Some two months ago, the Prime Minister’s Office received a request to arrange a conference call with some Jewish and Christian leaders. The proposal was to sponsor an event of a routine kind – Netanyahu gets on the line, gives a short briefing about the “situation,” fires off some relevant advocacy points, and then answers questions, making a concerted effort not to supply fodder for headlines.

But, in the end, the conference call was not held. The Prime Minister’s advisers, who asked the proposers of the idea for details about who would be involved in the call, discovered that it would be a two-part conversation. During the first part, Netanyahu would speak and he would be followed immediately by Newt Gingrich, who is currently vying for the Republican nomination in the U.S. Presidential race.

In contrast to the embarrassing affair of the revised remarks declaimed at the memorial service for victims of the Carmel fire, this time Netanyahu’s aides came to their senses in a timely fashion, politely apologized to the conference call organizers, and cancelled the Prime Minister’s involvement in the call.

“We realized that were we to hold this conference call we would be seen as intervening in internal American politics, or even as supporting Gingrich’s candidacy,” explained one of Netanyahu’s advisers. “You have to be very careful and sensitive during this period, especially when some persons want to drag us into an argument.”

For more than two years, Israel has been part of the domestic political debate in the U.S. From an issue that united Democrats and Republicans, Israel has turned into a topic about which the two parties exchange barbs. Persons close to President Obama view Benjamin Netanyahu as being responsible for this change, and blame him for meddling in American politics, and for forging alliances with Republicans.

Echoes of this were sounded in a column published by Tom Friedman in The New York Times. Friedman, who is close to President Obama and reviles Prime Minister Netanyahu, played a top role in the instigation of a letter sent by Netanyahu aide Ron Dermer to The New York Times, in which he accused the paper of regularly distorting positions uphold by Israel’s government.

“I sure hope that Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, understands that the standing ovation he got in Congress this year was not for his politics,” opined Friedman. “That ovation was bought and paid for by the Israel lobby.” Friedman subsequently apologized for a portion of his remarks, but on a factual level, it was Republican Congressmen from Texas who proposed that Netanyahu deliver the speech and who moved the event forward. Not just Netanyahu’s welfare concerned them; they hoped also to deliver a blow to Obama.

An Evangelical Conference turned into a Republican Election Rally

When Netanyahu and his aides are asked, they insist that they make every effort to avoid meddling in domestic American politics. The speech in Congress, they say, bore witness to widespread support for Israel and for Netanyahu among both parties. Netanyahu, they insist, makes a point of meeting with virtually any member of Congress, Democrat or Republican, who comes to Israel, and in every speech before an American audience, he emphasizes that Israel must remain a non-partisan issue in the U.S.

Three months ago, he even upbraided MK Danny Danon for taking part in a joint press conference with Republican Presidential candidate Rick Perry in which the Texas Governor dumped a bucket of acerbic accusations at President Obama. “We try all the time not to step on such land mines,” explained one of Netanyahu’s aides.

There is some truth in such protestations voiced by the Prime Minister’s associates. More than once, Netanyahu has been the victim of Republican spin-masters who tried to gain political capital in the U.S. from meetings with him. For instance, a month ago, three evangelical pastors arrived from Florida to Israel. Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, who has a connection with one of the pastors, asked that Netanyahu receive them for a meeting in his office.

Netanyahu responded affirmatively, and sat with the trio for 45 minutes. At the end of the meeting Hispanic pastor Guillermo Maldonado whipped out a small video camera and asked Netanyahu to be filmed reciting a short greeting, to be broadcast at an evangelical conference he is organizing for Orlando in April. Surprised, Netanyahu assented, but asked to film the greeting at a later time.

About a week later, an invitation to the conference started to circulate on the internet, which featured Netanyahu’s photograph, alongside Republican candidates Michelle Bachman and Texas Governor Rick Perry, who are supported by the radical-right Tea Party groups. The invitation caption referred to a 2012 Awakening. Netanyahu’s office came across this invitation after it had circulated among tens of thousands of Florida residents. It can be assumed that Netanyahu won’t send a filmed greeting to the event.

Greetings for Glenn Beck, friendship with Newt Gingrich

Complaints vented by Netanyahu’s aides about how they are dragged into domestic American politics seem a bit peculiar when they are considered against the backdrop of steps taken by the Prime Minister in past months. For instance, Netanyahu unhesitatingly sent a filmed greeting to an award ceremony staged by the Zionist Organization of America in honor of controversial radio personality Glenn Beck, who devotes the bulk of his broadcasts to attacks against President Obama:

“Glenn You too have been fearless in defending Israel against the slanders that are hurled against [it]. You’ve done that with considerable personal cost, but you’ve never backed off, you’ve never flinched, and I want to tell you how deeply we appreciate this stand of courage and integrity,” commented Netanyahu.

Those who sponsored the award given to Beck were Sheldon and Miri Adelson. Adelson, a Jewish gambling mogul, is the owner of Netanyahu’s house newspaper Yisrael Hayom (Israel Today) and is considered one of the main donors to his election campaign.

Alongside Glenn Beck and Bibi Netanyahu, Sheldon Adelson proffered support for leading Republican politician Newt Gingrich, the same candidate with whom Netanyahu was warily disinclined to engage in the conference call. Between 2006 and 2010, Adelson donated $7 million to Gingrich’s “American Solutions” institute.

Gingrich has known Netanyahu since his days as opposition chairman in the 1990s. The Republican politician was Speaker of the House at the time; he forged an alliance with Netanyahu, helping the Israeli opposition leader’s attempts to block assistance which President Bill Clinton gave to the Oslo process.

Former Israel Ambassador to Washington Itamar Rabinovich claimed in an interview with the Jewish newspaper, the Forward, that Netanyahu encouraged Gingrich to pressure Clinton, and that Israel’s embassy had to carry out “damage control” regarding laws that Gingrich sponsored to block the conferral of assistance to the newly created Palestinian Authority.

In recent weeks, Gingrich has voiced a series of declarations whose contents and tenor make anything said by Netanyahu sound as though the Prime Minister is Yossi Beilin. Gingrich promised that if elected President, he would move America’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem; he branded the Palestinians an “invented nation,” and he even stated that he would consider releasing the incarcerated spy, Jonathan Pollard. Meantime, Gingrich’s candidacy seems stalled, and he is unable, for now, to close the gap against Republican front-runner Mitt Romney.

Campaign in Israel Today

Adelson backs Gingrich’s candidacy in the Presidential race not only in the U.S. He is promoting Gingrich in Israel. In May 2010, more than half a year before he declared his candidacy, Gingrich published in the Adelson-owned newspaper Israel Today an article in which he claimed that the Obama administration’s policy toward Iran and terror is completely divorced from reality; he warned that this policy could bring about a “second Holocaust” of the Jewish people.

Last January, Israel Today editor Amos Regev traveled to Washington to interview Gingrich. In the extended interview, Gingrich, described by Regev as “an Israel-supporting American patriot,” attacked Obama, and gave Israel a “green light” to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.

In recent months, Adelson’s newspaper has provided Gingrich the same sort of unqualified support it proffers to Netanyahu. Almost all of Gingrich’s statements, and polls which forecast his victory in Republican primaries, receive ample coverage in this freely distributed newspaper; sometimes they are splashed on the front page.

Dror Eidar, one of Israel Today’s leading columnists, wrote a few days ago that Gingrich is a “refreshing phenomenon” in America’s liberal-tainted seas. He praised Gingrich’s statement regarding the Palestinian people, and called the Republican politician “a courageous intellectual who knows history well, and doesn’t acquiesce to mumbo jumbo.”

Netanyahu’s natural allies – conservative evangelicals

Netanyahu doesn’t exactly maintain balanced relations with America’s two political camps. He is deeply rooted in the conservative camp, and shows disdain for the “naivete” of the Democratic party’s liberal wing, from which Barack Obama emerged. As with Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu, his natural allies are evangelicals and members of the Tea Party movement.

Netanyahu and his associates are close to the Christians United for Israel (CUFI) organization, which is comprised mainly of evangelicals who believe that Israel’s existence is a necessary precondition for the return of the Messiah, and the coming of redemption. In their eyes, Iranian President Ahmadinejad, who threatens to destroy Israel, is nothing less than an agent of Satan on earth.

Each year, Netanyahu delivers a satellite address to thousands of participants at CUFI’s conference in Washington. “Our enemies think that we are you and that you are us,” exclaimed Netanyahu at July’s CUFI conference. “You know something? They are absolutely right.”

An example of how closely the Christian right is tied to Netanyahu could be gleaned from an email distributed among tens of thousands of evangelical supporters prior to Netanyahu’s appearance at the UN this September. These activists were asked to fill out a form, and send letters of support to Netanyahu. “Prime Minister Netanyahu will be entering a lions den,” the email declared. “When it comes to Israel, the UN is hostile territory… Join me in telling Prime Minister Netanyahu that millions of Christians stand with him.”

When it comes to Israel, Evangelical Christians represent one of the strongest lobby groups on Capitol Hill. They exert powerful influence within the Republican party, and will play a part in the selection of its next candidate for the Presidency. That is a key reason why virtually all the Republican candidates vie with one another to release flamboyantly pro-Israel statements – they know that such utterances are music to the evangelicals’ ears.

“Evangelicals in the U.S. will support any Israeli prime minister,” one of Netanyahu’s aides explained. “But they regard Netanyahu as a rock star.” Whether or not he is a rock star, Netanyahu and his people know that in all likelihood, Barack Obama is not going anywhere. For Netanyahu, a second Obama Presidency will be another story altogether, not necessarily a good one.

Despite promises to clean up violent and xenophobic content from textbooks, recent editions in Saudi Arabia continue teach school children barbaric practices, Fox News reported.

The news network, which was able to obtain translated copies of the recently-printed books from the Institute for Gulf Affairs in Washington, DC, said that the books teaches ninth graders that the annihilation of Jews is imperative.

“The hour (of judgment) will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them,” one part reads. “There is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.”

The reviewed editions were printed for the 2010-2011 academic year.  Another book teaches 10th graders how to cut off the hands and feet of a thief.

“This is where terrorism starts, in the education system.” Ali Al-Ahmed, director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs, said, noting that the books were financed by the Saudi government.

In addition to coaching kids to kill Jews and amputate body parts, the text books depict women as weak and irresponsible. Moreover, al-Ahmed said the textbooks call for homosexuals to be put to death “because they pose a danger at society, as the Saudi school books teach.”

Suicide bomber education?

Al-Ahmed, as Saudi national, predicted that the extremist education within the kingdom could have devastation implications on the world at large.

“If you teach six million children in these important years of their lives, if you install that in their brain, no wonder we have so many Saudi suicide bombers.”

Most of the terrorists involved in September 11, 2001 attacks on the US were of Saudi origin, a fact that violently turned the West’s attention to the education system in the kingdom. In 2006, Saudi Ambassador to the US Prince Turki al-Faisal said that King Abdullah is determined to eradicate the hateful ideology in his country.

“In recent years, the kingdom has reviewed all of its education practices and materials and has removed any element that is inconsistent with the needs of a modern education,” al-Faisal said. “Not only have we eliminated what is objectionable from old textbooks that were in our system, we have also implemented a comprehensive internal revision and modernization plan. “

The Palestinian Authority is furious at Newt Gingrich for calling “Palestinians” an “invented people,” but a short history shows that Arabs in the British Mandate and modern Israel never considered themselves a people.

“Both historically and in contemporary times, the Arabs  living in the area now known as Palestine were regarded both by outsiders and by their own spokespeople as members of the greater Arab population, without a separate or distinct identity,” according to Prof. Michael Curtis of the Begin-Sadat  Center for Strategic Studies.

He concluded, “Whatever one’s views of Gingrich’s sagacity or judgment on other issues, or one’s opinions  on the more general issue of the desirability and character of a Palestinian state existing alongside the State of Israel, the accuracy of his statement cannot be denied…. The concept of Palestinian identity and nationalism is a recent invention.”

He noted that in 1919, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire that ruled in what is now Israel, the first Congress of Muslim-Christian Associations declared, “We consider Palestine as part of Arab Syria as it has never been separated from it at any time. We are connected with it by national, religious, linguistic, moral, economic, and geographical bonds.”

Similarly, “Palestinian” spokesman told the United Nations Security Council in 1956 that Palestine was nothing more than southern Syria.

Prof. Curtis added that in 1977, The head of the Military Operations Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Zuheir Muhsein, declared, “Only for political reasons do we carefully underline our Palestinian identity. …the existence of a separate Palestinian  identity is there for tactical reasons.” The PLO charter states that Palestine is part of the Arab nation.

“The Ottoman Empire, which ruled from 1516-1918,  was the last recognized sovereign power in the area,” explains Prof. Curtis. “The area of Palestine was a district of the Empire, officially a vilayet (province), not a political entity. No independent Palestinian state has ever been established, nor was there a single administrative or cultural unit of  Palestinians.

“On the other hand, a sovereign Jewish state existed prior to the rise of the Roman Empire. While the Romans destroyed the Second Temple, changed the name of the land to Syria Palestina, and banished the Jews from Jerusalem, this did not eradicate all Jewish presence in the area.”

Palestinian Authority officials have claimed that Israel also is “invented,” but Prof. Curtis wrote, “Jewish nationalism may include not only centuries-old traditions but also certain invented elements. What is important, however, is that  the  Jews constitute a  people – a set of individuals linked together not only by a common religion, but also as members of an ethnic community with memories of a shared past, common ceremonies and culture, and mutual legal codes, social behavior, myths and symbols. Between Jews there is a peoplehood, a subjective belief in their common descent from ancestors in Judea and Samaria.”

The term ”Palestine” as a definition of what now is Israel came into being after the  British chased out the Ottoman rulers. The League of Nations creates a “Mandate for Palestine,” which was handed over to Britain.

Both Jews and Arabs were regarded as “Palestinians,” and Prof. Curtis adds, “Ironically, the name was used not by Arabs but only by Jews in the area, as in The Palestinian Post and the Palestine Symphony (now Israel Philharmonic) Orchestra.

“Only after the State of Israel was established in May 1948 did the term “Palestinian” become exclusively used in referring to Arabs in the area. The single most important factor leading to the idea and development of a Palestinian national identity was the creation of Israel and the Arab defeat by Israel in 1948-49.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia formally called for the formation of a Gulf Union on a backdrop of regional unrest and growing tensions with rival Iran.

“I ask today that we move from a phase of cooperation to a phase of union within a single entity,” Abdullah said during his address at the opening session of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council conference in Riyadh.

“You must realise that our security and stability are threatened and we need to live up to our responsibilities,” said King Abdullah.

“Our summit opens in the shadow of challenges that require vigilance and a united stance,” he added.

The GCC — comprised of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates — was formed in 1981 as a security alliance to counter post-revolution Iran.

While Abdullah did not speak directly to the nature such a union might take, the six-member GCC has been openly discussing transforming their alliance into a unified diplomatic and military confederation for months now.

It has also been actively moving to expand its ranks. The GCC opened integration negotiations with Jordan earlier this month, and is engaged in exploratory talks with Morocco.

Last week GCC officials revealed they were making the inclusion of Egypt – the region’s most populous and militarily powerful Arab country – a priority.

The GCC nations have technically been at war with Israel since 1948, raising uncomfortable questions about the future of Israel’s treaties with Egypt and Jordan should those nations join.

The move also comes on the heels of the GCC flexing its muscles in the Arab League, where it moved to isolate key Iran ally Syria over the bloody crackdown of President Bashar al-Assad that has killed over 5,000 civilians.

In a clear reference to Syria, Abdullah urged his GCC allies to help their “Arab brothers so that the blood stops flowing and to guard against the risks of foreign intervention.”

Analysts say isolating Assad also weakens Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, the Shi’ite terror organization Hizbullah, which relies on Syria as a land-bridge to Tehran.

Earlier this year Abdullah met with Lebanon’s Saudi-educated former Lebanese Prime Minister Sa’ad Hariri, whose Future Movement is closely allied with the anti-Hizbullah opposition in Beirut.

According to the analysts, the move also makes it more difficult for Iran to maintain its insurgency in Iraq as the United States begins its final withdrawal from the war-torn country.

Iraqi leaders have long complained to U.S. officials that Riyadh and Tehran are respectively backing competing Sunni and Shi’ite insurgencies in their country.

If pro-Saudi opposition groups Lebanon and Syria were to come to power they too could be targeted for recruitment into Abdullah’s proposed union, as might Iraq.

Earlier this year Saudi Crown Prince Turki bin Faisal al Saud said, should Iran obtain nuclear weapons, that Riyadh would seek them as well.

Such a move would place the potentially nuclear armed Arab super-state on all of Israel’s borders.

One days’ worth of olive oil lasting for 8 days, was indeed, miraculous… but there is so much more to this holiday than meets the eye.

Chanukah is the miraculous story of the Jewish People, and as you will see -the story never ended.
It lives today in our times, through the miracle of the State of Israel, and the modern day Maccabees who stand alongside her.  Watch this short and powerful video from Jerusalem, for illuminating insights and fascinating perspectives into the holiday of Chanukah.

The Anti-Defamation League on Tuesday released a list of the top 10 issues affecting Jews in 2011, ranging from regional changes in the Middle East to anti-Semitism on social media websites.

The list began with the “profound transformation [taking place] across the Arab world,” known as the Arab Spring. Most notable in this phenomena were the ousters of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and the Syrian government’s bloody crackdown on civilian protests against its regime.

In the report, the ADL explained that social media websites have “remained one of the biggest bastions for spreading anti-Semitism and hate speech” and have left Internet providers the difficult task of defining free speech versus hate speech. Namely, Facebook administrators closed a page encouraging a “Third Palestinian Intifada” in March following complaints of incitement.

Next on the list was the Palestinian Authority’s campaign to achieve statehood in the UN, despite calls from world leaders to return to bilateral, direct negotiations with Israel. While the fate of Palestinian statehood in the Security Council is still unclear, a successful PA bid to join the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has led to the freezing of US funds to the UN agency.

The return of captured soldier Gilad Schalit to Israeli soil in an Israel-Hamas exchange that saw the release of 1,027 Palestinian and Arab prisoners also appeared on the list. The deal was brokered with German and Egyptian support, and “was difficult for the country to bear, but showed Israel’s deep commitment to the lives of each and every one of its citizen soldiers.”

The assassinations of al-Qaida leaders Osama bin Laden in May and Anwar al-Awlaki in September by the US were also featured, along with increasing concerns about religion in US politics, Holocaust trivialization, US immigration laws and the shooting of Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who is Jewish.

 By – Benjamin Kang Lim – Thomas Reuters

The source added that the military, which is trying to develop a nuclear arsenal, has pledged allegiance to the untested Kim Jong-un, who takes over the family dynasty that has ruled North Korea since it was founded after World War Two.

The source declined to be identified but has correctly predicted events in the past, telling Reuters about the North’s first nuclear test in 2006 before it took place.

The comments are the first signal that North Korea is following a course that many analysts have anticipated — it will be governed by a group of people for the first time since it was founded in 1948.

Both Kim Jong-il and his father Kim Il-sung were all-powerful, authoritarian rulers of the isolated state.
The situation in North Korea appeared stable after the military gave its backing to Kim Jong-un, the source said.

“It’s very unlikely,” the source said when asked about the possibility of a military coup. “The military has pledged allegiance to Kim Jong-un.”

North Korea’s collective leadership will include Kim Jong-un, his uncle and the military, the source said.
Jang Song-thaek, 65, brother-in-law of Kim Jong-il and the younger Kim’s uncle, is seen as the power behind the throne along with his wife Kim Kyong-hui, Kim Jong-il’s sister. So too is Ri Yong-ho, the rising star of the North’s military and currently its most senior general.

The younger Kim, who is in his late 20s, has his own supporters but is not strong enough to consolidate power, analysts said.

“I know that he’s been able to build a group of supporters around himself who are of his generation,” said Koh Yu-hwan, president of the Korean Association of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

“So it is not entirely elders in their 70s, plus some like Jang in their 60s, who are backing him. These young backers will be emerging fairly soon.”

Koh said the coterie was put in place by Kim Jong-il before he died. “The relative calm seen these few days shows it’s been effective. If things were not running smoothly, then we’d have seen a longer period of ‘rule by mummy’, with Kim Jong-il being faked as still being alive.”

He said the younger Kim would accept the set-up, for now. “Considering the tradition of strongarm rule by his father and grandfather, things can’t be easy for him,” he said.
“REGIME SURVIVAL”

Ralph Cossa, an authority on North Korea and president of the U.S. think tank Pacific Forum CSIS, said it made sense that the ruling group would stick together.

“All have a vested interest in regime survival,” he said. “Their own personal safety and survival is inextricably tied to regime survival and Kim Jong-un is the manifestation of this. I think the regime will remain stable, at least in the near-term.”

He added in a commentary that the new group may be inclined to reform, but stressed this was far from confirmed.

“Over the long term, there appears to be some hope, primarily emanating from Beijing, that Kim Jong-un will take North Korea down the path of Chinese-style reform, apparently based on the belief that Jang is or will be a ‘reformer’.”

“Who knows, this may be true. While this could relieve the suffering of the North Korean people over time, it will do little to promote the cause of denuclearization, however.”

The high-level source also said North Korea test-fired a missile on Monday to warn the United States not to make any moves against it. Pyongyang however had no immediate plans for further tests, barring an escalation of tensions.

“With the missile test, (North) Korea wanted to deliver the message that they have the ability to protect themselves,” the source said.

“But (North) Korea is unlikely to conduct a nuclear test in the near future unless provoked” by the United States and South Korea, the source said.

The unpredictable North’s nuclear program has been a nagging source of tension for the international community.

Pyongyang carried out nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, and has quit six-party talks with South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia on abandoning its nuclear program and returning to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The high-level source also said Beijing was only notified of Kim’s death earlier on Monday, the same day North Korean state television broadcast the news. Kim died on Saturday.

A leading South Korean newspaper reported on Wednesday China learned of Kim’s death soon after it occurred.

China has given no official comment or even hints suggesting it was told of Kim’s death before the public announcement.
Beijing, the North’s closest ally and biggest provider of aid, has pulled out the stops to support the younger Kim.

The government has invited him to visit and, in an unusual gesture, President Hu Jintao and Vice-President Xi Jinping also visited the hermit state’s embassy in Beijing to express their condolences. Roads leading to the embassy were blocked.

Mainly, the prospect of instability on its northeastern border worries China and it sees the younger Kim and his coterie as the best prospect for keeping North Korea on an even keel.

North Korea has been pressed by China to denuclearize and is willing to do so on condition that North and South Korea, the United States and China sign an armistice replacing a 1953 ceasefire agreement, the source said.

The two Koreas have been divided for decades and remain technically at war since their 1950-53 conflict ended with an armistice but no peace agreement. The United States backed the South, while China supported the North in that conflict.

Pyongyang is also convinced there are U.S. nuclear weapons in South Korea and demands Washington pull them out, the source said.