Caroline Glick’s Jerusalem Post Opinion piece discusses concern that If Netanyahu is forced from office, Israeli democracy will be critically, and possibly irreparably, debilitated.

“lsrael’s system of democracy has been under assault for more than two decades. Since the early 1990’s, elected officials have fought a losing battle to maintain their power. The legal fraternity and the police, acting with the enthusiastic support and often at the urging of the politically biased media, have seized politicians’ governing prerogatives and powers one by one. These actions have all been justified in the name of the rule of law.”

The revelation Sunday that a judge coordinated her decision on an upcoming hearing with an investigator could have severe repercussions for the Israeli justice system and jeopardize the public’s faith in Israel’s courts, a senior justice official said.

Breaking news indicates possible court collusion between the judge and the investigator in the Netanyahu case. Could this lead to a Day of Atonement for the justice system? That’s what David Rosenberg’s news brief in Artuz Sheva discusses.

The US State Department notified Congress on Friday that the Jerusalem embassy would open in May to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israel’s independence, speeding up the process by converting a building currently housing consular services into the embassy. The State Department confirmed the timing of the move.

“We are in touch with other countries, and it’s only a matter of time before other countries join the US in moving their embassies to Jerusalem,” said Netanyahu at a weekly Likud faction meeting.

Times of Israel report HERE.

Regarding the anticipated move, the Trump administration is considering an offer from Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson to pay for at least part of a new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem, four U.S. officials told The Associated Press.

Lawyers at the State Department are looking into the legality of accepting private donations to cover some or all of the embassy costs, the officials said.

Washington Post story HERE

The United States has sketched out a path under which “three key European allies would simply commit to try to improve the 2015 Iran nuclear deal over time.” In return, U.S. President Donald Trump would keep the pact alive by renewing U.S. sanctions relief in May, Reuters reported Sunday, citing a State Department cable it obtained. One wonders whether such a feeble effort as the Europeans promise can really result in anything positive.

Trump’s deeds prove his intention to punish those entities which take America’s money and then show hostile intent towards the USA – like Abbas. A recently announced funding increase for Jordan seems certain that it’s coming from the UNRWA decrease. David Singer’s Arutz Sheva OpEd explains.

MK Eytan Broshi (Zionist Union) on Monday sent a letter to Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home), asking that this year’s Holocaust Remembrance Day studies focus on the issue of Holocaust denial and how to deal with it.

In light of the recent law Poland passed making it a crime to mention Poland’s part in the Holocaust, we think the study of Holocaust denial and how to deal with it is a very good move and an idea whose time has come.

Arutz Sheva story HERE.

Danny Ayalon, Founder of “The Truth About Israel”, former Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel, and former Ambassador of Israel to the United States explains why the comparison of Israel to an apartheid state is not only false, but also insulting to real victims of apartheid in South Africa, and why apartheid is actually more similar to the discriminatory policies of the Palestinian Authority.

AFSI Chairman Mark Langfan writes in today’s Arutz Sheva OpEd that while leftist Israeli generals still tout the Two-State Solution, and despite all evidence to the contrary, they think that they have the silver bullet. In reality, the Two-State Solution “bullet” is aimed at the State of Israel and its 6 million Jewish inhabitants.

Mark further points out that Israeli security clearance is not needed to monitor what Palestinian leaders are saying about their sincere desire to murder every Israeli in Tel Aviv. “They don’t want Judea, Samaria and Gaza, they want Tel Aviv and Netanya and they want to murder every last Jew who dares to remain when, as they hope, they begin their Jihad murder spree.”

Are these leftists Israeli generals facing reality in 2018? Or are they living in the past as if it were 1967 thinking that if their “solution” does not work they can just invade Judea and Samaria?

Mark thinks they look like “rank fools” and that no leftist Israeli general would ever debate him. We agree.

United States Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley had strong words for top Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat on Monday: “I will not shut up.”
Her remarks, made at a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York, were a firm response to comments made by Erekat earlier this month, in which he called her “impudent” and told her to “shut up” regarding her criticisms of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

More HERE from the Jerusalem Post.

The confluence of events, the horrible massacre in Parkland, Florida, followed by the death at age 99 of Reverend Billy Graham, brings many issues to mind. Yes, there should be no sales of automatic weapons to anyone whose specific job or responsibility doesn’t require it. Yes, there should be background checks and ID requirements for gun purchases. Yes, the FBI cannot continue dropping the ball and allowing horrific events to occur in the U.S., from the 9/11 horror to the too many school killings – all of innocents. Yes, people who are clearly suffering from mental illnesses must be identified and treated. But the question was asked by many of the victims of the Parkland massacre, “Why would G-d allow such a thing to happen in our school?” The answer came back from G-d, “I’m not allowed in your school.”

Reverend Billy Graham’s death, at this particular time, reminds us that prayer has been banished from the schools. The pledge of allegiance, in many instances, leaves out the phrase, “under G-d”. President Trump called together parents and survivors of the school killings on Wednesday to hear their cries. They prayed together.

The time has come to put G-d back into our value system. Morals, ethics, decency, respect for peoples’ lives, and for oneself, are all life sustaining. Graham’s message that “G-d loves you,” is one that is nourishing to each and every one of us. If G-d loves us, we must have some value. That value does not prove itself in the murder of others who are also loved.

With Iran beating the drums, Rev Graham’s passing and the universal reaction to it is a timely reminder about very important Evangelical Christian support for Israel in the US. It’s strong and it’s growing.

Helen Freedman

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon slammed Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas Tuesday, following Abbas’ address at the UN Security Council.

Trying to spin the truth, Abbas accused Israel of ‘closing the door’ on the two-state solution, and refusing peace talks with the PA. In response, Ambassador Danny Danon fired back at Abbas, “You have made it clear, with your words and with your actions, that you are no longer part of the solution. You are the problem.”

Click HERE for full Arutz Sheva report.

Photo courtesy of Pamela Hall

“Fatah, the PA, the PLO, Mahmoud Abbas’ factions that incite and glorify terrorism, have no place in the civilized world,” announced Helen Freedman, Co-Executive Director of Americans for a Safe Israel/AFSI. “Abbas’ appearance at the UN Security Council is a farce, a failure, and a total charade. He should be escorted out of the U.S., NYC, and the UN as speedily as possible, just as Mayor Giuliani removed Arafat from Philharmonic Hall in 1994.”

Judy Freedman Kadish, Co-Executive Director of AFSI said, “We give thanks to President Trump, Ambassador Friedman, and Middle East Envoy Greenblatt for reversing the anti-Israel animus that existed in the Obama administration and demonstrating to the international community that America is Israel’s friend, ready to denounce terror, incitement, and the rewarding of terrorists.” Kadish also praised UN Ambassador Nikki Haley for denouncing the UN for its failures with UNWRA and UNESCO and its constant condemnation of Israel.

It was noon on President’s Day, Feb. 19, across from the UN at the Isaiah Wall, First Avenue & 43rd Street, when loyal AFSI members and passionate protesters gathered to JUST SAY NO! to Mahmoud Abbas speaking at the UN the following day.

Abbas had announced his intention to denounce President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city. In response to that, AFSI’s signs, prepared by AFSI Board Member Charlie Bernhaut, stressed that JEWRUSALEM IS THE ETERNAL, INDIVISIBLE, CAPITAL OF THE JEWISH STATE OF ISRAEL. Other signs emphasized Abbas’s support for terror, his masterminding the Munich massacre, his Holocaust denial, and the fact that he is in his 13th year of his 4 year elected term as president of the PA.

Helen Freedman spoke about the experiences she has with her Chizuk missions to Israel when they try to ascend the Temple Mount, the holiest site in the Jewish world. She decried the fact that, “Arab control on the Mount makes Jews into second-class citizens, deprived of their civil rights.”

Irwin Graulich, well known inspirational speaker, addressed the need for Sovereignty whereby Judea and Samaria would no longer be step-children to the parent Israel, but would become part of the whole. Demolitions of Jewish communities like Amona and Netiv Avot would then cease.

Glenn Richter, famed for his leadership of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry, and a loyal AFSI member, reminded us about the recent murders of Rabbi Raziel Shevach and Rabbi Itamar Ben-Gal, two remarkable rabbis and family men, gunned down and stabbed by PA terrorists. Mahmoud Abbas rewards these terrorists with lifetime payments to them, if they survive the attacks, or to their families. Fortunately, the Israeli government is passing policies that will withhold payments to the PA that would go to the terrorists. Instead, the money will go to victims of terror. America’s Taylor Force Act will hopefully also discourage the terrorists because the payments won’t be there.

Charlie Bernhaut spoke about the need for all Jews to get involved and participate in protests. He stressed that, “Standing idly by with folded hands is a recipe for disaster.”

Unfortunately, the only other group to make its presence felt was the Neturai Karta, an extreme, fringe, Jewish group that dresses in Chassidic garb, and carries PA flags and pro-Iranian signs. They stood above the crowd at the Isaiah Wall, chanting anti-Israel slogans. It is a sad commentary that New Yorkers, and especially the mainstream Jewish organizations, are such non-participants in activist events, and that an anti-Israel Jewish organization can make such a showing. It is our shame.