In phone call with Netanyahu, Obama stresses need for ‘immediate’ Gaza cease-fire

MICHAEL WILNER, JPOST

Obama told Netanyahu he wants a ceasefire “that both allows Palestinians in Gaza to lead normal lives and addresses Gaza’s long-term development and economic needs.
Obama and Netanyahu

Netanyahu and Obama shake hands at start of Oval Office meeting, March 3, 2013 Photo: REUTERS

JERUSALEM — An immediate and unconditional ceasefire ending Israel’s assault on Hamas is a “clear strategic imperative” to Israel, US President Barack Obama told Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu in a phone call on Sunday.

While the conversation focused on the immediate concerns of the United States, the president also discussed the broader implications of Israel’s operation in Gaza, Protective Edge, now over two weeks old and burdened with a mounting death toll, both within the Israel Defense Forces and the civilian population of Gaza.

Obama told Netanyahu he wants a ceasefire “that both allows Palestinians in Gaza to lead normal lives and addresses Gaza’s long-term development and economic needs, while strengthening the Palestinian Authority,” the White House said, in a readout of the call to reporters.

For a permanent ceasefire to be agreed upon, Hamas is requiring an end to Israel’s blockade of Gaza, formed to prevent Hamas from obtaining weapons to attack the Jewish state. Minister of Justice Tzipi Livni has told US Secretary of State John Kerry that Israel categorically rejects this condition, and indeed, Netanyahu’s cabinet has unanimously voted against the measure as part of an end to the current crisis.

Obama reiterated his belief that Israel has a right to defend itself, and condemned Hamas’ construction of tunnels and continuation of rocket fire into civilian areas.

“Ultimately, any lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must ensure the disarmament of terrorist groups and the demilitarization of Gaza,” Obama expressed.

In a recent poll, over 85 percent of Israelis support the Israeli government continuing the military operation until Hamas’ tunnels into Israel are completely destroyed.

July 27, 2014 | 24 Comments »

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24 Comments / 24 Comments

  1. @ M Devolin:

    “Yawl still bow to a Queen don’t chayawl.”

    Michael,
    Coming from hb, I’d let almost anything go.
    😉
    See comment #12
    🙂

    In asfar as:

    Typical American ignorance

    … Lol,
    Let me count the ways… It NEVER ceases to amaze me

  2. “Yawl still bow to a Queen don’t chayawl.”

    Typical American ignorance of Canada and Canadians. Really makes me laugh when I watch tv shows where they use the Scottish accent to portray a Canadian accent. Total fabrication. Or when that schmuck Pat Buchannan said on USA television that the 9/11 terrorists “came down from Canada.” What a stupid and ignorant antisemitic bastard. (Much the same as the schmuck NormanF insinuating that Jews don’t fight back against their enemies). Bow to the Queen, my ass. You have a president bowing to the wishes of a billion Jew-hating Muslims and you denigrate Canadians because you’ve heard that we bow to a Queen?

  3. woolymammoth Said:

    @ the phoenix:

    Obama will continue to try to boost politicians with the same Israel Agenda to replace him. We know some of their names. One particular woman’s name has been repeated as an Obama preference over “Hillary”.
    It needs to be understood that Obama’s policy objectives with respect to Israel and Iran represents a fairly large, perhaps a majority view in The US “Intelligence” community. These mutants are not leaving in 2017.
    Israel is not merely fighting Hamas, rather an insurgency with unlimited resources inclusive of the most wealthy terrorist organization/insurgency in history Al Sham/ISIS.

    I believe that’s true. Look at the continued and unjust imprisonment of Jonathan Pollard. So much of that comes from the intelligence community, who are still actively fighting to keep him imprisoned. I have never before seen a case where the government continues its unabated prosecution of a convicted person thirty years after his sentencing, concocting new allegations and accusations of crimes long after the end of the court case. This is among the most vile antisemitic vendettas I have ever seen.

    At a recent event, I happened to meet a Jewish defense department employee, a fellow who happened to be a supporter of Israel, He was also someone who knew the chief investigator in the Pollard case, Ronald Olive. Olive wrote a book a few years ago on the Pollard case. This fellow told me that Olive was surprised when this fellow told him that most American Jews were mortified that Pollard had done what he did (in other words, as I understood it, Olive assumed that most American Jews supported Pollard’s actions.) Olive had also apparently told this fellow that most of the stuff that Pollard turned over was material that did not interest the Israelis. The last thing he told me was that Olive thought it was appropriate for Pollard to be imprisoned for life.

    Interestingly, this same fellow who told me all of this, said that after his own personal trip to Israel (he is Jewish), the polygraph examiners seemed very focused on his trip there. He received a lot of questioning about his trip to Israel.

    You have an intelligence agency that is obsessed with Israel–and perhaps they should be, since I don’t think Israel’s intelligence services have missed a beat when it comes to gathering what it can wherever it can, including in the U.S., but I’m sure the U.S. is devoting a great deal of energy to its intelligence gathering with respect to Israel. After all, it has been doing so for years–what was the Liberty doing there, after all? And the U.S. has just gotten slapped by Merkel for spying on another U.S. ally, Germany. Still, the toxic combination of a person who really doesn’t like Israel and thinks that Jews with whom he disagrees need to be slapped around (that’s Obama), and a sinister obsessed antisemitic intelligence community, you’ve got a lot to contend with in the U.S. And then this ignoramus and bigot, Mearsheimer, surfaces with a featured article on Huffington Post to stir up hate about this mythical conspiracy of a huge Israel lobby led by AIPAC, and we’ve got a very unhealthy situation. If only the Jewish lobby were so powerful and omnipotent! The bottom line is, there are a lot of adversaries, and they won’t go away once Obama leaves. What if this country elects another Democrat in 2016?

  4. NormanF Said:

    Obama talks to Israel in a way he would never dare talk to any one else.

    And he makes no mention of Israel’s security needs. At least we now know where Kerry got his marching orders from when he concocted on Friday a ceasefire so bad no one in Israel liked it.

    I don’t like to indulge in racism, but I’ve seen this kind of behavior before by very arrogant, haughty blacks, especially blacks in the government once they get into power. Try going into the D.C. Office of Human Rights (the equivalent of the EEOC but on the state level) and try to file a complaint as a white person. If you’re Jewish and male, it’s even worse. They love to jerk you around, and try to sabotage your rights. That’s how bad it is in America, especially when blacks get into a position of control and power. They are often ruthless, spiteful and vindictive. Obama does this because he is typically black in his mindset–despite his supposed international and multiracial upbringing, and the fact he was from Hawaii, not among a large number of other blacks in America. He still has that haughtiness, contempt and innate desire to exert his power over whites. Like so many of them, they especially like to do this to Jews. There is much more antisemitism in America than most are willing to admit, especially in the government, the courts, and parts of the political world, especially among the left.

  5. the phoenix Said:

    Bill Levinson Said:

    This perambulating rectum will go away effective January 2017.

    Bill, you just realized that the house that you LOVE, has a major infestation of termites.
    You got a DEFINITIVE COMMITMENT from acme exterminating, that they will be there in January 2017, two and a half years from now….
    Are you jumping with joy????
    You realize of course the direct and indirect irreversible damage that such creatures can cause?

    And do you REALLY think that the black bastard Kenyan simian will… Just…. Go.. At the end of the term???
    Dollars to donuts that a MANUFACTURED CRISIS will occur and to ensure law and order… This little yew es of ey of yours will be under martial law.
    (Call me crazy. It’s ok… )

    I wonder…even at my age, still thinking of aliyah….

    I’d rather live in a free, Jewish country, than Obama’s America.

  6. Bill Levinson Said:

    This perambulating rectum will go away effective January 2017.

    That’s way too long…what happens in the meantime, and does Iran build a bomb?

  7. “Ultimately, any lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must ensure the disarmament of terrorist groups and the demilitarization of Gaza,” Obama expressed.

    In a recent poll, over 85 percent of Israelis support the Israeli government continuing the military operation until Hamas’ tunnels into Israel are completely destroyed.

    Let Hamas be disarmed first and Gaza demilitarized. There should not be any cease fire before steps are taken to disarm Hamas and then demilitarize Gaza.

  8. The men now knocking at your door, with big hats and a badge made from a silver peso, are Texas Rangers, submit.

  9. We have a right to defend ourselves as long as we don’t do anything. The only successful outcome of the war is the complete destruction of Hamas’ military and terrorist capabilities but I would allow them token political control so the PA doesn’t take over and turn to the international community as a united Palestinian people seeking a state. It’s better to keep some remnant of Hamas in power to maintain that “split”. We wouldn’t want to be responsible for unifying Gaza with the PA. It would be the opposite of divide and conquer. But that doesn’t mean we can’t otherwise annihilate them. Now is the only time.

  10. Obama talks to Israel in a way he would never dare talk to any one else.

    And he makes no mention of Israel’s security needs. At least we now know where Kerry got his marching orders from when he concocted on Friday a ceasefire so bad no one in Israel liked it.

  11. the phoenix Said:

    but it cannot be a match to an army….

    Yawl tell that to Your King George and El Senor Santana !!! Yawl still bow to a Queen don’t chayawl.

    COME AND TAKE THEM The MEN of Gonzales

  12. @ the phoenix:

    Obama will continue to try to boost politicians with the same Israel Agenda to replace him. We know some of their names. One particular woman’s name has been repeated as an Obama preference over “Hillary”.
    It needs to be understood that Obama’s policy objectives with respect to Israel and Iran represents a fairly large, perhaps a majority view in The US “Intelligence” community. These mutants are not leaving in 2017.
    Israel is not merely fighting Hamas, rather an insurgency with unlimited resources inclusive of the most wealthy terrorist organization/insurgency in history Al Sham/ISIS.

  13. Yes hb yes, 2nd amendment, Texas , guns , amo, you name it!
    I am sure you read it as well, the black bastard, is drafting disenchanted ones that would not hesitate to shoot AT Americans. Who would answer only to him.
    While armed texans etc may pose a problem, for his grand scheme, you still got to admit that for all intents and purposes, ‘John smith jr.’ May indeed posses a few guns and amo, but it cannot be a match to an army….
    But we digress…
    😉

  14. Bill Levinson Said:

    This perambulating rectum will go away effective January 2017.

    How does that help me today????

    You got the Black Plague and we have his Sancho Panza (BB).

  15. the phoenix Said:

    This little yew es of ey of yours will be under martial law.

    Ah you little Canadian beaver tail don’t start chortling yet. Yawl done ferget the 2nd Amendment and the republic of Texas. Remember the Alamo, boy chick !!!!!!!!!

  16. Bill Levinson Said:

    This perambulating rectum will go away effective January 2017.

    Bill, you just realized that the house that you LOVE, has a major infestation of termites.
    You got a DEFINITIVE COMMITMENT from acme exterminating, that they will be there in January 2017, two and a half years from now….
    Are you jumping with joy????
    You realize of course the direct and indirect irreversible damage that such creatures can cause?

    And do you REALLY think that the black bastard Kenyan simian will… Just…. Go.. At the end of the term???
    Dollars to donuts that a MANUFACTURED CRISIS will occur and to ensure law and order… This little yew es of ey of yours will be under martial law.
    (Call me crazy. It’s ok… 😉 )

  17. And….January 2017 is a long, long way off. Lots of time for obama to continue doing massive damage that may yet prove irreparable.