Israel’s PM Office Claims Victory In Iran Nuclear Deal Defeat

4 Comments

1. 

   Oui on September 3, 2015 at 11:58 am

   [Links added are mine – Oui]

   Was Battle Against Iran Deal a Noble Crusade — or Epic Flop? | The Forward |

   During the Reagan presidency, AIPAC sought to block the sale of advanced surveillance airplanes known as AWACS to Saudi Arabia, an adversary of Israel. AIPAC, at the time a young organization, launched what was its biggest battle and eventually lost when Congress approved the deal. Still, the lobby’s donations grew, and it gained recognition as a political force to be reckoned with. [Revenge of AIPAC through donations to defeat of Sen. Chuck Percy (R-IL) – Oui]

   The second major battle took place in 1991, when president George H. W. Bush conditioned a $10 billion loan guarantee to Israel on freezing building in West Bank settlements. The Israeli government, led by Yitzhak Shamir, refused, and AIPAC took to Congress to fight against the condition. This led Bush to famously describe himself as “one lonely little guy” fighting the powerful pro-Israel lobby. AIPAC lost this battle, too, but once again suffered no adverse consequence.

   Fundraising, in fact, leaped upward after each incident, as it did following the 2007 publication of a book by prominent political scientists Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer that critically depicted the pro-Israel lobby. Fundraising also increased after the arrest of two of the group’s top lobbyists on espionage charges that were later dropped, and following the formation of AIPAC’s dovish rival, J Street.

   AIPAC now has an enormous $110 million budget and has launched a five-year plan to double it.

   Insiders foresee no financial hit for AIPAC. Those opposed to the deal, an official with a major Jewish organization said, will appreciate the effort and keep on supporting the lobby, and those undecided will also likely maintain their support. “They’re not going to go over to J Street,” the official said, explaining that for the centrist and hawkish pro-Israel crowd, AIPAC is the only option.

   A bigger issue is the damage, if any, to the lobby’s political clout. But if history offers any clue about the future, the lobby will emerge unscathed, mainly because of the administration’s reluctance to take revenge on a still formidable organization.

   Tom Dine [Former Advisor Committee for the Liberation of Iraq], who was AIPAC’s executive director from 1980 to 1993, argued that it was a mistake to campaign for breaking an international agreement to which the United States has signed on. Still, Dine, who supports the Iran deal, does not see any negative consequences for the lobby.

   “You fought the good fight, and now you move on,” said Dine, who directed the lobby’s battle against the AWACS sales. “I don’t think AIPAC will lose access or power, but they won’t come out stronger now, because they were tied at the hip to [Benjamin] Netanyahu on this.”

   AIPAC’s close ties with the Israeli government, on display throughout this period, could raise a different problem for the organization. According to Sher, critics may claim that these close ties define AIPAC legally as a “foreign agent” of Israel under the federal Foreign Agents Registration Act. This would require it to register with the Justice Department and to put activities under heightened government scrutiny. “I hope the people there are cognizant about the foreign registration requirements,” Sher said.

   DOJ orders the American Zionist Council (AZC) to Register as a Foreign Agent – 1962 under the Kennedy Administration

   ○ AIPAC sponsor: 81 Members US Congress to Jerusalem for Consultation
   ○ If it’s going to push us to War, is it time for AIPAC to register as foreign Agent?
   ○ AWACS for Saudi Arabia: A Study of Foreign Policy and Political Process [pdf]  by Robert J. Congelli Major, USAF (1989)
   ○ They Dare to Speak Out: People and Institutions Confront Israel’s Lobby    [pdf]  by Paul Findley

2. 

   Oui on September 3, 2015 at 1:16 pm

   The optimism after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the leadership of presidents Reagan and Gorbachov – wtf has happened in between during the Clinton administration when peace in the Middle East failed? Hillary Clinton does not offer any hope for a policy to solve the Israeli – Palestinian stand-off. One Israeli Zionist who played an important role was deputy PM Binyamin Netanyahu … he scuttled any progress to come to a negotiated settlement for a Palestinian State.

   Madrid Peace Conference | George Bush | Spain 30 Oct 1991 |

   On March 6, 1991, President George H. W. Bush told Congress, “The time has come to put an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict.” Bush’s declaration was followed by eight months of intensive shuttle diplomacy by Secretary of State James Baker, culminating in the Madrid Peace Conference in October 1991. The Conference, co-chaired by Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, was attended by Israeli, Egyptian, Syrian, and Lebanese delegations, as well as a joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation. For the first time, all of the parties to the Arab-Israeli conflict had gathered to hold direct negotiations–a historically unprecedented event.

   Statement George Bush – Part 2  

   ○ Netanyahu Press Conference About Peace Talks | 4 Dec 1991 (Part1) and (Part 2 )
   ○ Netanyahu brags about destroying  the Oslo Accords of 1993/1995
   ○ Netanyahu’s famous line: ‘America .. A Thing You Can Move Very Easily’

3. 

   TarheelDem on September 4, 2015 at 9:43 pm

   The legitimacy of the Iran agreement depends only on the certifications of the IAEA and the relaxation of sanctions by the other parties.

   The legitimacy of the Israeli government however is another matter.

   But Israel is really enlisting the brigades of Christian Zionists through people like Birgitte Gabriel, (a.k.a. Nour Semaan, Brigitte Tudor), born October 21, 1964, is a conservative American journalist, author, political lecturer, anti-Islamic extremism activist,[1][3] and founder of two non-profit political organizations, the American Congress For Truth and ACT! for America.

   Another key figure is John Hagee, of Christians United for Israel.

   These folks have penetrated pentecostal and evangelical congregations that are captured by prophecy theology.

   They actually see the destruction of Israel as a prelude to end times, but some Jewish organizations, including B’nai B’rith of San Antonio TX (Hagee’s base) have allied with these Christian congregations in support of the state of Israel.

   And part of their line is the denial of the existence of the Palestinian people.  If you don’t hear the echoes of the 1930s in this, you haven’t recently read your William L. Shirer.

4. 

   Oui on September 8, 2015 at 12:56 am

   Israel in a Post-Deal World | NY Times Op-ed by Ami Ayalon |

   Iran in July, the Israeli Knesset’s foreign affairs and defense committee called on Israel’s government to “continue to closely follow the precise and strict implementation” of the agreement “to ensure that Iran is not continuing to fool the international community as it did in the past, while strengthening the historic alliance between the United States and Israel.”

   In early August, nearly 70 former senior members of Israel’s defense community, myself included, published an open letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging him to accept the nuclear deal as an “accomplished fact.” We also called on the Israeli government to renew trust and improve “political and security cooperation” with the United States.

   Those appeals — one from a committee controlled by members of Mr. Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, the other representing Israel’s security establishment — share the same premise: In order to act effectively on our skepticism of Iran’s intentions and trustworthiness, Israel must enhance that historic alliance with America.

   ○ The new test of who’s a good Jew