Tag Archive for Barack Obama

| March 17, 2013
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View & Decide if White House Video Confirm Obama is Boycotting Ariel U?

Why were students from Ariel University not invited to Obama’s speech?
White House video gives an ‘explanation’.

By Gil Ronen

 

White House video which states that President Barack Obama’s planned speech before Israeli university students is the centerpiece of his visit, also appears to confirm that the White House deliberately left Ariel University students out of the event.

Ariel University Center of Samaria – Photo: AP

Ariel University Center of Samaria – Photo: AP

The spokesman in the video, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes, says in it that the universities chosen to send students to the event were the ones that “partner” with the U.S. Embassy.

This explanation places responsibility for leaving out Ariel – while including all of Israel’s other universities – on the U.S. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| March 16, 2013
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Amb. Oren: Obama’s itinerary demonstrates his support for Zionism

Ambassador Oren says Obama’s visit sends message of support to Israelis at a time when “the Middle East is burning.”

 

US President Barack Obama’s itinerary shows his deep commitment to Zionism and to Israel as a Jewish state that is historically routed in this region, Israel’s Ambassador to the US Michael Oren told Channel 2 on Saturday night during its Meet the Press program.

Ambassador to US Michael Oren

Ambassador to US Michael Oren – Photo: Hyungwon Kang/Reuters

“This will be Obama’s first trip outside the United States in his second term. Out of more than 190 countries around the world, he chose to come to us,” said Oren.

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| March 16, 2013
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US poll: Support for Israel highest in decades

Recent survey reflects highest percentages since 1st Gulf War – 64% support for Israel among Americans, versus a mere 12% for the Palestinians

By Ynet

 

According to a Gallup survey released Friday, 64% of Americans sympathize with Israelis, versus 12% who sympathize with the Palestinians and 23% who said they did not support either.

Israelis prepare for Obama's visit - Photo: AFP

Israelis prepare for Obama’s visit – Photo: AFP

Support for Israel has been exceeding 60% for the last three years, but the recent poll sees the highest percentage in the last 22 years.

The last time that 64% of Americans expressed their support for Israelis was in 1991, during the Gulf War. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| March 14, 2013
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NYT: Obama 1st sitting American president to visit Israel as tourist

In article on upcoming Obama trip to Israel, NYT columnist Thomas Friedman writes Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become a hobby for American diplomats.

By Ynet Staff

 

The United States is quite apathetic to President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit to Israel and is not hanging its hopes on any political breakthroughs.

Obama as first presidential tourist? – Photo: AFP

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote on Wednesday morning, “it is hard for me to recall a less-anticipated trip to Israel by an American president.”

He cynically added that “Obama could be the first sitting American president to visit Israel as a tourist.” Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags:
| March 13, 2013
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Obama invites Miss Israel to dinner

Yityish Aynaw, the 1st Ethiopian-born to win the Miss Israel pageant, was invited to dine at Shimon Peres’s house for State Dinner with visiting US President. 

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

 

Newly crowned Miss Israel Yityish Aynaw was invited by US President Obama’s staff of his upcoming visit to Israel to a dinner that will take place at President Shimon Peres’s residence, Army Radio reported.

Miss Israel Yityish Aynaw - Photo Marc Israel Sellem-The Jerusalem Post

Miss Israel Yityish Aynaw – Photo: Marc Israel Sellem-The Jerusalem Post

Aynaw who is 21-years-old and a former Israeli army officer became the first Ethiopian-born Israeli to win the pageant.

“It’s important that a member of the Ethiopian community win the competition for the first time,” she was quoted by Israeli media as telling the judges in response to a question. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| March 13, 2013
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Only Ariel students excluded from Obama’s speech

Despite classification as an official Israeli educational institution of higher learning, West Bank university students are not invited to attend US presidential event in Jerusalem.

MK: The American Embassy taking a unilateral stance.

By Tzvika Brot

 

US President Barack Obama has not landed in Israel yet, but he has already managed to upset certain Knesset members. The reason: The American Embassy invited student representatives from all universities to the president’s speech at Jerusalem’s International Convention Center, save those from the Ariel University.

Ariel University Center of Samaria – Photo: AP

Habayit Hayehudi already responded on Tuesday night, calling it discrimination and demanding clarifications from the embassy regarding the exclusion of students from this institution, which received official recognition as a university just two months ago. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| March 11, 2013
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WATCH: Knesset member’s plea to President Obama: Don’t allow Pollard to die in prison

Watch American-born, Yesh Atid MK Dov Lipman as he recounts the day he heard of Pollard’s arrest in front of the Israeli embassy.

Listen to his emotional plea to Obama and his call to the people of Israel, to pray daily for Pollard’s release.

 

U.S.-born Knesset member Dov Lipman (Yesh Atid) made a personal appeal to President Obama from the Knesset podium “not to let Jonathan Pollard die in prison.”

Dov Lipman addressing the Knesset, March 2013 - Youtube Screeshot

Dov Lipman addressing the Knesset, March 2013 – Youtube Screenshot

Speaking in the Knesset last week, Lipman said he had planned to use the platform of the Knesset podium to address President Obama in English but found out that speaking in English “is, regrettably prohibited by the Knesset bylaws.” Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| March 11, 2013
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Prime Minister’s Office App to Track Obama’s Upcoming Israel Visit

Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office unveils special iPhone app for Obama’s upcoming visit to Israel. The application is for journalists and especially the general public wishing to follow the president’s trip, and will provide users with live updates, photos & video streams.

By JTA

 

JERUSALEM — Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office launched an app to follow President Obama’s visit in real time.

Israel's Prime Minister's Office launched an app that will assist journalists covering the visit and allow Israelis to receive real-time updates, including video streaming.

Israel’s PMO launched an app that will assist journalists covering the visit & allow Israelis to receive real-time updates, including video streaming.

The app, which is available though Israel’s Apple store, will assist journalists covering the visit and allow Israelis to receive real-time updates, including video streaming. Continue Reading »

Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Israel News | Tags: ,
| March 10, 2013
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US Embassy’s Facebook Contest is Giving Away 20 Tickets to see Obama

If You Want to hear U.S. President Barack H. Obama speak, live & in person, You may just become 1 of the 20 Israelis chosen for the honor…

By David Lev

 

Want to hear U.S. President Barack H. Obama speak, live and in person? You could be one of 20 Israelis chosen for the honor – with a (practically) front-row seat to Obama’s speech at Binyanei Ha’uma (Israel Convention Center), set to be the centerpiece of his visit to Israel.

Obama

The Israelis will be chosen from among entries on the Facebook page of the U.S. Embassy in Israel, which wants to hear why Israelis think they deserve to have an opportunity to get an “audience” with Obama. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| March 9, 2013
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Palestinians: Obama’s Presence on Temple Mount will be Declaration of War

The Islamic Jihad & Hamas say that a visit by the American President to the Temple Mount will be a de facto declaration of war on the Islamic world.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

The Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups threatened on Friday that a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama to the Temple Mount during his upcoming visit to Israel will be a declaration of war on the Arab and the Islamic world.

Jerusalem (2)

Western Wall and Temple Mount seen in Jerusalem

 

A Hamas representative in the Al-Aqsa mosque, Mushir al-Masri, even called for a third intifada (uprising) and for Egyptian assistance in the “resistance” if Obama chooses to visit the Temple Mount. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| March 6, 2013
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WATCH: Stephen Colbert asks Amb. Oren: When are you guys going to bomb Iran?

Satirical news host Stephen Colbert, pokes fun at Israeli ambassador Oren over  Obama’s upcoming trip to Israel.

 

 Two weeks ahead of Obama’s planned trip to Israel, a week after Chuck Hagel was confirmed as U.S. secretary of defense, and just days after speaking at AIPAC’s annual conference, Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren was a guest on Tuesday’s The Colbert Report.

Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren on The Colbert Report. – Screenshot
Click photo to view episode

Stephen Colbert, who is well-known for his feigned conservative, right-wing political leanings, introduced the topic of Israel by saying that he was “certainly a better friend than Barack Obama, who has repeatedly snubbed our ally ‘Yisrael’ by refusing to visit the country,” a reference to the fact that Obama’s upcoming trip will be his first since assuming office in 2008. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| March 4, 2013
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Sheik Raed Salah to Obama: Do not visit Al-Aqsa Mosque

The Islamic Movement’s northern branch demonstrated outside the US embassy. They warn Americans that a  visit to Al-Aqsa with Israeli escorts will show Obama is pro-occupation.

Hassan Shaalan

 

Two weeks before Barack Obama’s expected arrival in Israel, Raed Salah, the leader of the Islamic Movement’s northern branch, warned of the possible implications of the president’s visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

לא לביקור אובמה באל-אקצא. ההפגנה בתל-אביב, היום (צילום: עידו ארז)

No to Obama-Israeli Al-Aqsa visit – Photo: Ido Erez

Dozens of the movement’s supporters demonstrated outside the US Embassy in Tel Aviv and called on Obama to avoid entering the Temple Mount with an Israeli escort. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| March 4, 2013
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Report: Obama Wants Timetable of IDF Withdrawal from Judea & Samaria

Unconfirmed Israeli sources report says Obama wants a detailed Israeli withdrawal plan from Netanyahu during his visit to Israel.

By Gil Ronen

 

U.S. President Barack Obama has demanded a timetable for an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria, according to an unconfirmed report by World Tribune.

The report quotes anonymous “Israeli sources.”

According to the report, Obama, who is scheduled to arrive in Israel on March 20, wants Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to present him with a detailed Israeli withdrawal plan during his visit to Israel. The sources said the Israeli plan “would be considered in what could be an imminent U.S. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| March 3, 2013
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Amb. Oren opens AIPAC: PM has taken risks for peace, Palestinians also must

Ex-U.S. diplomats Elliot Abrams & Dennis Ross also speak at opening session of AIPAC conference in Washington.

Abrams jokes, on Obama’s upcoming visit, the  president needs to convince Israel he’s undergone a ‘kishke transplant.’

 

Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren opened AIPAC’s 2013 Policy Conference on Sunday, telling delegates that the Palestinians must follow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lead and take risks for peace.

People arrive to attend the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) annual policy conferenc

People arrive to attend the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) annual policy conference in Washington on March 3, 2013. – Photo by AFP

Oren and former U.S. diplomats Dennis Ross and Elliott Abrams were the first to speak at the opening plenary session of the three-day American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference at the Washington Convention Center on Sunday. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
| March 1, 2013
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Obama may cancel Israel visit if no gov’t formed

U.S. President Obama’s visit was expected to take place after a new Israeli gov’t was in place, with the assumption that this would happen by mid-March.

PM is still struggling to form a gov’t.

By
 

President Barack Obama will cancel his planned visit to Israeli next month if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unable to form a coalition by March 16, Israel’s Channel 10 reported on Thursday.

Obama and Netanyahu meeting in Washington

U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, March 5, 2012. – Photo: AP

After the Israeli elections on January 22, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was tasked with forming Israel’s new governing coalition. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
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