Zionism’s Lost Shine

Moderators: Elvis, DrVolin, Jeff

Re: Zionism’s Lost Shine

Postby seemslikeadream » Fri Jan 27, 2017 1:47 pm

Police question Netanyahu for third time in criminal case

By Maayan Lubell

(Reuters) - Israeli police questioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday for the third time this month as part of a criminal investigation into abuse of office, Israeli media reported.

A police source confirmed the questioning took place but would not provide further details. A Reuters cameraman at Netanyahu's official residence, where the questioning took place, said investigators were on the scene for three hours.

Police confirm they are questioning Netanyahu as a suspect in two criminal cases, one involving gifts given to him and his family by businessmen and the other related to conversations he held with an Israeli publisher. He has denied wrongdoing.

If charges are brought, political upheaval in Israel would be likely, with pressure on Netanyahu, 67, to step down after 11 years in office, spread over four terms.

The first case -- referred to by police as Case 1,000 -- involves Netanyahu and family members receiving gifts on a regular basis from two businessmen. Israeli media have reported that the gifts include cigars and champagne.

The second involves a deal Netanyahu allegedly discussed with the owner of one of Israel's largest newspapers, Yedioth Ahronoth, for better coverage in return for curbs on competition from a free paper owned by U.S. casino mogul Sheldon Adelson.

Adelson is a supporter of the prime minister and his newspaper is staunchly pro-Netanyahu.

Israel Radio said Friday's questioning mainly focused on the second case.

Addressing parliament on Wednesday, Netanyahu said there was nothing wrong with receiving gifts from close friends and that it was common for politicians to hold conversations with newspaper publishers. He accused opponents of trying to overthrow him.

"The goal is to pressure the attorney-general to press charges at any cost. There is no limit to the hounding, the persecution, the lies," Netanyahu said.

In a research note published this week, Moody's rating agency said the investigations into Netanyahu "are sufficiently serious that they could end his tenure as prime minister".

"Should Netanyahu be forced to resign, it is likely that new elections would need to be held, since there is no clear successor in his Likud party."

Under Israeli law, the prime minister is not obliged to resign even after he is charged, but he could be pressured into stepping down. Opponents are calling for him to do so.

Netanyahu is not the first Israeli leader to have faced criminal investigation: former prime minister Ehud Olmert was convicted of breach of trust and bribery in 2014 and Ariel Sharon was questioned while in office over allegations of bribery and campaign financing illegalities.

Israel Radio and Channel Ten television reported this week that police were investigating two more cases involving Netanyahu. Police did not confirm or deny the reports.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/police-netan ... 38020.html


Analysis Poised for Netanyahu's Fall, Politicians Scramble for New Alliances
Meanwhile, what happens when the prime minister's wife gets a gift certificate to a jewelry store.

Yossi Verter Jan 27, 2017 3:24 PM


When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returns from his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, probably in mid-February, he will encounter a new political situation. Maybe even a new era. An American president who, so far at least, seems to empathize with the settlement movement, or not be hostile to it, is already making Netanyahu’s political supporters quiver with great expectations. That constituency is looking to the premier in the hope – and with the demand – that he will do something dramatic. He no longer has any excuses nor a scapegoat (in the form of President Obama) to blame for his relatively restrained policy regarding growth in the territories.
The right wing is Netanyahu’s only electorate. Its members aren’t disturbed by the investigations he’s undergoing. For them, ideology outranks trivial things like personal integrity. The assessment in the Israeli right wing that the Likud-Habayit Hayehudi government is nearing its end, and the fact that there’s no guarantee that the next government will pursue a similar ideological line, is ratcheting up the internal tension in those circles.
The right wing is now calling on Netanyahu – not yet as an ultimatum – to leave behind some sort of legacy: annexing Ma’aleh Adumim, according Israeli sovereignty to settlements in Area C of the West Bank, passing the law to legalize illegal settler outposts (including Amona, retroactively), or approving the Jerusalem Law proposal, which would apply sovereignty to “greater Jerusalem” – the Eztion Bloc, Ma’aleh Adumim, Betar Ilit and Givat Ze’ev, all of which are across the Green Line. The revived bill, voted down by previous governments, is now sponsored by MK Yoav Kish (Likud). And there are more bills in the pipeline, awaiting the moment that the prime minister’s plane takes off from Andrews Field outside Washington on the way home.

The more intense the interrogations and the leaks become, and as the moment approaches when the Israel Police announce whether there is sufficient evidence to indict Netanyahu – the greater the pressure on him from the right will grow. Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett is relentless in provoking, challenging and taunting the prime minister over construction in the territories and annexation of settlements. At the same time, knowing his constituency, Bennett is defending him body and soul on the “other” issue: “You don’t topple a right-wing government over cigars,” he’s telling his electorate.
Likud MKs and ministers said this week in not-for-attribution conversations that they don’t discern in Netanyahu any sort of readiness for the “moves” expected of him by the right wing. Much depends, of course, on his meeting with Trump. But it seems unlikely that he’ll emerge from it with the president’s agreement to the unilateral annexation of Ma’aleh Adumim.

Palestinian schoolgirls walk with a donkey as the West Bank Jewish settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim, near Jerusalem, is seen in the background November 13, 2013.Reuters
According to one Likud figure, “Netanyahu corresponds only with the right-wing base. It’s insane that he spent three weeks working day and night on the plan for Amona, which obviously has to be evacuated. On the other hand, he’s not courageous enough to apply Israeli sovereignty to Area C. Why’s that? Because the ruins of Amona are a deadly photo-op for him, and in the application of sovereignty there is no photo-op.”

Small consolation
Following Netanyahu’s summation for the defense in the Knesset on Wednesday, many coalition members approached him to offer encouragement. Indeed, it was a depressing spectacle. The prime minister’s distress was plain to see. His usual aura of arrogance was coated with concern and apprehension. At times he looked like a hunted animal.
Netanyahu had taken to the podium to reply to parliamentary questions about the ministries he holds. But most of the questions remained unaddressed, thanks to the generosity of Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein (Likud). In fact, it wasn’t entirely clear whether he was acting as coalition whip or as Netanyahu’s counsel, instructing him not to answer questions liable to incriminate him.
skip - EMail Alerts
Get the inside story from Israel's senior political columnist, Yossi Verter, directly in your inbox. Sign up below
At the end of the question period, the speaker gave Netanyahu 10 minutes to say what he pleased. Reading from notes, the suspect offered his version of the list of offenses for which he’s being investigated and will apparently continue to be investigated. Well, if that’s all he has up his sleeve, his situation isn’t good, to put it mildly. Some of the things he said amounted to insults to the basic intelligence of most of those in the chamber.
For example, did his meetings with Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon Mozes, transcripts of which have become part of the public domain, constitute a routine sort of exchange between a politician and a newspaper publisher or editor, as Netanyahu claimed? After all, the two went into minute details about reducing the circulation and influence of the premier’s mouthpiece, the free daily Israel Hayom, in return for more favorable coverage by the rival paper, Yedioth, and its website. Maybe Likud MK David Amsalem was persuaded, though even that’s not for sure. But how can the ongoing supply, on demand, of cigars and champagne for years, to the tune of 660,000 shekels (approximately $165,000) be termed “presents that it’s permissible to receive from friends”? That’s enough money to buy a two-room apartment in the hinterlands.
Why are they only investigating me, the prime minister complained/feigned, in a transparent message aimed at the police and at Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit, who ordered the investigations. But he aimed his main message at his (former?) friend and supplier of booze and cigars, billionaire Arnon Milchan, who gave information to the police that at this point seems to be Netanyahu’s biggest legal problem. “We’re friends!” he yelled from the podium. “For 20 years we’ve been close friends! Our wives are close friends! Our families are close!” It sounded like he was begging.
“The cigars and champagne have apparently affected you,” quipped leader of the opposition MK Isaac Herzog, who spoke after Netanyahu and called on him to resign. Herzog was incorrect: Maybe it was the lack of those items, so essential for the psyche, that made Netanyahu put on a show that was far below his usual level.
About a month and a half ago, at the height of the discussions on Amona, I reported that Netanyahu had stopped smoking the cigars he’s so fond of. Many of his interlocutors, who were forced to put up with the stench in their meetings, breathed a sigh of relief. They hoped it wasn’t a passing phenomenon, and in fact they haven’t encountered the cigars since. Some of them thought Netanyahu was on a health kick. None imagined that the reason was far more prosaic: the stock ran out. The supplier, who may already have been undergoing questioning by the police as part of their eight-month “examination,” stopped sending the fancy boxes to Balfour Street in Jerusalem. Netanyahu, who rarely pays for anything out of his own pocket, almost as a guiding principle in life, simply dropped that particular guilty pleasure. Now, in the wake of Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan's easing of restrictions on cannabis smoking, maybe Netanyahu will switch to smoking joints.
Milchan may end up being the cause of an indictment, but there’s always a silver lining: At least the prime minister’s health was enhanced.

Sara Netanyahu and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ramat Hanadiv, April 25, 2016.Amos Ben Gershom, GPO
Halves and half-nots
Apropos “presents from friends,” on Sara Netanyahu’s birthday a few years ago, four couples from among the Netanyahus’ friends got together. Knowing the extravagant tastes of the prime minister’s wife, each wrote a check for 1,000 shekels ($250). They aren’t billionaires or even millionaires, like the couples’ neighbors in Caesarea. They are ordinary people, self-employed, well-off, but not floating in money.
One went to a well-known Jerusalem jewelry store and purchased a gift certificate for 4,000 shekels from the money he’d gotten; it was presented to the birthday girl at a party in the Prime Minister’s Residence. A few days later, the person who’d purchased the gift certificate got a call from the store. He was informed that the prime minister’s wife had been there and had bought an item of jewelry. Everyone was delighted.
The only thing was that the price of the chosen item did not match that on the gift certificate. The disparity was around 4,000 shekels, and the person who bought the jewelry didn’t pay it. The caller from the store requested her interlocutor to come and settle the debt ASAP. After picking himself off the floor, he called his three friends and told them about the wild inflation that had afflicted the cost of their present.
The end is not surprising. With no choice and with less pleasure, the couples each had to add another 1,000 shekels. It’s not criminal or even semi-criminal; it’s only sad and rather sickening.
That story is in keeping with what veteran Israeli journalist Amnon Abramovich reported on Channel 2 News last Friday – that in 2004, Sara Netanyahu asked Arnon Milchan to buy her a jewelry set from H.Stern Jewelers at the Tel Aviv Hilton, where he was staying at the time. Milchan’s wife Amanda and his business manager went to the store and checked out the necklace and bracelet that Ms. Netanyahu wanted. The necklace cost $6,265. Ms. Milchan decided that that was expensive enough; she bought it and left the bracelet ($2,305) on the shelf.
Amanda may have said enough was enough, but not Sara. According to Channel 2, Finance Minister Netanyahu called his pal Milchan, apologized and told him in her name that she’d received only “half a present.” (Half a present is horrible, like a half-lie, which is worse than a whole lie.) It goes without saying that the bracelet was purchased, too, and sent to the Netanyahus’ home in Jerusalem, because you don’t say no to Sara. She has this magical effect on people around her, whether they’re friends or employees.
Asked for a comment about the story of the birthday present, the following response was received from the bureau of of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “We have no intention of cooperating with your campaign of lying and tendentious vilifications against the prime minister and his family – not even when what you allege never happened.”
Anger Down Under
Australia is a good friend of Israel’s. A few days after the United Nations Security Council, in the absence of an American veto, passed Resolution 2334 decrying construction in the settlements, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull condemned the resolution unequivocally, terming it “one-sided” and “deeply unsettling.” His country, he promised, would never support it or anything like it.


A good friend, but a very distant one, geographically. As a result, Australia often falls victim to cancellations of visits by Israeli leaders, to the chagrin of the Australians, who for some reason crave attention from a country they seem to hold dear.
In August 2014, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a planned visit to the continent Down Under because of Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip. The Aussies were disappointed, but understood. They waited for some sort of compensation, which didn’t come. Last March, President Reuven Rivlin was scheduled to pay a state visit to the country, whose leaders and whose Jewish community worked feverishly to organize him a dream trip.
Three weeks before the scheduled date, Rivlin canceled and instead paid a surprise visit to Moscow to meet with President Vladimir Putin. The Australians were deeply offended. It’s true that Russian military intervention in the region made Rivlin’s visit urgent, but the cancellation at such short notice was particularly insulting. The Australians started to think that the Israeli leadership was looking for excuses to opt out.
The compensation for that is meant to happen in three weeks. On Saturday evening, Feb. 18, Netanyahu is due to embark on a 10-day visit to Singapore and Australia. The plans are complete, expectations are running high, but again there’s a gnawing doubt – and again Jerusalem is wondering about the visit’s feasibility. Clearly, during such a high-pressure period of investigations, Netanyahu will not be eager to be out of the country for such a long period. Two weeks ago, he canceled a four-day trip to the economic forum in Davos, an annual event he likes attending, citing scheduling conflicts, although the real reason was obvious to everyone.
As a preliminary step in anticipation of the possible cancellation of the upcoming trip to Australia, the Foreign Ministry sent a travel alert to Rivlin’s office: The president’s aides were informed that he might be asked to go instead of the prime minister. Rivlin is due to visit Vietnam at the beginning of March – maybe the visits could be combined.
It would be an understatement to say that the Australians, who got wind of these maneuverings, are boiling with anger. If the prime minister wishes to shorten his visit, that’s possible, an Australian diplomatic source said, but we will not look kindly on another cancellation. According to the same source, Australia will not agree to accept President Rivlin as a substitute. Rivlin’s aborted visit a year ago still rankles. They are very different visits, involving people of different rank and different programs. We will not be able to make a last-minute change, the source explained with icy diplomatic politeness.
I asked the Foreign Ministry about the status of Netanyahu’s visit to Australia. “At the moment there is no change,” I was told. What could bring about a change, what could provide Netanyahu with a reasonable, acceptable excuse for canceling (after all, he can’t say he wants to stay here, close to his attorney Jacob Weinroth)?
The answer is Donald Trump. The new president has become the answer to every question, the solution to almost every problem. Netanyahu is meant to visit Washington in the first half of February. If the trip were to be scheduled for the third week of February, about the time of the Australian junket, that would be an excellent excuse for calling off the latter. The prime minister cannot allow himself to be out of the country for almost two weeks, will be the reasonable explanation. The normally good-natured Australians are aware of the delicate line between the two trips. They even suspect that the Prime Minister’s Bureau will deliberately seek to arrange the visit to the White House very close to the planned trip to Australia.
Broadcasting cooperation
Half a year ago, at the height of one of the waves in the prolonged crisis over the new public broadcasting corporation, this column reported on an initiative by a senior cabinet minister to incorporate all the country’s public broadcasting bodies – the Israel Broadcasting Authority, Educational TV and Army Radio – under one umbrella. The IBA is being annulled anyway, the minister, who asked to remain anonymous, noted; Educational TV will be under the aegis of the new corporation as the law stipulates; and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman wants to remove Army Radio from Israel Defense Forces auspices, per the recommendation of Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot.
Uniting these entities in the new entity and with an appropriate change of the law, in a way that would have pleased the prime minister – who at the time was obsessed with doing away with the new corporation – could resolve the crisis smoothly, the senior minister maintained. However, for various reasons his initiative melted away and was forgotten.
This week, in the wake of Lieberman’s decision to transfer Army Radio to the Defense Ministry, the idea cropped up again. The new broadcaster is now scheduled to go on air in early April, with Educational TV as part of it. Army Radio is on the way out of the IDF, possibly ahead of its total extinction, and only one more step is needed to accomplish the mission: to move Army Radio from the auspices of the Defense Ministry to that of the corporation .
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, who supported the unification idea from the outset, said in private conversations this week that he’s still in favor. “All the public broadcasting entities must be under one roof, under one regulator, and operate on the basis of one law,” he said. That roof can be the corporation and nothing else.
As the person who presides over the public coffers, Kahlon’s stance could be of great importance, depending on whether Lieberman flows with him. Which brings us to the relations between the two. Since Lieberman and his Yisrael Beiteinu party entered the coalition last spring, and more intensively in recent months, an unofficial axis has been formed between him and Kahlon. Their cooperation is particularly obvious in security cabinet meetings. They take an identical stand on almost every issue. When Lieberman, in the cabinet, opposed the annexation of Ma’aleh Adumim proposed by Naftali Bennett, and emphasized the need for full coordination with the United States – Kahlon backed him up. The two see Bennett as rash, dangerous and irresponsible. They speak of themselves as the “sane, pragmatic, responsible right wing,” as opposed to the extremist messianic version of Bennett and his associates. The protocols of cabinet meetings held during Operation Protective Edge that were leaked this week to Yedioth Aharonoth certainly will not have improved their impression of him.
Kahlon backed Lieberman when the latter announced that he wishes to appoint his confidants, former ministers Uzi Landau, Yitzhak Aharonovich and Yair Shamir, to key posts in the military industries. Kahlon and Lieberman coordinate their positions ahead of security cabinet meetings, usually against Bennett. A week ago they met for a discreet lunch in which they agreed to continue their cooperation and extend it into other spheres.
The intriguing question is whether this alliance might generate a merger between the two parties in the next elections. The common denominator, for now, is in diplomatic and security areas. In matters of the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, the attitude to Israel’s Arab population, Yisrael Beiteinu is far to the right of Kulanu. But as we know from past experience, in the end it’s all personal. Views can change.

Ehud Barak speaking at the Herzlia Conference, June 16, 2016.Ofer Vaknin
Enemies, a love story
A production of the play “Angina Pectoris,” by Michal Aharoni, has been playing at Tzavta Theater in Tel Aviv for the past year. It’s about a nationalist, racist Israeli defense minister (played by Doval’e Glickman) who in the past supported a law forbidding Jews to receive organs from Arab donors. But then, when he needs a transplant, the only suitable organ available has just been removed from the chest of a Palestinian from Nablus.
On Monday, the play was attended by two former defense ministers – MK Amir Peretz (Labor/Zionist Union) and the worried, tweeting citizen Ehud Barak. They sat in the front row, with the Tzavta board director, Avshalom Vilan, a former Meretz MK, between them. The joint invitation wasn’t a coincidence, nor was the seating arrangement; the same holds for the group photo taken with the actors behind the scenes.
The joint past of the two ex-ministers is well known, rife with quarrels and grudges. In 1999, Peretz left Labor because of his particularly sour relations with the party’s leader, Barak. Eight years later, Barak shunted him out of the Defense Ministry. And so on, unrelentingly.
Now something is happening. Peretz is running for the Labor leadership again. Barak – in his tweets, posts and the speeches he delivers occasionally (on Sunday he’ll appear before Labor’s veteran “Central Stream” group) – has become one of the sharpest voices around of opposition to Netanyahu and his government. His and Peretz’s messages are similar in substance if not in style.
Barak continues to insist that he has no intention of returning to the political arena in the next election. His behavior suggests the opposite. He’s certainly striving to be relevant, influential, active and effective in the forefront of the effort to oust Netanyahu.
In private conversations, Peretz is saying that if he becomes Labor leader in the primaries that will likely be held in July, he will try to recruit a senior defense figure to the party. The names he’s mentioning are Barak and former Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi. He’s good friends with the latter, having twice appointed him – both times surprisingly: once as director general of the Defense Ministry, once to the post of chief of staff.
People who speak with Peretz are hearing explicit things from him. He is convinced that the passage of time, and the trauma of Netanyahu constitute fertile ground for future cooperation with his former nemesis. I have zero lingering resentments toward Barak, Peretz says. A mutual friend said this week that Barak, too, isn’t rejecting the idea out of hand.
“The two are sort of weirdly flirting, without even meeting,” the friend noted. He explained the cold logic of the connection. Peretz is strong in the peripheral areas, north of Hadera and south of Gedera, and of course among Mizrahim. Barak complements him. He can be of help among the traditional hard core of Labor voters, the Ashkenazim who, when Peretz ran as party leader in 2006, fled to Kadima and the Pensioners Party.
An example of the platonic flirtation was seen early this week, when Peretz participated in a panel discussion of former defense ministers at the Institute for National Security Studies. He related how, as defense minister, he decided to advance the Iron Dome project, against the advice of the army and Chief of Staff Ashkenazi.
“From the moment the decision was made, the chief of staff pitched in and did all he could to help,” Peretz said. “But we have to remember that there was a change of command in the Defense Ministry. Barak succeeded me. If he were just looking for credit, he could easily have canceled the project and chosen a different form of defense. He continued what I started. He behaved with responsibility and not from petty considerations.”
I asked Peretz when we can expect to hear the wedding bells. “Both of those personalities contributed greatly to the defense establishment,” he replied, “and both will constitute serious reinforcement for the Labor Party in the campaign to topple Likud and Netanyahu.”
read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.767756
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
User avatar
seemslikeadream
 
Posts: 32090
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 11:28 pm
Location: into the black
Blog: View Blog (83)

Re: Zionism’s Lost Shine

Postby seemslikeadream » Mon Feb 13, 2017 10:11 am

NFL PLAYERS CANCEL ISRAEL VISIT AFTER MINISTER ANNOUNCES INTENTION TO USE THEM AS ‘INFLUENCERS’
BY JACK MOORE ON 2/13/17 AT 7:03 AM

Violence erupts outside Israeli court as soldier Elor Azaria is convicted

Superbowl winner and Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett has cancelled a planned trip to Israel after a government minister announced its intention to use him and other players as “influencers” to improve the country’s image in the international arena.

Bennett and other NFL players were due to arrive in Israel on Monday and play an exhibition match in Jerusalem with players from the Israeli Football Association. But Israeli Security Minister Gilad Erdan made what the country's media called a diplomatic "fumble."

In a statement released to the Times of Israel ahead of the visit, Erdan said: "The ministry I lead is spearheading an intensive fight against the delegitimization and BDS campaigns against Israel, and part of this struggle includes hosting influencers and opinion-formers of international standing in different fields, including sport.”

BDS, or the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, is a global movement aimed at applying economic pressure on Israel in return for what it says is equal rights for Palestinians. Israel says the movement is anti-Semitic in nature.

Image
Michael Bennett
Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett at press conference at Arizona Grand in advance of Super Bowl XLIX in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. on January 29, 2015. Bennett has cancelled a trip to Israel in opposition to being used as an "influencer" by the Israeli government.
KIRBY LEE-USA TODAY SPORTS/FILE PHOTO

Many Palestinians live under Israeli military occupation, specifically in the West Bank, and under an Israeli blockade in the Gaza Strip. Palestinians living in Israel proper are also subject to greater discrimination and worse socioeconomic conditions in comparison to Jewish Israelis.

Erdan's statement appeared to change Bennett's decision, who tweeted a picture of Martin Luther King Jr. alongside the caption "I'm not going to Israel." He proceeded to post a longer explanation. His reversal came amid his concerns that attending the trip would further legitimize Israeli policies towards the Palestinians.


He wrote on Twitter : "I was not aware that my itinerary was being constructed by the Israeli government for the purposes of making me, in the words of a government official, an ‘influencer and opinion-former’ who would then be ‘an ambassador of goodwill."

“I will not be used in such a manner. When I do go to Israel – and I do plan to go – it will be to see not only Israel but also the West Bank and Gaza so I can see how the Palestinians, who have called this land home for thousands of years, live their lives.

“I want to be a voice for the voiceless, and I cannot do that by going on this kind of trip to Israel.”

Read more: BDS Pressure Sees Spanish City Lose Tel Aviv Flights

Bennett’s brother, Martellus, is also reportedly removing himself from the trip, although he is yet to publicly comment on social media.

Activists have urged NFL players attending the trip, sponsored by Israel’s Ministry for Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy, in cooperation with the Tourism Ministry, to change their minds.

In a letter published in The Nation, they called on players to “consider the political ramifications of a propaganda trip organized by the Israeli government,” calling the visit a venture that “aims to prevent players from seeing the experience of Palestinians living under military occupation.”

Denver Broncos running back Justin Forsett will also not attend the trip because it coincides with the expected birth of his child.

The other players slated to participate in the visit are Seattle Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril, Arizona Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell, San Francisco 49ers running back Carlos Hyde, Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Mychal Kendricks, New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan, Former linebacker Kirk Morrison, Tennessee Titans wide receiver Delanie Walker and Oakland Raiders defensive tackle Dan Williams
http://www.newsweek.com/nfl-players-can ... hem-556000
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
User avatar
seemslikeadream
 
Posts: 32090
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 11:28 pm
Location: into the black
Blog: View Blog (83)

Re: Zionism’s Lost Shine

Postby seemslikeadream » Wed Feb 15, 2017 12:56 pm


Netanyahu meeting intended to show 'no daylight' with Trump
Gregory Korte and David Jackson , USA TODAY Published 11:15 a.m. ET Feb. 15, 2017 | Updated 19 minutes ago
AP ISRAEL TRUMP I FILE ISR

WASHINGTON — President Trump will host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House Wednesday for a series of meetings intended to "show there is no daylight" between the two leaders on a range of issues, White House aides say.

And that includes the so-called "two-state solution" that has been a hallmark of U.S. policy in the Middle East — and a source of friction between the Netanyahu government and Trump's predecessor, President Barack Obama.

The two-state solution calls for a negotiated settlement leading to a Palestinian nation alongside Israel, and it was the U.S. policy under both the Bush and Obama administrations. But ahead of Netanyahu's visit with Trump — which will include business meetings, a working lunch and a joint press conference — the Trump administration appeared to back away from that policy.

The two sides have to agree on a two-state solution, and the United States can't impose it on them, said a senior White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic negotiations.

But despite the public showing of solidarity, the Trump White House has been slow to distance itself from the policies of his predecessors in a number of areas, including:

► The location of the U.S. embassy. A 1995 law requires the president to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, but every president since has invoked a national security waiver to block the move. Trump has signaled that he wants to end that policy, but has moved cautiously in his first weeks.

► The Iran nuclear deal. During the campaign, Trump threatened to "rip up" the agreement negotiated by the Obama administration and five other global powers with Iran to scale down its nuclear program. But even as the Trump administration has leveled new sanctions for Iran's missile tests, Trump has not made any moves to break the Obama-era agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

► The Islamic State. Trump has made defeating the terrorist group in Syria and Iraq the overarching goal of his foreign policy — to the extent that he's been willing to rethink the role of old rivalries and alliances. As the closest U.S. ally in the region, Trump will seek to coordinate anti-terrorism strategy with Israel, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Tuesday. "They will discuss ways to advance and strengthen the special relationship between our two countries and stability in the Middle East," he said.

► Israeli settlements. In an unexpected change in tone this month, the White House responded to continued Israeli settlements in the West Bank with a statement saying those settlements "may not be helpful" in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A Middle East peace agreement has eluded U.S. presidents for generations, but Trump — who lacks diplomatic experience but built a real estate empire — has said he thinks he can broker "the ultimate deal."

"As the president has made clear, his administration will work to achieve comprehensive agreement that would end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict so that Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and security," Spicer said.

Netanyahu visits the Trump White House at a time of turmoil. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn resigned Monday after Trump and others believed that he misled them about a phone conversation he had with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

Flynn had been a key player in the Trump administration's early overtures to Netanyahu's government. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported this month that Flynn's Israeli counterpart and the the chief of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, made a secret visits to Washington during the transition to meet with Flynn.

But the Flynn resignation re-opened questions about the relationship between Trump and aides and the Russians, the subject of investigation by the FBI and congressional committees.

Trump and Netanyau are scheduled to hold a news conference before their meetings and a working lunch.

Netanyahu's visit makes him the fourth foreign leader to pay a call on Trump's White House, following U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in addition to dozens of phone calls Trump has made to world leaders in his first month.

Trump has not spoken to officials with the Palestinian Authority.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/poli ... /97937580/
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
User avatar
seemslikeadream
 
Posts: 32090
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 11:28 pm
Location: into the black
Blog: View Blog (83)

Re: Zionism’s Lost Shine

Postby seemslikeadream » Thu Feb 16, 2017 9:37 am

trumpty dumbty supports the ONE STATE SOLUTION

FUCKING IDIOT....FUCKING IDIOT
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
User avatar
seemslikeadream
 
Posts: 32090
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 11:28 pm
Location: into the black
Blog: View Blog (83)

Re: Zionism’s Lost Shine

Postby seemslikeadream » Thu Feb 16, 2017 12:41 pm

FEBRUARY 16, 2017
Farewell to Doublespeak: Israel’s Terrifying Vision for the Future
by RAMZY BAROUD

Image
Empirical historical evidence combined with little common-sense are enough to tell us the type of future options that Israel has in store for the Palestinian people: perpetual Apartheid or ethnic cleansing, or a mix of both.

The passing of the ‘Regularization Bill‘ on February 6 is all we need to imagine the Israeli-envisaged future. The new law allows the Israeli government to retroactively recognize Jewish outposts built without official permission on privately-owned Palestinian land.

All settlements – officially recognized settlements and unauthorized outposts – are illegal under international law. The verdict has been passed numerous times by the United Nations and, more recently, pronounced with unmistakable clarity in UN Security Council Resolution 2334.

Israel’s response was the announcement of the construction of over 6,000 new housing units to be built throughout the Occupied Palestinian territories, the construction of a brand new settlement (the first in 20 years), and the new law that paves the way for the annexation of large swathes of the Occupied West Bank.

Undoubtedly, the law is the ‘last nail in the coffin of the two-state solution‘, but that is not important. It never mattered to Israel, anyway. The talk of a solution was mere smoke and mirrors as far as Israel was concerned. All the ‘peace talks’ and the entirety of ‘peace process’, even when it was in its zenith, rarely slowed down the Israeli bulldozers, slowed down the construction of more ‘Jewish homes’ or ended the unceasing ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.

Writing in ‘Newsweek’, Diana Buttu described how the process of building settlements is always, always accompanied by the demolition of Palestinian homes. 140 Palestinian structures were demolished since the beginning of 2017, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Territories.

Since Donald Trump was sworn in, Israel has felt liberated from its obligation to doublespeak. For decades, Israeli officials spoke passionately about peace, and did everything in their power to hinder its attainment. Now, they simply do not care. Period.

They have perfected their balancing act simply because they had to, because Washington expected it, demanded it. But Trump had given them a blank check: do as you please; settlements are not obstacles to peace; Israel has been ‘treated very, very unfairly‘ and I will correct that historical injustice, and so on.

Almost immediately after Trump was inaugurated President on January 20, all masks came off.

On January 25, the real Benjamin Netanyahu resurfaced, dropping his act altogether, and declaring in enviable brazenness: “We are building, and we will continue to build” illegal settlements.

What more is there to talk about with Israel at this point? Nothing. The only solution that mattered to Israel is Israel’s own ‘solution’, always driven by blind American support, European uselessness and always imposed on the Palestinians and other Arab countries, by force if needed.

The guardians of the grand charade of the two-state solution, who shrewdly crafted the ‘peace process’ and danced to every Israeli tune are now bewildered. They have been outed by Israel’s dreadful plans that shot their ‘solution’ right between the eyes, leaving Palestinians to choose between subjugation, humiliation or imprisonment.

Jonathan Cook is right. The new law is the first step towards the annexing of the West Bank or, at least, most of it. Once small outposts are legalized, they would need to be fortified, (‘naturally’) expanded and protected. The military occupation, in effect for 50 years, will no longer be temporary and reversible. Civil law will continue to apply to Jews in Occupied Palestinian Territories and military laws on occupied Palestinians.

It is the very definition of Apartheid, in case you are still wondering.

To meet the ‘security needs’ of the settlers, more ‘Jewish-only’ bypass roads will be constructed, more walls erected, more gates to keep Palestinians away from their land, schools and livelihood will be put up, more checkpoints, more suffering, more pain, more anger, and more violence.

That is Israel’s vision. Even Trump is growing frustrated by Israel’s shamelessness and audacity. He called on Israel in an interview with ‘Israel Hayom’ newspaper to “be reasonable with respect to peace.”

“There is so much land left. And every time you take land for settlements, there is less land left,” Trump said. He is backtracking on promises he made with regard to moving the US embassy and the unchecked expansion of the settlements and more, as he is realizing that Netanyahu and his US supporters have led him to a cliff and are now asking him to jump.

But it matters little, anyway. Whether Trump holds on to his extremely pro-Israel position or reverts to a wishy-washy stance similar to that of his predecessor, Barack Obama, reality is unlikely to change – for only Israel is ultimately allowed to influence outcomes.

Israeli lawmakers’ approval of the bill is, indeed, an end of an era. We have reached the point where we can openly declare that the so-called ‘peace process’ was an illusion from the start, for Israel had no intentions of ever conceding the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem to the Palestinians.

The Palestinian leadership is hardly blameless in all of this.

The greatest mistake that the Palestinian leadership has committed (aside from its disgraceful disunity) was entrusting the US, Israel’s main enabler, with managing a ‘peace process’ that has allowed Israel time and resources to finish its colonial projects, while devastating Palestinian rights and political aspirations.

Returning to the same old channels, using the same language, seeking salvation at the altar of the same old ‘two state solution’ will achieve nothing but waste further time and energy.

But Israel’s humiliating options to the Palestinians can also be read in a different way. Indeed, it is Israel’s obstinacy that is now leaving Palestinians (and Israelis) with one option, and only one option: equal citizenship in one single state or a horrific apartheid and more ethnic cleansing.

In the words of former President Jimmy Carter, “Israel will never find peace until it permit(s) the Palestinians to exercise their basic human and political rights.”

That Israeli ‘permission’ is yet to arrive, leaving the international community with the moral responsibility to exact it.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2017/02/16/ ... he-future/
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
User avatar
seemslikeadream
 
Posts: 32090
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 11:28 pm
Location: into the black
Blog: View Blog (83)

Re: Zionism’s Lost Shine

Postby seemslikeadream » Thu Mar 23, 2017 10:19 am

Did AIPAC Help Fund Attack-Ad by Islamophobic Group on J Street?

by Eli Clifton

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is going to have a challenging time at its annual policy conference this weekend persuading attendees and those watching at home that it has healed the partisan rift it opened by investing millions of dollars in opposing the Iran nuclear deal. Following Trump’s election, partisanship in Washington had reached an all-time high, making AIPAC’s role in currying bipartisan support for new Iran sanctions, opposing the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and securing billions in military aid for Israel all the more difficult.

That partisan rift may now run even deeper. During the 2015-16 battle over the Iran nuclear agreement, the organization appears to have contributed financially to the production and/or airing of a factually inaccurate attack-ad on J Street, the liberal pro-Israel group that increasingly threatens AIPAC’s historic hold on Democratic lawmakers and office-holders.

As in the past, AIPAC is touting this year’s conference as a strictly bipartisan affair that demonstrates steadfast support for Israel on both sides of the aisle.

“This is an unprecedented time of political polarization, and we will have a rare bipartisan gathering in Washington,” an official of the lobby told the JTA’s Ron Kampeas about the March 26-28 confab. “One of the impressive aspects of our speaker program is that we will have the entire bipartisan leadership of Congress.”

But looming over the conference is the Trump presidency—which continues to push forward its highly partisan agenda on healthcare, tax reform, and its efforts to impose a ban on immigration from a number of Muslim majority countries. Then there’s AIPAC’s decision to take sides against the last Democratic president on his signature foreign-policy achievement, the Iran deal.

Last week, LobeLog reported that AIPAC’s spin-off, Citizens for Nuclear Free Iran (CFNI), contributed $60,000 to the Center for Security Policy (CSP), a far-right think tank headed up by anti-Muslim advocate and conspiracy theorist Frank Gaffney. A flawed poll, commissioned by CSP and conducted by senior Trump aide Kellyanne Conway, was the primary source cited by the Trump campaign in its championing of a Muslim ban.

Neither CSP nor AIPAC responded to LobeLog’s requests for comment before publication of our report about the contribution, but AIPAC spoke with Haaretz. Haaretz reported:

An AIPAC official told Haaretz that the money was used for ads against the nuclear deal, stressing that it was a relatively small amount out of the organization’s overall $20 million budget.
So, what ads did the AIPAC affiliated group pay for?

CSP ran several commercials opposing the Iran nuclear deal, but one of them stands out in that it directly attacks J Street, a key proponent of the Iran nuclear deal.

The ad leads off with text saying “J Street isn’t telling the IRANtruth” in reference to a J Street commercial that claimed that “the nuclear agreement with Iran contains the toughest inspections program in history with inspectors on the ground and round-the-clock-monitoring at all Iranian nuclear site.”

CSP’s ad points out that Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had said that “we will not allow any inspection of any military site.”

CSP concludes, “The Ayatollah is telling the IRANtruth.”

Watch it:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsrqP2y9xOQ

Actually, J Street was telling the truth. The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, a non-partisan research center with expertise in nuclear non-proliferation, confirmed that:

All of Iran’s nuclear facilities will be under 24/7 surveillance. The deal also provides an unprecedented process for inspecting facilities where the IAEA suspects illicit nuclear activity may be occurring. This means the IAEA can inspect businesses, military facilities, and even the President of Iran’s garage if necessary.
The nonpartisan Arms Control Association directly addressed the criticism about access to military facilities, saying:

Opponents of the deal have criticized the inspections regime for not allowing “anytime, anywhere” access. Iran would not have accepted an agreement with requirements that would allow inspectors unfettered access to its military sites, and more importantly, such access is unnecessary. The IAEA will have timely access to any site of concern, when necessary, under the JCPOA. The Joint Commission will ensure that the agency is able to visit sites within 24 days, even if Iran initially attempts to block this access.
Khamenei, CSP, and the AIPAC’s CFNI may have had their own reasons for pushing the narrative that Iranian military facilities were exempt from inspections, but that simply does not line up with what the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) provided.

CSP’s director of Middle East Peace and Security Policy, Alex VanNess, responded to a request for comment from LobeLog by emphasizing that CFNI is “legally separate” from AIPAC, but would not respond to questions about whether the $60,000 contribution was used to fund specific anti-Iran deal ads.

AIPAC did not respond to questions about its funding of CSP’s anti-Iran deal advertising, so it remains unclear whether it asked Gaffney to target J Street in particular.

If an AIPAC spinoff did, in fact, help fund the attack on J Street—particularly if it effectively commissioned one of the country’s most prominent Islamophobic organizations to do so—it suggests that the powerful lobby feels increasingly threatened by the upstart Jewish group. J Street’s convention this year drew some 3,500 people attendees from around the country, as well as top Democrats as speakers, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton’s vice-presidential running-mate, Sen. Tim Kaine. Also, AIPAC’s position on the JCPOA was not popular within the Jewish community. According to a Los Angeles Jewish Journal poll conducted in July 2015, 53 percent of Jewish Americans wanted Congress to approve the deal while only 35 percent opposed it.
http://lobelog.com/did-aipac-help-fund- ... -j-street/


Israel police arrest suspect in threats on US Jewish targets

By DANIEL ESTRIN
29 minutes ago
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police on Thursday arrested a 19-year-old Israeli Jewish man as the primary suspect in a string of bomb threats targeting Jewish community centers and other institutions in the U.S., marking a potential breakthrough in the case.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld described the suspect as a hacker, but said his motives were still unclear. Israeli media identified him as an American-Israeli dual citizen and said he had been found unfit for compulsory service in the Israeli military.

"He's the guy who was behind the JCC threats," Rosenfeld said, referring to the dozens of anonymous threats phoned in to Jewish community centers in the U.S. over the past two months.

The FBI, which had taken part in the investigation, confirmed the arrest but had no other comment.

The Anti-Defamation League says there have been more than 150 bomb threats against Jewish community centers and day schools in 37 states and two Canadian provinces since Jan. 9. Those threats led to evacuations of the buildings, upset Jewish communities and raised fears of rising anti-Semitism. The threats were accompanied by acts of vandalism on several Jewish cemeteries.

The threats led to criticism of President Donald Trump's administration for not speaking out fast enough. Last month, the White House denounced the threats and rejected "anti-Semitic and hateful threats in the strongest terms."

U.S. authorities have also arrested a former journalist from St. Louis for allegedly threatening Jewish organizations. Juan Thompson has been indicted in New York on one count of cyberstalking.

But Israeli police described the local man as the primary suspect in the wave of threats.

Israeli police said the suspect made dozens of calls claiming to have placed bombs in public places and private companies, causing panic and "significant economic damage," and disrupting public order, including by the hurried evacuations of a number of public venues around the world. The man is suspected of placing threatening phone calls to Australia, New Zealand and also within Israel.

Rosenfeld said the man called Delta Airlines in February 2015 and made a false threat about explosives aboard a flight from JFK airport in New York. The threat allegedly led to an emergency landing.

Rosenfeld said the man, from the south of Israel, used advanced technologies to mask the origin of his calls and communications to synagogues, community buildings and public venues. He said police searched his house Thursday morning and discovered antennas and satellite equipment.

"He didn't use regular phone lines. He used different computer systems so he couldn't be backtracked," Rosenfeld said.

After an intensive investigation in cooperation with FBI representatives who arrived in Israel, as well as other police organizations from various countries, technology was used to track down the suspect, Rosenfeld said
https://apnews.com/a6a67fb761304e3cae74 ... _medium=AP
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
User avatar
seemslikeadream
 
Posts: 32090
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 11:28 pm
Location: into the black
Blog: View Blog (83)

Re: Zionism’s Lost Shine

Postby seemslikeadream » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:22 am

Apparently Netanyahu has just had a massive open-mic incident in Budapest summit. Minutes-long tirade on EU, immigrants, Iran, Putin etc.


Netanyahu Offers Blistering Attack on EU: 'Their Behavior Toward Israel Is Crazy'
Netanyahu tells Eastern European leaders that Israel struck Hezbollah targets in Syria dozens of times in hot-mic remarks caught by reporters

Barak Ravid (Budapest) Jul 19, 2017 1:10 PM


Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest Balazs Mohai/AP
Israel struck Hezbollah targets in Syria dozens of times, Netanyahu reveals in hot-mic remarks
Hungarian PM to Netanyahu: We cooperated with Nazis instead of protecting Jews, won't happen again
Hungary visit puts Netanyahu's attitude toward nationalist governments in Europe to the test
BUDAPEST – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a blistering attack against the European Union during a closed-session meeting Wednesday morning in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, telling the premiers of Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia that the EU's behavior toward Israel is crazy.
Although the meeting had been behind closed doors, Netanyahu's remarks were accidentally transmitted to the headphones distributed among reporters, though his people discovered the transmission and shut it down within a few minutes.
“The European Union is the only association of countries in the world that conditions the relations with Israel, that produces technology and every area, on political conditions. The only ones! Nobody does it,” Netanyahu said.
skip - Snippets from the Netanyahu hot-mic remarks: EU behavior toward Israel is crazy

Snippets from the Netanyahu hot-mic remarks: EU behavior toward Israel is crazy Snippets from the Netanyahu hot-mic remarks: EU behavior toward Israel is crazy


“It’s crazy. It’s actually crazy,” he continued, referring to the EU’s insistence to condition the EU-Association Agreement on certain terms related to the peace process. “It’s not about my interest. I’m talking about Europe’s interest.
“We have a special relationship with China. And they don't care. They don't care about the political issues. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he needs water for his people. Where will I get it? Ramallah? No,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israeli cows produce more milk than any other cows in the world – double the European average.
He went on to ask the Central European leaders to “help us and help Europe in expediting the EU Association Agreement.”
He added: “I think that if I can suggest that what comes out of this meeting is your ability perhaps to communicate to your colleagues in other parts of Europe: help Europe – twice. Don't undermine that one Western country that defends European values and European interests and prevents.
“There is no logic here. The EU is undermining its security by undermining Israel. Europe is undermining its progress by undermining its connection with Israeli innovation by a crazy attempt to create conditions,” he added.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban interrupted at this point and said, laughing, “Mr Netanyahu, the European Union is even more unique. The EU places conditions on the ones already inside the EU, not only the countries on the outside.”
Netanyahu answered, “I think Europe has to decide if it wants to live and thrive or if it wants to shrivel and disappear. I am not very politically correct. I know that’s a shock to some of you. It’s a joke. But the truth is the truth. Both about Europe’s security and Europe’s economic future. Both of these concerns mandate a different policy toward Israel.
“We are part of the European culture,” Netanyahu continued. “Europe ends in Israel. East of Israel, there is no more Europe. We have no greater friends than the Christians who support Israel around the world. Not only the evangelists. If I go to Brazil, I'll be greeted there with more enthusiasm than at the Likud party center.”
He also told the four other leaders that Israel has ties with Arab countries: “The Arabs speak with us. They speak with us about technology and everything we're talking about here,” Netanyahu said.
On American policy in the Middle East, Netanyahu attacked former U.S. President Barack Obama, saying, “We had a big problem [in the U.S.]. I think its different now. Vis-a-vis Iran, there is a stronger position. The U.S. is more engaged in the region and conducting more bombings [in Syria]. It is a positive thing. I think we’re ok on ISIS. We’re not OK on Iran.”
Regarding Syria, Netanyahu admitted to the four other prime ministers that Israel had carried out dozens of attacks against Hezbollah arms convoys. “We blocked the border not only in Egypt but in the Golan Heights,” he said. “We built the wall because there was a problem with ISIS and Iran trying to build a terror front there. I told Putin, when we see them transferring weapons to Hezbollah, we will hurt them. We did it dozens of times.”
read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.802143
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
User avatar
seemslikeadream
 
Posts: 32090
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 11:28 pm
Location: into the black
Blog: View Blog (83)

Re: Zionism’s Lost Shine

Postby seemslikeadream » Fri Aug 04, 2017 10:19 am

Netanyahu's Top Aide Turning State's Witness Leaves Little Doubt: The PM Will Be Indicted
Prosecutors wouldn't sign a deal with someone in as bad a legal shape as Ari Harow unless they knew he could deliver damning evidence. An indictment is all but in the bag

Gidi Weitz
14:35
The state's witness agreement reached between the prosecution and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's former aide, Ari Harow, on Friday has one virtually irreversible implication: An indictment against Netanyahu is coming.
Netanyahu's former chief of staff supplied information in two key affairs: Allegations that the prime minister received gifts from wealthy benefactors, and secret negotiations Netanyahu allegedly held with the publisher of Israel's most popular newspaper in return for favorable coverage.
Related Articles
Guide to Investigations Looming Over Netanyahu's Trump Meeting
It Was a Very Bad Week for the Netanyahu Family. It Just Got Catastrophically Worse
Under his deal with the prosecution, Harow will be convicted of fraud and breach of trust in a separate case, but will avoid jail time. Instead, he will do community service as pay a 700,000-shekel ($193,000) fine.
If top officials in the police and prosecution believed that the agreement wouldn't yield significant information that will strengthen and perhaps even complete the evidence in the two corruption cases, they wouldn't have signed it. There's no point in helping out a suspect in a legal condition as bad as Harow's if no real compensation is given in return. This isn't the final word, of course, but the direction is clear.
Over the weekend, the prosecution decided to impose a gag order on the details Harow had provided during his interrogation. The gag orders have become an epidemic: the details of the Bezeq and submarine affairs are also under wraps. It’s doubtful whether there really is a need for such an unrestrained hush-hush policy, which stands in conflict with the position taken by Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit in his first months in office, when he labeled these orders as publicity-enhancing ones.
Making allowances for the gag order, one can assume that Harow will deepen both cases against Netanyahu, taking them to a faraway continent while making at least one key player in this affair a criminal suspect. It will probably also seal the fate of Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon Mozes.
One should not expect any decisions to be taken before the High Holidays. Harow’s testimony should produce versions to be collected by people living in Israel and overseas. It will obviously necessitate a further interrogation of Netanyahu who, surprisingly, has not been questioned since last March despite the bolstering of evidence accumulated in the two cases, which should have required his immediate response. The possibility that Harow would turn state’s witness arose a year ago.
When the gag order is lifted it may be possible to relate the interesting dialogue that ensued between him and his lawyers on one hand and police investigators and state prosecutors on the other, regarding the explosive recordings of the talks between Netanyahu and Mozes, and regarding the circumstances that led the trusted confidant, who at the age of 34 was already serving in key posts at the Prime Minister’s Office, to cross the lines.
This is probably not the final dramatic twist in the Netanyahu cases. When members of this complicated inner circle see the empire crumbling and the leader taking a dive they usually calculate their own personal and immediate benefits.
http://www.haaretz.com/amp/israel-news/ ... m-1.805202




:rofl: :rofl:
Leaked Transcript of Trump's Phone Call With Netanyahu During Temple Mount Crisis - as If

On Druid policemen, Muslim golfers and excellent Kone elevators with golden doors that will save the day ■ SATIRE

Chemi Shalev Aug 04, 2017 4:22 PM


Trump to Mexican president: Netanyahu told me the wall works

Trump, who slammed Obama for taking a 17-day vacation, is taking a 17-day vacation
Analysis It was a very bad week for the Netanyahu family. It just got catastrophically worse
Following the Israeli decision to place metal detectors at the entrances to the Temple Mount that sparked unrest in the West Bank and throughout the Middle East, U.S. President Donald Trump called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to offer help. This is the (imaginary) transcript of their conversation:
TRUMP: Hello Bibi. Good to speak to you. How are you doing?
NETANYAHU: Just great Mr. President. Couldn’t be better, especially now that you’ve called. Our talks always inspire me. If it weren’t for the fake news about “crimes” and those overzealous prosecutors trying to appease the left, things would be perfect. I don’t have to tell you how annoying this is. These people are frustrated because we’re both great leaders so they want to bring us down by any means.
TRUMP: So true, so true. I have that with Putin. Such a nice guy. Not like that insufferable snob Turnbull. Anyway, make sure you say they should investigate Hillary Clinton instead, like I do. Will you do that for me?
NETANYAHU: You mean Yair Lapid? Or the new Labor guy Avi Gabbay?
Keep updated: Sign up to our newsletter
Email* Sign up


TRUMP: Who? No. Never heard of them. Just ask the press why they’re investigating you and not Hillary Clinton. It’ll make me look good. You know, like when you praised the wall with Mexico and said it was just like Israel? (Laughs) Just do the same with Clinton. Maybe it will convince this guy, what’s his name, Rosencrantz at Justice, to move his toches. (Trump is heard whispering to someone: Hey guys, is Mueller a Jewish name?)
Now, Jared tells me I need to do something about these disturbances you’ve got going on there in Jerusalem. King Abdullah also talked to me about it but I was just watching reruns of the Miss Universe contest in Moscow so I couldn’t concentrate. But the liars in the media are saying that Obama would have intervened by now, so I need to get ahead of this, otherwise I’ll look bad. I’m better than him. Tell me what the problem is and what I can do to fix it.
NETANYAHU: Well, it’s a bit complex, but everyone knows what a sharp mind you have so I’m sure you’ll get it in a jiffy. Basically, there was a terrorist incident in which three Israeli Arabs killed two Israeli Druze policemen, so we decided to increase security and put metal detectors and now the Waqf is inciting Palestinians to riot on the pretext that we are violating the status quo. So we...
TRUMP: Whoa, hold your horses. Let me get this straight. You have Druids over there in Israel? Thought they lived in Ireland. My mother, who’s from Scotland, you know, told me about Druids. She spoke Gaelic. But you learn so much by talking to foreign leaders. Amazing. Jewish Druids.
NETANYAHU: I’m sure something’s wrong with this line. It’s Druze, Mr. President, not Druids.  They’re like Muslims, only different. But it’s a common mistake. A lot of people get mixed up between Druids and Druze. Especially the smarter ones.
TRUMP: So you have Muslim Druids in Israel? And you use them as policemen? Like in that movie with Tom Cruz, Minority Report, where they know in advance who’s going to commit a crime? Amazing. What will they think of next? I’ll tell Jeff Sessions to get right on it. We need something like that over here. But if it’s Muslims shooting Muslims, why is that any concern of yours?
NETANYAHU: Because the incident took place on the Temple Mount, which we control, which is why we placed the metal detectors. But now the Waqf is refusing to let people go up to pray.
TRUMP: Listen, I can fix that. Nobody does mounts like Donald Trump. Everybody knows that. We use these guys from Finland, Kobe or Kone or something. They make beautiful machines. And they’re fast. You can have them make the doors in gold. Mine even say TT on them. You can use that, or even put BB on yours. I don’t mind. It’ll be great. I’ll even get you a good price. Talk to Donald Jr. He could use a lift. So you can solve this Temple Mount thing in no time. But don’t talk about it just yet. Let me be the one to make the announcement...
NETANYAHU: (coughs) Just hold on a second, Donald, I have something stuck in my throat. (Long silence, unintelligible whispers in background). Listen, that is indeed an ingenious solution that only a master builder like you could come up with. I’m sure we’ll use it someday. We’ll call it the Donald Mount (More whispers, something about grabbing someone pushy). Or maybe not. But you see the Mount in this case means mountain, not the actual apparatus to climb up there. We’ve got that covered for now. The issue is that the Waqf won’t agree to go through the metal detectors because they say it changes the status quo.
TRUMP: The what? The Wokf? Is that like Jewish golf?
NETANYAHU: Ha, you are so funny. People don’t appreciate your humor enough. No, the Waqf are the Muslim religious authority that runs the Temple Mount.
TRUMP: You let Muslim golfers run the Temple Mount? Oh man, you guys really bend over backwards. What’s their handicap? Or are they the caddies? Anyway, just take it back from them. I can help. I have a problem like that now at Balmedie, in Scotland. Great place, by the way, we should go there for a month or something. You’ll love it. Anyway, the locals there are causing problems, they won’t let me expand my amazing golf resort but I’ll show them. I’ll get my lawyer to call yours. Just don’t make any announcements before I do.
NETANYAHU: What beautiful thoughts you have. You remind me of my father, only more learned. But you see the Temple Mount is very sensitive. Our friend Abdullah is also involved. And the Muslims – well I don’t have to tell you what they’re like, you know it better than anyone in the world– they can get very agitated about these things. It’s been like this since 1967, when Moshe Dayan...
TRUMP: Listen, don’t give me a history lesson now. Time is money. As Jared said, we want solutions, not problems. We fix things. You know what? I’ll send him over there. Along with Friedman and Greenblatt. I’m sure the three of them together will convince that guy Mahmoud – boy was he a disappointment – that you are just perfect and the Arabs are to blame. He’ll tell his guys to lay off. I’ll see to it.
NETANYAHU: That sounds great Mr. President. So decisive. So manly. So presidential. And you are our best friend ever. By far. Reagan was an anti-Semite compared to you. Even Bush is way behind you. He supported the Gaza Disengagement, after all. I’ll tell Sara. She adores you. As does my son Yair. He’s even starting to talk like you.
TRUMP: Yeah. Just make sure you let me announce it, OK? I’ll say you called me in despair and I saved the day, OK? Then you’ll respond. I need this. And don’t forget about crime lady Clinton.  Hey, that’s good. I’m a genius. You think you can use that?  “Crime Lady Clinton?”
(Crackles on the line, which sound suspiciously like plastic wrap).
NETANYAHU: The line’s gone bad, Mr. President. Can’t hear you. Such an honor talking to you. Really. Love to Melania and Ivanka. Shalom. Have a good vacation. 
read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.805204
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
User avatar
seemslikeadream
 
Posts: 32090
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 11:28 pm
Location: into the black
Blog: View Blog (83)

Re: Zionism’s Lost Shine

Postby seemslikeadream » Tue Aug 08, 2017 8:56 am

AUG 7 2017, 2:54 PM ET
Israeli Court: Netanyahu Must Reveal Calls With Sheldon Adelson
by ASSOCIATED PRESS

JERUSALEM — Israel's Supreme Court ruled Monday that Benjamin Netanyahu must reveal phone call logs with U.S. casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, and a former editor of his free newspaper in Israel, as police press ahead with investigations into corruption cases involving the prime minister.

The decision came after an appeal by investigative journalist Raviv Drucker of Channel 10 TV.

Netanyahu backer Adelson owns the pro-government daily Israel Hayom.

Police are investigating Netanyahu in two cases.

One reportedly concerns Netanyahu's alleged attempts to strike a deal with the publisher of the Yediot Ahronot newspaper group to weaken Israel Hayom — Yediot's main competitor — in exchange for more favorable coverage of Netanyahu by Yediot.

Israeli police revealed last week that Netanyahu is suspected of crimes involving fraud, breach of trust and bribes.
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-h ... on-n790381
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
User avatar
seemslikeadream
 
Posts: 32090
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 11:28 pm
Location: into the black
Blog: View Blog (83)

Re: Zionism’s Lost Shine

Postby seemslikeadream » Tue Aug 08, 2017 8:38 pm

Benjamin Netanyahu's wife Sara to be indicted for using public funds for personal expenses, say reports
Attorney General's office expected to move against Sara Netanyahu in more bad news for the couple after Israeli Prime Minister's ex-aide agrees to testify against him

Bethan McKernan Beirut @mck_beth Tuesday 8 August 2017 18:11 BST22 comments

Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, could be indicted by the attorney general’s office within days, according to new reports circulating in Israeli media.

Police recommended that Ms Netanyahu be indicted over the alleged spending of public funds at the couple’s private home earlier this year.

After two years of investigations – and a lengthy final interrogation by Israel’s national fraud squad last week – it is expected that Attorney General Avichai Mandelbilt will accept the police’s recommendation, Israel's Channel 2 reported.

Israeli minister attempts selfie with Trump to Netanyahu's dismay
The news comes on top of what has been a bad few days for the Netanyahus after the premier’s former chief of staff Ari Harow agreed to testify against his former boss as part of two ongoing investigations into allegations of corruption.

Mr Harow, a long time friend and loyal supporter of both Mr Netanyahu and his Likud party, struck a deal to turn state's witness on Friday.

The move has widely been seen as a turning point in the investigations against the prime minister.

The expected indictment also comes the same day the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that Mr Netanyahu must disclose his phone calls with US businessman Sheldon Adelson - from whom it is alleged he received lavish gifts.

“We completely reject the unfounded claims made against the Prime Minister,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office on Friday said.

“The campaign to change the government is underway, but it is destined to fail, for a simple reason: there won't be anything because there was nothing.”

Police first talked to Mr Netanyahu at his Jerusalem home on 1 January as part of a huge corruption sting involving more than 50 influential Israeli business leaders and other public figures.

It is alleged that he received lavish and “inappropriate” gifts from wealthy supporters such as cigars and champagne, and offered commercial favours to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper owner Arnon Mozes in return for positive coverage.

Ms Netanyahu has been variously accused of allegedly using money set aside for the Prime Minister’s official residence for furniture and improvements to the pair’s private home, paying for her elderly father’s care, inflating dinner party numbers to hire private chefs, and pocketing 23,000 shekels (£4,800) in recycling refunds.

If Mr Mandelblit and State Attorney Shai Nitzan accept the case, a hearing and issuing session as well as other proceedings are expected to take several months to complete.

The Netanyahus have repeatedly denied all allegations of wrong-doing made against them.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 82001.html


Members of Netanyahu’s party call for him to resign
August 8, 2017 at 9:17 pm | Published in: Israel, Middle East, News
Image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu [Kremlin.ru/Wikipedia]Image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu [Kremlin.ru/Wikipedia]
August 8, 2017 at 9:17 pm

Members of the Likud party are calling for party member and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to step down amidst allegations of fraud because harm is done to the political group’s reputation.

Though many within his party have expressed their support for the leader, “a silent majority” is growing louder and they are calling for Netanyahu to step down as soon as an indictment is filed against him, according the Israel’s Maariv newspaper.

Member of the Likud Central Committee, Gail Shmueli said: “Likud follows the principle of obedience. We do not let any leader down, but the problem is that today we have reached a moral low and there is a leadership that has morally flawed and can no longer continue.”

It seems that he tolerates corruption instead of uprooting it. He appears to be defending corruption. His place is not in Likud, especially not in a public role in general.

He asserted that “there are people in the camp of Netanyahu’s supporters who try to say that Bibi is everything, but Likud is not Bibi alone,” using Netanyahu’s nickname.

“It is clear that immediately after a draft indictment is filed against Netanyahu, he will have to resign right away. In reality, Netanyahu himself demanded that Ehud Olmert resign a year before an indictment was filed against him. He realised that there was a flaw in that, and that was in 2008, therefore he has to implement what others are demanding.”

Read: Netanyahu’s former aide to testify in bribery case

“The ministers are worried about what is happening and they are waiting for the judicial institution to issue its decision. If the Attorney General decides that Netanyahu’s smell is stinking and there is evidence for an indictment, I am sure they will call on him to resign in order to prove his innocence. I hope that Netanyahu will come out innocent, white as snow, but I call to consider the fact the he dragged us and the party into endless investigations that touches only the Likud. With every day that passes, Likud loses seats in the Knesset.”

“We are going through one of the darkest periods in the Likud’s history, if not the darkest one. If Bibi proves his innocence, we will all stand behind him,” Shmueli added.

Netanyahu has been questioned as a suspect in two graft cases.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170 ... to-resign/
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
User avatar
seemslikeadream
 
Posts: 32090
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 11:28 pm
Location: into the black
Blog: View Blog (83)

Re: Zionism’s Lost Shine

Postby seemslikeadream » Sat Dec 09, 2017 12:22 pm

Analysis Armageddon? Bring It On: The Evangelical Force Behind Trump's Jerusalem Speech
The U.S. evangelical community is in raptures over Trump's decision to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel, believing it moves the world closer to Armageddon

Allison Kaplan Sommer Dec 08, 2017 6:37 AM


U.S. President Donald Trump signing a proclamation after delivering his statement on Jerusalem in the White House, Washington, on December 6, 2017, as Vice President Mike Pence looks on. AFP/Saul Loeb
Opinion Trump's Jerusalem Syndrome: Whose End of Days Messiah does he think he is?
Analysis Trump hasn’t killed the peace process, he just pronounced it dead
Opinion Trump recognized one, Israeli capital city. But there are really three Jerusalems
Anyone wondering what the true impetus was behind U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision on Wednesday to unilaterally recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital needed only to view the image of the president when he made the formal announcement.

Glittering Christmas decorations festooned across the White House hallway enveloped Trump, with Vice President Mike Pence deliberately – if a bit awkwardly – placed directly behind the president’s shoulder, ensuring that no camera angle could leave him out of the picture.

It all felt carefully staged to send a strong message to Christian evangelical voters and their leaders that this is their victory and Trump is their man.
skip - David Brody tweet
Trump showed he is behind the evangelical agenda not only when it comes to enacting domestic agenda – like opposing abortion, appointing conservative judges or saying “Merry Christmas” – but on foreign policy issues close to their heart as well.
It was surely no coincidence that the dramatic declaration took place in the final days of a crucial Senate special election campaign, taking place in Alabama next Tuesday, in which embattled Republican Roy Moore is fighting with the backing of former Trump adviser and Breitbart News Executive Chairman Steve Bannon. Getting religious, right-wing voters to the polls, despite the swirling controversy regarding Moore’s alleged past relationships with young girls, is viewed as crucial to a GOP victory.

The announcement also took place just before Pence is set to visit Israel for three days, from December 17-19. This guarantees enhanced media coverage for the Pence trip, where he will certainly be greeted as a conquering hero – pleasing evangelicals even more.
While much has been made of the influence of Jewish megadonor Sheldon Adelson in Trump’s move, and his Jewish son-in-law Jared Kushner’s words of support – flouting the conventional wisdom that he would be dismayed that it would derail his 11-month attempt to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks – the approbation from Israel and pro-Trump American Jews seems to be a happy bonus to the main objective.
Trump is showing love to Israel because evangelical voters form the crucial linchpin in his relatively small but solid support base. Evangelical voters threw their support behind Trump in 2016 at a higher rate than any previous presidential candidate – giving him 81 percent of their vote, even more than they gave to fellow evangelical George W. Bush.
It was these Christian evangelicals – and Pence, an evangelical himself and a prominent touchstone of their influence in the Trump administration – that were clearly the driving force behind the Jerusalem declaration.
Furthermore, the fact the evangelical community’s desire to see Jerusalem being irrevocably in Israeli hands is based on religious beliefs rather than practical political concerns means that a fear of the anticipated violent reaction from Palestinians and the Arab world was easily dismissed as irrelevant by Trump and the decision-makers around him.
This early Christmas gift to evangelicals was consistent with the Trump administration, which has been the most evangelical-friendly White House in U.S. history, with an unprecedented number of card-carrying members of the religious right filling cabinet positions. Indeed, a weekly Bible studies meeting is held, with Pence reportedly among those in attendance.
Also close to Trump: Jay Sekulow – one of the attorneys defending him in the Russia probe – a messianic Jew with a high profile in the Christian evangelical community.
And Johnnie Moore, considered the de facto leader of Trump’s evangelical advisers, told CNN that the status of Jerusalem has been a top priority for the community, and that the issue was “second only to concerns about the judiciary among the president’s core evangelical supporters.”
By making this move, Trump had “demonstrated to his evangelical supporters that he will do what he says he will do,” Moore added.
On Wednesday, the far-right Christian evangelical website Charisma News was overflowing with praise from evangelical leaders for the Jerusalem announcement.
skip - Donald Trump meets with religious leaders

“Evangelicals are ecstatic, for Israel is to us a sacred place and the Jewish people are our dearest friends,” Pastor Paula White told Charisma. “The Jewish people have dedicated themselves to Jerusalem over millennia, taken pride in it, defended it with blood and treasure, and today we rejoice with them.”
skip - Fox & Friends video

White delivered the invocation at Trump’s inauguration last January and participated in a high-profile “laying on of hands” during Trump’s presidential campaign, in which 40 evangelical leaders and televangelists prayed for his success.
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee, an evangelical leader (and father of Trump’s White House spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders) has for years prominently lobbied for the U.S. Embassy to be moved to Jerusalem. He also hailed the move on Trump’s favorite television network, and dismissed concerns that it could spark violence.
Theological dog-whistle
In order to truly understand the centrality of this “theological dog-whistle” to Trump’s evangelical base, you must take their religious beliefs seriously, argued progressive Christian commentator and pundit Diana Butler Bass, in a widely circulated thread on Twitter. Bass said the Jerusalem issue was so important to evangelicals because it is necessary to regain Judeo-Christian control of the Temple Mount.
skip - Diana Butler Bass tweet
This is vital, she explained, because rebuilding the Temple would initiate the “end-time” laid out in the Book of Revelation. End-time is a fundamentalist Christian belief in a prophecy that the living and the resurrected will one day be delivered from the Earth by God, their bodies transformed and protected in heaven, as he pours out his wrath on the sinners left behind.
Butler Bass asserted that “of all the possible theological dog-whistles to his evangelical base,” the Jerusalem declaration “is the biggest. Trump is reminding them that he is carrying out God’s will to these Last Days. They’ve been waiting for this, praying for this,” she wrote. “They want war in the Middle East. The Battle of Armageddon, at which time Jesus Christ will return to the Earth and vanquish all God’s enemies. For certain evangelicals, this is the climax of history. And Trump is taking them there. To the promised judgment, to their sure victory. The righteous will be ushered to heaven; the reprobate will be banished to hellfire.”
To these true believers, she added, the Jerusalem announcement “is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Donald Trump is not only acting on a campaign promise, but enacting a theological one. They believe that Donald Trump is God’s instrument to move us closer to the Rapture, the Judgment, and the End. Because to them that’s actually the beginning – the beginning of their reward and heavenly bliss.”
As a result, she explained, the issue of whether the Jerusalem move is a provocation that could harm the cause of peace is meaningless, since “peace in this world doesn’t matter.”
To nonbelievers, including mainstream Christians for whom this sounds far-fetched, she argued that it is actively preached in churches nationwide and that “millions of American Christians believe this and have based their faith and identity on it.”
In fact, evangelical cleric John Hagee’s reaction to the Jerusalem announcement bore out Butler Bass’s argument.
Speaking on CBN News’ “Faith Nation” show, Hagee said that “Christians should care about Israel because the entirety of the Bible beginning at Genesis all the way to the end is God’s position paper on the Jewish people.
“Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, recorded in the book of Genesis, that He was going to give them a strip of real estate in the Middle East, and that piece of real estate would be theirs forever. Forever means today, tomorrow and forever,” he said.
He added a direct allusion to end-time, noting, “I believe at this point in time, Israel is God’s stopwatch for everything that happens to every nation, including America, from now until the Rapture of the church and beyond.”
The “Rapture of the church” describes an event that fundamentalist Christians believe will happen in end-time, referring to the “snatching away” of the righteous to heaven.
Given the wall-to-wall support for the Jerusalem declaration in the evangelical community, it is interesting to note that a recent survey of 2,000 American evangelical Christians found that older evangelicals offered far more unconditional support to Israel than millennials.
The survey, commissioned by the Chosen People Ministries, found that 80 percent of those over 65 believe the Jewish people have a right to the Land of Israel, compared with 61 percent of those under 35. It was issued with a dire warning that “overall support of evangelicals for Israel will drop significantly in the next decade if the younger generation is not educated now about its biblical importance.”
Maybe, but if the events of the past few days are an indication, evangelical Christian support of Jewish sovereignty in Israel is strong: Strong enough to move the hand of the president it helped put into office and whom the president needs to keep him there.
read more: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.827591


The real reason Trump declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel was because he feared losing his evangelical voter base


There are those evangelicals who believe in the prophecy of the ‘End of Days’ foretelling Jewish control of all Jerusalem, a war of civilisations, and a choice of Jews to either embrace Christianity or die in the wrath of God

Kim Sengupta 20 hours ago

Trump’s Jerusalem declaration has been widely and enthusiastically welcomed by his religious base – but not by Palestinians Reuters
I have got my latest Prayergram post. It is, quite aptly, on the topic of the day: the “Jerusalem Prayer”.

One passage reads “God bless Donald J Trump! He understands the real principles behind success. It is not being good at what you do or understanding theory and practice. It is being on the right side of the blessing of God. Whoever blesses Israel shall be blessed: whoever curses Israel shall be cursed.”

And, lest there be any misunderstanding: “If we bless Israel, regardless of its faults, lack of faith, both personally and organisationally, God bless us. While the world cries out, Donald J Trump who learned about the blessing on his mother’s knee, masters the simple, plodding art of doing the right thing regardless of consequences.”

Prayergram send their posts not just to the believers, but others, like journalists who have written negatively about the Christian right or Donald Trump. This is intended to show us the error of our ways and also, if possible, save our souls.

The “Jerusalem Prayer” was, the evangelists stress, of great importance, something that needed to be widely disseminated after Trump had announced that the US embassy would be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Donald Trump officially recognises Jerusalem as Israel’s capital


There are no fewer than 50 million evangelicals in America who, according to research, are convinced of the literal truth of Biblical prophecy. A recent survey found that 82 per cent of white evangelicals believe that God gave Israel to the Jewish people; a conviction shared by just 40 per cent of American Jews. Among these evangelicals there are those who believe in the prophecy of the “End of Days” foretelling Jewish control of all Jerusalem, a war of civilisations, and a choice of Jews to either embrace Christianity or die in the wrath of God.

The decision to move the embassy does not actually have much popular support across the US population as a whole. A Brookings Institution survey found that it has the backing of only 31 per cent. Polls have also repeatedly found that a large majority of American Jews, who tend on average to have a better standard of education than the rest of US population, and are liberal by tradition, oppose the move.

But Trump’s Jerusalem declaration has been widely and enthusiastically welcomed by his religious base. Johnnie Moore, who acts as a spokesperson for the Trump’s evangelical advisers stated: “The issue was second only to concerns about the judiciary among the evangelical supporters. President Trump has yet again demonstrated to his evangelical supporters that he will do what he says he will do.”


For Paula White, a “megachurch” pastor from Florida who is close to Trump: “once again, President Trump has shown the world what I have always known, he is a leader who is willing to do what is right however loud are the voices of the sceptics and the critics. Evangelicals are ecstatic, for Israel is to us a sacred place and the Jewish people are our dearest friends.”

There is also the money in this. Trump’s campaign has received substantial funding from the Christian right and also hardline American Jewish promoters of Israel. They include Sheldon Adelson, the casino billionaire and Republican donor, who had given $20m (£14.9m) to a PAC (political action committee) which supported the Trump campaign and another $1.5m to the organisers of the Republican convention. Adelson has been lobbying the President persistently on the embassy transfer.

Trump is not the only senior member of the administration to cultivate the Christian right. Vice President Mike Pence, who could be seen on TV standing behind Trump as the embassy announcement was made, with a reverent glow to his face, had pressed for a move to Jerusalem. And backing also came from Nikki Haley, the ambassador to the UN who tries her best to match Trump on hawkish rhetoric about smiting America’s enemies. She avidly courted the evangelical vote while Governor of South Carolina.

There were those in the administration who pointed out that the Jerusalem move will inflame passions in the Middle East and the wider Muslim world; make a settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians even more difficult; make it harder to maintain coalitions against Islamist extremists and may put American lives in danger.

They included Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defence Secretary James Mattis. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law who is leading the Israel/Palestine peace initiative had apparently also urged caution initially. But Tillerson may soon be the latest casualty in the Trump administration, to be replaced by the recently appointed CIA director, Mike Pompeo, and Kushner is said to have changed his stance after talks with Adelson.

The evangelists could always site God on their side. For Indiana pastor Paul Begley the embassy move is the beginning of “End of Days”: “The Jewish People – I’ve been there, I’m telling you – they believe when the Temple’s built, the Messiah will be revealed to them. Jesus will be revealed to the Jewish people, and they will embrace him.”

Laurie Cardoza-Moore, “founder/president of Proclaiming Justice to The Nations” wrote in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz: “Christians recognise the Jews’ biblical connection through King David’s establishment of Jerusalem as the capital of ancient Israel and the location for both the first and second Temples. According to the prophets, Ezekiel, Isaiah and the Apostle John, all Israel awaits the rebuilding of the Third Temple. President Donald Trump may implement one of the most biblically historic initiatives of his presidency by allowing the first step of the Jerusalem Embassy Act to go into effect. “

But, as Cardoza-Moore points out, this was only the first step. It will take several years for the embassy to be moved, construction to start and suitable accommodation found for diplomats and staff.

A lot can happen in that time. The whole thing may drift on the next election. Kushner may become the next person in the White House to be arrested in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the White House’s Russian connections after the charging of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. Trump may himself be impeached or indicted.

There is thus always the possibility, one has to accept, that the “End of Days” is not imminent. Armageddon will be put on hold. The Messiah will not appear for the time being and the Jews will not have to convert to Christianity or perish.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/jer ... 99321.html
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
User avatar
seemslikeadream
 
Posts: 32090
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 11:28 pm
Location: into the black
Blog: View Blog (83)

Re: Zionism’s Lost Shine

Postby seemslikeadream » Tue Feb 20, 2018 9:11 pm

Netanyahu Confidant Turns Against Him in Dramatic State's Evidence Deal

Shlomo Filber, a former director of Communications Ministry, agrees to incriminate the PM in return for lighter sentence in so-called telecom-giant case

Revital Hovel Feb 21, 2018 12:25 AM

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Shlomo Filber, left, one of Netanyahu's closest allies.Moti Milrod / Maged Gozani

Shlomo Filber, a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who was arrested by the police in an investigation into the ties of Israel’s telecom giant with government officials, reached a deal with the police late on Tuesday to turn state's evidence. According to the deal, Filber will incriminate Netanyahu in exchange for a lighter sentence.

Filber, the former director general of the Communications Ministry under Netanyahu, is suspected of granting financial benefits to Shaul Elovitch, the controlling shareholder of Bezeq, Israel's largest telecom company, on behalf of the prime minister. In return, police suspect Elovitch skewed coverage on the Walla news website he owns to favor Netanyahu and his wife, Sara.

As part of the agreement made late Tuesday night, Filber offered police a detailed account of everything he knows about Netanyahu's part in the so-called Case 4000, as well as others involved in the affair. According to the deal, Filber will not receive jail time.

Filber's testimony is likely to establish the nature of the compensation given by the prime minister for the slanted coverage he received on Walla.

In May 2015, two days after the swearing in of the government, Netanyahu ousted Communications Ministry Director General Avi Berger, and appointed Filber, who had been his confidant for years, to replace him.

Already on his first day in office, Filber met with Elovitch and changed the ministry's viewpoint in favor of the business mogul. Eventually, when the State Comptroller investigated the affair, he feared that Filber had found himself in a situation of "regulatory captivity," a kind of secret agent of Bezeq in the Communications Ministry.

In August, Filder, under investigation by the Securities Authority, Filber said he would not testify against Netanyahu. Asked by Channel 2 News whether Netanyahu instructed him to act in favor of Bezeq, Filber said he "never talked to him about these things. This subject never came up in our conversations."

The Securities Authority, which later investigated Filber, recommended to prosecute him. Now, Filber may testify that he was not operating on his own behalf, but as Netanyahu's emissary.

Filber was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of bribery, fraud, breach of trust and obstruction of justice.

Earlier Netanyahu said in response to the reports: “What has happened over the last two days is simply that the world has gone mad. It’s a scandal. They’ve brought two delusional, false allegations as part of a campaign of persecution against me and my family that has been going on for years already.

“First, regarding Bezeq: All decisions on Bezeq were made by professional committees, by the professionals, under close legal supervision. There’s no Wild West here. There are no private decisions. All decisions are transparent and subject to oversight. Therefore, the claim that I worked to benefit Bezeq at the expense of substantive considerations is simply and fundamentally absurd.

“As for the second claim, which is no less delusional and no less malicious, regarding the appointment of the attorney general: I never spoke to Nir Hefetz on this issue, he never proposed anything to me on this issue, and you know what? I don’t believe he raised this possibility with anyone.”
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.pr ... -1.5841162
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
User avatar
seemslikeadream
 
Posts: 32090
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 11:28 pm
Location: into the black
Blog: View Blog (83)

Re: Zionism’s Lost Shine

Postby seemslikeadream » Mon Mar 05, 2018 11:52 am

In Deal With Police, Former Netanyahu Aide to Hand Over Recordings of Netanyahu and Wife

Nir Hefetz, Netanyahu's spin doctor, becomes a state witness ■ Hefetz is suspected of bribery and obstruction of justice in the telecom corruption affair

Revital Hovel, Josh Breiner and Noa Landau Mar 05, 2018 3:41 PM

Nir Hefetz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "spin doctor" and confidant, will hand over recordings of Netanyahu and his wife Sara as part of a deal with police to turn state's evidence in the bribery case involving the Bezeq telecom giant and the Walla news site.

Netanyahu, currently in the U.S. for AIPAC and a meeting with Trump, received the news at the Blair House, where he is a guest of the White House.

In return for testifying against Netanyahu, Hefetz will not stand trial, face prison time or be fined. While he testifies, he will be housed at an isolated installation.

According to assessments regarding the deal, Hefetz will also give information regarding the other cases against the prime minister and his wife.


Hefetz is the third Netanyahu confidant to turn against the prime minister in the ongoing corruption cases. Hefetz is suspected of receiving bribes and obstructing justice as part of what is called Case 4000. He is also a key figure in 1270, and is second fiddle in Case 2000.

In Case 4000, Hefetz liaised between the Netanyahu couple and the Walla news website, owned by Bezeq. Hefetz arranged for flattering items on the couple and censorship of less flattering items, Haaretz's Gidi Weitz reported.

In Case 1270, Hefetz allegedly served as the prime minister's confidant who sought to elucidate how Judge Hila Gerstl felt about closing a case against Sara Netanyahu. Allegedly a trial balloon was floated, hinting to Gerstl that she would be promoted to Israel's next attorney-general if she closed the case down. Hefetz claims that it all boiled down to idle chatter and hadn't been coordinated with the prime minister and his wife.

In Case 2000, Hefetz had involvement on both sides of the coin. He was head of public relations for Netanyahu, before which he served as senior editor in the Yedioth Ahronoth group, owned by Arnon Mozes. In 2009, Mozes is suspected of agreeing to provide sweetheart coverage of Netanyahu, who in turn allegedly promised to get the rival (free) newspaper Israel Hayom to stop printing a weekend edition, which stood to hugely benefit Yedioth.

Channel 10 reports that Hefetz will be providing information on other cases – some of which the public hasn't even heard of yet.

Netanyahu aides said in response to Hefetz that "when there is something, you don't need even one state's witness. When you don't have anything, even a thousand state witnesses won't help."

"The incessant race after state witnesses is the best proof that there is nothing – and there will be nothing," they added.


At the heart of Case 4000 is the suspicion that Netanyahu acted to provide Bezeq and its former chairman, Shaul Elovitch, with financial breaks worth hundreds of millions of shekels in exchange for positive coverage in the telecommunications company’s popular Walla website. The prime minister has rejected the accusations and insisted that all his decisions “were made in businesslike fashion and based on professional factors, professional testimonies and legal counsel.”

Hefetz testified in the case in December. Since his arrest two weeks ago, he has been questioned under caution not only in the telecom case but also for a suspected bribery offer to a former judge. So far he had refused to answer the investigator's questions.

Hefetz, Haaretz has learned, will testify that he never received orders from Sara or Benjamin Netanyahu to make the offer to the judge, allegedly made through an intermediary. Hefetz will claim that the talks with Eli Kamir, the alleged conduit, were just "empty words."

Two former Netanyahu confidants have already turned against him. One is former Chief of Staff Ari Harow who testified in cases 2000 and 1000 - which, respectively, relate to discussions of a quid-pro-quo deal with newspaper publisher Arnon Mozes and lavish gifts received from businessmen Arnon Milchan and James Packer.

The other is Sholmo Filber, former director general of the Communications Ministry under Netanyahu, who is suspected of granting financial benefits to Shaul Elovitch, the controlling shareholder of Bezeq, Israel's largest telecom company, on behalf of the prime minister.

Hefetz’s association with Netanyahu began in 2009, when he was appointed chief spokesman for the prime minister, then beginning his second stint in office. Hefetz left in 2011 but returned to work for Netanyahu in 2014, this time as a media advisor for his family. During the 2015 Knesset election, Hefetz also worked as a campaign strategist for Netanyahu’s Likud party.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/in- ... -1.5870469
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
User avatar
seemslikeadream
 
Posts: 32090
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 11:28 pm
Location: into the black
Blog: View Blog (83)

Re: Zionism’s Lost Shine

Postby seemslikeadream » Mon Mar 05, 2018 7:38 pm

Here’s a guide to all the Netanyahu corruption scandals

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit with U.S. president and Twitter-pal Donald Trump couldn’t come at a better time for the beleaguered leader, who faces mounting corruption charges that has him fighting for his political life.

The Israeli leader arrived in Washington for a five-day trip where he’s expected to discuss shared concerns like Iran, Syria, and Palestinian peace negotiations with Trump. But the U.S. visit also doubles as a critical political lifeline for Netanyahu, who can play to his strengths abroad while temporarily distancing himself from the mounting pile of corruption probes he faces back home.

In this regard, the trip to America is “fortuitous,” said Shalom Lipner, a nonresident senior fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings.

“His major ticket has always been, 'I’m the guy who best understands the United States,'” Lipner said. “Thousands of supporters at AIPAC [the annual policy conference] will give him a standing ovation. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

He needs the boost.

Netanyahu has tried to bat away one corruption charge after another for months, but the charges continue to stick. The Israeli police recommended last month that Netanyahu be indicted for fraud, bribery, and breach of trust for actions connected to two of the four corruption probes. Things appeared to get worse for Bibi on Monday, when Israel’s Justice Ministry announced that his former confidant and top media adviser Nir Hefetz had turned state’s witness against him in two of the four corruption cases circling the prime minister’s office.

Hefetz, whose association with Netanyahu dates back to 2009, is suspected of bribery and obstruction of justice in one of the cases against Netanyahu, and is a key figure in other investigations surrounding him. He’s the third, and most significant, of the prime minister’s former confidants to turn against him in the mounting graft investigations.

Netanyahu has taken a defiant, at times Trumpian, approach to the investigations and the 24-7 media coverage that’s trailed it, regularly posting directly to Facebook and Twitter to deny all the “outlandish” charge against him.

Yet his adamant insistence hasn’t stopped the Israeli political machine from pursuing one pressing question: Can Bibi beat back the crisis stalking his office and hold onto his fragile coalition government?

“Ultimately, there are two clocks ticking: legal and political,” said Lipner.

Netanyahu has hinted he could call a snap election to bolster his mandate in a bid to stave off political opportunists and mounting legal probes; polls suggest Israelis would reward him at the voting booth if he did so.

“This is pretty intense, but Netanyahu's faced — and braved — legal challenges before,” Lipner said, pointing to the previous crises that brought down Israel's ruling government. Still, he said there's no doubt “political piranhas are circling Netanyahu’s office.”

Here’s a rundown of the corruption cases against Netanyahu.

CASE 1000

Israel police, seemingly aware of confusion about all the corruption cases, have made them a bit easier to follow by giving each one a numerical identifier: Case 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000.

In case 1000, Netanyahu is accused of accepting nearly $300,000 in lavish gifts, including cigars and champagne, from Israeli billionaire businessman Arnon Milchan, a Hollywood producer, and Australian billionaire James Packer between 2007 and 2016.

Police say the gifts grew in “scope and frequency” after Netanyahu became Israel’s leader for a second time in 2009, and that Milchan’s gifts were given “in return for his action.”

Police argue that Netanyahu used his power as Israel’s leader to lobby on Milchan’s behalf to then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry regarding an issue the film producer had extending a U.S. visa. He also sought to legislate tax breaks in the mogul’s favor. Police haven't said what Packer is alleged to have gained from the relationship.

Last month, police recommended that Netanyahu be indicted for accepting bribes, fraud, and breach of trust in relation to his dealings with Milchan, and for fraud and breach of trust in connection with Packer’s gifts.

The case now rests with state prosecutors and Israel’s Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who will ultimately decide whether to file charges. Another of Netanyahu’s former confidants, former chief of staff Ari Harow, has testified against him in this case.

CASE 2000

Police say that in 2009 Netanyahu and Arnon Mozes, publisher of the Yedioth Ahronoth, a leading Israeli newspaper, struck a deal meant to serve their mutual interests. The bare bones of the alleged deal are that Mozes’s newspaper would provide flattering coverage of Netanyahu, and in return Netanyahu would support the publication, in part by working to hinder the growth of Israel Hayom, a free, right-wing rival publication funded by U.S. super-donor Sheldon Adelson.

It’s not clear whether the deal was ever acted on, but the police case hinges on voice recordings of meetings between Netanyahu and Mozes that were covertly taken by Harow, now a state's witness in this case.

Police recommended last month that in this case, Netanyahu should be charged with requesting a bribe, fraud, and breach of trust. They recommended Mozes be charged with offering a bribe.

Again, the decision on whether to file charges rests with Israel’s attorney general.

CASE 3000

This case probes alleged kickbacks in a multibillion-dollar deal to buy submarines and patrol boats from German firm ThyssenKrupp — specifically, that state officials were bribed to make the purchase, despite opposition to the deal from the Defense Ministry.

The people allegedly involved in the scheme include Miki Ganor, the company’s sales representative in Israel, top Israeli defense officials and senior aides to Netanyahu, including the prime minister’s lawyer and confidant David Shimron.

Netanyahu is not a suspect, but he was closely involved in the deal, and Mandelblit has said he will be questioned.

CASE 4000

The latest investigation centers on whether people close to Netanyahu pushed financial and regulatory perks worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Israel’s largest telecom, Bezeq, in exchange for favorable coverage of the prime minister on a subsidiary news site called Walla.

Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, were questioned by police for five hours Friday as possible suspects, the eighth time he has been formally questioned over various police matters in the past 14 months.

The police interview followed the arrests of seven others implicated in the probe last month, including two individuals close to the prime minister, Hefetz, and former Communications Ministry Director-General Shlomo Filber.

Shaul Elovitch, Bezeq’s controlling shareholder and a family friend of Netanyahu’s, was also arrested, along with his wife and son, and Bezeq CEO Stella Handler. Iris Elovitch, a friend of Netanyahu’s wife, is alleged to have received messages from her with instructions on what shape the coverage should take.

Filber, a longtime aide to the premier, has turned state's witness; the news on Monday that Nefetz, Netanyahu’s official spokesman from 2009 to 2010 and a media adviser to his family between 2014 and 2017, had joined him will “be nothing less than an earthquake,” Chemi Shalev, a columnist for Israel’s Haaretz newspaper wrote Monday.

“Hefetz was at the crossroads of virtually everything,” Shelev wrote. “He can testify to all four of the ‘major’ investigations in which Netanyahu is involved or implicated... Hefetz was the agent of Netanyahu’s ugliness and, if he tells all, Netanyahu is supposedly done for.”

CASE 1270

Netanyahu has also been linked to another scandal, in which Hefetz is alleged to have made an offer in 2015 to a judge, Hila Gerstel, that she would be appointed attorney general if she blocked an investigation into Sara Netanyahu. Gerstel refused the alleged bribe. Sara, meanwhile, was indicted in September 2017 for fraud and breach of trust for excessive spending on catering at the prime minister's residence.
https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/evm ... n-scandals
Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
User avatar
seemslikeadream
 
Posts: 32090
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 11:28 pm
Location: into the black
Blog: View Blog (83)

Re: Zionism’s Lost Shine

Postby seemslikeadream » Thu May 10, 2018 12:30 am

Mazars and Deutsche Bank could have ended this nightmare before it started.
They could still get him out of office.
But instead, they want mass death.
Don’t forget that.
User avatar
seemslikeadream
 
Posts: 32090
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 11:28 pm
Location: into the black
Blog: View Blog (83)

PreviousNext

Return to General Discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 50 guests