WHAT HOGWASH-LIEBERMAN SAYS ACCEPT KERRY PEACE AGREEMENT

Liberman Turns Heads in Praising Kerry's Offer

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman turns some heads, urges Israel to accept the peace deal currently being brokered by Washington.-By Elad Benari, Canada=First Publish: 1/10/2014, 10:30 PM-Israelnationalnews

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman-Flash 90

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman turned some heads on Friday when he urged Israel to accept the peace deal currently being brokered by Washington.Liberman, who spoke to the British Telegraph newspaper, said that the offer being promoted by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was “the best offer Israel will ever receive.”He told the newspaper, in his first major interview since returning to office in November, that Kerry deserved praise and thanks for his efforts to bring Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) together.
“It’s the best proposal we can get and we really appreciate the efforts of Secretary of State John Kerry. He has really put a lot of energy into the issue,” Liberman told the Telegraph.He added that it was “crucial” for Israelis to maintain contact with the PA, no matter how limited the prospects of success.“With or without a comprehensive solution we will continue to live together and continue to be neighbors. There are many problems on the ground, so this direct contact, this negotiation, these talks - it’s very important to keep alive and maintain,” said Liberman.Kerry has set the two sides a target of April to reach a “framework agreement” that would work as a guideline for a final peace deal.The goal of the deal is to establish an independent Palestinian state and settle such contentious issues as the jurisdiction of Jerusalem and the so-called “right of return”.Liberman waved away several years of hostility between the Obama White House and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu as “differences between friends”.While he still criticized PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, whom he called to remove in a 2012 letter to EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton, he did not refer to Abbas as a “diplomatic terrorist” in the Telegraph interview.Instead, he said, there is a question mark over whether or not Abbas “can deliver the goods” in the peace talks.“You must be ready for compromise, but I am not sure he is able. But we must check [wait for] this possibility because we [Israelis] are ready to go far,” said Liberman.He declared that Arab Israeli citizens who remain in Israel must decide where their true loyalty lies, Israel or the potential future “Palestine.”“They live in some kind of schizophrenia, they don’t know if they are Israeli citizens or if they are Palestinians. Even during our football games you see Palestinian flags,” said Liberman, who has proposed that land Israel swaps with a future Palestinian state include the cities where some 300,000 Arabs live.He admitted, however, that it was perhaps the “mistake of leadership, of our governments - more than Arab mistakes” that has created division.Liberman’s moderate tone, compared to his tough talk in his previous term in office, caught the attention of the Telegraph, which noted that his “apparent transformation from hardliner to pragmatist will boost hopes that this time could be different, and that one of the world’s most obstinate and damaging conflicts could be at last resolved.”
The newspaper that the “firebrand politician” who said that Gaza should be treated like “Chechnya” and who called for the execution of Arab-Israeli MKs who had met members of Hamas was gone.Liberman told the Telegraph, perhaps a sign of his new persona, that his biggest challenge as foreign minister was to have Israel associated with issues other than “the Palestinian conflict, terror and Iran”.He wanted, he said, to “open the eyes of international community to our achievements – to our very successful economy, agriculture, water management, science, high tech industry.”(Arutz Sheva’s North American Desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)

Labor Party Head Not Opposed to Land Swaps

Opposition leader Yitzchak Herzog said that he would not be opposed to the principle of a “land swap” with a Palestinian entity.-By David Lev-First Publish: 1/9/2014, 12:55 PM-Israelnationalnews

MK Yitzchak Herzog-Flash 90

Opposition leader Yitzchak Herzog on Thursday said that he and his Labor Party would not be opposed to the principle of a “land swap” with a future Palestinian state in the event a final-status treaty could be worked out. Speaking at Bar Ilan University, Herzog discussed a number of issues, the greatest dangers Israel faces, and his thoughts on becoming Prime Minister.Regarding the last point, Herzog said that he fully expects to replace Binyamin Netanyahu as Prime Minister in the coming elections.“The Likud has nothing new to sell,” he said. “The reforms made by former Communications Minister Kahlon that reduced the prices of cellphone service they already sold in the last elections. Israelis are tired of militants drawing guns for every little thing. Perhaps the time has come for an intelligent person with a record to take over things,” meaning himself, he said.Herzog said that he would be happy if areas of Judea and Samaria where Jews live could be retained by Israel, despite the establishment of a Palestinian state. “I have no problem with land swaps, trading areas of 'Israel proper' in order to keep Ariel,” in Samaria. “MKs who want to annex Judea and Samaria and are opposed to the two-state solution will cause a terrible tragedy here, it will be a death blow to Israel” because the country will be inundated with Arabs who will vote the Jewish state out of existence.Jerusalem, he said, was the “rock of our existence as a people,” and of course Jews had a right to it. However, Israelis needed to remember that Jerusalem had many Arab neighborhoods. “We must distinguish between the heart of Jerusalem in the Old City and the many Arab villages that are part of 'Jerusalem,' which are only there because someone drew a map that looked like that.”Despite the enemies and regional issues Israel faces, said Herzog, the greatest enemy Israelis face is right here at home.“Poverty is the greatest threat to Israeli society,” he declared, echoing the view of former party head Sheli Yachimovich, who focused the party's platform on economic, rather that diplomatic issues. “It generates depression and makes it difficult to develop as a nation. Labor will ensure that all Israelis have the opportunity to earn an income. It is time for Israelis to come home to the 'mother party,'” he added. 

US denies claims that Iran deal has been finalized

State Dept reports progress in technical talks to rein in nuclear program, but maintains there are still gaps

By Yoel Goldman January 10, 2014, 6:57 pm Updated: January 10, 2014, 9:28 pm 0-The times of Israel

The US State Department quickly dismissed an Iranian state television report Friday that negotiators in Geneva had resolved all outstanding issues between the parties in regard to an interim nuclear agreement.

State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters that technical talks were making good progress, but that a deal had not been cemented.“There have been a few outstanding issues, but at this point, the reports that everything has been finalized are incorrect,” she said.Earlier Friday, the Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who said that the sides had resolved all issues and that the negotiators would now turn to their respective governments for approval. Over the last two days, the six major world powers involved in the talks, the so-called P5+1, were represented by the European Union.

“All the outstanding political and technical issues were resolved but the final decision will be taken by the respective capitals,” IRNA quoted Araqchi, who reportedly added that Iran and the P5+1 would have two days to accept of reject the deal.Araqchi told Reuters that the negotiators had found “solutions for every difference.”“Now we are taking the solutions … home, all of us. Hopefully tomorrow we can either confirm or not, but hopefully confirm,” he said.An EU spokesperson said “very good” progress had been made “on all of the pertinent issues,” reported Reuters, but the official said any developments on terms would have to be validated by more senior officials.The interim deal — limiting Iran’s nuclear program in return for the easing of non-core sanctions — was reached in Geneva in November but has not been implemented because of disagreements over “technical issues.”In Washington, DC, congressional aides said Friday that 59 US senators now support tougher sanctions on Iran, despite ongoing negotiations.The Obama administration has warned that such a measure would risk scuttling the talks, but lawmakers who first seemed receptive to that view are now shifting and looking to put more pressure on Tehran to make concessions on it’s nuclear program.Iran maintains that its nuclear program is for peaceful use only, a claim that the international community has largely dismissed.