Family Relationship

The American administration has managed to create a unique situation out of housing in the Jerusalem municipality.

If Bibi backs down, his political position ...and our security situation will be seriously damaged.

If Obama backs down, his international standing ...and America's diplomatic reputation will be seriously damaged.

What we have now is a "lose-lose" situation.

Forgetting History (1995)

Today's Golden Oldie is from November 1995.

President Obama's administration seems bent on ignoring history and American law. At least where Jerusalem is concerned.

As a reminder, just one month before I drew this cartoon, the United States Congress had passed into law "The Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995" which includes the following statement of U.S. policy:

"Statement of the Policy of the United States".

(1) Jerusalem should remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected.

(2) Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel; and

(3) the United States Embassy in Israel should be established in Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999."

The U.S. Law also states that:

(1)Each sovereign nation, under international law and custom, may designate its own capital.
(2) Since 1950, the city of Jerusalem has been the capital of the State of Israel.
(3) The city of Jerusalem is the seat of Israel's President, Parliament, and Supreme Court, and the site of numerous government ministries and social and cultural institutions.
(4) The city of Jerusalem is the spiritual center of Judaism, and is also considered a holy city by the members of other religious faiths.
(5) From 1948-1967, Jerusalem was a divided city and Israeli citizens of all faiths as well as Jewish citizens of all states were denied access to holy sites in the area controlled by Jordan.
(6) In 1967, the city of Jerusalem was reunited during the conflict known as the Six Day War.
(7) Since 1967, Jerusalem has been a united city administered by Israel, and persons of all religious faiths have been guaranteed full access to holy sites within the city.
(8) This year marks the 28th consecutive year that Jerusalem has been administered as a unified city in which the rights of all faiths have been respected and protected.
(9) In 1990, the congress unanimously adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution 106, which declares that the Congress ‘‘strongly believes that Jerusalem must remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected’’.
(10) In 1992, the United States Senate and House of Representatives unanimously adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution 113 of the One Hundred Second Congress to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem, and reaffirming congressional sentiment that Jerusalem must remain an undivided city.
(11) The September 13, 1993, Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements lays out a timetable for the resolution of ‘‘final status’’ issues, including Jerusalem.
(12) The agreement on the Gaza strip and Jericho Area was signed May 4, 1994, beginning the five-year transitional period laid out in the Declaration of Principles.
(13) In March of 1995, 93 member of the United States Senate signed a letter to Secretary of State Warren Christopher encouraging ‘‘planning to begin now’’ for relocation of the United States Embassy to the City of Jerusalem.
(14) In June of 1993, 257 members of The United States House of Representatives signed a letter to the Secretary of State Warren Christopher stating that the relocation of the United states Embassy to Jerusalem ‘‘should take place no later that 1999’’.
(15) The United States maintains its embassy in the functioning capital of every country except in the case of our democratic friend and strategic ally, the State of Israel.

To read the law in its entirety just click on full text

Kabooom !

I occasionally use these two characters in a bar somewhere in the U.S. They're Americans, and they're trying to understand what's really happening in Israel while watching the news on American TV. A real challenge.

Meanwhile, here in Israel, what we are watching is yet another Israeli Prime Minister being pressured by yet another American President. The hope is that Netanyahu will rise to the occasion, stand firm, and protect our sovereignty with the strength and backbone of a Menahem Begin. Most of our PM's have a moment of truth. And this, I think, is Bibi's.

* * * Note: In December 1981, the Knesset passed the Golan Heights Law extending Israeli law to the Golan Heights. In reaction the American administration declared that it would "punish Israel". Prime Minister Begin then issued a statement that he read to the US Ambassador to Israel and released to the public. It reads, in part:

"A week ago, at the instance of the Government, the Knesset passed on all three readings by an overwhelming majority of two-thirds, the "Golan Heights Law."

Now you once again declare that you are punishing Israel.

What kind of expression is this – "punishing Israel"? Are we a vassal state of yours? Are we a banana republic? Are we youths of fourteen who, if they don't behave properly, are slapped across the fingers?

Let me tell you who this government is composed of. It is composed of people whose lives were spent in resistance, in fighting and in suffering. You will not frighten us with "punishments." He who threatens us will find us deaf to his threats. We are only prepared to listen to rational arguments." -more

Green Light ?

According to the Sidney Morning Herald:

"The Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, was set to withdraw from all peace talks with Israel last night after the announcement this week that 1600 apartments would be added to Jewish settlements in occupied East Jerusalem.

The announcement enraged the visiting US Vice-President, Joe Biden, who has told the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that it was liable to ''set the Middle East on fire''.

Mr Biden blames Mr Netanyahu for the decision, telling officials on Wednesday that the United States' close relationship with Israel was jeopardising its other bilateral relationships across the region.

''This is starting to get dangerous for us,'' he reportedly castigated Israeli officials. ''What you're doing here undermines the security of our troops who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. That endangers us and it endangers regional peace." -more

Your thoughts?

The American President (1991)

Today's Golden Oldie is a Dry Bones cartoon done in October 1991.

The American President who was squeezing Israel back then about Jerusalem and the "settlements" was NOT Barack Obama. It was George Herbert Bush.

As the NY Times had reported a month before this cartoon was published:

Bush's Dispute With Israel Upsets Many Leading Jews
By Fox Butterfield
September 16, 1991

"President Bush's demand that Congress delay debate on Israel's request for $10 billion in loan guarantees has deeply troubled many Jews who have been critical of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir's Government, with most blaming Mr. Bush for the confrontation but with some also faulting Mr. Shamir.

"It seems to me the Administration has really shot itself in the foot," said Henry Siegman, the executive director of the American Jewish Congress. His organization has expressed serious reservations about Mr. Shamir's policy of building housing for Jewish settlers in the West Bank, territory Israel seized in the 1967 Middle East war.

But Mr. Siegman said he was "stunned" when Mr. Bush last week linked the loan guarantees, intended to help build housing for 350,000 Soviet Jewish immigrants, to a proposed Middle East peace conference in October. Mr. Bush has asked Congress not to debate the issue until January to limit arguments about Jewish settlements in Israeli-occupied territories from which Palestinians hope to create a homeland.

"This was out of the blue," Mr. Siegman said, and represented "a sudden shift in signals by the Administration." - more

Wake up Call

Okay so Monday was my birthday. So maybe this cartoon shows that I'm secretly feeling my age? I don't think so.

If I felt my age I'd be feeling a whole lot older than I feel.

Does that make any sense to you?

In Depth Coverage (1985)

Today's Golden Oldie is a Dry Bones cartoon done 25 years ago in 1985. It showed two Americans watching the news.

It was true then and it's STILL true. The international media is fixated on the Jewish State. And public opinion is, of course, formed by the constant coverage of bad stuff happening in Israel. What's going on in the Yemen War? Who knows? Who cares? Is that fight still going on? Not important to anybody. But the assassination in Dubai of a mass murderer traveling on a false passport? Wowie Zowie!! Now THAT's a news story!!