podesta_email_01727.txt

podesta-emails 3,186 words email

P17 V12 V11 D6 V16

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http://www.centerpeace.org ** Israel and the Middle East News Update ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Thursday, September 3 ------------------------------------------------------------ Click here for a printer-friendly version. (http://www.centerpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/September-3.pdf) Headlines: * Israeli Official: We Assessed it’s a Done Deal * Netanyahu to Continue Vocal Opposition to Deal * Iran Deal Reigniting Israeli Fears Over U.S. Arms Sales * Knesset Advances Controversial Anti-Terror Bill * IDF Strikes Gaza After Sniper Fire Hits Israeli Homes * France Drops Investigation Into Yasser Arafat's Death * NGO Petitions High Court to Prevent Closure in Silwan * SodaStream Chief Accuses Boycotters of Anti-Semitism Commentary: * The New Yorker: “Iran- a Done Deal" - By Robin Wright * Ha'aretz: “Netanyahu Understands Nothing About U.S. in 2015” - By Barak Ravid ** Galey Tzahal ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Israeli Official: We Assessed it’s a Done Deal ------------------------------------------------------------ A government source admitted that Israel had soberly assessed that the chances were slim that it could shoot down the nuclear agreement with Iran in the American Congress but said that it was Israel’s duty to say its piece in this argument. He said that there was a sense that Israel was not paying a price for the public clash with the Obama administration, and in fact, Israel’s great opposition to the agreement had increased what it would receive in exchange. He also said that there was great value to Israel’s insistence on sticking to its position and to the warnings it issued because there was no doubt that the world would be stricter about Iran and would be suspicious of it. See also, “Gov't finds victory in defeat on Iran, says official” (Ynet News) (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4697088,00.html) ** Jerusalem Post ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Netanyahu to Continue Vocal Opposition to Deal (http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Netanyahu-to-continue-vocal-opposition-despite-Obama-gaining-enough-votes-to-secure-deal-415027) ------------------------------------------------------------ Prime Minister Netanyahu, who has argued fiercely against the Iran nuclear deal, will continue to speak out strongly against it, government sources said, even though US President Barack Obama on Wednesday secured the 34th vote needed to sustain a presidential veto. “The prime minister has a responsibility to speak out against the deal that threatens this country, the region and the world,” one government official said. “And he will continue to do so.” Despite US Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Maryland) providing Obama with the vote necessary to prevent an override of his veto if Congress votes, the official said the accord “remains a dangerous deal.” ** Ha’aretz ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Deal Reigniting Israeli Fears Over U.S. Arms Sales (http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.673576) ------------------------------------------------------------ The confrontation between the Netanyahu government and the Obama administration over the nuclear agreement brings to mind a row that took place 34 years earlier: the battle between the Begin government and the Reagan administration over the sale of AWACS (airborne warning and control systems) to Saudi Arabia. Back in 1981, the new Reagan administration decided to sell AWACS to Saudi Arabia, which provoked great dismay in Israel. While Washington viewed the AWACS deal as an opportunity to promote a strategic dialogue with moderate Arab states and to provide them with means of self-defense as the Iran-Iraq War was in full swing, Israel’s government was fiercely opposed to strengthening the offensive capacity of any Arab state. ** Times of Israel ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Knesset Advances Controversial Anti-Terror Bill (http://www.timesofisrael.com/knesset-advances-controversial-anti-terror-bill/) ------------------------------------------------------------ The Knesset advanced late Wednesday night a controversial bill that significantly broadens the definition of terrorism and toughens punishment for many offenses deemed terror-related. The parliament voted 45 in favor and 14 against the legislation on its first reading. The bill widens the definition of terrorist acts and organizations and lengthens punishments for terror-related offenses, including providing for equal punishment for perpetrators of terrorist attacks and their abettors. The bill now heads to the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee. ** Times of Israel ------------------------------------------------------------ ** IDF Strikes Gaza After Sniper Fire Hits Israeli Homes (http://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-strike-gaza-after-sniper-fire-hits-israeli-homes/) ------------------------------------------------------------ The IDF struck a Hamas target in the northern Gaza Strip early Thursday morning in response to sniper fire at an Israeli town a day earlier. The IDF confirmed that Israeli jets struck a Hamas military base from which the shooting supposedly came. A Hamas media outlet in Gaza reported that Israeli helicopters fired two missiles. There were no immediate reports of injuries in the strike. The stray bullets were apparently fired from a Hamas training camp in the Gaza Strip, and hit an Israeli home in a kibbutz adjacent to the Palestinian enclave Wednesday evening, causing damage but no injuries. ** Ha’aretz ------------------------------------------------------------ ** France Drops Investigation Into Yasser Arafat's Death (http://www.haaretz.com/news/world/1.674202) ------------------------------------------------------------ French investigating magistrates have decided to drop an inquiry into the death in France of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, whose widow alleged he was poisoned, the prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday. A lawyer for his widow Suha Arafat, who has argued that his death in 2004 was a political assassination, told Reuters that they would challenge the decision in an appeals court. Arafat, who signed the 1993 Oslo interim peace accord with Israel but led an uprising after subsequent talks broke down in 2000, died aged 75 in a French hospital four weeks after falling ill. The official cause of death was a massive stroke, but French doctors were unable at the time to determine the origin of the illness and no autopsy was carried out. An investigation was opened in August 2012 at the request of Suha Arafat, and his remains were exhumed for tests that were examined separately by French, Russian and Swiss experts. The Swiss reported their results were consistent with but not proof of poisoning by reactive polonium. The French concluded he did not die of poisoning and experts were reported to have found no traces of polonium in his body. ** Jerusalem Post ------------------------------------------------------------ ** NGO Petitions High Court to Prevent Closure in Silwan (http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Archaeological-NGO-petitions-High-Court-to-prevent-closure-of-area-in-Jerusalem-neighborhood-415024) ------------------------------------------------------------ Emek Shaveh, a consortium of archeologists representing residents of Jerusalem’s Silwan neighborhood, petitioned the High Court on Wednesday to prevent the closure of “Area G” of the City of David archeological site, located south of the Old City. Emek Shaveh said the petition was filed against the Nature and Parks Authority, which it accuses of colluding the Ir David Foundation (Elad) to close off public and archeological areas previously open to all residents and visitors of Silwan. Elad operates the City of David National Park, adjacent to Area G. “The closing of Area G, which has been open to the public since the British Mandate in the 1920s, began two months ago with construction of fences and gates around the area, making it possible to lock it,” the petition states. ** AP ------------------------------------------------------------ ** SodaStream Chief Accuses Boycotters of Anti-Semitism (http://www.timesofisrael.com/sodastream-chief-accuses-boycotters-of-anti-semitism/) ------------------------------------------------------------ The CEO of SodaStream, the beverage maker that is shuttering its West Bank factory in the face of international boycott calls, accused his company’s critics Wednesday of anti-Semitism and hurting the interests of the Palestinian workers they claim to protect. SodaStream has been targeted by an international campaign calling for boycotting, divesting and sanctioning Israeli companies. Citing financial reasons, SodaStream announced it was closing the West Bank factory last year, but the so-called BDS movement declared victory and said its pressure was behind the decision. ** The New Yorker – September 3, 2015 ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Iran: A Done Deal (http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/iran-a-done-deal) ------------------------------------------------------------ By Robin Wright The riskiest gamble of the Obama Presidency, the nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran, was basically won today. A rancorous congressional debate is still to come, but thirty-four senators have now vowed to support the deal, effectively blocking efforts on the Hill to eventually kill it. The diplomacy will almost certainly be the centerpiece of Obama’s foreign-policy legacy. Opponents haven’t given up. The Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump, the Texas senator Ted Cruz, and the conservative talk-show host Glenn Beck are planning a “Stop the Iran Deal” rally at the Capitol, on September 9th, the day after Congress returns from recess and begins to debate the terms. The rally is co-sponsored by Tea Party Patriots, the Zionist Organization of America, and the Center for Security Policy. It’s likely to be as colorful as it is combative. On “Meet the Press” last month, Trump warned that the deal would be a boon to the Iranians. “They are going to be such a wealthy, such a powerful nation,” he said. “They are going to have nuclear weapons. They are going to take over parts of the world that you wouldn’t believe. And I think it’s going to lead to nuclear holocaust.” Former Vice-President Dick Cheney has joined the debate. He is scheduled to give a major address on Iran in Washington next week, at the American Enterprise Institute. “Nearly everything the president has told us about his Iranian agreement is false,” Cheney wrote on Friday, in a Wall Street Journal piece adapted from his book. “He has said it will prevent the Iranians from acquiring nuclear weapons, but it will actually facilitate and legitimize an Iranian nuclear arsenal. He has said this deal will stop nuclear proliferation, but it will actually accelerate it, as nations across the Middle East work to acquire their own weapons in response to America’s unwillingness to stop the Iranian nuclear program.” The focus in Washington is already shifting, however, to whether the Democrats might be able to win seven more endorsements—for a total of forty-one—to invoke a filibuster that would prevent the deal from even coming to a vote in the Senate. Republicans, with limited Democratic support, have been hoping to pass a Resolution of Disapproval in both the Senate and the House by September 17th. Obama pledged that he would veto it. Support from thirty-four senators now means that the President would be able to sustain his veto—if it comes to that. “We’ve always said that our goal was for the Administration to be able to implement this deal—whatever that took in Congress,” a senior Administration official told me Wednesday. Taking a swipe at Republicans, the official added, “We appreciate those who have taken this seriously, as opposed to, for example, the forty-seven senators who announced their opposition in a letter to the Ayatollah, months before the agreement was even finalized.” So far, the prospects of the Democrats blocking a vote altogether are sketchy. Even support for the nuclear agreement—announced on July 24th, after twenty months of tortured diplomacy between Iran and the world’s six major powers—is either tepid or reluctant in both houses of Congress. Senator Barbara Mikulski, a Democrat from Maryland who retires next year, became the decisive thirty-fourth voice in the Senate on Wednesday. Her views reflected those of many fellow-Democrats. “No deal is perfect, especially one negotiated with the Iranian regime,” Mikulski said. “I have concluded that this Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is the best option available to block Iran from having a nuclear bomb. For these reasons, I will vote in favor of this deal.” She, like many others, had caveats. “However, Congress must also reaffirm our commitment to the safety and security of Israel,” she said. Democrats have forty-four seats in the Senate. Ten members have not yet declared how they will vote. The lobbying has been ferocious, the media blitz of anti-deal television ads sometimes apocalyptic. Two Democratic senators—Charles Schumer, of New York, and Robert Menendez, of New Jersey—have announced opposition to the deal. The New Jersey Democrat Cory Booker is among those facing particular pressure from constituents and donors on both sides. Maryland’s Ben Cardin is also reportedly torn. Secretary of State John Kerry, in a push to mobilize more votes, sent separate letters to the Senate and the House today, pledging to work with Congress on new legislation that would guarantee the security of allies, notably Israel and the Gulf countries, as well as check Iran’s behavior in the region. Israel’s security, Kerry wrote, is “sacrosanct.” Kerry also made an emotional final pitch for the deal, before congressional debate begins next week, in a speech in Philadelphia. “The outcome will matter as much as any foreign-policy decision in recent history,” he said. “To vote down this agreement is to solve nothing. . . . To oppose this agreement is—whether intended or not—to recommend . . . a policy of national paralysis. It is to take us back directly to the very dangerous spot that we were in two years ago—only to go back there devoid of any realistic plan or option.” The White House has long claimed that the deal with Iran was about only one issue and does not represent an attempt at rapprochement between Washington and Tehran. But the Administration’s arguments increasingly hint at future possibilities. “The Iran agreement is not a panacea for the sectarian and extremist violence that has been ripping that region apart,” Kerry said in Philadelphia. “But history may judge it a turning point, a moment when the builders of stability seized the initiative from the destroyers of hope, and when we were able to show, as have generations before us, that when we demand the best from ourselves and insist that others adhere to a similar high standard—when we do that, we have immense power to shape a safer and a more humane world.” Iranian officials have begun using similar language to sell the deal. Ali Larijani, the Speaker of Parliament, is in New York for meetings at the United Nations. In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday, he called the agreement “a beginning for a better understanding for other issues as well.” A more “realistic approach and attitude” by the United States toward Iran would be reciprocated, he said. Larijani is a powerful figure and a conservative. The son of a grand ayatollah, he is a former Presidential candidate. One of his brothers heads the Iranian judiciary, while another heads a human-rights council. Larijani also met Tuesday with a few former congressmen and discussed possible exchanges, according to two people who were present at the meeting. The White House hopes that the congressional debate will be resolved before the opening of the U.N. General Assembly at the end of September, when President Obama and Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani are both scheduled to speak, on the same day. ** Ha’aretz– September 3, 2015 ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Netanyahu Understands Nothing About U.S. in 2015 (http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.674243) ------------------------------------------------------------ In his headlong crash into the wall vis-à-vis the Iran deal, Netanyahu took with him many innocent victims; one might have hoped that this would cause him to reevaluate his policies, but this is not likely to happen. By Barak ravid The announcement by veteran U.S. senator Barbara Mikulski that she supports the nuclear accord with Iran marked President Obama’s victory in his attempt to pass the deal through the U.S. Congress. It was also testimony to the rout of senior figures in the Republican Party, the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who have all tried in recent months to use every means at their disposal to thwart ratification of the accord. Netanyahu’s defeat may be even greater. In the time remaining until the Senate vote, expected to take place around September 10, Obama and his people will try to recruit the support of seven additional Democratic senators. If they succeed and get 41 senators on board, they could conduct a filibuster in the Senate. That way, there will be no vote on the proposition to oppose the accord and Obama won’t need to use his veto. Given his present momentum, such an achievement is not unthinkable. As on many previous occasions, Netanyahu knowingly or unknowingly embarked on a futile course that led him to a resounding debacle in the arena most dear to him. In recent weeks, Netanyahu has told cabinet ministers, American Jewish leaders and journalists that he believes there is a chance to block the nuclear accord in Congress. Dermer, who met more than 200 senators and congressmen in recent months, also radiated optimism. In conversations with right-wing journalists a few weeks ago he explained that the trending sentiment in the Senate is against the accord and that people in Israel don’t understand U.S. politics. Some journalists bought into this and echoed him at every opportunity, creating the impression that Congress will very soon cast the deal into history’s dustbin. If Netanyahu and Dermer didn’t mean what they were saying, they were brazenly lying. But that is apparently not the case. More likely, as in the past, the Netanyahu-Dermer duo seriously miscalculated political realities in the United States. Their failure in understanding congressional dynamics was a replay of their misreading of the situation during the 2012 presidential elections when, together with their patron, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, they put all their chips on Republican candidate Mitt Romney. In sessions dealing with security-diplomatic issues since 2009, Netanyahu repeatedly told cabinet ministers or senior officials who ventured to give him advice on relations with the United States: “Leave America to me.” Netanyahu believes he is the foremost expert on American politics, but it again turns out that the America he knows has changed. He is familiar with the Republican and conservative America of the 1980s, but knows nothing about the Democratic and progressive America of 2015. The problem is that in his headlong crash into the wall, he took with him many innocent victims. With his forceful interference in Congress’ approach to the accord, he turned Israel into a divisive issue in U.S. politics. In his calls on American Jews to support him and not their president, he ripped the fabric of American Jewry. His fight with Obama caused grave damage to U.S.-Israeli relations, with implications that will be apparent in the coming year. One might have hoped that Wednesday’s events would stop Netanyahu and cause him to take stock, to examine where he went wrong and formulate new policies. Apparently, this will not happen. The first reactions from his bureau indicated the opposite. He intends to continue fighting the deal. After failing in Congress, he will take the fight to American public opinion. We can expect to see him on every possible U.S. media outlet in the next few weeks, with one message: Obama may have won on technicalities, but if the public doesn’t support him, the deal has no legitimacy and will collapse or be altered when Obama leaves office. ============================================================ S. 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