American Support for Israel at an all time high

A new poll release by Gallup on the eve of President Obama's trip to Israel and the West Bank shows American support for Israel is at a record high.  American sympathies favor Israel over the Palestinians, by a 64%-12% margin.  This is its highest level since the 1991 Gulf War.

Exemplifying this unbreakable bond between our nations, last week, an astonishing $27 million was raised by the Friends of the IDF, in a gala event at the Waldorf Astoria.  This is what 1,400 of Israel's closest friends look like:

Friends of the IDF fundraiser in NYC 

And the Palestinians?   In anticipation of President Obama's March 22  trip to Bethlehem, to visit the Church of the Nativity a billboard with his likeness was ripped down and defaced with swastikas.

Anti-Israel Rabbis for Obama

Ok, Mike L. - this one's for you.

Seven members of the Rabbinical Council of the extremist anti-Israel group Jewish Voice for Peace have endorsed the candidacy of Pres. Barack Obama and have appeared on his Rabbis for Obama list

Does Obama really want the endorsement of these seven?

•Rabbi Chava Bahle, Suttons Bay, MI
•Rabbi Rachel Evelyne Barenblat, Lanesboro, MA
•Rabbi Haim Beliak, Los Angeles, CA
•Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Berkeley, CA
•Rabbi Linda Holtzman, Philadelphia, PA
•Rabbi Rebecca Lillian, Chicago, IL
•Rabbi Brant Rosen, Evanston, IL

JVP is at the forefront of the boycott, sanctions and divestment campaign, and is currently targeting financial services giant TIAA-CREF. They have also been spearheading a drive to have a report on campus anti-Semitism issued by the UC Advisory Council on Campus Climate, Culture, and Inclusion tabled. JVP is a member of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, which calls for a halt to all US aid to Israel. Locally, JVP stands side by side with the worst haters in the community and pickets our annual Jewish Community Celebration.

Yitzak Santis and Gerald Steinberg from NGO Monitor , label this activity “Jew-washing” , providing a Jewish cover for the isolation and demonization of Israel.

From their article: On ‘Jew-Washing’ And BDS.

Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) is far from the Jewish mainstream. It is a fringe of a fringe – a small anti-Zionist group, whose finances are unclear, but are almost always found at events where Jew-washing is used, particularly when boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns (BDS) are at stake. Their motivations, like their financing, are unclear and irrelevant – the fact that they provide a useful cover for non-Jews to justify gratuitous Israel-bashing is what counts.

Pres. Obama, at AIPAC, not that long ago, you stated "When there are efforts to boycott or divest from Israel, we will stand against them. And whenever an effort is made to delegitimize the state of Israel, my administration has opposed them.". Stand by your words. Reject the endorsements of those that would just as soon see Israel destroyed.

US: $500 Million in aid for the Palestinians in 2012

From the AP Newswire:

Members of Congress have made available $40 million in economic and humanitarian funding for the Palestinians, the State Department said Wednesday. The money is administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development and "has been vital to establishing and strengthening the foundations necessary for a future Palestinian state," the department said. It amounts to 20 percent of $187 million in U.S. assistance to the Palestinians that had been frozen over the Palestinian bid for U.N. membership.

The Obama administration had been urging lawmakers, with Israel's backing, to release the money as it contributes to Palestinian stability and Israeli security. "It is in the interest of the Palestinians, Israel and the United States, to ensure these efforts continue," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. "They help to build a more democratic, stable, and secure region."

The administration is pressing Congress to release the remaining $147 million that comes from the last budget cycle in which aid to the Palestinians was to total 545.7 million. New funding for the Palestinians will be subject to additional scrutiny and can be blocked if they win full admission to the United Nations before a peace deal with Israel is agreed.

The administration has asked Congress for $513.4 million in aid for the Palestinians in fiscal year 2012.

Gene Simmons Slams President Obama's Israel Policy.

Gene Simmons: "Pres Obama has no ***&^& idea what the world is like"
Normally I don't expect aging rock stars to deliver coherent foreign policy advice, but this is pretty entertaining.

Senate Democrats to Obama: Warn the PA

I'm tempted to snark, and say that this can't possibly be the case, since so many people have told me that the Democrats simply hate Israel...but I'll stop there. Hamas remains the spanner in the works of peace for the foreseeable future, and everyone knows it.

Casey, Menendez and Colleagues Call for Evaluation of U.S. Relations with Fatah-Hamas Government, Possible Suspension of Aid to Palestinian Authority

Friday, May 6, 2011

WASHINGTON, DC— U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today sent a letter to President Obama asking him to evaluate the U.S. relationship with the Palestinian Authority and consider taking stronger measures in condemnation of the recently formed Fatah-Hamas unity government. In the letter signed by 27 Senators, the Senators urged the Administration to stand by its refusal to work with any Palestinian government that includes Hamas and consider cutting aid should the U.S. designated terrorist group remain in the government. Preconditions in U.S. law prevent aid from being provided to a Palestinian government that includes Hamas, unless the government and all its members have publically committed to the Quartet principles.

“It is imperative for you to make clear to President Abbas that Palestinian Authority participation in a unity government with an unreformed Hamas will jeopardize its relationship with the United States, including its receipt of U.S. aid. As you are aware, U.S. law prohibits aid from being provided to a Palestinian government that includes Hamas, unless the government and all its members have publically committed to the Quartet principles. We urge you to conduct a review of the current situation and suspend aid should Hamas refuse to comply with Quartet conditions,” wrote the Senators.

The full text of the letter is here.