Israeli influence in America


12-30-06 - Book: Israel, Lobby Pushing Iran War ** Later in the book, Ritter adds: "Let there be no doubt: If there is an American war with Iran, it is a war that was made in Israel and nowhere else." Hmm.

12-30-06 - What to do with Iran? ** As an American strike in Iran is essential for our existence, we must help him pave the way by lobbying the Democratic Party (which is conducting itself foolishly) and US newspaper editors. We need to do this in order to turn the Iranian issue to a bipartisan one and unrelated to the Iraq failure.....We must turn to Hillary Clinton and other potential presidential candidates in the Democratic Party so that they publicly support immediate action by Bush against Iran.....We must clandestinely cooperate with Saudi Arabia so that it also persuades the US to strike Iran.....The Americans must act. Yet if they don't, we'll do it ourselves

12-28-06 - U.S. Embassy Is Warning Beijing on Iran Gas Deal Tom Lantos, said his panel will "closely examine" the deal next week to see if the sanctions would apply. The ranking Republican on that committee, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican from Florida, said she will also be looking closely at the deal. Israel's top two agents on Capitol Hill, what a coincidence.

12-27-06 - Successful Israelis relinquish citizenship "..they are required to relinquish their citizenship in order to work in Capitol Hill or serve in prestigious positions in the American military or the White House," Relinquishing their Israeli citizenship does not remove the security threat.

12-26-06 - Cases to test secret witnesses In three pending high-profile criminal cases, including one in Dallas, federal prosecutors have asked that the identities of Israeli government witnesses be withheld from defendants and their attorneys -- a move some legal scholars see as a highly unusual end run around the Sixth Amendment.....But University of Michigan law school professor Richard Friedman, a Sixth Amendment expert, said Israel's concerns about the security of intelligence and law enforcement officials should not be allowed to trump the Constitution. "Israel doesn't conduct our criminal procedures, and there is no reason why a defendant's rights in court should be determined by Israeli criminal procedure," he said. It should alarm American citizens that agents - whose identities are allowed to be kept secret - of a FOREIGN GOVERNMENT should be allowed to testify against you. But that is the nature of the beast. These agents are of a foreign government that does not now nor has it ever abided by international law; a rogue state.

12-26-06 - Scandal Could Derail New York Comptroller Many states maintain similar portfolios, but Israel constitutes a cause for Hevesi. For many years, Hevesi served as the president of B'nai Zion, a fraternal organization, and several times ran to be a delegate to the World Zionist Congress. As head of B'nai Zion, he served as a member of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations ? and some years ago even briefly considered serving as the group's chairman, a post colloquially called "King of the Jews."

12-26-06 - I Witness the Israel Lobby in Action This chilling statement was a candid expression of the goals of the Israel lobby. A member of a Jewish organization was saying that it's OK to have a wide-open discussion of these issues in Israel, but it's dangerous to have such a discussion here. Why?

12-25-06 - Carter wants debate? He's got it Last week, with Anti-Defamation League director Abraham Foxman accusing Carter of "anti-Semitism," the book hit No. 5 on the New York Times best-seller list, up from No. 11 in three weeks. The league's response has been to take out ads in major newspapers, claiming, "there's only one honest thing about President Carter's new book: the criticism." The ADL is taking out ads in major newspapers as a response to Carter's book. Priceless! Go Jimmy, Go Jimmy, Go Jimmy!

12-23-06 - Four reasons for ranting ** The ideal scenario, from Israel's point of view, would be an American military attack that would destroy Iran's nuclear facilities and remove the threat. "We have to get the United States to carry out what it promised to do, and to create the proper international climate," explains a senior official. It is not clear what President Bush told Olmert in private talks that had him leaving Bush's office feeling so satisfied. We can only presume that Olmert is depending on Bush's religious faith and obstinacy, which will lead him to attack Iran, even in light of American public opposition to military adventures in the Middle East.

12-23-06 - Jimmy Carter, on Mission Carter is taking on the orthodoxies in his own culture, with the same sense of all or nothing. The venom he is encountering on the Jewish right is staggering.....we're getting closer and closer to the Elian Gonzales moment, the moment when the American people wake up and realize that a fanatical lobby is not representing America's best interest.

12-23-06 - Jewish leaders: Bush finds Iran election results encouraging Bush gathered Jewish education leaders and students at the White House to discuss the role of religion in schools. The closed-door discussions also touched on other issues including the war in Iraq, spreading democracy and the crisis in Darfur.

12-23-06 - Target Iran: Former UN Weapons Inspector Scott Ritter and Investigative Journalist Seymour Hersh on White House Plans for Regime Change ** So if you read the Azeri press, for instance, you?ll find out that the Israeli Mossad has upped its efforts to build a station in Azerbaijan. And the Azeri press will delve into that more. Why does the Mossad want to build a station operating? There?s a couple reasons. One, the Mossad is working with the Azeri population. You know, there is a Jewish minority in Azerbaijan that has emigrated to Israel. And so, there?s a number of Azeri Israelis that the Israeli government now is bringing back to Azerbaijan to work on this issue.... we're not allowed to do is discuss the notion that Israel and the notion of Israeli interests may in fact be dictating what America is doing, that what we're doing in the Middle East may not be to the benefit of America's national security, but to Israel's national security. But, see, we don?t want to talk about that, because one of the great success stories out there is the pro-Israeli lobby that has successfully enabled themselves to blend the two together, so that when we speak of Israeli interests, they say, "No, we're speaking of American interests."....The bottom line is, within two days of our decision to initiate an attack on Iran, every single one of you is going to be feeling the consequences of that in your pocketbook. And it?s only going to get worse. This is not something that only I recognize. Ask Dick Lugar what information he?s getting from big business, who are saying, ?We can?t afford to go to war with Iran.? SEYMOUR HERSH: Final question: given all this, are we going to do it? SCOTT RITTER: Yes, we're going to do it. Read the entire thing.

12-22-06 - ADL Lists Top 10 Issues Affecting Jews in 2006 The Anti-Semitic Myth of the "Israel Lobby" That is hilarious. Maybe if the gloating about how much power the pro-Israelis have over both houses of Congress wasn't coming from THAT VERY COMMUNITY, maybe THEN these people would have a leg to stand on. That it IS happening only proves this 'anti-Semitic myth' is a charge leveled by the aforementioned in order to SHUT PEOPLE UP. Not working anymore. Come back 10 year!

12-22-06 - Future House power says Dems back a dialogue with Iran, Syria U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said both parties? support for Israel would remain unstinting..... Hoyer scored a decisive win in a caucus vote last month to become majority leader. Jewish groups watched the race closely, since Hoyer has proven to be one of Israel's best friends in Congress, leading multiple delegations to the Jewish state and isolating the caucus' few anti-Israel voices.

12-21-06 - Bush OKs Law Blocking Aid to Hamas Gov't Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., ranking member on the House International Relations Committee after Congress reconvenes Jan. 4, said she was pleased the president signed the bill she sponsored in the House.

12-20-06 - Is tough love for Israel still love? Question splits a campus group The Zionist Organization of America is spearheading an effort to have a left-wing group expelled from a pro-Israel consortium for its sponsorship of a program that brings Israeli army veterans to college campuses to speak about alleged army abuses.

12-20-06 - Proposed travel limits on Congress don't faze Jewish nonprofit groups The consensus among Jewish groups is that the new legislation would be an inconvenience, but wouldn't seriously hamper the trips to Israel that are considered a critical component of congressional support for Israel. ...Trips must be preapproved by the House Ethics Committee, a process that U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said would guarantee a continuance of the Israel tours.....Insiders said the impact was likely to be minimal. In Israel trips, the key relationship is not between the lawmaker and the lobbyist but between the lawmaker and the Jewish constituent who gives money to the lawmaker's campaign and who often is present on the trip.

12-20-06 - Bush appropriates Chanukah moral in depicting current threat from Iran

12-19-06 - Israel's Plummeting Image: A Call To Action! The American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League have formidable resources and could possibly be persuaded to intensify their existing activities in this area. Consideration should also be given to undertaking long term information related projects such as the creation of a global Jewish TV satellite station Another typical reaction by an Israel-defender. They prove Mearsheimer and Walt right often.

12-19-06 - Think tank sees threats The institute, chaired by former U.S. Mideast envoy Dennis Ross, said it is developing an initiative for a ?pan-Jewish? strategy toward Islam, with particular emphasis on the role of global Jewish decision-makers, academics and policy planners

12-19-06 - PM to senators: Syrian support of extremists hurts peace chances Olmert called for sanctions on Iran and praised U.S. efforts toward preventing Iran from achieving nuclear weapons capabilities

12-19-06 - The other Israel lobby The point of the initiative, Levy told me, is not to "turn American policy against Israel. It is to reach out to groups of philanthropists to get better resources and better focus and to translate this into a political statement," so that members of Congress will know that they "will have cover if they seek to do what we and many in the American Jewish Community think is right." You know, it would be great if our elected representatives actually represented the will of the American people, not lobbies. But then, that's just a quaint old notion these days...

12-19-06 - Neo-Cons Wanted Israel to Attack Syria Abrams has been known to work particularly closely with both David Wurmser, Meyrav's husband, and Cheney's national security adviser, John Hannah, who, in turn have long favoured "regime change" in Damascus.Indeed, both Wurmsers, along with former Defence Policy Board chairman Richard Perle and former Undersecretary of Defence for Policy Douglas Feith, worked together on a 1996 paper, entitled "A Clean Break", for incoming Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, which called for overthrowing Iraq's Saddam Hussein as the first step toward destabilising Syria.

12-19-06 - Holy Warriors Set Sights on Iran **

12-18-06 - Israeli PM, U.S. senators: Baker's report not to be policy The delegation includes senior U.S. senators John McCain, Joe Lieberman, Susan Collins and John Thune. Olmert and the senators discussed the Baker-Hamilton report and emphasized that in their view, although the report has led to a broad political discussion, it will not necessarily become U.S. policy, including regarding opposition to a dialogue with Iran and Syria. Let it be known: US Middle East policy is crafted in Tel Aviv, not Washington.

12-18-06 - Anti-Semitism label confines open debate he debate about Israeli policies is far more heated and frank within Israel than here in the United States. As one telling example, consider this paragraph by Israeli columnist Larry Derfner, writing recently in the Jerusalem Post: "Nobody and nothing in the world has an army of advocates, defenders, PR people, marketers, spin-meisters and image-polishers like Israel has. This army isn't made up just of the government but of Jews and Judeophiles all over the world, especially in the U.S. It includes the entire alphabet soup of American Jewish organizations, right-wing 'media watchdogs' like CAMERA and Honest Reporting, hundreds of Jewish newspapers and Web sites, Alan Dershowitz, Binyamin Netanyahu, the Republican Party, the Christian Right, FOX News and an assortment of other forces.".....Carter's point ? and Foxman proves it ? is that it has become impossible to express sympathy for the plight of the Palestinians in this country without fear of being shouted down as anti-Semitic.

12-18-06 - Iran within four years of nuclear bomb: Israel spy chief ** The boy who cried wolf.

12-18-06 - Uzi Landau: 'Israel's Churchill' Warns of Iran's Hitler Former Israeli Interior Minister Uzi Landau, a leading contender to succeed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, was in the United States last week to sound the alarm on Iran.

12-17-06 - The Israel Quandary By Robert D. Novak In 2002, a healthy and forceful Ariel Sharon, then prime minister, was an early advocate of U.S. military intervention in Iraq, in private sessions predicting therapeutic qualities throughout the region from deposing Saddam Hussein. More than four years later, the relationship has been reversed by the commission's report. Instead of the Iraqi intervention solving the Israeli question, stabilizing the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation is described as essential to an Iraqi solution....The Baker-Hamilton report and Hagel's speech each reiterated the truth that there is no chance whatsoever for essential Israeli-Palestinian peace without American brokerage. The Israeli ruling class and its U.S. outriders do not want that to happen, which explains the bitter opposition to the commission's recommendations.

12-17-06 - Groups Mute Criticism of Iraq Report Jewish and pro-Israel groups, after initially greeting the report of the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group with outrage, have begun to mute their criticisms on the basis of assurances that the Bush administration will not adopt the report's proposed linkage between Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict......Aipac executive director Howard Kohr, stressed the importance of ensuring that the recommendations seen as linking Israel and Iraq are not adopted.

12-17-06 - So Much for Inalienable Rights "...even if Iran is telling the truth ? Iran says, 'We have no nuclear weapons program. We just want peaceful nuclear energy' ? Israel says, 'So long as Iran has any enrichment capability, this constitutes a threat to Israel,' and they are pressuring the United States to take forceful action."

12-16-06 - Jimmy Carter vs. Jimmy Carter I know full well why Carter doesn't want to engage in the 'debate' that Dershowitz seeks. It's because it would require that Carter unravel the 'Big Lie' - a lifetime of myths and untruths about tbe foundation of Israel and it's so-called 'democracy'. And there isn't much of a debate when it comes to the Israel-defenders. From personal experience, it boils down to a p'ing match which muddies the waters and gets so far off topic with the usual pro-Israeli tactics (deny/dismiss/deflect/etc), that the real message gets lost (which is the point of these tactics). Their side of the story has been the ONLY side of the story that Americans have been allowed to hear for nearly SIXTY YEARS. Let someone else have the floor (for a change).

12-16-06 - Last Word: Jimmy Carter The word apartheid?did you agonize about that? Not really, I didn't agonize because I knew that's an accurate description of what's going on in Palestine. I would say that the plight of the Palestinians now?the confiscation of their land, that they're being suppressed completely against voicing their disapproval of what's happening, the building of the wall that intrudes deep within their territory, the complete separation of Israelis from the Palestinians?all of those things in many ways are worse than some of the aspects of apartheid in South Africa. There is no doubt about it, and no one can go there and visit the different cities in Palestine without agreeing with what I have said.

12-16-06 - Neocons: We expected Israel to attack Syria Wurmser says that what most frustrates her is hearing people close to decision makers in Israel asking her if the US would have let Israel attack Syria. "No one would have stopped you. It was an American interest. They would have applauded you. Think why you received so much time and space to operate. Rice was in the region and Israel embarrassed her with Qana, and still Israel got more time. Why aren't they reading the map correctly in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem?" Naturally, neocons consider themselves blameless in the Iraq debacle.

12-16-06 - Washington welcomes Israel's David Duke The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations welcomed him in New York on Dec. 12. Such organizations may claim that hosting him does not constitute endorsement, but it does provide him with legitimacy, particularly if he is not publicly and frequently confronted on his unapologetic displays of bigotry.

12-16-06 - MK Steinitz: Believe US will attack Iran ** Member of Knesset Yuval Steinitz (Likud) said Saturday that he "believes a hundred percent that the United States will attack Iran?in order to eliminate its nuclear threat. This will occur after diplomatic efforts fail."

12-16-06 - Hillary Clinton: I join Israel against Ahmadinejad Her letter was read at a conference in New York City, among the guests were US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton, Professor Alan Dershowitz and former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler. (Ronny Sofer)

12-15-06 - Jewish groups oppose Palestinian act More than a dozen local Jewish groups signed a petition urging President Bush not to sign legislation that would isolate the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority

12-15-06 - Bush honors Sharansky, Lederberg, Safire Three Jews were among those receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom. President Bush hosted a White House ceremony Friday for nine medal recipients, including Natan Sharansky, an Israeli political leader who was imprisoned nine years in the Soviet Gulag; Joshua Lederberg, a Nobel laureate and science adviser to several presidents who specializes in space travel and genetics; and William Safire, a speechwriter for President Nixon who became an influential New York Times columnist

12-15-06 - Pelosi adds two Jews to appropriations Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), speaker-elect of the U.S. House of Representatives, doubled the Jewish membership of its most powerful committee. Ahh, Pelosi the Israel-firster.

12-15-06 - New polls highlight issues of US policy in Mideast, hopes for renewing regional peace process Asked if they agree that Palestinians are entitled to equal rights, 79.1 percent said "yes," while 12.8 percent disagreed.....Perhaps more surprising, the poll shows that a small plurality of those surveyed (38.8 percent to 37.1 percent) said that US support for Israel weakens US security. There was also a strong division based on the race of those surveyed. Say I wonder, who are the 12.8 percent?....

12-15-06 - UPI Poll: Bush favors Israel As for their advice on what direction Bush should take, not surprisingly "steering a middle course" was cited by 55.8 percent of those asked while 35.1 percent said it should lean toward Israel and 3.6 percent said policies should lean toward the Palestinians.

12-15-06 - Netanyahu wants Iran president tried for genocide at The Hague ** Netanyahu says Israel must get the Americans to take action, not just with words but through an act of Congress. Really now. That shouldn't take much given that about 99% of our Congress is beholden to AIPAC.

12-15-06 - Rice hints Baker report to be snubbed At the end of the day, Rice answers to the Lobby, not you. The will of the American people (as demonstrated in several recent polls) matters not.

12-15-06 - Analysis: Poll increases pressure on Olmert Under Rumsfeld, Israeli military officials had the run of the Pentagon and enjoyed unprecedented access to Rumsfeld and his top officials. They could count on the enormous clout of the DoD, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Rumsfeld himself to block any diplomatic initiatives by the Bush administration that the Israeli government did not like. But once Gates is running OSD, he appears far more likely to make common cause with Rice to pressure the Israelis to make new concessions on reviving the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.....the findings of the UPI-Zogby poll will clearly strengthen the hand of the Baker-Rice-Gates forces that want to revive the peace process and push Israel to make new concessions or offers to get it going. That will not be welcome news in the prime minister's office in Jerusalem.

12-14-06 - The Rise of Avignor Lieberman Lieberman is more than kosher as far as Washington is concerned. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice welcomed him at the State Department on December 11, a day after he was featured at a forum, sponsored by the Brookings Institution's Saban Center, that also included Bill Clinton, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and several other members of Congress

12-14-06 - They Only Look Dead What won?t be dropped is the neoconservatives? attachment to Israel and the tendency to conflate the Jewish state?s interests (as defined in right-wing Israeli terms) with America?s. So one can look forward to neoconservative agitation on two fronts: a powerful campaign to draw the United States into a war to eliminate Iran?s nuclear potential and an equally loud effort in support of maintaining Israeli dominance over the West Bank and denying the Palestinians meaningful statehood

12-14-06 - More Evidence That Mearsheimer and Walt Are Largely Right This New York Times article quotes no one at all in support of Carter's position, only critics. Since when does the Times write in its news pages about controversies entirely from one side of the controversy, particularly when it's about someone who was president of the United States?

12-14-06 - Is James Baker a Match for AIPAC? Obviously not, since Bush has refused to implement the relevant recommendations by the ISG.

12-14-06 - Support for Israel in Congress is Based on Fear I can tell you from personal experience that the support Israel has in the Congress is based completely on political fear -- fear of defeat by anyone who does not do what Israel wants done. I can also tell you that very few members of Congress -- at least when I served there -- have any affection for Israel or for its Lobby.

12-14-06 - UPI Poll: Israeli lobby's U.S. influence With 47.5 percent of the 6,296 U.S. respondents saying there is a significant level of pro-Israel influence with 33.3 percent saying it has a "moderate" level of influence. Some 80.8 percent said there is some pro-Israel influence My fellow Americans, in light of the poll results, I would say that half the battle is won. Now then, what do you propose we do about this influence?

12-13-06 - Carter Book Stirs Furor With Its View of Israelis' 'Apartheid' The outrage and criticism are from all of the usual corners. This yet again proves the premise of Mearsheimer and Walt's famous paper.

12-13-06 - Jimmy Carter says Christians, pro-Israel lobby, stifle Middle East debate here In an interview this morning, Carter also told me it would be "political suicide" for any member of Congress to endorse the views in his new book, "Palestine: Peace not Apartheid." He said that's because of the power of the American Israel Political Action Committee.....the Anti-Defamation League launched a counter-PR campaign against it, including advertisements in major U.S. newspapers today that say:

12-13-06 - Bush to meet with Jewish educators He plans to meet with leaders of Hillel, Chabad and Jewish universities, as well as some students. Hillel is an organization that works on Israel's behalf on US campuses.

12-13-06 - Democrat dilemma over Iran ** US and Israeli rhetoric has been echoed by Democrats, particularly incoming Speaker of the House, Representative Nancy Pelosi. In 2005, she told a meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) that "the greatest threat to Israel's right to exist ... now comes from Iran". AIPAC has long been associated with some of the more extreme sectors of the Israeli political spectrum. The organization has been particularly aggressive in lobbying for war with Iran, a war that polls show the US public strongly opposes.

12-13-06 - Israel, Alone : The nuclear cat is out of the bag - and Olmert issues a warning? The Lobby is reeling. For the first time since the Eisenhower era, our Israeli-centric policy in the Middle East is being openly and successfully challenged

12-12-06 - Lieberman advocates aid to Palestinians In meetings described as positive, Lieberman spoke with Negroponte for an hour, with Rice for 45 minutes and Hadley for half an hour. They compared their assessments on Iran, as well as different options, intentions and deadlines Do not be fooled. Iran was the real issue here.

12-12-06 - US to double emergency equipment stored in Israel The American Congress gave Israel financial and security encouragement when the Senate and the House of Representatives gave their approval to double the emergency equipment the United States stores in Israeli stockpiles.....A great portion of the American equipment stored in Israel last year was used for combat in the summer war in Lebanon. Hey, I know. I bet they 'hate us for our freedom'.

12-12-06 - ISG fallout continues with query: Is Israeli-Arab peace the linchpin? Iran's ambitions dominated much of the Saban Forum. Shimon Peres, the vice prime minister, spoke darkly of the possibility of war in a Saturday-night panel with former President Clinton.

12-12-06 - Bush, Baker and Iraq: Why the Patient Can Not Be Saved Israel?s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is so confident that Bush won?t change his position on Iran and Syria that he told his cabinet to keep mum on the issue, lest they make it look as if Israel is inappropriately intervening.

12-12-06 - Back to Lebanon until we liberate our policy from the depredations of Israel Firsters, there is no chance of formulating a foreign policy that serves both American interests and the interests of all the peoples of the region.

12-11-06 - Hillary Clinton and Haim Saban at the 2006 Saban Forum in Washington, D.C.

12-11-06 - McCain: I?ll Embrace Bush Democracy Agenda Sen. John McCain has indicated that his foreign policy platform for a 2008 presidential campaign will remain faithful to President Bush?s efforts to promote democracy in the Middle East.

12-11-06 - Israel, Palestine, peace and apartheid by Jimmy Carter For the past 30 years, I have witnessed and experienced the severe restraints on any free and balanced discussion of the facts. This reluctance to criticise policies of the Israeli government is due to the extraordinary lobbying efforts of the American-Israel Political Action Committee and the absence of any significant contrary voices.

12-10-06 - Olmert: Bush won't change stance on Syria, Iran

12-10-06 - President Clinton, Ted Koppel, Shimon Peres and Haim Saban at the 2006 Saban Forum in Washington, D.C. The three-day closed-door Forum, entitled ?America and Israel: Confronting a Middle East in Turmoil,? continues through Sunday, December 10, and features panels and candid discussions confronting the complex challenges facing the United States and Israel in the Middle East. Participants include Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni; President William J. Clinton; Israeli Vice Premier and former Prime Minister Shimon Peres; Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY); Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman; Israeli Minister of Education Yuli Tamir; senior Bush Administration diplomat David Welch; Secretary of State Senior Adviser on Iraq David Satterfield; George Tenet, former Director of Central Intelligence; James Wolfensohn, former Special Envoy for Gaza Disengagement and former President of the World Bank; Senator Joseph Lieberman, (D-CT); Congressman Howard Berman (D-CA); Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN); Congresswoman Jane Harman, (D-CA); Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA); Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY); Congressman Christopher Shays (R-CT); member of Parliament (Canada) Michael Ignatieff, among others.

12-10-06 - Congress condemns Iran conference "The Iranian regime's public anti-Semitic, anti-U.S. and anti-Israel policies underscore the threat posed by a nuclear Iran," Hastings said in a statement. Really. Those on Capitol Hill would appear to have nothing better to do than to pass legislation on behalf of Israel.

12-10-06 - Peres: Unite against Iran and prevent war ** "If there was an international coalition, there would be no need to go to war against Iran, and Iran would return to its natural dimensions." I was not aware that Iran was going to START any wars. In fact, it's just the opposite. Israel has warned of attacking Iran (in case we won't do it for them). Note that this was being discussed at the 'closed forum'. The closed forum at the Brooking Institute, no doubt.

12-10-06 - Baker vs. "The Lobby" The only group left touting Bush's failed policy is the "Israel first" camp which continues to wave the bloody shirt of incitement from their perch at the Weekly Standard and the American Enterprise Institute. These same diehards are leading the charge for a preemptive attack on Iran; a criminal act which will have catastrophic effects on America's long-term energy needs.

12-10-06 - Neocons Leery of Baker?s Return As secretary of state from 1989 to 1992, during the first Bush administration, Baker often clashed with Jerusalem and the top pro-Israel lobbying group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

12-08-06 - Israel is a Liability for U.S. we are still a long ways away from the end of the U.S. hegemony in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Israel unfortunately is still a domestic issue in the U.S. and AIPAC's strength hasn't weakened despite attempts by U.S. academics to expose them.

12-08-06 - US bill meant to twist Hamas's arm The House of Representatives gave final passage Thursday to a bill aimed at forcing the Palestinians' ruling Hamas government to accept Israel and join negotiations toward a Palestinian state in formerly Israeli-occupied territory.

12-08-06 - Speaking frankly about Israel and Palestine By Jimmy Carter The many controversial issues concerning Palestine and the path to peace for Israel are intensely debated among Israelis and throughout other nations - but not in the United States. For the last 30 years, I have witnessed and experienced the severe restraints on any free and balanced discussion of the facts. This reluctance to criticize any policies of the Israeli government is because of the extraordinary lobbying efforts of the American-Israel Political Action Committee and the absence of any significant contrary voices....It would be almost politically suicidal for members of Congress to espouse a balanced position between Israel and Palestine, to suggest that Israel comply with international law or to speak in defense of justice or human rights for Palestinians. Very few would ever deign to visit the Palestinian cities of Ramallah, Nablus, Hebron, Gaza City or even Bethlehem and talk to the beleaguered residents. What is even more difficult to comprehend is why the editorial pages of the major newspapers and magazines in the United States exercise similar self-restraint, quite contrary to private assessments expressed quite forcefully by their correspondents in the Holy Land.

12-08-06 - A "Grand Settlement" Versus the Jewish Lobby There are several cases of notorious Phalangists being murdered just prior to their scheduled testimony in Brussels before a case brought by Palestinian survivors against top Israelis involved in the notorious massacres in Lebanon, especially at the Palestinian camps of Sabra and Shatila in September 1982. On January 24, 2002, Elie Hobeika, a Phalangist warlord directly involved in the massacre, was blown up in his Beirut neighborhood along with 3 bodyguards just two days after agreeing to testify against the Israelis on behalf of the Palestinian survivors. Hobeika, who was the Phalangist chief liaison with the IDF during their occupation of Beirut, claimed to have worked with the Israeli Mossad in orchestrating the massacre.

12-07-06 - Israeli Official Discusses Iran and His Controversial Agenda

12-07-06 - BMD Focus: Israel's new BMD dilemma As we have previously reported in BMD Focus, Pentagon critics and high tech BMD enthusiasts assailed the Pentagon for not pushing ahead more energetically with the THEL system over the past decade. It is certainly the case that up to the Hezbollah-Israel conflict, THEL funding remained very low relative to other BMD programs. Only about $300 million was allocated to it over the past decade, of which Israel provided about half.

12-07-06 - Israelis Wary of Baker's Report "He certainly wasn't our friend," Tsiddon-Chatto said of Baker. "He was bullying Israel into situations, bossing (us) around," Tsiddon-Chatto told Cybercast News Service. They want our money, and our guarantees of their security, but don't want us to have any say in the matter. Arrogant, audacious, #@'ers.

12-07-06 - Europeans welcome Iraq report as sign of change in US plans The policy set at the upcoming Saban conference (read below) will seek to ensure that the recommendations by the ISG with regard to Israeli concessions in any ME peace deal, or open dialogue between Iran/Syria with the US, will not be implemented by the US. That's my guess.

12-07-06 - Top Israelis, Americans at Saban session Among the many officials attending are Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni; David Welch, the current top U.S. envoy to the region; Shimon Peres, Israel?s deputy prime minister; Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and her husband, former President Bill Clinton; Amos Yadlin, director of Israel?s military intelligence; Avigdor Lieberman, Israel?s minister of strategic planning; and many other Bush administration officials and U.S. and Israeli lawmakers. The only session open to coverage is the formal launch of the conference at the U.S. State Department on Friday night, which is to be addressed by Livni and Welch That strategy to keep US foreign policy that puts Israel first will be cemented therein, methinks.

12-07-06 - Bush nominates RJC head to Brussels post Sam Fox, 77, a St. Louis businessman and philanthropist and a top GOP fund-raiser, has presided over the RJC?s aggressive drive in recent elections to portray Democratic support for Israel as diminishing.

12-07-06 - White House honors Sharansky Natan Sharansky will be honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. A former Soviet refusenik and recently retired Israeli politician, Sharansky will receive the medal from the White House on Dec. 15.

12-07-06 - Pelosi slots Lantos, Waxman as chairs The nod Wednesday from Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) virtually guarantees that Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), a staunch defender of Israel, will chair the International Relations Committee, and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who is well known for his outspokenness, will chair the Government Reform Committee when Democrats assume control of the House in January after winning midterm elections.

12-07-06 - GOP taps Ros-Lehtinen for foreign affairs Ros-Lehtinen, who chaired the committee?s Middle East subcommittee, is very close to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and sponsored key legislation in recent years isolating Syria and the Palestinian Authority.

12-07-06 - Senate confirms Gates Israeli media described the comment as a potential breach of a longstanding tacit agreement by Washington to go along with the Jewish state?s policy of nuclear ambiguity

12-07-06 - U.S. House passes anti-terrorism bill The American Israel Public Affairs Committee lobbied hard for both versions. With the elections over, it's back to business in the Israeli Congress.

12-07-06 - Olmert rejects talks with Syria, says conditions are 'not ripe' Olmert's office said Wednesday that it is unlikely that Bush would alter his Middle East policy with regard to Israel, despite the recommendations of the bipartisan advisory panel, headed by former secretary of state James Baker and former Democratic Congressman Lee Hamilton. Sources at the Prime Minister's Office said Wednesday night that Olmert is not unduly concerned with the report because in his recent meeting with Bush at the White House, he was promised that the U.S. would not divert from the principles of its policy in dealing with terrorist groups and in countering the Iranian nuclear program.

12-06-06 - Vallone Meets With Israeli Official At City Hall The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater New York and its Chief Executive, Michael Miller, organized the trips that brought Vallone and Goldstein together to exchange their ideas.

12-06-06 - McCain's statement on Iraq Study Group report AIPAC must have sent out word that there is to be no linkage between Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict. This linkage appears to have been in the ISG report. So far Biden, Lantos and now McCain are all singing the same tune.

12-06-06 - AJC Says Iraq Study Group Report Complicates Quest for Peace The pro-Israeli groups already on the offensive trying to dismiss/downplay Baker's report.

12-06-06 - ADL: Iraq Study Group 'Gets It Wrong' on Arab-Israeli Peace Process If the ADL thinks it's wrong, then you know the ISG got it RIGHT.

12-06-06 - For pro-Israel crowd, Iraq report has some unwelcome proposals

12-06-06 - House protects new red 'crystal' More wasted time and money by those on Capitol Hill who were elected to represent the interests of THIS country.

12-06-06 - Failure to pass budget bills could stall Democrats' incoming agenda Spending that affects Israel is not impacted. Foreign operations, which accounts for the $2.8 billion Israel receives annually, is going ahead at 2006 levels, which differ little from levels promised for 2007. The Defense Appropriations Act, which affects collaborative U.S.-Israel programs such as the Arrow anti-missile program, is one of only two that were passed before the midterm elections.

12-05-06 - Israel is on freshman lawmakers' to-do list New office on Capitol Hill? Check. Orientation to congressional protocols? Check. All-expense paid trip to Israel? Add that to the freshman lawmaker's calendar....A 2005 National Journal survey of congressional insiders ranked AIPAC second most influential lobbying group among Democratic lawmakers and fourth among Republicans.

12-04-06 - Clinton, Barak and Lieberman talk Iran ** Iranian nuclear threat and instability in Lebanon ? these are only some of the subjects high-level American and Israeli officials will discuss at third annual Saban Forum in Washington This will result in a renewed push by Israel and its lobbyists for US action on Iran, no doubt.

12-04-06 - Israel fears Siniora government may fall the government source said Bush promised Olmert that his position on Iran would remain unchanged as long as Tehran remains committed to pursuing its nuclear program. As for Syria, the source said, Bush has conditioned any resumption of dialogue on Damascus' ceasing to interfere with Lebanon and ending its support for Hezbollah, and both the recent murder of Lebanese minister Pierre Gemayal and Hezbollah's confrontation with Siniora make it even less likely that Bush would change his position on this issue.

12-03-06 - Carter criticizes U.S. approach to Israel interview on C-Span, said that, given widespread support for Israel in the United States, it would be "unimaginable" that a politician would assign any blame to Israel for the ongoing violence in the Middle East and still win office...."You're a racist and anti-Semite," one caller shouted at Carter during Sunday's broadcast before being cut off by the show's host. Now there's a charge we rarely see when it comes to criticism of Israel. Imagine.

12-03-06 - Carter's frontal attack "I wrote the book because I wanted to stimulate a debate in this country about what is actually going on in the Middle East," Carter said during an interview at a midtown hotel on the first day of his national book tour. "This is a subject which, in my mind, has rarely if ever been honestly debated or discussed in the United States." Say what you want about Jimmy Carter, it takes an enormous amount of cojones to do what he did given the climate in this country at this time. It's legend.

12-03-06 - Harman gracious to successor Pelosi reportedly was irked that Harman solicited lobbyist to help her keep the position, including from major Jewish donors to the party.

12-02-06 - Special Relationship A one-sided U.S. policy toward Israel endangers both countries? interests.

12-01-06 - Analysis: High bar set in AIPAC case "The Court imposed the requirement that the government prove that the defendant knew the information ... would harm the United States," Judge Thomas Ellis told the Nov. 16 hearing, though prosecutors had asked that this requirement be lifted...."This was a counter-espionage investigation," said one retired veteran, pointing out that it had been conducted by the counter-intelligence unit at the FBI's Washington Field Office. Well, they tried. And thanks to those that gave their best shot.




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