Palestinian U.N. moves designed to avoid U.S. retaliation
By Noah Browning 48 minutes ago-APR 3,14-Yahoonews
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - When Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed onto 15 international conventions on Tuesday, he shocked the U.S. sponsors of troubled Middle East peace talks. But the move was carefully limited to avoid American retaliation.Abbas's action may have been designed more as a symbolic act of defiance to shore up his tenuous standing among Palestinians frustrated at the diplomatic impasse with Israel over their goal of statehood than a knife in the heart of peacemaking.As a non-member state in the United Nations, Palestinians can join 63 international agencies and accords. However, by only signing conventions dealing with social and human rights instead of seeking full membership in U.N. bodies, the Palestinians' foreign minister said they would not provoke U.S. sanctions."Frankly speaking, I don't expect any consequences coming from the U.S. Congress regarding this step at all," Riad al-Malki told reporters on Wednesday."We did not talk about us becoming members of the U.N. specialized agencies in order for the Congress to activate their decision. We are talking about and we are still talking about letters of submission to protocols and conventions, and that's it."Peace negotiations are near collapse amid mutual accusations of bad faith. In the latest such episode, Abbas inked the 15 conventions in search of more leverage against Israel after it refused to free a batch of Palestinian prisoners under terms of a previous agreement. Israel, in turn, said it would not release those detainees without a Palestinian commitment to continue negotiations beyond an initial end-of-April deadline.U.S. officials criticized what they called "unhelpful, unilateral actions" by both sides.Abbas's limited self-rule administration in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is dependent on U.S. support. Around $500 million in annual aid to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority helps keep its bloated public sector and security forces afloat.But Congress has repeatedly docked payments as punishment for Palestinian political decisions it disagrees with, including an earlier bid for statehood recognition. A 1990 law also bars U.S. funding to U.N. bodies which recognize a Palestinian state.The law put the United States in the awkward position of losing its right to vote in the cultural and educational body UNESCO last year after Palestinians acceded to it in 2011.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pleaded with a congressional foreign affairs committee last month to reassess its U.N. divestment policies - a sign of how badly his State Department wishes to avoid diplomatic damage arising from Palestinian moves."On the next issue of the U.N. waiver, please, I've got to tell you, this is a very one-sided event against us...whether or not the United States loses its vote and gets punished for (Abbas) going (to U.N. agencies) is irrelevant to him. He'll go, because it's a tool for him to be able to do things he hopes that, you know, make life miserable for Israel," Kerry said."They'll go again if they think it's in their best interests. And who will pay the price? The United States of America. We won't be able to vote."
"CLEVER"
Palestinians seek an independent state in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem - lands captured by Israel in a 1967 war. While all parties say negotiations are the best path to peace, Palestinians say they may eventually resort to international bodies to force the militarily vastly more powerful Israel to make concessions for peace.The U.N. General Assembly voted to recognize Palestine as a non-member state in 2012, entitling them to join the accords which Abbas signed up on Tuesday, including conventions against discrimination against women and for the rights of disabled people as well as the Geneva Conventions.They burden the Palestinians with few binding commitments on their government, which has been accused of corruption and abuses of detainees and journalists.Nor do they court retaliation by immediately empowering them to lodge legal complaints against Israel or rattle U.S. foreign policy, a senior U.N. official told Reuters." The nuclear option for Abbas would be to go for the International Criminal Court and International Atomic Energy Agency. Those are the ones that matter," the official said."(The latest signing is) actually quite a clever move. Abbas is saying that the Palestinians want to be part of the global community and improve its state building mechanisms by signing up to a load of well-meaning conventions. He can turn around and say, 'Why should Israel feel threatened by us signing a convention protecting women's rights?'"Peace moves by Abbas, a veteran negotiator who has chosen diplomacy over the violent militancy espoused by his predecessors and Palestinian rivals such as the Islamist Hamas, which controls Gaza, have not been welcomed by his countrymen.Campaigns for recognition at the United Nations, while mostly symbolic, have been praised by many Palestinians.The 78-year old president - who saw his term expire over five years ago but remains in office because of a stalemate with Hamas over conditions for the next elections - may have been keen to shore up his appeal after Israel over the weekend failed to free a fourth and final group of over two dozen Palestinian prisoners as part of a pledge to restart peace talks last year."That's when he reached his endpoint and said, 'I've got to do another measure that's going to improve my popularity,' and going to the U.N. has so far been successful in terms of boosting his popularity," said Diana Buttu, a former legal adviser to Palestinian peace negotiators."But as a measure, it's a weak one. He didn't go all the way to hold Israel accountable and he didn't abandon negotiations."(Additional reporting by Crispian Balmer in Jerusalem, editing by Mark Heinrich)
Palestinian official: Talks can continue, but only on borders-As US battles to save peace process, senior Fatah negotiator says ‘door still open,’ challenges Israel to produce map based on pre-1967 lines-By Stuart Winer and Rebecca Shimoni Stoil April 3, 2014, 9:30 am 25-The Times of Israel
Palestinian negotiators would be willing to continue peace talks with Israel, but only to discuss defining the borders of a future state, a senior Palestinian official said in comments published Thursday.The statement by top Fatah official Mohammed Shtayyeh came as the US scrambled to keep talks alive after each side accused the other of making unilateral moves to torpedo negotiations over the last few days.Speaking to Sky News Arabic on Wednesday, Shtayyeh, who resigned as a member of the Palestinian negotiating team in December, said the Palestinians were prepared to give talks another chance during April, but should they fail, they will seek to join 63 international organizations including the International Criminal Court.Returning to the negotiations “will be on the border only,” he said, challenging Israel to present a map based on the 1967 lines.Shtayyeh said that serious talks about the borders, a core issue, would prove that Israel and the US are sincere about reaching an agreement.Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians were scheduled to last until late April, but broke down earlier in the week after Israel balked at releasing a fourth round of prisoners, which Ramallah says was agreed to before the talks.Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas responded on Tuesday by applying for membership in 15 international bodies, many of which are UN-related, seemingly contravening an agreement not to turn to the United Nations as long as talks continued.The moves drew harsh responses from the US, with the White House accusing the sides of taking “tit-for-tat actions.”US mediator Martin Indyk convened emergency talks late Wednesday night between the two sides’ chief negotiators, Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and the PA’s Saeb Erekat.There was no word on the outcome of the meeting as of Thursday morning.A source close to the talks quoted by the Walla news website said the chances of success were “slim, but we’ll keep trying.”Shtayyeh said that while Abbas’s dramatic televised signing of the applications to join 15 international agencies on Tuesday night was in response to Israel’s stalling over the fourth phase of a series of promised prisoner releases, the “door for negotiations was still open till the end of the month.”He blamed the cancellation of a visit to the region by US Secretary of State John Kerry on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s duplicity over the prisoner release, saying the prime minister had assured Kerry nine times that he would indeed release the prisoners, but then reneged on the assurance.Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee, endorsed the Palestinian condition that talks focus on defining the borders of a state, but warned against meaningless gestures.“We can’t return to the empty routine, a search for a framework for talks — this empty routine which is negotiating about negotiating,” he said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.Despite the move to join international agencies, Abed Rabbo insisted that Abbas remained committed to the US peace efforts.“The Palestinian leadership… wants the political process to continue. But we want a real political process, without tricks,” he said.Livni termed Abbas’s applications to join the 15 treaties and conventions, which were formally submitted to UN and other officials on Wednesday morning, “a breach of [his] commitment” not to apply to UN bodies while the negotiations were continuing. “It harms Palestinian interests,” she said of the move. “If they want a state, they must understand it must pass through the negotiating room.”Israeli officials were quoted earlier Wednesday saying Abbas had “torpedoed” a nascent, complex, three-way deal under which Israel would have freed a final batch of 26-30 long-term Palestinian terror convicts and also released 400 more Palestinian security prisoners not guilty of violent crimes, peace talks would have extended beyond the current April 29 deadline, and the US would have released American-Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.Still, Livni said she believed talks would continue despite the crisis. ”We repeat and pledge that we will continue to fight for peace and stand like a fortified wall against the extremists, in the government as well, who are attempting to pass extreme legislation,” she said.Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin lambasted Livni for meeting with Erekat, saying it was “a disgrace to the State of Israel.”“The time has come to stop being the go-to sucker of the Middle East,” he said. “I call on the prime minister and Minister Livni to end the entire negotiation process so long as Abbas doesn’t withdraw his request from the United Nations, and unilaterally implement the many measures Israel has in order to convince the Palestinian leadership that it doesn’t pay for them to fight us in the international arena.”State Department Deputy Spokeswoman Marie Harf refused to implicate Abbas’s move as the sole factor in Kerry’s decision to cancel his Wednesday meeting.Harf would not answer questions Wednesday as to whether the State Department had been warned before Abbas made his Tuesday treaties and conventions move.“Over the last 24 hours there have been unhelpful actions taken on both sides,” Harf said, described a growing “sense over the last 36 hours that we didn’t think it was a conducive environment for the secretary to travel there right now.”Harf said that the coming days represented a critical stage for the talks. “This is one of the points in which both sides must make tough choices,” Harf warned, adding that the two sides “have made courageous decisions in the past” but that “we can’t make the tough decisions for them, they need to do it for themselves.”Acknowledging that “it’s an easy story to write that making Middle East peace is hard,” Harf also emphasized that “talks are not at a dead end. There is still a chance to move the process forward.” During the past eight months, the negotiations had succeeded in “narrowing gaps” between the parties, she argued, but would not specify on which topics.Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, meanwhile, said he did not know “if this is a real crisis or an imagined one” but that ”the ball is in the Palestinians’ court.” Should the Palestinians choose not to resume negotiations, Israel need not run after them with conciliatory gestures, he said. ”If you don’t want negotiations, that’s your decision,” he said.Liberman also said he would not vote for any deal that included freeing Israeli-Arab prisoners, who were reportedly slated to be part of 104 freed in exchange for peace talks.Netanyahu issued no immediate official response to Abbas’s move. But unnamed officials in Jerusalem were quoted by Channel 2 news saying Abbas’s application to join the 15 international treaties and conventions represented a “major breach” of his understandings with Israel and the US over peace negotiations, and that it indicated that there was now “almost no chance” of a Pollard-for-prisoners deal enabling the continuation of peace talks.Netanyahu was reported by Channel 2 to have mustered a cabinet majority in the course of Tuesday for a Pollard-for-prisoners deal, and to have been “shocked” to see the televised ceremony in which Abbas signed off on the various letters of accession. Palestinian officials denied that applying to join the treaties and conventions marked a breach of understandings, and said the PA was committed to continuing talks until the April 29 deadline. “This is the fulfillment of Palestine’s right and has nothing to do with negotiations or the reaching of an agreement,” the PLO’s negotiations department said in a statement.AFP contributed to this report.
Canada's Trudeau Accuses Harper of Pandering to Jewish Vote-Liberal party leader claims Prime Minister supports Israel to gain Jewish votes, calls for better ties with Iran.-By Dalit Halevy, Ari Yashar-First Publish: 4/3/2014, 4:36 PM-Israelnationalnews
In advance of the upcoming 2015 Canadian prime ministerial elections, Liberal party leader Justin Trudeau has claimed that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's policies reflect an effort to pander to the Jewish vote. Trudeau accused Harper of pursuing a staunchly pro-Israel foreign policy so as to gain Jewish votes, during an interview last Thursday with the Farsi-language weekly newspaper Salaam Toronto. The paper is read by Iranian-Canadians, and is widely recognized as being supportive of the Liberal party."Until the prime minister was chosen to be prime minister, he practically didn't travel abroad, and his position on foreign policy was from the point of view of 'can it advance my election campaign or not,'" claimed Trudeau to the paper, reports Shalom Toronto."His (Harper's) position on issues tied to Israel or to the United Nations is very much based on what can affect his standing in the ballot box," charged Trudeau.The Liberal party leader attacked Harper further, saying the crisis in Ukraine troubled him because of the presence of a large Ukrainian community in Canada that is worried about the crisis. Trudeau claimed Harper's visit with Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird to Ukraine was meant as a photo opportunity to gain more votes.Trudeau attacked Baird as well, saying his trips abroad were used to represent his Conservative party, and not Canada. In doing so, the Liberal leader charged Baird with harming Canada's openness and accountability.
Supporting ties with Iran
Speaking to the Iranian-Canadian paper, Trudeau slammed Canada's tough stance on Iran's nuclear program, saying "the Iranian people are different from the Iranian government. The current Canadian government isn't going to the root of the issue at all and doesn't under this. The most obvious example of this was the decision last year to close the (Canadian) embassy (in Tehran)."The embassy was in fact closed in September, 2012. While Trudeau recognized the security concerns that led to the decision, he espoused an approach of dialogue "with regimes we have opposing opinions with." He argued for keeping open communications with Iran, ostensibly to protect Iranian-Canadians in the Islamic regime."My approach to Canada is different," argued Trudeau, saying after he became leader of the Liberal party he traveled to Washington DC and took positions that "surprised many." The Liberal leader, after accusing Harper of calculated political decisions, claimed he hadn't voiced his opposition to Harper's opinions earlier so as to preserve a unified Canadian voice in the international arena.Trudeau, who is leading in polls for the election race, has in recent months argued that Canada should take a more "balanced line" regarding the Middle East, potentially signifying a shift away from support for Israel.While Trudeau has accused Harper of playing a political game for support with local Jews, he himself has spoken in favor of drawing closer to the large Muslim population in Canada.
Palestinian envoy threatens Israel with ICC membership-Without progress on peace talks, Riyad Mansour says Ramallah will look to join further international treaties and UN agencies
By AP, AFP and Times of Israel staff April 3, 2014, 2:52 am
The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations said his government may seek to join the International Criminal Court and more UN agencies if there is no progress in peace talks with the Israelis.Riyad Mansour told a news conference Wednesday that the 15 international conventions the Palestinians are seeking to join were just a first group, and more could follow depending on Israel’s actions.In a surprise move, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday resumed a campaign for further international recognition of a state of Palestine, signing applications for the Palestinians to join 15 international treaties and conventions.The Palestinians had promised to suspend such efforts during nine months of peace negotiations with Israel, which are scheduled to end on April 29, but Mansour said Israel failed to release Palestinian prisoners as promised.The UN confirmed Wednesday that its special envoy on Mideast peace, Robert Serry, had received requests from Palestinian officials to join the various international conventions and treaties.Once these applications have been officially received at the UN headquarters, “we will be reviewing them to consider the appropriate next steps,” said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.The requests come as peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis are floundering, with Israel making a new bid to expand settlements in East Jerusalem and the Palestinians taking fresh steps towards seeking recognition of their desired state.“We hope a way can be found to see the negotiations through,” UN spokesman Haq said, noting that Serry had met Wednesday with chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and Israeli Justice Minister and chief negotiator Tzipi Livni.Envoys from the “quartet” — the US, EU, UN, and Russia — also spoke with the relevant parties by telephone, he said.But Mansour said the requests were “a formality” and that their membership in the treaties would come into effect “30 days after the Secretary-General receives the letter of accession.”“What we did is legal,” he insisted, saying “it is our right” to join UN treaties and agencies, since the Palestinians obtained the status of an observer state in November 2012.
The Palestinian Authority has also asked Switzerland if it can join the Fourth Geneva Convention from August 1949 and the first additional protocol. And it has asked the Netherlands if it can join the Hague Convention of 1907 on laws and customs governing war.“Our inclusion in the Geneva convention will be effective immediately because we are under occupation,” Mansour claimed, adding that these applications are just a first wave, with more coming depending on “the interest of the Palestinian people” as well as “the behavior of Israel.”US Secretary of State John Kerry, who cancelled plans to fly in for talks with Abbas in Ramallah after the PA leader signed the treaty applications on Tuesday night, telephoned Abbas on Wednesday and was reported to have asked him to “keep the doors of negotiations open.” The US State Department said that Kerry spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as to the Palestinian leader on Wednesday morning.Kerry’s special envoy Martin Indyk, meanwhile, convened emergency talks Wednesday night between Livni and Erekat.Livni termed Abbas’s applications to join the 15 treaties and conventions, “a breach of [his] commitment” not to apply to UN bodies while the negotiations were continuing. “It harms Palestinian interests,” she said of the move. “If they want a state, they must understand it must pass through the negotiating room.”Israeli officials were quoted earlier Wednesday saying Abbas had “torpedoed” a nascent, complex, three-way deal under which Israel would have freed a final batch of 26-30 long-term Palestinian terror convicts and also released 400 more Palestinian security prisoners not guilty of violent crimes, peace talks would have extended beyond the current April 29 deadline, and the US would have released American-Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.Still, Livni said she believed talks would continue despite the crisis. “We repeat and pledge that we will continue to fight for peace and stand like a fortified wall against the extremists, in the government as well, who are attempting to pass extreme legislation,” she said.Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin lambasted Livni for meeting with Erekat, saying it was “a disgrace to the state of Israel.”“The time has come to stop being the go-to sucker of the Middle East,” he said. “I call on the prime minister and Minister Livni to end the entire negotiation process so long as Abbas doesn’t withdraw his request from the United Nations, and unilaterally implement the many measures Israel has in order to convince the Palestinian leadership that it doesn’t pay for them to fight us in the international arena.”State Department Deputy Spokeswoman Marie Harf said that she was not aware of the plans for Livni and Erekat to meet, and refused to implicate Abbas’s move as the sole factor in Kerry’s decision to cancel his Wednesday meeting.Harf had told reporters Tuesday that Kerry would still travel to the region, but shortly after she concluded her press briefing, overseas members of Kerry’s team confirmed that the trip had been canceled. Harf would not answer questions Wednesday as to whether the State Department had been warned before Abbas made his Tuesday treaties and conventions move.“Over the last 24 hours there have been unhelpful actions taken on both sides,” Harf said, described a growing “sense over the last 36 hours that we didn’t think it was a conducive environment for the secretary to travel there right now.”Similarly, Harf would not detail which Israeli actions the State Department defined as so “unhelpful” as to justify a cancellation of Kerry’s trip. Although the Palestinians had complained in recent days that Israel did not release prisoners last weekend as agreed, Kerry’s Tuesday morning meeting with Netanyahu went ahead as planned even after the proposed release date had passed.Harf said that the coming days represented a critical stage for the talks. “This is one of the points in which both sides must make tough choices,” Harf warned, adding that both sides “have made courageous decisions in the past” but that “we can’t make the tough decisions for them, they need to do it for themselves.”Acknowledging that “it’s an easy story to write that making Middle East peace is hard,” Harf also emphasized that “talks are not at a dead end. There is still a chance to move the process forward.” During the past eight months, the negotiations had succeeded in “narrowing gaps” between the parties, she argued, but would not specify on which topics.Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, meanwhile, said he did not know “if this is a real crisis or an imagined one” but that “the ball is in the Palestinians’ court.” Should the Palestinians choose not to resume negotiations, Israel need not run after them with conciliatory gestures, he said. “If you don’t want negotiations, that’s your decision,” he said.Liberman also said he would not vote for any deal that included freeing Israeli-Arab prisoners.Netanyahu issued no immediate official response to Abbas’s move. But unnamed officials in Jerusalem were quoted by Channel 2 news saying Abbas’s application to join the 15 international treaties and conventions represented a “major breach” of his understandings with Israel and the US over peace negotiations, and that it indicated that there was now “almost no chance” of a Pollard-for-prisoners deal enabling the continuation of peace talks.Netanyahu was reported by Channel 2 to have mustered a cabinet majority in the course of Tuesday for a Pollard-for-prisoners deal, and to have been “shocked” to see the televised ceremony in which Abbas signed off on the various letters of accession.Channel 2′s diplomatic correspondent Udi Segal said that Kerry, who claimed on Tuesday that Abbas had not breached peace understandings because he had not sought to join UN-related agencies, seemed to be trying to “whitewash” the PA president’s move. While Kerry claimed on Tuesday that “None of the agencies that President Abbas signed tonight involve the UN,” most of the treaties and conventions are in fact related to UN agencies.Israeli Middle East analyst Ehud Ya’ari noted that the Palestinians had “heavier” diplomatic weapons in their armory that they had not yet chosen to use. He described Abbas’s move as “muscle-flexing” in response to Israel’s failure to release the fourth and final group of Palestinian terror convicts who had been set to go free last weekend. Israeli officials had balked at a PA demand for several Israeli-Arabs to be included in that group, and also insisted that Abbas first commit to extending peace talks past April — a demand Abbas refused.
Frustrated Kerry urges leadership from Israel PM, Abbas-By Hazel Ward 16 minutes ago-APR 3,14-Yahoonews
Jerusalem (AFP) - A frustrated US secretary of state demanded Thursday action from recalcitrant Israeli and Palestinian leaders, saying it was time for them to demonstrate leadership in the crisis-hit peace talks.But John Kerry acknowledged in Algiers that negotiators from the two sides had made "progress" in lengthy overnight talks in Jerusalem, also attended by the Americans.More than a year of intensive Kerry shuttle diplomacy appeared to be on the brink of collapse this week after Israel announced a fresh wave of settlement tenders and the Palestinians resumed moves to seek international recognition for their promised state.Washington expressed disappointment, describing them as "unhelpful, unilateral actions," but insisted diplomacy still had a chance.Speaking Thursday morning during a visit to Algeria, Kerry threw down the gauntlet to both sides, telling them it was time for compromise at what he called a "critical moment" in the peace talks."You can facilitate, you can push, you can nudge, but the parties themselves have to make fundamental decisions to compromise," he said."The leaders have to lead, and they have to be able to see a moment when it's there," he added, showing signs of frustration after his months-long peace efforts appeared to be in tatters.But Kerry said negotiators had made progress in trying to chart a path forward during a meeting that ran until 4:00 am."There is still a gap and that gap needs to close fairly soon."- 'Progress, but gap remains' -Ahead of the talks between US special envoy Martin Indyk, chief Israeli negotiator Tzipi Livni and her Palestinian counterpart, Saeb Erakat, Kerry had spoken by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, a US official said.Kerry said he would speak to both leaders again on Thursday."We are urging them to find the compromise that is critical to being able to move forward," he said. "The fight right now, the disagreement.. (is about) what you need to do in order to be able to continue to negotiate."The current crisis was triggered by Israel's refusal to release 26 Palestinian prisoners at the weekend.In response the Palestinians formally requested accession to several international treaties in a bid to unilaterally further their statehood claim.The overnight marathon meeting "focused on the necessity of releasing the prisoners," a Palestinian official told AFP on condition of anonymity.The official said that the applications for accession to several international treaties were "irreversible”.Each side accused the other of violating undertakings given when the current talks were launched under Kerry's sponsorship last July.“The ball is in Israel’s court now. It should release the prisoners,” former Palestinian negotiator Mohammed Shtayeh told AFP.The moves dealt a hammer blow to Kerry's frenetic efforts to broker an extension of the negotiations beyond their original April 29 deadline.
Despite the treaty move, Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki insisted that Abbas remained committed to the US peace efforts."This action does not detract from the importance of negotiations. We are still committed to these talks," he said Wednesday after presenting the requests.UN Middle East peace envoy Robert Serry confirmed receiving them, with a spokesman for the secretary general saying they would review them to consider the "appropriate next steps."The first treaty the Palestinians applied to was the Fourth Geneva Convention, which holds huge symbolic importance as it provides the legal basis of their opposition to Israeli settlements in the occupied territories.In Israel, there was surprise and anger over the Palestinian move."The Palestinians have returned to a diplomatic intifada," one political official told Yediot Aharonot newspaper on Thursday, using the Arabic word for uprising.Pro-government Israel HaYom daily said security officials did not believe the Palestinians wanted a breakdown of the talks."The Palestinians currently have no vested interest in a breakdown of the negotiations. Messages in that vein were relayed in talks that were held between security officials from both sides," it said.It also said efforts were underway to compile a list of more prisoners who could be freed should the sides agree to extend the talks.It added that top officials agree that the potential repercussions for Israeli security interests of a collapse in talks "will be far greater than the price that Israel will be required to pay for extending the negotiations for another period of time."
Gaza Snipers Target IDF Civilian Workers-Shots fired at workers near security fence, damage caused but none injured. Worker shot to death just last December.-By Ari Yashar-First Publish: 4/3/2014, 5:38 PM-Israelnationalnews
Arab snipers in Gaza shot at IDF civilian workers working near the security fence on Thursday. None were injured in the attack, although engineering equipment was damaged by the gunfire.The shooting comes just three weeks after terrorists in Gaza unleashed a barrage of rockets on Israel, raining down at least 100 missiles in three days.The unprecedented escalation was the largest-scale attack since the 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense, and led to calls to retake Gaza by IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, as well as Intelligence and Strategy Minister Yuval Steinitz,and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman.An IDF civilian worker, 22-year-old Salah Shukri Abu Latif from the Israeli Arab town of Rahat, was shot dead by Gaza snipers last December as he was working on the security fence, repairing damage caused by a record-breaking snowstorm.Since that incident, the Defense Ministry has forbidden all work on the fence without wearing full protective gear, including a helmet and ceramic bulletproof vests. Any workers not wearing the protective gear are to be sent home immediately and not employed by the IDF according to the new guidelines."Before that shooting, a citizen could have said that he couldn't work with the ceramic (vest) or the helmet, and they gave them a dispensation, but today there is an order that workers must be sent home even if they have to be paid money," noted a captain in the Gaza Division to Maariv.The captain added that "today, already in briefings we tell them (workers) that the first time they are caught without protective gear they simply will go home. It harms our work, but the Ministry of Defense has agreed to pay the price in order to protect the lives of the workers."
By Noah Browning 48 minutes ago-APR 3,14-Yahoonews
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - When Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed onto 15 international conventions on Tuesday, he shocked the U.S. sponsors of troubled Middle East peace talks. But the move was carefully limited to avoid American retaliation.Abbas's action may have been designed more as a symbolic act of defiance to shore up his tenuous standing among Palestinians frustrated at the diplomatic impasse with Israel over their goal of statehood than a knife in the heart of peacemaking.As a non-member state in the United Nations, Palestinians can join 63 international agencies and accords. However, by only signing conventions dealing with social and human rights instead of seeking full membership in U.N. bodies, the Palestinians' foreign minister said they would not provoke U.S. sanctions."Frankly speaking, I don't expect any consequences coming from the U.S. Congress regarding this step at all," Riad al-Malki told reporters on Wednesday."We did not talk about us becoming members of the U.N. specialized agencies in order for the Congress to activate their decision. We are talking about and we are still talking about letters of submission to protocols and conventions, and that's it."Peace negotiations are near collapse amid mutual accusations of bad faith. In the latest such episode, Abbas inked the 15 conventions in search of more leverage against Israel after it refused to free a batch of Palestinian prisoners under terms of a previous agreement. Israel, in turn, said it would not release those detainees without a Palestinian commitment to continue negotiations beyond an initial end-of-April deadline.U.S. officials criticized what they called "unhelpful, unilateral actions" by both sides.Abbas's limited self-rule administration in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is dependent on U.S. support. Around $500 million in annual aid to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority helps keep its bloated public sector and security forces afloat.But Congress has repeatedly docked payments as punishment for Palestinian political decisions it disagrees with, including an earlier bid for statehood recognition. A 1990 law also bars U.S. funding to U.N. bodies which recognize a Palestinian state.The law put the United States in the awkward position of losing its right to vote in the cultural and educational body UNESCO last year after Palestinians acceded to it in 2011.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pleaded with a congressional foreign affairs committee last month to reassess its U.N. divestment policies - a sign of how badly his State Department wishes to avoid diplomatic damage arising from Palestinian moves."On the next issue of the U.N. waiver, please, I've got to tell you, this is a very one-sided event against us...whether or not the United States loses its vote and gets punished for (Abbas) going (to U.N. agencies) is irrelevant to him. He'll go, because it's a tool for him to be able to do things he hopes that, you know, make life miserable for Israel," Kerry said."They'll go again if they think it's in their best interests. And who will pay the price? The United States of America. We won't be able to vote."
"CLEVER"
Palestinians seek an independent state in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem - lands captured by Israel in a 1967 war. While all parties say negotiations are the best path to peace, Palestinians say they may eventually resort to international bodies to force the militarily vastly more powerful Israel to make concessions for peace.The U.N. General Assembly voted to recognize Palestine as a non-member state in 2012, entitling them to join the accords which Abbas signed up on Tuesday, including conventions against discrimination against women and for the rights of disabled people as well as the Geneva Conventions.They burden the Palestinians with few binding commitments on their government, which has been accused of corruption and abuses of detainees and journalists.Nor do they court retaliation by immediately empowering them to lodge legal complaints against Israel or rattle U.S. foreign policy, a senior U.N. official told Reuters." The nuclear option for Abbas would be to go for the International Criminal Court and International Atomic Energy Agency. Those are the ones that matter," the official said."(The latest signing is) actually quite a clever move. Abbas is saying that the Palestinians want to be part of the global community and improve its state building mechanisms by signing up to a load of well-meaning conventions. He can turn around and say, 'Why should Israel feel threatened by us signing a convention protecting women's rights?'"Peace moves by Abbas, a veteran negotiator who has chosen diplomacy over the violent militancy espoused by his predecessors and Palestinian rivals such as the Islamist Hamas, which controls Gaza, have not been welcomed by his countrymen.Campaigns for recognition at the United Nations, while mostly symbolic, have been praised by many Palestinians.The 78-year old president - who saw his term expire over five years ago but remains in office because of a stalemate with Hamas over conditions for the next elections - may have been keen to shore up his appeal after Israel over the weekend failed to free a fourth and final group of over two dozen Palestinian prisoners as part of a pledge to restart peace talks last year."That's when he reached his endpoint and said, 'I've got to do another measure that's going to improve my popularity,' and going to the U.N. has so far been successful in terms of boosting his popularity," said Diana Buttu, a former legal adviser to Palestinian peace negotiators."But as a measure, it's a weak one. He didn't go all the way to hold Israel accountable and he didn't abandon negotiations."(Additional reporting by Crispian Balmer in Jerusalem, editing by Mark Heinrich)
Palestinian official: Talks can continue, but only on borders-As US battles to save peace process, senior Fatah negotiator says ‘door still open,’ challenges Israel to produce map based on pre-1967 lines-By Stuart Winer and Rebecca Shimoni Stoil April 3, 2014, 9:30 am 25-The Times of Israel
Palestinian negotiators would be willing to continue peace talks with Israel, but only to discuss defining the borders of a future state, a senior Palestinian official said in comments published Thursday.The statement by top Fatah official Mohammed Shtayyeh came as the US scrambled to keep talks alive after each side accused the other of making unilateral moves to torpedo negotiations over the last few days.Speaking to Sky News Arabic on Wednesday, Shtayyeh, who resigned as a member of the Palestinian negotiating team in December, said the Palestinians were prepared to give talks another chance during April, but should they fail, they will seek to join 63 international organizations including the International Criminal Court.Returning to the negotiations “will be on the border only,” he said, challenging Israel to present a map based on the 1967 lines.Shtayyeh said that serious talks about the borders, a core issue, would prove that Israel and the US are sincere about reaching an agreement.Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians were scheduled to last until late April, but broke down earlier in the week after Israel balked at releasing a fourth round of prisoners, which Ramallah says was agreed to before the talks.Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas responded on Tuesday by applying for membership in 15 international bodies, many of which are UN-related, seemingly contravening an agreement not to turn to the United Nations as long as talks continued.The moves drew harsh responses from the US, with the White House accusing the sides of taking “tit-for-tat actions.”US mediator Martin Indyk convened emergency talks late Wednesday night between the two sides’ chief negotiators, Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and the PA’s Saeb Erekat.There was no word on the outcome of the meeting as of Thursday morning.A source close to the talks quoted by the Walla news website said the chances of success were “slim, but we’ll keep trying.”Shtayyeh said that while Abbas’s dramatic televised signing of the applications to join 15 international agencies on Tuesday night was in response to Israel’s stalling over the fourth phase of a series of promised prisoner releases, the “door for negotiations was still open till the end of the month.”He blamed the cancellation of a visit to the region by US Secretary of State John Kerry on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s duplicity over the prisoner release, saying the prime minister had assured Kerry nine times that he would indeed release the prisoners, but then reneged on the assurance.Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee, endorsed the Palestinian condition that talks focus on defining the borders of a state, but warned against meaningless gestures.“We can’t return to the empty routine, a search for a framework for talks — this empty routine which is negotiating about negotiating,” he said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.Despite the move to join international agencies, Abed Rabbo insisted that Abbas remained committed to the US peace efforts.“The Palestinian leadership… wants the political process to continue. But we want a real political process, without tricks,” he said.Livni termed Abbas’s applications to join the 15 treaties and conventions, which were formally submitted to UN and other officials on Wednesday morning, “a breach of [his] commitment” not to apply to UN bodies while the negotiations were continuing. “It harms Palestinian interests,” she said of the move. “If they want a state, they must understand it must pass through the negotiating room.”Israeli officials were quoted earlier Wednesday saying Abbas had “torpedoed” a nascent, complex, three-way deal under which Israel would have freed a final batch of 26-30 long-term Palestinian terror convicts and also released 400 more Palestinian security prisoners not guilty of violent crimes, peace talks would have extended beyond the current April 29 deadline, and the US would have released American-Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.Still, Livni said she believed talks would continue despite the crisis. ”We repeat and pledge that we will continue to fight for peace and stand like a fortified wall against the extremists, in the government as well, who are attempting to pass extreme legislation,” she said.Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin lambasted Livni for meeting with Erekat, saying it was “a disgrace to the State of Israel.”“The time has come to stop being the go-to sucker of the Middle East,” he said. “I call on the prime minister and Minister Livni to end the entire negotiation process so long as Abbas doesn’t withdraw his request from the United Nations, and unilaterally implement the many measures Israel has in order to convince the Palestinian leadership that it doesn’t pay for them to fight us in the international arena.”State Department Deputy Spokeswoman Marie Harf refused to implicate Abbas’s move as the sole factor in Kerry’s decision to cancel his Wednesday meeting.Harf would not answer questions Wednesday as to whether the State Department had been warned before Abbas made his Tuesday treaties and conventions move.“Over the last 24 hours there have been unhelpful actions taken on both sides,” Harf said, described a growing “sense over the last 36 hours that we didn’t think it was a conducive environment for the secretary to travel there right now.”Harf said that the coming days represented a critical stage for the talks. “This is one of the points in which both sides must make tough choices,” Harf warned, adding that the two sides “have made courageous decisions in the past” but that “we can’t make the tough decisions for them, they need to do it for themselves.”Acknowledging that “it’s an easy story to write that making Middle East peace is hard,” Harf also emphasized that “talks are not at a dead end. There is still a chance to move the process forward.” During the past eight months, the negotiations had succeeded in “narrowing gaps” between the parties, she argued, but would not specify on which topics.Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, meanwhile, said he did not know “if this is a real crisis or an imagined one” but that ”the ball is in the Palestinians’ court.” Should the Palestinians choose not to resume negotiations, Israel need not run after them with conciliatory gestures, he said. ”If you don’t want negotiations, that’s your decision,” he said.Liberman also said he would not vote for any deal that included freeing Israeli-Arab prisoners, who were reportedly slated to be part of 104 freed in exchange for peace talks.Netanyahu issued no immediate official response to Abbas’s move. But unnamed officials in Jerusalem were quoted by Channel 2 news saying Abbas’s application to join the 15 international treaties and conventions represented a “major breach” of his understandings with Israel and the US over peace negotiations, and that it indicated that there was now “almost no chance” of a Pollard-for-prisoners deal enabling the continuation of peace talks.Netanyahu was reported by Channel 2 to have mustered a cabinet majority in the course of Tuesday for a Pollard-for-prisoners deal, and to have been “shocked” to see the televised ceremony in which Abbas signed off on the various letters of accession. Palestinian officials denied that applying to join the treaties and conventions marked a breach of understandings, and said the PA was committed to continuing talks until the April 29 deadline. “This is the fulfillment of Palestine’s right and has nothing to do with negotiations or the reaching of an agreement,” the PLO’s negotiations department said in a statement.AFP contributed to this report.
Canada's Trudeau Accuses Harper of Pandering to Jewish Vote-Liberal party leader claims Prime Minister supports Israel to gain Jewish votes, calls for better ties with Iran.-By Dalit Halevy, Ari Yashar-First Publish: 4/3/2014, 4:36 PM-Israelnationalnews
In advance of the upcoming 2015 Canadian prime ministerial elections, Liberal party leader Justin Trudeau has claimed that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's policies reflect an effort to pander to the Jewish vote. Trudeau accused Harper of pursuing a staunchly pro-Israel foreign policy so as to gain Jewish votes, during an interview last Thursday with the Farsi-language weekly newspaper Salaam Toronto. The paper is read by Iranian-Canadians, and is widely recognized as being supportive of the Liberal party."Until the prime minister was chosen to be prime minister, he practically didn't travel abroad, and his position on foreign policy was from the point of view of 'can it advance my election campaign or not,'" claimed Trudeau to the paper, reports Shalom Toronto."His (Harper's) position on issues tied to Israel or to the United Nations is very much based on what can affect his standing in the ballot box," charged Trudeau.The Liberal party leader attacked Harper further, saying the crisis in Ukraine troubled him because of the presence of a large Ukrainian community in Canada that is worried about the crisis. Trudeau claimed Harper's visit with Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird to Ukraine was meant as a photo opportunity to gain more votes.Trudeau attacked Baird as well, saying his trips abroad were used to represent his Conservative party, and not Canada. In doing so, the Liberal leader charged Baird with harming Canada's openness and accountability.
Supporting ties with Iran
Speaking to the Iranian-Canadian paper, Trudeau slammed Canada's tough stance on Iran's nuclear program, saying "the Iranian people are different from the Iranian government. The current Canadian government isn't going to the root of the issue at all and doesn't under this. The most obvious example of this was the decision last year to close the (Canadian) embassy (in Tehran)."The embassy was in fact closed in September, 2012. While Trudeau recognized the security concerns that led to the decision, he espoused an approach of dialogue "with regimes we have opposing opinions with." He argued for keeping open communications with Iran, ostensibly to protect Iranian-Canadians in the Islamic regime."My approach to Canada is different," argued Trudeau, saying after he became leader of the Liberal party he traveled to Washington DC and took positions that "surprised many." The Liberal leader, after accusing Harper of calculated political decisions, claimed he hadn't voiced his opposition to Harper's opinions earlier so as to preserve a unified Canadian voice in the international arena.Trudeau, who is leading in polls for the election race, has in recent months argued that Canada should take a more "balanced line" regarding the Middle East, potentially signifying a shift away from support for Israel.While Trudeau has accused Harper of playing a political game for support with local Jews, he himself has spoken in favor of drawing closer to the large Muslim population in Canada.
Palestinian envoy threatens Israel with ICC membership-Without progress on peace talks, Riyad Mansour says Ramallah will look to join further international treaties and UN agencies
By AP, AFP and Times of Israel staff April 3, 2014, 2:52 am
The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations said his government may seek to join the International Criminal Court and more UN agencies if there is no progress in peace talks with the Israelis.Riyad Mansour told a news conference Wednesday that the 15 international conventions the Palestinians are seeking to join were just a first group, and more could follow depending on Israel’s actions.In a surprise move, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday resumed a campaign for further international recognition of a state of Palestine, signing applications for the Palestinians to join 15 international treaties and conventions.The Palestinians had promised to suspend such efforts during nine months of peace negotiations with Israel, which are scheduled to end on April 29, but Mansour said Israel failed to release Palestinian prisoners as promised.The UN confirmed Wednesday that its special envoy on Mideast peace, Robert Serry, had received requests from Palestinian officials to join the various international conventions and treaties.Once these applications have been officially received at the UN headquarters, “we will be reviewing them to consider the appropriate next steps,” said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.The requests come as peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis are floundering, with Israel making a new bid to expand settlements in East Jerusalem and the Palestinians taking fresh steps towards seeking recognition of their desired state.“We hope a way can be found to see the negotiations through,” UN spokesman Haq said, noting that Serry had met Wednesday with chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and Israeli Justice Minister and chief negotiator Tzipi Livni.Envoys from the “quartet” — the US, EU, UN, and Russia — also spoke with the relevant parties by telephone, he said.But Mansour said the requests were “a formality” and that their membership in the treaties would come into effect “30 days after the Secretary-General receives the letter of accession.”“What we did is legal,” he insisted, saying “it is our right” to join UN treaties and agencies, since the Palestinians obtained the status of an observer state in November 2012.
The Palestinian Authority has also asked Switzerland if it can join the Fourth Geneva Convention from August 1949 and the first additional protocol. And it has asked the Netherlands if it can join the Hague Convention of 1907 on laws and customs governing war.“Our inclusion in the Geneva convention will be effective immediately because we are under occupation,” Mansour claimed, adding that these applications are just a first wave, with more coming depending on “the interest of the Palestinian people” as well as “the behavior of Israel.”US Secretary of State John Kerry, who cancelled plans to fly in for talks with Abbas in Ramallah after the PA leader signed the treaty applications on Tuesday night, telephoned Abbas on Wednesday and was reported to have asked him to “keep the doors of negotiations open.” The US State Department said that Kerry spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as to the Palestinian leader on Wednesday morning.Kerry’s special envoy Martin Indyk, meanwhile, convened emergency talks Wednesday night between Livni and Erekat.Livni termed Abbas’s applications to join the 15 treaties and conventions, “a breach of [his] commitment” not to apply to UN bodies while the negotiations were continuing. “It harms Palestinian interests,” she said of the move. “If they want a state, they must understand it must pass through the negotiating room.”Israeli officials were quoted earlier Wednesday saying Abbas had “torpedoed” a nascent, complex, three-way deal under which Israel would have freed a final batch of 26-30 long-term Palestinian terror convicts and also released 400 more Palestinian security prisoners not guilty of violent crimes, peace talks would have extended beyond the current April 29 deadline, and the US would have released American-Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.Still, Livni said she believed talks would continue despite the crisis. “We repeat and pledge that we will continue to fight for peace and stand like a fortified wall against the extremists, in the government as well, who are attempting to pass extreme legislation,” she said.Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin lambasted Livni for meeting with Erekat, saying it was “a disgrace to the state of Israel.”“The time has come to stop being the go-to sucker of the Middle East,” he said. “I call on the prime minister and Minister Livni to end the entire negotiation process so long as Abbas doesn’t withdraw his request from the United Nations, and unilaterally implement the many measures Israel has in order to convince the Palestinian leadership that it doesn’t pay for them to fight us in the international arena.”State Department Deputy Spokeswoman Marie Harf said that she was not aware of the plans for Livni and Erekat to meet, and refused to implicate Abbas’s move as the sole factor in Kerry’s decision to cancel his Wednesday meeting.Harf had told reporters Tuesday that Kerry would still travel to the region, but shortly after she concluded her press briefing, overseas members of Kerry’s team confirmed that the trip had been canceled. Harf would not answer questions Wednesday as to whether the State Department had been warned before Abbas made his Tuesday treaties and conventions move.“Over the last 24 hours there have been unhelpful actions taken on both sides,” Harf said, described a growing “sense over the last 36 hours that we didn’t think it was a conducive environment for the secretary to travel there right now.”Similarly, Harf would not detail which Israeli actions the State Department defined as so “unhelpful” as to justify a cancellation of Kerry’s trip. Although the Palestinians had complained in recent days that Israel did not release prisoners last weekend as agreed, Kerry’s Tuesday morning meeting with Netanyahu went ahead as planned even after the proposed release date had passed.Harf said that the coming days represented a critical stage for the talks. “This is one of the points in which both sides must make tough choices,” Harf warned, adding that both sides “have made courageous decisions in the past” but that “we can’t make the tough decisions for them, they need to do it for themselves.”Acknowledging that “it’s an easy story to write that making Middle East peace is hard,” Harf also emphasized that “talks are not at a dead end. There is still a chance to move the process forward.” During the past eight months, the negotiations had succeeded in “narrowing gaps” between the parties, she argued, but would not specify on which topics.Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, meanwhile, said he did not know “if this is a real crisis or an imagined one” but that “the ball is in the Palestinians’ court.” Should the Palestinians choose not to resume negotiations, Israel need not run after them with conciliatory gestures, he said. “If you don’t want negotiations, that’s your decision,” he said.Liberman also said he would not vote for any deal that included freeing Israeli-Arab prisoners.Netanyahu issued no immediate official response to Abbas’s move. But unnamed officials in Jerusalem were quoted by Channel 2 news saying Abbas’s application to join the 15 international treaties and conventions represented a “major breach” of his understandings with Israel and the US over peace negotiations, and that it indicated that there was now “almost no chance” of a Pollard-for-prisoners deal enabling the continuation of peace talks.Netanyahu was reported by Channel 2 to have mustered a cabinet majority in the course of Tuesday for a Pollard-for-prisoners deal, and to have been “shocked” to see the televised ceremony in which Abbas signed off on the various letters of accession.Channel 2′s diplomatic correspondent Udi Segal said that Kerry, who claimed on Tuesday that Abbas had not breached peace understandings because he had not sought to join UN-related agencies, seemed to be trying to “whitewash” the PA president’s move. While Kerry claimed on Tuesday that “None of the agencies that President Abbas signed tonight involve the UN,” most of the treaties and conventions are in fact related to UN agencies.Israeli Middle East analyst Ehud Ya’ari noted that the Palestinians had “heavier” diplomatic weapons in their armory that they had not yet chosen to use. He described Abbas’s move as “muscle-flexing” in response to Israel’s failure to release the fourth and final group of Palestinian terror convicts who had been set to go free last weekend. Israeli officials had balked at a PA demand for several Israeli-Arabs to be included in that group, and also insisted that Abbas first commit to extending peace talks past April — a demand Abbas refused.
Frustrated Kerry urges leadership from Israel PM, Abbas-By Hazel Ward 16 minutes ago-APR 3,14-Yahoonews
Jerusalem (AFP) - A frustrated US secretary of state demanded Thursday action from recalcitrant Israeli and Palestinian leaders, saying it was time for them to demonstrate leadership in the crisis-hit peace talks.But John Kerry acknowledged in Algiers that negotiators from the two sides had made "progress" in lengthy overnight talks in Jerusalem, also attended by the Americans.More than a year of intensive Kerry shuttle diplomacy appeared to be on the brink of collapse this week after Israel announced a fresh wave of settlement tenders and the Palestinians resumed moves to seek international recognition for their promised state.Washington expressed disappointment, describing them as "unhelpful, unilateral actions," but insisted diplomacy still had a chance.Speaking Thursday morning during a visit to Algeria, Kerry threw down the gauntlet to both sides, telling them it was time for compromise at what he called a "critical moment" in the peace talks."You can facilitate, you can push, you can nudge, but the parties themselves have to make fundamental decisions to compromise," he said."The leaders have to lead, and they have to be able to see a moment when it's there," he added, showing signs of frustration after his months-long peace efforts appeared to be in tatters.But Kerry said negotiators had made progress in trying to chart a path forward during a meeting that ran until 4:00 am."There is still a gap and that gap needs to close fairly soon."- 'Progress, but gap remains' -Ahead of the talks between US special envoy Martin Indyk, chief Israeli negotiator Tzipi Livni and her Palestinian counterpart, Saeb Erakat, Kerry had spoken by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, a US official said.Kerry said he would speak to both leaders again on Thursday."We are urging them to find the compromise that is critical to being able to move forward," he said. "The fight right now, the disagreement.. (is about) what you need to do in order to be able to continue to negotiate."The current crisis was triggered by Israel's refusal to release 26 Palestinian prisoners at the weekend.In response the Palestinians formally requested accession to several international treaties in a bid to unilaterally further their statehood claim.The overnight marathon meeting "focused on the necessity of releasing the prisoners," a Palestinian official told AFP on condition of anonymity.The official said that the applications for accession to several international treaties were "irreversible”.Each side accused the other of violating undertakings given when the current talks were launched under Kerry's sponsorship last July.“The ball is in Israel’s court now. It should release the prisoners,” former Palestinian negotiator Mohammed Shtayeh told AFP.The moves dealt a hammer blow to Kerry's frenetic efforts to broker an extension of the negotiations beyond their original April 29 deadline.
Despite the treaty move, Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki insisted that Abbas remained committed to the US peace efforts."This action does not detract from the importance of negotiations. We are still committed to these talks," he said Wednesday after presenting the requests.UN Middle East peace envoy Robert Serry confirmed receiving them, with a spokesman for the secretary general saying they would review them to consider the "appropriate next steps."The first treaty the Palestinians applied to was the Fourth Geneva Convention, which holds huge symbolic importance as it provides the legal basis of their opposition to Israeli settlements in the occupied territories.In Israel, there was surprise and anger over the Palestinian move."The Palestinians have returned to a diplomatic intifada," one political official told Yediot Aharonot newspaper on Thursday, using the Arabic word for uprising.Pro-government Israel HaYom daily said security officials did not believe the Palestinians wanted a breakdown of the talks."The Palestinians currently have no vested interest in a breakdown of the negotiations. Messages in that vein were relayed in talks that were held between security officials from both sides," it said.It also said efforts were underway to compile a list of more prisoners who could be freed should the sides agree to extend the talks.It added that top officials agree that the potential repercussions for Israeli security interests of a collapse in talks "will be far greater than the price that Israel will be required to pay for extending the negotiations for another period of time."
Gaza Snipers Target IDF Civilian Workers-Shots fired at workers near security fence, damage caused but none injured. Worker shot to death just last December.-By Ari Yashar-First Publish: 4/3/2014, 5:38 PM-Israelnationalnews
Arab snipers in Gaza shot at IDF civilian workers working near the security fence on Thursday. None were injured in the attack, although engineering equipment was damaged by the gunfire.The shooting comes just three weeks after terrorists in Gaza unleashed a barrage of rockets on Israel, raining down at least 100 missiles in three days.The unprecedented escalation was the largest-scale attack since the 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense, and led to calls to retake Gaza by IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, as well as Intelligence and Strategy Minister Yuval Steinitz,and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman.An IDF civilian worker, 22-year-old Salah Shukri Abu Latif from the Israeli Arab town of Rahat, was shot dead by Gaza snipers last December as he was working on the security fence, repairing damage caused by a record-breaking snowstorm.Since that incident, the Defense Ministry has forbidden all work on the fence without wearing full protective gear, including a helmet and ceramic bulletproof vests. Any workers not wearing the protective gear are to be sent home immediately and not employed by the IDF according to the new guidelines."Before that shooting, a citizen could have said that he couldn't work with the ceramic (vest) or the helmet, and they gave them a dispensation, but today there is an order that workers must be sent home even if they have to be paid money," noted a captain in the Gaza Division to Maariv.The captain added that "today, already in briefings we tell them (workers) that the first time they are caught without protective gear they simply will go home. It harms our work, but the Ministry of Defense has agreed to pay the price in order to protect the lives of the workers."
