WEDNESDAY’S “NEWS IN REVIEW” ROUND-UP

On Topic Links

Top 20 UN Watch Moments in 2016: UNWatch, Jan. 1, 2017

Kerry’s One-Sided, Self-Serving Sermon For Mideast Peace: Benny Avni, New York Post, Dec. 28, 2016

Man of the Year: Chief Trump Strategist Stephen K. Bannon: David Horowitz, Truth Revolt, Dec. 30, 2016

Credibility Counts: James Kirchick, Weekly Standard, Dec. 19, 2016

“We cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect. They used to have a great friend in the U.S., but not anymore. The beginning of the end was the horrible Iran deal, and now this (UNSC vote)! Stay strong Israel, January 20th is fast approaching!” — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, on Twitter. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is hoping for better relations with Trump, who will take office Jan. 20. (Arutz Sheva, Dec. 28, 2016)

“It is something that we should protect, and (Trump) wanted to make it very clear that anything that undermined Israel, which is a great friend of the United States, he was going to make sure his voice was heard.” — Sean Spicer, whom Trump named as White House press secretary. Trump and President Obama have been unfailingly polite toward each other since the election. But with Trump staking out starkly different positions from Obama on Israel and other sensitive issues, and the President acting aggressively to protect his legacy, the two have become leaders of what amounts to dueling administrations. The split widened when the Obama administration abstained from a UN Security Council vote that condemned Israel for Jewish settlements in the West Bank, and allowed the resolution to pass. A day earlier, Trump had publicly demanded that Obama veto the measure, even intervening with Egypt at the request of Israel to pressure the administration to shelve the effort. (New York Times, Dec. 23, 2016)

“There’s one president at a time…There’s a principle here that the world understands who is speaking for the United States until January 20th, and who is speaking for the United States after January 20th.” —Benjamin J. Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser. This role reversal between the departing and incoming presidents deepened what was already an unsettled moment in U.S. foreign policy: a sense that U.S. policies toward the world’s most troubled places had run out of steam and were about to change radically, but in ways that were wholly unpredictable. (New York Times, Dec. 23, 2016)

“Well, the good news is, Obama is gone in 17 days. But…believe me, nothing that Obama can do, is permanent. Every bit of it can be undone. And I believe that most all of it will be undone.” — Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Gov. Huckabee called the move at the UN an “act of hate toward Israel on the part of the Obama administration,” but emphasized it was “not an act from the American people. Israelis need to know that,” he said, “because it was embarrassing to most Americans, and most Americans were outraged by the actions at the UN…The only people for whom Yerushalayim has ever been a capital have been the Jews. And when I hear people use words like, “occupation” I think, ‘yeah, this has been occupied before – occupied by the Babylonians, the Assyrians, by the Turks, by the Brits… by the Romans,’ but when it relates to the Jews it’s not occupied, it’s owned. This is ownership,” he said, “Not occupation.” (Jewish Press, Jan. 3, 2017)

“If John Kerry has been working to achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians, he just made a convincing case about how miserably he has failed… A secretary of state with more integrity might offer his resignation, given such a failure. Not Kerry. He actually went on to lay out “principles” of a peace deal — one that exists mostly in his own mind and the minds of those who think like him, starting with his boss, President Obama… how pathetic and harmful that after years of failure — not just on the Israel-Palestinian front, but throughout the world — Team Obama is now desperately looking to lock in terms and tie the hands of a Trump team that is vowing a new direction.”  — Editorial. (New York Post, Dec. 28, 2016)

"The Obama administration initiated the most significant betrayal of an American ally in history and its lasting impact cannot be understated…Emboldened, the BDS movement and its anti-Semitic factions will continue – perhaps more successfully — in their crusade to ostracize and economically strangle Israel at the diplomatic and institutional levels…Today, Jews around the world…have a new target painted on their backs as bad actors will assuredly take our Secretary of State's words as justification to do ill…For years to come, Kerry’s sound-bites will be lionized on every Islamic publication, and propagandized on every Hamas television program. And as a result, more innocent blood will be spilled…When it came to Donald Trump, the Left was, all of a sudden, so concerned about anti-Semitism. But we all know those who decry "Nazism" and then condemn the only nation on earth re-established as a haven for Jews escaping persecution are most likely anti-Semites themselves." — Tiffany Gabbay (Truth Revolt, Dec. 29, 2016)

“Regardless of one’s views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it is hard to escape the conclusion that animus toward Israel is the only factor that can motivate United Nations action. On the same day that the anti-settlement resolution passed with 14 votes and a United States abstention, the same Security Council could not muster the necessary nine votes to impose a targeted arms embargo on South Sudan…where tens of thousands have been killed and raped in ethnic conflict bordering on genocide. Consistency would breed credibility.” — Daniel Wolf. (New York Times, Dec. 27, 2016)

“But too little, too late is what has come to be expected of Obama. Ask the people of Syria about that…Russia has vastly increased its influence throughout the Middle East during Obama’s presidency, having correctly concluded that Obama was all talk and no resolve. Maybe we should expect another speech from Kerry blaming Russia for Washington’s slow fade into irrelevance. It would be “sad” (which may be Donald Trump’s favourite word) if it didn’t border so closely on the ridiculous. With just a few weeks left in office, the U.S. president suddenly decides to settle scores? What was stopping him over the past seven years, when he allowed Putin to seize the Crimea, disrupt Ukraine, put NATO on the defensive and turn Syria into a client state?…Obama never seemed to know what to do with U.S. power, other than let it fester unused while stronger wills took advantage of his indecision.” — Kelly McParland (National Post, Jan. 2, 2017)

“Though Mr. Obama is threatening additional measures, his officials have little expectation that Russia will change policy. And as Ms. Merkel noted in November, “Such cyber attacks, or hybrid conflicts as they are known in Russian doctrine, are now part of daily life and we must learn to cope with them.” To be effective, the U.S. would need to mobilize its enormous resources and do three things: greatly boost cyber defences; sharply enhance its cyber retaliatory capacity for better deterrence; and formulate clear foreign-policy markers and signals rather than draw imaginary “red lines” to ensure that Russia realizes that punitive measures from Washington would far outweigh any cyber and information-warfare benefits. Mr. Obama’s feckless foreign policy, which included the Faustian bargain with Russia on Syria’s chemical weapons and his limited cyberwarfare counter, however, seem far short of the three above goals. His actions therefore may complicate rather than resolve, and like much of his foreign policy appear long on rhetoric and short on substance.” — CIJR Fellow Aurel Braun. In recent weeks, the CIA and others reached an assessment that Russian hackers conducted a cyberattack operation with the goal of helping Trump win the election. Russia has denied any involvement in the hacking operation. (Globe & Mail, Dec. 30, 2016)

“As we look ahead to the future, I wanted to take a moment to look back on the remarkable progress that you made possible these past 8 years…It’s been the privilege of my life to serve as your President. I look forward to standing with you as a citizen. Happy New Year everybody.” — President Obama. (Jewish Press, Jan. 4, 2017)

"Don't threaten us with cutting off your aid. It will not work. I am not a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again, with or without your aid." — Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, in 1982. While the Obama Administration continues their pressure on Israel, for at least Joe Biden, it is not the first time that there has been animosity with an Israeli leader.  In June, 1982, Joe Biden was a Senator from Delaware and confronted then Prime Minister Begin during his Senate Foreign Relations committee testimony, threatening to cut off aid to Israel. (Frontpage, Apr. 1, 2015)

Contents

I.S. CLAIMS ISTANBUL ATTACK (Istanbul) — I.S. claimed responsibility for a New Year’s Day mass shooting in a packed Istanbul nightclub that killed 39 people, an attack carried out by a lone gunman who remains at large. It described the Reina nightclub, where many foreigners as well as Turks were killed, as a gathering point for Christians celebrating their “apostate holiday”. The attack, it said, was revenge for Turkish military involvement in Syria. The jihadist group has been blamed for at least half a dozen attacks on civilian targets in Turkey over the past 18 months; but, other than assassinations, this is the first time it has directly claimed any of them. Nationals of Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Morocco, Libya, Israel, India, and Canada were among those killed at the nightclub.  (Globe & Mail, Jan. 2, 2017)

EDMONTON MAN KILLED WHILE FIGHTING I.S. IN SYRIA (Damascus) — An Edmonton man has been killed in an I.S. attack while fighting for the YPG Kurdish forces in Syria. Nazzareno Tassone, 24, was killed Dec. 21 near Raqqa. Nazzareno Tassone left Edmonton for Turkey last June, joining the Kurdish People's Protection Unit (YPG) in the battle against I.S. Nazzareno was reportedly killed along with British volunteer Ryan Lock and several Kurdish YPG fighters when their camp was attacked by I.S. fighters. Nazzareno is the second Canadian to be killed while aiding the Kurds. John Gallagher, 32, was killed in Syria just over a year ago. (CBC, Jan. 3, 2017)

IDF SOLDIER WHO KILLED WOUNDED STABBER CONVICTED OF MANSLAUGHTER (Jerusalem) — A military tribunal convicted of manslaughter an IDF soldier who shot and killed an incapacitated Palestinian assailant, concluding a high-profile trial that deeply divided the country. His attorneys accused the court of bias and vowed to appeal. The verdict on Sgt. Elor Azaria, 19, was delivered by a panel of three judges at the army’s Kirya headquarters. Azaria’s trial saw politicians and current and former army generals alternately supporting or condemning the soldier’s actions. The judges concluded that Azaria’s testimony was “not credible,” that he had opened fire out of a desire for revenge, and that the shooting was “not justified.” Sentencing is to follow at a later date. (Times of Israel, Jan. 4, 2017)

POLICE QUESTION NETANYAHU ON RECEIVING GIFTS (Jerusalem) — Israeli police said they questioned Prime Minister Netanyahu on suspicion of receiving unlawful gifts. Netanyahu and his family have previously been subjects of allegations of corruption, which they have repeatedly denied. They have never been charged by police. Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress and chairman of Clinique Laboratories LLC, was among those reported by Haaretz and other media to have given Netanyahu gifts. Haaretz reported that Lauder told police he had bought suits for Netanyahu and provided hospitality to the Prime Minister’s son, Yair, during his time overseas. (Wall Street Journal, Jan. 3, 2017)

MAY SLAMS KERRY’S APPROACH TO ‘SETTLEMENTS’ (London) — British PM Theresa May has distanced the UK from John Kerry’s condemnation of Israel. A spokesman stated, “We do not believe that the way to negotiate peace is by focusing on only one issue, in this case the construction of settlements…” May’s spokesman also distinguished the UK’s approach to Israel’s political process, saying “we do not believe that it is appropriate to attack the composition of the democratically elected government of an ally.” Kerry had decried Netanyahu for choosing coalition partners who did not agree with Obama’s approach to Israel’s borders. Kerry’s statement came on the heels of a stunning report that the Obama administration actually paid $350,000 in taxpayer grants to OneVoice, a left-wing Israeli organization that used the money to build a campaign to oust Netanyahu from power in the 2015 elections. (United With Israel, Dec. 30, 2016)

GERMANY ARRESTS SYRIAN MIGRANT OVER POLICE CAR BOMB PLOT (Berlin) — German police in the state of Saarland arrested a Syrian migrant who solicited funds from I.S. in order to carry out a high-casualty terrorist attack. The prosecutor's office in Saarbrücken said the man asked an I.S. contact for money to “purchase vehicles which he could load with explosives and which he wanted to drive into crowds … and blow up in order to kill unknown numbers of people who do not follow the Muslim faith." The Syrian suspect entered Germany in December 2014. Messages discovered on his mobile phone showed the Syrian man asked for 180,000 euros to buy eight vehicles, disguise them as police patrol cars and pack them with 400 to 500 kilograms of explosives. (Deutsche Welle, Jan. 2, 2017)

TALIBAN BEHEAD WOMAN FOR SHOPPING WITHOUT HER HUSBAND, OFFICIALS SAY (Kabul) — A young woman has reportedly been beheaded by a group of Taliban militants after visiting a market in northern Afghanistan. The horrific act allegedly took place in the remote village of Larri in Sar-e pul province by a group of armed men believed to be linked to the Islamist group. The 30-year-old woman was apparently targeted because she “went to the city alone without her husband.” No arrests have been made. The Sar-e pul province has been under Taliban control ever since it was captured in 1998. After coming into power, the Taliban declared that women were forbidden to go to work and were not to leave their homes unless accompanied by a male family member. (Fox News, Dec. 28, 2016)

U.N.’S 2017 MEMBERSHIP AT HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL (Geneva) — Meet the 2017 membership of the U.N. Human Rights Council, elected by the United Nations with the mandate to “uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights“: Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, China, Cuba, Iraq, Qatar, Burundi, Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates. (UNWatch, Jan. 2, 2017)

UN VOTE TOPS LIST OF ANTISEMITIC, ANTI-ISRAEL CASES IN 2016 (Los Angeles) — The US abstention from a recent vote against Israeli settlements at the UN Security Council topped the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s annual list of the 10 worst outbreaks of Jew-hatred and anti-Israel incidents. The Center charged that the vote erased Jewish history. UK Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn along with former British politician Baroness Jenny Tonge ranked second. According to the ranking, “antisemitism in the [Labour] party has greatly escalated.”  Read the full list here: (Jerusalem Post, Dec. 27, 2016)

JEWS 2ND LARGEST RELIGIOUS GROUP IN 115TH CONGRESS (Washington) — Out of the 535 members of the incoming US Congress, 30 are Jews, following the 485 members of both houses who define themselves as Christian, according to the Pew Research Center. Jews make up 2% of the US adult population but account for 6% of Congress. Jews also account for 50% of the Supreme Court. Among the 293 Republicans elected to serve in the 115th Congress, 291 identify as Christians; there are two Jewish Republicans – Lee Zeldin of New York and David Kustoff of Tennessee, both serving in the House. The 242 Democrats in Congress include 28 Jews. (Jewish Press, Jan. 4, 2017)

ANTI-TRUMP JEWS PETITION AGAINST WIESENTHAL MUSEUM FOUNDER ATTENDING INAUGURATION (Jerusalem) — Rabbi Marvin Hier, the founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Museum of Tolerance, is one of six religious leaders who were invited take part in Trump’s inauguration January 20. Mya Stark, a businesswoman from Los Angeles, is calling on Jews to sign her petition which she titled: “Rabbi Marvin Hier: do not offer a ‘prayer’ at Trump Inauguration.” Hier is working on a $100 million Museum of Tolerance and Human Dignity to be built in Jerusalem. “Apparently, Hier thinks it is acceptable to legitimize and collaborate with a political figure who the KKK is literally marching in the streets to celebrate,” Stark wrote. (Jewish Press, Jan. 4, 2017)

ISRAEL’S ‘AIR FORCE ONE,’ SET TO ENTER SERVICE LATER THIS YEAR (Jerusalem) — A new $70 million plane that will be used by Israeli Prime Ministers and Presidents — making it the Jewish state’s equivalent to America’s “Air Force One” — has been installed with an advanced missile defense system. Details of the make and model of the plane are still under censorship. According to Channel 2, the “Flight Guard” missile defense system — an Elbit product — will protect the plane from shoulder-fired missiles during takeoffs and landings. Israel’s leaders currently charter planes from one of the country’s airlines, or fly commercial aircraft when they travel abroad. (Algemeiner, Jan. 2, 2017)

ELBIT MEETS MILESTONE IN MILITARY FLIGHT TRAINING PROGRAM (Jerusalem) — Elbit Systems announced that its joint venture with KBR – Affinity Flying Training Services – has reached a significant project milestone with the delivery of its first training aircraft. The two Grob G120TP – a two-seat turboprop training and aerobatic low-wing aircraft with a composite airframe, built by Grob Aircraft – that will deliver elementary flying training, were the first of the fleet of aircraft to fly into the Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire, England, last week. Affinity Flying Training Services will purchase a total of 38 aircraft to support its three levels of flying training. (Jewish Press, Jan. 3, 2017)

IDF LOOKS TO OPEN MORE ROLES TO WOMEN (Jerusalem) — The IDF is planning to test women’s ability serve in infantry and special-forces units, a move that could open new combat positions for female soldiers. The IDF, which was one of the world’s first militaries to open combat positions to women some 20 years ago, has since made 85 percent of roles available to both sexes. Female soldiers can serve in mixed-gender battalions, as well as in combat positions in the air force, artillery, and intelligence. However, due to the physical requirements, women have made only limited headway in infantry and special-forces units. Now, the IDF is looking to test-run women into these positions and is planning a fourth mixed-gender battalion. Some 2,000 women serve in IDF combat roles. (The Tower, Dec. 30, 2016)

HANUKKAH CANDLE LIGHTING IN BAHRAIN (Bahrain) — The kingdom of Bahrain hosted a candle-lighting ceremony on the first night of Hanukkah that featured local men wearing kaffiyehs and Orthodox Jews dancing together. The Muslim monarchy of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa held the ceremony with local Jews and other Bahrainis. Last year was the first time that the king of Bahrain marked Hanukkah. The Hamas terror group issued a statement railing against the ceremony and calling the dancing of Jews and Muslims together a “disgraceful spectacle.” (JTA, Dec. 26, 2016)

ISRAEL’S POPULATION GROWS BY 2% IN 2016 (Jerusalem) — The Central Bureau of Statistics reports the population of Israel grew by two percent in 2016, a total of 167,000 people. The population of the Jewish State now stands at 8.63 million. A demographic breakdown reveals the state is still Jewish due to its majority Jewish population of 6.45 million (74.8 percent). The next highest population in the country is Arab, at 1.796 million (20.8 percent), and the remaining 384,000 people are “others.” The numbers include 36,000 new immigrants to the country, of whom 24,000 are Jews, and 181,000 babies who were born over the course of the year. (Jewish Press, Jan. 2, 2017)

Contents

On Topic Links

Top 20 UN Watch Moments in 2016: UNWatch, Jan. 1, 2017—1. U.S. Congress Adopts Law Targeting U.N. Anti-Israel Bias: When the U.S. Congress wanted to evaluate the UN Human Right Council’s dismal record, the first group they called was UN Watch. Executive Director Hillel Neuer testified at the hearing, along with senior officials of the State Department. Subsequently, the Congress adopted new legislation requiring the administration to report on steps taken to remove the UNHRC’s permanent agenda item targeting Israel.

Kerry’s One-Sided, Self-Serving Sermon For Mideast Peace: Benny Avni, New York Post, Dec. 28, 2016 —Will they ever be out of our hair? At the State Department on Wednesday, John Kerry tried to emulate the late Fidel Castro with a tedious, whiny, self-absorbed and self-serving 72-minute marathon of musings about Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Man of the Year: Chief Trump Strategist Stephen K. Bannon: David Horowitz, Truth Revolt, Dec. 30, 2016—TIME magazine named Donald Trump “Person of the Year” for 2016, and we could have done the same. But this would have been to over-simplify a victory that millions of Americans believe has brought this nation back from the brink of destruction, and has done so against what seemed impossible odds.

Credibility Counts: James Kirchick, Weekly Standard, Dec. 19, 2016 —On January 12, 1950, Secretary of State Dean Acheson delivered a speech in Washington, the reverberations of which were felt on the other side of the world. Describing U.S. foreign policy objectives in Asia, a region where both China and the Soviet Union were seeking to spread Marxist-Leninist revolution, Acheson declared that America had established, by force of arms, a "defensive perimeter" that ran "along the Aleutians to Japan and then goes to the Ryukyus."