Thursday, June 04, 2009

ISRAEL - US DEFENCE MINISTERS MEET IN WSH

US, Israeli defense ministers meet in Washington Thu Jun 4, 10:52 pm ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US Defense Secretary Robert Gates met with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak for discussions on security issues of mutual concern, the Pentagon said.The Pentagon provided no details on the substance of the discussions which coincided with US President Barack Obama's address in Cairo seeking a better relationship with the Muslim world.Secretary Gates assured Minister Barak that the US is prepared to continue on-going dialogue regarding our security assistance and cooperation with Israel to address common challenges, the Pentagon said in a statement.Israel has insistently raised its concerns about Iran's nuclear program with Washington over the past year as Tehran has made progress in enriching uranium and testing ballistic missiles.In the past, the Pentagon has responded to Israeli concerns by agreeing to provide an advanced anti-missile radar, shared missile early warning data and continued funding for Israel's Arrow missile defense project.But Gates and Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have made clear they oppose military action.The Pentagon said Barak's visit reflects the constant, robust, and on-going dialogue between our two nations regarding Israel's requirements and capabilities.

Muslims like Obama tone, want action to back it up By MARJORIE OLSTER, Associated Press Writers – Thu Jun 4, 2:56 pm ET

CAIRO – Muslim shopkeepers, students and even radical groups such as Hamas praised President Barack Obama's address Thursday as a positive shift in U.S. attitude and tone. But Arabs and Muslims of all political stripes said they want him to turn his words into action — particularly in standing up to Israel.Obama impressed Muslims with his humility and respect and they were thrilled by his citing of Quranic verses. Aiming to repair ties with the Muslim world that had been strained under his predecessor George W. Bush, he opened with the traditional Arabic greeting Assalamu Aleikum,which drew enthusiastic applause from his audience at Cairo University.Even some extremist Web sites, which have carried statements from al-Qaida in the past, gave rare praise for Obama by calling him a wise enemy. One posting on a chat room expressed admiration for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton wearing a head scarf ... and she and Obama taking off their shoes during a visit to Cairo's Sultan Hassan mosque.Mohammed Zakarneh, a 33-year-old former fugitive militant in the West Bank town of Jenin, said Obama's speech planted seeds of hope in our hearts, as Arabs and Muslims.Obama's address touched on many themes Muslims wanted to hear. He insisted Palestinians must have a state and said continued Israeli settlement in the West Bank is not legitimate. He assured them the U.S. would pull all it troops out of Iraq by 2012 and promised no permanent U.S. presence in Afghanistan.But at the top of his priorities, he put the battle against violent extremism. And he was faulted for not apologizing for U.S. wars in Muslim countries.The Iranian government, which Obama is trying to draw into a dialogue, was silent. But state television described the speech as:Too many words. Attractive but unbelievable.Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said there was change in tone. But he complained that Obama did not specifically mention the suffering in Gaza following the Israeli incursion this year that killed more than 1,000 Palestinians.

There is a change between the language of President Obama and previous speeches made by George Bush, he said. So all we can say is that there is a difference in the statements, and the statements of today did not include a mechanism that can translate his wishes and views into actions,said Barhoum, whose group the U.S. considers a terrorist organization.But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate who rivals Hamas for leadership of the Palestinians, welcomed Obama's words.

The part of Obama's speech regarding the Palestinian issue is an important step under new beginnings, his spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh said.It shows there is a new and different American policy toward the Palestinian issue.In Gaza, a Palestinian living with his wife and nine children in two tents after their home was razed in the Israeli offensive this year, cringed at Obama's demand that Palestinians recognize Israel's right to exist.For a man like me, who has been terrorized by Israel, who has lost his home because of Israel ... he ignored my suffering, and he started talking about their (Israelis') rights and that Hamas and the Palestinians should recognize Israel,said Mohammed Khader, 47, after watching Obama on a generator-powered TV set. Unbelievable.In a traditional Ramallah coffee shop, middle-aged men watched the speech on TV while they puffed on cigarettes or water pipes. Some even put their card and backgammon games on hold to follow along.

Customer Basel Abul Abed said it was a turning point.

His real problem will be with Israel, not with Arabs and not with Muslims, he said. We are waiting for Mr. Obama's real work. Next time we see him, we want him to congratulate us for our Palestinian state.Another customer, 56-year-old Mohammed Sbeih, said: His point in the speech of recognizing the Palestinians suffering is a positive point. But if the Palestinians have to abandon violence, Israel will have to as well.A joint statement by eight Syrian-based radical Palestinian factions, including Hamas, was harsher. Obama's speech is an attempt to mislead people and create more illusions to improve America's aggressive image in the Arab and Islamic world,it said. The message for Israel was mixed. Obama strongly endorsed the U.S. alliance with the Jewish state but harshly criticized its West Bank settlement policy. The director of Israel's government press office, Danny Seaman, said the speech was not bad.Before the address, many Muslims said one of the things they wanted to hear most from Obama was respect for Islam. And many said he delivered.

It was very good of him to address Muslims by quoting from holy Quran, something I did not expect in his speech, said Osama Ahmed Sameh, a 45-year-old Iraqi government employee at the Ministry of Higher Education. In Egypt, Shahinda al-Bahgouri, a 20-year-old student at Cairo University where Obama spoke, was also impressed. All we want as Muslims is for there to be a partnership,she said.And he was seriously humble. Humility is important for us.In Syria, political analyst Imad Shouaibi said: It is a speech with a different language from what we used to hear. This is a positive thing.Sheik Muhammad al-Nujaimi, member of the committee in charge of rehabilitating Saudi militants, said he is going to tell the militants Muslims should offer help to the new American administration and reciprocate its overtures. Americans are a civilized people. The previous president didn't represent them. Today, there's a new president who's using a new language and wants a new world in place. We should give him a chance and not open up a new front that will lead to the failure of his plan.Zahid Husain Gardezi, a 50-year-old landowner in the Pakistani city of Multan, was pleased by Obama's warmth. It is the first time I have ever heard such affectionate words from an American for Muslims,he said.Arab satellite stations Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera, as well as Egyptian TV broadcast the speech live, with a voice-over Arabic translation. Lebanese Hezbollah officials said they didn't watch Obama's speech although the group's Al-Manar TV carried it live. The station's newscast described it as historic — a rare acknowledgment from a mouthpiece of the militant Shiite group. But the approval was tinged with criticism, saying Obama spoke to the Muslim world more like a preacher and did not distance himself from the pro-Israeli lobbyists.

Syrian state TV did not air the speech but the mobile text messaging service of the official Syrian news agency SANA sent four urgent headlines on it as Obama spoke.

Afghanistan's state television broadcast the speech live, but without translation so few could understand it. At a Kabul restaurant, diner Ahmad Khalid watched the speech on TV and said Obama's words should turn into action. The Americans should not do what they are doing in Muslim countries,he said. Iranian television did not air Obama and most Iranians who own satellite dishes could not watch it as their reception was jammed.In Iran, Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a cleric who was vice president under reformist President Mohammad Khatami, called the speech compensation for a hostile environment which was created during President Bush.Political commentator Ali Reza Khamesian said Obama's acknowledgment of Iran's right to produce nuclear energy for peaceful purposes was a step forward for better ties with the United States.Before the speech, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said any statements by Obama were just words, speech and slogan without specific measures by Washington, such as lifting sanctions on Iran.In Iraq, the anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr — whose militia fighters waged fierce battles with the Americans before a cease-fire in 2007 —was skeptical U.S. policy would change. The honeyed and flowery speeches express only one thing — that America wants to adopt a different attitude in subduing the world and putting it under its control and globalization,al-Sadr said in a statement. Some Iraqis were disappointed that Obama did not express remorse for his predecessor's war on Iraq.I think there should have been apologies from him for the deaths and misery caused by wrong American policies against Muslims, whether it be in our region or in other places,said Baghdad engineer Muhsin Karim, 45. Mohammed Ali, 40, a Shiite cleric from Najaf, was reassured by Obama that the U.S. is committed to getting out of Iraq. Listening to Obama's speech, I became more assured that the withdrawal of the U.S. troops from Iraq will be implemented and that the new U.S. administration is committed to help Iraq,he said.

Others were critical.

Wahyudin, the 57-year-old director of a hard-line Islamic boarding school in Jakarta, Indonesia, said I don't trust him.He's just trying to apologize to Muslims because of what America — or really Bush — has done in the past, said Wahyudin, who goes by one name. He's promising to be different. But that's all it is, a promise. We want action. We want to see an end to all intervention in Muslim countries. That's what we're fighting for.In Pakistan, where the U.S. believes many top al-Qaida leaders including Osama bin Laden may be hiding, citizens were generally skeptical that American deeds would match Obama's soaring words. Whatever wounds America has inflicted on the world, they are very deep and they cannot be erased away by only one speech,political analyst Siraj Wahab told Aaj TV. Hamayon Raza, a pharmacy owner in Multan, pointed to a Pakistani army offensive against the Taliban in the northwest Swat Valley that has displaced up to 3 million people and blamed it on Obama. The American president has fooled Muslims, Raza said.Whatever has happened in Iraq, Afghanistan and now in Pakistan, who would believe Obama's words? Associated Press reporters from the Middle East, Asia and Europe contributed to this report.

Obama seeks to change Muslim perceptions of U.S. By Ross Colvin and David Alexander – Thu Jun 4, 5:27 pm ET

CAIRO (Reuters) – President Barack Obama sought to change Muslim perceptions of the United States on Thursday in a speech that urged Arabs and Israelis to declare in public the realities he said they accept in private.Addressing the world's more than 1 billion Muslims from Cairo, Obama called for a new beginning in ties between Washington and the Islamic world in his speech that also tackled grievances over two U.S.-led wars and tensions over Iran.Some Muslims welcomed Obama's fresh tone after George W. Bush's departure even as others expressed frustration that he failed to outline specific changes to U.S. policy, reflecting skepticism in the region Obama must still overcome.In his keynote speech, occasionally interrupted by shouts of we love you, Obama said he did not want U.S. troops to stay in Iraq or Afghanistan forever and offered mutual respect in seeking to resolve differences with long-time foe, Tehran.We meet at a time of tension between the United States and Muslims around the world -- tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate,Obama said in the address that included quotes from Islam's holy book, the Koran.I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect, he said. America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition.

This cycle of suspicion and discord must end,he said.

Highlighting hostility the U.S. leader faces from some quarters, al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in a message on a website, warned Muslims against alliance with Christians and Jews, saying it would annul their faith.The supreme leader of Washington's regional arch foe, Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said before Obama spoke that America was deeply hated and only action, not slogans, could change that.
The choice of Cairo for the speech underscored Obama's focus on the Middle East, where he faces big foreign policy challenges, from trying to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to curbing Iran's nuclear plans that Washington says is to build atomic bombs. Tehran denies any such aims.His trip included touring a 14th century mosque and the pyramids in the desert on the edge of Cairo. He was seen off at the airport, walking up the red carpet in the t-shirt and trousers he wore while visiting the ancient pharaonic sites.

TWO-STATE SOLUTION

Although the administration tried to lower expectations in recent days about what the speech would accomplish, there were high hopes in the region that he would take a tougher line on Israel and follow up his words with actions.He offered few specifics on democracy, rule of law and human rights in the Arab world, issues many hoped he would spell out.He should have been outspoken about democracy and the universal principles of human rights,said Syrian lawyer Mohannad al-Hassani.Obama, who wants to build a coalition of Muslim governments to back his diplomatic moves, affirmed his commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying it was in the interest of all concerned parties.That is why I intend to personally pursue this outcome with all the patience that the task requires, he said.He said Palestinians had to abandon violence and urged them to acknowledge Israel's right to exist. He also said Israel should stop building settlements in the West Bank. It is time for us to act on what everyone knows to be true,Obama said, adding Washington would say in public what we say in private and told others to follow suit.

Palestinian official Nabil Abu Rdainah said: President Obama's speech is a good start and an important step toward a new American policy.Israel responded by saying it shared President Obama's hopes for Middle East peace but Israel's security interests remained paramount. The official statement made no mention of Jewish settlements nor Palestinian statehood. Obama said Iran should have access to peaceful atomic power, but it must adhere to nuclear non-proliferation. (This) is about preventing a nuclear arms race in the Middle East that could lead this region and the world down a hugely dangerous path, Obama said.Obama said the United States had no interest in keeping military bases in Afghanistan and said Washington had a responsibility to leave Iraq to Iraqis and build a better future for them. This speech was very inspiring and I think many people will welcome it, because he tried to be neutral and honest and objective,said Egyptian analyst Khalil al-Anani.

Other reaction was mixed.

The Islamic world does not need moral or political sermons. It needs a fundamental change in American policy,said MP Hassan Fadlallah of Lebanon's Hezbollah. Mohamed Habib, deputy leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, said: It's a public relations address more than anything else.(Additional by Reuters bureaus; Writing by David Alexander and Edmund Blair; Editing by Samia Nakhoul.)

World Bank: Aid won't spark Palestinian growth By KARIN LAUB, Associated Press Writer – Thu Jun 4, 12:34 am ET

RAMALLAH, West Bank – Massive aid to the Palestinians can slow economic decline, but won't revive their private sector sufficiently to gradually ease their need for external support, the World Bank said Thursday, challenging assumptions that have long guided donor countries.The Palestinian economy has considerable potential for growth, the bank said in a report. However, development continues to be stymied by Israeli restrictions on Palestinian trade and movement in the West Bank and the growing isolation of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, the bank said.As a result, Palestinians are becoming more, not less, dependent on foreign aid, the report said.

In this policy environment and pending a political resolution to the conflict, aid should be recognized for what it is — more of a stabilizing measure, slowing down socio-economic decline, than a catalyst for sustainable economic development, the report said.At a pledging conference in December 2007, the international community set out a far more ambitious agenda — pumping huge sums into the Palestinian territories in hopes of stimulating the private sector in the West Bank and gradually reducing Palestinian dependence on aid.At the time, donor countries pledged $7.7 billion over three years, a large chunk of it as direct support for the government of Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The large pledges coincided with a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.However, the talks ended inconclusively a year later, and Israel's new prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has not endorsed the principle of Palestinian statehood. He has proposed economic peace, an idea the Palestinians reject because it falls short of independence.Netanyahu has set up a ministerial committee that looks at ways to spur Palestinian growth, including by removing bureaucratic obstacles by Israel, said government spokesman Mark Regev.We want to work with the Palestinians and the international community,he said.Any good idea that can move the Palestinian economy forward, we want to hear it.

However, the World Bank noted that Israel has been slow in relaxing the sweeping restrictions on trade and movement — closures, a network of checkpoints, cumbersome cargo checks — first set up after the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000.Israel has removed a few physical obstacles in recent months, but not on a scale that would boost the economy or investor confidence, the bank wrote. Israel took down a main checkpoint near the city of Nablus on Wednesday but insists it needs roadblocks to prevent attacks by Palestinian militants.The real gross domestic product grew about 2 percent in 2008 which, the bank said, translates to an almost 1 percent decline in real per capita terms.What little growth there was took place in the West Bank, the report said.Gaza, already buckling under two years of border closures since Hamas overran the territory, suffered another setback with Israel's war on the Islamic militants earlier this year. Israel launched the three-week offensive to halt Gaza rocket fire on border towns.At a March pledging conference, donor countries promised $5.2 billion to the Palestinians, some of it recycled pledges and some of it new funds, to rebuild what the war destroyed. However, with Gaza's borders still closed, reconstruction has not begun.Meanwhile, Abbas is also struggling to keep his Palestinian Authority afloat, despite the aid.Since November, his government has had to borrow $530 million from banks to help pay the salaries of some 150,000 civil servants, including tens of thousands of former government employees in Gaza who are still loyal to Abbas.Analysts said the crunch is mainly due to Arab donors who have been withholding funds to pressure Abbas and his Hamas rivals to reach a power-sharing deal. Despite the scaled-back expectations of what aid can achieve, the World Bank urged donors to keep making good on their pledges. The Palestinian Authority needs to provide basic services, and it will be the key to unlock the potential of the Palestinian economy once conditions are right, the bank said.

All Israeli options against Iran on table: Barak Wed Jun 3, 2:02 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak refused on Wednesday to rule out a military strike on Iran, just hours after Israel's foreign minister said the Jewish state would not do so.I repeat what I have always said, we are not taking any options off the table, Barak said after meetings with officials from U.S. President Barack Obama's administration in Washington.Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said earlier at a Moscow news conference that Israel is not planning to bomb Iran.Widely believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear power, Israel has repeatedly described Iran's uranium enrichment as a threat to its existence and has said all options were on the table in preventing Tehran from building atomic weapons.Barak said Israel supports the Obama administration's initiative to try to talk Iran out of trying to build nuclear weapons but believes it should be limited to a set timeframe.

He added that it would not take long to discover Iran's nuclear aspirations.

We are talking about a number of months, no more. Whether it is late August, or early or mid September, it should be enough to understand whether the Iranians are serious (about compromise) or whether they are just playing for time,Barak said.Iran says its nuclear program is for electricity generation.(Reporting by Dan Williams, writing by Ori Lewis in Jerusalem; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

Israel's Barak urges U.S. to rethink settlement stand By Dan Williams – Tue Jun 2, 5:10 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak lobbied the United States on Tuesday to rethink its demand to curb Jewish settlements in the West Bank, a dispute that has strained ties as the allies try to close ranks against Iran.A U.S.-sponsored 2003 peace road map requires that Israel stop expanding the settlements, whose presence on occupied land where Palestinians seek a state was deemed illegal by the World Court.Israel, which says previous U.S. President George W. Bush tacitly agreed that new settler homes could go up to match population growth, has been taken aback by the Obama administration's repeated public calls for a halt.Right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said a total settlement freeze would not be reasonable -- risking a diplomatic showdown with Western powers keen to revive Palestine talks and stabilize the wider Middle East.Barak, who has responsibilities for the West Bank, met U.S. National Security Adviser James Jones on Tuesday to ask for greater flexibility on the settlement issue, but the discussion ended without agreement, an Israeli official said.An Obama administration official described the meeting as constructive, adding that Jones stressed to Barak the need for all sides to fulfill their commitments under the road map and to take steps to create a climate conductive to negotiations.President Barack Obama briefly joined the two at their White House meeting. He was to leave later on a Middle East peace promotion tour that will include stops in Saudi Arabia and Egypt and a much-anticipated speech to the Muslim world on Thursday.The Israeli official said beforehand Barak would argue that stopping private construction in areas where Israel claims sovereignty risked harming Netanyahu's domestic standing and undermining his fractious coalition government,not least given the unclear horizon on the Palestinian front.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has made efforts to meet his own road map requirement of reining in anti-Israel militias. But his is a divided polity, with rival Hamas Islamists ruling the Gaza Strip and refusing to coexist with the Jewish state.

NON-STARTERS

Barak is scheduled to meet U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday and Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday.His (Barak's) visit is part of a long process of trying to manage this dispute,the Israeli official said.In a letter in 2004 to then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Bush gave what Israel took as a presidential nod to its stated plan to annex major settlement blocs under any peace deal -- something the Palestinians have ruled out as a non-starter.Jones has championed projects to boost Abbas's security forces and the West Bank economy, hoping to provide Palestinians an attractive alternative to Hamas, whose Gaza fiefdom has been further impoverished by an international embargo.Netanyahu, however, has balked at giving Abbas powers that could be parlayed into sovereign rights, such as setting up an army. Israel fears that Hamas, having swept a 2006 election, might eventually expand its power base to the West Bank.Underscoring this concern is the rise of Iran, which backs Hamas and whose nuclear program Israel -- assumed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal -- considers a mortal threat.For now, Israel has quietly acceded to Obama's strategy of talking to Tehran about curtailing its uranium enrichment, a process with bomb-making potential. The Iranians say the program is for peaceful energy development.Helping allay Israeli anxieties is a multi-level missile shield helmed by Barak and underwritten by the United States.Israeli officials said Barak hoped to settle a disagreement over whether the top tier should be Arrow III, an interceptor favored by Israel that would be produced jointly by Israelis and Americans, or a land version of a U.S. system known as Aegis, which some in Washington are pushing. A seaborne Aegis is already stationed in the Mediterranean and a U.S. official said Gates could offer to ship it to Israel's shores should there be a flareup with Iran.

Barak, formerly Israel's most decorated soldier, heads the center-left Labour party and is remembered in Washington as both warrior and peacemaker. In 2000, as Israeli prime minister during President Bill Clinton's administration, he led short-lived negotiations with the Palestinians and Syria. (Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Vicki Allen)

Russia, Israel play down Mideast differences by Marina Lapenkova – Tue Jun 2, 10:40 am ET

BARVIKHA, Russia (AFP) – Right-wing Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Tuesday hailed Russia as a key partner as he moved to play down differences with Moscow over Iran and Palestinian militants.Right from the start, Russia has been one of the main partners both in terms of a regional settlement and the Palestinian problem,Lieberman said as he met President Dmitry Medvedev at his residence near Moscow.We are connected by very many humanitarian, military and political issues. These will all be priority issues for us,said Lieberman, speaking fluent Russian thanks to his family origins in Soviet-era Moldova.Earlier in the visit, Lieberman said Israeli-Russian relations were at their highest point ever.Alluding to Israeli concerns about Russian ties with Iran, he welcomed an assurance by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Russia would only sell weapons in the Middle East if it would not upset the regional balance.I also agree with Sergei Viktorovich (Lavrov). Any deliveries of arms to any region that changes the balance of power or disturbs stability is impossible, Lieberman said.Lavrov indicated there was progress on a plan long-cherished by Russia -- a member of the international quartet for Middle East peace -- to host a peace conference to bring together Israeli and Palestinian officials.Such a conference is expected to considerably boost Russia's diplomatic credentials -- if it goes ahead. Israel has viewed the idea sceptically due to the possible attendance by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

But Lavrov said later Tuesday that Lieberman had assured Medvedev that Israel was ready to take part in such a conference this year.Lavrov also voiced optimism about US President Barack Obama's overtures to Iran and the prospects for renewing international talks with the Islamic Republic -- an arch-foe of Israel -- on its nuclear programme.We have a really good chance, including due to the position of the new US administration, Lavrov said.Israeli-Russian ties have improved somewhat in recent months, despite Israeli worries about Moscow's cooperation with Iran.Russian defence officials have said that a planned sale of sophisticated S-300 air defence systems to Iran which had disturbed Israel has been halted.In a rare step, Russia's military has also recently bought aerial surveillance drones from an Israeli contractor.Russia carefully balances its desire to keep strong ties with the Arab world -- which date back to Soviet times -- without provoking Israel which is now the home of thousands of Russian Jews and a popular holiday destination.Lieberman, who is to meet Prime Minister Vladimir Putin later in his visit, has set improving ties with Russia as one of his priorities under the recently confirmed Israeli government.

However, the Russian daily Kommersant said Lieberman had made it clear ahead of his visit that Israel would not attend Russia's Middle East conference if representatives of Hamas were invited.Russia has kept up ties with the leadership of Hamas, which Israel considers a terrorist organisation, arguing the need for dialogue between both sides.Only last month the Israeli government said it was deeply disappointed when Lavrov met the exiled head of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, in Damascus. Lieberman was also likely to warn against ties with Iran during his visit, especially due to worries that the Islamic Republic could be emboldened by a recent nuclear test in North Korea, Kommersant said.The Israelis believe cooperation between the Islamic Republic and several states including Russia is helping speed up Tehran's moves in a dangerous direction,the Russian newspaper said.

Sirens sound across Israel in doomsday drill by Leigh Baldwin – Tue Jun 2, 6:46 am ET

TEL AVIV (AFP) – Sirens wailed across Israel on Tuesday, sending many into shelters as part of the largest-ever exercise to test the response to a doomsday mix of missile attacks, suicide bombings and natural disasters.Israelis throughout the country were asked to head to shelters when they heard the sirens, with radio and television underlining that it was only as part of an exercise.The purpose of the siren is to affect the consciousness of the Israeli public, Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai said.Every citizen of the state should know that an emergency drill can take place anytime anywhere, and how they should act.Schoolchildren, government workers and shoppers at malls headed to basements when the alerts screeched across the country as part of a five-day exercise that simulates responses to rocket strikes from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon and missile attacks from arch-foes Syria and Iran.

Many, however, seemed indifferent.

We've just ordered food, said Vered, 39, whose salad and orange juice arrived at a cafe inside the Dizengoff Centre shopping mall in Tel Aviv, where nearly all those with seats stayed put.It's not that we don't think it matters, she said.Had we known we wouldn't have ordered. It's important. But not so important that we'd leave our food.Exercise Turning Point 3 is also aimed at simulating the conduct of rescue and medical services during earthquakes and epidemics and involves the participation of schools, government ministers and other state institutions.At the Mitzpe Golan school in Bnei Yehuda on the Golan Heights, children lined up in a more or less orderly fashion to enter shuttered classrooms as the sirens began wailing.This kind of exercise is particularly relevant in the Golan as the danger is real, one teacher said as the children clapped and sang a song.The area was among those the came under Hezbollah rocket fire during the July-August 2006 war between Lebanon's Shiite militia and Israel.Israel began conducting its emergency services drills annually in the aftermath of the war, which revealed major weaknesses in how the Jewish state's homefront dealt with the rocket attacks.This year's drill was the largest held in the three years since the war.It comes just two weeks after the air force wrapped up a massive four-day exercise that tested its ability to defend against missile and jet strikes from Syria and Iran.It was the first time the army has simulated strikes from arch-foe Iran, located more than 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) away.

Israel PM says we can't freeze settlements Mon Jun 1, 7:28 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strongly rejected on Monday US calls to freeze Jewish settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.We can't freeze life in the settlements,Netanyahu said, according to a senior official in the premier's office.There are reasonable demands and unreasonable demands. The fate of the settlements will be decided in a final status agreement, he was quoted as telling parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee.He stressed that while the government would not halt expansion within existing settlements, it will not build new settlements and will dismantle outposts which Israel considers unlawful.On the issue of construction within settlements we still haven't reached an understanding with the Americans,Netanyahu said.At least four Palestinians were wounded on Monday in attacks by Jewish settlers angered at the possibility the state may dismantle outposts in the West Bank, medics and witnesses said.Netanyahu also said his government was willing to resume peace talks with the Palestinians immediately not only on economic and security issues but on diplomatic questions.

He said Israel was ready to hold the talks without preconditions.

I'm ready to give them all the sovereign powers to rule themselves except for those that will put our security in danger, he said, adding: We are not ready for them to have an army or to be able make alliances with Iran.Israel should be recognised as the state of the Jewish people at the end of the process,he said.He also expressed support for US calls to boost peace hopes by normalising relations between Arab states and Israel, saying: The Arab states can take steps towards normalisation with Israel by forging trade ties and diplomatic ties and holding meetings with Israelis.

Israeli proposal: Make Jordan the official Palestinian homeland By Tom A. Peter and Ilene R. Prusher – Mon Jun 1, 5:00 am ET

Amman, Jordan; and Jerusalem – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior members of his cabinet have pushed back hard against a renewed US demand to end settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territories. Interior Minister Eli Yishai said Sunday that it amounted to expulsion.But 53 Israeli parliamentarians have moved to explore another kind of expulsion: Under a proposal to be reviewed this week, Jordan would become the official homeland for Palestinians now living in the West Bank.Among the challenges facing the proposal is this: nobody asked Jordan if it would support such a plan.

Not surprisingly, it doesn't.

Nearly half of the Knesset's 120 members moved last Wednesday to pass the two states for two peoples on the two banks of the River Jordan proposal on to the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for further discussion.Israeli officials say the Knesset's vote does not represent the government's position and is unlikely to become official policy, while analysts dismiss it as a bid from the far right to undermine Mr. Netanyahu. But for many in Jordan, the bill personifies concerns about Israel's new, conservative government and its lack of commitment to the peace process.It has done big damage,says Mamdouh Abbadi, a member of the Jordanian parliament who has been among the most vocal in calling for government action against the proposal. Even if it's not passed, when 53 members of the parliament [Knesset] accept this law in the first reading, this is very important. We can't think it's just for show; it's the real thinking of the Israeli parliament and they represent the people.Last week, Jordan's foreign minister summoned the Israeli ambassador to deliver an official letter rejecting the idea and calling for the Israelis to stop the bill last week. In parliament, a group of at least 36 lawmakers are working to encourage their government to take strong action against Israel.

Right-wing idea, but some support from left
The proposal, put on the Knesset's agenda by Aryeh Eldad of the National Union party, holds that Palestinians in the West Bank should either become residents of Israel or be offered Jordanian citizenship, since – in the view of its authors – it is already the de facto Palestinian state. Already, more than half of Jordanians are of Palestinian origin, many the descendants of refugees who fled or were expelled when Israel declared independence in 1948.The idea of Jordan as a Palestinian homeland has existed for years in Israel, but has never gained much support. This most recent bill, however, found a handful of supporters among Israel's liberal Labor Party.

Officials in Israel's foreign ministry tried to minimize the importance of the bill by pointing out that it was not supported by members of the ruling coalition. The National Union party holds only four seats in the 120-seat Knesset.This proposal doesn't represent the government, says Andy David, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry.In a parliamentary system, there are many suggestions that turn into policy, and some of them don't. If it turns into policy, we'll discuss it then.

Main damage: peace process
Nawaf Tell, director of the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan, doubts that the bill will go much further. But he says it may damage the peace process that Jordan's King Abdullah II and other Arab leaders have been working to restart.What one wants from Israel today is basically to prove its peace credentials, especially given the current composition of Knesset and the trends that are becoming evident in Israeli public opinion, says Mr. Tell.What these groups are doing ... is to maintain the status quo and to prevent the peace process from relaunching and achieving its desired results.He adds that newly elected Netanyahu brings the baggage of his last term in the late 1990s, in which he alienated many Jordanians with his hard-line polices. Khalil Atiyah, a member of Jordan's parliament, is among those unable to fully trust the new Israeli government. Aside from questioning Netanyahu's commitment to peace, he says that Israel's foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, is against all types of coexistence and peace process. So although he recognizes that it's unlikely Israel's bill about Jordan will come to fruition, he says that is not outside of the realm of possibility.It's not a remote idea that the Knesset might take foolish steps towards the peace process,he says.

Bid to undermine Netanyahu?
Most Israelis are quite dismissive of the proposal, however. Prof. Shmuel Sandler, a Bar-Ilan University professor who specializes in Israeli politics and the settlement movement, says the bill was more of a symbolic move meant to frustrate Netanyahu and outflank him on the right. Professor Sandler notes that the National Union didn't even make it into Netanyahu's government because the rightist prime minister chose to put the traditionally left-wing Labor party in his coalition over far-right parties that would rule out options for peacemaking.As for how serious this is, I don't think the Jordanians have to worry about it. Most Israelis in the establishment see Jordan as an important ally,he says.The National Union doesn't carry much weight. But it can cause trouble to Netanyahu by making his effort to evacuate settlements more and more difficult.

Israel names new negotiator for Hamas prisoner swap Sun May 31, 1:25 pm ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday appointed a new envoy to head indirect negotiations on a prisoner swap with the Islamist Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip.Hagai Hadas, a former commander in the Mossad spy agency, will oversee talks on the release of soldier Gilad Shalit, held in Gaza since his capture by Palestinian militants in June 2006, the premier's office said in a statement.

Hamas and Israel blame each other for the failure of negotiations in Cairo in mid-March aimed at securing a deal under which Israel would free hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit.Ofer Dekel, the previous Israeli prisoner negotiator who was appointed by former prime minister Ehud Olmert, stepped down shortly after Netanyahu took office in March.The talks on a swap have not resumed since Netanyahu's right-leaning government took office at the start of April, and the premier has so far refused to say whether he accepts the framework of the previous negotiations.

Israel, which launched a devastating 22-day onslaught on Hamas in Gaza in December, has made the release of Shalit a precondition for a lasting ceasefire and an end to its blockade of the enclave.A corporal at the time of his capture, Shalit has since been promoted to staff sergeant.