Mitt Romney: MY SPEECH AT AIPAC

Mitt Romney today delivered remarks to The American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference. The following remarks were prepared for delivery:

Thank you for the opportunity to address the AIPAC Policy Conference. And thanks to Teddy and Ed, who have been great friends, supporters, and teachers over the years.

I regret that my Super Tuesday travel schedule prevents me from being with you in person. But while I can’t be with you, I stand with you. I share your commitment to a strong and secure Israel. And I salute your tireless work to strengthen our alliance.

This year, we are gathering at a dangerous time for Israel and for America. Not since the dark days of 1967 and 1973 has the Middle East faced peril as it does today. This is a critical moment. America must not – and, if I am President, it will not – fail this defining test of history.

The current administration has distanced itself from Israel and visibly warmed to the Palestinian cause. It has emboldened the Palestinians. They are convinced that they can do better at the UN – and better with America – than they can at the bargaining table with Israel. As President, I will treat our allies and friends like friends and allies.

In recent days and weeks, we’ve heard a lot of words from the administration. Its clear message has been to warn Israel to consider the costs of military action against Iran. I do not believe that we should be issuing public warnings that create distance between the United States and Israel. Israel does not need public lectures about how to weigh decisions of war and peace. It needs our support.

Israel’s democratically elected leaders will always be welcomed and respected by my administration. Israel’s current prime minister is not just a friend; he’s an old friend. We worked together over 30 years ago at the Boston Consulting Group. He is a leader whose intellect and courage I admire – and whose family’s sacrifice I profoundly respect. In a Romney administration, there will be no gap between our nations or between our leaders.

I have seen Israel by land and by air. I have seen its narrow waist, and its vulnerability to positions on the Golan Heights. I have spent time with families in Sderot who have been terrorized by rocket barrages from Gaza. I have walked the streets of Jerusalem, seen schools pocked by rifle rounds fired from the foreboding hills that nearly surround it. I would never call for a return to the ’67 lines because I understand that in Israel, geography is security.

I have studied the writings and speeches of the jihadists. They argue for a one-state solution—one all-dominating radical Islamist state, that is. Their objective is not freedom, not prosperity, not a Palestinian state, but the destruction of Israel. And negotiating and placating such jihadists will never, ever yield peace in the Middle East.

I recognize in the ayatollahs of Iran the zealot refrain of dominion. Their passion for the martyrdom of Arab youth is matched only by their cowardice in avoiding it for themselves. Nuclear ambition is pursued by Iran to dominate, to subjugate, and to obliterate. A nuclear Iran is not only a problem for Israel; it is also a problem for America and the world.

We may not know when Iran will secure sufficient fissile material to threaten the world, but the IAEA warns that that the hour is fast approaching.

In the Gulf, Iran prepares to close the Strait of Hormuz, to hold hostage 20 percent of the world’s oil. In their nuclear laboratories, they prepare the means to hold hostage the entire planet.

Iran has long engaged in terrorism around the world, most recently in Georgia and in Thailand. In Washington, DC, Iran plotted to assassinate the Saudi ambassador by bombing a Georgetown restaurant. Iran has deployed Hezbollah and Hamas and armed the insurgents of Iraq and Afghanistan, killing our sons and daughters. They war against America.
Yet, the current administration has promoted a policy of engagement with Iran. The President offered to sit down with Ahmadinejad during his first year in office without preconditions. He sat silent as Iranian dissidents took to the streets of Tehran, not wanting to disrupt the potential opportunity for dialogue with Iran’s fanatical tyrants. This President not only dawdled in imposing crippling sanctions, he has opposed them.

Hope is not a foreign policy. The only thing respected by thugs and tyrants is our resolve, backed by our power and our readiness to use it.

Of course, the administration’s naïve outreach to Iran gave the ayatollahs exactly what they wanted most. It gave them time. Whatever sanctions they may now belatedly impose, Iran has already gained three invaluable years.
There are some in this administration who argue that Iran’s leaders are “rational,” and that we can do business with them. The President speaks of common interests. Let me be clear: we do not have common interests with a terrorist regime. Their interest is in the destruction of Israel and the domination of the Middle East. It is profoundly irrational to suggest that the ayatollahs think the way we do or share our values. They do not.

I will bring the current policy of procrastination toward Iran to an end. I will not delay in imposing further crippling sanctions, and I will not hesitate to fully implement the ones we currently have. I will make sure Iran knows of the very real peril that awaits if it becomes nuclear. I will engage Iran’s neighbors. I will station multiple carriers and warships at Iran’s door. I will stand with the Syrian people who are being mercilessly slaughtered. I know that the fall of Assad would not only be an important victory for liberty, but also a strategic blow to Tehran.

As President, I will be ready to engage in diplomacy. But I will be just as ready to engage our military might. Israel will know that America stands at its side, in all conditions and in all consequence.

Of course, American strength abroad depends upon our strength at home. My economic plans will buttress our capacity to project power. And as President, I will repair and strengthen our military. President Obama wants to shrink our Navy, our Air Force, and our contingent of fighting men and women. I will expand them. A military in retreat invites adventurism by the world’s worst actors, just as we are seeing today. A strong and superior military is the best ally peace has ever known. I do not seek military superiority solely for the purpose of winning wars. I seek it to prevent wars.

As President, peace will be my solemn goal. A peace based not on empty assurances, but on true security and defensible borders. This will require American strength, and a demonstration of our resolve. That’s why, as President, my first foreign trip will not be to Cairo or Riyadh or Ankara. It will be to Jerusalem.

We will make clear to the world that Israel’s continued existence as a Jewish state is a vital national interest of the United States.

I believe the right course is what Ronald Reagan called “peace through strength.” There is a reason why the Iranians released the hostages on the same day and at the same hour that Reagan was sworn into office. As President, I will offer that kind of clarity, strength, and resolve.

In a Romney administration, the world will know that the bond between Israel and America is unbreakable – and that our opposition to a nuclear Iran is absolute. We must not allow Iran to have the bomb or the capacity to make a bomb. Our enemies should never doubt our resolve and our allies should never doubt our commitment.

This is a critical time, and AIPAC has a vital voice. Together, let’s achieve peace for the region and ensure a secure future for Israel – and America.
God bless America, and God bless our friendship with Israel.

Josephine Levin: IN TIMES OF WAR, TURN TOWARDS G-D FOR SALVATION

​Daily we are bombarded with two messages. One message is that Iran that has publicly called for the total destruction of Israel and the Jewish people has or will soon have nuclear weapons of mass destruction. The second message is whatever Israel decides to do–just do not strike at Iran!

​Last year John Bolton, the former Bush administration ambassador to the UN, said Israel had only until August 21, 2010 to stop Iran. This was the date that Russia would begin unloading nuclear fuel rods into the Iranian reactor. After that Mr. Bolton claimed the situation would be at the point of no return because any attack that would occur after the rods were unloaded into the reactor would cause radiation to escape into the atmosphere and possibly into the waters of the Persian Gulf. Mr. Bolton claimed that Israel's prior strikes on the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak 1981and the attack on the Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007 took place before the nuclear fuel rods were unloaded into the reactors.

​Has Israel really had the opportunity to strike at Iran but missed it? Here are the facts: Since 1991 the US has operated a no-fly zone over Iraq and no one can enter these skies without the express permission of the United States, So If Israel missed the opportunity to strike at Iran before it would be too late, then who in fact is to blame for this? Surely Mr. Bolton must have known that Israel would need the permission of the United States to fly over Iraq to attack Iran. The shortest route for Israel to strike at Iran is to fly over Iraq. At the end of this month the official agreement between the US and Iraq of 2008 that allows for this nofly zone is due to expire and there is speculation that if the nofly zone over Iraq is removed then Israel might strike at Iran. Is it a coincidence that this nofly zone has been in operation until the Iranians have or are about to have a nuclear bomb? Iran has stated that no matter who attacks them they will retaliate against Israel.

​During the Gulf War of 1991 Israel was attacked by more than 40 scuds fired by Saddam Hussein from Iraq and not once was Israel able to retaliate because the United States would not supply Israel with "friendly" codes for the US AIWACS so that Israeli planes would not be shot down over the Gulf. Those of us who were here during the Gulf War and spent a lot of time in sealed rooms, putting gas masks on our children, while our country was not allowed to defend itself will never forget this. Israeli planes apparently took off at least 5 times to defend our nation that was under attack by Iraqi SCUD missiles and Moshe Ahrens who was then Minister of Defense revealed that he had to call our planes back, as they would have been shot down by American forces over the Gulf. We were like sitting ducks with no one to defend us except the Lord our G-d, the Creator of the universe, and in fact so many miracles took place at that time that even the most secular and non-believing Israelis began to take notice. Only one person was directly killed by a SCUD. In a Ramat Gan apartment that was totally destroyed was found an infant lying unharmed in a crib - like Daniel in the Lion's Den. There were many more stories of miracles that took place in Israel during the Gulf War.

​We in Israel see that with few exceptions the entire world has moved against us and anti-Semitism is as high if not higher than the years preceding the Second World War. Only 66 years after the Holocaust the world is setting us up for another one. In the entire European Union we have only one friend Czechoslovakia. Italy has also been one of our only friends but this may change with the new political realities in Italy.

​During the Second World War Hitler's African Corps under his general Rommel were only a few hours away from entering Jerusalem. Rabbis in Jerusalem called on the people en masse to enter the synagogues and pray that Jerusalem and Israel would not fall to the evil Nazis and their prayers were answered. Rommel's forces were defeated by Montgomery November 11, 1942 and in fact it has been recorded that all kinds of weather also helped stop Rommel at the Battle of El Alamein in Egypt.

​I do not know what the Rock of Israel is going to do to protect us but Iran is one of the most seismically active regions in the world and has had and can have major earthquakes of mass destruction. Also, punishing weather, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, etc. are being experienced by many of the nations that seek to destroy us. The LORD our G-d also twice created a no-fly zone over European skies with the eruption of the Icelandic volcano. In 2010 Japan agreed to build 5 earthquake proof nuclear reactors in Iran. In March, 2011 Japan was struck by a major earthquake and tsunami that damaged the so called earthquake proof Japanese reactors and there was a meltdown at Fukashima which is still not under control.

​Iran has stated more than once that no matter who strikes at them they will retaliate against Israel.

According to our biblical prophesies we have been brought back here by HaShem from the four corners of the world to prepare for the coming of the Kingdom of G-d on the earth and not to be exterminated by those who hate us. As a woman of faith in the Kadosh Baruch Hu I can sleep at night here in Jerusalem putting my trust totally in HaShem. A G-d who parted the Red Sea can do anything. In truth we can depend on no one but our Father in heaven.

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Yechezkel Gordon: UN RESOLUTION ON IRAN IS PREDICTABLY SOFT AND PATHETICALLY MEANINGLESS

Inside the International Atomic Energy Agency headquarters in Vienna, diplomats from around the world tried to formulate a resolution to repudiate Iran for it's suspicious nuclear intentions. Sitting around a long conference table in a spacious room were the leading diplomats of the west including the US, Britain, France, Germany, and the diplomats of Russia and China.

The meeting was held in response to a report released the other week by the IAEA, indicating that they had gathered clear proof that Iran's nuclear program was not designed to produce energy for civilian use, as they claim, but rather to built a nuclear weapon.

Yukiya Amano, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, addressed the gathering. "Throughout the past three years, we have obtained additional information which gives us a fuller picture of Iran’s nuclear program and increases our concerns about possible military dimensions," he said.

"The information indicates that Iran has carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device," Mr. Amano said.

"I ask Iran to engage substantively" with the I.A.E.A. "without delay and provide the requested clarifications regarding possible military dimensions to its nuclear program."

Now with such clear evidence, you would expect it to be a slam dunk that the international community would issue a strong and powerful condemnation together with a new round of crippling sanctions. But this is the UN, and nothing is ever simple at the UN.

So the diplomats spent hours together passing around a pen and paper, quarreling over the weakest possible wording for the resolution. In the end Russia outdid China, turning the resolution into one big diplomatic joke that's certain to make the Iranians erupt into laughter.

According to the AP, the resolution expressed "serious concern that Iran continues to defy the requirements and obligations contained in the relevant IAEA Board of Governors and UN Security Council Resolutions." It also spoke of "deep and increasing concern about the unresolved issues regarding the Iranian nuclear program, including those which need to be clarified to exclude the existence of possible military dimensions."

Maybe we should just put Iran in time-out until they start behaving. Or threaten to take away there dessert until they promise to be our friends. I mean are you kidding me! This is what the UN expects to force Iran to abandon its uranium enrichment program? No wonder the Israelis are preparing for a military strike to end this problem for once and for all.

Yechezkel Gordon: ARE YOU PREPARED FOR WAR? THE IRANIANS WON'T BE THE ONLY ONES SURPRISED BY AN IAF STRIKE

Whether you support a military strike on Iran or are against it, or you simply don't care much about it, you better be prepared for it.

Over the past few weeks there has been much speculation and debate regarding Iran and it's quest for a nuclear bomb. It originated in Israel with front page articles in the major newspapers and spread world wide when the IAEA, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, released an intelligence report that Iran's nuclear aspirations go far beyond civilian purposes.

If Israel does indeed attack Iran's nuclear facilities, Iran and it's proxies would be expected to retaliate. That means in a worst case scenario, Hamas in the south could launch hundreds of rockets and Hezbollah could terrorize the north with it's deadly arsenal of missiles, and that's before we even mention Iran!

The Iranians have the capability to make the scud missile attack by Iraq look like child's play. It has been reported, that Iran has a vast arsenal of weapons, including weapons of mass destruction, that are within striking distance to every city in Israel. That means that even if you live in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem, cities that have been relatively safe from the rocket attacks, you will now find yourself on the front lines of a dangerous war.

Now, if you were expecting one of the cars with speakers to roll down your block announcing the military strike will start at 9pm tonight, you're in for a surprise. It's not going to happen! You will be just as surprised as the Iranians will be.

And that means that the time to prepare for such an attack, is now. Does you're family know where the closest bomb shelter is? Do you have an emergency supply of food and water saved up? Do you have a radio to stay updated and informed inside the bomb shelter?

Of course we all hope and pray that the above scenario won't happen, but a little preparation now could have an enormous effect later if it does, so what's the excuse not to be prepared?