'Israel seriously committed to peace'
By JPOST.COM STAFF
23/04/2010 10:49
Peres tells Mitchell: Whoever doubts Israel's intentions is mistaken.
President Shimon Peres assured US Middle East envoy George Mitchell on Friday that Israel was committed to peace.
Peres told Mitchell that whoever doubted Israel seriousness about achieving peace was making an error in judgment.
The president said that the Israelis, Palestinians and Americans are standing before a "green light" regarding the peace process.
Peres added that Mitchell's arrival in Israel was "essential" and that the Israeli government would like to see him succeed on his mission.
Earlier Friday, amid high hopes regarding the start of "proximity" Middle East peace negotiations, Mitchell reaffirmed the unshakable bond between Washington and Jerusalem during a meeting with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, saying the special ties would only get stronger.
Mitchell stressed that the Obama administration was working to advance mutual Israeli and US interests, which he said were led by a comprehensive peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians based on the two-state solution, Israel Radio reported.
At the conclusion of the talks at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, the two agreed to meet again on Sunday.
Mitchell and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, meanwhile, agreed to meet again in Washington next week after their hour-long talks at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on Friday morning.
Mitchell is hoping to announce the start of the indirect talks during his current three-day visit here.
The US envoy is expected to head to Ramallah in the evening for talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Anticipation of a breakthrough was high on Thursday night, despite Netanyahu's reiterated refusal to halt construction in Jewish neighborhoods of east Jerusalem as the Palestinian Authority has been demanding.
Related
Analysis: Giving ground on Arab east Jerusalem?
Barak heading to US next week
Meanwhile, Barak's office announced that the defense minister would fly to the US on Sunday for meetings with heads of the Obama administration.
The meetings are expected to focus on security issues, including attempts to resume peace talks, said a statement Friday.
As well as Mitchell, Barak is set to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, National Security Adviser James Jones, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen and intelligence chiefs.
Hilary Leila Krieger, Khaled Abu Toameh and Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report
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Syria sends Hizballah Scuds in disassembled batches
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report April 23, 2010, 11:54 PM (GMT+02:00)
Scud ground missiles
Syria has smuggled three consignments of disassembled Scud A ground missile components across the border to the Lebanese Hizballah, debkafile disclose from Middle East intelligence and military sources Friday, April 23. They do not add up to a complete set of parts for an operational Scud missile. However, another five shipments, awaiting handover at Syrian border bases will provide the missing elements for complete weapons.
Israel's defense minister Ehud Barak disclosed Friday night that Syria had transferred "Scud missile parts" to Lebanon, refusing to elaborate. But he accused Syria of providing Hizballah with game-changing weapons which jeopardized regional stability.
According to Western intelligence sources, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad put in an urgent phone call to Syrian president Bashar Assad Thursday, April 22, to urge Assad to make as many Scud transfers to Lebanon as possible and enable Hizballah to deploy them opposite Israel without delay. He implied that speed was necessary because Iran is preparing to strike out against US Middle East interests and he wants Iran's Lebanese proxy to be ready for all possible eventualities. The Iranian president dismissed Israel as a declining force with its political and military strength in a state of paralysis.
The two presidents speculated about the source of the leak to the media about the Scuds for Hizballah. Ahmadinejad said Iranian intelligence had turned up a source in the Syrian military who was probably a mole and offered to help hunt him down.
Friday night too, the Obama administration stamped down harder on Damascus, warning Syria that providing Hizballah "a wider array" of missiles" carried serious consequences. The diplomat, who declined to be named, said: We are concerned with the broadening nature of cooperation between Syria and Hizballah." He stopped short of accusing Syria of arming Hizballah with Scud missiles: "… we have no evidence of Scuds crossing into Lebanon, that's something… to watch," he said.
Earlier, US Assistant Secretary of State Jerry Feldman told members of Congress that the administration condemns in the strongest terms Syria's "provocative" behavior in transferring arms to Hizballah. On April 21, a senior Syrian diplomat was summoned to the state department for the fourth strong dressing-down.
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Ed Koch's Address to Pro-Israel Rally
Video
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/137171
by INN staff
Former New York Mayor Ed Koch addresses participants in a pro-Israel rally in this taped statement. The tape will be played Sunday outside the Israel Consulate in New York City, where thousands of Americans are preparing to protest against the Obama administration's increasing hostility towards Israel.
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India's Bnei Menashe mark Yom Haatzmaut
by INN Staff
Hundreds of Bnei Menashe in northeastern India gathered together earlier this week for communal celebrations of Yom Haatzmaut (Independence Day) to mark Israel's 62nd birthday.
The Bnei Menashe (Hebrew for "sons of Manasseh") claim to be descendants of one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, who were sent into exile by the Assyrian Empire more than 27 centuries ago.
This week's celebrations of Israel's independence were held at the Petah Tikva community in the Indian state of Manipur with more than 400 people participating. The gathering, which was organized by Shavei Israel, included the blowing of the Shofar, the hoisting of Israel's national flag and the singing of Hatikvah.
Over the past decade, Shavei Israel has brought more than 1700 Bnei Menashe to Israel. Some 7,200 remain in India, awaiting permission from Israel's government to make aliyah.
At the event, Bnei Menashe community leaders issued a special plea to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, calling on him to bring the rest of the community to Israel. "We appeal to you to bring our community on aliyah to Israel, so that we can be free and live securely in our Promised Land," the leaders said.
"For 27 centuries, our ancestors wandered in Exile, but they never forgot who they were or where they came from, and they passed down to us a precious legacy - a love for Zion and a deep longing to return to her and to embrace her holy soil," they declared.
The Bnei Menashe leaders also denied reports that appeared recently in the international press suggesting that local underground groups had threatened the community.
"These reports are not correct," they said, adding that, "the underground movements never interfere in any religious aspects, they have respect for all religions and until today there have been no anti-Semitic feelings or activities."
Shavei Israel Chairman Michael Freund said, "We hope and pray that the dream of the Bnei Menashe to come to Israel will soon become a reality, and that the Israeli government will take the historic decision to bring these members of a Lost Tribe back home to Zion".
Shavei Israel is a non-profit group founded by Michael Freund, who immigrated to Israel from the United States, with the aim of strengthening ties between the State of Israel and the descendants of Jews around the world, among them the Bnei Menashe of India. (IsraelNationalNews.com)
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European Jews Fight for Israel
by Maayana Miskin
The European Jewish Congress and the World Jewish Congress have kicked off a campaign to raise support for Israel in Europe, in the face of efforts to vilify the Jewish state. The campaign began with the circulation of a petition supporting Israel's right to self-defense.
Once they have gathered as many signatures as possible, organizers plan to submit the petition to President Shimon Peres.
EJC President Moshe Kantor said the petition was geared to educate Europeans about the challenges Israel faces. "The first step is merely to create awareness," he explained.
Another step will be fighting anti-Semitic and anti-Israel hate by pressing the implementation of existing hate crimes laws, he said.
Ultimately, the struggle for European support will be "long and arduous," Kantor said, but the EJC is determined. "We promise to consider using any means, as long as they are legal, to assist our brothers and sisters in Israel during this difficult battle," he pledged.
Standing with Israel is in Europe's best interest, Kantor believes. "Israel is a nation which shares our morals and values as Europeans and is on the frontline of the battle against an Iranian leadership whose missile range extends into the heart of Europe," he said.
Those who vilify Israel "have managed to distract attention from the very real threats from Iran and Islamic fundamentalism," he warned. "Now, more than ever, Europeans should be standing alongside Israel and understand that a threat to Israel is a threat to Europe," he stated. (IsraelNationalNews.com)
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U.S. Envoy Pushing for Israeli-Palestinian Talks
JERUSALEM, Israel - U.S. Special Middle East envoy George Mitchell is in Israel pushing for the start of Israeli-Palestinian proximity talks, media reports said on Friday.
The U.S. is hoping the so-called "proximity" talks - talks through a U.S. mediator - will lead the two parties back to direct negotiations and a final agreement on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, although there has been some speculation that the U.S. might use the talks to impose a solution on the two sides.
Talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been frozen for more than a year.
The Jerusalem Post quoted an American official saying that Mitchell, in the region for a three-day visit, "is here to work with both sides to advance the proximity talks."
Backing Palestinian Demands
The U.S. has been backing a Palestinian demand that Israel freeze construction in Jewish neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem, where Palestinians want to see the capital of a future Palestinian state.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his refusal to do so in an Israeli television interview on Thursday evening.
"There won't be a freeze in Jerusalem," Netanyahu said. "This is a red line, and I'm not crossing it."
The liberal Israeli daily Ha'aretz said on Friday that Netanyahu was "amenable" to an interim agreement with the Palestinians in the West Bank, the area Israelis call Judea and Samaria, including the establishment of a Palestinian state with temporary borders.
That would enable them to declare statehood without actually working out the details of borders with the Israelis.
Step to Restart Talks
According to the paper, Netanyahu could consider the step as a way to unfreeze the political process with the Palestinians. But the paper said Netanyahu would insist that discussions on the final status of Jerusalem - the thorniest issues in the decades old conflict - be delayed until the end of the process.
One Israeli official said the idea of a Palestinian state with temporary borders has been out there for years and is actually part of the Road Map peace plan - supported by the Quartet - the U.S., European Union, Russia and the United Nations.
But, the official told CBN News that it is not on the table as part of discussions with U.S. Special Envoy George Mitchell due to take place on Friday.
Jordan's King Abdullah II said recently that if there is no political progress soon, there will be a war in July. Some Israeli security experts also agree.
'Climbed Up a Tree'
In Thursday's television interview, Netanyahu said that progress in the Israeli-Palestinian political process doesn't depend on Israel but rather it was the Palestinians who "climbed up a tree."
"I'm saying that moving the political process forward is first and foremost our desire," Netanyahu said. "No one needs to prod us.
"Now, with regard to the likelihood of war - we don't want war; we do not seek war," he said.
Netanyahu said that Iran is meddling directly and indirectly through the Lebanese-based terrorist organization Hezbollah.
"Through this meddling, Iran is trying to convince Syria that Israel is about to attack them. This is a lie," he said. "If a lie is repeated often enough, even good people and good leaders may begin mistakenly to repeat it. Israel wants peace. Israel does not want war."
Israeli reports have said that Syria has transferred Scud-C missiles to Hezbollah - capable of hitting anywhere in Israel.
