Its clear that as many adversaries as Israel has in the world, the U.S. is now moving rapidly towards the top of that list. A quick trip through Israel's history through the ages will reveal the fate of countries who have opposed Israel. It's not a pretty sight and it is unfortunate that no one seems to learn from history. A good read on the topic is "As America Has Done To Israel" by McTernan would be a good place to start researching this topic.
Today's news reveals the extent of this riff between the U.S. and Israel and its growing wider by the day. We'll see how this works out for the U.S.
As far as the situation with Iran - Netanyahu clearly knows that if Iran is to be stopped from acquiring nuclear weapons capability, it will be up to Israel and Israel alone to stop them and this would require military intervention. In this case, the powder-key will have been officially ignited in the region.
As they say in the Air Force, you know you are close to the target when you start getting a lot of flak. Obviously Netanyahu, in his speech, will be hovering very close to the target and that is what is ruffling the feathers of the U.S. regime:
[This is obviously directed towards the U.S.]
In his sharpest criticism yet, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said world powers “have given up” on stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons in ongoing negotiations.
Netanyahu made the comments Wednesday night at a meeting of his Likud Party outside of Jerusalem. They come as the prime minister plans to address the US Congress next week on the nuclear negotiations.
In his remarks, Netanyahu said that the greatest challenge Israel faces is “the threat of Iran arming itself with nuclear weapons with a declared goal of annihilating us.”
“From the agreement that is forming, it appears that they (world powers) have given up on that commitment (to thwart Iran) and are accepting that Iran will gradually, within a few years, develop capabilities to produce material for many nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said. “They might accept this but I am not willing to accept this.”
Netanyahu’s upcoming speech before Congress, which is openly opposed by the White House, some Democratic legislators and many within the US Jewish community, angered the Obama administration and US lawmakers, who charged that the invitation to address Congress disregarded diplomatic protocol and was an attempt by the prime minister to derail the US-brokered nuclear negotiations with Iran, Obama’s signature foreign policy objective.
Netanyahu said he respects President Barack Obama but stressed he has no choice but to travel to America to lobby against a nuclear deal with Iran.
“I respect the White House and the US president but on a serious subject, it’s my duty to do everything for Israel’s security,” Netanyahu said during a campaign rally at a West Bank settlement.
“Under the agreement that is being prepared, we have reason to worry… if the world powers have reached an agreement with Iran,” he added.
[Huh?]
Amid a barrage of criticism from Obama administration officials at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his upcoming speech before Congress, Secretary of State John Kerry attacked Netanyahu’s judgment by implying Wednesday that he publicly advocated for the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The latest spat signals a further nosedive in relations between Netanyahu and the White House over a disagreement on how to tackle Iran’s nuclear program.
“The prime minister was profoundly forward-leaning and outspoken about the importance of invading Iraq,” Kerry told the House Foreign Affairs Committee, in an apparent attempt to delegitimatize Netanyahu’s evaluation of the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear program.
Netanyahu “may have a judgment that just may not be correct here,” Kerry said.
In 2002, as a private citizen, Netanyahu sounded the alarm on Iraqi WMDs during a talk to a Congressional committee.
Kerry, then a senator, voted in favor of the US invasion of Iraq on October 11, 2002.
Kerry’s comments came less than day after US National Security Adviser Susan Rice blasted Netanyahu for damaging ties between the two close allies.
Rice faulted both Netanyahu and Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner, who extended the invitation to the prime minister, for creating the current “destructive” situation.
In a searing rebuke of the Israeli prime minister, US National Security Adviser Susan Rice warned Tuesday that Prime Minister’s Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming speech in front of a joint session of Congress has cast a partisan pall over the ties between the two close allies and threatened “the fabric of the relationship.”
In an interview with Charlie Rose on PBS, Rice faulted both Netanyahu and the Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner, who extended the invitation to the prime minister to address Congress on Iran, for creating the current “destructive” situation.
“What has happened over the last several weeks, by virtue of the invitation that was issued by the speaker and the acceptance of it by Prime Minister Netanyahu, two weeks in advance of his election, is that on both sides there has now been injected a degree of partisanship which is not only unfortunate; it’s destructive of the fabric of the relationship,” she said.
Netanyahu’s speech is controversial because it puts Israel on a collision course with the Obama administration as it negotiates with Iran over its nuclear program — talks that in their current form could lead to a deal that potentially poses an existential risk to Israel, Netanyahu has warned. Thus, he intends to argue before Congress on March 3 that the international community should increase its pressure on Iran, rather than ease sanctions against it under the reported terms of the emerging nuclear deal.
A fire broke out early Thursday morning in a Greek Orthodox seminary in Jerusalem in what police suspect may be a hate crime. No one was injured.
The fire started at approximately 4 a.m. in the bathrooms of the seminary.
The walls of the building were vandalized with ultra-nationalist and racist graffiti.
“Jesus is a son of a whore” and “Redemption of Zion” were among the slogans painted in the areas surrounding the bathrooms.
Three teams of firefighters were called to the seminary, which is located near the Jaffa Gate of the Old City, and quickly extinguished the flames, preventing it from spreading through the rest of the building.
Emergency personnel searched the area but did not find any suspects at the scene.
Jerusalem police have opened an investigation into the incident as a hate crime.
Mayor Nir Barkat condemned the alleged arson and promised to follow the case as it develops. “There is no room for such deplorable activity in Jerusalem,” he said in a statement. “We must eradicate this behavior and bring those responsible to justice.”
Jews should think twice before wearing a yarmulka in certain areas of Germany, the head of the country’s Jewish umbrella group warned Thursday.
“The question is whether it makes sense to be recognizable as Jews in certain areas… by wearing a yarmulka, or whether it’s better to wear a different head covering. This is indeed a development that I didn’t see five years ago and that is a little frightening.”
In an interview with a Berlin-based radio station, Schuster said such areas include “problematic quarters,” particularly in Berlin but also elsewhere in Germany, “and districts with strong Muslim populations.”
Jews and Jewish institutions feel safe in Germany, Schuster said, adding, however, that he still asked authorities to boost security. “It is certainly necessary to improve security especially for smaller and medium-sized Jewish communities.”
The number of anti-Semitic hate crimes increased in Germany in recent years. While in 2013, some 790 such cases were registered, last year the number climbed to 1076, according to Spiegel Online, the country’s leading news portal, quoting yet unpublished government figures.
One of Schuster’s predecessors, Charlotte Knobloch, advised German Jews not to make themselves recognizable as such in public. But Schuster rejected such recommendations. “Hiding is not the right way,” he said, calling on communities and institutions to present themselves confidently to the public. “Jewish communities should open up and show themselves, because only something that is known causes no fear.”
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