Free Republic

Mitchell, Gates, Ross and a whole US team are in discussions for the sought-after freeze among other things.One Israeli diplomat commented on Israel's position, "The Americans now understand that if they get anything from us on the settlement issue, it will only be in the broader context of some kind of Arab return," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared to confirm this in a policy speech two days after Obama's White House meeting with the Jewish representatives. "Progress toward peace cannot be the responsibility of the United States - or Israel - alone," Clinton told the Council on Foreign Relations....

Senior Palestinian Authority clerics are still teaching Arabs that Jews are evil, that Jerusalem has no Jewish sites and that Jesus was a “Palestinian” and not a Jew. The incitement violates the American Roadmap, as noted succinctly by the Obama administration while it campaigns against Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. In a recent interview on PA television, the Authority’s chief religious justice, Tayseer Tamimi, taught Arab residents that the Koran states that Jews have been evil throughout their history, that Jerusalem has no Jewish holy sites and that the Israeli government is trying to destroy the foundations of the...

The Arabs know what they want, and that is the end of Israel. The Jews are divided as to what they want. The left wants to get the hell out of the West Bank. The center, including Kadima and Labour, want to keep the settlement blocks containing most of the settlers but are prepared to uproot as many as 70,000 Jews, perhaps even 100,000. The right does not want to allow a Palestinian state to emerge, even if demilitarized. All are united in requiring an end of conflict and the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. Netanyahu is a...

Whatever else former president George W. Bush got wrong, he was right about this at least: "The world has a clear interest in the spread of democratic values, because stable and free nations do not breed the ideologies of murder." (Speech to American Enterprise Institute, February 2003.) That is, foster liberty in the world’s most oppressive countries and watch the axis of evil bend, then break. Look at Iran today. True, the burden of proof is on anybody who wants to attribute a passion for liberty to Tehran’s crowds. At one point, more than a million people were thought to...

There was little enthusiasm when the Annapolis talks were launched in late 2007. Their goal - to produce at least the outline of an agreement between Israelis and Palestinians by the time president Bush left office - was widely regarded as completely unrealistic, and quite a few commentators dismissed the initiative as just more "peace processing." But when Israel's new foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman recently declared quite undiplomatically that the Annapolis process was over and done with, commentators united in a chorus of indignation - apparently, they didn't like to hear that Lieberman thought they were right all along. The...

Pres Obama, by demanding a stop to settlement construction, is contravening the Roadmap and the Bush 04 letter in the name of honouring them. Everyone assumes that Israel is committed to freezing settlement activity without preconditions. Not so. Here's why. The Roadmap demanded that Israel "immediately dismantle settlement outposts erected since March 2001" and provided that "Consistent with the Mitchell Report, GOI freeze all settlement activity (including natural growth of settlements)". The Mitchell Report was prepared in response to the terror unleashed by Arafat, after he turned down Barak's genererous offer at Camp David. It's goal was to make recommendations...

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu) and his predecessor, Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni, looked at the American Roadmap Tuesday and found two different directions.

Some international summits have a way of arousing heated speculation about dramatic breakthroughs (or breakdowns) but often deliver more prosaic results. This is apt to be the outcome of Monday's White House meeting between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu -- their first since they won their respective national leadership posts. For weeks, mainstream media have been pushing dire scenarios of presumed differences over Palestinian statehood and other issues apt to create a major confrontation. But in advance of the summit, each side seems to be opting for a less cataclysmic script. White House officials, feeding reporters material for...

The Obama Administration has signalled a tougher approach towards Israel ahead of fresh talks on the Middle East peace process by insisting it must endorse the creation of an independent Palestinian state. “Israel has to work toward a two-state solution,” declared Vice-President Joe Biden today in a speech to the annual conference of a powerful pro-Israel lobby group in Washington. “You’re not going to like my saying this,” he warned the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) before adding that the Jewish state should not build any more settlements on Palestinian territory, and should “dismantle existing outposts and allow Palestinians...

The Arabs cry out for justice. The Jews cry out for security. The Arabs demand their rights, even non-existent rights like the "right of return". The Jews have forgotten they have any rights. As a result, the world considers the Palestinians as oppressed and the Israelis as the oppressors. Recently, Tony Blair delivered a speech in Chicago on Global Affairs in which he said, "The ideology (radical Islam) we are fighting is not based on justice. That is a cause we can understand. And world-wide these groups are adept, certainly, at using causes that indeed are about justice, like Palestine."...

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, depicted by most media as a firebrand anti-Arab inciter, displayed a new and moderate image in a lengthy interview on Thursday. However, he insisted that there will be “no giving without taking” in negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.

The peace process has not brought us one step closer to peace. Just the opposite, it has brought us closer to war. In fact the closest we have been since Israel’s dramatic victory in ‘67. The Annapolis Summit promoted the last iteration of it without any success. If anything, it proved that the parties can’t agree on the terms. When pundits or diplomats argue that we know what the deal is, they ignore the fact that the parties can’t agree on it. Avigdor Lieberman has rejected Annapolis and wants to return to the Roadmap notwithstanding that it went way beyond...

“In the Middle East,” President Obama told the Turkish parliament on Monday, “we share the goal of a lasting peace between Israel and its neighbors. Let me be clear: the United States strongly supports the goal of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.” He added: “That is a goal shared by Palestinians, Israelis, and people of good will around the world. That is a goal that the parties agreed to in the road map and at Annapolis. And that is a goal that I will actively pursue as president.” His words give rise...

The Netanyahu government is looking good to me. First, Netanyahu studiously avoided giving anything away upfront to the consternation of the EU and Livni. He offered negotiations on "three parallel tracks, economic, security and diplomatic" with the Palestinian Authority. As the NYT put it Netanyahu Offers Conciliation, but Not Concessions His sole position on the peace process was that he would abide by all signed agreements. As Minister Lieberman made forcefully clear today, that didn't include Annapolis. The International community was dying to make discussions under Annapolis binding on Israel but the Netanyahu government would have none of it and...

The United States will push hard for Palestinian statehood despite a new rightist government in Israel but anticipates a rough road ahead, a U.S. official said on Thursday. "We're going to be working hard to see what we can do to move the process forward. But we're under no illusions. It's not going to be easy," said State Department spokesman Robert Wood. "We have to engage constantly and remind the parties of their obligations and to try to set up a framework, a process for getting us toward that goal of a two-state solution," Wood added, referring to the goal...

We will honor all the agreements and all the undertakings of previous governments and act exactly according to the Road Map. Good afternoon, honorable outgoing Foreign Minister, honorable outgoing Deputy Foreign Minister, incoming Deputy Foreign Minister, Director-General Ministry employees, honored guests, When my fellow students and I studied international relations, and learned what an international system is, we learned that there is a State and there are international organizations and all kinds of global economic corporations. Things have changed since then and, unfortunately, in the modern system, there are countries that are semi-states. It is hard to call a country...

Senior Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan confirmed on Tuesday that Fatah, which leads the Palestinian Authority, does not recognize Israel, one of the basic demands of the Roadmap plan. The Western world has boycotted the Hamas terrorist organization because of the same refusal to acknowledge the existence of the Jewish state.

Hillary Clinton took a detour from the American Roadmap when she stated that the demolitions of houses in eastern Jerusalem violate the US plan.

Israel has seized another 425 acres of West Bank Land. This will create challenges for President Obama who has promised to get quickly involved in Middle East peace. President Obama will have great difficulty working with the next government of Israel if it is led by hardliner Benjamin Netanyahu. No party has enough votes to form a government at the moment, but the right wing Likud party seems to have the best chance.

Former PM overrated his ability to influence White House, says former envoy Lord Levy Tony Blair enjoyed only "peripheral" influence over President George W Bush and overrated his ability to sway the US administration, according to Lord Levy, the former Middle East envoy. Mr Blair is expected in the White House on Tuesday to collect the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian award. During his last week in office, Mr Bush has chosen to bestow this accolade upon the former Prime Minister. But Lord Levy, one of Mr Blair's closest allies who served as his Middle East envoy for...

(IsraelNN.com) The exit polls for all three leading television channels in Israel show nearly identical results for the Kadima primaries Wednesday night, giving Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni 47-49 percent of the vote versus 37 percent for Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz. But the truth, as expressed in the actual vote tally, was quite different. With almost all of the votes counted, Livni is winning by less than three percent, and her margin of victory is 431 votes. Mofaz's camp says he will appeal the results. If a challenge to void the results at the polling station in the Bedouin city of...

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to arrive on Monday in another attempt to advance the Annapolis process and produce some kind of Israeli-Palestinian document before the end of the year. Slideshow: Pictures of the week Israeli diplomatic officials said Saturday night that if Rice was trying to get the Israelis and Palestinians to agree on a document to be presented at the United National General Assembly in mid-September spelling out what the sides had already agreed upon, she would be unlikely to find an ally in Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Rice is scheduled to meet with Livni...

Israel should not have to trade land for peace, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee said as he explained to a small group of reporters Tuesday morning why he believed Israel should remain sovereign both in Jerusalem and the West Bank. "As an American, I do not feel that the Israelis are obligated or required to give up land in order to bring peace," said Huckabee, a Southern Baptist minister who earlier this year lost his bid to become the Republican party's presidential nominee but still holds sway with the key evangelical constituency. During the press conference, Huckabee spoke of his...

TOKYO • (AFP)A senior Palestinian minister said yesterday that he was pinning his hopes on US presidential candidate Barack Obama, believing he would seal an elusive deal on creating a Palestinian state. The Palestinian Authority's planning minister Samir Abdullah told reporters on a visit to Tokyo he expected Obama to win the election in November and “look at the Palestinian question and try to do something about it.” “He promised that he will not wait until the end of his term to launch negotiations and he will make it happen from day one. I hope that he will fulfil his...

Shortly Israel decided to open all the crossings into Gaza Saturday night several mortar shells were fired by Palestinian terrorists at the Karni Crossing area. It was unclear whether the shells landed in Israeli territory or fell short of the perimeter fence and there were no reports of wounded or damage. Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilna'i, in consultation with defense chiefs, decided to allow 80 truckloads of food to cross from Israel to Gaza on Sunday. The crossings, including Karni, had been closed since Tuesday after Palestinians violated the Gaza cease-fire by shooting Kassams rockets at the western Negev. A...

(IsraelNN.com) French President Nicolas Sarkozy asked the Knesset on Monday to recognize that "France will always be Israel's friend" - and promptly called for the division of Jerusalem and for the expulsion of the Jews from Judea and Samaria. Speaking in French from the Knesset podium at a special session held in his honor, Sarkozy said, "Israel will always be every Jewish person's sanctuary. It is the only place where Jews will always be safe." He also called on the Palestinians to stop terrorism against Israel. Stop Construction, Deport Jews, Divide Jerusalem He emphasized, however, that there will never be...

Vice Premier Haim Ramon on Tuesday reacted harshly to reports of an imminent Gaza cease-fire, calling it a victory for radical Islam. "I am against a truce, because it is another triumph for radical Islam. It won in Lebanon and now it is about to win in Gaza. So what is the point of being moderate? Why would Hamas be interested in a resolution?" said Ramon at a Haifa University conference. Ramon, together with Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz and Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann, abstained from a cabinet vote last Wednesday to refrain from embarking on a large-scale military operation in...

Secretary Condoleezza Rice En route Tel Aviv, Israel [implies Israeli security takes second place to improving Palestininian lives] "And I understand the security considerations as well as anyone, but the obligation was undertaken to improve the lives of Palestinians and we're going to have to work very hard if we're going to make that true in a broader sense." Remarks to the Traveling Press Secretary Condoleezza Rice En route Tel Aviv, Israel June 14, 2008 www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2008/06/105910.htm SECRETARY RICE: Okay. Look, why don't we just go directly to questions. You heard the President's press conference today, and we're now headed to...

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived here last night for two days of talks and criticized proposed housing expansion in Jerusalem over the Green Line as undermining the US-backed push for peace. As Rice arrived, she appeared more exasperated with the Israeli construction than she has in past condemnations of announcements of building plans that have often come just before or after her visits in the past 18 months. "Unfortunately, there have been a few [building plans], whether I'm coming or not," Rice told reporters on her plane. "Look, it's a problem, and it's a problem that we're going...

Former chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz said Saturday that it will hurt to give up the Golan Heights as part of a peace agreement with Syria, though it is a possibility. "The thought of ceding the Golan Heights gives me a bellyache, but for real peace one must be willing to pay a real price. Theoretically, Israel can do without the Golan," said Halutz during a cultural event in Beersheba, Saturday. Halutz refused to divulge whether he knew about the negotiations held for the past year between Syria and Israel with Turkish mediation since they began or whether...

In my article Refefining "What it means to be pro-Israel" I suggested that my definition of it is to advocate abrogating the peace process and annexing Judea and Samaria. Ami Isseroff commented that the problem with that solution was that no one will take the Arabs in. I agreed to the extent that to achieve such a solution would be extremely difficult. The world will vociferously oppose it. Ami then referred me to his article Zionism and Israel: Ideological house cleaning. It is extremely well researched and worth reading. Here's an extract. Solutions - Whatever solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict...

US president presses on with Mideast tour, meets with Egypt's Mubarak in Sham el-Sheikh. Due to speak at World Economic Forum on Sunday, Bush says he will outline vision for reaching agreement on future Palestinian state while still in office US President George W. Bush said on Saturday he remained confident a deal on Palestinian statehood could be achieved before he leaves office, as he sought to ease Arab doubts about his commitment to even-handed peacemaking. In the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for the final stop of his Middle East tour, Bush faces growing skepticism over his chances...

US POLICY on the Middle East suffered a major blow yesterday as Hezbollah fighters seized control of Muslim west Beirut, tightening their grip on the city after routing supporters of the western-backed government. At least 13 people have been killed and 30 wounded in three days of battles between pro-government gunmen and fighters loyal to Hezbollah. The fighting was the worst since the 1975-90 civil war, and brought familiar scenes of young men with ADVERTISEMENT assault rifles roaming the streets amid smashed cars and smouldering buildings. The White House said it was "very troubled" by Hezbollah's move and urged Iran...

LONDON - Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad warned Friday that peace talks could collapse unless Israel changes course and accepts a more conciliatory approach in negotiations. Fayyad, in London for diplomatic talks, said Israel has not complied with any of the obligations set out at the U.S.-backed peace conference in Annapolis, Md., late last year. "Israel has failed to meet any of its obligations from the road map, including a freeze in settlement activity," he said. "Unless that changes, the political process is being stripped of its meaning." Fayyad gave a highly pessimistic progress report after meeting with Israeli Foreign...

Condi Tips Her Hand by Emanuel A. Winston Holding back military resupply is an old trick. Fortunately, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Department of State team have gone a bit too far and exposed their hand. 'Coincidentally,' just after Rice’s team left, it was revealed that America will hold back military resupply to Israel 'until Israel needs it.' This would ostensibly save Israel billions of dollars in storage costs for equipment and weapons 'it may never use.' Holding back military resupply is an old State Department tactic, used best by Henry Kissinger in the 1973 Yom Kippur War,...

Norman Podhoretz, as you will recall, was a staunch supporter of GW Bush, and is staying the course, and was in support of Sharon's Disengagement. He now replies to his critics of both these positions, in his Commentary article, Israel and the Palestinians:Has Bush Reneged?. Anyone interested in the peace process from its beginning in Madrid should read this very informative article. He begins, On June 24, 2002, George W. Bush, having already become the first American President to come out openly and officially for the establishment of a Palestinian state, attached two stern conditions to that new policy. The...

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice believes that a framework for an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians could be reached by the planned May 14 visit to Israel of US President George W. Bush, Channel 1 diplomatic correspondent Ayala Hasson reported Sunday. Rice expressed this hope to a top Israeli leader Sunday when she met with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayed. Rice's high expectations will put further pressure on the two sides, who were already meeting frequently in an effort to meet the November 4 deadline that Prime Minister...

(IsraelNN.com) Israeli diplomatic sources said Sunday that the American delegation was very surprised at the extent of Israeli concessions to the Fatah-controlled "Palestinian Authority" (PA) announced by Defense Minister Ehud Barak. However, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was quick to say that they were not enough, and vowed to monitor Israel's execution of its promises. The latest Israeli concessions to the PA in Judea and Samaria include permission for construction of two new Arab neighborhoods in the Ramallah area, with a total of 5,000 to 8,000 housing units. In addition, about 50 dirt roadblocks in Samaria will be removed, thus...

Unilateral measures taken by Israel main obstacle for peace, King Abdullah tells Rice during Amman meeting; stresses importance of increasing America's role in process Roee Nahmias and AP Published: 03.30.08, 23:24 / Israel News US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice headed to Amman from Jerusalem on Sunday to meet with Jordanian King Abdullah. The king warned that failure to achieve progress toward (Israeli-Palestinian) peace would ''threaten the region's future'', according to a statement from his palace. During his meeting with Rice Abdullah accused Israel of taking unilateral measures, particularly regarding the expansion of the West Bank settlements. According to the...

The newfangled "shelf agreement" concept which now serves as the basis for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians is unworkable. The concept has no foundation in negotiation theory, especially in the history of Arab-Israeli negotiations. It incautiously assumes best case scenarios regarding the Palestinians which have no basis in reality; when in fact a durable "final status" agreement must anticipate all worst case scenarios. Furthermore, the historical record shows that even if Israel and the PA were to agree on a grand "endgame agreement," the Palestinians would proceed to bargain with Israel for additional concessions as the price of implementation....

(IsraelNN.com) US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice will break with standard protocol and will not meet with Opposition Leader Binyamin Netanyahu during her upcoming visit to the region, apparently as punishment for Netanyahu's recent call to build up the so-called E-1 corridor between Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim. The United States opposes the plan. The snub is the second this year from senior US figures for Netanyahu. In January President George W. Bush refused to meet with the Likud chairman until a public outcry forced him to schedule time with the Opposition Leader. Rice is due to visit the region in...

The Bush Administration’s search for partners to promote “peace” and “democracy” within the Palestinian Authority (PA) resembles Lord Charles Bowen’s “blind man in a dark room looking for a black hat – which isn’t there”. For the first time, the Bush Administration plans to give $150 million in cash directly to the Palestinian Authority (PA) Treasury, as part of a $496.5 million “aid” package, including $410 million for development programs. This added to the $86.5 million for CIA “security training”, which Congress authorized in April 2007. The CIA has apparently assumed the Palestinian terrorist-training role previously held by the former...

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- A Mideast peace agreement will require "painful concessions" by Israelis and Palestinians who must work together to defeat those "committed to violence," Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday. After meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Cheney stressed the U.S. commitment to the creation of an independent Palestinian state, saying it was "long overdue." "Achieving that vision will require tremendous effort at the negotiating table and painful concessions on both sides," said Cheney, whose stop in Ramallah came just two months after President Bush's trip to the West Bank. Abbas, a moderate, controls the West Bank...

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney, starting a visit on Saturday to try to push forward Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, said Washington would never pressure Israel to take steps that threaten its security. Palestinians accuse Israel of undermining the U.S.-sponsored peace talks by expanding Jewish settlements, refusing to remove West Bank roadblocks and mounting offensives against militants in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip who fire cross-border rockets into the Jewish state. "America's commitment to Israel's security is enduring and unshakable, as is Israel's right to protect itself always against terrorism, rocket attacks and other attacks from forces dedicated to Israel's destruction,"...

JERUSALEM, March 11 (Reuters) - The United States is not satisfied with the pace at which Israel is moving to implement a long-stalled peace "road map", U.S. and Western officials said ahead of a key meeting to assess compliance with the plan. Officials said Washington also believed the Palestinians needed to do far more to meet their obligations to boost security and rein in militants in the West Bank, though U.S. officials have privately complained to Israel that its frequent raids were undermining those efforts. U.S. and Western officials said Washington was particularly critical of Israel's decision to push ahead...

White House urges Israel, PA to keep negotiations going despite attack on Jerusalem yeshiva. 'The most important thing is that the peace process continues,' says White House spokesman Reuters Published: 03.07.08, 19:17 / Israel News The White House on Friday urged Israel and the Palestinians to stick with US-backed peace efforts despite a shooting attack that killed eight students at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem. "The most important thing is that the peace process continue and that the parties are committed to it," White House spokesman Tony Fratto told reporters. Thursday's attack by a Palestinian gunman dealt another blow...

At the outset of Phase I: Palestinian leadership issues unequivocal statement reiterating Israel’s right to exist in peace and security and calling for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire to end armed activity and all acts of violence against Israelis anywhere. All official Palestinian institutions end incitement against Israel. Israeli leadership issues unequivocal statement affirming its commitment to the two-state vision of an independent, viable, sovereign Palestinian state living in peace and security alongside Israel, as expressed by President Bush, and calling for an immediate end to violence against Palestinians everywhere. All official Israeli institutions end incitement against Palestinians.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will meet with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice while both are in Japan next week. The meeting was requested by Rice. It is particularly surprising because Rice is due to come to Jerusalem for a working visit the following week. Government officials predicted that the meeting would focus on the situation in the Gaza Strip, and said that Rice probably wanted to express her concern over the humanitarian situation there. General William Fraser, the U.S. envoy responsible for monitoring implementation of the road map peace plan, visited Israel this week and met with officials in...

** EXCERPT ** Those who seek to undermine Barack Obama's credibility with his Jewish and non-Jewish voters who feel strongly about the Israeli issue, frequently mention two names: Bob Malley and Zbigniew Brzezinski. Malley was a member on former U.S. president Bill Clinton's peace team, and Brzezinski was an advisor for an earlier U.S. president, Jimmy Carter. If these people are Obama's friends, his detractors say, then he cannot be seen as a friend of Israel. A claim which invites scrutiny. Malley is one of the few people who believe that the Israeli-American narrative for the reasons that caused the...

I would have posted an article, but I can't recall any that I've seen. Our policy toward Israel seems to have always been an issue in presidential debates in the past. But this year it seems to be a topic seldom if ever discussed. I certainly haven't watched every debate, listened to every stump speech, or read every position paper. Maybe others are more up on this subject than I am.