ISRAEL - "Foreign Ministry initiates disciplinary measures over political tweets by diplomats"

Foreign Ministry initiates disciplinary measures over political tweets by diplomats By HERB KEINON \ 02/05/2015 01:01 Two Israeli diplomats, including the country’s ambassador to Switzerland, were recalled Wednesday to face disciplinary measures for posting blatantly political comments on their Twitter accounts. A third employee, who works at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, is to face disciplinary actions for the same reason. The decision to take measures that could eventually lead to their dismissal came following an NRG report on the tweets Wednesday by Ariel Kahana. The three are Yigal Caspi, a senior diplomat who is the envoy to Switzerland, Assaf Moran and Yaron Gamburg. Caspi, for instance, retweeted posts last month mocking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned speech to Congress and for harming ties with the US, as well as another that slammed Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman for his treatment of his ministers. As of Wednesday evening, his Twitter account only had some 250 followers. Moran, a political counselor at Israel’s embassy in New Delhi, posted a tweet this week quoting a public relations man saying that Netanyahu is trying to do everything except talk about the issues. His Twitter account was taken down Wednesday night. And Gamburg, formerly Israel’s spokesman in Paris and currently working in the ministry’s political research division, wrote on his account that Bayit Yehudi head Naftali Bennett was, among other things, delusional, messianic, violent and homophobic. His account was also unaccessible Wednesday evening. One ministry source said that when these tweets were brought to Liberman’s attention, he decided to immediately initiate disciplinary procedures. This, the source said, will likely trigger a response in defense of the employees from the worker’s committee. Under civil service regulations, civil servants are forbidden from publicly taking political positions. http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Foreign-Ministry-initiates-disciplinary-measures-over-political-tweets-by-diplomats-390033 COMMENT Wow, this is almost like a Foreign Ministry mutiny. Links Bayit Yehudi = HaBayit HaYehudi ie The Jewish Home religious Zionist political party in Israel (successor party to the National Religious Party) founded 2008 Ideology:  Religious Zionism Political position: Right-Wing to Far-right Leader:  Naftali Bennett "Represents Modern Orthodox" voters "who tend to be more nationalist in Israel" Bayit Yehudi gaining ground, prompting Likud party to go more right wing

Politico: "Israeli officials fail to quell Democratic revolt"

Israeli officials fail to quell Democratic revolt By Edward-Isaac Dovere 2/4/15 7:28 PM EST Updated 2/4/15 8:19 PM EST Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer and Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein rushed to meetings on Capitol Hill on Wednesday trying to calm a furor created by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned speech to Congress next month and quell a Democratic revolt that has dozens threatening a boycott. It didn’t work. If anything, Democrats finished the day more frustrated. According to a source in the room, one Jewish Democratic member of Congress even accused Dermer of being insincere when he claimed not to have anticipated the partisan uproar he’d ignite when he skirted protocol and went around the White House and scheduled the speech only with House Speaker John Boehner. White House press secretary Josh Earnest, meanwhile, dangled the possibility that the White House would have Vice President Joe Biden skip the speech in what the West Wing acknowledges would be a serious snub. The U.S. and Israeli alliance is rooted in deep defense, security, economic and investment ties, and all sides insisted the U.S. commitment to defend Israel is unaffected by the unseemly dispute of the last two weeks. And with Netanyahu on course to be reelected in March, he and President Barack Obama will need to find a way to talk again. But the ongoing dispute over the speech seemed likely to make that more difficult than ever. Biden has to date missed only one speech by a foreign leader at a joint session of Congress, Earnest said. The vice president really likes his ceremonial duties, he added, but might be busy on March 3, when Netanyahu is scheduled to deliver his warning to Congress about U.S. negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. The Obama administration considers the talks an important diplomatic opening that could lead to the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear weapons program. Netanyahu believes Iran has no intention of holding to any deal and U.S. diplomats are being naive. The speech, which would also come just two weeks before Israeli elections, was widely interpreted as an attempt to rally opposition in Congress, which is considering legislation to try to block a deal. “The muddled manner in which this invitation to speak to Congress has been handled is striking,” said Edward Djerejian, a former ambassador to Israel and the founding director of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. “This is an unnecessary irritant in the basic U.S.-Israeli relationship and it couldn’t come at a more delicate time, where the Middle East region is in such turbulence and there’s so many challenges.” Dermer and Edelstein running around the Hill on Wednesday is “symptomatic of what’s happened as a result of the speaker’s invitation and the prime minister’s acceptance of this speech,” said Martin Indyk, a former ambassador to Israel under Bill Clinton. If Dermer really wants to fix the problems created by the speech, goes the consensus among Democrats in Washington, he’ll need to do more than apologize: he and Netanyahu have to cancel or reschedule the speech. Otherwise, Wednesday won’t be the lowest point of the relationship. “It’s going to get worse: because Democrats, whether it’s Jewish Democratic congressmen, or Jewish voters for the Democratic Party — which is the majority of American Jewish voters … nobody wants to be part of that position,” Indyk said. Democrats who are supporters of Israel don’t want to have to choose between supporting Israel and supporting their president.” Earnest ducked answering whether Obama would ask Biden to attend the speech; an Oval Office meeting with the president has already been ruled out. Earnest acknowledged that a Biden snub might hurt Netanyahu in the Israeli elections March 17. [Josh Earnest, White House Press Secretary.] “We’ll see,” Earnest said. “As we consider the vice president’s attendance, that’s one of the factors that will weigh on that decision.”  Seven Jewish Democratic members of Congress who met Wednesday in Rep. Steve Israel’s (D-N.Y.) office — Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Ted Deutch of Florida, Jerry Nadler and Nita Lowey of New York, Sander Levin of Michigan and Jan Schakowsky of Illinois — lit into Dermer. The invitation, they said, was making them choose between Netanyahu and Obama, making support for Israel into a partisan issue that they never wanted it to be, and forcing them to consider a boycott of the speech. One member, according to someone in the room, went so far as to tell Dermer it was hard to believe him when he said he didn’t realize the partisan mess he was making by going around Obama to get Boehner to make the invitation. They suggested Netanyahu consider speaking to members of Congress privately, and not from the podium of the House. “There were a wide range of views that were discussed, but one thing we all agreed on emphatically is that Israel should never be used as a political football,” Israel told POLITICO. [No idea who this may be. ] As that was happening, a new diplomatic rift was opening. The Israelis sent Edelstein, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, to meet with Boehner. Boehner’s office remembered to invite Pelosi’s rival, Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), but left House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) out.  [Is this some kind of faux pas or an outright snub?] A spokesman for the Israeli embassy didn’t return a request for comment. Hoyer and House Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Eliot Engel, who’d also been invited, both pulled out when they realized Pelosi was being left out.  “Had we been told that Rep. Pelosi wanted to attend, she certainly would have been welcome,” explained Boehner spokesman Michael Steel afterward. By then the Israeli embassy was scrambling. Pelosi got her own meeting with Edelstein added to the schedule for Wednesday afternoon. She brought along Hoyer and Engel, as well as Assistant Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) and Intelligence Committee ranking member Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). Pelosi’s office told POLITICO Tuesday that she’ll go to Netanyahu’s speech if it happens. But Wednesday, she used the Edelstein meeting to tear into the Israelis directly. Pelosi “expressed her concern that casting a political apple of discord into the relationship is not the best way forward given the formidable challenges our two countries are facing together,” said Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill. Dermer, meanwhile, scheduled another rushed meeting with Engel for Thursday. Nothing that happened Wednesday seems to have calmed the revolt that has dozens of Democrats considering skipping Netanyahu’s speech. Earnest said that the White House can see why they might. “Individual members of Congress will have to make their own decision, some of which I assume will be driven by their schedule and some of which will be driven by their own views about what has transpired over the last several weeks as it relates to this speech,” Earnest said. Asked whether the president believes the America-Israel relationship would be harmed by Democrats skipping the speech, Earnest ducked again. “The president believes that individual members of Congress will have to decide for themselves,” he said. Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan contributed to this report. http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/israeli-officials-fail-to-quell-democratic-revolt-114923.html COMMENT This stuff sounds pretty exciting, but it's really not that big a deal (I think).  Hard to see any of it affecting US-Israel relations. LINKS Josh Earnest - White House Press Secretary - here. Democratic Rice University Assumed office:  June 2014 UPDATE Haartz article: Israeli foreign ministry receiving consul general reports of criticisms regarding planned Netanyahu speech. Criticism is mainly levelled at Benjamin Netanyahu,  Israel ambassador Ron Dermer and US speaker John Boehner. Main supporters of the Netanyahu speech are right winger types: Republican Jewish Coalition Zionist Organization of America and Christian evangelists. Netanyahu is determined to press on. More on ...  Consuls in U.S. warn: Israel's friends fear Netanyahu's speech to Congress will harm ties http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.640896

US Trying to Bring Veneuzuela Down / Biden Lobbying LatAm Countries, US Embassy Bribe, US Sanctions / Car Bomb

UNASUR to Review Evidence of US Interference in Venezuela Venezuela Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro met on Wednesday with Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), Ernesto Samper. Published 4 February 2015 (1 hours 15 minutes ago) Speaking following their meeting in Caracas, the blocs chief thanked the Venezuelan president for his willingness to create dialogue with the opposition. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro met with Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), Ernesto Samper Wednesday in Caracas, asking the bloc's meditation on the interventionist actions carried out against the country by the United States. Maduro urged the United States to stop the aggressions and threats against Venezuela, saying his government is willing to initiate dialogue along with UNASUR in order to halt the violence in the South American country. Meanwhile the head of the regional bloc thanked Maduro for his willingness to ensure peace to Venezuela and said he will bring the evidence provided by the president's before UNASUR's Foreign Ministers Council. Samper also rejected any violent action threatening the country's stability and people. On Tuesday, Maduro said that he would seek to create a joint initiative between UNASUR and the Community of Latin American Nations (CELAC) in order to defend his country against interventionist measures carried out by the United States, which the leader maintains are aimed at toppling his government. The Venezuelan president said he had been told by other regional leader that U.S. Vice President Joe Biden had been telling other country’s to “isolate” Venezuela, adding that he had proof that the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela was attempting to bribe officials in order to turn against his government. The United States recently imposed new sanctions on the South American country, despite the unanimous declaration rejecting U.S. interference in the region at the recent CELAC Summit in Costa Rica. http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/UNASUR-to-Review-Evidence-of-US-Interference-in-Venezuela-20150204-0037.html SEE ALSO That article has been pulled & is a dead link, but this is still visible on the Google news feed search. Hey, I wonder if this is the CIA trying to knock off Maduro?  Or maybe it's just a warning?   Read the article via the cache the other day.  From recollection, the device was reportedly found in the petrol tank but wasn't properly hooked up to explode. COMMENT Trust Joe Biden to have a hand in this, like he's got a hand in Ukraine. Venezuela must be going down. Keep an eye on this.

CANADA: Unexpected Departure of John Baird from Govt & Conservative Party

John Baird, “Attack Dog” Who Changed Canada’s Diplomatic Image, Resigns TORONTO – Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird, head of Canadian diplomacy for the last four years, has resigned unexpectedly from his post after transforming the international image of his country. During the last 10 years in the federal parliament, and the previous decade in the parliament of Ontario province, Baird was known by opponents and supporters as one of the “attack dogs” of the Conservative Party. In the Canadian parliament on Tuesday, Baird referred to his fierce partisanship and ideological zeal as excesses of his youth that he “quickly learned.” The departure of Baird, 45, from both the government and the Conservative Party leaves Prime Minister Stephen Harper without one of his most faithful and reliable supporters. The unexpected and unexplained departure of Baird, along with the previously announced resignations of more than a dozen veteran Conservative members, increases the idea of losing elections this year is taking shape in the party. Finding a substitute as capable as Baird and who understands Harper’s diplomatic tact on issues like Iran, the Middle East and Russia is going to be a difficult task for the prime minister.  [LOL.  Diplomatic tact?  Baird had none.  Shouldn't be hard to replace him.] At present, Harper has been forced to appoint International Trade Minister Ed Fast as the interim foreign minister. Baird’s first portfolio in the Canadian government was as president of the treasury board, a powerful department responsible for the operation of the government and public officials. In 2007 he was appointed as the environment minister, one of the most challenging portfolios for Harper, who before coming to power had described the Kyoto Protocol on global warming as a “Socialist scheme” and, once in power, refused to accept climate change for years. But it was from his position as foreign minister since 2011 that he materialized the political ideology of Harper better and the Conservative movement in western Canada, viscerally opposed to the philosophy of liberal Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Baird imposed a harsh policy against Iran, a country that he described as the greatest “threat to the rest of the world,” by closing the Canadian embassy in Tehran. Russia also became one of his favorite targets of attack and on numerous occasions called Moscow and President Vladimir Putin “evil” on a par with Hitler’s regime, especially since the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict. He also criticized the anti-homosexual policies of African countries, Iran and Russia, while ignoring abuses committed against the same community by Canadian allies such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.   SOURCE http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2372622&CategoryId=12395 COMMENT John Baird would have to be one of the most contemptible wankers in politics.  Good riddance, hopefully. This is HUGE.  Wonder what happened. Something's probably going on with the Conservatives in Canada ... or maybe Pitbull's 'diplomacy' is crap and they thought they'd better appoint somebody less damaging? .............................................................. Links Conservative Party of Canada - here. Ed Fast - here.

White Phosphorus Attack on Donetsk

Civilian victim of white phosphorus attack on Donetsk Ukraine [by Ukraine government forces]  Source: https://twitter.com/rubenglez/status/562032371437142016/photo/1 "Ukrainian artillery is shelling Donetsk with white phosphorus munition."  Source:  https://twitter.com/sbobkov/status/562357560213131264/photo/1

Psycho-bibi or Bibi-sitter?

Beyond Bottle-gate: The top 11 scandals that have touched Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu By Haaretz | Feb. 2, 2015 11) Bibi-gate: Netanyahu's first major scandal of his political career emerged in 1993, when he admitted on television to having an extramarital affair with Ruth Bar, a media adviser he had hired to help him in 1992's Likud party primary. Netanyahu asserted that an anonymous person had called Sara and threatened that a secret videotape portraying Netanyahu in compromising sexual positions with another woman would be released if he did not withdraw his candidacy for the Likud leadership. The affair blew over, and Netanyahu won the election. It was not Netanyahu's first extramarital affair. He had started an affair during his first marriage to Miriam Weizman with Fleur Cates, a British woman he met while in the United States, who became his second wife.  http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/1.640386 COMMENT Wow, I had no idea Netanyahu was onto marriage No. 3, so I thought I'd check it out. And then I found this: Netanyahu’s women and the making of Psychobibi http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/netanyahus-women/ Psycho-bibi, LOL.  That's quite a contrast with the trusted babysitter advert running in Israel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0CzqrB7aQgs I'm a sucker, cos he does sound rather vulnerable in the 'Psyco-bibi' article. Anyway, that was a bit of fun.

CIA & US-Allied Intelligence - Lies, Propaganda, in-house plants & push to war

Editor of major newspaper says he planted stories for CIA By Ralph Lopez     Jan 26, 2015 in World  Becoming the first credentialed, well-known media insider to step forward and state publicly that he was secretly a "propagandist," an editor of a major German daily has said that he personally planted stories for the CIA.  Saying he believes a medical condition gives him only a few years to live, and that he is filled with remorse, Dr. Udo Ulfkotte, the editor of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, one of Germany's largest newspapers, said in an interview that he accepted news stories written and given to him by the CIA and published them under his own name. Ulfkotte said the aim of much of the deception was to drive nations toward war.  Dr. Ulfkotte says the corruption of journalists and major news outlets by the CIA is routine, accepted, and widespread in the western media, and that journalists who do not comply either cannot get jobs at any news organization, or find their careers cut short.  Dr. Ulfkotte is the author of a book currently available only in German, "Bought Journalists" (Kopp 2014.) Aged 55, he was also once an advisor to the government of German Chancellor Helmet Kohl.  The book has become a bestseller in Germany but, in a bizarre twist which Ulfkotte says characterizes the disconnect caused by CIA control of the western media, the book cannot be reported on.  Ulfkotte says: ""No German mainstream journalist is allowed to report about [my] book. Otherwise he or she will be sacked. So we have a bestseller now that no German journalist is allowed to write or talk about."" Among the stories Ulfkotte says he was ordered to plant in his newspaper over the years was a story that Libyan President Moammar Gaddafi was building poison gas factories in 2011. Ulfkotte also says he was an eyewitness to Saddam Hussein's use of poison gas against Iranians in the war between Iran and Iraq, but that the editors he worked for at the time were not interested, because Iraq was a US ally at the time.  Ulfkotte says he is better positioned to come forward than many journalists because he does not have children who could be threatened. Ulfkotte told the Russian newspaper Russian Insider (RI):  ""When I told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Ulfkotte's nwspaper) that I would publish the book, their lawyers sent me a letter threatening with all legal consequences if I would publish any names or secrets – but I don’t mind. You see, I don’t have children to take care of. And you must know I was severely injured during the gas attack I witnessed in Iran in 1988. I'm the sole German survivor from a German poison gas attack. I’m still suffering from this. I’ve had three heart attacks. I don’t expect to live for more than a few years."" Ulfkotte says that remorse of having "lied" to mass audiences over the years drove him to come forward. He told RI that he was:  ""taught to lie, to betray and not to tell the truth to the public."" Ulfkotte says:  ""I'm ashamed I was part of it. Unfortunately I cannot reverse this.""  Among the admissions that Ulfkotte makes in the interview are putting his own name to articles completely written by intelligence agencies. He said:  ""I ended up publishing articles under my own name written by agents of the CIA and other intelligence services, especially the German secret service.""  Ulfkotte detailed the pattern of cajolery and outright bribery used by the CIA and other US-allied intelligence agencies, for the purpose of advancing political agendas. Ulfkotte said:  ""once you're connected, you make friends with selected Americans. You think they are your friends and you start cooperating. They work on your ego, make you feel like you're important. And one day one of them will ask you 'Will you do me this favor'...""  Ulfkotte noted that a journalists on international press trips paid for by organizations close to the government are unlikely to submit a storyline not favorable to the sponsor.  Of the gassing of Iranians he had witnessed in the Eighties, Ulfkoppe said:  ""they asked me to hand over the photo's that I had made to the German association of chemical companies in Frankfurt, Verband der Chemischen Industrie. This poison gas that had killed so many Iranians was made in Germany.""  In an interview with Russia Today, Ulfkotte said that it was "not right" what he had done, and that his fear was that politicians were actively driving the world toward war:  ""it is not right what I have done in the past, to manipulate people, to make propaganda against Russia, and it is not right what my colleagues do, and have done in the past, because they are bribed to betray the people not only in Germany, all over Europe. … I am very fearful of a new war in Europe, and I don’t like to have this situation again, because war is never coming from itself, there is always people who push for war, and this is not only politicians, it is journalists too. … We have betrayed our readers, just to push for war. … I don’t want this anymore, I’m fed up with this propaganda. We live in a banana republic, and not in a democratic country where we have press freedom...""  In his book "The CIA and the Media," Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein quotes William B. Bader, former CIA intelligence officer, in his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Baeder said:  ""There is quite an incredible spread of relationships. You don’t need to manipulate Time magazine, for example, because there are [Central Intelligence] Agency people at the management level.""  Bernstein writes:  ""The Agency’s relationship with the Times was by far its most valuable among newspapers, according to CIA officials. From 1950 to 1966, about ten CIA employees were provided Times cover under arrangements approved by the newspaper’s late publisher, Arthur Hays Sulzberger. The cover arrangements were part of a general Times policy—set by Sulzberger—to provide assistance to the CIA whenever possible.""  Ulfkotte was on the staff of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation from 1999 to 2003, according to his Wikipedia entry. He won the civic prize from the Annette Barthelt Foundation in 2003. http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/world/editor-of-major-german-newspaper-says-he-planted-stories-for-cia/article/424470 COMMENT So much for the 'free press'. The world's a corrupt cesspit ... and we're all doomed.  Look-Ups Arthur Hays Sulzberger publisher of The New York Times from 1935 to 1961 anti Zionism & anti Jewish state supporter of the American Council for Judaism, founded in June 1942 to oppose Zionism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Hays_Sulzberger Operation Mockingbird commencing 1950s, CIA campaign to influence media CIA "recruited leading American journalists into a network to help present the CIA's views, and funded some student and cultural organizations, and magazines as fronts. As it developed, it also worked to influence foreign media and political campaigns, in addition to activities by other operating units of the CIA." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird Udo Ulfkotte German journalist formerly an editor for one of Germany's main dailies, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) an advisor to the Kohl government 1986-1998 [Disclosed that]   CIA and German intelligence (BND) bribe journalists in Germany to write pro-NATO propaganda articles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udo_Ulfkotte Looks like Operation Mockingbird has never really ended.