2 apr 2014
The Palestinian Foreign Minister, Riyad al-Malki, on behalf of the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, handed international specialized entities, documents of the “official” adhesion of the State of Palestine to international conventions and treaties.
The specialized entities are represented by Robert Serry, Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations, and Paul Garnier, a representative of the Swiss Confederation, as well as the deputy representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, after the Palestinian President Abbas signed letters of accession to 15 international conventions and treaties.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, which PNN received a copy of, that the decision of Abbas came after the Israeli government refused to release the fourth group of Palestinian prisoners. The release was a promise made to Palestinians as a gesture to withhold them from going to the United Nations organizations.
He added that the Israeli refusal forms a blow to the American and international efforts to salvage the negotiations, especially the efforts of the US Secretary of State John Kerry.
The Ministry held the Israeli government as fully responsible for the failure of the negotiations. The ministry stressed that joining the international conventions and treaties is a Palestinian right, which expresses the will of the international society and agrees with the international legitimate decisions. The ministry also considered that the leadership’s decision to join the international conventions and treaties is a step to achieve peace, and rescue the negotiations from the Israeli government and its aggressive polices against the Palestinian people, its properties and holy sites.
The International Conventions and Treaties that the Palestinian President Abbas signed on Tuesday 1st April, include:
- The Hague Convention Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and its annex: Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land.
- The International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid
- The Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
- The United Nations Convention against Corruption
- The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
- The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
- The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
- The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
- The Convention on the Rights of the Child
- The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations
- The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
- The Fourth Geneva Convention and Additional Protocol I of the conventions: relative to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts.
- The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
- The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
The specialized entities are represented by Robert Serry, Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations, and Paul Garnier, a representative of the Swiss Confederation, as well as the deputy representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, after the Palestinian President Abbas signed letters of accession to 15 international conventions and treaties.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, which PNN received a copy of, that the decision of Abbas came after the Israeli government refused to release the fourth group of Palestinian prisoners. The release was a promise made to Palestinians as a gesture to withhold them from going to the United Nations organizations.
He added that the Israeli refusal forms a blow to the American and international efforts to salvage the negotiations, especially the efforts of the US Secretary of State John Kerry.
The Ministry held the Israeli government as fully responsible for the failure of the negotiations. The ministry stressed that joining the international conventions and treaties is a Palestinian right, which expresses the will of the international society and agrees with the international legitimate decisions. The ministry also considered that the leadership’s decision to join the international conventions and treaties is a step to achieve peace, and rescue the negotiations from the Israeli government and its aggressive polices against the Palestinian people, its properties and holy sites.
The International Conventions and Treaties that the Palestinian President Abbas signed on Tuesday 1st April, include:
- The Hague Convention Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and its annex: Regulations concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land.
- The International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid
- The Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
- The United Nations Convention against Corruption
- The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
- The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
- The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
- The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
- The Convention on the Rights of the Child
- The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations
- The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
- The Fourth Geneva Convention and Additional Protocol I of the conventions: relative to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts.
- The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
- The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
A member of the Israeli Knesset, Motti Yogev, from the right-wing Jewish Home party, has declared that the U.S. Secretary of State and President Barack Obama have no morality in relation to the Jonathan Pollard matter. He criticized them harshly for wanting to exchange the release of Jonathan Pollard, Israeli spy imprisoned in the United States, for the release of the fourth group of Palestinian prisoners.
The member of the Israeli Knesset said that the positions of Kerry and President Obama are unethical and immoral, and that Israel must learn how to deal with the United States in the future, since this is not the behavior of an ally.
He noted that the detention Pollard all these years and the refusal to release him despite all the Israeli demands, and then agreeing to release him abruptly in exchange of the Palestinian prisoners, whom he described as terrorists, makes it imperative to reconsider the alliance of Israel with Washington .
He said he believed the allies should support each other and not ask each other to abandon their positions. He also denounced the position of the U.S. Secretary of State, on his insistence on the need for an Israeli settlement freeze.
The member of the Israeli Knesset said that the positions of Kerry and President Obama are unethical and immoral, and that Israel must learn how to deal with the United States in the future, since this is not the behavior of an ally.
He noted that the detention Pollard all these years and the refusal to release him despite all the Israeli demands, and then agreeing to release him abruptly in exchange of the Palestinian prisoners, whom he described as terrorists, makes it imperative to reconsider the alliance of Israel with Washington .
He said he believed the allies should support each other and not ask each other to abandon their positions. He also denounced the position of the U.S. Secretary of State, on his insistence on the need for an Israeli settlement freeze.
The Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage said the Israeli occupation authorities announced the completion of the international hotel Waldorf Astoria, which makes part of the Hilton worldwide chain, in occupied Jerusalem. The construction of the hotel, built on the ruins of the Supreme Muslim Council building west of occupied Jerusalem, falls as part of the Judaization policy of the holy city.
The IOA officially announced the near inauguration of the hotel at a time when the Israel Ministry of Tourism and a number of Israeli religious and political leaders had participated in a ceremony celebrating the posting of Judaization logos on the hotel’s main entrance.
The Foundation said in a report on Wednesday that all the way through seven years several demolitions have been carried out by private construction companies followed by deep drillings of the region and the construction of a chain of buildings adjacent to the remnants of the Supreme Islamic Council building, to which several floors have been added. The finalized version of the building was molded in an Israeli style in contrast to the building’s external fronts preserved for reasons of tourism marketing.
Al-Aqsa Foundation described the confiscation and demolition streak, which was eventually followed by the construction of such a huge building, as the most intolerable Judaization step of an Islamic property in occupied Jerusalem.
The IOA officially announced the near inauguration of the hotel at a time when the Israel Ministry of Tourism and a number of Israeli religious and political leaders had participated in a ceremony celebrating the posting of Judaization logos on the hotel’s main entrance.
The Foundation said in a report on Wednesday that all the way through seven years several demolitions have been carried out by private construction companies followed by deep drillings of the region and the construction of a chain of buildings adjacent to the remnants of the Supreme Islamic Council building, to which several floors have been added. The finalized version of the building was molded in an Israeli style in contrast to the building’s external fronts preserved for reasons of tourism marketing.
Al-Aqsa Foundation described the confiscation and demolition streak, which was eventually followed by the construction of such a huge building, as the most intolerable Judaization step of an Islamic property in occupied Jerusalem.
Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas deems the initiative of Palestinian leadership to apply for membership in international organizations as a belated decision. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri called for the need to draw a strategic national plan and to irretrievably stop the negotiations.
Applications for joining international organizations and treaties were signed following a meeting for the PA leadership held in the residence of PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah Tuesday evening.
Abbas said in a statement that such an initiative came after Israel’s reluctance to release a fourth batch of Palestinian prisoners.
For his part, US Secretary of State John Kerry cancelled plans to travel on Wednesday to Ramallah, according to Reuters News Agency. The announcement came shortly after Abbas initiated a move to apply for membership in 15 UN-affiliated organizations.
Applications for joining international organizations and treaties were signed following a meeting for the PA leadership held in the residence of PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah Tuesday evening.
Abbas said in a statement that such an initiative came after Israel’s reluctance to release a fourth batch of Palestinian prisoners.
For his part, US Secretary of State John Kerry cancelled plans to travel on Wednesday to Ramallah, according to Reuters News Agency. The announcement came shortly after Abbas initiated a move to apply for membership in 15 UN-affiliated organizations.
Thirty veteran Palestinian prisoners who were eligible to be freed on March 29 applauded President Mahmoud Abbas' decision to apply for membership in international agencies, a statement said Wednesday.
"President Abu Mazen (Abbas) stood up for our dignity and our freedom," the statement said. "We support his efforts and his decision -- we refuse to be used as a bargaining chip."
"Our fate and destiny are not separate from that of our people. Israel must pay a toll for the crimes committed against Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinian people."
As a stipulation for relaunching peace negotiations in July, Israel agreed to release 104 Palestinian veteran prisoners -- jailed before the 1993 Oslo accords -- in exchange for the PLO's pledge not to apply to international bodies.
Seventy-eight prisoners have been freed so far in three separate tranches.
Israel was scheduled to release the final group of prisoners on Saturday, but did not.
In response, Abbas said on Tuesday that he had begun steps to join several UN agencies.
Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians were relaunched in July under the auspices of the US after nearly three years of impasse.
Israel's government has announced the construction of thousands of settler housing units and its army has killed 60 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza since the negotiations began.
"President Abu Mazen (Abbas) stood up for our dignity and our freedom," the statement said. "We support his efforts and his decision -- we refuse to be used as a bargaining chip."
"Our fate and destiny are not separate from that of our people. Israel must pay a toll for the crimes committed against Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinian people."
As a stipulation for relaunching peace negotiations in July, Israel agreed to release 104 Palestinian veteran prisoners -- jailed before the 1993 Oslo accords -- in exchange for the PLO's pledge not to apply to international bodies.
Seventy-eight prisoners have been freed so far in three separate tranches.
Israel was scheduled to release the final group of prisoners on Saturday, but did not.
In response, Abbas said on Tuesday that he had begun steps to join several UN agencies.
Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians were relaunched in July under the auspices of the US after nearly three years of impasse.
Israel's government has announced the construction of thousands of settler housing units and its army has killed 60 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza since the negotiations began.
President Barack Obama faces a classic costs versus benefits conundrum as he considers whether to free Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard to save failing Middle East talks.
On the one hand, US-born Pollard, 59, is a trump card fast losing its value given that after 28 years behind bars, he may be freed on parole anyway next year.
However, the former naval intelligence analyst who turned over suitcases stuffed with US Cold War era secrets to the Israelis in the mid-1980s, is a cause celebre.
The intelligence and defense community for years dug in its heels over Pollard, on the grounds he was a US native son who took foreign cash to betray his country.
And there is no guarantee that his release now would buy anything more than a stay of execution for a peace process that appears to be going nowhere.
Pollard's name suddenly surfaced again in latest last minute diplomacy to save the US-brokered peace initiative between Israel and the Palestinians.
US and Israeli sources indicated that his possible release from a North Carolina jail and repatriation to Israel where he is an honorary citizen, was on the table as both sides bartered over a deal.
The idea appeared to be to use the coup of Pollard's freedom to give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu political cover to honor a scheduled release of Palestinian prisoners.
Fading peace hopes
Israel has balked at so doing without a guarantee that Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will keep talking. The Palestinians will not give that assurance until the prisoners are freed.
Late Tuesday however peace hopes appeared to be dying faster than Secretary of State John Kerry could resuscitate them as both sides took steps that could scupper talks.
Pragmatists argue Pollard is worth more to the Israelis now than to the United States, so is a worthy bargaining chip.
"He is at the end of his incarceration, he is not of an intelligence value to us any more," said Fred Burton, vice president of intelligence at Stratfor, a geopolitical intelligence firm.
"Why not try to trade him to get something of value in return?"
David Pollock, a former State Department expert in the Middle East, says Pollard had paid a heavy price by spending half his life in jail.
"My own view is that it is a card to play and it is okay to play it for the right price," said Pollock.
"It is worth it because it is important for the US national interest to keep the peace process moving -- even if it is not going anywhere," said Pollock, now with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Successive Israeli leaders have asked successive US presidents for Pollard -- and Netanyahu has tried to leverage his freedom in peace talks over 16 years.
Fears of bad deal
Skeptics however worry Washington may be about to strike a bad deal.
Sources said Kerry is dangling a possible release of Pollard by Passover next month as a carrot, to get Netanyahu to release 400 extra Palestinian prisoners and a commitment to extend peace talks into next year.
US officials may also seek restraint on Israeli settlement activity for the duration of the talks -- to entice Palestinians back to the table.
It has always been tacitly acknowledged that Pollard would feature in a US package of incentives for Israel to agree to a final status deal with Palestinians.
But skeptics argue the current reported outline of a deal sells this potential trump card short.
"It clearly shows the administration is desperate to keep the process going at any cost," said Khaled Elgindy, a Brookings Institution fellow who has advised the Palestinians on final status talks.
"All they are getting is a continuation of the process."
Obama must also guard against further diminishing his own brand as a statesman.
A decision to free Pollard followed by intransigence by Netanyahu, or a seemingly inevitable crash of peace talks, would leave him politically exposed.
Several key figures in Congress are already restive.
"I think this is a serious mistake," said Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence told MSNBC.
Rogers warned Pollard should pay the full price for his crime and that equating him with Palestinian prisoners -- some of whom were violent -- was inappropriate.
One factor weighing in favor of a Pollard release is that resistance in the covert community may have dimmed with time.
Ex-CIA chief George Tenet once threatened to quit if Pollard was freed -- but the generation of US spies defined by the Cold War has now mostly retired.
Current US agents tasked with liaising with Israeli agencies may also see value in a swap -- given they could expect a covert payoff that will never be made public.
"If you have the Mossad account, or the Shin Bet account (at the CIA) you are looking at this and saying 'what else can I get if I am going to hand over Pollard," said Burton, a former counter-terrorism agent with the State Department.
On the one hand, US-born Pollard, 59, is a trump card fast losing its value given that after 28 years behind bars, he may be freed on parole anyway next year.
However, the former naval intelligence analyst who turned over suitcases stuffed with US Cold War era secrets to the Israelis in the mid-1980s, is a cause celebre.
The intelligence and defense community for years dug in its heels over Pollard, on the grounds he was a US native son who took foreign cash to betray his country.
And there is no guarantee that his release now would buy anything more than a stay of execution for a peace process that appears to be going nowhere.
Pollard's name suddenly surfaced again in latest last minute diplomacy to save the US-brokered peace initiative between Israel and the Palestinians.
US and Israeli sources indicated that his possible release from a North Carolina jail and repatriation to Israel where he is an honorary citizen, was on the table as both sides bartered over a deal.
The idea appeared to be to use the coup of Pollard's freedom to give Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu political cover to honor a scheduled release of Palestinian prisoners.
Fading peace hopes
Israel has balked at so doing without a guarantee that Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will keep talking. The Palestinians will not give that assurance until the prisoners are freed.
Late Tuesday however peace hopes appeared to be dying faster than Secretary of State John Kerry could resuscitate them as both sides took steps that could scupper talks.
Pragmatists argue Pollard is worth more to the Israelis now than to the United States, so is a worthy bargaining chip.
"He is at the end of his incarceration, he is not of an intelligence value to us any more," said Fred Burton, vice president of intelligence at Stratfor, a geopolitical intelligence firm.
"Why not try to trade him to get something of value in return?"
David Pollock, a former State Department expert in the Middle East, says Pollard had paid a heavy price by spending half his life in jail.
"My own view is that it is a card to play and it is okay to play it for the right price," said Pollock.
"It is worth it because it is important for the US national interest to keep the peace process moving -- even if it is not going anywhere," said Pollock, now with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Successive Israeli leaders have asked successive US presidents for Pollard -- and Netanyahu has tried to leverage his freedom in peace talks over 16 years.
Fears of bad deal
Skeptics however worry Washington may be about to strike a bad deal.
Sources said Kerry is dangling a possible release of Pollard by Passover next month as a carrot, to get Netanyahu to release 400 extra Palestinian prisoners and a commitment to extend peace talks into next year.
US officials may also seek restraint on Israeli settlement activity for the duration of the talks -- to entice Palestinians back to the table.
It has always been tacitly acknowledged that Pollard would feature in a US package of incentives for Israel to agree to a final status deal with Palestinians.
But skeptics argue the current reported outline of a deal sells this potential trump card short.
"It clearly shows the administration is desperate to keep the process going at any cost," said Khaled Elgindy, a Brookings Institution fellow who has advised the Palestinians on final status talks.
"All they are getting is a continuation of the process."
Obama must also guard against further diminishing his own brand as a statesman.
A decision to free Pollard followed by intransigence by Netanyahu, or a seemingly inevitable crash of peace talks, would leave him politically exposed.
Several key figures in Congress are already restive.
"I think this is a serious mistake," said Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence told MSNBC.
Rogers warned Pollard should pay the full price for his crime and that equating him with Palestinian prisoners -- some of whom were violent -- was inappropriate.
One factor weighing in favor of a Pollard release is that resistance in the covert community may have dimmed with time.
Ex-CIA chief George Tenet once threatened to quit if Pollard was freed -- but the generation of US spies defined by the Cold War has now mostly retired.
Current US agents tasked with liaising with Israeli agencies may also see value in a swap -- given they could expect a covert payoff that will never be made public.
"If you have the Mossad account, or the Shin Bet account (at the CIA) you are looking at this and saying 'what else can I get if I am going to hand over Pollard," said Burton, a former counter-terrorism agent with the State Department.
An Israeli minister on Wednesday warned of punitive action if the PLO pursued efforts to join UN agencies, as hopes of a breakthrough in the US-led peace process faded rapidly.
"If they are now threatening (to go to UN institutions), they must know something simple -- they will pay a heavy price," Tourism Minster Uzi Landau told public radio.
President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday said he had begun steps to join several UN agencies, abandoning a pledge to freeze such action for the duration of peace talks -- which end in just four weeks.
The Palestinians had repeatedly threatened to resume their action through international courts and the UN over Israel's settlement expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which is considered illegal under international law.
"One of the possible measures will be Israel applying sovereignty over areas which will clearly be part of the State of Israel in any future solution," said Landau, a member of the hardline Yisrael Beitenu faction.
Landau's remarks were referring to areas of the occupied West Bank populated by Jewish settlers which Israel hopes to retain in any future peace deal.
Israel could also hurt the Palestinians economically by acting "to block financial aid to them," the minister added.
Abbas made his announcement just hours after Israel reissued tenders for hundreds of settler homes in annexed East Jerusalem, as Washington was working around the clock to resolve a major dispute over Palestinian prisoners.
The standoff came soon after US Secretary of State John Kerry left Israel on Tuesday after a lightning visit.
He had been due to fly back to the region on Wednesday for talks in Ramallah with Abbas but he cancelled his visit following the Palestinian leader's announcement, while attempting to remain optimistic.
"It is completely premature tonight to draw ... any final judgement about today's events and where things are," he said in Brussels.
The top US diplomat had hoped to convince the Palestinians to extend the faltering talks beyond their April 29 deadline, with the sides discussing a proposal which would have included a limited freeze on settlement construction.
US peace efforts were already teetering on the brink after Israel refused to free a fourth and final group of 26 veteran Palestinian prisoners, which would have completed an agreement that had brought the sides back to the table.
"We aren't acting against the United States, nor against any other party. It is our right (to do so) and we accepted to postpone using it for nine months," Abbas said of the decision to seek membership of UN agencies.
The Islamic movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, welcomed the move by Abbas,
A poke in the eye
The negotiations have faltered over several issues, notably Israel's settlement expansion in occupied Palestinian territory, with the Palestinians demanding a freeze on settlement construction, including in east Jerusalem.
Tuesday's 708 tenders in the east Jerusalem settlement neighborhood of Gilo came on top of thousands of new homes announced over the course of the talks.
Israeli NGO Ir Amim described the tenders as "a poke in the eye of both the Palestinians and the Americans," army radio said.
And Hagit Ofran, from Israeli's Peace Now NGO, accused the housing ministry of "trying to forcefully undermine the peace process ... and John Kerry's efforts to promote it."
On Monday, the Palestinians gave Kerry a 24-hour deadline to come up with a solution to the prisoner row, warning that failure to do so would see them turning to UN bodies to press their claims for statehood.
Move 'not against America'
But late Tuesday afternoon, Abbas announced a request to join "15 UN agencies and international treaties, beginning with the Fourth Geneva Convention.
"The demands (for membership) will be sent immediately" to the relevant agencies, he said.
"This is not a move against America, or any other party -- it is our right, and we agreed to suspend it for nine months," he said, without explaining why he had acted before that period ended.
Kerry had met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for two hours late Monday before meeting Palestinian negotiators, then the pair held a second meeting early Tuesday.
US efforts have been focused recently on getting the parties to agree an extension to the end of the year.
A US proposal to continue talks was to include a limited freeze on settlement construction, with Israel adopting "a policy of restraint with (West Bank) government tenders" but would not include annexed East Jerusalem.
Sources close to the negotiations had said Washington was also mulling a proposal to free Jonathan Pollard, who was arrested in Washington in 1985 and sentenced to life in prison for spying on America on Israel's behalf.
One of the sources also said the final batch of Palestinian prisoners would be freed, and Israel would also agree to free another 400 security prisoners not involved in deadly anti-Israeli raids.
But White House Jay Carney said before the Tuesday afternoon developments that President Barack Obama had not made any decision on Pollard.
Separately, a spokesman for the US Justice Department said Pollard had waived his right to attend a meeting of a parole board that could have re-examined his ongoing detention.
"If they are now threatening (to go to UN institutions), they must know something simple -- they will pay a heavy price," Tourism Minster Uzi Landau told public radio.
President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday said he had begun steps to join several UN agencies, abandoning a pledge to freeze such action for the duration of peace talks -- which end in just four weeks.
The Palestinians had repeatedly threatened to resume their action through international courts and the UN over Israel's settlement expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which is considered illegal under international law.
"One of the possible measures will be Israel applying sovereignty over areas which will clearly be part of the State of Israel in any future solution," said Landau, a member of the hardline Yisrael Beitenu faction.
Landau's remarks were referring to areas of the occupied West Bank populated by Jewish settlers which Israel hopes to retain in any future peace deal.
Israel could also hurt the Palestinians economically by acting "to block financial aid to them," the minister added.
Abbas made his announcement just hours after Israel reissued tenders for hundreds of settler homes in annexed East Jerusalem, as Washington was working around the clock to resolve a major dispute over Palestinian prisoners.
The standoff came soon after US Secretary of State John Kerry left Israel on Tuesday after a lightning visit.
He had been due to fly back to the region on Wednesday for talks in Ramallah with Abbas but he cancelled his visit following the Palestinian leader's announcement, while attempting to remain optimistic.
"It is completely premature tonight to draw ... any final judgement about today's events and where things are," he said in Brussels.
The top US diplomat had hoped to convince the Palestinians to extend the faltering talks beyond their April 29 deadline, with the sides discussing a proposal which would have included a limited freeze on settlement construction.
US peace efforts were already teetering on the brink after Israel refused to free a fourth and final group of 26 veteran Palestinian prisoners, which would have completed an agreement that had brought the sides back to the table.
"We aren't acting against the United States, nor against any other party. It is our right (to do so) and we accepted to postpone using it for nine months," Abbas said of the decision to seek membership of UN agencies.
The Islamic movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, welcomed the move by Abbas,
A poke in the eye
The negotiations have faltered over several issues, notably Israel's settlement expansion in occupied Palestinian territory, with the Palestinians demanding a freeze on settlement construction, including in east Jerusalem.
Tuesday's 708 tenders in the east Jerusalem settlement neighborhood of Gilo came on top of thousands of new homes announced over the course of the talks.
Israeli NGO Ir Amim described the tenders as "a poke in the eye of both the Palestinians and the Americans," army radio said.
And Hagit Ofran, from Israeli's Peace Now NGO, accused the housing ministry of "trying to forcefully undermine the peace process ... and John Kerry's efforts to promote it."
On Monday, the Palestinians gave Kerry a 24-hour deadline to come up with a solution to the prisoner row, warning that failure to do so would see them turning to UN bodies to press their claims for statehood.
Move 'not against America'
But late Tuesday afternoon, Abbas announced a request to join "15 UN agencies and international treaties, beginning with the Fourth Geneva Convention.
"The demands (for membership) will be sent immediately" to the relevant agencies, he said.
"This is not a move against America, or any other party -- it is our right, and we agreed to suspend it for nine months," he said, without explaining why he had acted before that period ended.
Kerry had met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for two hours late Monday before meeting Palestinian negotiators, then the pair held a second meeting early Tuesday.
US efforts have been focused recently on getting the parties to agree an extension to the end of the year.
A US proposal to continue talks was to include a limited freeze on settlement construction, with Israel adopting "a policy of restraint with (West Bank) government tenders" but would not include annexed East Jerusalem.
Sources close to the negotiations had said Washington was also mulling a proposal to free Jonathan Pollard, who was arrested in Washington in 1985 and sentenced to life in prison for spying on America on Israel's behalf.
One of the sources also said the final batch of Palestinian prisoners would be freed, and Israel would also agree to free another 400 security prisoners not involved in deadly anti-Israeli raids.
But White House Jay Carney said before the Tuesday afternoon developments that President Barack Obama had not made any decision on Pollard.
Separately, a spokesman for the US Justice Department said Pollard had waived his right to attend a meeting of a parole board that could have re-examined his ongoing detention.
Israeli Apartheid Wall
By Sami Klein
The European Parliament's delegation made a report about Israel-Palestine situation. Among the conclusions: degrading hospital care in Palestine, the Israel's colonial policy and the false action of EU and UN authorities.
“The Parliament’s decision to have separate Israel and Palestine delegations leaves MEPs too often divided in the perspectives they acquire. This weakness in our formal arrangements is compounded by the apparent reluctance of the two delegations to work closely together and share in joint activities,” regretted Chris Davies (ALDE), member of the delegation consisted also by Norbert Neuser (S&D) and Nicole Kiil-Nielsen (Greens/EFA).
The delegation visited the Palestinian Legislative Council from 23 to 27 March 2014. During this period, the delegation wanted to strengthen his understanding of the circumstances of the Palestinian people and assess the state of the peace process between Israeli and Palestine. For example, regarding the Gaza Strip, particularly to gain a better appreciation of the situation after eight years of Israel's blockade, and at a time when the 1.7 million residents are again trapped behind barriers that are closed entirely to all commercial transactions.
Following this visit, several lessons have been learned by Chris Davies. The report is alarming.
First of all, living conditions and the hospital greeting. The Makassed hospital, situated in East Jerusalem, has unusual problems to overcome. “It is the main referral hospital for all Palestinians and for alleged ‘security reasons’ the Israeli occupation denies many people under 60 a permit to accompany children brought for emergency operations so parents have to leave their offspring in the care of others. They are issued only with day permits so at the hospital are trapped, unable to leave the grounds for weeks on end,” said Davies. “Moreover a formal building permit has been refused by the Israeli occupation (building permits are hardly ever issued to Palestinians).“
Secondly, the way Israel behaves with Palestinian citizens. “Israel continues to consolidate its control of Palestine through confiscations and demolitions, settlement building and new roads for the exclusive use of Israelis,” stated Chris Davies. He continued by saying: “62% of the Palestinian territories, including the Jordan valley, were defined in the Oslo accords as ‘Area C’ and Palestinians are now being excluded from it by the Israeli forces. Israel claims ‘security’ as its justification but Palestinians believe the motives to be purely economic and accuse Israel of seizing their mineral and agricultural wealth.”
Also, the EU is currently helping Palestine with financial funds (hundreds of millions euros each year) with an aim of developing Palestinian institutions. “But this is supposed to be preparing them for a statehood that may never be realized.” In spite of the Geneva Convention, which makes clear that the occupiers of a land should safeguard the well-being of the people under their control, ”it must be questioned why the EU is, in effect (and for the best possible reasons), subsidising the occupation and letting Israel escape its financial burdens,” declared Davies.
Finally, with regard to a possible peace agreement, Palestinian doesn’t seem to believe in it. The Palestinian believes that “Israel wants a continuing peace process solely to provide itself with PR cover from criticism while it continues to build settlements, change the facts on the ground and make the creation of an independent Palestinian state impossible,” he concluded.
The negotiations, conducted through American interlocutors, between Israeli and Palestinians are stopped since November. Israel demands Palestinians to accept living in a Jewish state. There is then no progress in this case and maybe UN bodies should act. Establish two countries, if it’s not already too late, or unify them.
Source New Europe
ALRAY contributed to this
By Sami Klein
The European Parliament's delegation made a report about Israel-Palestine situation. Among the conclusions: degrading hospital care in Palestine, the Israel's colonial policy and the false action of EU and UN authorities.
“The Parliament’s decision to have separate Israel and Palestine delegations leaves MEPs too often divided in the perspectives they acquire. This weakness in our formal arrangements is compounded by the apparent reluctance of the two delegations to work closely together and share in joint activities,” regretted Chris Davies (ALDE), member of the delegation consisted also by Norbert Neuser (S&D) and Nicole Kiil-Nielsen (Greens/EFA).
The delegation visited the Palestinian Legislative Council from 23 to 27 March 2014. During this period, the delegation wanted to strengthen his understanding of the circumstances of the Palestinian people and assess the state of the peace process between Israeli and Palestine. For example, regarding the Gaza Strip, particularly to gain a better appreciation of the situation after eight years of Israel's blockade, and at a time when the 1.7 million residents are again trapped behind barriers that are closed entirely to all commercial transactions.
Following this visit, several lessons have been learned by Chris Davies. The report is alarming.
First of all, living conditions and the hospital greeting. The Makassed hospital, situated in East Jerusalem, has unusual problems to overcome. “It is the main referral hospital for all Palestinians and for alleged ‘security reasons’ the Israeli occupation denies many people under 60 a permit to accompany children brought for emergency operations so parents have to leave their offspring in the care of others. They are issued only with day permits so at the hospital are trapped, unable to leave the grounds for weeks on end,” said Davies. “Moreover a formal building permit has been refused by the Israeli occupation (building permits are hardly ever issued to Palestinians).“
Secondly, the way Israel behaves with Palestinian citizens. “Israel continues to consolidate its control of Palestine through confiscations and demolitions, settlement building and new roads for the exclusive use of Israelis,” stated Chris Davies. He continued by saying: “62% of the Palestinian territories, including the Jordan valley, were defined in the Oslo accords as ‘Area C’ and Palestinians are now being excluded from it by the Israeli forces. Israel claims ‘security’ as its justification but Palestinians believe the motives to be purely economic and accuse Israel of seizing their mineral and agricultural wealth.”
Also, the EU is currently helping Palestine with financial funds (hundreds of millions euros each year) with an aim of developing Palestinian institutions. “But this is supposed to be preparing them for a statehood that may never be realized.” In spite of the Geneva Convention, which makes clear that the occupiers of a land should safeguard the well-being of the people under their control, ”it must be questioned why the EU is, in effect (and for the best possible reasons), subsidising the occupation and letting Israel escape its financial burdens,” declared Davies.
Finally, with regard to a possible peace agreement, Palestinian doesn’t seem to believe in it. The Palestinian believes that “Israel wants a continuing peace process solely to provide itself with PR cover from criticism while it continues to build settlements, change the facts on the ground and make the creation of an independent Palestinian state impossible,” he concluded.
The negotiations, conducted through American interlocutors, between Israeli and Palestinians are stopped since November. Israel demands Palestinians to accept living in a Jewish state. There is then no progress in this case and maybe UN bodies should act. Establish two countries, if it’s not already too late, or unify them.
Source New Europe
ALRAY contributed to this
In a report published on April 1, 2014, the Ahrar Center for Detainees Studies and Human Rights has reported that Israeli soldiers have killed twelve Palestinians since the beginning of this year, kidnapped 364 in March, and 1059 since January first.
The center said that Israeli army fire and shells in the Gaza Strip killed six Palestinians, and six more were killed by Israeli military fire in the West Bank.
Palestinians killed In March:
1. Amna Qdeih, 57, from Khuza’a town, in southern Gaza; she was killed by Israeli army fire on March 1, 2014.
2. Mos’ab az-Za’anin, 21, killed on March 3 in an Israeli airstrike in Beit Hanoun, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
3. Sharif Nasser, 31, killed on March 3 in an Israeli airstrike in Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza.
4. Ra’ed Zeitar, 37, a Palestinian judge from the northern West Bank city of Nablus; he worked as a judge in Jordan and was shot and killed at the al-Karama border terminal on March 10.
5. Saje Darwish, 18, was killed, on March 10, by army fire as he was heading to the family barn, close to the Givat Asaf illegal Israeli settlement, built on lands belonging to residents of Beiteen village, north of Ramallah. He was a student at the Media College in Birzeit University.
6. Ismael Abu Jouda, 23, member of the al-Quds brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, killed on March 11, in an Israeli bombardment in southern Gaza.
7. Shaher Abu Shanab, member of the al-Quds brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, killed on March 11, in an Israeli bombardment in southern Gaza.
8. Abdul-Shafy Mo’ammar, 33, member of the al-Quds brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, killed on March 11, in an Israeli bombardment in southern Gaza.
9. Yousef Shawamra, 16, from Doura near Hebron, was killed by army fire near the Annexation Wall on March 19.
10. Jamal Abu al-Haija, 21, killed by army fire on March 22 in the Jenin refugee camp, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.
11. Mahmoud Abu Zeina, 27, killed by army fire on March 22 in the Jenin refugee camp.
12. Yazan Jabarin, 21, killed by army fire on March 22 in the Jenin refugee camp.
Palestinians kidnapped by the army in March:
A total of 364 kidnapped in the West Bank in March alone; 83 in Jerusalem, 81 in Hebron, 48 in Jenin, 46 in Bethlehem, 43 in Nablus, 17 in Qalqilia, 13 in Ramallah, 11 in Jericho, 8 in Tulkarem, and 8 in Salfit.
Six more Palestinians were kidnapped in the Gaza Strip, the center added.
As for the total number of arrests carried out by the army since the beginning of this year (three months), the Ahrar Center revealed that the soldiers kidnapped 1059 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, occupied Jerusalem and the besieged Gaza Strip.
Former political prisoner, Fuad al-Khuffash, head of the Ahrar Center, stated that this number shows a significant increase in arrests comparing to last year as the army kidnapped 968 Palestinians in 2013.
Al-Khuffash said that most arrests were carried out in Hebron as the soldiers kidnapped 248 Palestinians, followed by Jerusalem (207 Palestinians), Nablus (148), Bethlehem (132), Jenin (114) Ramallah (68), Qalqilia (56), Gaza (26), Jericho (24), Tulkarem (23), Salfit (23), and 1 Palestinian in Tubas.
Al-Khuffash added that the army kidnapped 17 Palestinian women since the beginning of this year; the youngest of the kidnapped women are Deema Sawahra, 16, and Hanin Abu al-Hummus, 18.
One of the kidnapped women, identified as Nawal Obeyyat, from Bethlehem, is a cancer patient and requires specialized medical attention.
Al-Khuffash stated that the army conducts daily arrests, assaults and violations against the Palestinian people, their lands and property, and that the soldiers carry out frequent arrests at roadblocks and border terminals, as part of Israel’s violations of International Law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.
The center said that Israeli army fire and shells in the Gaza Strip killed six Palestinians, and six more were killed by Israeli military fire in the West Bank.
Palestinians killed In March:
1. Amna Qdeih, 57, from Khuza’a town, in southern Gaza; she was killed by Israeli army fire on March 1, 2014.
2. Mos’ab az-Za’anin, 21, killed on March 3 in an Israeli airstrike in Beit Hanoun, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
3. Sharif Nasser, 31, killed on March 3 in an Israeli airstrike in Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza.
4. Ra’ed Zeitar, 37, a Palestinian judge from the northern West Bank city of Nablus; he worked as a judge in Jordan and was shot and killed at the al-Karama border terminal on March 10.
5. Saje Darwish, 18, was killed, on March 10, by army fire as he was heading to the family barn, close to the Givat Asaf illegal Israeli settlement, built on lands belonging to residents of Beiteen village, north of Ramallah. He was a student at the Media College in Birzeit University.
6. Ismael Abu Jouda, 23, member of the al-Quds brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, killed on March 11, in an Israeli bombardment in southern Gaza.
7. Shaher Abu Shanab, member of the al-Quds brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, killed on March 11, in an Israeli bombardment in southern Gaza.
8. Abdul-Shafy Mo’ammar, 33, member of the al-Quds brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, killed on March 11, in an Israeli bombardment in southern Gaza.
9. Yousef Shawamra, 16, from Doura near Hebron, was killed by army fire near the Annexation Wall on March 19.
10. Jamal Abu al-Haija, 21, killed by army fire on March 22 in the Jenin refugee camp, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.
11. Mahmoud Abu Zeina, 27, killed by army fire on March 22 in the Jenin refugee camp.
12. Yazan Jabarin, 21, killed by army fire on March 22 in the Jenin refugee camp.
Palestinians kidnapped by the army in March:
A total of 364 kidnapped in the West Bank in March alone; 83 in Jerusalem, 81 in Hebron, 48 in Jenin, 46 in Bethlehem, 43 in Nablus, 17 in Qalqilia, 13 in Ramallah, 11 in Jericho, 8 in Tulkarem, and 8 in Salfit.
Six more Palestinians were kidnapped in the Gaza Strip, the center added.
As for the total number of arrests carried out by the army since the beginning of this year (three months), the Ahrar Center revealed that the soldiers kidnapped 1059 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, occupied Jerusalem and the besieged Gaza Strip.
Former political prisoner, Fuad al-Khuffash, head of the Ahrar Center, stated that this number shows a significant increase in arrests comparing to last year as the army kidnapped 968 Palestinians in 2013.
Al-Khuffash said that most arrests were carried out in Hebron as the soldiers kidnapped 248 Palestinians, followed by Jerusalem (207 Palestinians), Nablus (148), Bethlehem (132), Jenin (114) Ramallah (68), Qalqilia (56), Gaza (26), Jericho (24), Tulkarem (23), Salfit (23), and 1 Palestinian in Tubas.
Al-Khuffash added that the army kidnapped 17 Palestinian women since the beginning of this year; the youngest of the kidnapped women are Deema Sawahra, 16, and Hanin Abu al-Hummus, 18.
One of the kidnapped women, identified as Nawal Obeyyat, from Bethlehem, is a cancer patient and requires specialized medical attention.
Al-Khuffash stated that the army conducts daily arrests, assaults and violations against the Palestinian people, their lands and property, and that the soldiers carry out frequent arrests at roadblocks and border terminals, as part of Israel’s violations of International Law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Hamas has asserted its rejection of any renewal of the current negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and Israel under US patronage. Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said in a press release on Tuesday that his movement refuses any attempt to extend those negotiations.
Abu Zuhri called on the PA to end this “farce”, which would only lead to liquidating the Palestinian cause.
US secretary of state John Kerry met with Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu twice on Monday in a bid to find means of extending the period of negotiations that expires by end of April. Kerry, however, cancelled a visit to the PA in Ramallah that was scheduled on Wednesday after the PA announced it was applying for joining 15 UN-affiliated organizations.
Abu Zuhri called on the PA to end this “farce”, which would only lead to liquidating the Palestinian cause.
US secretary of state John Kerry met with Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu twice on Monday in a bid to find means of extending the period of negotiations that expires by end of April. Kerry, however, cancelled a visit to the PA in Ramallah that was scheduled on Wednesday after the PA announced it was applying for joining 15 UN-affiliated organizations.
1 apr 2014
U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry is canceling a planned trip to Ramallah on Wednesday to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas amid new threats from the Palestinian leader to circumvent U.S.-backed peace talks with Israel. Kerry had planned to make an emergency trip to Abbas’s West Bank headquarters in hopes of announcing a breakthrough, according to a senior State Department official.
An official familiar with the talks had said earlier Tuesday that negotiators were discussing in broad outline a plan that would require Israel to slow settlement construction and release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The Palestinians would in turn agree not to pursue recognition of a Palestinian state or other redress through the United Nations in order to keep alive the hope for a solution negotiated between the two sides.
The potential release by the United States of a convicted Israeli spy had also been discussed as part of a broader deal that would keep Israeli-Palestinian peace talks underway at least through 2015.
Kerry had been scheduled to return to Israel on Wednesday to continue the discussions. An official familiar with some of the details of the proposal said that under one scenario, U.S. spy Jonathan Pollard could be released in time for the Jewish holiday of Passover, which begins in two weeks, and that Israel would in the same time frame release 26 Palestinian prisoners serving extensive sentences, including for murdering Israelis.
The release of those prisoners was part of an earlier agreement, but Israel has since balked at following through. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the fluid nature of the talks, said Israel would free an additional 400 prisoners who have been charged with less violent crimes, including a number of minors, women, the ill and elderly.
Finally, “Israel would take a time-out on issuing new tenders for housing in the West Bank,” the official said. Israel would be free to continue to build roads, hospitals and other infrastructure in the West Bank, and all types of building could continue in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim as a capital for their future state.
Pollard’s release would be an enormous prize for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, providing President Obama with a significant chit in the U.S.-led effort to create an independent Palestinian state.
The Obama administration, like Republican and Democratic administrations before it, has publicly resisted strong Israeli lobbying to lighten Pollard’s sentence for spying for a friendly country. But Pollard’s fate was always presumed to be a potential element of any U.S.-backed solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Kerry, accompanied by U.S. mediator Martin Indyk, met with Netanyahu for four hours Monday night, postponing a planned late-night meeting with Abbas. He met instead with the Palestinian chief negotiator.
The main subject of Kerry’s emergency visit here Monday — and the further meetings that had been planned for Wednesday — was how to extend peace talks after an impasse over a delay in the release of Palestinian prisoners. The separate question of Pollard’s fate, and what his release might buy for Israel and the United States, now hangs over the negotiations.
A U.S. official said that Pollard’s early release is under discussion but that no decision has been made. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing internal debate about a politically sensitive issue.
A senior Israeli government official confirmed that the Israelis were seeking Pollard’s early release as part of negotiations on extending talks.
His release now would probably require a grant of clemency from Obama, but the White House could also recommend an early release late next year, when Pollard becomes eligible for it. The political question for the White House is whether to spend the chit now, later — in what is expected to be a drawn-out peace negotiation — or at all.
Pollard, 59, was a civilian intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy who was arrested in 1985 after providing classified information to Israeli agents. He pleaded guilty, was sentenced to life in prison and is eligible for release in November 2015. He has served almost 29 years.
Pollard has supporters in Israel across the political spectrum, from old leftists to ultra-nationalists. In 2002, when he was out of office, Netanyahu visited Pollard in prison.
His Israeli backers say that Pollard’s sentence was unduly harsh and that a defendant convicted of the same crime today would receive a maximum of 10 years. The Israelis also note that he was spying not for an enemy state but for an ally of the United States. Pollard, a U.S. citizen, was awarded Israeli citizenship in 1995.
Clemency has eluded Pollard for five U.S. administrations. During the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at Wye River, Md., in 1998, Netanyahu pushed for Pollard’s early release. Bill Clinton, president at the time, later wrote in his memoirs: “For all the sympathy Pollard generated in Israel, he was a hard case to push in America; he had sold our country’s secrets for money, not conviction, and for years had not shown any remorse.”
George Tenet, then director of the CIA, recalled in his memoirs telling Clinton in a one-on-one meeting that “if Pollard is released, I will no longer be the director of central intelligence in the morning.”
The deal, Tenet wrote, “would reward a U.S. citizen who spied on his own country, and once word got out (and that would take a nanosecond or two), I would be effectively through as CIA director. What’s more, I should be.”
In a January opinion piece in the New York Times, M.E. Bowman, a former Defense Department liaison officer to the Justice Department and the coordinator of an investigation into the damage done by Pollard, wrote that “there are no other Americans who have given over to an ally information of the quantity and quality that Mr. Pollard has” — material that included the top secret Radio Signal Notations manual, which listed all the known communications links then used by the Soviet Union.
U.S. diplomats have pressed the two sides to move beyond issues such as Pollard and Palestinian prisoners and focus on issues such as borders and security arrangements that would allow for two states for two peoples.
“Israelis and Palestinians have both made tough choices, and as we work with them to determine the next steps, it is important they remember that only peace will bring the Israeli and Palestinian people both the security and economic prosperity they all deserve,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday.
Netanyahu refused to carry out the scheduled release this past weekend of about two dozen Palestinian prisoners, and Abbas has threatened to walk out with a month to go before Kerry’s deadline for an outline of a peace deal.
Netanyahu told his Likud party Sunday that he will not allow the release unless Palestinians agree to extend talks, and he warned that he would refuse to do it at all unless assured that the release would be in Israel’s interest.
Over the weekend, reports circulated in the Hebrew and Arabic press that Netanyahu was prepared to offer to free an additional 400 prisoners, including many young offenders and those sentenced to short terms, if the Palestinians would continue the talks.
Kerry is seeking a face-saving way to keep the peace talks going, whether or not the prisoners are released soon. He would not predict the outcome of his efforts ahead of the talks.
“It’s really a question between the Palestinians and the Israelis, and what Prime Minister Netanyahu is prepared to do,” Kerry said Sunday night in Paris. “He’s working diligently, I know.”
Kerry was in Paris over the weekend for discussions with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about the crisis in Ukraine.
Officials close to Israel’s hard-line economics minister, Naftali Bennett, said the plan for peace Kerry has advanced until now “would lead to the dismantling of the current coalition government in Israel.”
Housing Minister Uri Ariel, a member of Bennett’s Jewish Home party, said he will advise his party to leave the coalition if more Palestinian prisoners are freed.
The prisoners are a highly emotional issue for both sides. Israelis say their government is freeing murderers to make peace, while the Palestinians view the prisoners as heroes — freedom fighters who have served long sentences in Israeli jails essentially as POWs.
Separately Monday, Israeli lawmaker Isaac Herzog, who as head of the Labor Party leads the parliamentary opposition, traveled to the Jordanian capital, Amman, and met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II.
“There is a one-time opportunity to reach an agreement in the Middle East, and we must find the formula that doesn’t blow up the negotiations,” the monarch told Herzog, according to a statement from Herzog’s office.
Herzog told Abdullah that his party and most of the opposition recognize the need to reach peace. Herzog has said that if Netanyahu’s coalition falls apart over the prisoner releases or the peace negotiations, the Labor Party would be ready to join the government under Netanyahu.
Karen DeYoung in Washington contributed to this report.
An official familiar with the talks had said earlier Tuesday that negotiators were discussing in broad outline a plan that would require Israel to slow settlement construction and release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The Palestinians would in turn agree not to pursue recognition of a Palestinian state or other redress through the United Nations in order to keep alive the hope for a solution negotiated between the two sides.
The potential release by the United States of a convicted Israeli spy had also been discussed as part of a broader deal that would keep Israeli-Palestinian peace talks underway at least through 2015.
Kerry had been scheduled to return to Israel on Wednesday to continue the discussions. An official familiar with some of the details of the proposal said that under one scenario, U.S. spy Jonathan Pollard could be released in time for the Jewish holiday of Passover, which begins in two weeks, and that Israel would in the same time frame release 26 Palestinian prisoners serving extensive sentences, including for murdering Israelis.
The release of those prisoners was part of an earlier agreement, but Israel has since balked at following through. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the fluid nature of the talks, said Israel would free an additional 400 prisoners who have been charged with less violent crimes, including a number of minors, women, the ill and elderly.
Finally, “Israel would take a time-out on issuing new tenders for housing in the West Bank,” the official said. Israel would be free to continue to build roads, hospitals and other infrastructure in the West Bank, and all types of building could continue in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim as a capital for their future state.
Pollard’s release would be an enormous prize for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, providing President Obama with a significant chit in the U.S.-led effort to create an independent Palestinian state.
The Obama administration, like Republican and Democratic administrations before it, has publicly resisted strong Israeli lobbying to lighten Pollard’s sentence for spying for a friendly country. But Pollard’s fate was always presumed to be a potential element of any U.S.-backed solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Kerry, accompanied by U.S. mediator Martin Indyk, met with Netanyahu for four hours Monday night, postponing a planned late-night meeting with Abbas. He met instead with the Palestinian chief negotiator.
The main subject of Kerry’s emergency visit here Monday — and the further meetings that had been planned for Wednesday — was how to extend peace talks after an impasse over a delay in the release of Palestinian prisoners. The separate question of Pollard’s fate, and what his release might buy for Israel and the United States, now hangs over the negotiations.
A U.S. official said that Pollard’s early release is under discussion but that no decision has been made. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing internal debate about a politically sensitive issue.
A senior Israeli government official confirmed that the Israelis were seeking Pollard’s early release as part of negotiations on extending talks.
His release now would probably require a grant of clemency from Obama, but the White House could also recommend an early release late next year, when Pollard becomes eligible for it. The political question for the White House is whether to spend the chit now, later — in what is expected to be a drawn-out peace negotiation — or at all.
Pollard, 59, was a civilian intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy who was arrested in 1985 after providing classified information to Israeli agents. He pleaded guilty, was sentenced to life in prison and is eligible for release in November 2015. He has served almost 29 years.
Pollard has supporters in Israel across the political spectrum, from old leftists to ultra-nationalists. In 2002, when he was out of office, Netanyahu visited Pollard in prison.
His Israeli backers say that Pollard’s sentence was unduly harsh and that a defendant convicted of the same crime today would receive a maximum of 10 years. The Israelis also note that he was spying not for an enemy state but for an ally of the United States. Pollard, a U.S. citizen, was awarded Israeli citizenship in 1995.
Clemency has eluded Pollard for five U.S. administrations. During the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at Wye River, Md., in 1998, Netanyahu pushed for Pollard’s early release. Bill Clinton, president at the time, later wrote in his memoirs: “For all the sympathy Pollard generated in Israel, he was a hard case to push in America; he had sold our country’s secrets for money, not conviction, and for years had not shown any remorse.”
George Tenet, then director of the CIA, recalled in his memoirs telling Clinton in a one-on-one meeting that “if Pollard is released, I will no longer be the director of central intelligence in the morning.”
The deal, Tenet wrote, “would reward a U.S. citizen who spied on his own country, and once word got out (and that would take a nanosecond or two), I would be effectively through as CIA director. What’s more, I should be.”
In a January opinion piece in the New York Times, M.E. Bowman, a former Defense Department liaison officer to the Justice Department and the coordinator of an investigation into the damage done by Pollard, wrote that “there are no other Americans who have given over to an ally information of the quantity and quality that Mr. Pollard has” — material that included the top secret Radio Signal Notations manual, which listed all the known communications links then used by the Soviet Union.
U.S. diplomats have pressed the two sides to move beyond issues such as Pollard and Palestinian prisoners and focus on issues such as borders and security arrangements that would allow for two states for two peoples.
“Israelis and Palestinians have both made tough choices, and as we work with them to determine the next steps, it is important they remember that only peace will bring the Israeli and Palestinian people both the security and economic prosperity they all deserve,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Monday.
Netanyahu refused to carry out the scheduled release this past weekend of about two dozen Palestinian prisoners, and Abbas has threatened to walk out with a month to go before Kerry’s deadline for an outline of a peace deal.
Netanyahu told his Likud party Sunday that he will not allow the release unless Palestinians agree to extend talks, and he warned that he would refuse to do it at all unless assured that the release would be in Israel’s interest.
Over the weekend, reports circulated in the Hebrew and Arabic press that Netanyahu was prepared to offer to free an additional 400 prisoners, including many young offenders and those sentenced to short terms, if the Palestinians would continue the talks.
Kerry is seeking a face-saving way to keep the peace talks going, whether or not the prisoners are released soon. He would not predict the outcome of his efforts ahead of the talks.
“It’s really a question between the Palestinians and the Israelis, and what Prime Minister Netanyahu is prepared to do,” Kerry said Sunday night in Paris. “He’s working diligently, I know.”
Kerry was in Paris over the weekend for discussions with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about the crisis in Ukraine.
Officials close to Israel’s hard-line economics minister, Naftali Bennett, said the plan for peace Kerry has advanced until now “would lead to the dismantling of the current coalition government in Israel.”
Housing Minister Uri Ariel, a member of Bennett’s Jewish Home party, said he will advise his party to leave the coalition if more Palestinian prisoners are freed.
The prisoners are a highly emotional issue for both sides. Israelis say their government is freeing murderers to make peace, while the Palestinians view the prisoners as heroes — freedom fighters who have served long sentences in Israeli jails essentially as POWs.
Separately Monday, Israeli lawmaker Isaac Herzog, who as head of the Labor Party leads the parliamentary opposition, traveled to the Jordanian capital, Amman, and met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II.
“There is a one-time opportunity to reach an agreement in the Middle East, and we must find the formula that doesn’t blow up the negotiations,” the monarch told Herzog, according to a statement from Herzog’s office.
Herzog told Abdullah that his party and most of the opposition recognize the need to reach peace. Herzog has said that if Netanyahu’s coalition falls apart over the prisoner releases or the peace negotiations, the Labor Party would be ready to join the government under Netanyahu.
Karen DeYoung in Washington contributed to this report.
President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday said the Palestinians would seek membership in international organizations after Israel failed to release a batch of Palestinian prisoners on schedule.
In a televised speech, Abbas said he had started the process to sign agreements with 15 United Nations agencies and organizations and would pursue joining more.
"The Palestinian leadership has unanimously approved a decision to seek membership of 15 UN agencies and international treaties, beginning with the Fourth Geneva Convention," Abbas said after signing the demand.
In a televised speech, Abbas said he had started the process to sign agreements with 15 United Nations agencies and organizations and would pursue joining more.
"The Palestinian leadership has unanimously approved a decision to seek membership of 15 UN agencies and international treaties, beginning with the Fourth Geneva Convention," Abbas said after signing the demand.
Israel on Tuesday pushed tenders for more than 700 homes in an illegal settlement in annexed East Jerusalem, as Washington made intensive efforts to salvage a crisis-hit peace process, an Israeli NGO said.
"The ministry of housing is trying to forcefully undermine the peace process ... and (US Secretary of State) John Kerry's efforts to promote it," charged Peace Now's Hagit Ofran, confirming the tenders were for 708 homes in the Gilo settlement in East Jerusalem.
Israel has begun work on over 10,500 housing units in illegal settlements while simultaneously demolishing 146 Palestinian homes since peace talks began in July.
Since 1967, Israel has established over 150 settlements and some 100 outposts in the occupied West Bank, with a settler population of 520,000, according to OCHA.
Over 43 percent of land in the occupied West Bank is allocated to settlement local and regional councils.
"The ministry of housing is trying to forcefully undermine the peace process ... and (US Secretary of State) John Kerry's efforts to promote it," charged Peace Now's Hagit Ofran, confirming the tenders were for 708 homes in the Gilo settlement in East Jerusalem.
Israel has begun work on over 10,500 housing units in illegal settlements while simultaneously demolishing 146 Palestinian homes since peace talks began in July.
Since 1967, Israel has established over 150 settlements and some 100 outposts in the occupied West Bank, with a settler population of 520,000, according to OCHA.
Over 43 percent of land in the occupied West Bank is allocated to settlement local and regional councils.
US Secretary of State John Kerry left the region Tuesday morning without meeting personally with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and flew to Europe today to attend the NATO meeting in Brussels. Haaretz Newspaper said that no clear reasons behind Kerry’s leaving , asking if it is relevant with postponing the release of the 4th batch of Palestinian prisoners.
AFP reported earlier Tuesday that Kerry's meetings with Abbas were cancelled Monday when a meeting with Netanyahu dragged on too late with no progress reported.
Kerry met instead with PA chief negotiator Saeb Erakat. He will be back, however, on Wednesday to complete the talks.
AFP reported earlier Tuesday that Kerry's meetings with Abbas were cancelled Monday when a meeting with Netanyahu dragged on too late with no progress reported.
Kerry met instead with PA chief negotiator Saeb Erakat. He will be back, however, on Wednesday to complete the talks.
The U.S Daily Beast website quoted from the American Administration on Tuesday morning as saying, there are efforts to release the Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard in exchange for the release of the fourth batch of Palestinian prisoners, including prisoners from the pre-1948 Palestine.
It said, “America refused over the years to release Pollard who is serving a life sentence in American prisons, however, US stance has been changed recently in light of the existing risks threatened the Israeli Palestinian settlement process.”
The website quoted a senior official in the U.S Administration as saying, “ U.S Secretary of State John Kerry and Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu are looking in the possibility of releasing Pollard in an attempt to develop an agreement to maintain the negotiations process after the peace talks' deadline specified on April 29.”
Releasing Pollard will give Netanyahu the Israeli society's support to release the fourth batch of prisoners, according to Daily Beast.
The US official added that his administration refused previously this option but the Israeli occupation took a tougher stance, linking Pollard release to the fate of peace negotiations.
Kerry met Netanyahu yesterday evening and he is expected to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today.
It said, “America refused over the years to release Pollard who is serving a life sentence in American prisons, however, US stance has been changed recently in light of the existing risks threatened the Israeli Palestinian settlement process.”
The website quoted a senior official in the U.S Administration as saying, “ U.S Secretary of State John Kerry and Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu are looking in the possibility of releasing Pollard in an attempt to develop an agreement to maintain the negotiations process after the peace talks' deadline specified on April 29.”
Releasing Pollard will give Netanyahu the Israeli society's support to release the fourth batch of prisoners, according to Daily Beast.
The US official added that his administration refused previously this option but the Israeli occupation took a tougher stance, linking Pollard release to the fate of peace negotiations.
Kerry met Netanyahu yesterday evening and he is expected to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) refused to accept the extension of the faltering peace talks with Israel, which are supposed to end on April 29. A senior PA official said that Israel uses a policy of extortion through making the release of the fourth batch of prisoners dependent on the extension of the negotiations.
The official added that Israel offered to release 420 prisoners specified by its side if the PA accepted the extension, but the PA refused that.
The Israeli overture also included a partial freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank only, apart from Jerusalem, while construction plans that already started would not stop.
Israel had agreed when the US-sponsored negotiation kicked off in July 2013 to release 104 Palestinian prisoners, who were taken prisoners before the 1993 Oslo accords, in four batches; however, it has released 78 detainees in three batches.
US secretary of state John Kerry met last week in Jordan with de facto president Mahmoud Abbas in a bid to save the peace talks that reached a dead end after Israel refused to release the fourth batch of prisoners.
The official added that Israel offered to release 420 prisoners specified by its side if the PA accepted the extension, but the PA refused that.
The Israeli overture also included a partial freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank only, apart from Jerusalem, while construction plans that already started would not stop.
Israel had agreed when the US-sponsored negotiation kicked off in July 2013 to release 104 Palestinian prisoners, who were taken prisoners before the 1993 Oslo accords, in four batches; however, it has released 78 detainees in three batches.
US secretary of state John Kerry met last week in Jordan with de facto president Mahmoud Abbas in a bid to save the peace talks that reached a dead end after Israel refused to release the fourth batch of prisoners.
The PLO has given Washington's top diplomat John Kerry until Tuesday to resolve a dispute with Israel over the release of prisoners after he flew in to salvage crisis-hit peace talks.
US peace efforts are teetering on the brink of collapse after Israel refused to free a group of 26 veteran Palestinians under an agreement that brought the sides back to the negotiating table in July 2013.
Furious Palestinian officials -- who had agreed to freeze all efforts to secure international recognition for the duration of the peace talks -- have warned that unless Israel changes its stance on the prisoner releases, it could signal the end of the talks.
After landing at Tel Aviv airport at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, US Secretary of State Kerry headed straight to Jerusalem for a two-hour meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
But a late-night meeting in Ramallah with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas was cancelled, sources on both sides said, without giving a reason.
Instead, Kerry held talks at his Jerusalem hotel with chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat, US officials said.
Kerry flew to the Middle East from Paris for what was expected to be little more than a 15-hour visit to push both sides to resolve the lingering dispute over Palestinian prisoners that is threatening to derail the negotiations ahead of an April 29 deadline.
Abbas spent most of the evening locked in a key meeting to discuss the standoff, with the leadership giving Kerry 24 hours to come up with a solution to the prisoners issue.
Israel will 'bear the consequences'
"If we don't get an answer from John Kerry on the prisoners tonight, we'll begin to ask for membership in all UN agencies tomorrow (Tuesday)," independent Palestinian MP Mustafa Barghuti told AFP.
Kerry is due to hold further talks with Netanyahu on Tuesday, before returning to Europe for a NATO meeting in Brussels.
Israel earlier agreed to release a total of 104 prisoners in four stages but after it refused to free the fourth and final batch of prisoners on March 29, the Palestinians said that all bets are off, with officials warning Israel would "bear the consequences" of its decisions.
The Palestinian leadership agreed there would be no extension of the peace talks without a "comprehensive" freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem, two separate sources told AFP.
The talks, which have so far yielded no obvious results, are due to draw to a close on April 29 and US efforts are currently focused on getting the parties to agree an extension to the end of the year.
The question of an extension has become intricately tied up with the fate of the 26 prisoners.
Just a day ahead of the expected releases, Israel said it would not free detainees convicted of deadly attacks unless the Palestinians would commit to extending the negotiations.
But the Palestinians say they will not even discuss any extension of the negotiating period unless Israel frees the prisoners.
The impasse has triggered "intense" US efforts to resolve the dispute, with Kerry speaking with both sides earlier on Monday.
The US decision to fly Kerry in came after a late-night meeting between the negotiating teams in Jerusalem at which Israel had made a fresh proposal for extending the negotiations that was rejected by the Ramallah leadership, a Palestinian official told AFP.
"Israel is practicing a policy of blackmail and linking its agreement to releasing the fourth batch of prisoners with the Palestinians accepting to extend the negotiations," he said.
Pollard fate the key?
In exchange for Palestinian agreement to continue the talks, Israel had offered to free the fourth batch of detainees and to release another 420, most of them common law criminals.
And although the Israelis were offering a partial settlement freeze in the West Bank, it would not be extended to East Jerusalem.
It was Kerry's first visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories since early January, although he has held face-to-face meetings with both Netanyahu and Abbas in Europe and the United States.
Separate sources close to the talks said Israeli and US negotiators were discussing a possible deal to secure the release of US-born Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard as a way to unblock the talks impasse.
Pollard was arrested in Washington in 1985 and condemned to life imprisonment for spying on the United States on behalf of Israel.
One proposal could see Pollard freed before the week-long Jewish holiday of Passover, which begins in mid-April.
In exchange, Israel would release the final batch of prisoners as well as another group of detainees, and the sides would agree to extend the talks.
US peace efforts are teetering on the brink of collapse after Israel refused to free a group of 26 veteran Palestinians under an agreement that brought the sides back to the negotiating table in July 2013.
Furious Palestinian officials -- who had agreed to freeze all efforts to secure international recognition for the duration of the peace talks -- have warned that unless Israel changes its stance on the prisoner releases, it could signal the end of the talks.
After landing at Tel Aviv airport at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, US Secretary of State Kerry headed straight to Jerusalem for a two-hour meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
But a late-night meeting in Ramallah with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas was cancelled, sources on both sides said, without giving a reason.
Instead, Kerry held talks at his Jerusalem hotel with chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat, US officials said.
Kerry flew to the Middle East from Paris for what was expected to be little more than a 15-hour visit to push both sides to resolve the lingering dispute over Palestinian prisoners that is threatening to derail the negotiations ahead of an April 29 deadline.
Abbas spent most of the evening locked in a key meeting to discuss the standoff, with the leadership giving Kerry 24 hours to come up with a solution to the prisoners issue.
Israel will 'bear the consequences'
"If we don't get an answer from John Kerry on the prisoners tonight, we'll begin to ask for membership in all UN agencies tomorrow (Tuesday)," independent Palestinian MP Mustafa Barghuti told AFP.
Kerry is due to hold further talks with Netanyahu on Tuesday, before returning to Europe for a NATO meeting in Brussels.
Israel earlier agreed to release a total of 104 prisoners in four stages but after it refused to free the fourth and final batch of prisoners on March 29, the Palestinians said that all bets are off, with officials warning Israel would "bear the consequences" of its decisions.
The Palestinian leadership agreed there would be no extension of the peace talks without a "comprehensive" freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem, two separate sources told AFP.
The talks, which have so far yielded no obvious results, are due to draw to a close on April 29 and US efforts are currently focused on getting the parties to agree an extension to the end of the year.
The question of an extension has become intricately tied up with the fate of the 26 prisoners.
Just a day ahead of the expected releases, Israel said it would not free detainees convicted of deadly attacks unless the Palestinians would commit to extending the negotiations.
But the Palestinians say they will not even discuss any extension of the negotiating period unless Israel frees the prisoners.
The impasse has triggered "intense" US efforts to resolve the dispute, with Kerry speaking with both sides earlier on Monday.
The US decision to fly Kerry in came after a late-night meeting between the negotiating teams in Jerusalem at which Israel had made a fresh proposal for extending the negotiations that was rejected by the Ramallah leadership, a Palestinian official told AFP.
"Israel is practicing a policy of blackmail and linking its agreement to releasing the fourth batch of prisoners with the Palestinians accepting to extend the negotiations," he said.
Pollard fate the key?
In exchange for Palestinian agreement to continue the talks, Israel had offered to free the fourth batch of detainees and to release another 420, most of them common law criminals.
And although the Israelis were offering a partial settlement freeze in the West Bank, it would not be extended to East Jerusalem.
It was Kerry's first visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories since early January, although he has held face-to-face meetings with both Netanyahu and Abbas in Europe and the United States.
Separate sources close to the talks said Israeli and US negotiators were discussing a possible deal to secure the release of US-born Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard as a way to unblock the talks impasse.
Pollard was arrested in Washington in 1985 and condemned to life imprisonment for spying on the United States on behalf of Israel.
One proposal could see Pollard freed before the week-long Jewish holiday of Passover, which begins in mid-April.
In exchange, Israel would release the final batch of prisoners as well as another group of detainees, and the sides would agree to extend the talks.