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Pentagon Reaches Deal on $10 Billion Arms Sale to Middle East Allies

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The Pentagon announced Friday that it has reached a preliminary agreement on a complex $10 billion arms deal with Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, in what would represent the latest major weapons sale to U.S. allies in the Middle East.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will attempt to finalize the arms package next week when he is scheduled to visit the three countries. Ultimately, the deal will need the assent of Congress. Defense officials said they have kept lawmakers apprised of the negotiations and revealed basics of the agreement to lawmakers on Thursday.

Under terms of the deal, the United States would deliver V-22 Osprey transport aircraft, KC-135 refueling planes and anti-radiation missiles to Israel; about two dozen F-16 warplanes to the UAE; and advanced aircraft missiles to the Saudis and the Emiratis. News of the pact was first reported Friday by the New York Times.

U.S. officials indicated that the weapons are designed to boost each country’s military capabilities in the event of a conflict with Iran. “The common threats that we, the Israelis, Saudis and Emiratis, have are clear,” a senior defense official told reporters at the Pentagon on the condition of anonymity because the deal has not received final approval.

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Syrian Tinderbox: Israel Threatens Intervention

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Photo Credit: Amos Ben Gershom

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has affirmed that Israel is prepared to conduct military action inside Syria to keep “game-changing” weapons out of terrorists’ hands. In an interview with the BBC in London Wednesday, Netanyahu also warned of a possible backlash if the international community decides to arm rebel groups.

“The main areas of concern to us are the arms that are already in Syria — these are anti-aircraft weapons, these are chemical weapons and other very, very dangerous weapons that could be game-changers,” he said. “They will change the conditions, the balance of power in the Middle East. They could present a terrorist threat on a worldwide scale. It is definitely our interest to defend ourselves, but we also think it is in the interest of other countries.”

Netanyahu was in London to attend the funeral of Baroness Margaret Thatcher, and after the ceremony met with UK Prime Minister David Cameron at Downing Street.

Israel has been training a wary eye on developments in Syria, and particularly on the Golan Heights, where the fighting has on several occasions spilled across the border in the form of stray mortar rounds and sporadic fire on Israeli soldiers. Last week, IDF troops fired a guided missile at a Syrian army post after shots from the position damaged an IDF vehicle. Earlier in the month, IDF tanks fired at a Syrian position after small arms fire was directed at Israel.

The prime minister warned of possible dangers should the international community begin to supply rebels with weapons in addition to training and the nonlethal equipment, such as vehicles and communications devices, that has already been deployed in the field..

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Pentagon Slip May Cause Israel to Fast-Track Plans to Attack Iran

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Analysts fear a dramatic advance in North Korea’s nuclear missile technology, revealed inadvertently during a Congressional hearing Thursday, will quickly find its way to Iran — forcing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fast-track a long-contemplated attack against Tehran’s nuclear-enrichment facilities.

Pentagon officials are playing down a U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency assessment that North Korea probably has the ability to miniaturize a nuclear weapon and place it on an ICBM. U.S. officials say that miniaturization capability, if it exists, is untested and unreliable.

In February, North Korea detonated what is described as a “lighter, miniaturized atomic bomb.” At the time, there was speculation this could signal the Hermit Kingdom had developed a nuclear warhead that it could place on its long-range missiles. Pentagon officials, however, continued to insist North Korea was at least a year away from developing that capability.

Jerusalem Post defense analyst Yaakov Katz, author of “Israel vs. Iran: The Shadow War,” tells Newsmax that U.S. and Israeli intelligence officials have generally agreed that it would take Iran six to 12 months to build a nuclear device once it tried to break out and enrich its material from the 20-percent to the 90-percent level required. Beyond that, intelligence experts have projected, it would then take Iran another year or two to produce a miniaturized warhead that could be installed on a missile.

Now, Katz says, the time lag between reaching nuclear capability and Iran’s ability to arm a missile with a nuclear warhead appears to have vanished. That means Thursday’s revelation could reduce Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nonmilitary options against Iran, forcing the Jewish state to step up its timetable for attacking the Persian nation should it acquire enough enriched uranium to be a significant threat.

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On the Eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Anonymous Conducts Massive Cyberattack on Israel

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Photo Credit: AP

Hackers launched a coordinated cyberattack on Israel over the weekend in an attempt to “wipe Israel off the map of the Internet,” defacing some 20,000 Israeli Facebook accounts and nearly 2,000 Israeli websites.

The anarchist hacking collective known as Anonymous formally launched “Operation Israel” on Sunday, the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day. The stated goal of the attack was to wreak havoc on Israeli servers, government websites, and Internet users.

The hackers penetrated and defaced multiple Israeli websites including government, schools, banks, and a website for children with cancer, according to regional media reports.

Among the government websites breached were the Central Bureau of Statistics, the Government Publications Office, the Haifa Sewage Treatment Plant, and the National Insurance Institute, which provides social security benefits to Israelis, according to a list of hacked websites posted on Hackers News Bulletin.

The hackers brought Israel-based web traffic to a crawl on Saturday and leaked the personal information of more than 1,700 Israeli credit card users, according to Hackers News Bulletin, which reported the Jewish state had lost some $2 billion as a result of the attack.

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Israel Strikes It Rich: Enormous Natural Gas Field Begins Production

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Photo Credit: AP

Natural gas began to flow into Israel over the weekend from a large offshore field, ending Israel’s status as a dry patch in an oil-rich region.

The flow came from the first of two enormous gas fields discovered off Israel’s coast in the past three years. The two fields, known as Tamar and Leviathan, are sufficient to supply Israel for 150 years, according to Bloomberg Business Week.

The Bank of Israel estimated that the flow this year from Tamar, the smaller of the two fields, would contribute one percent to Israel’s gross domestic product. Overall, the bank expects Israel’s economy to grow 3.8 percent this year.

The field is located 56 miles west of the Haifa port. The Leviathan field is slated to come online in 2016. The long-term value of the fields at today’s prices has been estimated at about $240 billion. More than half of profits are to be paid in taxes to the Israeli government.

“This is the beginning of a new era,” Isaac Tshuva, controlling shareholder of Delek Group Ltd., which holds a major stake in Tamar, told Business Week. “The Israeli economy will be able to exploit natural gas environmentally, geopolitically, socially and economically.”

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‘Most Palestinians Hate Obama’; US President Gets Heated Reception In West Bank

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John Kerry, the US secretary of state, hit the red carpet first, followed by Barack Obama. The welcome ceremony lasted five minutes, with time for only solemn-faced handshakes and a reedy rendition of the Star Spangled banner before presidential entourage disappeared into Muqata’a building. The red carpet rolled up promptly behind them.

The pageant of love Mr Obama has engaged in with Benjamin Netanyahu may have won over several Israeli hearts, but it may have caused considerable damage to his relationship with the Palestinians.

The first 24-hours of Obama’s visit was marked with early morning rocket fire from Gaza towards Sderot, violating ceasefire agreed with Israel in November.

In Ramallah, empty streets were dotted with truculent Palestinian soldiers deployed to prevent violent protest at the president’s visit. Ramallah’s major thoroughfare, running from the presidential compound to Qalandiya checkpoint, was lined with posters censored with black paint. Their slogans had read: “Mr President, don’t bring your smart phone to Ramallah, there is no 3G in Palestine!”

Just 100 metres away from the Muqata’a, a small crowd of angry demonstrators gathered outside a Kentucky Fried Chicken, contained by flanks of riot police. “Obama get out”, they chanted in the direction of the president.

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Obama Quotes Alinsky, is Heckled in Israel; Huckabee Says Palestinians Don’t Want Peace

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Obama Heckled in Israel

By Susan Crabtree. President Obama was heckled Thursday during a speech to an audience that included scores of university students in Jerusalem.

About 15 minutes into his remarks, a man standing in the crowd started shouting in Hebrew. Citing a reliable Hebrew speaker, the White House pool reporter said the shouting was about Jonathan Pollard, an American who was found guilty of spying for Israel and is serving a life sentence for the crime.

Mr. Obama took the interruption in stride.

“This is part of the lively debate we talked about,” he said. “This is good.”

As the shouting continued, Mr. Obama added: “You know, I have to say, we actually arranged for that because it made me feel at home. You know, I wouldn’t feel comfortable if I didn’t have at least one heckler.”

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Huckabee to Obama: Palestinians Have ‘Zero Interest’ in Mideast Peace

By Jim Meyers. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee tells Newsmax that President Obama won’t succeed in restarting peace talks in the Middle East because the Palestinians have “zero interest” in negotiations.

The 2008 Republican presidential candidate also says the administration’s dealings with Mohammed Morsi and Egypt are “foreign policy gone wild,” and warns that the United States will be viewed as a “toothless tiger” if Obama doesn’t respond as promised to the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

Huckabee is now the host of “The Mike Huckabee Show,” broadcast on 227 radio stations in 48 states, and a Fox News contributor. His latest book is “Dear Chandler, Dear Scarlett: A Grandfather’s Thoughts on Faith, Family and the Things That Matter Most.”

President Obama is making his first official trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories this week. In an exclusive interview with Newsmax TV, Huckabee was asked if Obama will be able to get the Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

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Obama Quotes Alinsky In Speech To Young Israelis

By Aaron Klein. In his address in Jerusalem today, President Obama channeled Saul Alinsky, citing the radical community organizer’s defining mantra as he urged young Israelis to “create change” to nudge their leadership to act.

Obama told a crowd of college students at Jerusalem’s main convention center that Israel “has the wisdom to see the world as it is, but also the courage to see the world as it should be.”

One of Alinsky’s major themes was working with the world as it “is” to turn it into the world as “it should be.” In his defining work, “Rules for Radicals,” which he dedicated to “the first rebel,” Lucifer, Alinsky used those words to lay out his main agenda. He asserted radical change must be brought about by working within a system instead of attacking it from the outside.

“It is necessary to begin where the world is if we are going to change it to what we think it should be. That means working in the system,” wrote Alinsky.

Obama related his Alinsky quote to a suggestion that “peace” begins with the people and not just the leadership – a statement some may relate to community organizing.

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Jerusalem Post Editor: ‘We Can’t Figure Out What He’s Doing Here’ (+video)

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Caroline Glick, Senior Contributing Editor of the Jerusalem Post said the Israeli people consider President Obama “a hostile president overall,” on “Mornings on the Mall” on WMAL-FM in Washington DC…

Appearing with Brian Wilson and myself Wednesday morning, Glick said the Israeli people “can’t figure out what he’s doing here,” when asked about the mood in Jerusalem as the President’s plane touched down for the first time in his presidency.

Watch video here:

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Nice. Obama Apparently Flips Off “Incorrigible” NBC Reporter In Israel (+video)

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Photo Credit: No. Nein

Don’t look now but it looks like Barack Obama just flipped off an “incorrigible” NBC reporter for asking a tough question. NBC’s Chuck Todd went rogue today and asked Obama why he was so unpopular in Israel. Obama went rogue and flipped him a bird.

Watch video here:

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Backup Presidential Limo On Its Way For Obama In Israel After Fuel Filling Failure

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Photo Credit: Getty Images

One of the limousines in Barack Obama’s fleet has broken after reports that it was mistakenly filled with the wrong fuel at the start of the US president’s visit to Israel.

Another limo is on its way from Jordan, according to Ma’an News agency, citing Israel’s Channel 10, reportedly after a mixup over whether the vehicle ran on diesel or gasoline.

Ma’an reports:

Hebrew-language websites described the malfunctioning limo, brought from Washington specially for the visit, as the first unforseen incident during Obama’s three-day visit to the region.

Obama is scheduled to leave the airport to Jerusalem in a helicopter. A parade of Black Hawk helicopters will follow the presidential helicopter carrying his delegation.

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