Senate foreign relations chair Menendez: No ‘blank check’ to Egypt
(JNS.org) WASHINGTON, DC—U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), the new chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Tuesday told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference that U.S. aid to Egypt should be contingent upon Egypt upholding its 1979 peace treaty with Israel.
“American security assistance to Egypt cannot be a blank check,” Menendez said.
Menendez, who follows current Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden as foreign relations chair, said, “There will never be any daylight between the United States and Israel on my watch. Never. Not on my watch.”
“The fact is we need to be ahead of the curve, and as chairman I intend to keep us ahead of the curve when it comes to the present and future threats to our security,” he said.
Drawing a standing ovation from the AIPAC crowd, Menendez reaffirmed the biblical Jewish connection to the land of Israel.
“There can be no denying the Jewish people’s legitimate right to live in peace and security in a homeland to which they have a connection for thousands of years,” he said.
Menendez condemned the Palestinians’ unilateral statehood bids at the United Nations the last two years, which included their attainment of nonmember observer state status last fall.
“To create a sovereign Palestinian state with clear boundaries, there has to be a negotiated settlement with the state of Israel,” he said.
As far as the Iranian nuclear threat goes, Menendez said, “Containment is not an option for the United States.”
“Our clear intention must be to prevent Iran from ever reaching nuclear capacity,” he said.
“We will not and cannot talk for talking’s sake,” he said of the diplomacy track for Iran. “We cannot allow the negotiations to become just a stalling tactic for Iran to buy time.”
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Hamas terror cell uncovered in Hebron
(JNS.org) The Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), with support from the Israel Defense Forces, recently broke up a Hamas terror cell in Hebron that was planning attacks against Israeli targets, Israel Hayom reported.
In one plot, the cell planned to attack an IDF position in the Hebron area with explosives and gunfire.
The cell was directed by Hamas terrorist operative who was released from an Israeli prison as part of the Gilad Schalit swap deal and deported to the Gaza Strip.
The members of the cell were arrested before they could carry out any of their plans.
The arrested suspects included Manjad Musa Diab Junidi, a 23-year-old resident of Hebron, who admitted to being in touch with Basel Heimuni, a Hamas terrorist operative in Gaza who was released in the Schalit deal.
Another arrested suspect was Muhammad Hassan Rajab Abu Sahidem, a 25-year-old resident of Hebron, who was recruited to the cell by Junidi. Sahidem admitted to building a pipe bomb with other members of the cell.
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Playboy launches Hebrew language edition
(JNS.org) Playboy Magazine has announced that it will begin publishing a Hebrew language edition.
While Playboy has been available for years in Israel, the new Hebrew edition will feature Israeli writers with articles and interviews geared towards an Israeli audience. For those not interested in reading the articles, it will also feature many of Israel’s world famous super models.
“I believe that the special formula that has brought Playboy to a rare level of success throughout the world will continue to succeed in my new home Israel,” said Daniel Pomerantz, owner and publisher of Playboy Magazine, the Associated Press reported.
Israeli model Nataly Dadon will appear on the cover of the first Hebrew edition. It will also feature an on interview with former Shin Bet security chief Avi Dichter.
“Israel is a very complicated country with tradition and modernity and also with serious things and fun fashionable things and that is exactly the character of Playboy. It is a complicated and beautiful magazine for a complicated and beautiful country,” Pomerantz said.
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House Minority Whip Hoyer: ‘Day will come when diplomacy ends’ with Iran
(JNS.org) WASHINGTON, DC—U.S. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said Monday night at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference that while nuclear talks with Iran continue without any results, Iran’s leaders “must understand that these talks cannot go on indefinitely.”
“The day will come when diplomacy ends and Iran’s leaders will ultimately decide whether it was because they have willingly dismantled their nuclear weapons program, or whether they have compelled the free world to do it for them,” Hoyer said.
Hoyer said the U.S. and Israel must speak with “unambiguous” language on Iran that does not “leave any uncertainty” in the minds of countries who consider the U.S. and Israel common foes.
“Nowhere must we be more united and vigilant than when facing the threat posed to all of us by Iran,” he said.
Hoyer also stressed the importance of remembering that Hezbollah and Hamas are not “simply politicians.”
“Make no mistake, they are terrorists,” he said.
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House Majority Leader Cantor worried some legislators ‘overlook’ Israel
(JNS.org) WASHINGTON, DC—U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), the only Republican Jew in the House, said Monday night at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference that he is worried for the first time in his legislative career that “some of our nation’s leaders are complacent,” particularly those who wish to reduce America’s overseas involvement.
“I worry that they indeed overlook the gift that is Israel,” Cantor said. “I worry that Israelis worry, and these worries are not unfounded.”
U.S. support for the Iron Dome missile defense system is critical, Cantor said, because the system has no margin for error.
“Make no mistake. The Iron Dome has to be right 100 percent of the time, or Israelis die,” Cantor said.
The Iron Dome and other missile defense systems, however, are not “panaceas,” Cantor said.
“True peace will require an end to Iranian-backed weapons smuggled into Gaza,” he said.
Regarding the Iranian nuclear threat, Cantor said, “We need to be clear-eyed that the nuclear talks with Iran cannot be unending, and that they may fail.” Military action against Iran “may become necessary” to protect America, Israel and other allies, and America must lead any such efforts if they become necessary, according to Cantor. The consequences of the Iranian threat “should not be Israel’s alone to bear,” he said.
Cantor also took time to specifically thank the pro-Israel Christians who came to the AIPAC conference.
“We salute you, and we thank you, for standing with us, standing with Israel,” he told the Christians in attendance.
“Thank you for standing with us, to defend the gift that is Israel,” he said.
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Latin American priests tour Israel to deepen Jewish-Christian ties
(JNS.org) A delegation of young priests from several Latin American countries are in the midst of a week-long Jewish-Christian educational mission in Israel organized by the World Jewish Congress (WJC), the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation in Israel (CJCUC) and the Latin American Jewish Congress (LAJC).
The focus of the mission is to highlight the improvements of Jewish-Christian relations since the Second Vatican Council in 1965, which changed the church’s teaching on Judaism and denounced anti-Semitism, as well as to introduce young Latino priests to Israel and the Jewish people.
Both Pope Benedict XVI and his predecessor Pope John Paul II took remarkable steps in improving Jewish-Christian relations as well as establishing diplomatic ties with Israel.
“As Pope Benedict XVI leaves the papal office today, his legacy of building bridges between Jews and Christians will continue in these young priests,” said CJCUC founder and chancellor Rabbi Shlomo Riskin said in a statement.
Another important goal of the mission is to increase understanding between Catholic leaders from developing countries and Judaism.
“As the center of gravity of the Catholic Church shifts to South America and Africa, it is vitally important to create new friendships between the future leaders of the Catholic Church in Latin America and the Jewish people,” David Nekrutman, the executive director of CJCUC, said in a statement.
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Secret of world’s oldest serving head of state? Mediterranean diet!
(JNS.org) What is the secret to becoming the oldest serving head of state at 89 years old? The details of Israeli President Shimon Peres’s diet were released as part of a new nutritional sciences degree program at the Peres Academic Center.
Peres’s meal regimen includes fat-free cottage cheese in the morning, low-fat cheese with a tomato salad at dinner, and a lot of green tea. It also includes a large quantity of vitamin C from his salads, fiber from his whole wheat breads and is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids from fish and nuts.
“Right away you can see the [president’s] menu is balanced, varied, colorful and well organized throughout the day,” Nutritionist Dr. Sarah Kaplan said, according to Israel Hayom.
According to Kaplan, Peres’s diet is “very close to the Mediterranean diet. It has fruits, vegetables, fish, legumes and dairy products”
The Mediterranean diet has been promoted for years by doctors and nutritionists as a way of reducing the risk of heart disease by as much as up to 30 percent, according to a recent study from the New England Journal of Medicine. It includes a diet rich in olive oil, nuts, beans, fish, fruits, vegetables and even moderate amounts of wine.
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Netanyahu to AIPAC conference: Iran ‘running out the clock’
(JNS.org) WASHINGTON, DC—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday previewed his three-pronged agenda for President Barack Obama’s visit to the Jewish state later this month: Iran, Syria, and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
“[The visit] will give me an opportunity, along with the people of Israel, to express our appreciation for what [Obama] has done for Israel,” Netanyahu told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference through a live satellite message.
In Iran, “diplomacy has not worked,” Netanyahu said, providing a contrast to the earlier remarks of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who stressed that there remains “time and space” for diplomatic efforts.
“Iran has ignored all these offers,” Netanyahu said. “It is running out the clock.”
“Thus far, the sanctions have not stopped the nuclear program either,” the prime minister said, explaining that amid a struggling economy, Iranian leaders “just grit their teeth and move forward.”
Netanyahu said that to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, “we cannot allow Iran to cross that red line,” referencing his repeated request for a point which, if crossed by Iran, would prompt U.S. military action against the Islamic Republic.
“We have to stop its nuclear enrichment program before it’s too late,” Netanyahu said.
“Words alone will not stop Iran,” he added. “Sanctions alone will not stop Iran.” Sanctions must be coupled with a clear threat of a military option, according to the prime minister.
Regarding the peace process, Netanyahu said the U.S. and Israel have a “common quest” for “a peace that will end our conflict once and for all,” but he stressed that peace must be “based in reality.”
“As Israel’s prime minister, I will never compromise on our security,” he said.
Netanyahu said that when the president visits Israel, he intends to show Obama “a different side” of the country, one that has “become a technological marvel” and is teeming with innovation.”
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Biden stresses prevention of nuclear Iran, with ‘time and space’ left for diplomacy
(JNS.org) WASHINGTON, DC—U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Monday morning told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference that the U.S. is committed to preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon—placing emphasis on the word “prevent”—but has not closed the window on diplomatic efforts.
“We have a shared strategic commitment,” Biden said of the U.S. and Israel. “Let me make clear what that commitment is. It is to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Period.”
“Not contain. Prevent,” Biden added for emphasis. He said Obama, who was not at the AIPAC conference due to his visit to Israel later this month, “has flatly stated that.”
Nevertheless, Biden said, “Our strong preference, the world’s preference, is for a diplomatic solution.” The Obama administration has so far refused to set the “red line” requested by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that would prompt U.S. military action against Iran based on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear progress.
The window for diplomacy with Iran is closing, but the U.S. believes “there is still time and space to achieve [that] outcome,” Biden said.
“If God forbid the need to act [militarily against Iran] occurs, it is critically important for the whole world to know, we did everything in our power, we did everything that could have reasonably be expected, to avoid a confrontation,” he said.
Biden said he and Obama “both know that Israel faces new pressures, new threats, and uncertainty.” Those threats “have changed, as the world and the region have changed over the last decade.” The “Arab Spring,” he said, forces the U.S. to “reassess” old relationships in the Middle East.
Amid those regional changes, Biden said one thing has not changed—“our deep commitment to the security of the state of Israel.”
The U.S. and Israel have “always disagreed on tactics,” but never on the “strategic imperative” to secure Israel.
“No president has done as much to physically secure the state of Israel as president Barack Obama,” Biden said, noting that he has served as a national legislator during the tenures of eight presidents. There have never been as many meetings and as much coordination between U.S. and Israeli intelligence services and their militaries as there has been under Obama, according to Biden.
In particular, Biden noted the $275 million U.S. investment in Iron Dome missile defense system, which intercepted nearly 400 Gaza rockets last November alone.
“The world saw firsthand [during Operation Pillar of Defense] why it was and remains so critical,” Biden said of Iron Dome. “For too long, when those sirens blared in the streets of the [Israeli] cities bordering Gaza, the only defense had been a bomb shelter. But late last year Iron Dome made a difference.”
Regarding efforts to delegitimize Israel as a Jewish state, Biden said Obama “has been a bulwark against those insidious efforts at every step of the way,” including America’s opposition to the Palestinians’ bid for (and attainment of) nonmember observer state status last fall at the United Nations.
The U.S. continues to oppose unilateral actions in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process because, “There is no shortcut to peace, there is no shortcut to face to face negotiations,” Biden said.
“We are under no illusions about how difficult it will be to achieve,” Biden said of peace.
“It’s going to require hard steps from both sides, but it’s in all of our interest,” he said, referencing President Bill Clinton’s past statement that “We’ve got to get caught trying.”
“We make no apologies for continuing to pursue that goal, for pursuing a better future,” Biden said.
Regarding Iran, Biden acknowledged that even preventing them from acquiring nuclear weapons still leaves them as a “dangerous neighbor,” particularly for Israel, through their sponsorship of terrorist proxies like Hezbollah.
“We know what Israel knows,” Biden said. Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. Period.” The U.S. is urging every nation to “start treating Hezbollah as such and naming them as a terrorist organization,” he said.
With Obama preparing to visit Israel later this month, Biden the president “is particularly looking forward to having a chance to hear from the people of Israel.”
“I think all politics is personal, and I mean it,” he said.
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