glucose monitor approved for iPhones. (TY Atid-EDI) I reported previously (Jan 2016) that the Israeli Dario blood sugar monitor had received FDA approval. Now approval has been extended for the device to be used on the latest Apple iPhones including iPhone 7, 8 and X. http://mydario.investorroom.com/2018-03-26-DarioHealth-Receives-U-S-FDA-Clearance-for-iPhone-7-8-and-iPhone-X-Smart-Glucose-Meter

Smartphone-based urine tests at home. Israeli startup Healthy.io has partnered with the American National Kidney Foundation and Pennsylvania-based Geisinger Health System to offer its home testing kits to U.S. patients. Healthy.io transforms a regular smartphone into a device that performs lab-standard urine analysis.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3736139,00.html https://healthy.io/
https://vimeo.com/195720514 BBC doesn’t mention Israel. CNBC does! https://vimeo.com/154610009

Diagnosing resistant hypertension. (TY Atid-EDI) I reported previously (Aug 2011) that Hadassah surgeons had devised and used an innovative tool to treat resistant hypertension due to overactive kidney nerves. Now Israel’s Pythagoras Medical has received the CE mark for its ConfidenHT System to help identify such patients.
http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/pythagoras-medical-receives-ce-mark-for-the-confidenht-system-677894643.html http://www.rainbowmd.com/our-companies/

Jewish Power at 70 Years Bret Stephens

Adam Armoush is a 21-year-old Israeli Arab who, on a recent outing in Berlin, donned a yarmulke to test a friend’s contention that it was unsafe to do so in Germany. On Tuesday he was assaulted in broad daylight by a Syrian asylum-seeker who whipped him with a belt for being “yahudi” — Arabic for Jew.

The episode was caught on video and has caused a national uproar. Heiko Maas, the foreign minister, tweeted, “Jews shall never again feel threatened here.”

It’s a vow not likely to be fulfilled. There were nearly 1,000 reported anti-Semitic incidents in Berlin alone last year. A neo-fascist party, Alternative for Germany, has 94 seats in the Bundestag. Last Thursday, a pair of German rappers won a prestigious music award, given largely on the basis of sales, for an album in which they boast of having bodies “more defined than Auschwitz prisoners.” The award ceremony coincided with Holocaust Remembrance Day.

To be Jewish — at least visibly Jewish — in Europe is to live on borrowed time. That’s not to doubt the sincerity and good will of Maas or other European leaders who recommit to combating anti-Semitism every time a European Jew is murdered or a Jewish institution attacked. It’s only to doubt their capacity.

There’s a limit to how many armed guards can be deployed indefinitely to protect synagogues or stop Holocaust memorials from being vandalized. There’s a limit, also, to trying to cure bigotry with earnest appeals to tolerance. The German government is mulling a proposal to require recent arrivals in the country to tour Nazi concentration camps as a way of engendering a feeling of empathy for Jews. It doesn’t seem to occur to anyone that, to the virulent anti-Semite, Buchenwald is a source of inspiration, not shame.

All this comes to mind as Israel this week marks (in the Hebrew calendar) the 70th anniversary of its independence. There are many reasons to celebrate the date, many of them lofty: a renaissance for Jewish civilization; the creation of a feisty liberal democracy in a despotic neighborhood; the ecological rescue of a once-barren land; the end of 1,878 years of exile.

Israel Survives Because of an Iron Will and an Iron Wall Palestinian protests on Independence day are hopeless, thanks in large part of an essay written in 1923. by Zev Chafets

In the run-up to this week’s 70th anniversary of Israel’s independence, Israeli Defense Forces chief of Staff General Gabi Eisenkot pronounced the country “invincible.”

This was a bold statement. The country faces a growing threat from Iran and its puppets in Lebanon and Gaza, and the possibility of a clash with Russia over Syria. And yet, few Israelis have disagreed with this assessment.

There is mood of confidence here, and its origin lies in a doctrine of strategic defense that has proven itself over nearly a century of intermittent warfare.

That doctrine was first enunciated in an article in 1923 entitled “The Iron Wall.” Its author was Ze’ev Jabotinsky, a visionary Zionist leader and the ideological father of the Likud.

At the time of its publication, the Jews of Palestine were a small, embattled minority. Only three years had passed since the first Arab riots in Jerusalem against them. The Jewish community’s socialist leaders hoped they could appease Arab enmity by offering economic cooperation, progress and prosperity.

Jabotinsky derided this as childish, and insulting to the Arabs, who would not barter away their homeland for more bread or modern railroads. They would, he said, resist while they had a spark of hope of preventing a Jewish state.

“There is only one thing the Zionists want, and that is the one thing the Arabs do not want,” he wrote. Nothing short of abandoning the Zionist project would placate Arab hostility and violence. If the Jews wanted to remain, they would have to come to terms with a harsh reality: This was a zero-sum game. There could be no peace until the Arabs accepted Israel’s right to exist.

Jabotinsky saw that the Arabs (in Palestine and beyond) were far too numerous to be defeated in a single decisive war. The Jews needed to erect an iron wall of self-defense and deterrence — a metaphorical wall built of Jewish determination, immigration, material progress, strong democratic institutions and a willingness to fight. Gradually, the enemy would be forced to conclude that this wall could not be breached.

The Iron Wall concept was intended to deter aggression until psychological victory was won, and extremists, “whose watchword is ‘Never!’” were replaced by more moderate leaders willing to live peacefully with a Jewish state.

Hamas “Press Office”: Truth Finishes Last by Bassam Tawil

Finally, the Hamas “Press Office” instructed Palestinian journalists to focus on the “humanization” of the stories of the Palestinians who are killed or injured during the mass demonstrations. Translation: If the “victim” is a Hamas terrorist, the journalists are to avoid mentioning that and instead report about his having been a beloved husband, father and community member.

Aren’t Fatah and Abbas receiving financial aid from the US and EU because of their presumed support for a peace process with Israel? Why should the Americans and Europeans be supporting a Palestinian faction whose journalists openly incite against their Israeli colleagues?

Three weeks after the beginning of the mass demonstrations along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, which are being held as part of the so-called “March of Return,” Hamas is trying to intimidate journalists into covering the events in a way that distorts the truth and reality.

Hamas, one of several Palestinian groups responsible for the anti-Israel demonstrations, does not want the world to see pictures of Palestinians throwing stones, firebombs and explosive devices at Israeli soldiers.

Hamas does not want journalists to use the words “clashes” and “confrontations” when reporting about the demonstrations.

Hamas does not want journalists to report the fact that some of the demonstrators killed during the “March of Return” were actually members of its armed group, Izaddin Al-Qassam.

In other words, Hamas wants journalists to report as if they were working for its propaganda machine. Any journalist who dares to challenge the Hamas narrative is denounced as a “traitor” and punished.

To ensure that Palestinian journalists comply with its wishes, Hamas’s “Press Office” earlier this week issued directives to reporters as to how they should cover the “March of Return.”