January 8, 2013

By: Tulin Daloglu for Al-Monitor Turkey Pulse.

Summary :
Tulin Daloglu writes that Israel’s strategic partnership with the Republic of Cyprus, including over Mediterranean gas fields, is yet another complication in Israeli-Turkish relations.

In November 2007, Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas jointly addressed the Turkish parliament, an event that buttressed Turkey’s role in the region as an honest broker for peace. The Peres address was the first ever by an Israeli president before a Muslim parliament.
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Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, “Second Thought: a US-Israel Initiative”

“Israel Hayom”, January 8, 2013, http://bit.ly/XIdxgX

The US Senate vote on the nomination of John Brennan and Chuck Hagelto the positions of CIA Director and Defense Secretary, respectively, will shape US power projection and posture of deterrence, global sanity, war on Islamic terrorism and the US determination to avert the wrath of a nuclear Iran.

John Brennan presented his position on Iran in the July, 2008 issue of The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science: ”A critical step toward improved US-Iranian relations would be for US officials to cease public Iran-bashing, a tactic that may have served short-term domestic political interests, but that has heretofore been wholly counterproductive to U.S. strategic interests.”
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Alexander H. Joffe:

“…Netanyahu’s unsentimental assessment of the Middle East does not line up with that of the Obama administration – in thrall to its collapsing romance with moderate Islamists – and its devoted supporters among Jewish Americans. These groups do not understand Netanyahu, who proclaims Jewish rights, defends his country’s interests, and hints at conciliation but gives up little – much like a traditional Arab leader. …”

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JPOST

Speaking with haredi station Radio Kol Hai, Bennett added that his party would “fight against legislation which would coercively draft” yeshiva students.

“We will be a partner which will fight for Torah study in Israel, and we will fight against laws that coerce service,” Bennett said.

“Whoever is learning Torah should continue to learn Torah, full stop,”

“This is my stance from the beginning. Although it’s not always easy to explain this to our secular brothers, my way is to explain that the Jewish people have existed for thousands of years in exile because of Torah, and in the State of Israel we need to strengthen this.”
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By Ted Belman

Shas fears that Netanyahu will form a centre-left coalition which will threatedn the Jewish nature of the state. Last time Likud did this Shas was left out of the coalition

It just asked PM Netanyahu to sign a treaty which includes four main principles as the basis to “maintaining the existence of the State of Israel as the Jewish nation’s state.”

The treaty calls

1. to protect the secular-religious status quo,

2. to prevent legislation that contradicts Halacha laws and would allow quick conversion to Judaism,

3. to prevent regulation of civil marriage that would “enable intermarriage of Jews with non-Jews,” and

4. to prevent the operation of public transportation on Shabbat.

WHAT CAN I SAY?

NUQUDY

In December of 2011 Egypt sent the United Nations a report detailing the
reasons for which Israel owes the government of Egypt $500 billion for
damage sustained by the Sinai Peninsula when it was controlled by Israel
between 1967 and 1982.

Following one year of inaction by the UN, the report has now been sent to
the US administration in the hopes that it will press its ally, Israel, into
paying the debt.
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