Netanyahu takes helm of hawkish new Israeli govt by Joseph Krauss – Wed Apr 1, 7:15 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Benjamin Netanyahu began his second term as Israeli prime minister on Wednesday as the Palestinians warned that the hawk heading a largely right-wing cabinet does not believe in peace.At a formal handover ceremony attended by President Shimon Peres and former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Netanyahu said a difficult task lies ahead of us and we must start working immediately.The 59-year-old Netanyahu heads a coalition that includes his right-wing Likud, the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu, ultra-Orthodox Shas and a small religious faction as well as the centre-left Labour party.In his inaugural address to the 120-seat parliament on Tuesday, Netanyahu said the biggest threat Israel faced was the possibility of a radical regime armed with nuclear weapons -- a clear reference to arch-foe Iran.But the hawkish Likud leader said he would pursue a final accord with the Palestinians, while making no mention of a future Palestinian state.Under the final accord, the Palestinians will have all the rights to govern themselves except those that can put in danger the security and existence of the state of Israel,Netanyahu said Tuesday.
The Palestinians have given a cold welcome to the new government, with president Mahmud Abbas saying Wednesday that Netanyahu does not believe in peace and urging the international community to pile pressure on Israel.Benjamin Netanyahu never believed in a two-state solution or accepted signed agreements and does not want to stop settlement activity. This is obvious, Abbas told the official Palestinian news agency.
We have to tell the world that this man does not believe in peace, so how should we deal with him? Let's put the ball in the world's court.Jordan, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, said it hoped regional peace efforts would continue under the new government.We hope things do not retreat... they should move forward to achieve peace for everybody,Information Minister Nabil Sharif told AFP.The Islamist Hamas movement ruling the Gaza Strip, which endured a massive Israeli offensive at the turn of the year, said it did not differentiate between Israeli governments but called the new coalition racist and extreme.Since being charged with forming a government after the February 10 general election, Netanyahu has repeatedly made clear that his priority was confronting Iran, rather than moving the hobbled peace talks forward.Israel's Haaretz newspaper said Netanyahu is committed to halting Iran's nuclear programme -- which Tehran has always insisted is peaceful -- by any means necessary, including a possible military strike.The basic assumption is that diplomacy and sanctions will not gain a thing, and the only way to stop Iran's nuclear programme will be by force, which only Israel is motivated to apply,it said.
A poll published by Haaretz meanwhile found that 54 percent of Israelis are disappointed with the new government, mainly because of its size.With 30 ministers Netanyahu's cabinet is the largest in Israel's nearly 61-year history, the product of weeks of horse-trading in the country's notoriously chaotic political landscape.
Israel's Peace Now anti-settlement watchdog has called the new cabinet one of the most right-wing governments ever known in Israel.The international community has expressed alarm over the future of already stalled peace talks with the Palestinians relaunched in November 2007. Netanyahu has never supported the creation of a Palestinian state, a principle which Israel agreed to under the 2003 international roadmap.He put the brakes on the Oslo autonomy accords during his first term as premier in 1996-1999, says economic conditions should be improved in the occupied West Bank before negotiations take place on other issues.But keen not to antagonise key ally Washington, where US President Barack Obama has vowed to vigorously pursue the peace talks, the new Israeli leader has said he will continue the negotiations with the Palestinians.
Israel parliament approves Netanyahu govt by Patrick Moser Patrick Moser – Tue Mar 31, 4:52 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in as Israeli prime minister on Tuesday, pledging to seek peace with the Palestinians amid international concern his largely right-wing cabinet could bury negotiations.Parliament approved by a 69-45 vote Netanyahu's coalition, which includes his right-wing Likud, the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu, ultra-Orthodox Shas and a small religious faction as well as the centre-left Labour party.Netanyahu, 59, was then sworn in, followed by the 29 other ministers in his cabinet, the largest in Israel's 61-year history.In his address to the Knesset, the 120-seat parliament, Netanyahu told MPs the biggest threat Israel faced was the possibility of a radical regime armed with nuclear weapons -- a clear reference to arch-foe Iran.But the hawkish Likud leader said peace with the Palestinians was possible, while making no mention of a future Palestinian state.I am telling the leaders of the Palestinian Authority -- if you really want peace, it is possible to reach peace, he said. We will carry out peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority with a view to reaching a final accord.Under the final accord, the Palestinians will have all the rights to govern themselves except those that can put in danger the security and existence of the State of Israel,Netanyahu said.But he added that Palestinians must fight against terrorism if they want peace.
The Palestinian Authority said Netanyahu's statements mark a start that is not encouraging.The American administration should pressure the Netanyahu government to stick to the fundamentals of the peace process, in other words land for peace.This means the restitution of all the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, including east Jerusalem,said Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's spokesman.Since being charged with forming a government after the February 10 general election, Netanyahu has repeatedly made clear that his priority was dealing with arch-foe Iran, rather than moving the hobbled peace talks forward.It is shameful that decades after the Holocaust, calls by Iranian leaders to destroy Israel are greeted with indifference by the world,he told MPs.The Jewish people have learned the lesson; they cannot lower their heads before dictators who threaten to destroy them.Contrary to what happened during the last century, today we have the means to defend ourselves. We know how to defend ourselves.Israel's Peace Now anti-settlement watchdog has called the new cabinet one of the most right-wing governments ever known in Israel.The new foreign minister is Avigdor Lieberman, a firebrand ex-bouncer and immigrant from the former Soviet republic of Moldova who has been branded a racist by critics for his anti-Arab diatribes.With Netanyahu, who opposes the creation of a Palestinian state, and Lieberman, the international community has expressed alarm over the future of the already uncertain peace process with the Palestinians that was relaunched in November 2007.The European Union last week warned of consequences if the new government does not commit itself to the principle of the two-state solution, saying relations would become very difficult.And US President Barack Obama acknowledged that peace efforts under a Netanyahu cabinet were not getting any easier but were just as necessary.
One of the main issues is Netanyahu's opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state, a principle to which Israel committed itself under the 2003 international roadmap for peace. Netanyahu, who put the brakes on the Oslo autonomy accords during his first term as premier in 1996-1999, says economic conditions should be improved in the occupied West Bank before negotiations take place on other issues. But keen not to antagonise key ally Washington where Obama has vowed to vigorously pursue the peace talks, the new Israeli leader has said he will continue the negotiations with the Palestinians.Despite his hardline rhetoric, Netanyahu signed several deals with the Palestinians under US pressure during his first term as premier, and some analysts in Israel say he would do so again if pressed by Washington.
Olmert leaves office after unfulfilled promises By JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press Writer – Tue Mar 31, 7:46 am ET
JERUSALEM – Ehud Olmert took office with bold promises of a broad withdrawal from the West Bank and a push for peace with the Palestinians. He goes home empty-handed, tainted by corruption scandals, remembered as the mastermind of two inconclusive wars, and with peace prospects as elusive as ever.But while Olmert's three-year term is widely viewed as a failure in Israel, his legacy is likely to be much more complicated.Although there were no major breakthroughs with the Palestinians, Olmert may have prepared his nation for significant concessions by publicly raising previously untouchable issues, such as the dangers of prolonging Israel's occupation of the West Bank and the need to share control of the holy city of Jerusalem.Olmert relaunched peace talks with Syria. Wars in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip seem to have reinforced Israel's deterrent capabilities with its enemies, and Israel appears to have carried out a series of successful covert military operations in hostile countries on his watch.Ultimately, history will judge Olmert's three-plus years as prime minister more favorably than is the accepted contemporary analysis,said Mark Regev, the outgoing prime minister's spokesman.
On the surface, Olmert's tenure appears to be a wasted opportunity.
Olmert inherited the reins of the Kadima Party after his predecessor, then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, suffered a stroke in January 2006. Sharon was wildly popular in the wake of his historic unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, which ended a 38-year military occupation and raised hopes of a broader peace agreement.Olmert led Kadima to victory in parliamentary elections, promising a similar withdrawal from the West Bank if negotiations with the Palestinians did not bear fruit. He offered Israelis a somewhat novel argument: Instead of harming security, ceding occupied land would make Israel safer by ensuring the country's Jewish majority.Olmert's withdrawal plan was short-lived, however. Weeks after he took office, Hamas militants in the evacuated Gaza Strip burst across Israel's border, seizing a soldier who remains in captivity today.Two weeks later, Hezbollah guerrillas conducted a similar operation along Israel's northern border with Lebanon, capturing two more soldiers and sparking a monthlong war. Despite an intense Israeli air and ground offensive, Israel failed to meet Olmert's goals of rescuing the soldiers or destroying Hezbollah. The inconclusive results cast a cloud over the rest of Olmert's tenure, even though Hezbollah has remained quiet since the fighting.Rocket fire that grew in scope after Israel's withdrawal from Gaza rapidly made Israelis skeptical of further unilateral withdrawals, rendering Olmert's promise of a West Bank pullout unrealistic.Olmert's reputation was further tarnished by a series of criminal investigations into his real estate dealings, political appointments and fundraising efforts abroad. A wealthy American businessman's testimony that he personally handed Olmert thousands of dollars in cash-stuffed envelopes set off a chain reaction that forced him to announce his resignation last September.
Ehud Olmert's government came into power with tremendous potential, but did almost nothing it promised the voters, said Reuven Hazan, a political scientist at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. "Ehud Olmert could go down in history — and only history will judge — as one of the worst prime ministers Israel has had.Such a verdict, however, could be premature. At a dramatic U.S.-hosted conference, Olmert relaunched peace talks with the Palestinians in November 2007 after an eight-year break.Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas exchanged ideas that were never exchanged before, such as discussions on the key issues of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees.However, in the end the two leaders failed to reach a deal — which would have been all but impossible to implement anyway after Hamas militants violently seized power in the Gaza Strip in June 2007.Israel carried out an overwhelming military offensive early this year against Hamas. The operation struck a tough blow against the Islamic militant group, but has been questioned because of heavy Palestinian civilian casualties and failing to weaken Hamas' grip on power.Olmert's most significant accomplishments may never be known. Israel has not commented on foreign reports that it destroyed a Syrian nuclear reactor, assassinated a top Hezbollah mastermind in Syria, or more recently, attacked a convoy in Sudan carrying arms destined for Gaza. In a farewell speech to parliament this week, Olmert spoke of the heart-wrenching concessions Israel will have to make to reach peace and offered some advice to his successor, Benjamin Netanyahu. Take the initiative in your hands bravely. Don't be afraid, and history will thank you, he said.
Israel's Netanyahu pledges to seek Middle East peace By Jeffrey Heller – Mon Mar 30, 12:01 pm ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Monday to make every effort to achieve peace with Israel's neighbors and the Arab world, but again made no mention of Palestinian aspirations to statehood.The government I am forming will do its utmost to achieve a just and lasting peace with all our neighbors and the Arab world in general, Netanyahu said in a speech to parliament, a day before his administration was to be sworn in.Israelis, Netanyahu said during a session marking the 30th anniversary of Israel's peace treaty with Egypt, recognize genuine peace when they see it,and the Jewish state would answer the call of any peace-seeking Arab leader.Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing Likud party, has said he would negotiate with the Palestinians but wanted to focus on shoring up their economy rather than on territorial issues that have blocked progress in negotiations that are currently frozen.He has shied away from a direct commitment to the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, the main goal of U.S.-backed peace efforts.
Palestinian officials have said peacemaking stands no chance without an explicit Israeli commitment to statehood.In parliament, Netanyahu listened without expression as outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert urged him to endorse clearly the creation of a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.Two states for two peoples. There is no alternative. There is no trying to be clever about it,Olmert said.We are talking about a dramatic, painful and heart-wrenching compromise, but one that is necessary.
He called on Netanyahu to follow up on the previous government's indirect peace talks with Syria, Israel's neighbor to the north.
CABINET POSTS
Netanyahu handed out cabinet posts in Jerusalem to Likud members, putting the finishing touches to a government dominated by right-wing and Orthodox Jewish factions, but including the center-left Labour Party.It is due to be sworn in at a parliamentary session starting at 5 p.m. (10 a.m. EDT) on Tuesday.The goal of Palestinian statehood was reaffirmed last week by U.S. President Barack Obama. Israeli political sources said Netanyahu was trying to arrange a meeting with Obama in early May in Washington.International concern has been raised by Netanyahu's appointment of Avigdor Lieberman as foreign minister.Lieberman, leader of the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, advocates trading parts of Israel where many of its 1.5 million Arab citizens live to a future Palestinian state in return for Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.On paper, Netanyahu commands up to 69 seats -- 13 of them held by Labour -- in the 120-member parliament. The margin could be cut if Labour legislators opposed to its coalition deal with Likud vote with the opposition.
(Editing by Andrew Dobbie)
Peres calls for regional peace in Middle East By ONDREJ HEJMA and GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press Writers – Mon Mar 30, 11:27 am ET
PRAGUE, Czech Republic – Israeli President Shimon Peres expressed optimism Monday that his country's next government can achieve Mideast peace, even though the coalition will contain parties traditionally opposed to making concessions to the Palestinians.His comments appeared aimed a soothing both U.S. and EU concern that the new government under Benjamin Netanyahu may abandon the concept of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel as the primary goal of a Western-backed road map to peace in the Middle East.Peres spoke on the eve of the swearing in of a new Israeli coalition government, including hawkish parties opposed to major concessions to the Palestinians, and after meeting with Vaclav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic, which holds the rotating EU presidency.Netanyahu has been a critic of past peace efforts that require Israeli concessions. But he recently pledged that his government — which includes the centrist Labor Party — will pursue peace with the Palestinians.Peres seized on that promise by expressing optimism that the new government will be fully committed to seeking a Middle East settlement.They say,We shall continue the negotiations with the Palestinians, he told reporters.They say, We shall negotiate with each one of our neighbors.They say, Yes, we would like to develop the regional economic opportunities, and they say also, We are going to see what can be done in terms of peace on regional level.And then they are saying also they are going to respect the previous government commitments. So I would think this is a very reasonable and promising beginning.An Israeli government statement on the visit quoted Peres as saying the Israeli people want true peace between Israel and its neighbors, and the new government ... will be for peace.Netanyahu last week said his government would be a partner for peace with the Palestinians. His comments, just a day after President Barack Obama pledged that the U.S. would push creation of a Palestinian state, reflected a softening of his previous skepticism about Mideast peace negotiations.During the election campaign, Netanyahu derided the past year of peace efforts and indicated he would halt negotiations to focus on developing the Palestinian economy — a stance alluded to by Peres Monday. Netanyahu also said he would allow existing Jewish settlements to expand to accommodate natural growth in their populations.
Even if he has moderated his stance, however, Netanyahu has still not specifically expressed backing for an independent Palestinian state. Nor has he spelled out how he would quell expected internal opposition to meaningful talks with the Palestinians.
Israel's neighbors also are concerned.
On Monday, Syrian President Bashar Assad told a summit of Arab leaders that the real aim of Israel's recently elected government is against peace and that the composition of the incoming Cabinet is a clear, unsurprising message to us.Besides Labor, at the forefront of peace efforts, Netanyahu's chief partner is Yisrael Beitenu. Its leader and designated foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has drawn allegations of racism for a proposal that could strip Israeli Arabs of their citizenship unless they declare loyalty to the Jewish state.Another coalition partner, the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, objects to even discussing sharing Jerusalem with the Palestinians.The Israeli statement quoted Klaus as saying that his country, in its EU presidency role, will continue to support the advancement of the peace process. We understand well the problems and threats that Israel is coping with, and we intend to continue to be a major player in the process, including with the new government,Klaus was quoted as saying.Like the U.S., the EU also has backed a two-state solution — an independent Palestine living side to side with Israel — and cautioned that bilateral ties may hang in the balance.The EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, warned earlier this month that the EU would rethink its support for Israel unless it backed an independent Palestinian state. And Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg last week said after chairing an EU foreign ministers' meeting that both parties must stick to past commitments that included the two-state solution.The Czech government is keen to push other members to strengthen the bloc's relations with Israel, including better access to the vast European market. But skepticism on the part of some EU member nations may have been strengthened because of perceptions that Israel overreacted in the Gaza conflict and over the incoming government's commitment to the peace process. Peres suggested that economic cooperation should not be tied to political developments in a global economy. We have borders that remain political but are not any more economic,he said, adding Israel needed a coalition with the rest of the world.George Jahn reported from Vienna. Associated Press Writers Josef Federman in Jerusalem and Robert Wielaard in Brussels contributed to this report.
