Shas spiritual leader: 'Hatikva is a stupid song'

"Hatikvah is a stupid song?"

Rav Ovadia Yosef left, Rabbi Cohen right

My points after the article

The Shas movement spiritual leader, the frequently acerbic Rabbi Shalom Cohen renowned for his divisive and controversial comments, has once again caused consternation over his outspoken views.

Speaking at a Shas campaign rally in Netivot on Sunday, Cohen called the Israeli national anthem Hatikva "a stupid song" and disparaged those who sing it, while speaking of his long devotion to Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the revered and legendary late rabbinic leader of Shas. 

Cohen was describing the anointment ceremony of former Sephardi Chief Yitzhak Nissim in 1955 which he attended along with Yosef. 

"At the end of the ceremony they began to sing "kol od be'leivav [the beginning words of the Israeli national anthem Hatikvah]." said the rabbi mockingly. "I thought to myself 'they're mad, I didn't stand, everyone stood up like it was the aleinu le'shabayach [prayer] but the rabbi [Yosef] also stood. "

"I asked the rabbi [Yosef] why did you stand up? He said 'I said the aleinu leshabayach prayer. Why did he say aleinu leshabayach? He didn't want this stupid song to influence us at all," said Cohen. 

Large parts of the haredi world have a long-held animus towards the Israeli national anthem. 

The words “to be a free nation in our land” are generally scorned by the haredi community, who see themselves as servants of God. It is commonly believed in the ultra-Orthodox community that the meaning behind the words “free nation” is free of the religious commandments of the Torah. 

“The haredi world is of the opinion that that it is intolerable that the national anthem of the Jewish state declares that the hope of the Jewish people is to be a free people,” said Shahar Ilan, the deputy director of the Hiddush religious freedom lobbying group in reference to their objection to the particular line “a free nation in our land. 

Cohen has a long record of vitriolic and antagonistic statements. In July last year during Operation Protective Edge, Cohen said at a prayer rally for IDF soldiers that the Jewish people do not need an army.

"Do you think the people of Israel need an army?” Cohen asked. “It is God almighty who fights for Israel.”

In response to Sunday’s outburst, Shas defended the rabbi and said “no-one can lecture Rabbi Shalom Cohen, who lived all his years in the walls of Jerusalem, what Zionism is and what the relationship is with the Land of Israel.”

“It is the right and obligation of Rabbi Shalom Cohen to think that the sources of the Torah of Israel which escorted the Jewish people across thousands of years and speaks of the yearning for, and the return to Zion are preferable ten times over to a song that was created in the last few decades,” an official Shas party response read, in reference to Hatikvah, although it was actually written down in its final form by Imber 138 years ago. 

Several points.


First is the world of difference between Maran and his successor. 

Why did Maran stand up during the singing of the Israeli National Anthem when he attached no real importance to it? 

Because he attached importance to the feelings and sensitivities of his fellow Jews who did attach importance to Israel's national anthem. So he stood up and said Aleinu to himself, thereby avoiding to hurt the feelings of his fellow Jews. And for the same reason, Maran did not publicly call Hatikvah stupid.


So why didn't HaRav Cohen stand up and why did he call Hatikvah stupid? 
Because while Maran was Maran, HaRav Cohen is HaRav Cohen. 


The second point -
that Charedim do not not like Hatikvah because it calls for the day that Jews to be free people in their land, and they consider this to be against G-d. 

Every year at Pesach, which celebrates our FREEDOM, I recite from the Haggadah: "This year we are here. Next year, may we be in Eretz Yisrael. Now we are slaves. Next year, may we be free men."  Clearly a theme taken from the Haggadah by the author of Hatikvah. 

Perhaps the Charedim should delete this offensive, anti-G-d phrase from the Haggadah, or perhaps at least say it in a whisper so no one hears it.

Regarding HaRav Cohen's denial of the need for an Israeli army. I cannot argue against the leader of the Council of Sages, but I can state an opposing shita. 

There is an idea that while G-d produces the results, we are not supposed to just sit back and wait for G-d. We must do our part. We are partners with G-d in creation and in running and correcting the world. And so, even though G-d took us out of Egypt, we needed to kill the pascal lamb and put its blood on the door lintel. 

And even though G-d split the sea, Nachshon ben Aminadav had to first enter up to his nose. 

And even though G-d brought us into the land and gave us victory over the enemies, we had to have an army that fought those enemies. 

In fact, the Torah demands and describes the very type of army that HaRav Coehn thinks is superfluous.


Finally, 
that Shas explains how long the Rav has lived in Jerusalem and explains his understanding of Eretz Yisrael, this is not the only understanding possible - there is an entirely different understanding from the National Religious Rabbonim. 

Maaseh Avos siman l'banim. In the days of Moshe, 10 Gedolei HaDor rejected the land and brought the people to reject the land.

 Only 2 Gedolim (Yehoshua and Calev) praised the land and said let's enter it and conquer it (Yehoshua headed up the army as well as the being the transmitter of Torah sheb' al Peh). 

In recent history, HaRav Kook and his son Rav Tzvi Yehuda were the Calev and Yehoshua of our time; the Haredi Gedolim are not.
Haredi Tzionim should vote for Eli Yisha/Boruch Marzel.

Rumsfeld Says Current Approach to Islamist Threat Brings to Mind US Inaction During Holocaust

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday that the current US course of action aimed at dealing with the threat of Islamic State terrorism reminds him of the nation’s nonintervention during the Holocaust.

“I think back to the 1930s when the Holocaust was going on and the Nazis were killing Jews by the tens of thousands and the United States government turned away ships filled with Jews from our ports,” he said during an appearance on Greta Van Susteren’s On the Record.

“The antisemitism that’s rising in the world today - we read about Jewish cemeteries being desecrated, synagogues being attacked and it is important that we not have a leadership vacuum,” he added. “That we in fact take a problem, put it on the table, look at it, be honest about it and then develop a strategy to deal with it, which is hard, admittedly.”

Rumsfeld’s interview came after reports that Islamic State terrorists burned 45 people to death in Iraq in addition to the beheading of 21 Coptic Christians in Libya. Rumsfeld said much of the country seems to be “in a state of denial” about the threat of Islamic State terrorism.

“It brings back to mind the period before World War II where people said ‘I didn’t know’ or ‘I was just following orders’ or ‘it’s random,’” he explained. “But when you kill - systematically kill - Jews and kill Christians and say that’s what you’re doing, it’s not random, it’s purposeful.”

The Algemeiner

Van Susteren May Send Cameras to Watch Democrats Who Miss Netanyahu Speech

Van Susteren

If Democrats in Congress opt not to attend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to them next month, they'd better look busy.

Fox News Channel's Greta Van Susteren said Thursday she might send camera crews to follow House and Senate members who claim to have scheduling conflicts.

Netanyahu's planned address has attracted controversy since Republican House Speaker John Boehner issued the invitation without first consulting the White House. 

Some Democrats have said they will boycott the speech, but House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi refused to use that word in a press conference on Thursday. Instead, she suggested, some members might find they have scheduling conflicts. 

Reporters laughed at that suggestion.

"That's code for boycott," Van Susteren said. "If the Democrats take her direction and don't show up, they may want to find some place to hide, because you know what, I may just send out some cameras to see how busy the MIA Democrats really are that they are too busy to hear a world leader — an ally — in the United States Capitol discussing something so profoundly important as Iran and nuclear weapons."
Van Susteren said she hopes the Democrats don't get caught playing golf, lunching with lobbyists, or at their own fundraisers.

"And, by the way, I hope Catholics like Leader Pelosi can find a way to clear their busy calendars when another head of state, Pope Francis of the Vatican, comes to Washington this fall to likewise address Congress on Sept. 24."

Cab driver Ahmed Mohammed. Taxi med: 6N76 Allegedly Harassing Jewish Passengers

The following story just posted on Facebook 
by Baila Sebrow


"I was picked up by a cab. As he started driving, he turns around and asks, "are you Jewish?" I responded, "yes."
He started screaming "all Jews must die." He then drove like crazy. I was terrified and began to scream. He then turned around and took me back where he picked me up from. Not to my destination.
I got out and he started following me, making shooting signals with his fingers and taking pictures of me. He then said, "pay me...."
I said, "for what?"


At that point I was in a safe place and called the police. It took a long time. They came.


This is the astonishing part:
The police were nasty. They claimed it was hearsay and told the driver to charge me while I was even waiting for the police! I objected. 


The officer said if I don't pay, she will arrest me!
PLEASE BE AWARE:
If in New York City please be aware: Taxi Med: 6N76
Middle Eastern Driver. His name is Ahmed Mohammed
Company Name:


JOE & MIKE TAXI INC.

Charedi Sicarii Gang Member gets his Peyos Cut Off, After Outburst At Rabbi Rabinowitz's Funeral

Finally! 
Why does a guy who disturbs a funeral need peyos?
Now, I'm not for cutting off peyos to anyone, the picture of Nazis cutting off the Beard & Peyos of innocent Jews always come to mind when I hear that a Jew cut off the peyos of another Jew! Satmar used to cut off the beard and Peyos of other Satmarer that converted to Chabad, years ago..
but something has to be done to stop this mafia!
  

During the funeral of Rabbi Levi Hacohen Rabinowitz, mechaber of  Ma’adanei Hashulkan, which was attended by  Gedoilim from across Yerushalyim, Dovid Noach Krausse – a leading member of the Sikrikim / Sicarri gang – interrupted  Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch, while he was giving the hespid, screaming and yelling at him..

So finally, having had enough of this Asra Kedisha lunatic, a bunch of Yeshiva Bochrim beat the hell out of him and cut off his peyos!

Krauss’ gang has been harassing Sternbuch and many other Charedi rabbis over a large Charedi housing construction project in Beit Shemesh. The gang and its close affiliate, the Edah Haredit-linked Asra Kadisha graves protection organization, believe ancient Jewish graves are being disturbed at the construction site, which is owned by a Charedi Jew. 

Asra Kadisha is backed by Edah Hacharedit’s top leader, Rabbi Yitzchok Tuvia Weiss. Under halacha it is forbidden to disturb or move graves if it is verified that there are Jewish bones underneath the site.
But the vast majority of Charedi Rabbonim, including Rav Sternbuch and few other members of the vehemently anti-Zionist Edah Hachredit, say there are no Jewish graves, ancient or otherwise, at that construction site to be disturbed or moved, and therefore these rabbis support the construction.

The opponents from Asra Kadisha and the Sikarii gang responded by launching a long campaign of threats, harassment and even violence against Rav Sternbuch and others. Rav Sternbuch’s own son has twice been attacked. The elderly Rabbi who is behind the construction was beaten in a home invasion allegedly carried out by the Sikrikim. Sikrikim have rioted alongside Asra Kadisha at the construction site, as well.

An exposé in the Israeli media previously documented Asra Kadisha extorting developers, construction companies and archaeologists and threatening them with death if they did not comply with Asra Kadisha’s demands – which most often have to do with construction companies and developers hiring Asra Kadisha rabbis as site mashgiachs (religious supervisors) to ensure no graves are disturbed and paying Asra Kadisha a supervision fee, just like Al Sharpton.

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) sends archaeologists to excavate most construction sites in the country, including the one in question here, before construction begins and then again during the construction process. 

The IAA cleared the site for construction several years ago.

In the "Holy of Holies" were the "Keruvim" one was the face of a man and the other of a women

Let's learn a "shtickel" gemarrah together, and then let's understand what the Yeshivah guys and the Chassidishe Oilim would say today if the RBSH"O would ask them to build an Aron!

The Gemarrah in Mesachtes Yoma 74a, discusses what the Keruvim represented. But by learning this Gemarrah, we have an idea what they actually looked like.

Rav Katina said: “When Klall Yisroel would come to the Bais Hamikdash for Yom Tov, the curtain would be pulled back for them and they would see the Keruvim  intertwined with each other. [The kohanim] would say to them: “Behold, the love of you before God is like the love of man and woman.”

Rav Katina  only explains the symbolism of the  wings of the Keruvim touching each other. He states that this represents love, and should call to mind the love of G-d to G-d’s people, Israel. 

What Rav Katina does not explain is how the love of two creatures who are exactly the same should come to represent G-d and Israel. It must be that the two creatures weren't exactly the same......

This interpretation likely reflects a midrashic connection between the phrase “spreading wings (פרשי כנפים)” used in Parshas Terumah to describe the Keruvim and the identical phrase in Yechezkel. 16:8 and Rus 3:9 for a man spreading his cloak over a woman.

Rashi takes the  position of the Gemarrah that states that the Keruvim  had the face of  children.

But R. Bahya ben Asher (Rabbeinu Bechayeh) and R. Moshe Alshich (The Alshich Hakodosh), offer a modified version of Rav Katina’s statement, suggesting that one was male and one was female.

אלשיך: ” הם ילדים זכר ונקבה”, בחיי: ” זכר ונקבה היו, להודיע כמה ישראל חביבין לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא 

Now, If we were to take the position of the Alshich Hakodesh and the Rabbeinu Bechayeh, that learn pshat in the "memreh" of Rav Katina that the Keruvim had faces of a boy and a girl......

What would today's Rosh Yeshivas and Chassidishe Rebbes tell G-d?

"NO No !!!!!! No!!!! "A face of a lady in the Kodshei Hakodoshim???? No! We won't allow this!

If we don't have pictures in Ami Magazine, or any Chareidie Newspaper... of ladies, how could the RBSH"O command us to put a face of a girl on top of the Aron Hakodesh that was situated in the Kodesh Hakadoshim!?????

We are frumer then the RBSH"O  that's it! Yes! We are frumer then Hashem!

Nope.... we won't allow it...We won't build the Aron!!
Will just throw the Torah in a box ...in the Kodshi Hakodoshim.."

Or perhaps, Artscroll will tear out the Gemarrah in Yoma and throw both the Alshich and Rabbeinu Bachyeh in the trash.... then nobody will know what the RBSH"O really wanted.....

And what He really wanted according to the Alshich HaKodesh and Rabbeinu Bachyeh was for Moshei Rabbeinu  to put two , three dimensional statues in the Kodshi Hakodoshim, one with the face of a boy, and the other with a face of a girl.......... embracing! ....

Expert: Charedi IDF Service Now an Unstoppable Force

Despite continuing protests by groups of Charedi community members against IDF service, more members of the community are joining the army than ever before, Yonatan Bransky said. 

Branksy is the Chairman of the Netzah Yehuda organization, 

which consists of veterans of the IDF and rabbis in the Charedi community.

The protests, which have been going on for months, are the work of just a small, but loud, minority in the community, said Bransky. “I think most of the community just ignores them,” he said. “Everyone understands the importance of working together.”

Among other things, Netzach Yehuda arranges ceremonies for Charedi soldiers, such as their graduation from basic training to regular service units. The latest ceremony was held Thursday, and Bransky said that it went very well.

“Our soldiers bring a great deal of pride to the community and to their families. Our job is to enable these soldiers to serve without compromising their religious lifestyle, and we are able to work with the army on this fully.”

As head of an organization that advocates IDF service, Bransky said that the issue for Charedi Jews was not being “for” or “against” IDF service.

“No one will teach us lessons about the importance of full-time Torah studies, and we fully support those who choose to do this. No one is going to pull them out of their chairs in the House of Study. But there are thousands of 'students' who are not learning anything. These are the people we are seeking, and many of them do want serve in the IDF. 

We help them.”

The system works, he said. “Many of the soldiers we have worked with are now working and supporting families. They are our best ambassadors. We are here and ready to help any Charedi soldier who joins the army to learn Torah, to provide spiritual support, and to find the appropriate service framework,” he said.

Rabbi Moshe Meir Weiss bashes Ami Magazine that gave "irresponsible exposure" to those Meshigina Parents that refuse to vaccinate their children

I cannot believe that we are still discussing this issue... those crazy creeps that refuse to vaccinate their children should be thrown out of shul and their children barred from attending Yeshivah!

There, I said it.....

By Rabbi Moshe Meir Weiss

Last week, I had a verbal ‘tantrum’ about one of the major Torah publications giving irresponsible exposure to an uneducated opinion that can have grave consequences to its thousands of readers.   This week, I would like to study the flip side, the applause that these publishers have coming to them when they print important opinions of well-educated Roshei Yeshiva, rabboinim or lay-leaders.  The example I have chosen amongst the many that there are is a letter written by Dr. Indich, a well-known pediatrician in Lakewood for over three decades.  The letter was prompted by the measles outbreak in California.  Dr. Indich wrote to decry the parents who choose not to vaccinate their children because of the fear of a discredited linkage to autism.  Dr. Indich gives testimony in his passionate letter that during the thirty years of his practice with thousands of children and thousands of vaccinations, he has never seen any such linkage.

Now, this is journalism at its best.  A young mother, perhaps seeing an autistic child, and fearing for the safety of her children, might be swayed by the hysteria.  So, the magazine reaches out to the masses and teaches them with one who has impeccable credentials to do so - that they should not be concerned.

As a Rav, this issue has crossed my desk more than once and I know one great Rosh Yeshiva who told one of his talmidim who was dating a girl from a family that did not vaccinate their children that the chosson should stipulate before getting married that they will vaccinate their children because in medical Halacha we go after the rov, the majority, and the overwhelming majority of medical opinion and the overwhelming majority of vaccinations save lives and do no harm.

I have strong personal feelings about this issue since I personally contracted the measles and the mumps having had the mumps three times; once on one side, once on the other side, and once on both sides.  I still remember, more than half a century later, the delirium I suffered from the measles.  To think that a parent would voluntarily risk her child getting this dreaded disease by opting not to vaccinate because of ignorance is frightening.  (When I was a young boy, they didn’t have these vaccinations.)  Even worse, I have people in my community who have had polio and have the telltale marks which remain with them throughout their lives.  How scary that a mother would opt not to safeguard her child from such a horrid disease.

But, before writing this, we are taught to consult with two mumchim, two experts.  So, to get another opinion, I called my dear talmid and friend Dr. Robert Adler, who has one of the largest pediatric practices in Boro Park, seeing tens of thousands of children and has also been practicing for over thirty years.  I asked him whether he thinks there is any linkage between vaccinations and autism and whether there is any validity to the concern about not vaccinating one’s child.  He vehemently informed me that there is no truth to those concerns and the ’studies’ that supported this theory have been completely disproven and discredited.  He even educated me that some parents with autistic children are distressed that so much funding has been wasted on the “Scandinavian”, and other studies in this area when the money could have been used for much better purposes.  He did tell me that in the area of autism, there are credible studies that exposure to certain pollutants have been linked to a heightened risk of autism.

Being also a Talmud chochom, he concluded that vaccination is one of the examples of how Hashem created the refuah before themakeh, the cure before the disease - and that everyone should make sure to avail themselves of these gifts from Hashem.

As a postscript to this essay, let me share with you the following.  I mentioned this view about vaccinations at my flagship lecture at Rabbi Landau’s (Tuesday night at 9:50 PM on Avenue l and East 9^th). After the lecture someone accosted me saying that there are two sides to this story about vaccinations. This prompted me to make yet another call to yet another expert. I called my ydid nefesh-very close friend, Rabbi Dr. Yitzchok Kurtzer who is a noted Internist for three decades and runs three busy offices in Scranton. I asked him for his opinion about vaccinations. He told me emphatically that it is criminal not to vaccinate our children. He went on to inform me that Scranton had a Mumps outbreak, and the probable cause was traced to a Mother who was afraid to give her child the Mumps vaccination!

This is but one example of journalism at its best.  And there are many examples:  Magazines and articles that educate people on how to safeguard their elderly parents’ homes, giving people resources to deal with severe allergies, educating people on mental health issues and the list goes on.

I’ll close with a final word of caution to all readers of print material:  just like the Gemora cautions us to choose our rabbi carefully, “Im yihyeh Rabbo domeh l’malach Elokim, yevakshu Torah mi’pihu - If your Rabbi has angelic qualities, then learn from him wisdom.”  So too, check the credentials of the writer whose piece you are reading before you rely upon it as if it is gospel.  May it be the will of Hashem that we always safeguard our children and in that merit may we be blessed with long life, good health andYiddishe nachas.

Sheldon Zeitlin takes dictation of, and edits, Rabbi Weiss’ articles.

Rabbi Weiss is currently stepping up his speaking engagements to have him in your community call now 718.916.3100 or emailRMMWSI@aol.com.

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Attend Rabbi Weiss’s weekly shiur at the Landau Shul, Avenue L and East 9^th in Flatbush, Tuesday nights at 9:30 p.m.

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Netanyahu really running against Obama

by Caroline Glick

Officially, the election on March 17 is among Israelis. Depending on how we vote, either Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will remain in office and form the next government led by his Likud party, or Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni will form a government.
But unofficially, a far greater electoral drama is unfolding. The choice is not between Netanyahu and Herzog/Livni. It is between Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama.

As the White House sees it, if Herzog/Livni form the next government, then Jerusalem will dance to Obama’s tune. If Netanyahu is reelected, then the entire edifice of Obama’s Middle East policy may topple and fall.

Secretary of State John Kerry made clear the administration’s desire to topple Netanyahu last spring during his remarks before the Trilateral Commission. It was during that memorable speech that Kerry libeled Israel, claiming that we would automatically and naturally become an apartheid state if we didn’t give Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria to the PLO, Jew free, as quickly as possible.

Despite Israel’s venality, Kerry held out hope. In his words, “if there is a change of government [in Israel], or a change of heart, something will happen.”

Shortly after Kerry gave his Israel apartheid speech, his Middle East mediator Martin Indyk attacked Israel and the character of the Israeli people in an astounding interview to Yediot Aharonot.

Among other things, Indyk hinted that to force Israel to make concessions demanded by the PLO, the Palestinians may need to launch another terror war.

Indyk also threatened that the Palestinians will get their state whether Israel agrees to their terms of not. In his words, “They will get their state in the end – whether through violence or by turning to international organizations.”

Indyk made his statements as an unnamed US official. When his identity was exposed, he was forced to resign his position.
Following his departure from government service he returned to his previous position as vice president of the Brookings Institution and the director of its foreign policy program. Last September, The New York Times reported that the Brookings Institute received a $14.8 million, four-year donation from Qatar, the chief financier of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

This week, Indyk was back in Israel to speak at the annual conference of the Institute for National Security Studies. There he provided us with a picture of what we can expect from the Obama administration in its remaining two years in office if Netanyahu forms the next government.

On the Palestinian front, Indyk warned that Israel shouldn’t be worried about the Palestinians getting an anti-Israel resolution passed in the UN Security Council. Rather, it can expect that the US will join with the other permanent members of the UN Security Council to pass a resolution “against Israel’s will” that will “lay out the principle of a two-state solution.”

As Indyk intimated, Israel can avoid this fate if it elects a Herzog/Livni government. Such a government, he indicated, will preemptively give in to all of the Palestinians demands and so avoid a confrontation with the US and its colleagues at the Security Council.

Indyk explained, “If there is a government in Israel after these elections that decides to pursue a two-state solution, then there is a way forward. It begins with coordinating an initiative with the United States. And then, together with the US, looking to Egypt and Jordan and the resurrection of the Arab Peace Initiative.”

As for Iran, Indyk shrugged at Israel’s concerns over the agreement that Obama is now seeking to conclude with the Iranian regime regarding its nuclear weapons program. That agreement will leave Iran as a threshold nuclear state. Indyk suggested that the US could assuage Israel’s concerns by signing a bilateral treaty with Israel that would commit the US to do something if Iran passes some nuclear threshold.

There are only three problems with such a deal.

First, as former ambassador to the US Itamar Rabinovich noted, such a treaty would likely render Israel unable to take independent action against Iranian nuclear sites.

Second, the US has a perfect track record of missing every major nuclear advance by every country. US intelligence agencies were taken by surprise when India, Pakistan and North Korea joined the nuclear club. They have always underestimated Iranian nuclear activities and were taken by surprise, repeatedly, by Syria’s nuclear proliferation activities. In other words, it would be insane for Israel to trust that the US would act in a timely manner to prevent Iran from crossing the nuclear threshold.

Third of course is the demonstrated lack of US will – particularly under the Obama administration – to take any action that could prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. So Israel has no reason whatsoever to believe that the US would honor its commitment.

But then, since the Obama administration believes that Herzog and Livni will be compliant with its policies, the White House may expect the two will agree to forgo Israel’s right to self-defense and place Israel’s national security in relation to Iran in Obama’s hands.

And this brings us to the real contest unfolding in the lead-up to March 17.

When Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner announced last month that he had invited Netanyahu to address the joint houses of Congress on the threat emanating from Iran’s nuclear program and from radical Islam, he unintentionally transformed the Israeli elections from a local affair to a contest between Obama and Netanyahu.

Obama’s response to Netanyahu’s speech has been astounding. His ad hominem attacks against Netanyahu, his open moves to coerce Democratic lawmakers to boycott Netanyahu’s speech, and the administration’s aggressive attempts to damage Israel’s reputation in the US have been without precedent. More than anything, they expose a deep-seated fear that Netanyahu will be successful in exposing the grave danger that Obama’s policies toward Iran and toward the Islamic world in general pose to the global security.

Those fears are reasonable for two reasons.

First due to a significant degree to the administration’s unhinged response to the news of Netanyahu’s speech, Boehner’s invitation to Netanyahu sparked a long-belated public debate in the US regarding Obama’s strategy of appeasing the Iranian regime. Generally consistent Obama supporters like The Washington Post editorial board have published stinging indictments of this policy in recent weeks.

These analyses have noted for the first time that in pursuing Iran, Obama is alienating and weakening America’s allies, enabling Iran to expand its nuclear program, and empowering Iran regionally as the US does nothing to prevent Iran’s takeover of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.

Second, it is possible that in his remarks about Iran and radical Islam, Netanyahu will manage to discredit Obama’s approach to both issues. This is possible because Obama’s approach is difficult to understand.

Last week, following the decapitation of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians by Islamic State, the Obama administration stood alone in its refusal to note that the victims were murdered because they were Christians. When Egypt retaliated for the massacre with air strikes against Islamic State training camps and other facilities in Libya, the Obama administration refused to support it ally. Instead it criticized Egypt for acting on its own and called for a political solution in Libya, which is now governed by two rival governments and has become a breeding ground for Islamic State terrorists who transit Libya to Sinai.

Following Islamic State’s massacre of the Christians, the group’s leaders threatened to invade neighboring Italy. Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi promised a strong response, and then called on the UN Security Council to do something. The Obama administration responded with coolness to a similar Egyptian call last week.

Hamas (which is supposedly much more moderate than Islamic State despite its intense cooperation with Libya-trained Islamic State forces in Sinai) warned Italy not to attack Islamic State in Libya, lest it be viewed in the words of Salah Bardawil as beginning “a new crusade against Arab and Muslim countries.”

While all of this has been going on, Obama presided over his much-touted international conference on Confronting Violent Extremism. Reportedly attended by representatives from 60 countries, and featuring many leaders of Muslim Brotherhood- linked groups like the Council on American- Islamic Relations, Obama’s conference’s apparent goal was to deemphasize and deny the link between terrorism and radical Islam.

In his remarks on Wednesday, Obama gave a lengthy defense of his refusal to acknowledge the link between Islam and Islamic State, al-Qaida and other Islamic terrorist groups. He insisted that these groups “have perverted Islam.”

Obama indirectly argued that the West is to blame for their behavior because of its supposed historical mistreatment of Muslims. In his words, the “reality... is that there’s a strain of thought that doesn’t embrace ISIL’s tactics, doesn’t embrace violence, but does buy into the notion that the Muslim world has suffered historic grievances, sometimes that’s accurate.”

Obama’s insistence that Islamic State and its ilk attack because of perceived Western misbehavior is completely at odds with observed reality. As The Atlantic’s Graeme Wood demonstrated this week in his in-depth report on Islamic State’s ideology and goals, Islam is central to the group. Islamic State is an apocalyptic movement rooted entirely in Islam.

Most of the coverage of Netanyahu’s scheduled speech before Congress has centered on his opposition to the deal Obama seeks to conclude with Iran. But it may be that the second half of his speech – which will be devoted to the threat posed by radical Islam – will be no less devastating to Obama. Obama’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge the fact that the greatest looming threats to global security today, including US national security, stem from radical Islam indicates that he is unable to contend with any evidence that jihadist Islam constitutes a unique threat unlike the threat posed by Western chauvinism and racism.

It is hard to understand either Israel’s election or Obama’s hysterical response to Netanyahu’s scheduled speech without recognizing that Obama clearly feels threatened by the message he will deliver. Surrounded by sycophantic aides and advisers, and until recently insulated from criticism by a supportive media, while free to ignore Congress due to his veto power, Obama has never had to seriously explain his policies regarding Iran and Islamic terrorists more generally. He has never endured a direct challenge to those policies.

Today Obama believes that he is in a to-the-death struggle with Netanyahu. If Netanyahu’s speech is a success, Obama’s foreign policy will be indefensible. If Obama is able to delegitimize Netanyahu ahead of his arrival, and bring about his electoral defeat, then with a compliant Israeli government, he will face no obstacles to his plan to appease Iran and blame Islamic terrorism on the West for the remainder of his tenure in office.

www.CarolineGlick.com

List of the Democrats who are Planning to Skip Netanyahu’s Speech Against Nuclear Iran

The following officials will not attend Netanyahu’s speech:

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (Ore.) — Wrote a Jan. 29 column in The Huffington Post explaining his decision, saying the Constitution “vests the responsibility for foreign affairs in the president.”

Rep. G.K. Butterfield (N.C.) — The head of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) focused on Boehner undermining Obama in a statement and emphasized he’s not urging a boycott.

Rep. Andre Carson (Ind.)

Rep. James Clyburn (S.C.) — Clyburn is the highest-ranking Democratic leader to say he’ll skip the speech.

Rep. Diana DeGette (Colo.)

Rep. Donna Edwards (Md.)

Rep. Keith Ellison (Minn.) — He is head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), a member of the CBC and the first Muslim in Congress.

Rep. Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.) — Grijalva is a co-chairman of the CPC.

Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (Ill.) — A spokesman told the Chicago Sun-Times that Gutierrez has a “strong” record on Israel but called the speech “a stunt.”

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.)

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (Texas) — “The Congresswoman has no plans to attend the speech at this time,” a spokeswoman said.

Rep. Barbara Lee (Calif.) — A member of the CBC and former head of the CPC.

Rep. John Lewis (Ga.) — His office confirmed he’s not going but emphasized he’s not organizing a formal boycott

Rep. Betty McCollum (Minn.): “In my view Mr. Netanyahu’s speech before Congress is nothing more than a campaign event hosted by Speaker Boehner and paid for by the American people,” McCollum said in a statement.”

Rep. Jim McDermott (Wash.) — “I do not intend to attend the speech of Bibi,” he said in an email to a Seattle newspaper.

Rep. Gregory Meeks (N.Y.) — A CBC member.

Rep. Beto O’Rourke (Texas)

Rep. Chellie Pingree (Maine)

Rep. Charles Rangel (N.Y.) — “I’m offended as an American,” he said on MSNBC.

Rep. Cedric Richmond (La.)

Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.)

Rep. John Yarmuth (Ky.) — “We know what he is going to say,” the Jewish lawmaker said in a statement.

Senate (3)

Sen. Patrick Leahy (Vt.) — Leahy called it a “tawdry and high-handed stunt,” according to a  Vermont newspaper.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) — Sanders, who caucuses with Democrats, said it’s “wrong” that Obama wasn’t consulted about the speech.

Sen. Brian Schatz (Hawaii) — “The U.S.-Israel relationship is too important to be overshadowed by partisan politics,” said Schatz in a statement. “I am disappointed in the Republican leadership’s invitation of Prime Minister Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress with the apparent purpose of undermining President Obama’s foreign policy prerogatives.”

Ami's Frankfurter interviews Moshe Arnes and asks him "silly questions"

Yitzchok Frankfurter, The Purim Clown

Yitzchok Frankfurter, the Purim Clown, publisher and editor of Ami Magazine,  interviewed the Former Foreign Minister of the State of Israel, Moshe Arens, and the interview is  featured in this week's edition of the Anti-Israel Ami Magazine.

Reading the questions, will make you want to puke, because of the clown's immature questions and blatant anti-Israel slant, .... so have a brown bag nearby!

I will start with one of the clown's last questions, just so you get the gist of his insane questions.

Notice Aren's great responses.

The Purim Clown Frank:
"You're practically one of the founding fathers of Israel. From a personal perspective, what is it like to watch your country still under the same threat today as when it was established?"

Moshe Arens:
" May I permit myself to say "our" country?"

DIN:
Do you believe the question?  "your" country?.....
This is the "country" that the RBSH"O gifted to the Jewish people forever and forever, as Rashi points out in the very first pasuk in Bereishes..... but according to the Purim Clown, Eretz Yisroel is not "his" but "yours" ... reminds me of the Rasha's question in the Pesach Haggadah!
Somebody should be "boidek" this guy,..... I'll bet he is not from "zera Yisroel"

I have the following question to The Frank:
"From a personal perspective, what is it like to watch the Jewish People being under the same threat today as when we had the first war with Amaleik?

The Purim Clown Frank:
Israel's problem today is more diplomatic than military. Would you agree with that?

DIN: 
What is wrong with this imbecile? 
Only a guy living in Boro Park in those fancy "match-boxes" would ask if "Israel's problem is more diplomatic than military" ..
Only a guy who didn't experience grabbing his toddlers and running to the nearest shelter as Hamas rains down thousands of missiles, would ask such a stupid idiotic question!
He must be hanging out too much in the mikvah! 

See how Arens  responds!

Moshe Arens:
NO! The primary problem for Israel is military in nature. First and foremost, a nuclear weapon in the hands of the Iranians, who make no bones about their intention to wipe Israel off the map. 
Nothing will take a backseat to that.

The Purim Clown Frank:
Do you think there's anything to the accusation that it's inappropriate to address Congress two weeks before the Israelis go to the polls? Some people are up in arms about that?

DIN:
The only people that feel that it's "inappropriate" and are "up in arms" against Netanyahu  addressing Congress "two weeks before the Israelis go the the polls" ..... are Satmar, Leftist self-hating Jews, Anti-Semites, Tzippy Livni, Herzog and the  Iranians...

Moshe Arens:
What would you say if Netanyahu, knowing that an agreement was taking shape that posed a great danger to Israel, was given an opportunity to address Congress on this important subject and told the Speaker of the House, "I'm sorry, I'm busy with elections now. This is more important than the danger of a nuclear Iran." What would you say to that? What would Herzog and Livni say about it?

DIN:
Since the Clown is an anti-Israel Satmarer he is against Netanyahu addressing Congress because this will antagonize Hussein Obama, who together with Satmar hate Netanyahu, so like all the rest of the  anti-Semites, he keeps badgering Arens on this topic.................

The Purim Clown Frank:
Would you care to comment on the way the invitation was handled?
Do you think it was dealt with properly from a diplomatic perspective?

Moshe Arens:
As far as I know it would be almost disrespectful to the Speaker of the House, the number three person in the American political hierarchy, to refuse to accept his invitation or to start to interrogate him as to whether it was coordinated with everybody. An invitation was issued to the prime minister, and I think it would have been wrong on his part to refuse it. It would have also been wrong if instead of answering yes, he said he'd like to know a little more about it.

DIN: 
Gut Ge'zugt..... but the clown doesn't give up and keeps pestering him like an annoying  mosquito.

The Purim Clown Frank:
People know exactly where Netanyahu stands on this issue. He's even made his opinion known in the UN. What will he accomplish by restating it?

DIN:
And why does Satmar keep "restating" their anti-Jewish stance every single week in Der Yid, Dee Zeitung, and Der Blatt and in AMI?
How about the two Satmar rabbi gangsters, don't they bash Israel every single Shabbos in the Shaolosh Seudois "Toirelech?"

 "People" actually don't know "exactly where Netanyahu stands on the issue" but they'll know now, when the entire world will hear his message to Congress!

By the way, is the Clown referring to the same UN that the Late Mayor of New York Ed Koch said, should be converted into a parking lot?
 Is that the UN .... that R' Shlomo Halberstam z"l the Bobover Rebbe, said looks like a Matzivah, because the truth is buried there?

Moshe Arens:
Things are not clear-cut at all. You might remember the sanctions that were imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council, which were then followed by the US Congress. I don't think I'm overstating it, but that was a direct result of Netanyahu's efforts to call world attention to the danger of a nuclear Iran. So he definitely has achievements to his credit. I'm sure you're also aware that there are differences of opinion on this agreement within the US. A very formidable group is coming forth and saying that is not a good agreement for America. [Public opinion] is now in the stages of being crystallized. Just imagine if Netanyahu had replied to the invitation by saying, "Everybody already knows my opinion. There's no point in my coming." I think that would be silly.

DIN: "Silly" and Stupid!