Showing posts with label Benjamin Netanyahu. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Benjamin Netanyahu. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 12, 2023

12: Benjamin Netanyahu



Ukraine war: fading support and internal divisions must push Nato to negotiating table Nato must realise Ukraine is not in a position where it can liberate its entire territory and successfully join the alliance at the end of the war ....... Commitments of support to Kyiv must also come with an acknowledgement of Russia’s security interests............ Fewer than half of US respondents – 48 per cent – to an Associated Press poll in February said they supported providing weapons to Ukraine, down from 60 per cent in May 2022, while 29 per cent were opposed. Polling in Europe last December showed 50 per cent support for providing Ukraine with arms, down from 56 per cent that March, with support dipping to 48 per cent in Germany and 36 per cent in Italy ......... Russia has largely been able to stay afloat despite being cut off from the global financial system, with the International Monetary Fund predicting the country’s economy to grow by 0.3 per cent this year. ............... Despite providing a supply of quality weapons, Nato must realise Kyiv is not in a position where it can liberate its entire territory and successfully join the alliance at the end of the war. Instead, its best chance of maximising its ability to exist and enter Nato will come from being partitioned along the Dnieper River and admitted into the alliance thereafter. ........... Some allies are looking to transform Ukraine into a bulwark against Russia by granting special defence agreements along the Israeli model but stopping short of giving it full Nato membership. ........... Israel has a 10-year defence agreement with the US which allows it to receive a steady supply of arms and ammunition in preparation for any potential conflict. Israel will receive US$38 billion from the US as part of its current agreement, and a similar model could be employed in Ukraine. Such an act would provide a well-defined support apparatus and prevent the war from being drawn out, as intended by Moscow. ............... in 1994, the US persuaded Ukraine, with assurances from Britain, to give up its 5,000 Soviet-era nuclear weapons. .

The West needs to prepare for ‘ugly’ Russian victory in Ukraine, which will reward China, leading US political scientist warns In an exclusive interview, John Mearsheimer tells My Take the war will drag on, and any ceasefire will at best lead to ‘a cold peace’ with significant gains for Russia .

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Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Trump's Map For Palestine



Trump peace plan: Palestinian state, Israeli control of settlements

Trump's peace plan is a realistic vision Trump has shown a propensity to violate accepted norms. And when you have a conflict that has existed for so long, with all the players refusing to deviate from many assumptions - you need a leader who can operate outside those lines. ..... Trump has approached the conflict through a sober lens rooted in reality. ..... If the Trump plan is even partially embraced, this would demonstrate that the Israeli public has completely moved on from the failed thinking of the last many decades, pushed by the DC/European based peace process industry. ....... The key to actually ending the conflict is having the bravery to live in reality and allow any peace process that is proposed to be based on that truth. It is that need for courageous action that has stymied every US President - until now.

The international community should say no to the Trump plan runs counter to previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements and understandings on core issues of the conflict: borders, settlements, Jerusalem, and even refugees. It serves a right-wing political ideology and electoral goals, while distancing peace. ...... endangers Israel’s future in the Middle East rather than improves it. ..... ....The administration adopted a series of measures that affected the situation on the ground and, in fact, promoted the principles of the plan even before its publication.

Why the Palestinian leadership should not reject Trump’s peace plan We are hopeful that many Palestinians will see the advantages of counting to 10 before officially reacting to the proposed peace plan and the vision it contains for both Palestinians and Israelis............. it would not surprise anyone if the Palestinian Authority’s first reaction will be outright rejection of the plan without even reading it. ....... what of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad? One does not have to wonder what their likely reactions will be. ....... review the plan, study it and systematically outline its objections to it ....... Palestinians can keep waiting for a better deal, but in all likelihood, it may never come........ Palestinians should recognize what is possible and refrain from being driven solely by what they view as just. ....... The likelihood of another presidential term for President Trump is extremely high......... A main Palestinian objection to their participation in the Bahrain Economic Conference held in 2019 was the introduction of the economic portion of the peace plan prior to the political portion. With the release of the political portion of the peace plan, Palestinians can now understand the tremendous advantages of the economic benefits that a signed peace agreement can provide to all Palestinians.......... Within a decade’s time, Palestinians can become economically successful, trading freely and securing investment from all over the world. There is no reason why Palestinians cannot become another “start-up” society. ......... Americans and Israelis, among so many others, can be trading with and investing with Palestinians...... Palestinians have much to lose if they reject the proposed peace plan.

The PLAN

Trump unveils Middle East peace plan with two-state solution, tunnel connecting West Bank and Gaza "This is a great deal," Trump said. "And the Palestinians may not have this opportunity ever again." ...... The Israeli leader added that past deals had not had the "right balance between Israeli security and Palestinians aspirations." ....... Under the plan, the Palestinians would have to reach certain benchmarks to achieve a state. Those benchmarks include rooting out terrorism, stopping what they call “pay to slay,” implementing steps toward free speech, and other political reforms. ...... The plan is a basis for negotiations with Israel, Trump officials said, claiming many of the Palestinians' red lines are met, including their calls for a Palestinian state and a capital in parts of East Jerusalem........ The vision calls for more than doubling the amount of territory the Palestinians control. ...... This is the first time Israel has agreed to a Palestinian state with defined borders. ...... A small strip of land between the Egyptian border and the proposed land swap areas south of Gaza would remain Israeli territory and be subject to Israeli security control. This was requested by Egypt as a buffer against cross-border terrorism. ...... As part of the plan, Israel has agreed to halt settlement construction for four years. But in one detail sure to provoke Palestinian objections, the plan recognizes Israeli sovereignty over major settlement blocs in the West Bank.....

Both Netanyahu and his political challenger, Benny Gantz, have agreed to implement this plan, regardless of the outcome of the upcoming March 2 election.

........ the Trump administration’s moves to relocate the embassy and recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan were important confidence-building measures that led to this plan. ........ While Trump and Netanyahu were giving their comments, Palestinian leaders were meeting in the West Bank to discuss the plan....... Hamas, the Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist militant organization that has waged war with Israel for decades, rejected the plan and called it a "theatrical presentation to sell illusions" in a comment to Fox News.

Arafat rejects Clinton peace plan The US president-elect, George W Bush, said that Mr Clinton was "giving it the very best shot he can, and I certainly hope it works".

Arafat didn't negotiate - he just kept saying no The true story of Camp David was that for the first time in the history of the conflict the American president put on the table a proposal, based on UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338, very close to the Palestinian demands, and Arafat refused even to accept it as a basis for negotiations, walked out of the room ......... The proposals included the establishment of a demilitarised Palestinian state on some 92% of the West Bank and 100% of the Gaza Strip, with some territorial compensation for the Palestinians from pre-1967 Israeli territory; the dismantling of most of the settlements and the concentration of the bulk of the settlers inside the 8% of the West Bank to be annexed by Israel; the establishment of the Palestinian capital in east Jerusalem, in which some Arab neighborhoods would become sovereign Palestinian territory and others would enjoy "functional autonomy"; Palestinian sovereignty over half the Old City of Jerusalem (the Muslim and Christian quarters) and "custodianship," though not sovereignty, over the Temple Mount; a return of refugees to the prospective Palestinian state though with no "right of return" to Israel proper; and the organisation by the international community of a massive aid programme to facilitate the refugees' rehabilitation.......

Arafat said no. Enraged, Clinton banged on the table and said: "You are leading your people and the region to a catastrophe." ...... Today Barak portrays Arafat's behaviour at Camp David as a "performance" geared to exacting from the Israelis as many concessions as possible without ever seriously intending to reach a peace settlement or sign an "end to the conflict"....... "He did not negotiate in good faith; indeed, he did not negotiate at all. He just kept saying no to every offer, never making any counterproposals of his own"

...... He seems to think in terms of generations and hesitantly predicts that only "80 years" after 1948 will the Palestinians be historically ready for a compromise. By then, most of the generation that experienced the catastrophe of 1948 at first hand will have died; there will be "very few 'salmons' around who still want to return to their birthplaces to die". ....... Barak recalled seeing David Ben-Gurion, Israel's founder and first prime minister (1948-53 and 1955-63), on television in June 1967 arguing for the immediate withdrawal from all the territories occupied in the six-day war in exchange for peace, save for East Jerusalem........ "Many of us - me included - thought that he was suffering from [mental] weakness or perhaps a subconscious jealousy of his successor [Levi Eshkol, who had presided over the unprecedented victory and conquests]. Today one understands that he simply saw more clearly and farther than the leadership at that time."



Trump plan will 'finish off Palestinian cause', PM warns US president's proposal will dash hopes for an independent state, Palestinians officials say. ....... Palestinian leaders say they were not invited to Washington and no plan can work without them. ..... Shtayyeh said Trump and Netanyahu were using the proposal as a distraction from their domestic troubles. ........ "This plan is to protect Trump against being impeached and to protect Netanyahu from going to jail, and it is not a peace plan," Shtayyeh said at a cabinet meeting in Ramallah.

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Saturday, February 20, 2016

Iran: The Peace Dividend

English: President Barack Obama welcomes Israe...
English: President Barack Obama welcomes Israeli President Shimon Peres in the Oval Office Tuesday, May 5, 2009. At right is Vice President Joe Biden. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza. Français : President Barack Obama accueille le président israélien Shimon Peres dans le bureau ovale mardi 5 mai 2009. A droite, le vice-président Joe Biden. Photo officielle de la Maison Blanche par Pete Souza. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Where we stand today, Israel is safer. Correct?

But there were people who were saying Obama is taking Israeli safety down the drain. It was an existential question. How could he?

My point being, sometimes you have to get unpopular with the very people you are trying to help. When you are doing the right thing, the popularity chart is not the right guide. Your compass might not be jiving with it.

So, just on this question, people who got it wrong, will they now take a second look at their prior position? Will they now admit Israel is now in a safer position?

A POTUS, any POTUS, stands with Israel, because America is all about democracy. So Obama's loyalty could not have been in doubt. Ends up he was also right.

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Thursday, October 15, 2015

Russia's Ego Is Geopolitical

English: President Bashar al-Assad of Syria . ...
English: President Bashar al-Assad of Syria . Original background. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Russia is such a huge country geographically, never mind it has fewer people than Pakistan, never mind its economy is smaller than India's, but the largest country in the world, geographically speaking, feels the need to prove it is a military superpower on par with the United States. China, on the other hand, has no qualms that its global prestige can not exceed its economic might, and so stays economy focused. A large population can make you do that. Grow or get challenged, from inside. There is also a hunger among ordinary Russians for someone like Putin, someone who will make them feel like the superpower they were.

Geopolitics is very real. All large countries have spheres of influence, just like Jupiter's gravity is felt on its moons. Russia's geopolitical pull will still hold to be true should some day Russia become a democracy in the western sense of the word.

Russia is a big country: deal with it.

Russian Military Uses Syria as Proving Ground, and West Takes Notice
a public demonstration of new weaponry, tactics and strategy. ..... The strikes have involved aircraft never before tested in combat ..... a ship-based cruise missile fired more than 900 miles from the Caspian Sea, which, according to some analysts, surpasses the American equivalent in technological capability. ...... might soon back an Iranian-led offensive that appeared to be forming in the northern province of Aleppo ......

months of meticulous planning behind Russia’s first military campaign outside former Soviet borders since the dissolution of the Soviet Union

..... a little-noticed — and still incomplete — modernization that has been underway in Russia for several years, despite strains on the country’s budget......

Putin had overseen the most rapid transformation of the country’s armed forces since the 1930s.

..... Russia’s fighter jets are, for now at least, conducting nearly as many strikes in a typical day against rebel troops opposing the government of President Bashar al-Assad as the American-led coalition targeting the Islamic State has been carrying out each month this year....... an increasingly confrontational and defiant Russia under Mr. Putin ...... the operation could be intended to send a message to the United States and the West about the restoration of the country’s military prowess and global reach after decades of post-Soviet decay. ....... we are going to school on what the Russian military is capable of today.” ....... Russian military spending .. has surged to its highest level in a quarter-century, reaching $81 billion, or 4.2 percent of the country’s gross domestic product ...... Moscow’s largest deployment to the Middle East since the Soviet Union deployed in Egypt in the 1970s. ....... their ability to move a lot of stuff real far, real fast ...... Russia is not only bringing some of its most advanced hardware to the fight, it has also deployed large field kitchens and even dancers and singers to entertain the troops — all signs that Moscow is settling in for the long haul ...... American officials say Russia has closely coordinated with its allies to plan its current fight. .......... the Russians are already harvesting lessons from the campaign to apply to their other military operations .....

“Russia is using their incursion into Syria as an operational proving ground.”



Putin Says U.S. Fails to Cooperate in Syria
suggesting that they had “mush for brains.” ..... widespread accusations in the West that Russian warplanes were targeting practically every group opposed to the Syrian government except the Islamic State ...... “Recently, we have offered the Americans: ‘Give us objects that we shouldn’t target.’ Again, no answer,” he said. “It seems to me that some of our partners have mush for brains.” ...... Aside from propping up Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, Russia’s staunchest regional ally, the Russian government is believed to be motivated by the idea of ending its international isolation stemming from the Ukraine crisis. It also wants to be treated as an equal partner by the West in addressing the intractable problems facing Syria, which include the spread of the Islamic State extremist group and the need to shape a political transition to end the civil war that has killed at least 250,000 people and displaced millions. ........ For more than four years, the government has held central Damascus while shelling the poorer towns ringing the city, where many residents were among the first to rebel against Mr. Assad. ....... a call by Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front, for revenge attacks against Russia. ...... urged jihadists from the Caucasus to kill one Russian for every Syrian who had died. ...... He said the horrors to be visited on the Russians would overwhelm the memories of what happened to them in Afghanistan in the 1980s. ..... Jambulat Umarov, the foreign and information minister for Chechnya, also in the Caucasus, called the group “obsolete” and bragged that his region of Russia was the only place in the world that had gained the upper hand against Islamic militants....... Both Russia and the United States have said that the Islamic State is the target of their attacks in Syria. Russia also maintains that removing Mr. Assad now will bring chaos, a position that the West and regional states reject.
U.S. Weaponry Is Turning Syria Into Proxy War With Russia
Insurgent commanders say that since Russia began air attacks in support of the Syrian government, they are receiving for the first time bountiful supplies of powerful American-made antitank missiles. ...... the Syrian conflict is edging closer to an all-out proxy war between the United States and Russia. ..... The increased levels of support have raised morale on both sides of the conflict, broadening war aims and hardening political positions, making a diplomatic settlement all the more unlikely. ..... Spirits are rising on the government side as well. Weapons and morale are “at a new level,” said an official with the newly revived alliance of Russia, Iran and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah that is fighting on the behalf of Damascus. ..... the alliance is seeking something closer to victory. The aim now is to retake Syrian land that had been given up for lost, take the ouster of Mr. Assad off the table for good and reach a far more advantageous political solution after establishing “new facts on the ground.” ...... One official with a rebel group that is fighting in Hama called the supply “carte blanche.” “We can get as much as we need and whenever we need them,” he said ...... “By bombing us, Russia is bombing the 13 ‘Friends of Syria’ countries,” he said, referring to the group of the United States and its allies that called for the ouster of Mr. Assad after his crackdown on political protests in 2011. ..... Russian attack helicopters swoop low over fields, seemingly close enough to touch, then veer upward to unleash barrages of rockets, flares and heavy machine-gun fire. Explosions pepper distant villages, with smoke rising over clusters of houses as narrators declare progress against

“terrorists.”

....... Both Russia and the United States have declared they are fighting the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, but the two global powers support opposite sides in the battle between Mr. Assad and the Syrians who rebelled against his rule.

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Thursday, May 07, 2015

Obama's Peace With Iran = Less Threat For Israel

English: Cropped version of File:Official port...
English: Cropped version of File:Official portrait of Barack Obama.jpg. The image was cropped at a 3:4 portrait ratio, it was slightly sharpened and the contrast and colors were auto-adjusted in photoshop. This crop, in contrast to the original image, centers the image on Obama's face and also removes the flag that takes away the focus from the portrait subject. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Barack Obama has had Israel's best interests in mind. All along. I don't doubt Netanyahu's stated intentions, or even his smarts. I am sure there are a bunch of people who think he is smart and all that. But Netanyahu is not the first right wing guy on the planet who will let ideology trump facts. He also comes from the Don't-Confuse-Me-With-Facts school of thought. And he has allies in Congress.

Look, if John McCain was smarter the American people would have figured it out in 2008. Don't let McCain confuse you in that august chamber.

It is not like Iran does not have the extreme right wing. One of them would be the Ayatollah himself. No, I don't think Netanyahu is more to the right than the Aya.

That is formula for combustion, if not for nuclear combustion, then for rhetoric combustion. And we have been seeing that.

Enter Barack Obma, the No Drama Obama. A cool headed guy who still feels the need to prove as to why he ever got that Nobel Peace Prize. Those opposing his Iran moves should apologize now, and profusely so. Suddenly the cloud of a potential existential threat on Israel has subsided. Who did that? Not Netanyahu.

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Tuesday, March 10, 2015

A Racist Act By The US Senate

Biden Rebukes Senate Republicans Over Letter to Iran

According to the US Constitution, it is for the President Of The United States to deal with foreign powers on behalf of the country. For that he/she gets an entire department, with presences all over the world. He/she is boss to them and works through a Secretary he appoints.

For the Senate Republicans to directly reach out to the Iranian leadership ---- first, it is an invalid step. I also would like to reach out to the Iranian leadership on behalf of America and Laos. What is the email address?

It is also racism. It is like saying, we don't care who is in the White House, because there is a black guy in the White House. And we don't accept blackness in the White House. Attitude!

These Senate Republicans might or might not be okay with blackness, but that they should think they actually have the option to not accept the US Constitution! And for avowed strict constitutionalists too! If you want the Republicans to stop being so anal about being strict constitutionalists, idea, put a black guy in the White House!

How many black guys do we need to put in the White House for them to get past the right to bear arms part! I want to know.


There are two Armageddon forces on the planet right now: ISIS and the Senate Republicans!

Barack Obama has done commendable work to deescalate the tension around that part of the world. Israel should appreciate. The Senate Republicans should get out of the way.
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Thursday, November 08, 2012

Bibi

The Likud Party led by Benjamin Netanyahu wins...
The Likud Party led by Benjamin Netanyahu wins a narrow victory in the Israeli general election (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Netanyahu Rushes to Repair Damage With Obama
Over the past several years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has on several occasions confronted or even undercut President Obama, taking his message directly to the Israel-friendly United States Congress, challenging Mr. Obama’s appeal to the Arab world, and seeming this fall to support his opponent, Mitt Romney. ...... Netanyahu still maintains strong ties to members of Congress, particularly Republicans ..... Jerusalem is worried that Washington will agree to direct talks with Tehran, and go easier on the Palestinian Authority’s quest this month for upgraded status in the United Nations. ....... “Given what Netanyahu had done these recent months, the question is: Does our prime minister still have a friend in the White House?” Mr. Olmert asked at a meeting with Jewish leaders in New York. “I am not certain of this, and this might be very significant to us at critical points.” ...... “My sense is that he both dislikes and distrusts Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, and that he is more likely to use his new momentum to settling scores than to settling issues.” ..... Obama was loath to take on a new Middle East military operation ..... “a decade of war is ending.” .... the bid for nonmember state status in the General Assembly
Can Republicans Adapt?
A coalition of aging white men is a recipe for failure in a nation that increasingly looks like a rainbow. ...... America needs a plausible center-right opposition party to hold Obama’s feet to the fire, not just a collection of Tea Party cranks. ..... the Democratic Party embraced the pragmatic center-left Bill Clinton in 1992 after three consecutive losses in presidential elections. ..... primary voters are their party’s worst enemy. ...... the profusion of right-wing radio and television programs. Democrats complain furiously that Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck or Sean Hannity smear the left, but I wonder if the bigger loser isn’t the Republican Party itself. Those shows whip up a frenzy in their audience, torpedoing Republican moderates ......... an ideological black hole that no light can enter. ..... After this election, a record 20 senators will be women, almost all of them Democrats. Opposition to same-sex marriage used to be a way for Republicans to trumpet their morality; now it’s seen as highlighting their bigotry. ...... An astonishing 45 percent of Obama voters were members of minority groups .... Many others were women or young people. ...... if the Republican Party remains a purist cohort built around grumpy old white men, it is committing suicide. That’s bad not just for conservatives, but for our entire country.

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Thursday, September 09, 2010

Hillary's Peace Efforts In The Mideast

Time: Hillary Clinton's Risky Return To Mideast Peace Talks: last March, when she called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scold him for a perceived slight to Vice President Joe Biden. ..... see her take center stage in this week's meetings relaunching peace talks between Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas...... she also has the ability to talk to these leaders as a significant political figure in her own right and also as a political figure who can appreciate their dilemmas and can help them work through the tough politics on both sides......Netanyahu and Abbas have agreed to meet every two weeks ..... Behind the scenes, Clinton has been preparing for her new role. She ordered a review of all previous U.S. efforts in the peace process, including analyses of what worked and what didn't.... she thinks it's possible
Hillary was a great choice for Secretary Of State. I rooted for her the first chance I got. For someone who almost became president to agree to become Secretary Of State, I appreciated the gesture.

This Mideast permanent mess is one area where she can rely greatly on her husband. Bill Clinton is the last guy who came really, really close to getting it done. If Arafat had settled for a good peace instead of the perfect peace he wanted, it would have been done back in 2000.

The pendulum swung the other way for a decade. Now it is time to get the pendulum swinging our way one more time. It is time to engage, it is time to talk peace.

I don't think there is any debate that a two state solution is where it is at. Even the roadmap is quite obvious. It is the drama of all the intermediate steps that is the challenge.

Could Hillary dance the dance? If she could she will get something Bill Clinton never got, although I can't imagine he did not want to, a Nobel. That guy also wanted Warren Buffett's money.

I am confident she can get it done. For one, she is not starting in the final year of a two term president.
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