Israeli Foreign Ministry Plays Politics With Livni Visit

During a meeting with then incoming deputy consul general of the Mid-Atlantic region, Elad Strohmayer, I suggested some Israeli speakers that it would be good for the Foreign Ministry to bring over. I wanted Americans to meet Israelis other than retired Generals. One of my suggestions was Shelly Yachimovich, a current member of the Knesset and leader of the Labor party. I felt that she would appeal to feminists due to her long history of fighting for women's rights.

Strohmayer said, "That will not happen. She is the leader of the opposition."

Initially, I recalled the old joke -"Thank God for the Arabs. Without them, the Israelis would kill each other".

Upon reflection, Stohmayer's comment made me realize that human rights lawyer Alan Dershowitz and many other pro-Israel supporters are correct to argue that the foreign ministry must become non-political. The non-political advocates want the Israeli Foreign Ministry removed from the auspices of the Prime Minister's Office to the President's Office.

The Foreign Ministry should not be just promoting the visits of Israeli dignitaries from the prime minister's own party while ignoring those from rival parties. But that is exactly what happened recently at the Israeli Consulate of the Mid-Atlantic Region.

The American-Israel Friendship League brought Deputy Knesset Speaker Shlomo Molla, who is Ethiopian, to Philadelphia in September The local Israeli consulate press officer Michelle Miller, put out several press releases, including one on August 28, announcing the visit of Molla, who is a member of Netanyahu's Likud Party. They arranged interviews for him and highlighted his visit in several of their weekly newsletters.

Former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was in Philadelphia this week to speak at a Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces Gala. This worthwhile organization provides soldiers everything from medical care to college tuition. There is nothing more essential to Israeli interests than a strong military.

It has been a long time since a person of Livni's stature has come to Philadelphia. Besides almost becoming Israeli Prime Minister, Livni descends from Israeli aristocracy. Her parents were freedom fighters of the Irgun, the pre-state paramilitary organization. Israeli officials usually only stop in New York, Washington, or Los Angeles.

Yet, I heard nothing about her visit from the Israeli consulate. Her visit  to the area was also not mentioned in the weekly newsletter of the consulate.

I have to attribute this glaring oversight of the Israeli consulate to the press speculation that she might run against current Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. The consulate's neglect hurts the State of Israel. If the consulate had arranged interviews etc, Livni would have presented a much different image of Israel and Israeli politicians than most Philadelphians typically see.

I did contact the consulate to ask what happened, but I have not heard from anyone.

Did Netanyahu Prevent Obama From Meeting With Other World Leaders?

Much media attention this week has been focused on the fact that this is the first time in 20 years that an American president has held no one on one meetings with world leaders in town for the UN's General Assembly. Being an election year, Obama had limited time to spend at this year's General Assembly.

 A source, who has been involved in Mideast affairs for years and is close to Obama, Netanyahu and Abbas, told me that Obama was prevented from meeting with other world leaders because of Netanyahu. 

This source said, "Netanyahu would have raised holy hell if Obama met with other world leaders and not him. Abbas would have objected if he met with Netanyahu and not him."

Locked in a close election race and knowing that there was be a possible political downside to meeting with Netanyahu due to the strained relationship between the two leaders, Obama opted not to hold any meetings with world leaders. 

While I am very pro-Israel and believe that it is in America's interest to have a good relationship with Israel, it is not all about us. 

As for Bibi's Wile. E. Coyote bomb graphic, it was brilliant. For the second year in a row, no one has talked about the Palestinian problem at the UN's General Assembly. It may be only a short term victory. President Obama can not be too happy about all the talk about red lines when he is made it explicit that he will not draw one. 

Former Defense Secretary Gates Talks Israel

Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, while at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia to receive the Liberty Medal, criticized Israel again, but is opposed to the unilateral declaration of of Palestinian statehood at the United Nations. Gates, who is the first US Secretary of Defense to visit Ramallah, said, "Israel is now alone in the Middle East. Israel has made mistakes. They are having trouble with Egypt. They have alienated Turkey. They assassinated a Hamas leader in the United Arab Emirates."

He blamed their isolation on the settlements. He explained, "The Arabs are angry about the settlements. Every American President  has urged stopping the settlements because each new settlement makes it harder to define the borders."

He dismissed concerns about the right wing coalition of Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. "I have known Netanyahu since 1990: Barak since he was chief of staff of the Army. I was with Carter at the Camp David Talks. In my five decades of dealing with Israel, I have seen that peace can only take a major step forward on the Israeli side with conservative leaders -(Menachem) Begin, (Yitzhak)Shamir, (Ariel)Sharon before his stroke."

Gates, who has taken the oath to protect the Constitution 7 times, believes that there can only be progress in the peace negotiations "with aggressive American leadership."

When asked about the upcoming vote on the  unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood, Gates responds, "You have to ask if this advances or hurt the cause of peace. It hurts."

He continued, "Which set of  Palestinians  does this represent? Is it the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority is in control and security forces have been trained by the US and cooperate with Israel. Or Gaza, which wants the destruction of Israel."

As for Hezbollah, he reminded the audience that "they had more rockets than most countries."

Israeli Government Sources- "Not Bombing Iran"

I want to respond to the recent Huffington Post and Businessinsider articles that Israel is considering bombing Iran before the UN vote on a Palestinian state in September. All of my sources' who are either in the Prime Minister's office or Israeli military, intelligence officials, and diplomats, say that the bombing of Iran will not occur before the UN Vote.

Israel is deathly afraid that the UN could create a separate Palestinian state. As you may recall, Israel was created by a UN Vote.

All of the Israeli government's current energies are directed towards defeating that vote. The Israeli government considers the creation of Palestinian state by the UN the most serious threat that the state of Israel has ever encountered. They believe that the creation of a Palestinian state by the UN will endanger the safety of its citizens far more than Iran.

This is why Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu agreed last week to start peace negotiations with the Palestinians along the lines of the 1967 borders if the Palestinians would forsake asking for statehood at the UN.

One military official said to me, "Why would we risk bombing Iran before the UN vote. What is the rush?"

While Israel may have tacit American support for an attack on Iran, Israel do not want to risk anything going wrong during the bombing which would force America to withdraw its support at the UN.

While I know many follow Jeffrey Goldberg's reporting on Israel including the shaky prediction that Israel would bomb Iran, I urge you to not believe that Israel is going to bomb Iran any time soon.

I have lived in Israel for 10 years, returning in 2009. Many of my family have lived since the State's creation.

While living in Israel, I made the acquaintance of many in government, military, and intelligence. I freelanced at the defense contractor Elbit Systems, where many former military officials worked. As a reporter for Israeli news outlets such as Globes, Israel21c, Jerusalem Post, and Haaretz, I wrote about military matters and know many of the military reporters covering the beat.