Dear Family & Friends,

Some provocative, worthwhile, educational, pithy material for your Shabbat reading.

First: Mostly Israel – War on Terror, Political Choices,

Second: The World – War on Terror – Where is it? What is it really? Who’s fighting it?

Enjoy! Don’t forget to enjoy your families, yourself, a peaceful Shabbat & to Thank G-d.

All the very best! Gail/Geula/Savta/Savta Raba/Mom

1.’War on terror won’t succeed if it’s based on hypocrisy’

2.The most unjustified criticism By Mati Tuchfeld in Israel HaYom 1/16/15

3.Netanyahu’s Greatness Revealed in Barak Interview Dr. Aaron Lerner

4.After Habayit Hayehudi primary, Bennett declares: We made history

5.Kahlon: No to 1967 borders, no to dividing Jerusalem by Avi Cohen

6. US lawmakers propose moving embassy to Jerusalem

7. Paris mourns, Obama yawns: Missing In More Ways Than One by Charles Krauthammer

8.Poll: Almost Half Of British Jews Fear They Have No Long-Term Future In Britain Or Europe

9.Don’t ignore the writing on the wall by Yoram Ettinger

10.Isolated incidents or global war? by Dore Gold

11.’Je suis Charlie Brown’ by Ruthie Blum

12.“Dry Bones” The Turkish Bridge by Ya’acov Kirschen

13.Turkey confirms ‘escape’ of French terror attacker’s partner to Syria

14.Turkey’s Staggering “Shoeboxgate”: How Turkey “Fights” Corruption by Burak Bekdil Gatestone Institute

15.Pegida: The New German Revolution by Peter Martino

16.Disabled IDF veterans open ski season at Mount Hermon

PM Benjamin Netanyahu calls on world to repudiate Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s anti-Israel comments • FM Avigdor Lieberman: Erdogan is anti-Semitic bully • Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu compares Netanyahu to perpetrators of Paris attacks.

By Shlomo Cesana, Israel Hayom Staff & Reuters

Photo credit: Kobi Gideon / GPO

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses visiting AIPAC leaders, Wednesday

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired back at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, after Erdogan said earlier this week that Israeli officials should not have been allowed to take part in last Sunday’s anti-terror march in Paris due to Israel’s actions during Operation Protective Edge. Erdogan accused Israel of carrying out “state terrorism by massacring 2,500 people in Gaza.”

Speaking to a group of visiting AIPAC leaders on Wednesday, Netanyahu said, “I think the war against terror will not succeed if it’s founded on hypocrisy, & I’ve yet to hear any world leader condemn the comments by Erdogan, not one.

“[Erdogan] said that Israel should not have been represented in the march in Paris, & the reason he gave was our actions to defend our citizens against the thousands of rockets hurled at our cities by the terrorists of Hamas. I believe his shameful remarks must be repudiated by the international community, because the war against terror will only succeed if it’s guided by moral clarity. That means that the terrorists & their supporters must be condemned, & those fighting terror, like Israel & the United States, must be supported. It’s as simple as that. & I think we’re going to be tested by these issues of moral confusion versus moral clarity & courage versus cowardice again, & again, & again. This is not a one-shot battle.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Netanyahu met with Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel García-Margallo. At the start of the meeting, Netanyahu said the fight against terrorism “is a common battle & I think the march on the streets of Paris was a reflection of a desire to see unity in the battle against terrorism.

“I have to say that marching is not enough. We have to fight the terrorists, & we also have to fight the inconsistencies in battling terrorists. Because I think the war of terror can only be won if we defeat the hypocrisy that is attached to it.

“And I particularly refer to the statements made yesterday by the Turkish President Erdogan. … I think these actions, these statements of the Turkish president should be reputed by all those who want to carry on the fight against terrorism. Because I think this battle requires clarity: Those who perpetrate terrorists & those who support them should be condemned, & those who fight terrorism should be supported.

“I think that’s the first stage. Everything else follows from it, & I hope that we’ll continue our common battle against terrorism & against radical Islam that threatens our common civilization.”

On Thursday, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu continued the war of words, comparing Netanyahu to the terrorists who carried last week’s attacks in Paris.

“Just as the massacre in Paris committed by terrorists is a crime against humanity, Netanyahu, as the head of the government that kills children playing on the beach with the bombardment of Gaza, destroys thousands of homes .. & that massacred our citizens on an aid ship in international waters, has committed crimes against humanity,” Davutoglu said.

Meanwhile, in an address to Israeli envoys based in Europe & Asia on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called Erdogan an “anti-Semitic bully.”

“Civilized, politically correct Europe’s silence over an anti-Semitic, neighborhood bully like Erdogan & his gang takes us back to the 1930s,” Lieberman said. “We have to tell the truth & speak plainly, put it on the table.”

Lieberman was also critical of Europe’s reaction to last week’s Islamic terrorist attacks in Paris, saying the anti-Semitic nature of them had been played down.

“In the world & in Europe, most of the discussion was about freedom of expression, extremism & Islamophobia,” Lieberman said. “But the Jewish & anti-Semitic aspects were hardly mentioned & this is particularly grave.”

Lieberman did praise French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, saying Valls “is the first in Europe who speaks honestly & unhesitatingly about the phenomenon of hatred of Jews in its new form.”

‘War on terror won’t succeed if it’s based on hypocrisy’ 2.The most unjustified criticism By Mati Tuchfeld in Israel HaYom 1/16/15 The Likud campaign was stunned by the magnitude & vile nature of the criticism leveled at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his visit to Paris this week • In contrast, the French Jewish community welcomed him. The Jews who were murdered in the kosher supermarket in Paris last week were not Israelis. They had never lived in Israel, nor did they or any of their family members have Israeli citizenship, but their families still chose to lay them to rest a long way from home, in Jerusalem. This proved that no matter where they are, Jews have an inextricable link to Israel, regardless of which country’s emblem appears on their passport. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to travel to France & attend Sunday’s mass rally, which saw millions, including prominent world leaders, gather in the French capital to honor the victims, as well as his decision to attend the memorial service held later that evening in the Grand Synagogue of Paris, reflected that he understood that. Unfortunately, there were some who did not. Minister Benjamin Netanyahu & other world leaders at the anti-terror march in Paris, Sunday Photo credit: Haim Tzach / GPO Netanyahu’s political rivals rushed to lambaste him over his short trip, meant to express his condolences to the French Jewish community & participate in the global protest against terrorism. Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid even went as far as saying, “We have been exposed to the impolite Israeli — a prime minister who cuts ahead in line is in very bad form.” Even when Elysee officials later clarified that protocol had dictated that Netanyahu march alongside other world leaders in the front row of the protest rally, Lapid did not see fit to amend his statement. This, of course, comes as no surprise, as even during his term as finance minister he always focused on headlines rather than on facts. Last week’s terrorist attacks were the last straw: The attack on the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo saw millions of French take to the streets, braving the cold to wave protest signs; while the attack on Jews in the kosher supermarket garnered a more understated response, which was more a perfunctory courtesy than a sympathetic gesture. Those protesting the attack on the magazine made the pencil their symbol, donning shirts with the slogan “Je suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie”), but only the Jews wore shirts reading “Je suis Juif” (“I am a Jew”). Members of the Jewish community in Paris were visibly moved to see Netanyahu standing alongside prominent European leaders, & later on, in the synagogue. French Jews, who have always been deeply affiliated with their homeland, felt that for the first time, someone was truly sympathetic to their pain in a manner that exceeded mere lip service. They were not focused so much on Netanyahu the individual, but on what he represented — Israeli Jews. Only a few years ago, any Israeli leader who dared urge French Jews to make aliyah would have been scorned & denounced. In the 1970s & 1980s, the Jewish Agency dispatched hundreds of emissaries worldwide to encourage Jews to immigrate to Israel, but the move enraged the local Jewish communities, prompting the Jewish Agency to cease its proactive efforts in the 1990s & call its envoys home. Since then, it has sufficed in offering assistance to those who sought it out for themselves. But something has changed in France. The fact that the Israeli prime minister can, from his podium, openly call on French Jews to make aliyah, proves as much. Netanyahu’s political rivals & the media were so preoccupied with their criticism of him that they had completely overlooked something else that took place during the leaders’ protest, despite it being glaringly obvious: the fact that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas took part in the event as well. If there is one thing that illustrated Europe & France’s stubborn refusal to clearly define the problem they face, it was Abbas’ participation in the Paris rally. Abbas is not a head of state — at best he is the head of a small Arab tribe, no different from dozens, if not hundreds, of others. Just like Caliph Mirza Masroor Ahmad, head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community that numbers 20 million people worldwide — over twice as many as Abbas’ tribe — was not invited to participate in the rally, the Palestinian Authority’s president had no place there, either. Statistical oversights: [10% of France is Muslim: Gail] The Likud campaign was taken aback by the fierce criticism leveled at Netanyahu, as well as by its vile nature. While election campaigns are naturally rife with barbed criticism, Likud official still believed that given the tragic circumstances, the prime minister’s political rival would exercise some minimal form of decorum. Not only were they proven wrong, they found themselves facing what has so far been the worst week for the Likud since the March 17 elections were called. The criticism of the prime minister, however, was ill-timed & ill-focused. If at first other party leaders claimed Netanyahu erred in traveling to France, now that the victims have been laid to rest everyone understands how important the trip was, both to the French Jewish community & the Israeli French community. If at first other party leaders insisted the French, & especially President Francois Hollande, did not want Netanyahu to attend the rally, it has now become clear exactly how important it was for Netanyahu to go, whether his hosts liked it or not. Even if Elysee officials had, at some point, believed the Israeli prime minister could march alongside other dignitaries in the second row, Netanyahu should have made his way to the front. Any Jew who occasionally dares to set aside the innate inferiority expected of him would have wanted Netanyahu to do so. & with all due respect — if the president of Mali, a Third World African country, belongs on the front row, so does the representative of the people whose brethren were killed. It would have been embarrassing otherwise. After all, Netanyahu did not travel to Paris to represent himself. True, the French were displeased by Netanyahu’s arrival. They would have preferred it had he arrived at a later date, or perhaps not at all, because they were, & are, busy covering up the truth. The French would rather blame an ambiguous enemy for the terrorist attacks. They prefer to bury their heads in sand & keep sitting in their cafes, oblivious to all this political nonsense. Until the next terrorist attack, that is. For generations, France has been doing its best to ignore the existence of any religion. In Israel, like in most Western countries, the Central Bureau of Statistics issues annual reports detailing the number of Muslims & Christians living in the country, but such statistical research is barred in France, & there is no official state data on the number of Muslims living there. If such data existed, it would probably alarm even the most peace loving of Frenchmen. In the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” author Douglas Adams hilariously describes one of most hideous monsters a space traveler could encounter, as the one easiest to deal with. It is so stupid, he wrote, that it believes that if you cannot see it, it cannot see you, so should you face its bared teeth, all you have to do is close your eyes. Paris, it seems, believes that if it has no data on the number of Muslims living in France, they must not be living there. Naturally, Netanyahu cannot abide by this destructive policy, which might undermine France, & perhaps the whole of Europe, faster than anyone thinks. Jews are the first to pay the price: Over the years, they have become accustomed to disguising synagogues, shaving their beards, & turning the other cheek to the occasional attack on the Metro. Every few months or years, depending on the times, they must also endure terrorist attacks, but the French government, & with it the people, prefer to ignore the situation. Condolences are expressed & polite compassion is offered by way of going through the motions, but nothing more. Back to basics Habayit Hayehudi presented its Knesset list this week, representing good news from supporters who feared the veteran national religious party was about to undergo a character overhaul. Some feared that party Chairman Naftali Bennett sought to make Habayit Hayehudi into some version of the Likud: a party that had a more generic appeal to nonreligious voters, whose roster included Muslim & Druze representatives, & one that would sideline the national religious sector’s interests — the same interests that had inspired its inception. Those fears proved unfounded on Thursday, but the list yielded by the party’s primaries was not the one Bennett had hoped for. Between the slots reserved for the chairman’s nominations & the slots reserved for women, Bennett had every opportunity to shape Habayit Hayehudi’s list in his image. The party’s registered voters, however, had something else in mind, as illustrated by the conservative result. Habayit Hayehudi’s primaries left Bennett with a classic national religious list, despite his promises for a “brand new day.” The new Knesset roster is almost identical to its predecessor, & with the exception of MK Ayelet Shaked, Habayit Hayehudi members voted for religious candidates across the top 15 slots, which are considered realistic placements. Bennett may have declared Habayit Hayehudi was about to embark on a new path, “Zionist” Druze & Muslim members in tow; & he may have even changed the party bylaws to accommodate him should Habayit Hayehudi form the government, but he still ended up with the same dull stars, whose shimmer had long since faded. Make no mistake — Habayit Hayehudi has presented a solid list, comprising MKs & ministers that have proven themselves during the 19th Knesset’s term, but Bennett had other plans. At this time, however, the multiple reserved slots at his disposal may work against him, because if he uses them, he risks pushing several newfound associates further down the list, potentially excluding them from the next Knesset. Youth before experience Professional soccer has leagues. You have the national league, the major league, & the minor leagues, & each player is ranked according to the level in which he plays the game. This week, however, saw the Labor Party join none other than the junior league. The Knesset list presented by Labor on Wednesday may appear young & fresh, but it does not suit a ruling party. With a blend of women, young politicians, & social activists, all eloquent & photogenic individuals, Labor’s list is enough to give Kulanu & Yesh Atid a run for their money, but it falls short of the basic criteria required of a crown contender. With the exception of Labor Chairman Isaac Herzog, Hatnuah Chairwoman Tzipi Livni, & MK Amir Peretz, none of the names on Labor’s list have any ministerial or executive experience. One only has to imagine Herzog, with MKs Stav Shaffir & Itzik Shmuli by his side, navigating Israel’s security & economy, to feel the earth slightly quake under one’s feet. Labor’s list has also debunked the claims Herzog made against his predecessor, MK Shelly Yachimovich. At the time, he claimed that Yachimovich only pursued social objectives, while a ruling party must pursue diplomatic & security objectives as well. The new list, whoever, has proven that Labor voters are not interesting in pursuing anything at all. The most unjustified criticism By Mati Tuchfield 3.Netanyahu’s Greatness Revealed in Barak Interview Dr. Aaron Lerner Weekly Commentary Date: 15 January 2015 Back when no one besides Israel gave any thought to Iran’s nuclear weapons program, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu realized that the only way to possibly push the world on the Iran nuke issue was to convince them that Israel would act alone if there was no alternative. & the only way to do this was to actually prepare to attack. But when Netanyahu sat with the top Israeli security people this was beyond their comprehension. The proof? The absolutely top senior people later criticized Binyamin Netanyahu for spending billions preparing for an attack that was never launched, suggesting that if the whole operation was a ruse to convince the world we were serious that we should have spent only a fraction of the costs associated with full blown preparations. Dear reader. If you appreciate that the United States of America has the intelligence resources to discern if Israel caries out only partial preparations then you are apparently more savvy than Israel’s top security people. Now that’s a disturbing thought….. Back to the preparations. President Peres objected. The IDF objected. The intelligence services objected. Netanyahu needed an ally. & his ally was Defense Minister Ehud Barak. & it was most fortunate & hardly a foregone conclusion. Because despite his reputation, Ehud Barak’s actual track record on strategic thinking has been downright miserable. Barak couldn’t comprehend why Israel needed a second strike capability & thus opposed the purchase of submarines featuring launch tubes that have a particularly large diameter so that – “according to foreign reports” – it can launch missiles with nuclear warheads. Ehud Barak also thought it was a fantastic idea to beat an extremely hasty retreat from Lebanon & then to follow up by failing to deliver on threats of a strong response to attacks emanating from the abandoned security area. & today this same gentlemen thinks we should carry out a unilateral retreat from sections of the West Bank. But Ehud Barak had it right on Iran. & Netanyahu needed him as an ally. Which brings us to Ehud Barak’s interview in last Friday’s Haaretz Magazine section. Barak complained that Netanyahu would have him over along with Avigdor Liberman every couple of months on Friday at the official residence on Balfour Street in Jerusalem where he would lecture the two on the need to cut a deal with the Palestinians. He would talk. Liberman would just sit there. & at the end of each session Liberman would turn to Netanyahu & say “I don’t know how to live with these proposals of Barak” & the session would end. Barak can complain. I say three cheers for Netanyahu for having had come up with such a simple way to placate his critical ally in the campaign to convince the world that if it wouldn’t act Israel would. Netanyahu’s Greatness Revealed in Barak Interview Dr. Aaron Lerner

4.After Habayit Hayehudi primary, Bennett declares: We made history

Habayit Hayehudi MK Ayelet Shaked wins top spot behind party chairman Naftali Bennett & Tkuma faction head Uri Ariel • “The day is fast approaching when Habayit Hayehudi will lead the State of Israel,” Bennett says, lauding primary results.

Israel Hayom Staff

Habayit Hayehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett votes in the party primary at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Jerusalem, Wednesday

The party that the polls predict will be the third largest after the upcoming elections in Israel — Habayit Hayehudi — finalized its party list on Thursday, with MK Ayelet Shaked securing the highest spot — No. 3 on the list after Habayit Hayehudi Chairman & Economy & Trade Minister Naftali Bennett & the head of the Tkuma faction, Construction Minister Uri Ariel.

Remarking on the primary results at a press conference at his home in Raanana Thursday, Bennett announced that “we made history.”

“If someone had told me two years ago that we would become the second largest party [in terms of number of registered voters], I would never have believed it. If someone had told me that Ayelet Shaked, a secular Tel Avivian, would win the top spot, I would never have believed it,” he told reporters.

“The day is fast approaching when Habayit Hayehudi will lead the State of Israel. There is no other choice. We are the only party that is fighting against the idea of a Palestinian state; the only party that opposes the release of terrorists — the only party that voted against this & even passed a law against it in the Knesset; the only party that will fight to preserve the character of the Jewish people; the only party that fights with actions, not words. The party list combines veteran party members with fresh faces. We are a party that loves the State of Israel, the land of Israel & the Torah of Israel, & we don’t intend to apologize for it!”

In the primary, which included a vote for party leadership as well as the party Knesset list, Bennett was confirmed as chairman with a majority of more than 90 percent of the votes against rival Shimon Or.

With 52,000 votes, Deputy Religious Services Minister Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan secured the fourth spot on the list, followed by Knesset Finance Committee Chairman MK Nissan Slomiansky & Senior Citizens Minister Uri Orbach. The seventh seat was reserved for journalist Yinon Magal, who recently resigned from his position as the chief editor of the popular news portal Walla. Rounding out the top 10 were MK Shuli Mualem-Rafaeli, Betzalel Smutrich & MK Moti Yogev.

Former Yesha settler council head Dani Dayan, who was expected to finish high, ended up at a disappointing 21rst spot.

The Labor-Hatnuah “Zionist camp” issued a statement following the primary, saying that “Bennett is trying to downplay this list, which will exacerbate Israel’s ever-growing international isolation & will undermine the security & the financial status of the citizens of Israel.”

“The government’s last term proved that Habayit Hayehudi, together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have abandoned the general public’s interests in favor of one sector only. Bennett & Netanyahu are offering the citizens of the state only more despair & stagnation.”

Meretz also criticized the Habayit Hayehudi list, with party leader Zehava Gal-On saying, “There is nothing new in Habayit Hayehudi. The list that was selected reflects the deadly merger between dark religious fundamentalism & dangerous nationalistic zealotry.”

“The list in fact rips off the mask that Bennett tried to use to disguise his party,” Gal-On went on to say. “I call on the heads of the center parties to declare that they will not join a Netanyahu-Bennett coalition.”

by Avi Cohen New platform of Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu party draws heavily on right-wing ideas • In an interview with Israel Hayom, Kahlon says Palestinians are not ready for peace • Kahlon remains undeterred by Kulanu’s poll numbers & denounces tycoons.

Kulanu leader Moshe Kahlon. Photo credit: Meir Partushush

Former Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon said Wednesday that his party would not support a territorial compromise in Jerusalem or an Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders.

Despite insisting that his domestically focused Kulanu (“All of Us”) party is centrist, its official platform appears to include several right-of-center ideas. In an interview with Israel Hayom, Kahlon said the party would run on several themes, including “a united Jerusalem, a Jewish state, a rejection of the Palestinian ‘right of return,’ no to a return to the June 1967 lines [the 1949-1967 armistice lines], maintaining settlement blocs [in Judea & Samaria] & bolstering Israel’s security.” Kahlon said the current Palestinian leadership would not be able to deliver on a bilateral peace accord. “We currently have no partner,” Kahlon said. “Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is inciting against us inside Palestinian areas & around the world. We have no one to talk to.”

Kahlon has ran on his record as a reformer of the Israeli telecommunications industry, hoping to cast himself as a champion of the middle class. His campaign, which is set to officially kickoff on Thursday when he presents his Knesset candidate list, has focused on the economy & the inequalities in Israeli society. Kahlon has only scarcely talked about his views on geopolitical matters.

Despite Kulanu’s sagging poll numbers (it is currently projected to win seven to 10 seats), he seemed undeterred on Wednesday, saying voter sentiment will only truly be on display during the final two weeks of the campaign. “We have no official estimate of our strength, but obviously, we are going to be able to effect more change if we have more seats. We believe that the last two or three weeks of the campaign would be indicative of where things stand,” Kahlon said. He noted that his goal was to become finance minister.

Kahlon said the new Labor Knesset list that emerged on Wednesday had a deficit of people who could get things done. “They have many people who can talk & the talk; they have many stars, but I can’t point to anyone who can actually walk the walk; the list has members of the fringe Left, but I guess Labor has decided to move ideologically in that direction.”

Kahlon said he would fight poverty by implementing the recommendations of the special task force the government had appointed, known as the Alaluf Committee. He said that as finance minister, he would make sure the recommendations are fully implemented by allocating the necessary resources, estimated at NIS 1 billion ($260 million). “Not all at once, but I think the country will be able to deal with it,” Kahlon said. He noted that the government has pledged only 13 percent of that sum.

Kahlon used strong language to describe how he would take on tycoons. “It is just a terrible thing to let people recklessly spend other people’s money & then to let them off the hook when they have to repay their debt,” Kahlon said, criticizing the creditor’s haircut — a form of debt restructuring — that some tycoons got.

He also played down the reports that he was close to gas mogul Yitzhak Tshuva. “I know him, but I have not taken a single shekel from him, & he never offered any; he has given me zero assets or contributions, & I was never the beneficiary of anything he provided, either directly or indirectly,” Kahlon said. Kahlon also spoke about his latest recruit, former Israel Broadcasting Authority executive Tsega Melaku, whose candidacy has been in limbo. Under election laws, state employees must leave their post at least 100 days before an election, but Melaku has apparently not done so. As a result, she may be disqualified.

“I am not sure I know everything, & whether every procedure was properly followed, but she should have known what the law said,” he said. “Her candidacy is now in the hands of the courts but I am sure this matter will be resolved & she will be on the ballot.”

Kahlon stated that these elections must not be squandered. “I fear that come March 18, Israelis will wake up to find that the political map had not changed & the same bodies that are responsible for our stagnation are still in charge. For me, that would be a disappointment.”

New bill represents Republican Congress’s attempt to challenge the Obama administration on key foreign policy issues, including those in the Middle East • Bill is unlikely to become law, as Obama can veto it.

By Eli Leon & Israel Hayom Staff

Photo credit: Yehohua Yosef

The bill’s stated goal is “to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, to relocate to Jerusalem the United States Embassy in Israel, & for other purposes.”Republican Senators Dean Heller (R-Nev.) & Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) proposed in Congress on Tuesday legislation that would force the Obama administration to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Despite the fact that the bill has little chance of passing, & is likely to be subject to U.S. President Barack Obama’s veto, it represents the fact that the new Republican-controlled Congress is carrying out its promise of challenging the Obama administration on major foreign policy issues, including those in the Middle East.

The bill seeks to echo the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995, which was legislated to facilitate relocating the embassy to the capital, a move that has since been repeatedly postponed, with successive administrations citing potential damage to national security interests.

The new bill is expected to be discussed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

7.- Paris mourns, Obama yawns: MISSING IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE by Charles Krauthammer http://m.nydailynews.com/ opinion/charles-krauthammer- paris-mourns-obama-yawns- article-1.2080182

KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS

MISSING IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE

On Sunday, at the great Paris rally, the whole world was Charlie. By Tuesday, the veneer of solidarity was exposed as tissue thin. It began dissolving as soon as the real, remaining Charlie Hebdo put out its post-massacre issue featuring a Muhammad cover that, as The New York Times put it, “reignited the debate pitting free speech against religious sensitivities.”

Again? Already? Had not 4 million marchers & 44 foreign leaders just turned out on the streets of France to declare “No” to intimidation, & pledging solidarity, indeed identification with (“Je suis Charlie”), a satirical weekly specializing in the most outrageous & often tasteless portrayals of Muhammad?

And yet, within 48 hours, the new Charlie Hebdo issue featuring the image of Muhammad — albeit a sorrowful, indeed sympathetic Muhammad — sparked new protests, denunciations & threats of violence, which in turn evinced another round of doubt & self-flagellation in the West about the propriety & limits of free expression. Hopeless.

As for President Obama, he never was Charlie, not even for those 48 hours. From the day of the massacre, he has been practically invisible. At the interstices of various political rallies, he issued bits of muted, mealy-mouthed boilerplate. Followed by the now-famous absence of any U.S. representative of any stature at the Paris rally, an abdication of moral & political leadership for which the White House has already admitted error.

But this was no mere error of judgment or optics or, most absurdly, of communications in which we are supposed to believe that the President was not informed by staff about the magnitude, both actual & symbolic, of the demonstration he ignored. (He needed to be told?)

On the contrary, the no-show, following the near silence, precisely reflected the President’s profound ambivalence about the very idea of the war on terror. Obama began his administration by purging the phrase from the lexicon of official Washington. He has ever since shuttled between saying that (a) the war must end because of the damage “keeping America on a perpetual wartime footing” was doing to us, or (b) the war has already ended, as he suggested repeatedly during the 2012 campaign, with Osama Bin Laden dead & Al-Qaeda “on the run.”

Hence his call in a major address at the National Defense University to “refine & ultimately repeal” Congress’ 2001 Authorization of the Use of Military Force, the very legal basis for the war on terror. Hence his accelerating release of Gitmo inmates, fully knowing that about 30% will return to the battlefield. (Five more releases were announced Wednesday.) Which is why, since, oh, the Neolithic era, POWs tend to be released after a war is over.

Paris shows that this war is not. On the contrary. As it rages, it is entering an ominous third phase.

1. The first, circa 9/11, involved sending Middle Eastern terrorists abroad to attack the infidel West.

2. Then came the lone wolf — local individuals inspired by foreign jihadists launching one-off attacks, as seen most recently in Québec, Ottawa & Sydney.

3. Paris marks Phase 3: coordinated commando strikes by homegrown native-speaking Islamists activated & instructed from abroad. (Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has claimed responsibility for the Charlie Hebdo killings, while the kosher-grocery shooter proclaimed allegiance to the Islamic State.) They develop & flourish in Europe’s no-go zones where Sharia reigns & legitimate state authorities dare not tread.

To call them lone wolves, as did our hapless attorney general, is to define jihadism down. It makes them the equivalent of the pitiable, mentally unstable Sydney hostage taker.

The Paris killers were well-trained, thoroughly radicalized, clear-eyed jihadist warriors. They cannot be dismissed as lone loons. Worse, they represent a growing generation of alienated European Muslims whose sheer number is approaching critical mass.

The war on terror 2015 is at a new phase with a new geography. At the core are parallel would-be caliphates: in Syria & Iraq, the Islamic State; in central Africa, now spilling out of Nigeria into Cameroon, a near-sovereign Boko Haram; in the badlands of Yemen, AQAP, the most dangerous of all Al-Qaeda affiliates. & beyond lie not just a cast of mini-caliphates embedded in the most ungovernable parts of the Third World from Libya to Somalia to the borderlands of Pakistan, but an archipelago of no-go Islamist islands embedded in the heart of Europe.

This is serious. In both size & reach it is growing. Our President will not say it. Fine. But does he even see it?

letters@charleskrauthammer.com

8.Poll: Almost Half Of British Jews Fear They Have No Long-Term Future In Britain Or Europe

http://www.theyeshivaworld. com/news/headlines-breaking- stories/281311/poll-almost- half-of-british-jews-fear- they-have-no-long-term-future- in-britain-or-europe.html January 15th, 2015

Almost half of the Jews in Britain fear they have no long-term future in Britain or Europe, according to a poll published on Wednesday.

The poll of 2,230 British Jews by the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism (CAA) found that 45 percent feared Jews may have no future in Britain, & 58 percent were concerned they have no long-term future in Europe.

“The results of our survey are a shocking wake-up call straight after the atrocities in Paris,” said CAA chairman Gideon Falter. The online survey was conducted from December 23 to January 11 ­ a period that spanned the attacks in Paris against the Charlie Hebdo magazine & against a kosher supermarket, leading France to increase security at Jewish schools & synagogues.

“The results of our survey are a shocking wake-up call straight after the atrocities in Paris,” said CAA chairman Gideon Falter. “Britain is at a tipping point. Unless anti-Semitism is met with zero tolerance, it will grow & British Jews will increasingly question their place in their own country.”

But the CAA stressed that “Britain is not yet at the levels seen in most of Europe”. 2014 saw the most anti-Semitic incidents recorded by police since records began 30 years ago, according to the organization. Anti-Semitism in Britain tended to rise during crises involving Israel, “but the sentiment behind it does not simply disappear when the crises end,” it said. Official figures from London’s metropolitan police showed anti-Semitic crimes more than doubled in the capital over the 12 months to November 2014, compared to the same period a year earlier.

According to the Jewish Agency for Israel, the number of British Jews emigrating to Israel increased by 20 percent in 2014, from 520 in 2013 to 620 in 2014, but in the longer term the agency said the number was stable. Another poll by YouGovindicates that 45 per cent of the British public agree with at least one of four anti-Semitic statements when presented with them. They include the suggestion that, “Jews chase money more than other British people” & the allegation that loyalty to Israel makes Jews less loyal to Britain than their compatriots.

(Source: EJP) In the history of the world, no tyranny has ever voluntarily relinquished power or been replaced by peaceful means. Have a nice day Aryeh Zelasko Beit Shemesh

Poll: Almost Half Of British Jews Fear They Have No Long-Term Future In Britain Or Europe

We are not all Charlie.

FREEMAN CENTER BROADCAST JANUARY 15, 2014

12.“Dry Bones” The Turkish Bridge by Ya’acov Kirschen

But Turkey did not arrest her because of a lack of timely intelligence from France, the source said.

Cavusoglu’s comments confirm that Boumeddiene was already outside France when the killing spree began, contrary to earlier speculation that she had been involved in the Paris killings in which 17 people died.

Boumeddiene is suspected of having had a role in her partner attacks which culminated in a bloody hostage-taking in a kosher supermarket on Friday after he had shot dead a policewoman close to a synagogue the day before.

But despite earlier describing her as “armed & dangerous”, French police sources said she was likely already in Turkey at the time of the attacks.

Western countries have long accused Turkey of not doing enough to stem the flow of jihadists seeking to join Islamic State (IS) group fighters in neighbouring Syria.

But Ankara insists it has now stepped up frontier security & has repeatedly said the West also has a responsibility to share intelligence.

Pegida’s worries about the Islamization of Germany concern the seeming intolerance & religious fanaticism that have grown hand-in-hand with the arrival of the Muslim populations unwilling to adapt to Western values.

The terror attacks in France Had “nothing to do with Islam.” — German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière.

By decrying Pegida’s views as “xenophobic,” narrow minded” & even “inhuman,” Germany’s ruling establishment shows how deeply out of touch it is with the worries of a large segment of the population.

Perhaps the people in the East just want to avoid the situation that the Western part of the country is in. Having gone through decades of Communist dictatorship, perhaps they are less inclined to trust that their political leaders have the people’s best interests in mind with their policies.

Every Monday evening since last October, thousands of citizens have marched through the city of Dresden as well as other German cities to protest the Islamization of their country. They belong to an organization, established only three months ago, called Pegida, the German abbreviation for “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West.”

PEGIDA on a Monday “evening walk” in Dresden, November 10, 2014. (Image source: Filmproduktionen video screenshot)

Pegida is a democratic grassroots organization, without origins in the far-left, far-right or links to any political parties, domestic or foreign. The French Front National [FN] of Marine Le Pen even made it clear that it wants nothing to do with “spontaneous initiatives” such as Pegida. According to the FN, “something like Pegida cannot be a substitute for a party.”

In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders of the Freedom Party [PVV] is more positive. He sees Pegida as a sign of the growing discontent of ordinary people with the political elite now governing them. “A revolution is on its way,” he says. Ironically, Wilders’s PVV, currently by far the largest party in the Dutch polls, is itself more of a spontaneous movement, driven by the energy & charisma of one single man with a mission to liberate his country from Islamic extremism, rather than an established & structured political party.

That Pegida is a spontaneous & diffuse organization of citizens expressing their discontent, seems to be worrying the German political establishment. German Chancellor Angela Merkel knows how powerful these movements can become. In 1989, when thousands of people shouting, “Wir sind das Volk” [“We are the people”] took to the streets in cities such as Dresden, the Communist regime in East Germany was toppled.

Apart from slogans such as: “Against Religious Fanaticism,” and: “For the Future of our Children,” the anti-Islamization protesters of Pegida are using exactly the same slogan — “Wir sind das Volk” — of the anti-Communist demonstrators a quarter of a century ago, as they march against the open-door policies of the German government.

The use of the 1989 liberation slogan has infuriated Merkel, who reproaches Pegida for using it. In her New Year’s speech, Merkel attacked the Pegida demonstrators. “Their hearts are cold, full of prejudice & hatred,” she said, while defending her government’s policies of welcoming asylum seekers & immigrants. She pointed out that Germany had taken in more than 200,000 asylum seekers in 2014, making it the country that is accepting the largest number of refugees in the world.

Merkel has been backed by church leaders, who are slamming Pegida & calling for solidarity with migrants. The Confederation of German Employers has been blaming Pegida for damaging Germany’s international reputation. Meanwhile, so-called anti-fascist demonstrators, shouting “Wir sind die Mauer. Das Volk muss weg!” [“We are the Wall. Down with the people!”], last week blocked a Pegida march in Berlin.

In January 10, fearing that the recent Islamic terror attacks in France might lead to even more public support for Pegida, Dresden Mayor Helma Orosz, a member of Chancellor Merkel’s Christian-Democratic CDU Party, co-sponsored in her town a so-called “Lovestorm” event. The aim was to conquer the “xenophobia” of Pegida through “open mindedness & humanity.” Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière, another leading CDU politician, claimed that the terror attacks in France had “nothing to do with Islam” & warned against “political pyromaniacs” such as Pegida who suggest otherwise.

Pegida’s worries about the Islamization of Germany concern the seeming intolerance & religious fanaticism that have grown hand in hand with the arrival of Muslim populations unwilling to adapt to Western values.

But by decrying Pegida’s views as “xenophobic,” “narrow minded” & even “inhuman,” Germany’s ruling establishment shows how deeply out of touch it is with the worries of a large segment of the population.

A recent poll, dating from before the terror attacks in France, found that one in three Germanssupport the Pegida anti-Islamization marches. Further, a new study by the Bertelsmann Foundation found that German attitudes toward Islam are hardening, with 61% saying in 2014 that Islam is “not suited to the Western world” — up from 52% in 2012. Also, up to 57% of the Germans see Islam as a threat, 40% feel that they are becoming foreigners in their own country because of the Muslim presence, & 24% want to ban Muslim immigration.

Looking at the numbers of demonstrators that join the Pegida demonstrations every Monday in various German cities, Pegida is clearly an overwhelmingly East German phenomenon. Indeed, in the provinces formerly belonging to the Communist German Democratic Republic [GDR], many thousands of people are drawn to the demonstrations, while in the West the numbers are far lower. Political analysts admit to being puzzled by this, given that the number of immigrants, including Muslims, is far lower in the East than in the West. Some blame the higher unemployment figures in the East; the “backwardness,” the lack of “civil society,” the lack of “liberal open mindedness,” & that “people in the East feel that they are losers.”

There might, however, be two other explanations that make more sense. Perhaps the people in the East just want to avoid the situation that the Western part of the country is in, as a result of the large Islamic presence. While the West might already be lost as a result of Islamization, the East is still capable of avoiding the West’s fate. Moreover, having gone through decades of Communist dictatorship, perhaps the Easterners are less inclined to trust that their political leaders have the people’s best interests in mind with their policies.

Perhaps they feel that, rather than trust that Frau Merkel knows what is best for the German people — as she welcomes in record numbers these new Islamic immigrants — the German people need to show her clearly that they think she is wrong.

Imagine an audio recording of the president calling his son & telling him to get rid of all the cash he keeps at home; & his son, after trying for several hours, telling him there are still millions left.

For Erdogan, his election victories meant that all allegations of corruption were baseless. For the first time in the history of justice, voters had acted as the jury for a high-profile corruption case.

Erdogan’s ambitions are also about securing a two-thirds majority in the May election so that the constitution can be amended.

For the past year, Erdogan’s administration has suspended, reassigned, prosecuted & jailed thousands of (mostly) police officers on charges of attempting illegally to topple his government.

The main opposition party replied: “If you don’t trust the top court, how do ordinary citizens trust the ordinary courts?” Good question.

Imagine one chilly day the American people wakes up to news that, in early morning raids, squads of public prosecutors & police detain the sons of cabinet secretaries, a mayor, a state bank manager & prominent businessmen — all with publicly known close ties to the Obama administration. The mounds of evidence include telephone conversations, video material, & more — all unmasking the trafficking of huge amounts of illegal money & expensive gifts among the suspects, who include a shady Iranian businessman.

Dozens of audio recordings reveal a network of relations among Obama’s closest political & business allies, involving billions of dollars. & imagine an audio recording of Obama calling his son & ordering him to get rid of all the cash he keeps at home; & his son, after trying for several hours, tells him there are still millions left. & Obama claims this is a coup d’état against his elected administration, & purges all prosecutors & police officers investigating the charges.

This is what exactly happened in Turkey in December 2013.

In the investigation, Reza Zarrab, an Iranian businessman, was accused of running a network that laundered at least $87 billion to bypass international sanctions on Iran, & bribing ministers, their sons & senior public officials in Turkey. The prosecutors claimed Zarrab handed out around $60 million in bribes. Zarrab allegedly gave $5 million to (then) Interior Minister Muammer Guler in return for Turkish citizenship. Zarrab also allegedly paid $5 million to (then) Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan’s son, Salih Kaan, & gave a $300,000 Patek Philip Swiss watch to the minister.

Meanwhile, the police found around $9 million in cash stuffed into shoeboxes at the home of Suleyman Arslan, then general manager of Halkbank, a government-owned bank that was instrumental in trade between Turkey & Iran (shoeboxes would later become a symbol of corruption at anti-government protests across Turkey). EU Minister Egemen Bagis was the other recipient of cash from Zarrab, according to the prosecutors. & Housing Minister Erdogan Bayraktar was accused of arranging multibillion dollar contracts for government-friendly companies.

At the peak of the wave of arrests & investigation, Bayraktar would publicly say: “Whatever I have done, I have done it with [Erdogan’s] knowledge & orders.” & he would argue that “the prime minister [Erdogan] too should resign.”

Reza Zarrab, an Iranian businessman, was accused of running a network that laundered at least $87 billion to bypass international sanctions on Iran, & bribing ministers, their sons & senior public officials in Turkey.

On Dec. 25, 2013, a week after the investigation officially took off, three ministers resigned from cabinet, but that was not the end of the story. On the same day, a chief prosecutor in Istanbul ordered the detention of 30 more suspects on charges of bribes involving around $100 million. Among the top suspects were Erdogan’s son, Bilal, & Yasin al-Qadi, who had been put on a U.S. list of “specially designated global terrorists” for his alleged activity to sponsor terrorism.

Many years ago, Erdogan said of Qadi, his “family friend,”: “I know him very well & vouch for him.”

From the start of the investigation, Erdogan seemed to fear that the allegations now in the public domain could finish him off at the ballot box in municipal & presidential elections in March & August 2014, respectively. He claimed that behind the investigations were an influential Muslim preacher, Fethullah Gulen, & his network of prosecutors & police officers. He & his closest political associates, including Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu claimthe same thing to this day. Gulen, who lives in self-exile in the United States, was Erdogan’s most powerful political ally until the two were engaged in a power struggle early in 2014.

For the past year, since December 2013, Erdogan’s administration has suspended, reassigned, prosecuted & jailed thousands of (mostly) police officers on charges of attempting illegally to topple his government. “If reassigning individuals who betray this country is called a witch hunt, then, yes, we will carry out a witch hunt,” Erdogan said.

There is speculation in Ankara that the next target of Erdogan’s “witch hunt” will likely be prosecutors & judges believed to be members of Gulen’s movement.

All the same, the big blow to the Gulenists did not come from Erdogan’s counter-offensive, but from the ballot box. Erdogan’s Justice & Development Party [AKP] won 43.3 percent of the vote in municipal elections last March, & Erdogan won 51.5 percent of the vote in presidential elections in August.

For Erdogan, his election victories meant that all allegations of corruption were baseless. The nation had found the suspects not guilty. For the first time in the history of justice, voters had acted as the jury for a high-profile corruption case.

That thinking, coupled with a move to reshuffle the top layers of the judiciary, changed the balance of power in favor of Erdogan.

In October, a prosecutor in Istanbul dropped all charges against the suspects in the corruption investigation. The cash confiscated from them was returned, with interest! But there was another investigation not yet closed.

Upon AKP’s proposal, a parliamentary commission was set up to investigate the charges independently. The commission consisted of nine AKP members of parliament & five opposition members. Despite findings reported by the government’s financial crimes investigation body, which said the personal wealth of the ministers in question had increased disproportionately to their incomes, the commission decided on Jan. 5 not to send the suspects to the Constitutional Court to stand trial. All nine government MPs had voted against trials for the suspects, & all five opposition MPs voted in favor.

Turkey’s top court, the Constitutional Court, has the authority to try ministers & prime ministers on criminal charges. A few days before the commission announced its decision, Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said that his party did not trust the Constitutional Court, which, he said, could be part of the coup d’état against the administration. To which the main opposition party replied: “If you don’t trust the top court, how should ordinary citizens trust the ordinary courts?” Good question. But the government shrugs it off.

Turkey is once again heading for elections. The parliamentary elections in June will be particularly critical for Erdogan, for a number of reasons. First, someone other than him (Davutoglu) will be leading the party’s campaign for the first time since 2002. Second, Erdogan’s ambitions are not about just winning the elections. He seems interested in securing a two-thirds majority, so that the constitution can be amended to legitimize his present effective executive presidency. Erdogan calculates that any publicity about his former ministers standing trial, & evidence against them hitting headlines, could prune his party’s votes in June. He is probably right. If he wants to change the constitution in favor of a lawfully executive presidential system, he cannot afford to lose even a handful of votes.

The opposition is furious. So is the anti-Erdogan block, which makes up roughly half of Turkey. There will be a final round of voting at the parliament’s general assembly at the end of January. The vote will be about whether to send the corruption suspects to the Constitutional Court or not. The AKP has enough of a majority to kill the move. But the opposition relies on “secret voting,” which can produce defectors from the AKP benches. The opposition will need about 55 defectors from the government to send the former ministers to the Constitutional Court. This looks unlikely, but not altogether impossible.

Once again, Turkey has proven to be a fascinating country, putting rules of law & ethics upside down. In Turkey, corruption suspects have a shield against prosecution, & law enforcement officers who prosecute corruption can go to jail.

Burak Bekdil, based in Ankara, is a Turkish columnist for the Hürriyet Daily & a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.

Lt. Ahiya Klein, 23, a combat engineer who lost his eyesight in an explosion while uncovering Gaza tunnels dug into Israel, goes skiing • “My motto is not to be afraid, but to dare, to try, to succeed & to move forward,” he says.

By Danny Brenner & Dan Lavie

Lt. Ahiya Klein, 23 (left) on Mount Hermon, Monday

Some 2,500 visitors crowded Mount Hermon on Monday as the site was opened to skiers for the first time this season.

“The ski conditions are amazing,” said visitor Yoav Yafeh, of Haifa. He left his house at 4:30 a.m. to ensure he would be among the first to arrive at Israel’s only ski slope.

Tel Aviv resident Shlomo Avital brought his two sons to ski, & was not disappointed.

“It’s truly like Europe in Israel,” he said. “There is no doubt that we’ll come back later this week & throughout the winter.”

Among the visitors was also a group of disabled Israel Defense Forces veterans, including 23-year-old Lt. Ahiya Klein, a combat engineer who was severely injured in an explosion while helping to uncover Gaza tunnels dug into Israeli territory in November 2013. Klein lost his eyesight & was hospitalized for several months. On Monday, he was able to ski with the help of an instructor who stayed by his side.

The group of about 20 veterans, six of them visually impaired, was led by Eyal Yarimi, who leads the ski project run by the Erez Foundation for disabled veterans & terror victims.

“Ahiya amazes me all the time,” said Yarimi. “His determination & his will to accomplish & to progress are so impressive. He skied the whole track from the top of the chair lift to the very bottom of the hill.”

Klein prepared for the ski trip with a simulator before getting to try the real thing.

“It is an incredible experience for me as a person with visual impairment,” he said. “I ski & do triathlon races & it opens many doors for me & raises my adrenaline. My motto is not to be afraid, but to dare, to try, to succeed & to move forward in life.”