LIVNI GIVE UP PART OF ISRAEL

Livni: Give up parts of Land of Israel By ARON HELLER, Associated Press Writer FEB 16,09

JERUSALEM – Tzipi Livni, who hopes to be appointed Israel's prime minister-designate, said Monday Israel must give up considerable territory in exchange for peace with the Palestinians, drawing a clear distinction with her rival, Benjamin Netanyahu.She told a convention of American Jewish leaders, we need to give up parts of the Land of Israel, using a term that refers to biblical borders that include today's Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, repeating her well-known view that pulling out of Palestinian areas would be for the good of Israel, to maintain it as a Jewish state.Livni told the Conference of Presidents of Major American Organizations that Israel must take the initiative and come forward with its own peace plan to head off international programs. Any plan put on the table will not be in our interest, she said.Livni's centrist Kadima Party won one more seat than the hawkish Likud, led by Netanyahu. He opposes large-scale territorial concessions in peace talks with the Palestinians. He believes negotiations should concentrate instead on building up the Palestinian economy.Netanyahu and Livni, the current foreign minister, both claimed victory in last week's election. Each hopes to be picked by President Shimon Peres to form the next government.Netanyahu appears to have the edge, because a majority of members in the new parliament favor his views.In his address before the gathering, Netanyahu ruled out unilateral pullbacks from territory, criticizing Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, charging that it allowed the Islamic militant Hamas to take over there.He said he, too, does not want to govern Palestinians, but Israel must maintain control of all borders, airspace and electronic traffic, indicating that his offer to the Palestinians would be considerably less than a sovereign state.Regardless how the solution is achieved, the Palestinians should run their lives, he said. They should govern themselves, but they shouldn't have certain powers that would threaten the state of Israel.

Official results of Israel's election are scheduled to be published Wednesday, and then Peres will begin formal consultations with the 12 parties in the new parliament. He is expected to choose a premier-designate within a few days, starting a period of up to six weeks for coalition negotiations.In an interview broadcast Monday evening on Channel 2 TV, Livni invited Netanyahu to serve in a government she would lead. I am appealing here to Benjamin Netanyahu to join forces with me in a unity government with a policy that represents the center of the political map, she said.Netanyahu, who assumes he will be the next prime minister, has made a similar call to Livni, who rejected it.(This version CORRECTS Livni's quote.)

Jordan king, Senator Kerry discuss Mideast peace FEB 16,09

AMMAN (AFP) – Jordan's King Abdullah II held talks on Monday with visiting US Democratic Senator John Kerry on ways to resume Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, the palace said.The king and Kerry discussed efforts aimed at the resumption of negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis, according to a brief palace statement.The king, whose country signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, said he is looking forward to working with US President Barak Obama to achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East, it added.Kerry, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations committee, is on a regional tour that will also take him to Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Syria.The tour comes as the Obama administration works to convince the Arab world that it will ramp up US involvement in the Middle East peace process.The Palestinian cause is the main issue in the Middle East, and finding a just resolution for it is key to solving other problems in the region, the king told a US congressional delegation ahead of his meeting with Kerry, the statement said.

Hezbollah says it has right to anti-aircraft weapons FEB 16,09

BEIRUT (AFP) – Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said on Monday that his Shiite militant group had every right to possess anti-aircraft weapons in its struggle against Israel.We have the right to possess any kind of weapon to defend the country and our people... including anti-aircraft weapons, Nasrallah said via video link to thousands of supporters gathered in his stronghold in Beirut's suburbs.And we have every right to use such weapons if we wish, he added. Why do they (the Israelis) fear us owning such weapons? Because the resistance has the will and the courage to use them.Nasrallah, whose party fought a devastating 34-day war with the Jewish state in 2006, was responding to recent Israeli reports that Syria had delivered ground-to-air missiles to Hezbollah.Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said earlier this month that if such reports were true that it would change the strategic balance and force Israel to act.Nasrallah was speaking at a rally marking the first anniversary of the death of top Hezbollah commander Imad Mughnieh and two other senior chiefs, and said he would neither confirm nor deny that his group owned such weapons.

Israeli govt to consider Hamas prisoner swap, truce By Adam Entous FEB 16,09

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is to convene his security cabinet on Wednesday to consider swapping Palestinian prisoners for a captured Israeli soldier as part of a ceasefire deal with Hamas.Olmert is mounting a last-ditch effort to free the soldier before leaving office. He has refused to accept an Egyptian-proposed ceasefire until Hamas releases Gilad Shalit in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the security cabinet would on Wednesday discuss and possibly authorize the parameters of a deal that includes Shalit. Another official said ministers were discussing and debating which prisoners sought by Hamas would be freed.Olmert's office quoted him as telling a visiting U.S. congressional delegation that he would bring to the security cabinet on Wednesday a proposal that aims to advance the release of ... Shalit, as well as a broader truce in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.Senior Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk told Al Jazeera Television from Cairo: We are ready ... to open the file of Gilad Shalit for negotiation.If they want him back at home as they say, they have to let the Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons go home too.But another Hamas official, Taher al-Nono, said a clear agreement on a Gaza ceasefire had been reached before Olmert, over the weekend, insisted on Shalit being freed first.

LEVERAGE

Israel believes last month's military offensive in the Gaza Strip increased its leverage over Hamas to free Shalit, who was captured in a cross-border raid by Gaza militants in 2006.The air, sea and land bombardment, which Israel launched with the declared aim of halting rocket attacks, killed more than 1,300 Palestinians, destroyed some 5,000 homes and decimated much of Gaza's infrastructure, local officials say.If Gazans want to rebuild, they will need Israel and Egypt to open border crossings fully, something Olmert has vowed not to do until Shalit returns.

Hamas has demanded the release of 1,400 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit. Israel has repeatedly recovered both captured hostages and remains of slain soldiers from its conscript army through massively lopsided swaps. Israel believes Shalit is alive.Western diplomats said Olmert was likely to free closer to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for the soldier, including some Hamas militants involved in deadly attacks against Israelis.Israel is also considering freeing Palestinian uprising leader Marwan Barghouthi to bolster Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction, Hamas's main rival.We are thinking about these issues, a third Israeli official said.Barghouthi's release might help Fatah but could speed the departure of Abbas, who has sent mixed messages about whether he wants to run again, Western diplomats said. Hamas says it no longer recognizes Abbas as president because his term expired last month.Israel is also considering giving Abbas's security forces greater authority in some parts of the occupied West Bank, where his government is based.Last week's inconclusive election in Israel has triggered what may be a protracted battle over who will form the next government, giving Olmert a few weeks to maneuver. Israel believes that Hamas wants to close the deal before a more hardline government, possibly led by rightist Benjamin Netanyahu, takes office. Timing is a factor here because Olmert wants to leave behind a clean slate and Netanyahu has an interest in taking office without the Shalit case hanging over him, a senior Israeli official said. (Additional reporting by Allyn Fisher-Ilan in Jerusalem, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Inal Ersan in Dubai; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Jews in Muslim lands anxious over Gaza war By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer – Mon Feb 16, 11:32 am ET

CAIRO – Outrage at the Israel war in the Gaza Strip has turned to intimidation and even violence against Jews living in some Muslim lands, raising questions about the stability of these often tiny communities.In Turkey, Yemen and Indonesia, Muslims have shut down a synagogue, stoned homes and used anti-Semitic slurs. Although the incidents have been isolated, the Jewish minorities in these lands are concerned.

Before the conflict broke out in Gaza, we were very involved in the community, said Yusron Samba, whose family for years had operated a synagogue in Indonesia that shut down in fear over the war. Of course we're afraid following strong reaction recently from some Islamic groups questioning our presence here.The fury over Gaza has centered around the hundreds of Palestinian civilians killed in the war, in which 13 Israelis also died. Israel says it could not avoid killing civilians because Gaza militants operate from residential areas, but critics accuse it of using disproportionate force in its war to halt rocket attacks on its territory.The steep Palestinian death toll sparked protests across the Muslim world, Europe and in Venezuela, and in some cases, the rage turned to violence. Firebombs were hurled at synagogues in France, Sweden and Belgium, Jews were beaten in England and Norway and an Italian union endorsed a boycott of Jewish-owned shops. In Venezuela, vandals shattered religious objects at a synagogue and spray-painted, Jews, get out, on the walls.In Yemen, where Islamic militancy is on the rise, anti-Israel protesters pelted several Jewish homes with rocks and smashed windows, injuring at least one person, security officials said.President Ali Abdullah Saleh has offered to give plots of land in the capital, San'a, free of charge to Jews who want to relocate from the provinces, officials said. No one has taken him up on the offer, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the offer was made privately in a meeting between the president and Jewish leaders.As many as 250 of Yemen's estimated 400 Jews are thought to live outside San'a.In Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim state, Islamic hard-liners marched to the gates of the country's only synagogue, chanting, Go to hell, Israel.

If Israel refuses to stop its attacks and oppression of the Palestinian people, we don't need to defend (the synagogue's) presence here, said Abdusshomad Buchori, who led the protest in the town of Surabaya and has threatened to drive out its Jews. The synagogue has been shuttered since.In the past, Jews in Surabaya have experienced no hostility, Samba said. But increasingly — probably because of events like the Gaza war — a smattering of swastikas has appeared on the backs of buses, he said.Because of the hostile reaction, we're not exposing ourselves to the media right now, he said. We also report all protests to the police.Several dozen Jews are thought to be living in Indonesia, descendants of traders from Europe and Iraq.

Jewish leaders in Egypt and Syria were curt when asked about the climate toward Jews in their countries.We have no troubles and we don't talk politics, said Carmen Weinstein, head of the Jewish Community in Cairo.In Syria, Jewish community head Albert Komho said, There is no fear and there are no threats. We are not involved in any political activity and we are functioning normally.Jews moved to the Middle East and north Africa after Spain expelled them in the 15th century. Jews were often restricted to separate neighborhoods, had curtailed rights, and sometimes were persecuted. Their condition deteriorated sharply in the first half of the 20th century as a result of Arab nationalism and Israel's impending establishment. Hundreds of thousands fled or were expelled from Arab lands around the time of Israel's 1948 creation, and today, only several tens of thousands remain.Some communities are tiny, numbering about 100 in Syria and less than a dozen in Baghdad. The biggest concentrations are in Turkey and Iran, where Jews enjoy the stated protection of Islamic governments. The Iranian Jewish community went out of its way to distance itself from Israel during the Gaza fighting, issuing a statement expressing solidarity with the Palestinians and condemning the Israeli offensive. The inhuman behavior of the Zionist regime contradicts the religious teachings of the Jewish faith, the statement said. A group of Iranian Jews, including Jewish lawmaker Siamak Mara-Sedq, protested against the war in front of the U.N. office in Tehran in late December. Turkey is Israel's best friend in the Muslim world, but the greatest turbulence over the Gaza war has taken place there. Earlier this month, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan confronted Israeli President Shimon Peres over the high Palestinian civilian death toll, before storming off the stage they shared at a high-profile forum in Davos, Switzerland. Some of Turkey's 23,000 Jews, however, were more alarmed by a government-ordered minute of silence in schools for Gaza's dead, which they fear is a sign that the Islamic-leaning government's declared intolerance of anti-Semitism might waver. Erdogan's recent observation that the Ottoman Empire welcomed Jews also rankled many who took it to mean that Turkey considered them guests, not citizens. Although Turkish fury was mostly directed at Israel, a few Turkish protesters held placards with anti-Semitic messages. Turkish media showed a photograph of three men in front of the office of a cultural association, holding a dog and a sign saying, Dogs are allowed, but Jews and Armenians aren't.Jewish community leaders say hundreds of anti-Semitic writings have appeared in Turkish media, and that prosecutors have failed to take legal action.Everyone can criticize the policies of Israel, we respect that, Silvyo Ovadya, head of the Jewish community in Turkey, told the Milliyet newspaper. However, every speech criticizing Israel has a tendency to turn into cries of Damn Jews.I don't recall such an atmosphere previously.

Erdogan has tried to reassure Turkey's Jews, who live in a country of more than 70 million Muslims, that criticism of Israel does not amount to an attack on Jews and their faith. There has been no anti-Semitism in the history of this country, Erdogan told ruling party lawmakers last week. As a minority, they're our citizens. Both their security and the right to observe their faith are under our guarantee.AP correspondents Chris Torchia in Istanbul, Ahmed Al-Haj in Yemen, Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta, Maggie Michael in Cairo and Ali Akbar Dareini in Tehran contributed to this report.

Israel used fighting to perfect anti-rocket system By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer – Mon Feb 16, 10:00 am ET

AFP JERUSALEM – Israeli weapons developers traced the paths of hundreds of rockets fired by militants during the recent Gaza fighting, hoping the data will help perfect a planned interception system, defense officials said Monday.Rockets fired by militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah are among the most potent threats facing Israel, with the majority of the country's population now in range from either Gaza or Lebanon. Southern Israel has faced rocket fire from Gaza since 2001, while to the north, thousands of rockets from Lebanon were fired during Israel's war against Hezbollah guerrillas in 2006.During the Gaza offensive, which ended on Jan. 18, Israeli teams collected data on how the homemade rockets and the military-grade Katyushas fired by Gaza militants behaved in different weather conditions and how they were picked up by the interception system's radar, which is already operational, the officials said.The data will be used to assist in the construction of the so-called Iron Dome system, the officials said.They spoke on condition of anonymity because the system's details remain classified. The Iron Dome, which is supposed to protect Israeli towns from rocket fire, is set to be operational in 2010.

The system is being designed as an answer to the Gaza rocket fire, which so far has eluded Israel's sophisticated military.Iron Dome has been criticized by some experts because of its cost — each interceptor will cost between $30,000 and $40,000 — and because it needs 15 seconds to respond, too long to stop rockets from hitting targets adjacent to Gaza.Iron Dome's first intercept test is slated for the end of 2009.

Israel takes control of more West Bank land By KARIN LAUB, Associated Press Writer – Mon Feb 16, 7:38 am ET

JERUSALEM – Israel has taken control of a large chunk of land near a prominent West Bank settlement, paving the way for the possible construction of 2,500 settlement homes, officials said Monday, in a new challenge to Mideast peacemaking.Successive Israeli governments have broken promises to the United States to halt settlement expansion, defined by Washington as an obstacle to peace. Ongoing expansion is likely to create friction not only with the Palestinians, but with President Barack Obama, whose Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, has long pushed for a settlement freeze. Obama has said he'd get involved quickly in Mideast peace efforts.The composition of Israel's next government is not clear yet following inconclusive elections last week. However, right-wing parties are given a better chance to form a ruling coalition, with hardline leader Benjamin Netanyahu at the helm.Netanyahu supports settlement expansion and has derided peace talks with the Palestinians as a waste of time, saying he would focus instead of trying to improve the Palestinian economy. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has dismissed Netanyahu's approach as a non-starter, and his aides said recently that peace talks can only resume after a settlement freeze.At the center of the latest expansion plans is Efrat, a settlement of about 1,600 families south of Jerusalem.The mayor of Efrat, Oded Revivi, said the Israeli military designated 425 acres (172 hectares) near Efrat as so-called state land two weeks ago at the end of a lengthy appeals process. He said nine appeals were filed by Palestinian landowners, adding that eight were rejected and one was upheld.Revivi said Efrat plans to build 2,500 homes on that land, but that several steps of government approval would still be needed before construction could begin — a process that could take years. Eventually, Efrat is to grow to a city of 30,000 people, he said.

The settlement is situated in one of the three major settlement blocs that Israel expects to hold on to in any final peace deal. Palestinian reaction to the latest development was not immediately available.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israel's peace partner, warned that continued settlement expansion would cripple peace talks.We oppose settlement activity in principle and if the settlement activity doesn't stop, any meetings (with the Israelis) will be worthless, Abbas said.Nearly 290,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements today, or 95,000 more than in May 2001 when Mitchell first called for a settlement freeze. At the time, he led a fact-finding mission to Israel and the Palestinian territories to find a way to end months of violence and resume peace talks.Mitchell called on the Palestinians to halt attacks on Israelis and demanded that Israel halt construction in settlements.In other developments Monday, Palestinian rockets exploded in southern Israel and Israeli jets bombed the Egypt-Gaza border as talks dragged on over a long-term truce that would bring quiet to the coastal territory.Israel has been battling Gaza's Hamas rulers, while simultaneously pursuing a peace agreement with Abbas' rival government in the West Bank.In Monday's violence, two rockets fired from Gaza landed in Israel, the Israeli military said, a near-daily occurrence even after the devastating three-week Israeli offensive that was meant to bring a halt to the fire. No one was injured, the military said.Several hours later, Israeli jets bombed an area of smuggling tunnels in the frontier town of Rafah, according residents and Hamas security officials. Israel's military said the strike targeted a tunnel used to smuggle weapons in from Egypt and was retaliation for the rocket fire.Israel ended its military offensive in Gaza on Jan. 18, and the territory's Islamic Hamas rulers declared a cease-fire the same day. But sporadic violence has continued as Egypt tries to mediate a long-term truce.

Hamas is demanding that Israel open Gaza's blockaded border crossings, but Israel says it will fully open the crossings only after Hamas releases Sgt. Gilad Schalit, an Israeli tank crewman captured in June 2006. Israel is allowing in only humanitarian aid, and on Monday was to allow some 200 aid trucks and fuel for Gaza's power plant to enter the territory, the military said. Hamas wants Israel to release hundreds of prisoners in return for Schalit, including high-ranking militants and the masterminds of deadly suicide bombings. Israel's top leadership is scheduled to meet this week to formulate a response to Hamas' demands.

Israeli aircraft strike Gaza after rockets fired Mon Feb 16, 5:27 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli aircraft struck smuggling tunnels on Gaza's border with Egypt on Monday, after two rockets were fired from the Palestinian territory, witnesses said.Israel says armed groups use the tunnels around the border town of Rafah to smuggle weapons into the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave.Just hours before the air strike, two rockets were fired into southern Israel from Gaza but exploded without causing any casualties, an Israeli army spokesman said.One of the short-range rockets hit an empty field while the other fell on a farm causing slight damage.The little-known Hezbollah Brigades Palestine said it fired the rockets in honour of Imad Mugnieh, a Hezbollah leader killed one year ago in Damascus in an attack the Lebanese Shiite group blamed on Israel.The latest attacks in and around Gaza came despite ceasefires declared on January 18 after a three-week Israeli offensive against the territory's Islamist rulers that killed 1,330 Palestinians.On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert consulted key cabinet members on Egyptian-led efforts to turn the ceasefires into a lasting truce, a day after ruling out any deal without the release of Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Gaza militants in 2006.

Pope to have presidential escort for Israel trip By IAN DEITCH, Associated Press Writer – Sun Feb 15, 2:18 pm ET

JERUSALEM – Israel's president will escort Pope Benedict XVI around the Holy Land when he visits in May, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday, amid strained relations between the Vatican and the Jewish state.Benedict has tried to reduce tensions between the Vatican and Israel that followed his reinstatement of a renegade bishop who questioned the extent of the Holocaust.Olmert spoke of the pilgrimage at a Cabinet meeting on Sunday. In May of this year, Israel will receive a special visitor, Pope Benedict XVI, Olmert said, without giving an exact date.President Shimon Peres will escort him as he visits various sites around the country.Peres, 85, is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who has been active in Mideast peace efforts for decades.Fragile relations between the Vatican and Israel worsened last month when the German pope reinstated an excommunicated British bishop, Richard Williamson, who recently told Swedish TV that evidence is hugely against 6 million Jews being deliberately gassed. He said only 300,000 Jews were killed by the Nazis, but not one of them by gassing in a gas chamber.

About 6 million Jews were systematically murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators during World War II. Many were gassed in death camps while others were killed en masse by firing squads, starvation and other methods. About 240,000 Holocaust survivors live in Israel.Benedict later condemned Williamson's remarks and spoke out against anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial.Benedict's trip was planned before the Williamson affair surfaced.There has been only one other official visit by a pope to the Jewish state, by Pope John Paul II in 2000.Pope Paul VI visited in 1964, but in a reflection of the strained nature of the relationship, he spent only part of one day in Israel and never ventured into Jewish west Jerusalem. At the time Jerusalem was divided between Jordanian and Israeli control. He met Israel's president briefly at Megiddo in Israel's north, but did not address him as president or mention the word Israel in public during his unofficial visit.The Vatican and Israel established diplomatic relations in the early 1990s but relations have been often been tense.The Vatican objected to a caption under a photo of World War II Pope Pius XII at Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. It alleges that Pius didn't act to help Jews as they were rounded up by the Nazis and sent to their deaths.

Israel was offended when senior Vatican Cardinal Renato Martino said during Israel's recent military campaign to stop rocket fire from the Gaza Strip that Gaza resembled a big concentration camp.

Israel's Kadima calls for power-sharing deal by Yana Dlugy Yana Dlugy – Sun Feb 15, 11:54 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's centrist Kadima party on Sunday called for a power-sharing deal with right-wing Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu amid furious haggling in the wake of tight parliamentary elections.A rotation is the minimum that Kadima can demand so that a stable government sees the light of day, said Avi Dichter, a Kadima member and public security minister in the outgoing government.He was referring to a power-sharing arrangement Israel had in 1984 after another close ballot, when the two top parties each held the post of prime minister for two years.

Kadima chief and current Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has received the preference of public opinion and Netanyahu has to admit so. We have to have a fair equilibrium between the two parties, Dichter said.Netanyahu has so far rejected the rotating premiership option.Although Kadima won 28 seats in last week's general election, one more than the Likud, Netanyahu is widely tipped to become the next prime minister.

Under Israeli law, the person charged with trying to form a new government is not necessarily the leader of the largest party but the one with the best chances of cobbling together a coalition capable of securing a majority in the 120-seat Knesset.

Netanyahu, with support from fellow right-wing parties that dominated the February 10vote, can rely on 65 seats in parliament, whereas Livni has the backing of 44.A purely right-wing government would be highly unstable, however, with most observers predicting its demise within 18 months or so, and Netanyahu is thought to prefer a broad coalition that would include Kadima.Livni has so far insisted that she should lead any unity government.Her Kadima faction met behind closed doors on Sunday to consider its options.We are the only ones capable of forming a national unity government, Livni told reporters ahead of the meeting.Parliament speaker Dalia Itzik, a senior member of Kadima, told reporters: If Tzipi Livni is not prime minister, we will discuss going into the opposition.Earlier, Livni was filmed at the start of Sunday's cabinet meeting passing a message to party colleague and outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert saying: Kadima will not join a coalition led by Netanyahu,military radio reported.Olmert has urged Livni to go into opposition rather than join a Netanyahu-led administration.Go into opposition and you will steer Kadima to victory in the next elections, Israeli media quoted Olmert as telling Livni.The chairman of the Kadima parliamentary faction, Yoel Hasson, told the Ynet news website the party must not enter the coalition and make an extreme-right government under Netanyahu seem kosher. That sort of government will never be able to lead a diplomatic process or change the method of government.

But should Likud offer Kadima a rotation that would entirely change the picture. That's a completely different story.Livni, a 50-year-old lawyer bidding to become Israel's second woman prime minister, is thought to favour going into opposition rather than joining a Netanyahu-led government, the Haaretz daily said. A majority of members are likely to back Livni's position during the party's meeting on Sunday, it said. If Kadima goes into opposition, Netanyahu will be forced to form a coalition with the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu of controversial Avigdor Lieberman, as well as ultra-Orthodox parties and extreme right-wing settler groups.

Such a government would put Bibi, as Netanyahu is widely called in Israel, at odds with the administration of US President Barack Obama, who has vowed to vigorously pursue Middle East peace talks, observers say. As the political wrangling continued, the Likud urged Kadima to join a Netanyahu-led cabinet. It is unfortunate that Livni will not set petty politics aside and consider national interests as a top priority, the party said in a statement. Official results from the election will be published on Wednesday. President Shimon Peres then has seven days to consult the various factions before tasking a member of parliament with trying to form a new government.

Israeli army disowns general's Turkey attack Sat Feb 14, 2:58 pm ET

ANKARA (AFP) – The Israeli military on Saturday disassociated itself from remarks critical of Turkey made by one of its generals after Ankara described them as unacceptable and demanded an urgent clarification.The remarks by Major General Avi Mizrahi, commander of the Israeli army headquarters, followed a row sparked by Israel's offensive in Gaza last month and contained unacceptable claims and nonsense targeting our prime minister and our country, the foreign ministry said.The Israeli ambassador to Turkey was summoned to the foreign ministry on Saturday and handed a note of protest, the statement said, adding that the Israeli authorities were asked for an urgent clarification.In Jerusalem, the Israeli army later issued a statement saying Mizrahi's remarks were not representative of its views.General Mizrahi said some things that might be construed as critical of Turkey. The army spokesman wishes to clarify that this is not the official position of the army.On Friday, the Turkish media quoted Mizrahi as saying Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who vehemently criticised Israel's action in the Gaza Strip, should first look in the mirror and spoke about Ottoman massacres of Armenians during World War I and the Kurdish conflict in Turkey.The Turkish military also denounced Mizrahi's remarks, saying they distort the realities and are excessive, unfortunate and unacceptable.

Such comments can harm national interests in relations between the two countries, the statement said.We expect the Israeli general staff, which we believe places importance on relations with the Turkish armed forces, to clarify the issue, it added.The Gaza conflict has strained relations between Israel and Turkey, a predominantly Muslim non-Arab nation which has been the Jewish state's main regional ally since the two signed a military cooperation accord in 1996.On January 29, Erdogan stormed out from a heated debate on the Gaza war at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland after clashing with Israeli President Shimon Peres.Before walking off, he said Israel committed barbarian acts in Gaza, told Peres that you know well how to kill people and lashed out at the audience for applauding the Israeli president's emotional defence of the war.Mizrahi's remarks reportedly came at an international conference in Israel on Tuesday in comments on Erdogan's outburst, after which Israel had sought to defuse tensions, saying that relations would recover in time.Israel's 22-day offensive on Islamist Hamas-controlled Gaza left more than 1,300 Palestinians dead and injured 5,300 others.

Israel rules out Gaza truce unless soldier freed Sat Feb 14, 9:12 am ET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel said on Saturday it would not agree to a ceasefire with the Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip unless an Israeli soldier held by the Islamists was freed.Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said in a statement: The prime minister's position is that Israel will not reach understandings on a truce before the release of Gilad Shalit.Israel wants to tie any ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza to the release of soldier Shalit, held captive in the Palestinian enclave since 2006 when he was kidnapped in a cross-border raid.Egypt is mediating a long-term ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Israeli media reported significant headway had been achieved in the indirect talks.Hamas spokesman in Gaza Fawzi Barhoum told Reuters that the Egyptian-mediated talks were stalled by disagreement on the duration of the ceasefire. Israel wants a permanent ceasefire while Hamas favors an 18-month truce that could be extended.Once this obstacle is overcome an announcement would be made, Barhoum said.Hamas has rejected Israeli demands to include the fate of Shalit in the ceasefire agreement. The Islamist group wants Israel to open all border crossings with the Gaza Strip as a condition for talks on the release of Shalit.Hamas has demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails in exchange for Shalit.(Reporting by Joseph Nasr in Jerusalem and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; Writing by Joseph Nasr, Editing by Richard Balmforth)

Groups question Hamas on extra-judicial killings By BEN HUBBARD, Associated Press Writer – Sat Feb 14, 3:29 am ET

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – The day after Israeli tanks entered Gaza last month, masked Palestinians opened fire on the al-Najar family outside their home, killing the father and wounding 10 others, including two teenage girls and a 78-year-old grandmother.Ammar al-Najar, 25, a son of the victim, didn't know who the gunmen were but he said the family supports the Fatah movement and had trouble previously with Gaza's ruling Hamas group.My father ... tried to talk to them, but they didn't talk. They just started shooting, he said. The men wore no identifying symbols, he said.

International and Palestinian human rights organizations say there was a rash of shootings and beatings across Gaza during Israel's offensive, voicing suspicions the Islamic militants of Hamas used wartime chaos to target enemies, including activists from the rival Fatah.Among examples reported by the rights groups, gunmen dragged a man from a hospital bed and another from his grandfather's house, then shot them dead. A third died in a hospital from beating and gunshot wounds after men who said they were from Gaza security forces pulled him from his home.Two Gaza-based groups, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights and the Independent Commission on Human Rights, interviewed survivors and witnesses who said some attacks were carried out by members of Hamas' internal security service.Amnesty International went further, saying Hamas militiamen engaged in a campaign of abductions, deliberate and unlawful killings, torture and death threats against those they accuse of collaborating with Israel, as well as opponents and critics.All three rights groups are urging Hamas leaders to investigate the allegations and prosecute those responsible.Hamas and Fatah engaged in months of clashes in Gaza before Hamas gunmen seized control of the territory after five days of street battles in June 2007. During the conflict, both sides committed killings and kidnappings, including throwing some victims off high-rise buildings.In the latest accusations of score-settling by Hamas during Israel's three-week offensive, Fatah says some of its members were slain, others shot in the arms or legs, and many placed under house arrest that prevented them from fleeing areas under Israeli attack.Hamas has denied any involvement by members of its security services but acknowledges that Hamas fighters targeted suspected informers for Israel.

The government distinguishes between any violation of the law and actions taken by the resistance to protect itself from the danger of spies during wartime, said Taher al-Nunu, a spokesman for Gaza's Hamas administration. The government confirms that it will show no mercy for collaborators who stab our people in the back, and they will be judged under the law.A report from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights details 32 extra-judicial killings from the Dec. 27 start of the Israeli campaign to the end of January.It said 17 of the dead were among prisoners who fled Gaza's central prison after it was damaged by an Israeli airstrike Dec. 28. As inmates ran through the bombed-out walls, gunmen were seen grabbing some and their corpses were found later, the report said. Most of the 17 had been held as suspected collaborators and two for raping and murdering a child.The group said some of the 15 other people killed during that period were snatched from their homes by gunmen, some of whom claimed to be members of Hamas' internal security service. Some turned up dead soon after, while others were found injured and later died of wounds, it said.Similar attacks have been reported since Israel halted its offensive Jan. 18.

On Feb. 6, 51-year-old Jamil Shaqqura died in a hospital of wounds from beating and torture, a week after he was picked for interrogation by Hamas' internal security, the group said.Speaking at Shaqqura's funeral, Hamas parliament member Yunis al-Astal said internal security needed to be given stricter instructions. Hamas officials said they were investigating the case. Hamas also accepted responsibility for the killing of Hasan al-Hijazi, who was shot by three masked men Jan. 7. Hamas later issued a statement calling the killing a mistake,the rights groups said. What happened was that there was chaos, armed chaos, said Subhia Juma at the Independent Commission for Human Rights. Juma's group said gunmen — some masked, others in official uniforms — severely beat or shot at the legs of at least 116 people. The report by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights mentioned dozens of such attacks.

Fahmi Zaarir, a Fatah spokesman in the West Bank, said that 14 Fatah members in Gaza were killed by Hamas during the Israeli offensive and that more than 160 were shot in the arms or legs or beaten. He said hundreds of Fatah members were put under house arrest, preventing some from fleeing from the Israeli advance to safer places. Some who tried to leave their homes were shot at, he said. Mahmoud Qanan, 25, a Fatah youth leader, said armed men came to his house in the town of Khan Yunis on Jan. 3, confiscated his cell phone and told him he was under house arrest. I could have gone to a place safer than my house, but I was scared to go out, that I'd get shot or kidnapped or punished, he said. Hamdi Shaqqura of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said his group could not conclusively determine who carried out the attacks, although some testimony pointed to Hamas gunmen. Amnesty International, however, said there was no doubt the wave of attacks was carried out by Hamas forces and militias as they are the only ones who are allowed to operate with such a degree of freedom throughout Gaza.