Israel Matters!

Obama in Israel: Jewish State Has Right to ExistWrapping up his three-day visit to Israel, President Obama paid respects to its heroes and to victims of the Holocaust, solemnly reaffirm-ing the Jewish state’s right to exist. Accompanied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres, Obama laid wreaths at the graves of Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism who died in 1904 before realizing his dream of a Jewish homeland, and former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated in 1995.The president also toured the Yad Vashem Holocaust [photo] memorial, declaring after that the memorial illustrates the depravity to which man can sink but also serves as a reminder of the “righteous among nations who refused to be bystanders.”click Israel Matters! 69 to read the complete issue.

Biden Reassures AIPAC on IranVice President Joe Biden tried to end any questions pro-Israel activists have about President Barack Obama’s commitment to do-ing whatever is necessary to block Iran’s nuclear program.Obama’s policy “is to prevent Iran from acquiring a nucle-ar weapon. Period. End of discussion,” Biden told at-tendees at the recent American-Israel Public Affairs Council annu-al conference in Washington. “Prevent — not contain — prevent,” Biden added emphatically. “Big nations can’t bluff and presidents of the United States cannot and do not bluff and President Barack Obama is not bluffing,” Biden declared, in what he said was a pre-view of remarks Obama will make during his planned trip to Israel. “We are not looking for war [but] all options, including military force, are on the table,” Biden said.click Israel Matters! 68 to read the complete issue.

Obama to Visit Israel in SpringPresident Barack Obama plans to visit Israel, the West Bank and Jordan this spring, the White House has announced, raising the prospects of a new U.S. push to restart long-stalled Israel-Palestinian peace efforts.Obama’s trip, his first to Israel since taking office, signaled that he intends to make the volatile Middle East - where Iran remains locked in a nuclear standoff with the West and Syria is caught up in a bloody civil war - a top priority in his second term.click Israel Matters! 67 to read the complete issue.

Netanyahu to US Senators: Priority is IranPrime Minister Benjamin Netanya-hu told a group of visiting US Sena-tors during January that if reelect-ed he will work to stop Iran’s illicit nuclear march. “My priority, if I’m elected for a next term as prime minister, will be first to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons,” he told the group, which included Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY, photo at left). “I think that was and remains the highest priority for both our countries. I appreciate the American support and your support for that end.”click Israel Matters! 66 to read the complete issue.

Operation Pillar of Defense: Lessons LearnedAs Israel and Hamas mostly stilled their guns after reaching a cease-fire agreement, ending eight days of intense bombardment, both sides took home some new lessons about their foes.click Israel Matters! 65 to read the complete issue.

Special Issue: Israel - Operation Pillar of DefenseUpdated as of November 20, 2012click Israel Matters! 64b to read the complete issue.

Israel Quiet on Mystery Explosion in SudanIsraeli officials did not confirm nor deny that the Israeli military carried out a recent attack on a weapons factory just south of the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. Sudan directly accused Israel of launching a night time air raid on the Yarmouk factory, with a senior minister telling reporters, “The people have seen it with their eyes — four planes coming from the east, and we have no enemy other than Israel.”click Israel Matters! 64 to read the complete issue.

Netanyahu Draws “Red Line” on Iran's Nuclear Program During U.N. SpeechHolding up a cartoon-like drawing of a bomb with a fuse, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu literally drew a red line just below a label reading “final stage” to a bomb, in which Iran was 90 percent along the path of having sufficient weapons-grade material. Experts put that at the point that Iran has amassed enough urani-um, purified to a level of 20 percent, that could quickly be enriched further and be used to produce an atomic bomb.click Israel Matters! 63 to read the complete issue.

Israel Under International Pressure Not To Attack Iran AloneIsrael is facing growing international pressure not to attack Iran unilaterally, with the United States in particular making clear its firm opposition to any such strike. Recent rhetoric by Israeli leaders that time is running out to halt Iran’s contested nuclear program has raised concern that military action might be imminent, despite repeated calls from abroad to give sanctions and diplomacy more time to work.click Israel Matters! 62 to read the complete issue.

U.S., Israel at Odds Over Iran Nuclear ProgramThe White House recently expressed confidence that American intelligence will know if Iran escalates its nuclear program in a sprint to build an atomic bomb. The announcement came a day after Israel’s defense minister warned that the allies might not know “in time” to prevent it.“We have eyes, we have visibility into the program,” press secretary Jay Carney told reporters at his daily briefing. “We feel confident that we would be able to detect a break-out move by Iran towards the acquisition of a nuclear weapon.”click Israel Matters! 61 to read the complete issue.