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Tag: Israel

  • Trump tells Israel peace means compromise

    Trump tells Israel peace means compromise

    U.S. President Donald Trump told Israel on Friday that it too would need to make “significant compromises” for peace with the Palestinians.

    The Palestinians were outraged by Trump’s Dec. 6 recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, a move overturning decades of U.S. reticence on the city’s status, and say they are looking at additional world powers as potential mediators.

    In an interview with an Israeli newspaper that was excerpted ahead of its full publication on Sunday, Trump described his Jerusalem move as a “high point” of his first year in office.

    The language of Trump’s announcement did not rule out a presence in Jerusalem for the Palestinians, who want the eastern part of the city – captured by Israel in a 1967 war and annexed in a move not recognised internationally – as their own capital.

    “I wanted to make clear that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. Regarding specific borders, I will grant my support to what the two sides agree between themselves,” he told the conservative Israel Hayom daily, in remarks published in Hebrew.

    “I think that both sides will have to make significant compromises in order for achieving a peace deal to be possible,” Trump added, without elaborating.

    The interview coincided with fresh strains between the Palestinians and the U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, following the killing by a Palestinian of a Jewish settler.

    After the settler was stabbed to death on Monday, Friedman tweeted that he had previously donated an ambulance to the slain man’s community and that he was praying for the next-of-kin, adding: “Palestinian ‘leaders’ have praised the killer.”

    That drew a rebuke from the Palestinian administration.

    “The American ambassador’s statements make us wonder about his relationship with the occupation,” Nabil Rdainah, a spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas, said in a statement.

    “Is he representing America or Israel?”

    “Friedman’s recommendations and advice, which do not aim to achieve a just peace on the basis of international legitimacy, are what led to this crisis in American-Palestinian relations,” Rdainah said.

    Friedman, among the top Trump advisers who promoted the Jerusalem move, is a former contributor to settler causes.

    In addition to East Jerusalem, Palestinians want the occupied West Bank for a future state and see Israel’s Jewish settlements there as a major obstacle.

    Israel disputes this.

    Most world powers deem the settlements illegal, but the Trump administration has taken a softer tack.

    A liberal Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, published a column criticising Friedman’s stance and dubbing the settlement he had supported as “a mountain of curses” – a play on its Hebrew name, Har Bracha, which means “Mount Blessing”.

    The ambassador took the unusual step of firing back at the daily in another tweet on Friday: “Four young children are sitting shiva (Jewish mourning rite) for their murdered father …. Have they (Haaretz) no decency?”

    Haaretz’s publisher, Amos Shocken, responded over the platform with a critique that echoed Palestinian complaints.

    “As long as the policy of Israel that your Government and yourself support is obstructing (the) peace process … there will be more Shivas,” Shocken tweeted.

     

  • Israel accuses UN rights forum of bias over Palestinians

    Israel on Tuesday accused the UN of continuous discrimination against it over its treatment of Palestinians and called for reforms of its human rights body.

    The Human Rights Council’s regular examination of Israel’s record, the first since 2013, comes after U.S. President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem on Dec. 6 as the capital of Israel, angering Palestinians, Middle East leaders and world powers.

    Aviva Shechter, Israel’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, told the Human Rights Council that her country had always stood up for human rights and democratic values.

    “It has done so while facing serious threats to its security, and while needing to integrate diverse communities and religious groups,” Shechter told the Geneva forum.

    The Council has taken a strong position against Israel’s occupation of territory seized in the 1967 Middle East war, its treatment of Palestinians there, and its building of Jewish settlements.

    Israel withdrew soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005.

    Most countries consider the settlements, in areas of the West Bank and Jerusalem the Palestinians see as part of an eventual independent state, illegal, but Israel disputes this and continues their expansion.

    An “unparalleled number of one-sided biased and political resolutions adopted regularly by the automatic majority of its members testify not only to the unfair treatment of the State of Israel, but also to the deficiencies of the Council itself and its agenda,” Schechter said.

    “…this theatre of the absurd cannot go on forever.”

    Washington says the Council is stacked with opponents of Israel and U.S. ambassador Niki Haley told the Council in June 2017 that it was reviewing its participation given what it sees as its “chronic anti-Israel bias”.

    She said Israel considered its relations with the Palestinians to be “of the highest priority” and it would continue to seek a lasting solution that would enable the two peoples to live side by side in peace and security.

    Jordan’s diplomat Akram Harahsheh, speaking first in the three-hour debate, condemned what he said were “attempts to prejudge the identity of occupied Jerusalem” and called on Israel to withdraw from all territories occupied since 1967.

     

  • Pence says U.S. embassy move ‘tangible’ sign of Washington’s commitment to Israel

    Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday said that the controversial decision to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is a “tangible” sign of Washington’s commitment to Israel.

    Pence on the second and final day of his visit to Israel, made this known at a meeting with President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem.

    He said:“President Donald Trump has directed our State Department, working with Ambassador [David] Friedman to complete the transition of moving our embassy here to Jerusalem by the end of 2019.

    “We look forward to that as a tangible sign of our enduring commitment and alliance to the state of Israel and to the people of this great nation.”

    Palestinian businesses closed on Tuesday in protest of Pence’s scheduled to visit the Western Wall, a Jewish holy site in East Jerusalem, and the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.

    No Israeli officials will accompany Pence to the Western Wall, which is located in territory annexed by Israel and claimed by Palestinians for their future state.

    A united front of all Palestinian factions called for the strike in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in response to Pence’s visit and Washington’s move to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

    Palestinian schools were also closed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, however, businesses in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip remained open.

    Trump’s Dec. 6 Jerusalem declaration, which included a promise to move the U.S. embassy, upended decades of U.S. policy towards the divided holy city.

    Palestinians saw the move as endorsing Israeli control of East Jerusalem, which they claim as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

    In the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Israel occupied the eastern half of Jerusalem, now home to over 300,000 Palestinians, and later annexed the territory in a move that was not internationally recognised.

    In a speech before the Israeli parliament on Monday, Pence expedited Trump’s promise to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, saying it would happen by the end of 2019.

    His speech, full of biblical imagery and met with rousing applause from most Israeli lawmakers, was slammed by top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat as “messianic.”

     

  • Pence, on Israel visit, meets Netanyahu

    U.S. Vice President Mike Pence met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks on Monday, the second day of a visit to Israel that has been boycotted by the Palestinians.

    The two men made no comment as Netanyahu welcomed Pence to his office in Jerusalem, where the U.S. vice president reviewed an Israeli honor guard.

    It is the highest-level U.S. visit to the region since President Donald Trump on Dec. 6 recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and promised to begin the process of moving the American embassy to the city, whose status is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

    Outraged at Trump’s Jerusalem declaration, a move that reversed decades of U.S. policy on the city’s status, the Palestinians are snubbing Pence.

    President Mahmoud Abbas left for an overseas visit before the vice president’s arrival.

    Nor is Pence, an evangelical Christian who has been vocal on the subject of protecting Christians in the Middle

    East, scheduled to make any private trips to Palestinian areas such as Bethlehem, a city whose Christian significance usually draws Western dignitaries.

    U.S. officials have said an embassy move from Tel Aviv could take up to three years.

    There has been speculation that Pence could announce a stop-gap arrangement, such as the conversion of one of the U.S. consulate buildings in Jerusalem to a de facto embassy.

    Netanyahu has said he expected at least an interim arrangement to go into effect very soon, perhaps within a year.

    Trump has made no firm public commitment on timing, saying: “By the end of the year? We’re talking about different scenarios – I mean, obviously, that would be on a temporary basis.”

    Palestinians want East Jerusalem, including the walled Old City with its holy sites, as capital of their own future state. Israel regards all of the city as its “eternal and indivisible capital”.

    With the Palestinians boycotting Pence, the visit provides little obvious opportunity to build bridges towards peace.

    It gave Pence and Netanyahu, a right-winger who has hailed U.S. evangelicals for their support of Israel, an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the visit and their own warm relationship for a conservative American Christian community that serves as a power base for Trump and his vice president.

    Later on Monday, Pence will address the Israeli parliament, whose Arab members said they would boycott the event. On Tuesday, he will attend Judaism’s Western Wall in Jerusalem and lay a wreath at the Yad Vashem Holocaust remembrance center in the city.

     

  • Israel approves 1,222 new homes in West Bank

    Israel has approved the construction of 1,122 new homes in occupied Palestinian territory in the West Bank, a rights organisation said.

    The homes would be built in 20 settlements and outposts, the Peace Now campaign group reported.

    A tender was put out for a further 651 homes.

    There was no confirmation of the reports from Israel’s Defence Ministry.

    On Tuesday, Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced his intention to approve the construction of 1,285 settlements and said he would push forward planning for 2,500 more.

    Lieberman said the 1,285 should be built in 2018.

    The construction of Jewish settlements on the West Bank is one of the most contentious issues in the decades-long and bloody dispute between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

     

  • Israeli parliament passes law to limit commercial business on Jewish Sabbath

    Isreali parliament passed on Tuesday a controversial law limiting trade on the Jewish Sabbath, following a marathon debate.

    The bill, denounced by Israel’s secular centre and left-wing opposition but hailed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition, was approved by a narrow 58 to 57 vote.

    It grants the interior minister a right to cancel municipal by-laws that currently allowing grocery stores, shops and restaurants to remain open on the Jewish day of rest.

    The law also allows cinemas and other businesses in their areas to operate on the Sabbath, or the Jewish Saturday, which runs from Friday at sunset to Saturday at sunset.

    The bill was pushed forward by Israel’s Interior Minister Aryeh Deri of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party.

    Shas, a member of Netanyahu’s coalition, angered secular lawmakers when it threatened to dissolve the coalition should the bill not be approved.

    Critics see the law as a dangerous move to force religious observance on the public.

    Earlier, Zehava Galon, the Chairperson of the left-wing party of Meretz, petitioned the Supreme Court against the new law.

    Galon said that the law is “unconstitutional” and offends against basic civil rights.

     

  • Jerusalem: Great measures of beauty, sorrow – Anglican Primate

    The Anglican Primate and Archbishop of the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East, Most Reverend Suheil Dawani, has described the Holy Land as knowing great measures of beauty and sorrow.

    Archbishop Dawani, comparing Israel to the rest of the world, opined that the beauty of Jerusalem lies not only in its history and in the Holy Site, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, but in the people themselves.

    The Anglican Primate, speaking at a university public address, reminded the world that the sorrow of the Land lies in the long history of one conquest and occupation after another.

    According to him, the land has been fought over for two thousand years, and that its people know only too well the suffering and sorrow that comes with war and religious persecutions.

    According to reports, in 1948, the Christian population in Jerusalem was about 27%, but today, it is less than 1%. In 1967, there were well over 30,000 Palestinian Christians in Jerusalem, but today, they are barely 6,000.

    Notwithstanding the statistics, it has been reported that the devotion of Christians in proclaiming the gospel of Christ remains undaunted, and many in the Holy Land are grateful for their lives and the name of Jesus.

    TheNewsGuru reports this year, in May, Israel will mark her 70th Independence anniversary celebration.

     

  • Jerusalem should be shared capital, British FM tells Palestinian FM

    Jerusalem should ultimately be shared capital of Israeli and Palestinian states, British Foreign Minister, Boris Johnson, told his Palestinian counterpart ,Riyad al-Malki on Monday, a statement from Britain’s foreign office said.

    “I reiterated the UK’s commitment to supporting the Palestinian people and the two-state solution, the urgent need for renewed peace negotiations, and the UK’s clear and longstanding position on the status of Jerusalem,” Johnson said.

    “It should be determined in a negotiated settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, and Jerusalem should ultimately be the shared capital of the Israeli and Palestinian states.”

    The U.S. President, Donald Trump on Dec. 8 recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

    Trump defied overwhelming global opposition by recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, but insisted that the highly controversial move would not derail his own administration’s bid to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

    In a short speech delivered at the White House, Trump directed the state department to start making arrangements to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem – a process that officials say will take at least three years.

    “I have determined that it is time to officially recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,” Trump said.

    He added that “while previous presidents have made this a major campaign promise, they failed to deliver. Today, I am delivering.

    “My announcement today marks the beginning of a new approach to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.”

     

  • Israel set to cede parts of Jerusalem in peace deal

    Israel set a higher threshold on Tuesday for any future vote on ceding parts of Jerusalem to the Palestinians.

    Palestinians wanted the eastern part of the city for a future independent state.

    The amendment passed by the Israeli parliament to existing legislation raised from 61 to 80 the number of votes that would be required in the 120-seat Knesset to approve any proposal to hand over part of the city to “a foreign party”.

    The amendment, long in the legislative pipeline, comes less than a month after U.S. President Donald Trump angered the Palestinians, Middle East leaders and world powers by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

    U.S. negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians have been frozen since 2014 but, if ever resumed, a special Israeli parliament majority to approve handing over parts of Jerusalem could complicate efforts to reach a peace accord.

    Trump’s Dec. 6 decision touched off protests in the region and the Palestinians have said Washington can no longer serve as a peace broker.

    A U.S. bid to revive negotiations, led by the president’s adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has so far shown no progress.

    “The authority to relinquish parts of the land is not in the hands of any Jew, nor of the Jewish people,” said Naftali Bennett, head of the far-right Jewish Home coalition party, which sponsored the legislation.

    Palestinian officials were not immediately available for comment on the new amendment, which passed by a vote of 64 to 52.

    Opposition head Isaac Herzog said Jewish Home was leading Israel “toward a terrible disaster”.

    The status of Jerusalem is one of the most sensitive issues in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

    Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in a move not recognised internationally.

    It says the entire city is its “eternal and indivisible” capital.

    Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of a future state that would also include the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

    On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party unanimously urged legislators in a non-binding resolution to effectively annex Israeli settlements built in the West Bank.

    Political commentators said the decision might bolster right-wing support for Netanyahu, who could seek a public mandate in an early election while he awaits possible criminal indictments against him on corruption suspicions. He denies wrongdoing.

    Parliamentary elections are not due until November 2019 but the police investigations in two cases of alleged corruption against Netanyahu and tensions among coalition partners in his government could hasten a poll.

    Some commentators, pointing to an existing law that already sets a similar high threshold for handing over territory in a land-for-peace deal, have said Jewish Home was essentially competing with Likud for support among the right-wing base.

     

    Reuters/NAN

  • Nigeria urges peaceful resolution of Israel-Palestinian conflict

    Nigeria has called for the peaceful resolution of the protracted conflicts between Israel and Palestinian, saying it is greatly concerned about the situation in many parts of the Middle East.

    Amb. Olukunle Bamgbose, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, delivered Nigeria’s statement at the UN General Assembly ‘Debate on Question of Palestine and the Situation in the Middle East.’

    Bamgbose said: “Nigeria calls on all parties to make genuine efforts to find peaceful solutions and to cooperate closely with the UN and its relevant agencies accompanying them to realise this objective.

    “As the international community continues to seek avenues to advance peaceful settlement of the Palestinian question, international efforts remain focused on paving the way for Israel and Palestine to return to meaningful negotiations.

    “It is a situation that has reverberation around the region and even beyond.

    “Nigeria believes that achieving a just, lasting and comprehensive settlement of the question of Palestine is imperative for the attainment of durable peace and stability in the Middle East”.

    Nigeria expressed pleasure at the statement by the Quartet envoys of Sept. 28, 2017, which welcomed the efforts of the Palestinians to create the conditions for the Palestinian Authority to assume its responsibilities in Gaza.

    The Quartet stressed the importance of close and continuing coordination of all efforts to achieve the common goal of the two-state solution in line with UN resolutions and international laws.

    “We also acknowledge the outcome of the Paris Conference held on Jan. 15, 2017, at which 70 countries and international organisations reaffirmed their support for the two-state solution.”

    Nigeria said the international community must remain undaunted in its commitment towards finding lasting and sustainable solutions as the conflict continued to pose a threat to international peace and security.

    The country also urged all parties to show more commitment to making peace a reality.

    Nigeria warned that “all unilateral actions that have turned hope into confrontation, including settlement activities, violence and inciting violence must stop”.

    “Nigeria would like to see a genuine effort on the part of Israeli and Palestinian leaders to return to the negotiating table.

    “Obviously, the current situation does not offer a sustainable solution to the Question of Palestine. Indeed, it is creating despair among the people of Palestine and causing anxiety among the people of Israel.

    “We believe that there are numerous specific actions that are necessary to foster mutual respect and compromise, build confidence and pave the way for the realisation of the two-state solution.

    “In this regard, Nigeria encourages Israel to take concrete measures to freeze all settlement-related activities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

    “On their part, Palestinian leaders must also signal their readiness to return to the negotiating table by making enhanced efforts to forge unity and deal with militancy and other internal security challenges.”

    Nigeria said it was beyond doubt that neither military might nor militancy would resolve the protracted conflict.

    “We encourage both sides to take concrete steps to return to negotiations on the basis of the relevant UN resolutions, the Quartet road map, the Madrid principles, the Arab Peace Initiative and the relevant agreements between them.

    “Nigeria supports the efforts of the international community towards establishing an environment conducive to a return to meaningful negotiations to end the occupation and resolve the long-running conflict.”

    TheNewsGuru reports that U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has further heightened tensions between the two nations and in the Middle East.