Jewocity Reports: Republican Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum, declared on Thursday that The Obama Administration had “thrown Israel under a bus.” According to Santorum, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta hurt Israel by “divulging sensitive information about Israel’s plan to strike Iran.” This, he says, subjected Israel to criticism and scorn from the international community.

Santorum went so far as to accuse the president of actively seeking to help Iran obtain nuclear weapons. He said that while the president might give lip service to the idea of wanting Iran to stop its program, Obama was not taking any significant measures to stop it.

Santorum further alleged that the administration was looking the other way, because of its dependence on OPEC – group in which Iran is a key player. U.S. Representative Michelle Bachmann also criticized the president’s policy on Israel, saying that no other president had failed to stand by Israel.

JTA Reports: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said the United States urged Israel’s government “not to release prisoners responsible for murdering or injuring US citizens before serving their full sentences.”

Holder’s letter, first reported by the Jerusalem Post, was in response to a letter to Holder sent by the Parents Forum for Justice on Jan. 19. In their original letter, the group expressed concern that Israel released Palestinian prisoners with American blood on their hands in exchange for Shalit and the United States has not prosecuted these terrorists under U.S. anti-terrorism laws. Under U.S. anti-terrorism law, the U.S. can prosecute foreign nationals who commit terrorist acts against U.S. citizens outside of the country, but would need written certification from the attorney general.

Alan Bauer, the leader of the Parents Forum, told JTA that Holder’s letter was “very professional and, I believe, sincere.”

However, he added, “The U.S. has not prosecuted anyone involved in 71 attacks with dozens and dozens of American victims.” The Department of Justice “has always told us that their efforts are confidential, so we have been shut out.  I don’t think that they care about our cases — with all due and appropriate respect to Holder.”

The Zionist Organization of America sent a letter to Holder on Feb. 1 discussing the same subject and urged the Justice Department to prosecute Palestinian terrorists who murdered American citizens. ZOA has not received a response from Holder yet.

Weekly Standard Via Matzav Reports: In an address recently delivered to an AIPAC audience in New York, New Jersey governor Chris Christie articulated a responsible view of America’s role in the world, stressing the importance of us standing by our friends and taking action against our adversaries.

“America should stand by its friends and its democratic allies, even, and sometimes especially, when it’s unpopular to do so,” Christie said, outlining his foreign policy vision. “And you know I know, that it may not be fashionable in some of the chancelleries, the foreign ministries, and salons around the world to talk about why America stands with Israel – but that’s no excuse not to be saying, and saying it loudly.”

Christie continued: “I read a quote from President Franklin Roosevelt which I thought made this point much better than I ever could.  He says, ‘Please judge me by the enemies I have made.’ In that same spirit, I would like to say to all of you tonight: I admire Israel for the enemies it has made.”

The Jerusalem Post Reports: Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger was among the six recipients of Israel’s first-ever President’s Prize, announced on Thursday at the home of President Shimon Peres.

The prize is awarded to remarkable individuals and organizations that contributed to Israeli society and its standing in the world.

The other prize recipients included:

• Indian-born Zubin Mehta, music director for life at the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra;
• Attorney Uri Slonim, who represented the government in negotiations to release captive IDF soldiers;
• Judy Feld Carr, who masterminded an international smuggling operation to release trapped Syrian Jews;
• The Rashi Foundation, which serves underprivileged youth in Israel’s periphery, and
• Rabbi Adin Even Yisrael Steinsaltz, a Talmudic philosopher and scholar.

Stewart Ain Writes: President Barack Obama discredited the Goldstone Report critical of the way the Israeli military fought a war against Hamas in Gaza in December 2008.

Days after the State Department, run by former New York Senator Hillary Clinton, warned travelers about fringe Hasidim who may be violent against immodest dressing in Israel, we have this from Fox News:

The State  Department played down warnings Tuesday over the latest step toward a unity  government between Palestinian groups Hamas  and Fatah, saying “the fundamentals have not changed” despite claims that the  deal imperils the already anemic peace process.

Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said  Secretary of State Hillary  Clinton met Tuesday with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor  Lieberman, and they discussed how “it’s not particularly clear what this  agreement will change.”

Under the terms announced Monday in Qatar, Palestinian  President Mahmoud  Abbas would lead an interim joint government in advance of new elections.  Abbas leads the Fatah faction, which controls the West  Bank; Hamas, which the U.S. considers a terrorist group, effectively runs  the Gaza  Strip.

Forward Reports: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will address the AIPAC  policy conference as speculation grows about how the United States and Israel  will tackle Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons program.

Netanyahu’s formal Twitter feed announced his decision on Sunday to attend  the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington, from  March 4-6.

“PM #Netanyahu to visit the #US next month and give speech at annual  conference of #AIPAC,” the tweet said,

Such visits usually include meetings with the president, but there was no  notice yet from either Netanyahu’s office or the White House that a meeting with  President Obama would be scheduled.

The announcement comes against the backdrop of increased U.S.-led pressure on  Iran to make transparent its nuclear program and speculation that Israel may  strike Iran this year.

NJDC Writes: President Barack Obama has proven his iron-clad commitment to the State of Israel. In a 2008 speech at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), then-Senator Obama promised to “Implement a Memorandum of Understanding that provides $30 billion in assistance to Israel over the next decade—investments to Israel’s security that will not be tied to any other nation.”

Yesterday, PoltiFact confirmed that Obama has lived up to this promise.

Specifically, Congress approved $3.075 billion in security assistance for Israel as part of a larger spending package for fiscal year 2012, according to the American Israel Political Action Committee. That marks the fourth consecutive year the memorandum’s terms have been met, AIPAC said.

It’s premature to say that the succeeding six years of the memorandum’s terms will be met. But so far, Obama has followed the lead of President George W. Bush and stuck to the terms of the funding agreement. As the 2012 elections approach, there’s no evidence that this is anything but a Promise Kept.

The facts continue to speak for themselves: Obama places a high priority on the security and stability of the Jewish state.

CBC Reports: The Jewish Defence League is demanding the resignation of a small-town Quebec mayor who said the state of Israel should not exist.

Along with being mayor of Huntingdon, Que., Stéphane Gendron also co-hosts “Face-a-Face,” a daily TV talk show on Quebec’s V-Tele network.

During a December 27th broadcast, Gendron referred to Israel as an apartheid state and expressed hope for its collapse.

He made the comments while saluting a Quebec politician’s boycott of a Montreal shoe store that sells products made in Israel.

A Jewish Defence League spokesman called Gendron’s remarks “dangerous, inflammatory and un-Canadian.”

And Thursday, about 20 people protested in front of Huntingdon’s city hall demanding Gendron resign or be fired.

The 44-year old mayor has a history of making comments that have drawn complaints.

Forward Reports: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas blamed Israel for the failure  of the latest round of exploratory peace talks in Amman on Saturday.

Abbas made the comments to reporters in Ramallah on Saturday after a meeting  with visiting Irish Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore. He claimed that during talks  mediated by Jordan in recent weeks, Israel had presented an unclear position on  security matters and on the question of borders between Israel and a future  Palestinian state. Palestinian sources said Israel’s border proposal would have  prevented the establishment a Palestinian state.

Palestinian officials said on Friday that the Israeli delegation’s proposal  would in practice have created borders based on the route of Israel’s security  fence. They said Israel was also demanding the right to retain East Jerusalem  and Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank. The Palestinian sources said this  would divide Palestinian territory into cantons and deprive a future state of  territorial contiguity.

The Palestinian delegation was headed by Saeb Erekat, and Israel’s delegation  was led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s envoy Isaac Molho.

Read more: http://www.forward.com/articles/150443/#ixzz1koSQ0LvH

Haaretz Via Forward Reports: Senior Israel Defense Forces commander has said that Israel is unable to  attack Iran’s nuclear program in a meaningful way, Time Magazine reported on  Thursday.

According to the Time magazine report, which is quoting an Israeli defense  official, a senior IDF commander presented the cabinet of Prime Minister  Benjamin Netanyahu with a gloomy assessment last fall.

“I informed the cabinet we have no ability to hit the Iranian nuclear program  in a meaningful way,” the official quoted the senior commander as saying. “If I  get the order I will do it, but we don’t have the ability to hit in a meaningful  way.”

The defense official told Time, that according to an estimate by the Atomic  Energy Commission, Israel will only be able to push back Iran’s nuclear program  by several months to a year, after taking into account the wide geographic  dispersion of Tehran’s nuclear facilities and the the limits of Israel’s air  force.

Read more: http://www.forward.com/articles/150380/#ixzz1kd04MExc

Jewish Journal: Planned war games between Israel and the United States were suddenly canceled, with some blaming President Obama for the cancellation, while others said it was Netanyahu who shut down the biggest ever joint U.S.-Israeli military exercise scheduled for April.

“It’s in Israel’s interest to hold joint military exercises with the U.S. in preparation for the Iran nuclear threat,” Joseph M. Sabag, executive director of Florida Region Zionist Organization of America said. “It makes no sense that Israel would cancel these exercises.

“It is fair to assume that President Obama must have pressured Israel to agree to cancel the joint exercises because of fear that Iran might respond by closing the Straits of Hormuz in order to spike oil prices,” he said.

YNet Reports: Focused on deepening the understanding and relevance of the relationship with the American Jewish community, the Caucus will raise awareness among MKs, Knesset committees and lobbies concerning agendas and priorities of Israel and the American Jewish community.

With a vast majority (87.5%) of Israelis believing that the American Jewish community is important to the future and security of the State of Israel, according to a Teleseker (TNS) poll sponsored by the Ruderman Family Foundation in January 19, 2012, this new initiative is extremely timely.

Caucus Chairperson MK Ronit Tirosh (Kadima) launched the Caucus to ensure that this crucial relationship stays strong.

“I came back from the Ruderman Fellows Program in the US last year with the understanding that Israel is in danger of losing one of its most critical strategic allies,” said MK Tirosh.

Reuters Reports: Negotiators from the two sides have held four meetings in Amman, Jordan, this month, but so far there has been no breakthrough that would permit resumption of the top level talks that were suspended in late 2010.

A fifth meeting is scheduled for Wednesday and without compromise, the initiative could grind to a halt.

The European Union wants Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to set aside his 2010 demand that Israel call a total halt to Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank before full talks resume.

Israel is being urged to make confidence-building moves, which could include the release of long-term prisoners and easier conditions for Palestinians in Israeli army-controlled areas of the West Bank.

Haaretz Reports: The officials said representatives from the Prime Minister’s Office and the Israeli Embassy in London had pushed for the meeting to be called off, while the British government sought to convince the Jewish leaders to hold the meeting.

“The message from Jerusalem was that since Abu Mazen [Abbas] doesn’t want to meet with Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu, there’s no reason for the Jewish community to give him legitimacy for free,” one of the sources said. “In the wake of this message, many of the invitees said they wouldn’t come, and the event was canceled.” Netanyahu’s bureau denied the report, while the Israeli Embassy in London refused to comment.

The meeting was supposed to be one of several Abbas has held with Jewish leaders around the world in an effort to increase pressure on the Netanyahu government to move forward with peace talks. Such meetings have taken place in various cities around the world, including New York, Washington, Paris and Buenos Aires.

Critics are also pointing to writings on the CAP Web site, where staffers have suggested the pro-Israel lobby is pushing the U.S. toward war with Iran and likened Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza to the policies of the segregated American South.

Colin Campbell Reports: At a press conference, Congressman Bob Turner and Assemblyman Dov Hikind had harsh words for the Iranian regime and some reservations about the current U.S.-Israeli relationship.

Assemblyman Hikind was the bluntest on the topic of President Barack Obama’s popularity within the Israeli government. “If I could just say, there’s no doubt in my mind that a lot of Israeli leaders are praying that Obama doesn’t get reelected,” he firmly stated. “That’s a 100% reality. There’s no love lost between Netanyahu and the President of the United States. Should Obama get reelected, you think there’s been some rough spots between the United States and Israel in the last couple years, you haven’t seen anything yet.”

Haaretz Reports: Israeli hackers brought down the websites of both the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) Monday, in the latest episode of a continuing cyber war between hackers in the two countries.

The Israeli hackers, who go by the name IDF-Team, were able to paralyze the Tadawul website, while causing significant delays to the ADX exchange site.

Forward Reports: Israel is ready to negotiate with the Palestinians immediately and has given  the Palestinians a position paper earlier this month containing 21 points on  which there is domestic political consensus, as a prelude to potential talks,  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told MKs yesterday.

The document was given to Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat at interim  Israeli-Palestinian talks in Amman earlier this month, Netanyahu told the  Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

He said he is ready to begin negotiations at any time but the Palestinians  have refused to negotiate without preconditions.

“I’m ready to get into my car at any time and go to Ramallah, even if it’s  more than a small headache for my security guards, but Abu Mazen isn’t ready,” said Netanyahu, referring to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

(Read More)

Forward Reports: The most prominent name among the prime minister’s donors is that of the  Falics, a well-known family that owns Duty Free Americas, a large chain of  duty-free shops that operates in 13 airports and along the United States’ northern and southern borders. At one point, the family also owned the Christian  Lacroix fashion house.

Nily Falic is the national president of the Friends of the Israel Defense  Forces in the United States; another family member, Jana Falic, is president of  WIZO-USA.

The family members who contributed to Netanyahu were Nily’s husband, Chaim,  who passed away earlier this month; their son, Leon; another son, Jerome; and  her daughter, Jana, along with her husband Simon. Each of them donated  $11,000.

The Falics have contributed to Netanyahu before, giving him $15,000 in 2005.  During previous primaries, the family also donated money to Limor Livnat and  Shaul Mofaz.

The family has also become involved in U.S. elections, and in recent years  has donated a total of more than $100,000 to various candidates, both  Republicans and Democrats.

FT Reports:  Voicing an unusually blunt assessment of US foreign policy, Moshe Yaalon,  Israel’s vice prime minister, said he was “disappointed” that the administration  of President Barack Obama had not fully implemented a recent US Senate  resolution calling for a series of harsh sanctions against Iran’s central bank  and oil industry.

He told Israeli radio on Sunday: “In the US administration there is hesitation  for fear of oil prices rising this year, out of election-year considerations. In  that regard, this is certainly a disappointment, for now.”

(Read More)