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Earlier this morning, new sanctions were imposed on Iran that effectively cut off the country’s central bank from the global economy. Following this announcement United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice appeared on MSNBC, where she discussed the sanctions with Andrea Mitchell:

The President has been very clear. The United States will stand with Israel and the rest of the international community to take the steps necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. This is a matter of great importance to our national security, as well as to countries in the region, obviously including Israel. We want to continue to increase the pressure on Iran—the economic pressure—to change its behavior, to change course and come clean about its nuclear program. We have ratcheted up the sanctions at every stage. The United Nations in June 2010 passed the broadest and harshest sanctions to date on Iran and those are having a real bite. We have passed, on a national basis, ever tougher sanctions. The EU has done the same. Countries in the Gulf Region and Asia, Canada, and many others around the world.  

And Iran is really starting to feel economic pressure—by their own admission—from the highest levels they’re saying that it’s crippling and biting. We think that pressure needs to have an opportunity to play its course. As the President has said repeatedly, we have taken no options off the table. But we hope and believe that it might be possible yet for this situation to be addressed through diplomacy. That is our hope. We will continue these efforts while ratcheting up the pressure on Iran and be clear in our determination that they will not gain nuclear weapons.

Click here or the video box above to watch the video.

Senior American military officers from the European Command are scheduled to arrive in Israel later this month to finalize plans to hold the exercise, which has been billed as the largest joint missile-defense exercise in the countries’ history.

The drill was initially scheduled for April and was supposed to see the deployment of thousands of US troops and various sophisticated American military equipment in Israel.

In December, however, Defense Minister Ehud Barak asked the Pentagon to consider the possibility of postponing the drill until later this year….

Israel and the US will use the drill to simulate missile-defense scenarios with the objective of creating a high level of interoperability so that, if needed, US missile-defense systems would be able to work with Israeli systems during a conflict.

This year’s drill is expected to be unique in its size and scope, and will also mark the first time that commander of the US European Command Adm.

James Stavridis will participate in the simulations. In the event of war, the EUCOM commander will be responsible for approving Israeli requests to deploy US missile-defense systems in Israel.

During recent GOP debates, multiple Republican presidential candidates—including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich—fabricated the story that the exercise had been cancelled by the U.S. In contrast, Katz’s article provides a concise summary regarding the exercise’s scheduling. Click here to read it. 

Sunday’s actions by President Barack Obama that were made public today, combined with the Administration’s record of gathering global partners to help block a nuclear Iran, should end any doubt about the President’s singular commitment to ensuring Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon. Obama’s record is crystal clear; he has done more than any president in history to isolate Iran and encourage Iran’s leaders to change course. By dramatically severing Iran’s economy completely from the United States, the President has taken another powerful step to safeguard America’s and Israel’s security alike—even as previous steps are yielding results. We thank President Obama for his leadership on this issue and for his actions yesterday; indeed all supporters of a secure Israel and a strong U.S.-Israel relationship owe him a debt of gratitude.

The Department of the Treasury issued a fact sheet about the new sanctions that is available here.

Prior to the Super Bowl, Obama discussed U.S. cooperation with Israel on thwarting Iran’s nuclear program in a pre-Super Bowl interview with NBC’s Matt Lauer. Obama told Lauer:

[Israel] like us believe[s] that Iran has to stand down on its nuclear weapons program. And we have mobilized the international community in a way that is unprecedented. And they are feeling the pinch. They are feeling the pressure. But they have not taken the step that they need to -diplomatically - which is to say we will pursue nuclear power, we will not pursue a nuclear weapon. Until they do, I think Israel rightly is going to be very concerned. And we will as well….

We have closer military intelligence consultation than we ever have. My number one priority continues to be the security of the United States but also the security of Israel and we are gonna make sure that we work in lockstep as we work to try to solve this, hopefully diplomatically.

... Our goal is to resolve this issue diplomatically… We’re not going to take any options off the table though. ... Our preferred solution here is diplomatic; we’re going to keep pushing on that front, but we’re not going to take any options off the table. And I’ve been very clear that we’re going to do everything we can to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and creating an arms race-a nuclear arms race-in a volatile region.

Click here or on the video box above to watch the full interview from yesterday. 

Obama said during a segment that aired this morning on NBC’s Today Show:

I think we have a very good estimate of when they could potentially achieve breakout capacity ... Do we know all of the dynamics inside of Iran? Absolutely not. ... Iran itself is a lot more divided now than it was. Knowing who is making decisions at any given time inside of Iran is tough. We do have a pretty good read on what is happening with the nuclear program.

Obama also reiterated that all options remain on the table for stopping Iran:

We have done extensive planning over the last several years over our various options in the Gulf. We are prepared to exercise these options should the need arise. But my goal is to resolve this diplomatically mainly because the only way over the long term we can ensure doesn’t get a nuclear weapon is by getting them to understand it’s not in their interest.

Click here or on the video box below to watch the full interview from this morning. 

Photo by Scott Audette/Reuters

As we and others noted previously, anti-Israel Representative Ron Paul’s (R-TX) presidential candidacy poses a unique dilemma for leading GOP presidential candidate former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. The conventional wisdom holds that Romney needs Paul’s support—and his highly energized supporters—in order to be a strong nominee. In an apparent effort to court Paul, Romney told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that he would vote for Paul if he ended up the GOP’s nominee—while expressing hope that Paul would somehow change his views after decades of railing against the U.S.-Israel relationship.

Today, The Washington Post reported on its front page that Romney and Paul appear to have struck a “strategic partnership” in the GOP primary process. According to The Washington Post:

The Romney-Paul alliance is more than a curious connection. It is a strategic partnership: for Paul, an opportunity to gain a seat at the table if his long-shot bid for the presidency fails; for Romney, a chance to gain support from one of the most vibrant subgroups within the Republican Party.

‘It would be very foolish for anybody in the Republican Party to dismiss a very real constituency,’ said one senior GOP aide in Washington who is familiar with both camps. ‘Ron Paul plays a very valuable part in the process and brings a lot of voters toward the Republican Party and ultimately into the voting booth, and that’s something that can’t be ignored.’

To ensure that they are heard - not just now but after Election Day, too - Paul and his followers are working to gain a permanent foothold in the Republican Party nationwide. One state at a time, Paul’s supporters are seating themselves at county committee meetings, and standing for election as state officers and convention delegates, to make sure their candidate’s libertarian vision is taken into account. The goal is a lasting voice for an army of outsiders that has long felt ignored and sees the nation headed toward ruin if things don’t change.

That is just fine with the Romney campaign, which would be happy to bring Paul’s constituency - perhaps the most intense and loyal in the country - into the fold.

Romney’s aides are ‘quietly in touch with Ron Paul,’ according to a Republican adviser who is in contact with the Romney campaign and spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss its internal thinking. The two campaigns have coordinated on minor things, the adviser said - even small details, such as staggering the timing of each candidate’s appearance on television the night of the New Hampshire primary for maximum effect.

One advantage for Romney is that Paul’s presence in the race helps keep the GOP electorate fractured. But there is also a growing recognition that the congressman plans to stay in the contest over the long term - and that accommodating him and his supporters could help unify Republican voters in the general election against President Obama.

‘Ron Paul wants a presence at the convention,’ the adviser said - and Romney, if he is the nominee, would grant it.

Click here to read the full article. 

Yesterday, PoltiFact confirmed that Obama has lived up to this promise.

Specifically, Congress approved $3.075 billion in security assistance for Israel as part of a larger spending package for fiscal year 2012, according to the American Israel Political Action Committee. That marks the fourth consecutive year the memorandum’s terms have been met, AIPAC said.

It’s premature to say that the succeeding six years of the memorandum’s terms will be met. But so far, Obama has followed the lead of President George W. Bush and stuck to the terms of the funding agreement. As the 2012 elections approach, there’s no evidence that this is anything but a Promise Kept.

The facts continue to speak for themselves: Obama places a high priority on the security and stability of the Jewish state.

While there had been mixed reporting previously surrounding the campaign’s reactions, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Carla Marinucci most recently reported that “officials in the campaigns of both former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Texas Representative Ron Paul are privately expressing concern about the decision” to hold the Saturday night caucus that will enfranchise a large number of observant Jewish Republicans.

Stay tuned for further developments and campaign reactions.

There has been some speculation that Democrats could struggle to hold the Jewish vote in 2012….

But there is no sign tonight of Jewish voters switching their registration over to the Republican side in Florida. According to early exit polls, just 1 percent of voters in tonight’s Republican primary identified as Jewish. That’s down from 3 percent in the Florida Republican primary in 2008, which also might mean that Jewish Republican voters in the state are not terribly enthusiastic about this group of candidates.

The Huffington Post’s Sam Stein wrote:

For all the campaign attention paid this past week to Israeli politics and—towards the end—Mitt Romney’s handling of kosher meal budgeting in Massachusetts, few if any Jews appeared to vote in the Florida GOP primary.

According to Fox News exit poll, just one percent of the state’s primary voters identified as Jewish. Thirty-one percent said they were Catholic and 59 percent said they were protestant or ‘other Christian.’ Four percent said ‘something else.’

The Jewish Journal’s Shmuel Rosner wrote:

A week ago I wrote that the most interesting question about the Florida Jewish vote is that ‘If the percentage of Republican Jews is higher this year than in 2008; if more than 4-5% of the Republican Florida voters are Jewish.’ The answer to this question is now clear: a resounding no. According to exit polls only 1% of Republican voters were Jewish - that’s not more but rather less Jewish voters than the number of 2008. 

... I don’t know how Tuesday’s results could be interpreted in ways favorable to Jewish Republicans. Clearly, the Jews of Florida aren’t moved by the candidates, they aren’t moved by the party, and they aren’t moved by Obama’s policies - not enough to switch party registration and vote for their candidate of choice.

The Forward’s Nathan Guttman also explained:

Exit polls could not provide data regarding the split in Jewish votes between Romney and Gingrich but it is largely believed that Romney had a stronger showing among Jewish Republicans. His supporters in Florida put together three events in recent weeks and all were well attended.

What exit polls do show, however, is that only 1% of Republican primary voters identified as being Jewish, down from 3% in 2008.

That means there was no shift of Jewish voters to the Republican side.

And Guttman’s Forward colleague Josh Nathan-Kazis—who reported directly from Florida prior to the primary—surmised:

... [F]ewer Jewish voters in the primary could correlate to a lack of enthusiasm among Jews for the Republican field.

Yesterday, Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich joined a conference of evangelical pastors in Jacksonville, Florida. As they received some advice on proselytizing that most American Jews would find offensive—invoking Jewish stereotypes to boot—Gingrich sat silently, and offered no comment afterwards.

According to Yahoo! News:

...Inside, the topic of the evening discussion, led by Joel Rosenberg, a novelist who writes about Islamic terrorism, focused partially on how to convert Jews to the faith.

“As a Jewish person,” Rosenberg, who was raised by a Jewish father and a Gentile mother, “our people really didn’t get it the first time Jesus came.”

He urged the audience not to be bashful, and to act quickly in case the End Times were nigh. “I know you know Jewish people,” he told them. “You have an accountant, you have a lawyer…”

Gingrich, perched in the back, waited patiently to be introduced to the nationwide audience of pastors….

Read the full article here:

Gingrich spends Sunday at church, as awkward remarks are issued from pulpit

Mitt Romney is getting heat for a 2003 veto he cast as governor of Massachusetts to reject $600,000 in additional funds for poor Jewish nursing-home residents to get kosher meals.

At the time, Romney said he nixed the funding of about $5 per day because it ‘unnecessarily’ would lead to an ‘increased rate for nursing facilities’ - even as kosher nursing homes were complaining that state-funding-formula changes could force them to close their kitchens.

‘I was outraged,’ Jeffrey Goldshine, the retired CEO of a company that operated a kosher facility in Massachusetts, told The Post yesterday.

‘For the elderly Jewish residents of a nursing home that have always been kosher - they should be entitled to continue.’

The Massachusetts Legislature approved an amendment to restore the $600,000 to finance the kosher meals allowing a ‘most vulnerable segment of our population’ to ‘enjoy a special dignity,’ according to the Jewish Community Council.

Click here to read The Post’s story. 

JTA noted:

At the time of the veto, State Rep. Ruth Balser, a Democrat from Newton,  Mass. told the Jewish Advocate that while Romney was advocating for saving money, he was ‘depriving people of essential services.’...

Eventually, the Massachusetts State Legislature approved an amendment to restore the funding for the Jewish nursing home facilities.

Click here for JTA’s story. 

This International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Michelle and I join people in the United States, in Israel, and across the globe as we remember the six million Jews and millions of others who were murdered at the hands of the Nazis.

We commit ourselves to keeping their memories alive not only in our thoughts, but through our actions. As we remember all those who perished in camps from Auschwitz to Treblinka, Dachau to Sobibor, we pledge to speak truth to those who deny the Holocaust.

As we celebrate the strength and resilience of survivors, we pledge to stand strong against all those who would commit atrocities, against the resurgence of anti-Semitism, and against hatred in all its forms.

As we draw inspiration from the righteous gentiles who risked their lives to save friends, neighbors, and even strangers, we pledge to continue the hard work of repairing the world.

Together with the State of Israel, and all our friends around the world, we dedicate ourselves to giving meaning to those powerful words: ‘Never Forget. Never Again.’

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said:

Last week, the United States joined countries throughout the world in marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day. We paused to honor the memory of the six million Jews and millions of others who were murdered at the hands of the Nazis. As President Obama said, we recommitted ourselves to “keeping their memories alive not only in our thoughts, but through our actions.” This is a time to reflect on the meaning and lessons of “Never Forget, Never Again.”

This past year, we have seen Holocaust denial increasing throughout Europe, Asia, South America and the Middle East. There has been an upsurge in anti-Semitic acts, including hateful graffiti, cemetery desecrations, verbal and physical assaults on Jews, incitement to anti-Semitic violence, and cartoons demonizing Jews.

Denying the truth of the Holocaust is an insult to history. We urge governments, civil society leaders, clerics, human rights groups and all people of conscience in all nations to speak out against this kind of hatred.  The United States will work with all of those who are committed to a world free of anti-Semitism and all other forms of ethnic or religious intolerance.

Obama’s Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice also said:

On the 67th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, I join people in the United States, in Israel, across the United Nations system and around the world in commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this day of limitless grief, we honor those who suffered and died and keep faith with all who are tormented by demagogues and killers.

The United Nations was established in the aftermath of the Shoah. Its founding documents called on member states to stand in defense of our common humanity and against the barbaric cruelty that led to Holocaust and war. Decades later, our grief over the murder of six million Jews and many millions of others has not diminished. There are those who continue to deny the plain facts of our history. There are those who continue to preach hatred and division. There are those, in plain sight of great evil, who continue to choose appalling silence.

As President Obama has said, ‘We must be ever vigilant about the spread of evil in our own time.’ The United States will never be silent when innocent life is menaced by tyranny. Today and every day, we will rededicate ourselves to the defense of human rights and human dignity. And we will never forget.