EU DICTATOR (WORLD LEADER)
REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.(SOCIALISM)
13 These have one mind,(SOCIALISM) and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
REVELATION 6:1-2
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse:(PEACE) and he that sat on him had a bow;(EU DICTATOR) and a crown was given unto him:(PRESIDENT OF THE EU) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(MILITARY GENIUS)
REVELATION 13:1-10
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(THE EU AND ITS DICTATOR IS GODLESS)
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(DICTATOR COMES FROM NEW AGE OR OCCULT)
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death;(MURDERERD) and his deadly wound was healed:(COMES BACK TO LIFE) and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE WORLD THINKS ITS GOD IN THE FLESH, MESSIAH TO ISRAEL)
4 And they worshipped the dragon (SATAN) which gave power unto the beast:(JEWISH EU DICTATOR) and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?(FALSE RESURRECTION,SATAN BRINGS HIM TO LIFE)
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.(GIVEN WORLD CONTROL FOR 3 1/2YRS)
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,(HES A GOD HATER) to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.(HES A LIBERAL OR DEMOCRAT,WILL PUT ANYTHING ABOUT GOD DOWN)
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints,(BEHEAD THEM) and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.(WORLD DOMINATION)
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.(WORLD DICTATOR)
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.(SAVED CHRISTIANS AND JEWS DIE FOR THEIR FAITH AT THIS TIME,NOW WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE BUT DURING THE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH, PEOPLE WILL BE PUT TO DEATH (BEHEADINGS) FOR THEIR BELIEF IN GOD (JESUS) OR THE BIBLE.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
We shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or consent.James Paul Warburg appearing before the Senate on 7th February 1950
Like a famous WWII Belgian General,Paul Henry Spock said in 1957:We need no commission, we have already too many. What we need is a man who is great enough to be able to keep all the people in subjection to himself and to lift us out of the economic bog into which we threaten to sink. Send us such a man. Be he a god or a devil, we will accept him.And today, sadly, the world is indeed ready for such a man.
EU states back Israel's membership of OECD, despite concerns
ANDREW RETTMAN 10.05.2010 @ 17:45 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The 19 EU countries which are also members of the OECD have voted to let Israel join the economic club, but voiced worries that the move could hurt the Middle East peace process.Ambassadors from the full panoply of 31 existing Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development members gave the decision the green light at a behind-closed-doors meeting in Paris on Monday (10 April), with formal accession to follow later this month.A Norwegian diplomat told EUobserver that 24 countries, including the EU group-of-19 as well as Mexico, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey in their individual statements at the conclave said the move should not be seen as a legitimisation of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. We don't want membership to influence the question of Israel's borders,the Norwegian source said. There's been a huge debate on this. It's not an easy subject.Some countries proposed attaching a footnote to Israel's official letter of invitation saying the OECD does not recognise any changes to Israel's pre-1967 boundary. But the move did not gain unanimous support, the Norwegian contact added. The OECD is to set up an expert group to ensure that Israel clearly separates economic activity on its territory proper from activity in settlements when reporting statistics, however. Membership of the prestigious Paris-based institution is based primarily on economic criteria and will help Israel to attract foreign investors and to borrow money more cheaply on international markets.
But the move also has a political dimension.
The OECD's rulebook says members must be committed to pluralist democracy based on the rule of law and the respect of human rights and to look to the attainment of the purposes of the United Nations.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the OECD decision as a sign that Israel is not being isolated on the world stage. I'd like to thank the 31 member states for voting for our joining the organisation. Any one of them could have voted No and vetoed our inclusion. They chose not to do so, he said. It is a show of confidence in the Israeli economy and in Israeli society,a diplomat from the Jewish state added. The EU group-of-19 includes many of Israel's most trenchant critics inside the EU, such as Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, Portugal and Sweden, many of whom continue to block an upgrade in EU-Israel diplomatic ties due to violations of Palestinian human rights and the settlements issue.Belgium believes the OECD move will mean greater transparency on Israel's financial reporting and smooth the way for the inclusion of Arab states, such as Egypt, in future. Sweden took the line the OECD is primarily an economic club, with discussion of political issues best left to other forums. For her part, EU foreign relations chief Catherine Ashton on Monday welcomed progress between Israel, the Palestinian authorities and the US on so-called proximity talks designed to end the decades-old conflict.I am delighted the proximity talks appear to be moving, she said.Commenting on the EU's commitment to human rights in its foreign policy-making more broadly, she said: They are the silver thread that runs through everything we do and will be the silver thread that runs through the EAS [the EU's nascent diplomatic corps] when it is up and running.EU members Estonia and Slovenia were invited to join the OECD at the same time as Israel.
Lieberman to Ignore Planned Arab Med Summit Boycott
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu MAY 11,10
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Tuesday morning he will attend a Mediterranean summit at the 43-member Mediterranean Union headquarters in Barcelona in early June despite reports that Egypt and Syria will boycott his appearance.I am intending to be there and I will be there, he said in an Israeli radio interview from Japan, where he is on an official tour.Lieberman, who is to be accompanied by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, added that an Arab boycott would be a slap in the face for Spain. We don't tell Syria who to send and no one can tell us who should attend as part of the Israeli delegation. We don't boycott anyone and as for those that won't attend -- that's their problem.Egypt has distanced itself from Lieberman ever since he took office more than a year ago. His Egyptian counterpart gave him the cold shoulder because of Lieberman’s remark that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak could go to hell for refusing to visit Jerusalem. The only time Mubarak ever came to the capital prior to Lieberman's tenure was for the funeral of former Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin.The European Union-funded Invest in Med project is holding its third conference June 3-4 as part of its aim to foster cooperation among Middle East nations, including Israel. More than 400 investors and business owners are expected to attend and to discuss alternative energy, maritime and land routes and the problem of pollution of the Mediterranean Sea. (IsraelNationalNews.com)
Israel says N.Korea shipping WMDs to Syria
8:45AM MAY 11,10
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Tuesday accused nuclear power North Korea of supplying Syria with weapons of mass destruction.
Lieberman's office quoted him as telling Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama at a meeting in Tokyo that such activity threatened to destabilise east Asia as well as the Middle East.The cooperation between Syria and North Korea is not focused on economic development and growth but rather on weapons of mass destruction Lieberman said.In evidence he cited the December 2009 seizure at Bangkok airport of an illicit North Korean arms shipment which US intelligence said was bound for an unnamed Middle East country.Lieberman said Syria intended to pass the weapons on to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia and to the Islamic Hamas movement, which rules Gaza and has its political headquarters in Damascus.This cooperation endangers stability in both southeast Asia and also in the Middle East and is against all the accepted norms in the international arena, Lieberman was quoted as telling Hatoyama.Thai officials at the time said that acting on a tipoff from Washington they confiscated about 30 tonnes of missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons when the North Korean plane landed for refuelling in Bangkok.Israel has accused North Korea in the past of transferring nuclear technology to Syria, which is technically in a state of war with the neighbouring Jewish state, although the two last fought openly in 1973.Britain's Sunday Times newspaper reported in 2007 that Israel seized North Korean nuclear material in a commando raid on a secret military site in Syria and then destroyed the site in an air attack.
Syria denied the report.
The communist regime in North Korea has denied collaborating on nuclear activity with Syria, while Israel has maintained an official silence on the reported September 2007 raid and strike.
Medvedev urges more US action in very bad Mideast by Anna Smolchenko – MAY 11,10
DAMASCUS (AFP) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called in Syria on Tuesday for a more active US role in the Middle East peace process, saying the situation in the region was very bad and risked worsening further.Medvedev -- the first Russian head of state to visit Syria, which was a key Cold War ally -- said Moscow was ready and determined to play its part in creating the will for a peace settlement.He promised Russian assistance to Syria in reconstructing its oil and gas infrastructure and even in building a nuclear power station.In essence, the Middle East peace process has deteriorated, Medvedev said speaking alongside his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad after two days of talks in Damascus.The situation is very, very bad. It's time to do something, the Russian leader said.I agree with President Assad -- the American side could take a more active position.A further heating up of the situation in the Middle East is fraught with an explosion and a catastrophe.
Medvedev's visit comes against the backdrop of a nearly 18-month-old suspension of Turkish-led peace efforts between Israel and Syria and a mounting war of words between the two foes over Israeli accusations that Syria has been arming Lebanon's Hezbollah with Scud missiles.It also comes as renewed US-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians run into difficulties over Israeli settlement expansion in annexed Arab east Jerusalem.There is not enough desire on all sides to find a solution, said Medvedev, whose government is part of the so-called Quartet working for a Middle East settlement alongside the European Union, the United Nations and the United States.This desire needs to be stimulated, he said, adding that that was a role that Russia could and would take upon itself.The Russian leader said that the end result of Middle East peace talks needed to be the liberation of the occupied Arab territories and the creation of an independent Palestinian place that could co-exist peacefully with Israel.For Syria, the return of the strategic Golan Heights, which Israel seized in the Six-Day War of 1967 and annexed in 1981 in a move never recognised by the international community, is a non-negotiable condition of any peace agreement.Turkey, Medevdev's next port of call after Damascus, brokered indirect negotiations between Syria and Israel in 2008 but they were broken off when Israel launched a devastating offensive against the Gaza Strip that December.
Before his talks in Damascus, the Russian leader held a lengthy telephone call with Israeli President Shimon Peres during which he was asked to convey a message to the Syrian leader, Peres's office said on Sunday.Peres said that Israel has no interest in a war with Syria or in heating up the northern border and that Israel is seeking a genuine peace with its Syrian neighbour.Neither Assad nor Medvedev made any reference to the Israeli message but the Syrian leader said that Israel was not yet a reliable negotiating partner.He called for Russian help in convincing Israel to take a more constructive position and echoed Medvedev's call for a more active US role in the peace process. Russia, which has repeatedly expressed willingness to host a Middle East peace conference, has been seeking to restore its influence in the strategic region by reviving ties with Cold War allies that had drifted after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. Medvedev pledged Russian assistance with Syria's ambitions to restore its role as transit route for oil and gas between the Gulf and the Mediterranean by helping it build up its pipeline infrastructure. He also voiced Russian readiness to build a nuclear power station in Syria as it has long been doing in Iran -- Syria's main regional ally -- over strong US objections.
Israel launched an air strike against a site in northeastern Syria in September 2007 that analysts said it suspected was a nuclear reactor under construction, something Damascus strongly denied. Both Assad and Medvedev called for a negotiated settlement of Iran's standoff with the West over its nuclear programme. Russia and Syria stress their commitment to reaching a peaceful diplomatic settlement to the Iranian nuclear programme and support efforts to look for an appropriate negotiated solution, their joint statement said.
Israel to keep nuclear ambiguity
Tue May 11, 5:34 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel will keep up its longstanding policy of deliberate ambiguity over its nuclear programme, Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Tuesday, adding that US support for the position remains unchanged.This is a good policy and there is no reason to change it. There is complete agreement with the United States on this question, Barak told army radio.He also said there is no risk that inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would get authorisation to inspect Israel's Dimona nuclear reactor.There is no threat over the traditional agreements between Israel and the United States on this issue, said Barak.I met President Barack Obama and other US officials two weeks ago. All of them told me denuclearisation efforts target Iran and North Korea.Israel has maintained its so-called policy of deliberate ambiguity about its nuclear programme since the Jewish state inaugurated the Dimona reactor in the southern Negev desert in 1965.Media reports have said the United States agreed in 1969 that as long as Israel did not test a nuclear weapon or publicly confirm that it had one, Washington would not press it on the issue.Foreign military experts believe Israel has an arsenal of several hundred nuclear weapons.
Like nuclear-armed countries India, Pakistan and North Korea, Israel has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in order to avoid inspections by the Vienna-based IAEA.But an Israeli scientist on Monday said Israel should end its decades-long silence over its reported nuclear weapons capability and open its nuclear reactor to inspection.Uzi Even, a Tel Aviv University chemistry professor and former worker at the Dimona reactor, said Obama's campaign for global nuclear arms reduction is a sign of changing times and Israel must get in step.Also on Monday, however, Strategic Affairs Minister Dan Meridor dismissed as unimportant reports that Egypt had tabled a motion on Israel's nuclear weapons status for a June meeting of the IAEA.From time to time this issue is raised at the IAEA and other places, he said. It's not the first time it's mentioned and it's not the first time we'll find a way, with the rest of the world, to deal with it.
Israel to continue Jerusalem settlements despite peace talks by Patrick Moser – Mon May 10, 3:23 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Newly launched, US-brokered peace efforts hit a snag on Monday as Israel vowed settlement building would continue in east Jerusalem, infuriating the Palestinians who protested to Washington.It is evident we will continue to build over the next two years in Gilo, Pisgat Zeev, French Hill, Information Minister Yuli Edelstein told public radio in reference to Jewish settlements in annexed Arab east Jerusalem.Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, however, stressed Washington had promised to halt Jewish settlement in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem, and expressed anger over reports settlers were building 14 new homes in the Arab neighbourhood of Ras al Amud.The American administration must respond to those Israeli acts, Abbas told AFP, one day after the announcement that Israel and the Palestinians had started indirect talks initially scheduled to get under way in March.His top negotiator Saeb Erakat said the Palestinian Authority officially protested to the American administration.We told the American administration we consider this act as a great provocation, he said in reference to the construction in Ras al Amud.
The US State Department said on Sunday both sides were taking measures conducive to successful talks, and that Israel had explained there would be no construction at east Jerusalem's Ramat Shlomo settlement for two years.Edelstein admitted a controversial plan to build 1,600 new homes in the east Jerusalem settlement would not start for another two years, but stressed this followed normal planning procedures.Underscoring the deep mistrust between Israel and the Palestinians, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley cautioned both sides they would be held accountable if they did anything to seriously undermine trust.Israel stressed in a statement that building and planning in Jerusalem will continue as usual,exactly as has been the case for the past 43 years and insisted it had not undertaken to freeze the Ramat Shlomo project.The Islamist Hamas movement urged Abbas to reverse the decision to take part in the absurd negotiations.The Zionist decision to build new homes in the middle of Jerusalem... shows that the return to negotiations is a free service rendered to the occupation and its settlement projects, the Palestinian faction said.Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat insisted the municipality continues to promote planning and construction throughout the city for all its residents -- Jews, Christians and Muslims.We trust that the prime minister will not allow a freeze in Jerusalem, not in words and not in actions, he said.
Right-wing parties accused Netanyahu of betraying his electorate.Jerusalem and Jewish settlements are among the thorniest issues in efforts to achieve a peace deal.
Israel, which captured east Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it, considers the Holy City its eternal and indivisible capital, while the Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their promised state.The so-called proximity talks were originally due to start in March but the Palestinians withdrew after Israel publicised the Ramat Shlomo building plan. The Palestinians eventually agreed to hold the talks after receiving US assurances the Jerusalem settlement expansion plan would be frozen. The two sides had held just over a year of direct negotiations, after a seven-year hiatus, but those collapsed in December 2008 with little to show.
EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton on Monday hailed the relaunch of the peace process.I am delighted the proximity talks appear to be moving, she said in Brussels and pledged her full backing for US special Middle East envoy George Mitchell. We will do everything we can to support him.EU foreign ministers welcomed the launch of the talks, stressing that they should lead as soon as possible to the resumption of direct bilateral negotiations.Their declaration did not mention the early snag. An Israeli settlement watchdog group warned the increase in Jewish settlement activity in east Jerusalem is likely to torpedo any chance of finding a two-state solution under which a Palestinian state would be created alongside Israel. The intensification of settlement activities in east Jerusalem threatens the chances of implementing the two-state solution and might create an irreversible situation that would prevent a compromise in Jerusalem,Peace Now said.
OECD invites Israel to join over Palestinian objections by Eve Szeftel – Mon May 10, 2:53 pm ET
PARIS (AFP) – The OECD said Monday it had invited Israel to join the exclusive club of prominent world economies, despite Palestinian objections to the inclusion of the Jewish state.Israel, Slovenia and Estonia will contribute to a more plural and open OECD that is playing an increasingly important role in the global economic architecture, OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria said in a statement.The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development coordinates economic policy among the leading industrialised nations, and its membership roster represents an unofficial list of the most developed countries.Palestinian groups had argued that letting Israel join would be a breach of the OECD's commitment to human rights because of the Jewish state's occupation of the West Bank and its treatment of Palestinians.Protestors were to stage a demonstration outside the OECD headquarters in Paris after Secretary General Gurria held a press conference to formally announce the invitation to the new countries.Israel today joined the club of the world's elite economies, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at a news conference in his Jerusalem office.Israel joining the OECD has strategic importance.Netanyahu said that Israel was often seen abroad only in the context of its conflict with the Palestinians but thanks to the OECD would now also be recognised for its economic and technological achievements.Israel's status is seen only through the prism of the peace process, which may stop or move ahead according to the will of the Palestinians,he said.
Palestinians and their supporters were angered that Israel had included in the economic data it submitted to the OECD figures that include the output of farms and businesses from Jewish businesses on occupied Arab land.Gurria said that this issue had been dealt with in discussions with Israel and that OECD documents would make clear that the inclusion of such figures did not represent any judgment on the territories' legal status.A footnote to this effect will be appended to OECD documents and Israel has undertaken to begin a process to disaggregate economic data from the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.Diplomatic sources said that the 31 existing OECD members had approved Israel's candidacy by consensus and France formally welcomed the news. Pro-Palestinian groups were less impressed.The OECD decision today is ... an astounding setback for legal accountability and respect for human rights, Omar Barghouti, of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee, told AFP.This vote can only be seen by Palestinians, Arabs and indeed all peace loving people around the world as an entrenchment of official complicity in maintaining and protecting Israel's occupation, colonisation and apartheid.The OECD statement said that all three new members would contribute to the group work in a variety of ways.Estonia is an acknowledged world leader in innovative e-government and e-commerce initiatives. Israel's scientific and technological policies have produced outstanding outcomes on a world scale,it said.
Meanwhile, Slovenia has led the way in making public sector information available to all.The OECD said it would welcome the three future members to the club at a ceremony on 27 May in Paris. When founded in 1961, OECD membership represented 75 percent of global wealth. Today it accounts for 60 percent and efforts are being made to enlarge its membership to incorporate rapidly growing economic powers.
Palestinians say indirect talks with Israel have begun By Mohammed Assadi – Sun May 9, 4:50 pm ET
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinians declared on Sunday the start of indirect talks with Israel mediated by the United States, which said both sides had taken steps to help its peace efforts succeed.I can officially declare today that the proximity talks have begun, senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told reporters after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell in Ramallah.Echoing a call by the United States for a future move to direct negotiations -- and reflecting low public expectations for progress -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said peace would be unobtainable without face-to-face contacts.If he (Netanyahu) announces a complete halt to settlement building, there will be direct talks, Erekat countered.Netanyahu, who heads a coalition government dominated by pro-settler parties, has rejected a total freeze on construction of Jewish settlements in occupied territory.Shortly after the announcement, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley said in a statement that both sides had taken steps to help create an atmosphere that is conducive to successful talks.He said Netanyahu would freeze for two years a plan for hundreds of new housing units in an East Jerusalem settlement and Abbas would work to stop incitement against Israel.
A Netanyahu aide, who declined to be named, denied that the Israeli leader had specifically agreed to freeze the plan.But no new Israeli housing projects in East Jerusalem have been approved since March, raising speculation Netanyahu has imposed a de facto moratorium that could keep talks ticking while avoiding a showdown with his far-right coalition partners.U.S. plans for indirect talks were stymied in March, when Israel angered Washington and the Palestinians by announcing during a visit by Vice President Joe Biden a project to build 1,600 new homes in the Ramat Shlomo settlement.
U.S. ASSURANCES
Netanyahu said the indirect talks with the Palestinians would begin without preconditions, an apparent reference to U.S. and Palestinian demands to curb construction of homes for Jews in and near East Jerusalem.Addressing his cabinet, Netanyahu said in public remarks: The proximity talks must bring about direct talks soon. Peace cannot be brought about from a distance, or with a remote control.The Palestinians say the United States has given assurances it will take action if either side does anything that derails the talks. They take that to mean a guarantee Israel will not announce new settlement work.We have an opportunity, Erekat said, listing the borders of a future Palestinian state and security as the issues on which Palestinians will focus in the negotiations.The settlement standoff forced Mitchell to search for a new way to conduct talks between sides whose negotiations have mostly been face-to-face since the start of the Middle East peace process in the early 1990s.Palestinian consent to the talks marked a breakthrough, albeit modest, for President Barack Obama's attempts to restart peace talks suspended for 18months. The United States and Israel have been urging Abbas to agree to negotiations.Crowley also said the Obama administration would hold accountable both sides should they engage in activities that undermine its peace efforts. As both parties know, if either takes significant actions during the proximity talks that we judge would seriously undermine trust, we will respond to hold them accountable and ensure that negotiations continue.
Mitchell, who returns to the Middle East next week, has made no public comments since the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) approved four months of indirect talks on Saturday. The Palestinians aim to establish a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel captured those areas in a 1967 war and regards all of Jerusalem as its capital, a claim not recognized internationally. The Netanyahu aide said the prime minister was considering a package of goodwill gestures to the Palestinians should the indirect talks go well. He declined to elaborate.(Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta in Ramallah, Dan Williams and Joseph Nasr in Jerusalem and Arshad Mohammed in Washington, Writing by Jeffrey Heller and Joseph Nasr; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Syria ready to resume peace talks with Israel -Turkey By Ayla Jean Yackley – Sat May 8, 1:58 pm ET
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Syria is ready to reopen peace talks with Israel, with Turkey serving as a mediator, but Israel has not asked Ankara to resume that role, Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Saturday.Syria has said it is ready to resume talks where they were left off, Gul told a news conference. However, we have not heard from the Israeli side. It is up to them.Speaking alongside Gul, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he was ready for talks. Yet he accused Israel of avoiding negotiations, saying it does not want a resolution in the fight over the Golan Heights, territory Israel captured in 1967.Israel is not ready for mediation because it knows that a successful mediation will bring peace, and the Israeli side does not want peace, he said. We emphasize mediation and Turkey's role, but we also say Israel is not an honest partner.Israel and Syria held four indirect rounds of talks with Turkish mediation in 2008. Those were suspended after the Israeli incursion into Palestinian-run Gaza in December 2008 and January 2009.Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly criticized the Israeli offensive in Gaza, prompting some politicians in Israel to question Turkey's suitability as a neutral mediator.
Muslim but constitutionally secular Turkey has a record of military cooperation with Israel and has acted as an intermediary between the Jewish state and the Arab world.
Warmer ties between NATO member Turkey and Muslim neighbors including Iran and Syria have raised concerns that Ankara's traditionally Western-anchored foreign policy is moving east.Turkey could play a part in negotiations between Iran and Western powers over its nuclear program, Assad said.I want Turkey to continue its important role because a trust has formed between the Iranian and Turkish governments and Turkey has wide relations with the rest of the region, he said.But any political agreement must be reached on the basis of international agreements ... We want the region purged of weapons of mass destruction, he said, but added Iran has the right to develop nuclear power.Iran says it wants nuclear power to generate electricity. The West fears it is designed to develop bombs. The United States has accused Syria of covert nuclear activity, and European allies have criticized Damascus' lack of transparency.(Editing by Maria Golovnina)
Lebanese government won't ask Hezbollah to disarm
Sat May 8, 7:07 am ET
BEIRUT – Lebanon's president says the government cannot ask Hezbollah to give up its weapons at a time of heightened tension with Israel.A U.N. deal to end the 2006 war between Israel and the Shiite militants required Hezbollah to disarm, but Lebanon's politicians have been unable to agree on a national defense strategy that would integrate the group's weapons into the regular armed forces.President Michel Suleiman said Saturday that Lebanon cannot and must not tell Hezbollah to disarm before reaching a deal on a defense strategy that would also address any future Israeli attacks.A recent Israeli claim that Hezbollah's arsenal includes Scud missiles transferred from Syria has provoked another exchange of warnings between Israel and Lebanon.
Israel won't move on U.N. call for nuclear-free zone By Dan Williams – Fri May 7, 9:03 am ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel has no plan to review its nuclear policies, a government official said on Friday, playing down efforts by world powers at a U.N. non-proliferation conference to promote a Middle East free of atomic arms.Hoping to win Arab backing for sanctions against Iran, the United States and other permanent U.N. Security Council members on Wednesday called for ways to be found to implement a 1995 initiative that would guarantee nuclear disarmament in a region where Israel is widely assumed to have the only such weapons.The declaration followed campaigning by Egypt to focus attention, during this month's nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) conference, on non-signatory Israel, which has set peace with all its neighbors as a precondition for joining the pact.There is nothing new here, and no reason for a change of direction on our part, a senior Israeli official told Reuters.
Egypt, which heads a powerful bloc of non-aligned developing nations, has circulated a proposal to the NPT's 189 signatories calling for a conference by next year on ridding the Middle East of nuclear weapons, with all regional countries taking part.
The United States and Russia, with the support of Britain, France and China, have been negotiating with Egypt to come up with an acceptable compromise proposal, Western diplomats say.U.S. Undersecretary of State Ellen Tauscher told an audience of delegates and reporters on Wednesday it was hard to imagine negotiating any kind of free zone in the absence of a comprehensive peace plan that is running on a parallel track.
NUCLEAR WEAPONRY
Egypt was the first Arab state to make peace with Israel, in 1979, but few have followed suit. Iran, an NPT signatory whose uranium enrichment has stirred Western fears of an illicit bomb project -- despite Tehran's denials -- spurns the Jewish state.The Obama administration's outreach to Iran has prompted some analysts to predict the United States will reassess its 40-year-old don't ask, don't tell policy toward an Israeli arsenal that is believed to include some 200 atomic warheads -- a grievance and perceived threat among many Arabs and Muslims.But the Israeli official said the administration's attitude on this matter was so far identical to the line taken by its predecessors.Israel neither confirms nor denies having nuclear weapons under an ambiguity strategy billed as warding off enemies while avoiding public provocations that can trigger arms races.Those safeguarding the official reticence have frowned upon the very fact that Israel is being discussed at the NPT forum.We don't really like this matter, but is there anything to fear, really? I don't think so, Israel Michaeli of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission said in a radio interview on Monday, as the month-long conference opened in New York.Our complaint is that people make this comparison between Iran and Israel, when there is absolutely nothing to connect the two, he told Israel's Army Radio.Israel did not join the pact, did not undertake its obligations. To a degree it paid a price for this, but it has certainly never cheated or defrauded anyone.The 1970 NPT expedites member-states' access to nuclear energy in exchange for their forswearing of nuclear weaponry.(Editing by Charles Dick)
