Obama tells Israel he's committed to its security By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent JULY 23,08
SDEROT, Israel - From the solemnity of a Holocaust museum to a dusty village battered by Hamas rockets, Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama on Wednesday professed an unshakable commitment to the security of Israel, whether the threat comes from terrorists, Iran or elsewhere. The way you know where somebody's going is where have they been. And I've been with Israel for many, many years now, he said on a day that bore striking similarities to campaigning in the United States.In his public remarks, Obama sidestepped a question of whether he would condone an Israeli attack to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But he said he was confident that in several private meetings he had not left Israeli politicians with the impression that, if elected president, he would be pressuring them to accept any kinds of concessions that would put their security at stake.Obama packed more than a half-dozen meetings, a stop at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, a helicopter tour of the country and a visit to a house hit by Hamas rockets into his only full day in Israel during his trip to the Middle East and Europe.He also rode past an Israeli checkpoint into Ramallah on the West Bank, where he assured Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of his support for a two-state resolution of the region's long animosities. Later, entering a session with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Obama said his talks with Abbas indicated there's a strong sense of progress being made toward peace. Olmert nodded and said, That's right.
Obama's major focus was clearly reassuring Israelis — and by extension millions of Jewish voters in the United States — of his commitment to the survival of the Jewish state. He leads his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, among Jewish voters, but his support falls short of what Democrat John Kerry drew four years ago.Obama's trip is financed by his presidential campaign, and he flew to Israel from Jordan on Tuesday night about his chartered Boeing 757 emblazoned with his trademark slogan, Change We Can Believe In.If his campaign aides were looking for memorable images during the day, they got them, from Obama donning a skullcap at the Holocaust Memorial, to President Shimon Peres saying, God Bless You outside his official residence, to a stop at a house under reconstruction in Sderot where he saw firsthand the destruction caused by Hamas rockets.People are committed, he said, making a fist and thumping his chest three times.Shielded by intense U.S. and Israeli security, he then traveled a short distance to the local police station. There, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and local officials showed him racks filled with debris from Hamas rockets that have landed in Sderot in the seven years since Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip a few miles away.The same racks formed a made-for-television backdrop for a news conference attended not only by U.S. reporters, but also Israelis whose satellite trucks jammed the parking lot across the street.Eli Moyal, the local mayor, gave Obama a souvenir T-shirt — merely the latest he has received since he began running for president — and the senator also came away with a gift of a piece of rocket as artwork, attached to a wooden plaque.Olmert said to Obama that the situation in Iran is of course the main concern for the people of Israel. The subject of Tehran's presumed drive to gain a nuclear weapon was a recurrent theme throughout the day.The American presidential candidate said, Iranians need to understand that whether it's the Bush administration or an Obama administration, that this is a paramount concern to the United States.He said he favors both big sticks and carrots to persuade Iranians to switch course.What I have also said, though, is that I will take no options off the table in dealing with this potential Iranian threat. And understand part of my reasoning here.A nuclear Iran would be a game-changing situation, not just in the Middle East but around the world. Whatever remains of our nuclear nonproliferation framework, I think, would begin to disintegrate. You would have countries in the Middle East who would see the potential need to also obtain nuclear weapons.At his news conference, Obama brushed aside a question of whether he had backed off his statement this spring that Jerusalem should be the undivided capital of Israel. Palestinians also lay claim to the city as the capital for any state they establish as the result of peace talks, and the two sides have agreed that the final decision is to be negotiated. Criticized by Abbas after he made that comment, Obama subsequently amended it. Well, obviously, it's going to be up to the parties to negotiate a range of these issues. And Jerusalem will be part of those negotiations, he said. He added that as a practical matter, it would be very difficult to execute a division of the city. Abbas issued a statement saying he and Obama had not discussed the issue in their hour together. Asked by an Israeli reporter about the matter, Obama said, I continued to say that Jerusalem will be the capital of Israel. And I have said that before and I will say it again. And I also have said that it is important that we don't simply slice the city in half. But I've also said that that's a final status issue.Obama departs on Thursday for Germany, where he is scheduled to deliver an outdoor speech before a large crowd. He also has stops planned for France and England before flying back to the United States on Saturday.
Associated Press writers Matti Friedman and Laurie Copans contributed to this story.
OBAMA LAYS WRATH AT MEMORIAL
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OBAMA VISITS ISRAEL HOLOCAUST SHRINE
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Obama assures Israel he's a friend By Caren Bohan JULY 23,08
SDEROT, Israel (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama assured Israel and its U.S. Jewish supporters on Wednesday he was a friend who would not press for peace concessions that would compromise its security. Hailing Israel as a miracle, he vowed staunch support and held only a low-profile meeting with Palestinian leaders in the occupied West Bank.Obama, seeking to allay wariness among some U.S. Jewish voters about his policy towards Israel, flew to Sderot, a town hit by rockets fired from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, saying he hoped to bring peace but would not dictate the terms of a deal.I am here to say as an American and as a friend of Israel that we stand with the people of Sderot and all of the people of Israel, Obama told reporters in the town's police station, with mounds of empty rocket casings stacked behind him.Republican candidate John McCain visited Sderot in March but did not go to the West Bank. Rocket fire on Sderot has largely stopped since a ceasefire with Hamas went into effect in June.
In an apparent jab at U.S. President George W. Bush's last-minute efforts to secure peace before leaving office, Obama said he would not wait a few years into my term or my second term if I'm elected to press for a deal.We don't need a peace deal just to have a piece of paper, he said. We need something that's meaningful.Israel and the Palestinians launched U.S.-backed talks in November aiming to reach a deal by the end of 2008. But Israeli officials have said any accord would likely provide only a framework for statehood and would not be implemented for years.Obama brushed aside critics who fear he may pressure Israel to make concessions.He said he did not believe that Israeli leaders came away from his meetings with them with any sense that I would be pressuring them to accept any kinds of concessions that would put their security at stake.
MIRACLE
The Illinois senator, meeting Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem earlier, described Israel as a miracle that has blossomed over 60 years. Wearing a Jewish skullcap, he laid a white wreath at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum.Avoiding turning a trip to the West Bank into a high-profile visit that could alienate Jewish voters, Obama made no statement in Ramallah after his hour-long meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.But meeting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert later for dinner, he told reporters that he had found among the Palestinians a strong sense that progress is being made and honest conversations are taking place in the peace talks.Indeed, that's right, answered Olmert, who has pursued several diplomatic initiatives even as a corruption probe threatens to force him from office.Hundreds of helmeted Palestinian security officers with automatic rifles lined Ramallah's streets as Obama drove into the city from Jerusalem. His motorcade passed Israel's towering West Bank barrier and hilltop Jewish settlements en route.Obama urged support for Abbas and Fayyad, who support a two-state solution to the conflict, and played down the chances of negotiating with their Hamas rivals unless the Islamist group renounced violence and recognized Israel's right to exist.Last month, Obama dismayed Palestinian leaders when he said that Jerusalem should be Israel's undivided capital.Palestinians want Arab East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, as the capital of a future state. Obama later said he used poor phrasing when he made the remarks. An Obama aide said Iran's nuclear program and the peace process dominated his discussions with Israeli leaders, while the Palestinians focused on the negotiations with Israel and aid for their economy. Obama, in his remarks in Sderot, said: A nuclear Iran would pose a grave threat and the world must prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.The candidate arrived in Israel just hours after a Palestinian rammed a bulldozer into vehicles on a busy Jerusalem street near the hotel booked for his stay. The attacker wounded at least 16 people before being shot dead. (Additional reporting by Adam Entous and Joseph Nasr in Jerusalem, Wafa Amr in Ramallah; Writing by Rebecca Harrison and Adam Entous; Editing by Richard Williams)
NO NUCLEAR RETREAT SAYS IRAN
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Obama defends plans for direct talks with Iran By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer Wed Jul 23, 12:35 PM ET
SDEROT, Israel - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama defended his proposal to negotiate with Iran Wednesday and said he would use big sticks and big carrots to persuade the country's leaders not to develop nuclear weapons. My whole goal in terms of having tough, serious direct diplomacy is not because I'm naive about the nature of any of these regimes. I'm not, Obama said at a press conference. It is because if we show ourselves willing to talk and to offer carrots and sticks in order to deal with these pressing problems, and if Iran then rejects any overtures of that sort, it puts us in a stronger position to mobilize the international community to ratchet up the pressure on Iran.He said a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a threat to both Israel and the United States.The campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain quickly responded that Obama was backtracking on his expressed willingness to meet with Iran's leaders without preconditions.A year ago, Obama was asked whether he would meet personally, without preconditions, with leaders of Iran and other hostile nations during the first year of his administration to resolve differences with the United States. Obama said he would.
On Wednesday Obama said, I think that what I said in response was that I would at my time and choosing be willing to meet with any leader if I thought it would promote the national security interests of the United States of America. And that continues to be my position. That if I think that I can get a deal that is going to advance our cause, then I would consider that opportunity. But what I also said was that there is a difference between meeting without preconditions and meeting without preparation.This was Obama's second press conference during his trip to Afghanistan, Iraq, the Middle East and Europe, part of his campaign's attempt to establish his credentials as a potential world leader. He spoke in Sderot, near the Gaza border. The city has been a frequent target of rocket attacks from Palestinian militants, and the news conference was held beside a display of the spent rockets.Obama tried to use Wednesday's event to allay doubts about his support for Israel. Many Israelis are worried by Obama's willingness to talk to Tehran, a bitter enemy of the Jewish state. Many U.S. Jewish voters supported Obama's rival Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, and some have questioned his commitment to Israel.Obama said it is in Israel's interest to achieve a lasting peace with the Palestinians, but he emphasized Israeli's right to defend itself. He also said that Jerusalem will be the capital of Israel, but that the issue should be settled through negotiation.
That's an issue that has to be dealt with the parties involved, the Palestinians and the Israelis, and it is not the job of the United States to dictate the form in which that will take, but rather to support the efforts that are being made right now to resolve these very difficult issues that have a long history, Obama said.Many Israelis are concerned that Obama — a first-term U.S. senator with little foreign policy experience — would push Israel too hard in negotiations with the Palestinians. His family's Muslim roots have added to the unease, even though Obama is a Christian.I bring to Sderot an unshakable commitment to Israel's security, Obama said. The state of Israel faces determined enemies who seek its destruction. But it also has a friend and ally in the United States that will always stand by the people of Israel.Palestinians doubt Obama or any other U.S. leader would reverse what they see as Washington's bias toward Israel.Earlier in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Obama assured Palestinian leaders he'd get involved in the Mideast conflict quickly, a top Palestinian official said.In his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Obama confirmed that he will be a constructive partner in the peace process and would not waste a minute if elected, Abbas aide Saeb Erekat said.Obama plunged into the intricacies of the region's longest-running conflict with a packed schedule of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.Donning a Jewish skullcap at Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, he laid a wreath of white chrysanthemums and lisianthus and lit a memorial flame. Despite this record of monumental tragedy, this ultimately is a place of hope, he said.At a time of great peril and torment, war and strife, we are blessed to have such a powerful reminder of man's potential for great evil, but also our capacity to rise up from tragedy and remake our world, he wrote in the visitors' book. American tourists who passed by him at the memorial told him, Remember what you see here, and he replied, Yes, I understand, I understand, said Yad Vashem's director, Avner Shalev. Obama also met with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and parliamentary opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, whose Likud Party takes a hard line against the Palestinians. He was to meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in the evening. Obama met with Barak and Netanyahu at Jerusalem's posh King David Hotel, where an Israel for Obama campaign poster was draped over an armchair in the lobby. The poster included Obama's campaign slogan — Change you can believe in — in Hebrew. Obama left Abbas' headquarters without speaking to reporters. But on Tuesday, he cautioned it is unrealistic to expect that a U.S. president alone can suddenly snap his fingers and bring about peace in this region.His meeting with the Palestinians stands in contrast to the decision by Republican presidential hopeful John McCain to visit only Israel in March, without stopping in the West Bank. On the road leading to Abbas' headquarters on Wednesday, police were out in full force, standing 10 yards apart and outfitted in full battle regalia, wearing camouflage uniforms, helmets and bulletproof vests and carrying truncheons and assault rifles. Obama arrived in Israel Tuesday night from neighboring Jordan and is to leave for Germany early Thursday. Associated Press writers Laurie Copans, Amy Teibel and David Espo contributed to this report.
OBAMA MEETS PALESTINIAN LEADER
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OBAMA TOURS MIDEAST
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Obama promises Israel unshakeable commitment by Stephen Collinson JULY 23,08
JERUSALAM (AFP) - Barack Obama on Wednesday vowed to forge an unshakeable bond with Israel if he becomes the next US president and warned a nuclear Iran would pose a grave threat which the world must forestall. The Democratic White House hopeful hailed Israel as a miracle as he courted Jewish voters at home, taking pains to stress he understood the security fears of the Jewish state and would not push it into a peace deal.I bring here an unshakeable commitment to Israel's security, Obama said, after a day meeting top Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, opposition Likud chief Benjamin Netanyahu, and President Shimon Peres.But the Illinois senator also tried to convince the Palestinians, during a short trip to see the conflict from the other side, on the occupied West Bank, that he would sponsor a vigorous peace effort if elected.Obama picked his way through the tricky currents on Middle Eastern politics on the latest leg of a high-profile international campaign swing meant to assuage fears among some US voters he lacks experience on the global stage.The senator reiterated his vow to stop Iran developing a nuclear weapon, but defended his offer of talks with leaders from the Islamic Republic, promising to use big carrots and big sticks.A nuclear Iran would pose a grave threat and the world must prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, Obama said, as he visited the southern Israeli town of Sderot, a long-time target for rockets fired from Gaza by Islamist movement Hamas.Obama however refused to budge on his offer to talk to Iranian leaders, which has sparked consternation among some in Israel, and sparked claims he is naive by his Republican rival John McCain.I would at my time and choosing be willing to meet with any leader if I thought it would promote the national security interest of the United States of America, he said.
Obama held just over an hour of talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas after sweeping into heavily guarded Ramallah in a motorcade.I will not wait until a few years into my term or my second term if I am elected in order to get the process moving, said Obama.I think we have a window right now that needs to be taken advantage of.Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP that Obama told Abbas if he wins the election in the United States he will be a full and positive partner in the peace process and will not lose a single moment in pursuing it.Obama also said that he had not backed down from his comment that Jerusalem should not be divided, which he made before the US Jewish lobby last month, sparking anger among Palestinians.I have not changed my statement, Obama told reporters in Sderot after touring the home of a family in which a young boy lost a leg to a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from nearby Gaza.I continue to say that Jerusalem will be the capital of Israel. I have said it before and will say it again ... but I've also said that it is a final status issue that must be decided by negotiation.Obama's original comment was seen by some observers as prejudging final status peace talks, and his campaign has since said that it was poorly worded.The senator also said he stood by Israel's refusal to negotiate with Hamas, which the United States and European Union consider a terror group. It is very hard to negotiate with a group that is not representative of a nation state, does not recognise your right to exist, has consistently used terror as a weapon and is deeply influenced by other countries, he said. US polls showed Obama has yet to lock in an overwhelming advantage among the normally solid Democratic bloc of American Jewish voters, just over three months before the US election. On a day rich in imagery, he paid his respects to veteran statesman Peres, and his role in Israel's history. You have been deeply involved in this miracle that has blossomed and we are extraordinarily grateful not just as Americans but as world citizens for your outstanding service to your country, Obama told Peres. Earlier, the Democratic senator toured Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem to the six million Jews who perished under the Nazis. Obama, who has already visited Kuwait, Afghanistan, Iraq and Jordan, heads on to a three stop-tour of Europe, beginning in Berlin on Thursday.
Hezbollah spells out prison swap terms: UN Wed Jul 23, 10:32AM ET
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has spelled out his terms for further prisoner swaps with Israel, according to a letter from UN chief Ban Ki-moon to the president of the Security Council seen here Wednesday. Ban said he had received a letter from the Lebanese Shiite leader indicating his readiness for participation in the remaining humanitarian cases of Israeli MIA (missing in action) of the 1980s, the UN chief said in his letter addressed to Vietnam's UN Ambassador Le Luong Minh, the council chair this month.Ban said Nasrallah made it clear that his positive attitude would depend on the nature and extent of Israeli humanitarian moves on behalf of Palestinian and Arab victims.
Nasrallah stated that a minimum requirement would be the release of hundreds of minors, women and elderly people being held in Israeli detention as well as detainees suffering from health handicaps and injuries, according to Ban's letter.Ban said Nasrallah's letter stressed that these cases would have to be resolved now, in order to secure Hezbollah's further support in other humanitarian issues.
Last week, Israel handed over its last five Lebanese prisoners, including convicted murderer Samir Kantar, and the bodies of 199 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters.In exchange Hezbollah returned the bodies of Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev who were captured on July 12, 2006, sparking a devastating 34-day war in south Lebanon.I strongly commend the Israeli readiness to engage in another release of Palestinian detainees and welcome Hezbollah's willingness in principle to further contribute to the solution of the humanitarian cases, Ban said in his letter.I hope that the forthcoming releases promote further humanitarian moves and call upon all sides to faithfully contribute to the process,he added.
Israel press office cuts contacts with Jazeera Wed Jul 23, 6:33 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel's government press office cut all contacts with pan-Arab Al-Jazeera television on Wednesday, accusing its Beirut bureau of throwing a party for a freed Lebanese militant who committed a triple murder in Israel. Press office director Daniel Seaman told AFP the decision was taken following reports that the bureau hosted a party for Samir Kantar, who killed three Israelis, including a little girl, in a 1979 attack and was returned to Lebanon last week in a prisoner swap with the Hezbollah militia.We received information that they had a party in their offices in Beirut in the presence of Samir Kantar. They hailed him, praised him, Seaman said.The fact that an organisation that considers itself professional is celebrating the murderer of a child is disgusting. It is despicable.Seaman said the decision was taken by the press office itself, not the government, and that Al-Jazeera employees could keep their press credentials.The measures will remain in place until we receive an explanation from the directors, Seaman added.No comment was immediately available from the Doha-based Al-Jazeera.In March, Israel temporarily boycotted the channel's coverage of events in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, accusing it of partial coverage that helps terrorists.Since the pan-Arab satellite channel was founded in 1996 it has drawn fire from across the region, with Arab and Western governments, armed groups and various political factions frequently accusing it of biased coverage.The network has denied all allegations of partiality and marketed itself as a more trustworthy alternative to other Middle East media outlets, many of which are run by states or political parties.
Israelis see worrying pattern in bulldozer attack By Ilene R. Prusher Wed Jul 23, 4:00 AM ET
Jerusalem - Just hours before US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was due to arrive in Jerusalem, a Palestinian went on a bulldozer rampage in downtown Jerusalem – just down the road from the legendary King David Hotel, where Senator Obama is to stay. The attack, which injured 24, marks the second time this month that such an attack took place on a main thoroughfare in primarily Jewish West Jerusalem, and the second time this month in which the attacker, who was shot and killed, was from Arab East Jerusalem, raising tensions in the city.Yerah Tucker, an emergency service worker who went to the scene, said Israelis were concerned this was becoming a new pattern of attacks. Now, everyone who sees a bulldozer in Jerusalem has reason to be scared.Tuesday's attack appears to mark the third time this year that Palestinians inside Jerusalem have been involved in attacks on Israelis. Palestinians as a population make up close to a third of Jerusalem, and most are permanent residents who hold blue ID cards issued by the Israeli government, giving them the right to work or travel anywhere in Israel and receive benefits similar to those of Israeli citizens.
On July 2, a Palestinian from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sur Baher killed three people and wounded 30 others when he rammed a bulldozer into a bus and cars on a busy Jerusalem street before being shot dead. In March, a Palestinian from another area of East Jerusalem, Jebel Mukaber, gunned down eight seminary students in the town center. Police prohibited the publishing of details on Tuesday's attacker, but earlier in the day, news wires had identified him as a 22-year-old from Umm Tuba, also in the Jerusalem area.The location of the attackers has underscored the complications of the Israeli-Palestininan conflict and the city at the heart of it: Jerusalem. Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967 and officially annexed it, as well as many of the surrounding villages. The status of the city is supposed to be worked out in peace talks, but in the nearly 15 years since Israel and the PLO signed the Oslo Accords, no agreements on Jerusalem have been reached.Obama said in a recent policy speech in Washington that Jerusalem should remain united and undivided, sparking controversy. Last week he issued a clarification in which he said that the status of Jerusalem will need to be negotiated in future peace talks.After the attack Tuesday, security was further heightened for police and security forces already on high alert ahead of Obama's visit, which is expected to include meetings with high-profile Israeli and Palestinian officials and to clarify the senator's viewpoint on the conflict.Israeli police called the incident a terror attack, but could not say if it was timed for Obama's trip.
At the scene, Nathaniel Sterman, a high school student, sat behind the police lines under the shade of a tree, trying to catch his breath. We heard big bashes, and then we saw him pick up cars and flip them, he said. Yochanan Levin, also a witness, said he saw the driver trying to overturn a large bus. I guess he figured that was the way to get the most people, he said.
U.N.'s Ban details Hezbollah letter on prisoner swap By Louis Charbonneau Tue Jul 22, 7:33 PM ET
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday released details of a letter he received from Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah outlining his group's conditions for further prisoner deals with Israel. Last week the leader of the Lebanese guerrilla group made a rare public appearance in Beirut to welcome five Lebanese released from captivity in Israel after Hezbollah returned the bodies of two captured Israeli soldiers.
Israel is also due to release Palestinian prisoners in the future as a gesture to the U.N. secretary-general. Nasrallah said he had written to Ban asking him to use his good offices.In a letter to the current president of the U.N. Security Council, Vietnamese Ambassador Le Lunong Minh, Ban said that Nasrallah declared his readiness for participation in the remaining humanitarian cases of Israeli MIA (missing in action) of the 1980s.But Ban said Nasrallah was conditioning his positive attitude to the nature and extent of Israeli humanitarian moves on behalf of Palestinian and Arab victims.Ban quoted Nasrallah's letter saying the Hezbollah chief informed him that further prisoner releases by Israel should be adequate to the high level of government commitment to the Secretary-General of the United Nations and to the importance of results achieved under the U.N. facilitation.In other direct quotes from Nasrallah's July 7 letter, Ban said he referred to the high number of innocent victims caused by the war of 2006,adding that he considered it as a minimum requirement that the releases comprise a maximum number of minors, women and elderly people being held in ... detention.These cases go into the hundreds according to non-governmental organizations, Ban quoted Nasrallah's letter as saying.
These must be resolved immediately in order to secure Hezbollah's support in other humanitarian cases, Nasrallah wrote to Ban.Under last week's deal arranged by a U.N.-appointed German mediator, Israel also returned the bodies of eight Hezbollah fighters slain in the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as those of four Palestinians, including Dalal Mughrabi, a woman guerrilla who led a 1978 raid on Israel.In his letter Ban said: I strongly commend Israel's readiness to engage in another release of Palestinian detainees and welcome Hezbollah's willingness in principle to further contribute to the solution of the humanitarian cases.Ban said he hoped the next releases lead to further humanitarian moves.Hezbollah is a Shi'ite group that is backed by Iran and Syria.(Editing by Eric Beech)
BACKHOE ATTACK IN JERUSALEM
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Palestinian attacks using construction vehicle By LAURIE COPANS, Associated Press Writer Tue Jul 22, 5:40 PM ET
JERUSALEM - A Palestinian attacker turned a construction vehicle into a fearsome weapon in downtown Jerusalem just hours before Barack Obama's visit Tuesday, ramming a bus, overturning a car and injuring five people before he was shot dead. It was the second attack of its kind in less than a month. On July 2, a Palestinian smashed cars and a bus with his heavy construction vehicle in another part of Jerusalem, killing three people and wounding dozens.
Both men were from east Jerusalem, where Palestinian residents hold Israeli ID cards and can move freely about Israel.Early Tuesday afternoon, the Palestinian rammed his yellow vehicle into a bus several times before the bus driver moved the vehicle to safety, then crushed a small car with his heavy scoop, overturned a sedan and repeatedly hit cars waiting at a stoplight before he was shot dead.After I passed him, he turned round, made a U-turn and rammed the windows twice with the shovel. The third time he aimed for my head, he came up to my window and I swerved to the right. Otherwise I would have gone to meet my maker, said the bus driver, Avi Levi.
Suddenly I heard smashing and crashing and heard people shouting and lots of people came running down the street, said Eran Sternberg, 33, who was on the sidewalk talking on his phone at the time. Then the bulldozer came down the street and overturned the car next to me, almost hitting me.Sternberg then began to take a video with his cellular phone. The clip shows the vehicle — called a backhoe loader — stopped a few feet from him, as the civilian ran up and began shooting at the driver through the glass door. The large shovel then jerked and fell to the ground, where it rested as a border policeman ran up to shoot at the driver again.Police identified the driver as Ghassan Abu Teir, a 22-year-old east Jerusalem resident related to a militantly anti-Israel politician from the Islamic Hamas, Mohammed Abu Teir. The driver's family said he was not affiliated with any militant group.Many Israelis carry guns through their work in the military or as security guards. The man who shot Tuesday's attacker lives in a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, Sternberg said. Many settlers have licenses to carry weapons for their protection.Unfortunately, it is clear that we as a society will have to remain vigilant against terrorism, said Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev.In Washington, White House press secretary Dana Perino said, Terrorist attacks do nothing to further the goals of Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace, a goal the president has been advocating for, and that both of those countries' leaders have been working toward.The Palestinian driver's onslaught began just down the street from Jerusalem's historic King David Hotel, where Obama will stay during his visit to Israel and the Palestinian areas.Speaking from Jordan, Obama said Today's bulldozer attack is a reminder of what Israelis have courageously lived with on a daily basis for far too long.
More immediately, Tuesday's attack had Israeli Jews questioning whether they could continue to let Palestinians from east Jerusalem — who make up about one-third of the city's population of 750,000 and work at many of its unskilled jobs — freely enter the Jewish section.Several Israeli politicians called for the demolition of houses of east Jerusalem Arab attackers. Such attacks used to be rare, but there have been three in recent months — Tuesday's rampage, the July 2 bulldozer attack in Jerusalem and a shooting at a Jewish religious seminary in March in which eight students were killed.Demolishing a terrorist's house after an attack is the best deterrent, said Public Security Minister Avi Dichter. Israel's Supreme Court ruled several years ago that destroying houses has little deterrent value, and the practice was halted.Israel captured east Jerusalem in 1967, annexing it and granting Jerusalem's Palestinians Israeli ID cards — unlike Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Palestinians want east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state. An explosive sticking point is the Old City, home to holy sites claimed by both sides.
Peres gives Abbas red carpet welcome for peace talks Tue Jul 22, 3:22 PM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli President Shimon Peres gave Mahmud Abbas a red carpet welcome on Tuesday when he welcomed the Palestinian leader to his official Jerusalem residence for talks on the peace process. We hope to reach a true peace based on mutual understanding, culture and economic development; a peace that will permit both peoples to coexist peacefully in two states, said Peres, a Nobel peace laureate.The largely ceremonial Israeli president greeted Abbas for the first time with a red carpet and Palestinian flags flying. In the past, Abbas has been received either at the Israeli cabinet office or Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's official resident.We have a chance of peace. We must not let it escape, we must not lose it, Abbas said, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.But he stressed that Israeli settlement building, roadblocks and raids in the occupied West Bank remained obstacles in peace negotiations that were revived only eight months ago.Palestinian MP Ziad Abu Ziad played down the significance of the 20-minute encounter.Abu Ziad said that aside from the fact that Peres has no policy-making role, Israelis save meaningless honours and embraces for us, which do nothing to change the reality.We want progress in the peace negotiations, while on the ground the suffering, the roadblocks and the settlements continue.The peace talks, which were revived in November with the target of inking a deal before US President George W. Bush leaves office next January, have so far failed to make tangible progress.
Peres won the Nobel peace prize in 1994 jointly with assassinated Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and the late Palestinian president Yasser Arafat for launching the Oslo peace process the previous year.
Obama plans Blair talks in London Tue Jul 22, 5:30 AM ET
AMMAN (AFP) - Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama has added a meeting with former British prime minister Tony Blair to his programme in London on Saturday, his campaign team said. A senior advisor said Obama will meet Blair in the ex-premier's capacity as International Middle East peace envoy, but is also keen to tap his ideas on climate and energy issues.The talks will take place ahead of Obama's meeting with current British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and opposition Conservative Party leader David Cameron, which will end his week-long international campaign swing.He will be seeing former prime minister Blair primarily in his role as representing the (Middle East) quartet. That will be a very useful exchange, particularly because he will be coming straight from the region, the advisor said.Another aide, awaiting Obama's arrival from Iraq for a visit to Jordan and Israel, added that the Illinois senator also wanted to hear Blair's views on environmental issues.Former prime minister Blair is obviously doing a lot of work on energy and climate. Senator Obama is very concerned about the energy crisis, and global energy challenge. That will also be a big part of their discussions.
Israel PM's party modifies charter to hold primary Tue Jul 22, 2:23 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's centrist Kadima party has voted to change its charter to pave the way for a September primary that could replace him, the party said on Tuesday. The decision won by a narrow vote Monday night, with just 91 of the 180 members of the party's central committee supporting the motion.The exact date of the September primary has not yet been fixed, but candidates were expected to formally announce their decision to run in the middle of August.Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is the frontrunner to replace Olmert, who has been dogged by six corruption investigations since he took power in 2006 and faces mounting calls to step down.Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit, and Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz are also expected to compete, and Olmert himself has not ruled out running despite his soaring unpopularity in recent polls.The decision to hold a primary was taken in June in a last-minute bid to save Olmert's fragile coalition after the Labour party, a crucial coalition partner, threatened to support a bill to dissolve parliament.Kadima, founded hastily by then prime minister Ariel Sharon before March 2006 parliamentary polls, did not previously have an internal mechanism for ousting a leader or holding leadership elections.
