David Singer: Trump and Netanyahu Ready to Create History in Judea and Samaria

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

President Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are readying to create history together on 1 July when Israel restores Jewish sovereignty after 3000 years in 1697km² [square kilometers] of territory comprising 30% of Judea and Samaria – the Jewish People's biblical and ancient heartland.

About 65000 Arabs – 5% of the Arab population of Judea and Samaria – and 450000 Jews live in the area proposed for Jewish sovereignty.

The road forward has been made possible after Netanyahu was unanimously confirmed as Israel’s next Prime Minister by 11 judges of Israel’s Supreme Court.

Trump’s map (pictured below) gives practical expression to the following international treaties and documents justifyingIsrael’s proposed action:

• The San Remo Resolution and Treaty of Sevres in 1920

• The League of Nations Mandate for Palestine in 1922

• Article 80 of the UN Charter

Trump’s translation of a dream – begun 100 years ago at San Remo – into a miraculous reality for the Jewish people in July2020 – should be welcomed by every Jew worldwide – privileged to be the generation to see this amazing reaffirmation of the Jewish People’s past history coming alive again.

Instead, this momentous occasion is being met with opposition by many Jewish organisations, media and individuals concerned at what they call “West Bank Annexation” – the identical language used by the UN and EU, PLO and Arab League in opposing Israel’s action.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Restoring Jewish sovereignty in Judea and Samaria –      designated for reconstitution of the Jewish National Home by the international community 100 years ago – is not “West Bank annexation”.

Trump and Netanyahu – therefore – would certainly not have welcomed the publication in the New York Times of an article by Middle East Forum President – Daniel Pipes – headlined “Annexing the West Bank would hurt Israel”.

Pipes opposes Israel’s decision for six reasons:

• President Trump could well erupt in fury at Israel for “unilaterally acting”on 1 July

• “Annexation”would alienate and weaken Israel’s diminishing number of friends in the Democratic Party and in Europe

• “Unilateral Israeli annexation”could end Israel’sexpanding ties with Sunni Arab states.

• “Annexation”could destabilize “Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza”.

• “Annexation”is sure to alienate Israel’s Leftwhich would lead probably to a contingent of Israeli Zionists turning anti-Zionist, with some Israelis leaving the country in disgust

• “Annexation”would be likely to make more Palestinians eligible to become citizens of Israel. 

Two of Pipes’s reasons suggesting “unilateral action” by Israel are simply untrue.

The remaining four will not deter Netanyahu from proceeding to realise this epic milestone in the history of the Jewish People – simultaneously strengthening Israel’s ability to protect the safety and security of its citizens against those Arab neighbours who seek its destruction.

Pipes asks: “And what does annexation actually achieve?”

His answer indicates he has no conception of the miracle unfolding before his very eyes:

“It is a symbolic move, a gesture toward Israelis living on the West Bank in legal limbo. But annexation does not extricate them from that limbo, since it is likely that no important government in the world would recognize their change in legal status.”

This is no symbolic move. The territory involved may be miniscule but this moment in the timeline of the Jewish People is also highly significant for mankind.

Those Jews who returned to reclaim Judea and Samaria following the Six Day War in1967 – after every Jew living there was driven out in 1948 – will be finally recognized and vindicated. Words count.  Pipes – like so many other critical Jews – is sadly missing the big picture.

Author’s note: The cartoon – commissioned exclusively for this article – is by Yaakov Kirschen aka “Dry Bones” – one of Israel’s foremost political and social commentators – whose cartoons have graced the columns of Israeli and international media publications for decades. His cartoons can be viewed at Drybonesblog

Bibi: "[Israel's] Tsunami of Diplomatic, Economic, Security & Technological Ties"

First, Bibi on a historic day:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc1d30mCHbo

And, now, here's part of what Bibi has told the Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=OsJjUC0MtmA

"There is only one regime today left that openly, unequivocally, brazenly calls for Israel's destruction....

These are two important challenges that we have as we expand our network of alliances. But, its progress is undeniable, except for Iran. Iran stands out by not merely threating us; Iran is threatening the entire world. And if Iran continues unabated, they will have a nuclear arsenal of 100 bombs and more. Within a decade they'll have a capacity to enrich uranium on a vast scale and break not to one bomb but to 100 bombs. This has to be stopped. Not merely because Iran calls for the annihilation of Israel, but because Iran wants to conquer the entire Middle East and go even beyond that. It's developing ICBMs to reach any point on earth. It is an aggressive regime, it exports terrorism, it fires missiles into Saudi Arabia, it is seeking a land bridge. This is what Iran is trying to do.

Iran is trying to build an empire – Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon from Yemen to Gaza, ultimately they want to conquer the Middle East. We will not let them establish themselves in Syria. We will not do it. We say what we mean and we mean what we say and we do whatever is necessary to prevent that. But equally, I think this is not merely an Israeli interest. This is your interest.

So today I have one request for every diplomat in this conference. Immediately after my speech, please draft a cable to your country's foreign minister, my counterpart, or to the president or to the prime minister, and ask them to apply more pressure on Iran, which can be done in many ways. I think you can highlight the plights of the jailed human rights activists in Evin Prison in Iran or speak out against Iran's hanging of gay people, or advocate for the rights of Christians and Bahais who are denied any semblance of rights in Iran, or levy new sanctions in light of Iran's brazen violations of its international obligations, like their violation of the UN Security Council resolutions on missiles. Demand an end to Iran's incitement to genocide, a clear violation of the Geneva Convention. Join our American friends in creating a better nuclear deal, one that does not guarantee Iran will have enough enriched uranium to produce 100 bombs or more within a decade.

But above all, if you want to support peace and security, you want to stop this regime, above all, before anything else, do what I do, support the Iranian people. I speak to them. I sent them yesterday another video. It's passed the million mark, I think. And we get many, many responses from Iran. Above all, support those whom the Iranian regime fears most. Their own people. Help them.

Countering Iranian aggression will significantly aid the fight against Islamist terror, it will strengthen regional stability, it will keep us all safe, it will promote peace. 95 per cent of the problems in the region emanate from Iran. Hezbollah wouldn’t last a day without the scaffolding provided by Iran. Hamas is dependent on Iran. The aggression you see throughout the region from the Bab el-Mandeb Straits across the region is Iran. Do this to ensure security, do this to protect the flames of liberty and the flames of progress. Delaying these actions will be a grievous error. Terrorists who are not confronted get bolder with time. And the appetite of expansion, Iran's expansion, grows stronger with time.

A regime that openly calls for the annihilation of one democracy will not stop there. It will continue. We have to stop Iran now. I ask that you act now. If you're not on the map, call me. If you are on the map, act against Iran."

More, on that "tsunami":

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLP1I-z_9Uo

Ahead of His Visit Down Under, Prominent Australians Sign Anti-Netanyahu Petition

On a current "as-a-Jew" petition

I recently blogged about APAN (the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network) and its president Bishop Browning.

Aussie Israel hater friend rants

APAN works assiduously to undermine Israel's cause in the public arena, and the bishop has succeeded in getting three score prominent and so-called prominent Australians to sign a statement opposing Bibi Netanyahu's imminent visit to Australia.

This motley assemblage includes campaigning (New Matilda, ABC) Israel-basher Michael Brull, lefty feminist Sara Dowse, actress Miriam Margolyes (who has dual British/Australian citizenship), academics Peter Slezak and Marcelo Svirsky, and Marrickville Council BDSer Cathy Peters  (all of Jewish background and all with form regarding Israel), and  personages from various fields including mega-wealthy businesswoman Janet Holmes à Court, former Labor politician Laurie Ferguson and academics Stuart Rees and Jake Lynch, both of whom need no introduction to this blog's readers. An assemblage of persons "prominent" for anti-Israel activity and sentiment for the most part, though to me Janet comes as a surprise.

Aussie Bibi/Israel-hater friends rant

More here

And here


"Apartheid ... BDS ... Colonisation".   Those well-worn words waft into the eardrums from this speaker at today's "Melbourne Says No to Netanyahu Rally" outside the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne.

Endorsed by a network of usual suspects including leftist as-a-Jews (Palestinian Community Association (PCA); Australians for Palestine;Women for Palestine; Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA); Australian Jewish Democratic Society (AJDS); Casey for Palestine) the demo's more than a tad redundant, since, to the disappointment of his many fans in "The Shtetl by the Yarra," Bibi will not be visiting Melbourne during his imminent visit to Australia.

 

 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-eGCUVguGI)

  
The odious AJDS has started an "as a jew petition" protesting Bibi's visit Down Under which as well as those of Miriam Margolyes and the usual crowd contains the signatures of a curious number of ostensible Anglo-Celts and persons living in tiny outback towns that it takes an atlas to locate.  It seems that even the AJDS smells a rat or two, since it stresses that the petition is for Australian Jews only and that persons who are not Australian Jews should remove their names.

Great speech (as usual) from Bibi:

 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boZZEGFJBik)

David Singer: Bush, Obama, Russia, EU and UN buried under Trump Landslide

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

President Trump has buried the Bush Roadmap and any lingering hope for the creation of a second Arab State (“the two-state solution”) – in addition to Jordan – in the territory designated under the 1922 Mandate for Palestine.

This inevitability follows Trump’s failure at a White House joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on 15 February to reaffirm the written commitments made by President Bush to Israel in his letter dated 14 April 2004 – overwhelmingly endorsed by the Congress by 502 votes to 12 (“Bush Congress-Endorsed Commitments”).

President Bush had been urged to do so just the day before by veteran US peace negotiator Dennis Ross – who stated it would have: 

“significant implications, both because it was recognizing settlement blocs referred to in the letter as major population centers, but also because it said that no agreement can involve going back to the 1949 Armistice lines or the equivalent of June 4, 1967.” 

Similar calls had also been made by:

* Michael Oren - Israel’s former Ambassador to Washington and currently Deputy Minister in Netanyahu’s Prime Minister’s office

* Tzipi Livni – former Israeli Foreign Minister who had led negotiations for Israel with the Palestinian Authority in the peace talks brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry from July 2013 until April 2014.

* Danny Ayalon – Former Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister.

Former Israeli United Nations ambassador and until recently the Director General of Israel’s Foreign Ministry,  Dore Gold, had been concerned as far back as 9 June 2009 that President Obama was not going to reaffirm the Bush Congress-Endorsed Commitments:

"For example, it still needs to be clarified whether the Obama administration feels bound by the April 14, 2004, Bush letter to Sharon on defensible borders and settlement blocs, which was subsequently ratified by large bipartisan majorities in both the US Senate (95:3) and the House of Representatives (407:9) on June 23-24, 2004. Disturbingly, on June 1, 2009, the State Department spokesman, Robert Wood, refused to answer repeated questions about whether the Obama administration viewed itself as legally bound by the Bush letter. It would be better to obtain earlier clarification of that point, rather than having both countries expend their energies over an issue that may not be the real underlying source of their dispute."

Obama’s clarification never came.

Even Netanyahu – just before boarding a plane to see Obama in the White House in May 2011 – had said he expected: 

“to hear a reaffirmation from President Obama of American commitments made to Israel in 2004 which were overwhelmingly supported by both Houses of Congress.” 

Netanyahu never received that affirmation then – nor did he from Trump now.

Their reasons however are very different.

Obama proceeded to trash those commitments made with one of America’s closest allies with disastrous consequences for America’s foreign policy, its reputation and integrity.

Trump however had difficulty in reaffirming all of Bush’s commitments because one of them stated: 

“ the United States remains committed to my vision and to its implementation as described in the roadmap. The United States will do its utmost to prevent any attempt by anyone to impose any other plan” 

Trump doesn’t like long negotiations without any deal – and Trump wants to cut a deal.

Trump has accordingly ditched the Bush two-state solution – endorsed by Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. It now joins the diplomatic graveyard housing other two-state solutions proposed by

* the 1937 Peel Commission

* the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan,

* the 1993 Oslo Accords and

* Israel in 2000/2001 and 2008.

The Arabs have missed yet another opportunity to end the 100 years old Arab-Jewish conflict.

David Singer: Trump-Netanyahu Meeting Set to Expose Obama’s Collusion on Resolution 2334

Here's the latest article by Sydney lawyer and international affairs analyst David Singer.

He writes:

One of the intriguing aspects of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to the White House on 15 February will be the evidence he produces to President Trump to establish former President Obama’s collusion in promoting Security Council Resolution 2334.

America abstained from voting on Resolution 2334 – but the language used in that Resolution was inimical to the national interests of Israel and the Jewish people by declaring that:

* the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, had no legal validity and constituted a flagrant violation under international law

 * Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem

This language identifies as “Palestinian territory”:

* the centuries old Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem,

* the site of the First and Second Temples, 

* the Western Wall, 

* the Mount of Olives Jewish Cemetery, 

* Rachel’s Tomb, 

* the Machpelah, and 

* Judea and Samaria

–  and seeks to erase the legal rights vested in the Jewish people to reconstitute the Jewish National  Home in these areas under the 1922 League of Nations Mandate for Palestine.

Such language gives credence to the PLO claim that the Mandate – a critical building block in the 100 years old Arab-Jewish conflict – is null and void.

Resolution 2334 contravenes Article 80 of the United Nations Charter - exceeding the Security Council’s powers and condemning the hypocrisy of the Security Council which sanctimoniously professes to be concerned about “legal validity” and “international law”.

The Egyptian newspaper Al-Youm Al-Sabea was the first to allege American collusion in promoting Resolution 2334  – claiming to have a transcript of a meeting in December – prior to the passage of Resolution 2334  – between Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, US Secretary of State John Kerry, and US National Security Advisor Susan Rice in which Kerry said the US was prepared to cooperate with the Palestinians at the Security Council.

White House National Security Council spokesman Ned Price claimed no such tripartite meeting took place and that the "transcript" was a total fabrication – although he admitted Erekat had met with Kerry and Rice separately.

Netanyahu issued a Press Release on 28 December 2016 declaring:

“We have it on absolutely incontestable evidence that the United States organized, advanced and brought this resolution to the United Nations Security Council. We'll share that information with the incoming administration. Some of it is sensitive, it's all true. You saw some of it in the protocol released in an Egyptian paper. There's plenty more; it's the tip of the iceberg.”

Netanyahu’s claim that some of the information is sensitive suggests that there has been an interception of emails or other classified American documents emanating from Obama or Kerry’s offices.

America’s cybersecurity record has been appalling – as the hacking of the Democrats web site and Hillary Clinton’s emails and private server has shown.

Netanyahu’s description of the transcript held by the Egyptian newspaper as “the tip of the iceberg” suggests Israel holds a Wiki-style treasure trove of incriminating documents.

Sensational claims of Israel-hacking will doubtless fuel the media.

There appears to be no evidence that this material has yet been given to the Trump Administration. If it had – some leak would surely have emerged by now.

Netanyahu’s visit to the White House presents the perfect opportunity to personally hand his evidence to President Trump - enabling him to decide whether to disclose such evidence publicly or not.

Netanyahu’s moment exposing Obama’s betrayal of Israel is fast approaching.

[Author’s Note: The Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry was asked to confirm or deny some of the facts in this article but no response was received]