Leaked cables show that Mossad contradicted Netanyahu's bomb claims

[Stirnerian]

Binyamin Netanyahu’s dramatic declaration to world leaders in 2012 that Iran was about a year away from making a nuclear bomb was contradicted by his own secret service, according to a top-secret Mossad document.

It is part of a cache of hundreds of dossiers, files and cables from the world’s major intelligence services – one of the biggest spy leaks in recent times.

Brandishing a cartoon of a bomb with a red line to illustrate his point, the Israeli prime minister warned the UN in New York that Iran would be able to build nuclear weapons the following year and called for action to halt the process.

But in a secret report shared with South Africa a few weeks later, Israel’s intelligence agency concluded that Iran was “not performing the activity necessary to produce weapons”. The report highlights the gulf between the public claims and rhetoric of top Israeli politicians and the assessments of Israel’s military and intelligence establishment.

- The Guardian

It's situations like these that cause me to be less ill-disposed towards left-populist rhetorical strategies. I couldn't make a case against this using internationalist rhetoric that would be meaningful to my working class neighbors, but a left-nationalist argument can sell this here - essentially "this foreigner is manipulating us".

Shameful, I know. But if it works...

[ckaihatsu]

Report from today's demonstrations protesting the speech of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before Congress

"Public opinion about Israel is changing irreversibly inside the United States"

A statement by Brian Becker, Director of the ANSWER Coalition

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View a slideshow of photos from the protest. (http://www.answercoalition.org/r?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fanswer coalition%2Fsets%2F72157651136506372%2F&utm_campaign=netan_demo_rprt&n=4&e=0b985d77c43aafbccb0924a6df89b2b9&utm_source=answercoalition&utm_medium=email)
Thanks to ANSWER volunteer Phil Portluck for taking them!

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Today's protests are the featured image on the New York Times homepage. Additional news coverage is also available at NBC News and WTOP.

Outside, in the streets surrounding the U.S. Congress, a strong, spirited crowd of demonstrators denounced Benjamin Netanyahu for committing war crimes against the Palestinian people and for attempting to whip up a war fever against Iran. We were met by police lines and cops who grabbed and shoved people as they attempted to exercise their Constitutional right to protest at Congress.

Inside, from within the hallowed halls, Netanyahu was given a boisterous two-minute-long standing ovation by the millionaire politicians in Congress.

The irony of what happened today speaks volumes about the nature of democracy in this country.

Netanyahu was treated as a visiting hero in that cesspool of corruption that he labeled “the greatest legislative body” on earth. These bought-and-paid-for politicians genuflected and congratulated his every platitude.

The timid, mild voices of criticism from the Obama White House and its supporters in Congress for Netanyahu’s and Boehner’s “violation of protocol” were drowned out in ovation after ovation.

The only place where the actual voice of the American people could be heard was in the streets.

More than 63 percent of the people thought Netanyahu's speech should have been cancelled. There is a sea change happening inside of U.S. public opinion, which is increasingly opposed to U.S. support for every Israeli aggression. This dramatic shift in public opinion is also registering very profoundly among Jewish-Americans, who are increasingly outspoken in opposition to Israeli policies.

Thirteen years ago, 100,000 people protested in Washington, D.C., in support of Palestine when the Israeli Defense Forces reinvaded the West Bank. That massive demonstration against Israel was the first of that magnitude. Since then, this new movement has broadened, widened and extended its influence.

Instead of supporting Israel there developed mass demonstrations inside the United States when Israel went to war against Lebanon in 2006, invaded Gaza in 2008, bombed Gaza in 2012, and launched its massive slaughter in Gaza last summer.

Public opinion about Israel is changing irreversibly inside the United States. The negative impression of Israel will grow because of Netanyahu's arrogant speech today. The fawning opportunists in Congress don't reflect the views of the people. Netanyahu's gross performance before Congress today will be remembered at best as an ephemeral triumph for his electoral effort back home. But its lasting significance is that it will further erode support for the Israeli government among an ever-larger segment of the U.S. public that is learning year by year and day by day that the Israeli government more resembles the old South African apartheid regime rather than the idyllic picture that is spoon-fed to the people by the corporate-owned media.

We will continue to organize, mobilize and counter the lies of the Israeli propaganda machine and the U.S. mainstream media, which works as an echo chamber for its falsehoods and lies.

The movement is growing. Please show your continued support by making a much-needed, tax-deductible donation today. (http://www.answercoalition.org/donate?e=0b985d77c43aafbccb0924a6df89b2b9&utm_source=answercoalition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=netan_demo_rprt&n=7)

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[cyu]

As always

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[ckaihatsu]

Anti-war leaders blast Netanyahu speech to Congress

By Mick Kelly

Minneapolis, MN - Midwest anti-war leaders had harsh world to say about Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s March 3 speech to Congress. Netanyahu was invited to speak before Congress by the House Republican leadership, a move that drew fire from the Obama administration and some congressional Democrats.

Joe Iosbaker of the Anti-War Committee-Chicago stated, “Netanyahu called for a war with Iran. That is the clear meaning of his speech. He wants to scuttle the nuclear agreement being negotiated. He said ‘Sanctions aren’t enough.’ He falsely accused Iran of exporting violence. Everyone knows that is Israel’s role in the Middle East.”

Meredith Aby-Keirstead, a leader of the Twin Cities Anti-War Committee said, "The groundswell of pressure from people across the country to say #skipthespeech showed that more and more Americans are starting to question the tight relationship between the U.S. and Israel. Netanyahu came to sell his hatred of Iran but it backfired." The U.S. is the main supporter of the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]