Netanyahu Reassures Public: No Freeze in Jerusalem
by Gil Ronen
In an interview with Channel 2 television news, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that there will not be a construction freeze in Jerusalem, and that there is "a full understanding that there must not be preconditions for negotiations."
"Our policy on Jerusalem will not change," he said, noting that his government's policy on the 3,000-year-old Jewish capital was the same as that of all Israeli governments in the last 43 years.
He tried to play down the perception that US President Barack Obama humiliated him in his recent visit to Washington. "He is not humiliating me," he muttered in an undertone, then asserted: "The United States does not agree with us about everything. There are ups and downs. There are difficult things and there were some even more difficult things. But there is a very strong fabric of relations that lets us overcome these problems."
The meaning of independence
When pressed by interviewer Yonit Levy on Jerusalem, Netanyahu asked: "Why should I give up in Jerusalem?" Turning from defense to offense, he asked her where she was born. She told him that she was originally from French Hill in Jerusalem. Netanyahu, who may have known the answer in advance, explained that the current argument is over parts of Jerusalem like French Hill, which were unpopulated when they were liberated in 1967.
The United States reportedly wants Israel to freeze construction in the sections of Jerusalem that were under Jordanian occupation from 1948 to 1967.
Asked whether he could trust the US to lead the campaign against Iran, Netanyahu said Israel preferred a scenario in which the Americans take the lead. He reminded viewers, however, that Israel had just celebrated Independence Day - and that Jewish independence meant "first and foremost a Jewish state, and the ability to defend ourselves. Israel will always retain the right of self-defense." (IsraelNationalNews.com)
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Israel: Construction Not Root of Palestine Conflict
JERUSALEM, Israel -- The stalemate in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks has nothing to do with Israel's decision to continue building in eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods, but is rooted in basic Palestinian ideology, an Israeli government minister said on Thursday.
Minister Benny Begin was speaking to a small group of journalists and diplomats in Jerusalem. Earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a White House demand that Israel freeze Jewish construction in eastern Jerusalem.
Begin: Impossible to Limit Construction
"It is just impossible and not acceptable that people try to impress us that we should limit construction in Jerusalem," Begin said. "Jews and Arabs can live throughout the city. This policy will be retained."
According to earlier media reports, the Obama administration gave Israel a list of demands - top among them was the halt to building in Jewish areas in eastern Jerusalem, where Palestinians want the capital of a future Palestinian state.
Israel united the entire city under it's sovereignty as a result of the 1967 Six-Day War.
Controversy erupted between Israel and the U.S. when Israel announced a building project in an existing Jewish neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem during the visit of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden last month.
Palestinians then refused to start indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks until Israel halted all building in eastern Jerusalem.
Peace with Palestine Still Far Off
But Begin said that the roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict go much deeper than Jewish homes being built in eastern Jerusalem.
Begin is the son of former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, who signed a peace accord with Egypt in 1979 - the first peace agreement between Israel and any of its Arab neighbors.
But he says peace with the Palestinians is far off.
"Unless the leadership of our neighbors changes their view and their philosophy very little actually would be achieved in the foreseeable future, in the road towards final (peace) settlement (between) Jews and Arabs west of the Jordan River," Begin said.
"(Jerusalem) clarifies issue that might be a little bit foggy otherwise," he said.
Begin pointed to two offers made to the Palestinians in the past 10 years. In 2008, then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert proposed that Israel withdraw from 98 percent of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and swap sovereign Israeli territory for the other 2 percent.
He also offered to partition Jerusalem into Arab and Jewish neighborhoods and relinquish Israeli control of the Temple Mount into the hands of a consortium made up of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the U.S., Israel and the PLO, Begin said.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Olmert even offered to recognize the right of return for some Palestinian refugees to within Israeli borders - though Olmert denied it.
Abbas rejected the offer, Begin said.
In 2000, then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak also reportedly offered to divide Jerusalem and the P.A. Chairman Yasser Arafat rejected the offer. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton even blamed Arafat for the collapse of peace talks at that time.
Palestine's Real Agenda
Begin said though he opposed those two offers, made by politicians far more liberal than he is, he said it shows that the Palestinians have a different agenda.
Last summer, the Fatah faction of the PLO held an historic meeting in Bethlehem, during which they reaffirmed their original charter instead of altering it, Begin noted.
"'The goals, principles and methods as they are written in chapter one of the Fatah charter are the basic point of departure for our movement and are part of the ideological, political identity of our people,'" Begin quoted the conference as saying.
Chapter one, article 19 says, "Armed struggle is a strategy, not a tactic. The armed resolution of the Arab Palestinian people is a crucial element in the battle for liberation and for the elimination of the Zionist presence. This struggle will not stop until the Zionist entity is eliminated and Palestine is liberated," Begin quoted the charter as saying.
The State of Israel is not there, only a "Zionist entity," Begin said.
"Some people I know would belittle political platforms, would belittle writings, ideologies, formulations. I think we should take them seriously," Begin said, "Because it then dictates the political behavior of the leadership."
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Report: Obama-PA ‘Understanding' on Freeze Continuation
by Hana Levi Julian
The Obama administration has reportedly reached an "understanding" with the PA that Jewish construction will continue to be frozen - even in areas of Jerusalem restored to Israel during the 1967 Six Day War.
According to a report published Wednesday by WorldNetDaily, White House officials also said they would pressure Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu into extending the 10-month freeze on Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria, currently due to end in September.
A "top PA leader," quoted but unnamed in the report, told WND in a phone interview that although no guarantees were given, "we reached an understanding with the Americans" that the construction freeze would be continued, and that no further building projects in Jerusalem would be approved. The source reportedly bragged that although the prime minister has publicly refused to freeze Jewish construction in Jerusalem, there have been almost no new building projects in the eastern section of the capital for more than a month.
Netanyahu Rejects Demands
Other sources say that Netanyahu has once again rejected demands by U.S. President Barack Obama to stop building in most of the city. A report published Thursday in the Wall Street Journal said that Israel instead had agreed to carry out more "good will gestures" to the PA, such as releasing convicted terrorists and smugglers, and further easing the passage of goods between pre-1967 Israeli areas and PA-controlled territory.
According to the report, Israel has also agreed to discuss the expansion of responsibilities for PA security officials, as well as negotiate the future of Jerusalem in permanent status talks. However, Netanyahu said Israel will continue to build in all parts of the capital, as previous governments have, WSJ reported.
Nearly two weeks ago, the Jerusalem Planning Council met to approve five Arab-sector housing projects, as well as the construction of a synagogue and other public buildings in the Jewish neighborhood of Gilo.
Located in southeastern Jerusalem, Gilo is once again being dubbed by PA officials and some international elements as a "settlement" - despite the fact that the neighborhood, home to some 40,000 people, is an integral part of Israel's sovereign capital and has existed for decades. Although Washington has paid little attention to the Arab housing expansion projects in Jerusalem, the Obama administration is closely scrutinizing - and criticizing - any plan that involves Jewish construction in Israel's capital city. (IsraelNationalNews.com)
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Report: Egypt Asks UN to Pressure Israel on Nukes
by Maayana Miskin
Egyptian officials have been attempting to rally support in the United Nations for pressure on Israel over its alleged possession of nuclear arms. The attempt was revealed by the New York Sun, which obtained copies of a document circulated by Egypt among UN ambassadors.
The document includes possible resolutions for the planned 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. In the document, Egypt recalls the UN's 1995 Resolution on the Middle East, which called to make the Middle East a nuclear-free zone.
Egypt wishes to see Israel relinquish any nuclear arms in its possession and to grant the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency access to all nuclear facilities. Egypt is also hoping to convince Western countries to reveal the details of any nuclear-related sales to Israel, in an attempt to deal a blow to Israel's current policy of nuclear ambiguity.
Nuke-free zone?
Among the suggested resolutions is one that "calls upon Israel to promptly accede to the [Nuclear Non-Proliferation] Treaty as soon as possible as a non-nuclear-weapons State and place all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive IAEA safeguards."
Another suggests "the establishment of the nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East."
Egypt also aims to bring pressure to bear by barring sales that could boost Israel's nuclear facilities. The document suggests a Conference resolution that "reaffirms that any supply arrangements for the transfer of source or special fissionable material or equipment or material especially designed or prepared for the processing, use or production of special fissionable material to Israel should require, as a necessary precondition, Israel's accession to the Treaty as a non-nuclear-weapon State and the placement of all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive IAEA safeguards."
The clause, if accepted, would bar the United States, Russia, China, and European states from selling equipment or materials to Israel that could be used in a nuclear facility.
Iran not mentioned
In addition, the document "requests States parties to disclose to in their national reports on the implementation of the resolution on the Middle East all information available to them on the nature and scope of Israeli nuclear facilities and activities, including information pertaining to previous nuclear transfers to Israel."
The document does not mention any other country by name. Pakistan is a nuclear power that has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and Iran is developing its nuclear capacity while ignoring international calls to allow oversight of its facilities.
The IAEA, suggested by Egypt to oversee Israel's nuclear facilities, was headed until recently by Mohammed ElBaradei, an Egyptian who is currently weighing the possibility of running for his country's presidency. ElBaradei recently expressed support for terrorism against Israel, stating that Israel "only understands the language of violence." (IsraelNationalNews.com)
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Ed Koch Predicts Anti-Democrat 'Tsunami' in November
by Gil Ronen
Former New York mayor Ed Koch predicts that the Democratic party will face a 'tsunami' in the November mid-term elections, in an interview with Israel National Radio's Yishai Fleisher.
The legendary three-term mayor said that President Barack Obama had "betrayed" the Jews who voted for him en masse. "I must say," he added, "that Jewish support - according to the polls here in America - for President Obama has gone down about 20 percent, from 78 to 58. I'm going to try to make it lower."
"I believe that there is going to be a tsunami in November and that the Democratic party is going to suffer enormous defeats," he said.
He said that Jews need to rethink their unwavering support for liberal candidates like Obama. "Jews are liberals, we want people to have their rights," he explained, "and regrettably too often they forget about their own rights and the rights of their brothers and sisters in Israel."
Throwing Israel under the bus
In a commentary piece, Koch had written: "I believe Obama's policy is to create a whole new relationship with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq as a counter to Iran, which we are now prepared to see in possession of a nuclear weapon. If throwing Israel under the bus is needed to accomplish this alliance, so be it."
"I am shocked by the lack of outrage on the part of Israel's supporters. The members of AIPAC, the chief pro-Israel lobbying organization in Washington, gave Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a standing ovation after she had carried out Obama's instructions and, in a 43-minute phone call, angrily hectored Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
"Members of both the House and Senate have made pitifully weak statements against Obama's mistreatment of Israel, if they made any at all. The Democratic members, in particular, are simply afraid to criticize him.
"What bothers me most is the shameful silence by community leaders - Jew and Christian. Where are they?" (IsraelNationalNews.com)
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Jordan: Rocket hit Aqaba
by Maayana Miskin
Jordanian Minister of Information Nabil al-Sharif confirmed Thursday evening that a Grad rocket hit the city of Aqaba earlier in the day. Previously, Al-Sharif said only that an explosion had occurred in a warehouse in the city.
Al-Sharif said the missile damaged a warehouse, and did not cause injury. The Grad was fired from outside Jordan, he said. Jordanian authorities plan to investigate the incident.
Israel is investigating the incident as well. Israeli investigators believe there may have been more than one rocket fired; additional rockets, if found, could give clues as to the identity of the attackers.
Two or three explosions were heard in Eilat on Thursday morning, leading to fears that rockets had hit the city. Security forces searched and found that the rockets had apparently struck Aqaba, adjacent to Eilat.
One theory was that the rockets had been fired by terrorists in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, who intended to hit Eilat but missed their mark. Egyptian officials denied that missiles had been fired from Egyptian territory.
Some residents of Eilat expressed anger at the media for reporting that rockets had been fired at Eilat despite the fact that it has not been proven that Eilat was the target. Reports of terrorism targeting Eilat are premature, and are likely to harm the thriving tourist industry in the city, they said. (IsraelNationalNews.com)
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US Envoy Mitchell Makes Surprise Visit
by Maayana Miskin
United States envoy George Mitchell arrived in Israel Thursday for a surprise visit. Mitchell is expected to remain in Israel until Sunday, and to meet with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Thus far, no official statement has been made regarding the purpose of his visit.
The visit may be tied to reports of recent progress in US-moderated peace talks between Israel and the PA. Progress is thought to have been made during a visit by the Obama administration's Senior Director of Middle East at the National Security Council, Dan Shapiro.
Shapiro visited Israel this week along with David Hale, Mitchell's deputy, and met with aides to Netanyahu and Abbas.
Freeze fight
US officials recently asked Netanyahu to freeze construction for Jews in neighborhoods of Jerusalem that were under Jordanian control between 1948 and 1967. The PA has insisted that Israel stop building in those areas, which it claims as the future capital of a PA state in Judea and Samaria.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Netanyahu informed the White House last weekend that Israel would continue to allow construction throughout Jerusalem.
A recent WorldNetDaily report stated that the Obama administration has told the PA that US emissaries will pressure Israel to extend the current construction freeze in Judea and Samaria, which is slated to expire in late September. A senior PA official told WND that the PA had "reached an understanding" with America according to which Israel would extend the freeze and would stop construction for Jews in Jerusalem. (IsraelNationalNews.com)
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'Time for Israel to fall in line with US agenda'
Former US Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk on Wednesday told Israel's Army Radio that the time has come for the Jewish state to fall in line with American foreign policy, or risk ruining its relationship with Washington.
"The shift in America's Middle East interests means that Netanyahu must make a choice: Take on the president of the United States, or take on his right wing," said Indyk, who today is Vice President for Foreign Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington and remains a top advisor to US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Indyk was referring to Netanyahu's decision on Wednesday to reject Obama's demand that he freeze all Jewish construction in parts of Jerusalem claimed by the Palestinians.
Obama presumably made the demand when the two leaders met behind closed doors at the White House last month. Netanyahu did agree to a number of other "confidence-building" gestures toward the Palestinians, but insisted that no Israeli leader could ever deny Jews the right to build in their own capital.
Indyk said that kind of attitude is going to do permanent damage to the traditionally-strong Israel-US relationship. The time has come, insisted Indyk, for Israel to choose between its relations with the West and its millennia-old dreams of resettling all of its God-given lands.
Indyk noted that Washington views Israeli settlements as detrimental to US national interests in the Middle East, and Israel's insistence on maintaining those settlements, including Jewish neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem, has resulted in a "serious crisis."
He went on to suggest that Israel is obligated to fall in line with American interests since Israel is the beneficiary of so much US goodwill.
"If Israel is a superpower and does not need $3 billion in military assistance and the protection of the US, and the efforts of the US to isolate and pressure Iran, than go ahead and do what you like. If you need the US then you need to take American interests into account," said Indyk.
In response, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, a former ambassador to the US, reminded Indyk that Israel, too, has national interests.
"We must ensure Israel's future as a Jewish state," Ayalon told a gathering of the Israel Bonds delegation in Jerusalem. "We desire peace, but not at the costs of Israel's national interests."
Ayalon said that the unprecedented US pressure being applied on Israel is ultimately going to backfire, and is actually putting true peace further out of reach.
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'Israel won't strike Iran without US'
By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER , JERUSALEM POST CORRESPON
23/04/2010 03:19
Biden stresses next step is UN sanctions, not preemptive attack
WASHINGTON - Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday that Israel would not attack Iran without consulting the United States and that Jerusalem clearly saw sanctions as the next step to deal with Teheran's nuclear program.
"Everyone from the Israeli prime minister straight through to the British prime minister to the president of Russia - everyone agrees the next step we should take is the UN sanction route," Biden said on ABC's The View.
When asked whether Israel might take military action without consultation with the US, he replied, "They're not going to do that."
Biden also said he expected to see sanctions coming out of the UN in the next few weeks, estimating the timeline as "by the end of this month, beginning of next month."
Though China, one of the five members of the United Nations Security Council with veto power, has repeatedly pushed for lighter sanctions and expressed doubts about the wisdom of pursuing that path, Biden said that Beijing would support the UN effort.
"China will agree to sanctions," Biden told The View. "This is the first time the entire world is unified. Iran is out of bounds."
US President Barack Obama has previously given the end of spring as the time frame in which he expects to see UN sanctions approved.
Biden stressed, "We're going to continue to keep the pressure on Iran."
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Tourism minister vows to halt airport 'degrading treatment'
By RON FRIEDMAN
23/04/2010 03:39
"Comprehensive and perceptual" reform in works for Israel's attitude toward those arriving at Ben-Gurion Airport
Tourism Minister Stas Meseznikov called on Thursday for a "comprehensive and perceptual" reform in the way Israel treats foreigners entering the country, saying the "degrading treatment" some foreigners receive costs Israel in friends and business.
The statements followed the publication of a story in Yediot Aharonot on Monday revealing that 300 foreign nationals were delayed at Ben-Gurion Airport every day, adding up to roughly 110,000 out of an average 2.2 million visitors a year. The vast majority of the people are released, some after several hours of interviews and background checks, while 1,600 are refused entry completely and sent back to their countries of origin.
According to the report, 70 percent of those delayed are held up for security purposes by the police or the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), and the rest are detained by immigration authorities.
D., a former customs official at Ben-Gurion, said airport employees were used to seeing passengers leave the airport hours after their planes had landed.
"It happens so often that you get used to it. People are delayed because their name raised a red flag on some list, or they fit the profile of someone who is wanted, or they are suspected of wanting to stay and work here. Sometimes they are refused entry, but most of them finish the process by passing through customs," he said.
"It happens to everyone, even to people who come with organized groups, or VIPs who were invited by some ministry or university. Most of the people seem to understand that it's because of security, but that doesn't make them happy about it," said D.
Aside from the visitors themselves, Israel's tourism industry is hit hardest by this treatment, since many tourists are so put off by the experience that they vow never to return to the country.
The tourism minister said the treatment of foreigners at the entrance points was one of the two topics that always came up in meetings with tourism professionals and market-shapers abroad; the second was concerns over personal security.
"Shortly after arriving, they see for themselves that things are safe, but the bad impression upon arrival is something that lasts forever, costing the economy millions in lost income and thousands of jobs," said Meseznikov.
"Without a comprehensive and conceptual reform in the way we greet foreign visitors, without a change in how we welcome our friends at the entrance points, we will not be able to improve the tourism reality in this country," he said.
Ami Etgar, director-general of the Incoming Tour Operators Association, said the treatment of incoming tourists was a constant challenge for the industry.
"We realize that the inspections are necessary for security reasons, but the way they are conducted is wrong and inappropriate," he said.
"There are cases in which visitors are spoken to rudely. There are cases in which people are made to wait for hours to be inspected. There are cases in which people are singled out from a group for unknown reasons. It all looks and feels bad," continued Etgar.
"This is something that we constantly bring up in meeting with Israel Airports Authority officials, and we know that employees receive training on how to handle foreign visitors, but we don't really see a change, and many tourists still leave feeling bad about the experience, which may tarnish their whole visit," Etgar said.
The severity of the problem has come to the attention of the Prime Minister's Office and the Foreign Ministry, which have already held a discussion on how to remedy the situation.
"We have received occasional complaints from businessmen, our Christian friends and VIPs about their treatment at Ben-Gurion Airport," said Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon's spokesman, adding that Ayalon would be "convening an inter-ministerial meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with representatives from many ministries and other agencies, including the Population, Immigration and Borders Authority and the Shin Bet."
Ayalon said Thursday that "these complaints are a real concern. We need to find a way to maintain our internationally recognized security measures while treating our guests with respect and dignity."
He continued, "We'd like to streamline the way our security measures are carried out. One way to do this is to receive advance notice of any VIPs who wish to enter the country. However, if someone is considered suspicious and requires further security measures, then they should still be treated with respect and have these measures expedited as much as possible."
Possible solutions under consideration include designing a special VIP route for senior business executives, state guests and diplomats; setting up a ready room to house all the relevant authorities in a single place; improving communications between the various authorities; upgrading the waiting and inspection rooms; and posting a Foreign Ministry representative at the airport at all times.
