Barack Obama links Israel peace plan to 1967 borders deal

Barack Obama is to pursue an ambitious peace plan in the Middle East involving the recognition of Israel by the Arab world in exchange for its withdrawal to pre-1967 borders, according to sources close to America’s president-elect. Read more

United Nations Food Aid Intended for 750,000 Palestinian Refugees in Gaza Blocked by Israel

On Wednesday Israel pledged to allow minimum shipments of fuel and 33 truckloads of food into Gaza.On Thursday the ritualistic behavioral Israeli government changed their mind set, the pledge to ease its blockade of the Gaza Strip. Read more

Lockheed touts jets to Israel, flush with U.S. aid

TEL AVIV, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp <LMT.N>, the U.S. maker of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter are lobbying Israel, which has largely weathered the global financial crisis and has ample U.S. defence aid, to close a deal for the jet. Read more

Obama’s First Appointment: An Ominous Portent

Obama’s first appointments have confirmed the grimmest suspicions about the new regime. Read more

In strikingly racist remarks, the father of Rahm Emanuel has said Israel will benefit from Obama’s choice of White House chief of staff.

“Obviously he will influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn’t he be? What is he, an Arab? He’s not going to clean the floors of the White House,” Benjamin Emanuel, father of Rahm Emanuel, told the Israeli Ma’ariv daily. Read more

Obama: Iran’s Pursuit of Nukes Is Unacceptable

At his first press conference in his new status, US President-elect Barack Obama hit out at the Iranian government today, accusing them of “development of a nuclear weapon” and vowing “to mount an international effort to prevent that from happening.”

The Bush Administration has long accused Iran of having nuclear ambitions, in spite of a National Intelligence Estimate last year which concluded Iran halted any such endeavors in 2003 and an IAEA which has continued to certify that none of the nuclear material for Iran’s civilian nuclear reactor has been diverted to any other use. Israel has likewise continued to insist that they are “convinced” Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb, and has left open the possibility of launching an attack. Read more

An Open Letter to Barack Obama: Between Hope and Reality

Dear Senator Obama,

In your nearly two-year presidential campaign, the words “hope and change,” “change and hope” have been your trademark declarations. Yet there is an asymmetry between those objectives and your political character that succumbs to contrary centers of power that want not “hope and change” but the continuation of the power-entrenched status quo. Read more

Israel’s Livini blasts Obama’s Iran plan

JERUSALEM - Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni attacked U.S. president-elect Barack Obama on Thursday for declaring a willingness to talk with Iran about its nuclear program.

“We live in a neighbourhood in which sometimes dialogue . . . is liable to be interpreted as weakness,” Livni told Israeli Radio, expressing a view held by many of her countrymen.

Asked if she supported discussions between the U.S. and Iran, Livni said: “No.” Read more

Obama Foreign Policy May Keep Some Bush Initiatives

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) — President-elect Barack Obama is committed to a foreign policy of intense diplomatic engagement with allies and adversaries alike and an international approach to curb nuclear proliferation and terrorism. Read more

A record number of Jews in Washington?

Forget Mr. Smith - this year, Mr. Stein is going to Washington.

With an expected nationwide surge in Democratic turnout for Tuesday’s US presidential elections, the number of Jews elected to Congress may reach record-levels.

With Jewish candidates positioning to match the 2006 record of 30 House members and 13 senators, Democrats are hoping to capture at least four new House districts - including Alaska’s lone House seat, contested by would-be freshman Ethan Berkowitz, and another from the Phoenix area. Read more

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