Monthly Archives: January 2015

January 30, 2015 SnyderTalk: Time to Take It to Iran

1--Intro Covering Israel and ME

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: may they prosper who love you.” Psalm 122: 6

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2--SnyderTalk Lead Headline for use

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Dennis Ross, Eric Edelman and Ray Takeyh—Time to Take It to Iran:

The nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran appear stalemated. Meanwhile Iran is on the march in the Middle East with its forces supporting the coup in Yemen, buttressing the Assad war-machine in Syria, mediating between factions in Iraq, and plotting with Hezbollah operatives on the periphery of Israel. Today, the American alliance system stands bruised and battered while our friends in the region perceive Iran and its resistance-front galloping across the region.

These two simultaneous developments—the deadlock in nuclear talks and Iran’s aggressive moves in the region—are not coincidental. They are intimately linked, and that should be a lesson for President Obama: The nuclear deadlock cannot be broken unless Washington reengages in the myriad of conflicts and civil wars plaguing the region, particularly now that Yemen is vulnerable and the Saudi royal family is in a state of turmoil following the death of King Abdullah on Thursday.

During the course of the nuclear negotiations over the past year, Iran has been the beneficiary of a generous catalogue of concessions from the West. The 5-plus-1 has conceded to Iranian enrichment, agreed that Tehran need not scale back the number of its centrifuges significantly or dismantle any facilities and could have an industrial-size program after passage of a period of time. The Iranians have, during the course of the ten years of negotiations, grown accustomed to having their interlocutors return to the table with concessions meant to meet their mandates while offering only limited compromises of their own.

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SnyderTalk Comment: It’s long past “time to take it to Iran”.  In fact, time is running out.  That’s what Prime Minister Netanyahu will tell Congress, and he’s right.

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13--Perspectives 2

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William Booth and Hugh Naylor: Israelis, Lebanese fear countries are on brink of war after deadly border clashes—Residents of Israel and Lebanon feared Wednesday that their countries were edging toward war after Israeli troops and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia exchanged deadly barrages across a fractious border earlier in the day. The clashes, which began with a Hezbollah attack that killed two Israeli soldiers, marked one of the most serious flare-ups of violence in the area since a month-long war in 2006 and raised tensions in a volatile tri-border zone close to positions held by Syrian insurgents, including Islamist factions. A U.N. peacekeeper was also killed, although it was unclear how he died. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that “whoever is behind today’s attack will pay the full price.” In addition to Hezbollah, Netanyahu said Israel would hold the governments of Lebanon and Syria — which Hezbollah is backing in its civil war — responsible for any attack originating from their territories. The Israeli leader, in the midst of close elections, also blamed Iran, another ally of Hezbollah, for trying to open a new front against Israel.

Elliott Abrams: About that Netanyahu Invitation to Address Congress— Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu last addressed a joint session of Congress in 2011. At that time Walter Russell Mead wrote a remarkable comment on the speech Netanyahu made and the reception he received. Mead’s comment, in his blog at The American Interest, included this passage: “Israel matters in American politics like almost no other country on earth. Well beyond the American Jewish and the Protestant fundamentalist communities, the people and the story of Israel stir some of the deepest and most mysterious reaches of the American soul. The idea of Jewish and Israeli exceptionalism is profoundly tied to the idea of American exceptionalism. The belief that God favors and protects Israel is connected to the idea that God favors and protects America. It means more. The existence of Israel means that the God of the Bible is still watching out for the well-being of the human race. For many American Christians who are nothing like fundamentalists, the restoration of the Jews to the Holy Land and their creation of a successful, democratic state after two thousand years of oppression and exile is a clear sign that the religion of the Bible can be trusted. Being pro-Israel matters in American mass politics because the public mind believes at a deep level that to be pro-Israel is to be pro-American and pro-faith. Substantial numbers of voters believe that politicians who don’t ‘get’ Israel don’t ‘get’ America and don’t ‘get’ God.”

Burgess Everett: Democrats Give Obama Two Months to Reach Iran Deal—Senate Democrats, led by Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), said Tuesdaythat they will give President Obama two months to reach a deal on the country’s nuclear program before they vote for new sanctions. At least 10 Senate Democrats wrote the president Tuesday that they will not support final passage of a sanctions bill until March 24. That will allow the U.S. and other Western powers time to reach a framework for a deal scaling down Iran’s nuclear program. In their letter, the Democrats defended the forthcoming sanctions legislation as “reasonable and pragmatic,” given that the economic penalties would kick in only if negotiators fail to reach a final agreement by June 30. They added, “Considering Iran’s history in nuclear negotiations and after two extensions of the Joint Plan of Action, we are concerned that Iran is intentionally extending the negotiations to improve its leverage at the negotiating table….[We] look forward to working with you to achieve our shared goal of reversing Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon capability.”

Washington Post Editorial: A small victory in Syria is no reason to celebrate as the Islamic State gets stronger—U.S. OFFICIALS are celebrating a modest victory in the war against the Islamic State in Syria — the apparently successful defense of the Kurdish town of Kobane, on the border with Turkey. Under siege since early October, Kobane has little strategic value but came to be seen as a test of whether the United States and its allies could stop the expansion of the Islamic State and the humanitarian crimes that accompany it. With the help of Kurdish ground forces, the extremists were turned back. But perhaps the most significant fact about Kobane is that it consumed 75 percent of the nearly 1,000 airstrikes carried out by allied planes throughout Syria since September, according to The Post. That astonishing share reveals the absence of a U.S. military strategy for Syria outside of preventing the fall of a single border hamlet that attracted the attention of international media. In the rest of the Syrian territory it controls, including its capital of Raqqa, the Islamic State faces little pressure from Western airstrikes and is growing stronger rather than weaker.

Batsheva Sobelman, Nabih Bulos, and Patrick J. McDonnell: Israeli-Lebanon border tense after clashes leave three dead—The Israel-Lebanon border region was tense Wednesday after an exchange of fire involving Israel and Hezbollah, a dominant military and political force in Lebanon, left two Israeli soldiers and a U.N. peacekeeper dead. In a statement, Hezbollah said one of its units had targeted an Israeli military convoy with an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon. The Israeli military later confirmed that two soldiers were killed and seven wounded in the attack. Al Manar TV, Hezbollah’s media outlet, reported that a Spanish soldier participating in the United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon was killed in a retaliatory Israeli barrage on the Lebanese border area. Andrea Tenenti, spokesperson for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, confirmed that a peacekeeper was killed on Wednesday but would not identify the soldier’s nationality or say how the peacekeeper died.

Andrew J. Tabler: U.S. Policy in Syria: A Recipe to Contain, Not Defeat, ISIS—The Assad regime’s tacit agreement to avoid firing on coalition strike aircraft – juxtaposed with long delays in the Obama administration’s train-and-equip program for the Syrian opposition and the president’s October 2014 letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader on cooperation against ISIS – is creating widespread perceptions that the U.S. is heading into a de facto alliance with Assad and Tehran regarding the jihadists. If Washington continues this policy, it will merely contain ISIS, not “defeat” or “destroy” the group. Beyond the terrible optics of assisting a president who has used chemical weapons and Scud missiles against his own people, the Assad regime is financially and militarily crippled and therefore unable to retake and hold areas currently controlled by ISIS. Instead of allowing the regime’s strength to grow, Washington should weaken both Assad and ISIS by encouraging the fight between them, weakening Iran’s foreign legions and the jihadists at the same time.

Zachary Keck: Iranian Weapons of War America Should Fear—With the possible exception of North Korea, no country in the post-Cold War era has sought to challenge the U.S. as much as Iran. Tehran has never missed an opportunity to antagonize the U.S. and limit its influence. In any conventional military conflict, Iran wouldn’t stand a chance against the U.S. armed forces. To compensate, Iran pursues a deterrent-based military doctrine premised on three types of capabilities: an expansive ballistic missile arsenal, asymmetric naval warfare (particularly the threat of closing down the Strait of Hormuz), and ties to non-state militant groups. Perhaps Iran’s greatest deterrent threat is its ability to threaten oil shipments in the Strait of Hormuz, which roughly 20% of global oil supplies must transverse on their way to markets. Iran has at least twenty 150-ton Ghadir-class midget submarines that would be especially deadly in any conflict. As Chris Harmer, an expert on Iran’s military at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), explains, “The quietest submarine in the world is one that rests on a sandy seabed. That is how the Iranians would use the Ghadir – get it out of port, sink to the bottom of the shallow Persian Gulf, rest on the sandy bottom, and wait for a target to come to it.” With the benefit of hindsight, Iran’s decision to infiltrate Lebanon seems like pure strategic genius, as Hizbullah has been the gift that just keeps giving. Time and again Hizbullah has proven to be the most versatile and usable “weapon of war” in Iran’s arsenal. Iran used Hizbullah to carry out terrorist attacks like the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and successfully attacked Israeli tourists in Bulgaria in 2012.

Omer Einav: Rising Tension in the Golan Heights—For the first time, the Iranians are not concealing their presence in the Golan Heights, which until now was an improbable scenario. Hizbullah is permitting itself freedom of action and a high profile in the Golan and is working to establish an infrastructure in the region for attacks on Israel. Israel is working to significantly improve the components of defense in the north and to lower the profile of its moves so as to deny Hizbullah attractive operational opportunities. Israel’s leading objective, aside from peace and quiet and security, is not to allow Iran and Hizbullah to establish a foothold for control and terror infrastructures in the Golan. Israel must show resolve and not be deterred by escalation if it has an interest in preventing the establishment of an Iranian-Hizbullah foothold in the Golan, which would be a platform for attacking Israel at a time and in circumstances that suit the axis.

Jonathan S. Tobin: Obama’s Saudi Policy: Tone Deaf to U.S. Interests and Values— For six years, the hallmark of Obama administration’s foreign policy has been its predilection for embracing foes and distressing allies like Saudi Arabia. President Obama’s determination to pursue détente with Iran, a deadly threat to the Saudis as well as to Israel, has shaken ties between the two countries. But the death of Saudi King Abdullah has caused both the president and his administration to belatedly attempt to repair the relationship. That is smart. But in doing so, it appears that the administration has once again faltered. The U.S.-Saudi alliance is one based on common interests, not values. Like the president’s choice to attend the king’s funeral after snubbing the Paris unity rally after the Charlie Hebdo attacks, the decision by the Pentagon to sponsor an essay contest on Arab and Muslim issues in honor of the king’s memory is a spectacular example of how tone deaf Obama’s Washington is to the nature of the underlying threat to peace in the Middle East.

Vanessa Gera: On Auschwitz Anniversary, Leader Warns Jews Again Targets—A Jewish leader stood before 300 survivors of the Nazis’ most notorious death camp on Tuesday and asked world leaders to prevent another Auschwitz, warning of a rise of anti-Semitism that has made many Jews fearful of walking the streets, and is causing many to flee Europe. Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, made his bleak assessment on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz where more than a million people were murdered. “For a time, we thought that the hatred of Jews had finally been eradicated. But slowly the demonization of Jews started to come back….Once again, Jewish businesses are targeted. And once again, Jewish families are fleeing Europe.” “For decades, the world has been fed lies about Israel: that Israel is the cause of everyone’s problems, that Israelis are the villains of the 21st century, that Israel has no right to exist. We all learned that when you tell a lie three times and there is no response, then the lie becomes the truth. This vilification of Israel, the only Jewish state on earth, quickly became an opportunity to attack Jews.” “Schools must teach tolerance of all people. Houses of worship should be places of love, understanding, and healing. They should not be telling their people to kill in the name of God. All countries and the EU must make hate a crime. Any country that openly brags about the annihilation of another country should be excluded from the family of nations.”

Yoni Ben Menachem: Muhammad Dahlan and the Succession Battle for the PA Chairmanship—In recent weeks, Dubai-based Muhammad Dahlan has become much more actively involved in Gaza. He is attempting to exploit the difficult situation there after the 2014 Gaza war and views himself as the potential successor of his bitter enemy, Mahmoud Abbas, as chairman of the Palestinian Authority. Dahlan is also involved in providing financial aid to needy residents in Gaza. He recently sent his wife, Dr. Jalila Dahlan, to Gaza where, with Hamas’ consent, she has been intensely involved in providing funds to the needy. Egypt and Hamas believe that Abbas will soon end his role as chairman of the PA, and Abbas’ troubles in the Palestinian domestic arena have afforded Dahlan a foothold. Egypt is inclined to support Dahlan because of the great sympathy he enjoys among Gaza residents. In the past, during Arafat’s rule, Dahlan was head of Gaza’s Preventive Intelligence force. Dahlan has had close ties with Mohammed Deif, the “supreme commander” of Hamas’ military wing, since the 1980s when the two shared the same cell in an Israeli prison.

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9--Jerusalem Post

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U.S., Arab League Ask Abbas to Delay New UN Statehood Bid

Obama: Netanyahu meeting before Israel election ‘inappropriate’

Hezbollah not interested in escalation, UN tells Israel

Tensions in the North: Not war – yet

New details emerge: At least 5 Kornet missiles fired in Hezbollah ambush of IDF soldiers

Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups praise Hezbollah attack

WATCH: IDF vehicles struck by Hezbollah anti-tank missile near Lebanon border

United Nations Security Council condemns death of Spanish peacekeeper by Israeli fire

US says Hezbollah ‘in blatant violation’ of UN resolutions

Netanyahu blames Iran for northern border attack

Oldest human skull in Middle East found in northern Israel

IDF releases names of Givati officer and soldier killed in Hezbollah attack

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10--Arutz Sheva

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Israeli UN Ambassador Not Invited to Discussion on Attack

Ya’alon: Hezbollah Doesn’t Need Tunnels to Start a War

IDF Resumes Search for Hezbollah Tunnels

Rivlin at 9-11 Memorial: We Will Continue to Fight Terror

Canada Condemns Hezbollah Attack On ‘Region’s Only Democracy’

‘Never Again’ in Europe is Just a Meaningless Slogan

The Future of Jews in France, the Land of Apartheid

MK Elkin: Congress is the Key to Iran Issues

MK Yogev: Attack May Be Prelude to 3rd Lebanon War

Dagan: Netanyahu Endangering Israel’s Security

Ya’alon: Israel Has ‘Zero Tolerance’ For Terror

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11--THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

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Poll: Most Palestinians Think Israel Involved in Paris Attacks

UN member killed as Israel responds to border attack

Israel threatens Assad after Golan Heights rocket fire

Is Hezbollah trying to draw Israel into a ground offensive?

IDF combs north for possible attack tunnels

IDF strikes Syria targets; sirens sound in Golan Heights

New Greek PM is pro-Palestinian, but envoy to Israel predicts ‘only positive things’

Brooklyn imam repudiates ‘cancer’ of radical Islam

As Arab MKs unite, a new political landscape emerges

Asian Army Buys Israeli System to Protect Its Aircraft

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12a--Other News

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Islamic State Calls on Muslims to Attack West 

10,000 Palestinian Teens Graduate Hamas Terror Camp, Practice Tunnel Attacks Against Israel 

Report: Hamas Desperate to Renew Talks With Israel After PA, UN Funding Slows

Hamas warns of chaos as UNRWA halts aid to Gaza

Israel, Hezbollah Violence Flares in Golan Heights

2 soldiers dead, 7 wounded as Hezbollah hits Israeli tank

Israel Shells Lebanon After Military Vehicle Attacked Near Border: Report

Greek PM Tsipras freezes privatizations, markets tumble

Massive destruction in Kobane after Kurds drive out IS

Kurds expand fight after retaking Ain al-Arab

ISIS Still Strong Despite Major Defeat in Kobani

Barack Obama says America ‘is stopping’ Islamic State’s progress in Iraq and Syria

SnyderTalk Comment: Saying it doesn’t make it so.  Keep in mind that Obama said ISIS is the “junior varsity”.  He was wrong then, too.

Alleged American ISIS Commander Has Been Killed In The Middle East

Digital jihad: ISIS, Al Qaeda seek a cyber caliphate to launch attacks on US

Obama’s misfire on 529 college savings plan: Who is middle class?

The Voices of Auschwitz

Auschwitz Survivor: Being Alive Is Best Revenge

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12b--TRIC

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Amal Clooney’s latest case: Why Turkey won’t talk about the Armenian genocide

Turkey opens biggest camp for Syrian refugees

Netanyahu: Iran Deal Will Allow Production of Dozens of Nukes

New Sanctions Will Improve Chance of Iran Deal, Israel Says

Israeli Official: Nuclear Deal Will Not Be Reached Due to Iran’s Intransigence

Iranian Website Lays Out Plans to Kill Netanyahu’s Sons

Iran says it sent warning to Israel via US officials

US says it did not pass Israel Iran warning of ‘consequences’

Embattled Iran sanctions bill officially submitted to Congress

PM: Iran ‘planning new genocide’ against Jewish people

Obama is heading for a bad deal

‘It is important for all Americans to know what Netanyahu knows’

China media: Japan’s IS hostage crisis

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Email Distribution List:

I have created an email distribution list that I use to notify people when I post a new SnyderTalk.  If you would like to be on that list, send your email address to nhsny@yahoo.com, and put “add me to your distribution list” in the subject line.  If you know others who are interested in SnyderTalk content, tell them to send me their email address, and I’ll put them on the list.

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4--Scripture of the Day Yahweh

Genesis 46: 28-34

28 Now he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to point out the way before him to Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen. 29 Joseph prepared his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; as soon as he appeared before him, he fell on his neck and wept on his neck a long time. 30 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive.” 31 Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, “I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and will say to him, ‘My brothers and my father’s household, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me; 32 and the men are shepherds, for they have been keepers of livestock; and they have brought their flocks and their herds and all that they have.’ 33 When Pharaoh calls you and says, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34 you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ that you may live in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is loathsome to the Egyptians.”

SnyderTalk Comment: Read His Name is Yahweh.

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5--HNIY Print form 3

His Name is Yahweh explains why the Name of God, Yahweh, is so important.  It’s available in eBook format and in paperback.  It’s also available for free in PDF format.

  • God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ This [Yahweh] is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.” (Exodus 3: 15)
  • “Therefore behold, I am going to make them know—this time I will make them know My power and My might; and they shall know that My name is Yahweh.” (Jeremiah 16: 21)
  • “Behold, the days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; and He will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely; and this is His name by which He will be called, ‘Yahweh our righteousness.’” (Jeremiah 23: 5-6)
  • Yeshua said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” (John 8: 58)

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6--His Name is Yahweh Audio Presentation 5

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Hamas is No Peace Partner for Israel

Click here to download the entire audio presentation for free and with no strings attached.  Share it as often as you want.

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14--Blessings from Revelation 2

Blessings in the Book of Revelation is a book that you need to read, especially now.  There are blessings throughout the Scriptures but Revelation is the only book in the Bible actually containing a specific blessing for reading it. It’s repeated twice, once at the beginning and again at the end. This is the reason that I believe Revelation should be the first step toward studying biblical prophecy. Though not easy to do, Revelation can be broken down and understood by anyone, not just the academic elite. So, Revelation’s blessings are for everyone.  Click here to order the eBook.  Click here to order the paperback.

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Other Books by Neil Snyder

  • Stand! is a suspense novel that exposes the lies, corruption, and greed underlying the theory that man-made CO2 emissions are responsible for global warming. Professor Wes Carlyle and Karen Sterling, his research collaborator, carefully scan the audience for their would-be attacker—a member of the enviro-gestapo who has been following them for days.  Wes spots his man in the back of the room leaning against the wall.  Suddenly, another man in the audience steps forward and moves toward Karen at a menacing pace.  With a vicious stroke, he swings a billy club at her head.  Click here to order the eBook.  Click here to order the paperback.
  • What Will You Do with the Rest of Your Life? deals with a question that every Christian has to consider: what should I do with my life? Click here to order the eBook.  Click here to order the paperback.
  • Falsely Accused is a true story about a young woman who was accused of committing a double homicide. It’s about a travesty of justice, and it reveals Yahweh intervening in the life of a believer to rescue her from danger in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.  Everyone will enjoy the book, but young people in particular need to read it because the mistakes made that led to the problem could have been avoided.  They were the kinds of mistakes that young people are prone to make.  As they say, forewarned is forearmed.  Click here to order the eBook.  Click here to order the paperback.

15--Concentric Circles 5

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