Sarkozy asks Netanyahu for total freeze on settlements Wed Jun 24, 5:00 pm ET
PARIS (AFP) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday asked Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu to impose a total freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
However, the hawkish leader, on his first visit to Europe since taking office in April, replied that normal life goes on amid international pressure for direct talks with the Palestinians.The president of the republic called on Israel to immediately take all possible measures to encourage confidence in its talks with the Palestinians, beginning with the total freeze of settlement activities, a French presidency statement said.Netanyahu had flown into Paris from Rome for one-on-one talks with Sarkozy lasting more than an hour, amid reports of a fall-out with Washington over Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.He had been due to meet US Middle East envoy George Mitchell in the French capital but the talks were called off amid reports -- denied by Israeli officials -- of a clash over its refusal to stop building more settlements.We will not build new settlements and we will not expropriate additional lands for settlements. We know that our people are living there and, pending a final, political settlement, they have to live a normal life, said Netanyahu.Paris, like Washington, wants a complete halt to Jewish settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, but the Israeli leader has already said he will allow for natural growth within existing settlements.The international community considers all settlements in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, which Israel seized in the 1967 Six Day war, to be illegal.The Palestinians have said they will not meet Netanyahu until Israel halts all settlement activity. The presence of 280,000 Israelis in more than 100 settlements across the territory has been a major obstacle to peace efforts.
Sarkozy, keen to act as a Middle East peace-broker, has previously welcomed as an important step forward Netanyahu's landmark endorsement of a Palestinian state, despite a set of conditions that were rejected outright by Palestinian leaders.But US President Barack Obama's willingness to talk to Iran's leaders is a source of friction with the Israeli leadership, amid tensions that could be compounded by the cancellation of talks with Mitchell in Paris.Israel's Yediot Aharonot newspaper quoted an unnamed Israeli official as saying Washington issued a stern message to Netanyahu concerning its demands that Israel halt all growth in settlements on occupied Palestinian land.In Paris, the Israeli leader stressed past good relations with Washington.We have, as President (Barack) Obama said, unbreakable bonds of friendship, common ideals, common values and common interests with the United States, Netanyahu said.On Iran, while Netanyahu repeated earlier praise for the courage of the Iranian people, he emphasised the key role that fluid relations with Tehran among traditional allies are now playing in broader Middle East diplomacy.He said: What is certain, a point I believe we share with President Sarkozy and responsible governments and leaders everywhere -- and responsible people everywhere -- is such a regime should not acquire nuclear weapons, because this could be a very, very grave development.What we need is a change in Iran, a change of policies, for moderation, for freedom and for peace,he added.
Netanyahu slams Iran at start of Europe trip Tue Jun 23, 5:20 pm ET
ROME (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu harshly criticised Iran on Tuesday as he began his first trip to Europe since taking office, saying the country's current turmoil revealed its true nature.Something very fundamental has taken place in Iran, and the world now sees the true nature of this regime,the hawkish Netanyahu told a joint news conference with his Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi.Slamming arch-foe Iran for repressing its own people,Netanyahu said: The courage shown by the people of Iran, in facing bullets on the streets for the sake of freedom, is something that deserves the salute of free men and women everywhere.Iran on Tuesday ruled out canceling its disputed presidential vote as the world voiced increasing alarm at a crackdown on demonstrators who are posing the most serious challenge to the Islamic regime in 30 years.This undoubtedly is being assessed in every capital in the world, and I'm sure it's being assessed as well in Washington, Netanyahu said when asked about US President Barack Obama's restrained stance on Iran.
Berlusconi said he reiterated to Netanyahu his firm condemnation of the statements of the Iranian leader that Israel should be wiped off the map.He added: Italy, like other Western nations, believes Iran should not have nuclear weapons.Meanwhile, an Israeli official told AFP in Rome that a planned meeting between Netanyahu and the US special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, had been cancelled.Instead, Mitchell will meet Monday in Washington with Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barack, the official said.This delay will enable us to throw light on topical questions which are now hanging in the air and have not been resolved,he said, without elaborating.US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman recently clashed over US demands for a freeze on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.On May 27, the chief US diplomat said Obama had made it clear during Netanyahu's earlier visit to Washington that he wants no natural growth exceptions to his call for a settlement freeze.
Lieberman had insisted that would not be possible.
Netanyahu, on his first official trip to Europe since his election in late March, was expected to push for stiffer sanctions against Tehran in both Rome and Paris over its nuclear programme.He has repeatedly said the programme constitutes the biggest threat to Israel since the Jewish state's founding in 1948.Shortly before Netanyahu arrived in Rome, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini called on Israel to declare a moratorium on the expansion of its settlements in the West Bank.We would very much appreciate a gesture on the Israeli side announcing a moratorium on the expansion of existing settlements, Frattini told reporters.Frattini said Rome would also seek clarity from Netanyahu on the growth of settlements. The Israeli side has told us it refers to development following natural demographic growth. If that means adding a floor to one's own house after the birth of a child, that is not a problem,Frattini said. If it means expanding settlements like wildfire, that is a problem.Netanyahu came under fire for adding a raft of conditions to Israel's acceptance of a Palestinian state in a speech on June 14.Israel has refused to freeze settlements as demanded by the international community, which sees building in the West Bank as undermining prospects for a Palestinian state.
Medvedev seals strategic pact with Egypt by Anna Smolchenko – Tue Jun 23, 4:04 pm ET
CAIRO (AFP) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a strategic cooperation pact with Egypt on Tuesday, the first day of a four-nation tour aimed at bolstering Moscow's influence in Africa and the Middle East.Medvedev signed the 10-year agreement with President Hosni Mubarak, whose country has had historic political and military ties with Moscow and is Russia's largest trading partner in Africa.The two leaders said in a joint declaration they were determined to coordinate foreign policy positions and steps and stressed the importance of reaching a fair peace in the Middle East.They also said their two nations were committed to the building of a new multipolar world order, which will be more democratic, fair and safe for all states, according to a copy of the declaration released by the Kremlin.Medvedev described the pact as very important,telling reporters it would define Egyptian-Russian ties for years to come.Mubarak praised Russia's influence in the Middle East and the world, adding that Cairo and Moscow were keen to boost cooperation in energy, trade and investments.Medvedev's trip is the first visit to Africa by a Russian president for three years and comes in the wake of the landmark address to the Muslim world that US President Barack Obama gave in Cairo earlier this month.
Russia is keen to boost its diplomatic clout in the region, which used to be a stronghold of Soviet influence before the end of the Cold War and the subsequent surge of US dominance.After his two-day visit to Egypt, Medvedev will make an ambitious foray into Nigeria, Namibia and Angola from Wednesday to Friday for talks to expand the country's economic footprint in Africa.The Israeli-Palestinian conflict was also high on the agenda of talks between Medvedev and Mubarak, and the two leaders reiterated the importance of securing peace in the region through diplomatic efforts.Russia has been trying for months to organise a Middle East peace conference in Moscow before the end of the year but has come up against scepticism from the United States and Israel.
Medvedev reiterated Russia's intention to host the conference in Moscow by year's end.
In an apparent effort to underscore the significance of Russia's ties with the Arab world, Medvedev was also set to address the Cairo-based Arab League and meet its chief Amr Mussa.Mdevedev was also due to have a working dinner with senior members of the Egypt-Russia Association.Russia, part of the Middle East diplomatic Quartet along with the European Union, the United Nations and the United States, is eager to strengthen its diplomatic and commercial influence abroad.Since 2000, Egypt has benefited from a sharp increase in the number of Russian tourists, reaching 1.8 million last year and outnumbering visitors from western Europe.With trade turnover of 4.1 billion dollars last year, Egypt is Russia's largest trading partner in Africa.
Russia has also expressed interest in a 1.5 billion-1.8 billion-dollar-tender to construct Egypt's first atomic power station that will resume the country's nuclear programme after a 20-year freeze.Medvedev was due to visit key sites, including the Giza Pyramids, before leaving for Nigeria on Wednesday.
Intact ancient tomb uncovered in Bethlehem By NASSER SHIYOUKHI, Associated Press Writer – Tue Jun 23, 6:34 am ET
BETHLEHEM, West Bank – Workers renovating a house in the traditional town of Jesus' birth accidentally discovered an untouched ancient tomb containing clay pots, plates, beads and the bones of two humans, a Palestinian antiquities official said Tuesday.
The 4,000-year-old tomb provides a glimpse of the burial customs of the area's inhabitants during the Canaanite period, said Mohammed Ghayyada, director of the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.Workers in a house near the Church of the Nativity uncovered a hole leading to the grave, which was about one meter (yard) below ground, he said. They contacted antiquities officials, who photographed the grave intact before removing its contents.They dated the grave to the Early Bronze Age, between 1,900 B.C. and 2,200 B.C.Jerusalem-based archaeologist and historian Stephen Pfann called the find an important reference to the life of the Canaanites,adding that it could give a glimpse into life in the area before the time when the Biblical patriarchs are said to have lived.While many artifacts exist from this period, intact graves are rare, mainly because of looting, he said.Intact graves are more useful to scholars because they show how items were arranged.Every time a new tomb is found, it adds to the picture,Pfann said.The findings will be housed in the Bethlehem Peace Center, a cultural center not far from where the tomb was discovered.
Israel PM on first official European tour by Jean-Luc Renaudie – Mon Jun 22, 4:18 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads for his first official trip to Europe on Tuesday, aiming to press Italy and France to harden sanctions against arch-foe Iran over its nuclear drive.The hawkish Netanyahu will meet his Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi in Rome and the following day will head to Paris, where he will meet President Nicolas Sarkozy as well as US Middle East envoy George Mitchell.Above all, the prime minister is planning to bring up the Iranian dossier,a senior government official told AFP.The scenes of violence and repression of the past days have lifted the mask of the bloody regime that doesn't hesitate to fire on unarmed protesters,said the official, requesting anonymity.With what is happening now in Iran, words and condemnations are not enough, the world must decide to take much harder measures to prevent the Iranian regime from acquiring nuclear arms,he said.Netanyahu has repeatedly said that Iran's nuclear programme constitutes the biggest threat to Israel since the Jewish state's founding in 1948.
Israel and main ally Washington suspect Iran of trying to acquire atomic weapons under the guise of its nuclear programme, a charge that Tehran has repeatedly denied.
The Jewish state is widely considered to be the sole if undeclared nuclear power in the Middle East and views Iran as its arch-enemy because of regular calls by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for Israel to be wiped off the map.In Italy, Netanyahu will ask Rome to reduce its commercial links with Iran, which have grown in recent years, according to the mass-selling Yediot Aharonot.In both countries the prime minister will seek to put across his position on the stalled Middle East peace process in the aftermath of his speech on June 14 finally accepting the creation of a Palestinian state but imposing a slew of conditions slammed as unacceptable by the Palestinians.Netanyahu will stress that any final peace deal will have to have Palestinian recognition of Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people -- something the Palestinians have long rejected.The prime minister will explain that his words can be translated into acts only if the Palestinians recognise Israel as a Jewish state, which they refuse for the moment,the official said.The issue of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank will also be on the agenda for the talks. The United States has repeatedly demanded a halt to all Israeli activity in the settlements, regarded by the international community as illegal.Netanyahu has refused to stop construction, saying it will carry on in order to accommodate population increases.The prime minister will again say that Israel will not create new settlements, will not confiscate new lands and will insist on the fact that residents of settlements must be allowed to lead normal lives,the official said.Netanyahu will also bring up the issue of improving relations between Israel and its main trading partner the European Union.EU nations agreed late last year to enhance ties with Israel but the process stalled when Israel launched a deadly 22-day military offensive in the Gaza Strip in December.
Palestinian PM wants state in two years Mon Jun 22, 2:51 pm ET
ABU DIS, West Bank (AFP) – Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad on Monday called on Palestinians to target the creation of their own state in two years, without waiting for an end to the Israeli occupation.I urge the Palestinian people to rally around a programme aimed at creating a state ... so that a Palestinian state becomes a reality by the end of next year or within two years at most,he said in a speech at Al-Quds university in Abu Dis, a West Bank suburb of Jerusalem.He called for all means to be mobilised to ensure that goal is achieved as this would place the entire world before its responsibility to end the occupation and allow our people to live in freedom in their homeland and to exercise their right to self-determination.Fayyad's keynote address was seen as a response to a June 14 speech in which Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted the principle of a Palestinian state but set conditions that would severely limit its sovereignty.Israeli-Palestinian peace talks restarted in November 2007 after a seven-year hiatus but halted again when Israel launched a deadly military offensive in the Gaza Strip in December last year.Fayyad said Netanyahu's speech was more ambiguous and far less committed than the positions of previous Israeli governments.We ask the international community to press Israel to fulfil its commitments in order to salvage the two-state solution to open the way to peace in the region,he said.This implies freezing settlement activity, lifting the blockade of the Gaza Strip and ending incursions into areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority, Fayyad said.The credibility of the peace process will be measured by the level to which Israel respects its commitments,he added.
Israel extends mandate of Mossad chief Mon Jun 22, 2:08 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – The Israeli government has extended the mandate of the head of the Mossad foreign intelligence agency by a year, the prime minister's office said.Meir Dagan, 64 took reigns of Mossad in 2002.The extension sparked criticism from some ministers who argued that the agency leadership needed new blood.Whatever qualitites Meir Dagan possesses (the agency) needs a change of leadership, said Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, who once headed parliament's powerful foreign affairs and defence committee.
Ancient Holy Land quarry uncovered, team says Sun Jun 21, 1:18 pm ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli archaeologists said on Sunday they had discovered the largest underground quarry in the Holy Land, dating back to the time of Jesus and containing Christian symbols etched into the walls.The 4,000-square-meter (yard) cavern, buried 10 meters beneath the desert near the ancient West Bank city of Jericho, was dug about 2,000 years ago and was in use for about half a millennium, archaeologist Adam Zertal said.The cave's main hall, about three meters tall, is supported by some 20 stone pillars and has a variety of symbols etched into the walls, including crosses dating back to about AD 350 and Roman legionary emblems.
Zertal said his team from Haifa University first discovered the site three months ago while they were putting together a detailed archaeological map of the area.We saw a hole in the ground ... and went down and discovered this giant cavern, originally a quarry, built uniquely with hall after hall,Zertal told Reuters.The team believes the stones were used in buildings and churches in the region, but Zertal said further research was necessary.The site may eventually be turned into one of the largest underground tourist sites in the Holy Land, he said.(Writing by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Michael Roddy)
Israel's Barak sees chance for peace progress By Cynthia Johnston – Sun Jun 21, 10:38 am ET
CAIRO (Reuters) – Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday he saw a chance to advance peace talks with Palestinians and that a policy speech by Israel's premier, dismissed by Egypt as flawed, was a major step forward.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed -- with tough conditions -- the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian state in a policy speech a week ago, but Cairo said the proposal fell short of the Palestinian state Arabs seek.He made it clear that the end result, the goal of the whole process is to have a situation where the two peoples, Palestinian and Israeli, are living side by side in two states in good neighborliness, peace and security,Barak told a news conference after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.It is a really unique opportunity for the peace process because the common interest is so apparent regarding the struggle against hegemonic Iran, against radical terrorism, against proliferation of nuclear weapons, he said.Barak described Netanyahu's comments on a Palestinian state as a major step forward by Israel in helping advance peace.Netanyahu, speaking on June 14, said Palestinians must recognize Israel as a Jewish state and forego the right of return for refugees but did not promise a halt to Jewish settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.Mubarak has said Israel's call to recognize Israel as a state for the Jewish people undermined efforts to achieve peace and has said he told Netanyahu, who visited Egypt last month, that peace talks should resume where they left off.
Palestinian leaders have refused to recognize Israel as a Jewish state because they believe it weakens the position of the 20 percent of Israel's citizens who are Arabs.
They also say it undermines a key demand for a right for Palestinians to return to areas in Israel from which they fled or were forced out in the 1948 war ahead of Israel's creation.An Israeli official said Barak's visit aimed to look at ways to move ahead in peace talks after Netanyahu's speech and an address by U.S. President Barack Obama from Cairo on June 4 that covered Middle East peace and other topics.
Obama, who has promised a deep U.S. role in Middle East peace efforts, has called for a full Israeli settlement freeze but said he saw positive movement in Netanyahu's speech.The fact that it (Netanyahu's speech) was well accepted by the White House ... means that the Americans are reading it the same way,Barak said.It is still clear that there are certain differences in how to implement certain practical aspects of it but I think that in the coming weeks we will try to iron it out and pave the way for moving forward.Like Egypt, Palestinian officials have voiced opposition to many aspects of Netanyahu's proposal.Arab foreign ministers meet in Cairo Wednesday to discuss Obama's address and Netanyahu's proposal, state news agency MENA reported.
(Additional reporting by Edmund Blair in Cairo and Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Editing by Louise Ireland and Lin Noueihed)
Hamas says Carter offers new path to talks with US Sat Jun 20, 4:54 am ET
GAZA CITY (AFP) – Former US President Jimmy Carter presented a personal initiative to open direct talks between Washington and Hamas during a recent visit to the region, a senior Hamas official said on Saturday.We received a written letter from President Carter that presented a personal initiative aimed at opening dialogue with the Hamas movement,Mushir al-Masri, a senior Hamas leader and parliamentarian, told AFP.Masri, who attended a meeting between Carter and Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya in Gaza City last week, said the group would study the proposal though it would not accept the three conditions of the Mideast Quartet.The Quartet, made up of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, has demanded that Hamas recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept past agreements signed between Israel and the Palestinians.A source close to Hamas who spoke on condition of anonymity said Carter's initiative presented an alternative set of conditions -- that Hamas accept the vision of a two-state solution to the conflict embodied in the 2003 Roadmap agreement, and accept the 2002 Arab League peace initiative.The latter initiative offers full recognition of Israel by every Arab state in return for the Jewish state's withdrawal from all lands occupied in the 1967 Six Day war, including the West Bank and east Jerusalem.Carter told Hamas its acceptance of the two conditions would pave the way for the opening of direct talks with the US administration, the source said.Carter insisted during his visit to the region that he had come as a private citizen and did not represent Washington, but the former president is a prominent member of US President Barack Obama's Democratic party.Israel and the West have always considered Hamas a terrorist organisation because of its commitment to violent struggle and the eventual destruction of the Jewish state.The Islamist group won a landslide victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006 and seized power in Gaza in June 2007 after a week of street battles with loyalists of the Western-backed president Mahmud Abbas.
More Israelis see Obama as pro-Palestinian: poll Fri Jun 19, 3:50 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israelis increasingly view US President Barack Obama as pro-Palestinian as Washington has begun ramping up pressure on the Jewish state to halt settlement growth, a poll found.Only six percent of Israelis view the newly elected president as pro-Israel, while 50 percent believe he is pro-Palestinian and 36 percent see him as neutral, according to the poll published in the Jerusalem Post.The same poll conducted in May before Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's first meeting found that 31 percent of Israelis viewed Obama as pro-Israel and only 14 percent saw him as pro-Palestinian.In the month between the two surveys Obama gave a major address in Cairo in which he called on Israel's right-wing government to halt all settlement growth in the occupied West Bank and accept the principle of a two-state solution.The blunt language from Israel's most important ally has raised concerns among Israelis that Obama may distance himself from the Jewish state to improve relations with Arabs and Muslims.The poll found that more than 50 percent of Israelis support removing wildcat outpost settlements that are considered illegal under Israeli law and freezing the growth of smaller, far-flung settlements.
But 69 percent of Israelis are against freezing the growth of major built-up settlement blocs, with only 27 percent in favour and four percent expressing no opinion.Obama has called on Israel to halt all settlement activity and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has said he will not hold peace talks until that happens.Some 430,000 Israeli Jews live in more than 100 settlements scattered across the West Bank, including annexed Arab east Jerusalem. Their fate has been a core issue in previous rounds of negotiations.The poll by the Jerusalem Post and Smith Research surveyed 500 Israeli Jews, who make up 80 percent of the population, and had a margin of error of 4.5 percent.
US security aide in talks with Israeli FM Thu Jun 18, 11:37 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – National Security Advisor General James Jones met at the White House with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, a day after the nations clashed over US demands for a settlements freeze in Palestinian territory.The pair had a productive, 45-minute conversation in which the officials covered a broad range of issues, National Security Council spokesman Michael Hammer said in a readout of the meeting.They discussed the importance of trying to make progress towards achieving our shared goal of comprehensive peace in the Middle East, Hammer said, adding that Jones also reiterated the United States' unshakeable commitment to Israel's security.But cracks in the relationship between the allies were on display Wednesday, when Lieberman rejected Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's call for an end to the settlement building, in their first meeting since the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to office in March.Israel did not have any intention to change the demographic balance of the West Bank, Lieberman, head of the ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, which is part of Netanyahu's Likud-led coalition government, told Clinton.Hammer did not say whether Jones and Lieberman specifically discussed the settlements issue.The focus now moves to a meeting in Paris next week between the US special envoy for the Middle East George Mitchell and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about his plans for peace with the Palestinians.
