From ‘Russia-Gate’ to ‘Israel-Gate’

[Brian4Liberty]

From ‘Russia-Gate’ to ‘Israel-Gate’ (http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2017/12/03/russia-gate-israel-gate/)
As one fake scandal fades, a real one emerges
by Justin Raimondo - December 04, 2017


...For months they’ve been salivating heavily in anticipation of the turning of Michael Flynn, the former National Security Advisor now charged with lying to the FBI. Flynn has admitted doing so on at least two occasions, both involving his answers to questions about his conversations with Russian ambassador Sergey Kisylak. During the transition – after Trump’s election but before he took office – Flynn was talking to the Russians about two subjects: the possible blowback from the Obama administration’s decision to impose more sanctions and close the Russian compound in Maryland, and the Russian position on the controversial UN resolution condemning Israel for building yet more “settlements” on Palestinian land.
...
Given the scope of a special counsel’s powers, and the wide berth he is given to pursue possible violations to the law far removed from his original mandate, perhaps we should have expected that some other foreign connection would come to light. Flynn was instructed by none other than Jared Kushner, the President’s son-in-law, to approach “every member of the Security Council” to block the resolution condemning the seizure of Palestinian property. The Russians were directly contacted by Flynn, who asked them to veto the resolution in the Security Council.
...
What’s interesting is that an Israeli official would come right out and brazenly boast of having turned to the Trump team to stop the resolution:

“The official – in comments that may come back to haunt the White House – said that Israel had ‘implored the [Obama] White House not to go ahead and told them that if they did, we would have no choice but to reach out to President-elect Trump.

“‘We did reach out to the president-elect,’ the official added, ‘and are deeply appreciative that he weighed in, which was not a simple thing to do.’”

By inserting that information into the public record, the legal case against both Flynn and possibly other figures in the Trump administration is considerably strengthened. Which makes one wonder: did the Israelis deliberately burn Trump?

Yes, I’m indulging in pure speculation, and yet why would an Israeli official openly discuss such a delicate matter? Even as the outgoing Obama-bots were setting the trap for Flynn – an effort Tel Aviv may well have been privy to – the Israelis were letting the world know that they had the Americans in their pocket.

This is more grist for Mueller’s mill: aside from that, Kushner has financial and political links to Israel, and these are now likely coming under the special counsel’s scrutiny. One can now see what direction this investigation may be taking us: Instead of revealing collusion between the Trump team and the Russians, the Flynn indictment exposed Kushner’s collusion with Israel.

Has Russia-gate morphed into Israel-gate?
...
In any event, the fact is that after what seems like years of accusations, not a single iota of actual evidence has corroborated the charge that the Trump campaign plotted with Putin to deprive Hillary Clinton of her divine right of succession to the Oval Office. The foundational myth upon which the Mueller investigation rests – the idea that Russia was behind the WikiLeaks email dump – was never real to begin with: the Mueller probe, therefore, once launched, branched out into a more general look at foreign influence on the incoming administration. Which could and should mean that half of Washington will soon be lawyering up.
...
More: http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2017/12/03/russia-gate-israel-gate/

[enhanced_deficit]

From ‘Russia-Gate’ to ‘Israel-Gate’ (http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2017/12/03/russia-gate-israel-gate/)
As one fake scandal fades, a real one emerges
by Justin Raimondo - December 04, 2017

EM.

Seems right.

[AZJoe]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD9abqTlZSs

[AZJoe]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24yIEsC8I8A

[AZJoe]

"Flynn was instructed by none other than Jared Kushner, the President’s son-in-law, to approach “every member of the Security Council” to block the resolution condemning the seizure of Palestinian property. …

Flynn’s unsuccessful efforts on behalf of the Israelis were the fruit of an Israeli appeal to the incoming Trump administration. The day after … Israeli official told CNN “that Israel – and reportedly the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, himself – had contacted Trump to seek his assistance in killing the resolution.” …

What’s interesting is that an Israeli official would come right out and brazenly boast (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/01/michael-flynn-israel-lobbying-russia-united-nations) of having turned to the Trump team to stop the resolution:
“The official – in comments that may come back to haunt the White House – said that Israel had ‘implored the [Obama] White House not to go ahead and told them that if they did, we would have no choice but to reach out to President-elect Trump.
“‘We did reach out to the president-elect,’ the official added, ‘and are deeply appreciative that he weighed in, which was not a simple thing to do.’” …

why would an Israeli official openly discuss such a delicate matter? Even as the outgoing Obama-bots were setting the trap (https://consortiumnews.com/2017/12/01/the-scalp-taking-of-gen-flynn/) for Flynn – an effort Tel Aviv may well have been privy to – the Israelis were letting the world know that they had the Americans in their pocket. …

aside from that, Kushner has financial and political links to Israel … Instead of revealing collusion between the Trump team and the Russians, the Flynn indictment exposed Kushner’s collusion with Israel. …

this development is certain to end the fondest hopes of #TheResistance. Because it’s highly unlikely any public official, no matter how compromised, is going to be prosecuted for collusion with the Israelis and/or their American lobby. … back in 2009 (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/may/01/aipac-israel-lobby-lobbying-washington), in the Larry Franklin spy scandal (http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2005/08/05/aipac-spy-nest-exposed/), in which two employees of AIPAC, the powerful Israeli lobby, were prosecuted for procuring vital secrets from National Security Council … was dropped (http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2007/11/05/aipac-espionage-and-legal-sabotage/) because pursuing it would have revealed yet more secrets. That was a case of outright espionage: “collusion” is a far different – and much vaguer – matter …

[Danke]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD9abqTlZSs

The “ Id-lib.” Haha. http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?517421-Trump-kicking-ass&p=6559324&viewfull=1#post6559324

[Raginfridus]

oy vey!

[enhanced_deficit]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD9abqTlZSs

Quite informative.

Video like this make much of MSM look like fakenews.

[AZJoe]

Even Newsweek is Reporting on Israelgate Collusion:

Jared Kushner Failed To Disclose He Led a Foundation Funding Illegal Israeli Settlements Before U.N. Vote (http://www.newsweek.com/jared-kushner-disclosure-form-west-bank-settlements-israel-white-house-729290)

Jared Kushner failed to disclose his role as a co-director of the Charles and Seryl Kushner Foundation from 2006 to 2015, a time when the group funded an Israeli settlement considered to be illegal under international law (https://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2017/50-years-illegal-settlements/index.html) …

The latest development follows reports (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/michael-flynn-charged-with-making-false-statement-to-the-fbi/2017/12/01/e03a6c48-d6a2-11e7-9461-ba77d604373d_story.html?utm_term=.61bdee460d28&wpisrc=al_news__alert-politics--alert-national&wpmk=1) on Friday indicating the White House senior adviser attempted to sway a United Nations Security Council vote against an anti-settlement resolution passed just before Donald Trump took office … The failure to disclose his role in the foundation—at a time when he was being tasked with serving as the president’s Middle East peace envoy—follows a pattern of egregious omissions (http://www.newsweek.com/jared-kushner-ivanka-trump-white-house-forms-omissions-cadre-millions-679231) that would bar any other official from continuing to serve in the West Wing …

The first son-in-law has repeatedly amended his financial records … along with three separate revisions to his security clearance application. Despite correcting his financial history on multiple occasions, he has yet to include his role as co-director to the family foundation. …

"Every successive failure to disclose his financial holdings makes it harder and harder to believe Jared Kushner isn't trying to intentionally deceive the American people," …

Despite the U.S.’s long-standing policy to diplomatically reject the construction of Israeli settlements … Kushner demanded future national security adviser Michael Flynn "get on the phone to every member of the Security Council and tell them to delay the vote" on the West Bank settlement resolution, …

[Lamp]

oy vey!

Why didn't I think of it sooner?

[AZJoe]

From Philip Giraldi:

“Israel Colluded with Incoming Trump Team to Subvert U.S. Foreign Policy,” (http://www.unz.com/pgiraldi/russiagate-becomes-israelgate/)

The two phone calls in question include absolutely nothing about possible collusion with Russia to change the outcome of the U.S. election, which allegedly was the raison d’etre behind the creation of Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel office in the first place. Both took place more than a month after the election and both were initiated by the Americans involved. …

The first phone call to Kislyak, on December 22nd, was made by Flynn at the direction of Jared Kushner, who in turn had been approached by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. … Kushner, acting for Netanyahu, asked Flynn to contact each delegate from the various countries on the Security Council to delay or kill the resolution. Flynn agreed to do so, which included a call to the Russians. Kislyak took the call but did not agree to veto Security Council Resolution 2334, which passed unanimously on December 23rd.

The second phone call, made by Flynn on December 29th from a beach in the Dominican Republic, where he was on vacation, may have been ordered by Trump himself. It was a response to an Obama move to expel Russian diplomats and close two Embassy buildings … Flynn asked the Russians not to reciprocate, making the point that there would be a new administration in place in three weeks and the relationship between the two countries might change for the better. …

The first phone call about Israel was not as benign as the second one about sanctions. Son-in-law Jared Kushner is Trump’s point man on the Middle East. He and his family have extensive ties (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/11/us/politics/jared-kushner-israel.html?_r=0) both to Israel and to Netanyahu personally, to include Netanyahu’s staying at the Kushner family home in New York. The Kushner Family Foundation has funded some of Israel’s illegal settlements and also a number of conservative political groups in that country. Jared has served as a director of that foundation and … failed to disclose the relationship when he filled out his background investigation sheet for a security clearance. …

Kushner, however, goes far beyond merely disagreeing over an aspect of foreign policy as he was trying to clandestinely reverse a decision made by his own legally constituted government. His closeness to Netanyahu makes him, in intelligence terms, a quite likely Israeli government agent of influence, … He is currently working on a new peace plan for the Middle East which starts out with permanently demilitarizing the Palestinians. …

[Kushner] asked the soon-to-be National Security Adviser to get the Russians to undermine and subvert what was being done by the still-in-power American government in Washington headed by President Barack Obama. … don’t expect Special Counsel Mueller to do anything about the Israel connection. … he knows full well that the Congressmen currently calling for blood in an investigation involving Russia will turn 180 degrees against him if he tries to go after Netanyahu. …

Israel, not Russia, was colluding with the Trump Administration prior to inauguration day to do something highly unethical and quite probably illegal, which should surprise no one. …

[AZJoe]

From The Intercept (https://theintercept.com/2017/12/05/michael-flynn-jared-kushner-israel-settlements-trump/):

why aren’t more members of Congress or the media discussing the Trump transition team’s pretty brazen collusion with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to undermine both U.S. government policy and international law? Shouldn’t that be treated as a major scandal? …

we now know that prior to President Donald Trump’s inauguration, members of his inner circle went to bat on behalf of Israel (https://www.buzzfeed.com/aramroston/it-was-kushner-who-told-flynn-to-make-calls-about-israel-un?utm_term=.xnkYlDj57#.cdep30qAb), and specifically on behalf of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, behind the scenes and in opposition to official U.S. foreign policy. … but colluding with Israel seems to be of far less interest, strangely.

The Obama administration had made it clear that the U.S. was planning to abstain on the resolution, while noting (https://www.timesofisrael.com/full-text-of-us-envoy-samantha-powers-speech-after-abstention-on-anti-settlement-vote/) that “the settlements have no legal validity” and observing (https://www.timesofisrael.com/full-text-of-us-envoy-samantha-powers-speech-after-abstention-on-anti-settlement-vote/) how “the settlement problem has gotten so much worse that it is now putting at risk the … two-state solution.” …

“On or about December 22, 2016, a very senior member of the Presidential Transition Team directed Flynn to contact officials from foreign governments, including Russia, to learn where each government stood on the resolution and to influence those governments to delay the vote or defeat the resolution,” reads the statement of offense (https://www.justice.gov/file/1015126/download) against Flynn …

Who was the “very senior member” of the transition team who “directed” Flynn to do all this? Multiple (https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/936684102987714560) news (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kushner-mcfarland-talked-to-flynn-about-russia/) outlets (https://www.buzzfeed.com/aramroston/it-was-kushner-who-told-flynn-to-make-calls-about-israel-un?utm_term=.xnkYlDj57#.cdep30qAb) have confirmed that it was Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and main point man on the Middle East peace process. “Jared called Flynn and told him you need to get on the phone to every member of the Security Council and tell them to delay the vote,” a Trump transition official revealed to BuzzFeed News (https://www.buzzfeed.com/aramroston/it-was-kushner-who-told-flynn-to-make-calls-about-israel-un?utm_term=.xnkYlDj57#.cdep30qAb) on Friday, adding that Kushner told Flynn “this was a top priority for the president.” …

NONE OF THIS HAS been contested. In fact, on Sunday, Kushner made a rare public appearance (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/03/us/politics/kushner-israel-palestinians-peace.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news) at the Saban Forum in Washington, D.C., to discuss the Trump administration’s plans for the Middle East and was welcomed by the forum’s sponsor, the Israeli-American billionaire Haim Saban, who said (https://twitter.com/Joyce_Karam/status/937387346651205632) he “personally wanted to thank” Kushner for “taking steps to try and get the United Nations Security Council to not go along with what ended up being an abstention by the U.S.” …

Meanwhile, the Israelis have been pretty forthcoming about their own role in all of this, too. On Monday, Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S. and a close friend and ally of Netanyahu, told (https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/12/04/ron-dermer-global-politico-transcript-216002) Politico’s Susan Glasser that, in December 2016, “obviously we reached out to [the Trump transition team] in the hope that they would help us,” and “we were hopeful that they would speak” to other governments “in order to prevent this vote from happening.”

Got that? The Trump transition team — in the form of key Trump advisers Kushner and Flynn — reached out to the Russian government in order to undermine the U.S. government because the Israeli government asked them to.

Where’s the outrage? How is the sheer “scope and audacity” of the Trump-Netanyahu backchannels … not a bigger story? …

[Trump Mideast Policy Outsourced to Israel]
Then there is the issue of Middle East policy itself. It wasn’t outsourced to the Israelis by Trump and Co. only during the transition or only over settlements. The outsourcing has continued in office. Tomorrow, Trump is expected to announce (https://www.politico.com/story/2017/12/01/trump-jerusalem-israel-capital-274462) that the United States will recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel — … The decision on Jerusalem is so contentious that it both undermines (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/03/abbas-warns-world-leaders-trump-recognition-jerusalem-us-embassy-move) any chance of reviving the peace process and threatens to cost lives (http://www.businessinsider.com/why-trump-plan-to-move-us-embassy-to-jerusalem-is-a-bad-idea-2016-12) — not just those of Israelis and Palestinians, but of Americans too. …

what we do know for sure and what seems beyond doubt is that Flynn and Kushner colluded with Netanyahu and Dermer …

[AZJoe]

So after more than a year of full on "Russia-gate" investigation, there has been produced zero evidence of any Russia collusion.

However, it has uncovered a plethora of evidence of FBI collusion of cover-up of crimes, collusion to subvert the will of the electorate, rig the presidential election, and use of intelligence agencies for direct political partisan objectives including espionage on political opponents.

In addition it has uncovered ironclad blatant and direct proof of collusion with the government of Israel to subvert and undermine the express policy and objectives of the US government.