Israel, in Today's News 03.14.10

Israel. The media can't get over the Israeli "insulting behavior" toward United States Vice President Biden during his recent visit. Hillary* even got in on the act, making a phone call to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

What the media misses is the cleverness of the Israeli actions. Biden went to Israel to discuss the Obama agenda of pretending to be sympathetic to the Arab world. The Israelis, of course, wanted nothing to do with that discussion. So, to avoid the discussion, the Israelis simply announced as Biden was landing that they were putting up more housing in the Palestinian sector. Immediately the agenda was totally changed. Instead of the Obama agenda, the topic of concern was the Israeli actions. Everyone forgot about the Obama agenda.

The price the Israelis paid was a small one. They made Biden look like a fool, but that doesn't really matter to the Israelis. Soon the world will not pay much attention to the new housing. And so, things will be right back where they were before Biden's visit.

IOW, the Israelis completely out-maneuvered Obama. In fact, they made Obama look a little silly. But, the media has no intention to accurately report what happened. Their job is to enhance the image of Obama. So, they complain about the Israeli bad manners.

Much is being made also of the differences between Israel and the United States. Basically the differences are tactical. Both countries share the same objective to make Israel the premier country in the middle-east, and to do this by force when the time comes.

The media is making a big noise about the 'differences'. After all it sells. But, the differences don't amount to much. With one caveat: the hysterical Israelis can get very worked up over tactical matters, and they are capable of most anything. The recent actions of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee to pressure Obama are an example.

* - Hillary is still trying to get even with the Israelis for the way they treated her after she appeared on the same platform with Mrs. Arafat.

Israel, in Today's News 10.06.09

Israel. One of the risks taken by Obama in delaying an attack on Iran, is that the Israelis will take action anyway that would precipitate American involvement in militarily confronting Iran. Obama is undoubtedly acutely aware of this danger. If he is smart he is having the US intelligence agencies working extra hours to keep track of what the Israelis are up to.

But, as time marches on, the Israelis become more and more frustrated with Obama trying to buy time as he pretends to negotiate with the Iranians. One can be sure that Israel has a plan to force the US into an attack on Iran. Sooner or later, and sooner is getting closer and closer, they will implement their plan.

On October 5 the US took an unprecedented action to deter Israel. The US actually abstained on a resolution before the United Nations Security Council that Israel give up its nuclear weapons!! Diplomatic circles were stunned by the US failure to defend Israeli nuclear weapons, as they had done repeatedly in the past. Usually the US votes 'no' on such resolutions, ignoring the nuclear weapons in Israel while demanding Iran produce none.

In effect, the US was making a shot across the bow of Israel. The message certainly was that if Israel attacks Iran directly or indirectly, the backing of US is not assured. 

The US did this because they are getting worried about Israel's plans. As a discussion piece in today's Wall Street Journal (page A21) said, "Also factoring in the administration's thinking are reports that the Israelis are in the final stages of planning an attack on Iran's nuclear installations." [!!!!!!!!]

Be prepared for all kinds of fireworks on the Iran issue in the next few months.

BTW, the strain between Obama and Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu was shown in Netanyahu characterizing Obama over an accidentally open microphone as "worse than Chamberlain" .

Israel, in Today's News 07.25.09

Israel. The Zionists are getting a little testy about the Obama administration's policy toward Israel.

First some sixteen Zionist leader met with Obama to express their concern (and make veiled threats). (See here.) Now in today's Wall Street Journal appears an opinion piece by the editor of the quarterly journal of the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

The article is meant as a further warning to Obama. "Mr. Netanyahu was sworn in as Israel's Prime Minister on March 31. Shortly thereafter, the Obama administration confronted Israel's new leader in a very public way regarding Israeli settlements in the West Bank...This was an extremely unusual way for an American president to greet the new leader of a liberal democracy that's a close ally of the U.S."

Obama is an old, old friend of the Zionists. But his maneuvering around the mideast issues (Palestine, Iran, militant Muslim-ism) is making the Israelis very nervous.

And if the past is any indication, you better know what you are doing if you are going to irritate the Zionists.

Israel Offers Two State-Plan, in Today's News 06.15.09

Israel Offers Two-State Plan. Don't get too excited about Israel making a change in policy. This 'offer' is just a way to get the United States off Israel's back on the new settlements question. Then the attention can be turned to Iran.

WSJ: "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu...said he would accept a Palestinian state as long as it was demilitarized and had limited governing powers." IOW, Israel is not for a Palestinian state, but the rhetoric sounds pretty for the benefit of Obama. Naturally the Palestinian angrily rejected this 'offer.'

Israel's prime objective is to take out Iran. What is going on here is an attempt to maneuver the United States into being a willing and enthusiastic accomplice right now without delay.

in Today's News 05.20.09

1.  Iran.  Just to ensure that Israel gets the point that the United States is not ready now to take action against Iran, two prominent think tanks issued reports today saying Iran is not an immediate threat.  The reports just happened to be released one day after the Obama-Netanyahu meeting.

The reports were issued by the East-West Institute and by the Rand Corporation.

The cryptocracy is unbelievably transparent.  If the United States was ready to take military action, you can be sure that both these groups would have issued reports justifying the action.

2.  Credit Cards.  The credit card bill now making its way though Congress seems to have some much needed reforms.  The media, however, is reluctant to discuss the costs of the reforms.  Here's what the Wall Street Journal has to say about the price:

"The new rules still allow card companies to raise interest rates on consumer's future charges.  And they will do little to stop banks from cutting credit lines for consumers deemed risky.  Issuers are already increasing rates for swaths of consumers ahead of the new rules as they try to protect against losses."

And:

"As banks look to off-set the loss in revenues from this new law, they will likely scale back their reward programs, bring back annual fees and make promotional offers less attractive, according to industry watchers.  In the long run, the banking industry has said it will have to scale back available credit and raise interest rates for new customers, because banks will have to rework their risk models."

One way or another, the credit card issuers are going to maintain their profits.

in Today's News 05.19.09

Netanyahu and Obama.  Both parties and the media say the meeting yesterday between Netanyahu and Obama was more or less routine and successful.  The Wall Street Journal buried its story on the meeting on page ten.

The reality is different.  The meeting itself went twice as long as scheduled.  This didn't happen because they were discussing the weather.  One can be sure that Netanyahu pushed aggressively on the issue of Iran.  Israel asserts that Iran is within months of producing enough fissile material to produce an atomic bomb. And therefore Israel believes the time for action against Iran is sooner rather than latter, and they feel quite strongly about it.

Obama, on the other hand, needs time so the United States can deal with the deteriorating situations in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  The last thing Obama needs right now is an additional major focus in foreign policy.  And so, the United States is pushing to put off any Iran action until the end of the year, with attempts at negotiations occupying the interim.

There is fundamental agreement between Israel and the United States on what to do about Iran.  But, there are big differences on timing.  We will probably never know whether Netanyahu acquiesced to Obama's position, but if he did it would be entirely out of character.

There is a dangerous game here, though, for the United States.  Israel has a history of getting its way.  If direct talks don't work, then it is certainly not beneath the Israelis to take some precipitate action that forces the hand of the United States.

You can be sure that the USA's intelligence network is working full-time on making sure that Israel doesn't do one of its surprises.

All the talk at the meeting about a Palestinian state, Israeli settlements, Arab peace initiatives, etc is pure fog.  All this has been discussed ad infinitum before. The wordage doesn't change and the reality doesn't change.  The United States is committed to support Israel no matter what.  The United States talk of negotiations etc is just a cover for Israel to do what it wants.

In Today's News 05.09.09

Today's Wall Street Journal prominently features a long article on the May 18 meeting between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This article signals a slight change in the cryptocracy's focus.  Iran, once again, comes to prominence.

Now that the United States and Israel national elections have installed new regimes, and now that the economic crisis has accomplished many of the cryptocracy's goals, the time has come to emphasize again the need to humble Iran.

The world's population hates war.  Not so the cryptocracy.  The cryptocracy has a definite agenda for world domination.  Such a goal of necessity entails war, and lots of them, to subdue obstacles and potential obstacles.  The cryptocracy is thus continually faced with how to maneuver humankind into supporting something they viscerally hate -- war. 

There is no fundamental difference between the governments serving the cryptocracy on the need to make sure Iran has no power in the middle east and in the world.  The differences are over how to go about convincing the public.   This is purpose of the WSJ article -- to begin a discussion on these differences.

It might seem strange that a teeny-tiny country like Israel can receive such great attention from the world's most powerful country and its media.  But, the truth is that the cryptocracy's favorite country is Israel.  The cryptocracy will undertake any and all measures to ensure that Israel is not threatened.

And so, be prepared for the 'public' discussion on how to get Iran that will occur over the next period of time.  The thing to watch is whether Israel will lose patience and take unilateral action, as they have often done in the past.

There is one fly in the ointment for Israel's intention to have the United States carry the campaign against Iran.  The deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan will make the United States much less willing to take on any new military initiative.