Virus of abuse in Britain towards Israel: ambassador
Sun Dec 20, 11:23 pm ET
LONDON (AFP) – Israel's ambassador to London said Monday there was a virus of abuse towards his country spreading through Britain as he slammed those behind an arrest warrant for former foreign minister Tzipi Livni.It comes after the director of a committee set up by the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip said it was providing information to European lawyers investigating alleged war crimes by Israel in the Gaza war.Livni, the leader of the Kadima main opposition party and the foreign minister during the conflict, cancelled a trip to London last week after an arrest warrant was issued against her by a British court, sparking a diplomatic row.
An obsession to delegitimise and demonise the Jewish state was now daily routine in Britain, Israeli ambassador Ron Prosor wrote in The Daily Telegraph newspaper.A virus of abuse towards Israel and Israelis has spread throughout British public life.
When this obsession leaps from the campus soapboxes to courts, the British public can no longer ignore the alarm bells.In this instance and at a time when both Israel and Britain find themselves confronted by terrorist foes, their sympathisers are cynically abusing Britain's legal system.The scandalous treatment of Mrs Livni is another example of 'lawfare', waged for the sole purpose of delegitimising the State of Israel and its leaders.The fanatics who specialise in hounding Israelis are the first to defend the worst abusers of human rights and decency.As ever, where attacks on Israel are concerned, double standards, hypocrisy and irony are never far away.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has insisted that Livni is welcome and has voiced his determination to change the law that allows British courts to issue warrants for alleged war crimes suspects around the world.The warrant was understood to have been issued by a London court at the weekend following an application by pro-Palestinian activists.Diya al-Madhun, the judge who heads the committee, told AFP on Sunday: We provide documents, reports and evidence of crimes to all international bodies aiding the Palestinian people in bringing Israeli civilian and military leaders to trial and issuing warrants for their arrest.
Parents of captured Israeli soldier plead for his release
Sun Dec 20, 4:26 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – The parents of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit made an impassioned appeal on Sunday for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reach a deal with his captors, saying time was running out.We believe that the next few days are fateful for our beloved son Gilad,his parents, Noam and Aviva Shalit, wrote in a letter to Netanyahu.We watch the actions of the government of Israel with deep trepidation and great hope,they said.The appeal comes amid mounting speculation that a deal may be close between Israel and the Hamas movement on a prisoner exchange of some 1,000 jailed Palestinians for Shalit, who was captured by Gaza militants in 2006.Netanyahu convened a meeting of his security cabinet for a third time on Sunday, for what officials said were talks to discuss the Shalit case.The meeting ended late at night without any announcement, but officials said Netanyahu was objecting to Hamas militants convicted of involvement with suicide bombings being released to their homes in the West Bank.Adding to the speculation, Egypt's intelligence chief Omar Suleiman -- who is Cairo's pointman for the indirect talks between Israel and Hamas -- held talks in Israel on Sunday with senior officials.
Israel does not officially comment on the negotiations over Shalit.
Hamas and two smaller Palestinian militant groups captured Shalit in June 2006 when they tunnelled into Israel from Gaza and attacked an army post, killing two soldiers.
We appeal to you, Mr prime minister, before it is too late, please don't lay all the problems of the Middle East on the slim shoulders of our son,the Shalits wrote.
Netanyahu was expected to meet Shalit's parents on Monday.
Israel and Hamas have in recent weeks appeared to be edging closer to an agreement to free the 23-year-old soldier.But despite the involvement of a German mediator the two sides have yet to reach a deal, with both imposing strict internal censorship on any discussion of the negotiations.On Tuesday, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal said Israel was responsible for the delay in releasing Shalit and insisted that he would only be freed when Israel agrees to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Netanyahu and Israeli leaders will never again see Shalit if Hamas's demands are not met, Meshaal said during a visit to Tehran.
Israel threatens to use force against settlers By IAN DEITCH, Associated Press Writer – Sun Dec 20, 11:31 am ET
JERUSALEM – Israeli authorities could soon use special commando units, unmanned spy planes and cellphone-jamming equipment to enforce a moratorium on new settlement construction in the West Bank, military officials said Sunday, deepening a showdown between the government and Jewish settlers.Enraged settlers leaders vowed to resist the plan, prompting Defense Minister Ehud Barak to warn that settlers would face the full wrath of the military if they continue to flout the 10-month construction slowdown.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the settlement slowdown last month in an attempt to restart peace talks with the Palestinians. But the Palestinians have rejected the plan because it allows for construction to proceed in 3,000 settlement homes already under construction in the West Bank and does not affect east Jerusalem, which Palestinians hope will be their capital.Nonetheless, settlers have repeatedly blocked inspectors and security forces trying to enter their communities to enforce the order. The resistance has grown increasingly violent.The issue of settlements on lands the Palestinians claim for a future state is a key sticking point in Mideast peace efforts, with the Palestinians demanding a halt to all settlement construction as a condition for returning to peace talks. U.S. President Barack Obama made a similar demand shortly after taking office, but has since adopted a softer stance.The military plan calls for the deployment of unmanned spy drones to photograph illegal construction, and would create closed military zones to keep out protesters and reporters during demolitions of illegal buildings, according to a military memo leaked to Israeli media and confirmed by The Associated Press. The document said various units of the military would be used, including special forces, military police and even communication specialists to jam settler cell phone frequencies.
The enforcement plan was drafted by the military's central command and most likely leaked by settler sympathizers within the army, according to military officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they were discussing internal orders not meant for public consumption.Those same officials confirmed the plan to The Associated Press, though the army later said the plan was only a first draft for potential action.The leak itself points to a growing concern among Israeli officials relating to insubordination. A number of nationalist soldiers have refused to obey orders to act against settlers. The government has jailed defiant servicemen, issued stern warnings to rebellious rabbis and expelled one pro-settler seminary from a program combining religious study and military service.It's also possible the authorities wanted the plan to be known, as it might help the government portray itself as willing to confront domestic opposition for the sake of peace.All that is required of the settlers and their leaders is to carry out the government's decision regarding freezing new construction in the West Bank for this defined period and that will prevent the use of force and friction with the defense forces,Barak said at a political meeting.
Settler leaders feel betrayed by Netanyahu, a former longtime ally.Using special forces, jamming cell phones and banning journalists from the area is what you do when you are fighting an enemy,settler leader Dani Dayan told Israel's Army Radio.
Settlers have frequently scuffled with government inspectors sent to enforce the building moratorium. A week ago, a female Israeli police officer was beaten by settlers opposing the ban.We will protect the houses with our bodies if they come to destroy them,Arieh Eldad, a lawmaker from the hardline National Union party, told Israel Radio.About 300,000 settlers live in the West Bank, in addition to 180,000 Jewish Israelis living in east Jerusalem.
Hamas aids foreign lawyers trying to prosecute Israelis
Sun Dec 20, 7:04 am ET
GAZA CITY (AFP) – A committee set up by the Hamas government is providing information to European lawyers investigating alleged war crimes by Israel in the Gaza war, its director said on Sunday.We provide documents, reports and evidence of crimes to all international bodies aiding the Palestinian people in bringing Israeli civilian and military leaders to trial and issuing warrants for their arrest,Diya al-Madhun, the judge who heads the committee, told AFP.We have provided a group of independent lawyers in Britain with documents, information and evidence concerning war crimes committed by Israeli political and military leaders, including (Tzipi) Livni.He added however that the foreign lawyers acted independently and were not hired by the Islamist Palestinian group.Livni, who served as foreign minister during the war, cancelled a trip to London last week after an arrest warrant was issued against her by a British court, sparking a diplomatic row between the two countries.
Some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed in the three-week Israeli offensive launched on December 27, 2008 and aimed at halting Palestinian rocket fire from the impoverished enclave.A controversial UN Human Rights Council report authored by the respected South African jurist Richard Goldstone earlier this year accused both Israel and Palestinian militants of committing war crimes during the conflict.Hamas, which seized Gaza in June 2007 after a week of bloody street battles, is blacklisted as a terrorist group by Israel and the West.
Egyptian FM implicitly confirms Gaza border barrier
Sat Dec 19, 8:43 am ET
CAIRO (AFP) – Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit implicitly confirmed on Saturday that his country was building an underground barrier with the Gaza Strip, saying it was Cairo's right to protect itself.Be it a wall or detection hardware, the important thing is that Egypt's territory must be protected; it must not be violated in any way,Abul Gheit told the government weekly Al-Ahram Al-Arabi.The weekly was questioning him about reports concerning the construction by Egypt of a steel barrier along the border with Gaza and the deployment in the border area of American equipment to detect tunnels used by smugglers moving goods into the Palestinian enclave.It was the closest confirmation so far that Egypt is building the barrier to stem smuggling into Gaza through underground tunnels, since a report Thursday in the government paper Al-Gomhuria.The barrier ... is the same barrier that currently exists but with the addition of underground foundations, the newspaper said in a front-page editorial, confirming that work was under way on the barrier.Previously security sources had only confirmed witness reports anonymously, while Israel's Haaretz newspaper said the barrier will reach a depth of 30 metres (100 feet) and 10 kilometres long (six miles).
Abul Gheit told Al-Ahram Al-Arabi: Egypt has the right to control its border.The Palestinian cause is dear to our heart and the Egyptians have paid a heavy price defending this cause, but Egyptian territory and its security are more important than anything else,the foreign minister said.A network of tunnels beneath the Egypt-Gaza border provide a crucial economic lifeline to Gaza, which has been sealed off from all but vital humanitarian aid by Israel and Egypt since Hamas took over in June 2007.
Israel settlements: rabbis say soldiers' loyalty to God trumps army orders
By Joshua Mitnick – Fri Dec 18, 1:05 pm ET
Tel Aviv, Israel – In Israel, a standoff is escalating between the Israeli defense establishment and religious nationalists over the possible evacuation of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. On Thursday, a group of rabbis published a letter saying a soldiers' loyalty to the divine takes precedence over their commanders.The declaration was signed by dozens of teachers in government-affiliated religious seminaries – known as hesder yeshivas – after Defense Minister Ehud Barak took the unprecedented step earlier this week of cutting ties with a hesder yeshiva because its dean, Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, openly advocates refusing of orders in case of an evacuation.One of the signatories, hesder yeshiva Rabbi Ariel Bareli, told Israel Radio that faith trumps implementing democratic adopted government policy in the event of a clash.You must understand, that the desire of the nation isn't meaningful for someone who believes in the creator, he said. Split allegiance of Israel's religious nationalistsAs pressure increases on the government to curtail and eventually remove many West Bank settlements, the dispute highlights the growing political and spiritual dilemma of a split allegiance on the part of religious nationalists, the spearhead of the settlement movement. Though they have always hewed to a strict interpretation of Jewish religious law, the national religious rabbis taught loyalty to Israel's secular state because it is considered a precursor of religious redemption.The hesder yeshiva system harnessed that loyalty by allowing nationalist religious youths to split time between spiritual study and military service. The system has become an important channel for funneling highly motivated soldiers into the military.
Sensitive moment: Rare contradiction between state policy, Jewish lawBut that loyalty to the secular state is being tested by the likelihood that religious soldiers might be forced to violate what they consider a divine prohibition against ceding parts of the biblical land of Israel.For decades the national religious never saw a contradiction between the policy of the state and the halacha [Jewish law]. The [goals] were identical, says Yair Ettinger, a reporter for the Haaretz newspaper who covered Israel's evacuation of Gaza settlements in 2005.It's become much harder for the rabbis to square between the state and the [Jewish law]. This is a very sensitive moment.
EU to work for Palestinian state in 2010: Spain
Fri Dec 18, 12:08 pm ET
BRUSSELS (AFP) – Spain, as incoming European Union president, will work to build next year a Palestinian state living peacefully alongside Israel, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said Friday.My idea, and my dream, and my engagement, is to work for having in 2010, finally, a Palestinian state that could live in peace and security with Israel,he told reporters in Brussels.We are all in the international community defending the two-state solution. Why should we wait for a Palestinian state? We have Israel as a state, we want its neighbour, the Palestinians, to have the same status,he said.However Moratinos, who was laying out the priorities of Spain's six-month term at the EU's helm starting on January 1, underlined that a Palestinian state could only come about through negotiations.It has to be done through negotiation, it has to be done by agreement, it has to be done through international community recognition,he said.It's not going to be easy, but I think it's needed. We need a Palestinian state, the sooner, the better, and that is going to be our objective,said Moratinos, who as Spain's top diplomat has been very active in the Middle East.
Middle East peace efforts are currently at a standstill.
The talks, which resumed in 2007 after a seven-year hiatus, came to a halt again when Israel launched a military offensive against the Gaza Strip late last year.The Palestinians insist they will not return to the negotiating table unless there is a complete freeze on Jewish construction in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem.
The EU is the world's biggest donor of aid to the Palestinians but holds limited influence over the Israeli government.
Israeli, Turkish presidents meet to mend ties
Fri Dec 18, 10:16 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – The Israeli and Turkish presidents met on Friday on the sidelines of the UN climate summit in the highest-level meeting since ties between the two allies nosedived in the wake of the Gaza war.Israeli President Shimon Peres and Turkey's Abdullah Gul, who met in Copenhagen, agreed to return to normal, positive and stable routine in relations, Peres's office said.Peres thanked Gul for Turkey's efforts to advance peace in the Middle East, and extended him an invitation to visit Israel, which the Turkish president accepted, the statement said.Turkey has been Israel's main regional ally since 1998 when the two signed a military cooperation deal. Relations took a downturn in January when the Islamist-rooted government in Ankara launched an unprecedented barrage of criticism of the Jewish state over its deadly offensive on Gaza.In a memorable outburst, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stormed out of a debate at the World Economic Forum, accusing Israel of barbarian acts and telling Peres, sitting next to him, that you know well how to kill people.In October, Turkey excluded Israel from joint military drills and said ties would continue to suffer unless Israel ends the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza and revives peace talks with the Palestinians.But since then, both sides have taken steps towards mending the strained ties, with Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak saying on Thursday he had been invited to Turkey.
EU hits out at Israeli settler credit scheme
Fri Dec 18, 5:36 am ET
BRUSSELS (AFP) – The European Union criticised Israel Friday for listing some Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank as special zones, saying the move is against the spirit of a freeze on settlement building.The European Union expresses its disapproval of the decision of the government of Israel on December 13 to include settlements in the National Priority Areas programme,EU president Sweden said in a statement.
The decision runs counter to the spirit of the settlement freeze,it said.
The move by Israel on Sunday entitles the communities to millions of dollars of state funding, and is seen as a gesture to settlers furious about a 10-month moratorium on new building permits in settlements after months of US pressure.It also prevents the creation of an atmosphere conducive to resuming negotiations on a two-state solution. The European Union encourages Israel instead to continue along the path set forth by the moratorium,the EU said.The European Union reiterates that settlements on occupied land are illegal under international law,the statement said, and urged Israel to immediately end all settlement activities.The communities designated as national priority zones will have access to credits of 41 million dollars (28 million euros), which will benefit 110,000 settlers and can be used for vocational training, education or cultural activities.
