BIDEN WATCH: 11.6.21 - Is This the Beginning of a New Cold War Between Biden and Israel?

Is This the Beginning of a New Cold War Between Biden and Israel? – Jonathan Tobin - https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=5043 As far as Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid are concerned, this week has brought a perfect storm of circumstances that threaten to complicatetheir hopes for a better relationship with the United States. Both men, each for their own reasons, see establishing a good rapport with President Joe Biden and his administration as one of the main goals of their coalition governmentthat took office in June. But blistering criticism was issued by the U.S. State Department on two issues: its renewed commitment to reopening a U.S. consulate in Jerusalem and settlement building in the West Bank. On top of that is the news that Iran is returning to nuclear talks in Vienna. They were body blows to hopes that their ousting of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,who is viewed by Biden's team as the devil incarnate, would ensure the president's goodwill and protect them against the kind of hostility that was the hallmark of U.S. attitudes towards Jerusalem the last time Democrats were in power. Perhaps they knew that the announcement that a few thousand new homes would be built in existing West Bank settlements, as well as the designation of six Palestinian non-governmentalorganizations as terror groups, would provoke Washington's ire. The two are also painfully aware that their attempts have failed to persuade the Americans to back off their determination to renew efforts to appease Iran and bring it back into a nuclear dealthat Israelis believe is a disaster. All the sappy rhetoric Bennett and Lapid could muster in public about their affection for Biden and their belief in his friendship for Israel flopped, as did their strongarguments and warnings about the folly of engagement with Iran that they delivered in private. On top of that the president's clear determination to reopen a U.S. consulate in Jerusalem to serve as an embassy to the Palestinians, even if he is willing to wait untilafter the Israeli coalition passes a budget in November, puts their government in peril of collapsing if they fail to stop something that undermines Israel's sovereignty over its capital. However, more important than the longevity of their rickety alliance of right, left, centrist and Arab political parties is something else. The question Bennett and Lapidneed to be asking themselves is whether, even without having Netanyahu as their antagonist, this administration is really prepared to return to the situation between the two countries that existed in December 2016. If so, the Jewish state is in for a rough ride in the coming years. And no amount of eyewash about a belief in a bipartisan consensus in America supporting the U.S.-Israelalliance will be enough to cushion the damage that an openly antagonistic administration could do. The arguments for a worst-case scenario for a rapid and steep decline in amity between the two nations are strong. The first concerns the personnel in place in the State Department and the White House. Much was and continues to be made of the warm feelings of Biden Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan for Israel. And as much asthe trio has had many disagreements with Israeli leaders over the years, especially during the Obama administration, in which they all served, the claim isn't false. Unlike Obama, all three have a certain degree of affection for the Jewish state, and in Biden's case, the professions of friendship date back to the beginnings of his half-centuryof public office-holding. But his friendship has always been conditional. As former Defense Secretary Robert Gates admirably summed up his career, Biden has been wrong about every important foreign-policyissue for 40 years. He always tells listeners how much he loves Israel but also thinks he knows better than its leaders and its people about what is in their best interests. He believes in applying "tough love" to naughty Israelis who need American guidance. Biden also doesn't take kindly to criticism. His self-esteem is such that he regardschallenges to his diktats as insults. Netanyahu learned this when the announcement of home-building in Jerusalem in 2010 during a Biden visit led to a major incident between the two countries because of the then-vice president's allegedly hurt feelings. If anything, Biden has grown even more thin-skinned since then as his consistently short-tempered responses to non-sycophantic questions from citizens and journalists alikehave shown in the last two years. Biden and his chief advisers are not complete fantasists, so unlike former President Barack Obama, they don't actually expect to miraculously bring about a two-state solutionthat the Palestinians don't want. But should Bennett summon up the spine to resist Biden's will on the consulate or find the temerity to publicly challenge him on Iran, the blowback may have serious consequences. While the three men at the top are conditional friends of Israel who think they should save the Jewish state from itself, Biden's appointments at the next level of authorityaren't quite so affectionate. Some, like Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Robert Malley, the special envoy for Iran, are veterans of both the Clinton and Obama administrations and have a far less favorable view of the relationship. Sherman was the architect of disastrous nuclear agreements with both North Korea and Iran, and has learned nothing from her mistakes. Malley was, among other things, anapologist for Palestinian leader/terrorist Yasser Arafat and a leading advocate for a rapprochement with Iran. Just as troubling is the fact that throughout the federal bureaucracy, there are people, like, for example, Hady Amr, Assistant Secretary of State for Israeli and PalestinianAffairs, who reflect the views of the Democratic base on the Middle East. Younger and more in tune with the intersectional ideology and critical race theory ideas that dominate the academy and left-wing activist discourse, they view Israel with a degree ofhostility absent among older peace processors and diplomats. No less important a factor is Biden's need to be in sync with congressional progressives whose side he has taken on domestic issues. Rather than stand up to the leftist"Squad" and its anti-Semitic and pro-BDS members, Biden prefers to court them. This is not so much a matter of ideological affinity as it is of political necessity. He knows the left not only represents the future of his party, but has far more energyand influence with the Democrats' cheering sections in the media and pop culture than the aging pro-Israel moderates, even if the latter outnumber them. That means that any defiance of the administration from Israel will serve to provide an opportunity for the left to become even more assertive in their attacks on Israelunder the guise of defending the president. It makes for a daunting prospect for those in Israel or the United States who hold onto a belief that the coming years won't be a rerun of the nonstop battles between Washingtonand Jerusalem that characterized the relationship between Obama and Netanyahu from 2009 to 2016. Yet Bennett and Lapid are not without hope that they can keep the situation from getting out of hand. First, they can seek to hold Biden to his promise about keeping disputes with Israel private, rather than letting them play out in public as Obama did. If so, even the mostbitter of disagreements won't seem quite so bad. Second, they can hope that Israel's enemies will, as they have so often in recent history, overplay their hand and force Biden's team back into Israel's corner. Palestinianrejectionism and support for terror, and Iran's will to achieve its nuclear ambitions--as well as its assessment that Biden is too weak to stop them from achieving any of their goals--could ultimately prove decisive. Lastly, they may also count on the dysfunction of the Biden administration. In the past nine months, the Democrats have made a muddle of a host of challenges, includingthe disaster in Afghanistan, the crisis at the southern border, the collapse of the supply chain for products and economic malaise that, along with the coronavirus pandemic, won't go away. These issues have sent Biden's polling numbers deep underwater, despite beginning his presidency with a vast store of goodwill and support from those who hoped he representeda calming influence and competence. Unlike Obama, who had political capital to burn on futile Middle East policies and a pointless feud with Netanyahu, Biden has none to spare. Israelis can only hope that he is wise enough not to waste any on equally foolish spats with whoever is running Israel in the coming years--whether Bennett, Lapid or Netanyahu--thatwill do nothing to ensure American security priorities or the political prospects of the Democrats. Whether such hopes are vindicated is up to Biden and not his Israeli interlocutors. -------------------- In 2022, �Things Aren�t Gonna Get Done� On An Absolutely Massive Scale- by Michael Snyder - http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/in-2022-things-arent-gonna-get-done-on-an-absolutely-massive-scale/ Are we about to witness one of the greatest self-inflicted economic wounds in history? Vaccine mandate deadlines are starting to arrive, and large numbers of very qualifiedpeople are losing their jobs as a result. Of course this comes at a very bad time, because we are already in the midst of the most epic worker shortage in U.S. history. Despite the biggest hiring push that I have ever seen in my entire lifetime, businessesall over America are still desperate for workers. The funny thing is that lots of available workers should theoretically be out there somewhere. The number of Americans that are currently working is still about five million less than the peak that was hitjust before the pandemic arrived. So where did all of those missing workers go? That is a question that we desperately need an answer for, because millions of workers seem to have evaporated from the system. Now the vaccine mandates are going to make thingsfar worse, because millions of Americans that are actually good at their jobs are going to be ruthlessly terminated, and finding replacements for them is going to be exceedingly difficult. For instance, you can�t just pull guys off the street and have them fly planes. Very soon, large numbers of pilots will be sent packing on a permanent basis, and pilotsfor American Airlines gave us a taste of what is coming by engaging in a �sick out� over the weekend� American Airlines canceled another 634 flights on Sunday, more than 12% of its total operations for the day, the company said Sunday. The airline has now canceled more than 1,500 flights since Friday, as it deals with weather issues and staffing shortages that started last week. Of course American Airlines is trying to blame �the weather� for these canceled flights, but everyone knows what is really going on. And I greatly applaud the pilots for taking a stand. If these airlines don�t reverse their mandates, pretty soon we will have widespread air travel headaches on a permanent basis in this nation. In New York City, Friday was the deadline for municipal workers to get vaccinated, and more than 26,000 of them have refused to comply� Twenty-six percent of municipal employees in New York City were still unvaccinated following a Friday deadline that mandated workers get the COVID-19 vaccine. A significant jump in vaccinations occurred among city employees due to the deadline, the city said, according to The Associated Press, but more than 26,000 workers havenot uploaded proof of their vaccination status and face unpaid leave as a result. Moving forward, all of the work that those 26,000 workers used to do simply will not get done. Already, a total of 26 fire companies have had to be completely shut down� The FDNY shuttered 26 fire companies citywide on Saturday due to staff shortages caused by the COVID-19 vaccination mandate, according to furious elected officials, whoripped the move as �unconscionable� � and warned it could have catastrophic consequences. So will this cost lives? Of course it will. In fact, a seven-year-old boy just died in an apartment fire� A seven-year-old boy died and his grandmother was seriously injured in an apartment fire in New York City as the FDNY deals with staff shortages in response to a vaccinemandate. Firefighters responded to a 1:30 a.m. call Saturday at a building in Washington Heights, where fire broke out in the building superintendent�s basement apartment. Firstresponders quickly contained and extinguished the fire. Meanwhile, trash is starting to pile up around the city at a very alarming rate� Trash bags can be spotted all over the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn, where some residents said that it has been days since their trash was last picked up. A few saidthey realized something was off earlier in the week, as one missed pickup happens, but they started to think there was a problem after the second missed time. On both residential streets and commercial areas, the trash bags on the sidewalk are piled several feet high in some instances. One resident who has lived in the area forabout 40 years said she has never seen the area as dirty as has been the past few days. So what is the city going to look and smell like in a few months once we get into the early portion of 2022? The sad thing is that none of this had to happen. The vaccine mandates are absurd, and they are going to cause enormous problems all over the country. Countless supply chain workers are going to be pulled out of our supply chains in the coming months, and we are already facing painful shortages from coast to coast� Supermarket chains are revamping their operations to navigate persistent product shortages, expanding storage space and curbing discounts to make sure they don�t run out. Companies are planning for shortages of popular brands of food and staples to continue for months and managers are trying to keep up as different products run short fromweek to week, industry executives said. A lot of Americans are still expecting these shortages to go away eventually, but Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is now admitting that there will be supply chainproblems �as long as the pandemic continues�� Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg says the supply chain crisis will continue at least until the COVID-19 pandemic ends amid fears of shortages ahead of the winter holidays. �There are definitely going to continue to be issues, especially as long as the pandemic continues,� Buttigieg told Fox News Sunday. �If you have, for example, the third-largestcontainer port in the world in China shutting down because of a COVID outbreak in late summer you�ll feel that in the fall here on the West coast.� Of course there is no end in sight for the pandemic. The virus is constantly mutating, and any immunity to it is very temporary. So just like the common cold and the flu, COVID will be with us indefinitely. If Biden administration officials want to reverse recent polling trends, they better find a way to address our supply chain issues, because right now their numbers are reallydismal. Here is just one example� �Americans have lost their confidence in President Joe Biden and their optimism for the country.� That, according to Chuck Todd, is the top takeaway from a just-released NBC News poll out Sunday. Breaking down the numbers on Meet the Press, Todd pointed to data fromthe survey that he deemed �shocking.� �Just 22 percent of adults say [the U.S. is] headed in the right direction,� Todd reported. �A shocking 71 percent say we�re on the wrong track.� The only surprise from that survey is that there are 22 percent of Americans that are still gullible enough to have a positive outlook. The Democrats have cooked up a recipe for national suicide, and they are setting the stage for so many of the things that I warned about in my latest book. If Joe Biden had any sense, he would rescind all nationwide vaccine mandates immediately. But he isn�t going to do that. And major cities like New York and Los Angeles are not going to rescind their mandates either. So �things are not gonna get done� on an absolutely massive scale in 2022, and we will all suffer deeply as a result. ---------------------------- The Attorney General�s Bizarre Attack on Parents � Todd Strandberg - https://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/ In early October, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued an unusual directive to the FBI and federal law enforcement officials across the nation to focus on alleged criminalconduct in protests by parents against school boards. Garland directed the FBI and U.S. attorneys in the next 30 days to convene meetings with federal, state, and local leaders within 30 days to �facilitate the discussion ofstrategies for addressing threats against school administrators, board members, teachers, and staff,� according to a letter. And the DOJ made sure that school boards and officials will be trained in how to be claimed as victims who can call on those enforcement mechanisms. From the DOJ press release: �The Justice Department will also create specialized training and guidance for local school boards and school administrators. This training will help school board membersand other potential victims understand the type of behavior that constitutes threats, how to report threatening conduct to the appropriate law enforcement agencies, and how to capture and preserve evidence of threatening conduct to aid in the investigationand prosecution of these crimes.� Outrage ensued immediately and appropriately from parents and their organizations and commentators who are infuriated that a threat of federal law enforcement is being usedto try to scare them out of constitutionally protected speech. Many parents across the country have spoken out recently with unprecedented anger in unprecedented numbers at school board meetings and beyond. Many of their complaintshave been about Critical Race Theory in classrooms, mask mandates, and explicit materials for minors about sexuality and gender. Garland�s directive came one day after a North Carolina school board adopted a policy that would discipline or dismiss teachers if they incorporate critical race theoryinto their teaching of the history of the United States. While most of our major cities have a soaring problem with murder and robbery, we have Garland worried about unruly parents at a school board meeting. I read several storieson this issue, and not once did someone cite an example of a meeting that involved violent crime. Keep in mind that a real crime requires violence or a threat to commit either violence or some other illegal act. But most of the offensive conduct being referenced by themedia and school officials is not criminal. Is it criminal to say, for example, �we will get you,� or �we will not forget this,� or �your career in education is dead�? The Attorney General has no business involving himself in school boards� crime problems. This action is like the Coast Guard becoming concerned about parking violationsin North Dakota. If there are any issues with matters at school board meetings, it should be the concern of local police or city administrators. Several people in Washington have called Garland for his odd directive. �Garland knows this is dangerous nonsense. I personally know that he knows it.� That�s from AndrewMcCarthy, who worked under Garland in the DOJ. McCarthy further wrote that �Garland incorrectly � indeed, outrageously for someone of his experience as a Justice Department official and federal appellate judge � claimedthat free-speech principles yield not only to �threats of violence� but also to �efforts to intimidate individuals based on their views.� Republican Congressman for Colorado�s 4th District, Ken Buck, has penned an excellent reply for Garland�s overreach, taking apart the AG�s �weaponization� of the DOJ pointby point� �Your memorandum is a politically-motivated abuse of power and displays a lack of reasoned, sound judgment� confronting parents to oppose the views of the Biden administrationand its socialist agenda�� At any other time, Garland would be forced by outrage to apologize for this type of action. Because a special level of stupidity has taken over America, he was not forcedto back down. At a recent Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Garland said the directive was part of �a rising tide of violence� targeting a range of public figures, from teachers and election administrators to members of Congress and the media. We need tofear out-of-control government leaders 10 times more than we do crime waves. It is so fortunate that the Republican senators refused to vote on Garland�s nomination when Obama selected him as his last Supreme Court candidate. Garland would vote withthe other lefty justices, so we could have already lost many of our liberties to this man. The actions by Garland show why we are slowly losing our nation to the leftist agenda. Most of them always vote for what the party wants. They are of one giant collectivemind on most issues. Once there is enough of them to take full control, freedom will end in America. �When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan� (Proverbs 29:2, ESV). --------------------------------- Of Pride and Hubris - Bill Wilson � www.dailyjot.com Proverbs 16:18 says, �Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.� This is what we saw in Virginia on Tuesday. But the question remains, �did anyone learn anything from how the people voted?� Democrat and media commentators focused on how loser Terry McAuliffe was unable to establish his narrative. One member of the media suggested that the media didn�t do a good job amplifying McAuliffe�s campaignthemes. This, an indication that even the media believes its duty is to help elect Democratic Party candidates. The post-election analysts argued many factors, none of them included, however, constitutional rights, border security, child protection, etc. It�sall about the narrative. Democrats should learn that at least half of America, whether they have a college education or not, strongly disagrees with the party agenda. Probably another 35% are justignorant and will pull the lever for a Democrat no matter what. And the remaining 15% are somewhere in between. Unconstitutional mandates, villainization of groups of people, teaching children that all white people are racist, exposing children to confusingsexual deviancy and pornography in public schools, border security, defunding police forces, inflation, gasoline prices, government-sponsored corporate censorship�all these are things people who vote care about. Democrats�it�s not about the narrative, it�sabout your destructive, godless, Marxist agenda. Republicans have a lot to learn, too. Having little more than half the people in a state like Virginia vote for your candidates is not a policy mandate. You can�t just retreatbehind the idea that America�s finally woke up that wokism isn�t for them. The media and the Democratic Party will work overtime to improve their narrative so Virginia doesn�t repeat. The Glenn Youngkin campaign should be a template. Youngkin told his storyof who he is and why he was running by using organic examples. When McAuliffe lied, which was often, Youngkin didn�t disparage McAuliffe by calling him names or bullying his rhetoric. Youngkin calmly used the facts, even McAuliffe�s own voice, to refute McAuliffe.Youngkin�s was a straightforward campaign based on the issues, not personalities or implied agendas or conspiracies. Republicans should take note. Voters have a lot to learn. Voters need to be informed. Know the issues. Don�t fall for the narrative. As a typical example from the media, MSNBC�s Nicolle Wallace said, �Critical race theory, which isn�t real, turned the suburbs 15 points to the Trump insurrection-endorsed Republican.� Think about all the falsehoods in that statement. Schools are teaching Critical Race Theory, which states: �all of society is racialized andproperly viewed through a prism of identity groups based on race and color, with minorities being the oppressed while white people serve as the oppressor.� President Trump did not endorse an insurrection. Republicans are not known for racism, but Democratshave a history of it. Voters, especially Christians, need to take time to discern and know the truth. As Christ said, �the truth shall make you free.� And it will keep you that way. ------------------------------------------- VISIT: PROPHECY WATCHER WEEKLY NEWS: HTTP://PROPHECY-WATCHER-WEEKLY-NEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM