From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Schumer backing bill allowing Congress to review Iran nuclear deal
(JTA) – Sen. Chuck Schumer is backing a proposal that would allow Congress to approve or reject any deal signed with Iran on curbing its nuclear program.
In backing the legislation introduced by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Schumer (D-N.Y.) is bucking President Barack Obama, a fellow Democrat, who is trying to shore up support for the framework agreement signed last week by Iran, the United States and five other world powers.
Schumer signed on to the bill calling for a congressional review of the Iran deal two weeks ago, Politicoreported.
Retiring Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) endorsed Schumer to replace him as minority leader when Reid leaves at the end of next year. Other Democrats are likely to line up behind Schumer on the Corker legislation, in addition to the dozen that have already offered their support, which could allow backers to present a veto-proof majority for the legislation.
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From PressTV
Israel cuts number of lumber shipments to Gaza Strip
Israel has cut the number of lumber shipments to the besieged Gaza Strip, causing further restrictions in the reconstruction of the houses destroyed in Tel Aviv’s aggression on the enclave last summer.
Palestinian importers said Monday that a daily load of 200 cubic meters (7,000 cubic feet) of lumber has been banned from entering the besieged Gaza Strip.
The importers added that the number of planks used by furniture factories would also be restricted from a daily of 6,000 to 2,400, citing a directive received by the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority from Israel.
Israel claims that Hamas could use the imported goods to rebuild military constructions.
The imposed restrictions by Tel Aviv will hamper reconstruction housing efforts in Gaza after the Israel war last summer.
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From The Times of Israel
Presidential hopeful Perry says he wouldn’t keep Iran nuke deal
Despite not having announced candidacy, Texas governor talks of a hard hand with Tehran if elected
Prospective Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry said Monday that he would tear up the recently drafted nuclear deal with Iran should he be elected, and would instead up the pressure on Tehran — through tough economic measures and covert programs — to support local dissidents who oppose the regime.
During a speech to the Republican Society at South Carolina’s Citadel military college, Perry, who hasn’t formally thrown his hat into the ring, told cadets that the framework, which seeks to curb Iran’s ability to produce nukes, was more of a danger than a safeguard.
“Should I run for president, and be so fortunate to be elected, one of my first actions in office would be to invalidate the president’s Iran agreement, which jeopardizes the safety and security of the free world,” the Texas governor said of the deal that was unveiled earlier this month.
Speaking to reporters before the address, Perry explained that he would replace the deal with further sanctions to punish Iran’s economy and, if required, would resort to a military strike against Iranian nuclear strikes.
“The message needs to be: As soon as that election result comes in November of 2016, any agreement between the president of the United States and the Ayatollah is a worthless piece of paper,” he told the Bloomberg news agency.
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From The Times of Israel
Leading GOP senator: Let next president negotiate Iran deal
Potential presidential candidate Lindsey Graham says Obama not respected or feared, and cannot reach a better nuclear arrangemnt
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Sunday that the next US president should negotiate a final nuclear deal with Iran, since the Iranians don’t fear or respect current President Barack Obama.
Speaking to CBS’s Face the Nation, the prospective 2016 GOP presidential candidate said, “Is there a better deal to be had? I think so. What I would suggest is if you can’t get there with this deal is to keep the interim deal in place, allow a new president in 2017, Democrat or Republican, to take a crack at the Iranian nuclear program.”
“The best deal I think comes with a new president. Hillary Clinton would do better. I think everybody on our side except maybe Rand Paul could do better.”
Paul is a possible rival of Graham’s for the GOP nomination.
“Is Barack Obama the best person to deal with the Iranians given his miserable foreign policy failure?,” Graham asked. “Does anybody really believe the Iranians will take the billions of dollars that we’re about to give them and build hospitals and schools? I believe there’s a better deal. I don’t want a war, but at the end of the day I don’t want to give Iran the tools and the capability to continue to destroy the Mideast and one day destroy us by building bigger missiles and until they say they will not destroy the state of Israel, until they stop their provocative behavior, I think we’d be nuts to give them more money and more capability.”
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
From the Archive: Niv Asraf wasn’t the first Jew to fake a kidnapping
He’s not the first Jew to pull such a stunt. In 1997, Israeli businessman Ya’acov Schwartz, disappeared for several days, abandoning his car near the Gaza border. After the 63-year-old was found in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, he claimed terrorists had abducted him. But police became suspicious when they observed discrepancies between his account of events and testimony gathered from witnesses. Efforts to locate Schwartz, which involved some 700 policemen and volunteers as well as helicopters, are estimated to have cost more than $300,000.
In another fake kidnapping case, Dutch-Jewish actor Jules Croiset fraudulently claimed in December 1987 that neo-Nazis had seized him outside a Belgium hotel and held him captive for 18 hours in an abandoned factory. Croiset told police he was handcuffed to a pipe and subjected to anti-Semitic abuse before managing to escape, claiming his kidnappers targeted him because he had helped prevent the staging of an anti-Semitic play in Rotterdam. A month later, under police questioning, he confessed to making it all up and faking some bomb scares as well.
While his motives were never explained, Croiset’s confession “stunned the Jewish community,” JTA reported, and sparked concern “that exposure of the kidnapping as a hoax means future complaints of anti-Semitism in Holland will not be taken seriously.”
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From Ynet News
White House: Iran sanctions phase-out still to be negotiated
Washington says lifting of sanctions will be gradual and tied to Iran’s ‘sustained compliance over a long period of time’. The United States made clear on Monday that it would only agree to sanctions on Iran being phased out gradually as Tehran complies with a final deal to curb its nuclear program.
“You can’t start talking about relieving sanctions until we’ve reached agreements about how we’re going to shut down every pathway they have to a nuclear weapon,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said at a news briefing.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Finnish candidate: Israel systematically murders children
(JTA) – A candidate in Finland representing one of its largest parties said Israel is systematically murdering Palestinian children, women and elderly people.
Abdirahim Hussein, a former chairman of the Center Party’s youth division, made the statement last week in a blog post about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the Tundra Tabloids website.
“We have for the last few years witnessed brutal actions in which children, women and the elderly having been systematically murdered,” wrote Hussein, who was born in Somalia in 1978 and immigrated to Finland in 1994. “This all happened less than a year ago.”
Hussein was referring to Israel’s military operation last summer in Gaza trying to stop Hamas rocket fire into Israeli cities. Israel has maintained that it sought to avoid civilian casualties in the operation.
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From The Times of Israel
Senator John McCain announces run for 6th term
Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee will be 80 by the time Election Day comes around in 2016
US Senator John McCain has announced he will run for reelection in 2016.
The Arizona Republican made the announcement to run for a sixth term on Monday in an interview with NBC News. He is the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
McCain has used his position as chairman to criticize President Barack Obama on national security.
“I have never been more concerned about the security of this nation because of the feckless leadership of the president of the United States,” he said.
McCain, 78, will be 80 by Election Day, but he said his Senate career is “just getting started.”
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