Free Republic

Australia has reversed a previous government’s recognition of west Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, the foreign minister said Tuesday, prompting consternation from Israel. The center-left Labor Party government Cabinet agreed to again recognize Tel Aviv as the capital and reaffirmed that Jerusalem’s status must be resolved in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said. Australia remained committed to a two-party solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, and “we will not support an approach that undermines this prospect,” Wong said. Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid expressed disappointment in Australia’s changed position. “Jerusalem is the eternal...

Oct 13, 2022 (twitter.com/natirom/status/1446432164099379201) Attorney, NGO Nati Rom: Hundreds of Muslim citizens of Israel are chanting in Jerusalem, our capital, 'Khaybar Khaybar ya Yahud, Jaish Muhammad Swafa Yeud', and in a free translation - 'Jews, remember Khaybar' (a Jewish settlement that signed a peace agreement between it and Muhammad's army - the agreement was broken and the Jews were slaughtered to the very last of them).

The family entered the Beit Hanina neighborhood in the east of the city with their car and 3 toddlers in it and were pelted with stones. "A mob of Arabs blocked our road and started pelting us with rocks." The event ended without casualties. Meanwhile, during a night of severe riots in East Jerusalem, Molotov cocktails were thrown at police vehicles in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. The Jerusalem sector continues to heat up: a Jewish family was saved this evening (Wednesday) from a lynching attempt that took place in the Beit Hanina neighborhood in the east of the capital....

Palestinian youths have reportedly clashed with Israeli police inside the Al Aqsa mosque complex in East Jerusalem. The 'masked rioters' are said to have barricaded themselves inside the mosque and hurled stones, blocks and fireworks at police, who moved in to stop them, reported the BBC.

Rather than make bold decisions conducive to peace, the government continues to “give the US the finger” with regard to talks with the Palestinians, Meretz MK Zahava Gal-on charged on Tuesday, reacting to statements by Secretary of State John Kerry that ascribed much of the blame for the present impasse to Israel. Kerry’s statements “are further proof that the extreme rightist… coalition has no interests in reaching an agreement, but rather is dragging out the negotiations and endangering Israel’s existential interests,” she said. “Instead of making courageous decisions, this bad government continued to give the US the finger,” she added....

By what reasoning has the administration decided that pushing Israel to permit a new Palestinian state would -- in any way -- diminish the threat from Iran? Do they believe that Iran's (or I should say the Iranian leadership's) genocidal hostility toward Israel is the result of lack of progress toward an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza? … President Obama has sent abundant signals that his foreign policy is 50 percent wishful thinking and 50 percent leftwing mush. There may not be any easy answers to the problem of a nuclear Iran. But pressuring Israel to...