AIPAC is the swamp

[sToRmR1dR]

The Israeli Lobby Is the Deep State
Written by Jason Charles on 15.02.2019

This week the Intercept reported on the firestorm created by Rep. Ilhan Omar when she audaciously cited the AIPAC lobby as being behind a political smear campaign against her. The Intercept reported,

“…Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., responded sharply to reports that Republican leader Kevin McCarthy was targeting both Omar and fellow Muslim Rep. Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat from Michigan.
Omar quoted rap lyrics — “It’s all about the Benjamins baby” — to suggest McCarthy’s move was driven by the lobby’s prolific spending. Asked specifically who she was referring to, Omar responded, “AIPAC!” (The Intercept)

 

[angelburst29]

Interesting - this is the first time, that I'm aware of that AIPAC has said something "negative" about Netanyahu?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has touched off rare criticism from AIPAC, the largest U.S. pro-Israel lobby, over an election alliance with a far-right party loyal to the policies of the late anti-Arab rabbi, Meir Kahane.

February 24, 2019 - At home and aboard, Netanyahu faces backlash for far-right alliance
At home and abroad, Netanyahu faces backlash for far-right alliance

FILE PHOTO : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement to the media in Tel Aviv, Israel February 21, 2019 REUTERS/ Ammar Awad

Faced with a new merger of centrist parties that opinion polls show might defeat him, Netanyahu engineered the deal between Jewish Power and another ultranationalist faction, Jewish Home, on Wednesday.

Polls suggest that without the alliance one or both of the far right parties might fail to reach the 3.25 percent threshold needed to win any seats in the 120-member parliament. With the merger they could win as many as five.

Netanyahu has defended the merger as a way to improve his chances of forming a right-wing governing coalition led by his Likud Party, to serve for a fifth term after the April 9 vote. Such a bloc, he said, would best protect Israel’s security.

But criticism leveled by AIPAC and another major U.S. Jewish group, the American Jewish Congress (AJC), against Jewish Power dominated coverage in Israel on Sunday of the closely-contested race.

“AIPAC has a longstanding policy not to meet with members of this racist and reprehensible party,” the lobbying group said, echoing comments tweeted by the AJC.

AIPAC has generally provided unflinching backing for Netanyahu’s policies during his 13 years in power, even as some U.S. Jewish organizations have expressed reservations over Israel’s lurch to the right.

Netanyahu’s leading opponent, former armed forces chief Benny Gantz, a leader of the new centrist Blue and White alliance, said the prime minister had crossed an ethical line and was damaging “our important relationship with U.S. Jews”.

On the heels of its criticism, AIPAC announced on Twitter on Sunday that Netanyahu has confirmed he will address its annual policy conference in Washington late next month.

Jewish Power’s leaders have described themselves as successors to Kahane, a U.S.-born rabbi who served one term in parliament in the 1980s before his Kach party was banned by Israel as racist.

Kahane, assassinated in New York in 1990 by an Egyptian-born American gunman, advocated the “transfer” of Palestinians to neighboring Arab countries and a ban on intermarriage between Israeli Jews and Arabs.

“We usually do not interfere in elections. However, in this case, our voice needs to be heard,” Avital Leibovich, director of the Jerusalem office of the American Jewish Congress, told Reuters on Sunday.

Asked on Army Radio on Sunday about AIPAC’s criticism, Itamar Ben-Gvir, a Jewish Power leader, said: “They aren’t based here, they don’t see the terrorist attacks or experience firsthand the blood that is spilled here.”

Jewish Power’s Baruch Marzel, who along with Ben-Gvir is a settler in the occupied West Bank, told Reuters the party gets “a lot of support from Jews and non-Jews” in the United States who believe God promised the biblical land of Israel to the Jewish people.

Israel Hayom, a pro-Netanyahu newspaper, also condemned AIPAC, accusing it in a banner headline of “playing into the hands of media and politicians out to slam the right-wing”.

 

[Renaissance]

Interesting - this is the first time, that I'm aware of that AIPAC has said something "negative" about Netanyahu?

This is interesting! With this, his recent stepping down as foreign minister, the bribery and corruption charges, other high profile criticisms, and the April election coming up, it looks like Bibi either pissed some powerful people off or perhaps these powerful people are just looking to unseat him and get their psychopathic war criminal Benny Gantz in power.

Netanyahu has been pretty popular in Israel so it would take take quite a bit to take him down, or at least manufacture a reasonable excuse for a 'loss' of support. Granted, Netanyahu is not a man of character by any stretch, but if Gantz succeeds him, it would mean an even more horrific future for the Palestinians. It could be that the psychopathic elite in Israel are looking to amp things up in the not so distant future and all these 'revelations' about Bibi have been brought to light to pave the road. It's like the extreme just isn't enough for these monsters.

Gantz surges in polls against Netanyahu, who faces indictment

The Israeli campaign trail is heating up as the April 9 elections draw closer. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing a fast-growing opposition, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has said he plans to decide whether to indict the PM before...

www.sott.net

Gantz, who released a campaign video proudly featuring images of a post-2014 Gaza devastated by war boasting that as military chief he sent "parts of Gaza back to the stone age,"

As described in the above article, the two are currently polling at a near tie.

 

[angelburst29]

They may indict Netanyahu but it's questionable - if Netanyahu would ever see any jail time? With AIPAC criticizing Bibi, wonder if they are backing Gantz? I don't see any opinions by the Jewish Lobby yet, in D.C. news or the Hill publications on Gantz?

Netanyahu to be charged in corruption cases, pending hearing: Israeli TV
Israel's attorney-general intends to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in three corruption cases, Israeli TV said on Thursday, citing the Justice Ministry.

 

[angelburst29]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's main rival in an April 9 election said on Thursday that he would not join the Israeli leader in any future coalition government given a possible corruption indictment against him.

February 28, 2019 - Netanyahu's main election rival rules out future coalition with him
Netanyahu's main election rival rules out future coalition with him

FILE PHOTO: Benny Gantz, head of Resilience party is seen after a news conference, in Tel Aviv, Israel February 21, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo

“Given the publication of the attorney-general’s recommendations this evening, and the circumstances that have been created, sitting together (in government) with Benjamin Netanyahu is not an option,” Benny Gantz said in a statement.


Explainer: Netanyahu's corruption cases - What happens next?
Benjamin Netanyahu is the dominant Israeli politician of his generation. No rival comes close in political skill to the Likud Party leader known widely as "Bibi".

Netanyahu dismissed corruption allegations as baseless 'witch-hunt'
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday dismissed as a politically motivated "witch-hunt" an announcement of possible criminal charges against him by Israel's attorney-general, and vowed to clear his name.

 

[neonix]

Clayton Swisher - Undercover Investigation of the Israel Lobby
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJlXMZy06rM

Full speech given by Clayton Swisher (director of investigative journalism for Al Jazeera) discussing the making of “The Lobby”, a four-part undercover investigative series exposing the Israeli Embassy’s covert influence campaign in the UK at the "Israel Lobby and American Policy" conference on March 24th, 2017 at the National Press Club.

See also:
Wajahat Ali- Israel Lobby Ties to Islamophobia

 

[angelburst29]

Clayton Swisher - Undercover Investigation of the Israel Lobby
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJlXMZy06rM

Excellent video, Neonix! Thanks for Posting it.

At the 14 minute mark, after the introduction and a few video clips of the Israeli Lobby in action, Clayton goes into some details of how the Lobby "targeted" certain individuals in the UK. I haven't viewed the 4-part series yet but I'll try to get to it this weekend. This is the first time that I have come across a video of Clayton giving a personal interview and his response to questions from the audience gives a good overview of his investigative work. He doesn't mention the number of people working with him but he seems to be "one of those rare individuals" that takes their work seriously and digs for facts and documentation.

 

[neonix]

On Contact: The Lobby - USA
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFYFNQbJbzE
Published on Jan 26, 2019 / 27:22

The four-part Al Jazeera documentary about how the government and intelligence agencies of Israel work with US Jewish groups to spy on, smear, and attack critics, was blocked due to heavy Israeli pressure. It was recently leaked online by the Chicago-based Electronic Intifada, the French website Orient XXI, and the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar. Joining Chris Hedges for a two-part interview are Electronic Intifada co-founder Ali Abunimah and journalist and author Max Blumenthal.

On Contact: The Lobby – USA - Part 2
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nax1RWDAXOM
Published on Feb 2, 2019 / 27:05

 

[angelburst29]

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has just completed its annual summit in Washington. It claims that 18,000 supporters attended the event, which concluded with a day of lobbying Congress by the attendees. Numerous American politicians addressed the gathering and it is completely reasonable to observe that the meeting constituted the most powerful gathering of people dedicated to promoting the interests of a foreign nation ever witnessed in any country in the history of the world.

April 2, 2019 - Jewish Power Rolls Over Washington AIPAC gathering is full of lies and liars
Jewish Power Rolls Over Washington

There are a number of things that one should understand about the Jewish state of Israel and its powerful American domestic lobby. First of all, the charge that the actions of The Lobby (referred to with capital letters because of its uniqueness and power) inevitably involves dual or even singular allegiance based on religion or tribe to a country where the lobbyist does not actually reside is completely correct by definition of what AIPAC is and why it exists. It claims to work to “ensure that the Jewish state is safe, strong and secure” through “foreign aid, government partnerships, [and] joint anti-terrorism efforts…,” all of which involve the U.S. as the donor and Israel as the recipient.

Being a citizen of a country is not just an accident of birth. It requires loyalty to the interests of that country and to one’s fellow citizens. No two countries have identical interests, something that is particularly true when one is considering Israel, an ethno-religious autocracy, and the United States, where The Lobby works assiduously to compel American government at all levels to adopt positions that are beneficial to Israel and almost invariably harmful to U.S. interests. Asserting that the two nations have nearly identical interests is little more than a fraud.

Second, there is the claim that Israel benefits American security. That is also a lie. Washington’s relationship with Israel, which is now more subservient than it ever has been, is a major liability that is and always has been damaging to both American regional and global interests. The recent decisions to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights were ill-conceived and have been condemned by the world community, including by nearly all of America’s genuine close allies.

The harm done by the Israeli connection to policy formulation in Washington and to U.S. troops based in the Middle East has been noted both by Admiral Thomas Moorer and General David Petraeus, with Moorer decrying how “If the American people understood what a grip those people have got on our government, they would rise up in arms. Our citizens certainly don’t have any idea what goes on.” Petraeus complained to a Senate Committee that U.S. favoritism towards Israel puts American soldiers based in the Middle East at risk. He was quickly forced to recant, however. (Article continues.)

 

[Ca.]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1213346431680954368

Meanwhile:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1211953605927936001