Judge: Condoleezza Rice Must Testify

Condoleezza Rice, among others, will have to testify on behalf of the two former AIPAC employees accused of espionage:

Attorneys for Rosen and Weissman say Rice and the other officials could help clear them because they provided the former lobbyists with sensitive information similar to what they were charged for, according to Ellis's ruling and lawyers familiar with the case. Prosecutors have been trying to quash the subpoenas during secret hearings and in classified legal briefs, but Ellis wrote that the testimony could help "exculpate the defendants by negating the criminal states of mind the government must prove.''

The judge's ruling is unusual, and if privilege is invoked and the officials refuse to testify, it could lead to the charges being dropped.

This is not the first time that the case against AIPAC has run into problems.

Technorati Tag: AIPAC and Condoleezza Rice.

Israel Shows Some Signs Of Life

Israel is finally starting to take some action.

o 54 MKs in the Knesset have signed a petition in favor of Jews' right of purchase in Hebron.
o 150 Israeli citizens have initiated prosecution of the Wakf for destruction on the Temple Mount
o And now--Israel is holding the PA responsible for terrorism:

A bill approved by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation Sunday would allow Israel to claim compensation from the Palestinian Authority for damages caused by Qassam rockets fired at Israel. The money would be deducted from the tax payments collected by Israel on the PA's behalf.

..."Contrary to the agreements between the State of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the Authority fails to meet its obligations," the bill states. "Not only does it nor fight terror, it even encourages it, supports it and sometimes executes it through its employees. It is inconceivable that the State of Israel should shoulder the costs of the Qassam fire, which the Palestinian Authority is responsible for."

The question is whether any of this will successfully lead to anything.

Technorati Tag: Israel.

Rice: Jerusalem Will Be Divided [Error: Post Removed]

The post I wrote was based on a mistake. Originally, CNN attributed a quote to Rice that was actually said by Abbas

The CNN article now say in the margin:

Article Correction

A statement by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was incorrectly attributed to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in an earlier version of this story.

The quote in the article now appears as:

"We are serious to use this opportunity to reach this historical peace which would lead to the establishment of the Palestinian state and its capital East Jerusalem, that will live side by side with the state of Israel," said Abbas.

The White House transcript also shows Abbas said this.

I apologize for any confusion my post caused.

Hillary Clinton States Her Israel Policy

In the current issue of Foreign Affairs, Clinton boils it all down to one paragraph:

Getting out of Iraq will enable us to play a constructive role in a renewed Middle East peace process that would mean security and normal relations for Israel and the Palestinians. The fundamental elements of a final agreement have been clear since 2000: a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank in return for a declaration that the conflict is over, recognition of Israel's right to exist, guarantees of Israeli security, diplomatic recognition of Israel, and normalization of its relations with Arab states. U.S. diplomacy is critical in helping to resolve this conflict. In addition to facilitating negotiations, we must engage in regional diplomacy to gain Arab support for a Palestinian leadership that is committed to peace and willing to engage in a dialogue with the Israelis. Whether or not the United States makes progress in helping to broker a final agreement, consistent U.S. involvement can lower the level of violence and restore our credibility in the region.

Martin Kramer takes this apart in detail, but some things in particular stand out:

There is no mention of terrorism--the issue is to "lower the level of violence." Not eliminate the rockets fired at Israeli citizens; just lower the violence--even then, it is not clear is she is referring to Palestinian 'violence' or overall violence in the Middle East.

According to Clinton, the Palestinian Arabs get a state. What does Israel get? She gets: 'a declaration', 'recognition', 'guarantees', 'diplomatic recognition', and 'normalization'. Clinton does not take a stand that the terrorism--which she does not mention anyway--will stop. Israel gets words; Palestinian Arabs get themselves a brand new country.

Even among the words, the guarantees, recognition, and declarations--Kramer points out that something is left out:

The Palestinians insist that they will not recognize Israel as a Jewish state, because this effectively negates their "right of return." Hillary herself, in a statement made in September, said she personally "believes that Israel's right to exist in safety as a Jewish state... must never be questioned." Yet Hillary's formula in the Foreign Affairs piece invites the Palestinians to do just that, asking them simply to "recognize Israel's right to exist."

A Palestinian can only read this as an invitation to hold firm to the bogus "right of return" (and hold out against the Bush-Rice diplomatic surge in anticipation of a Hillary administration).

The New York Sun has an article about Hillary's statement--good thing too. If you look for it on Hillary Clinton's site, you can't find it. If you go to "issues" or "press releases" and search for 'Israel': nothing comes up. And don't even think of doing a search of her site--there is no such option. After all, no point in taking a stand and being held responsible for it.

According to September article in the New York Sun:

Last Tuesday, prior to the start of the Jewish High Holiday season, Mrs. Clinton's campaign circulated a paper articulating her support for Israel. Headlined "Hillary Clinton: A Long History of Strong and Steadfast Leadership for the U.S.- Israel Relationship," the statement addressed Mrs. Clinton's positions on Israel's fight against terrorism, the threat of Iran's development of nuclear weapons, and Jerusalem's status as Israel's capital. "Hillary Clinton believes that Israel's right to exist in safety as a Jewish state, with defensible borders and an undivided Jerusalem as its capital, secure from violence and terrorism, must never be questioned," the paper states. [emphasis added]

Besides supporting Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, which implies rejecting the Palestinian Arab right of return, Clinton also supports an undivided Jerusalem--of course she can afford to commit to that, seeing as how Olmert and friends have expressed their readiness to divide Jerusalem.

It should be obvious, but what a former director of AIPAC is quoted as saying bears repeating--presidential candidates will say anything for votes:

Morrie Amitay — who is a former director of Aipac, a Washington lawyer, and a pro- Israel activist — cautioned against reading too much into Mrs. Clinton's statement. "What a candidate says before they're elected is fairly meaningless. She's become a friend of Israel only recently. You do not know what she really believes," Mr. Amitay said. [emphasis added]

The fact remains, as Martin Kramer makes clear, putting aside how candidates do not necessarily do what they promise once elected--what Clinton says in her Foreign Policy article does not jive with her statement to the Jewish community in September.

Read Martin Kramer's Hillary: Triangulation on Israel?
[Hat tip: Powerline]

Technorati Tag: Israel and Hillary Clinton.

Malcolm Hoenlein on Olmert, The Balfour Decalaration and More

Each Friday, Nachum Segal interviews Malcolm Hoenlein:

Nachum interviewed Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, who called in for the latest Weekly Update. Nachum and Malcolm opened this week's interview with an update on Prime Minister Olmert's health in light of his recent announcement that he has prostate cancer. They also discussed various comments made by Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice regarding Israel and the Palestinians. Nachum and Malcolm covered several other topics including: rumors about America being involved in Israel's strike on Syria, Presidential hopeful Senator John McCain's visit with the Conference of Presidents this week, Iran's warning to European countries about joining the United States in their economic sanctions against Iran, Israel having to deal with human rights groups who criticize them for cutting off supplies to Gaza in response to being rocketed on a daily basis, and MUCH more. In light of the Balfour Declaration put forth on November 2, 1917 (90 years ago today), Malcolm explained what the purpose of the declaration was, and how over time it has been corrupted by people who are anti-Israel. Malcolm emphasized the importance of teachers and parents teaching the history of the State of Israel and the historical context of its origin to their children so they don't fall prey to those that would distort reality and denigrate the Jewish homeland. Click the link to listen.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Malcolm Hoenlein.

"People are negotiating. (Laughter.)"

Hilarious. But are they laughing with you or at you.

Other lines from Condoleezza Rice's Press Conference:

And the more that they look forward, I think, to how they're actually going to get to an agreement, which is what you -- we really want them to do; after all, any joint document will not ultimately be worth the paper it's written on if eventually, they don't get to an actual agreement on a Palestinian state.

No mention of stopping terrorism. Which of course puts the ball in Israel's court and relieves Abbas and his buddy's of making any concessions.

But I think everybody understands who is responsible for the violence
now and it's coming out of Gaza and it's not controlled by the Palestinian
Authority.

Oh for the good old days--when the PA was in charge of Gaza and the strong hand of Abbas kept the rockets from being fired. Oh wait...according to Aaron Klein in his new book Schmoozing With Terrorists:

Abu Ahmed, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leader in the northern Gaza Strip, told WND his group, including the militants launching rockets, is loyal to Abbas and coordinates "resistance operations" with the Fatah party.

"The Al Aqsa Brigades is the military wing of the Fatah and the President Abu Mazen (Abbas) is the chairman of the movement. We are committed to our leadership, to Abu Mazen. All our activity is in accordance with the political line of Fatah, which consists of fighting the occupation until the creation of a Palestinian state. The rocket shooting is part of this vision," Abu Ahmed said. All rockets fired from Gaza have been launched from the northern part of the territory, which falls within Abu Ahmed's jurisdiction in the Brigades. [Hat tip: Yid With Lid; emphasis added]

According to Rice, the real breakthrough is in her novel approach in talking about what the Palestinians want before what Israel needs:

The real breakthrough, it was actually a few months ago now, is that for a long time,
if you remember, the argument was you couldn't talk about the Palestinian state or core issues, which was in phase three, until you had completed phase one, which got us into an extended kind of circular problem for a long time about phase one. Well, that -- now we've broken through and they are, indeed, talking about phase -- what's in phase three, which is the establishment of a Palestinian state.

But it obviously wouldn't work unless phase one is actually implemented and
it's just a practical matter. It would not work unless -- if you just read the -- I'd just encourage you to go read the phase one obligations and ask yourself, could you imagine establishing a Palestinian state without having met the phase one obligations? It just wouldn't work.

Let's just wait and see what will happen when everything that Abbas wants is settled and all that remains is to sign on the dotted line--let's see whether the pressure is on Abbas to put an end to Palestinian terrorism, or whether the pressure will be on Rice to finish the job.

Let's see who's laughing then.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Condoleezza Rice and Annapolis.

The End Of The Law Of Return?

Just one more step to make Israel like all the other nations.

Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit (Kadima) struck a blow to one of the central pillars of Zionism Tuesday, calling for an end to automatic citizenship for Jews who make aliyah (immigrate to Israel).

Addressing the governing board of the Jewish Agency, Sheetrit said that funds should be directed to helping immigrants already living in Israel instead of absorbing “lost tribes” from Africa and Asia. “Don't go finding me any lost tribes, because I won't let them in any more," he declared. "We have enough problems in Israel. Let them go to America."

Michael Freund points out Sheetrit's own shortsightedness, considering the background of his own family:

“Essentially, Mr. Sheetrit has lost sight of what Zionism and Israel are all about. The country was founded on immigration and meant to serve as a refuge for the entire Jewish people,” Freund said. Freund pointed out that Sheetrit’s own family, immigrants from Morocco, would themselves bear the brunt of his callousness had he been Interior Minister at the time of their aliyah. “It is as if he has forgotten everything that he and his family and millions of other immigrants went through.”

Kadima, like Olmert himself, is eating away at the soul of Israel.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Law of Return.

The Rise Of Anti-Semitism In Great Britain--And Who's Behind It

Melanie Phillips describes the results in Britain of the unholy alliance of the media, the churches, and the political and academic Left in the demonizing of the Jews and of Israel:

According to the Community Security Trust, the defense organization of Britain’s 300,000-strong Jewish community, last year saw nearly 600 anti-Semitic assaults, incidents of vandalism, cases of abuse, and threats against Jewish individuals and institutions—double the 2001 number. According to the police, Jews are four times more likely to be attacked because of their religion than are Muslims. Every synagogue service and Jewish communal event now requires guards on the lookout for violence from both neo-Nazis and Muslim extremists. Orthodox Jews have become particular targets; some have begun wearing baseball caps instead of skullcaps and concealing their Star of David jewelry. [emphasis added]

Phillips details the excesses of all three groups--read the whole thing.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Anti-Semitism and Melanie Phillips.

Olmert Promises Peace In Our Time!

Olmert is in Neville-Neville land. From AFP:

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he may be able to make peace with the Palestinians by the end of 2008 as the United States vowed to defend Israel's security during the difficult process.

"If we act decisively together, we and the Palestinians, there is a chance for us to reach real achievements, maybe even before the end of President (George W.) Bush's term," he said at the Saban Forum think-tank in Jerusalem.

"There is no intention to drag out the negotiations without end. There is no reason to again hit the foot-dragging that characterised our talks in the past," the premier said.

Ah yes, in spite of the heroic outreach of the Palestinian leadership to negotiate and engage in the honest give and take of real negotiation...

I don't know what Olmert is drinking, but obviously he got a bottle of it from Condoleezza Rice:

At the same event US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice vowed to defend Israel as it pushes ahead with the peace process, saying that it was time for all sides to make the difficult decisions necessary for a lasting peace.

"All Israelis should be confident that America is fully behind you, that we are fully committed to your security and that you can thus be bold in your pursuit of peace," she said.

Really? I have one word for Rice: Sderot.

Put aside Rice's foolish insistence that Abbas and friends are the moderates. The crux of the matter is addressed by the Palestinian Arabs:

"The statements of some Israeli officials that consider Israeli security more important than the establishment of a Palestinian state hinder an agreement," Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP.

"The establishment of a Palestinian state is what will guarantee the security and stability of the whole region," he added.

First, it should be obvious the security of a real and stable state precedes the creation of an artificial country for a group of Arabs who suddenly decide that they are a separate nation. Zuheir Muhsin, former Military Department head of the PLO made the artificiality and ulterior motive of the proposed Palestinian State very clear:

Almost a decade and a half after the first public endorsement of the Palestinian Charter, on March 31, 1977, Muhsin made the following declaration in an interview with the Dutch daily Trouw: "There are no differences between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. We are all part of one nation. It is only for political reasons that we carefully underline our Palestinian identity, because it is in the interest of the Arabs to encourage a separate Palestinian identity. Yes, the existence of a separate Palestinian identity serves only tactical purposes. The founding of a Palestinian state is a new tool in the continuing battle against Israel."

Secondly, based on the lie underlying the creation of a Palestinian state--not to mention the obvious inability of Palestinian Arabs to maintain a stable country--the creation of such a state is doomed to only add to the instability in the region.

And yet this is what Rice is rushing to achieve.

[Hat tip: Powerline]

Technorati Tag: Israel and Annapolis and Condoleezza Rice.

Saudis--With Friends Like These, Who Needs Suicide Bombers

Sometimes, moderation is only skin deep:

With oil prices surging, Saudi Arabia is growing in prosperity and embracing some modern trappings. Bibles and crucifixes are still banned, but internet access is spreading and there are plans for “Mile High Tower”, the world’s tallest skyscraper, in Jeddah. As a key ally of the West, the king had every reason to expect a warm welcome.

Yet wealthy Saudis remain the chief financiers of worldwide terror networks. “If I could somehow snap my fingers and cut off the funding from one country, it would be Saudi Arabia,” said Stuart Levey, the US Treasury official in charge of tracking terror financing.

Extremist clerics provide a stream of recruits to some of the world’s nastiest trouble spots.

An analysis by NBC News suggested that the Saudis make up 55% of foreign fighters in Iraq. They are also among the most uncompromising and militant.

So why exactly is Condoleezza Rice so anxious to have Saudi Arabia attend the Annapolis summit?

Technorati Tag: Saudi Arabia.