30 june 2014
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked the international community on Sunday to support Jordan in the fight against "Islamic extremism" and to back the independence of Iraq's Kurds.
"We need to support efforts by the international community to strengthen Jordan and support the aspirations of the Kurds for independence," Netanyahu said in a speech to the Institute of National Security Studies think-tank in Tel Aviv.
"I think it's our common interest to make sure that a moderate, stable regime like (Jordan) is able to defend itself."
His remarks follow reports in Israeli media that officials in Tel Aviv fear Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants may extend their control to areas of Jordan after seizing parts of Iraq in recent weeks.
In Syria, ISIL's fighters already control large swathes of territory in Deir Ezzor near the Iraq border, Raqa in the north, as well as parts of neighboring Aleppo province.
In Iraq, they have spearheaded a lightning offensive, capturing sizable territories in the north and west of the conflict-torn country.
Netanyahu also called for independence for Iraq's Kurdistan region, where Kurdish peshmerga security forces have mobilized in an unprecedented deployment to fight against ISIL.
The premier voiced concern over "the powerful wave triggered by ISIL, which could reach Jordan in a very short time."
He added: "We must be able to stop the terrorism and fundamentalism that can reach us from the east at the Jordan line and not in the suburbs of Tel Aviv."
US Secretary of State John Kerry hosted talks with Gulf allies and Jordan last week, emphasizing the Hashemite kingdom's key role in helping to stem the regional gains of ISIL, who had earlier seized control of a Jordanian border crossing in Iraq.
ISIL on Sunday declared it had established a "caliphate", or Islamist state, straddling Iraq and Syria. The jihadists said the state would spread from Aleppo in northern Syria to Diyala in eastern Iraq, ordering Muslims in those areas to pay allegiance to the group.
Netanyahu Says Israeli Security Control Is Vital in Any Accord
By ISABEL KERSHNERJUNE
Historically, Israel has maintained a quiet alliance with the Kurds of Iraq. Mr. Netanyahu described them as a “fighting people” who have proved their political moderation and who deserve independence.
He was less complimentary about the Palestinians, who aspire to an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza with a capital in East Jerusalem, lands conquered by Israel in the 1967 war.
In the past Mr. Netanyahu has spoken of the need for a long-term Israeli military presence along the Jordan River, which forms the border between the West Bank and the Kingdom of Jordan, to prevent infiltrations and weapons smuggling from the east that could threaten Israel.
The Palestinians have said they are ready for a phased Israeli withdrawal over five years, ending the occupation, and for a third-party NATO force or American troops to help secure the territories Israel evacuated.
Mr. Netanyahu now appears to be suggesting that Israel would insist on maintaining freedom of action in all of the West Bank, even after the formation of a Palestinian state, severely limiting Palestinian sovereignty. He said that it had been proved time and again that after the departure of Western forces, local troops trained by the West could not be relied on. He cited Gaza, where the Islamic militant group Hamas routed Western-backed Palestinian Authority forces after Israel’s unilateral withdrawal in 2005, and Iraq after the exit of American forces.
The departure of Israeli forces from the West Bank, Mr. Netanyahu added, would “probably lead to collapse of the Palestinian Authority there and the takeover of radical Islamic forces, like in Gaza.”
Some Israeli analysts viewed Mr. Netanyahu’s remarks as a continuation of his customary hard line, but an Israeli official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly on the speech, said that the recent events in Iraq had also influenced the prime minister.
In his address, at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, Mr. Netanyahu stated that the turmoil in the Middle East also offered an opportunity for enhanced regional cooperation among moderate forces with shared interests. Israel, he said, would support international efforts to shore up Jordan, though he called it a stable country with a strong army that is able to defend itself. And for the first time he openly endorsed Kurdish aspirations for independence.
One Israeli security expert said that Mr. Netanyahu’s endorsement of Kurdish aspirations for independence might also have been meant to underscore what Israel sees as an international double standard when it comes to the strong world support for Palestinian statehood.
Underlining the growing volatility in the region, tit-for-tat attacks continued over the weekend across Israel’s border with Gaza. On Saturday night a rocket fired from Gaza struck a paint factory, setting it ablaze, in the Israeli border town of Sderot. Israel carried out a dozen retaliatory airstrikes against four “terror activity sites,” six concealed rocket launchers and two weapons manufacturing sites in Gaza, according to the Israeli military.
Two more rockets were fired into southern Israel on Sunday and were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. At the same time, according to the military, Palestinian gunmen in Gaza fired at Israeli forces near the border fence, causing no injuries. Soon after, the Israeli Air Force fired at what the military said was a squad preparing to launch more rockets. Palestinian health officials said a Palestinian man was killed.
Tensions along the Israel-Gaza border have risen sharply since three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped in the West Bank more than two weeks ago. Israel has blamed Hamas for the abductions.
"We need to support efforts by the international community to strengthen Jordan and support the aspirations of the Kurds for independence," Netanyahu said in a speech to the Institute of National Security Studies think-tank in Tel Aviv.
"I think it's our common interest to make sure that a moderate, stable regime like (Jordan) is able to defend itself."
His remarks follow reports in Israeli media that officials in Tel Aviv fear Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants may extend their control to areas of Jordan after seizing parts of Iraq in recent weeks.
In Syria, ISIL's fighters already control large swathes of territory in Deir Ezzor near the Iraq border, Raqa in the north, as well as parts of neighboring Aleppo province.
In Iraq, they have spearheaded a lightning offensive, capturing sizable territories in the north and west of the conflict-torn country.
Netanyahu also called for independence for Iraq's Kurdistan region, where Kurdish peshmerga security forces have mobilized in an unprecedented deployment to fight against ISIL.
The premier voiced concern over "the powerful wave triggered by ISIL, which could reach Jordan in a very short time."
He added: "We must be able to stop the terrorism and fundamentalism that can reach us from the east at the Jordan line and not in the suburbs of Tel Aviv."
US Secretary of State John Kerry hosted talks with Gulf allies and Jordan last week, emphasizing the Hashemite kingdom's key role in helping to stem the regional gains of ISIL, who had earlier seized control of a Jordanian border crossing in Iraq.
ISIL on Sunday declared it had established a "caliphate", or Islamist state, straddling Iraq and Syria. The jihadists said the state would spread from Aleppo in northern Syria to Diyala in eastern Iraq, ordering Muslims in those areas to pay allegiance to the group.
Netanyahu Says Israeli Security Control Is Vital in Any Accord
By ISABEL KERSHNERJUNE
Historically, Israel has maintained a quiet alliance with the Kurds of Iraq. Mr. Netanyahu described them as a “fighting people” who have proved their political moderation and who deserve independence.
He was less complimentary about the Palestinians, who aspire to an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza with a capital in East Jerusalem, lands conquered by Israel in the 1967 war.
In the past Mr. Netanyahu has spoken of the need for a long-term Israeli military presence along the Jordan River, which forms the border between the West Bank and the Kingdom of Jordan, to prevent infiltrations and weapons smuggling from the east that could threaten Israel.
The Palestinians have said they are ready for a phased Israeli withdrawal over five years, ending the occupation, and for a third-party NATO force or American troops to help secure the territories Israel evacuated.
Mr. Netanyahu now appears to be suggesting that Israel would insist on maintaining freedom of action in all of the West Bank, even after the formation of a Palestinian state, severely limiting Palestinian sovereignty. He said that it had been proved time and again that after the departure of Western forces, local troops trained by the West could not be relied on. He cited Gaza, where the Islamic militant group Hamas routed Western-backed Palestinian Authority forces after Israel’s unilateral withdrawal in 2005, and Iraq after the exit of American forces.
The departure of Israeli forces from the West Bank, Mr. Netanyahu added, would “probably lead to collapse of the Palestinian Authority there and the takeover of radical Islamic forces, like in Gaza.”
Some Israeli analysts viewed Mr. Netanyahu’s remarks as a continuation of his customary hard line, but an Israeli official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly on the speech, said that the recent events in Iraq had also influenced the prime minister.
In his address, at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University, Mr. Netanyahu stated that the turmoil in the Middle East also offered an opportunity for enhanced regional cooperation among moderate forces with shared interests. Israel, he said, would support international efforts to shore up Jordan, though he called it a stable country with a strong army that is able to defend itself. And for the first time he openly endorsed Kurdish aspirations for independence.
One Israeli security expert said that Mr. Netanyahu’s endorsement of Kurdish aspirations for independence might also have been meant to underscore what Israel sees as an international double standard when it comes to the strong world support for Palestinian statehood.
Underlining the growing volatility in the region, tit-for-tat attacks continued over the weekend across Israel’s border with Gaza. On Saturday night a rocket fired from Gaza struck a paint factory, setting it ablaze, in the Israeli border town of Sderot. Israel carried out a dozen retaliatory airstrikes against four “terror activity sites,” six concealed rocket launchers and two weapons manufacturing sites in Gaza, according to the Israeli military.
Two more rockets were fired into southern Israel on Sunday and were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system. At the same time, according to the military, Palestinian gunmen in Gaza fired at Israeli forces near the border fence, causing no injuries. Soon after, the Israeli Air Force fired at what the military said was a squad preparing to launch more rockets. Palestinian health officials said a Palestinian man was killed.
Tensions along the Israel-Gaza border have risen sharply since three Israeli teenagers were kidnapped in the West Bank more than two weeks ago. Israel has blamed Hamas for the abductions.
29 june 2014
The Israeli government Sunday authorized 1,500 more Jordanians to come and work in its Red Sea resort of Eilat to combat a labor shortage, the tourism ministry said.
It said the decision was taken because of the "serious crisis" caused by not enough hotel workers.
The Jordanians would enter Israel to work and go back across the border to Jordan at night once their shift was finished, the ministry said in a statement.
"I am persuaded that this decision will reinforce peace between Israel and Jordan, and help reduce high unemployment in southern Jordan," it quoted Tourism Minister Uzi Landau as saying.
Ministry figures show that some 300 Jordanians currently work in and around the resort, which has about 12,000 hotel rooms.
Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, becoming the second Arab state to do so after Egypt in 1979.
It said the decision was taken because of the "serious crisis" caused by not enough hotel workers.
The Jordanians would enter Israel to work and go back across the border to Jordan at night once their shift was finished, the ministry said in a statement.
"I am persuaded that this decision will reinforce peace between Israel and Jordan, and help reduce high unemployment in southern Jordan," it quoted Tourism Minister Uzi Landau as saying.
Ministry figures show that some 300 Jordanians currently work in and around the resort, which has about 12,000 hotel rooms.
Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, becoming the second Arab state to do so after Egypt in 1979.
An Egyptian and two Israelis, including an intelligence officer, will be tried by an Egyptian court for allegedly "spying" for the Israel, judicial sources said on Sunday.
The Egyptian is in custody and the two Israeli "fugitives" are to be tried in absentia, the sources said. The date of the trial has yet to be fixed.
Five Egyptians, a Jordanian engineer and seven Israeli intelligence officers are already on trial on charges of "spying" for Israel. The seven Israelis are also being tried in absentia.
In October 2011, Israel freed 25 Egyptians in exchange for Israeli-American Ilan Grapel who was detained for four months on similar charges in Egypt, the first Arab country to sign a peace agreement with Israel in 1979.
The Egyptian is in custody and the two Israeli "fugitives" are to be tried in absentia, the sources said. The date of the trial has yet to be fixed.
Five Egyptians, a Jordanian engineer and seven Israeli intelligence officers are already on trial on charges of "spying" for Israel. The seven Israelis are also being tried in absentia.
In October 2011, Israel freed 25 Egyptians in exchange for Israeli-American Ilan Grapel who was detained for four months on similar charges in Egypt, the first Arab country to sign a peace agreement with Israel in 1979.
MK Haneen Zoabi
Israeli Ministerial Legislative Committee, during its weekly meeting, will discuss on Sunday MK Haneen Zoabi's law that include a series of acts of targeting Palestinians inside Israel. Zoabi's Law is to amend the existing laws and allow the Knesset's Central Elections Committee to prevent any MK from doing tasks that support enemy states or terrorist groups against Israel.
Jewish Home MK Ayelet Shaked Sunday told Hebrew newspaper of Yediot Aharonoth that the decision was made after MK Zoabi announced that the kidnappers of the three Israeli settlers are not terrorists or criminals.
The Arab Knesset member was attacked in a previous hearing by Jewish extremists. When they asked whether she would attend the new hearing session or not, she answered: "Yes, I would. I am not representing myself, but all my people." Despite she was threatened of killing by Israeli leaders and parties, she refused to retreat her remarks.
Israeli Ministerial Legislative Committee, during its weekly meeting, will discuss on Sunday MK Haneen Zoabi's law that include a series of acts of targeting Palestinians inside Israel. Zoabi's Law is to amend the existing laws and allow the Knesset's Central Elections Committee to prevent any MK from doing tasks that support enemy states or terrorist groups against Israel.
Jewish Home MK Ayelet Shaked Sunday told Hebrew newspaper of Yediot Aharonoth that the decision was made after MK Zoabi announced that the kidnappers of the three Israeli settlers are not terrorists or criminals.
The Arab Knesset member was attacked in a previous hearing by Jewish extremists. When they asked whether she would attend the new hearing session or not, she answered: "Yes, I would. I am not representing myself, but all my people." Despite she was threatened of killing by Israeli leaders and parties, she refused to retreat her remarks.
Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman
Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman has criticised Israeli Arab demonstrators who took to the streets in solidarity with Palestinians under Israeli aggression in Hebron and the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported. The Arab Israelis gathered on Friday at Umm El-Fahm junction during a protest against the actions of the occupation forces and chanted against Israelis and in support of Palestinians.
Lieberman said that the demonstrators "should be treated as terrorists in every sense of the word." He also said he would urge public security minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch to "act with determination and speed in arresting the inciters so that they could be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."
As the head of the Israel Beiteinu party, Lieberman said that his party "will demand that the government discuss the dangerous radicalisation of the Israeli Arab leadership and deal with it in a thorough, severe matter."
Criticising the chants by the Arab demonstrators, Aharonovich said: "These are grievous statements that attest to the radicalisation of parts of the Arab public. The inciters will be dealt with in accordance with the law."
Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman has criticised Israeli Arab demonstrators who took to the streets in solidarity with Palestinians under Israeli aggression in Hebron and the Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported. The Arab Israelis gathered on Friday at Umm El-Fahm junction during a protest against the actions of the occupation forces and chanted against Israelis and in support of Palestinians.
Lieberman said that the demonstrators "should be treated as terrorists in every sense of the word." He also said he would urge public security minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch to "act with determination and speed in arresting the inciters so that they could be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."
As the head of the Israel Beiteinu party, Lieberman said that his party "will demand that the government discuss the dangerous radicalisation of the Israeli Arab leadership and deal with it in a thorough, severe matter."
Criticising the chants by the Arab demonstrators, Aharonovich said: "These are grievous statements that attest to the radicalisation of parts of the Arab public. The inciters will be dealt with in accordance with the law."
27 june 2014
Uri Avnery is an Israeli peace activist, founder of Gush Shalom, and a former member of the Israeli Knesset.
One side's terrorists are the other side's freedom fighters. That is not simply a matter of terminology. It is a difference of perception, which has far-reaching practical consequences.
Take prisoners, for example.
For the freedom fighter, achieving the release of imprisoned comrades is a sacred duty, for which he is ready to sacrifice his life. One of the most daring exploits of the Irgun underground (of which I was for a time a very junior member) was to attack in force the British prison in the Crusader’s castle in Acre and release hundreds of prisoners. For our colonial masters, this was considered a dastardly terrorist act.
This should be clear to our present government, based on the Likud party, which was originally founded by former Irgun fighters. However, these are long gone, and present Rightist politicians and military officers are just a bad copy of our former British colonial rulers. They have no idea how the militant’s mind works.
This is the core of the incident that has dominated Israel's life for the last two weeks.
At ten o'clock pm, two weeks ago, three teenagers from a settlement yeshiva near Hebron stood at a lonely road crossing, trying to hitchhike to their settlement homes. Since then they have disappeared.
It was immediately assumed, quite logically, that they had been snatched by a Palestinian group in order to carry out a prisoner exchange. Until now, no known organization has claimed responsibility and no demands have been presented.
Thus it is not the same as the capture of the soldier Gilad Shalit some years ago. Shalit was held in the Gaza Strip, which is densely populated by Palestinians and controlled by Hamas. The West Bank, on the other side, is riddled with Israeli settlements, and it is only a slight exaggeration to say that every tenth Palestinian there is an Israeli informer.
47 years of occupation have given the Israeli Security Service innumerable opportunities to press Palestinians into their service by blackmail, bribery and other means.
Yet so far no sign of the captors or captured has been detected -- an extraordinary achievement by the perpetrators.
'An armed ghetto'
The Netanyahu government immediately saw in the incident an auspicious opportunity.
Without the least evidence (as far as we know) it accused Hamas. The next day (there was a slight delay because of police incompetence) a huge double operation went into action. Many thousands of soldiers were employed to comb the countryside and conduct house-to-house searches.
But at the same time an even bigger operation, that had obviously been prepared a long time in advance, started an attempt to eradicate Hamas in the West Bank.
Night after night, everyone with the slightest connection to Hamas was arrested. Groups of heavily armed soldiers burst into people's homes, pushed away the frightened children and women, dragged the men from their beds, and took them away, handcuffed and blindfolded.
They numbered many hundreds -- social workers, teachers, preachers, everyone belonging to the large social and political network of the Hamas movement.
Among the arrested were many released in the Shalit prisoner exchange. The Israeli political and intelligence leadership had agreed to that lopsided exchange (one hostage for more than a thousand prisoners) only under immense public pressure, and had obviously decided even then to return them to prison at the earliest opportunity.
Not by accident was it disclosed this week that one of these released prisoners had been accused of killing an Israeli some months ago. It must be assumed that, while most prisoners are grateful to return to their families after decades of incarceration, some of the most determined indeed returned to militant activity.
The effort to eliminate Hamas is foolish. Hamas is a religious movement that exists in the hearts of its adherents. How many can you arrest?
During these two weeks, Israeli society showed itself in the worst possible light -- as an armed ghetto, devoid of compassion for others and incapable of rational thinking.
True, the first reaction was not uniform. I have heard several people in the street cursing the three missing young settlers for their stupid arrogance, standing in the dark of the night in the middle of the occupied territory and climbing into a strange car. But such impious sentiments were soon washed away by a huge wave of brainwashing, which was well-nigh inescapable.
It is a universal trend for peoples to unite in a national emergency. In Israel, this is amplified by the ghetto reflex, formed by centuries of persecution, for Jews to stand together against the evil goyim.
'Willing agents of government propaganda'
One side's terrorists are the other side's freedom fighters. That is not simply a matter of terminology. It is a difference of perception, which has far-reaching practical consequences.
Take prisoners, for example.
For the freedom fighter, achieving the release of imprisoned comrades is a sacred duty, for which he is ready to sacrifice his life. One of the most daring exploits of the Irgun underground (of which I was for a time a very junior member) was to attack in force the British prison in the Crusader’s castle in Acre and release hundreds of prisoners. For our colonial masters, this was considered a dastardly terrorist act.
This should be clear to our present government, based on the Likud party, which was originally founded by former Irgun fighters. However, these are long gone, and present Rightist politicians and military officers are just a bad copy of our former British colonial rulers. They have no idea how the militant’s mind works.
This is the core of the incident that has dominated Israel's life for the last two weeks.
At ten o'clock pm, two weeks ago, three teenagers from a settlement yeshiva near Hebron stood at a lonely road crossing, trying to hitchhike to their settlement homes. Since then they have disappeared.
It was immediately assumed, quite logically, that they had been snatched by a Palestinian group in order to carry out a prisoner exchange. Until now, no known organization has claimed responsibility and no demands have been presented.
Thus it is not the same as the capture of the soldier Gilad Shalit some years ago. Shalit was held in the Gaza Strip, which is densely populated by Palestinians and controlled by Hamas. The West Bank, on the other side, is riddled with Israeli settlements, and it is only a slight exaggeration to say that every tenth Palestinian there is an Israeli informer.
47 years of occupation have given the Israeli Security Service innumerable opportunities to press Palestinians into their service by blackmail, bribery and other means.
Yet so far no sign of the captors or captured has been detected -- an extraordinary achievement by the perpetrators.
'An armed ghetto'
The Netanyahu government immediately saw in the incident an auspicious opportunity.
Without the least evidence (as far as we know) it accused Hamas. The next day (there was a slight delay because of police incompetence) a huge double operation went into action. Many thousands of soldiers were employed to comb the countryside and conduct house-to-house searches.
But at the same time an even bigger operation, that had obviously been prepared a long time in advance, started an attempt to eradicate Hamas in the West Bank.
Night after night, everyone with the slightest connection to Hamas was arrested. Groups of heavily armed soldiers burst into people's homes, pushed away the frightened children and women, dragged the men from their beds, and took them away, handcuffed and blindfolded.
They numbered many hundreds -- social workers, teachers, preachers, everyone belonging to the large social and political network of the Hamas movement.
Among the arrested were many released in the Shalit prisoner exchange. The Israeli political and intelligence leadership had agreed to that lopsided exchange (one hostage for more than a thousand prisoners) only under immense public pressure, and had obviously decided even then to return them to prison at the earliest opportunity.
Not by accident was it disclosed this week that one of these released prisoners had been accused of killing an Israeli some months ago. It must be assumed that, while most prisoners are grateful to return to their families after decades of incarceration, some of the most determined indeed returned to militant activity.
The effort to eliminate Hamas is foolish. Hamas is a religious movement that exists in the hearts of its adherents. How many can you arrest?
During these two weeks, Israeli society showed itself in the worst possible light -- as an armed ghetto, devoid of compassion for others and incapable of rational thinking.
True, the first reaction was not uniform. I have heard several people in the street cursing the three missing young settlers for their stupid arrogance, standing in the dark of the night in the middle of the occupied territory and climbing into a strange car. But such impious sentiments were soon washed away by a huge wave of brainwashing, which was well-nigh inescapable.
It is a universal trend for peoples to unite in a national emergency. In Israel, this is amplified by the ghetto reflex, formed by centuries of persecution, for Jews to stand together against the evil goyim.
'Willing agents of government propaganda'
The deluge of government propaganda assumed incredible proportions. Almost the entire coverage in the newspapers was devoted to the military operations. Radio and TV extended this coverage live around the clock, 24 hours daily, day after day.
The journalistic establishment was led by the "military correspondents," almost all of them former army intelligence officers, who were acting as agents for the army spokesman, reciting army communiqués as though they were their own disclosures and insights. No difference between the various stations and newspapers could be detected. If some liberal commentator dared to voice a word of criticism, it was very muted and concerned only minor details.
By chance, at the same time a bill was making its way in the Knesset. It would make any prisoner exchange illegal -- a rare case of a government handcuffing itself. It forbade the government giving amnesty to "security prisoners" or negotiating prisoner exchanges.
This means death to hostages.
In their incredible naivety -- not to say stupidity -- right-wing politicians believe that this would deter hostage-taking. Anyone with even a slight comprehension of militant mentality knows that the effect would be the very opposite: take more hostages, increase the pressure to free prisoners.
The lives of hostages would become very cheap indeed. The present endeavor of the intelligence agencies and the army to discover the whereabouts of the three absentees, if successful, would lead to an action to free them by force.
As experience shows, in such a situation, the chances of the hostages surviving are slim. Caught in the crossfire, they are killed either by their captors or -- more frequently -- by their liberators. Yet not a single voice in Israel raised this crucial point.
The Shalit family, ordinary secular Israelis, were acutely aware of this danger to their son. Not so the families of the three missing settler-boys, all of them settlers belonging to the extreme Right.
They have become willing agents of government propaganda, calling for mass prayers and support for the settler movement. Their rabbi explained that the capture of the youngsters was God’s punishment for recent efforts to compel religious youths to serve in the army.
The government is obviously far more interested in a political propaganda victory than in securing the release of the hostages.
The main aim is to pressure Mahmoud Abbas to abandon the inter-Palestinian reconciliation and to destroy the new experts-only Palestinian government. Abbas resists.
He is already widely denounced in Palestine, because of the ongoing close cooperation between his security forces and the Israeli ones, even while the Israeli operation is continuing. Abbas is playing a very dangerous game, trying to balance all the pressures. Whatever one’s political opinion, his courage cannot be denied.
The Israeli leadership, living in its bubble, is totally unable to understand world reaction, or the lack of it.
Before it all started, the number of Palestinians, including children, killed by live fire during demonstrations had steadily increased. Apparently, the rules of engagement, as understood by the soldiers, have made this easier. Since the present operation started, more than five non-combatant Palestinians have been killed by the army, some of them children.
In the Israeli edition of the New York Times, a large part of the front page was taken up by the picture of a Palestinian mother grieving for her child, not by the hostages.
But when the three mothers, who were sent for propaganda purposes to the UN human rights commission in Geneva, were accorded a chilly reception, the Israeli government was astonished. Delegates were more interested in human rights violations by Israel than in the hostages -- for many Israelis another glaring example of the anti-Semitism of the UN.
More than anything else, this episode shows again how desperately we need peace. The inter-Palestinian reconciliation could bring peace nearer -- and therefore the Israeli Right, and especially the settlers, wants to destroy it.
I believe that the settlements are a disaster for Israel. But my heart bleeds for the three boys – two of them 15 years old, one a bit older – who are now being held in conditions it is hard to imagine, if they are still alive.
The best way to prevent hostage-taking is to release prisoners voluntarily. Even the Security Service cannot seriously maintain that all the many thousands of political prisoners now in our prisons constitute a mortal danger to our existence.
An even better way forward is to end the occupation by making peace.
The journalistic establishment was led by the "military correspondents," almost all of them former army intelligence officers, who were acting as agents for the army spokesman, reciting army communiqués as though they were their own disclosures and insights. No difference between the various stations and newspapers could be detected. If some liberal commentator dared to voice a word of criticism, it was very muted and concerned only minor details.
By chance, at the same time a bill was making its way in the Knesset. It would make any prisoner exchange illegal -- a rare case of a government handcuffing itself. It forbade the government giving amnesty to "security prisoners" or negotiating prisoner exchanges.
This means death to hostages.
In their incredible naivety -- not to say stupidity -- right-wing politicians believe that this would deter hostage-taking. Anyone with even a slight comprehension of militant mentality knows that the effect would be the very opposite: take more hostages, increase the pressure to free prisoners.
The lives of hostages would become very cheap indeed. The present endeavor of the intelligence agencies and the army to discover the whereabouts of the three absentees, if successful, would lead to an action to free them by force.
As experience shows, in such a situation, the chances of the hostages surviving are slim. Caught in the crossfire, they are killed either by their captors or -- more frequently -- by their liberators. Yet not a single voice in Israel raised this crucial point.
The Shalit family, ordinary secular Israelis, were acutely aware of this danger to their son. Not so the families of the three missing settler-boys, all of them settlers belonging to the extreme Right.
They have become willing agents of government propaganda, calling for mass prayers and support for the settler movement. Their rabbi explained that the capture of the youngsters was God’s punishment for recent efforts to compel religious youths to serve in the army.
The government is obviously far more interested in a political propaganda victory than in securing the release of the hostages.
The main aim is to pressure Mahmoud Abbas to abandon the inter-Palestinian reconciliation and to destroy the new experts-only Palestinian government. Abbas resists.
He is already widely denounced in Palestine, because of the ongoing close cooperation between his security forces and the Israeli ones, even while the Israeli operation is continuing. Abbas is playing a very dangerous game, trying to balance all the pressures. Whatever one’s political opinion, his courage cannot be denied.
The Israeli leadership, living in its bubble, is totally unable to understand world reaction, or the lack of it.
Before it all started, the number of Palestinians, including children, killed by live fire during demonstrations had steadily increased. Apparently, the rules of engagement, as understood by the soldiers, have made this easier. Since the present operation started, more than five non-combatant Palestinians have been killed by the army, some of them children.
In the Israeli edition of the New York Times, a large part of the front page was taken up by the picture of a Palestinian mother grieving for her child, not by the hostages.
But when the three mothers, who were sent for propaganda purposes to the UN human rights commission in Geneva, were accorded a chilly reception, the Israeli government was astonished. Delegates were more interested in human rights violations by Israel than in the hostages -- for many Israelis another glaring example of the anti-Semitism of the UN.
More than anything else, this episode shows again how desperately we need peace. The inter-Palestinian reconciliation could bring peace nearer -- and therefore the Israeli Right, and especially the settlers, wants to destroy it.
I believe that the settlements are a disaster for Israel. But my heart bleeds for the three boys – two of them 15 years old, one a bit older – who are now being held in conditions it is hard to imagine, if they are still alive.
The best way to prevent hostage-taking is to release prisoners voluntarily. Even the Security Service cannot seriously maintain that all the many thousands of political prisoners now in our prisons constitute a mortal danger to our existence.
An even better way forward is to end the occupation by making peace.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyadh al-Malki participated in the 23rd African Union Summit in Equatorial Guinea on behalf of President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday.
Al-Malki made a speech briefing African leaders and participants on the updates in the region, and the Israeli escalation against Palestinians being undertaken under the pretext of looking for the three missing Israeli youths.
Al-Malki called upon Africa and the world to not only condemn Israel but also to hold it accountable and pressure it until the occupation ends and a Palestinian state is created.
Al-Malki made his speech after the Israeli delegation left the hall after a number of states raised protests at its attempts to attend as a guest in the summit.
The Arab delegations at the conference protested the presence of the 14-member Israeli delegation, according to the Turkish Anadolu Agency.
"We reject Israel's presence as an observer at the summit," Arab League representative Samir Mohsen was reported saying by the agency, adding that the Israeli delegation was "illegitimate."
Kuwaiti Ambassador to Ethiopia Rashid al-Hajiri, for his part, described Israel's attendance of the A.U. summit as "unacceptable."
"As an Arab bloc, we will reconsider our relations with Equatorial Guinea," the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Ethiopia Rashid al-Hajiri was reported by the Anadolu Agency as saying, calling the decision to invite Israel as "reckless."
Al-Malki made a speech briefing African leaders and participants on the updates in the region, and the Israeli escalation against Palestinians being undertaken under the pretext of looking for the three missing Israeli youths.
Al-Malki called upon Africa and the world to not only condemn Israel but also to hold it accountable and pressure it until the occupation ends and a Palestinian state is created.
Al-Malki made his speech after the Israeli delegation left the hall after a number of states raised protests at its attempts to attend as a guest in the summit.
The Arab delegations at the conference protested the presence of the 14-member Israeli delegation, according to the Turkish Anadolu Agency.
"We reject Israel's presence as an observer at the summit," Arab League representative Samir Mohsen was reported saying by the agency, adding that the Israeli delegation was "illegitimate."
Kuwaiti Ambassador to Ethiopia Rashid al-Hajiri, for his part, described Israel's attendance of the A.U. summit as "unacceptable."
"As an Arab bloc, we will reconsider our relations with Equatorial Guinea," the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Ethiopia Rashid al-Hajiri was reported by the Anadolu Agency as saying, calling the decision to invite Israel as "reckless."
Israeli President Shimon Peres holds the Congressional Gold Medal presented to him by (L-R) US VP Joe Biden, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Speaker of the House John Boehner, Senator Mitch McConnell, and Representative Eric Cantor, June 26, 2014
Outgoing Israeli President Shimon Peres on Thursday received the Congressional Gold Medal in the US Capitol rotunda, as he bids farewell to Washington after decades of working with American leaders.
The 90-year-old Peres, who will leave office next month, paid tribute to the "American dream" and hailed Washington's steadfast support for Israel.
"Many people call me a dreamer. I suppose that's why I have always felt at home in the United States of America -- America that was given the privilege to carry the dreams of humanity," Peres said.
Peres is a highly controversial figure in the Middle East, however, as he was a top Israeli official and politician throughout decades of occupation and settlement building, as well as two extremely destructive wars with Lebanon.
Hailing the "unbelievable and unbreakable friendship" between the United States and Israel, Peres said: "Whether through military assistance and security cooperation, or through diplomatic and moral support, you sent us a clear message: that we are not alone."
Republican House Speaker John Boehner lauded Peres, a Nobel peace laureate, as the "great prototype of the Israeli statesman," noting that it was the first time the Congressional Gold Medal had been given to an Israeli head of state.
"This medal says to our young people and yours -- never get cynical, never give in to expediency, and know that America will always stand by Israel, and with all men and women of peace," Boehner said.
US Vice President Joe Biden said: "You are a legendary friend."
The award bestowed by the US Congress is one of the highest civilian honors in the United States, and is awarded to those whose achievements have had an "impact on American history and culture."
The first Congressional Gold Medal was given to the first US president, George Washington.
Peres -- who met US President Barack Obama on Wednesday -- will be succeeded in July by Reuven Rivlin, a far-right member of the ruling Likud party who was elected by parliament earlier this month.
Shimon Peres is well-remembered by many in the region for his leadership and justification of a 1996 incident when Israel shelled a UN base in Qana, Lebanon and killed more than 100 civilians seeking refuge there from a broader Israeli assault.
Outgoing Israeli President Shimon Peres on Thursday received the Congressional Gold Medal in the US Capitol rotunda, as he bids farewell to Washington after decades of working with American leaders.
The 90-year-old Peres, who will leave office next month, paid tribute to the "American dream" and hailed Washington's steadfast support for Israel.
"Many people call me a dreamer. I suppose that's why I have always felt at home in the United States of America -- America that was given the privilege to carry the dreams of humanity," Peres said.
Peres is a highly controversial figure in the Middle East, however, as he was a top Israeli official and politician throughout decades of occupation and settlement building, as well as two extremely destructive wars with Lebanon.
Hailing the "unbelievable and unbreakable friendship" between the United States and Israel, Peres said: "Whether through military assistance and security cooperation, or through diplomatic and moral support, you sent us a clear message: that we are not alone."
Republican House Speaker John Boehner lauded Peres, a Nobel peace laureate, as the "great prototype of the Israeli statesman," noting that it was the first time the Congressional Gold Medal had been given to an Israeli head of state.
"This medal says to our young people and yours -- never get cynical, never give in to expediency, and know that America will always stand by Israel, and with all men and women of peace," Boehner said.
US Vice President Joe Biden said: "You are a legendary friend."
The award bestowed by the US Congress is one of the highest civilian honors in the United States, and is awarded to those whose achievements have had an "impact on American history and culture."
The first Congressional Gold Medal was given to the first US president, George Washington.
Peres -- who met US President Barack Obama on Wednesday -- will be succeeded in July by Reuven Rivlin, a far-right member of the ruling Likud party who was elected by parliament earlier this month.
Shimon Peres is well-remembered by many in the region for his leadership and justification of a 1996 incident when Israel shelled a UN base in Qana, Lebanon and killed more than 100 civilians seeking refuge there from a broader Israeli assault.
