2 feb 2014
A heated argument erupted Sunday between the chief PLO negotiator and his Israeli counterpart Tzipi Livni during a symposium about the Middle East peace process, Erekat's office said.
US Middle East envoy Martin Indic and international Quartet envoy Tony Blair were present at the meeting in Germany, at the Munich Security Forum, according to Erekat’s office.
The argument started when Livni used the Israeli term "Judea and Samaria" to describe the West Bank and urged the Palestinians to stop using Arabic names for cities like Haifa and Jaffa and to back down from demanding the return of Palestinian refugees to those cities, Erekat's office explained.
“Israel is a powerful state which owns 3,000 military tanks, 2,000 warplanes, nuclear weapons and full support by the US Congress. Thus, what are my chances against this?" Erekat was quoted as saying.
“However, Israel has to choose between three choices one of which is the two-state solution which I am proposing,” Erekat said.
The second choice, he added, if the Israelis want to call Jericho by their Hebrew names “Yeriho” and to call Nablus “Shkheim”, is one state for both peoples.
The third choice, added Erekat, is the use of security pretexts to justify “apartheid” in the West Bank. “Now in 2014, there are streets in the West Bank which I can’t use as a Palestinian,” he added.
Livni, according to Erekat's office, responded that “Saeb says that if I want to use the Jewish name Yeriho to describe his city Jericho, I can do that, but in that case there will be one state.”
Well, she added, “it’s not about historical presentation. These areas in the West Bank which we call Judea and Samaria are part of our history, and we will not be able to convince you of that just as you will not be able to convince us of your historical narrative.”
Thus, she added, it’s not about whose narrative is more just, and whose claim of the land is more rightful, but rather about the possibility to maintain hopes about two states for two peoples.
“When this happens, please Saeb, don’t use Arabic names to talk about places in Israel such as Jaffa and Haifa. Well, you can use Arab names, but don’t tell refugees who are waiting in Lebanon and other areas with the keys of their houses that they can return to live in these areas because that is against the two-state solution.”
Livni’s remarks angered Erekat, who replied, “You are talking about historical narratives? Yes it is. I am the son of Jericho. Last year I celebrated my city's 10,000th birthday. I am proud to be a descendent of the Canaanites who lived in Jericho 5,500 years before Joshua who burnt Jericho and I will not alter my history.”
Direct negotiations began in July between Israel and the Palestinians in a US-led attempt to restart the deadlocked peace process.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has been trying to push Israel and the Palestinians towards a framework agreement ahead of an agreed April deadline.
US Middle East envoy Martin Indic and international Quartet envoy Tony Blair were present at the meeting in Germany, at the Munich Security Forum, according to Erekat’s office.
The argument started when Livni used the Israeli term "Judea and Samaria" to describe the West Bank and urged the Palestinians to stop using Arabic names for cities like Haifa and Jaffa and to back down from demanding the return of Palestinian refugees to those cities, Erekat's office explained.
“Israel is a powerful state which owns 3,000 military tanks, 2,000 warplanes, nuclear weapons and full support by the US Congress. Thus, what are my chances against this?" Erekat was quoted as saying.
“However, Israel has to choose between three choices one of which is the two-state solution which I am proposing,” Erekat said.
The second choice, he added, if the Israelis want to call Jericho by their Hebrew names “Yeriho” and to call Nablus “Shkheim”, is one state for both peoples.
The third choice, added Erekat, is the use of security pretexts to justify “apartheid” in the West Bank. “Now in 2014, there are streets in the West Bank which I can’t use as a Palestinian,” he added.
Livni, according to Erekat's office, responded that “Saeb says that if I want to use the Jewish name Yeriho to describe his city Jericho, I can do that, but in that case there will be one state.”
Well, she added, “it’s not about historical presentation. These areas in the West Bank which we call Judea and Samaria are part of our history, and we will not be able to convince you of that just as you will not be able to convince us of your historical narrative.”
Thus, she added, it’s not about whose narrative is more just, and whose claim of the land is more rightful, but rather about the possibility to maintain hopes about two states for two peoples.
“When this happens, please Saeb, don’t use Arabic names to talk about places in Israel such as Jaffa and Haifa. Well, you can use Arab names, but don’t tell refugees who are waiting in Lebanon and other areas with the keys of their houses that they can return to live in these areas because that is against the two-state solution.”
Livni’s remarks angered Erekat, who replied, “You are talking about historical narratives? Yes it is. I am the son of Jericho. Last year I celebrated my city's 10,000th birthday. I am proud to be a descendent of the Canaanites who lived in Jericho 5,500 years before Joshua who burnt Jericho and I will not alter my history.”
Direct negotiations began in July between Israel and the Palestinians in a US-led attempt to restart the deadlocked peace process.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has been trying to push Israel and the Palestinians towards a framework agreement ahead of an agreed April deadline.
By Khalid Amayreh
It is manifestly clear by now that the so-called "framework agreement" proposed by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry would liquidate and decapitate rather than resolve the enduring Palestinian cause.
The scandalously one-sided plan should be treated by Palestinians and all honest people as dead-on-arrival and inherently and absolutely unacceptable.
Among other things, Kerry is demanding that the Palestinians declare that Israel is a Jewish state. What happens to the 22% of Israeli citizens who are Palestinian Arabs in a “Jewish state”?
Needless to say, recognizing Israel by the Palestinians as a Jewish state could be viewed and construed as a euphemism for giving Israel the right, to be exercised not necessarily now but definitely in the future, to expel its Palestinian citizens on the ground that Israel is a Jewish state and Palestinians are not Jewish.
The least negative interpretation of this strange recognition would at the very least imply a solemn Palestinian acknowledgement that Israel's Palestinian community would have to content itself with the perpetual status of a wretched and discriminated- against minority on no other ground than the fact that these people are not Jewish and don't belong to "holy tribe."
Their continued existence in their ancestral homeland would be precarious at best.
The shabby plan is also demanding that the Palestinians agree to give up the paramount Right of Return. This would be a thunderous and earth-shaking defeat to Palestinian national aspirations.
In a certain sense, the right of return is the essence, soul and heart of the Palestinian cause. The PLO itself was created in 1965 to affect that right. It is widely believed that the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was liquidated by Israel because he wouldn't cede that sacred right.
Arafat told then President Bill Clinton that American demands that that the Palestinian leader should cede the right of return was tantamount to inciting Palestinians to assassinate Arafat.
The current Palestinian leader is no Yasser Arafat. However, the very least Mahmoud Abbas must do is to consult with the people of Palestine, especially the refugees, the very people whose lives and future would be mostly affected by this one-sided plan.
I have no doubt that the vast majority of Palestinians, especially the refugees, will reject this unethical plan, not because they don't want peace, but precisely because they insist on real peace.
Needless to say, a peace that perpetuates oppression and justice will be neither durable nor maintainable in the long run. It would be a protracted truce at the very best.
More to the point, many, probably most, Jewish colonies built illegally and in violation of international law ever since 1967 would remain intact.
This apparently would also include Jewish colonies in East Jerusalem, the contemplated capital of the would-be Palestinian entity.
Interestingly, Kerry's plan doesn't really define East Jerusalem and whether it denotes the Eastern part of the city of Jerusalem which Israel seized from Jordan in 1967 or the neighboring suburbs such as Abu Dis and Eizariya.
In any case, the continued existence of Jewish colonies in East Jerusalem would effectively scuttle any prospect of the city becoming a real capital of a real viable Palestinian state with demographic and territorial contiguity.
Kerry's plan is more than a lousy plan that perpetuates injustice. It actually allows ethnic cleansing and genocidal Israeli racism to triumph. This would be analogous to the unjust conditions imposed on Germany following the First World War. We all know the rest of the story.
In light, it is highly likely that the vast majority of Palestinians will reject this plan out of hand. The Palestinians didn't wait all these years in order to give up the right of return for a "state" bereft of the means of viability.
We can wait. Time and truth are on our side. History will not come to an abrupt end tomorrow.
It is manifestly clear by now that the so-called "framework agreement" proposed by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry would liquidate and decapitate rather than resolve the enduring Palestinian cause.
The scandalously one-sided plan should be treated by Palestinians and all honest people as dead-on-arrival and inherently and absolutely unacceptable.
Among other things, Kerry is demanding that the Palestinians declare that Israel is a Jewish state. What happens to the 22% of Israeli citizens who are Palestinian Arabs in a “Jewish state”?
Needless to say, recognizing Israel by the Palestinians as a Jewish state could be viewed and construed as a euphemism for giving Israel the right, to be exercised not necessarily now but definitely in the future, to expel its Palestinian citizens on the ground that Israel is a Jewish state and Palestinians are not Jewish.
The least negative interpretation of this strange recognition would at the very least imply a solemn Palestinian acknowledgement that Israel's Palestinian community would have to content itself with the perpetual status of a wretched and discriminated- against minority on no other ground than the fact that these people are not Jewish and don't belong to "holy tribe."
Their continued existence in their ancestral homeland would be precarious at best.
The shabby plan is also demanding that the Palestinians agree to give up the paramount Right of Return. This would be a thunderous and earth-shaking defeat to Palestinian national aspirations.
In a certain sense, the right of return is the essence, soul and heart of the Palestinian cause. The PLO itself was created in 1965 to affect that right. It is widely believed that the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was liquidated by Israel because he wouldn't cede that sacred right.
Arafat told then President Bill Clinton that American demands that that the Palestinian leader should cede the right of return was tantamount to inciting Palestinians to assassinate Arafat.
The current Palestinian leader is no Yasser Arafat. However, the very least Mahmoud Abbas must do is to consult with the people of Palestine, especially the refugees, the very people whose lives and future would be mostly affected by this one-sided plan.
I have no doubt that the vast majority of Palestinians, especially the refugees, will reject this unethical plan, not because they don't want peace, but precisely because they insist on real peace.
Needless to say, a peace that perpetuates oppression and justice will be neither durable nor maintainable in the long run. It would be a protracted truce at the very best.
More to the point, many, probably most, Jewish colonies built illegally and in violation of international law ever since 1967 would remain intact.
This apparently would also include Jewish colonies in East Jerusalem, the contemplated capital of the would-be Palestinian entity.
Interestingly, Kerry's plan doesn't really define East Jerusalem and whether it denotes the Eastern part of the city of Jerusalem which Israel seized from Jordan in 1967 or the neighboring suburbs such as Abu Dis and Eizariya.
In any case, the continued existence of Jewish colonies in East Jerusalem would effectively scuttle any prospect of the city becoming a real capital of a real viable Palestinian state with demographic and territorial contiguity.
Kerry's plan is more than a lousy plan that perpetuates injustice. It actually allows ethnic cleansing and genocidal Israeli racism to triumph. This would be analogous to the unjust conditions imposed on Germany following the First World War. We all know the rest of the story.
In light, it is highly likely that the vast majority of Palestinians will reject this plan out of hand. The Palestinians didn't wait all these years in order to give up the right of return for a "state" bereft of the means of viability.
We can wait. Time and truth are on our side. History will not come to an abrupt end tomorrow.
President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday received Japan’s commissioner for peace in the Middle East, Yutaka Uemura, in the presidency headquarters in Ramallah. Abbas briefed Uemura on the latest developments in the peace talks with the Israeli side and ways to boost US peace efforts.
He expressed gratitude for Japan’s continued support for the Palestinian people aimed at improving Palestine’s economy through carrying out mutual projects.
Abbas Discusses Refugees’ Conditions with UNRWA Commissioner General
President Mahmoud Abbas Sunday recieved UNRWA Commissioner General Filippo Grandi in the presidential head quarters in Ramallah where they discussed the agency’s work for the refugees. Abbas discussed refugees’ difficult conditions in Syria, stressing the need for UNRWA to continue providing aid to them to ease their suffering.
They also discussed the importance of UNRWA’s aid to refugees’ camps in the Palestinian Territory.
Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah also attended the meeting.
He expressed gratitude for Japan’s continued support for the Palestinian people aimed at improving Palestine’s economy through carrying out mutual projects.
Abbas Discusses Refugees’ Conditions with UNRWA Commissioner General
President Mahmoud Abbas Sunday recieved UNRWA Commissioner General Filippo Grandi in the presidential head quarters in Ramallah where they discussed the agency’s work for the refugees. Abbas discussed refugees’ difficult conditions in Syria, stressing the need for UNRWA to continue providing aid to them to ease their suffering.
They also discussed the importance of UNRWA’s aid to refugees’ camps in the Palestinian Territory.
Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah also attended the meeting.
Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid has decided to suspend the transfer of public funds to West Bank settlements pending a probe into their alleged misuse, his office said.
The move announced late Saturday was not expected to affect controversial plans for settlement expansion, a major obstacle to US-backed peace talks relaunched last year.
Lapid's move came after it emerged that some funds earmarked for compensating West Bank communities were transferred to the settlement leadership for political activity, a ministry statement late Saturday said.
West Bank settlements receive compensation following the 10-month construction freeze of 2009-2010, which came as part of US-led peace efforts.
The funds were intended for security and the maintenance of schools and kindergartens.
But after it emerged the funds were "allegedly being illegally channeled to the Yesha Council, which was using the money for political activities -- including against the government -- the minister ordered to immediately cut the future fundings under this clause," the statement read.
The minister has ordered an investigation into the matter, it added.
A spokeswoman for Lapid told AFP that during the week-long probe no government monies would be transferred to settlements.
According to the Israeli anti-settlement think-tank Molad, the government has already transferred 148 million shekels ($42 million) to West Bank settlements as compensation to make up for property taxes not collected on structures not built.
Lapid's decision comes as Israel grapples with an international campaign to boycott settlements, which are considered illegal under international law.
US actress Scarlett Johansson on Thursday stepped down as ambassador for British NGO Oxfam after it had criticized her for promoting the Israeli firm SodaStream, which has a factory in a settlement east of Jerusalem.
The move announced late Saturday was not expected to affect controversial plans for settlement expansion, a major obstacle to US-backed peace talks relaunched last year.
Lapid's move came after it emerged that some funds earmarked for compensating West Bank communities were transferred to the settlement leadership for political activity, a ministry statement late Saturday said.
West Bank settlements receive compensation following the 10-month construction freeze of 2009-2010, which came as part of US-led peace efforts.
The funds were intended for security and the maintenance of schools and kindergartens.
But after it emerged the funds were "allegedly being illegally channeled to the Yesha Council, which was using the money for political activities -- including against the government -- the minister ordered to immediately cut the future fundings under this clause," the statement read.
The minister has ordered an investigation into the matter, it added.
A spokeswoman for Lapid told AFP that during the week-long probe no government monies would be transferred to settlements.
According to the Israeli anti-settlement think-tank Molad, the government has already transferred 148 million shekels ($42 million) to West Bank settlements as compensation to make up for property taxes not collected on structures not built.
Lapid's decision comes as Israel grapples with an international campaign to boycott settlements, which are considered illegal under international law.
US actress Scarlett Johansson on Thursday stepped down as ambassador for British NGO Oxfam after it had criticized her for promoting the Israeli firm SodaStream, which has a factory in a settlement east of Jerusalem.
Member of Hamas' political bureau Mousa Abu Marzouk on Saturday called on the Palestinians to revolt against the framework plan proposed by US secretary of state John Kerry.
Abu Marzouk stated on his Facebook page that the popular protests would put pressure on the Palestinian authority (PA) and force it to refuse the US solutions.
He also condemned the recent remarks made by de facto president Mahmoud Abbas about the issue of refugees and the impossibility of their return to their homeland and described them as extremely grave.
Abu Marzouk stated on his Facebook page that the popular protests would put pressure on the Palestinian authority (PA) and force it to refuse the US solutions.
He also condemned the recent remarks made by de facto president Mahmoud Abbas about the issue of refugees and the impossibility of their return to their homeland and described them as extremely grave.
Jordanian dignitaries and citizens participated on Saturday in the inauguration of the popular meeting for the protection of Jordan and Palestine against Kerry's peace plan in the Jordanian capital Amman. Former Chief of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan Salem Falahat said the Jordanian people reject Kerry's proposals, which are aimed to liquidate the Palestinian cause, and threaten the interests of the Jordanian and Palestinian peoples.
Organizers of the event expressed in a statement their refusal to recognize the Jewish state and the principle of land swap.
The statement also stressed the Jordanian people's support for the national rights of the Palestinian people, especially their right to return to their homes, and their struggle for the liberation of Palestine.
Participants in the forum emphasized their rejection of all attempts to eliminate the right of return and give the Palestinians alternative homelands.
Organizers of the event expressed in a statement their refusal to recognize the Jewish state and the principle of land swap.
The statement also stressed the Jordanian people's support for the national rights of the Palestinian people, especially their right to return to their homes, and their struggle for the liberation of Palestine.
Participants in the forum emphasized their rejection of all attempts to eliminate the right of return and give the Palestinians alternative homelands.
Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud of Saudi Arabia
A high-ranking Saudi official praised Israel’s chief negotiator in a rare instance of Israeli and Saudi officials interacting in the international spotlight, Israeli media reported. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Prince Turki bin Faisal al-Saud, former director of Saudi intelligence and a former ambassador to the US, told Livni warmly that he understood “why you are the negotiator for Israel.”
‘Times of Israel’ website reported that “The prince’s comments came after Livni remarked to her Palestinian counterpart that security arrangements in the occupied West Bank must ensure that ‘the West Bank not become a copy of Gaza.’”
The Israeli occupation and Saudi Arabia do not have formal relations, but both are staunch allies of the US . In recent years, numerous media reports surfaced alleging back-channel communications them.
It’s noteworthy that Saudi Arabia also strongly supports military-backed Egyptian rule under which Gaza population has been suffering inability to naturally travel via the Palestinian-Egyptian Rafah border.
Gulf Arab states have showered Egypt with billions of dollars since the army toppled President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July.
Saudi Arabia would likely give Egypt up to $4 billion in additional aid in the form of central bank deposits and petroleum products, state-run Egyptian newspaper Al Ahram reported on Thursday, January 30.
A high-ranking Saudi official praised Israel’s chief negotiator in a rare instance of Israeli and Saudi officials interacting in the international spotlight, Israeli media reported. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Prince Turki bin Faisal al-Saud, former director of Saudi intelligence and a former ambassador to the US, told Livni warmly that he understood “why you are the negotiator for Israel.”
‘Times of Israel’ website reported that “The prince’s comments came after Livni remarked to her Palestinian counterpart that security arrangements in the occupied West Bank must ensure that ‘the West Bank not become a copy of Gaza.’”
The Israeli occupation and Saudi Arabia do not have formal relations, but both are staunch allies of the US . In recent years, numerous media reports surfaced alleging back-channel communications them.
It’s noteworthy that Saudi Arabia also strongly supports military-backed Egyptian rule under which Gaza population has been suffering inability to naturally travel via the Palestinian-Egyptian Rafah border.
Gulf Arab states have showered Egypt with billions of dollars since the army toppled President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July.
Saudi Arabia would likely give Egypt up to $4 billion in additional aid in the form of central bank deposits and petroleum products, state-run Egyptian newspaper Al Ahram reported on Thursday, January 30.
By Alaa Tartir
Alaa Tartir is a Palestinian writer and researcher who is working on a PhD at the London School of Economics. He is also the program director of Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network.
Since May 2013, there has been intense debate about US Secretary of State John Kerry's economic plan for the occupied Palestinian territories.
The plan -- known as the Palestine Economic Initiative (PEI) -- aims to develop the economy of the West Bank and Gaza over the next three years, as a prerequisite for a political settlement to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
However, very few of those welcoming or criticizing the plan know anything concrete about it. Hence I call it the "invisible plan."
On a trip to the West Bank in December 2013, I met Palestinian and international officials and diplomats who are involved directly or indirectly in the PEI. Their message was that there will not be, as many expect, a third intifada, but something very different: an "investment intifada."
The PEI is invisible not only because it was prepared by a team of "international experts," but also because the Palestinian people, whose economic development is at stake, are the last to know about it. This is not new.
Development planning since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1993 has followed a non-participatory, top-down approach that conforms to the policy perceptions of the international financial institutions, and marginalizes the very people it is supposed to benefit.
The invisibility of the plan is particularly problematic this time because the PEI promises an unattainable outcome (a 50 percent increase in Palestinian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over three years, a cut of two-thirds in unemployment rates and a virtual doubling of the Palestinian median wage).
The disappointment this is likely to generate could produce unpleasant consequences. Many ordinary citizens I met in the West Bank fear that the PEI could be the biggest sell-out since the Oslo accords of the 1990s.
As for the "investment intifada," the interviews I conducted revealed how desperate local and international officials are to create tangible benefits on the ground. Over the next year and half, officials expect that Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza will "enjoy major economic benefits to facilitate and accelerate the political settlement."
The rationale is clear: offer the Palestinians better economic conditions, keep them quiet, and after three years they will make further political compromises.
This approach has failed over the last two decades, but it seems no one is learning from past mistakes. However, major transformations have taken place since 2005 which will affect the peace-dividend rationale -- namely, the security collaboration between the PA and Israel, and the PA's increasing authoritarianism.
The Palestinian security forces are now better prepared to protect any political agreement. However, authoritarianism and oppression will always be contested, as many young Palestinian activists affirmed in my conversations with them. They insist that a "peace dividend" can't buy freedom or justice.
The PEI will reportedly solicit around $4 billion in aid and investment, and allocate the money to such sectors as construction and housing, agriculture, tourism, information technology, building materials, power and energy, water, and light manufacturing.
However, a senior Palestinian official told me, "We expect the figure to reach $11 billion, instead of $4 billion. We are not asking for favors, we are offering our market, economic resources and cheap labor for international investment."
Clearly, $11 billion of investment is a far cry from $4 billion. The absorptive capacity of the Palestinian economy would need to be changed dramatically before the injection of these sums.
Otherwise, this will be a perfect recipe for yet more wasted billions that will entrench the complex network of corruption between Palestinians and Israelis, and the PEI "will be nothing but a palliative for a dangerous disease: the continuation of the occupation," as a former Palestinian planning minister wrote recently in the New York Times.
Radical and innovative change will require a dramatic shift in the overall framework for aid and economic development. It also requires moving beyond the territorial classification of the Oslo accords (Areas A, B and C).
Palestinians should not be pleading with the Israeli authorities to allow the donor community and international investors to invest in Area C, which comprises 61 percent of the West Bank. Instead, their efforts should be geared towards resisting the territorial fragmentation that Oslo created and the Israeli military occupation has further entrenched.
The need is to confront the occupying power rather than obligingly following its rules: to change not merely the rules of the game, but the game itself.
A new narrative is emerging which presents Kerry's billions as an investment, not as aid. Those who have devised the PEI want to market it to governments, donors, multinational corporations, Israel and the public as an innovative plan.
Indeed Tony Blair, the Quartet's representative, stated naively that "this is the first time in history that such a fresh, comprehensive, innovative and broad approach has been taken."
Alaa Tartir is a Palestinian writer and researcher who is working on a PhD at the London School of Economics. He is also the program director of Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network.
Since May 2013, there has been intense debate about US Secretary of State John Kerry's economic plan for the occupied Palestinian territories.
The plan -- known as the Palestine Economic Initiative (PEI) -- aims to develop the economy of the West Bank and Gaza over the next three years, as a prerequisite for a political settlement to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
However, very few of those welcoming or criticizing the plan know anything concrete about it. Hence I call it the "invisible plan."
On a trip to the West Bank in December 2013, I met Palestinian and international officials and diplomats who are involved directly or indirectly in the PEI. Their message was that there will not be, as many expect, a third intifada, but something very different: an "investment intifada."
The PEI is invisible not only because it was prepared by a team of "international experts," but also because the Palestinian people, whose economic development is at stake, are the last to know about it. This is not new.
Development planning since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1993 has followed a non-participatory, top-down approach that conforms to the policy perceptions of the international financial institutions, and marginalizes the very people it is supposed to benefit.
The invisibility of the plan is particularly problematic this time because the PEI promises an unattainable outcome (a 50 percent increase in Palestinian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over three years, a cut of two-thirds in unemployment rates and a virtual doubling of the Palestinian median wage).
The disappointment this is likely to generate could produce unpleasant consequences. Many ordinary citizens I met in the West Bank fear that the PEI could be the biggest sell-out since the Oslo accords of the 1990s.
As for the "investment intifada," the interviews I conducted revealed how desperate local and international officials are to create tangible benefits on the ground. Over the next year and half, officials expect that Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza will "enjoy major economic benefits to facilitate and accelerate the political settlement."
The rationale is clear: offer the Palestinians better economic conditions, keep them quiet, and after three years they will make further political compromises.
This approach has failed over the last two decades, but it seems no one is learning from past mistakes. However, major transformations have taken place since 2005 which will affect the peace-dividend rationale -- namely, the security collaboration between the PA and Israel, and the PA's increasing authoritarianism.
The Palestinian security forces are now better prepared to protect any political agreement. However, authoritarianism and oppression will always be contested, as many young Palestinian activists affirmed in my conversations with them. They insist that a "peace dividend" can't buy freedom or justice.
The PEI will reportedly solicit around $4 billion in aid and investment, and allocate the money to such sectors as construction and housing, agriculture, tourism, information technology, building materials, power and energy, water, and light manufacturing.
However, a senior Palestinian official told me, "We expect the figure to reach $11 billion, instead of $4 billion. We are not asking for favors, we are offering our market, economic resources and cheap labor for international investment."
Clearly, $11 billion of investment is a far cry from $4 billion. The absorptive capacity of the Palestinian economy would need to be changed dramatically before the injection of these sums.
Otherwise, this will be a perfect recipe for yet more wasted billions that will entrench the complex network of corruption between Palestinians and Israelis, and the PEI "will be nothing but a palliative for a dangerous disease: the continuation of the occupation," as a former Palestinian planning minister wrote recently in the New York Times.
Radical and innovative change will require a dramatic shift in the overall framework for aid and economic development. It also requires moving beyond the territorial classification of the Oslo accords (Areas A, B and C).
Palestinians should not be pleading with the Israeli authorities to allow the donor community and international investors to invest in Area C, which comprises 61 percent of the West Bank. Instead, their efforts should be geared towards resisting the territorial fragmentation that Oslo created and the Israeli military occupation has further entrenched.
The need is to confront the occupying power rather than obligingly following its rules: to change not merely the rules of the game, but the game itself.
A new narrative is emerging which presents Kerry's billions as an investment, not as aid. Those who have devised the PEI want to market it to governments, donors, multinational corporations, Israel and the public as an innovative plan.
Indeed Tony Blair, the Quartet's representative, stated naively that "this is the first time in history that such a fresh, comprehensive, innovative and broad approach has been taken."
All this is problematic for several reasons.
First, it is astonishing that the PA leadership are still dependent on the US and keen to maintain its exclusive sponsorship of the peace process. PA leaders even believe in the myth that the US is interested in pressuring Israel as a way to fulfill Palestinian demands.
Second, the PA's prioritization of the needs of the international community, as opposed to the needs of the Palestinian people, has not only eroded the PA's legitimacy at home, but brought about the failure of the PA on all fronts.
Twenty years on from the Oslo accords, it is failing to bring Palestinians closer to their national goals; in fact, just the opposite. Also, despite the $24.6 billion of international aid received over the last two decades, aid has not brought peace, development or security -- let alone justice -- for the Palestinian people.
Third, the PEI is not designed to address the imbalances of power between the colonizer and colonized, but instead relies on the goodwill and co-operation of Israel. Thus it is Israel that will decide whether or not to give the green light to the PEI. The historical evidence suggests it will ease some restrictions and allow additional major economic activities in the occupied territories, but will never jeopardize its "strategic goals."
What remains clear is that dependency on the colonial occupying power to develop an independent, viable, and prosperous Palestinian economy is surreal.
Finally, while the US dominates the peace industry and its economic dimension, the European Union is also keen to play a part. However, the EU's potential contribution is fraught with contradictions. It has failed to become a major peace broker, despite the leverage of its aid to the Palestinians and its preferential trade relations with Israel.
On one hand, it has issued guidelines banning funding for projects in Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, but on the other hand it has upgraded its trade relations with Israel. It announced recently that a generous aid package would be offered to both Palestinians and Israelis if they reach a peace agreement. It would also upgrade both parties to privileged-partner status.
The sticks-and-carrots game played by the EU reinforces the conventional wisdom in the occupied territories that the "the US decides, the World Bank leads, the EU pays, the UN feeds."
John Kerry has called his plan "a new model for development." Tony Blair has claimed it is unique in history.
However, I am afraid that the plan (and the whole development industry in the occupied territories) will remain like teenage sex -- everybody claims they are doing it, but most people aren't, and those that are, are doing it very badly.
Originally published in The Middle East in London.
The views expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily reflect Ma'an News Agency's editorial policy.
First, it is astonishing that the PA leadership are still dependent on the US and keen to maintain its exclusive sponsorship of the peace process. PA leaders even believe in the myth that the US is interested in pressuring Israel as a way to fulfill Palestinian demands.
Second, the PA's prioritization of the needs of the international community, as opposed to the needs of the Palestinian people, has not only eroded the PA's legitimacy at home, but brought about the failure of the PA on all fronts.
Twenty years on from the Oslo accords, it is failing to bring Palestinians closer to their national goals; in fact, just the opposite. Also, despite the $24.6 billion of international aid received over the last two decades, aid has not brought peace, development or security -- let alone justice -- for the Palestinian people.
Third, the PEI is not designed to address the imbalances of power between the colonizer and colonized, but instead relies on the goodwill and co-operation of Israel. Thus it is Israel that will decide whether or not to give the green light to the PEI. The historical evidence suggests it will ease some restrictions and allow additional major economic activities in the occupied territories, but will never jeopardize its "strategic goals."
What remains clear is that dependency on the colonial occupying power to develop an independent, viable, and prosperous Palestinian economy is surreal.
Finally, while the US dominates the peace industry and its economic dimension, the European Union is also keen to play a part. However, the EU's potential contribution is fraught with contradictions. It has failed to become a major peace broker, despite the leverage of its aid to the Palestinians and its preferential trade relations with Israel.
On one hand, it has issued guidelines banning funding for projects in Israeli settlements in the occupied territories, but on the other hand it has upgraded its trade relations with Israel. It announced recently that a generous aid package would be offered to both Palestinians and Israelis if they reach a peace agreement. It would also upgrade both parties to privileged-partner status.
The sticks-and-carrots game played by the EU reinforces the conventional wisdom in the occupied territories that the "the US decides, the World Bank leads, the EU pays, the UN feeds."
John Kerry has called his plan "a new model for development." Tony Blair has claimed it is unique in history.
However, I am afraid that the plan (and the whole development industry in the occupied territories) will remain like teenage sex -- everybody claims they are doing it, but most people aren't, and those that are, are doing it very badly.
Originally published in The Middle East in London.
The views expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily reflect Ma'an News Agency's editorial policy.
Economy Minister and Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett criticized U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday, after the top American diplomat warned against increasing boycotts on Israel if the peace process failed. "Friends, let us be clear to all of the advice givers: Never has a nation abandoned their land because of economic threats. We are not different," Bennett claimed in a statement.
Only security will bring economic stability,” he said.
Earlier on Saturday, at the Munich security conference, Kerry cautioned against allowing the peace talks to fail. "The risks are very high for Israel. People are talking about boycott. That will intensify in the case of failure," he said.
I am hopeful and we will keep working on an agreement, " Kerry said. "I believe in the possibility or I wouldn't pursue this, I don't think we're being quixotic ... We're working hard because the consequences of failure are unacceptable."
Bennett attacks Kerry: We expect friends to stand with us
Economy Minister criticizes U.S. secretary of state over warning that boycotts could increase if peace talks fail.
Economy Minister and Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett criticized U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday, after the top American diplomat warned against increasing boycotts on Israel if the peace process failed.
"Friends, let us be clear to all of the advice givers: Never has a nation abandoned their land because of economic threats. We are no different," Bennett said in a statement. "Only security will bring economic stability, not a terrorist state next to Ben-Gurion Airport." He added: "We expect our friends around the world to stand beside us, against anti-Semitic boycott efforts targeting Israel, and not for them to be their amplifier. We have always known how to stay strong and today we will know how to remain strong."
Earlier on Saturday, at the Munich security conference, Kerry cautioned against allowing the peace talks to fail. "For Israel, the stakes are also enormously high," he said. "Do they want a failure that then begs whatever may come in the form of a response from disappointed Palestinians and the Arab community? What happens to the Arab peace initiative if this fails? Does it disappear? What happens for Israel's capacity to be the Israel it is today, a democratic state with the particular special Jewish character that is a central part of the narrative and of the future? What happens to that, when you have a bi-national structure and people demanding rights on different terms?"
"I am hopeful and we will keep working on [an agreement,]" Kerry said. "I believe in the possibility or I wouldn't pursue this, I don't think we're being quixotic ... We're working hard because the consequences of failure are unacceptable."
Only security will bring economic stability,” he said.
Earlier on Saturday, at the Munich security conference, Kerry cautioned against allowing the peace talks to fail. "The risks are very high for Israel. People are talking about boycott. That will intensify in the case of failure," he said.
I am hopeful and we will keep working on an agreement, " Kerry said. "I believe in the possibility or I wouldn't pursue this, I don't think we're being quixotic ... We're working hard because the consequences of failure are unacceptable."
Bennett attacks Kerry: We expect friends to stand with us
Economy Minister criticizes U.S. secretary of state over warning that boycotts could increase if peace talks fail.
Economy Minister and Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett criticized U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday, after the top American diplomat warned against increasing boycotts on Israel if the peace process failed.
"Friends, let us be clear to all of the advice givers: Never has a nation abandoned their land because of economic threats. We are no different," Bennett said in a statement. "Only security will bring economic stability, not a terrorist state next to Ben-Gurion Airport." He added: "We expect our friends around the world to stand beside us, against anti-Semitic boycott efforts targeting Israel, and not for them to be their amplifier. We have always known how to stay strong and today we will know how to remain strong."
Earlier on Saturday, at the Munich security conference, Kerry cautioned against allowing the peace talks to fail. "For Israel, the stakes are also enormously high," he said. "Do they want a failure that then begs whatever may come in the form of a response from disappointed Palestinians and the Arab community? What happens to the Arab peace initiative if this fails? Does it disappear? What happens for Israel's capacity to be the Israel it is today, a democratic state with the particular special Jewish character that is a central part of the narrative and of the future? What happens to that, when you have a bi-national structure and people demanding rights on different terms?"
"I am hopeful and we will keep working on [an agreement,]" Kerry said. "I believe in the possibility or I wouldn't pursue this, I don't think we're being quixotic ... We're working hard because the consequences of failure are unacceptable."
Boycotts of Israel entrench Palestinians in their rejectionist stance and push peace away, PM says at weekly Cabinet meeting.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the warnings by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry regarding the danger of the boycott movement gaining strength against Israel. "The attempts to boycott Israel are unethical and unjustified," Netanyahu said at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.
"Moreover, they won't achieve their goal."
"There are talk of boycotts and other kinds of things," said Kerry at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. "Are we all going to be better with all of that?"
Netanyahu remarked that the boycott efforts "cause the Palestinians to dig into their rejectionist stance and push peace away." According to Netanyahu, "No pressure will make me yield on the vital interests of Israel, security being at the forefront."
Yuval Steinitz, the Minister of Intelligence and Strategic Affairs, struck even harder at the American secretary of state. "Kerry's speech about the boycott against Israel is harmful and insufferable … it's impossible to force us to negotiation with a gun to the temple," he said at the meeting Sunday.
Israeli premier brushes off Kerry boycott warning
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday brushed off U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s warning that Israel faced a growing boycott threat if peace talks with the Palestinians fail, saying the campaign would not achieve its goal. In the latest flare-up between the two allies, two of Netanyahu’s Cabinet ministers went even further, lashing out at Kerry and accusing him of undermining the Jewish state’s legitimacy and the chances of reaching a peace agreement.
Israel and the Palestinians launched peace talks in July after a long lull and have thus far shown little signs of progress. Facing an April deadline, Israel is working against a backdrop of increasing international pressure to reach a deal, coupled with a growing call for boycotting Israel over its settlements in areas it captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
A small but growing number of European businesses and pension funds have begun to drop investments or limit trade with Israeli firms involved in the West Bank settlements. At a security conference in Germany this weekend, Kerry warned that a breakdown in Israeli-Palestinian talks would accelerate this trend and could threaten Israel’s economic prosperity and its safety.
“You see for Israel there’s an increasing de-legitimization campaign that has been building up. People are very sensitive to it. There are talk of boycotts and other kinds of things,” Kerry said. “Today’s status quo absolutely, to a certainty, I promise you 100 percent, cannot be maintained. It’s not sustainable. It’s illusionary. There’s a momentary prosperity, there’s a momentary peace.”
At the opening of his weekly Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said international pressure on Israel would backfire and only cause the Palestinians to harden their positions.
“Attempts to impose a boycott on the State of Israel are immoral and unjust. Moreover, they will not achieve their goal,” he said.
While Netanyahu refrained from taking aim at Kerry, some of his ministers were harsher. Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz, of Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party, called Kerry’s comments “offensive, unfair and insufferable.”
“You can’t expect the state of Israel to conduct negotiations with a gun pointed to its head,” he said.
Economics Minister Naftali Bennett, from the religious, pro-settler Jewish Home party, said all “the advice givers” should know that Israel will not abandon its land because of economic threats.
“We expect our friends around the world to stand beside us, against anti-Semitic boycott efforts targeting Israel, and not for them to be their amplifier,” said Bennett, a fierce critic of the Kerry-led talks. “Only security will bring economic stability, he said.
Tzipi Livni, Israel’s chief negotiator, came to Kerry’s defense, saying he was merely expressing concern for Israel’s future.
Aiming to clarify, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Kerry’s only reference to a boycott was a description of actions undertaken by others that he has always opposed.
“Secretary Kerry has a proud record of over three decades of steadfast support for Israel’s security and well-being, including staunch opposition to boycotts,” she said in a statement. “Secretary Kerry has always expected opposition and difficult moments in the process, but he also expects all parties to accurately portray his record and statements.”
Over the past six months, Kerry has held endless back-and-forth talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in hopes of reaching a framework for a peace agreement. He is expected to present his ideas in the coming weeks and both sides have balked at some of his expected proposals.
Israeli nationalist leaders like Bennett, for instance, oppose a Palestinian state that is based on the pre-1967 borders. More than 500,000 settlers live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories Israel captured in the 1967 war and which the Palestinians now hope will be part of their future state. Known to religious Jews as Judea and Samaria, they are parts of the biblical land of Israel and hard-liners object to ceding either area on both spiritual and security grounds. Any expected peace accord would put the fate of dozens of settlements at risk.
But European officials have warned that Israel could face deepening economic isolation if it presses forward with the construction of more settlements. In the latest example, Denmark’s largest bank, Danske Bank, blacklisted Israel’s Bank Hapoalim because of its links to settlement construction.
Once dismissed as a fringe issue, the boycott threat is now increasingly taking center stage in Israeli public debate.
Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid recently said that even in the case of a limited boycott that reduces Israeli exports to the European Union by 20 percent, the damage would amount to about 20 billion shekels ($5.7 billion) in exports annually.
In a related development, Lapid also ordered that all payments to settlements be stopped until their use is clarified. The move followed a TV report that said funds were allegedly being illegally transferred to the Yesha Council — an umbrella groups of settlers — that was illicitly using the money for political purposes.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the warnings by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry regarding the danger of the boycott movement gaining strength against Israel. "The attempts to boycott Israel are unethical and unjustified," Netanyahu said at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.
"Moreover, they won't achieve their goal."
"There are talk of boycotts and other kinds of things," said Kerry at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. "Are we all going to be better with all of that?"
Netanyahu remarked that the boycott efforts "cause the Palestinians to dig into their rejectionist stance and push peace away." According to Netanyahu, "No pressure will make me yield on the vital interests of Israel, security being at the forefront."
Yuval Steinitz, the Minister of Intelligence and Strategic Affairs, struck even harder at the American secretary of state. "Kerry's speech about the boycott against Israel is harmful and insufferable … it's impossible to force us to negotiation with a gun to the temple," he said at the meeting Sunday.
Israeli premier brushes off Kerry boycott warning
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday brushed off U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s warning that Israel faced a growing boycott threat if peace talks with the Palestinians fail, saying the campaign would not achieve its goal. In the latest flare-up between the two allies, two of Netanyahu’s Cabinet ministers went even further, lashing out at Kerry and accusing him of undermining the Jewish state’s legitimacy and the chances of reaching a peace agreement.
Israel and the Palestinians launched peace talks in July after a long lull and have thus far shown little signs of progress. Facing an April deadline, Israel is working against a backdrop of increasing international pressure to reach a deal, coupled with a growing call for boycotting Israel over its settlements in areas it captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
A small but growing number of European businesses and pension funds have begun to drop investments or limit trade with Israeli firms involved in the West Bank settlements. At a security conference in Germany this weekend, Kerry warned that a breakdown in Israeli-Palestinian talks would accelerate this trend and could threaten Israel’s economic prosperity and its safety.
“You see for Israel there’s an increasing de-legitimization campaign that has been building up. People are very sensitive to it. There are talk of boycotts and other kinds of things,” Kerry said. “Today’s status quo absolutely, to a certainty, I promise you 100 percent, cannot be maintained. It’s not sustainable. It’s illusionary. There’s a momentary prosperity, there’s a momentary peace.”
At the opening of his weekly Cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said international pressure on Israel would backfire and only cause the Palestinians to harden their positions.
“Attempts to impose a boycott on the State of Israel are immoral and unjust. Moreover, they will not achieve their goal,” he said.
While Netanyahu refrained from taking aim at Kerry, some of his ministers were harsher. Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz, of Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party, called Kerry’s comments “offensive, unfair and insufferable.”
“You can’t expect the state of Israel to conduct negotiations with a gun pointed to its head,” he said.
Economics Minister Naftali Bennett, from the religious, pro-settler Jewish Home party, said all “the advice givers” should know that Israel will not abandon its land because of economic threats.
“We expect our friends around the world to stand beside us, against anti-Semitic boycott efforts targeting Israel, and not for them to be their amplifier,” said Bennett, a fierce critic of the Kerry-led talks. “Only security will bring economic stability, he said.
Tzipi Livni, Israel’s chief negotiator, came to Kerry’s defense, saying he was merely expressing concern for Israel’s future.
Aiming to clarify, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Kerry’s only reference to a boycott was a description of actions undertaken by others that he has always opposed.
“Secretary Kerry has a proud record of over three decades of steadfast support for Israel’s security and well-being, including staunch opposition to boycotts,” she said in a statement. “Secretary Kerry has always expected opposition and difficult moments in the process, but he also expects all parties to accurately portray his record and statements.”
Over the past six months, Kerry has held endless back-and-forth talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in hopes of reaching a framework for a peace agreement. He is expected to present his ideas in the coming weeks and both sides have balked at some of his expected proposals.
Israeli nationalist leaders like Bennett, for instance, oppose a Palestinian state that is based on the pre-1967 borders. More than 500,000 settlers live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories Israel captured in the 1967 war and which the Palestinians now hope will be part of their future state. Known to religious Jews as Judea and Samaria, they are parts of the biblical land of Israel and hard-liners object to ceding either area on both spiritual and security grounds. Any expected peace accord would put the fate of dozens of settlements at risk.
But European officials have warned that Israel could face deepening economic isolation if it presses forward with the construction of more settlements. In the latest example, Denmark’s largest bank, Danske Bank, blacklisted Israel’s Bank Hapoalim because of its links to settlement construction.
Once dismissed as a fringe issue, the boycott threat is now increasingly taking center stage in Israeli public debate.
Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid recently said that even in the case of a limited boycott that reduces Israeli exports to the European Union by 20 percent, the damage would amount to about 20 billion shekels ($5.7 billion) in exports annually.
In a related development, Lapid also ordered that all payments to settlements be stopped until their use is clarified. The move followed a TV report that said funds were allegedly being illegally transferred to the Yesha Council — an umbrella groups of settlers — that was illicitly using the money for political purposes.
1 feb 2014
Construction site in the West Bank settlement of Modiin Illit.
Danske Bank states that Bank Hapoalim is acting against the rules of international humanitarian law. The bank has already pulled investments from two Israeli firms.
Israeli daily Haaretz reports that Denmark's largest bank has decided to pull its investments in Bank Hapoalim because of its involvement in the funding of settlement construction.
Approximately a week ago, the Netherlands' largest pension fund management company, PGGM, decided to withdraw all of its investments from Israel’s five largest banks because they have branches in the West Bank and/or are involved in financing construction in the settlements.
Denmark's largest bank blacklists Israel's Hapoalim over settlement construction
Danske Bank states Bank Hapoalim is acting against the rules of international humanitarian law; bank already pulled investments from two Israeli firms.
Denmark's largest bank decided to blacklist Bank Hapoalim because of its involvement in the funding of settlement construction.
Danske Bank added Bank Hapoalim to its list of companies in which the company cannot invest due to its corporate accountability rules.
In an announcement posted on its website, the bank stated that Bank Hapoalim was acting against the rules of international humanitarian law.
Israeli website Walla reported on the Danish bank's decision earlier on Saturday.
The Danish bank had already decided to pull its investments from Africa Israel Investments Ltd. and Danya Cebus due to their involvement in settlements construction.
Approximately a week ago, the Netherlands' largest pension fund management company, PGGM, decided to withdraw all its investments from Israel’s five largest banks because they have branches in the West Bank and/or are involved in financing construction in the settlements.
Earlier this week, The Norwegian Ministry of Finance announced it has decided to exclude Israeli firms Africa Israel Investments and Danya Cebus from its Government Pension Fund Global.
According to the announcement, the Ministry of Finance received a recommendation on November 1 from the Council of Ethics to exclude the two companies from the fund "due to contribution to serious violations of individual rights in war or conflict through the construction of settlements in East Jerusalem."
Danske Bank states that Bank Hapoalim is acting against the rules of international humanitarian law. The bank has already pulled investments from two Israeli firms.
Israeli daily Haaretz reports that Denmark's largest bank has decided to pull its investments in Bank Hapoalim because of its involvement in the funding of settlement construction.
Approximately a week ago, the Netherlands' largest pension fund management company, PGGM, decided to withdraw all of its investments from Israel’s five largest banks because they have branches in the West Bank and/or are involved in financing construction in the settlements.
Denmark's largest bank blacklists Israel's Hapoalim over settlement construction
Danske Bank states Bank Hapoalim is acting against the rules of international humanitarian law; bank already pulled investments from two Israeli firms.
Denmark's largest bank decided to blacklist Bank Hapoalim because of its involvement in the funding of settlement construction.
Danske Bank added Bank Hapoalim to its list of companies in which the company cannot invest due to its corporate accountability rules.
In an announcement posted on its website, the bank stated that Bank Hapoalim was acting against the rules of international humanitarian law.
Israeli website Walla reported on the Danish bank's decision earlier on Saturday.
The Danish bank had already decided to pull its investments from Africa Israel Investments Ltd. and Danya Cebus due to their involvement in settlements construction.
Approximately a week ago, the Netherlands' largest pension fund management company, PGGM, decided to withdraw all its investments from Israel’s five largest banks because they have branches in the West Bank and/or are involved in financing construction in the settlements.
Earlier this week, The Norwegian Ministry of Finance announced it has decided to exclude Israeli firms Africa Israel Investments and Danya Cebus from its Government Pension Fund Global.
According to the announcement, the Ministry of Finance received a recommendation on November 1 from the Council of Ethics to exclude the two companies from the fund "due to contribution to serious violations of individual rights in war or conflict through the construction of settlements in East Jerusalem."
Hamas representative in Lebanon Ali Baraka reiterated his Movement's rejection of any US plan to resettle the Palestinian refugees and find an alternative homeland for them. In a press release, Baraka warned against any US peace solutions, saying they are aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause and obliterating the right of return.
The Hamas official called on the Lebanese government to provide the Palestinian refugees in the country with the civil rights enshrined in international law and secure a decent life for them.
In another context, Martin Indyk, the US envoy to the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, said that the US-drafted framework agreement that would be presented soon to the Palestinian and Israeli sides would allow about 80 percent of the Jewish settlers in the West Bank to stay in their settlements under Israel's sovereignty.
Indyk told heads of the Jewish community in the US on Thursday that the framework agreement was drafted by the White House in order for both sides to confront their internal pressures and would include points they could not dare to say.
The US envoy also said that both sides would not be surprised at the contents of the agreement because it crystalized after long consultations with Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas.
He stressed that Netanyahu and Abbas would have to accept the US-drafted agreement as a basis for continued negotiations, but they still could make reservations on some of its points.
The US official expressed his belief that Abbas would allow Jewish settlers to remain as citizens of the Palestinian state if they wanted to.
Indyk did not talk about the status of Jerusalem if both sides signed the agreement, but he highlighted some other sensitive issues such as the security arrangement for the border between Jordan and the West Bank.
He explained that a new security zone would be created, with new fences, sensors and unmanned aircrafts.
The US-made deal would address compensation for Jews from Arab lands as well as compensation for Palestinian refugees, according to him.
The Hamas official called on the Lebanese government to provide the Palestinian refugees in the country with the civil rights enshrined in international law and secure a decent life for them.
In another context, Martin Indyk, the US envoy to the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, said that the US-drafted framework agreement that would be presented soon to the Palestinian and Israeli sides would allow about 80 percent of the Jewish settlers in the West Bank to stay in their settlements under Israel's sovereignty.
Indyk told heads of the Jewish community in the US on Thursday that the framework agreement was drafted by the White House in order for both sides to confront their internal pressures and would include points they could not dare to say.
The US envoy also said that both sides would not be surprised at the contents of the agreement because it crystalized after long consultations with Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas.
He stressed that Netanyahu and Abbas would have to accept the US-drafted agreement as a basis for continued negotiations, but they still could make reservations on some of its points.
The US official expressed his belief that Abbas would allow Jewish settlers to remain as citizens of the Palestinian state if they wanted to.
Indyk did not talk about the status of Jerusalem if both sides signed the agreement, but he highlighted some other sensitive issues such as the security arrangement for the border between Jordan and the West Bank.
He explained that a new security zone would be created, with new fences, sensors and unmanned aircrafts.
The US-made deal would address compensation for Jews from Arab lands as well as compensation for Palestinian refugees, according to him.
The national bureau for defending the land and resisting settlement said Israel escalated its demolition of Palestinian homes and property in occupied Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley despite the peace talks with the Palestinian Authority.
In a report issued on Saturday, the national bureau stated that the Israeli municipal council in Jerusalem has demolished several homes in Beit Hanina and Issawiya and issued 18 demolition orders against other homes at the pretext of unlicensed construction since the peace negotiations started.
Its report stated that the Israeli army in the Jordan Valley knocked down four homes belonging to Ka'abneh family in Al-Masfah area in Jiftlik and demolished 50 homes and structures in Umm Al-Jimal hamlet.
In a report issued on Saturday, the national bureau stated that the Israeli municipal council in Jerusalem has demolished several homes in Beit Hanina and Issawiya and issued 18 demolition orders against other homes at the pretext of unlicensed construction since the peace negotiations started.
Its report stated that the Israeli army in the Jordan Valley knocked down four homes belonging to Ka'abneh family in Al-Masfah area in Jiftlik and demolished 50 homes and structures in Umm Al-Jimal hamlet.
A Knesset member accused U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry of having "anti-Semitic undertones," Israeli media reported Saturday. Moti Yogev of Habayit Hayehudi told Israel Radio on Thursday that Kerry puts "obsessive pressure" on Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to move so-called peace process forward.
Netanyahu has to maneuver under Kerry's relentlessness and "unprofessionalism, which may also have anti-Semitic undertones to it," said Yogev, who claimed that many Likud members share his view.
Kerry has "anti-Israel elements to him," which is why he does not seek compromise but only "unequivocal answers that could only mean shrinking Israel's borders." The right-wing MK added.
Habayit Hayehudi, which means The Jewish Home, is one of the far-right Israeli parties. Voices within the party have been stressing an unequivocal position asking Palestinian negotiators to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
Israel's pressure on Palestinians to recognize it as a Jewish state is an attempt to legalize "racism," PLO official Hanan Ashrawi said on Saturday, January 11, 2014.
A "Jewish state" recognition would exempt Israel from its responsibility toward the Palestinian refugees who were forcibly displaced from their homes in 1948, Ma’an quoted Ashrawi.
Netanyahu has to maneuver under Kerry's relentlessness and "unprofessionalism, which may also have anti-Semitic undertones to it," said Yogev, who claimed that many Likud members share his view.
Kerry has "anti-Israel elements to him," which is why he does not seek compromise but only "unequivocal answers that could only mean shrinking Israel's borders." The right-wing MK added.
Habayit Hayehudi, which means The Jewish Home, is one of the far-right Israeli parties. Voices within the party have been stressing an unequivocal position asking Palestinian negotiators to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
Israel's pressure on Palestinians to recognize it as a Jewish state is an attempt to legalize "racism," PLO official Hanan Ashrawi said on Saturday, January 11, 2014.
A "Jewish state" recognition would exempt Israel from its responsibility toward the Palestinian refugees who were forcibly displaced from their homes in 1948, Ma’an quoted Ashrawi.
Israeli Occupation Authorities (IOA) declared the establishment of more than one hundred housing units in Givat Ze'ev settlement and 1,800 new housing units at the expense of Sur Baher lands, Hebrew media sources revealed. Urshalim Hebrew newspaper reported that a new tender has been approved to establish 102 housing units in Givat Ze'ev settlement, north of occupied Jerusalem.
The land dedicated for project is estimated at 12 dunums, the newspaper added, noting that the company that won the tender is going to pay 41 million shekels including 8.27 million for land development costs.
Urshalim also pointed out that 1,800 new housing units have been approved to be built in Sour Bahr and Arnona neighborhood.
For its part, Kol Ha'ir Hebrew paper stated that these new settlement projects have been submitted by Israel Lands Administration and supported by Israeli local and district committees, saying that the settlement plans came in light of Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat's efforts to expand and increase housing units in occupied Jerusalem.
The chairman of the municipality supervisory committee and member of the local committee (Meretz) said that most of the planned housing units are located in Jerusalem municipality, while the rest is located at Kibbutz Rachel and Sur Baher lands, noting that they cannot be approved unilaterally in light of the ongoing talks between Israeli and Palestinian authorities.
Israeli War Minister Moshe Yaalon decided to legalize Gilead random settlement in return for the evacuation of four buildings erected in area B.
Haaretz Newspaper said that the settlement includes 40 buildings established in 2002, and it was evacuated by force twice.
The land dedicated for project is estimated at 12 dunums, the newspaper added, noting that the company that won the tender is going to pay 41 million shekels including 8.27 million for land development costs.
Urshalim also pointed out that 1,800 new housing units have been approved to be built in Sour Bahr and Arnona neighborhood.
For its part, Kol Ha'ir Hebrew paper stated that these new settlement projects have been submitted by Israel Lands Administration and supported by Israeli local and district committees, saying that the settlement plans came in light of Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat's efforts to expand and increase housing units in occupied Jerusalem.
The chairman of the municipality supervisory committee and member of the local committee (Meretz) said that most of the planned housing units are located in Jerusalem municipality, while the rest is located at Kibbutz Rachel and Sur Baher lands, noting that they cannot be approved unilaterally in light of the ongoing talks between Israeli and Palestinian authorities.
Israeli War Minister Moshe Yaalon decided to legalize Gilead random settlement in return for the evacuation of four buildings erected in area B.
Haaretz Newspaper said that the settlement includes 40 buildings established in 2002, and it was evacuated by force twice.
31 jan 2014
Israeli groups organized a protest demonstration on Thursday evening in Tel Aviv, northern occupied Palestine, to demand the execution of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
According to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the demonstrators called for not releasing the Palestinian prisoners in the framework of the peace negotiations, and raised banners demanding their execution.
The Israeli occupation regime lately released prisoners who had been arrested before the Oslo Accord, within the framework of an agreement concluded with the Palestinian Authority.
According to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the demonstrators called for not releasing the Palestinian prisoners in the framework of the peace negotiations, and raised banners demanding their execution.
The Israeli occupation regime lately released prisoners who had been arrested before the Oslo Accord, within the framework of an agreement concluded with the Palestinian Authority.
Martin S. Indyk, the special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, said that Washington is exerting efforts to reach a peace agreement between the Palestinians and Israelis.
Indyk added that US Secretary of State will propose the "framework" accord within a few weeks, which would set the terms for a final negotiation.
The framework agreement between Israelis and Palestinians states on establishing a Palestinian State based on 1967 borders, adding that 75%-85% of Jewish settlers will be allowed to remain in their West Bank homes as part of land swaps between Israel and the Palestinians,
The agreement will include compensation for Palestinian refugees who left land in what is now Israel, and will also reference the right to compensation for Jews who were forced to flee Arab countries after the founding of Israel in 1948.
The document will address the core issues that have long consumed negotiators: borders, security for Israel, the status of Jerusalem, mutual recognition and a right of return for Palestinian refugees.
Indyk told the Jewish groups in America that if the framework were to be accepted by both sides, the peace talks could be extended beyond the nine-month time frame set last summer by Kerry. The new goal, he said, would be to sign a treaty by the end of 2014.
Kerry is preparing to announce the framework agreement at the beginning of February. The Palestinian negotiation delegation, headed by Saeb Erekat finished 3-day intensive discussions with Kerry.
Chief US negotiator outlines framework agreement
A chief US negotiator told Jewish leaders on Friday that a framework agreement would be presented to the Israeli and Palestinian sides within weeks, Israeli media reported.
Haaretz reported that Martin Indyk, special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, told the leaders that the agreement would address Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, security, mutual recognition, land swaps, and borders.
Indyk said the agreement would be the basis for a final deal by the end of 2014.
The framework will be vague on the status of Jerusalem and other sensitive issues, Indyk said. But it will also make specific proposals for other major points of contention.
He said a new security arrangement would be proposed for the border between the West Bank and Jordan.
The framework will offer compensation for Palestinian refugees, and also for Jewish settlers moving back to Israel, he said.
However, a majority of settlers -- 75-80 percent -- would be able to stay as a result of land swaps which would render areas of the West Bank part of Israel.
The agreement will additionally identify "Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people and Palestine as the nation state of the Palestinian people," Indyk said.
Abbas and other chief Palestinian officials have repeatedly stated that they would not recognize Israel as a Jewish state, an Israeli request that has dominated the current round of peace talks.
The officials say recognizing Israel as a Jewish state would threaten the rights of nearly 1.3 million Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel who remained in their homes during the displacement of the majority of the Palestinian population during the 1948 war.
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 housing units in illegal settlements since peace talks began.
Indyk added that US Secretary of State will propose the "framework" accord within a few weeks, which would set the terms for a final negotiation.
The framework agreement between Israelis and Palestinians states on establishing a Palestinian State based on 1967 borders, adding that 75%-85% of Jewish settlers will be allowed to remain in their West Bank homes as part of land swaps between Israel and the Palestinians,
The agreement will include compensation for Palestinian refugees who left land in what is now Israel, and will also reference the right to compensation for Jews who were forced to flee Arab countries after the founding of Israel in 1948.
The document will address the core issues that have long consumed negotiators: borders, security for Israel, the status of Jerusalem, mutual recognition and a right of return for Palestinian refugees.
Indyk told the Jewish groups in America that if the framework were to be accepted by both sides, the peace talks could be extended beyond the nine-month time frame set last summer by Kerry. The new goal, he said, would be to sign a treaty by the end of 2014.
Kerry is preparing to announce the framework agreement at the beginning of February. The Palestinian negotiation delegation, headed by Saeb Erekat finished 3-day intensive discussions with Kerry.
Chief US negotiator outlines framework agreement
A chief US negotiator told Jewish leaders on Friday that a framework agreement would be presented to the Israeli and Palestinian sides within weeks, Israeli media reported.
Haaretz reported that Martin Indyk, special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, told the leaders that the agreement would address Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, security, mutual recognition, land swaps, and borders.
Indyk said the agreement would be the basis for a final deal by the end of 2014.
The framework will be vague on the status of Jerusalem and other sensitive issues, Indyk said. But it will also make specific proposals for other major points of contention.
He said a new security arrangement would be proposed for the border between the West Bank and Jordan.
The framework will offer compensation for Palestinian refugees, and also for Jewish settlers moving back to Israel, he said.
However, a majority of settlers -- 75-80 percent -- would be able to stay as a result of land swaps which would render areas of the West Bank part of Israel.
The agreement will additionally identify "Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people and Palestine as the nation state of the Palestinian people," Indyk said.
Abbas and other chief Palestinian officials have repeatedly stated that they would not recognize Israel as a Jewish state, an Israeli request that has dominated the current round of peace talks.
The officials say recognizing Israel as a Jewish state would threaten the rights of nearly 1.3 million Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel who remained in their homes during the displacement of the majority of the Palestinian population during the 1948 war.
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 housing units in illegal settlements since peace talks began.
30 jan 2014
Palestinian lawmaker Mustafa Al-Barghouthi said that the killing of Mohamed Mubarak, a 20-year-old young man from Al-Jalazoun refugee camp, brought the number of the Palestinians killed by Israel to 35 victims since its peace talks with the Palestinian Authority started. In press remarks on Wednesday, Barghouthi, who heads the Palestinian national initiative, stated that the Israeli occupation state uses its talks with the PA to continue its aggression and settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian lands.
He added that the cold-blooded shooting of Mubarak by Israeli soldiers who also prevented paramedics from taking him to hospital vindicated further that Israel deliberately persists in its crimes against the Palestinian people without any international accountability.
The lawmaker called for bringing Israeli leaders to international justice and hold them accountable for their crimes.
For his part, senior Hamas official Wasfi Qabha strongly condemned the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) for abusing a Palestinian citizen as he was en route to his workplace before shooting him dead on Wednesday afternoon, describing the incident as a premeditated crime.
Qabha stated that what had been reported by eyewitnesses about the execution of Mohamed Mubarak was terrifying, reflecting the sadism of the IOF.
He said that this crime was another Israeli reward for the Palestinian Authority for its loyalty and its commitment to the negotiations and the security coordination.
In a related context, thousands of Palestinians marched on Wednesday in the funeral procession of the slain young man Mohamed Mubarak and attended his burial in Al-Jalazoun refugee camp, amid angry shouts calling for avenging his death.
The killed young man was working for a construction company that was contracted about two months ago to rehabilitate the Nablus-Ramallah road, and he was known by the Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint where he was murdered because they watched him go to his workplace every day.
He added that the cold-blooded shooting of Mubarak by Israeli soldiers who also prevented paramedics from taking him to hospital vindicated further that Israel deliberately persists in its crimes against the Palestinian people without any international accountability.
The lawmaker called for bringing Israeli leaders to international justice and hold them accountable for their crimes.
For his part, senior Hamas official Wasfi Qabha strongly condemned the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) for abusing a Palestinian citizen as he was en route to his workplace before shooting him dead on Wednesday afternoon, describing the incident as a premeditated crime.
Qabha stated that what had been reported by eyewitnesses about the execution of Mohamed Mubarak was terrifying, reflecting the sadism of the IOF.
He said that this crime was another Israeli reward for the Palestinian Authority for its loyalty and its commitment to the negotiations and the security coordination.
In a related context, thousands of Palestinians marched on Wednesday in the funeral procession of the slain young man Mohamed Mubarak and attended his burial in Al-Jalazoun refugee camp, amid angry shouts calling for avenging his death.
The killed young man was working for a construction company that was contracted about two months ago to rehabilitate the Nablus-Ramallah road, and he was known by the Israeli soldiers at the checkpoint where he was murdered because they watched him go to his workplace every day.
Norway's huge sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, blacklisted two Israeli companies involved in construction of settlements in annexed East Jerusalem, the country's finance ministry said on Thursday.
The ban on investing in the firms revived a three-year prohibition on them that the Government Pension Fund of Norway had dropped in August last year.
The companies are Africa Israel Investments, an Israeli real estate developer, and its construction subsidiary Danya Cerbus.
The ministry cited the company's alleged "contribution to serious violations of individual rights in war or conflict through the construction of colonies in Occupied East Jerusalem," a territory where Israel's claims are not recognized by the international community.
The ban on investing in the firms revived a three-year prohibition on them that the Government Pension Fund of Norway had dropped in August last year.
The companies are Africa Israel Investments, an Israeli real estate developer, and its construction subsidiary Danya Cerbus.
The ministry cited the company's alleged "contribution to serious violations of individual rights in war or conflict through the construction of colonies in Occupied East Jerusalem," a territory where Israel's claims are not recognized by the international community.
Israel's intelligence minister has said President Mahmoud Abbas is the world's most anti-Semitic leader following the departure of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Iran's president last year.
"Since Ahmadinejad left the political stage, Abu Mazen is the number one leader in injecting anti-Semitic and anti-Israel poison," Yuval Steinitz told a Tel Aviv security conference Wednesday, using the name by which Abbas is popularly known in Arabic.
"Under Abu Mazen the level of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic incitement in the (Palestinian) Authority has reached new highs, where the bottom line is the destruction of Israel," said Steinitz, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party.
"As someone who denied the Holocaust in his youth, he today denies the very existence of the Jewish people and their right to their own state," he told the annual conference of the Institute for National Security Studies, according to a transcript on the INSS website.
"As long as we do not see substantive change in the (Palestinian) educational system and media, a peace agreement is an illusion."
Abbas' spokesman hit back at Steinitz on Thursday, saying Israel's own incitement was manifesting itself in the killing of Palestinians by the Israeli army.
In a statement, Nabil Abu Rudeina insisted that Palestinians would do nothing to undermine US efforts to push peace talks forward, and called on the US and Israel's government to condemn inflammatory rhetoric against Palestinian leaders.
"After serial Israeli incitement against Abbas, with the latest incident being Steinitz's comments, Netanyahu's government, as well as the US administration, must take an official stance on this attack," Abu Rudeina said.
"The Israeli army's killing of Palestinians, including Mohammad Mubarak yesterday (Wednesday), is the natural progression from (Israel's) policy of incitement through its ministers and officials," he said.
Israeli troops shot dead 19-year-old Mubarak near the West Bank city of Ramallah, with the army alleging he had opened fire at them although witnesses insisted he was unarmed.
In his doctoral thesis at Moscow's Patrice Lumumba University, Abbas questioned the figure of six million Jews killed in the Nazi Holocaust, suggesting the number could have been "fewer than one million."
But, he added, "the controversy over the figure cannot minimize in any way the atrocious crime committed against the Jews."
"Since Ahmadinejad left the political stage, Abu Mazen is the number one leader in injecting anti-Semitic and anti-Israel poison," Yuval Steinitz told a Tel Aviv security conference Wednesday, using the name by which Abbas is popularly known in Arabic.
"Under Abu Mazen the level of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic incitement in the (Palestinian) Authority has reached new highs, where the bottom line is the destruction of Israel," said Steinitz, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party.
"As someone who denied the Holocaust in his youth, he today denies the very existence of the Jewish people and their right to their own state," he told the annual conference of the Institute for National Security Studies, according to a transcript on the INSS website.
"As long as we do not see substantive change in the (Palestinian) educational system and media, a peace agreement is an illusion."
Abbas' spokesman hit back at Steinitz on Thursday, saying Israel's own incitement was manifesting itself in the killing of Palestinians by the Israeli army.
In a statement, Nabil Abu Rudeina insisted that Palestinians would do nothing to undermine US efforts to push peace talks forward, and called on the US and Israel's government to condemn inflammatory rhetoric against Palestinian leaders.
"After serial Israeli incitement against Abbas, with the latest incident being Steinitz's comments, Netanyahu's government, as well as the US administration, must take an official stance on this attack," Abu Rudeina said.
"The Israeli army's killing of Palestinians, including Mohammad Mubarak yesterday (Wednesday), is the natural progression from (Israel's) policy of incitement through its ministers and officials," he said.
Israeli troops shot dead 19-year-old Mubarak near the West Bank city of Ramallah, with the army alleging he had opened fire at them although witnesses insisted he was unarmed.
In his doctoral thesis at Moscow's Patrice Lumumba University, Abbas questioned the figure of six million Jews killed in the Nazi Holocaust, suggesting the number could have been "fewer than one million."
But, he added, "the controversy over the figure cannot minimize in any way the atrocious crime committed against the Jews."
Israel's hard-right economy minister apologized Wednesday for public attacks on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over US-backed Middle East peace talks.
"There are those who are trying to spin what is a debate about the future and security of our country as a personal attack that never happened," Naftali Bennett said at an education conference at the Dead Sea.
"If the prime minister was hurt, I'm very sorry," Bennett said.
Media reported that Netanyahu had threatened Wednesday to sack Bennett from the cabinet if he refused to apologize for his criticism in the past few days.
Bennett leads the far-right Jewish Home party, which has close ties with the Jewish settler movement. It has 12 seats in parliament and is a member of Netanyahu's coalition.
Bennett took Netanyahu to task over reports earlier this week that the premier was floating the idea of leasing existing Israeli settlements from the Palestinians in a future Palestinian state.
"An odd idea has come up lately -- that Jews continue living where they are but under Palestinian sovereignty," Bennett said Tuesday.
"My response? It will not happen and it cannot happen."
Some 650,000 Jewish settlers live in the occupied West Bank, including annexed East Jerusalem, and the future of those settlements is one of the key stumbling blocks to a peace deal.
"Our ancestors will never forgive an Israeli leader who divides our land and our capital," Bennett added.
Jewish Home hardliners have called for a gathering on Thursday at Jerusalem's Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism, to protest against the peace plan and "beseech divine mercy over the dangers that threaten to tear away parts of our land."
US Secretary of State John Kerry has been trying since he kick-started the latest round of peace talks in July to push Israel and the Palestinians towards a framework agreement ahead of an agreed April deadline.
He has come in for criticism from Israel's more hawkish cabinet members, including Bennett and Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon.
In remarks earlier this month that caused a diplomatic spat with Washington, Yaalon was quoted as calling Kerry's drive for Middle East peace a messianic "obsession."
Some of Israel's hardline ministers oppose outright any peace negotiations or the creation of a Palestinian state.
"Anyone who comes up with a bizarre idea in the Western world, they say, let's try it out on the Jews," Bennett said Tuesday.
"The state of Israel is not your laboratory," he said, apparently addressing Kerry.
"There are those who are trying to spin what is a debate about the future and security of our country as a personal attack that never happened," Naftali Bennett said at an education conference at the Dead Sea.
"If the prime minister was hurt, I'm very sorry," Bennett said.
Media reported that Netanyahu had threatened Wednesday to sack Bennett from the cabinet if he refused to apologize for his criticism in the past few days.
Bennett leads the far-right Jewish Home party, which has close ties with the Jewish settler movement. It has 12 seats in parliament and is a member of Netanyahu's coalition.
Bennett took Netanyahu to task over reports earlier this week that the premier was floating the idea of leasing existing Israeli settlements from the Palestinians in a future Palestinian state.
"An odd idea has come up lately -- that Jews continue living where they are but under Palestinian sovereignty," Bennett said Tuesday.
"My response? It will not happen and it cannot happen."
Some 650,000 Jewish settlers live in the occupied West Bank, including annexed East Jerusalem, and the future of those settlements is one of the key stumbling blocks to a peace deal.
"Our ancestors will never forgive an Israeli leader who divides our land and our capital," Bennett added.
Jewish Home hardliners have called for a gathering on Thursday at Jerusalem's Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism, to protest against the peace plan and "beseech divine mercy over the dangers that threaten to tear away parts of our land."
US Secretary of State John Kerry has been trying since he kick-started the latest round of peace talks in July to push Israel and the Palestinians towards a framework agreement ahead of an agreed April deadline.
He has come in for criticism from Israel's more hawkish cabinet members, including Bennett and Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon.
In remarks earlier this month that caused a diplomatic spat with Washington, Yaalon was quoted as calling Kerry's drive for Middle East peace a messianic "obsession."
Some of Israel's hardline ministers oppose outright any peace negotiations or the creation of a Palestinian state.
"Anyone who comes up with a bizarre idea in the Western world, they say, let's try it out on the Jews," Bennett said Tuesday.
"The state of Israel is not your laboratory," he said, apparently addressing Kerry.
Yair Lapid, the Israeli Minister of Finance and chairman of the Yesh Atid Party, warned on Wednesday that The failure of negotiations will inflict heavy losses on Israel economy . In a speech before the Israeli Institute for National Security Studies conference, Lapid explained that the partial European boycott will coast Israel a loss of 11 billion INS a year.
The boycott process of the Israeli economy as a whole is actively increasing in Europe. Lapid noted that the boycott will decrease the exports to Europe which will have a heavily influence on Israel budget and 9800 employees in Israel may be fired this year because of the European boycott.
"We still do not feel the influence of the boycott due to the fact that it is gradual process. The situation now is already very serious," he said.
The boycott process of the Israeli economy as a whole is actively increasing in Europe. Lapid noted that the boycott will decrease the exports to Europe which will have a heavily influence on Israel budget and 9800 employees in Israel may be fired this year because of the European boycott.
"We still do not feel the influence of the boycott due to the fact that it is gradual process. The situation now is already very serious," he said.
