19 oct 2017
The Israeli Civil Administration’s High Planning Committee convened, on Tuesday and Thursday, and advanced plans for 2,615 housing units in illegal Israeli settlements across the occupied West Bank, according to settlement watchdog Peace Now.
Peace Now released a statement on Thursday detailing the committee’s decisions, saying that over the course of two days of meetings, the civil administration promoted 2,615 housing units, bringing the total number of units promoted through plans this week to 2,646, after 31 construction permits were approved for settlers in Hebron on October 16th.
Of the 2,615 housing units promoted, 1,508 were approved for depositing, while 1,323 were approved for validation.
Meanwhile, Ma’an further reports, the civil administration issued on Tuesday a tender for 296 units in the Beit El settlement, located in the Ramallah district of the central West Bank.
Since the beginning of the year, Peace Now revealed, 6,742 settlement housing units have been promoted by Israeli authorities.
“The Israeli government has lost all its inhibitions, while promoting settlement expansion in a record pace for recent years and distancing us daily from the possibility of a two state solution,” Peace Now said.
“The government is sending a clear message to settlers – build illegally and anywhere and we will find a solution for you. It is clear that Netanyahu is prioritizing his settler constituency over the rule of law and the possibility for peace.”
Earlier this month, Israeli media reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to approve the construction of 3,829 settlements, causing outrage among Palestinian leaders.
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee Member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi condemned Israel’s plans, saying “clearly, Israel is bent on entrenching the military occupation and its illegal settlement enterprise, further reaffirming its intentions of displacing Palestine and replacing it with ‘Greater Israel’.”
Since the occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 1967, between 500,000 and 600,000 Israelis have moved into Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, in violation of international law.
The estimated 196 government recognized Israeli settlements scattered across the Palestinian territory are all considered illegal under international law.
Meanwhile, Israeli rights group B’Tselem reported that, in 2016, Palestinians experienced the highest number of Israeli demolitions since the group began recording the incidents.
Peace Now released a statement on Thursday detailing the committee’s decisions, saying that over the course of two days of meetings, the civil administration promoted 2,615 housing units, bringing the total number of units promoted through plans this week to 2,646, after 31 construction permits were approved for settlers in Hebron on October 16th.
Of the 2,615 housing units promoted, 1,508 were approved for depositing, while 1,323 were approved for validation.
Meanwhile, Ma’an further reports, the civil administration issued on Tuesday a tender for 296 units in the Beit El settlement, located in the Ramallah district of the central West Bank.
Since the beginning of the year, Peace Now revealed, 6,742 settlement housing units have been promoted by Israeli authorities.
“The Israeli government has lost all its inhibitions, while promoting settlement expansion in a record pace for recent years and distancing us daily from the possibility of a two state solution,” Peace Now said.
“The government is sending a clear message to settlers – build illegally and anywhere and we will find a solution for you. It is clear that Netanyahu is prioritizing his settler constituency over the rule of law and the possibility for peace.”
Earlier this month, Israeli media reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to approve the construction of 3,829 settlements, causing outrage among Palestinian leaders.
Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee Member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi condemned Israel’s plans, saying “clearly, Israel is bent on entrenching the military occupation and its illegal settlement enterprise, further reaffirming its intentions of displacing Palestine and replacing it with ‘Greater Israel’.”
Since the occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 1967, between 500,000 and 600,000 Israelis have moved into Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory, in violation of international law.
The estimated 196 government recognized Israeli settlements scattered across the Palestinian territory are all considered illegal under international law.
Meanwhile, Israeli rights group B’Tselem reported that, in 2016, Palestinians experienced the highest number of Israeli demolitions since the group began recording the incidents.
18 oct 2017
The European Union (EU) on Wednesday asked the Israeli authorities to provide clarifications on the settlement projects announced recently in the occupied Palestinian territories.
A statement issued by the Union said, "These decisions are expected to be reconsidered for being crucial to the ongoing efforts to hold serious peace talks."
The statement underlined that the EU believes that the illegal settlement construction and other related activities, including the evictions carried out lately in East Jerusalem and the displacement schemes targeting Bedouin communities in the West Bank, undermine the peace process and the two-state solution.
The EU affirmed that it will contact its international and regional partners, including the Middle East Quartet, to start serious negotiations in order to reach a two-state solution since it is, according to the Union, the only viable way to achieve the aspirations of the two parties.
The Union noted that the Israeli authorities have approved new plans for the construction of thousands of settlement units in various parts of the West Bank and in the heart of al-Khalil city for the first time since 2002.
The statement pointed to the "sensitivity" related to Jerusalem in particular, saying that any settlement activity launched in the city would adversely affect the possibility of establishing a permanent Palestinian state.
A statement issued by the Union said, "These decisions are expected to be reconsidered for being crucial to the ongoing efforts to hold serious peace talks."
The statement underlined that the EU believes that the illegal settlement construction and other related activities, including the evictions carried out lately in East Jerusalem and the displacement schemes targeting Bedouin communities in the West Bank, undermine the peace process and the two-state solution.
The EU affirmed that it will contact its international and regional partners, including the Middle East Quartet, to start serious negotiations in order to reach a two-state solution since it is, according to the Union, the only viable way to achieve the aspirations of the two parties.
The Union noted that the Israeli authorities have approved new plans for the construction of thousands of settlement units in various parts of the West Bank and in the heart of al-Khalil city for the first time since 2002.
The statement pointed to the "sensitivity" related to Jerusalem in particular, saying that any settlement activity launched in the city would adversely affect the possibility of establishing a permanent Palestinian state.
13 oct 2017
Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered Israeli diplomats to prepare Israel’s withdrawal from the UNESCO in concert with Washington, which announced its decision to pull out of the agency.
Washington said Thursday it decided to pull out of the UNESCO because of its anti-Israel bias, and stressed the need for fundamentally reforming the agency in a way that serves US and Israeli interests.
The US decision cheered Netanyahu up and encouraged him to declare that Israel would follow suit.
He said the UNESCO became “a theater of the absurd because instead of preserving history, it distorts it.”
Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon also praised Washington’s move as heralding “a new era at the UN where there is a price to pay for discrimination against Israel.”
“UNESCO has become a battlefield for Israel bashing and has disregarded its true role and purpose,” Danon said in a statement. “The organization’s absurd and shameful resolutions against Israel have consequences.”
The US was angered in 2011 when UNESCO members granted Palestine full membership of the body and decided to stop funding UNESCO but did not officially withdraw.
The US opposes any move by UN bodies to recognize Palestine as a state, believing that this must await a negotiated Middle East peace deal.
Last July, UNESCO declared the Old City of al-Khalil (Hebron) in the occupied West Bank, as a Palestinian World Heritage site in danger, a decision sharply criticized by the US and Israel.
In recent years, UNESCO adopted resolutions that criticized Israel for mishandling heritage Islamic sites in Jerusalem and condemned “Israeli violations and illegal measures against freedom of worship.”
Washington said Thursday it decided to pull out of the UNESCO because of its anti-Israel bias, and stressed the need for fundamentally reforming the agency in a way that serves US and Israeli interests.
The US decision cheered Netanyahu up and encouraged him to declare that Israel would follow suit.
He said the UNESCO became “a theater of the absurd because instead of preserving history, it distorts it.”
Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon also praised Washington’s move as heralding “a new era at the UN where there is a price to pay for discrimination against Israel.”
“UNESCO has become a battlefield for Israel bashing and has disregarded its true role and purpose,” Danon said in a statement. “The organization’s absurd and shameful resolutions against Israel have consequences.”
The US was angered in 2011 when UNESCO members granted Palestine full membership of the body and decided to stop funding UNESCO but did not officially withdraw.
The US opposes any move by UN bodies to recognize Palestine as a state, believing that this must await a negotiated Middle East peace deal.
Last July, UNESCO declared the Old City of al-Khalil (Hebron) in the occupied West Bank, as a Palestinian World Heritage site in danger, a decision sharply criticized by the US and Israel.
In recent years, UNESCO adopted resolutions that criticized Israel for mishandling heritage Islamic sites in Jerusalem and condemned “Israeli violations and illegal measures against freedom of worship.”
12 oct 2017
The US has decided to withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), accusing the body of "being biased against Israel.”
US state department spokesperson Heather Nauert announced on Thursday that the US would establish an observer mission to replace its representation at the Paris-based agency.
Nauert said the US step reflected the need for fundamental reform in the organization in view of its anti-Israel bias.
Irina Bokova, UNESCO's outgoing director-general, said she "deeply regrets" the decision and is convinced that "UNESCO has never been so important for the US, or the US for UNESCO.”
The decision demonstrates the US administration's "complete and total bias" towards Israel, Mustafa Barghouthi, secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative (political party), told al-Jazeera satellite channel over the phone from Ramallah.
"This behavior is counterproductive and shameful,” Barghouthi said
"Sooner or later they will see Palestine in every UN agency. Will the US respond to that by withdrawing from the WHO or the World Intellectual Property Organization? They will be hurting only themselves," he added.
He also said it is "as if Israel is dictating US policy not only in the Middle East but also in international organizations. That's going to have a very harmful effect on the idea the US being a mediator between the Palestinians and the Israelis."
The US was angered in 2011 when UNESCO members granted Palestine full membership of the body and decided to stop funding UNESCO but did not officially withdraw.
The US opposes any move by UN bodies to recognize Palestine as a state, believing that this must await a negotiated Middle East peace deal.
Last July, UNESCO declared the Old City of al-Khalil (Hebron) in the occupied West Bank, as a Palestinian World Heritage site in danger, a decision sharply criticized by the US and Israel.
In recent years, UNESCO adopted resolutions that criticized Israel for mishandling heritage Islamic sites in Jerusalem and condemned “Israeli violations and illegal measures against freedom of worship.”
US state department spokesperson Heather Nauert announced on Thursday that the US would establish an observer mission to replace its representation at the Paris-based agency.
Nauert said the US step reflected the need for fundamental reform in the organization in view of its anti-Israel bias.
Irina Bokova, UNESCO's outgoing director-general, said she "deeply regrets" the decision and is convinced that "UNESCO has never been so important for the US, or the US for UNESCO.”
The decision demonstrates the US administration's "complete and total bias" towards Israel, Mustafa Barghouthi, secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative (political party), told al-Jazeera satellite channel over the phone from Ramallah.
"This behavior is counterproductive and shameful,” Barghouthi said
"Sooner or later they will see Palestine in every UN agency. Will the US respond to that by withdrawing from the WHO or the World Intellectual Property Organization? They will be hurting only themselves," he added.
He also said it is "as if Israel is dictating US policy not only in the Middle East but also in international organizations. That's going to have a very harmful effect on the idea the US being a mediator between the Palestinians and the Israelis."
The US was angered in 2011 when UNESCO members granted Palestine full membership of the body and decided to stop funding UNESCO but did not officially withdraw.
The US opposes any move by UN bodies to recognize Palestine as a state, believing that this must await a negotiated Middle East peace deal.
Last July, UNESCO declared the Old City of al-Khalil (Hebron) in the occupied West Bank, as a Palestinian World Heritage site in danger, a decision sharply criticized by the US and Israel.
In recent years, UNESCO adopted resolutions that criticized Israel for mishandling heritage Islamic sites in Jerusalem and condemned “Israeli violations and illegal measures against freedom of worship.”
10 oct 2017
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) condemned, on Monday, Israeli plans to build around 4,000 housing units in illegal settlements throughout the occupied West Bank.
“We strongly condemn Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approval of the construction of 3,829 illegal settlement units in the Occupied West Bank,” said Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, member of the PLO’s Executive Committee.
Reports said, according to WAFA, that Netanyahu is bent on approving, next week, the construction of 300 units in the settlement of Beit El, 206 in Tekoa, 158 in Kfar Etzion, 129 in Avnei Hefetz, 102 in Negohot, 97 in Rehelim, 48 housing units in Ma’ale Mikhmas, and 30 units in Jewish settlement in Hebron.
“Clearly, Israel is bent on entrenching the military occupation and its illegal settlement enterprise, further reaffirming its intentions of displacing Palestine and replacing it with ‘Greater Israel’,” said Ashrawi, in remarks made during her meeting with Norwegian Representative Hilde Haraldstad at the PLO headquarters in Ramallah.
“Rather than becoming party to Israel’s unlawful breach of international law and conventions, the global community should hold Israel accountable for acting outside the law before it destroys the prospects of a viable Palestinian state, peace and stability indefinitely,” she said.
Ashrawi expressed her appreciation to the Norwegian government for its consistent and positive position towards Palestine and its dedication to peace and justice. She also urged Norway to affirm its commitment to ending the occupation and achieving the two-state solution by recognizing the state of Palestine in the immediate future.
Ashrawi provided the Norwegian diplomat a critical assessment of the latest political and regional developments, including Israel’s deliberate and systematic efforts to impose the one-state solution with its persistent violations and illegal settlement activities.
“It is vital that European countries exhibit the political will necessary to take decisive action to end the occupation and to remove all of its manifestations from Palestinian soil,” said Ashrawi.
“We strongly condemn Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approval of the construction of 3,829 illegal settlement units in the Occupied West Bank,” said Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, member of the PLO’s Executive Committee.
Reports said, according to WAFA, that Netanyahu is bent on approving, next week, the construction of 300 units in the settlement of Beit El, 206 in Tekoa, 158 in Kfar Etzion, 129 in Avnei Hefetz, 102 in Negohot, 97 in Rehelim, 48 housing units in Ma’ale Mikhmas, and 30 units in Jewish settlement in Hebron.
“Clearly, Israel is bent on entrenching the military occupation and its illegal settlement enterprise, further reaffirming its intentions of displacing Palestine and replacing it with ‘Greater Israel’,” said Ashrawi, in remarks made during her meeting with Norwegian Representative Hilde Haraldstad at the PLO headquarters in Ramallah.
“Rather than becoming party to Israel’s unlawful breach of international law and conventions, the global community should hold Israel accountable for acting outside the law before it destroys the prospects of a viable Palestinian state, peace and stability indefinitely,” she said.
Ashrawi expressed her appreciation to the Norwegian government for its consistent and positive position towards Palestine and its dedication to peace and justice. She also urged Norway to affirm its commitment to ending the occupation and achieving the two-state solution by recognizing the state of Palestine in the immediate future.
Ashrawi provided the Norwegian diplomat a critical assessment of the latest political and regional developments, including Israel’s deliberate and systematic efforts to impose the one-state solution with its persistent violations and illegal settlement activities.
“It is vital that European countries exhibit the political will necessary to take decisive action to end the occupation and to remove all of its manifestations from Palestinian soil,” said Ashrawi.
9 oct 2017
US President Donald Trump says that he will not go ahead with his controversial pledge to move the American embassy to Jerusalem, as he wants to give a shot at achieving peace between Palestine and Israel, he said on a TV show, “I want to give that a shot before I even think about moving the embassy to Jerusalem.,” referring to the current efforts for the peace process between the two sides.
Trump noted that his administration was working on a plan for peace between the two sides.
Foreign countries currently have their embassies Tel Aviv since they do not recognize Israel’s unilateral claim of control over all of Jerusalem, according to the PNN.
Israel occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1967, and illegally annexed east Jerusalem, in a move which is disapproved by the international community. This causes problems on almost a daily basis in Jerusalem including settlers raiding Al-Aqsa Mosque and Israeli soldiers illegally seizing houses and lands in the Jerusalem area.
In June, Trump signed a temporary order to keep the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv, despite a campaign promise he made to move it to Jerusalem. “If we can make peace between Palestine and Israel, I think it’ll lead to ultimately peace in the Middle East, which has to happen,” he said.
“We’re gonna make a decision in the not too distant future,” Trump said. But, for now, the peace push comes first.
Trump noted that his administration was working on a plan for peace between the two sides.
Foreign countries currently have their embassies Tel Aviv since they do not recognize Israel’s unilateral claim of control over all of Jerusalem, according to the PNN.
Israel occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1967, and illegally annexed east Jerusalem, in a move which is disapproved by the international community. This causes problems on almost a daily basis in Jerusalem including settlers raiding Al-Aqsa Mosque and Israeli soldiers illegally seizing houses and lands in the Jerusalem area.
In June, Trump signed a temporary order to keep the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv, despite a campaign promise he made to move it to Jerusalem. “If we can make peace between Palestine and Israel, I think it’ll lead to ultimately peace in the Middle East, which has to happen,” he said.
“We’re gonna make a decision in the not too distant future,” Trump said. But, for now, the peace push comes first.
5 oct 2017
Last month, members of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Palestine (DPAL) called upon the EU to suspend its association agreement with Israel after visiting the occupied West Bank and witnessing the human rights violations inflicted upon Palestinians. One minor yet influential departure from the usual generic statements is the delegation’s experience of a sliver of the colonial violence meted out daily by Israel.
In their statement, published by the Wafa news agency, the delegation describes being “forced to take cover in a Palestinian shop as the Israeli army moved with lethal force against Palestinian residents using tear gas, stun grenades and live fire.” This episode occurred in Hebron, which the delegation described as “a microcosm of how the Israeli occupation manifests in practice, with a minority of settlers holding hostage a majority of Palestinians.”
The EU-Israel Association Agreement, which came into force in 2000, which the delegation has urged the EU to suspend, facilitates and prioritises Israel’s trade and research participation, subject to a clause which is routinely ignored. Article 2 of the Association Agreement states that: “Relations between the Parties, as well as the provisions of the Agreement itself, shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles, which guides their internal and international policy and constitutes an essential element of this agreement.”
Obligations on both sides have been neglected. The refusal to suspend Israel’s participation is a reflection of the diplomacy at an international level which is prioritised over the protection of human rights. Israel has not honoured Article 2 of the agreement, while the EU has continued to turn a blind eye when it comes to the settler-colonial state’s violation of human rights and of its own stipulated clauses.
In their statement the MEPs have managed to impart the political and humanitarian impact of Israel’s violations upon the Palestinian people, particularly in their descriptions of forced displacement and settlement construction as “war crimes under international law”. The statement imparts an awareness of swift decline in the erasure of Palestine and Palestinians, however there is no departure from the two-state rhetoric which is the foundation upon which the EU has based its diplomacy with Israel and which continues to influence the institution’s reticence to define Israel’s colonial character.
The DPAL delegation stressed:
The two-state solution will only be achieved when Israel starts feeling the consequences for their illegal action.
While the statement is partly true as regards facing accountability, it is also important to note that the two-state compromise seeks to maintain the earlier colonisation efforts by providing a purported solution which absolves Israel of its 1948 crimes, in particular the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian population. Commitment to the two-state solution in the current scenario is also an affirmation of acquiescence with the concept of Israel as an inherently violent state.
Even if, hypothetically, the two-state scenario materialises, both DPAL and the EU should recognise that the imposition does not take into account the illegal means by which Israel came into existence and how this existence is the source of rupture when it comes to the Palestinian right of return. Hence, suspension of the agreement should be the first step in upholding accountability both ways – Israel should face accountability for its violations emanating from its existence while the EU’s introspection should include a thorough opposition to facilitating the colonial enterprise at the expense of the Palestinian population.
In their statement, published by the Wafa news agency, the delegation describes being “forced to take cover in a Palestinian shop as the Israeli army moved with lethal force against Palestinian residents using tear gas, stun grenades and live fire.” This episode occurred in Hebron, which the delegation described as “a microcosm of how the Israeli occupation manifests in practice, with a minority of settlers holding hostage a majority of Palestinians.”
The EU-Israel Association Agreement, which came into force in 2000, which the delegation has urged the EU to suspend, facilitates and prioritises Israel’s trade and research participation, subject to a clause which is routinely ignored. Article 2 of the Association Agreement states that: “Relations between the Parties, as well as the provisions of the Agreement itself, shall be based on respect for human rights and democratic principles, which guides their internal and international policy and constitutes an essential element of this agreement.”
Obligations on both sides have been neglected. The refusal to suspend Israel’s participation is a reflection of the diplomacy at an international level which is prioritised over the protection of human rights. Israel has not honoured Article 2 of the agreement, while the EU has continued to turn a blind eye when it comes to the settler-colonial state’s violation of human rights and of its own stipulated clauses.
In their statement the MEPs have managed to impart the political and humanitarian impact of Israel’s violations upon the Palestinian people, particularly in their descriptions of forced displacement and settlement construction as “war crimes under international law”. The statement imparts an awareness of swift decline in the erasure of Palestine and Palestinians, however there is no departure from the two-state rhetoric which is the foundation upon which the EU has based its diplomacy with Israel and which continues to influence the institution’s reticence to define Israel’s colonial character.
The DPAL delegation stressed:
The two-state solution will only be achieved when Israel starts feeling the consequences for their illegal action.
While the statement is partly true as regards facing accountability, it is also important to note that the two-state compromise seeks to maintain the earlier colonisation efforts by providing a purported solution which absolves Israel of its 1948 crimes, in particular the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian population. Commitment to the two-state solution in the current scenario is also an affirmation of acquiescence with the concept of Israel as an inherently violent state.
Even if, hypothetically, the two-state scenario materialises, both DPAL and the EU should recognise that the imposition does not take into account the illegal means by which Israel came into existence and how this existence is the source of rupture when it comes to the Palestinian right of return. Hence, suspension of the agreement should be the first step in upholding accountability both ways – Israel should face accountability for its violations emanating from its existence while the EU’s introspection should include a thorough opposition to facilitating the colonial enterprise at the expense of the Palestinian population.
In a meeting last month with UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres, US president Donald Trump described Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu as “the harder side to convince in his efforts to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal,” according to Haaretz newspaper.
“Trump said both leaders are problematic,” a Western diplomat who was briefed on the meeting said on condition of anonymity. “But the general context was that from the two of them, Netanyahu is the bigger problem.”
On September 19, Trump held a 15-minute meeting with Guterres on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
According to six Western diplomats and one former senior Israeli official, at least half of the meeting dealt with the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
Trump, who had met with Netanyahu in New York the previous day, gave Guterres his impressions of that meeting and his own views on the peace process.
An informed Western diplomat said Trump reiterated to Guterres that he was determined to try to advance a historic peace deal, and that over the years, he had made many difficult deals, but he had always heard that the hardest deal of all was the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and he wanted to try to meet this challenge.
According to the diplomat, Trump also told Guterres that Netanyahu was more of an obstacle to peace efforts in the Middle East than Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas,
Trump described Abbas as “a very old (82) man who suffers from domestic political problems and needs a legacy to leave behind,” stressing that he would never have a president more understanding of Israel’s security needs than Abbas.
He expressed his belief that there was a chance that Abbas would agree to steps he had not agreed to in the past.
“Trump said both leaders are problematic,” a Western diplomat who was briefed on the meeting said on condition of anonymity. “But the general context was that from the two of them, Netanyahu is the bigger problem.”
On September 19, Trump held a 15-minute meeting with Guterres on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
According to six Western diplomats and one former senior Israeli official, at least half of the meeting dealt with the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
Trump, who had met with Netanyahu in New York the previous day, gave Guterres his impressions of that meeting and his own views on the peace process.
An informed Western diplomat said Trump reiterated to Guterres that he was determined to try to advance a historic peace deal, and that over the years, he had made many difficult deals, but he had always heard that the hardest deal of all was the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and he wanted to try to meet this challenge.
According to the diplomat, Trump also told Guterres that Netanyahu was more of an obstacle to peace efforts in the Middle East than Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas,
Trump described Abbas as “a very old (82) man who suffers from domestic political problems and needs a legacy to leave behind,” stressing that he would never have a president more understanding of Israel’s security needs than Abbas.
He expressed his belief that there was a chance that Abbas would agree to steps he had not agreed to in the past.
