You may view the 5 minute update this week via audio:
In this week’s 5 minute update, we focused on:
1) The controversy over Benjamin Netanyahu speaking before the US Congress on the Iranian issue
In the last several years, the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council (US, France, England, China and Russia) along with Germany have been negotiating with Iran with the stated goal to prevent them from obtaining nuclear weapons. However, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker said that all of the world powers except the USA have stepped back from the negotiations leaving in essence the US alone to negotiate with Iran. “It’s evident that these negotiations are really not P5+1 negotiations any more,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker said. “I was in Germany this weekend (for an international security conference) and was very aware that this was becoming more of a one-on-one negotiation,” he said. Corker and the Democrat he replaced as committee chairman, Senator Robert Menendez, left the latest briefing expressing concern about the administration basing negotiations on the need to maintain Iran’s potential nuclear weapons “breakout” time to at least one year. One of my major concerns all along that is becoming more crystal clear to me, is that we are, instead of preventing proliferation, we are managing proliferation,” Menendez said.
There is a March 31 deadline for a framework agreement with Iran. US Secretary of State, John Kerry, ruled out extending this deadline if an agreement is not made. Kerry said: “The only chance I can see of an extension at this point in time would be that you really have the outlines of the agreement.” Kerry said outlining the basics of the agreement was crucial before a possible extension could be considered but reiterated his preference for sticking to the target date. “If we’re not able to make the fundamental decisions that have to be made over the course of the next weeks, literally, I think it would be impossible to extend.” Kerry said.
The United States Congress is discussing imposing new sanctions upon Iran. However, the Obama administration does not want to impose new sanctions upon Iran at this time. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker said: “We’re trying to find a constructive way for Congress to play its rightful role in these negotiations. I’m very disappointed that, in essence, what the administration is saying is that we really don’t want Congress to play a role in one of the most important geopolitical agreements that may take place during this administration.” US Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken said the administration fears that any steps from Congress could alienate the other international partners in the negotiations. Corker objected to the suggestion, saying he had spoken with many of the negotiating partners and none opposed Congress taking any action in ongoing talks to ensure the deal reached is a good one. US President Barack Obama said he would veto any bill that would impose further sanctions on Iran while negotiations continue and asked Congress to “hold your fire.” Obama said: “It’s my team that’s at the table. We are steeped in this stuff day in and day out. We don’t make these decisions blindly,” Obama said. “Congress needs to show patience.” Obama said that the possibility of reaching a deal is “less than 50/50,” but Congress must not intervene until the negotiationing process is allowed to play out completely. “There are no guarantees that negotiations will succeed, and I will keep all options on the table to prevent a nuclear Iran,” Obama said. “But new sanctions passed by this Congress, at this moment in time, will all but guarantee that diplomacy fails — alienating America from its allies and ensuring that Iran starts up its nuclear program again.”
Some members of Congress oppose the nuclear negotiations taking place between Iran and major world powers because they fear the U.S. would sacrifice too much for the sake of reaching a deal. US House Majority Leader, John Boehner said many lawmakers are also wary that Obama will agree to a bad deal with Iran for the sake of reaching one. Boehner said: “[Obama] expects us to stand idly by and do nothing while he cuts a bad deal with Iran. We’re going to do no such thing.”
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “The major powers and Iran are galloping toward an agreement that will enable Iran to arm itself with nuclear weapons which will endanger the existence of the State of Israel. We will continue to take action and to lead the international effort against Iran’s arming itself with nuclear weapons.” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu declared that he was ready to go head to head with US Secretary of State John Kerry in order to stop the deal. “At the end of the week, Kerry and [Iranian Foreign Minister] Zarif announced their intention to complete the framework agreement by the end of March, and that is what gives rise to the urgency in our efforts to try and halt this bad and dangerous agreement,” Netanyahu said. “We will continue to act and to lead the international efforts against the arming of Iran with nuclear weapons and we will act in every way to foil the bad and dangerous agreement that would cast a heavy cloud over the future of Israel.”
The US House Majority leader, John Boehner, wrote a letter to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asking him to speak before a bipartisan joint-session of Congress on February 11. In explaining his reason for doing this, Boehner said: “Prime Minister Netanyahu is a great friend of our country, and this invitation carries with it our unwavering commitment to the security and well-being of his people. In this time of challenge, I am asking the Prime Minister to address Congress on the grave threats radical Islam and Iran pose to our security and way of life. Americans and Israelis have always stood together in shared cause and common ideals, and now we must rise to the moment again.” This would be Prime Minister Netanyahu’s third appearance before a joint meeting of Congress. His last appearance was May 24, 2011.
Since Netanyahu is coming to the US to speak at the AIPAC conference in March, he requested that Boehner move the date of his speech to March 3. Boehner’s team had been discussing this invite with Netanyahu “for weeks,” according to a House Republican leadership source who added the reason driving the invitation was the Obama administration’s negotiations with Iran. Boehner said he did not consult with Obama about the invitation to Netanyahu, saying “the Congress can make this decision on its own.” However, Boehner did inform Obama that Netanyahu would be speaking to the US Congress. Boehner was asked which he didn’t consult with Obama regarding inviting Netanyahu to speak, Boehner replied “There is a serious threat that exists in the world and Obama kinda of glossed over it in his State of the Union speech.” He added, “the fact is there needs to be a more serious conversation in America about how serious the threat is — from radical Islamic jihadists and from the threat posed by Iran.”
In Netanyahu accepting Boehner’s invitation, the Obama administration said that it was a breach of protocol. “The typical protocol would suggest that the leader of a country would contact the leader of another country when he’s traveling there,” said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest. “That certainly is how President Obama’s trips are planned when he travels overseas. This particular event seems to be a departure from that protocol.” Earnest said the White House was made aware of the invitation before Boehner’s office released a letter dated Jan. 21 inviting Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress. However, the New York Times said that Netanyahu accepting the invitation from Boehner after Obama was informed of the invitation and not before. Also, Obama apparently didn’t oppose the idea after being informed given that the invitation went ahead as planned.
In any event, Netanyahu’s decision to accept Boehner’s invitation and speak before a joint-session of the US Congress has caused a bitter dispute with US President Barach Obama over the issue. At a White House news conference, Mr. Obama signaled his displeasure with the speech Mr. Netanyahu is scheduled to give in March suggesting that his visit two weeks before the Israeli election risked injecting politics into the relationship between the United States and Israel.
Obama said: “It’s important for us to maintain historical diplomatic protocols because the U.S.-Israeli relationship is not about a particular party. The way to preserve that is to make sure that it doesn’t get clouded with what could be perceived as partisan politics.” Obama said that while he saw no reason to extend the Iran negotiations past a late-March target for a framework agreement, it was important that the talks be allowed to continue before further sanctions were imposed. He said: “It does not make sense to sour the negotiations a month or two before they’re about to be completed, and we should play that out. If no deal can be reached, Obama said that he will work with Congress to apply “even stronger” sanctions.”
Despite being opposed by Obama, Netanyahu said he plans to continue to give the March 3 speech. Acknowledging “a profound disagreement with the United States administration and the rest of the P5+1 over the offer that has been made to Iran,” Netanyahu added, “I intend to speak about this issue before the March 24th congressional vote on new Iranian sanctions and I intend to speak in the US Congress because Congress might have an important role on a nuclear deal with Iran.” The looming military danger from Iran justified the move, Netanyahu said. “Iran is openly committed to Israel’s destruction. Iran would be able, under this deal, to break out to a nuclear weapon in a short time, and within a few years, to have the industrial capability to produce many nuclear bombs for the goal of our destruction.” He added: “The present proposed US offer to Iran threatens Israel’s survival. Israel’s survival is not a partisan issue, not in Israel nor in the United States. This doesn’t mean that from time to time Israeli governments have not had serious disagreements with American administrations over the best way to achieve the security of Israel,” he said. “Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, declared Israel’s independence in the face of strong opposition from US Secretary of State George Marshall,” he said, ticking off a lineup of disputes from Levi Eshkol to Ariel Sharon. “Disagreements over Israel’s security have occurred between prime ministers in Israel from the left and from the right and American presidents from both parties. This is not a personal disagreement between President Obama and me. I deeply appreciate all that he has done for Israel in many fields. Equally, I know that the President appreciates my responsibility, my foremost responsibility, to protect and defend the security of Israel. I am going to the United States not because I seek a confrontation with the President but because I must fulfil my obligation to speak up on a matter that affects the very survival of my country.”
Netanyahu compares the importance of his speech to the US Congress to the appearance to his journey to Paris after last month’s terror attacks against Jews. He said: “I went to Paris not just as the prime minister of Israel but as a representative of the entire Jewish people. Just as I went to Paris, so I will go anyplace I’m invited to convey the Israeli position against those who want to kill us. Those who want to kill us are, first and foremost, any Iranian regime that says outright it plans to destroy us. I will not hesitate to say what’s needed to warn against this danger, and prevent it.”
In response, Obama has decided to not meet with Netanyahu when he visits the US in March. Regarding that decision, Obama said: “I don’t want to be coy — the prime minister and I have a very real difference around Iran’s sanctions.” Furthermore, Obama representatives said “Netanyahu ought to remember that President Obama has a year and a half left to his presidency and that there will be a price to pay for making this decision.”
US Vice President Joe Biden is expected to boycott Netanyahu’s speech. Biden’s office said that he will be traveling. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said that there will be those in Congress who won’t have time to listen to Netanyahu’s speech because they have other things more important to do. A few notable Democratic lawmakers said they did not plan to attend Netanyahu’s speech including Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who said she was “deeply troubled that politics has been injected” into the U.S.-Israel relationship.
While Obama stated that he will not meet with Netanyahu because he doesn’t want to interfere in the Israeli elections, both US Vice President, Joe Biden, and US Secretary of State, John Kerry, met with the Israeli opposition leader, Isaac Herzog, in Germany. Herzog said that the meeting represented a “complete boycott” of Netanyahu. Even if this was not stated, this is the truth.
Back in Israel, opposition parties are against Netanyahu’s speech to the US Congress being seen on Israeli TV claiming that it is illegal to broadcast campaign speeches for 60 days before an election. Netanyahu’s representative called the opposition to the speech “puzzling, ridiculous and even cynical, because of the fact that is clear to all that the initiative to make the speech came from the US Speaker of the House John Boehner and not from Netanyahu.” Furthermore, Netanyahu’s representatives say that his speech is an issue of Israeli public interest saying, “Netanyahu’s speech to the American Congress in such an important matter which has great news value and the public has a right to watch it.”
Finally, there is a strong disagreement among Jews in the United States regarding Netanyahu’s decision to give his speech to the US Congress on March 3. Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti Defamation League said that the political uproar ignited by Netanyahu’s invitation to speak to a joint meeting of Congress makes such a move unhelpful and therefore it should be scrapped. “It’s a tragedy of unintended consequences,” Foxman said. He said that going ahead as planned with the speech would be counter-productive, with all attention given to the political controversy rather than to the issue at stake. “It has been hijacked by politics,” Foxman said. “Now is a time to recalibrate, restart and find a new platform and new timing to take away the distractions.”
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, leader of the Reform Judaism movement called Netanyahu’s speech a “bad idea,” saying it would be “ill advised” for Netanyahu to carry out his planned speech. “I would want him to re-think it. He should find another way to express his voice.” However, the president of the Zionist Organization of America, Morton Klein, criticized Foxman and Rabbi Rick Jacobs for their view saying, “Iran is an existential issue for Israel that must be dealt with now – not in a year from now. We must never again be the Jews of appeasement and paralyzing fear… We must publicly state that President Obama is endangering America and Israel by his delaying and delaying on stopping Iran’s nuclear program. By Jews not supporting Netanyahu and the US Congress, we are sending a terrible message to Iran that we are not unified and strong in our resolve against this deadly enemy,” he said. “We dare not act like the Jewish leaders of the 1930’s. The time to act to support the Prime Minister of Israel is now. It is a pro-America, pro-Israel patriotic act.”
An agreement to divide Jerusalem and establish a PLO state is a tribulation event.
The link to these articles are as follows:
1) US only power still in talks with Iran on nukes — US Senator
2) Obama Admin to Congress on Iran: Butt Out
3) Obama Would Veto Sanctions Bill Against Iran
4) Netanyahu: US, Iran galloping towards deal which threatens Israel
5) Netanyahu vows to scuttle world powers’ Iran deal
6) John Boehner Invitation to Netanyahu to Speak before a Joint Session of Congress
7) Netanyahu coming to Congress in March
8) Speaker Boehner Invites Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to Address Congress
9) Netanyahu Accepts Boehner’s Invitation to Address Congress
10) Obama: Boehner’s Invitation to Netanyahu is Breach of Protocol
11) Did Obama Lie about Netanyahu Congress Invitation?
12) Obama and Netanyahu Clash From Afar Over Israeli’s Planned Speech
13) Staying firm on speech, PM admits ‘profound disagreement’ with US
14) Netanyahu rejects criticism: I am determined to address Congress
15) Netanyahu ‘determined’ to speak before US Congress
16) Benjamin Netanyahu Compares Congress Speech With Trip to Paris After Terror
17) Netanyahu: Congress speech should air on TV, is public interest not election propaganda
18) White House Says Netanyahu Will ‘Pay a Price’ For Congressional Speech Without Obama’s Blessing
19) Biden to Miss Netanyahu’s Speech to Congress Due to Travel
20) After snubbing Netanyahu, Biden meets with Israeli opposition leader Herzog
21) Biden, Kerry Boycott Netanyahu, Meet Israeli Opposition Leader
22) Pelosi: Members Won’t ‘Boycott’ Netanyahu Speech. But They Might Be too Busy to Go
23) Dem boycott of Netanyahu speech grows
24) Abe Foxman Calls on Benjamin Netanyahu To Scrap Speech to GOP Congress
25) Reform’s Rick Jacobs Presses Benjamin Netanyahu To Call Off Speech to Congress
26) American Jews divided over Netanyahu’s Congress speech
From a Biblical prophetic perspective, the reason why the God of Israel would allow these events to happen is because it will result in the end of the exile of the house of Jacob and the reunification of the 12 tribes of Israel (Ephraim and Judah).
We will to be “watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem” and we will not rest until the God of Israel makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth (Isaiah 62).
Shalom in Yeshua the Messiah,
Eddie Chumney
Hebraic Heritage Ministries Int’l