Tag: Israel

Rep. Dean Phillips Statement on Israel Barring Entry to Reps. Omar, Tlaib

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued the following statement in response to Israel denying entry to Reps. Ilhan Omar (MN-05) and Rashida Tlaib (MI-13).

“I am appalled by Israel’s decision to bar entry to sitting members of the United States Congress. This action sets a damaging precedent for a free and democratic nation and our most important ally in the region. It will harm Israel’s standing among Americans and the entire free world, and sacrifices an opportunity to build bridges of understanding. I urge Israel’s leaders to reverse this dangerous decision immediately.” 

Rep. Phillips’s Congressional District is adjacent to Rep. Omar’s. Phillips, a Jewish American, is a consistent voice of support for the Jewish state of Israel.

Scoop: Trump tells advisers Israel should bar entry to Reps. Omar and Tlaib

Axios logoPresident Trump has told advisers he thinks Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should use Israel’s anti-boycott law to bar Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) from entering Israel, according to 3 sources familiar with the situation.

What he’s saying: Trump’s private views have reached the top level of the Israeli government. But Trump denies, through White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, ever giving any kind of directive to the Israelis. “The Israeli government can do what they want. It’s fake news,” Grisham said on Saturday.

Driving the news: Trump has told U.S. advisers, including senior Trump administration officials, that Israel should bar Omar and Tlaib’s entry because the two congresswomen favor a boycott of Israel, according to sources familiar with Trump’s private comments. In 2017, Israel’s parliament passed a lawrequiring the interior minister to block foreign nationals from entering Israel if they have supported boycotting the Jewish state.

View the complete August 10 article by Jonathan Swan of Axios and Barak Ravid of Israel’s Channel 13 news on the Axios website here.

Columnist reveals why Trump and the Republicans’ love of Israel is actually about ‘maintaining white Christian dominance’

AlterNet logoThe Christian Right, which has been an integral part of the Republican Party since President Ronald Reagan’s 1980 campaign, is known for its strident support of Israel as well as its belief that fundamentalist Christianity is the only way to escape eternal hellfire and damnation. It’s a bizarre contradiction: far-right white Protestant evangelicals believe that Jews will receive a one-way ticket to hell unless they become fundamentalist Christians, yet they profess to be unwavering supporters of Israel — even going so far as to denounce others as anti-Semitic for not being pro-Israel enough. Journalist Peter Beinart takes a close look at the Christian Right’s supposed love affair with Israel in a thought-provoking piece for The Forward, and he concludes that their obsession with Israel is not rooted in a love of Judaism, but in a white nationalist viewpoint.

The Christian Right, which has been an integral part of the Republican Party since President Ronald Reagan’s 1980 campaign, is known for its strident support of Israel as well as its belief that fundamentalist Christianity is the only way to escape eternal hellfire and damnation. It’s a bizarre contradiction: far-right white Protestant evangelicals believe that Jews will receive a one-way ticket to hell unless they become fundamentalist Christians, yet they profess to be unwavering supporters of Israel — even going so far as to denounce others as anti-Semitic for not being pro-Israel enough. Journalist Peter Beinart takes a close look at the Christian Right’s supposed love affair with Israel in a thought-provoking piece for The Forward, and he concludes that their obsession with Israel is not rooted in a love of Judaism, but in a white nationalist viewpoint.

“Republicans no longer talk about Israel like it’s a foreign country,” Beinart asserts. “They conflate love of Israel with love of America because they see Israel as a model for what they want America to be: an ethnic democracy.”

View the complete July 30 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet website here.

Israel headed for new elections after Netanyahu fails to form coalition

(NOTE:  We usually don’t post international articles, but where Donald Trump and Jared Kushner have strong personal relationships with Mr. Netanyahu, and had been active in his re-election campaign, we felt it would be important to post.)

Less than two months after his biggest-ever electoral victory, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has failed in a desperate bid to form a new government. The Knesset has now voted to hold a new election on Sept. 17.

Why it matters: This is a huge political defeat for Netanyahu. It’s the first time since the founding of Israel that a prime minister has missed the deadline to form a coalition after winning an election. Netanyahu opted for new elections before Israel’s president offered one of Netanyahu’s political rivals an opportunity to form a government.

Context: New elections will prevent Netanyahu from passing laws giving himself immunity from three pending indictments for bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

  • Netanyahu’s plans to pass legislation allowing politicians to override Supreme Court rulings will also be hampered.

View the complete May 29 article from Barak Ravid of Israel’s Channel 13 News on the Axios website here.

Palestinian leader rejects US role in peace process

The following article by Zeynep Bilginsoy and Sarah El Deeb was posted on the Associated Press website December 13, 2017:

ISTANBUL (AP) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told an international summit Wednesday that the United States was unfit to mediate the Mideast conflict, marking a major policy shift after decades spent courting American goodwill.

He announced the shift, which came in response to President Donald Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, at a summit of Muslim leaders that condemned the U.S. move and called for world recognition of a Palestinian state with its capital in east Jerusalem. Continue reading “Palestinian leader rejects US role in peace process”

Legal impact of Trump’s Jerusalem decision still murky

The following article by Tracy WIlkinson was posted on the Los Angeles Times website December 7, 2017:

Credit: Associated Press

Administration officials sought Thursday to clarify President Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel but raised more questions than they answered.

David Satterfield, acting assistant secretary of State for Near East affairs, said that although the United States recognizes Jerusalem as the capital, it has taken no position on what the contested city’s borders ultimately should be.

That would seem to leave open the possibility that part of the city could still belong to the Palestinians, as they have long claimed — or not. Continue reading “Legal impact of Trump’s Jerusalem decision still murky”