Israel's Labour votes to join govt by Marius Schattner Marius Schattner – Tue Mar 24, 4:15 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's centre-left Labour party voted on Tuesday to join a government being formed by right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu in a major boost for the premier-designate who can now form a broad coalition.Labour delegates voted 680-507 in favour of a deal that the leader of the party, outgoing Defence Minister Ehud Barak, had reached earlier in the day with Netanyahu, who heads the right-wing Likud party.The agreement would allow Netanyahu to broaden a coalition that would have otherwise been entirely dependent on support from far-right and religious parties.I congratulate you for entering into a unity government at this crucial time, Netanyahu told Barak after the vote.Greeted with a mixture of cheers and jeers, Barak told a convention before the vote that Israel "needs unity" after last month's tight general election.An absolute majority of the citizens want to see us together with the right in the same government,he told delegates.I am not afraid of Benjamin Netanyahu, we will not be his figleaf ... We will be a counterweight that will ensure that we do not have a right-wing government,Barak said.Netanyahu has pushed for as broad a coalition as possible amid concerns that a narrow right-wing alliance would be unable to survive for long in the turbulent world of Israeli politics.
But he has failed to win over the centrist Kadima party of outgoing Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni -- the largest faction in parliament.Labour -- the once-dominant party that suffered its worst-ever showing in the February 10 election -- should get five ministries, according to the draft accord reached by Netanyahu and Barak.Barak, Israel's most highly decorated soldier, would keep the defence portfolio.Barak had initially objected to joining a Netanyahu-led government, but in a stark about-face he argued last week that Labour's participation was in Israel's interests.Under the agreement, the Netanyahu government platform would include a commitment to reach a comprehensive regional peace agreement" and respect previous international agreements Israel has signed -- an apparent reference to accords reached with the Palestinians.
It does not commit the cabinet to working towards the creation of a Palestinian state. Netanyahu says the economic situation in the occupied West Bank should be improved before negotiations take place on other issues.The agreement also states that the government would work against those Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank that Israeli authorities consider illegal.Netanyahu, a former premier, has until April 3 to form a new government. He has already signed coalition agreements with the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu and ultra-Orthodox Shas parties.The agreement with Labour should theoretically give Netanyahu a necessary majority, with from 66 MPs in the 120-seat parliament -- 27 from Likud, 15 from Yisrael Beitenu, 11 from Shas and 13from Labour.Earlier, however, seven Labour MPs opposed to the deal threatened to ignore the party whip if the central committee voted to join a Netanyahu government. But one of them, former party chairman Amir Peretz, said after the vote: We will respect the decision.Some party members accused Barak of wanting to keep the defence portfolio at all costs, even at the expense of the party's principles. They have dubbed Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Lieberman, who would be foreign minister, as a racist because of repeated diatribes against Israeli Arabs. As well as defence, Labour would get the social affairs, agriculture and trade and industry ministries, in addition to a post without a portfolio.The party would also head parliament's powerful foreign affairs and defence committee.
Saudi king opens council with call for Arab unity Tue Mar 24, 1:35 pm ET
RIYADH (AFP) – Saudi King Abdullah called for Arab and Palestinian unity in the face of Israeli aggression as he opened the new session of the kingdom's Shura (consultative) Council on Tuesday.Speaking a week before an Arab League summit in Qatar, Abdullah told the 150-member appointed body that differences among Arab and Islamic countries had been exploited by Israel and contributed to a dark atmosphere in the region.But he added that the deep rift between Palestinian factions was even more serious than Israeli policy as a challenge to Arab unity.The challenges that face your nation, at the domestic level and the level of Arab and Islamic nations ... require twice as much responsibility in countering them as they emerge one after another, including Israeli aggression that creates mischief in the land,he said.
Particularly concerning was the Palestinian dispute between brothers which is more serious in jeopardising our just cause than Israeli aggression, the king said, also pointing to Arab and Islamic differences that thrill the foe and pain friends.
Israel's deadly 22-day onslaught against the Gaza Strip at the turn of the year deepened the rift between the territory's Hamas rulers and Western-backed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.It also created a split in the Arab world between governments like Qatar and Syria which voiced support for Hamas, and Saudi Arabia and Egypt which sided firmly with Abbas.The Saudis have since pushed hard for Arab reconciliation, hosting the leaders of Syria, Egypt and Kuwait for a March 11 mini-summit in a bid to settle differences ahead of the Arab summit set for March 29 and 30.The kingdom has also called repeatedly for the Islamists of Hamas to mend fences with the Palestinian leadership.
Police arrest six over Gaza protest violence Tue Mar 24, 11:17 am ET
LONDON (AFP) – Police in London have arrested six more people over violence outside the Israeli embassy during protests against the Gaza war in January, a spokesman said on Tuesday.Police are still looking for around 40 people suspected of involvement in the violence in which at least 55 police officers were injured. A total of 62 have been arrested and are now on bail.What happened during these demonstrations in January and what our officers and those shop keepers were subjected to was not and cannot be described as lawful protest,said Ian Thomas of the Metropolitan Police.
During some of the protests in January, demonstrators pushed over barricades outside the Israeli embassy in Kensington, west London and hurled missiles at police.Most of the injuries to officers at the protests were minor. However, one was knocked unconscious after he was hit by a metal object, said the chief superintendent.Those who corrupt and abuse the right to protest by using it as a guise to attack police and trash and loot shops cannot hide behind the crowds,said Thomas.Those most recently arrested are between 17 and 26 years old. They were all detained on suspicion of violent disorder at various addresses around London.Peaceful protests were also led in the city by celebrities such as singer Annie Lennox and veteran politician Tony Benn.
Lebanon press says PLO bomb settling of scores Tue Mar 24, 10:22 am ET
BEIRUT (AFP) – The killing of a top Palestine Liberation Organisation official in Lebanon could be a settling of scores between rival factions, Lebanese newspapers said on Tuesday.Kamal Medhat, the PLO's number two in Lebanon, was killed in a roadside bombing outside the Mieh Mieh refugee camp in southern Lebanon on Monday along with three other people, including two of his bodyguards.Mieh Mieh: a fratricide? said the French language L'Orient-Le Jour newspaper.As-Safir newspaper, which is close to the Syrian-backed Lebanese opposition, echoed the view.Although all Palestinian factions were quick to denounce the crime and blame Israel and its agents, security officials believe that Medhat was killed in a settling of scores, it said.Medhat, 58, was also a former aide to the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and a former intelligence chief for the mainstream Fatah movement in Lebanon.
According to As-Safir he was in charge of reconciling rival Palestinian groups in Lebanon, mainly in Ain al-Helweh, the largest of 12 refugee camps and scene of frequent violence between Fatah and the Islamist movement Hamas.Was it a message from abroad or the work of a Palestinian faction? said An-Nahar newspaper, which is close to Lebanon's ruling Western-backed parliamentary majority.The victim was known for being one of the key figures who strove to calm tensions and reconcile Palestinian factions,it added.Tension between Fatah and Islamist groups inside Lebanon camps has run high in the past year, with clashes and attacks leaving at least 12 dead.
Gaza rocket hits Israel after 10 day lull: army Tue Mar 24, 10:21 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket at southern Israel on Tuesday for the first time in 10 days, causing no casualties or damage, the army said.The projectile struck an open area several kilometres (miles) from the border with the Hamas-ruled teritory.Militants have fired more than 190 rockets and mortar rounds at Israel since the end of a deadly 22-day Israeli offensive in December and January that was aimed at halting the attacks.In turn, Israel has launched several air strikes at suspected militants, weapons caches and smuggling tunnels along the Gaza-Egypt border.
Israel slams UN rights report on Gaza by Djallal Malti – Tue Mar 24, 7:31 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel on Tuesday slammed as one-sided a report by a UN human rights investigator which said its three-week war on the Gaza Strip was possibly a war crime.Unfortunately this is a further example of the very one-sided, unbalanced and unfair attitude of the (UN) Human Rights Council, government spokesman Mark Regev told AFP.This sort of report does the service of human rights no good whatsoever, he said.It's a politicisation of human rights.The UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, Richard Falk, said in a report on Monday that there was reason to conclude that Israel's massive military offensive on Gaza in December and January was a war crime.Falk said that in order to determine if the war was legal, it was necessary to assess if the Israeli forces could differentiate between civilian and military targets in Gaza.If it is not possible to do so, then launching the attacks is inherently unlawful, and would seem to constitute a war crime of the greatest magnitude under international law, Falk wrote in the report.On the basis of the preliminary evidence available, there is reason to reach this conclusion, he added, pointing out that attacks were targeted at densely populated areas.
The 22-day war killed more than 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis and left swathes of the impoverished Hamas-run territory in ruins.Regev said the Human Rights Council has been criticised for its negative Israel fixation by two UN secretary generals, Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon.Israel's staunch ally the United States also lambasted the report, saying Falk was biased.Look, we've expressed our concern many times about the special rapporteur's views on dealing with that question,State Department spokesman Robert Wood told a press briefing.We've found the rapporteur's views to be anything but fair. We find them to be biased. We've made that very clear.Falk had focused his report on the legal issues arising from the war, as he had been unable to enter Gaza to assess the human rights situation on the ground.He attempted a mission in December -- before Israel launched its 22-day offensive -- but was detained by the Israelis and then expelled, with the foreign ministry accusing him of legitimising Hamas terrorism.Such a refusal to cooperate with a United Nations representative, not to mention the somewhat humiliating treatement accorded has set an unfortunate precedent with respect to the treatement of a representative of the United Nations Human Rights Council, and more generally of the United Nations itself,Falk wrote.
Falk has been highly critical of Israel's policies against the Palestinians, saying in December that they amounted to a crime against humanity.Falk in January also charged that Israel's military operations in Gaza raised the spectre of systematic war crimes and needed to be investigated.Israel launched its war in retaliation for persistent rocket fire by militants in Gaza.It ended after Hamas and Israeli each declared ceasefires on January 18 but sporadic violence has continued since and Egyptian-brokered efforts to forge a more sustainable truce have yet to succeed.
UN expert biased on Israel's Gaza offensive: US Mon Mar 23, 5:20 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States Monday said UN expert Richard Falk was biased in calling for an investigation on Israel's January offensive in the Gaza Strip on grounds it could be construed as a war crime.Look, we've expressed our concern many times about the special rapporteur's views on dealing with that question, State Department spokesman Robert Wood told a press briefing.We've found the rapporteur's views to be anything but fair. We find them to be biased. We've made that very clear,he added.In a report presented Monday at the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council, UN expert on the Palestinian territories Falk called for a probe to assess if the Israeli forces could differentiate between civilian and military targets in Gaza.If it is not possible to do so, then launching the attacks is inherently unlawful, and would seem to constitute a war crime of the greatest magnitude under international law,Falk said in the report.
On the basis of the preliminary evidence available, there is reason to reach this conclusion,he added, pointing out that attacks were targeted at densely populated areas.Wood said the United States was aware it could not prevent an investigation, but stressed: if there are going to be these types of investigations, they need to be non-biased.They need to take into account the situations on the ground and the realities on the ground and -- and go from there.Israel in late December launched a three-week offensive in Gaza which left over 1,300 Palestinians dead and countless of homes destroyed. The offensive was a retaliation for Palestine rocket attacks on Israeli territory.Falk had focused his report on the legal issues arising from the war, as he had been unable to enter Gaza to assess the human rights situation on the ground.He attempted a mission in December, but was detained by the Israelis in a facility close to Ben Gurion airport before being expelled the day after.Falk has been highly critical of Israel's policies against the Palestinians, saying early December that they amounted to a crime against humanity.
Hezbollah spends millions to rebuild stronghold by Rita Daou – Mon Mar 23, 10:18 am ET
BEIRUT (AFP) – Salam Hassoun is thrilled by the new flat Hezbollah has built for her to replace the one Israeli bombs destroyed during the 2006 summer war on the Lebanese Shiite movement.The war ravaged Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold that includes the teeming neighbourhood of Haret Hreik, where a mammoth Hezbollah-orchestrated reconstruction drive is underway.The deafening explosions of Israeli bombs have been replaced by the grinding cacophony of earth-movers and cement mixers contracted to rebuild 241 of the 282 buildings destroyed in the bombing.The project, dubbed Waad (pledge in Arabic), has won the heart of Hassoun but has also raised a storm of political dust between Hezbollah and the government, whose authority in the southern suburbs has lagged for decades.I used to dream of an apartment where the living room was separated from the dining area and where the kitchen would be much bigger, and Waad gave me that, Hassoun told AFP during a Hezbollah-organised tour of Haret Hreik.May God protect (Hezbollah chief Hassan) Nasrallah. He has kept his promise,she said from her ninth-storey flat in one of several spanking new towers.
Project director Hassan Jechi told AFP 400 million dollars have been allocated to transform the southern suburbs into a modern, residential area.In Haret Hreik's so-called security area, where Nasrallah once lived and Hezbollah had its headquarters and which became ground zero in Israel's onslaught, reconstruction is now at its zenith.Jechi said Hezbollah institutions will move out of the area, where developers will only put residential buildings and a public park to give residents a breathing space.Waad has adopted modern criteria to build earthquake-proof apartment blocs, widen streets and pavements in this once-congested area and put parking lots and artesian wells where there were none.The war damaged 1,200 buildings and destroyed 282others,said Jechi, adding that in addition to the 241 buildings Waad is rebuilding, Hezbollah association Jihad For Reconstruction is restoring 951 others.People have already moved into 20 buildings and the entire project should be completed within 18 months, he added.Jechi and Hezbollah are evasive when it comes to revealing where they are getting the funds to carry out this massive project, amid wide speculation that Iran is Hezbollah's main financial backer.There are donations from Arab countries (which are given through the government), material assistance given through Waad while the rest is footed by Jihad For Reconstruction, Jechi said.Both Waad and Jihad For Reconstruction are on a US list of terrorist organisations.
Oil-rich Gulf countries pledged millions of dollars for the reconstruction of Lebanon after the 2006 war.The donations are disbursed by the Western-backed government, which has had strained ties with Hezbollah, primarily over its refusal to give up its formidable arsenal.The parliamentary majority says Hezbollah's arms undermine the authority of the state, but the group refuses to disarm, arguing that its weapons and militia are essential to defend the country against Israel. Jechi complained that the government was only providing 30 percent of the 400 million dollars needed by Waad to rebuild the southern suburbs, which Hezbollah detractors consider a state-within-a-state.The government's contribution is slow and insufficient,he said. But Fadi Aramouni, who heads the state-run Central Fund for the Displaced says the government did not promise to rebuild (the suburbs) but pledged to give compensation.According to him, the government has so far disbursed 100 million dollars in compensation and is expected to give an equal amount. Aramouni dismissed Jechi's criticism, adding the claim that Hezbollah had embarked in a major reconstruction drive that need more funds than those pledged by the government. Hezbollah has adopted a costly plan while the government is providing funds to restore buildings to what they were before the war,he said.Analaysts say the reconstruction drive has triggered new rivalries between Hezbollah and the authorities and is bolstering the popularity of the Shiite militant group.Hezbollah will certainly benefit from this reconstruction project because it is cementing the loyalty of the people, said Ahmad Baalbaki, a professor of sociology.In contrast, for decades the government neglected the development of the southern suburbs, and Hezbollah stepped in to fill the void. Before Hezbollah, in the 1980s, even in the 1970s, the southern suburbs was like a jungle. Where was, then, the authority of the state,he asked.
Olmert warns of Israel isolation on world stage Mon Mar 23, 4:37 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has warned his likely successor Benjamin Netanyahu that he risks isolating Israel on the world stage unless he agrees to the creation of a Palestinian state, media reported on Monday.The only choice is between two states for two people or one state for two people, local media quoted him as saying at Sunday's cabinet meeting.Those who don't see this are lying to themselves and are risking causing great damage to Israel including losing its international support.Anyone who goes into a government whose coalition guidelines do not include the principle of two states for two peoples is knowingly liable to subject Israel to isolation, the likes of which it has never known since its establishment,he said.
History will not forgive them,he said.
Netanyahu, the leader of the right-wing Likud party, opposes the creation of a Palestinian state for the moment, saying economic conditions in the occupied West Bank must improve before negotiations take place on any other issues.In his last months in office, after he announced he would step down to fight corruption allegations, Olmert has repeatedly spoken out in favour of the stalled peace process.
A lifelong right-winger, Olmert underwent a change over the past several years, coming to the conclusion that unless Israel gave up occupied Palestinian lands it would lose its democratic Jewish character as eventually Palestinians would outnumber Jewish Israelis.Olmert's comments also appeared to target the head of the Labour party, outgoing Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who supports a two-state solution but is willing to join a Netanyahu cabinet without the Likud leader committing to the principle.
Israel says car bomb defused at shopping mall Sun Mar 22, 4:29 pm ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday an explosives-laden car parked at a shopping mall in northern Israel, and defused by police, was an attempted Arab attack aimed at causing mass casualties.Israeli media reported a little-known armed faction called Liberators of the Galilee claimed responsibility for planting the bomb in Haifa on Saturday.The group's name -- the Galilee is in Israel -- suggested it could be comprised of Israeli Arabs, who make up some 20 percent of the population of the Jewish state.A huge disaster was prevented last night in Haifa after a car packed with dozens of kilos of explosives did not explode, Olmert said at the weekly cabinet meeting.Olmert did not use the word Palestinians in his comments, but said the West Bank had long been a stepping off point for attacks inside Israel.A preliminary investigation shows it was a terrorist infrastructure operating with great sophistication and aiming to carry out a mass-casualty attack, he said, without naming any group.
The Liberators of the Galilee were quoted as saying they wanted to avenge Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem and the recent Israeli military offensive in Gaza.The number of Palestinian attacks from the occupied West Bank has dropped dramatically over the past several years, a decrease Israeli leaders attribute partly to the barrier Israel has built in the territory to international condemnation.But Olmert said: We should not delude ourselves. Attempts by terrorist organizations to carry out attacks inside Israel, along its borders and in its heartland, in various regions, are continuing.
There was one Palestinian suicide bombing in Israel last year.
In four other incidents since 2008, which police described as attacks, three bulldozers and a car driven by Palestinian residents of Arab East Jerusalem rammed into Israeli vehicles in the western part of the city.Those events underscored a particular security challenge for Israel: residents of East Jerusalem, an area captured in a 1967 war and annexed in a move that has not won international recognition, carry the same identity cards issued to Israeli Jews and enjoy greater freedom of movement than Palestinian brethren in the West Bank.Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said a small blast, possibly caused by a botched detonation, drew the attention of police to the shopping mall's parking lot. He said they found a large explosive in the car and called in bomb disposal teams.(Writing by Jeffrey Heller, Editing by Richard Williams)
Netanyahu seeks to reassure Egypt over FM pick by Jean-Luc Renaudie – Sun Mar 22, 12:48 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli premier-designate Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to reassure Cairo over choosing a firebrand who once told the Egyptian president to go to hell as his foreign minister, his office said on Sunday.The move comes as the two nations get ready to mark the 30th anniversary of their landmark peace treaty later this week.
The key post in Netanyahu's government is set to be filled by the outspoken Avigdor Lieberman, who last October said Mubarak could go to hell if he continued to decline to visit the Jewish state.Close aides of Mr Netanyahu and Mr Lieberman have met with Egyptian officials to explain to them that the arrival of Mr Lieberman at the foreign ministry should not be a reason for tension between the two countries, a statement from Netanyahu's office said.As part of these efforts, the head of the national security council in Netanyahu's government, Uzi Arad, met the Egyptian ambassador to Israel Yasser Reda last Wednesday, the statement said.Israel and Egypt will this week mark 30 years since the signing of their landmark peace treaty, and the choice of Lieberman for the foreign ministry post has, according to the Israeli press, ruffled feathers in Cairo.The discontent rose to such a level that several Egyptian officials warned Cairo would boycott the Israeli ceremony to mark the signing this week, the press said.Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said however that the ambassador would be attending the ceremony, calling it an appropriate opportunity to assess the past and to look to the future.He added that the anniversary would allow both sides to explore how this (Israeli-Egyptian) peace can help stabilise a wider peace in the region,in remarks carried Sunday by the state-run MENA news agency.
Officials from Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party have meanwhile held direct contacts with the highest Egyptian officials in Israel and Cairo,said Danny Ayalon, tapped to be Lieberman's deputy in the foreign ministry.The discussions that have taken place make for an excellent base for the continuing of the excellent work relations between the two countries,Ayalon told public radio.Addressing the Israeli parliament last October during a special memorial service for a far-right minister killed by Palestinian militants in 2001, Lieberman said of Mubarak: He wants to talk to us? Let him come here. He doesn't want to talk to us? He can go to hell.After Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres apologised to Mubarak for the comments, calling them unfortunate,useless and harmful,Lieberman in turn slammed them for acting like a battered wife with Cairo.Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak came to Jerusalem in November 1995 to attend the funeral of slain Israeli President Yitzak Rabin, but has never made an official visit to the Jewish state.Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party won 15 seats in the February election, becoming the third-largest in parliament.An immigrant from ex-Soviet Moldova, Lieberman has built his reputation on controversial statements about Israeli Arabs that have earned him the label of racist from critics and a reputation of a needed strong hand from supporters.Netanyahu, who has until April 3 to form a government, has so far signed his sole coalition agreement with Yisrael Beitenu, agreeing to name Lieberman as foreign minister and giving the party four other ministries.That arrangement may change, however, if Netanyahu succeeds in his goal of forming a broad-based government that would include either the centrist Kadima party or centre-left Labour.
Hamas leader hails Obama's new approach: report Sun Mar 22, 9:45 am ET
ROME (AFP) – The exiled leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Sunday hailed the new lexicon being used by US President Barack Obama towards foreign policy issues the Middle East.The challenge for everyone is that (Obama's new language) is a prelude to a sincere change (of direction) in US and European foreign policy, Khaled Meshaal said in an interview with Italian newspaper La Repubblica.A senior US envoy said in Damascus earlier this month that Syria can be an important and constructive force in the Middle East, as Washington pursues a new policy of engaging with all countries in the region, even long-time foes.And the Syria-based leader predicted that an official opening of US and European Union channels for dialogue with Hamas, listed as a terrorist organisation by the EU since 2003, is now only a matter of time.
The big powers need us to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,he said.Our weight in resolving the Palestinian question stems from our roots in society, in the people who have voted for us and who will do so again.Meanwhile, Meshaal accused former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert of moving the goalposts on a deal with Israel to free captured soldier Gilat Shalit.Olmert on Tuesday blamed Hamas for the failure of Egyptian-brokered prisoner talks, saying Israel was prepared to release 320 of the 450prisoners demanded by the group.Shalit reached 1,000 days in captivity on Saturday.
