Israel PM wants regular meetings with Palestinians
By IAN DEITCH, Associated Press Writer 11:30AM AUG 28,10
JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas every two weeks once direct peace talks resume next week, Israeli officials said Saturday.Netanyahu will propose the biweekly meetings with the Palestinian leader when the U.S.-brokered negotiations formally resume on Thursday in Washington after a nearly two-year break, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.The Israeli leader's proposal appears to indicate that he is serious about the talks and won't allow them to fizzle out after next week's meeting in the U.S.Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said he hadn't heard about the proposal but would be open to the idea. We are not against this in principle, it's just premature to talk about this now, Erekat told The Associated Press.The last round of Mideast peace talks broke down in late 2008 after Israel launched a three-week military offensive against Islamic militants in the Gaza Strip to stop near-daily rocket attacks on southern Israel. Officials close to the talks said at the time that the sides were close to an agreement.During those negotiations, Israeli and Palestinian leaders met on a regular basis.The resumption of talks comes after months of diplomatic efforts by Washington to coax the sides back to the negotiating table. U.S. special envoy George Mitchell shuttled back and forth between the sides for the past few months, urging them to agree to resume negotiations.
Netanyahu has been calling for direct talks to resume without preconditions soon after he took office last year.The Palestinians, however, have been reluctant to return to the negotiating table, fearing that they will be blamed if the talks collapse. That has left them hesitant to commit to new negotiations without Israel first agreeing to preconditions, such was a freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank.A 10-month moratorium on West Bank settlement construction will expire at the end of September, and the government is divided over whether to extend it. Netanyahu ordered the building freeze in an effort to get talks with the Palestinians back on track.The Palestinians have already announced they will withdraw from peace talks if building is renewed.Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 war and began building settlements there soon after.There are more than 100 of them in the West Bank today, territory the Palestinians envision for their future state along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem. The international community at large does not recognize the settlements as legally part of Israel.The fate of east Jerusalem, meanwhile, lies at the heart of the settlement dispute. Israel considers all of Jerusalem its eternal capital, while the Palestinians want east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.The Palestinian Authority is split between the Western-backed Fatah party in the West Bank and the Islamic militant group Hamas that has controlled Gaza since it ousted Fatah in street battles in 2007.Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh condemned the renewal of talks late Friday and demanded a boycott.Also Saturday, the European Union said it will not participate in the talks. The bloc said foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will be in Beijing at the time.
Britain urges release of captured Israeli soldier
Sat Aug 28, 6:09 am ET
LONDON (AFP) – Britain called Saturday for the immediate release of an Israeli soldier captured by Gaza militants in June 2006, using the occasion of his 24th birthday to condemn his unjustifiable detention.The thoughts of many in Britain are with Gilad Shalit and his family as he spends his 24th birthday in captivity, a Foreign Office spokesman said.His detention is unjustifiable and unacceptable. The British government demands his immediate and unconditional release.The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which rules Gaza, captured Shalit with other militant groups in a deadly cross-border raid, and has demanded an exchange involving hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
US lawmaker urges France not to arm Lebanon army
Fri Aug 27, 6:11 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – A US lawmaker on Friday warned France not to sell anti-tank missiles to Lebanon, saying they could end up being used against Israel amid pro-Iranian influence in the Lebanese government.US Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued the warning after the Arabic-language newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported the planned sale.The influence of Hezbollah militants and their Iranian and Syrian backers in the Lebanese government is rising, Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement.Therefore, to sell weapons to Lebanon at this time would be very irresponsible, and could jeopardize security and stability in the region, she said.France should do the responsible thing and cancel this sale unless and until the Lebanese government takes the steps necessary to root out extremists from its own ranks and disarm Hezbollah, she said.
Asharq Al-Awsat, quoting a top French official, said French Defense Minister Herve Morin had sent a letter to his Lebanese counterpart Elias Murr in May informing him that Paris was ready to deliver 100 HOT missiles to Beirut.The paper said Lebanon wants to arm its French-designed Gazelle army helicopters with the HOT (High Subsonic Optical Remote-Guided Fired from Tube) missile, a long-range, anti-tank missile system designed by Euromissile.The French official quoted by the newspaper on its website acknowledged that Israel protested the French decision to provide Lebanon with arms and that Washington raised question marks over the missile deal.
However, he also categorically denied that Paris had given in to pressure and that this was why the sale had not been completed.The French official instead said confusion within the Lebanese government was responsible for the deal's delay or failure.On August 10, US Congressman Howard Berman, the Democratic chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, announced he had placed on hold 100 million dollars in aid to Lebanon's military.Berman said he could not be sure the Lebanese armed forces were not working with Hezbollah, which Washington lists as a "terrorist" organization and whose militiamen fought a devastating month-long war against Israel in 2006.
Egypt's Mubarak to discuss Mideast peace talks with Sarkozy
Fri Aug 27, 2:17 pm ET
CAIRO (AFP) – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is to meet French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy next week ahead of the relaunch of direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, a state-owned daily said on Friday.Mubarak will discuss the talks with Sarkozy on Monday during a stopover on his way to Washington to join the inaugural meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, the flagship Al-Ahram newspaper said.Thursday's meeting will launch the first direct negotiations between the two sides since the Palestinians broke off talks in December 2008 after Israel launched a devastating offensive against the Gaza Strip.
Palestinians riot in east Jerusalem neighborhood By DALIA NAMMARI, Associated Press Writer – Thu Aug 26, 1:13 pm ET
JERUSALEM – Palestinian residents in east Jerusalem threw rocks at police and settlers and set cars on fire in an ongoing dispute over a contested neighborhood Thursday.Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the early morning clashes in Silwan neighborhood erupted due to a disagreement over a pathway claimed by both Jewish and Arab families. He said an Israeli court ruled in 2000 that the pathway belongs to a Jewish family.Palestinian residents, however, say the clash erupted after settlers were seen trying to break into a local mosque.About 50,000 Palestinians and 70 Jewish families live in Silwan and tensions are high in the neighborhood over a municipal plan that includes the slated demolition of Palestinian homes. There have been recent clashes.The pathway leads to an ancient underground spring that some Jews use as a ritual bath to cleanse themselves before morning prayers.
There is a mosque near the spring's entrance.
Silwan resident Ahmed Qaraein told The Associated Press that residents saw four settlers trying to enter the mosque compound. He said he yelled at the settlers and they ran to a nearby house.Palestinian residents then threw rocks at the house and settlers responded with warning shots, Qaraein said.Rosenfeld denied anyone tried to enter the mosque.Israel captured and annexed east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel considers the sector part of its capital. That claim is not recognized internationally.The fate of east Jerusalem figures to play a central role in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks set to resume next week.
Top Israeli judge defends naval blockade of Gaza
Thu Aug 26, 12:00 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's top military judge said on Thursday the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip is legal, in testimony before an inquiry into a deadly May 31 raid on an activist ship seeking to break it, media reported.We've consulted with the attorney general and with the Supreme Court, and found that it is legal and permitted, Judge Advocate General Major General Avihai Mandelblit told the five-member Israeli commission of inquiry, according to the Haaretz daily.He also said the naval blockade was imposed out of pure military considerations and not as a part of economic warfare against Hamas, the Islamist movement that rules Gaza and is committed to Israel's destruction.He also pointed out that even before the blockade was imposed in 2007, all supplies were transferred to the Gaza by land because Gaza has no proper port.The commission, which includes two international observers, is only mandated to look at the international legality of the blockade and the raid.
Nine Turkish activists were killed on May 31 when Israeli naval commandos stormed the Mavi Marmara ferry, which led a six-ship flotilla seeking to deliver aid to Gaza in defiance of the blockade.Activists claim the troops started firing as soon as they hit the deck, but Israeli authorities say activists attacked the commandos with steel rods and wooden staves as they were abseiling down from helicopters.
Israel govt mulls alternatives to settlement freeze
Thu Aug 26, 11:17 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's premier and his top ministers are mulling alternatives to the settlement freeze Palestinians are seeking as the two sides prepare to launch a new round of talks next week, media reported on Thursday.One proposal finding favour is to allow construction in the main settlement blocs Israel intends to annex as part of any peace deal while imposing a mini freeze in isolated West Bank settlements, Israeli newspapers reported.The idea would be to keep the restrictions quiet in order to minimise chances of a public uproar among rightwing Israelis.On the one hand, (the prime minister) is interested in showing the Americans an alternative that does not involve massive construction in the territories; on the other, Netanyahu wants to do so without having to declare a construction freeze publicly, the Yediot Aharonot daily said.But the proposal, taken up by the the forum of seven top ministers in recent days, is unlikely to impress the Palestinians who are seeking a complete halt to settlement construction in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem.The settlement issue is one of the thorniest in Middle East peace efforts and will figure at the new round of peace talks Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will launch in Washington on September 2.
The international community considers the settlements to be illegal, while the Israeli government faces strong pressure at home not to renew a partial, 10-month moratorium on settlement construction that expires on September 26.In a letter sent earlier this month to members of the Middle East diplomatic Quartet -- made up of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States -- Abbas stressed that if Israel resumes settlement activities, including in east Jerusalem, we cannot continue with negotiations.But Israel's firebrand Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman insisted on Wednesday: There is no reason to continue to freeze settlement, adding We've done enough and we got nothing in return.The Palestinians initially insisted they would not resume face-to-face negotiations with the Israelis unless there is a total freeze on settlement activity, but eventually agreed under US pressure to resume the direct negotiations that collapsed 20 months ago.About half a million settlers live in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem, which Israel seized from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War.
Prospects bleak for peace deal: Israel's Lieberman By Jeffrey Heller – Wed Aug 25, 8:45 pm ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel and the Palestinians have virtually no chance of reaching a peace deal within the one-year target set by the United States, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Wednesday.I think there's room to lower expectations and get real, Lieberman, a far-right member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet, told Israel Radio.There's no magic recipe ... that can bring us within a year to a permanent agreement resulting in the end of the conflict and the solution of all of the complicated issues, such as refugees, Jerusalem and Jewish settlement, he said.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in his first public comments since agreeing to a new round of peace talks to begin on September 2, spoke about the failure of past negotiations, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.If there is a one percent chance of reaching peace, we will strive for it, he added in an address in Ramallah to religious figures and diplomats attending an iftar -- the daily meal at sundown when Muslims break their Ramadan fast.We want to reach peace with our neighbors. That's why we are going to direct negotiations, he said.Inviting Israel and the Palestinians last week to restart direct talks, last held in late 2008, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States believed all major issues could be resolved within a year.
The talks will begin in Washington.
But the negotiations could swiftly hit a bump on September 26, when a 10-month limited Israeli moratorium on new housing starts in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank expires.Abbas, whose authority has extended only to the West Bank since Hamas Islamists took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, has threatened to pull out of the talks if Israel presses ahead with settlement construction.Lieberman voiced confidence that the Israeli cabinet would not extend the freeze -- agreed by Netanyahu under U.S. pressure to coax the Palestinians into direct talks -- and said projects for several thousand new settler homes could get under way fast.The United States opposes settlement expansion but has stopped short of calling for Netanyahu to extend the moratorium, a move that could cause cracks in a governing coalition dominated by pro-settler parties including his own.Instead, it has urged both Israel and the Palestinians not to take measures that could jeopardize the negotiations and said the settlement issue would be raised in next week's talks.
NEW PROJECTS
Acknowledging a de facto moratorium in East Jerusalem, which was not included in the formal freeze, Lieberman said 1,600 housing units for Israelis have gone through all the approval processes.Construction could also begin immediately on another 2,000 homes in the West Bank once the freeze ended, he said.Dan Meridor, a moderate in the Israeli cabinet, has proposed resuming housing construction only in the major settlement blocs that Israel intends to keep in any future peace deal, which could include territorial swaps.This is my position -- it's not the government's position yet. I am mentioning it because we should discuss it and try to reach an agreement on it. We're not there yet, Meridor said in a radio interview on Tuesday. Netanyahu, who has been on vacation in northern Israel this week, has not commented on Meridor's remarks. The YESHA council, the main settler organization, warned him in a letter that he could face trouble from its cabinet allies.If we are not given the legal right to actually build homes for our families and children, we cannot allow a situation where this coalition will continue to govern,the letter said. Israel captured the West Bank and East Jerusalem in a 1967 war and has settled some 500,000 Jews in the two areas, where 2.5 million Palestinians live. Palestinians fear the settlements will deny them a viable state. (Additional reporting by Tom Perry; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Israeli settlers warn PM could face day of judgment
by Patrick Moser – Wed Aug 25, 6:59 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli settlers warned on Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will face his day of judgment if he caves in to pressure to further limit settlement construction in the West Bank.This is not a time to mince words as this is literally a day of judgment for our prime minister and government, said Naftali Bennett, head of Yesha, the main association of settlers in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory.Yesha warned in a letter to Netanyahu of serious diplomatic and political implications if he reneges on his promise to resume issuing building permits for settler homes when a partial, 10-month moratorium ends on September 26.
The issue of settlements is one of the thorniest in the Middle East peace process and is expected to figure prominently at the new round of direct Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations starting in Washington on September 2.The Palestinians initially insisted they would not sit at the negotiating table without guarantees the moratorium on building permits be extended.But no such guarantee has been made public in statements from the US administration and the Middle East peace Quartet when they announced the new round of negotiations.Netanyahu faces Palestinian and international calls for a freeze on settlement construction.But the leader of a centre-right ruling coalition is also under strong pressure, including from within his own Likud party, to clear the way for construction of more settler homes in the West Bank.And Bennett insisted Netanyahu needs to appreciate that we will stand firm on our commitments to strengthen and expand the communities and we cannot bend to any international pressure.These upcoming negotiations promise to be another futile display of diplomacy but we must not allow citizens of Israel to become the scapegoats in this process, he said.Far-right Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman also played down the prospects of the talks, suggesting the one-year target set by the United States is unrealistic.
The peace process is unlikely to end within the next year, as disagreements between the two sides are too deep, the online edition of the Haaretz newspaper quoted him as saying.A similar relaunch of US-brokered negotiations in 2007 produced no visible results by the time the talks collapsed when Israel's military launched a devastating 22-day offensive on the Gaza Strip just over a year later.The new round of talks between Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas follow several months of arduous US mediation.Efforts to put the peace process back on track suffered a major setback in March when Israel announced the construction of 1,600 new settler homes in annexed east Jerusalem, just as US Vice President Joe Biden was visiting the region.Indirect talks through the United States eventually started on May 9 with the stated aim of moving on to face-to-face negotiations within four months.If we are not given the legal right to actually build homes for our families and children, we cannot allow a situation where this coalition will continue to govern, said settlers' movement leader Bennett.
