ANALYSIS / Netanyahu managed to pass the hot potato to Abbas

(Akiva Eldar-Haaretz).Newspaper headlines across the world this morning will trumpet the courageous and unprecedented initiative of Israel's prime minister. Who could have imagined that the right-wing leader Benjamin Netanyahu and the settler Avigdor Lieberman would lend a hand to freezing settlement construction? How the settlers' fuses will blow. Now Daniel Ben Simon can end his love affair with the Labor rebels and go back to being faithful to Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

Indeed, from Israel's point of view, the government took a major step yesterday. Prime Minister Netanyahu says the move is designed to return the Palestinians to the peace talks. If this is really his intention, the prime minister has managed (temporarily) to pass the hot potato to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. No peace process will come out of it.

It is hard to decide what would cause greater harm to whatever is left of Abbas' status in the Palestinian public - American pressure to settle with the deal Netanyahu offered him yesterday, or the prisoner-exchange deal that the prime minister is offering his great enemies in Hamas. It is unlikely that Netanyahu really believed Abbas would thank Israel's government for deciding to temporarily freeze the settlements in the West Bank, praise it for building synagogues and new schools, agree to the completion of 2,500 partially-built housing units and the construction of 492 new apartments.

It is unlikely Netanyahu thought that on the eve of Id al-Adha the Muslim leader would adopt the Jewish people's position that East Jerusalem is part of the State of Israel. Is Netanyahu really expecting Abbas to recognize Israel's sovereignty on Gilo, not to mention Sheikh Jarrah and the Temple Mount?

The really important question, which interests Netanyahu more than anything, is how U.S. President Barack Obama will view his proposal. This is not the first time an Israeli government has committed to freezing settlements. Tomorrow it will be two years since prime minister Ehud Olmert announced in Annapolis his commitment to open negotiations on the basis of the road map.

In that detailed document, the Sharon cabinet undertook in May 2003 to suspend all activity in the settlements, including construction for natural growth.

The list of 14 reservations attached to the cabinet decision said that the settlements in the West Bank would not even be discussed "except for freezing the settlements and removing the outposts."

Freezing West Bank settlements, even temporarily, has become a necessary condition for saving the two-state solution and the Palestinian faction supporting it. Necessary, but by no means sufficient. In the absence of basic trust between the parties, even if Netanyahu continues to shove building permits into the drawer, as he has been doing since he returned to the prime minister's desk, it won't suffice.

Netanyahu: The time of excuses has ended

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this evening in a private conversation after the Cabinet meeting that " the Tough , not easy decision that we took reflects the power of the unity government and the national concurrence of enlargement around our positions. Now the Palestinians have no more excuses. The ball is situated in the field of Abu Mazen and its upon him to take on a courageous decision of a leader.

Ya'alon: Freeze will strengthen Israel-US relation

*Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon spoke to senior Likud ministers following the Political-Security cabinet's vote on a temporary freeze in settlement construction and praised the move.

"The prime minister should be supported. This move will settle the relations with the Americans and strengthen them," Ya'alon said.

*Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman commented on the settlement freeze issue during the cabinet meeting and said that Israel has a commitment to Jewish settlers in the West Bank. "At the end of 10 months we shall resume construction," Lieberman said.

*Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor) said after the vote, "It’s an important and historic decision, one of the most important decisions this government has made. The decision will leave the Palestinians with only one choice – join the political negotiations. They have no reason to stall anymore."

*An official Kadima statement read, that the party "supports any move that will return Israel to negotiations toward a final settlement, which will preserve Israel's national and security interests, just like we conducted and from the point they left off."

Video: PM Netanyahu's statement

Mitchell, Clinton welcome Israel settlement moratorium and call for Peace

The Obama administration welcomed Israel's decision Wednesday to freeze new construction in settlements in the West Bank temporarily as a step toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton issued an approving statement moments after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced in Jerusalem the launching of a 10-month moratorium on settlements in the West Bank.

"Today’s announcement by the Government of Israel helps move forward toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We believe that through good-faith negotiations the parties can mutually agree on an outcome which ends the conflict and reconciles the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state based on the 1967 lines, with agreed swaps, and the Israeli goal of a Jewish state with secure and recognized borders that reflect subsequent developments and meet Israeli security requirements. Let me say to all the people of the region and world: our commitment to achieving a solution with two states living side by side in peace and security is unwavering".

At the State Department, the administration's special envoy for Middle East peace, former Sen. George Mitchell, told a news conference that the Israeli decision could mark a step toward restarting peace talks.

"It falls short of a full settlement freeze, but it is more than any Israeli government has done before and can help movement toward agreement between the parties,Nothing like this occurred during the Bush administration."

Netanyahu declares painfull 10-month settlement freeze 'to restart peace talks'

"The government of Israel has taken a very big stop towards peace today."

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces that the Political - Security cabinet approved the plan to freeze building in settlements for a period of 10 months in press conference in Jerusalem this evening.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced a ten-month settlement freeze at a Jerusalem press conference on Wednesday evening after the security cabinet approved the plan, and said the move was a "far-reaching and painful step,It's not an easy step and we are taking it out of broad national considerations."

"I hope that this decision will help launch meaningful negotiations to reach a historic peace agreement that would finally end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians,We have been told by many of our friends that once Israel takes the first meaningful steps toward peace, the Palestinians and Arab states would respond."

I have said I will go anywhere in the world to talk peace. I said that the main problem is not whether we, Israel, agree to a Palestinian state, I said it’s whether the Palestinians will accept a Jewish state,… a demilitarized Palestinian state that accepts Israel as the state of the Jewish people…

"Leadership is judged by its ability to make the necessary decision when called upon to do so… I committed to permitting residents of Yehuda and Shomron to maintain a normal life, and as such, shuls, schools and kindergartens, along with public buildings, will be built as needed towards achieving this goal".

"My position pertaining to Jerusalem is known- We do not put any restrictions on building in our sovereign capital,and there will be a homogenous balance, permitting Arabs and Jews alike to build…."

"Now is the time to begin negotiations, now is the time to move forward towards peace,Israel today has taken a far-reaching step toward peace, it is time for the Palestinians to do the same."

"Israel's government has made an important step toward peace today, let us make peace together."

Cabinet approves 10-month settlement freeze

(Ynet).The Political-Security Cabinet approved Wednesday evening Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's proposal to halt construction in the West Bank settlements for a period of 10 months.

Eleven ministers voted in favor of the plan, while Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau opposed the initiative, which was coordinated with the US in an effort to jumpstart the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

Interior Minister Eli Yishai (Shas) and Housing and Construction Minister Ariel Atias were absent from the vote.

"In the international circumstances that have been created, this step will advance Israel's broad international interests. This is not a simple step, nor an easy one; but it has many more advantages than disadvantages," Netanyahu told his aides.

PM Netanyahu asks cabinet to approve temp. 10 month West Bank freeze on new residential building permits

Netanyahu's comments at the start of cabinet meeting to discuss a halt in new West Bank settlement construction:

"Under the current international circumstances, this step moves the broad national interests of Israel forward. This is not a simple step, not an easy one, but it has more advantages than disadvantages. It enables us to present to the world a simple truth- the Israeli govt. wants to enter negotiations and is very serious in its wish and its intentions to move the peace process forward."

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said at the security cabinet meeting, "The freeze on West Bank settlement construction is a responsible and reasonable decision." Furthermore, said Barak, the aim of the freeze would be to keep the window open for a renewal of negotiations with the Palestinians.

"Israel is powerful and has a strong deterrent capability, but time is not necessarily on our side," continued the defense minister. "It is imperative to move towards a two state solution. There are no alternatives."

Barak said that he hoped that the Yesha leadership, which is undoubtedly patriotic, responsible, and serious, would "understand the need for this decision at this time." Barak went on to say that the security cabinet's decision was based on an understanding with the United States pertaining to renewed negotiations.

Der Spiegel: Obama's Nice Guy Act Gets Him Nowhere on the World Stage

( Gabor Steingart-Der Spiegel.de).US President Barack Obama is back in the US after an Asian trip that produced few results.

When he entered office, US President Barack Obama promised to inject US foreign policy with a new tone of respect and diplomacy. His recent trip to Asia, however, showed that it's not working. A shift to Bush-style bluntness may be coming.

There were only a few hours left before Air Force One was scheduled to depart for the flight home. US President Barack Obama trip through Asia had already seen him travel 24,000 kilometers, sit through a dozen state banquets, climb the Great Wall of China and shake hands with Korean children. It was high time to take stock of the trip.

Barack Obama looked tired on Thursday, as he stood in the Blue House in Seoul, the official residence of the South Korean president. He also seemed irritable and even slightly forlorn. The CNN cameras had already been set up. But then Obama decided not to play along, and not to answer the question he had already been asked several times on his trip: what did he plan to take home with him? Instead, he simply said "thank you, guys," and disappeared. David Axelrod, senior advisor to the president, fielded the journalists' questions in the hallway of the Blue House instead, telling them that the public's expectations had been "too high."

The mood in Obama's foreign policy team is tense following an extended Asia trip that produced no palpable results. The "first Pacific president," as Obama called himself, came as a friend and returned as a stranger. The Asians smiled but made no concessions.

Upon taking office, Obama said that he wanted to listen to the world, promising respect instead of arrogance. But Obama's currency isn't as strong as he had believed. Everyone wants respect, but hardly anyone is willing to pay for it. Interests, not emotions, dominate the world of realpolitik. The Asia trip revealed the limits of Washington's new foreign policy: Although Obama did not lose face in China and Japan, he did appear to have lost some of his initial stature.

In Tokyo, the new center-left government even pulled out of its participation in a mission which saw the Japanese navy refueling US warships in the Indian Ocean as part of the Afghanistan campaign. In Beijing, Obama failed to achieve any important concessions whatsoever. There will be no binding commitments from China to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A revaluation of the Chinese currency, which is kept artificially weak, has been postponed. Sanctions against Iran? Not a chance. Nuclear disarmament? Not an issue for the Chinese.

The White House did not even stand up for itself when it came to the question of human rights in China. The president, who had said only a few days earlier that freedom of expression is a universal right, was coerced into attending a joint press conference with Chinese President Hu Jintao, at which questions were forbidden. Former US President George W. Bush had always managed to avoid such press conferences.

A look back in time reveals the differences. When former President Bill Clinton went to China in June 1998, Beijing wanted to impress the Americans. A press conference in the Great Hall of the People, broadcast on television as a 70-minute live discussion, became a sensation the world over. Clinton mentioned the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, when the government used tanks against protestors. But then President Jiang Zemin defended the tough approach taken by the Chinese Communists. At the end of the exchange, the Chinese president praised the debate and said: "I believe this is democracy!"

Obama visited a new China, an economic power that is now making its own demands. America should clean up its government finances, and the weak dollar is unacceptable, the head of the Chinese banking authority said, just as Obama's plane was about to land.

Obama's new foreign policy has also been relatively unsuccessful elsewhere, with even friends like Israel leaving him high and dry. For the government of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, peace is only conceivable under its terms. Netanyahu has rejected Obama's call for a complete moratorium on the construction of settlements. As a result, Obama has nothing to offer the Palestinians and the Syrians. "We thought we had some leverage," says Martin Indyk, a former ambassador to Israel under the Clinton administration and now an advisor to Obama. "But that proved to be an illusion."

Even the president seems to have lost his faith in a genial foreign policy. The approach that was being used in Afghanistan this spring, with its strong emphasis on civilian reconstruction, is already being changed. "We're searching for an exit strategy," said a staff member with the National Security Council on the sidelines of the Asia trip.

An end to diplomacy is also taking shape in Washington's policy toward Tehran. It is now up to Iran, Obama said, to convince the world that its nuclear power is peaceful. While in Asia, Obama mentioned "consequences" unless it followed his advice. This puts the president, in his tenth month in office, where Bush began -- with threats. "Time is running out," Obama said in Korea. It was the same phrase Bush used against former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, shortly before he sent in the bombers.

There are many indications that the man in charge at the White House will take a tougher stance in the future. Obama's advisors fear a comparison with former Democratic President Jimmy Carter, even more than with Bush. Prominent Republicans have already tried to liken Obama to the humanitarian from Georgia, who lost in his bid to win a second term, because voters felt that he was too soft. "Carter tried weakness and the world got tougher and tougher because the predators, the aggressors, the anti-Americans, the dictators, when they sense weakness, they all start pushing ahead," Newt Gingrich, the former Republican speaker in the House of Representatives, recently said. And then he added: "This does look a lot like Jimmy Carter."

Barak: Lebanon Gov't will be held accountable for Hezbollah actions

(Ynet).Israel will not accept Hezbollah's membership in the Lebanese government and will hold Lebanon responsible for any military clash in the north, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday.

"We will not accept the equation whereby a UN member state is home to a militia in possession of 40,000 rockets but also parliament members and ministers," he said while meeting municipal leaders in northern Israel. "The Lebanese government is responsible for any clash rather than the Hezbollah, and all of Lebanon's systems will be held accountable."

The defense minister noted that the government in Lebanon was sophisticatedly set up to resemble a normal state, while Hezbollah enjoys veto power and the freedom to act.

"They entered the 2006 war with 14,000 rockets and missiles…today they possess more than 40,000 missiles with larger warheads," he said.

Barak noted that Security Council Resolution 1701 has failed to curb Hezbollah's arming process, but said that "deterrence still exists."

"There's clearly coordination with Iran and there will be attempts to infringe the balance of power on Lebanese soil and in Lebanon's skies," he said. "Should we become convinced that the balance has been compromised, we will be forced to consider our moves."

Abbas washing himself clean of Blame: Obama is 'doing nothing' for Middle East peace

(DPA,Haaretz).Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas complained that U.S. President Barack Obama "is doing nothing for the peace process" in the Middle East so far.

"For now he is doing nothing, but he has invited us to revive the peace process. I hope that in the future he can play a more important role," Abbas said in an interview published Tuesday by the Argentine daily Clarin.

Instead, Abbas again called upon Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to take a more active role as mediator in the Middle East.


"He can do it, because he has good relations with the two parties in the conflict and I think he can help," Abbas expressed the hope that "the United States [will] put pressure on the Israelis to abide by international law, so that the roadmap can be implemented."

He anticipated, however, that the Palestinians will not make any more concessions than they have already made.

"We accepted to have only 22 per cent of Palestine, and that is the biggest concession. And we also accepted that Israel had 78 per cent. So, what kind of concessions are they expecting from us?" he said.

"Now we are ready to announce our independence if the Israelis will allow us to," he said.

Abbas said, however, that independence would not be declared unilaterally.

"[The Israelis] are trying to say that we the Palestinians are seeking a unilateral decision. We are not seeking a unilateral decision," he said.

SIGN THIS PETITION - Mr. Obama - Please Respect the Israeli sovereignty

Sign this petition directed to Obama by Navon Katzav-Likud candidate for Knesset 19

Mr. President of the United States of America, Obama,

Please Respect the Israeli sovereignty, democracy and the elected government in Israel

And stop Pressure the elected government of Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu and stop telling them which decisions they should take and where the citizens of Israel can build their homes and where not.

Mr. President Jerusalem is the holy and undivided capital of the Jewish people and Israel and will stay as is forever
.
The Israeli government is entitled to and must decide on policy when pressure is released, and a sober view of reality and the good of the country and its citizens safety and injury prevention.

Is it conceivable Mr. Obama that you will agree that the President of the Soviet Union or any other state leader will tell you and your government which decisions you should take ? And where can the citizens of the United States of America can build their homes and where not ?

You Should Mr. Obama make the Iranian nuclear issue and the threat of radical leader like Ahmadnigad that want to destroy the State of Israel a top priority of your energies and the rest of the world, and not the issue of construction in Jerusalem the Israel's holly and united capital

Mr. President, A great clock stands above us , ticking. The significance of a nuclear weapons producing by Iran the a state that is the maim sponsor of terrorism and terrorist organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas is a real danger not only to the safety and security of Israel but to the safety and security of the all world and to the safety and security in the Western free world In particular!

Ahmadinejad will not hesitate to use weapons of mass destruction. The world must set him an ultimatum and act immediately.

And, as was already said by the British -Irish philosopher Mr.
Edmund Burke:

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is good men that do nothing."

The American people and the people of Israel, Mr. President Obama are sharing true friendship with many years and share the same values of ,democracy, Liberty , freedom, Humanism and brutal war Against terror. The terror that struck on September 11, thousands of innocent American citizens.

Let us strengthen this truth friendship that fighting together against terror and against radical regimes threaten world peace

May God give might to his people, may God bless his people with peace!

Please share this note and sign this petition :

http://www.atzuma.co.il/obama

Navon Katsav , Attorney of Law.
Council Member City Town Of Azor- Likud Party

Netanyahu: Prisoner Swap Is Not Certain; if and when, details will be made public

(NYT). Amid reports that Israel and the Islamist group Hamas appear to be nearing a deal to exchange a captured Israeli soldier for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought on Tuesday to dampen speculation about a swap — either how close it was or whether it would happen at all.

“There is still no deal, and I do not known if there will be one,” he said. Addressing the fears of some Israelis that a swap would boost the standing of Hamas, Mr. Netanyahu said the authorities would “not be sparing with a public discussion. We will not do it as a fait accomplish,” news reports said.

"If and when a deal becomes apparent, [we won't make any backroom deal]. The decision will be brought to the government for it to decide."

He was speaking after the Industry and Trade Minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, said a deal was “moving toward completion in the very near future.”

Expectations of a swap in the coming week, a move with far-reaching implications not only for stalled Middle East peace talks but for a range of regional relations, have been raised by a round of meetings in Cairo sponsored by the Egyptian government, and by a growing number of statements by Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian officials.

“Those who don’t know can talk,” Dan Meridor, Israel’s intelligence minister, said Monday on state radio. “Those who know should keep silent.”

Abbas: Palestinians won't launch new intifada, accepting Netanyahu's statement on negotiations

(Reuters).Palestinians will not launch a new uprising against Israel despite their frustration at the deadlock in U.S.-sponsored peace efforts, President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday.

Abbas made clear that Palestinians do not want to see a repeat of their 2000-2005 intifada, or revolt, which was spearheaded by gunmen and suicide bombers and met a crushing Israeli military response.

"God forbid that we should come to a new intifada. The Palestinian people are not thinking about launching a new intifada," he told reporters during a visit to Argentina.

"The Palestinian people are only thinking about the road toward peace and negotiations and no other path. We will not go back to an intifada because we have suffered too much".

Huan ying to Israel! Chinese Jews from Kaifeng arrive in Israel 2009

In last chance to relaunch peace talks, Netanyahu may ask cabinet to okay 10-month settlement freeze

(Haaretz).Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering seeking either cabinet or governmental approval for a ten-month freeze in West Bank settlement construction, in a bid to relaunch stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

A senior official in Jerusalem said the move would include a commitment to a series of limitations and restrictions on settlement building, but would not halt construction in East Jerusalem.

Israeli officials hope that the official declaration of a settlement freeze would enable the renewal of the negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, which has refused to engage in peace talks until Israel implements such a measure.

Netanyahu has updated the Obama administration as to his position on the settlement freeze. The United States has demanded the move for a long time over the past year, and it was not immediately clear whether Washington has accepted Netanyahu's stance.

Turkish FM: Crisis with Israel over; Deputy PM: Our ties with Israel must improve

(Ynet, API, Haaretz).The crisis in the relations between Turkey and Israel has ended, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Monday evening after meeting Israeli Industry, Trade, and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer in Ankara.

"There has always been an open channel of communication between the countries, and therefore there is no need for a new beginning," said Davutoglu, "We are willing to resume our role as mediators between Israel and Syria."

As for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Turkish FM called on the sides to "launch a new era."

The Turkish deputy prime minister, Bulent Arinc, said on Monday that Turkey-Israel relations must improve:"The diplomatic relations between the two countries have known ups and downs, but they must stabilize," said Arinc, adding that the ties must improve with regard to "every issue."

Ben-Eliezer said in response that Israel and Turkey must remain strategic allies and that the Israeli people want the relations to continue.

"The Israeli people want to return to good relations with Turkey," the minister said. He added that in was in the two countries' mutual interests to strengthen the relations.

National Security Council chairman: PA peace talks will be renewed within weeks

(Haaretz).A key aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Uzi Arad, said on Monday that he hoped stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations would be renewed within the coming weeks.

Arad, the National Security Council chairman, said Israel was not investing all of its efforts in relaunching peace talks with Syria because it did not wish to harm the chances of doing so with the Palestinians.

"Preoccupation with the subject of Syria is likely to be interpreted as an attempt to flee from the Palestinian issue, which is not the case," Arad told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

"The Israeli policy today is to restart the Palestinian process; Israel is making efforts, some of which are coordinated with the United States, in order to renew it."

Arad's comments came after President Shimon Peres said peace between Israel and the Palestinians was just a "step away," and urged the Netanyahu government to do everything necessary to ensure an end to the conflict during its tenure.

"Today, there is just one step left between us and the end of this conflict," said Peres. "The current government can and must do it. The painful solution of dividing the land, two states for two peoples, was something the [Israel's first prime minister] David Ben-Gurion took on himself, and today it is accepted by the majority of the nation.

The president spoke during a memorial ceremony marking 36 years since Ben Gurion's death, at Sde Boker in the Negev.

Labor Minister Ben-Eliezer: Only the Right can make peace

(JPost).Only a leader of the Israeli Right can succeed in bringing peace with the Palestinians, Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor) said over the weekend, in a revealing interview with the Ma'ariv newspaper.

Ben-Eliezer said this despite being a former Labor Party leader who was close to former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and is now a loyal ally of defense minister and current Labor chairman Ehud Barak.

"In the current sociopolitical situation, only a leader from the Right could pass a peace process through the nation," Ben-Eliezer said.

"[Former prime minister Menachem] Begin returned the Sinai. Could a Labor leader do that? Could a Labor leader have dared evacuate Gaza and destroy the settlements?" Ben-Eliezer said.

"Rabin was killed just for Oslo. Does anyone think I could have evacuated Gaza? Only a leader from the Right could bring such a change. There is nothing we can do. That's the reality. Take it or leave it."

Ben-Eliezer boasted in the interview that he had spent considerable time with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and made a serious impact on his policies. He suggested that Netanyahu could succeed in reaching a peace agreement where his predecessors had failed.

"Bibi wants to advance the diplomatic process with the Palestinians more than any leader I know," Ben-Eliezer said. "Despite the pressure he faces, he makes an effort day and night to reach a breakthrough."

But Ben-Eliezer said he still believed Labor had an important role to play in pushing the Right toward the diplomatic process from inside the government. He said he did not believe there would be a merger between Likud and parts of Labor.

"Bibi and Barak broadcast the same language," Ben-Eliezer said. "They understand each other. They complete each other. And yet, I don't see Barak joining Bibi."

Netanyahu: No Shalit deal yet; deal will require cabinet's approval

(Ynet).Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to address recent reports indicating progress on a prisoner swap with Hamas that would see captive soldier Gilad Shalit returned to Israel, saying a deal with the Islamist group has yet to be finalized.

During a Likud faction meeting on Monday, the PM said any prisoner exchange agreement would have to be approved by cabinet.

"I cannot say yet whether a deal will in fact be struck. It is not only up to us. There is hesitancy on the part of the other side as well," he said.

"It is still unclear what will happen – what will be offered and to what we will agree to."

During the meeting, Netanyahu spoke of the dilemma Israel is facing. "On the one hand, we want to look after our soldiers and bring them back home - a value that our nation and Jewish tradition hold in the highest regard - but on the other hand we want to avoid future kidnappings."

The Prime Minister's Office announced earlier that some of the recent reports regarding a prisoner exchange deal for Shalit's release "are not credible and some of them are even intentionally distorted."

Recent days have seen a number of various reports of progress in talks for a deal, and following the meeting held between the soldier's parents and negotiator Hagai Hadas, Netanyahu's office wished to stress that most of the information being circulated is baseless and unconfirmed.

"Many details coming from abroad and in foreign media are being published lately, but they are not credible and some of them are even intentionally distorted. Efforts to secure Gilad Shalit's release are continuously underway, out of the media's view, and we have no intentions of commenting beyond that," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

PM Netanyahu: Zero tolerance for violence against women

"Today, we will refer to International Day for the elimination of Violence Against Women, which occurs this Wednesday. I intend to visit a shelter for battered women. This is a very serious problem in Israel and around the world.

Globally, it is estimated that one-third of women have suffered violence at least once in their lives. One study indicates that there are 150,000 battered women in Israel, a terrible number. However in 2008, a certain decline has been reported. This is thanks to the various organizations that are active, the Authority for the Advancement of the Status of Women, which I was fortunate enough to establish as Prime Minister, as well as the women's organizations, shelters and other active elements. But it is clear to us that much more needs to be done.

Deputy Minister Gamliel will brief us on these issues. I would like to say something that I believe is very important: The most important thing is to hold to a policy of zero-tolerance for violence in general and for violence against women in particular. I think that while this will resonate in Israeli society, we still have a long way to go in instilling this awareness and in enacting specific plans; thus our meeting today and discussions later this week".

Lieberman: After all the insults, Turkey can't mediate Syria talks; PM: Turkey can return its Mediation role in exchange of Normalization

(Haaretz).Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Sunday said Turkey could not resume mediating Israel-Turkey peace talks, shortly before another minister, Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, was reportedly set to propose that the country did exactly that.

"Fuad's trip to Turkey is... an important trip, but has not been agreed upon by the Foreign Ministry," said Lieberman at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, referring to the Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor by his moniker.

"After all of Turkey's insults and tongue-lashing against Israel, they can't be a mediator."

Tensions flared between the two countries in September after Turkey banned Israel from participating in a NATO air force drill. Ankara further strained relations last week when it refused to take off the air a television drama depicts Israeli soldiers killing Palestinian children.

On Saturday, sources in Jerusalem said Ben-Eliezer was expected to propose to Turkey that it resume its mediation role in exchange for a return to more cordial relations between Israel and Turkey.

The sources said that the policy was coordinated with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Foreign Ministry in advance of Ben-Eliezer's departure on an official visit to Turkey Sunday evening.

The sources say that Ben-Eliezer will stress that Israel will view Turkey as a mediator with Syria, but Turkey must first demonstrate a return to the normal relations that existed with Israel before a deterioration in ties at the beginning of the year in the wake of Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. The normalization will have to be shown through declarations and deeds, they say. Among such gestures, Ben-Eliezer will propose that Turkish President Abdullah Gul pay a visit to Israel and meet with President Shimon Peres.

In the course of Ben-Eliezer's visit, he will attempt to return economic, military, strategic and diplomatic ties to normal. The official reason for the minister's visit is the annual Turkish-Israeli economic conference. In the course of his trip, Ben-Eliezer will meet with the Turkish agriculture minister as well as the defense minister, who heads the Turkish delegation to the conference. Efforts have recently been underway to arrange a meeting with a high-level Turkish political figure. In the absence of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is abroad, a possible meeting with President Gul or with Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is being explored.

"I hope my economic and political talks will make it possible to get the important relations between Israel and its Turkish strategic partner back on track," Ben-Eliezer said, adding, "Turkey has special ties with Israel, and as a regional and democratic-Muslim power."

French FM: I came to Israel pessimistic and left OPTIMISTIC

(Ynet, Ma'an).French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in an interview published Saturday that he had "arrived (in Israel) a pessimist, but left as an optimist from talks with Israeli leaders".

Israel's plan to build 900 new housing units in the illegal settlement of Gilo is "more than regrettable," but not entirely Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's fault, according to French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.

In an interview with the French Libération magazine that was published on Saturday, Kouchner said the announcement "didn't come from the prime minister, but from the municipality of Gilo. Anyway, this is not an excuse and France condemns all forms of settlement."

Kouchner also said that after meeting with the prime minister, he was relieved that Netanyahu appeared interested in reaching an agreement with Palestine. "I arrived pessimistic but after long talks with Israeli leaders... more optimistic."

"I think he is determined to make a move. Which exactly? I do not know," he said. "We forget that Netanyahu had never accepted the idea of a Palestinian state before he was re-elected. Today he accepts it."

"I could be wrong, but the establishment of a democratic Palestinian state seems the only way to secure Israel's safety, which we very much desire to do."

Regarding the Iranian threat Kouchner said, "Israel has never disguised its suspicions of the threat Iran can achieve by creating a nuclear weapon. Israel warns against this, and it knows France's position."

He added that Iran had not yet responded to offers made by world powers regarding its store of uranium, and said Tehran was engaging in self-destructive behavior.

"If Iran develops a nuclear weapon – this will not be acceptable to us. We must not add another threat to the region," he said.

Hamas decides to stop shelling rocket at Israel

(BBC).Hamas says it has agreed with other Palestinian militant groups in Gaza to stop firing rockets into Israel.

Fathi Hammad, who acts as Hamas interior minister, said the ceasefire aimed to prevent retaliatory attacks by Israel and build stability.

But he said rockets would continue to be fired from the Gaza Strip in the event of any Israeli incursions.

Hamas has observed a ceasefire for months, but other groups have carried out sporadic cross-border attacks.

The rockets usually cause limited damage and few if any casualties.

Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli military offensive in Gaza last December and January, was intended to put a stop to the attacks, some of which have reached up to 46km (28 miles) into Israel.

About 1,300 Palestinians and 10 Israeli soldiers were killed in the three weeks of fighting. Three Israeli citizens also died in rocket attacks during the operation.

Mr Hammad said ending the firing of rockets would bring greater stability to the lives of people in Gaza, enabling them to continue repairing the damage caused by the conflict.

In response, an official in the Prime Minister's Office said Hamas would "be judged by its actions, not its words."

Weak West only 'disappointed' at Iran, but no new sanctions discussed

(AP).The West is "disappointed" over Iran's failure to respond positively to a UN-brokered nuclear deal, diplomats said in a statement Friday following a meeting of the UN Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany. However, no new sanctions were discussed during the meeting, according to an EU source.

"We urge Iran to reconsider the opportunity offered by this agreement ... and to engage seriously with us in dialogue and negotiations," the statement said, noting that Teheran had not responded positively to the proposal of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

An EU official said there was no mention of imposing further sanctions against Iran at the meeting. "These things are a matter of timing, and this was not the right time for it," said the official who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

The Western officials said they would hold a follow-up meeting around Christmas.

Abbas: People must resist, like in Bilin, accuses Hamas for not terrorizing Israel

(Ynet).Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated Friday that there would be no peace talks with Israel as long as the settlement construction continued. In an interview to the British Broadcasting Corporation in Arabic, the Palestinian leader implied that his people may adopt a new type of struggle against the occupation.

"Those who have to resist are the people, and there are different types of resistance, like in (West Bank villages of) Bilin and Naalin, where people are injured every day," he said.

He went on to point a finger at the Hamas organization. "Hamas talk about the importance of resistance, but why aren't they resisting now. There is a truce between them and Israel, and since the war in Gaza Hamas has not carried out any act of resistance."

He added that "the plan on which Hamas negotiated with Israel includes a delay on the issues of the refugees and Jerusalem." He accused the rival faction of torpedoing the general and presidential elections in the territories, but added that "Hamas cannot continue torpedoing the elections forever because it rose to power through elections itself.

Netanyahu: I want final accord with PA,not an interim

(Jpost).Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is interested in aiming for a final-status agreement, and not an interim one as some of his ministers are proposing, if and when negotiations with the Palestinian Authority resume, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

In various internal discussions this week, Netanyahu said that were there "courageous leadership" on the Palestinian side, a resumption of negotiations could lead to a final peace agreement, and that this was preferable in his mind to an interim agreement based on a Palestinian state within temporary borders.

In recent days there have been various reports of ministers, and even President Shimon Peres, pressing for an interim accord that would include a Palestinian state with provisional borders. The logic behind this idea is that it would remove from the negotiating mix those core issues that have prevented an agreement in the past - such as the Palestinian refugee issue and Jerusalem - while giving the Palestinians at least something to show for negotiations until those issues could be dealt with at a later date.

Netanyahu, however, has said in private meetings that he thinks a final agreement could be reached, but that it would take courageous leadership taking courageous steps. He said this week that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who has said he would step down because of the stymied diplomatic process, should not be "counted out."

Netanyahu recalled that in 1971 no one thought that Egyptian President Anwar Sadat would eventually make peace with Israel, and that it was too early to "write off" Abbas. "Sometimes conventional wisdom is wrong," he was quoted as saying.

Sources in the Prime Minister's Office, meanwhile, gave no indication on Thursday that Netanyahu was on the verge of a public statement declaring a 10-month moratorium on housing starts in the settlements in an effort to lure the PA back to the negotiation table. Former MK Yossi Beilin on Wednesday said that such a declaration was in the works, which would be followed by an American announcement that while the moratorium was not everything they hoped for, it was enough to restart the negotiations.

The sources in the Prime Minister's Office said that Netanyahu has made clear in private discussions that he was prepared for a moratorium as long as it did not include Jerusalem and did not preclude construction of public buildings needed for normal life in the settlements. He has not yet, however, specified publicly the length of the proposed moratorium.

Yossi Verter/ Pity the prime minister - Bibi freezes construction and he gets clobbered

(Yossi Verter-Haaretz).On Monday evening Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat contentedly in his office at the Knesset. A few minutes earlier, he had decided to defer the vote on the biometric database bill. A few hours earlier, he had decided to defer the issue of splitting the attorney general's post as well. Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the Labor Party were staying in the government; Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman was not resigning for the nonce.

And then Yedioth Ahronoth journalist Shimon Schiffer called, seeking the reaction of the Prime Minister's Bureau to the Americans' statement of opposition to some building project in East Jerusalem.

What's this about, Netanyahu asked his people. No one knew. Netanyahu asked them to call in Interior Minister Eli Yishai, whose purview includes Jerusalem. Yishai ran over from his office. That's when they figured it out: It was about the northwestern part of the Gilo neighborhood. Netanyahu called several of the relevant players. He was told that this was strictly a technical matter, that on the following day, the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Commission would be approving the construction of 900 new housing units in the neighborhood.

He knew he was about to get slapped, but it is doubtful he imagined the barrage of condemnation: from U.S. President Barack Obama, who said the construction in Gilo did not contribute to Israel's security, to the secretary general of the United Nations, who called Gilo "a settlement" before the European Union, which strongly condemned everything happening in East Jerusalem, including the demolition of an illegal structure on Wednesday.

"I really pity Netanyahu," said one of his ministers. "There hasn't been another prime minister like him - he has entirely frozen building in the settlements. Ever since this government was established in April, not a single tender has been issued or plan approved, not even in East Jerusalem. The fact of the matter is that building has been frozen, under a right-wing government, with [Minister without Portfolio] Benny Begin, [Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe] Bogey Ya'alon, [Foreign Affairs Minister Avigdor] Lieberman, [National Infrastructure Minister] Uzi Landau and Eli Yishai - but Bibi is getting clobbered, relentlessly.

"Under [former prime ministers] Rabin, Barak, Sharon and Olmert, there was a lot more building, and the Americans accepted them warmly," the minister said. "Bibi freezes construction and he gets clobbered. The authorization given this week in Jerusalem is an entirely formal thing. It will be a long time before they build in Gilo. The Americans know this - it's been explained to them, but they're going their own way. If it were dependent on Netanyahu, that commission wouldn't have convened. I have no doubt that in his heart he really, really didn't want this, but in retrospect, what could he have said apart from what he said, that Gilo is a integral part of Jerusalem and is part of the Israeli consensus?"

Obama's misread of Israel - press on Gilo makes Israelis rally behind Netanyahu

(HERB KEINON- Jpost).US President Barack Obama is an extremely intelligent man surrounded by equally intelligent advisers, many of whom have years of experience dealing with the Middle East. His continued misreading and misunderstanding of the Israeli public is, therefore, somewhat baffling.

This misread was evident again in the past few days by the US objection to the Jerusalem Municipal Planning Committee's approval of a plan to build some 900 new units in Gilo - not in a far-flung settlement overlooking Nablus, nor even in one of the settlement blocs like Gush Etzion, nor even a Jewish complex in one of the Arab neighborhoods of the capital, but in Gilo, one of the large new neighborhoods built in the city following the Six Day War. If Israel cannot build in Gilo without US approval, than it cannot build in Ramot Eshkol, French Hill, Ramot, Neveh Yaakov, Pisgat Ze'ev, East Talpiot or Har Homa.

Truth be told, this is not the first indication of US policy on this matter. Former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice seemed to be giving the new neighborhoods settlement status in 2007 when she opposed a new project in Har Homa.

However, the Obama team's call for a complete settlement halt also included a halt to new construction in east Jerusalem, something Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu refused to accept.

By continuing to press the issue, Obama - who recently showed nascent signs of wanting to engage the Israeli public out of an understanding that if you want to get Israel to make concessions, Israel will need to trust the US president - risks further alienating the Israeli public.

When Obama came to power in January, he apparently did so with two basic assumptions regarding Israel.

The first was that the Israeli public so cherishes its relationship with the US that it would not tolerate any daylight between Jerusalem and Washington, and that if its government was responsible for that daylight, then it would replace that government with another in order to preserve the special relationship with Washington.

The second assumption was that the Israeli public hated the settlements.

Based on those two assumptions, Obama immediately upon taking office pressed Israel hard on the settlement issue, calling for an unprecedented complete halt to all settlement construction, including inJerusalem.

The administration's working premise seemed to be that since the Israeli public was not enamored of the settlements in any event, if Obama pushed hard on that issue, the Israeli public would pressure its own government to give rather than risk a fissure with the Obama administration.

But the assumptions were mistaken. The Israeli public does not hate the settlements. Granted, it does not like the illegal settlement outposts, or what it sees as the extremists among the ideological settlements, but the public makes a distinction between those settlements outposts and those extremists and the large settlement blocs, such as Ma'aleh Adumim and Gush Etzion, which are well within the Israeli consensus. And the public certainly doesn't view the neighborhoods ofJerusalem, as the Europeans said in their statement, as "settlements."

Pressing a construction freeze in those areas was widely viewed by the public as an unreasonable demand, especially when it was not accompanied by any demands on the Arabs or Palestinians.

Rather than rallying around Obama, Israelis have - according to polls that shows Netanyahu's popularity rising - rallied around Netanyahu. And no issue will make them rally even further around the prime minister than Jerusalem.

Netanyahu understands this, which is why his office was behind a leak during the summer about Obama's objections to Jewish building at the Shepherd's Hotel site in Sheikh Jarrah, and was also likely behind the leak this week of US objections to the Gilo plan. In the summer, the objection to the Shepherd's Hotel plan made the administration's demands seem unreasonable to the Israeli public, as the Gilo objections have done now.

Is Obama giving US jews a cold shoulder? WH shirnks Chanuka party

(Politico).The White House's forthcoming state dinner with the Prime Minister of India is expected to be larger than those of President Barack Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush. But another upcoming White House event will be smaller than in years past: The White House's annual Hanukkah party.

The guest list is expected to be shrunk by more than half, according to the Jerusalem Post. "Though several Jewish leaders expressed understanding for the economic and other reasons behind the cut, they acknowledged that it would likely help feed feelings in some quarters of the American Jewish community that the White House is giving them the cold shoulder."

The move comes on the heels of Obama's cancellation of an appearance before the General Assembly of North American Jewish Federations last week.

The White House's decision is likely a response to tough economic times and a desire to keep the holiday festivities reasonable.

A White House official told the Post that Obama "looks forward to celebrating Hanukkah at the White House and having many members of the Jewish American community at that event."

Abbas: Mideast peace deal won't happen with me; Rumored Successor to Abbas, Ghneim - would Be Death to Peace Process

(Haaretz).Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas this week countered Israeli and American claims that a Middle East peace deal could be reached before the end of his term.

In an interview with Egyptian television on Wednesday, Abbas also denied that either side has been pleading with him persistently to remain in office against his declared plan not to run for presidency in the Palestinian Authority's next election.

"If [Israeli and U.S.] intentions are sincere, then I am still here and have been here for years - they could have reached a deal with me already," said Abbas. "If Israel is prepared to advance peace on the basis of prior agreements and in accordance with the outline laid out in the road map, then it can do so with any Palestinian leader that succeeds me."

Abbas said he had made clear during talks with U.S. President Barack Obama that he did not see himself as likely to convince Israel to halt construction in West Bank settlements. "I told President Obama, if you can't halt [settlements] why could I?"

His decision to step down - viewed by many in the international community as a political tactic - was final, said Abbas. "There is nothing I can give to my people, so I should quit," he said. "My decision is clear: I will not run in any elections."

(IsraelNN.com) PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas is serious about retiring from political life and wants senior Fatah official Muhammad (Abu Maher) Ghneim to replace him, according to the Saudi newspaper Al Jazeera. Relying on “Palestinian sources,” the newspaper reports that Abbas's statement that he wishes to retire was not a bluff aimed at pressuring Israel.

Ghneim, 72, was a founding member of the Fatah terror group in 1954 and participated in the founding of the PLO in 1964. He is a member of the militant stream inside the organization and played an important role alongside Khalil El Wazir (Abu Jihad) in initiating the First Intifada in thelate 1980s and early 1990s. Ghneim opposed the Oslo peace agreements.

Israel allowed Ghneim to enter Judea and Samaria earlier this year to participate in the Fatah general convention, but it did not grant him permission to stay permanently and he had to leave after three months.

Ghneim is considered the second most important man in Fatah today due, among other reasons, to his appointment as Abbas's deputy in command of “Palestinian armed forces.” His main rival for leadership is Marwan Barghouti, who is in jail in Israel.

American sources quoted by the Al Jazeera newspaper said that “if Abu Maher Ghneim is appointed chairman of the Palestinian Authority this would mean the death of the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.”

Historian: Obama won't Go Head-to-Head with US Jews

(IsraelNN.com) “Ethnic minorities like the Jews are an integral part of the American nation, and every president in the White House understands that if he ignores the Jews of the United States and their supporters he will be making a mistake,” Professor Shlomo Aronson, an expert on political science from the Hebrew University, told Arutz Sheva Thursday. “Even Barack Obama would not think of entering a confrontation with the Jews of the United States,” he said.

Asked if President Obama's relative silence in the face of the Iranian nuclear danger could be compared to the silence of Presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman in the face of the Holocaust, Prof. Aronson, a former holder of 1939 Club Holocaust Chair at UCLA, said there was no comparison between the two situations.

"It was a different world then and the attitude to the Jewish question was different from today,” he explained. “At that time, the entire matter of the Jews seemed to the Americans like something that was not their business. The Jews were a scattered and dislocated people without a country or an army, the British ruled the Land of Israel and as far as the Americans were concerned, the Jews were not their problem.”

"But since then many things have changed. Today there is a Jewish state with an army, and the attitude towards Israel is built upon internal American considerations. Those were dark times of anti-Semitism in the US which washed its hands of dealing with the Holocaust, but today the situation is different.

Arab Media: Netanyahu Approves Shalit Deal

(JewPI).An Arab newspaper has reported that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu approved a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas terrorists that would eventually result in the return of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

According to the report published Thursday in Al Manar, the prime minister agreed to carry out the first stage of the deal, in which Shalit will be transferred to Egypt.

The newspaper, which is distributed in Arab neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem, said the prime minister's approval for the deal came during a three-way meeting held recently between Israel's chief negotiator, Haggai Hadas, and the German mediator who has been working on the case.

David Baker, spokesman for the Prime Minister's Office, was tight-lipped when Israel National News asked about the deal, however. "We have no reaction to that report," he said firmly, and refused further comment.

The Arabic-language Alhurra network in the United States also reported Wednesday that a deal was imminent, possibly to be concluded as soon as Friday, November 27, the eve of the Muslim feast of the sacrifice of Ishmael, Id al-Adha.

The unconfirmed report said "hundreds of prisoners" from Israeli jails would be freed in exchange for the Israeli soldier in the first stage of the deal, which would bring Shalit to Egypt. In the second stage, Shalit would be transferred to Israel.

Alon Pinkas, former aide to Peres, Barak, to be next UN envoy

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is planning to tap veteran Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas for the crucial ambassadorship to the United Nations in New York.

The appointment is raising some eyebrows in the ministry, since Pinkas was a senior diplomatic advisor to a series of senior political figures on the Left, including former foreign minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, President Shimon Peres during his term as foreign minister from March 2001 to November 2002 and Defense Minister Ehud Barak during his premiership from 1999 to 2001.

In making the appointment, Lieberman "is using one of the [traditional positions given to] political appointees, but instead putting in place a consummate professional," said a source close to Lieberman.

"The United Nations slot requires a professional because it's one of the most critical arenas for Israeli diplomacy," the official added.

A diplomatic official familiar with Pinkas's record added that "Pinkas has moved to the center in his politics, judging by public statements and writings over the last few years. His opinions are respected on the Left and by [Lieberman]."

Pinkas, a former Jerusalem Post defense correspondent, served as consul-general in New York from 2000 to 2004, and is considered an expert on American affairs.

Unlike Obama, French FM Kouchner: Gilo construction won’t necessarily hinder peace talks

(Ynet).Addressing Israel's controversial plan to build hundreds of housing units in Jerusalem's southeastern Gilo neighborhood, visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Wednesday, "I understand that this is not a political decision, and it should not be an obstacle to resuming negotiations."

Speaking to Israeli reporters at the Jaffa residence of French Ambassador Chritophe Bigot, Kouchner said that while France is opposed to settlement construction in principle, "this case (Gilo) should not be an obstacle."

Kouchner continued to say that France would not recognize a unilateral Palestinian declaration of statehood, adding that statements made by Palestinian officials in this regard are merely aimed at attracting international attention to the Palestinian issue in the absence of negotiations with Israel.

"I expect Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give (Palestinian President Mahmoud) Abbas a sign and encourage him – give him some hope in an uncertain world," said France's top diplomat.

Beilin: Netanyahu to propose 10-month settlement freeze that will exclude E. Jerusalem

(Haaretz).Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is soon going to announce a complete freeze in West Bank settlement construction for 10 months, Army Radio quoted former Meretz chairman Yossi Beilin as saying on Wednesday.

The move would be a bid to renew peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, which has refused to negotiate with Israel while it continues to build in the West Bank.

But Beilin was quoted as adding that he believed Netanyahu would not propose a halt to construction in Jerusalem, which he said the Palestinians would still fiercely oppose.

The former lawmaker made the comments during a ceremony at the home of the French ambassador. During the ceremony, he warned that the PA may collapse in the wake of the failure of U.S. President Barack Obama's special envoy, George Mitchell, to relaunch peace talks, Israel Radio reported.

Netanyahu: Despite critisism - No Building Restriction in Capital

(CBN ). The government of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will not limit building in Jerusalem, despite harsh criticism from the Obama administration, the British government and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The most recent "crisis" arose over the government's approval of 900 new housing units in the southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo, home to 40,000 Israelis.

"The American administration's position on Jewish construction in Jerusalem is a symptom of its policy in general and on the Arab-Israeli conflict in particular," former Israeli embassy liaison to Congress Yoram Ettinger told CBN News.

"It's symptomatic of a goal to clip Israel's wings morally, strategically and territorially," he said.

"My hope is that the present Israeli government will adopt the legacy of former prime ministers [David] Ben-Gurion, [Levi] Eshkol and [Golda] Meir, who responded to unjust American pressure by furthering construction in Jerusalem neighborhoods," he said.

The Netanyahu government issued a statement on the building in Gilo.

"The Gilo neighborhood is an integral part of Jerusalem, just like Ramot Eshkol, Rehavia, French Hill and Pisgat Ze'ev," the statement read.

"There is broad national consensus on the matter. The construction in Gilo has been going on for decades, and there is nothing new in the current planning and construction procedures," the Prime Minister's Office stated.

PM demands the opposition to behave in a "respectful" manner; Livni blames Netanyahu for 'delegitimization' of Israel

(Haaretz, Jpost).Opposition leader Tzipi Livni on Wednesday blamed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government for the "delegitimization" of Israel, amid continuing international criticism of the country's winter offensive in Gaza.

"Israel has been delegitimized, and its position has been eroded," Livni told the Knesset plenum. "[The government] has hurt Israel's ability to receive legitimacy for justified military operations."

Linvi further said that the time had come for the prime minister to make a decision on the stalled peace process with the Palestinians.

Netanyahu, who was present during the session, defended the activities of his government over the past eight months and demanded that the opposition behave in a "respectful" manner.

He spoke about his government's willingness to enter into peace talks with the Palestinians, despite their "attempts to avoid negotiations."

Netanyahu said that Israel faced two overarching goals - containing and stopping the Iranian nuclear threat, and achieving peace with the Palestinians.

"From day one, we refrained from setting preconditions," he said, adding that it was the Palestinian side that had put conditions in place for the resumption of talks.

Netanyahu placed the responsibility for the failure of both sides to come to the negotiating table squarely on the Palestinians.

"The question is what will happen on the Palestinian side - because while it is clear today that Israel wants to enter into negotiations, it is not known whether the Palestinians will enter them."

Netanyahu added, however, that he believed the answer was positive.

"We envision a final arrangement of peace in which a demilitarized Palestinian state recognizes Israel. How should we advance that? Only one way - negotiations. From the very first day, we called for negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. We also took action on the ground: we took down hundreds of checkpoints and dirt barriers that blocked traffic in the West Bank," recalled Netanyahu. "But we still have not received any proof from them regarding their readiness to negotiate."

The prime minister stressed that Israel's economic growth was a basic strategic necessity,

"In order to present a solution in the coming decade to Israel's strategic problems, we need a lot of money. A lot, a lot of money. There is no way to fund Israel's existential security needs without consistent growth year after year," warned the prime minister.

"We are talking about dozens of billions, and I don't mean just in shekels," he added, explaining that growth of four to five percent per year would provide for Israel's security expenses.

The prime minister also emphasized that Israel's politicians must present a unified stance to the world.

"They need to see that Israel is ready for negotiations, wants to begin negotiations, and that the majority of MKs support the Palestinian expectation for negotiations," he said.

Lieberman to French FM: Gilo is an integral part of Israel; Livni: Gilo Israeli consensus

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman addressed the issue of construction in the Gilo neighborhood in Jerusalem during a meeting with his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner on Wednesday. "Gilo is an integral part of Israel, like Tel Aviv and Herzliya." He said.

The minister stated that building authorization is a strictly procedural process and noted, "We have no intention of interfering with it." The two also discussed regional issues and Lieberman thanked Kouchner for France's stance on the Iranian nuclear program.

Opposition Chairwoman Tzipi Livni met with Kouchner in Jerusalem on Wednesday and told him that "there is Israeli consensus on the neighborhood of Gilo. Beyond dealing with the immediate issue, this understanding is important for all discussions about permanent borders."

On the Iranian issue Livni said a deadline for talks should be set: "It's time for harsh sanctions against Iran. Dialogue should also be within a timeframe."

Poll: Record high support of peace talks (75%); 57% oppose US pressure

(Ynet).According to the monthly War and Peace Index, some 75% of the Jewish public in Israel support holding peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. This marks the highest support rate recorded on the War and Peace index in recent years.

Despite the optimistic numbers, the public is split vis-à-vis the demand to freeze construction in settlements in order to advance negotiations.

Some 47% think halting construction is imperative, while 50% do not see it as an important issue, and a majority of two thirds rejects the pressure mounted by the United States in the subject of halting settlement expansion.

Even among those who support negotiations, a majority of 57.5% oppose American pressure, compared with an expected 91% of those who object to renewing peace talks.

One year into US President Barack Obama's term in office, most Israelis deem his policies to be biased toward the Palestinian side.

Despite this sentiment, there has been a decrease in the number of people who believe Obama is pro-Palestinian, and an increase in those who think his position is neutral or even pro-Israeli,While 55% claimed the president is pro-Palestinian in May 2009, only 40% thought so in the most recent survey.

The Jewish public is evenly split vis-à-vis Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's call to immediately renew negotiations with the Palestinians. Forty six percent believe Netanyahu's intentions are honest, while 45% say they are not.

Report: Gilad Shalit could be freed by next week

(Haaretz). A source close to families of Israeli Arab prisoners on Wednesday said that they have received hints of progress in a deal that would free captive Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit.

Shalit, an Israel Defense Forces soldier, was abducted by Gaza militants in a cross-border raid in June 2006, and has been held in captivity since then. Hamas has demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the Israeli soldier's freedom.

"We are receiving hints of significant progress in negotiations, although we are always careful with these things because changes can always occur at the last minute," the source told Haaretz on Wednesday, adding that they are optimistic about celebrating a "double holiday," referring to the upcoming Muslim holiday Eid al Adha, which begins next Friday.

The source said he hopes this signals a breakthrough in talks, and added that both Israel and Hamas have taken seriously the issue of reducing sentences for Israeli Arab prisoners.

Hamas sources on Wednesday also said there had been progress in the deal. "Hamas cannot concede one name of the list of prisoners from the start of negotiations." The sources added, however, that Hamas would be willing to compromise and send the prisoners of contention abroad instead of to their homes in Gaza and the West Bank.

Also on Wednesday, Arabic-language news network Alhurra, based in the U.S., also reported that a deal for Shalit's release would get underway by next week.

According to the uncorroborated report, Shalit will be released in exchange for "hundreds of prisoners."

Alhurra reported that Shalit would be released to Egypt and then continue to Israel.

Sarah Palin: Obama has no right to restrict Israel expand settlements

(ABCnews).In an interview with ABC News' Barbara Walters, Sarah Palin, the former GOP vice presidential candidate, gave her policy recommendations, weighing in on issues in the Middle East, U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and more.

Palin, whose book, "Going Rogue: An American Life," hit bookshelves today, took aim at the Obama administration's stance on Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories.

"I disagree with the Obama administration on that," Palin told Walters. "I believe that the Jewish settlements should be allowed to be expanded upon, because that population of Israel is, is going to grow. More and more Jewish people will be flocking to Israel in the days and weeks and months ahead. And I don't think that the Obama administration has any right to tell Israel that the Jewish settlements cannot expand."

Obama: Plan to build 900 units in Gilo doesn't make Israel safer

(Jpost).Israel's latest move to build some 900 units in the capital's southeastern Gilo neighborhood complicates administration efforts to relaunch peace talks and embitters the Palestinians, US President Barack Obama said Wednesday.

Obama told Fox News in an interview that additional settlement building does not make Israel safer. He said such moves make it harder to achieve peace in the region, and embitters the Palestinians in a way that he said could be very dangerous.

Also Wednesday, opposition leader and Kadima chair Tzipi Livni met with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in Jerusalem, and stressed that construction in Gilo needn't be halted.

"Gilo is part of the Israeli consensus, and that understanding is important for every discussion on the final borders of any future agreement," she told him.

Netanyahu's peace efforts discussed on the BIBI report segment on RaptureReadyRadio show 11/17

* Peace process:
This is the last call for the Palestinian leadership to get buckled up and join the journey towards peace and prosperity for Both people to live side by side secured and life motivated.

As the PM continues to urge on every occasion in every microphone, to return to the negotiation table immediate and now for the purpose of reaching a final Peace agreement.

But any agreement has to guarantee effective security measures that will secure the peace and the borders , and therefore the right of self defense, while Israel is ready for concessions for peace there is one thing that Netanyhau will not compromise and thats the secuirty of Israel.

I want to point out a interesting point - the peace talks have been going on for 16 years or so, and there has never been so far such a quiet and calm situation as Netanyahu's first term and his current term since he took office so far, while during Rabin, Peres, Barak, Sharon and Olmert's term Israel experienced tough, deadly, bloody terror attack and missiles fired and threatening Israel's security, and the reason is not becuase we are not threatend anymore, this is not a effective quietness and it could explode any second, but the difference is that while Rabin, Peres, Barak and Olmert spoke about No more War, no more Bloodshed, only Peace...Peace...Peace... offering the Palestinians territories, weapons, and anything as long they continue the road to Peace, PM Netanyahu is focusing on a stable Peace agreement that will not only offer concessions and gestures towards the Palestinian people, but a a effective secured peace that is based upon courage and open eyes for the best Interest of both people, and therefore we have to agree to sit down and negotiate all the issues and put a end to the conflict and recognize the existence of each other, but this will only come through strength not through weakness that only encourages more terror and build the extremists.

And therefore the reports regarding today's report of the Jerusalem committee's approval of a 900 unit build in Gilo has nothing to do with the peace process (and as PMO stated in its statement tonight that such a approval is not approved by the PM, but a commitee headed by the Mayor of Jerusalem), as Netanyahu voiced his opinion that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, as is London to the UK,Washington to the US, and Paris to France, and Jerusalem will not be a part of any agreed Freeze , so this report didnt push forward the peace talks, but so didnt it halt it or drag it off track, as Hillary Clinton and Tony Blair approved that Netanyahu has come forward more then any other Israeli leader towards advancing Peace,and his efforts of building up the Palestinian economy, removing road blocks and declaring under each microphone and on every occasion on his desire for peace, have not been so appreciated by the World and the Palestinian leadership.

So what we are seing is a streched out hand by Israel for Peace, that is being rejected by a partner that is not willing to walk the same path toward a effective peace that will bring life of joy and prosperity to both People in the region.

PM Netanyahu associates insist there is no crisis with US - WH critics is only a show

(Attila Somfalvi-Ynet).Although Israel has been insisting for quite a while that there is no crisis in its relations with the United States, state officials were surprised Tuesday by the harsh American response to the approval of 900 new housing units in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo.

A source in Benjamin Netanyahu's office clarified Tuesday evening that such approvals "are not handled by the prime minister."

Netanyahu's associates attempted to minimize the implications of the American and British criticism following the plan to expand the neighborhood, which is located beyond the Green Line, hinting that the Americans must clarify in public why they oppose the construction.

"The Americans know very well that the Israeli agreement to freeze the construction does not include Jerusalem," one of the sources said.

The aides chose to address the American response only, ignoring the even harsher criticism voiced by Britain. "The Americans are well aware of the prime minister's stand on the matter, and therefore it would be a mistake to refer to the Americans' statements as a crisis. There are things that are not seen by everyone," one of the sources said, expressing his confidence that the tension would be over within a week.

The Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that the approval issued by the regional construction and planning committee was a routine procedure. "Building permits in Jerusalem's municipal borders, as in Israel's other cities like Tel Aviv and Jaffa, do not reach the prime minister's table."

The statement added that "the Gilo neighborhood is an integral part of Jerusalem, just like Ramot Eshkol, Rehavia, the French Hill, and Pisgat Ze'ev. There is a broad national agreement on this matter. The construction in Gilo has been going on for decades, and there is nothing new in the current planning and construction procedures."

The state officials hinted that the remarks made by Washington were simply a show. "The Americans want the entire issue of the territories to be clarified in the permanent agreement, and don't want the sides – mainly Israel – to create facts on the ground. However, Israel's stand on the matter is unequivocal – Jerusalem will not be part of any discussion on reducing construction," one of the sources said.

Netanyahu: Israel is world's 'most threatened country'

(Haaretz). Israel is "the most threatened country in the world," and the rocket attacks its civilian population has suffered are "attacks not experienced by any other state since Britain in World War II," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday.

Netanyahu was giving the closing remarks at the Israel Annual Conference on Aviation and Astronautics. Much of the discussion at the conference centered on missile defense.

"We are faced with enemies who do not conceal their intentions, and who arm themselves accordingly," the prime minister said. "They first attack us physically, and then attack our right to self-defense."

He noted that despite the financial success of Israel's military industries, much money will be needed over the next decade to meet the state's defense needs. These funds can only be secured by faster growth, which in turn can only be achieved by cutting taxes, he argued.

Aluf Benn is convinced Netanyahu wants Peace, calling the World to Believe Netanyahu

(Aluf Ben-Haaretz).I could hear the prime minister's familiar voice on the telephone. "I want to advance a peace agreement with the Palestinians. I am capable of achieving an agreement. I have the political will inside me," Benjamin Netanyahu told me. He repeated this message during his speeches at the conference of Jewish communities in Washington and at the Saban Forum in Jerusalem: great concessions, generosity of spirit, territorial compromise, let's start negotiations and surprise the world, he said.

I believe him. Political leaders are tested on a public message that they are willing to defend in front of cameras and microphones. Experience shows that there is a correlation between what is said on stage and discrete whispers behind closed doors. Conclusion: Netanyahu's peace talk is meant to prepare the political pundits and Israeli public opinion for a political move, which he presented to U.S. President Barack Obama during their meeting last week.

Netanyahu is motivated by a number of things: The Strategy: It appears that Netanyahu is preparing for war against Iran and Hezbollah in the coming spring, when the snows melt and the clouds clear. Evidence of this is the additional defense budget and the home front's preparations for a confrontation. And even if in the end Netanyahu doesn't strike, he must be ready. It is better for Israel to fight on fewer fronts and neutralize enemies through diplomacy.

Popularity: According to the Haaretz-Dialog survey published Friday, most Israelis want a settlement with the Palestinians and are willing to talk to Hamas, but prefer that the negotiations be handled by a right-wing government. Netanyahu is popular, and currently no politician is threatening to take the public's support away from him. If he moves forward in a political process, he will be meeting the public's expectations, as he had done in his declaration for "two states for two peoples" and in canceling the drought tax.

Politics: Netanyahu fears a breakdown of the Labor Party, which may take it out of the coalition and leave him with only his "natural partners," who oppose a settlement, and without Defense Minister Ehud Barak, whom the prime minister wants next to him in an expected confrontation with Iran. Netanyahu needs to give Labor enough slack so it can stay in his coalition, as he did when he responded to Barak and came out against Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman's plan to split the role of the attorney general.

The World: Israel's international isolation is becoming more difficult. Credible negotiations with the Palestinians, especially if they are accompanied by the "generosity" that Netanyahu promises, will remove the Goldstone report from over Israel's head and with it the threat of being boycotted and condemned. They will also contribute to the rehabilitation of relations with Europe, Turkey and Jordan. It is true that Netanyahu can trick them all and buy time with empty negotiations until he makes up his mind whether to attack Iran, or until Obama is deep in the race for a second term and leaves him be. Netanyahu knows that he is not believed and says: I don't want a peace process for the sake of the process, but to bring an end to the problem. He can trick the journalists who, in the worst-case scenario, will write things against him. But it is hard to believe that he will try to cheat the president of the United States and make false promises. The deal that Obama is offering is clear: a diplomatic struggle against Iran and defense backing for Israel - in some areas even more than what was on the table during the Bush administration - in return for a pullout from the territories and a Palestinian state. Netanyahu understood this and still insisted on meeting the president, even at the cost of public humiliation, to tell him that he wants to push forward on a settlement with the Palestinians. He spoke with him about "concrete steps" and made his promises public. Why would he do this if his intentions were not true? The prime minister is lonely. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas avoids him. His senior ministers are not thrilled by the prospect: Barak leans toward Syria and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman looks down on negotiations with the Palestinians.

It is not clear if Netanyahu has a negotiator who can cobble together a deal, as Moshe Dayan was for Menachem Begin and Shimon Peres for Yitzhak Rabin. Every political leader needs a court diplomat, a Henry Kissinger of sorts. Barak and Ehud Olmert carried out the negotiations on their own and crashed. But these problems can be resolved. The minute Netanyahu is convincing that he is serious and has a serious peace plan and not mere slogans, the political world will be shaken up, and those supporting a settlement with the Palestinians will back him. This is his challenge. He convinced me; let's see him convince Abbas.

PM instructs ministers to keep silent about Gilo expansion

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser to make it clear to all ministers and their deputies that they must not comment on the American criticism in regards to the plan to expand the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo.

"We have nothing to add beyond what has already been said," a source at the Prime Minister's Office said.

U.S. 'dismayed' at Israel plan to build 900 homes in J'elm - While Netanyahu kept the moratorium since inuagration

(Haaretz).The White House responded angrily Tuesday to Israel's plan to build 900 new housing units beyond the Green Line in Jerusalem, despite specific objections from the U.S., saying that "we are dismayed."

In a statement, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs voiced the U.S.'s disappointment with "the Jerusalem Planning Committee's decision to move forward on the approval process for the expansion of Gilo in Jerusalem."

"At a time when we are working to relaunch negotiations," the White House spokesman went on to say, "these actions make it more difficult for our efforts to succeed. Neither party should engage in efforts or take actions that could unilaterally pre-empt, or appear to pre-empt, negotiations."

"The U.S. also objects to other Israeli practices in Jerusalem related to housing, including the continuing pattern of evictions and demolitions of Palestinian homes," the statement continued.

"Our position is clear: the status of Jerusalem is a permanent status issue that must be resolved through negotiations between the parties," he added.

To note:Since his inauguration, Netanyahu did not approve a single significant construction project in settlement. In a very welcome change, a 900-housing unit project is approved in Gilo, on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

Hamas prisoner: Progress made in Shalit talks

(Ynet).A Hamas prisoner claimed Tuesday that progress has been made in negotiations for the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit over the past few days.

In an interview with Ynet the prisoner, who is considered close to the talks and kept updated on their progress, said the advancement also has to do with the next stages of the deal as well as the names of prisoners to be included in it.

He declined to mention further details, but said the deal was being conducted through a German mediator.

Obama pressures Iran over deal: Time is running out,accept deal or face consequences

President Obama pushed Sunday for continued pressure on Iran and its nuclear program. Appearing with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Obama said "we are now running out of time" for Iran to sign on to a deal to ship its enriched uranium out of the country for further processing.

"Unfortunately, so far it appears Iran has been unable to say yes," to the proposal on uranium reprocessing, Obama said.

"We have to continue to maintain urgency and our previous discussions, confirming the need for a dual-track approach, are still the right approach to take. We will begin to discuss and prepare for these other pathways," Obama said.

Medvedev said he remains hopeful the negotiations can lead to "positive result," but that, "In case we fail, other options remain on the table."

Appearing alongside China's leader on Tuesday Obama continues pressure on Iran: "We agreed that the Islamic Republic of Iran must provide assurance to the international community that its nuclear program is peaceful and transparent," Obama said at the news conference.

"Iran has an opportunity to present and demonstrate its peaceful intentions but if it fails to take advantage of this opportunity it will face consequences."

PM Netanyahu touring Missile submarine, warns: 'Iranian threat very grave for world'

(Foxnews).Underscoring Israel's military might in the face of the Iranian threat, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned on Tuesday about the dangers of a nuclear Iran after visiting a submarine believed capable of firing nuclear-tipped missiles.

Netanyahu also took a ride on an Israeli missile ship that led the raid earlier this month on the Francop, which was loaded with arms Israel says were shipped from Iran and bound for Hizbullah.

"The threat that Iran poses is very grave for the state of Israel, for peace in the Middle East and the whole world," he said aboard the missile ship INS Eilat. "Without any doubt, we are the first target, but not the last."

The submarine that Netanyahu visited was one of three Dolphin-class vessels built in Germany that foreign press reports have said are carrying nuclear warheads. Two more are on order.

Israel has never confirmed the submarines have nuclear capabilities, as it never has confirmed media reports that it possesses a stockpile of nuclear weapons.

After complimenting the sailors for their hard work, Netanyahu got off the INS Eilat and stepped onto a dinghy to visit the navy base whose elite commandos captured the Francop arms vessel off the Cyprus coast earlier this month.

The waters were choppy and Netanyahu briefly wobbled, a pained look crossing his face. Aides rushed to help and a bodyguard placed his arms around the Israeli leader to help keep him steady.

Despite pressure,J'lem c'tee approves Gilo expansion; Mayor Barkat: US demand of building halt is race Discrimination

(JPOST, INN).Despite US pressure to cease building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem neighborhoods, the capital's Construction and Planning Committee on Tuesday afternoon approved the building of an additional 850 housing units in Gilo.

Interior Minister Eli Yishai signed the approval for the expansion of the southeast Jerusalem neighborhood.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said Tuesday that Israel rejected any American attempts to force a halt to building in Gilo, or any other Jerusalem neighborhood, whether Jewish or Arab. "Israeli law does not discriminate between Jews and Arabs or between East and West. Demanding that we stop building just for Jews is illegal in the United States as well, and in every other enlightened place in the world.

"I do not believe that the U.S. government would demand a domestic building freeze on the basis of race, religion, or gender, and attempting to demand this in Jerusalem is an unacceptable double standard, The Jerusalem Municipality will continue to enable construction in every part of the city for Jews and Arabs alike." Barkat said.

NY Assemblyman Dov Hikind urges American Jews to buy West Bank homes

(Haaretz).An influential Jewish community leader and Democratic State Assemblyman from New York is currently heading a mission of about 50 Americans through the West Bank and East Jerusalem to promote home purchases in the area and to protest U.S. President Barack Obama's Middle East policy.

"Our goal is to send a clear message to Washington and President Obama that Jews will continue to live in Judea and Samaria and the ultimate commitment American Jews can make is to actually come and buy property in these areas as this will ensure these communities" security and growth," said Dov Hikind, 59, who has been representing Brooklyn's 48th district since 1983.

"People buy properties in different places, and I can't think of any reason why people dedicated to the land of Israel shouldn't own something here, whether they will use it or use it as an opportunity for young families to live in that particular home," the politician told Haaretz yesterday in Elon Moreh, an Israeli settlement in the Samarian Hills.

"When there will be a real peace process, the fact that Jews live in certain areas will be dealt with at the negotiating table," Hikind said when asked whether Jews buying homes in areas designated for a future Palestinian state could be an obstacle to peace. 'I'm for peace,The issue is: Can there be natural expansion, can families grow, are they allowed to build toilets?"

Hikind dismisses the argument that American buyers can hardly be called natural expansion. "We're Jews and we care. I've always wanted to own something in Israel; it's been a dream of mine and of many Jews," he said. "For now, if a Jews wants to buy something in the Land of Israel there shouldn't be anything that says you can't buy in a particular area because Jews should not live there because that area has to be segregated."

One of the few Democrats who opposed Obama even before he was elected, Hikind says the U.S. president's policy of demanding a total settlement freeze caused the current stalemate in regional peace talks.

"President Obama actually has put a stop to whatever peace process existed, to any kind of dialogue between the Palestinian Authority and the prime minister of Israel, because Mahmoud Abbas's new position is what Obama said: there can be absolutely no construction, period," Hikind said. While Israel was willing to resume talks, Palestinians refuse to return to the negotiating table before Israel agrees to a complete freeze, he added. "They're just taking the position the president had, which is ridiculous and outrageous."

US and the EU rejects PA appeal to back unilateral declaration of state

(Haaretz).On Monday evening, the United States on Monday reaffirmed its support for the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through negotiations, in its first official response to the Palestinian plan.

"It is our strong belief and conviction that the best means to achieve the common goal of a contiguous and viable Palestine is through negotiations between the parties," the U.S. State Department said in a statement.

U.S. senators visiting Israel said earlier in the day that on Monday that Washington would veto a Palestinian declaration of statehood in the United Nations Security Council.

"It would be D.O.A. - dead on arrival," Democratic Party Senator Ted Kaufman (DE) told a news conference in Jerusalem. "It's a waste of time."

Senator Joseph Lieberman (CT), an independent, said "an essentially unilateral" declaration of statehood was the one thing that would not move the stalled peace process forward."

(AP).The European Union rejected requests Tuesday that it support a Palestinian plan for gaining recognition as an independent state at the UN Security Council without Israeli consent.

Sweden's Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, told reporters "the conditions are not there as of yet" for such a move. "I would hope that we would be in a position to recognize a Palestinian state, but there has to be one first, so I think that is somewhat premature."

The EU's foreign ministers on Tuesday were discussing ways to coordinate with the United States to get Palestinians and Israelis back to peace talks, said Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU's external relations commissioner.

"The most important thing until now is to really help the Americans bring both sides to the table," she said.

Bildt said he could understand why the Palestinians were suggesting such a move, as a way to break the current deadlock. "It is clearly an act borne by a difficult situation where they don't see any road ahead and I can understand that," said Bildt.

Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, told reporters that moving to set up a viable Palestinian state "has to be done with time and with calm and in an appropriate moment." He added no one is "looking for that today."

Netanyahu: Disobedience in IDF will cause State to collapse

(Ynet)."There is no place for disobedience and we shall employ every method to eradicate it," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday referring to an incident in which Nachshon Battalion soldiers held a sign in protest of building evacuation in the Negohot settlement.

Netanyahu made the statements during a visit to the Navy base in Haifa. "Israel Defense Forces are based on the concept of command hierarchy.

"If you wish to dismiss the IDF – promote disobedience, which could lead to the State's collapse. The army leans on the right to give and receive orders," the prime minister said.

IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi, who accompanied Netanyahu in the visit, said that the IDF is dealing with the phenomenon with a firm hand.

"There is no place for disobedience and rebelliousness in the army," Ashkenazi stated and thanked the prime minister for his words. "I trust the Kfir Brigade commander in dealing with the phenomenon."

Opposition crumble - Livni, Mofaz clash at Kadima faction session

(Jpost).The fight to face off against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in the next race for the premiership began in earnest Monday, when Kadima leader Tzipi Livni clashed with her No. 2, MK Shaul Mofaz, at the start of the party's weekly faction meeting.

Livni decided ahead of the meeting to turn down a request from Mofaz to discuss his new diplomatic plan, because the normally two-hour session had to be cut to only half an hour due to a speech she delivered at the Saban Forum. Her aides said they left messages for Mofaz's staff to inform him, but they did not return calls. Mofaz's secretary said there were no messages or missed calls from Livni's office.

"Shaul wanted a diplomatic discussion, but the time now is too short and we need a lot of time for a diplomatic discussion because there are many different opinions among us," Livni told the MKs at the start of the meeting.

Mofaz, who sat near Livni, interrupted her and told her: "Your attempt to prevent me from raising [the plan] in the faction meeting did not advance unity in Kadima. But I won't make an issue of it, and at the first opportunity that there will be, I will present my program, which is an important plan for the State of Israel. It should be heard in depth in the way I want to present it."

Livni repeatedly attempted to interrupt Mofaz by sarcastically saying, "wonderful."

Later, when she spoke about diplomatic issues, she made a point of insulting Mofaz, who last week called for negotiations with Hamas under certain conditions.

"We held negotiations with moderates," Livni said regarding the government in which she was foreign minister. "In my eyes any talking to Hamas is dangerous for Israel."

Livni's associates said that Mofaz's behavior in the faction meeting proved that his diplomatic plan was only intended to be a political tool against Livni.

"He insisted on a half-hour discussion instead of answering the phone and setting up an organized forum that would have shown respect for him and his plan," a Livni associate said. "He put on a political show. It's so political, it's transparent. Tzipi will not accept dictates."

Lawmakers loyal to Mofaz expressed frustration afterward that he was not allowed to present the program. MK Otniel Schneller called it "shameful and appalling." Schneller clashed in the meeting with Livni loyalist MK Ronnie Bar-On, who criticized him for calling the 2007 Kadima leadership race corrupt.

"If that's how you feel about the party, you don't have to stay here," Bar-On told Schneller. "The door is there."

Lieberman ends brief coalition threat; Netanyahu promises Aliyah Budget by Next Monday

(Jpost).Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman will meet at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem on Tuesday night to settle a dispute over a NIS 20 million cut in the budget of the Israel Beiteinu-controlled Immigrant Absorption Ministry.

The two men met on Monday afternoon just an hour and a half after Lieberman dropped a political bombshell at a hastily-called press conference when he announced that his party would boycott all voting on the Knesset floor.

Netanyahu told Lieberman at the meeting that he would find a way to restore the cut. In the interim, Lieberman agreed that his party would maintain loyalty to the government and continue voting for coalition bills.

Netanyahu decides to put off decision on splitting Attorney General role

(Haaretz).Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Monday that the role of the next Attorney General would not be split, as Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman had proposed several weeks ago.

The proposal raised strong objections by the current attorney general, Menachem Mazuz, and several ministers, who argued that such a split would significantly weaken the official's position in the government and enable ministers to "do what ever they want."

Netanyahu told the selection committee that the final decision regarding the future of the attorney general role will be made with in the next few months, after Mazuz is replaced. The premier stressed that the decision was complex and delicate, and that it would take a while before any changes were implemented.

He added that due to the fact that there would not be any changes, the committee must recommend a candidate for the role who would function according to its current requirements.

Coalition Crisis: Angry Lieberman threatens not to support Coalition; calls reporters: 'Liars, scoundrels and idiots'

(IsraelNN.com) Binyamin Netanyahu's coalition experienced its first crisis Monday when Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called a press conference and announced that the Israel Our Home faction would no longer support the government in any Knesset votes, including no-confidence votes.

"The straw that broke the camel's back,” Lieberman said, “was when I found out that out of the cut [in the government budget] that was approved, they took out the cut in the yeshiva funding while they are cutting the Aliyah [funding].”

"Yesterday I informed Netanyahu's bureau chief, Natan Eshel, that if we do not receive a positive answer about Aliyah budgets we will not participate in any vote.”


The foreign minister told reporters that he is not against funding for any sector but “if there is money for the hareidis there will also be money for immigrants. It is inconceivable that a party with six Knesset seats issues an ultimatum and the government retreats, and a party with 15 Knesset seats demands one third of that amount.

An angry Lieberman denied media analysis that said that his move was revenge for Prime Minister Netanyahu's position on the splitting of the Attorney General's post. “There is no shortage of liars, scoundrels and idiots here,” he said. When asked by reporters whether he meant parliamentarians or reporters, he said he was mostly talking about reporters, but also in the parliament. “It's the entire spectrum,” he said, “from [Maariv reporter] Shalom Yerushalmi to [Labor MK] Shelly Yechimovich.”

The Prime Minister's Office announced on Monday that Netanyahu met with Lieberman regarding his demands for funding for the Ministry for Immigration and Absorption. The two are scheduled to meet on Tuesday in an effort to reach a solution by next Monday. Lieberman said at the press conference that hopes to solve the problem "very soon."

Netanyahu: No one to talk to on Palestinian side

(YNET).Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized the Palestinian leadership once again on Monday, claiming it was not interested in resuming peace negotiations.

"The Palestinians are running away from negotiations. There is no one to talk to," the PM told a Likud faction meeting amid Palestinian threats to ask the UN to recognize an independent Palestinian state without Israel's consent.

Earlier Monday, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the Palestinian Authority has asked the European Union to back such a move.

During the Likud faction meeting, Knesset Member Carmel Shama said that even if the Palestinians declare statehood, "the most they'll get is a monopoly state."

"A unilateral declaration of the establishment of a Palestinian state will be meaningless," he said.

Netanyahu said during the meeting that his meeting with US President Barack Obama last week was "very good".

"This is how it was defined by (White House Chief of Staff) Rahm Emanuel, and this is how I define it. President Obama only ended the meeting when he had to go to his daughters," Netanyahu said

Lieberman: PA playing ugly 'double game' with Israel

(Haaretz). Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Monday accused the Palestinian Authority of playing an "ugly and double game," by seeking Israel's support in crushing Hamas while submitting simultaneous complaints to the international community.

"During Operation Cast Lead, the Palestinian Authority pressured us to crush Hamas," Lieberman told the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. "Then, a month later, they submitted a complaint against us to the International Criminal Court in The Hague."

Even before the Goldstone Commission published its damning report about Israel's offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, said Lieberman, "there were a thousand complaints against Israel at the ICC, a large number of them encouraged by the PA.

Fatah, which runs the PA, was ousted by Hamas from Gaza in a bloody 2007 coup. Since then, the rival movements have been deeply divided and repeated attempts at reconciliation have failed.

With regard to the PA's suggestion that it would seek international support for a unilateral declaration of statehood, Lieberman said: "Any one-sided Palestinian move will be met with steps of our own."

"Whoever holds a unilateral policy with complete disregard for past accords," said Lieberman, "will get the same from us."

"Breach of accords will not go unanswered," he said.

According to Lieberman, Israel could not count on the Americans to veto any such Palestinian request to the UN Security Council.

"Nothing is certain when it comes to an American veto, but I think the Americans understand that these policies bury any chance of reaching peace, and I think that the U.S. would also find it uncomfortable to have to deal at the Security Council with recognition of a Palestinian state."

Report: Missing Iran general abducted by Mossad, being held in Israel

(Haaretz).A former Iranian defense official who disappeared in 2006 was kidnapped by forces collaborating with the Mossad and is currently being held in an Israeli prison, an investigative news website in Iran claimed on Sunday in a report picked up by Army Radio.

Ali-Reza Asgari, a onetime commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, went missing in Turkey in 2006.

Iranian officials and Asgari's family have claimed that he was abducted.

On Sunday, the Iranian website Alef reported that German, British and Israeli intelligence agencies were responsible for Asgari's disappearance.

"On the basis of a two-year investigation carried out by concerned bodies, Asgari was abducted by foreign intelligence services and is being held in a Zionist prison," the site reported, apparently referring to an Iranian intelligence probe into the matter.

The report claims that Asgari was kidnapped in an effort to get information about Iran's nuclear program and about missing Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad.

The report added that after his questioning, Asgari was secretly transferred to a prison facility in Israel, where he is currently being held.

Hans Ruehle, a former chief of the planning staff of the German Defense
Ministry, wrote in a Swiss newspaper in March that Asgari told the West that Iran was financing North Korean steps to transform Syria into a nuclear weapons power, leading to an Israeli airstrike that targeted a site in Syria on Sept. 6, 2007.

The U.S. claims the site was a nearly finished nuclear reactor, but Syria denies that and says the facility was an unused military installation.

Ruehle said Asgari, who was instrumental in establishing the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, changed sides and provided information to the West on Iran's own nuclear program.

Iranian officials have said Asgari was not linked to Iran's nuclear program, but Western media reports have said he has cooperated with U.S. intelligence and is considered a high value defector.

Asgari, who became involved in the olive business after retirement, arrived in Turkey on a private visit from Damascus, Syria, on Dec. 7, 2006, and disappeared on Dec. 9, according to Iranian officials.

The Foreign Ministry has refused to comment on the report.

Netanyahu: Palestinians, Israel mustn't waste time; If Palestinians act unilaterally, so will Israel

(Haaretz, AP).Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the path to peace in the Middle East was at the negotiating table, but said he was not interested in "negotiating for the sake of negotiations."

The prime minister emphasized that negotiations must begin at once, in good faith between the two sides. There was no point in wasting time, he said.

The negotiations would not be easy, he said, and would have to cover sensitive topics. Israeli leaders must be brave of heart to see this go forth, he said, but so too must the Palestinians.

The negotiations must cover the security situation, he added, citing three central challenges that must be addressed in ordered to achieve peace.

First of all, he said, Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.

Second of all, Israel must find a way to fight the threat of rockets.

And third, he said, Israel's right to exist must be accepted.

Netanyahu rejected Palestinian officials declaration that they are preparing to ask the United Nations to endorse an independent state without Israel's consent, warning Israel would retaliate.

"There is no substitute for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians," Netanyahu said. "Any unilateral action would only unravel the framework of agreements between us and can only lead to one-sided steps on the part of Israel." He did not elaborate further.

Bill Clinton: Israel need not be negative towards Obama ; urges:Give Obama a chance

(Ynet, Haaretz).Former US President Bill Clinton said in a speech before the Saban Forum in Jerusalem that Israel need not be negative towards the current US administration under President Barack Obama.

Clinton said that no American president can in good conscience not be committed to the security of Israel. He said that he understands where relations soured, but that no negative feelings should be harbored. Clinton reiterated that Washington will not "force" Israel to do anything it does not want to do.

Clinton also recommended that Netanyahu and Obama act diplomatically in public, so as not to confound the issues in the eyes of the media. Their seemingly shaky relationship thus far should not be seen as any indication of future partnership, he said.

"No American president can serve in good conscience and not be committed to the security of Israel," Clinton said.

He added, however, that the U.S. must be free to express its opinions on the conflict without forcing Jerusalem to accept its every demand.

"As long as you believe that American is with you at some core emotional level, we can have a conversation about anything," Clinton said. "If you ever stop believing that then it does not matter what our position is."

Clinton said that he would not be surprised if Netanyahu's government makes "an agreement or makes a proposal that would be beyond anything anyone expects."

Referring to Israel's willingness to curb settlement growth, he reiterated the praise his wife, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, expressed last month, when she described Israel's gestures as unprecedented.

"This is the first time that any Israeli government has said we will not issue an new permits and not have any new settlements and that should be enough to open the door and start talking," the former president said.

Clinton went on to urge Israel to recognize the importance of Obama being accepted among non-extremists in the Muslim world.

The unbalanced demographics in the region, with higher birth rates among the Palestinians and their growing capability of rocket technology, shows the urgency of achieving peace as soon as possible, he said.

"The trajectory of technology is not your friend.... You need to get this done and you do have partners," Clinton said.

PM Netanyahu: We would only accept France as a mediator in talks with Syria

(JPOST).In a first response to Syria's announcement that it was prepared to resume indirect negotiations with Israel mediated by Turkey, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday said Israel would be willing to accept France as a mediator in peace negotiations with Syria.

"If France would want to serve as a mediator, we would be willing," Netanyahu said at the weekly cabinet meeting.

Netanyahu's statement came after Syrian President Bashar Assad on Friday called for talks to resume with Turkey as a mediator.

The prime minister, however, said Jerusalem did not believe Ankara was objective enough to mediate the talks.

"Israel is prepared to hold negotiations without precondition with the Syrians. I prefer direct talks, but if [they are] with a mediator then it must be fair. The Turkish prime minister [Recep Tayyip Erdogan] has not strengthened his image as an objective, fair mediator," said Netanyahu.

Obama: Iran running out of time for deal

(AP).President Barack Obama said in Singapore Sunday that time is running out for Iran to sign on to a deal to ship its enriched uranium out of the country for further processing.

Standing beside Russian President Dmitry Medvedev after the two leaders met Sunday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, Obama said, "We are now running out of time."

Medvedev said he still hoped to convince Iran to send its enriched uranium to Russia where it could be further processed to fuel an aging medical reactor in Tehran.

If that plan fails, however, Medvedev said, "Other options remain on the table." He has said further sanctions against Iran were possible if it did not open its nuclear program to inspections to prove it was not trying to build a bomb.

Netanyahu at Cabinet: Teenage drinking in Israel is becoming an epidemic

(Haaretz).Teenage drinking in Israel is on the verge of becoming an epidemic, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday in a government meeting.

The prime minister said there has been a 15 percent increase in alcohol consumption over the last three years, which must spur immediate action on three fronts: legislation, enforcement, and education.

"The most important thing is to take immediate action - and to do so aggressively," said Netanyahu.

The premier opened the cabinet meeting with data detailing the drinking problem in Israel.

"About a third of teens aged 12-18 report that they got drunk in the last year, which is a terrible figure," he said. "Moreover, about 20% of boys in the sixth grade report having drunk an alcoholic beverage, or that they drink an alcoholic beverage once a week. That is the second largest figure in Europe."

Netanyahu said he believed the trends could be reversed. "Other countries took action and succeeded, and we are learning from them," he said.

The prime minister also outlined the government's three-pronged plan to combat teenage drinking.

"First, we will implement a change in legislation that will limit the selling of alcohol to minors and will worsen the punishment of breaking the law," he said. "Second, we will strengthen the enforcement on the prohibition of selling of alcoholic beverages in places such as clubs and bars.

"And third, we intend to create a public atmosphere that opposes the drinking of alcohol, especially among teens through various educational activities."

Sarkozy offers to host summit with Netanyahu, Abbas and Assad to break Mideast deadlock

(Haaretz).French President Nicolas Sarkozy offered last week to host an international summit in Paris to break the deadlock in the Middle East peace process. Sarkozy first raised the proposal in his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, then with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Neither Netanyahu nor Abbas rejected the offer, though the U.S. administration's position remains unclear.

Netanyahu did, however, express anger at French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner's remarks on Tuesday that Israelis' desire for peace had waned.

French officials said that during the meeting with Netanyahu, Sarkozy had several ideas for restarting the stalled negotiations. One proposal was to hold a summit on the Mideast peace process attended by Netanyahu, Abbas, Assad, Jordan's King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Lebanese President Michel Suleiman. Representatives of the Quartet of Mideast negotiators - the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia - would also take part.

At his meeting with Sarkozy, Netanyahu did not reject the possibility of attending the summit, and on Thursday the French president discussed the proposal in a telephone conversation with Abbas. A day later, Sarkozy presented the idea to Assad during the Syrian leader's visit to Paris.

Netanyahu found a warmer welcome in Paris after his reportedly tense visit to Washington, and the Prime Minister's Bureau was eager to ensure reporters that the latest encounter went smoothly.

Nonetheless, French diplomats at the meeting said that there were a few ripples at the Elysee Palace. Whereas during their last meeting, Sarkozy complained to Netanyahu over Avigdor Lieberman's allegedly inappropriate remarks and urged him to oust the foreign minister, this time it was Netanyahu criticizing Kouchner.

Israel’s Defense Forces working on an SMS rocket alert system

(intomobile.com).Israel’s Defense Forces (IDF) is working on a text message rocket alert system. The system, which will be installed within two years and will work alongside existing air raid sirens, will automatically send an SMS to all phones in the area that could be endangered by a missile attack.

The technology behind the SMS notification relies on the advanced rocket sensors which will soon have the ability to calculate the projectile’s exact trajectory. Once the predicted impact zone is identified, all mobile phones in the area will receive a text message with a warning. Moreover, the system will be designed to additionally warn people by making the phones vibrate, produce a sound, and/or flash. I’m guessing some software modification is required for this to work, but I’ve no doubts Israeli army has all the resources needed to pull this out. Hopefully, they’ll never need to use such a system.

Former US President Bill Clinton: Israel, PA can't 'Divorce'

Former US President Bill Clinton, whose energetic efforts to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal collapsed, urged both sides Saturday to end their decades-old conflict, saying they cannot escape their common future.

"In the last 14 years, not a single week has gone by that I did not think of [former prime minister] Yitzhak Rabin and miss him terribly," Clinton said. "Nor has a single week gone by in which I have not reaffirmed my conviction that had he not lost his life on that terrible November night, within three years we would have had a comprehensive agreement for peace in the Middle East."

Clinton spoke Saturday to a VIP gathering at the Yitzhak Rabin Center, a memorial to the former premier who was gunned down in November 1995 by Yigal Amir.

"We are either going to hurt each other or we are going to help each other," he said of Israel and the Palestinians. "Divorce is not an option."

Via IMRA:
Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: If prime minister Yitzhak Rabin hadn't been assassinated and the trend in polls before prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated continued to the elections then Netanyahu would have defeated him at the polls. Netanyahu did not rise to power because of the assassination despite it.

Erekat: PA may declare state via UN; PM Netanyahu to warn at Sunday speech: Palestinian state only via negotiations

(Ynet).Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat says the Palestinian Authority is making an effort to elicit international support for declaring statehood, Al-Ayyam newspaper reported Saturday.

According to Erekat, the PA intends to promote this issue in order to bring it for a vote at the UN Security Council. The Palestinians are interested in declaring a state in line with the 1967 borders, he said.

"The idea is clear and understandable," he said, adding that "now we mobilize" and criticizing Israel's policies in the West Bank which he said prompted the latest Palestinian effort.

The move would send a message that "settlements and other unilateral actions are null and void and do not establish rights or territory," Erekat said, noting that he spoke about the Palestinian initiative with both American and European officials.

Prime Minister Netanyahu will tell attendees at Saban Forum on Sunday that the solution lays within negotiations. In his speech at the Saban forum in Jerusalem the PM will reject the Palestinian initiative that is increasingly picking up speed. He would warn the Palestinians not to try to advance in, and will highlight the opposition of Israel, claiming that the solution in creating a Palestinian state is only through negotiations with Israel.

President Shimon Peres addressed the night talking with reporters accompanying him to Brazil to allow the Palestinians try to establish a one - sided. "You can not build a country without a peace agreement. It's impossible and it will not work. It is unacceptable that every day they change their minds, irritation is not a policy."

What did Obama try to hint to Netanyahu at their White House meet with Picture display?

(Laura Rozen-Politico, Haaretz).The painting is of Lincoln with his generals Grant and Sherman, a commenter says, and she/he's right. It's artist George P.A. Healy's painting, "The Peacemakers," showing Lincoln meeting with military advisors Gen. William T. Sherman, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, and Adm. David Porter March 27-28, 1865 in City Point, Virginia, aboard the steamer River Queen that brought Lincoln there down the Potomac. Just over a week after the meeting portrayed in the painting, the South's Gen. Lee surrendered, and five days after that, Lincoln was assassinated.

Acquired by the Truman White House, the Healy painting was displayed in the White House Treaty Room in the Kennedy, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, and George W. Bush presidencies. Not clear when "The Peacemakers" got moved to the Oval Office private dining room to be photographed hanging above Obama and Netanyahu's recent tete-a-tete. It wasn't there when he had this 2009 lunch with Joe Biden (that's a portrait of George Washington, I think, that hung in the same place during this 2007 Bush/Cheney lunch); and Obama had a far more pastoral looking landscape hanging there during his one-on-one meeting over tea with Jordan's King Abdullah last April (see below). It was there during Obama's October 22, 2009 meeting with Nancy Pelosi.

Does the Obama White House switch the painting hanging there depending on the occasion, for symbolic effect? Or, sometime between his Abdullah tea in the spring and his Netanyahu meeting last week did Obama have "The Peacemakers" moved into his private presidential dining room permanently?

Obama's message to Netanyahu, if there really was such a message, is quite clear: If you end the blood feud and make a peace of the brave, you will be remembered in history as a great leader, like Lincoln (the former president most esteemed by Obama).

Lieberman: Return to '67 borders would move conflict into Israel

(Jpost).A return to the pre-1967 lines, with a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria, would bring the conflict into Israel's borders, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Saturday night, according to Israel Radio and other Israeli media outlets.

Establishing a Palestinian state will not bring an end to the conflict, Lieberman was quoted as saying, in an address at the Saban Forum in Jerusalem.

The forum's deliberations are supposed to be conducted behind closed doors, but Lieberman's comments were immediately reported by Hebrew news sites and then by Israel Radio.

If a Palestinian state were established in Judea and Samaria, the minister reportedly added, Israeli Arabs would demand autonomy in the Galilee and the Negev and would build stronger bonds with the Palestinian Authority.

Syria rejects Israel talks at Assad Meeting Sarkozy in Paris

(AJEnglish).Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, has said he is not willing to hold face-to-face talks with the Israeli leader, after a meeting in France aimed at restarting the Middle East peace process.

His comments come after meeting Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, who conveyed a willingness by Israel's prime minister to begin peace talks with the Syrians.

Al-Assad said: "If Mr [Binyamin] Netanyahu is serious, he can send a team of experts, and we'll send a team of experts to Turkey. Then we can really talk, if they're interested."

The meeting between al-Assad and Sarkozy in Paris on Friday comes a week after Netanyahu met the French leader.

Sarkozy was expected to hand al-Assad a letter from Netanyahu, in which he says the Israelis are ready to begin talks with the Syrians, with no pre-conditions.

Syria has long had one main pre-condition for talks with Israel - the return of the strategic Golan Heights, which Israel captured in the 1967 war and annexed in 1981.

Al-Assad, speaking outside the Eylsee Palace, said: "Today, Syria wants peace. There is a mediator, Turkey, which is ready to resume its mediation.

"What we lack is an Israeli partner who is ready to go forward and ready to come to a result," he said.

Four days late, U.S. releases photo of Netanyahu-Obama private meeting in oval office private dining room

(HAaretz).The White House finally released on Thursday a photograph of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting Monday with U.S. President Barack Obama, after speculation that the lack of a photo opportunity was an intentional slight by the administration.

Commentators have suggested that the White House wished to "humiliate" Netanyahu by not issuing an official photograph of the talks, in order to highlight dissatisfaction over the premier's unwillingness to make further concessions on West Bank settlement construction.

The photograph shows the two leaders in conversation leaning over a table endowed with cookies, in the Oval Office private dining room.

Obama's failure, Netanyahu's opportunity

(Caroline B. Glick-JewishWorldReview.com).Once again, US President Barack Obama has demonstrated his intention of "putting light" between America and Israel. His hostility towards Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu during the latter's visit to Washington this week was breathtaking.

It isn't every day that you can see an American President leaving the Prime Minister of an allied government twisting in the wind for weeks before deciding to grant him an audience at the White House.

It isn't every day that a visiting leader from a strategically vital US ally is brought into the White House in an unmarked van in the middle of the night rather than greeted like a friend at the front door; is forbidden to have his picture taken with the President; is forced to leave the White House alone, through a side exit; and is ordered to keep the contents of his meeting with the President secret.

Ahead of Obama's meeting with Netanyahu, the Wall Street Journal reported that Obama was effectively attempting to blackmail the Israeli premier by conditioning the meeting on Netanyahu's willingness to make tangible concessions to the Palestinians during his speech before the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America.

Although the report was denied by the Obama administration, if it was true, such a move by the White House would be without precedent in the history of US relations with Israel. And if untrue, the very fact that the story rings true is indicative of the wretched state of US relations with Israel since Obama entered office.

Obama's hostility was evident as well during his meeting with fifty Jewish leaders at the White House this week. In an obvious bid to split American Jewry away from Israel, Obama refused to discuss Israel or Iran with the concerned American Jewish leaders. As far as Obama was concerned, all they deserved from him was a primer on the brilliance of his economic policies and the worthiness of his plan to socialize the American healthcare industry. His foreign policy is none of their business.

Obama's meeting with American Jewish leaders was supposed to be a consolation prize for American Jews after Obama cancelled his first public address to American Jews since taking office. The White House claimed that he cancelled the speech because his visit to the Fort Hood memorial service made it impossible for him to attend. But then the conference was a three-day affair. The organizers would probably have been happy to reschedule.

Instead, as Iran races to the nuclear finish line, America's Jewish leaders were forced to sit through White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel's kitschy Borscht Belt schmooze about his bar mitzvah.

The ironic thing about Obama's nastiness towards Netanyahu and his arrogant treatment of the American Jewish community is that while it has made him the first US president to have no credibility among Israelis and has caused a 14 percent drop in his support among American Jews, it has failed utterly to earn him the trust of the Muslim world.

Today the Fatah movement is in disarray. Last week its leader Mahmoud Abbas announced his intention to retire and has placed the blame for his decision on the Obama administration as well as on Israel. Key Palestinian spokesmen like Saeb Erekat have declared the death of the peace process and called for the renewal of the jihad against Israel.

As for the larger Muslim world, a report this week in the New York Timesstated that the US's key Arab allies Egypt and Saudi Arabia have been perilously weakened since Obama took office. Their diminished influence has been accompanied by the rapid rise of Iran and Syria. Both of these rogue states have been on the receiving end of continuous wooing by Obama administration officials who seem ready to do just about anything to appease them.

In the meantime, Iran's Hizbullah proxy in Lebanon has again managed to regain control over Lebanon's government despite its defeat in last June's parliamentary elections. Making full use of the fact that it fields the most powerful army in the country and owing as well to the US's decision to abandon the pro-Western March 14 movement in favor of an approach that makes no distinction between America's friends and foes in Lebanon, Hizbullah strong-armed its way back to the driver's seat in the new Lebanese government.

As for Hizbullah's Iranian bosses, far from convincing them to moderate their policies, the Obama administration's efforts to appease the ayatollahs have emboldened Iran's theocratic leaders to adopt ever more radical positions against the US. As senior US officials try to make light of the fact that in the past week Iran has thrice rejected their latest offer to have the US, Russia and France enrich uranium for them, the Iranians announced that they will try three hapless American hikers for espionage. The three young Americans were abducted by Iranian security forces along the Iran-Iraq border in Kurdistan four months ago.

The fact that Obama's policies have all failed so spectacularly presents a unique opportunity for Israel to move its policies in a bold new direction. Many commentators and policymakers have claimed that it falls on Israel to help Obama succeed where he has failed. In their view, Israel must go out of its way to establish a Palestinian state during Obama's term of office or accept the blame for any renewal of the Palestinian terror war against it. Such voices — most strongly represented this week by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman — have tried to blame the failure of Obama's attempt to reinstate negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on Israel's alleged intransigence.

In response to these allegations, this week Netanyahu expressed profound and urgent interest in holding negotiations with Abbas. This move was ill-advised. Although it is true that by proclaiming his devotion to the so-called peace process, Netanyahu was able to deflect some of the White House's attacks against him, the short-term advantage it brought him this week in Washington is eclipsed by the long-term damage such an approach causes the country. In the long-run, Israel is harmed when its leaders promote the fiction that it is possible to reach an accord with the Palestinians that will bring about the formal and peaceful establishment of a Palestinian state.

As Netanyahu prepared to fly off to Washington, Abbas made clear that he will not make any concessions to Israel for peace. Together with his fellow Fatah members, Abbas made clear that like Hamas, Fatah does not recognize Israel's right to exist, does not support peaceful coexistence with Israel, and shares Hamas's dedication to continued war against Israel.

For their part, pro-Palestinian lobbyists Robert Malley and Hussein Agha are now arguing that the two-state solution has failed and that the time has come for a one-state solution in which Israel ceases to exist as a Jewish state by accepting the Palestinians as full citizens in one bi-national state.

The Israeli Left, as well as the State Department and several European governments have now embraced the unelected Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's plan to unilaterally declare Palestinian independence in Judea, Samaria, Gaza and Jerusalem in two years. The aim of the Fayyad plan is to coerce Israel into abandoning all the lands it took control over during the 1967 Six Day War by implicitly threatening to deploy international forces throughout "Palestine" that will be charged with "protecting" the new Palestinian state from the IDF.

Both the Fayyad plan supporters and the one-state solution crowd believe that their plans can indirectly advance the so-called peace process. In their view, frightened of both a unilateral Palestinian declaration of independence and of a bi-national state, Netanyahu will abandon his demand for a demilitarized Palestinian state and for defensible borders for Israel and voluntarily withdraw the IDF and the 250,000 Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria to within the 1949 armistice lines. But the fact is that there is no reason for Netanyahu to fear their plans. Indeed it is high time for Israel to call their bluffs.

The shocking truth is that the demographic threat is an empty threat. The demographic doomsday scenarios for Israel are all based on falsified Palestinian census data from 1997 that inflated the number of Palestinians in Israel, Judea, Samaria and Gaza by 50 percent. As the independent American-Israel Demographic Research Group demonstrated in early 2005, Israel has no reason to be concerned that by maintaining its control over Judea and Samaria, it will become a majority Arab state. Today, the combined population of Israel and Judea and Samaria leaves Jews with a two-thirds majority. With Jewish immigration and fertility rates rising, negative Arab immigration rates, and decreasing Arab fertility rates, the long-term projections for Israel's demographic viability are all positive.

As Netanyahu knows, there is consensus support among Israelis for his plan to ensure that the country retains defensible borders in perpetuity. This involves establishing permanent Israeli control over the Jordan Valley and the large Jewish population blocs in Judea and Samaria. In light of the well-recognized failure of the two-state solution, Hamas's takeover of Gaza and the disintegration of Fatah accompanied by the shattering of the myth of Fatah moderation, Israel should strike out on a new course and work towards the integration of Judea and Samaria, including its Palestinian population into Israeli society. In the first instance, this will require the implementation of Israeli law in the Jordan Valley and the large settlement blocs.

Replacing the military government in these areas with Israel's more liberal legal code will also advance Netanyahu's economic peace plan which envisions expanding the Palestinian economy in Judea and Samaria by among other things reintegrating it into Israel's booming economy. This plan would reward political moderation while marginalizing terrorists in Palestinian society. In so doing, it will advance the cause of peaceful coexistence over the long-term far better than the failed two-state solution. Far from engendering peace, the two-state paradigm empowered the most corrupt and violent actors in Palestinian society at the expense of its most productive and moderate citizens.

Obama's disgraceful treatment of Israel and, for that matter, his atrocious treatment of the majority of America's allies in the Middle East and throughout the world, has strengthened the hands of America's worst enemies and made the world a much more dangerous place. But his obvious failures provide Israel with an opportunity to take control of events and change the situation for the betterment of Israel and the Palestinians alike.

Applying Israeli law to the Jordan Valley and the major Israeli population blocs in Judea and Samaria will probably not win Netanyahu many friends in the Obama White House. But if we learned anything from Obama's insulting treatment of Netanyahu and American Jews this week, we learned that regardless of what Israel does, the Obama administration has no interest in being his friend.

IDF Chief: Israel will fight in Gaza again if needed

(Haaretz).Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi said Friday that the army would not hesitate to respond if Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip continued to fire rockets at Israel.

"We are prepared to contend with the whole arc of threats," Ashkenazi told students during a visit to a Be'er Sheva high school, citing both the local defense situation as well as Iran's contentious nuclear program.

Although the Hamas rulers in Gaza have of late been "restraining themselves and others," said Ashkenazi, "we must not fool ourselves. If necessary, we will operate again in the Gaza Strip to stop the rocket fire."

In reference to the Goldstone Commission's damning report on Israel's conduct during the war on the Gaza Strip earlier this year, Ashkenazi emphasized that the IDF had the responsibility to defend itself at all costs.

"We must defend ourselves when we see a militant cell rigging Grad rockets in the direction of Be'er Sheva, and that is exactly what we did [during the January war]," the IDF chief said.

Reiterating his remarks to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee earlier this week, Ashkenazi said that the IDF was open to investigating all complaints of misconduct during the war.

"The Goldstone report deserves a response," he added. "We must explain the justice of that war and to explain that there is the possibility that we will be forced to act again."

Bill Clinton, Schwarzenegger to attend Saban Forum in Israel

(Ynet).Former US President Bill Clinton and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will take part in the 6th Saban Forum to be held in Jerusalem beginning Saturday.

Other guests at the event include three US senators, five congressmen, three senior advisors in the Obama administration and deputy US secretary of state. Security experts, businessmen and academics are also slated to participate in the event.

Clinton will arrive in Israel on Saturday while Schwarzenegger is set to land in the Jewish State on Sunday aboard his private jet.

Israeli participants in the forum include Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Opposition leader Tzipi Livni, Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin, Shin Bet Chief Yuval Diskin and Governor of the Bank of Israel, Stanley Fischer.

Forum debates will be closed to the public and will focus on US-Israeli relations, the Iranian nuclear threat, environmental issues and a variety of other topics.

Poll: Level satisfaction from Netanyahu continues to be positive (50%); Right wing Bloc strengthens to 72 seats

(Yossi Verter-Haaretz).Nine months after the elections, the left has evaporated and the right has only grown stronger, probably stronger than ever. The Labor Party and its leadership continue to sink lower and lower, but the general public is actually exhibiting intellectual flexibility and political moderation: the majority, including most of the Likud voters, support negotiations with Hamas, if it relinquishes terrorism and recognizes Israel. These are the main conclusion for a special survey carried out during the past days on behalf of Haaretz and Dialog, under the guidance of Professor Camil Fuchs of the Department of Statistics at Tel Aviv University.

The survey shows the impressive rising strength of the right and a serious shrinking of the center and the left. The balance in the current Knesset stands at 65 seats for the right and 55 for the center and the left parties, but if elections were held today , the current survey suggests that the right would garner 72 seats to 48 for the center and left. During the nine months since the elections, the equivalent of seven seats in the Knesset have moved to the right from the left-center. Kadima is retaining its strength, but Labor is crashing and it is on its way to disappearing from the political scene.

The flow of power is as follows: Labor is losing seats to Kadima, which is losing seats to Likud, which is sending seats further to the right. But Likud is also increasing its strength by some 20 percent, which counts for six seats in parliament, and it has held on to those numbers, since the election. We may be in the midst of a slow-burn "big bang." On the eve of elections in 2006, after Ariel Sharon left Likud and set up Kadima, the right in the Knesset constituted 50 MKs and the center-left 70 MKs. Now, less than four days later, upheaval.

The attitude of Israelis to Hamas, a terrorist organization that still holds Gilad Shalit, is quite pragmatic. It turns out that the majority of the public - 57% - supports the view of MK Shaul Mofaz of Kadima, who published a plan earlier this week, in which he called for dialogue with Hamas under certain conditions. Inside Kadima the idea has tremendous support by some 72 percent of the party's voters. But even 53 percent of Likud supporters back the idea. The left is breaking apart and Likud is moving to the center. It seems that Mofaz knew that he was marching on solid political ground when he included this radical article in his plan.

The Haaretz survey was carried out toward the end of Netanyahu's visit to Washington this week. The lessons the Prime Minister experienced at the hands of the White House left no scars in the hearts of the average Israeli. The vast majority of those asked said that the White House's attitude toward Netanyahu was "reasonable." Just a quarter of those asked claimed that the attitude of the White House toward Netanyahu was humiliating. There are two possible ways of interpreting this: either that the emotional way with which the politicians and the media received the fact that Netanyahu went to the White House late in the evening in a van does not affect the general public, or that the public believes that Netanyahu deserves what he got. The former is probably correct: The emotional discussion over the circumstances of the meeting between Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama stayed in the political-media world's court and the street did not form it's opinions apart from that.


In general, the results of the survey are favorable to Netanyahu. A great majority blames Mahmoud Abbas for the impasse in the peace process with the Palestinians (50%), only 15% Blame Netanyahu. The overall level of satisfaction from Netanyahu continues to be positive, as it was five months ago, after 100 days in government (50%). Also with regards to his suitability to the post of prime minister, he leads Tzipi Livni, who is second, by a significant margin: 43 percent for Netanyahu and 27 percent for Livni. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman continues to be seen negatively; also unpopular is Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz. The average Israeli is angry and dissatisfied with Labor and its leader, Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Not long ago, Barak was the most popular minister in the government by a substantial margin. Netanyahu has now surpassed him. Since the last survey, held in mid-June, Barak lost 20 points in popular support. In June, 29 percent were dissatisfied with Barak's conduct and now that has deteriorated to 44 percent.

Peres invites Brazilian soccer player Ronaldo to Israel

(Haaretz).President Shimon Peres met on Thursday with the world-renowned Brazilian soccer player Ronaldo, and invited him to visit Israel for a friendly soccer match between Israeli and Palestinain children.

The famed soccer player, who formerly played for the Brazil's national soccer team and Spanish soccer team Real Madrid, previously visited the region for a soccer match organized by the Peres Center for Peace.

Ronaldo presented the president with a signed T-shirt of his current soccer team Corinthians, baring the player's number 9.

The number nine is also associated with Peres's name.

"Soccer is a world devoid of wars, religion and nations, in which the human spirit which loses today, wins tomorrow," Peres told Ronaldo during their meeting.

PM Netanyahu is ranked 46th in Forbes most powerfull list; US President Obama topped the list.

(Globes).Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ranked 46th on the "Forbes" Most Powerful People in the World rankings for 2009, published today. US President Barack Obama topped the list, followed by China's Premier Hu Jintao in second place, and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in third. The list includes 67 people.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is ranked 43rd, just three slots above Netanyahu.

Criteria to make the list are the number of people influenced by the powerful person's decisions, the financial resources controlled by them, if they are powerful in multiple spheres, and the degree to which they actually wield their power.

In compiling the inaugural ranking, Forbes said it had narrowed the list to 67 people, "a number based on the conceit that one can reduce the world's 6.7 billion people to the one in every 100 million that matter."

"The goal in compiling this list is to expose power and not glorify it, and over time reveal how influence is as easily lost as it is hard to gain," the magazine said.

Olmert: Goldstone Report 'hypocritical' : Peres: Richard Goldstone is a small man

(JPOST).Former prime minister Ehud Olmert spoke out against the Goldstone Commission's report on Thursday during a ceremony unveiling a new 9/11 memorial erected in the Arazim Valley near Jerusalem's Ramot neighborhood.

Olmert asserted that the report was part of what he termed a "self-righteous and hypocritical campaign" against Israel by bodies such as the UN.

"I know that today there are those who ask questions about the wisdom and necessity of carrying out the fight against these terrorists," he said.

Olmert stated that although Israel, the US and other countries involved in the fight against terror targeted the terrorists' leaders, civilian casualties were inevitably caused by the complexity of asymmetrical warfare.

"It does occur in the course of this war that people that are uninvolved in war are affected by it," he said.

"There is one dramatic difference which we always have to bear in mind between the victims that we memorialize today and those who were unfortunately affected by acts against the terrorists," stated the former prime minister.

"When [terrorists] attack, when they commit suicidal attacks, the main purpose is to kill innocent civilians and through this to achieve chaos and anarchy and a loss of sense of direction by our countries."

Olmert used the platform to call for perseverance in the fight against terror, adding that the Goldstone Report needed to be taken in stride.

President Shimon Peres was also critical of Richard Goldstone, calling him a small man with no sense of justice, Israel Radio reported.

Speaking during an official state visit to Brazil, Peres reportedly went on to say that nations which voted in favor of the Goldstone report at the UN made a mistake and hurt Israel.

Minutes from the Meeting - Netanyahu told Obama: Peace talks must yield deal

(Aluf Benn-Haaretz).Most of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's White House meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama this week took place in private, and it centered mainly on the Palestinian issue. This is what Netanyahu told the people he briefed after the meeting.

Netanyahu asked to meet privately with Obama, at the end of the working day, "with jackets off," in an effort to build trust and open a dialogue. He left very pleased, according to his aides, and said the atmosphere reminded him of his first meeting with Obama, two years ago. Obama was then a senator running in the Democratic Party's presidential primary, and Netanyahu was the head of the opposition in Israel. They met in a room at the airport in Washington.

At Monday's meeting, Netanyahu sought to convince Obama that he wants to conduct serious negotiations with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in an effort to reach a peace agreement. He said that Abbas "must not be written off in advance."

"[Anwar] Sadat was also written off at first," Netanyahu told Obama. "Abbas is at the end of his career, and he will be thinking about what he will leave to his nation."

Netanyahu said that Israeli politicians are urging him to conduct "a process for the sake of process," either merely for the sake of holding negotiations with the Palestinians, or in order to prevent a further outbreak of violence. "I disagree with my colleagues on both sides," Netanyahu said. "We need to try to reach an agreement."

Netanyahu asked Obama to convince Abbas to begin negotiations with him. He expressed understanding for the political difficulties that Abbas found himself in several weeks ago over the Goldstone Report, when he succumbed to U.S. and Israeli pressure and agreed that the PA would not bring the matter before the United Nations, only to reverse his position. "Leaders need to do the right thing, and Abbas needs to be seen as such a leader," Netanyahu said.

"The absence of a political process would be deadly for the Palestinians and also for us," Netanyahu warned, "because that would strengthen Hamas, which in turn would be a victory for Iran." He and the president also discussed concrete steps that would serve to advance the process. In his speech to the United Jewish Communities' General Assembly in Washington, Netanyahu said that Israel is ready to make great concessions for the sake of peace.

Netanyahu told Obama that any final-status deal with the Palestinians will have to include a solution to the danger posed by the introduction of advanced weaponry into the territories. "It can't be that Israel will be left with a piece of paper while arms smuggling goes on," he said. "We must create security arrangements that will prevent the introduction of weapons across the border."

He pointed to the advanced weapons now possessed by Hezbollah and Hamas, which are not made in Lebanon or the Gaza Strip, but are smuggled in from abroad, and gave as an example the arms seized recently from the freighter Francop. "This is a critical problem, to which an answer must be given," Netanyahu warned. "We suffered rockets twice, from Lebanon and from Gaza, and we do not want to suffer them a third time, in much larger doses."

The prime minister was impressed with Obama's knowledge of the details. According to Netanyahu, there is a major difference between his own image as someone who rejects peace, and his actual stance, and the same is true of Obama's attitude on Iran. Netanyahu praised Obama to his Israeli interlocutors for his efforts to combat the Goldstone Report and the administration's actions against the Iranian threat.

Netanyahu to Sarkozy: Israel Ready for Immediate talks with Syria

(Ynet, AP).During the meeting Netanyahu reportedly told Sarkozy that Israel was willing to launch immediate peace negotiations with Syria with no preconditions.

The two leaders met for more than an hour and a half in Paris on Wednesday. When they emerged, they shook hands but did not speak to reporters.

In a joint statement, they said they "agreed to deploy all efforts" toward "immediately reviving the peace process."

They also discussed international efforts to stop Iran's nuclear program, and Netanyahu lauded France's firm position on Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

A member of Netanyahu's entourage called the meeting "warm and cordial," adding that the Israeli PM briefed Sarkozy on his recent meeting with US President Barack Obama and the efforts to jumpstart the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

Despite cold shoulder and humiliation - PM Netanyahu offers Obama additional gestures to get Abbas on board in peace talks

(Haaretz).Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed additional Israeli gestures to the Palestinian Authority during his White House meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama Monday night, in an effort to persuade PA President Mahmoud Abbas to agree to resume talks with Israel.

An Israeli source who was briefed on the meeting said Netanyahu had stressed to Obama that his oft-stated desire to advance the peace process was sincere, not just lip service.

The road to arranging the meeting was rocky and humiliating for Netanyahu, and it seems the Americans tried to give it the lowest possible diplomatic and media profile even after agreeing to hold it. Afterward, the White House issued a laconic statement that did not even describe the meeting as "positive" or "good."

Moreover, no photographs of the two men together have been released. The video photographer for the Israel Government Press Office was not allowed to enter the meeting room, and the stills photographer was allowed to enter but not publish the pictures he took.

In addition, the meeting took place late at night, and Netanyahu arrived in an ordinary van rather than the state limousine in which guests are usually brought to the White House for meetings with the president.

A source in Netanyahu's entourage said a large part of the meeting, including the time the two leaders spent together privately, was devoted to Netanyahu's efforts to persuade Obama that he was serious about wanting to advance the peace process and reach an agreement on establishing a Palestinian state.

The source said Netanyahu wants to "turn over a new leaf" with Obama. "There's a feeling that a new channel has been opened with the president that wasn't there before," he added.

Elliott Abrams/ Dazed and Confused - The Israelis can’t figure out U.S. policy, who can?

(Elliott Abrams-NRO).When I visited Israel in late October, not long before the latest visits of U.S. envoy George Mitchell and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Israelis of all political hues confessed that they were amazed, perplexed, and confused by the policy those two diplomats and President Obama are following.

First came an instant attitude of hostility on the part of the Obama administration toward Israel’s new prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, even before he had taken office on March 31 and despite his efforts to create a centrist coalition. Second came its obsession with a “settlement freeze,” which in fact was a demand for something that no Israeli prime minister of any party could possibly agree to, Third came the demand that Arab states reach out to Israel, a demand that the president himself delivered to the king of Saudi Arabia in a visit there in June and that, predictably, was rejected immediately.

Fourth came the administration’s handling of the Palestinian leadership, which it pulled out onto the “settlement freeze” limb — for how could any Palestinian leader be less insistent on a total freeze than the Americans were? This meant that when the Obama team faced reality and dropped the freeze demand in favor of a call for “restraint,” the Palestinians out on that limb were simply sawed off. Later, when American diplomats prevailed upon the Palestinian leadership not to ask the U.N. Human Rights Council to approve the Goldstone Report on Israeli conduct during the Gaza War, they added insult to injury. Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas seems to have accepted U.S. demands and instructed his delegation at the Human Rights Council in Geneva to cool it, a move that won him unprecedented unpopularity at home. He should have said no and simply told the U.S. to veto anything that arose in the Security Council, but the U.S. should not have pushed him.

So frustrated has Abbas become with all this that he has announced he won’t run for reelection in the planned PA voting on January 24,the announcement is properly understood as his own protest vote against administration policy. Weakened by the Clinton and Mitchell maneuvers, he has about as much enthusiasm for Obama’s handling of the Middle East as Bibi Netanyahu.

The net result of the administration’s approach is a massive policy failure. The Obama administration has weakened the Palestinian leadership it meant to strengthen, weakened the alliance with Israel by its hostility to Israel’s government, weakened its own reputation in Arab capitals for strength and reliability, and painted itself into a policy corner. For where does it go now?

It is still possible that Mitchell, who ought to resign or be fired on account of his gross misreading of the situation in the region, will get Netanyahu to sign some sort of construction moratorium. But we know the conditions: It will not apply to Jerusalem, it will be time-limited, it will permit construction of about 2,500 new units in various stages of preparation, and it will not apply to needed public buildings like clinics or schools. The Palestinian leadership will immediately denounce such a deal, which is not what they thought Mitchell and Obama were demanding. They will not agree to commence peace negotiations on such a basis;Abbas is too weak (partly thanks to us) and too close to elections to undertake serious negotiations at the moment. And remember: Last year, Israel’s then–prime minister, Ehud Olmert, made Abbas a peace offer that was so generous it probably couldn’t have carried in Olmert’s own cabinet. Abbas turned that one down, so it’s hard to believe that anything Netanyahu offers now might be acceptable to the Palestinians.

American policy under Obama has aligned itself in a curious and possibly unintended way with the worst elements of Arab policy. Like that of the Arabs, it is cold toward Israel: Despite several visits to the region, the president has skipped Israel, and the White House’s aloofness toward Netanyahu is obvious. This posture makes peace far harder to achieve. Again like Arab policy, it is warm toward the Palestinians in ways that hurt the Palestinian leaders more than help them. That is, the rhetoric is warm but little or nothing is actually done to assist them, and they emerge weaker with every passing month. Again like the Arab approach, it puts a premium on rhetoric, negotiations, and diplomacy, with few sensible concrete steps.

As a result, “world opinion” toward Israel has gone from cool to frigid — in Europe especially. U.N. actions such as the Goldstone Report are one manifestation of this; denunciations of Israel, not to mention efforts to prevent Israeli officials from speaking on campuses and indeed to jail them if they come to Europe, are others. The cause is clear: As the United States, Israel’s closest friend, has backed away from Israel since the Obama inauguration, Europeans have backed even farther. They have seen the American coolness as license, indeed encouragement, to excoriate the Jewish state, and have enthusiastically done so.

Israelis watch all of this and wonder whether it is intended, or rather the product of the Obama team’s incompetence. I was asked repeatedly during my visit: What are they doing? What do they think they are doing? Do they realize it isn’t working? Is there a learning curve?

Meanwhile, Israelis watch Obama’s handling of Iran, which for them is a deadly serious matter. They note that the administration congratulated itself on winning Russian president Dmitry Medvedev’s agreement for more sanctions, but they see that there actually was no agreement. They watched as administration spokesmen smugly said they’d gotten more from Iran in just days of talks than Bush had in eight years of hostility, but then saw Iran’s “agreement” to export almost all of its low-enriched uranium evaporate over the following weeks.

These episodes do not instill confidence that the mishandling of Israeli-Palestinian affairs is a temporary aberration; instead they make Israelis suspect that the administration’s approach to world politics is simply naïve, and more given to self-congratulation than to making tough choices. The president’s decision on Afghanistan plays a role here too, for Israelis — like many Americans — wonder whether the dithering of recent weeks bespeaks a lack of “grit.” As in Iran, North Korea, Russia, China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and elsewhere, including downtown Washington, an Obama decision to overrule Gen. Stanley McChrystal or to offer him half of what he says he needs will be carefully noted in the Kirya, the headquarters of the Israel Defense Forces. Israelis want a strong, tough America, and they want to be its ally. A weak administration, whose judgment about the Middle East and about world politics is erroneous and often naïve, and that expresses a coolness to Israel and an indifference to the threats it faces, is an Israeli nightmare. Maybe feeling confused is their way of holding off the conclusion that that’s just what they’ve got in Obama.

Barak: Netanyahu-Obama meeting was constructive and good

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said upon his return to Israel Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting with US President Barack Obama in Washington this week was "important, constructive and created common ground for advancing the diplomatic process with the aim of reaching an agreement with the Palestinians."

Barak, who accompanied Netanyahu on his visit to the US, said that by not revealing details from the meeting the prime minister was displaying "leadership and responsibility."

Israeli and American officials refused to comment on the meeting, but both sides denied reports saying the relationship between Netanyhau and Obama was in crisis.

"The atmosphere during the meeting with President Obama was very open and very warm," Netanyahu said Tuesday. "The importance of the visit will be ascertained in the future."

He added that the meeting had been "positive and to the point", and that it had dealt with the peace process and Israel's security.

U.S. keeps pressure on Abbas after Netanyahu visit

(Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may have felt some frost while visiting the White House but Washington is keeping the heat on Palestinians to resume peace talks without an Israeli settlement freeze first.

Netanyahu was ushered into the Oval Office on Monday after nightfall for a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama at which, contrary to normal practice with a visiting Israeli prime ministers, reporters were not allowed in.

Back home in Israel, newspapers seized on the low-profile White House visit as a snub, a sign of strained relations between Obama and Netanyahu, who had rejected his calls for a halt to settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.

But the underlying U.S. message appears to be unchanged: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas should negotiate with Israel now. Judging by Abbas's rhetoric in a speech on Wednesday, he is making at least a show of not listening. Settlement expansion must come to a complete stop, he said, before talks can resume.

However, echoing Netanyahu remarks in Washington the day before, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel told U.S. Jewish leaders on Tuesday that Israeli-Palestinian talks, suspended for nearly a year, should get under way "without preconditions."

"No one should allow the issue of settlements to distract from the goal of a lasting peace between Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab world," Emanuel said.

Whether the Palestinians are in a position to revive peace talks now or move toward a deal with Israel is a big question.

US officials confirm: We punished Netanyahu with media blackout

(israeltoday).Senior US diplomatic sources have confirmed that the media blackout and shroud of secrecy surrounding Monday's meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama was the result of strained relations between the two leaders.

Speaking to Israel's Army Radio on Wednesday morning, one unnamed US diplomat said the Obama Administration had become unhappy with what is viewed as Netanyahu's efforts to manipulate its policies during press briefings, the feeling in Washington is that Netanyahu has been trying to maneuver the US administration over the past few weeks,and imposed the media blackout on Monday's meeting as a means of bringing the Israeli leader back in line.

The official also accused Netanyahu of indirectly pressuring Obama via Jewish-American lobby groups.

Netanyahu aide: 'Israel is an ally, not problem of US'

(JPOST).Senior Israel officials on Wednesday adamantly rejected the latest media speculation over bad blood between Jerusalem and Washington, backed by one US official expressing anger at the Israeli leader's conduct in the past week, which might have brought on the possibly punitive blackout imposed on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's 100-minute talk with US President Barack Obama.

"The reception [of Netanyahu in the White House] was cordial and friendly in many aspects, and even included rolling-up sleeves and cracking open beer bottles when necessary, in line with the tradition of coordination between senior Israeli and US officials," National Security Adviser Uzi Arad told Israel Radio from Paris, where the prime minister and his entourage have landed for talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and other officials.

The complexity of the situation is due to the volume of the issues at hand, Arad explained, and does not stem from a rift between the allies. In the talks, Washington expressed its expectations, but the US is aware of Jerusalem's stances, and knows that Israel won't meet all of them, he said.

"The US understands that Israel is the authority on the content of its talks with the Palestinians," he stressed.

Arad pooh-poohed the abundant and diverse speculations on the reasons behind what appeared to be a cold American shoulder in the past few days.

"If we look at the media reports - I'll speak as a former member of the intelligence community - there is a plethora of contradictions in the various reports, which goes to show that at least some are very wrong… though some contain truth," Arad said.

"Talk is cheap," Arad pointed out.

"Look at the essence, not the wrappings. The lack of a media briefing, which was in accordance to both sides' opinion, was due to reasons that might be possible to explain in the future," he said, noting the White House announcement which, according to Arad, contained the essence of the meeting.

"The president reaffirmed his strong commitment to Israel's security, and discussed security cooperation on a range of issues. The president and prime minister also discussed Iran and how to move forward on Middle East peace," the announcement said.

"Israel is not the problem, but rather a partner" to the US, Arad reiterated.

Also on Wednesday Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser rejected reports claiming the meeting between Netanyahu and Obama was tense.

"There was a positive meeting, the relationship is sound, the meeting was long and good," he told Army Radio.

"Speculations should not be made according to the form, the substance is what's significant," Hauser added, echoing Arad's sentiment.

Washington disappointed: Netanyahu didn't present concrete steps

The White House expressed disappointment in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent visit to Washington, with officials saying that they had hoped that the prime minister would present a concrete plan to scale back Israeli construction in West Bank settlements, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday:

Mr. Netanyahu didn't offer any new commitment about Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem -- which the Palestinians have demanded be fully stopped as a precondition for peace talks -- or list any specific terms for holding new negotiations.

"We had an idea that he might bring something out to push the process forward," one U.S. official said. "But he's kept it in his pocket." The official said the U.S. side had hoped Mr. Netanyahu would unveil a more detailed proposal for restraining the settlements.

The Israeli leader also appeared to resist U.S. pressure to give stronger support for discussions on an independent Palestinian state -- the so-called "two-state solution." He said he was committed to two states living side by side, but suggested that key Palestinian demands for negotiations over East Jerusalem and the right of return for Palestinian refugees wouldn't be on the table.

U.S. officials said the White House had held off until late Sunday firming up Mr. Netanyahu's meeting with Mr. Obama, in an effort to pressure the Israeli leader to take a more conciliatory line.U.S. officials working on Mideast policy were underwhelmed by the speech, saying it didn't add anything new.

These officials also said they didn't expect anything significant to come from the Israeli leader's meeting with Mr. Obama, which they described as "low-key" and only happening because Mr. Netanyahu was already in town.

"We're going to continue what we're doing: which is to try and get negotiations going," said a senior U.S. official briefed on Mr. Netanyahu's visit. "I'm sure the president will make this clear to the prime minister tonight."

Israeli cabinet to meet in Germany to mark 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall

(Globes).Two days after "Globes" reported about the number of ministers and MKs currently travelling abroad, another large-scale foreign trip is now in the works. Sources inform ''Globes'' that nearly one third of the cabinet plan to hold the weekly cabinet meeting on November 30, in Germany.

The special cabinet meeting will be held in the Reichstag Building in Berlin, as part of the commemoration to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will chair the meeting, which will include Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Lieberman, Minister of Defense Ehud Barak, Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz, Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, Minister of National Infrastructures Uzi Landau, Minister of Social Welfare Isaac Herzog, Minister of Environmental Protection Gilad Erdan, Minister of Culture and Sport Limor Livnat, and Minister of Science and Technology Daniel Hershkowitz.

Following the meeting, the ministers will meet their German counterparts to discuss tightening bilateral relations. The German federal ministers who will meet their Israeli counterparts are Minister of Foreign Affairs Guido Westerwelle, Minister of Education and Research Dr. Annette Schavan, Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth Dr. Ursula von der Leyen, Minister of Finance Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble, Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety Dr. Norbert Röttgen, Minister of Justice Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, and Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development Dirk Niebel.

Nine ministers are due to join Netanyahu on the one-day trip. They will depart in the morning and return later the same day, thereby saving overnight costs. They will apparently be joined by Israeli correspondents.

This is a reciprocal visit by the Israeli cabinet following the visit by the German cabinet to Israel in March 2008 for a joint cabinet meeting. Chancellor Angela Merkel was accompanied by eight ministers for the meeting in Jerusalem. After the joint cabinet meeting, the German ministers met their Israeli counterparts to discuss welfare and trade issues.

The joint cabinet meeting was aimed at coordinating civil and foreign policy issues between Israel and Germany.

The invitation for the reciprocal meeting in Berlin arrived several months ago, but was postponed until now because of the change of government in Israel.

Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emanuel: Dialogue is the only path to peace

(Haaretz).U.S. President Barack Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, appeared at the Jewish Federation of North America's annual general assembly on Tuesday, taking the place of the president, following the latter's last-minute cancellation.

"It is only through dialogue that we can achieve the lasting peace that Israel seeks," Emanuel told the crowd.

"Make no mistake, the path toward peace is not one that Israel should be asked to walk alone. That is why the U.S. will remain actively engaged, and Israel's one true friend. The Palestinians must come to the table, recognize Israel's right to exist and reject violence," he went on to say.

"As the president has said many times, as the president said in Cairo, the bond between the Israel and the U.S. is unbreakable," Emanuel said. "It's a bond rooted in shared interests and shared values."

He also assured the audience that while Obama engages the Arab world more, it is not at the expense of the relationship between the U.S. and Israel.

"There are those who have questioned that, as this administration has sought to be engaged in the region," Emanuel said. "There are some who suggest this implies a diminished level of support for Israel... That is not the intent and that is not the case, and never will be."

However, Emanuel also took the opportunity to reiterate the U.S. position that Israel must halt construction in West Bank settlements. "No one should allow the issue of settlements to distract from the goal of a lasting peace between Israel, the Palestinians, and the Arab world," he said.

"Today thanks to the work of the president there is strong and growing international consensus against a nuclear armed Iran," he said adding that Israel has been "a beacon of democracy in a region too often defined by strife."

Emanuel's address before the GA marked the first time since taking office that he spoke publicly about his own family's connection to Israel.

He thanked the audience and spoke about the spirit of community that he learned from his parents. "My father is a Jewish Israeli," he said describing the values that were instilled in him of commitment to the community, and not just to oneself.

Netanyahu: The reports on bad ambiance at the meeting with Obama is nonsense; "Appreciate US positive approach"

The Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, defined the reports on bad ambiance between the two leaders last night as nonsense.

On the flight from Washington to Paris PM Netanyahu claimed,that "putting it mildly, this is very inaccurate and does not reflect the truth. The ambiance in the meeting was very open and warm. The importance of the current visit will become clear in the future".

(via Reuters) - Netanyahu voiced confidence that his White House talks would benefit Israel's security and peacemaking efforts.

"It was a very focused and very positive conversation," Netanyahu said before departing. "This conversation dealt with the range of subjects that are important for the security of Israel, and for our joint efforts to advance peace."

He did not elaborate, saying only: "I think this visit will turn out to have been very important."

Yuli Edelstein, an Israeli cabinet minister accompanying Netanyahu, said in a radio interview earlier on Tuesday that the White House talks had included a discussion of Iran, whose nuclear program and support for Islamist guerrillas are cited by Israel as obstacles to its peacemaking with Arab neighbors.

Officials in Washington have explained that the silence surrounding the meeting was a kind of test for the prime minister and his associates, in an attempt to rebuild trust between the leaders after previous meetings.

UPDATE: Channel 2 aired a vague audio statement given by the Prime Minister, who wasn't giving much away.

"The discussions dealt with the complex of issues vital for Israel's security and our joint efforts to advance the peace process. We discussed these issues in detail, in a practical way and out of friendship. I really appreciated the professional and positive approach I discovered,There is a great understanding that we want to advance peace and that we are taking practical measures to do so, while we have real security needs that the US is prepared to help with."

FM Lieberman: Islamists Use Democracy to Promote Hatred

(IsraelNN.com) Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told his hosts during an official visit to Denmark on Monday that Islamic fundamentalists in Europe are abusing European Union freedoms to promote Islamic supremacy and anti-Semitism.

"Radical Islamic elements are misusing the democratic tools granted to them by the European countries in order to agitate, aggravate and radicalize relations within and among these countries, at the same time increasing and encouraging anti-Semitic phenomena," Lieberman said during a meeting with the Danish Minister of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs Birthe Rønn Hornbech. The two political leaders met in Copenhagen to discuss issues relating to immigration, developments in the Middle East and Europe, as well as the Iranian nuclear threat.

While in Denmark, Foreign Minister Lieberman took part in dedicating a new memorial in honor of the country's Jews who were deported to the Thereisenstadt concentration camp. He laid a wreath in memory of the victims and delivered remarks on behalf of the State of Israel. Lieberman noted that the people of Denmark risked their lives to save Jews who were to be sent to their deaths at the hands of the Nazis. For the nation's collective resistance to Nazi anti-Semitism, "Denmark will always hold a special place in the history and in the hearts of the Jewish people," he said.

Turning from the past to the present, Lieberman continued, "We are today again facing elements who threaten to destroy the Jews, not only those living in Israel. The Iranian regime is funding terrorist activity throughout the world and particularly against Jews. The State of Israel is responsible for all Jewish communities in the world, and all Jewish communities are responsible for the State of Israel. This cooperation is essential in order to halt this threat."

Yet the danger is not to the Jews alone, the Foreign Minister emphasized, "The struggle against the Iranian threat is the greatest challenge that the democratic world faces today."

Blair: Netanyahu government can hold successful peace talks

(Ynet).Mideast Quartet envoy Tony Blair said Tuesday he believed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government was capable of conducting successful peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

Speaking at a ceremony marking the reopening of the Jalame crossing, north of the West Bank city of Jenin, to civilian vehicles, Blair said three things are required to resolve the Israeli Palestinian conflict: Politicians, economic growth and security.

The crossing is the joint initiative of Gilboa Regional Council head Danny Atar and Jenin governor Kadura Musa.

The Jalame checkpoint was closed in 2000, shortly after the al-Aqsa Intifada began. Nevertheless, the close relationship between Musa and Atar has proven useful; eventually leading to the checkpoint's reopening. Hundreds of vehicles are expected to pass through it daily.

Israel and the Palestinians estimate that the crossing's reopening will boost the economic situation in Jenin.

Regional Development Minister Silvan Shalom was also on hand for the ceremony, along with Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai and Minorities Minister Avishay Braverman.

Shalom, who also serves as vice prime minister, said Israel was eager to resume negotiations but added that "it takes two to tango."

"We all want to make the Palestinians' lives easier, but this has to be mutual," said the minister. "They'll fight terror and confiscate weapons while we will promote joint projects."

Shalom added that "currently there are no Palestinian commitments; things do not look too good."

Addressing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, the Israeli vice prime minister said, "We are wasting time; now is the time to reach a decision or else we may miss the chance for peace."

Israeli Ambassador to the US, Michael Oren: United We Flourish

(IsraelNN.com) Michael Oren, Israel's Ambassador to the United States, told the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America on Monday that the Israel of 2009 "is at a better situation than at any time in its history."

Oren spoke about the belief that we are all part of G-d's plan and said that despite all the difficulties, one must look at the situation through looking at the history of the nation:

"We, who believe that a plan does exist, must take a look at the subsequent six decades in which the Jewish State has overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles – wars, embargos, terror attacks – to the point where today Israel is at a better geopolitical situation than at any time in its history."

Oren related also to the Iranian nuclear threat and the refusal of the Arab world to acknowledge the right of the Jewish Nation to a state of its own in the Land of Israel.

Yoel Marcus/ Can Oslo take back Obama's Nobel?

(Yoel Marcus - Haaretz).David Ben-Gurion was not invited to the White House until the end of his term, and needed various excuses to meet with the presidents in hotels. In Benjamin Netanyahu's case, the fear of not meeting with Barack Obama made him sweat.

On the eve of his trip to the Jewish Federations' General Assembly in Washington, D.C., Netanyahu faced unflattering headlines saying it was not certain whether President Obama would meet him.

There are two likely reasons for the move. One is that Bibi was all-too-confident that the moment his feet hit American soil, the White House doors would open before him - as they did with Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. The second possibility is that Netanyahu's excessive confidence angered Obama, who thought he was taking the meeting with him for granted. And so his aides advised him to let Netanyahu sweat.

And sweat he did. The fact that he didn't take his wife Sara with him indicates that the president's advisers didn't want the meeting to look too intimate and informal. In his previous term as prime minister, Netanyahu brought not only his wife but two of his children to Clinton's office. To the embarrassment of those present, the kids started throwing cushions at each other in the Oval Office.

In reality, there is no major difference in the relations between the two states. The Americans have not stopped the aid or the modern weapons supply to Israel. The only thing that can be said is that Bibi and Obama have not developed a personal, intimate relationship.

The White House and whoever is stirring things up over there has reduced the familiarity level to that of humiliation. For example, they released a photograph of Obama speaking on the phone with Netanyahu with his feet on the desk. This was their way of hinting that Obama is not Bush and does not see the prime minister as the king of Israel.

Just when the polls in Israel are showing that most of the public supports Bibi - who aspires to reach an agreement with the Palestinians - it's unclear why Obama had to kick-start the peace in Cairo with a reconciliation call to Islam. The result has been one big disappointment. Obama has not received from the Muslim world as much as a gesture to advance the Israeli-Palestinian arrangement, while Netanyahu has announced that Israel supports negotiations on the principle of two states for two peoples without any preconditions.

Instead of seizing the bull by the horns and setting about to open the negotiations immediately, Obama hesitated. Then Mahmoud Abbas brought up all kinds of conditions - starting with the demand to stop all the construction in the territories immediately. Olmert and Tzipi Livni held talks with Abbas for two years; not once did he raise the demand that Israel must first stop the construction in the West Bank for natural growth.

It is not clear how one can set about to hold negotiations "without preconditions" when the Palestinians are demanding the cessation of construction in the territories. Israel will have to concede in this area anyway, while conducting a complicated struggle - perhaps even an internecine war - to achieve peace.

Netanyahu has still made it clear that he is willing to negotiate an agreement with no preconditions. He says the same about a possible agreement with Syria. Once he used those slogans to avoid the issue. Now, in his second term, Netanyahu wants to succeed and he has the parliamentary majority to do so.

But Obama is in trouble at home. Democrats were recently defeated in both Virginia and New Jersey, where Republicans were elected. The defeat does not bode well for the congressional elections due next November. Meanwhile, Obama's great promise, on the issue of health insurance, is moving along slowly.

Apart from his rhetorical skills, Obama has failed to keep a single promise or solve one major problem during his time in office. In this situation he cannot afford to lose the support of the Jews, who are behind 40 percent of the contributions to the Democrats' elections. Meanwhile, the cold shoulder Obama is giving us and the hazing he's put Bibi through have achieved nothing but Abbas' announcement that he would not be running for the next Palestinian Authority elections. Perhaps he will and perhaps he won't.

While Israel is seriously talking about the peace process, Obama has problems at home. His list of disappointments now includes his failure to create a mechanism to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Obama received the Nobel Peace prize too early. I wonder if they have a mechanism in Oslo to take it back.

Weisglass: Secrecy surrounding Netanyahu-Obama talks indicates - Something happened during White House meeting

(Ynet).Attorney Dov Weisglass said the fact that reporters were not allowed in the Oval Office during Monday night's meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama, as well as cancellation of a briefing the Israeli leader intended to hold for reporters, was indicative of either a crisis or far-reaching understandings regarding the Mideast peace process.

"A nearly two-hour meeting between the prime minister and the president of the United States is certainly a special event. It does not happen every day, and it was held behind closed doors because of its content," said Weisglass, who served as former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's bureau chief.

"Clearly, one of two things occurred during the meeting – a severe crisis and deadlock which the sides do not want to make worse by making it public, or far-reaching understandings that may lead to a domestic crisis in Israel, and therefore are not made public either," he said. "Time will tell which of the two scenarios actually transpired."

Attorney Gilad Scher, who served as director general of the Prime Minister's Bureau under Ehud Barak, estimated that details from the meeting will be published within the next 24 hours.

"I doubt if the meeting's content was as dramatic as some media outlets made it out to be," he said.

In nearly 2 hour meeting with Netanyahu, Obama reaffirms 'strong commitment' to Israel's security

(Haaretz).Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama held a private meeting on Monday night, during which the two discussed Iran's nuclear ambitions as well as stalled Middle East peace talks.

"The president reaffirmed our strong commitment to Israel's security, and discussed security cooperation on a range of issues," said a statement issued by the White House after the one hour and forty minute closed-door session concluded.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Ambassador Michael Oren, National Security Council head Uzi Arad and Netanyahu's envoy in Washignton Yitzhak Molcho joined the premier for part of the meeting.

A press briefing with Netanyahu scheduled for Tuesday morning was canceled. The prime minister leaves Washington on Tuesday for Paris, where he is scheduled to meet with French President Nicholas Sarkozy on Wednesday.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu's Speech GA09

Netanyahu to tell Obama: I'm ready to be generous in curbing settlements - doing everything in power to advance the peace process

(Haaretz, Jpost).Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to tell U.S. President Barack Obama that he was "very serious" about wanting to advance peace talks with the Palestinians during the two leaders' scheduled meeting on Monday.

The last-minute scheduling of Netanyahu's White House meeting, after Israeli officials said over the past several weeks that Netanyahu hoped to see Obama, was widely seen as a sign of strained relations between the two leaders.

"We mean business," Netanyahu planned to tell the American president, and add that Israel was ready to be "generous" in scaling back the construction in West Bank settlements.

Netanyahu was further set to tell Obama that there was never any Israeli intention to halt settlement construction before entering into talks with the Palestinians. "What more do I need to do?" he was to ask.

Sources close to the prime minister have said that Netanyahu is convinced that he is doing everything in his power to advance the peace process.

Netanyahu was also to voice his willingness to make concessions in efforts to achieve an agreement. However, he was to stress his refusal to compromise Israel's security in the process, placing an emphasis on the importance of preventing the influx of weapons into any territory that Israel should withdraw from under a future deal.

"We're ready to go a long way, and to be generous in restricting [settlement] construction as a gesture to jumpstart the negotiations, and also [to be generous] in concessions to reach a settlement," Netanyahu said in briefings with his senior staff ahead of the meeting with Obama, according to sources close to the prime minister.

"But," he added, "we won't compromise on security arrangements, and that includes preventing the entry of weapons and armaments to any area Israel will vacate. Until today, the security arrangements [reached] in Gaza and Lebanon were not effective, and weapons and armaments were smuggled in freely. In any future settlement, security arrangements must be effective," the prime minister said.

Netanyahu was also quoted by senior PMO sources as criticizing the Palestinian demand for a total settlement freeze as a precondition for negotiations.

"For 16 years, there has never been a demand for a construction freeze as a precondition for starting negotiations, nor was there Israeli willingness to restrict construction before entering negotiations," he said, "so we are convinced that Israel is doing everything it must to advance peace while preserving quiet."

The prime minister intends to explain this to Obama in their meeting, which will take place overnight Monday Israel time.

One source close to the prime minister asked rhetorically, "What more must Israel say just to earn the start of negotiations? Bibi plans to tell Obama that he and the government are serious in preparing for peace. We mean business."

Officials close to the prime minister have in the past placed the blame for introducing the demand for a total pre-negotiations settlement freeze on the Obama administration itself, but they have pulled back from this position in recent months.

"We're not dealing with who is at fault for what," said one official. "There are two sides now. One is the Israeli side which is willing to start negotiations, and the other is the Palestinian side which is refusing. The onus for starting negotiations is not on the Americans, but on the Palestinians."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs fielded questions ahead of the meeting, saying that the "policy of the United States government for many decades has been no more settlements. That's not something that is new to this administration. It's something that I think has gotten disproportionate media coverage, but it's not a policy difference in this administration and previous administrations.

PM Netanyahu's Washington speech - outlines his vision on Peace process

"The result of our joint efforts has been a stronger Israel. And only a strong Israel can achieve peace. But even a strong Israel is still a small Israel. And a small Israel demands a secure peace. Peace in our land, the peace of Jerusalem, our eternal capital, is one of our oldest longings, expressed in our Psalms and our prayers.

Peace between Israel and our Arab neighbors: the first and immediate result would spare our children the horrors of war. It would spare our children the horrors of war. It would spare our grandchildren the horrors of war. What a great gift.

Peace could usher in a new age of economic progress for the benefit of all. We have already signed peace agreements, two of them, with Egypt and Jordan. And we are eager to achieve peace with all our other neighbors, especially with the Palestinians.

I believe there is no time to waste. We need to move towards peace with a sense of urgency and a sense of purpose. I want to be clear. My goal is not to have endless negotiations. My goal is not negotiations for negotiations sake. My goal is to reach a peace treaty, and soon.

But to get a peace agreement, we must start negotiating. Let’s stop talking about negotiations. Let’s start moving.

This past June at Bar-Ilan University, I put forward a vision of peace that has united the vast majority of Israelis.

In this vision of two states for two peoples, a demilitarized Palestinian state would recognize the Jewish state.

Now, what do I mean by a Jewish state? It is a state in which all individuals and all minorities have equal individual rights. Yet our national symbols, language and culture spring from the heritage of the Jewish people. And most important, any Jew from anywhere in the world has a right to immigrate to Israel and become a citizen.

I want to make it clear: Any Jew, of any denomination, will always have the right to come home to the Jewish state. Religious pluralism and tolerance will always guide my policy.

What does a Jewish state mean for the Palestinians? They must abandon the fantasy of flooding Israel with refugees, give up irredentist claims to the Negev and Galilee, and declare unequivocally that the conflict is finally over.

Yet, even after we achieve peace it may take years for the spirit of peace to permeate most levels of Palestinian society. Therefore, any peace agreement we sign today must include ironclad security measures that will protect the State of Israel.

Here comes that paradox again.

Israel is powerful but small. No matter where our final borders are drawn, Israel will remain exceedingly small. I am not sure you know how small Israel is. The United States and Canada are each roughly 400 times the size of Israel and the Arab world is 500 times the size of Israel. Egypt alone is roughly 40 times larger and even a small country like Jordan, our neighbor to the east, is almost four times as big. Israel is bigger than Rhode Island, but that’s about it.

Small countries are not necessarily insecure. Belgium and Luxemburg are small but they today are not insecure. Yet if their neighbors included radical regimes bent on their conquest and destruction with terror proxies firing thousands of missiles on their people, believe me, they would feel insecure. Anyone would.

Because of our small size and the radical and violent neighborhood in which we live, Israel faces security threats like that of no other nation.

A few facts to drive the point home.

A few days ago, the Israeli navy interdicted a ship carrying hundreds of tons of rockets and explosives from Iran bound for Hezbollah via Syria. Last week, Hamas tested a rocket with a range of nearly 40 miles.

Now, for a large country, that might not be too consequential. But in tiny Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah now have the power to reach Tel Aviv.

Israel’s security therefore requires that any territory vacated in a future peace agreement must be effectively demilitarized.

An effective demilitarizion of Palestinian areas is an essential component of peace recognized by successive American presidents. I want to assure you Israel is willing to make great concessions for peace. But there can be no concessions on Israel’s security. We have to ensure that weapons do not flow into the Palestinian areas in the West Bank, which overlooks Tel Aviv and surrounds Jerusalem.

We cannot permit another Gaza or South Lebanon in the heart of the country. What we want is a durable peace, a peace that can be defended. We fervently hope that such a peace will hold, but we must be prepared to defend ourselves in case it doesn’t.
My friends,

My government is working to advance peace and we are not just talking.

We have removed hundreds of security checkpoints and roadblocks in the West Bank. I personally extended the hours of operation on the Allenby Bridge and I’ve removed bureaucratic hurdles to Palestinian economic development.

These efforts, along with measures taken by the Palestinian Authority to improve security, have spurred an unmatched boom in the West Bank and has made life better for ordinary Palestinians.

For the first time in years, businesses, banks and industry are sprouting. Restaurants, theaters, and shopping malls are overflowing. Thousands and thousands of Palestinian jobs are being created.

I think we can do a lot more to improve the reality on the ground, and we will. I intend to do a lot more.

Prosperity can help advance peace – but only so far. To truly resolve the outstanding issues between us, we must begin and complete peace negotiations.

We should not place preconditions for holding talks. Such obstacles to talks were never set in the 16 years of Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. From the day my government was sworn in seven months ago, I have been calling for peace negotiations to start.

I said I would go anywhere, anytime to advance peace. And no Israeli government has been so willing to restrain settlement activity as part of an effort to re-launch peace talks. So I say today to the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas: let us seize the moment to reach an historic agreement. Let us begin talks immediately.

I know there are many skeptics. I am not one of them. I believe that peace is possible. I know how committed the Israeli people are to peace and how committed I am to make peace. But I need and we need a determined Palestinian partner as well. A partner willing to shoulder the risk and burdens as we are.

I believe that with good will and with courageous leadership on both sides, and no less important, with the continued support of the United States, peace can become a reality. We can surprise a skeptical world".

WND/ Secret Obama deal for Palestinian state? Israeli officials fear White House's 'very dangerous move'

(Aaron Klein-WorldNetDaily).The U.S. is considering adopting a unilateral Palestinian declaration of independence in the West Bank and Jerusalem regardless of negotiations with the Jewish state, according to Israeli sources speaking to Israel's Haaretz newspaper.

WND first reported in September that according to a top Palestinian Authority official, the Obama administration has largely adopted the positions of the PA to create a Palestinian state within two years based on the pre-1967 borders, meaning Israel would retreat from most of the West Bank and eastern sections of Jerusalem.

WND reported that the White House had accepted the positions of Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who had quietly called for a state on the pre-1967 borders within two years.

Now Haaretz is quoting reports indicating that Fayyad has reached a secret understanding with the Obama administration over U.S. recognition of an independent Palestinian state.

Haaretz quoted Israeli sources stating Fayyad's plan specifies that at the end of a designated period for bolstering national institutions, the PA, in conjunction with the Arab League, would file a "claim of sovereignty" to the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly over the 1967 borders.

Israeli officials further told Haaretz that Fayyad had boasted of positive meetings about his plan with prominent EU member states, including the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Sweden.

Fayyad also told Israeli officials the Obama administration did not oppose his plan.

A senior Israeli foreign-policy official told Haaretz, "It's a very dangerous move."

Netanyahu heckled at GA Conference by protester shouting "Peace for everyone, shame on you!"

Speaking at the 2009 General Assembly of the The Jewish Federations of North America in Washington, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was interrupted by shouts from the crowd to which he replied that he was "better received at the United Nations than here." Protestors shouted "Peace for everyone, shame on you!" as they were escorted out.

PM's aide:Hope the meeting will strengthen the channel of communication between Netanyahu and Obama

(Haaretz).After Israeli officials said over the past several weeks that Netanyahu hoped to see Obama, was widely seen as a sign of strained relations between the two leaders.

Netanyahu's media adviser Nir Hefetz said Monday following the address that "on our side there is no tension. Molcho, the prime minister's special envoy sat with [U.S. Middle East envoy] George Mitchell's team earlier today and they prepared the [Netanyahu-Obama] meeting. Naturally it will focus on the Palestinian issue and we hope that the meeting will strengthen and deepen the channel of communication between the prime minister and President Obama, and that it will prompt the resumption of peace talks."

Netanyahu to Abbas:Let's seize the moment to reach a historic agreement...Let's begin talks immediately...

"My goal is not negotiations for the sake of negotiations; My goal is to achieve a permanent peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians, and soon. I cannot be more emphatic on this point."

(Haaretz).Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday addressed thousands of North American Jews at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America, where he urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to relaunch peace talks immediately.

"We should not place preconditions for holding talks, such preconditions have never been set in 16 years," Netanyahu said, referring to the Palestinian demand that Israel completely halt construction in West Bank settlements before talks can resume.

"No Israeli government has been so willing to restrain settlement activity as part of an effort to relaunch peace talks," addressing Abbas by name and saying "let us seize the moment, let us relaunch peace talks immediately."

"But to get to a peace agreement we need to start negotiating," he said to a receptive crowd. "Let's get on with it. Let's move."

"Peace between Israel and its neighbors could spare our children the horrors of war,Peace could also usher in a new era of tremendous economic progress for the benefit of everyone in the Middle East. I think people are beginning to see that we are eager to achieve peace with our neighbors, especially the Palestinians."

"My goal is not negotiations for the sake of negotiations. My goal is to achieve a permanent peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians - and soon," Netanyahu declared.

Referring to the Palestinian demand in previous rounds of peace talks that Israel grant Palestinian refugees from around the world the right of return to the homes in Israel from which they were expelled, Netanyahu stressed that "the Palestinians must recognize that the fantasy of flooding Israel with refugees is gone.They must declare that the conflict is finally over. It will take years for the spirit of peace to permeate levels of Palestinian society," he added.

"We're willing to make great concessions for peace but there is something I will never compromise on, and that is Israels security. We have to ensure that weapons do not flow into the West Bank - we cannot permit another Gaza in the heart of our country. What we want is durable peace."

Netanyahu also addressed the issue of the recent vote at the United Nations General Assembly on a UN-sponsored report which accused Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza last winter. The Goldstone report was adopted by the 192-member General Assembly in by a vote of 114-18. Netanyahu thanks the U.S. for voting against the resolution that called for the Goldstone findings to be "credibly and independently" investigated. He thanked U.S. President Barack Obama for "resolutely opposing this twisted UN resolution."

The prime minister went on to applaud the U.S. Congress vote, which preceded the UN debate, for condemning the "biased report."

Netanyahu began his address by saying that the Jews had brought "at least three big ideas to civilization: monotheism, the belief that all people have innate rights that transcend the power of kings, and the vision of universal peace."

His speech was briefly interrupted by protesters against Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip last winter, but the prime minister didn't break his stride and quickly resumed his address, saying "I was better received at the UN."

The prime minister then addressed the Jewish communities outside Israel, saying that "strengthening Jewish identity can no longer be the task of Diaspora Jews, it is increasingly the responsibility of the Jewish state."

"Only a strong Israel can achieve peace," he went on to say. "A small Israel demands a secure peace."

Obama's failed Settlement freeze struggle brings Columinst Tom Friedman to write to Obama: Leave peace alone

(Ynet).New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote a piece on the eve that US President Barack Obama set a much-contended meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The article recommends that Obama abandon the Middle East peace process, claiming that US involvement only helps both sides cover up their deficiencies and lack of willingness for real concessions.

Friedman describes talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians as a tiring routine that are more a function of diplomatic habit than real intentions to reach an agreement. The talks have left the realm of diplomacy and have become more an issue of maintenance – something the diplomats do in order to stay in shape, so to speak.

"The Israeli-Palestinian peace process has become a bad play. It is obvious that all the parties are just acting out the same old scenes, with the same old tired clichés — and that no one believes any of it anymore. There is no romance, no sex, no excitement, no urgency — not even a sense of importance anymore. The only thing driving the peace process today is inertia and diplomatic habit," Friedman wrote.

Friedman called upon Obama to adopt a new, radical approach that has yet to be seen in the White House: "Take down our 'Peace-Processing-Is-Us' sign and just go home."

As of today, he wrote, the US is interested in peace more than the two parties and has become the Israelis' and the Palestinians' Novocaine.

"We relieve all the political pain from the Arab and Israeli decision-makers by creating the impression in the minds of their publics that something serious is happening. 'Look, the US secretary of state is here. Look, she’s standing by my side. Look, I’m doing something important! Take our picture. Put it on the news. We’re on the verge of something really big and I am indispensable to it.' This enables the respective leaders to continue with their real priorities — which are all about holding power or pursuing ideological obsessions — while pretending to advance peace, without paying any political price," Friedman claimed.

"Let’s just get out of the picture. Let all these leaders stand in front of their own people and tell them the truth: 'My fellow citizens: Nothing is happening; nothing is going to happen. It’s just you and me and the problem we own.' Indeed, it’s time for us to dust off James Baker’s line: 'When you’re serious, give us a call: 202-456-1414. Ask for Barack. Otherwise, stay out of our lives. We have our own country to fix.'"

Friedman, who played golf with President Obama just three weeks ago, mocked the American administration for "begging" Israel to stop building the settlements. He claimed that the US is in the wrong position when it continuously asks the Palestinians to come to the negotiating table, and importunes the Saudis to "wink" at Israel. According to him, these are pathetic moves that only damage Obama's credibility in the peace process.

"If the status quo is this tolerable for the parties, then I say, let them enjoy it. I just don’t want to subsidize it or anesthetize it anymore. We need to fix America. If and when they get serious, they’ll find us. And when they do, we should put a detailed US plan for a two-state solution, with borders, on the table. Let’s fight about something big."

Barak in DC: Recruit Obama to peace process

(Ynet).Following the Netanyahu-Obama meeting saga and continuing US calls for Obama to abandon the peace process, Israel is trying to convince US President Barack Obama to stay in the game. Defense Minister Ehud Barak, currently in Washington, said during his meeting with his American colleagues that it is critical to get Obama on board and start negotiations.

Barak said that Obama's presidency presents a huge opportunity to achieve peace, saying that peace is better than any other alternative. The defense minister noted that this is the moment of truth for the Palestinian and regional leaders.

According to Barak, Israel is exercising all its might to reignite negotiations. He said that Israel is using all of its power to reach agreements with its neighbors.

PM Netanyahu's aide on DC visit: It's business as usual - No crisis brewing

(Ynet).US President Barack Obama is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday evening – 2 am (GMT) and Netanyahu's media advisor, Nir Hefetz, tells Ynet that "saying that there was a near-crisis brewing simply isn’t true."

The atmosphere ahead of the meeting, he stressed, "Is relaxed. We're gearing for a long political day, which will culminate with a meeting in the oval office."

The White House was reportedly enraged with the Prime Minister's Office for announcing that Netanyahu will be arriving in Washington, but delayed information about the meeting, which will not be open to the press. Nevertheless, Hefetz said that Jerusalem and Washington were in constant contact over the past few weeks, in preparation for the trip and the meeting.

Hefetz agreed that announcing the two heads of state will meet was delayed, but dismissed it as simple scheduling matters: "The prime minister announced he was going to speak at the GA conference in the US weeks ago.

"Since this year the conference happens to be taking place in Washington, he expressed his wish to use this opportunity to meet Obama and discuss ways to advance the peace process. Yes, the White House answered us a little late, but describing the situation as if a crisis was brewing simply isn’t true."

The Prime Minister's Office said that during the Washington visit, Netanyahu is scheduled to meet 25 senators, both democrats and republican, as well as the head of the House Subcommittee on Iran. "It's business as usual," said a source in the Prime Minister's Office.

Does Obama delay in scheduling Netanyahu meet point to crisis?

(Aluf Benn-Haaretz).Relations between Israel and the United States are in crisis. This is the conclusion that stems from the difficulty in arranging a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama.

The White House wanted Netanyahu to sweat before being granted an audience with the president, and wanted everyone to see him perspire.

The delays in finding a time to meet, and pushing it to a late hour - after the news programs on Israeli television - make Netanyahu look as if Obama threw him a bone. In such circumstances, it is no longer important what will be said at the meeting, and the extent to which there will be an attempt to present it as an achievement. The prime minister of Israel was humiliated before all.

Netanyahu likes to say that the United States is big and that the Israeli public is mistaken in identifying the American viewpoint only with the president. The true America, Netanyahu says, begins 70 miles west of New York and ends 70 miles east of Los Angeles, and within this enormous space, Israel has millions of loyal supporters.

In his view, the friction with the White House needs to be put in the appropriate proportion, and that falls within the tremendous support of American public opinion that favors Israel.

Those close to Netanyahu, who can express themselves more freely than him, ridicule Obama's inexperience and political amateurism of the administration. In their view, the White House thought it would be possible to bring Netanyahu down, but he only strengthened, according to public opinion polls.

They pressured him to freeze settlements, but he did not surrender.

These neat explanations seem to miss the point: The relations are not symmetrical. Netanyahu may be an experienced diplomat and politician, and Obama may be a novice, but Obama is the president of a superpower, and Netanyahu represents a small country that depends greatly on the United States.

It sometimes appears that Netanyahu forgets this, and pretends he is the head of a superpower, for example when he identifies himself with Winston Churchill, or in declaring that the Israeli mind will free the world of oil dependency in a decade.

Of course Israel can and should use influence and support in the United States, in order to push the policies of the administration in its favor. But in moments of truth and during a crisis, it would be good for Netanyahu if Obama was quick to respond to his call, and not place him on hold.

Obama is not always fair: Denying the existence of understandings between Israel and the previous administration on the settlements harmed his credibility. It is also unclear why he humiliated Netanyahu after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton publicly praised the Prime Minister's proposal to limit settlement construction as "unprecedented."

The opaqueness of the administration rallied Israeli public opinion behind Netanyahu, instead of creating domestic divisions.

PM Netanyahu arrives in Washington for GA summit and meeting with Obama amid doubt on peace talks

(Ynet).The White House announced Sunday that President Barack Obama would be meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu during the Israeli prime minister's trip to Washington, ending days of uncertainty.

An Obama administration official confirmed the two leaders would meet but had no immediate information about what would be on their agenda.

The prime minister's plane landed at Washington's Andrews Air Force Base Airport on Sunday evening (local time). Israel has yet to be informed of the exact time of the meeting with Obama.

Netanyahu arrived in the US capital for a speaking engagement at the three-day 2009 General Assembly of The Jewish Federations of North America. He will meet with Obama on Monday evening.

Obama was also to have addressed the forum but canceled his speech in order to attend a memorial service on Tuesday for soldiers killed in a mass shooting at Fort Hood military base in Texas last week. His chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, will speak in his place.

President Barak Obama addresses the Israeli people at Rabin memorial rally

Peace process in pieces - Palestinians consider abandoning peace process

ust days after Mahmoud Abbas, the moderate president of the Palestinian Authority, announced his intention to quit, his colleagues gave warning that they were prepared to deploy the much feared "nuclear option".

Officials in the West Bank told The Daily Telegraph that the most important Palestinian decision making bodies were preparing to meet to discuss a proposal to dissolve the Palestinian Authority itself.

Such a move would signal the end of limited self-government in the Palestinian territories set out by the now defunct Oslo Accords of 1993 and as such end all hopes of a resolution to the conflict with Israel.

Even so, some Palestinian officials signalled they were prepared to discuss the long-feared "nuclear option" in response to what they described as Israeli intransigence and American betrayal.

But at least one Palestinian official suggested that the debate was mainly designed to escalate pressure on the United States after Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state, appeared to signal growing support for Israel within the Obama administration.

"We in the movement back dissolving the PA," said Tayseer Nasrallah, a member of the Palestinian National Council, the legislative body of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).

"We would use this as pressure on the United States to commit itself to the peace process." Mr Abbas, a moderate voice of conciliation and America's closest Palestinian ally, announced his decision not to stand in elections scheduled for January shortly after Mrs Clinton praised an Israeli offer to limit the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

Her comments appeared to represent a shift in policy by the Obama administration, which had earlier demanded a total freeze of all settlement construction – a call that prompted ferocious opposition from Israel.

Hamas rep.: Netanyahu gov't working continuously on Schalit issue

(JPOST).The Netanyahu government is working continuously to achieve a prisoner exchange deal and secure the release of captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar said Sunday.

Zahar told Israeli Arab website www.alarab.co.il said that this was a change from the behavior of the previous government, which "would send an envoy and then disappear for months."

Zahar added that, should Israel desire to hold the exchange, Hamas was prepared to do so even now.

Zahar would not give details on the talks, saying that "We prefer to remain silent so as not to affect those who do not want the deal to take place."

Ambassador Oren tells U.S. Jews at GA summit: Push for Iran sanctions; Israel can and will defend itself!

(Haaretz). Israel's Ambassador to the United States on Sunday told American Jewish groups that they must press for sanctions on Iran, and condemned the findings of a United Nations commission on the Gaza conflict between Israel and Hamas, which he said helped to "cast widespread doubts about Israel's legitimacy."

Speaking at the opening ceremony for the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America, Michael Oren said that while Israel "is in better geopolitical situation than ever before," it still faces threats, from members of the Palestinian leadership who do not want peace, as well as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and their patron, Iran.
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While Israel recognizes the right of the Palestinian people to a state, he said, "we are hard pressed to find Palestinian leaders who say the same thing about us, that there is the Jewish people who have a historical right, an inalienable right to a state in the homeland."

"Israeli withdrawals from Lebanon and Gaza that were reciprocated not with peace but with thousands and thousands of rockets," he said.

"In addition to the terrorists who hide behind their own civilians while firing rockets at Israeli towns and villages, there is a radical Iranian regime that backs those terrorists and vows to wipe Israel off the map; an Iranian regime that is assiduously working to acquire the wherewithal for nuclear weapons."

But, he said, "Israel can and will defend itself! We will fight the terrorists, we will protect ourselves from Iran and we will resist attempts to discredit us."

It is up to American Jewish communities to add Iran to their list of causes, Oren told the conference. Next to the banners by synagogues and Jewish groups protesting the genocide in Darfur and the hunger in Africa, he said, there should also be banners calling for sanctions on Iran, and to "stop the Iranian bomb."

On the UN report into the Gaza fighting, Oren said when Israel tries to defend itself from danger, "much of the world rushes to condemn Israel for committing war crimes, and even crimes against humanity. The condemnation such as that in the so-called Goldstone report cast widespread doubts about Israel's legitimacy."

Oren drew a direct line in Jewish history from "an obscure group of nomads" some three thousand years ago who "came up with the extraordinary notion of the existence of a single God," and who were given a land, to the Jews of post-Holocaust Europe - "a tiny remnant? rising from the ashes of the world's greatest massacre returned to that land, and they reclaimed it."

In that land, Oren said, the people created a "vibrant democracy there, and the first Jewish defense force in 2,000 years," and revived "the language in which God had first spoken to them."

He said Israel was now facing questions about its legitimacy, not only from its traditional enemies but also from young people in the U.S., both Jews and non-Jews.

He told the conference that Israel's ability to withstand the "onslaught of delegitimization" depends on the unity of the Jewish people, not just in Israel, but in communities all over the world.

"Our strength derives from the belief that we have a right to independence in our tribal land, the land of Israel, and that Jews have a right to defend themselves, there and everywhere. That Jews have a right to survive as Jews and as a legitimate nation."

PM Netanyahu challanges the UN over Goldstone-Iran absurd

(Ynet).The interception of a Hezbollah-bound weapons shipment from Iran to Syria has fallen like a ripe fruit into the hands of Israel, which is trying to use to affair in its battle against the Goldstone Report, which may reach the United Nations Security Council.  

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been dedicating a lot of his time to the international battle being held at the UN General Assembly against the report, which accuses Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza.
Hezbollah-bound vessel carrying vast amounts of weapons, ammunition left Iranian port 10 days ago; cargo was transferred to German ship, seized a few hours after leaving Egyptian port on Tuesday.

Speaking in a closed forum Wednesday evening, Netanyahu said that a UN discussion on the very day when an Iranian ship carrying weapons to Hezbollah was caught only emphasized the contradictions in the face of the international community's demands of Israel.  

"The Navy's seizure of the ship illustrates the great absurdity: On the one hand, Iran is sending weapons to hornet's nests of terrorists in order to kill our civilians. On the other hand, the Goldstone Report points the finger at Israel," the prime minister said.  "In the coming days we will present this absurdity to our friends in the world," Netanyahu promised.  

The prime minister said earlier Wednesday that "those who needed further proof that Iran is continuing to supply weapons to terror organizations got it today in a clear and unequivocal manner."

Huckabee: Obama is "abandoning Israel"

(GOP12).Republican Mike Huckabee, interviewed by the Christian Broadcasting Network yesterday.

"I'm especially grieved at what's happening with the policy toward Israel.We are abandoning the only real ally and friend we have in the Middle East, and we're doing it in order to court really a thug, rogue, terrorist government like the Palestinians who are led by a person who helped clear the finances for the Munich bombing."

Merkel in Congress: West must show zero tolerance to prevent Iran nuclear

(Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that Iran must be prevented from obtaining a nuclear weapon and that the country must be shown that the West has zero tolerance on the matter.

"Zero tolerance needs to be shown when there is a risk of weapons of mass destruction falling, for example, into the hands of Iran and threatening our security," Merkel said in translated remarks to a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress.

"Iran needs to be aware of this, Iran knows our offer but Iran also knows where we draw a line."

"A nuclear bomb in the hands of an Iranian president who denies the Holocaust, threatens Israel and denies Israel the right to exist is not acceptable," Merkel said, referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Barak: Israel working to advance peace

(JPOST)."The government of Israel is continuing its efforts, I'm in the government mainly in order to help this happen," Barak told Israel Radio.

The defense minister went on to express his appreciation for the efforts by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and US Mideast envoy George Mitchell to promote contacts between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

"We all heard the secretary of state's praise for the steps we took in order to encourage the resumption of peace talks," Barak said, referring to Clinton's praise of Netanyahu's moratorium on new construction in the settlements, a move which she said was "unprecedented."

Barak added that during his trip to Washington with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu next week, they would try to reach understandings on the issue with the Obama administration.

"The aim of the negotiations is clear - to reach an agreement that would end the conflict and the mutual demands, leading to the establishment of an economically, territorially independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, so that we no longer control another people and the occupation that began in 1967 ends," the defense minister stated.

"I think these goals are vital for Israel, any alternatives I can think of are far worse. From discussion of a bi-national state to a unilateral decision by the PA to declare a Palestinian state in the 1967 territories.

"The state of Israel has an interest to engage in peace talks not because of the Palestinians, but first and foremost for our own sake, not because of the US but mostly for the future of the state of Israel," he concluded.

Israel Official Says Hamas Rockets Can Reach Tel Aviv

(Bloomberg) -- The Islamic Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip can now launch rockets capable of reaching the Israeli metropolitan area of Tel Aviv, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said at a Jerusalem briefing.

“We know they have tried to, and have obtained missiles that reach 60 kilometers (37 miles),” Ayalon said today. “Tel Aviv and its vicinity are now under the range of Hamas.”

During Israel’s military operation against Hamas in Gaza, which ended in January, the farthest rocket strike was some 40 kilometers into Israel, endangering southern cities such as Ashdod and Beersheba.

Since the three-week operation, Hamas has been able to replenish its stock of military equipment and explosives as well as upgrade its rocket capability, Ayalon said. Hamas is receiving support from Iran, which is using the Islamic movement to increase its influence in the region, he said.

Hamas recently successfully tested a rocket with a 60- kilometer range, Major General Amos Yadlin, chief of military intelligence, told a parliamentary committee in Jerusalem today, according to the YNet news Web site.

During 2008, some 3,300 rockets and mortars were fired into Israel, according to the Israeli army. During the 22-day Gaza operation the number was 800, and since it concluded on Jan. 18 there have been 250 more, the army said.

Clinton: Israel must do more on settlement issue, but Israel deserved praise for moving in the right direction

(Ynet).US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday moderated her praise for Israel's offer to restrain, but not stop, its building of settlements in Palestinian areas.

She said it falls short of US expectations but would have a "significant and meaningful effect" on limiting the growth of Jewish settlements on land the Palestinians want for their own state.

"The Israelis have responded to the call of the US, the Palestinians and the Arab world to stop settlement activity by expressing a willingness to restrain settlement activity," she told reporters in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh.

"This offer falls far short of what our preference would be but if it is acted upon it will be an unprecedented restriction on settlements and would have a significant and meaningful effect on restraining their growth."

On Saturday her praise of Israel's offer to restrict its settlement activity drew widespread criticism from Arab nations who interpreted it as a softening of the US position on settlements, which stand in the way of a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

During a photo-taking session with her Moroccan counterpart, Clinton was asked by a reporter about the Arab reaction, and she responded by reading from a written statement that appeared designed to counter the skepticism about the Obama administration's views on settlements.

"Successive American administrations of both parties have opposed Israel's settlement policy," she said. "That is absolutely a fact, and the Obama administration's position on settlements is clear, unequivocal and it has not changed. As the president has said on many occasions, the United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements."

She also called on the Israelis to do more to improve "movement and access" for Palestinians and on Israeli security arrangements.

She added, however that Israel deserved praise for moving in the right direction.

Netanyahu to fly cheaper plane - Arkia to U.S. instead of El Al to save taxpayers money

(Haaretz).Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will leave next Sunday for a working visit to the United States, during the course of which he is expected to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama. What sets this trip apart, however, is the six extra hours Netanyahu agreed to spend en route by opting for a cheaper and smaller airplane, which necessitates a refueling stop.

The prime minister's visit to the tripartite summit at the UN General Assembly in New York in September cost $1.3 million. For this price, the prime minister flew on an El Al Boeing 767, directly to the United States. The prime minister's office rejected cheaper proposals from other companies that had offered smaller planes.

At the time, the prime minister's office explained El Al's exorbitant fee by saying that the company had insisted on raising the price because it had to take a large passenger jet out of commuter use for several days during the holiday season, in addition to a short-notice surcharge. However, El Al's offer for the current trip was even higher, standing at $1.4 million.

Netanyahu decided to issue a tender for other companies operating smaller airliners. After receiving offers of $800,000 from Israir and $450,000 from Arkia, Netanyahu chose the cheapest option, prolonging his journey by some six hours.

Netanyahu and his entourage will leave Israel early next Sunday morning, stop to refuel in Ireland, and go on to Washington. On Monday, Netanyahu is expected to meet with Obama. Netanyahu will leave for New York that night, and will spend Tuesday giving interviews and meeting with Jewish leaders. Netanyahu will then make his way home on Tuesday, stopping to refuel in Paris.