Thursday, July 18, 2013

NETANYAHU DENIES TALKS ON 1949 LINES BUT NOT FREEZE

PM Denies Talks on Basis of 1949 Lines, But Not Freeze

Binyamin Netanyahu's office denied that he accepted pre-'67 lines as the basis for talks with the PA. But what about the building freeze?-By David Lev and Chana Ya'ar-First Publish: 7/18/2013, 3:26 PM-INN

Kerry and Abbas
Kerry and Abbas-AFP photo
In a statement, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office denied that Israel had agreed to accept the 1949 armistice lines as the basis for renewed negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. Israeli officials had been quoted in earlier press reports as confirming the claim made by a top PA official.“The report is untrue,” said Netanyahu spokesman Mark Regev, who reportedly called the media organization originally responsible for the misinformation, which spread like wildfire.According to the reports, PA chief Mahmoud Abbas met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry Thursday in Jordan to discuss conditions for restarting the talks. Abbas agreed to talks with Israel, the PA official said, as the result of Netanyahu's capitulating partially to two key PA demands: the Prime Minister reportedly agreed to at least a partial building freeze in Judea and Samaria, and agreed to announce that freeze publicly, and also agreed to negotiations on the basis of the pre-1967 lines.The implications of that acceptance entails an implicit Israeli agreement to surrender the vast majority of land liberated in the 1967 Six Day War, except for the lands needed for security purposes. In the past, the PA has demanded that Israel also give up on the idea of settlement blocs, and have demanded that cities such as Ariel be evacuated and surrendered as part of any final arrangement with Israel.As a result of Netanyahu's capitulation, the PA official said, Kerry is set to announced the resumption of talks before he leaves Amman Friday.Kerry told reporters Wednesday morning after talks in Amman with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas that the gaps between Israel and the PA had “very significantly” narrowed. The secretary’s meetings with Arab League officials this week, he said, had also served to “provide the ground and a suitable environment to start negotiations.”
Building freeze
While denying the part about the 1949 armistice lines, Netanyahu's office did not issue a denial of the building freeze claim.Officials in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria said that even if Netanyahu's office did issue a denial, it would be meaningless, as the government could in any case impose a “soft” building freeze, in which it just drags its feet on approving building plans and the like, as opposed to an official freeze.In a Facebook post Thursday, former MK Yaakov Katz (Ketzaleh) said that Israelis should be very suspicious of the entire process.“Everyone knows that if Abbas suddenly agrees to talks, it is because he was promised what he has demanded all along,” he wrote. “In the same way that the negotiations conducted by Bayit Yehudi under the leadership of Naftali Bennett have led to a 50% cut in the budget for Hesder yeshivas and National Religious educational institutions, so he is leading to the negotiations Netanyahu wants to conduct that will result in the establishment of a PA state,” he added.
Road blocks removed
Army Radio also reported Thursday that Israel is considering removing at least two strategic road blocks – one in Samaria, north of Ramallah, and one in the southern Hevron Hills, in Judea, close to the Jewish community of Beit Haggai – as a good will gesture to the Palestinian Authority for the holy Islamic month of
Abbas is scheduled to meet with top Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) officials Thursday (today) to discuss the outcome of his two meetings with Kerry this week and to vote on whether to accept or reject Kerry’s proposal. A 2002 Arab League plan that originally called for Israel to be held to the 1949 Armistice Lines – which military experts have plainly said are indefensible – recently was modified by Qatar, which has raised the option of including land swaps to settle future borders.The Arab League delegation that met with Kerry “expressed hope that this will lead to a launch of serious negotiations to address all final status issues to end the conflict and achieve a just and comprehensive peace between the Palestinians and Israelis which will bless the region with security, stability and prosperity... based on a two state solution through the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the lines of the fourth of June 1967 with a limited exchange of territory of the same value and size.”

Netanyahu reportedly agrees to talks based on 1967 lines

Development denied by prime minister’s spokesman; report indicates Abbas ready to acknowledge Israel is a Jewish state

July 18, 2013, 2:59 pm 7-the times of israel
Abbas was to present Kerry’s outline for the talks to the PLO leadership in Ramallah on Thursday. Palestinian officials said there was a very good chance the plan would be approved. Kerry has been spearheading an intensive American effort to revive peace talks, which last broke down in 2010.Thus far, Abbas has refused to negotiate unless Israel halts all construction in West Bank settlements, which it last did in 2009. Recently, Israel has rejected Palestinian demands for a blanket freeze, saying negotiations should resume without the imposition of Palestinian preconditions. Kerry has offered the Palestinians a package of economic incentives worth $4 billion to restart the talks.

Israel moves to quit flagship EU project over restrictions

Pulling out of major economic initiative could strike a blow at Europe due to Israel’s status strength as a research center

July 18, 2013, 6:00 am 21-the times of israel
The EU’s new directive, made public Tuesday, contains two main elements: denial of European funding to, and cooperation with, Israeli institutions based or operating over the Green Line, and a requirement that all future agreements between Israel and the EU include a clause in which Israel accepts the European Union’s position that all territory over the Green Line does not belong to Israel.The restrictions are ostensibly meant to help Israel, by ensuring that it remains a recipient of EU funds, provided that the money doesn’t cross the Green Line, the EU has said. But they also serve to alienate Israel, which sees the restrictions as a back-handed way of predetermining its future borders.“This is important in view of the new opportunities that will be offered to Israel (as an ENP [European Neighborhood Policy] partner) for participation in EU programmes and other funding instruments in the 2014-2020 financial framework,” read an EU statement issued to The Times of Israel.“The Europeans have a right to do whatever they like with their money. However, their directives also influence what Israeli institutions do with funds that do not come from the EU, and that is unacceptable,” a senior Jerusalem official told Maariv.Israel is poised to play a central role in the Horizon 2020 project and though it also stands to benefit from it, pulling out of the joint venture will strike a blow to the EU because of Israel’s standing as a research center. Israel’s special status is evident in the fact that it is the only non-EU member state to be granted full partnership in the project.According to the official, the Israeli government has decided that the financial losses caused by pulling out of the project cannot justify giving in to the EU’s sanctions. “The EU must determine whether it is worth it to lose out on Israel’s human resources,” he said.Meanwhile Foreign Ministry sources cautioned that quitting Horizon 2020 would deliver a costly blow to Israel’s hi-tech sector.“For every Euro we put into the project, we will receive a Euro and a half back in investment in research. We should think long and hard about whether this move isn’t too far-reaching,” said one diplomat.On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with a series of European leaders, outlining his strong objections to the new directives. Netanyahu discussed the measure with the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, as well as the leaders of France, Greece, Malta, and Austria, in an effort to delay the ban’s enforcement. Netanyahu also reportedly spoke about the measures with US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is in the region to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.Israel’s chief peace negotiator, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, met Wednesday with the European Union envoy for Mideast peace, Andreas Reinicke, and told him that postponing the ban’s enforcement would help relaunch peace talks, which stalled nearly five years ago.

Polish PM to investigate kosher slaughter issue

Committee formed to see if ban violates Polish constitution, which stipulates freedom of religion

July 18, 2013, 4:18 pm 0-the times of israel
A bill that would re-instate shehita, or kosher slaughter, which has been illegal since the beginning of the year, was voted down by the lower house of the Polish parliament, the Sejm, on Friday.The 1997 Act on the Relation of the State to the Jewish Communities in Poland protects religious slaughter for the local Jewish community, but it is currently unclear whether the law still applies.Tusk’s commission will be headed by the minister of Administration and Digitization, MichaƂ Jan Boni, who is also in charge of religious matters. Minister Boni has already instructed legal counsel to examine whether the legislation outlawing shehita for the purposes of export contradicts the Polish constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion.Ambassador Prawda made the announcement following a meeting with the general director of the European Jewish Association, Rabbi Menachem Margolin, on Tuesday. He has invited Rabbi Margolin to join the committee.
There have also been meetings between rabbis from the Rabbinical Centre of Europe (RCE) and Polish ambassadors across the continent.Rabbi Margolin said that the Polish Parliament’s decision to reject the shehita bill last week stemmed from its desire to protect animal rights, but that “once the Polish government understood that this is seen as an action against the Jews,” it decided to find an immediate solution.

Archaeologists say one of King David’s palaces found

Two large structures found at Khirbet Qeiyafa site dated to the time of monarch’s reign, one of which is said to be palace

July 18, 2013, 3:58 pm 0-the times of israel
Khirbet Qeiyafa, where some archaeologists believe King David built his palace (photo credit: courtesy/ Israel Antiquities Authority)
Khirbet Qeiyafa, where some archaeologists believe King David built his palace (photo credit: courtesy/ Israel Antiquities Authority)
Professor Yossi Garfinkel of the Hebrew University and Saar Ganor of the Israel Antiquities Authority have announced that they found a palace and royal storehouse that belonged to King David. The two buildings are the largest structures standing during the tenth century BCE that have been found in the territory of the Kingdom of Judah.The discovery was made at Khirbet Qeiyafa near Beit Shemesh. For the past year, the researchers uncovered the two buildings at the site, which is believed by some to be the fortified Judean city of Shaarayim. According to the biblical record, after David smote Goliath, the Philistines were slaughtered on the road to Shaarayim as they fled. Shaarayim means “two gates,” and Khirbet Qeiyafa has two gates in its walls.The two archaeologists identified one building as David’s palace and the other as a massive royal storeroom. The excavation of the site as whole has stretched on for seven years.When David would visit this important regional center, “he definitely didn’t live in a simple home,” Ganor told The Times of Israel.
“Khirbet Qeiyafa is the best example exposed to date of a fortified city from the time of King David,” read a statement released by the researchers. “The southern part of a large palace that extended across an area of c. 1,000 sq m was revealed at the top of the city. The wall enclosing the palace is c. 30 m long and an impressive entrance is fixed it through which one descended to the southern gate of the city, opposite the Valley of Elah. Around the palace’s perimeter were rooms in which various installations were found – evidence of a metal industry, special pottery vessels and fragments of alabaster vessels that were imported from Egypt.”“This is the only site in which organic material was found — including olive seeds — that can be carbon-14 dated” to the period of King David’s reign, Israel Antiquities Authority spokeswoman Yoli Schwartz told The Times of Israel.
The remains of what Israeli archaeologists believe is King David's palace at Khirbet Qeiyafa (photo credit: Courtesy/ Israel Antiquities Authority)
The remains of what Israeli archaeologists believe is King David’s palace at Khirbet Qeiyafa (photo credit: Courtesy/ Israel Antiquities Authority)
In addition, the location of the buildings fit the requirements of an Iron Age palace. “The palace is located in the center of the site and controls all of the houses lower than it in the city. From here one has an excellent vantage looking out into the distance, from as far as the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Hebron Mountains and Jerusalem in the east. This is an ideal location from which to send messages by means of fire signals.”Garfinkel and Ganor believe that the pillared building, 15 meters (49 feet) long by 6 meters wide in the north of the city, was used as a royal storeroom. “It was in this building the kingdom stored taxes it received in the form of agricultural produce collected from the residents of the different villages in the Judean Shephelah,” they said. “Hundreds of large store jars were found at the site whose handles were stamped with an official seal as was customary in the Kingdom of Judah for centuries.”They see the finds as evidence of centralized construction and royal administrative organization during King David’s rule. “This is unequivocal evidence of a kingdom’s existence, which knew to establish administrative centers at strategic points,” they argued. “To date no palaces have been found that can clearly be ascribed to the early tenth century BCE as we can do now. Khirbet Qeiyafa was probably destroyed in one of the battles that were fought against the Philistines circa 980 BCE. The palace that is now being revealed and the fortified city that was uncovered in recent years are another tier in understanding the beginning of the Kingdom of Judah.”
In light of the find, the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Nature and Parks Authority are working with local planning bodies to cancel the impending construction of a neighborhood nearby, and hope to reserve the area around the site as a national park.In 2008, a pottery sherd with five lines of text was discovered at the site. Many scholars believe it to be early Hebrew writing, possibly referring to the ascent of King Saul to the throne. Others argue it features Israelite social rules, while some dispute the idea that it is written in Hebrew at all. The sherd currently sits in Jerusalem’s Israel Museum.Garfinkel and Ganor believe that what remained of the palace was further damaged during the Byzantine period when a fortified farmhouse was built on the site.Another prominent Israeli archaeologist believes she uncovered David’s Jerusalem palace, mentioned in II Samuel: “Now Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David.” In 2005, Eilat Mazar, granddaughter of the “dean” of biblical archaeology, Benjamin Mazar, began digging in the oldest portion of Jerusalem, the City of David. She focused on Area H, above the Stepped Stone Structure, a massive Jebusite Iron Age fortified building.
She believed that the spot on the northern edge of the City of David was a prime candidate for the site of David’s palace. II Samuel states that after David heard that the Philistines were gathering to make war against him, he “went down to the stronghold” from his palace. She decided to dig in  Area H, the only part of the city higher than the fortress, from which King David would have gone down.Her hypothesis was also supported by British archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon’s discovery of elegant masonry in the same area.
“When I told my grandfather of my idea about the possible location of David’s palace,” Mazar wrote in Biblical Archaeology Review, “he was enthusiastic about it. ‘Where, exactly,’ he asked me, ‘did Kenyon find the piles of ashlars [nicely hewn rectangular stones] together with the proto-Aeolic (sometimes called proto-Ionic) capital? Wasn’t it right next to the place you’re talking about?’ Indeed, it was. When I ran to check Kenyon’s reports, I confirmed that ashlar stones and an elegant proto-Aeolic capital had been found literally at the foot of the scarp at the southeastern edge of the structure in Area H. And this was just the kind of impressive remains that one would expect to come from a tenth-century B.C.E. king’s palace.”
Mazar found a massive public building there that she called the Large Stone Structure. In addition to Kenyon’s earlier discoveries there, Mazar uncovered pottery sherds from the very end of the Iron Age I period, about 1000 BCE, when David is believed to have captured Jerusalem.However, Mazar’s conclusion is controversial. Archaeologists from Tel Aviv University contend that her overly literal reading of the biblical text skews her analysis of the archaeological record.