Netanyahu responds to Code Pink heckler/stalker, full speech vid

With grace and dignity. She is apparently the same San Francisco Code Pinko 20-something who interrupted his speech last night at AIPAC and at other events, per Rush.

On Israeli/American friendship. Even the Dems stood up for the Bin Laden part.

I will continue looking for videos of Netanyahu's address to the joint session of congress to add on here. I heard some clips on the radio and he sounded fabulous. A breath of fresh air compared to the daily Obama speeches we are used to.

Long version.

Obama and Netanyahu to speak to Israel supporters at #AIPAC2011

@thatgirl_ellie shared on yfrog

At 10am EDT or 7am PDT the video rectangle in the upper right portion of the page in the link below will go live with speeches from the morning session at AIPAC. It is also on CSPAN.  Obama will speak this morning. Twitter is abuzz with people in line at AIPAC and getting double frisked, by the usual AIPAC screeners and the Secret Service.

http://www.aipac.org/pc/

The Washington Post opined:

The president blew it on Thursday. Obama articulated a major shift in U.S. policy at odds with prior administrations and agreements that the United States is party to or helped negotiate. Some have called this “no big deal” or “no big change” from past presidents’ positions. This — to the Israelis, the American Jewish community, and close observers and participants in the peace process — is inaccurate. In fact, the Obama team knew it was a big deal when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton belatedly called Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to explain what Obama was about to spring on him....

In the lack of coordination with our ally and the distinctly pro-Palestinian slant, Obama confirms his distinction as the president least sympathetic to Israel and most disruptive of the peace process.

That was the background to Friday’s extraordinary scene at the White House. A stone-faced Obama with head in hand (disrespectful, if not hostile, body language) listened to Netanyahu correct the record, as a parent or teacher would instruct a misguided or ignorant minor. (One who perhaps doesn’t know what the Knesset is.)...

Soon Obama will enter the room. I suspect many of the attendees share the view of Rep. Theodore E. Deutch (D-Fla.), who put out a statement that read in part: “Should Israel find a partner for peace who is willing to join Prime Minister Netanyahu at the negotiating table, Israel cannot be expected to make any territorial concessions that do not acknowledge the reality on the ground. The 1967 borders are indefensible.”

If Obama had said that, he wouldn’t be in the current fix. The crowd’s reaction (after explicit pleas by AIPAC’s executive director to be courteous, something never before required for a president) and Obama’s comments are a decisive moment for him, the U.S- Israel relationship and the American Jewish community. The high tensions speak volumes about how Obama is perceived by friends of Israel.

It's true. An email was sent out to AIPAC delegates to instruct them to behave courteously to guests at "our house".

Netanyahu: best 7 minutes of the day, in case you missed it

OMG, can you see the pose Obama strikes sitting there? I want the body language expert from Fox to give us the run-down on him. Legs crossed as usual in his hyper-feminine way. Obama's right hand is under his chin, looks like his middle finger is itching to reach out and scratch the side of his face as it usually does. Did you see the index finger sneak out at the end? Left elbow jutting out oddly while he grips the chair arm for dear life. This is the reaction of a fool in the presence of a real man.

Hey, Netanyahu used the word "nadir"! I know what that means, I know what that means!

When it was all said and done, Obama couldn't reach out and shake Netanyahu's hand fast enough. He could not WAIT to be outta there. I wonder why....

"Arab Spring" is all about getting Israel over a barrel

It's bad enough that Israel is surrounded by enemies who wish her destruction. It's bad enough that Obama has called for Israel to give up so much land that her width would be reduced from 45 miles to 8 miles. Now Netanyahu faces criticism from opposition within Israel for not kowtowing properly to Obama in the face of this diplomatic abuse.

Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni ripped Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday for "harming the relationship" between Israel and the U.S. after Netanyahu slammed President Obama for endorsing Palestinian statehood.
"Netanyahu spoke about consensus, and if there is a consensus in Israel, it's the relationship with the U.S. is essential to Israel, and a prime minister that harms the relationship with the U.S. over something unsubstantial is harming Israel's security and deterrence," Livni told the Jerusalem Post.

I get it. This must be why Obama was all gung ho for Mubarak to be overthrown among other uprisings. Mubarak honored prior peace agreements with Israel. If he is replaced by a radical regime, perhaps one associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and by extension Iranian mullahs, then Israel becomes more dependent on the U.S. than ever due to the real threat of war. Sensing Israel's worry, Obama of course steps in and takes advantage of her, advocating a return to pre-1967 borders, which would gut the small country of so much land as to make it impossible to defend her citizens. People who hate Israel think this would be a wonderful thing.

Thank goodness that Israelis had the good sense to elect Netanyahu after we elected Obama. They knew they would need his strength to see them through trying times and indeed they do.

I pray for the health and safety for all Israelis and urge them to remember what the Sinai Peninsula land-for-peace deal bought them. Temporary peace.

Netanyahu cancels date with Justin Bieber over refusal to meet with children affected by Gaza rockets

Via Haaretz:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has canceled his date with pop sensation Justin Bieber over the singer's refusal to meet with children living in communities affected by Gaza rocket fire, Channel Two reported on Tuesday.
The prime minister was scheduled to host the young singer at his office in Jerusalem on Wednesday evening, before Bieber's Thursday night concert....
The children had disembarked from a school bus just before it was hit by a Hamas rocket last Thursday, critically wounded a teen and moderately wounding the bus driver.
Bieber reportedly refused to meet the children, which led Netanyahu to cancel the meeting.

Even worse are the comments on the Haaretz website. A number of commenters say that Bieber is correct because "what about the children of Gaza". That makes no sense. Showing compassion for Israeli children does not take away from other groups of children. I am disappointed with Bieber. How hard is it to meet with Israeli kids?