8 apr 2014
Member of the political bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Kayed Al-Ghoul, warned PA of responding to western pressures aiming to resume talks with Israeli occupation. He said that the Palestinian Authority’s individuality in political process would only lead to tragic consequences for the Palestinian people.
In a statement issued on Monday, Al-Ghoul called on PA to stop negotiations and to stop wagering on the U.S. role. He also called for adopting an alternative policy based on resistance option and national unity that meets with national and Islamic forces' demands.
He said that the failure of Palestinian-Israeli last meeting under US mediation to reach the expected results does not mean that negotiation process has been stopped or failed, but it means that US-Israeli pressures on Palestinian negotiation team did not yet achieve their aims.
Al-Ghoul charged that the meeting’s failure was due to Israeli rejection to release Palestinian detainees from Palestinian territories occupied in 1948, Israeli pressures to cancel PA application to join 15 UN agencies and treaties, and the Israeli disapproval to halt settlement expansion and construction.
US pressures and threats during the meetings reflect US administration's biased policy in favor of Israeli positions including the rejection to release the fourth batch of Palestinian detainees scheduled to be released early April.
In a statement issued on Monday, Al-Ghoul called on PA to stop negotiations and to stop wagering on the U.S. role. He also called for adopting an alternative policy based on resistance option and national unity that meets with national and Islamic forces' demands.
He said that the failure of Palestinian-Israeli last meeting under US mediation to reach the expected results does not mean that negotiation process has been stopped or failed, but it means that US-Israeli pressures on Palestinian negotiation team did not yet achieve their aims.
Al-Ghoul charged that the meeting’s failure was due to Israeli rejection to release Palestinian detainees from Palestinian territories occupied in 1948, Israeli pressures to cancel PA application to join 15 UN agencies and treaties, and the Israeli disapproval to halt settlement expansion and construction.
US pressures and threats during the meetings reflect US administration's biased policy in favor of Israeli positions including the rejection to release the fourth batch of Palestinian detainees scheduled to be released early April.
Israel has confiscated equipment belonging to mobile phone operator Wataniya Telecom
By Mohamed Khubaisa
Palestinian Communication Minister( in Ramallah) Safa Nasser has accused Israel of tightening the noose around the local communication sector in the besieged Gaza Strip.
"Israel has confiscated equipment belonging to mobile phone operator Wataniya Telecom," Nasser told Anadolu Agency on Monday.
She said that Israeli authorities had suspended an earlier decision to allow Palestinian firms to provide third-generation (3G) mobile telecommunications technology.
The latest restriction is part of a raft of Israel-imposed penalties against the Palestinian Authority (PA) following a recent decision by PA President Mahmoud Abbas to sign 15 applications for Palestinian membership in various U.N. agencies and conventions.
Abbas signed the applications last week in response to an Israeli refusal to release a fourth batch of Palestinian prisoners despite earlier pledges to do so.
According to Nasser, the new Israeli restrictions have already cost Palestinians some $200 million in losses.
She said that her ministry had asked the International Telecommunication Union to pressure Israel to reverse its restrictions on the Palestinian telecom sector.
Source: Anadolu Agency
By Mohamed Khubaisa
Palestinian Communication Minister( in Ramallah) Safa Nasser has accused Israel of tightening the noose around the local communication sector in the besieged Gaza Strip.
"Israel has confiscated equipment belonging to mobile phone operator Wataniya Telecom," Nasser told Anadolu Agency on Monday.
She said that Israeli authorities had suspended an earlier decision to allow Palestinian firms to provide third-generation (3G) mobile telecommunications technology.
The latest restriction is part of a raft of Israel-imposed penalties against the Palestinian Authority (PA) following a recent decision by PA President Mahmoud Abbas to sign 15 applications for Palestinian membership in various U.N. agencies and conventions.
Abbas signed the applications last week in response to an Israeli refusal to release a fourth batch of Palestinian prisoners despite earlier pledges to do so.
According to Nasser, the new Israeli restrictions have already cost Palestinians some $200 million in losses.
She said that her ministry had asked the International Telecommunication Union to pressure Israel to reverse its restrictions on the Palestinian telecom sector.
Source: Anadolu Agency
By: Janet Leslie
The Israeli government has done it again: reneged on an agreement with the Palestinian Authority.
And the U.S. media — including our local paper — have done it again: presented this as "Palestinian President Abbas resumes a Palestinian bid for further U.N. recognition despite a promise to suspend such efforts" (E-R, April 2). What is not said is that that promise was made in exchange for an Israeli government promise to release certain Palestinian prisoners from its (extensive) prisons, a pledge it just broke.
And in the E-R article, U.S spokespeople talk about more incentives the U.S. might offer Israel to keep its side of the agreement — including the possible release from U.S. prison of a convicted Israeli spy — so that these so-called negotiations might not collapse (again).
When will we — the U.S. — recognize that the Israeli government has no interest in any outcome of any "negotiations" other than total control of all of Palestine? The Israeli government has always focused on "facts on the ground," and continues to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank, demolish Palestinian homes, and do everything possible to make economic, social and religious life so restricted and difficult for Palestinian people that they will leave and this "problem" of non-Jewish people living in the land of Israeli will go away.
When will we — the U.S. — stop enabling this with our funding and our constant siding with the Israeli government , against our national interest and our values as a people.
The Israeli government has done it again: reneged on an agreement with the Palestinian Authority.
And the U.S. media — including our local paper — have done it again: presented this as "Palestinian President Abbas resumes a Palestinian bid for further U.N. recognition despite a promise to suspend such efforts" (E-R, April 2). What is not said is that that promise was made in exchange for an Israeli government promise to release certain Palestinian prisoners from its (extensive) prisons, a pledge it just broke.
And in the E-R article, U.S spokespeople talk about more incentives the U.S. might offer Israel to keep its side of the agreement — including the possible release from U.S. prison of a convicted Israeli spy — so that these so-called negotiations might not collapse (again).
When will we — the U.S. — recognize that the Israeli government has no interest in any outcome of any "negotiations" other than total control of all of Palestine? The Israeli government has always focused on "facts on the ground," and continues to expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank, demolish Palestinian homes, and do everything possible to make economic, social and religious life so restricted and difficult for Palestinian people that they will leave and this "problem" of non-Jewish people living in the land of Israeli will go away.
When will we — the U.S. — stop enabling this with our funding and our constant siding with the Israeli government , against our national interest and our values as a people.
Dr. Mousa Abu Marzouk, member of Hamas’s political bureau, said that the Palestinian negotiator is the weakest among all other peace-partakers with the Israeli Occupation Authorities (IOA). Marzouk attributed such a frailty to the decision of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to opt for negotiations against the will of Palestinians and the failure of such an initiative to stop settlement activity.
Abu Marzouk declared in a statement on his Facebook page on Monday: “It is obvious that the negotiations are leading nowhere and much has to be done yet. This is why the Palestinian negotiator set three conditions for the extension of peace talks, namely: To stop settlement, release a 100-prisoner batch, and the immediate execution of previous agreements.”
According to Abu Marzouk: “The surprising emergence of such demands as prerequisites for resuming peace talks are proofs of PA’s failure to leave the negotiations behind and to draw lessons from previous experiences. The U.S. will certainly let the PA down in case they opt for resuming peace talks.”
“The IOA is not happy neither with PA’s decision to stop negotiations nor Palestinians’ decision to join U.N. organizations,” he said, adding, however, that the IOA has many ways “to exert pressure through settlement, money, (internal Palestinian) division etc…”.
Abu Marzouk declared in a statement on his Facebook page on Monday: “It is obvious that the negotiations are leading nowhere and much has to be done yet. This is why the Palestinian negotiator set three conditions for the extension of peace talks, namely: To stop settlement, release a 100-prisoner batch, and the immediate execution of previous agreements.”
According to Abu Marzouk: “The surprising emergence of such demands as prerequisites for resuming peace talks are proofs of PA’s failure to leave the negotiations behind and to draw lessons from previous experiences. The U.S. will certainly let the PA down in case they opt for resuming peace talks.”
“The IOA is not happy neither with PA’s decision to stop negotiations nor Palestinians’ decision to join U.N. organizations,” he said, adding, however, that the IOA has many ways “to exert pressure through settlement, money, (internal Palestinian) division etc…”.
7 apr 2014
Leader of the Israeli Labor party Isaac Herzog meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah. December 01, 2013
An Israeli official said Monday that there is no point al all in wishing a partner other than Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The Yediot Aharanot newspaper reported that Isaac Herzog, the opposition leader of Labor, said that “Abbas may not be the ideal partner for negotiations, he was all that Israel had, and hoping for a different negotiating partner was a waste of time,”
Herzog congratulated the war crimes suspect, Israel’s justice minister Tzipi Livni, for her peace-making efforts as chief Israeli negotiator, but claimed that the upper echelons of the ruling Likud party were not really interested in reaching a deal, according to the Yediot Aharanot report.
He urged the finance minister, Yair Lapid, and Livni to “pull their respective parties out of the coalition, calling the government's participation in the peace talks a sham.”
As for the situation on the ground, the newspaper said in a report Sunday quoting an Israeli official that "the security coordination between the Palestinian Authority security services and the Israeli army and security services did not change despite the stalled talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
An Israeli official said Monday that there is no point al all in wishing a partner other than Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The Yediot Aharanot newspaper reported that Isaac Herzog, the opposition leader of Labor, said that “Abbas may not be the ideal partner for negotiations, he was all that Israel had, and hoping for a different negotiating partner was a waste of time,”
Herzog congratulated the war crimes suspect, Israel’s justice minister Tzipi Livni, for her peace-making efforts as chief Israeli negotiator, but claimed that the upper echelons of the ruling Likud party were not really interested in reaching a deal, according to the Yediot Aharanot report.
He urged the finance minister, Yair Lapid, and Livni to “pull their respective parties out of the coalition, calling the government's participation in the peace talks a sham.”
As for the situation on the ground, the newspaper said in a report Sunday quoting an Israeli official that "the security coordination between the Palestinian Authority security services and the Israeli army and security services did not change despite the stalled talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
A committee organized on Monday a stand in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners and in opposition of trading their issue for extending the negotiations with 'Israel'. Dozens of activists and ex-prisoners participated in the event staged by the ‘High Committee for Palestinian Prisoners' Affairs’ in Nablus, Safa news agency reported.
They demanded the Palestinian Authority not to link freeing the fourth batch of Palestinian prisoners with extending the negotiations based on ‘political blackmail’.
Khalid Al-Khandakji, the spokesman for commitee in a press conference urged Abbas to suspend the negotiations until all political prisoners are released.
“Abbas should head to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to hold the Israeli occupation accountable for its practices against the prisoners such as solitary confinement and medical negligence ,” He added.
'Israel' refused to release The fourth batch of the pre-Oslo prisoners which were to have been on March 29, 2014 as a goodwill gesture to the Palestinian negotiators.
Some 5000 Palestinian prisoners are held in Israeli jail. Over 150 of them are put under administrative detention, and 1,500 sick prisoners, including 27 with cancer.
They demanded the Palestinian Authority not to link freeing the fourth batch of Palestinian prisoners with extending the negotiations based on ‘political blackmail’.
Khalid Al-Khandakji, the spokesman for commitee in a press conference urged Abbas to suspend the negotiations until all political prisoners are released.
“Abbas should head to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to hold the Israeli occupation accountable for its practices against the prisoners such as solitary confinement and medical negligence ,” He added.
'Israel' refused to release The fourth batch of the pre-Oslo prisoners which were to have been on March 29, 2014 as a goodwill gesture to the Palestinian negotiators.
Some 5000 Palestinian prisoners are held in Israeli jail. Over 150 of them are put under administrative detention, and 1,500 sick prisoners, including 27 with cancer.
The District Committee for Planning and Construction ratified on Thursday night the settlement project entitled ““Kadam Complex- City of David- Old City” which will be implemented in the courtyard of Dung Gate south of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The committee of Wadi Hilweh condemned in a statement on Friday the ratification of the settlement project which is funded and supervised by the Israeli government, the occupation municipality in Jerusalem and “Elad” settlement organization.
The committee said that the settlement project aims at eliminating the Arab cultural character of the city of Jerusalem on one hand, and ignores the needs of the residents and confiscates more of their lands on another hand.
The committee explained that ratifying the project came after an eight-hours session where the objections of lawyer Sami Arshid, representing the residents of Wadi Hilweh, and lawyer Qais Naser, representing the Islamic Supreme Council in the 1948 lands, were heard as well as “A’eer Amim” organization, an Israeli organization called “Emek Shafa” that is interested in monuments and a special engineer.
Representatives from Elad settlement organization, Antiquities Authority, Nature and Parks Authority, the Jerusalem municipality and the government of Israel were also present in the session to represent the Israeli side.
Lawyer Sami Arshid explained that the District committee ratified the settlement project with making little changes such as keeping the area open for the public, lowering the level of the building from the street’s level by reducing the number of storeys to be built in addition to reducing the total area from 11000 square meters to 9000.
The lawyer confirmed that objection will be submitted to the competent authorities. He said that ratifying the settlement project came at a critical time in which the peace process negotiations are struggling and the political and security situations are on the verge of explosion.
The District explained in a statement that lawyer Arshid confirmed during the session that the project will isolate the original residents of Silwan from their natural surroundings and the Old City of Jerusalem. It will also change the historic and archaeological character of the town and it is one-sided, and entrenches the power of occupation and only practices a Jewish ideology.
The Committee stressed on the disregard of the District Committee and other Israeli institutions to the UNESCO decision and the disrespect to any international resolution, and pointed out that the District Committee claimed its right to implement the project in the area to maintain the antiquities and accused the “Ottoman Empire” of changing the blur of the city of Jerusalem and that it will maintain them.
The Committee added that the Israeli authorities proposed the project and ignoring the presence of tens of thousands of residents of Silwan and did not take into account their needs because its only aim is to serve the tourism, antiquities and settlers.
The residents confirmed during their interventions on the racism of the various occupation institutions that claim democracy and respect for others at a time when they demolish buildings and displace the residents, in addition to failing to build any schools.
The Committee also confirmed that the decision is political and was influenced by the Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu, and the Israeli Minter of Interior.
Wadi Hilweh Committee- Silwan explained that the settlement project will be established on the lands of the residents of Silwan which were used as farms until Jerusalem was occupied in 1967. After the occupation, the Israeli authorities confiscated the lands and demolished two rooms that were owned by Abdo family and then turned it into a parking lot. In 2003, Elad settlement organization took control of the lands and started planning for the implementation of the settlement project.
The Committee added that Elad organization will designate the “Kadam” building for scientists and the Israeli Antiquities authority in addition to building conference halls, educational rooms and parking lots for the tourists and settlers. Also, special area will be allocated for tourists’ purposes, commercial stores and an office for the settlement organization “Elad”.
The Committee also explained that Elad organization has been doing continuous excavation works in the project’s area (the courtyard of Dung Gate) since 2003 and had demolished an Islamic cemetery that is 1200 years old in addition to damaging Roman and Byzantine monuments such as rooms, arches and poles and only left a few of them which they claim to be the “Second Temple Monuments”; note that part of the building will be designated to show those alleged antiquities.
The committee of Wadi Hilweh condemned in a statement on Friday the ratification of the settlement project which is funded and supervised by the Israeli government, the occupation municipality in Jerusalem and “Elad” settlement organization.
The committee said that the settlement project aims at eliminating the Arab cultural character of the city of Jerusalem on one hand, and ignores the needs of the residents and confiscates more of their lands on another hand.
The committee explained that ratifying the project came after an eight-hours session where the objections of lawyer Sami Arshid, representing the residents of Wadi Hilweh, and lawyer Qais Naser, representing the Islamic Supreme Council in the 1948 lands, were heard as well as “A’eer Amim” organization, an Israeli organization called “Emek Shafa” that is interested in monuments and a special engineer.
Representatives from Elad settlement organization, Antiquities Authority, Nature and Parks Authority, the Jerusalem municipality and the government of Israel were also present in the session to represent the Israeli side.
Lawyer Sami Arshid explained that the District committee ratified the settlement project with making little changes such as keeping the area open for the public, lowering the level of the building from the street’s level by reducing the number of storeys to be built in addition to reducing the total area from 11000 square meters to 9000.
The lawyer confirmed that objection will be submitted to the competent authorities. He said that ratifying the settlement project came at a critical time in which the peace process negotiations are struggling and the political and security situations are on the verge of explosion.
The District explained in a statement that lawyer Arshid confirmed during the session that the project will isolate the original residents of Silwan from their natural surroundings and the Old City of Jerusalem. It will also change the historic and archaeological character of the town and it is one-sided, and entrenches the power of occupation and only practices a Jewish ideology.
The Committee stressed on the disregard of the District Committee and other Israeli institutions to the UNESCO decision and the disrespect to any international resolution, and pointed out that the District Committee claimed its right to implement the project in the area to maintain the antiquities and accused the “Ottoman Empire” of changing the blur of the city of Jerusalem and that it will maintain them.
The Committee added that the Israeli authorities proposed the project and ignoring the presence of tens of thousands of residents of Silwan and did not take into account their needs because its only aim is to serve the tourism, antiquities and settlers.
The residents confirmed during their interventions on the racism of the various occupation institutions that claim democracy and respect for others at a time when they demolish buildings and displace the residents, in addition to failing to build any schools.
The Committee also confirmed that the decision is political and was influenced by the Israeli Prime Minister, Netanyahu, and the Israeli Minter of Interior.
Wadi Hilweh Committee- Silwan explained that the settlement project will be established on the lands of the residents of Silwan which were used as farms until Jerusalem was occupied in 1967. After the occupation, the Israeli authorities confiscated the lands and demolished two rooms that were owned by Abdo family and then turned it into a parking lot. In 2003, Elad settlement organization took control of the lands and started planning for the implementation of the settlement project.
The Committee added that Elad organization will designate the “Kadam” building for scientists and the Israeli Antiquities authority in addition to building conference halls, educational rooms and parking lots for the tourists and settlers. Also, special area will be allocated for tourists’ purposes, commercial stores and an office for the settlement organization “Elad”.
The Committee also explained that Elad organization has been doing continuous excavation works in the project’s area (the courtyard of Dung Gate) since 2003 and had demolished an Islamic cemetery that is 1200 years old in addition to damaging Roman and Byzantine monuments such as rooms, arches and poles and only left a few of them which they claim to be the “Second Temple Monuments”; note that part of the building will be designated to show those alleged antiquities.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says that “if we do not resolve the issues between Palestinians and Israelis, if we do not find a way to find peace, there will be an increasing isolation of Israel.”
However, a thorough examination of Israel’s international standing reveals an increasingly splendid integration of the Jewish state — economically, technologically and scientifically — irrespective of the Palestinian issue.
Contrary to the Kerry school of thought, and based on a reality check, the Palestinian issue has never been a core cause shaping the Middle East, a crown jewel of Arab policymakers and the crux of Israel’s relations with the Arab countries and the international community. While the diplomatic talk highlights the Palestinian issue, the diplomatic, commercial and industrial walk reveals that policy-makers and the international business community do not embrace Kerry’s “Palestine First” assessment and his “Isolation Warning/Threat.”
Thus, the Turkish Statistics Institute documented an expansion of the Turkey-Israel trade balance, despite the brutal anti-Israel ideology of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The institute reports a 56 percent export increase, to Israel, during the first five months of 2013, compared with the same period in 2012, while imports from Israel increased by 22% during the same period. The Israel-Turkey trade balance was $3.4 billion in 2008, rising to $4 billion in 2012. Turkey’s requirements in the areas of industry, medicine, health, agriculture, irrigation, education, science, technology and defense — and Israel’s unique innovations in these areas — have prevailed over Erdogan’s anti-Western, anti-Israel, and pro-Hamas Islamist orientation.
The London Financial Times reported that “in six hours of [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's] talks with the Chinese leadership, they spent roughly 10 seconds on the Palestinian issue, while revealing an unquenchable thirst for Israeli technology.”
Highlighting Israel’s intensified and diversified global integration, the China-Israel 2013 trade balance exceeded $10 billion, providing a tailwind to the currently negotiated free-trade agreement, and inspired by Chinese investments in some 50 Israeli high-tech companies. The Japan Times reported a growing Japanese interest in Israeli business opportunities, tripling the number of reviews of Israeli companies.
Moreover, foreign investments in Israel soared in 2013 to a seven-year high of $12 billion, including $4 billion in acquisitions of Israeli companies by global giants such as Google, IBM, Cisco, AOL, Facebook, Apple and EMC. Furthermore, since January, Israeli companies have raised over $500 million on Wall Street, and Deloitte Touche, one of the world’s top CPA firms, crowned Israel as the fourth most attractive site for foreign investors, behind the U.S., China and Brazil.
According to the British Economist Intelligence Unit, “Israel’s cluster of high-tech companies, investors and incubators is enjoying a boom which has not been witnessed since the global tech bubble burst more than a decade ago.” Neither Kazakhstan’s billionaire Kenges Rakishev, nor Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim allowed the “Isolation Warning/Threat” to stop their flow of investments in Israel’s high-tech sector.
In fact, Israel, the “Start-Up Nation,” has become a critical Pipeline Nation which transfers to the American high-tech industry a plethora of cutting edge technologies and applications developed by Israeli brain power, providing some 200 U.S. high-tech giants with an edge over their global competitors and contributing to U.S. employment, research and development and exports. As stated by Microsoft’s new CEO, Satya Nadella: “The two Microsoft research and development centers in Israel constitute a strategic factor, enhancing Microsoft’s capabilities in many areas.”
This was echoed by Google’s Chairman, Eric Schmidt, who invests in Israel also through his private venture capital fund, Innovation Endeavors: “Israel will have an oversized impact on the evolution of the next stage of technology. Israel has become a high-tech hub. Israel is the most important high-tech center in the world after the U.S.”
Unlike Secretary of State John Kerry, businessman Warren Buffett does have confidence in Israel’s long-term viability, realizing that Israel’s economic and technological capabilities are the derivatives of Israel’s brainpower and fiscal responsibility (since 1985), independent of the Palestinian issue.
Hence, on the eve of Israel’s 2006 war against Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Buffett invested $4 billion in an Israeli company, located next to the Lebanese border, recently expanding that investment by $2 billion. Buffett followed in the footsteps of Intel, which has invested $11 billion in its four research and development centers and two manufacturing plants in Israel; IBM, which just acquired its 13th Israeli company; Motorola, which established in Israel a research center second only to its Houston center; Hewlett-Packard, which owes 55% of its 2012-2013 development to its seven Israeli research and development centers; and the leading Silicon Valley venture capital funds, Sequoia, Benchmark, Greylock and Accel, which operate successful Israel-dedicated funds.
Astute observers of the Middle East — who do not subordinate reality to their wishful thinking — are aware that the Arab tsunami is not an Arab Spring; that the Arab street in general, and Egypt in particular, are not transitioning towards democracy; that Iran is committed to the pursuit of military nuclear capabilities; that Syrian President Bashar Assad has not been forsaken by Russia and Iran; and that Arab leaders are apprehensive of Palestinian subversion and terrorism.
Likewise, astute investors have realized that the ongoing wars and terrorism that have beset Israel since 1948 have been but bumps on the road of Israel’s unprecedented surge and integration into the global economy and technology, bolstered by Israel’s Leviathan-size offshore natural gas explorations.
This article was originally published by Israel Hayom
However, a thorough examination of Israel’s international standing reveals an increasingly splendid integration of the Jewish state — economically, technologically and scientifically — irrespective of the Palestinian issue.
Contrary to the Kerry school of thought, and based on a reality check, the Palestinian issue has never been a core cause shaping the Middle East, a crown jewel of Arab policymakers and the crux of Israel’s relations with the Arab countries and the international community. While the diplomatic talk highlights the Palestinian issue, the diplomatic, commercial and industrial walk reveals that policy-makers and the international business community do not embrace Kerry’s “Palestine First” assessment and his “Isolation Warning/Threat.”
Thus, the Turkish Statistics Institute documented an expansion of the Turkey-Israel trade balance, despite the brutal anti-Israel ideology of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The institute reports a 56 percent export increase, to Israel, during the first five months of 2013, compared with the same period in 2012, while imports from Israel increased by 22% during the same period. The Israel-Turkey trade balance was $3.4 billion in 2008, rising to $4 billion in 2012. Turkey’s requirements in the areas of industry, medicine, health, agriculture, irrigation, education, science, technology and defense — and Israel’s unique innovations in these areas — have prevailed over Erdogan’s anti-Western, anti-Israel, and pro-Hamas Islamist orientation.
The London Financial Times reported that “in six hours of [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's] talks with the Chinese leadership, they spent roughly 10 seconds on the Palestinian issue, while revealing an unquenchable thirst for Israeli technology.”
Highlighting Israel’s intensified and diversified global integration, the China-Israel 2013 trade balance exceeded $10 billion, providing a tailwind to the currently negotiated free-trade agreement, and inspired by Chinese investments in some 50 Israeli high-tech companies. The Japan Times reported a growing Japanese interest in Israeli business opportunities, tripling the number of reviews of Israeli companies.
Moreover, foreign investments in Israel soared in 2013 to a seven-year high of $12 billion, including $4 billion in acquisitions of Israeli companies by global giants such as Google, IBM, Cisco, AOL, Facebook, Apple and EMC. Furthermore, since January, Israeli companies have raised over $500 million on Wall Street, and Deloitte Touche, one of the world’s top CPA firms, crowned Israel as the fourth most attractive site for foreign investors, behind the U.S., China and Brazil.
According to the British Economist Intelligence Unit, “Israel’s cluster of high-tech companies, investors and incubators is enjoying a boom which has not been witnessed since the global tech bubble burst more than a decade ago.” Neither Kazakhstan’s billionaire Kenges Rakishev, nor Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim allowed the “Isolation Warning/Threat” to stop their flow of investments in Israel’s high-tech sector.
In fact, Israel, the “Start-Up Nation,” has become a critical Pipeline Nation which transfers to the American high-tech industry a plethora of cutting edge technologies and applications developed by Israeli brain power, providing some 200 U.S. high-tech giants with an edge over their global competitors and contributing to U.S. employment, research and development and exports. As stated by Microsoft’s new CEO, Satya Nadella: “The two Microsoft research and development centers in Israel constitute a strategic factor, enhancing Microsoft’s capabilities in many areas.”
This was echoed by Google’s Chairman, Eric Schmidt, who invests in Israel also through his private venture capital fund, Innovation Endeavors: “Israel will have an oversized impact on the evolution of the next stage of technology. Israel has become a high-tech hub. Israel is the most important high-tech center in the world after the U.S.”
Unlike Secretary of State John Kerry, businessman Warren Buffett does have confidence in Israel’s long-term viability, realizing that Israel’s economic and technological capabilities are the derivatives of Israel’s brainpower and fiscal responsibility (since 1985), independent of the Palestinian issue.
Hence, on the eve of Israel’s 2006 war against Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Buffett invested $4 billion in an Israeli company, located next to the Lebanese border, recently expanding that investment by $2 billion. Buffett followed in the footsteps of Intel, which has invested $11 billion in its four research and development centers and two manufacturing plants in Israel; IBM, which just acquired its 13th Israeli company; Motorola, which established in Israel a research center second only to its Houston center; Hewlett-Packard, which owes 55% of its 2012-2013 development to its seven Israeli research and development centers; and the leading Silicon Valley venture capital funds, Sequoia, Benchmark, Greylock and Accel, which operate successful Israel-dedicated funds.
Astute observers of the Middle East — who do not subordinate reality to their wishful thinking — are aware that the Arab tsunami is not an Arab Spring; that the Arab street in general, and Egypt in particular, are not transitioning towards democracy; that Iran is committed to the pursuit of military nuclear capabilities; that Syrian President Bashar Assad has not been forsaken by Russia and Iran; and that Arab leaders are apprehensive of Palestinian subversion and terrorism.
Likewise, astute investors have realized that the ongoing wars and terrorism that have beset Israel since 1948 have been but bumps on the road of Israel’s unprecedented surge and integration into the global economy and technology, bolstered by Israel’s Leviathan-size offshore natural gas explorations.
This article was originally published by Israel Hayom
U.S. Official Spokesperson in the Consulate announced that the Palestinian and Israeli sides requested that the United States convene another meeting today to continue the effort.
The official said, "Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met last night to discuss ways to overcome the crisis in the talks. The meeting was serious and constructive and both sides requested that the United States convene another meeting today to continue the effort.
Israel radio quoted Palestinian sources as saying that the last-ditch meeting that was held in Jerusalem between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators on salvaging the peace process ended without a breakthrough Sunday.
The sources said that the talks ended with failure because Israel is refusing to release the fourth group of the Palestinian prisoners detained before the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993. .
Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams headed by Saeb Erekat and Tzipi Livni and the American envoy Martin Indyk participated in the meeting.
The Palestinian official said that "during the whole meeting, the Israelis threatened the Palestinians and no solution to the crisis was found."
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that unilateral moves taken by the Palestinians will be met with unilateral moves by Israel.
The official said, "Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met last night to discuss ways to overcome the crisis in the talks. The meeting was serious and constructive and both sides requested that the United States convene another meeting today to continue the effort.
Israel radio quoted Palestinian sources as saying that the last-ditch meeting that was held in Jerusalem between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators on salvaging the peace process ended without a breakthrough Sunday.
The sources said that the talks ended with failure because Israel is refusing to release the fourth group of the Palestinian prisoners detained before the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993. .
Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams headed by Saeb Erekat and Tzipi Livni and the American envoy Martin Indyk participated in the meeting.
The Palestinian official said that "during the whole meeting, the Israelis threatened the Palestinians and no solution to the crisis was found."
The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that unilateral moves taken by the Palestinians will be met with unilateral moves by Israel.
A Palestinian settlement-research center has revealed that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) is planning to confiscate 800 dunums of Qaryout village land, east of Nablus city, to expand the nearby Shilo settlement.
The Palestinian Land Research Center, which makes part of the Arabic Studies Society, said a detailed plan was submitted last month by Israeli local settlement communities as an amendment procedure to the regional plan (S/15).
According to the new scheme, the territories grouped under the touristic and agricultural heading will be used for commercial profit, in addition to the projected building of an archetypal park in which relics would be on the display.
The center spoke against the plan, denouncing its hidden aim to block all possibilities of re-opening the southern Qaryout road which has long been ensuring the smooth entry into Ramallah city, sparing passengers more than 20 kms. The plan will make matters worse for the natives already exhausted by settlement policies, according to the report.
The plan aims at changing Khirbet Ceylon’s historical idiosyncrasy and the construction of an Israeli museum as part of the ongoing judaization plans within the village. The near inauguration of a touristic center in the area is a living proof of this. The situation is becoming alarming. Ceylon has long been such an architectural wonder that preserves so many of the flavors and tastes of its idiosyncratic history where several epochs and civilizations have converged. The village is most famous for the ancient breath-taking Omari Mosque and two spectacular Romanian mosaic churches.
Shilo settlement was established in the early 80’s and it includes several religious centers and a synagogue to teach the Torah and promote some of the most extremist rabbis. At least 450 dunums of Qaryout lands are confiscated.
The Palestinian Land Research Center, which makes part of the Arabic Studies Society, said a detailed plan was submitted last month by Israeli local settlement communities as an amendment procedure to the regional plan (S/15).
According to the new scheme, the territories grouped under the touristic and agricultural heading will be used for commercial profit, in addition to the projected building of an archetypal park in which relics would be on the display.
The center spoke against the plan, denouncing its hidden aim to block all possibilities of re-opening the southern Qaryout road which has long been ensuring the smooth entry into Ramallah city, sparing passengers more than 20 kms. The plan will make matters worse for the natives already exhausted by settlement policies, according to the report.
The plan aims at changing Khirbet Ceylon’s historical idiosyncrasy and the construction of an Israeli museum as part of the ongoing judaization plans within the village. The near inauguration of a touristic center in the area is a living proof of this. The situation is becoming alarming. Ceylon has long been such an architectural wonder that preserves so many of the flavors and tastes of its idiosyncratic history where several epochs and civilizations have converged. The village is most famous for the ancient breath-taking Omari Mosque and two spectacular Romanian mosaic churches.
Shilo settlement was established in the early 80’s and it includes several religious centers and a synagogue to teach the Torah and promote some of the most extremist rabbis. At least 450 dunums of Qaryout lands are confiscated.
Last-ditch talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators on salvaging a teetering, US-brokered peace process ended without a breakthrough Sunday, Palestinian sources told AFP.
"The crisis continues. During the whole meeting, the Israelis threatened the Palestinians and no solution to the crisis was found," a Palestinian official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Warning that the peace process was on the edge of collapse, an Israeli official close to the talks said that even US Secretary of State John Kerry, its tireless sponsor, was cooling off.
"The way it's looking now, the talks as they were several weeks ago are no longer relevant," the source told Israeli news website Ynet.
"Israel is preparing to return to routine dealings with the Palestinians as they were before the negotiations started nine months ago.
"We are noticing a real coolness in the way the Americans are treating (the peace process), and it's obvious that today's Kerry is not the same Kerry from a few weeks ago," the official added.
A second official, however, said another chance needed to be given to the efforts of Israel's chief negotiator Tzipi Livni.
"We have to wait a few more days. ... A lot of efforts are being done to salvage the situation," the official said.
A US spokesperson was more optimistic, saying in a statement: "The meeting was serious and constructive and both sides requested that the United States convene another meeting today (Monday) to continue the effort."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, threatened to retaliate if the PLO proceeds with applications to adhere to 15 international treaties.
"These will only make a peace agreement more distant," he said of the applications the PLO made on Tuesday.
"Any unilateral moves they take will be answered by unilateral moves at our end."
Netanyahu's remarks, made at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting, came hours before Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met US envoy Martin Indyk in an attempt to save the peace process.
The three-way meeting began in the afternoon and ended in the evening in Jerusalem.
Kerry, the driving force behind the peace push, warned on Friday that there were "limits" to the time and energy Washington could devote to the talks process, as his appeals to both sides to step back from the brink fell on deaf ears.
President Mahmoud Abbas rejected Kerry's plea to withdraw the treaty applications, and Netanyahu ignored US appeals to refrain from tit-for-tat moves, asking for a range of retaliatory options.
Israel says Abbas' move was a clear breach of the commitments the PLO gave when the talks were relaunched in July to pursue no other avenues for recognition of their promised state.
Palestinians say Israel had already reneged on its own undertakings by failing to release a fourth and final batch of prisoners a week ago, and that the treaty move was their response.
"They refused to free the prisoners and that's why there's no progress," said the Palestinian source.
'Facts on the ground'
"The Palestinians have much to lose from a unilateral move. They will get a state only through direct negotiations and not through empty declarations or unilateral moves," Netanyahu said.
"We are prepared to continue talks, but not at any price."
Netanyahu noted the Palestinian application to the international institutions came "the moment before agreeing on the continuation of the talks" beyond their April 29 deadline.
Yasser Abed Rabbo, general secretary of the PLO executive committee, blamed the latest talks crisis on Israel, which "wants to extend the negotiations for ever" as it creates "more facts on the ground."
"Israel always implements unilateral steps," he told Voice of Palestine radio, saying Palestinians were already being punished by Israel.
Officials from Netanyahu down have been cautious not to specify the exact nature of punitive measures Israel might take.
But media reports mention preventing Wataniya Palestine Telecom from laying down mobile phone infrastructure in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, and halting Palestinian construction projects in parts of the West Bank.
Israel's chief negotiator, Justice Minister Livni, suggested that Washington scale down its "intensive" involvement in the process with the PLO.
"Part of what took place in the past months was primarily negotiations between us and the US, and less with the Palestinians," she told Channel 2 television on Saturday.
"We need bilateral meetings between us, including between the prime minister and Abu Mazen (Abbas)."
"The crisis continues. During the whole meeting, the Israelis threatened the Palestinians and no solution to the crisis was found," a Palestinian official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Warning that the peace process was on the edge of collapse, an Israeli official close to the talks said that even US Secretary of State John Kerry, its tireless sponsor, was cooling off.
"The way it's looking now, the talks as they were several weeks ago are no longer relevant," the source told Israeli news website Ynet.
"Israel is preparing to return to routine dealings with the Palestinians as they were before the negotiations started nine months ago.
"We are noticing a real coolness in the way the Americans are treating (the peace process), and it's obvious that today's Kerry is not the same Kerry from a few weeks ago," the official added.
A second official, however, said another chance needed to be given to the efforts of Israel's chief negotiator Tzipi Livni.
"We have to wait a few more days. ... A lot of efforts are being done to salvage the situation," the official said.
A US spokesperson was more optimistic, saying in a statement: "The meeting was serious and constructive and both sides requested that the United States convene another meeting today (Monday) to continue the effort."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, threatened to retaliate if the PLO proceeds with applications to adhere to 15 international treaties.
"These will only make a peace agreement more distant," he said of the applications the PLO made on Tuesday.
"Any unilateral moves they take will be answered by unilateral moves at our end."
Netanyahu's remarks, made at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting, came hours before Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met US envoy Martin Indyk in an attempt to save the peace process.
The three-way meeting began in the afternoon and ended in the evening in Jerusalem.
Kerry, the driving force behind the peace push, warned on Friday that there were "limits" to the time and energy Washington could devote to the talks process, as his appeals to both sides to step back from the brink fell on deaf ears.
President Mahmoud Abbas rejected Kerry's plea to withdraw the treaty applications, and Netanyahu ignored US appeals to refrain from tit-for-tat moves, asking for a range of retaliatory options.
Israel says Abbas' move was a clear breach of the commitments the PLO gave when the talks were relaunched in July to pursue no other avenues for recognition of their promised state.
Palestinians say Israel had already reneged on its own undertakings by failing to release a fourth and final batch of prisoners a week ago, and that the treaty move was their response.
"They refused to free the prisoners and that's why there's no progress," said the Palestinian source.
'Facts on the ground'
"The Palestinians have much to lose from a unilateral move. They will get a state only through direct negotiations and not through empty declarations or unilateral moves," Netanyahu said.
"We are prepared to continue talks, but not at any price."
Netanyahu noted the Palestinian application to the international institutions came "the moment before agreeing on the continuation of the talks" beyond their April 29 deadline.
Yasser Abed Rabbo, general secretary of the PLO executive committee, blamed the latest talks crisis on Israel, which "wants to extend the negotiations for ever" as it creates "more facts on the ground."
"Israel always implements unilateral steps," he told Voice of Palestine radio, saying Palestinians were already being punished by Israel.
Officials from Netanyahu down have been cautious not to specify the exact nature of punitive measures Israel might take.
But media reports mention preventing Wataniya Palestine Telecom from laying down mobile phone infrastructure in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, and halting Palestinian construction projects in parts of the West Bank.
Israel's chief negotiator, Justice Minister Livni, suggested that Washington scale down its "intensive" involvement in the process with the PLO.
"Part of what took place in the past months was primarily negotiations between us and the US, and less with the Palestinians," she told Channel 2 television on Saturday.
"We need bilateral meetings between us, including between the prime minister and Abu Mazen (Abbas)."