Obama’s timing of 2016 anti-Israel UN Resolution 2334 was to milk Jewish donors and “we didn’t want Clinton to face pressure to condemn the resolution or be damaged by having to defend it”

Posted on March 29, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

JEWISH INSIDER
Obama aide reveals U.S. was behind U.N. 2334
March 28, 2019

The Obama administration had control over the timing of the UN Security Council resolution (UNSC 2334) rollout. This was revealed on Thursday when an anonymous former Obama official told the New York Times that the White House wanted the resolution to wait until after the 2016 election, so as not to create political problems for Democrats. “There is a reason the U.N. vote did not come up before the election in November,” the unidentified former official told the Times in an article set to appear in the paper’s weekend Magazine section. “Was it because you were going to lose voters to Donald Trump? No. It was because you were going to have skittish donors.” READ MORE

ARUTZ SHEVA Did Obama control timing of anti-Israel UN resolution? In December 2016, following the 2016 presidential election, the Obama administration ordered the US mission to the UN to abstain from a Security Council vote on resolution 2334, which condemned Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem as ‘flagrant violations’ of international law with “no legal validity”.

BREITBART Ben Rhodes Blames Jewish Donors for Obama Not Being More Anti-Israel Ben Rhodes, a former national security aide to President Barack Obama, told the New York Times this week that the “donor class” had prevented Obama from taking more anti-Israel steps than the administration had wanted to take.

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The Truth About American Aid to Israel: U.S. commitments to Asian and European allies require more risk and sacrifice

Posted on March 29, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

THE ATLANTIC
Quit Harping on U.S. Aid to Israel
by James Kirchick
March 29, 2019

…The size and advisability of U.S. military aid to Israel, like any appropriation of taxpayer dollars, is fair game. But U.S. assistance to Israel demands far less—in both blood and treasure—than many other American defense relationships around the world. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the United States annually spends roughly $36 billion on military capabilities in Europe, almost 10 times its annual assistance package to Israel. Of course, that spending accounts for operations in more than two dozen countries. But those are countries that, unlike Israel, Washington is treaty-bound to defend. READ MORE

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If you do one thing today, hear Dr Einat Wilf explain the March Of Return: “80% of Gaza residents don’t think of Gaza as their home”

Posted on March 29, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

Dr Einat Wilf, author of “War of Return” brilliantly unpacks the Israel-Gaza conflict.

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“Withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal has paid dividends”

Posted on March 28, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

NEW YORK TIMES
The Foreign Policy Fiasco That Wasn’t
by Bret Stephens
March 29, 2019

It’s been nearly a year since Donald Trump made the decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, to loud cries that it would bring nothing but woe to the United States and our interests in the Middle East. So far, the result has been closer to the opposite. That much was further made clear thanks to excellent reporting this week by The Times’s Ben Hubbard. “Iran’s financial crisis, exacerbated by American sanctions,” he writes from Lebanon, “appears to be undermining its support for militant groups and political allies who bolster Iranian influence in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere.” READ MORE

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“Blood Money” Fascinating short documentary on the Qatar-Saudi Arabia conflict playing out in DC media and think tanks

Posted on March 28, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

MIDDLE EAST FORUM
“Blood Money: How Qatar Bought Off the Entire DC Establishment”
March 27, 2019

The film includes commentary from professionals of two Middle East Forum Education Fund grantees, the Center for Security Policy and the Security Studies Group. It also includes speeches delivered at MEF’s Qatar: U.S. Ally or Global Menace conference by Congressman Jack Bergman and Rabbi Shmuley Boteach…“Blood Money” deals with how the tiny Gulf Emirate of Qatar funds lobbyists, media outlets, think tanks to advance its agenda in Washington at the expense of the US and our allies. It explains, through this case study, how the foreign influence and information warfare game works inside the Beltway. It also addresses the emergence of a new, anti-Islamist Middle East and how this unique moment came about. READ MORE

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“Accordingly, I have no hesitation in stating that as of now, not one of the candidates for leadership can even remotely match the qualifications of Netanyahu”

Posted on March 28, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

ISRAEL HAYOM (by agreement with JNS)
Considering the national interest in the forthcoming elections
by Isi Leibler
March 26, 2019

…Netanyahu’s principal asset is that his opponents, Blue and White co-heads Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, aside from their inexperience, are largely perceived as “nice” guys but political lightweights lacking the ability to step into his shoes. Many Israelis who currently support Gantz are not enamored at the prospect of a rotating leadership that would provide Lapid the driver’s seat. The small parties upon which Netanyahu will be relying to form a majority are also problematic. The biggest obstacle to Netanyahu’s re-election appears to be mandates lost by right-wing parties not passing the electoral threshold (3.25% of valid votes). READ MORE

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No, Dana Milbank, Washington Post “The AIPAC crowd has not “‘beyond a doubt’ become mostly pro-Trump conservative””

Posted on March 28, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
What AIPAC conference did YOU attend?
by Rabbi Daniel M. Cohen
March 28, 2019

My mind is playing tricks on me. I just spent the last three days in Washington DC at the AIPAC Policy Conference, and I thought I heard speaker after speaker express support for the US-Israel relationship. I thought I saw 18,000 people, some Democrats and some Republicans, singing together. I thought I saw more than 4,000 students from every corner of the US come together to secure the future of the pro-Israel movement. I thought I had breakfast with three progressive Israeli activists. READ MORE

FREE BEACON Omar Falsifies Record to Attack AIPAC Claims she has ‘not criticized AIPAC because of its membership or the country it advocates for’

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Chicago Event: CAMERA presents How the Media Influence Policy-Making on Capitol Hill

Posted on March 28, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

CAMERA and Kehilat Chovevei Tzion present
How the Media Influence Policy-Making on Capitol Hill
Presented by Sean Durns, CAMERA Senior Research Analyst

Ever wonder how Senators and Congressional Representatives get their information on particular issues, specifically those relating to Israel? Join Sean Durns to learn how policy-making works on Capitol Hill and how the media helps set policy.

Program and dessert reception
Tuesday, April 9, 2019, 7:45 PM
Kehilat Chovevei Tzion
9220 Crawford Avenue, Skokie, IL

There is no charge for this program, but pre-registration is required. Click here to register. For more information, email nadine@CAMERA.org or call 773.720.8578

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“So far overnight, Israeli fighter jets struck several targets in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis, including a military compound and a weapons manufacturing site belonging to Hamas”

Posted on March 27, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

JERUSALEM POST
IDF to Haniyeh: Don’t forget to let us know where your new office is
by Yasser Okbi / Maariv
March 27, 2019

“When you arrive at the location that used to be your headquarters, look right, look left,” teased Avichay Adraee, who is in charge of the IDF’s social media in the Arab world, in a social media post to Hamas leader Ismail Abdel Salam Ahmed Haniyeh on Tuesday night…The IDF on Tuesday attacked dozens of targets in the Gaza Strip, including a number of compounds belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization in Shati, Beit Hanoun, Saja’iya and other locations throughout the strip. Weapons tunnels, military posts and rocket launching sites were all attacked. The Israeli military even struck Haniyeh’s office. READ MORE

JERUSALEM POST Why did the Iron Dome not intercept the rocket from Gaza Monday morning? On Monday morning, a rocket from Gaza struck a private home in central Israel, wounding at least seven people…The rocket is named J-80 after the head of the military wing of Hamas, Ahmed Jabri, and according to Hamas – since it travels on a nonlinear path – it can not be intercepted by Iron Dome.

ARUTZ SHEVA Iran ordered rocket attack, aimed to hurt Netanyahu in election Senior officials in Gaza and Egypt now say rocket attack on central Israel was ordered by Iran, with aim of hurting Netanyahu in election

JERUSALEM POST Itamar Marcus: Hamas strategy: Kill Israelis to defeat Fatah Numerous analysts are trying to explain the timing of Hamas’s missile launch this week at a town north of Tel Aviv 85 km. inside Israel. While it seems clear the missile was directed at Israelis, Hamas’s real target was Fatah, the ruling PA political party of Mahmoud Abbas.

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“We are exposing an extensive sanctions evasion network that was established by the Iranian regime to evade American sanctions”

Posted on March 27, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

REUTERS
U.S. sanctions firms accused of helping fund Iran’s Revolutionary Guards
by Lesley Wroughton
March 26, 2019

The United States on Tuesday imposed fresh sanctions on a network of companies and people in Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates it said was helping to raise billions of dollars to fund the operations of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards. The U.S. Treasury blacklisted 25 people and organizations, including a clutch of front companies based in the three countries, that were working on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Iran’s defense ministry to raise money for their activities. READ MORE

JERUSALEM POST Germany refuses to disclose Iranian attempts to buy nuclear, missile technology One explanation for Germany’s refusal to disclose the statistics on Iranian regime violations of the JCPOA and sanctions could be Berlin’s flourishing trade relationship with Iran. 

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