Camp David Summit was Obama Arms Fair

by William Hartung

The summit between President Barack Obama and representatives from the Persian Gulf countries was meant to be about the nuclear deal with Iran.

In its first five years in office, the Obama administration entered into formal agreements to transfer more than $US64 billion in arms and defence services to Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states, with about three-quarters of that total going to Saudi Arabia. And new offers worth nearly $US15 billion have been made to Riyadh in 2014 and 2015. Offered items have included fighter aircraft, attack helicopters, radar planes, refuelling aircraft, air-to-air missiles, armoured vehicles, artillery, small arms and ammunition, cluster bombs, and missile defense systems…

The Obama arms sales boom has bolstered the bottom lines of companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon. Each firm has been the lead contractor on one or more mega-deals like the $US29 billion offer of 84 Boeing F-15 fighter jets and related equipment to Saudi Arabia, a $6.5 billion sale of Lockheed Martin's THAAD missile defence system to Qatar, and the proposed transfer of the Lockheed Martin/Raytheon produced Patriot Air and Missile Defence System to Saudi Arabia for $US1.8 billion… (GCC member states disagree, as Israel does, with Obama on the nuclear deal with Iran. They will ignore Obama and continue their military assault on Houthis in Yemen. But both sides love buying and selling military toys, especially when they can be used against Israel at any time!)

The First Step Toward Reclaiming Jewish Gaza!

MK Betsalel Smotrich (Bayit Yehudi/Tkuma) submitted a new bill to cancel the disengagement law that led to Israel’s withdrawal from Gush Katif, Gaza, in 2005, to the Knesset Secretariat. The bill wasn’t even discussed in a preliminary reading.

Food for Thought by Steven Shamrak

There used to be a joke in the USSR:

A Communist Party announcement - “Tomorrow, everyone is allowed to slap Jews and postmen” - People were asking "why postmen?” Nobody asked "why Jews?"

Empty Words after Striking Empty Targets

Defense Minister says Israel’s airstrike on terrorist infrastructures in Gaza makes clear it has no intention of ignoring rocket fire. "We see Hamas as being responsible... We are not going to tolerate any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens.” Israel resorted to its old gutless routine, responding to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip by the aerial bombardment of four empty “terrorist” targets. Once again, Hamas was allowed to remove its personnel from the targeted facilities to escape casualties.

Déjà Vu: Here We Go Again

Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas, confirmed that they fired five experimental rockets. Sirens across southern Israel on Tuesday night, May 26. One long-range Grad rocket exploded in the industrial zone of the coastal city of Ashdod, another hit Frankfurter St in the town. More explosions occurred at the entrance to Gan Yavne. (It is happening again because Israeli government is not willing to remove Hamas and the enemy population from Gaza.)

UN Human Rights Council is a Joke!

Saudi Arabia is making a bid to head the United Nations’ Human Rights Council (HRC) just days after it posted a slew of new job openings for executioners who would help carry out beheadings amid a massive uptick in state-sanctioned killings in the country. Saudi Arabia has been a member of the UN’s top human rights body since 2014, along with Russia, China, and Cuba.

Hamas Unhappy with Amnesty International

Hamas forces carried out a brutal campaign of abductions, torture, and unlawful killings against Palestinians accused of “collaborating” with Israel and others during Operation Protective Edge last year. The AI report reveals that Hamas carried out at least 23 extrajudicial executions during the war. (The report said nothing about using civilians as human shields and indiscriminately firing rockets at Israel by Hamas! But they did find a way to criticize Israel.)

Enough with Hypocrisy - Quote Torah to the World

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) told Israeli envoys to reference the Torah in presenting the historical rights of the Jewish people to the entire land of Israel while representing the state. "It is important to say that this land is ours, all of it is ours. We didn't come here to apologize for this," she said.

Everyone Can Snub the UN, but Israel

Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi did not attend peace talks in Geneva. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged all sides to attend the talks, which were set to begin on May 28. Meanwhile, warplanes from the Arab coalition have launched a fresh wave of air strikes across Yemen targeting Houthi rebels as fighting raged on the ground in the south of the country. (Israel needs to learn self-respect and how to do what is right for the Jewish state from Arab countries!)

'Ugly Nothing' Inventing New anti-Israel Resolutions

The UN is once again singling out Israel for criticism, portraying Israel as violating the health rights of Syrians in the Golan. The resolution comes even though Israeli hospitals continue their life-saving treatment for escalating numbers of wounded Syrians fleeing the civil war in their country. By a vote of 104 to 4, with 6 abstentions and 65 absent, the Jewish state was the only country in the world to be singled out by the annual assembly of the UN’s World Health Organization.

Arabs do Mix Sport and Hate

Israeli judo delegation for World Masters competition was held up at Rabat airport for more than eight hours on arrival; the competition's organizers removed the Israeli flag, and the local audience waves Palestinian flags and chants “we will murder you.”

Israel Milking It!

By developing equipment that boosted output - from cooling systems to milk meters and biometrics - and Israeli dairy farmers have made Israeli cows the most productive in the world. This has put the country's agricultural tech, and the companies that provide it, in demand around the world as - with populations and dairy consumption on the rise.

Shi’ite vs Sunni War - Let Them Kill Each Other

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that Hezbollah is in a dire state - its worst since the onslaught of the 1982 First Lebanon War. Nasrallah said his party is in the midst of fighting an existential battle against ISIS and other extremist groups in Syria and on Lebanon's border. Also challenging Hezbollah's regime are Sunni Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, which Nasrallah said have joined forces against Hezbollah. (They are doing quite a good job and nobody can ‘condemn’ Israel for that - No complaints from Israel!)

On Pivotal Issues Israel Can still Rely on the US

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked US Secretary of State John Kerry for blocking an Egyptian-led drive on a possible Middle East nuclear arms ban at a United Nations conference. Egypt and other states tried to "cynically manipulate" the process by setting a deadline for Israel and its neighbours to meet within months on a Middle East zone free of such weapons. (Although, the global document aimed at ridding the world of nuclear weapons and it was in interests of the US to block it!)

Quotes of the Week:

“O Muslims, Islam was never for a day the religion of peace. Islam is the religion of war." - Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ISIS leader - The truth is spoken! Islam is the religion full of hate and not just for “infidels”. Sunnis and Shi’ites hate each other, and the both sects also hate Sufis and Muslims, who are not ‘compliant’ with their brand of Islam!

US-Israel Friendship - the Price is Too High for Israel!

by Mantania Ginosar

The US has helped Israel on many fronts; therefore, we automatically believe that Israel should follow US dictates. However, Israel has paid too high a price for US erratic support. As you can read below, too many times the US has forced Israel to act against Israel's self-interests - seriously reducing Israel's security.

1. US declared a weapons embargo on the region for 20 years, weakening Israel, not the Arabs.

2. President Eisenhower stopped the 1956 Sinai war prematurely - thus helping Nasser.

3. President Johnson tried to stop the Israel's conquest of the Golan at the end of the 1967 - Six Days war - Israel rejected it.

4. Nixon stopped PM Golda Meir from starting a pre-emptive Israeli attack, prior to the 1973 Yom Kippur war, causing large loss of lives. And Israel barely won.

5. A critical mistake: During the Gaza withdrawal of 2005 Israel planned a "Philadelphia Corridor" to separate Egypt from southern Gaza to prevent weapon and terrorists smuggling from Egypt. However, the US forced Israel to eliminate this critical barrier.

6. The US insisted that Hamas could participate in a "democratic" election in Gaza thus allowing Hamas to take over the Gaza strip.

7. During the 2014 Gaza war President Obama pressured Israel to stop its attack on Gaza by preventing the transfer of needed and agreed upon ammunition requested by Israel during the battle.

8. The endless US driven ‘peace process’ - the US does not (want) grasp that the Palestinians want to take over ALL OF ISRAEL, not just Gaza and the West Bank.

9. Most significant issue is Iran’s nuclear weapon development. This US Administration purposely reduced Israel's ability to destroy Iran nuclear facilities. First, by starting international negotiation, thus pre-empting Israel justification to destroy Iran's nuclear installations. Second, the US dragged the Iranian nuclear negotiation long enough that Israel can't bomb now the Iranian installations in an effective way. They are too secure now. (They also leaked information about planned Israeli attacks.)

Israel should now stand its own grounds and not accept undesirable US dictates. Even if the US would threatens to reduce its military and political support! The Arabs and the Palestinians have ignored most US pressure and have gotten away with it. The price Israel paid in the past is much too high. It may be higher in the future!