The following statement has been signed by Jose Maria Aznar, David Trimble, John R. Bolton, Alejandro Toledo, Marcello Pera, Andrew Roberts, Fiamma Nirenstein, George Weigel, Robert F. Agostinelli and Carlos Bustelo:

Israel is a Western democracy and a normal country. Nonetheless, Israel has faced abnormal circumstances since its inception. In fact, Israel is the only Western democracy whose existence has been questioned by force, and whose legitimacy is still being questioned independently of its actions. continue reading…

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Eight tentacles. Eight predictions. The now infamous “Paul the Octopus” has emerged from the FIFA World Cup with 100% accuracy, predicting all of Germany’s games as well as the final. Like consecutive flips of a coin, with what starts off as a 50-50 chance gets smaller and smaller with each next prediction. The odds of going eight for eight? 0.39 percent. For his next look into the proverbial crystal ball, Paul the Octopus would be smart to predict a two-state solution: lasting peace between Israelis and their Palestinian neighbors.
There is a lot the Jewish people can learn from this psychic, nonkosher specimen. No one would have put money on this psychic octopus, even if the payoff is about 256:1. Then again, two thousand years ago, who would have bet on the Jewish people? Whether it is oil lasting 8 days or an unbelievable statistical anomaly of an octopus having a perfect world cup bracket, the world is full of surprises. Our prediction is that peace is coming and we hope that we have the same clairvoyance  as Paul the Octopus. continue reading…

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Expectations surrounding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fourth White House meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, are running high. The previous conversations between the prime minister and President Barack Obama, though privately friendly and constructive, generated press speculations of tensions in the United States — Israel relationship. The chief source of friction, it was reported, centered on the peace process and the best way to restart talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. continue reading…

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Photo: Wikimedia Commons

For decades the Middle East has been continuously in turmoil, with a de facto state of war for many countries exacerbated by internal politics. Today we have the most important conflict emerging which will shape every corner of the Middle East. On one side of this conflict are Islamic extremist groups who are pushing for the implementation of Shariah, or Islamic law. Their goal is the creation of a unified Islamic Kingdom (Caliphate) which most Muslims acknowledge has not existed since the fall of the Ottoman Empire. On the other side stands the moderate camp, which despite their positions as leaders in government, shield themselves from progressives and liberalizing forces in order to keep the status quo which has kept them in power for decades.

The internal political map and dynamics inside Lebanon, a small but important state in the Middle East, always reflected the regional forces and conflicts in a very clear and sharp way. continue reading…

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Yasser Kashlak, organizer of another flotilla which will be leaving from Beirut, has been found to be a friend of Hezbollah’s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah. Said Mr. Kashlak in a letter for Nasrallah, “In the name of the Palestinian people… we stress that we are taking the path of resistance.”

One of the ships, Miriam, is being led by Samar al-Hajj, who is the wife of a Lebanese officer who served a prison sentence for his involvement in the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Three weeks ago, to celebrate the officer’s release, al-Hajj met with Hezbollah’s Nasrallah to thank him for his support.

There are a lot of unknowns about the incoming Lebanese ships. However, according to international law, Israel has the right and the obligation to redirect ships trying to break the law. Israel can then bring them to an Israeli port for inspection.

Please stay tuned for future updates. To read more, click here.

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Photo: IDF Spokesperson

Israel is setting up a commission led by former Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel to investigate actions taken by the State of Israel to prevent vessels from reaching the coast of the Gaza Strip on May 31st, 2010.

In addition to Justice Turkel, the Commission will have two members and two foreign experts who will serve as observers. The members of the Commission will be Shabbtai Rosen and Amos Horev, experts on international law.

The foreign observers will include Lord David Trimble, Nobel Peace laureate from Northern Ireland and Brig. Gen. Ken Watkin, a former judge advocate general of the Canadian Forces. continue reading…

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“If you will it, it is no dream.” With these words Theodor Herzl concluded his novel “Old-New Land” in 1906.  Indeed, 42 years later it was no longer only a dream.  Millions of Jews once again had a homeland. It’s a uniqueness in world history, for no other people that were sent for extinct were able to reassert its sovereignty and its national life.  For 2000 years, the Jewish people were yearning to return to its homeland.  It was because of this dream and this history that they willed the dream to be a reality, “If you will it, it is no dream.”

Once the Jewish people established their new state, they made the dessert bloom.  It was not only a resurrection of a nation but also of its land.  It was because of the strong belief of “If you will it, it is no dream.”

Since the first hours of Israel’s national revival of its land, and until this very day, the Jewish people were forced to defend its land and its people; to fight the ones who denied its very existence and right of self-determination.  Israel found itself out-numbered by its enemies.  The Jewish people paid a high price for its independence, but succeed in turning back the incoming forces because they believed that: “If you will it, it is no dream.”

From a scarce economy based on agriculture, Israel became one of the strongest economies in the world.  Our inventions and innovations are found everywhere – from cell phones and solar panels to medications and research.  We managed to grown and succeed because we believe that: “If you will it, it is no dream.”

Since Israel’s independence, it has been a vibrant democracy, where every citizen, regardless of color, religion or gender, has the right to vote and to be elected. Israeli newspapers are filled with discussion of Israeli politics and you can hear arguments regarding policy at every street corner, in every cab, and at every marketplace.

Israel is a place where gay couples walk hand-in-hand along the shores of Tel Aviv and Hassidim dance at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. It is the place where Muslim women place a ballot to elect new municipal leaders and members of the Knesset because all citizens of Israel believes that: “If you will it, it is no dream.”

For 62 years, Israel has extended its hand for peace to all its Arab neighbors. Some, like Egypt and Jordan, have taken our hand and have, understanding that peace benefits all.  We are hoping for the day that all our neighbors understand this and accept our ever standing offer of peace.  We understand that this is not easy and that great emotion exists on both sides. However, a solution must come.  Israel understands this.  It is our will to come to a peace agreement with our Palestinian neighbors which will end the conflict between our nations: A Palestinian state for the Palestinian nation and a Jewish state for the Jewish nation.  If you will it, it is no dream.

Happy Birthday Israel.

By Joel Lion, Spokesperson and Consul for Media Affairs at the Consulate General of Israel in New York

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The only Christian TV station in the West Bank has been shut down by the Palestinian Authority after 14 years on the air. Al-Mahed “Nativity” TV sits just a stone’s throw from the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, believed by many Christians, Muslims and even Jews to be the site of Jesus’ birth.

As stated on its own website, Al-Mahed’s “Nativity” TV’s mission is “to help in building a Palestinian civil society, based on the principles of freedom, democracy, pluralism, anti-discrimination and equality of all in front of the law.”

According to the station’s general manager Samir Qumsieh, Al-Mahed “Nativity” TV was shut down for not paying additional money for a “license,” despite having operated with great Palestinian support for over a decade. While silencing voices may be par for the course in Hamas-controlled Gaza, this decision by the PA in the West Bank is disturbing and hopefully not a portent of things to come.

To read more, click here.

Photo provided by Flickr. Used under Creative Commons License.

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Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Nearly 62 years ago, the United Nations recognized the right of the Jews, an ancient people 3,500 years-old, to a state of their own in their ancestral homeland.

I stand here today as the Prime Minister of Israel, the Jewish state, and I speak to you on behalf of my country and my people.

The United Nations was founded after the carnage of World War II and the horrors of the Holocaust.  It was charged with preventing the recurrence of such horrendous events.

Nothing has undermined that central mission more than the systematic assault on the truth. Yesterday the President of Iran stood at this very podium, spewing his latest anti-Semitic rants.  Just a few days earlier, he again claimed that the Holocaust is a lie.

Last month, I went to a villa in a suburb of Berlin called Wannsee. There, on January 20, 1942, after a hearty meal, senior Nazi officials met and decided how to exterminate the Jewish people. The detailed minutes of that meeting have been preserved by successive German governments. Here is a copy of those minutes, in which the Nazis issued precise instructions on how to carry out the extermination of the Jews.   Is this a lie?

A day before I was in Wannsee, I was given in Berlin the original construction plans for the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Those plans are signed by Hitler’s deputy, Heinrich Himmler himself.  Here is a copy of the plans for Auschwitz-Birkenau, where one million Jews were murdered.  Is this too a lie?

This June, President Obama visited the Buchenwald concentration camp.  Did President Obama pay tribute to a lie?

And what of the Auschwitz survivors whose arms still bear the tattooed numbers branded on them by the Nazis? Are those tattoos a lie?  One-third of all Jews perished in the conflagration.  Nearly every Jewish family was affected, including my own.  My wife’s grandparents, her father’s two sisters and three brothers, and all the aunts, uncles and cousins were all murdered by the Nazis.  Is that also a lie? continue reading…

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Israel has gone to great lengths to improve the conditions in the Palestinian Authority.

To learn more about these efforts, visit: Supporting Palestinian Capacity
Building: Israel’s Efforts in Supporting the Palestinian Economy, Civil Affairs and
Security Reforms

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