Tag Archive for Barack Obama

| May 5, 2013
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Israel has the right to hit missiles, Obama says after strike

 

Obama: “What I have said in the past and I continue to believe is that the Israelis justifiably have to guard against the transfer of advanced weaponry to terrorist organizations like Hezbollah,”

By JTA

 

WASHINGTON — It is Israel’s right to prevent Hezbollah from getting weapons, President Obama said, a day after Israeli jets reportedly destroyed Iranian missiles in Syria bound for the Lebanese terrorist group.

President Barack ObamaNeither the U.S. nor the Israeli governments have confirmed multiple reports quoting anonymous officials in both countries as saying that Israel was responsible for the strike early Friday on Damascus airport.

Obama, in his first remarks on the issue, in an interview Saturday with Telemundo, also would not confirm Israel’s role in the strike. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| April 30, 2013
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Leading Jordanian object to ‘confederation’ with Palestinians

More than 1,000 leading Jordanians sign petition objecting to ‘confederation’ with Palestinians, calling it Obama’s “confederation conspiracy”.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 


More than 1,000 Jordanians have signed a petition opposing the idea of a confederation between the kingdom and a future Palestinian state.

Obama with Abbas in Ramallah

Obama with Abbas in Ramallah

Recent reports have suggested that US and Western security advisers have arrived in Jordan to train Syrian rebels and help the Jordanians face a growing influx of Syrian refugees.

Some Palestinians have also voiced opposition to the confederation idea, saying it should be discussed only after the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| April 29, 2013
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Obama now knows that Abbas doesn’t want to make Peace

Senior Israeli diplomatic official: PM Netanyahu is willing to make significant progress toward a peace deal, but “everybody knows” that PA President Mahmoud Abbas won’t allow this, continuing to insist on numerous & unacceptable preconditions just to commence peace talks.

By Shlomo Cesana and Israel Hayom Staff

“U.S. President Barack Obama understands today that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is not interested in reaching an agreement with Israel,” a senior Israeli diplomatic source has said.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Barack Obama and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas meet in Washington in September 2010 – Photo: AFP

According to the official, a regular participant in policy-making, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is willing to make significant progress toward a peace deal, but “everybody knows” that Abbas will not allow this.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| April 26, 2013
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U.S. President: Syrian gov’t use of chemical weapons a ‘game changer’

In a White House meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Obama says ‘We cannot stand by and permit the systematic use of weapons like chemical weapons on civilian populations.’

By Reuters

 

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday that the deployment of chemical weapons by the Syrian government was a “game changer” while noting that intelligence assessments proving that such weapons had been used were still preliminary.

 

Obama and King Abdullah - AP - April 26, 2013

U.S. President Barack Obama listens to Jordan’s King Abdullah II during their meeting – Photo: AP

 

“Horrific as it is when mortars are being fired on civilians and people are being indiscriminately killed, to use potential weapons of mass destruction on civilian populations crosses another line with respect to international norms and international law,” Obama told reporters at the White House. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| April 11, 2013
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Planned U.S. Budget with Increase in Defense Aid for Israel

President Obama announced that the new U.S. budget for the coming year, includes increased American defense aid for Israel.

By Elad Benari

 

The planned U.S. budget for the coming year, which was announced by President Barack Obama on Wednesday, maintains and even increases the American defense aid to Israel, Channel 10 News reported.

Netanyahu & Obama - Photo by Kobi Gideon

Netanyahu & Obama – Photo: Kobi Gideon

According to the numbers published, the United States will provide Israel with $3.4 billion in defense aid, a record number, according to Channel 10.

The budget proposal submitted to Congress also includes a request for the addition of approximately $220 million to finance the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system, a request that was not included in last year’s budget proposal, but was added later on. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| April 9, 2013
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In Holocaust Day message, U.S. President promises to combat intolerance


President Barack Obama says that on this day we must ‘commit ourselves to the understanding, empathy & compassion that is the foundation of peace & human dignity.’

By

U.S. President Barack Obama, in his Yom Hashoah message, recalled his recommitment in Israel last month to combating anti-Semitism and intolerance.

Obama at Yad Vashem.

Obama pausing for a moment as he lays a wreath during his visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, March 22, 2013. – Photo: Reuters

 

“Today, we honor the memories of the 6 million Jewish victims and millions of others who perished in the darkness of the Shoah,” Obama said Monday in a message timed for Holocaust Remembrance Day. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| March 29, 2013
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‘J’lem Post’ poll: Huge rise in Israelis who see Obama as pro-Israel

Poll survey shows the number of those who consider President Obama pro-Palestinian, falls to 4-year low.

The more left-wing Israelis defined themselves, the more they see the Obama administration more pro-Israel.

 

US President Barack Obama’s trip to Jerusalem last week made a significant impression on Israelis, but not the impression he was trying to make, according to a Smith Research poll taken for The Jerusalem Post in the aftermath of the visit.

US President Barack Obama speaks in Jerusalem on March 21, 2013.

US President Barack Obama speaks in Jerusalem on March 21, 2013. – Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

The percentage of Israelis who consider the Obama administration more pro- Palestinian than pro-Israel fell by a whopping 20 percent since before the visit, the poll, taken on Sunday, found. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| March 26, 2013
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We are f***ing powerless: Jon Stewart mocks Obama’s visit to Jerusalem

WATCH as the Daily Show’s takes on U.S. President Barack Obama’s recent trip to Jerusalem & the failures of past American presidents on peace between Israel & the Palestinians.

 

Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show returned after two weeks off the air by poking fun at the outcome of President Barack Obama’s recent trip to Israel and the West Bank, and lamenting the failures of past U.S. presidents in the peace process.

A screen shot of Jon Stewart on the Daily Show.

A screen shot of Jon Stewart on the Daily Show.

Stewart mocked Obama’s Jerusalem speech, in which the president combined what Stewart described as “a stunning declaration of American support for Israel’s right to exist,” with a call for recognition of “the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, right to justice.” Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| March 23, 2013
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Still the President who wants to ‘throw Israel under a bus’?

After this Presidential visit, seen with such support & sympathy, Obama’s rivals will have to muster all their cynicism to claim the US President has Israel’s worst interests at heart.

 

One can only speculate what history might have looked like if United States President Barack Obama had made his “Jerusalem Speech” on June 5, 2009, immediately after his “Cairo Speech”, and how the Middle East would have developed if his attempt to turn a page in U.S. relations with the Arab world had been accompanied by the kind of effort to touch the hearts of the Israeli public that Obama made in Jerusalem on Thursday. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| March 23, 2013
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Report: Obama to Abbas – Don’t charge Israel at the ICC

Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported that during the Ramallah talks US president urged Abbas to refrain from charging Israel at the int’l court in the Hague for any reason.
The PA leader defiantly threatens to haul Israel to court as soon as the Jewish state should start building in the E-1 area.

By Roi Kais

 

US President Barack Obama asked Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to refrain from taking Israel to the International Criminal Court in The Hague for any reason, the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported Saturday.

Obama and King Abdullah, Friday

The newspaper quoted a Palestinian official as saying that during their meeting in Ramallah on Thursday Abbas told Obama he would wait two months before talking any measures against Israeli settlement construction, but stressed he would turn to the ICC immediately should the Jewish begin building in the E1 zone between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| March 22, 2013
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Hezbollah steams over Obama for terrorist designation in Jerusalem speech

In Obama’s speech to Jewish & Arab students in Jerusalem on Thursday, the President said: “Every country that values justice should call Hezbollah what it truly is – a terrorist organization.”

By Reuters

 

Lebanon‘s Hezbollah condemned on Friday a call by U.S. President Barack Obama for the militant Shi’ite group to be designated a terrorist organization following a bomb attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria last year.

Hassan Nasrallah on Lebanese TV

An image grab taken from Lebanon’s Hezbollah-run Manar TV shows Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivering a televised speech from an undisclosed location in Lebanon on February 27, 2013.- Photo by AFP

The European Union has so far resisted U.S. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| March 18, 2013
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Senators call on Obama to push Palestinians on peace talks with Israel

2 letters making their rounds in Congress call on Obama to make direct Israel-Palestinian talks an issue on his upcoming visit to Israel.

By

 

Two separate Senate letters calling on President Obama to make Israeli-Palestinian peace a priority during his visit to the region have been circulating among senators ahead of Obama’s arrival in Israel on Wednesday.

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

A letter initiated by Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) urges Obama in his meeting with Palestinian leaders to “make clear that the pathway for peace is through unconditional direct negotiations between both the Israelis and Palestinians.” Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| March 18, 2013
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Lieberman says Yisrael Beiteinu will oppose any settlement freeze

Prior to Obama’s visit, Yisrael Beiteinu chairmain says Israel-Palestinian conflict can’t be solved and stressed that his party will oppose any type of construction freeze.

By Moran Azulay

 

Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman said he does not believe the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be solved and rejected any possible freeze in settlement construction.

“After seeing no result following the 10-month freeze I said I would oppose any freeze inside or outside the (major settlement) blocs,” Lieberman said. “We are willing to make gestures but they cannot be one-sided. Yisrael Beiteinu will fiercely oppose any attempt to resume the freeze.”

Lieberman acknowledged that this stance will inevitably create frictions within the coalition. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| March 17, 2013
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Report: Jerusalem to ask Obama to stop Syrian arms transfers to Hezbollah

A ‘Guardian’ report suggests that Israel will ask the US president during his visit to use airstrikes to prevent weapons transfers to terrorist organizations.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

 

Israel will request from US President Barack Obama during his upcoming visit that the US carry out airstrikes on Syria in the event that Syrian missiles are being transferred to Hezbollah, the Guardian reported on Sunday.

Syrian site reportedly bombed by IAF.

Syrian site reportedly bombed by IAF. – Photo: YouTube Screenshot

The report added that Israel would ask for US support for Israeli strikes on Syria to prevent such weapons transfer if the US was not willing to do so itself.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| March 17, 2013
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Over 5000 Cops to Protect Obama

Israel will be dedicating a great deal of its resources and security services to ensure a successful visit for the U.S. President.

By David Lev

 

Israel will be dedicating a great deal of its resources to ensuring a successful visit for U.S. President Barack H. Obama, due here Wednesday. Thousands of police will be taken off their usual crime-fighting patrols and be deployed in the service of Obama’s large contingent.

ObamaOver 5,000 police will be directly involved in providing security for Obama and his entourage, while hundreds of others will be helping out in indirect ways. For example, over 100 officers will be added to the police help line specifically to deal with issues called in by citizens relating to the Obama visit. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
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