Bradley Byrne: A bipartisan vote to stand with Israel
The United States has no stronger ally than Israel. Our relationship has always been strong, both economically and militarily. Israel plays an especially important role in helping us combat radical Islamic terrorism in the Middle East. In other words, Israel serves as a beacon of hope, freedom, and opportunity in a very dangerous part of the world. That is why support for Israel has always been a bipartisan priority shared by Democrats and Republicans. While serving in Congress, I have had the opportunity to visit Israel on multiple occasions to meet with the leaders and discuss the relationship between our two countries. During these trips, the Israeli people always share their deep appreciation for the partnership between our two countries, but they also make clear the fact they face very significant challenges. For decades now, Israel has been in a long running dispute regarding its very right to exist. The dispute is complicated and deeply personal as it is based on religious, ethnic, and cultural ties. This struggle has resulted in multiple wars and placed Israel in a constant state of conflict. Given the importance of the relationship between the United States and Israel and the sensitivities related to the ongoing conflict with the Palestinian Authority, I was deeply disappointed to see the United Nations (UN) recently pass a flawed, anti-Israel resolution that will only make it more difficult to achieve peace. Since 1972, the United States has used our position as a UN Security Council member to veto 42 anti-Israel amendments. As the vote grew closer on this most recent resolution, the hope was that the United States would once again use our veto power. Instead, the United States Ambassador “abstained” from the vote altogether. In other words, the United States turned our back and looked the other way as the UN passed a flawed resolution attacking Israel. This represents a dangerous break in a long-standing and bipartisan policy to protect our sole democratic ally in the region from one-sided resolutions at the UN. This resolution does absolutely nothing to solve the underlying issues. In fact, it muddies the water and only further complicates what is already a very complex issue. The resolution also failed to make mention of the fact that Hamas, an internationally recognized terrorist organization, continues work with the Palestinian Authority and engage in hostile actions against Israel. To be clear: no solution to the ongoing problems with Israel and the Palestinian Authority is going to come from an international body, like the United Nations, telling them what to do. Any real solution must come from negotiations between the involved parties. Given the many blunders from the Obama Administration on the world stage, I guess this most recent action should not be all that surprising. But this action is one of the most irresponsible acts ever by an outgoing President. It will be a dark stain on an already disastrous foreign policy legacy. Last week, as one of the first actions in the new year, the House of Representatives passed a bill opposing the UN’s anti-Israel resolution and condemning the inability of the Obama Administration to stand up for Israel. This wasn’t a one sided vote. In fact, 109 Democrats joined with 233 Republicans to pass the resolution with over 340 votes. This is a strong message to our friends in Israel that the United States still has their backs. Now is the time to stand up for Israel, not turn away from them. It is my sincere hope and belief, that under President-elect Donald Trump, the United States will once again stand arm-in-arm with Israel. This bipartisan resolution was an important step in that direction. • • • Bradley Byrne is a member of U.S. Congress representing Alabama’s 1st Congressional District.
Donald Trump holds Q&A, discussing jobs, Russia, Israel
President-elect Donald Trump applauded the return of 8,000 jobs to the U.S. and hailed his transition discussions with President Barack Obama in a series of comments that amounted to his most detailed interaction with journalists since before the election. In one of his cameos Wednesday on the front steps of his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump praised plans by a Japanese mogul to bring jobs to the United States. They could be the first of the 50,000 jobs that tech billionaire Masayoshi Son promised to create after meeting with the president-elect earlier in December. In the grand scheme of the economy, the jobs announcement is unlikely to have a major impact. Still, it’s another example of how Trump is trying to stoke voters’ belief that he is actively fighting for their well-being. Son is the founder and chief executive of SoftBank, one of Japan’s largest technology outfits. He owns the U.S. mobile carrier Sprint, which Trump said Wednesday would be moving 5,000 jobs “back” to the United States. Son also controls OneWeb, which Trump said would hire 3,000 workers. It was unclear whether the president-elect was referencing the Dec. 6 commitment by Son to invest $50 billion in the United States and create 50,000 jobs. Trump said the addition of 8,000 jobs was “because of what’s happening and the spirit and the hope.” Still, the U.S. job market has been robust for much of 2016. Employers have added more than 2.2 million jobs over the past 12 months – a sign of economic health that predates Trump’s presidential victory. Sprint has struggled since its 2013 acquisition by SoftBank. The carrier shed roughly 9,000 workers between 2012 and 2016, reducing its staff to 30,000, according to annual reports. Sprint Chief Executive Marcelo Claure said in a statement that the company is “excited” to work with Trump. “We believe it is critical for business and government to partner together to create more job opportunities in the U.S. and ensure prosperity for all Americans,” Claure said. The Sprint jobs announcement came after tensions rose and fell Wednesday between Trump and Obama. Trump has made it clear that it didn’t sit well with him when Obama recently boasted that he would have won the election if he’d been running. Trump appeared again later Wednesday night on the Mar-a-Lago steps, this time alongside legendary boxing entrepreneur Don King, who appeared to be one of several guests attending a dinner party. King carried about a dozen flags, including those of the U.S. and Israel; wore two big diamond necklaces, one with a pendant with the Star of David and another with the American flag; and sported a large pin featuring a picture of Trump. With King by his side, Trump dismissed days of tense remarks by the outgoing and incoming presidents about who would win if they were to hypothetically run against each other, saying he and Obama had “a very, very good talk.” “We talked about it and smiled about it and nobody is ever going to know because we are never going to be going against each other,” Trump said. Earlier, he had accused Obama of throwing up “inflammatory” roadblocks during the transition of power and said his administration was treating Israel with “total disdain.” White House spokesman Eric Schultz said Obama phoned Trump. “Today’s call, like the others since the election, was positive and focused on continuing a smooth and effective transition,” Schultz said. “The president and president-elect committed to staying in touch over the next several weeks.” Trump also took issue with the Obama administration’s decision not to block a United Nations Security Council resolution critical of Israeli settlements. He told reporters that Israel is being treated “very, very unfairly,” maintaining that countries that are “horrible places” never get reprimanded. He refused to directly answer a question about whether Israel should stop building settlements, saying he is “very, very strong on Israel.” He also dodged a direct response when asked about accusations that Russia hacked the U.S. election, saying computers have “complicated lives very greatly.” “We don’t have the kind of security we need,” Trump said, adding, “Nobody knows what’s going on.” He said he believes “we have to get on with our lives.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Pushing back on Israel, John Kerry defends Obama Admin’s UN vote
Stepping into a raging diplomatic argument, Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday staunchly defended the Obama administration’s decision to allow the U.N. Security Council to declare Israeli settlements illegal and warned that Israel’s very future as a democracy is at stake. Kerry, pushing back on Israel’s fury at the U.S. abstention of the United Nations vote, questioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s true commitment to Palestinian statehood, which has formed the basis for all serious peace talks for years. Though Netanyahu says he believes in the two-state solution, Kerry said, he’s at the helm of the most right-wing (government) in Israel’s history. “If the choice is one state, Israel can either be Jewish or democratic, it cannot be both, and it won’t ever really be at peace,” Kerry said. Kerry’s speech marked the latest escalation in a vicious, drama-filled row between the U.S. and Israel that has erupted in the last days of Obama’s administration. The extraordinary display of discord between allies – with U.S. and Israeli officials openly disparaging each other – has also pitted President Barack Obama against President-elect Donald Trump, who has firmly taken Netanyahu’s side. Israel’s government was enraged after the U.S. abstained from voting on the U.N. Security Council resolution last week that called Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem a violation of international law. Netanyahu accused the U.S. of colluding with the Palestinians and helping draft the resolution, charges the U.S. has denied. “The United States did in fact vote in accordance with our values, just as previous administrations have done,” Kerry said in a farewell speech at the State Department. “The vote in the United Nations was about preserving the two-state solution. That’s what we were standing up for.” Kerry reiterated that the Obama administration’s commitment to Israel was as strong as that of previous presidents, but he also noted that previous U.S. administrations had also abstained on certain resolutions critical of Israel. He emphasized the record levels of military assistance the U.S. has provided Israel under Obama, codified by a 10-year aid deal recently struck worth $38 billion. “No American administration has done more for Israel’s security than Barack Obama’s,” Kerry said. Obama, who is vacationing with his family in Hawaii, hasn’t commented publicly on the resolution or the resulting spat. Seeking to show he wasn’t focusing exclusively on Israel’s failings, Kerry in the same sentence bemoaned Israel’s “seemingly endless occupation” of Palestinian land and Palestinian leaders’ “incitement” of violence. He invoked the widespread concern that the growing Arab population will eventually make Jews a minority in Israel, creating a democratic crisis for Israel unless there’s a separate Palestinian state. Israeli leaders have made no secret that they are counting on Trump to change U.S. policy, and Trump assured them hours before Kerry’s speech that they just needed to “hang on” til Jan. 20, when he would be sworn in as president. While Trump has not outlined a vision, he has signaled a much more sympathetic approach toward Israel, appointing an ambassador with strong ties to the West Bank settler movement and promising to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem over Palestinian and others’ objections. “President-elect Trump, thank you for your warm friendship and your clear-cut support for Israel,” Netanyahu said on Twitter before Kerry’s speech. A senior Israeli Cabinet minister, Gilad Erdan, on Wednesday called Kerry’s speech a “pathetic step,” before Kerry even began speaking. The international community overwhelmingly opposes Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 and claimed by the Palestinians for an independent state. The Palestinians, and most of the world, see settlements, now home to 600,000 Israelis, as an obstacle to peace. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Israeli Cabinet minister calls John Kerry speech a ‘pathetic’
A senior Israeli Cabinet minister on Wednesday called U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry‘s planned Mideast policy speech a “pathetic step,” further heightening tensions between the two close allies as the Obama administration prepares to leave office. The comments by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan were the latest salvo in a toxic exchange following the U.S.’s refusal to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution last week that called Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem a violation of international law. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has slammed the resolution, and accused the U.S. of colluding with the Palestinians in drawing it up. Following up on the U.N. resolution, Kerry was scheduled to deliver a farewell speech in Washington on Wednesday to outline his proposals for a peace settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. Next month, France is set to host an international conference where 70 countries, over Israeli objections, hope to endorse an international framework for Mideast peace. Israeli officials fear that the conference’s recommendations may then be approved in another U.N. Security Council resolution just before Obama leaves office on Jan. 20. In a radio interview, Erdan said Kerry’s speech was part of a broader effort to hinder the incoming administration of Donald Trump, who has signaled he will have much warmer relations with Israel. “This step is a pathetic step. It is an anti-democratic step because it’s clear that the administration and Kerry’s intention is to chain President-elect Trump,” Erdan told Israel Army Radio. Erdan, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party and inner Security Cabinet, said Obama administration officials are “pro-Palestinian” and “don’t understand what’s happening in the Middle East.” Kerry mediated a nine-month round of peace talks that broke down in early 2014 with little progress. Israeli leaders have made no secret that they are counting on Trump to change U.S. policy. While Trump has not outlined a vision, he has signaled a much more sympathetic approach toward Israel, appointing an ambassador with strong ties to the West Bank settler movement and promising to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, over Palestinian objections. The international community overwhelmingly opposes Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 and claimed by the Palestinians for an independent state. The Palestinians, and most of the world, see settlements, now home to 600,000 Israelis, as an obstacle to peace. Netanyahu says the conflict with the Palestinians, including the fate of the settlements, must be resolved through direct negotiations and says that international dictates undermine the negotiating process. Despite the Israeli anger, Netanyahu ordered a Jerusalem planning committee to delay a vote on approving construction of some 500 new homes in Jewish developments of east Jerusalem, a city councilman said. Council member Hanan Rubin told The Associated Press that Netanyahu asked to delay Wednesday’s vote so as not to antagonize relations with the U.S. Meanwhile, a senior leader of the West Bank settlement movement called Kerry a “stain on American foreign policy” and “ignorant of the issues.” Oded Revivi, chief foreign envoy of the Yesha Council, said Kerry is “the worst secretary of state in history,” who “chose to stab his closest ally in the back” and knows little about the realities of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Israel accuses Barack Obama of anti-Israeli ‘shameful move’ at UN
An Israeli official on Friday accused President Barack Obama of colluding with the Palestinians in a “shameful move against Israel at the U.N.” after learning the White House did not intend to veto a Security Council resolution condemning settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem the day before. “President Obama and Secretary Kerry are behind this shameful move against Israel at the U.N.,” the official said. “The U.S administration secretly cooked up with the Palestinians an extreme anti-Israeli resolution behind Israel’s back which would be a tail wind for terror and boycotts and effectively make the Western Wall occupied Palestinian territory,” he said calling it “an abandonment of Israel which breaks decades of US policy of protecting Israel at the UN.” Earlier he said Israel’s prime minister turned to President-elect Donald Trump to help head off the critical U.N. resolution. Although the U.S. opposes the settlements, it has traditionally used its veto power as a permanent member of the Security Council to block resolutions condemning Israel, saying that disputes between Israel and the Palestinians must be resolved through negotiations. But after eight years of failed peace efforts during the Obama Administration, Israel has expressed concern the outgoing president would take an audacious step to leave his mark on the region. In recent weeks, the White House had been especially secretive about its deliberations. The Israeli official’s admission marked a final chapter in the icy relations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama over the last eight years, and signaled an era of close ties between Israel and the incoming Trump administration. The Egyptian-sponsored resolution had demanded that Israel halt settlement activities in occupied territories claimed by the Palestinians and declared that existing settlements “have no legal validity.” But under heavy Israeli pressure, Egypt called off a planned vote in the Security Council hours before it was to take place. In the diplomatic activity ahead of the postponement, both Netanyahu and Trump issued nearly identical statements urging the U.S. to veto the measure. “After becoming aware that the administration would not veto the anti-Israel resolution, Israeli officials reached out to Trump’s transition team to ask for the president-elect’s help to avert the resolution,” the Israeli official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing behind-the-scenes diplomatic activity. On Friday, Egypt said its president had received a call from Trump in which they both agreed to give the incoming U.S. administration a chance to try and resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The call came hours after Egypt indefinitely postponed the U.N. vote. A statement from the Egyptian presidency said the two men spoke by phone early Friday and agreed on “the importance of giving a chance for the new American administration to deal in a comprehensive way with the different aspects of the Palestinian issue with the aim of achieving a comprehensive and a final resolution.” A senior Palestinian official, speaking anonymously according to protocol, said Egypt didn’t consult with the Palestinians about delaying the vote and it was a “complete shock” for them. Egypt represents Arab states on the security council. Egypt is the first Arab country to make peace with Israel, and the two countries have close security ties in a shared struggle against Islamic militants. He said attempts are still underway to bring the resolution to vote after Egypt called it off as there are still several other sponsors- Venezuela, Malaysia, Senegal and New Zealand – that could present it. The U.S., along with the Palestinians and nearly all of the international community, opposes Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem as obstacles to peace. Some 600,000 Israelis live in the two territories, which the Palestinians seek as part of a future independent state. Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Mideast war. Trump has signaled he will be far more sympathetic to Israel. His campaign platform made no mention of the establishment of a Palestinian state, a core policy objective of Democratic and Republican presidents over the past two decades. He also has vowed to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that would put the U.S. at odds with the Palestinians and almost the entire remainder of the international community, and his pick for ambassador to Israel, Jewish-American lawyer David Friedman, is a donor and vocal supporter of the settlements. The proposed resolution would have been more than symbolic. While it did not call for imposing sanctions on Israel, its language could have hindered Israel’s negotiating position in future peace talks. Given the widespread international opposition to the settlements, it would have been nearly impossible for the Trump administration to reverse it. It remained unclear Friday whether the measure would come up for a vote in the council before Obama leaves office. In a Christmas greeting on Friday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said: “Despite the Israeli occupation, our presence in our homeland and the preservation of our cultural and national heritage are the most important form of resistance in the face of the darkness of a foreign colonialist occupying power.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Jerusalem mayor hopes Donald Trump will move US Embassy to the city
Jerusalem’s mayor said Tuesday that he is confident Donald Trump will move the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a break in U.S. policy that is sure to anger Palestinians, who claim the eastern sector of the city for their future capital. Mayor Nir Barkat told The Associated Press that he has been in touch with Trump’s staff about the issue. While previous presidential candidates have made similar promises, Barkat said his conversations have led him to believe that Trump is serious about making the move. “Naturally my intuition tells me that it’s different this time, knowing the people hearing his statements, where we are today,” Barkat said. Transferring the embassy to Jerusalem would be a highly symbolic and politically charged act. The fate of the east Jerusalem is at the heart of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Virtually all embassies to Israel are located in or around Tel Aviv. Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in a move that is not internationally recognized. It claims the entire city as its capital. The Palestinians seek east Jerusalem, home to key Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy sites, as the capital of their future state. “The United States of America has embassies in all of the world’s capitals with the exception of Israel,” Barkat said. “That’s absurd, and moving the embassy to the capital of the Jewish people, to Jerusalem, is a straightforward, standard thing to do.” Barkat spoke a day after Trump’s spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that the president-elect is determined to move the embassy to Jerusalem when he takes office “That is a very big priority for this president-elect, Donald Trump,” she said. “He made that very clear during the campaign, Hugh. And as president-elect, I’ve heard him repeat it several times privately, if not publicly.” The moving of the embassy, and recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, enjoys broad support among Israel’s Jewish majority. Speaking to foreign reporters Monday, before Conway’s comments had been reported, opposition lawmaker Yair Lapid called the proposal an “excellent idea.” Moving the embassy to Jerusalem would signal U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a move that would infuriate Palestinians, break decades of American policy and distance the U.S. from most of the international community, including its closest allies in Western Europe. The Palestinians condemned the idea. “Any attempt to move the embassy to Jerusalem will not help achieve peace,” said Adnan Husseini, Palestinian minister for Jerusalem affairs. He urged Trump to instead push for the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of a peace settlement with Israel. Trump has said he would like to broker a peace deal, but he has given few details on how he hopes to do so. He has raised concerns among Palestinians because many of his advisers take hard-line positions that favor Israel, and his campaign platform made no mention of Palestinian independence – a U.S. position for the past two decades. The last round of U.S.-mediated peace talks collapsed over two years ago. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Donald Trump targets F-35, but aircraft means jobs in 45 states
President-elect Donald Trump is vowing to corral the “out of control” cost of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. But congressional Republicans and Democrats, aware of the tens of thousands of jobs the aircraft generates in 45 states, will be wary of any plans by Trump to cut the program. A Monday morning tweet from Trump targeting the F-35 doesn’t explain exactly how he’ll save billions of dollars in military purchases while also honoring a campaign vow to rebuild the armed forces. Once Trump is in office, he can propose deep cuts to the F-35 or even elect to cancel the program altogether. But Congress, not the president, controls the government’s purse strings and makes the final decisions about the budget. Built by defense giant Lockheed Martin, the nearly $400 billion price tag for the F-35 makes the program the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons acquisition ever. Despite the huge cost, the program has strong bipartisan support in Congress, where lawmakers view the aircraft as essential to national security. After Trump’s tweet, Lockheed Martin’s shares tumbled, wiping out nearly $4 billion of the company’s market value. The F-35 program made up 20 percent of Lockheed’s total 2015 revenue of $46.1 billion. U.S. government orders made up 78 percent of its revenue last year. “Whoever has this airplane will have the most advanced air force in the world. That’s why we’re building the F35. That’s why it’s important to not only the U.S., our partners and our partners like the Israeli Air force to have this airplane,” said Jeff Babione, general manager of the F-35 program, at a base in Israel. Israel and several other U.S. allies are also buying the F-35, expanding the program’s international footprint. Defense Secretary Ash Carter visited Israel on Monday as Tel Aviv received the first two next-generation F-35 fighter jets that will help preserve the country’s military edge in the volatile Mideast. The F-35, which uses stealth technology to avoid being detected by radar, is being built in different configurations to be used by the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. The Navy’s version, for example, is designed to take off and land on an aircraft carrier. Current plans call for the United States to buy nearly 2,500 F-35s. Close to $13 billion will be needed annually between 2016 and 2038 to hit that procurement number, according to the Government Accountability Office. While the F-35 had massive budget overruns early on, the cost has stabilized and even dropped a bit following tough negotiations between the Pentagon and Lockheed Martin, according to Todd Harrison, a defense budget expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Trump is unlikely to squeeze more blood out of this rock,” Harrison said. Lockheed said that it has worked to lower the price of the F-35 by 60 percent and expected the aircraft to cost $85 million each in 2019 and 2020. But the company’s estimate appears to omit the price of the engine and the cost of development. When those elements are added in, the cost per F-35 in current-year dollars is closer to $138 million, according to Harrison. Companies from 45 states are involved in the F-35’s production, with Texas, Georgia, California, Arizona and Florida playing the leading roles in testing and manufacturing the jet fighter. The company is teamed with more than 1,250 domestic suppliers to produce thousands of components ranging from highly sophisticated radar sensors to parts of the aircraft’s fuselage, according to Lockheed Martin. Overall, the F-35 program is responsible for more than 146,000 U.S. jobs, the company said. The Lockheed Martin plant where the F-35 is being built is located in Texas Republican Rep. Kay Granger‘s district. She’s vice chair of the defense appropriations subcommittee. Rep. Mac Thornberry, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, represents the district next door to Granger’s. In a statement Monday, Granger hailed the F-35 delivery to Israel, calling the aircraft “what we need to keep our two countries safe in these dangerous times.” Thornberry’s committee has supported buying more F-35s than the Obama administration had asked for in its budget request. The F-35 will replace an aging inventory of U.S. aircraft that many lawmakers believe are becoming increasingly unsafe to fly. Claude Chafin, a committee spokesman, said Thornberry “shares the president-elect’s determination to have the Pentagon get weapons in the hands of our troops faster, while being better stewards of the taxpayer dollar.” The tweet on the F-35 marks the second time in a week Trump has blasted U.S. aircraft spending. Last week, he tweeted that costs to build new presidential planes by Boeing Corp. were “out of control” and ended the tweet with “Cancel order!” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Netanyahu hopes to work with Donald Trump to undo Iran nuclear deal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he believes U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will be a good friend to Israel and hopes the two countries can work together to dismantle the international nuclear agreement with Iran. “I know Donald Trump,” Netanyahu told CBS’s “60 Minutes” in an interview scheduled to air Sunday night. “And I think his attitude, his support for Israel is clear. He feels very warmly about the Jewish state, about the Jewish people. There’s no question about that.” Netanyahu’s remarks are significant in part because critics have accused Trump of tolerating anti-Semitism among some of his supporters. While the two countries are close allies, relations were sometimes tense between Netanyahu and President Barack Obama because of their vastly different world views on the Iran deal and other issues. And there is sentiment in the nationalist Israeli right wing that Trump’s election could usher in a new era of relations with the United States. Netanyahu said in the interview he “had differences of opinion” with Obama and the “most well-known, of course, is Iran.” The Israeli prime minister has been one of the fiercest critics of the nuclear deal. During the campaign, Trump also spoke harshly about it. Iran has long backed armed groups committed to Israel’s destruction and its leaders have called for it to be wiped off the map. Israel fears that Iran’s nuclear program is designed to threaten its existence. Netanyahu said there are “various ways of undoing” the 2015 deal, in which Iran agreed to limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions on its oil industry and finances. “I have about five things in my mind,” Netanyahu said, declining to go into further detail. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
U.S. defense secretary in Israel as country gets F-35 jets
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter was visiting Israel Monday as it prepared to receive the first two next-generation F-35 fighter jets that will help preserve the country’s military edge in the volatile Mideast. The F-35 is the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons program, with an estimated cost of nearly $400 billion. Israel is among a small number of allies to get the plane. Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the fighter jets “present another component in maintaining air superiority in our region” and expressed gratitude to Carter, who was welcomed with a military honor guard at a Tel Aviv army base. The jets were supposed to touch down in Israel in the early afternoon, but the Israeli military said their arrival was delayed due to weather conditions in Italy. Neither U.S. nor Israeli officials provided further details. The deputy commander of the Nevatim Air Force base in southern Israel said the new fighters will give Israel an upper hand over its neighbors for years to come. “We are going to be very strong for a long time, having these airplanes. And Israel has to be strong in this region for its existence,” said Col. Asaf, who could be identified only by his first name in line with military regulations. “It’s a message for everybody that Israel will keep on holding the high-end technology in this area.” The purchase of the F-35 elevates the entire Israeli air force to a higher level, the colonel said, adding that four Israeli pilots have been trained to fly the planes and that more will be shown how to use them. “This specific airplane is going to be a very good one for the next decades,” he said. In November, a senior Israeli air force official described the arrival of the F-35 as a game-changer, citing its various cutting-edge systems, which would preserve Israel’s ability to act freely in hostile airspace. He cited its long-range capability, its provision of critical data in real time and a stealth system that can evade or delay detection by the world’s most sophisticated radar systems. Speaking on condition of anonymity under military briefing guidelines, he said it would take “more than a few months” for the first planes to be operational. In recent years, Israel has reportedly carried out long-range airstrikes as far away as Sudan, and is believed to have struck Hezbollah-bound weapons shipments in neighboring Syria. Israel has also hinted in the past at making plans to strike Iran, some 1,000 kilometers (625 miles) away, if the Islamic Republic presses forward with its nuclear program. The threat of Israeli action in Iran has dropped since last year’s nuclear accord. The Pentagon’s F-35 program has been criticized by members of the U.S. Congress over testing problems, delays and cost overruns. International buyers include Britain, South Korea, Israel, Italy, Australia, Canada, Turkey and Japan. While the planes were stuck in Italy, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump lashed out against the program. “The F-35 program and cost is out of control,” he tweeted. “Billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases after January 20th,” he wrote. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s office announced last month that his Security Cabinet approved the purchase of 17 additional F-35s. In all, it said, the acquisition will bring the number of planes the air force will receive to 50. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Donald Trump win could give Israel freer hand with Palestinians
Donald Trump‘s presidential victory has dimmed hopes for reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and analysts say Israel may be given carte blanche from his administration. American presidents have long struck a delicate balance in the conflict, stressing the close U.S. friendship and lavishing the Jewish state with aid. But recent presidents also have tried to negotiate, and they have called out Israel for actions seen as undermining peace efforts, such as expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank. Trump’s role can’t be easily predicted. A foreign policy novice, the billionaire businessman takes pride in his deal-making skills and says he’d love the challenge of negotiating a Mideast agreement. He told The New York Times on Monday that it “would be such a great achievement.” He said his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, an observant Jew and a close adviser, may help make that happen. Last December, Trump told The Associated Press that he wanted to be “very neutral” and try to get both sides together. But his tone became decidedly more pro-Israel as the campaign progressed. He has spoken disparagingly of Palestinians, saying they have been “taken over” by or are condoning militant groups. Some of his top aides challenge the legitimacy of Palestinian demands for a state and have claimed that the Palestinians are a made-up people. That has cast doubt on whether he would ever question Israeli actions or even try to serve as a neutral broker. “Trump’s administration may take a totally hands-off approach,” said Yousef Munayyer, a political analyst and executive director of the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights. “Israel would have free reign to dominate the Palestinians forever and ever if there is no external involvement.” David Makovsky of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said the volatility of the Middle East and of American political parties after a grueling campaign have made “the conclusion of a two-state solution very unlikely.” Some senior Israeli officials share that view. Cabinet Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the pro-settler Jewish Home party, said after Trump’s Nov. 8 election that “the era of a Palestinian state are over.” Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman suggested Israel could cut a deal with Trump that allowing expanded construction in major settlements while freezing building in isolated parts of the West Bank. That would be a sharp break from Obama administration policy. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been more cautious, congratulating Trump but giving no indication on whether he will now change his policies. Relations have been tense between President Barack Obama and Netanyahu. Trump has accused Obama of putting undue pressure on Israel. But Obama has hardly cast off Israel. In September, the U.S. signed its largest-ever security agreement, giving the Israeli military $38 billion over 10 years. While Obama pressured Israel into a partial settlement freeze in 2009 and 2010, settlements continue to expand. According to the anti-settlement watchdog group Peace Now, there were 3,915 housing starts during Obama’s term as of the end of 2015. By the time Obama leaves office, that number will almost certainly surpass the 4,191 units started during George W. Bush‘s presidency. Previous administrations have given varying amounts of leeway to Israel on the issue of settlements, but also have pushed for the two-state solution. President Bill Clinton helped broker the Oslo Accord, attempting to establish a framework to resolve the conflict. President George W. Bush launched a plan that endorsed an independent Palestinian state existing peacefully alongside Israel. Both approaches fizzled, and two rounds of peace talks during the Obama years quickly collapsed. Trump criticized Palestinians when he spoke in March at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington. He said “half of the population of Palestine has been taken over by the Palestinian ISIS and Hamas, and the other half refuses to confront the first half.” Hamas, an Islamic militant group, controls the Gaza Strip. ISIS, an acronym for the Islamic State group, is not a major force in the Palestinian territories. One of Trump’s top advisers on Israel, Jason Greenblatt, said in a recent interview that the president-elect doesn’t think West Bank settlements should be condemned or pose an “obstacle to peace.” Greenblatt, chief legal officer and executive vice president at the Trump Organization, was interviewed on Israel’s Army Radio. Trump has echoed the decades-old promise of past presidential candidates that he would move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. That would signal U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a move that would infuriate Palestinians, who claim the eastern sector of the city, captured by Israel in 1967, as their capital. Presidents have not followed through on the pledge. Some Trump advisers and supporters have been dismissive of the Palestinian cause. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani told the Israeli American Council in September that the U.S. should “reject the whole notion of a two-state solution in Israel.” Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and casino mogul Sheldon Adelson both say the Palestinians are an invented people. John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said in 2014 that a two-state solution “would inevitably lead to a terror state on the other side of the border with Israel.” Jeremy Ben Ami, founder of J-Street, a liberal pro-Israel group that advocates a two-state solution, said the future of the Arab-Israeli conflict lies in the pending Trump Cabinet appointments. He said if policy is driven by the “Israel-can-do-no-wrong” camp, “then some of those in the Israeli right-wing are going to be very happy.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Jeff Sessions, Mike Pompeo, Mike Flynn picked by Donald Trump for top jobs
President-elect Donald Trump is announcing his choices for three key administration jobs Friday, naming Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for attorney general, Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo to head the CIA and former military intelligence chief Michael Flynn as his national security adviser. All three have been fierce critics of President Barack Obama and current U.S. policy. In tapping Sessions and Flynn, Trump is also rewarding a pair of loyalists who were among his most ardent supporters during the presidential campaign. Trump planned to announce the picks Friday, according to a senior transition official. The official insisted on anonymity in order to disclose the decisions ahead of Trump’s announcement. Sessions and Pompeo would both require Senate confirmation before assuming their designated roles; Flynn would not. There could be some hurdles for Sessions, even with Republicans in control of the chamber. When Sessions was nominated to be a federal judge in 1986, he was dogged by racist comments he was accused of making while serving as U.S. attorney in Alabama. “Mr. Sessions is a throwback to a shameful era, which I know both black and white Americans thought was in our past,” the late Massachusetts Democrat, Sen. Edward Kennedy, said during the 1986 confirmation hearing. “It is inconceivable to me that a person of this attitude is qualified to be a U.S. attorney, let alone a U.S. federal judge.” During the hearing, a former assistant U.S. attorney, Thomas Figures, who is black, said Sessions referred to him as “boy,” and told him to be careful what he said to “white folks.” Sessions said he never called Figures “boy,” but Kennedy produced a letter from an organization of black lawyers that said Figures made the allegation about Sessions to the organization’s investigators at least twice. Sessions told the committee that he told Figures to be careful what he said to “folks.” Sessions later withdrew from consideration, though he went on to become state attorney general and won election to the Senate in 1996. Pompeo is a conservative Republican and a fierce critic of President Barack Obama‘s nuclear deal with Iran. Flynn was a fierce critic of President Barack Obama’s military and foreign policy long before he began advising Trump on national security issues during the presidential campaign. While the position of national security adviser doesn’t require Senate confirmation, Flynn would work in the West Wing and have frequent access to the president. Flynn, who turns 58 next month, had built a reputation as an astute intelligence professional and straight talker when he became the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2012. After retiring two years later, he made clear he took issue with the Obama administration’s approach to global affairs and fighting Islamic State militants. Flynn has called for Washington to work more closely with Moscow, echoing similar statements from Trump. But his warmth toward Russia has worried some national security experts. Flynn traveled last year to Moscow, where he joined Russian President Vladimir Putin and other officials in a celebration of RT, a television channel funded by the Russian government. He later explained that he had been paid for taking part in the event, but brushed aside concerns that he was aiding a Russian propaganda effort. Trump is a foreign policy novice and his early moves on national security are being closely watched both in the U.S. and overseas. He’s said to be considering a range of officials with varying degrees of experience to lead the State Department and Pentagon. Trump has also consulted with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and sat down with South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, a potential contender to lead the State Department. In a separate gesture of reconciliation with establishment Republicans, Trump planned to meet with 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who lambasted Trump as a “con man” and a “fraud” in a stinging speech in March. Trump responded by repeatedly referring to Romney as a “loser.” The two began mending fences after Trump’s victory when Romney called with congratulations. They are to meet this weekend, a transition official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to discuss Trump’s schedule publicly. Campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said they were still “working on” the meeting. Trump’s actions Thursday aimed to show that he could soften his rhetoric, offer pragmatism in the White House and reaffirm long-standing American alliances. Since his stunning victory over Hillary Clinton last week, Trump has spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister Theresa May and nearly three dozen other world leaders by telephone. Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, also visited the Trump Tower and called the billionaire businessman “a true friend of Israel.” He specifically cited as another “friend” Trump campaign CEO Steve Bannon, whose selection as a top White House adviser has created a backlash among Democrats. Bannon’s news website has peddled conspiracy theories, white nationalism and anti-Semitism. “We look forward to working with the Trump administration, with all the members of the Trump administration, including Steve Bannon, in making the U.S.-Israel alliance stronger than ever,” Dermer said. Trump, a reality television star, business mogul and political newcomer, also rolled out new teams that will interact with the State Department, Pentagon, Justice Department and other national security agencies as part of the government transition before his Jan. 20 inauguration. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump buff foreign policy bona fides on debate eve
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were meeting separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday, giving the each candidate fresh bragging rights about their knowledge of foreign policy and readiness to lead the nation on the eve of their first presidential debate. Trump and Netanyahu discussed “at length” Israel’s use of a fence to help secure its borders, an example Trump frequently cites when he’s talking about the wall he wants to build between the U.S. and Mexico. “Trump recognized that Israel and its citizens have suffered far too long on the front lines of Islamic terrorism,” the campaign said in a statement. “He agreed with Prime Minister Netanyahu that the Israeli people want a just and lasting peace with their neighbors, but that peace will only come when the Palestinians renounce hatred and violence and accept Israel as a Jewish State.” Clinton was expected to meet with the prime minister later in the day, also in New York. The meeting was designed to put Israel on good footing with the next U.S. president. But it also served to showcase the candidates’ expertise in foreign policy in the shadow of their first debate Monday, six weeks before Election Day. Clinton, a former senator and secretary of state, often says that Trump does not know enough about the world and lacks the temperament to be president. Trump has argued that he has extensive experience with foreign policy through his career as a business executive and blames Clinton for many of the nation’s stumbles in foreign policy. Meanwhile, the candidates deployed their top supporters to the Sunday shows to take early jabs at their opponents and lower expectations for a showdown expected to draw 75 million viewers — many of them disenchanted with both candidates, the least-popular presidential hopefuls in history. Facts and who will determine them during the 90-minute debate seemed to be a top concern of the campaigns’ strategists given Trump’s habit of saying things that are untrue and the public’s general distrust of Clinton. Robby Mook, Clinton’s campaign manager, told ABC’s “This Week” that he is concerned Trump will continue his habit of sometimes saying things that aren’t true and still get a passing grade. He called on moderator Lester Holt to correct any inaccuracies made by the candidates. But Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, said it’s not the job of debate moderators to fact check. Trump’s vice presidential running mate, Mike Pence, meanwhile, said that Gennifer Flowers will not attend the debate. Trump had tweeted that if frequent Trump critic Mark Cuban attended the showdown, he’d put Flowers, allegedly the former mistress of Clinton’s husband Bill, in the audience too. Conway said that Flowers had a right to be there if “somebody else gives her a ticket.” But Pence drew a harder line. “Gennifer Flowers will not be attending the debate tomorrow night,” Pence said on “Fox News Sunday.” The candidates were focused on other matters Sunday. Trump’s campaign said that during his meeting with Netanyahu, the Republican presidential nominee promised, “extraordinary strategic, technological, military and intelligence cooperation between the two countries” if he’s elected. The press was barred from covering the meeting between Netanyahu and Trump, but Trump’s campaign said in a statement that the men, who have known each other for years, discussed “many topics important to both countries,” including “the special relationship between America and Israel and the unbreakable bond between the two countries.” Among those topics: the nuclear deal with Iran, the battle against Islamic State militants, military assistance provided by the U.S. to Israel and other security issues. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
