US-Israel Relations on the Mend

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Washington Times

By Cal Thomas: The consensus in Israel is that the relationship between the Jewish state and the United States is going to improve in a Trump administration, says former Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Zalman Shoval.

On a recent visit to Washington, D.C., Mr. Shoval told me that he believes Donald Trump and his Cabinet picks so far have a more “realistic” view of the Middle East than President Obama, who from his first days in office, “perhaps before, believed it was his calling to fix once and for all, all matters between the U.S. and the Arab and Muslim worlds, as expressed in his Cairo speech. This gives Trump in the hearts and minds of more than a few Israelis a head start.”

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In Opposing Obama, Netanyahu Played a Risky Hand — And Won

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Times of Israel

By Raphael Ahren: In less than 45 days, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can finally rest assured that he won what might have been the riskiest political poker match of his career.

On January 20 — Inauguration Day — President Barack Obama will exit the world stage, and with him the specter of some vindictive action against the Israeli government. When Donald Trump ascends to the presidency, Netanyahu will no longer have to worry about a backlash from Washington for vociferously opposing the Iran nuclear deal or unabated settlement expansion.

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Where Jewish Leaders Stand on Ellison’s DNC Bid

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Times of Israel

By Eric Cortellessa: Since Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison announced his bid to chair the Democratic National Committee, he has spurred a virulent debate within the American Jewish and pro-Israel community about what his ascension would mean for the Democratic Party and its official posture on Israel.

Ellison, the first Muslim ever elected to Congress, has been an outspoken critic of many Israeli governmental policies throughout his career in public life, most notably for its continued settlement enterprise and military response during periods of intensified conflict with the Palestinians.

He opposed efforts on Capitol Hill to castigate the UN Goldstone Report, which alleged that Israel committed war crimes during the 2008-2009 Gaza war, a claim later retracted by the report’s main author, Richard Goldstone, in 2011. He was also one of just eight members of Congress to vote against increased funding for Israel’s sophisticated missile defense system known as Iron Dome amid the 51-day Israel-Hamas conflict during the summer of 2014.

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How Trump Should Renegotiate the Iran Deal

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Washington Post

By Joseph I. Lieberman and Mark D. Wallace: Like President-elect Donald Trump, we vigorously opposed the Iran nuclear agreement, so we sympathize with his promise to “dismantle” it. But we hope that he and his administration will first try to aggressively enforce and then renegotiate the deal beyond the confines of the nuclear issue to make it better for us and the world.

Before such renegotiations begin, the Trump administration could strengthen its hand by closely consulting with our allies in Iran’s neighborhood — Israel and the Arab states. They were missing from the group that developed and consented to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the agreement is formally known. That was wrong, for two main reasons: because the Arab states and Israel are our allies and the Iranians are not, and because the countries in the region have the greatest equities at stake and should have a significant voice in the outcome.

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Shaare Zedek: Where Israeli and Arab Doctors are Working Together to Save Lives

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Independent-UK

By Alan Schaller: In an intensive care ward in Shaare Zedek hospital in Jerusalem, a three-month-old Arab baby boy is struggling for his life in a room next to a young Israeli girl who is also receiving urgent care. He has only been in the hospital for eight hours, but already has had to be resuscitated and has severe intestinal problems. The family rushed him to Shaare Zedek from a facility in East Jerusalem when it became clear that he urgently needed the specialist care the hospital and its staff can provide.

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Like Trump, Europe’s Populists Win Big With Rural Voters

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NY Times

By Rick Lyman: …Populist, anti-establishment political parties are on the move in Europe. If they are far from homogeneous, these parties share common ground in their core constituencies, rural voters. Just as Donald J. Trump rolled up a big rural vote in his unexpected presidential victory, Europe’s populists are rising by tapping into discontent in the countryside and exploiting rural resentments against urban residents viewed as elites.

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‘Birthright for Moms’ Resonates with World’s Small Jewish Communities

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JTA

By Cnaan Liphshiz: Amid preparations for her wedding 12 years ago, Errika Abouaf was happy to skip the mikvah, the ritual bath where Jewish brides traditionally undergo immersion before marrying in an Orthodox ceremony.

Her excuse for opting out was that her tiny Jewish community of Larissa in northern Greece has no mikvah.

“But it’s also because I didn’t feel like doing it,” said Abouaf, who now lives in Athens with her son and husband. “I felt an aversion of some kind.”

It’s a common sentiment in a country where 87 percent of Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. Members of Greece’s present-day Jewish community of 5,000 perceives its Jewish identity as mostly cultural and independent to religion, community leaders say.

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As Syria Burns, the UN Again Bashes… Israel

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NY Post

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault this week called the bloodshed in Syria, where Bashar al-Assad is butchering civilians, “a descent into Hell” and demanded an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.

British Prime Minister Theresa May called the situation “horrific.”

The Security Council didn’t act — but the UN General Assembly managed to pass six resolutions targeting Israel.

One of them even calls for putting more people under Assad’s thumb, demanding that Israel cede the Golan Heights to Syria.

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Anti-BDS Motion Targets ‘Psychological Terrorism’ of Students

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Toronto Sun

By Antonella Artuso: The Ontario legislature has endorsed a motion put forward by PC MPP Gila Martow celebrating its ties with Israel and standing against any movement promoting hatred or racism.

In particular, the motion centred on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which targets Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, although the group insists it is not motivated by anti-Semitism.

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Jordan-Israel Relations: Normalization in the Shadow of Political Deadlock

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INSS

By Oded Eran: Progress on implementing infrastructure projects for water and energy between Israel and Jordan indicates the positive potential inherent in separating economic and infrastructure progress in trilateral Jordan-Israel-Palestinian relations from progress on a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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