Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) & Shabbat Shalom!

Dear Family & Friends,

The Siren goes off on Wednesday at 10 am for 2 minutes to mark the Commemoration of Holocaust Day. I stand at my front window looking out at the hills, valley & forests in our Jewish Homeland which we have settled. Next week on Yom HaZikaron (Day of Remembrance) we’ll commemorate our fallen soldiers & civilians killed in our wars – followed immediately by our Yom Hatzmaut (Day of our Independence) on May 15, 1948.

Wednesday night I lit a Yahrzeit Memorial Candle for all of the victims, the survivors & their families – & their extended families throughout the world. How can we still sustain our humanity despite the cruelty that the world has sent our way? We do…& we extend our caring, our innovations & our healing skills.

Our instruction manual for how we conduct our lives Jewishly emanates from the Torah given by G-d when He chose us to receive it at Mt. Sinai. Many laws & instructions for living are contained in this remarkable document. Without it, we degenerate into lesser beings.

So, use it, enjoy it, embrace Life & hug each other! Have a wonderful, tasty Shabbat night & day!

All the very best, Gail/Geula/Savta/Savta Raba x 2/Mom

1.PM at Holocaust Remembrance ceremony: ‘Incitement preceded annihilation’

4.96th ANNIVERSARY OF THE SAN REMO CONFERENCE

5.Shin Bet gleans vast tunnel data from Hamas member

6.Palestinians demand protection from Alleged war crimes at UN Security Council

7.After F-35 makes aliyah, it will get new Israeli identity

8.Germany: “We Need an Islam Law”

1.PM at Holocaust Remembrance ceremony: ‘Incitement preceded annihilation’ By Herb Keinon JPost.com 05/04/2016 22:15

Rivlin at Holocaust Memorial ceremony: Israel doesn’t do enough for Holocaust survivors

PM focuses on anti-Semitic lies, not Iran, during Holocaust Remembrance Day speech

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony. (photo credit:Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)

For the first time in years Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address at Yad Vashem to start Holocaust Remembrance Day did not focus on Iran and its nuclear program. Rather, the core message of his speech Wednesday evening was the danger of the spread of anti-Semitic lies that is making odd bedfellows of the radical Left and Muslim extremists.
While in the last couple of years the theme of the premier’s annual address has been either the need to keep Iran from getting nuclear arms or the necessity of speaking out against that possibility, this time the thrust was warning about the spread of anti-Semitic lies.
“What paved the way for the Holocaust, what greased the wheels of the Nazi murder machine?” he asked. “The answer is the lie. Nazi propaganda described the Jews as the source of all evil in the world: the poisoners of wells, parasites, enemies of humanity. Incitement preceded annihilation.”

Netanyahu did mention Iran in his address, but only briefly, and only toward the end.
“There are those who want to ignore the intentions of Iran that are inscribed on its missiles with the words ‘Destroy Israel,’ & which holds a cartoon Holocaust denial contest.,” he said. “We don’t ignore it.”
And he added that while some may we willing to come to terms with nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran, Israel will never do so. “All those conspiring to destroy us should know one thing,” he said. “Israel has great strength — offensive strength, defensive strength, deterrent strength.”
The vilification of the Jewish state has taken the place of vilification of the Jew, Netanyahu said, adding that anti-Semitism did not die with Hitler in his Berlin bunker.
“Today millions of people in the Muslim world read and hear horrible falsehoods about the Jewish people. They tell them that the Jews are the descendants of monkeys and pigs,. They say that Jews drink the blood of their enemies in goblets,” he said, adding that “This hatred is spread on social media in a manner which Hitler and his propaganda chief Goebbels could never have imagined.
While the source of this incitement is radical Islam in the Arab world, of late it has been joined by no less pernicious incitement from the west,” Netanyahu charged.
“British Mps, senior officials in Sweden, public opinion makers in France; I must say that anti-Semitism in our days is creating odd combinations — the elites who allegedly represent human progress joining up with the worst barbarians on earth, those who chop off heads, persecute, women, oppress Gays, destroy cultural treasures,” Netanyahu said.
Lies about Israel, he said, have no boundaries, and he mentioned the UNESCO resolution last month that expunged any Jewish connection to the Temple Mount as an example.
“Pay attention to what is going on here,” he said. “An international organization charged with preserving history rewrites one of the basic facts of human history. This is willful ignorance. Worse than that, is the addiction to lies and its dissemination to the world until it is accepted as fact.”
Netanyahu said that the hatred of the Jews will not easily be eradicated from the world, and three things must be done: fight the lies, fortify Israel’s strength, and build the country.
“We must mobilize to spread the truth with the same passion our enemies are mobilizing to spread lies,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu said that even if Jew hatred cannot be uprooted, Israel can push back against its enemies. “For generations we were like a driven leaf in the wind, without strength, without defense,” he said. “But no more.”

4.96th ANNIVERSARY OF THE SAN REMO CONFERENCE

96^th ANNIVERSARY OF THE SAN REMO CONFERENCE

Granting the right under international law for Jews to settle anywhere in western Palestine – the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea

On the 24-25 of April 2010, the European Coalition for Israel conducted a number of educational seminars delivered by Eli Hertz from the United States and Solomon Benzimra (zl) from Canada. It was followed by a ceremony held in San Remo at the same house (Villa Devanche) where the signing of the San Remo declaration took place in 1920.

The event attracted politicians as well as grassroots activists from around Europe, the U.S., and Canada. Member of Knesset and Deputy Speaker Danny Danon also attended and delivered greetings from Jerusalem.

At the conclusion of the commemoration, the following statement was released:

“Reaffirming the importance of the San Remo Resolution of April 25, 1920 – which included the Balfour Declaration in shaping the map of the modern Middle East, as agreed upon by the Supreme Council of the Principal Allied Powers (Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and the United States acting as an observer), and later approved unanimously by the League of Nations; the Resolution remains irrevocable, legally binding and valid to this day.

“Emphasizing that the San Remo Resolution of 1920 recognized the exclusive national Jewish rights to the Land of Israel under international law, on the strength of the historical connection of the Jewish people to the territory previously known as Palestine.

“Recalling that such a seminal event as the San Remo Conference of 1920 has been forgotten or ignored by the community of nations, and that the rights it conferred upon the Jewish people have been unlawfully dismissed, curtailed and denied.

“Asserting that a just and lasting peace, leading to the acceptance of secure and recognized borders between all States in the region, can only be achieved by recognizing the long established rights of the Jewish people under international law.”

The outcome of the declaration gave birth to the “Mandate for Palestine,” an historical League of Nations document that laid down the Jewish legal right to settle anywhere in western Palestine, a 10,000 square-miles the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.

Fifty-one member countries – the entire League of Nations – unanimously declared on July 24, 1922:

“Whereas recognition has been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country.”

Jews are in the Land of Israel as of right and not on sufferance.

It is important to point out that political right to self-determination as a polity for Arabs, was guaranteed by the same League of Nations in four other mandates – in Lebanon and Syria [The French Mandate], Iraq, and later Trans-Jordan [The British Mandate].

Any attempt to negate the Jewish people’s right to Palestine-Eretz-Israel, and to deny them access and control over the area designated for the Jewish people by the League of Nations is a serious infringement of international law.

The European Coalition for Israel was founded in Brussels in 2003. It is the only European non-Jewish grass roots organisation with an EU-liaison office in Brussels and with partners in most EU member states. Its main objective is to promote positive relations between Europe and Israel, to commemorate the Holocaust and to fight antisemitism.

Israeli Air Force gears up for Dec. 12 arrival of the first two F-35 Adir jets, considered to be the next-generation aircraft • Aircraft to be fitted with made-in-Israel electronic systems immediately following arrival •t Total of 33 ordered by Israel. By Aharon Lapidot

The development of the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter has been the subject of widespread criticism over performance issues, but the Israeli Air Force has already made extensive preparations to welcome the next-generation aircraft, which will be known as the Adir.

On June 22, the first Israel-bound F-35 will be christened at the Lockheed Martin plant at Fort Worth, Texas.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon will lead the Israeli delegation at that ceremony, which will include senior Israeli officers and Defense Ministry officials.

After the first two F-35 aircraft arrive in Israel on Dec. 12, they will get new made-in-Israel C4 systems (C4 stands for Command, Control, Communications, Computers). This step is designed to meet the Defense Ministry requirement that all Israeli aircraft have unique electronic systems. The Israeli systems are tailor-made for the IAF’s requirements, giving it a technological edge and the element of surprise.

Aside from the two that will arrive in December, six Adirs are expected to arrive through 2017. The Nevatim Airbase in the Negev Desert will serve as the home for the first Adir squadron. The Defense Ministry ordered 33 Adirs from Lockheed Martin, their manufacturer, at a total cost of about $5.5 billion. The funding comes from the American military aid to Israel.

Several Israeli companies have taken part in the development of the plane, and the parts they manufacture will go to other aircraft recipients as well. Elbit Systems is in charge of developing the pilot helmet for the entire F-35 fleet. It is considered to be the most advanced helmet of its kind. The Israel Aerospace Industries will manufacture more than 800 pairs of F-35 wings.

Last month, the Israel Defense magazine and the Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies hosted a conference called “IAF Challenges and the Arrival of the F-35 Fighter.”

IAF Chief of Staff Brig. Gen. Tal Kelman told conference participants: “The F-35 Adir is not merely an aircraft, but represents a new operational concept, and strengthens the qualitative advantage of the IAF compared to other air forces in the area. With the Adir, the air force is stronger than ever.

“In the past, the IAF absorbed platforms and adapted them to the air force. Today, we must adjust ourselves to the new platform, the Adir. Therefore, changes have been made in the air force staff, in the equipment group [the air force body that manages weapon systems] and, of course, in the Adir squadron at the Nevatim air force base, which is built differently than other squadrons.”

The F-35 is the most expensive weapon system in U.S. history. The project has been plagued by delays and glitches, leading to widespread criticism, with costs reaching an estimated $400 billion. In a Pentagon report two months ago, Operational Test and Evaluation Director J. Michael Gilmore said the aircraft had at least 928 shortcomings, some critical. According to the report, the Autonomic Logistics Information System — the software that serves as the plane’s highly sophisticated “brain” — was unstable, the plane’s radar failed mid-flight, and its gun is not operational yet.

There were other glitches as well, but the Israeli Air Force is not overly concerned. Kelman said the “various problems are a result of the aircraft still being developed, but they are being addressed.” At the conference last month, former Israeli Air Force chief Maj. Gen. (res.) Eitan Ben Eliyahu said, “If one day we will have to operate thousands of kilometers from home, this will be our only means to do so.”

IsraPundit by Ted Belman May 4, 2016

8.Germany: “We Need an Islam Law”:

Proposal seeks to ban foreign funding of mosques in Germany

by Soeren Kern, GATESTONE INSTITUTE

A senior German politician has called for an “Islam law” that would limit the influence of foreign imams and prohibit the foreign financing of mosques in Germany.

The proposal — modelled on the Islam Law promulgated in Austria in February 2015 — is aimed at staving off extremism & promoting Muslim integration by developing a moderate “European Islam.”

The move comes amid revelations that the Turkish government is paying the salaries of nearly 1,000 conservative imams in Germany who are leading mosques across the country. In addition, Saudi Arabia recently pledged to finance construction of 200 mosques in Germany to serve migrants there.
In an interview with the newspaper Die Welt, Andreas Scheuer, the General Secretary of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party to German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), said that Berlin should restrict Turkish financing of mosques in Germany and begin training and certifying its own imams. Otherwise, he argued, Muslim integration will be difficult or impossible to achieve. He said:

“We need to become more critical in our dealings with political Islam, because it hinders Muslim integration in our country. We need an Islam Law. The financing of mosques or Islamic kindergartens from abroad, e.g. from Turkey or Saudi Arabia, should be banned. All imams need to be trained in Germany and share our core values.

“It cannot be that we are importing different, partly extreme values?? from other countries. German must be the language of the mosques. Enlightened Europe must cultivate its own Islam.

“We are still at the beginning of our efforts. We must start now. We cannot on the one hand enact an Integration Law and on the other side close our eyes to what is being preached in mosques and by whom.”

Scheuer’s comments come amid reports that the Turkish government has sent 970 clerics — most of whom do not speak German — to lead 900 mosques in Germany that are controlled by the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB), a branch of the Turkish government’s Directorate for Religious Affairs, known in Turkish as Diyanet.

9.US-Israel aid talks stumble over missile defense — report

T. Belman. This so-called aid is not aid at all. It is what US agrees to pay in exchange for a multitude of benefits that Israel gives the US in exchange. How can a joint research programe of any kind where the US is entitled to the make use of the end result be called aid. Israel spends a fortune on human intelligence which is shared with the US. Of course the US must share the expense. The US can’t achieve the same human intelligence if they did it on their own even at double the expense.. The US defense budget includes billions to keep troops in South Korea and Germany among other places year after year. It is spared this expense in the Middle East because Israel is there. Without Israel there, the US would have to station one aircraft carrier there, at a minimum, to achieve half the benefit. The list of benefits the US purchases with this paltry sum vastly exceeds the cost.

It is time that this “aid” be included in the US Defense Budget where it rightly belongs.

Amb. Yoram Ettinger makes the same point, but in a more detailed analysis, in US investment in – not foreign aid to – Israel [Gail Sez: See Yoram Ettinger’s excellent analysis in my GW Diary of May 2-3, sent May 3]

On top of $700 million more annually, Jerusalem said to seek separate funding for surface-to-air programs (TimesOfIsrael Staff) TOI STAFF

Negotiations over a new US security aid package to Israel have hit a snag, and the two sides are in disagreement not only over the size of the annual increase but also over a request from the Jewish state that a separate sub-package for missile defense be enshrined in the deal, Reuters reported Tuesday.
US and Israeli officials have been trying to hammer out a memorandum of understanding that would increase US military aid to Israel for the next 10 years, due to be renewed before 2018.

The current aid package stands at $3 billion annually, and Israel has demanded that the amount for the next 10-year deal be raised to $3.7 billion.

In addition to the extra $700 million per year, Israel, according to the report, is also asking that the memorandum include a separate deal for missile defense spending, which could raise the total amount to more than $4 billion annually.

It would be the first time missile defense was addressed in a separate subsection of the memorandum. The US Congress in the past has provided the Jewish state with extra missile defense spending on a provisional basis of up to $600 million in recent years.

US officials were quoted in the report as saying the new package could include $3.5 to $3.7 billion annually, but it seemed the area of dispute between the two sides was whether that sum included the extra missile defense allocation.

After four conflicts in the past 10 years that saw the Lebanon-based Hezb’Allah and the Gaza-based Hamas terror groups fire thousands of missiles and rockets into Israeli cities, Israel’s missile defense has remained a bulwark of joint US-Israeli military cooperation.

Furthermore, Israel and the US have jointly developed the costly David’s Sling missile defense system, which Israel sees as increasingly important in the face of Iran’s military growth following the 2015 nuclear accord.

Another area of dispute, the report said, is the US’s intention to ensure all the aid funds are spent on its military products, while in the current memorandum, Israel can spend 26.3 percent of the package within domestic defense companies.

The report also said the US wants to remove a clause in the memorandum that allows Israel to spend $400 million a year in “military fuels.”

More than 80 of the 100 sitting US senators have signed a letter calling on President Barack Obama to increase foreign aid to Israel and immediately sign an agreement on a new package.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted he may wait to negotiate with Obama’s successor to try and secure a better deal.

During a visit to Israel last month, US Vice President Joe Biden reportedly warned Netanyahu that the aid package will be less than what Jerusalem seeks, but offered reassurances the amount would reflect the security needs of the country.

During Biden’s meeting with Netanyahu, described by an Israeli official as “friendly, cordial and warm,” the vice president urged the prime minister to accept the offer, assuring him the agreement could always be amended at a later date.

“In the past we’ve known how to make adjustments to agreements after they’ve been signed,” he said, according to Channel 10, which cited senior Israeli officials.

In November, Israel was said to have completed its “shopping list” of desired American military materiel, which reportedly included a request for V-22 Ospreys, planes believed capable of reaching Iran.

Israel also reportedly sought the V-22s from the US in 2012 when contemplating a strike on Iran’s Fordo enrichment facility, but later decided not to purchase due to budgetary restraints.

The US has either jointly developed or financed all three tiers in Israel’s missile defense program — Iron Dome (short-range missile interceptor), David’s Sling (medium range) and Arrow (long range).

US-Israel aid talks stumble over missile defense — report

10.Dear French President Hollande, don’t support UNESCO decision By Meyer Habib JPost.com 05/03/2016 21:29

· Veeam reports 24% global customer growth, 30% in Israel

Naturally, I consider Jerusalem, which has been the capital city of the Jewish people for 3,000 years, as the eternal and indivisible capital of Israel.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas and French President Francois Hollande, Paris September 19, 2014. . (photo credit:REUTERS)

Mr. President of the Republic,
On April 16, France voted in favor of a UNESCO resolution, proposed by Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Uman, Qatar and Sudan, denying any historical link between the Jewish people and its two holiest sites in Jerusalem: the Western Wall and the Temple Mount. This vote generated deep outrage among all the friends of Israel, in France and around the world, and shocked every citizen attached to historical truth. This decision is a moral failure and a political mistake that will undermine France’s credibility.
Naturally, I consider Jerusalem, which has been the capital city of the Jewish people for 3,000 years, as the eternal and indivisible capital of Israel.

This view is, alas, not the official position of France, which defends the concept of a shared capital between two states. Still, to me, it sounds incredible that France would associate itself with a process of history falsification exclusively aimed at depriving the Jewish people of its historical and religious heritage.
This UNESCO resolution is a complete intellectual sham, which refers to the Temple Mount as an exclusively Muslim site and takes the absurdity so far as to rename the Western Wall with an Arab name: “Al-Buraq.” We must remember that this is not the first try by UNESCO to Islamize the historical legacy of Israel. In 2010, the organization had already decided to declare as part of Islam’s cultural heritage the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem.
Let us face the truth: by this vote, France supported a grotesque attempt to Islamize Jerusalem and make it “Judenrein.” No doubt that this Islamist propaganda will justify more blind violence against civilians and will strengthen radical Islam, so inclined to erase any trace of pre-Islamic history, be it Jewish, Christian, Buddhist or pagan. This tendency has been very clear over the past few years with Islamic State (ISIS) destroying systematically treasures of humanity’s cultural heritage in Iraq and Syria (Palmyra, Nimrud).
The unique historical link between the Jewish people and Jerusalem is beyond debate. Is it really necessary to recall that, even in the grimmest times, and, alas, there have been many such in Jewish history, from the Crusaders’ massacres to the crimes of the Inquisition, from the Cossacks’ pogroms to the Holocaust, Jerusalem has always kept its undisputed centrality in Jewish hearts and prayers? In retrospect, this resolution is nothing more than a new round in the clear exploitation of the United Nations, an organization created in the aftermath of World War II, to delegitimize Israel and turn the organization into an anti-Zionist and even and anti-Semitic forum. Few remember that 40 years ago, FSU and Arab countries got adopted the 3379 UN General Assembly resolution equating Zionism with racism. And every year, we can see that 20 UN resolutions condemning Israel are adopted on average, not to mention the so-called Human Rights Committee, which has condemned Israel more than all other countries together. How could France, the birthplace of human rights, associate itself with such a humiliating farce? In the past, France behaved differently.
France voted “yes” on the 1947 UN partition plan, it provided precious support to the Jewish state in its first years of existence and rejected the infamous 3379 UN resolution in 1975. That is why France should really be ashamed of the April 16 vote. The French know, better than others, the importance of history in the building of a nation, which is why it simply cannot give its support to a process designed to uproot the Jewish people and call into question more than 3,000 years of Jewish history in Jerusalem.
And let me underline that France has been quite lonely in this shameful decision. Most European and Western countries, for instance Germany, the US, the UK and the Netherlands, rejected the text, while Italy and Greece abstained.
Mr. President of the Republic, I know you are a real and loyal friend of Israel and of the Jewish people and a man of principle, committed to historical truth. Hence, I cannot believe that you personally gave your approval to this infamous vote and respectfully ask you to take all necessary steps for France to distance itself from this disgraceful resolution. The honor and credibility of France are at stake.
The author is a member of the French parliament and represents French citizens abroad.

Dear French President Hollande, don’t support UNESCO decision

11.“Sympathy for the Palestinians is growing among these Americans who previously did not favor one side over the other”

The most concerning sentence is this: Among liberal Democrats, the least pro-Israel grouping, more respondents say they are sympathetic toward the Palestinians than toward Israel: 40 percent vs. 33 percent. While the pro-Israel figure has held steady, the pro-Palestinian figure is the largest it has been in 15 years, suggesting that sympathy for the Palestinians is growing among these Americans who previously did not favor one side over the other. http://www.jta.org/2016/05/05/news-opinion/united-states/survey-sympathy-for-palestinians-up-sharply-among-younger-americans?utm_source=Newsletter+subscribers&utm_campaign=b0a1ce93e0-Mystery_Photos_of_Holocaust_Victims_Retu5_5_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_2dce5bc6f8-b0a1ce93e0-28614477 http://www.people-press.org/2016/05/05/5-views-of-israel-and-palestinians/

“Sympathy for the Palestinians is growing among these Americans who previously did not favor one side over the other”

12.Depressing deductions from war in Syria by Dr. Mordechai Kedar

The insane and endless war in Syria might as well be taking place on another planet, for all the West cares, and that is not the only lesson to be learned from the conflict.

Arutz Sheva IsraelNationalNews.com Published: Thursday, May 05, 2016 11:23 PM

Dr. Mordechai Kedar is a senior lecturer in the Department of Arabic at Bar-Ilan University. He served in IDF Military Intelligence for 25 years, specializing in Arab political discourse, Arab mass media, Islamic groups & the Syrian domestic arena. Thoroughly familiar with Arab media in real time, he is frequently interviewed on the various news programs in Israel.

For the past five years, a war in which everyone is fighting everyone else has been raging in what was once called Syria. At least half a million people are dead, two million injured, about half the population – five million people – have become refugees, some within the country, others outside it. There is still no light at the end of the tunnel. The ceasefire is falling apart, the mass murders continue & it’s as if Syria is located on some other planet & no one sees or hears what is going on there.

This is nothing new. What’s new is the disclosure by military and defense analyst Amos Harel that the Ha’aretz newspaper ran as its headline on May 2: “The escalation in Syria: Assad has begun using chemical weapons again.” The subtitle said: “The Syrian army used chemical weapons, most probably deadly sarin gas against ISIS fighters who attacked government property near Damascus.” Chemical weapons? Sarin? Wasn’t an agreement signed in September 2013, barely three years ago – between the USA and Russia – in which it was agreed that all the chemical weapons in Assad’s possession after the massacre of August 2013 would be destroyed?

As a result of the agreement and the destruction of the poisonous substances the US government managed to avoid fulfilling its commitment to act against Assad if he crossed certain red lines, that is, if he used chemical weapons against his own citizenry. The Americans even set aside a special ship whose purpose was to destroy the poisonous gases and liquids out at sea, but it has now become clear that Assad held on to a substantial amount of chemical weapons allowing him to wage chemical warfare against his enemies. He may have held on to the means of manufacturing chemical weapons as well. If so, why bother to sign agreements that are not worth the paper they are printed on in today’s world?

None the less shocking is the fact that the world has done nothing, despite realizing that the agreement is a worthless piece of paper, even though the agreement stipulates that the UN Security Council will enforce it if Assad does not live up to his commitment.

The impression I get is that much of the West would not lose any sleep if the Arab world, and the entire Muslim world with it, was wiped off the map in a war of mass destruction.
Unfortunately, this agreement joins a good many others that the West has signed, but not enforced. An important example is the December 1994Budapest Memorandum, in which the Western Powers promised to guarantee the territorial integrity of Ukraine if it gives up the nuclear weaponry it was supposed to have received as a result of the breakup of the Soviet Union. What did the countries who signed the memorandum do about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and against its annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, in 2014? Not a thing. What is the Budapest Memorandum worth? Nothing. What are commitments and agreements made by the West worth? Everyone knows the answer to that question by now.

The issue is even worse when it affects the lives of so many in the third world and in particular, those in the Arab states. The West does nothing to stop the mass murders in Syria, did nothing about the mass murders in Iraq, Libya and Yemen that have been going on unchecked for the several years.

The problem in Yemen is clear and so is its solution: a strong stand against Iran, which supports the rebels, and against Saudi Arabia, which supports the president, would have brought the hostilities to an end a long time ago, but the world – and particularly the Western part of it – are sick and tired of the Arab world’s problems. The impression I get is that much of the West would not lose any sleep if the Arab world, and the entire Muslim world with it, was wiped off the map in an all-out war of mass destruction.

The war in Syria gave the world Islamic State, once called Daesh or ISIL. The entire world was aware of the thousands of volunteers, radical Muslims eager for battle, who were flooding into the Jihad fields of Syria and Iraq by way of Turkey. Every intelligence agency knew that Erdogan was helping them infiltrate into Syria to join those battling his arch enemy, Assad. What did the world do to convince or force Turkey to cease doing this? Nothing. So who is to blame for the rapid expansion of Islamic State? Turkey alone? Or is the answer an entire slew of Western states that knew all too well the part Turkey played in smuggling Jihadists into Syria, knew that Turkey purchases Islamic State oil – because some of them do the same – knew about the arms smuggling through Turkey to Islamic State – and did nothing about it?

Worst of all is the way the world behaves towards Iran, a country which should be held responsible for a good part of the Syrian catastrophe. Iran supports Assad, a mass murderer, in every way it can: thousands of Iranian soldiers and others who came through Iran are actively fighting the rebels, massive amounts of cash travel from Iran to Syria in order to allow Assad to buy supporters in a country where there is hardly anything left to purchase with that money. Iran has injected its Lebanese cohorts, the Hezbollah, into the fray and that terrorist organization has lost thousands of fighters on the land that was once Syria.

Why is the world silent in the face of Iranian aid to mass murder? Why did the world run to sign a nuclear pact with Iran and remove the economic sanctions placed upon it? So that the hundreds of billions of dollars Iran receives can add to the fires of terror it fans in Syria, Iraq and any other place where it can buy friends?

In the Middle East, the most miserable place on this earth, Israel can survive not by the strength of its rights but by right of its strength.
The West’s behavior, led by the United States, in the face of the mass murders taking place in the Middle East, must turn on not only a red light but a powerful projector in order to open the eyes of Israel and its friends all over the world. The most important conclusion that Jews and Israelis must reach is to never rely on any commitment, on any agreement, oral or signed, when it comes to our own security, because when the moment of truth arrives our friends are liable to behave exactly as they did seventy years ago. Then, they were well aware that millions of Jews were being systematically murdered and did nothing to stop the genocidal Nazi machine.

Politicians, academics, artists and many public figures in the West lose no opportunity to attack Israel for what that country is force to do to fight terror, but are struck dumb when the subject is crimes against humanity perpetrated anywhere else in the Middle East.

The double standard with which they judge Israel has to be the basis of Israel’s political and military behavior, especially when the subject is “Peace agreements” signed in the Middle East – pieces of paper that only the US and Europe view with a modicum of seriousness and have no intention of enforcing anyway.

Only Israel knows and will know how to best protect itself. Israel must never rely on any of its so-called friends, because the cynicism and hypocrisy that characterize international politics when the time comes to activate agreements mean that only strength – of the kind Russia is using in Syria and Ukraine – has any significance. Pacts and commitments are only pieces of paper blown away by the wind just when they are most needed, unless they meet the immediate interests of whoever has signed them.

In today’s world, only the strong survive, not because of the agreements they and others have signed but because of the price they can exact from anyone who does not live up to his commitments. In the Middle East, the most miserable place on this earth, Israel can survive not by the strength of its rights but by right of its strength. The best situation, in fact, would be a combination of the two: Israel’s right to its land, backed by the strength it must use to assert that right.

The war in Syria must teach the Israelis a basic lesson in international politics, and they had better draw the right conclusions from the Syrian catastrophe, if they wish to continue to live.

Written for Arutz Sheva, translated from Hebrew by Rochel Sylvetsky, Arutz Sheva Op-ed and Judaism editor.