PLO Official: Israel Wants 6-9% of Yesha, and Jerusalem
17 januari 2012, Tevet 21, 5772
by Gavriel Queenann
According to PLO executive committee member Tayseer Khaled, recent talks in Jordan revealed Israel wants to retain 6-9 percent of Judea and Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem.
“Many factions and political parties within the Palestinian political spectrum strictly oppose this offer,” Khaled told Gulf News, adding that officials in Ramallah had taken the "controversial step" of tentatively agreeing to cede 2% of Judea and Samaria.
“Addressing the idea of the land swap makes it more possible for Israeli colonies to remain the way they are. This is a major negotiating mistake committed by the Palestinians,” he said.
Instead, Khaled insists, discussions of borders should be postponed until all core issues, including the status of Jerusalem, water and border crossings are completely settled.
“The Israeli response has tackled all the core issues of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, with a postponement to the issue of the borders,” he said.
“The Palestinian negotiators should have withdrawn and walked away from such useless meetings,” he stressed.
However, Khaled welcomed an official EU document which criticized Israel’s policies in Judea and Samaria and announced that the EU will pursue infrastructural projects in Area C without Israeli consent.
Area C, which comprises 62% of Judea and Samaria, remains under full Israeli administrative and security jurisdiction under the 1993 Oslo Accords. PA projects in those areas are expressly forbidden without Israeli cooperation.
“This is a fair, positive, and constructive position for the EU and the Palestinian leadership warmly welcomes it,” he said.
“It is time for the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to conduct many projects in the areas of the Zone C and to chase Israel for any reaction it commits against the PNA,” he said.
“We should not listen to Israel and stick to its policies in the Zone C which the PNA should immediately announce as first class developing areas which enjoy the highest priority,” he said.
“We are then ready to wage a popular and political confrontation against Israel. We will take the issue of the Zone C areas to the UN and the international community,” he said.
Observers say Khaled's apparent endorsement of bilateral negotiations aimed at a comprehensive agreement with Israel is strange in light of his support of downgrading all ties with Israel in favor of the unilateral tack.
"We refuse to be security agents for Israel. This is neither the role of the PLO nor the Palestinian National Authority at all," he said on December 21st.
"The Jewish state is the only impediment to bilateral negotiations," he said. "The Palestinian leadership will not even consider the economic peace argument."
"We are discussing downgrading all our agreements with Israel," he added.
That same day PLO officials announced “a strategy based on continuous efforts along with the international community to secure full recognition and full United Nations membership, pursuing internal reconciliation, and keeping up the popular resistance."
Klavan's One-State Solution: Give the Middle East to the Jews
June 7, 2011, Sivan 5, 5771
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIEeiDjdUuU&feature=youtu.be
Nethanyahu calls on Abbas to say 'Six Vital Words':
"I will accept a Jewish State"
May 31, 2011, lyar 27, 5771
* Israel willing to make painful, generous compromises
* Personal appeal to Palestinian President Abbas
* Iran nuclear threat a deadly danger to entire world
Toespraak van premier Nethanyahu
Beeldmateriaal: http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/Netanyahu
(Start vanaf minuut 21)
For more information: sp@washington.mfa.gov.il
Washington, May 24 – Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing a joint session of the U.S. Congress, said he was prepared to offer the Palestinians a “far-reaching compromise” if their president, Mahmoud Abbas, uttered six simple words: “I will recognize a Jewish state.”
In a wide-ranging speech punctuated by 30 standing ovations, Netanyahu praised the many thousands of brave young people standing up in the Arab world for democratic rights – rights that Israel’s Arab minority have enjoyed for decades.
He also warned that Iran’s militant Islamic leaders remained determined to build nuclear weapons and time was running out to stop them.
And he appealed directly to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to tear up his recent deal with Iranian-backed Hamas, whose Charter calls for murdering Jews wherever possible, and enter peace talks with Israel to achieve a state.
“President Abbas must do what I have done. I stood before my people … and I said, ‘I will accept a Palestinian state.’ It is time for President Abbas to stand before his people and say, ‘I will accept a Jewish state’,” Netanyahu declared.
“Those six words will change history. They will make clear to the Palestinians that this conflict must come to an end -- that they are not building a state to continue the conflict with Israel, but to end it.
“They will convince the people of Israel that they have a true partner for peace. With such a partner, the people of Israel will be prepared to make a far-reaching compromise. I will be prepared to make a far reaching compromise.”
Netanyahu made clear that he was willing to give up parts of the Jewish ancestral homeland of Judea and Samaria, also known as the West Bank, so that a Palestinian state could be established.
“No distortion of history can deny the 4,000-year-old bond between the Jewish people and the Jewish land. But there’s another truth. The Palestinians share this small land with us … They should enjoy a national life of dignity as a free, viable and independent people living in their own state.”
This also meant that some settlements would not be inside Israel after the establishment of a Palestinian state, while the major suburbs that have been built close to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem would remain Israeli.
Recognizing that a future Palestine had to be economically viable to succeed, Netanyahu said Israel would be generous in the territory it gives up. But he stated once again that he was not prepared to go back to the pre-1967 lines which were impossible to defend and he would not allow Jerusalem to be divided.
Palestinians also had to stop naming public squares after suicide bombers and teaching their children to hate and they had to give up the “fantasy” of one day flooding Israel with the descendants of refugees.
“Palestinians from around the world should have a right to immigrate, if they so choose, to a Palestinian state. This means that the Palestinian refugee problem will be resolved outside the borders of Israel,” Netanyahu said.
The Israeli leader joined an exclusive club as the fourth world figure to address a joint session of Congress more than once. The other three were Winston Churchill, the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Nelson Mandela.
The first part of Netanyahu’s hour-long address dealt with the wider Middle East region and Iran, where Netanyahu saw the greatest danger to Israel’s peace and security.
“The hinge of history may soon turn. For the greatest danger of all could soon be upon us – a militant Islamic regime armed with nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said. “Militant [Islam] could exact a horrific price from all of us before its eventual demise.”
Iran’s leaders would only be daunted if the West maintained a credible deterrence, leaving all options on the table, Netanyahu said. He added that Iranian leaders who express genocidal aims should be banned from every responsible forum in the world.
Artikel van Brabosh: Obama's sympathie ligt bij de Palestijnen
28 mei 2011, lyar 24, 5771
http://brabosh.com/2011/05/28/pqpct-bp3/
The Unbridgeable Obama-Netanyahu Gap
27 mei 2011, lyar 23, 5771
by Hillel Fendel
Analyst and former Israeli Ambassador Yoram Ettinger says Obama’s pro-Muslim advisors keep him unbridgeably away from understanding Netanyahu.
Amidst all the commentary and verbiage regarding the recent speeches by Obama and Netanyahu, American-Israeli expert Yoram Ettinger says the cultural and political gap between the two is unbridgeable – largely because of Obama’s pro-Muslim advisors and tilt.
The gap won’t be spanned, Ettinger writes, ”as long as the President assumes that the ethnic, religious, tribal and ideological violent power struggles on the Arab street constitute ‘a story of self-determination’ and ‘the vanguard of democracy.’"
Similarly, “Netanyahu cannot bridge the gap between himself and Obama as long as the President's world view is heavily influenced/shaped by his senior advisors: Valery Jarrett, who is the favorite of Muslim organizations in the U.S., Ambassador Susan Rice, who considers Israel part of the exploiting Western world and the Palestinians part of the exploited Third World, and Samantha Power, who is one of Israel's harshest critics in the U.S. In addition, Obama considers Prof. Rashid Khalidi, who was a key PLO spokesman in the U.S., a luminary on the Arab-Israeli conflict.”
Another issue preventing Obama from understanding Israel is his underlying assumption that the Israel-PLO issue is the “root cause of Middle East turbulence, the core cause of anti-U.S. Islamic terrorism, and the crown jewel of Arab policy-making.”
Assumption of Security in Insecure Borders
And possibly most significant of all, according to Ettinger, Obama “assumes that Israel can be secure - in the most violent and volatile region of the world - within the 1967 borders. Such borders would rob the Jewish State of its Cradle of History and would reduce its waistline to 9-15 miles (over-towered by the mountain ridges of Judea and Samaria) - the distance between JFK and LaGuardia airports...”
“How can the gap be bridged,” Ettinger asks, “when Obama considers the 1967 lines - and not hate-education in Abu Mazen's schools, media and mosques - the crux of the conflict?”
Ettinger has long said, and continues to say, that Israel must respond to illogical American demands with firmness and facts on the ground – as it has done, with positive results, several times in recent decades. Ben-Gurion defied the State Department; Eshkol built in and reunited Jerusalem over Johnson’s objections; Golda built four new Jerusalem neighborhoods when Nixon proposed the Rogers Plan; and Shamir rebuffed Presidential pressure in several areas.
On the other hand, Ettinger says, Netanyahu should focus Israel’s relations with the U.S. on issues such as enhanced strategic cooperation, the mounting threats to U.S. interests, the absence of any reliable/capable Arab ally, the intensified Iranian threat, the increased Russian and Chinese profile in the Middle East, the development of energy alternatives, water technologies, homeland security, and more.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/133953
Bibi Says No to Obama on '67 Lines', Warns Against Illusions
by Maayana Miskin
22 mei 2011, lyar 18, 5771
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with United States President Barack Obama on Friday, one day after Obama gave a speech on the Middle East in which he called for a new Arab state in Judea and Samaria “based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed upon swaps.”
Netanyahu openly stated his own views on the Israeli-Arab conflict, and warned, ““A peace based on illusions will crash eventually on the rocks of Middle Eastern reality.”
During the meeting Netanyahu flatly rejected the possibility of basing the borders of a Palestinian Authority-led Arab state on the “1967 lines,” or 1949 armistice line.
“While Israel is prepared to make generous compromises for peace, it cannot go back to the 1967 lines,” he said. “These lines are indefensible, because they don't take into account certain changes that have taken place on the ground, demographic changes.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShP8hQ431HU&feature=player_embedded#at=306
Netanyahu also brought up the problem of Hamas, reiterating that Israel has no intention of negotiating with the terrorist group. The PA is currently under joint Fatah-Hamas leadership; the Hamas charter calls to destroy Israel and force Islamic law upon Israel and ultimately, the world.
Obama had said Thursday, “How can one negotiate with a party that has shown itself unwilling to recognize your right to exist? ... Palestinian leaders will have to provide a credible answer to that question.” However, he did not rule out talks with the PA even after its embrace of Hamas leaders.
Netanyahu emphasized a point Obama had ignored in his speech – the issue of where millions of Arabs who define themselves as “Palestinian refugees” will live if a PA state is created.
“The Arab attack in 1948 on Israel resulted in two refugee problems, Palestinian refugee problem and Jewish refugees, roughly the same number, who were expelled from Arab lands. Now tiny Israel absorbed the Jewish refugees, but the vast Arab world refused to absorb the Palestinian refugees."
“Now, 63 years later, the Palestinians come to us and they say to Israel: accept the grandchildren, really, and the great-grandchildren of these refugees, thereby wiping out Israel's future as a Jewish state. So that's not going to happen. Everybody knows it's not going to happen. And I think it's time to tell the Palestinians forthrightly it's not going to happen.”
The refugee problem “will be resolved if the Palestinians choose to do so in the Palestinian state... But it's not going to be resolved within the Jewish state,” he stated.
MK Katz Warns AIPAC, ‘Obama Put a Gun to Israel’s Head’
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
22 mei 2011, lyar 18, 5771
“Don’t fall for U.S. President Barack Obama’s magical oratory. He put a gun to Israel’s head and asked it to commit suicide,” National Union chairman and Knesset Member Yaakov (Ketzaleh) Katz MK wrote the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Sunday.
The legislator continued, “I urge you not to be captured by his magic tongue because he actually is asking you for your votes and your money.”
President Obama is scheduled to address the annual AIPAC convention in Washington Sunday night, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will speak the following night. Both leaders traded opposing policy views in their weekend meeting at the White House, particularly on the borders of Israel, which the Palestinian Authority and President Obama want shrunk to those that existed as the temporary Armistice Lines in 1949 until the Six-Day War in 1967.
MK Katz wrote to AIPAC committee members, “The People of Israel, in the Diaspora for 2,000 years, developed a sense of who loves us and who hates us. President Obama knows very well that former Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban described the 1967 borders as ‘Auschwitz borders.’”
The National Union chairman noted that Israeli news polls show that an overwhelming majority of Israel view President Obama as hostile to Israel.
“The People of Israel will not fall for the false charm of posters, slogans, cellophane wrappers of sweetened drugs of death", he concluded.
Obama: "A Full and Phased Withdrawal" by Israel to "1967 Lines"
by Gavriel Queenann
20 mei 2011, Iyar 16, 5771
US President Barack Obama dramatically changed US foreign policy - sandbagging Israel and aligning himself with PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas' preconditions for talks - when he called Thursday for a "full and phased withdraw of Israeli forces" from "occupied Palestinian lands" to what he termed "1967 borders" - the 1949 armistice lines Israel's former Foreign Minister and UN ambassador Abba Eban, in 1967, referred to as the "Auschwitz borders." Obama left room for some "land swaps" at those borders.
Obama's comments came during his much anticipated policy address at the State Department in which he outlined the United State's new foreign policy for the Middle East and North Africa in light of the "spring revolutions" that have rocked the region.
Saying the world was tired of "nothing but stalemate" in the Arab-Israeli conflict, and complaining that "settlement activity continues" while the "Palestinians have walked away from talks," Obama said Israelis cannot obtain the dream of a democratic and Jewish state through "occupation."
The full text and video of Obama's comments on Israel
Obama called for "two states for two peoples" with permanent borders based on the "1967 lines with agreed upon swaps." The borders referred to as "1967 lines" are in fact the lines agreed upon in the 1949 armistice, following which Jordan occupied Judea and Samaria for 19 years. The armistice lines, considered indefensible by defense experts, are often called "Auschwitz borders" in Israel.
He also mentioned that the PA state should be contiguous. This word may refer to Judea and Samaria's Jewish communities that separate Palestinian areas from one another, or even more dangerously, refer to a connecting road between Gaza and Judea and Samaria, which would make Israel non-contiguous.
"Our policy is two states for two peoples. Israel as a Jewish state for the Jewish people. Palestine as a Palestinian state for the Palestinian people. A viable Palestine; a secure Israel."
Calling for final negotiations on permanent borders - although he left only land swaps to negotiate - and security before deciding the “future of Jerusalem” and "Palestinian refugees," Obama said he believed these "wrenching issues" would eventually be solved because, in his words, "I am convinced majority of Israelis and Palestinians would rather look to the future than be trapped in the past."
Abbas has stated almost the same thing: that returning to the 1949 Armistice lines is non-negotiable, but included Jerusalem in those borders, and said that only the refugees are a negotiable issue.
Obama, who tried to justify remarks endorsing PA territorial demands by invoking the long-standing friendship between Israel and the United States, said that "because of that friendship we must speak the truth," but at the same time endorsed PA leaders maximalist demands - ignoring most of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's conditions for a peace accord.
He did call on Abbas to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and maintained that the PA state be demilitarized.
Saying Israel must "act boldly to advance a lasting peace" and claiming a "growing number of Palestinians" live west of the Jordan river, Obama put the onus on Israel to make "millions believe peace is possible" and - using language traditionally associated with one-sided Israeli concessions - said Israel must "act boldly to achieve a lasting peace."
At the same time Obama rejected unilateral moves by Palestinian Authority leaders to achieve a declaration of statehood outside of negotiations in the United Nations in September saying efforts to to isolate Israel in the UN, and delegitimize Israel, won't achieve statehood.
"No peace can be imposed, not by US, not by anyone else," Obama said.
While saying the US would "make every effort" to advance the "cause of peace" Obama outlined no plan - other than Israeli concessions - for achieving an agreement between Israel and the PA.
Israel Expects Obama to Take Back ‘1967 Lines’ Demand
by Gil Ronen
20 mei 2011, Iyar 16, 5771
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was quick on the draw Thursday in voicing clear displeasure with President Barack Obama’s mideast policy speech.
“Israel appreciates President Obama’s commitment to peace,” the response began, curtly. “Israel believes that for peace to endure between Israelis and Palestinians, the viability of a Palestinian state cannot come at the expense of the viability of the one and only Jewish state.”
“That is why Prime Minister Netanyahu expects to hear a reaffirmation from President Obama of U.S. commitments made to Israel in 2004, which were overwhelmingly supported by both Houses of Congress.”
“Among other things,” Netanyahu reminded Obama, “those commitments relate to Israel not having to withdraw to the 1967 lines which are both indefensible and which would leave major Israeli population centers in Judea and Samaria beyond those lines.”
“Those commitments also ensure Israel’s well-being as a Jewish state by making clear that Palestinian refugees will settle in a future Palestinian state rather than in Israel.”
“Without a solution to the Palestinian refugee problem outside the borders of Israel, no territorial concession will bring peace.”
“Equally, the Palestinians, and not just the United States, must recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people, and any peace agreement with them must end all claims against Israel.”
“Prime Minister Netanyahu will make clear that the defense of Israel requires an Israeli military presence along the Jordan River.”
“Prime Minister Netanyahu will also express his disappointment over the Palestinian Authority’s decision to embrace Hamas, a terror organization committed to Israel’s destruction, as well as over Mahmoud Abbas’s recently expressed views which grossly distort history and make clear that Abbas seeks a Palestinian state in order to continue the conflict with Israel rather than end it.”
Netanyahu en Obama praten over vredesproces
20 mei 2011, lyar 16, 5771
WASHINGTON - De Israelische premier Benjamin Netanyahu en de Amerikaanse president Barack Obama hebben vrijdag in het Witte Huis gesprekken gevoerd over vrede in het Midden-Oosten.
Alhoewel de sfeer tussen beide heren ogenschijnlijk positief was, blijven ze van mening verschillen over de kwestie.
Obama zei in een gezamenlijke persverklaring na afloop letterlijk dat er ''verschillen blijven bestaan'' tussen de Verenigde Staten en Israel over het vredesproces.
Obama deed donderdag in een tv-toespraak een aantal suggesties om het vredesproces in het Midden-Oosten vlot te trekken. De premier van Israël reageerde later in een verklaring zeer negatief.
Grenzen van 1967
Obama gaf aan dat de grenzen van voor de Zesdaagse Oorlog van 1967 de basis moeten vormen voor een vredesakkoord, gekoppeld aan een uitruil van grondgebied tussen Israel en de Palestijnen.
Netanyahu wees dat af en herhaalde vrijdag na het onderhoud met Obama dat de grenzen van 1967 wat Israël betreft ''onverdedigbaar'' zijn. Wel zei hij bereid te zijn tot het sluiten van compromissen.
Eensgezindheid
Obama en Netanyahu wezen naast hun meningsverschillen vooral hun eensgezindheid. Obama zei dat beide landen een ''ongewoon sterke'' band hebben. Netanyahu zei op zijn beurt de Amerikaanse inspanningen voor vrede in de regio te waarderen.
De premier blijft de komende dagen in de Verenigde Staten. Dinsdag houdt hij een toespraak in het Huis van Afgevaardigden.
© ANP
Obama eist 'dappere maatregelen' van Israel
19 mei 2011, lyar 15, 5771
WASHINGTON - De Amerikaanse president Barack Obama heeft donderdag in een tv-toespraak gezegd dat de Israëlische regering ''dappere maatregelen'' dient te nemen om het vredesproces in het Midden-Oosten weer op gang te krijgen.
De Palestijnen dienen het bestaansrecht van Israël te erkennen en geweld tegen dat land af te zweren.
Dat zei de Amerikaanse president Barack Obama tijdens zijn rede in het ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken in Washington. Er moet volgens Obama een oplossing komen voor het conflict tussen Israël en de Palestijnen, gebaseerd op de grenzen van 1967.
Volgens Obama heeft het voor de Palestijnen geen zin om bij de Verenigde Naties te streven naar erkenning van een Palestijnse staat.
De komende dagen zal blijken of Obama's betoog in goede aarde valt. De Israelische premier Benjamin Netanyahu brengt een bezoek aan de Verenigde Staten en vrijdag staat een ontmoeting gepland met Obama. Dinsdag geeft Netanyahu een toespraak in het Huis van Afgevaardigden.
Eerste reacties
De eerste reacties op Obama's rede gaven donderdag weinig aanleiding voor optimisme over het vredesproces. Netanyahu liet in een verklaring weten niets te voelen voor de door Obama voorgestelde terugkeer naar de grenzen van voor de zesdaagse oorlog in 1967 als basis voor een vredesakkoord.
Obama zei overigens dat er grond zal moeten worden geruild tussen Israël en de Palestijnen. De strengislamitische Palestijnse beweging Hamas, die de baas is in de Gazastrook, liet weten ''concrete stappen'' te willen van Obama, en ''geen slogans''. De Palestijnse president Mahmoud Abbas verwelkomde het betoog van Obama.
Hamas
Hamas, de strengislamitische Palestijnse beweging die de baas is in de Gazastrook, reageerde ook negatief op de toespraak van Obama. Hamas wil ''concrete stappen, geen slogans'' van de Amerikaanse president.
Arabische wereld
Obama ging in zijn toespraak uitvoerig in op de recente omwentelingen en het geweld in de Arabische wereld. Hij zegde onder meer steun toe aan Egypte en Tunesie, landen waarvan de dictators in de afgelopen maanden werden verdreven tijdens volksopstanden.
Beide landen kunnen rekenen op financiële hulp uit Washington als ze doorgaan met democratische hervormingen.
Obama sloot niet uit dat meer autoritaire leiders in de regio tot aftreden worden gedwongen. Hij zei dat de universele rechten van de mens de ''topprioriteit'' zijn in het buitenlandbeleid van de VS. Obama noemde onder meer het recht op vrijheid van meningsuiting, religie en gelijke behandeling van mannen en vrouwen.
Syrie
Over de situatie in Syrië zei Obama dat het bewind in dat land heeft gekozen voor het vermoorden van mensen die het beschouwt als tegenstanders.
De autoritaire president Bashar al-Assad moet volgens Obama zijn koers wijzigen en meewerken aan het omvormen van de dictatuur tot een democratie. ''Hij kan leiding geven aan die verandering, of hij moet wegwezen'', aldus Obama.
Demonstreren
Syrische burgers gingen in de afgelopen weken massaal de straat op om te demonstreren tegen de dictatuur in hun land.
Het veiligheidsapparaat van Assad trad keihard op tegen vreedzame betogers. Volgens de VN werden tot nu toe tussen de 700 en 850 mensen vermoord door het regime van Assad.
Kaddafi
Obama kritiseerde in zijn rede ook de Libische dictator Muammar Kaddafi, die met grof geweld probeert te voorkomen dat hij wordt verdreven.
En Obama uitte kritiek op het bewind in Bahrein, een bondgenoot van de Verenigde Staten, dat recentelijk keihard optrad tegen betogers die meer democratie eisten. Bahrein biedt onderdak aan een belangrijke Amerikaanse marinebasis.
Netanyahu Adds Settlement Blocs to Peace Conditions
by Gil Ronen
May 17, 2011, Iyar 13, 5771
In a speech before the Knesset’s plenum in its special Herzl Day session, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu laid down five conditions for a peace treaty with the Palestinian Authority Arabs. These are:
1. The Palestinians must recognize Israel as the Jewish nation’s state.
2. The treaty must be an end to the conflict.
3. The Arab refugee problem must be solved outside of Israel’s borders.
4. A Palestinian state will have to be demilitarized and a peace treaty must safeguard Israel’s security.
5. The settlement blocs will remain within the state of Israel and Jerusalem will remain its united capital.
Netanyahu’s speech can be seen as an accurate indication of what he intends to say when he addresses the U.S. Congress next Tuesday. It is unlikely that he will go back on any of the principles he laid down, given the venue: a Herzl Day address before the Knesset plenum. Fearing that the prime minister intended to announce concessions in Washington, MKs within Likud had demanded that Netanyahu address Israelis before he goes to the U.S..
Based on Monday's speech, the prime minister does not appear to be planning any retreat from previous positions, and may even have toughened his stance somewhat, although this is arguable.
By and large, the speech does not depart from the one he delivered at Bar Ilan University in June 2009. In that speech as in the latest one, Netanyahu said that a PA state would be demilitarized, and that Israel would require security arrangements in a peace treaty. He also said that Jerusalem would remain united as Israel’s capital and that Arab refugees would be resettled outside Israel.
The condition added by Netanyahu in this speech is Israel’s retention of the large settlement blocs. In the Bar Ilan speech, Netanyahu said that the territorial issues would be determined in negotiations and that until then, Israel would not be building new settlements or expropriating land in Judea and Samaria.
In Monday’s speech he was less defensive and more confident on this issue, raising the ante and announcing that Israel would insist on keeping the large settlement blocs in its possession.
Ex-US Envoy Indyk: Bibi’s Refusal to Obama ‘Threatens Alliance’
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
April 21, 2010, Iyar 7, 5770
Martin Indyk, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel, castigated Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in The New York Times and on Israel’s IDF Army Radio, saying the prime minister prefers a nationalist government over being friends with the United States.
“Netanyahu must make a choice: take on the president of the United States, or take on his right wing,” Indyk wrote in the Times. If he continues to defer to those ministers in his cabinet who oppose peacemaking, the consequences for U.S.-Israel relations could be dire.”
National Union chairman and Knesset Member Yaakov (Ketzaleh) Katz sharply criticized Indyk, stating that the “Diaspora has succeeded in creating a Jew like Indyk who is prepared to see the destruction of his people on the sacrificial altar of the masters whom he serves.”
“We survived Pharaoh, and we will survive Indyk.”
MK Katz charged that the former ambassador is “totally disconnected from the U.S. Congressional majority that [acknowledges] Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and has the democratic right to build in all of its neighborhoods.”
Indyk had previously called for the de facto recognition of Palestinian Authority sovereignty in Jerusalem, which Israel fears would be the effect of the American demand for a freeze on building for Jews in areas of the capital.
Under the headline “When Your Best Friend Gets Angry,” Indyk charged in the Times that “one suspects” that Prime Minister Netanyahu stayed away from U.S. President Barack Obama’s recent “nuclear summit” because “he does not have an answer to President Obama’s demand that he freeze new building announcements” in united Jerusalem.
Indyk repeated his reasoning on IDF Army Radio Wednesday morning, saying that if Israel needs aid from the United States, it needs “to take into account America's interests” and distance itself from the government’s largely nationalist coalition.
In both the article and interview, Indyk tried to link an agreement with the Palestinian Authority, based primarily on demands of the Arab world, with solving the Iranian nuclear threat and the American-led counter terrorist war in what he called the “greater Middle East.” He pointed out that the United States has committed 200,000 American troops to fighting terrorism while Prime Minister Netanyahu allegedly ignores American policy that the Arab-Israeli struggle is a problem for American security.
Indyk wrote that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s absence from the nuclear summit left President Obama holding the bag to take on the task of trying to stop the Iranian nuclear program that Israel says threatens its very existence. The former ambassador claimed that President Obama succeeded in “persuading China to join in a new round of U.N. sanctions against Iran,” although he did not refer to China’s outright rejection of harsh sanctions, particularly in the energy sector.
“The inability to make progress on the Palestinian [Authority] issue…gives Iran the opportunity to use Hamas and Hizbullah as proxies to provoke conflict with Israel, with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seen as the hero,” according to Indyk.
The former envoy also reasoned, “Nothing could better help Obama to isolate Iran than for Netanyahu to offer to cede the Golan [Heights]. Given Israel’s dependence on the United States to counter the threat from Iran and to prevent its own international isolation, an Israeli prime minister would surely want to bridge the growing divide."
Indyk referred to Israel’s refusal to halt building for Jews in parts of Jerusalem that the United States does not recognize as under Israeli sovereignty. He called on Prime Minister Netanyahu to follow the steps of former prime ministers Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon, who surrendered the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt and a Jewish civilian and military presence in the Gaza region.
According to Indyk, Begin and Sharon acted in order to maintain friendship with the Carter and Bush administrations and Netanyahu should do the same.
He also recalled favorably the famous handshake between former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat, orchestrated by Rahm Emanuel, who now is President Obama's White House Chief of Staff. The handshake heralded the Oslo Accords, which were followed by dozens of Arab suicide bombings that killed hundreds of Israeli civilians and wounded thousands of others.
The former ambassador also made no reference to the cold peace with Egypt, whose President Hosni Mubarak has refused to visit Jerusalem except for the funeral of Rabin. In his article, Indyk did not mention the thousands of rockets and mortar shells that rained down on Israel following the expulsion of Jews and withdrawal of troops from Gaza, as well as from the smuggling border with Egypt.
Netanyahu Ready to Extend ‘Freeze If Abbas Calls Israel ‘Jewish’
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
October 12, 2010, Cheshvan 4, 5771
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu threw the “diplomatic ball” back in to the court of Palestinian Authority PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas Monday, offering to renew the building freeze on new homes for Jews in Judea and Samaria if Abbas recognizes Israel as a Jewish State.
"If the Palestinian leadership will unequivocally say to its people that it recognizes Israel as the national state of the Jewish people, I will be ready to convene my Cabinet and ask for another moratorium on building," Netanyahu told the Knesset at the opening of its winter session. "Just as the Palestinians expect us to recognize their state, we expect reciprocal treatment.”
He said that a clear statement by Abbas on the Jewish character of Israel “would create wide-ranging trust among the Israeli people, who have lost trust in the Palestinian will for peace over the last 10 years."
He reminded legislators that the 10-month freeze that expired three weeks ago was designed to meet Abbas’ condition for sitting down with Israel for face-to-face discussions on the proposed new Arab country within Israel’s current borders and to be headed by the PA.
"The Palestinians wasted 10 months and now they demand to continue the [settlement] freeze]. I hope their demand isn't a ploy to avoid the concessions that must be made in order to achieve a peace deal,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said. "Unfortunately up until now the Palestinians have not responded to this call and the United States is searching for different ways to continue the talks," he said.
The Prime Minister quoted David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister, who once declared, "The State that will rise will be Jewish in its function, purpose, and aim. Not a country of Jews settled in a land but a state for Jews, the Jewish people.”
Referendum on Land Surrender May Include Judea and Samaria
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
October 11, 2010, Cheshvan 3, 5771
A Cabinet-level committee Monday put teeth into last July’s law requiring a plebiscite before any surrender of parts of Jerusalem or the Golan Heights.
The bill is a victory for nationalists, who hope to expend the referendum provision for the approximately 300,000 Jews living in Judea and Samaria. Likud MK Ofir Akunis said he will submit a bill next week to require a plebiscite before Israel could give up parts of Judea and Samaria to the Palestinian Authority.
Monday’s approval by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation of the Knesset involves procedural issues that allow implementation of the recently-passed law. A provision allows for circumventing a referendum in the event that 80 percent of the legislators agree, a virtually impossible circumstance given the nationalist stance of the Knesset.
If Israel reaches any agreement with Syria for surrendering the Golan Heights or with the Palestinian Authority for giving up parts of Jerusalem, the public would vote on the question, "Are you in favor of or opposed to the agreement approved by the Knesset?”
The only two ministers opposing the bill were Yitzchak Herzog of Labor and Dan Meridor of Likud and who is considered the head of the “left-wing” of his party. He previously has gone on record of favoring surrender of the Golan Heights in return for a peace pact with Syria.
Backers of the international move for the “Land for peace’ initiative called the new bill an obstacle to their goal. Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who also heads the Labor party that is part of the coalition government, called the bill “needless.” Kadima MK Nachman Shai called the referendum law ”a fatal blow to parliamentary democracy."
A Jewish Democratic State That Is Here to Stay
October 18, 2010
The current impasse over inserting pre-conditions between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas over what it will take to finally jumpstart the Middle East peace process – with Abbas insisting on a freeze in settlements while Netanyahu, holding out for Arab recognition of Israel as a Jewish State – has some biblical precedent.
Rashi, in his monumental commentary on the Torah points out that G-d made the patriarch Abraham two promises, that he would have children, even though he was 100 years old, and that the land of Israel would be his. On having children, Abraham was willing to take G-d’s word for it. But when it came to the Promised Land, he insisted on a pre-condition - that G-d show him a sign of ownership and G-d concurred (Genesis 15, v. 8). For 3,500 years, land ownership in the Middle East has always required pre-conditions.
I understand where President Abbas and the Arab League are coming from – they want to freeze all settlement construction, to send a clear signal to every Israeli, especially the Israeli right, that the overwhelming portion of the land where the settlements are currently being built will, in fact, become the future Palestinian State with minor changes.
Still, I believe Prime Minister Netanyahu is making the more fundamental point of what it would take to open up prospects for real peace in the Middle East. He is saying to the Palestinians and their backers in the Arab world, we have been down this path before with President Clinton at Camp David in 2000 when Prime Minister Barak offered Arafat more than 90% of the West Bank and a capital in Abu Dis (suburb of Jerusalem) and Arafat walked away and launched the Intifada. In 2005, when Prime Minister Sharon unilaterally withdrew from Gaza, hoping to inspire new Arab thinking and was rewarded by Hamas taking over Gaza and firing more than 8,000 rockets into Sderot. We can’t afford another failure. You know that given the current coalition politics, only a Likud Prime Minister can muster a national consensus to deliver the necessary compromises that must be made.
But to do so, you must be a real partner, willing to undo the mistakes of the past as Abba Eban used to say, “Never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” You, the leaders of the Arab world, have to finally tell your brothers and sisters the truth, that just as there are 23 Arab states surrounding Israel, and 56 Muslim countries with a population of 1.3 billion Muslims with vast natural resources.
At the same time, there is another people who have rights to this land. The Jews are not usurpers and strangers, they didn’t just come from Europe and America, and we cannot pretend that one day our Palestinian brethren will outnumber them and they will disappear. They are an ancient people with a 3,500 year ongoing attachment to the land, their prophets and kings lived in Jerusalem before there was a Saudi Arabia, a Syria, and a Jordan and they have the same rights here as we have. We must recognize that in our region, there will be a Jewish democratic State, Israel, that is here to stay and to them belongs a ‘piece of the rock.’
It is that kind of a change of attitude that can catapult us to a new place and finally cut through the umbilical cord of distrust and hate and usher in a new period of reconciliation and opportunity for Israel and her Arab neighbors.
*Rabbi Marvin Hier is the Founder and Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center
and Museum of Tolerance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywvsC2mHGS4
White House: Nothing Offered in Exchange for Freeze
by Maayana Miskin
October 1, 2010, Tishrei 23, 5771
Netanyahu was criticized by the Left after a report Wednesday according to which he had rejected a promise of U.S. support in exchange for continuing the freeze on construction for Judea and Samaria Jews. Washington insider David Makovsky had claimed that the U.S. sent Israel a letter offering, among other things, to sell some of its most sophisticated weapons to Israel if it would freeze construction for two more months.
The letter also allegedly offered a U.S. veto on an Arab League attempt to get the United Nations to vote, without waiting for Israel and the PA to reach an agreement, for the creation of an Arab state, to be named Palestine, in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. In addition, Obama was said to have committed not to ask for an additional construction freeze when the two months were over.
On Thursday night, White House officials denied the report. “No letter was sent to the Prime Minister,” they stated.
The officials went on to say that they “are not going to comment on sensitive diplomatic matters,” and did not confirm or deny that the U.S. may make future promises in exchange for a construction freeze.
Chairman Yaakov Katz (Ketzaleh) of the National Union party criticized Yitzchak Molcho, a senior advisor to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Thursday evening for his reported role in the affair. MK Katz warned, "The offer of advisor Molcho is like the advice of Achitofel, which will bring about the downfall of Netanyahu for the same reason he fell a decade ago." Achitofel was a wise man of the time of King David who gave the king bad advice with disastrous results. The expression "advice of Achitofel" is an Israeli idiom alluding to suggestions for actions which sound sensible but are fraught with disaster.
Ten months ago, Israel offered a one-time temporary construction freeze under which the hundreds of thousands of Jews living in Judea and Samaria would be prohibited to build in any way, including adding on to existing homes, building much needed classrooms or beginning construction on approved building projects. The offer was meant to bring the Palestinian Authority to the negotiating table.
The PA initially refused to negotiate despite the freeze, but agreed to start talks in the ninth month, so as to use the continuation of the freeze as a condition for continuing talks. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas then demanded that Israel continue the freeze, threatening to leave talks if building resumed.
Netanyahu refused, and building resumed this week.
Netanyahu: Framework Deal Still Possible Within A Year
The Israel Project
September 27, 2010
Netanyahu: I call on President Abbas to continue talks
Notable increase in attacks against Israelis; pregnant woman shot
TV networks see settlers' building as "publicity stunt"
Jerusalem, Sept. 27 – There can still be an “historic peace framework agreement within one year,” despite the end of the self-declared construction freeze in the West Bank, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Sunday (Sept. 26).
Netanyahu urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas not to walk out on the talks that began just three weeks ago pledging that he is serious in his commitment to peace.
“Many in the world realized that my intentions to achieve peace are serious and genuine, and that I honor my commitments,” he said.
Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak extended his trip to the United States last week in order to continue discussions with American and other officials to try to find a formula that would allow the talks to continue. Israeli President Shimon Peres has also been using his international recognition as a peacemaker to ensure the negotiations stay on track.
Netanyahu has spoken in the last few days with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah of Jordan in a bid to safeguard the peace process.
This diplomatic activity has been taking place amid a backdrop of increased attacks against Israeli civilians.
Palestinian terrorists in the West Bank shot a pregnant woman and her husband on Sept. 26. As a result the woman was taken into emergency surgery where the baby was successfully delivered.
“I’m delighted to say he was induced by a most unexpected source,” new father Sharon Shoker quipped when speaking with the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot.
Other incidents included Molotov cocktails being hurled at a Jerusalem home and towards security officers just outside Jerusalem’s Old City.
Israeli soldiers seized an AR-15 assault rifle, three handguns, an improvised rifle and ammunition in the early hours of Sept. 27. Five Palestinians were arrested during the raid.
The West Bank is at the center of media attention this week, with dozens of cameras focusing on any signs of settlers building new homes or nursery schools. The journalists themselves have said that what is currently transpiring is little more than theater produced specifically for their consumption.
CNN described a concrete-pouring ceremony on Sept. 26 as “a show,” while it was dubbed “a publicity stunt” by Al-Jazeera.
23 september 2010
An Alarming video every Westerner should see
(een alarmerende video die iedere westerling zou moeten bekijken)
http://www.tangle.com/view_video?viewkey=0861ff3eabea1ceb73e4
En met leiders afkomstig uit landen met een dergelijke volksmentaliteit moet Israel onderhandelen .... Vrede zij binnen je poorten en je muren Israel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ll_CAHMOEk
U.S. Insists on Jewish, Democratic State of Israel
Mitchell: Must be Jewish Israeli State alongside Palestinian State
Netanyahu prepared to show flexibility on building freeze
Hamas condemns PA for participating in talks
JERUSALEM, Sept 14 – The United States has given its backing to the Israeli call for Palestinian recognition of a Jewish State of Israel.
“Our vision is for a two-state solution that includes a Jewish democratic State of Israel living side by side in peace and security with a viable independent sovereign and contiguous Palestine,” U.S. envoy George Mitchell said on Tuesday.
He was speaking to reporters after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas held face-to-face talks in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.
One of Israel’s key demands entering the direct talks is that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state[1].
Given that the issue of the West Bank construction freeze is “politically sensitive” for Netanyahu, Mitchell urged Abbas “to take steps that help encourage and facilitate this process.”
Netanyahu believes there is room for compromise on building in the West Bank, according to a source in his office.
Ahead of the talks Netanyahu expressed disappointment that Palestinian officials are speaking with the media, according to the source in the Prime Minister’s Office. “Discretion” needs to be the order of the day.
Mitchell also called for the negotiators to avoid making public comments.
The talks are slated to continue in Jerusalem on Wednesday (Sept. 15) after Clinton, Netanyahu and Abbas leave Egypt. After the Jerusalem parley representatives from both sides will meet to discuss the details before the leaders meet for a third round of negotiations.
As the teams were gathering in Sharm, senior figures in the Iranian-backed Hamas organization again called on the Palestinian Authority not to participate in the process.
“(Hamas) condemns the PA's insistence on liquidating the Palestinian cause and engaging in talks with Israelis in light of the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people,” the pro-Hamas website Palestine-Info quoted Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan as saying [2].
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Footnotes:
[1] “Address by PM Netanyahu at Bar-Ilan University” June 14, 2009, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Speeches+by+Israeli+leaders/2009/Address_PM_Netanyahu_Bar-Ilan_University_14-Jun-2009.htm
[2] “Hamas slams PA's persistence in talks despite Beit Hanoun massacre,” Palestine-Info, Sept 14, 2010, http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87MDI46m9rUxJEpMO%2bi1s7Kts51YEJOcaQMKJdQWsa%2fGIXEDR1LARc3rUvVMcZIxtsQM%2bhFUB80o5TrMw9fAMUgjbbhFxuFEPGT7QxIQl4NS%2b575kVB%2bRwYETsaxLSbhY%3d
Netanyahu: Arabs Must Accept Jewish State
by Gil Ronen
September 8, 2010, Elul 29, 5770
“Last year was one of the safest years in two decades,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told Israelis in a message for the Jewish New Year. “But last week's brutal murder of four Israelis, including a mother of six and a pregnant woman, remind us that we must never take our security for granted.” "We must continue a firm policy that makes clear that terror and missile attacks on our citizens will not be tolerated," the Prime Minister stated.
"The past year has also seen a resurgence in the Israeli economy. Israel has weathered the financial crisis better than nearly any industrialized country.” The crisis is not over, however, he said.
"The last few days have also seen a renewal of the process," said Netanyahu. "I've been calling for direct talks with the Palestinians for a year and a half and I'm pleased that President Abbas joined me in those talks without preconditions. I believe that we should make every effort to reach an historic compromise for peace over the coming year.”
"Lasting peace must be anchored in security. And it must be anchored in the recognition of the Jewish State's permanence in this region. Not merely as a fact but as something that our neighbors accept by right.”
Netanyahu, Abbas to Meet Again in Two Weeks to Pursue Peace Talks
Leaders to hold negotiations every two weeks
Talks described as “productive”
Both leaders condemn Iran-backed Hamas terrorist attacks
WASHINGTON
September 2, 2010
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have agreed to meet again in Egypt Sept 14 -15 and at regular two-week intervals after that to continue peace talks.
U.S. peace envoy George Mitchell told reporters: “They agreed that for these negotiations to succeed, [the talks] must be kept private and treated with sensitivity."
Earlier, in public statements before going into private session with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Netanyahu and Abbas condemned the terrorist attacks that in the past two days claimed the lives of four Israeli civilians and left two more wounded.
Iran-backed Hamas claimed responsibility for the murders.
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
In his opening statement, Netanyahu said: “Just as you expect us to be ready to recognize a Palestinian state as the nation state of the Palestinian people, we expect you to be prepared to recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people.
“There are more than a million non-Jews living in Israel, the nation state of the Jewish people, who have full civil rights. There is no contradiction between the nation state that guarantees the national rights of the majority and guaranteeing the civil rights, the full civil equality, of the minority.”
Abbas responded: “Yesterday we condemned the operations that were carried out. We did not only condemn them, but we also followed the perpetrators, and we were able to find the car that was used and to arrest those who sold and bought the car.
“And we will continue all our efforts to take security measures in order to find the perpetrators. We consider that security is of essence, is vital for both of us. And we cannot allow for anyone to do anything that would undermine your security and our security.”
Mitchell said Netanyahu and Abbas had agreed to seek a “framework” accord as part of their peace talks. The accord would lay out the compromises needed to complete a comprehensive peace treaty within a year, which all parties have set as a target to complete a comprehensive and final peace agreement.
Timeline: Terror Attacks by Hamas since
Israel’s 2005 Gaza Withdrawal
Iran-backed Hamas claimed responsibility for an attack on Israeli civilians on Aug. 31, killing four people including a pregnant woman. The attack was intended to derail Israeli-Palestinian peace talks convening in Washington Sept. 2. Two more civilians were wounded in another attack on the West Bank on Sept. 1.
Following a bilateral meeting at the White House Wednesday (Sept. 1) President Barack Obama and Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about the attack and t he need to ensure Israel’s security.
President Obama: '...... the tragedy that we saw yesterday where people were gunned down on the street by terrorists who are purposely trying to undermine these talks is an example of what we're up against. But I want everybody to be very clear: The United States is going to be unwavering in its support of Israel’s security and we are going to push back against these kinds of terrorist activities.'
And so the message should go out to Hamas and everybody else who is taking credit for these heinous crimes that this is not going to stop us from not only ensuring a secure Israel but also securing a longer-lasting peace in which people throughout the region can take a different course.” Prime Minister Netanyahu: '..... I think that the President’s statement is an expression of our desire to fight against this terror. And the talks that we had, which were, indeed, open, productive, serious in the quest for peace, also centered around the need to have security arrangements that are able to roll
back this kind of terror and other threats to Israel’s security. That is a fundamental element, an important foundation, of the peace that we seek and work for. .......
Despite a history of terrorist attacks, particularly just before new rounds of peace talks, Israel has continued to make concessions for peace. For example, in August 2005, Israel voluntarily evacuated all of the roughly 9,000 Israelis living in Gaza and handed control of Gaza over to the Palestinian Authority (PA).'
Hamas seized control of Gaza in June 2007 in a bloody battle against PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Party. Hamas and other terror groups then promptly turned Gaza into a launching pad for attacking Israel with thousands of rockets, missiles and mortars.In late 2008, Hamas and its allies fired hundreds of rockets and mortars at Israeli cities and towns for several weeks, prompting Israel to launch a defensive operation from December 2008-January 2009. Since then, the number of Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks against Israel has fallen dramatically.
Timeline of terror attacks perpetrated by Hamas since August 2005
Sept. 21, 2005: Sasson Nuriel, 55, of Jerusalem kidnapped and murdered by Palestinian terrorists.
Aug. 21, 2007: Hamas claims responsibility for firing 25 mortar shells at Gaza-Israeli border crossings.
Jan. 15-28, 2008: 170 rockets and 83 mortars launched from Gaza into Israel’s western Negev.
Feb. 4, 2008: Two suicide bombers wearing explosive belts reach the city of Dimona. One blows himself up, killing one woman and wounding 10 others. Attack carried out by a Hamas squad based in Hebron.
Feb. 8, 2008: Hamas claims responsibility for rockets that targeted the power station in Ashkelon, which provides the Gaza Strip with most of its electricity (Al-Qassam website, Feb. 8).
Feb. 27, 2008: The Israeli Air Force kills five Iran-trained Hamas operatives as they planned a major terrorist attack. Hamas then fires 50 rockets at western Negev towns and villages.
As Talks Begin in Shadow of Hamas Terror Attacks, Security is Paramount for Israelis Back Home
* Fears grow after two attacks this week killed four, wounded two
* Hamas, backed by Iran, tries to sabotage talks
JERUSALEM, Sept 2 – As Israeli and Palestinian leaders begin direct peace talks for the first time in almost two years, many of those who live and work in the Jerusalem area are expressing concern about their future security.
Most in Israel’s capital believe the negotiations will focus on settlements rather than guarantee their safety, The Israel Project found in a straw poll. By entering the talks, Israel risks putting its security at risk, said taxi driver Victor Voroshinov. “During the talks, our government will ask for aid from other nations but at the end of the day that money will go to the Palestinians, not to our security,” he said. Israeli fears grew this week after two terror attacks left four Israeli civilians dead and two wounded. Iran-backed Hamas claimed responsibility.
“Two attacks against completely innocent people who just want to live in the Land of Israel. Now there are seven orphans. Will [Palestinian Authority President] Mahmoud Abbas care for them?” said Moshe Elyakim, an immigrant from France. “No one can dictate to Israel what its security policy should be. The government must be able to defend its own citizens,” he added Hamas’ role must be factored in when talking to the Palestinian Authority, according to Keren Nissan, a young Jerusalemite who works in higher education.
“Our partner here isn’t just the Palestinian Authority but also Hamas, which for some reason they’re choosing to sideline and not refer to, but it’s Hamas that’s causing us the problems at the same time,” said Nissan.
For Naomi Ziegenseil there is no question the talks will collapse. “Hamas does what it wants and we can’t trust the Palestinian Authority,” said Ziegenseil, who volunteers at a Jerusalem charity.