Top Netanyahu aide: Here’s proof Abbas deliberately destroyed peace talks
In the April 22 letter, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s national security adviser, Yossi Cohen, revealed that chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat wrote a policy paper in March in preparation for a Palestinian rejection of American mediation efforts and Israeli overtures — nearly a month before Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas made a unilateral move to sign 15 international conventions, ostensibly in response to Israel’s refusal to honor its commitment to release the final round of prisoners, Haaretz reported Wednesday.The PLO's manipulation exposed
In fact, Cohen said, according to a copy of the latter published alongside the report, Erekat had planned the maneuver weeks before Israel announced its refusal to release the prisoners — timing that, according to Cohen, demonstrates that the Palestinian leadership never intended to follow the peace talks through.
The peace talks crisis let the Palestinian cat out of the bag of lies. There were no excuses for the settlements, borders, prisoners or any of the other niggling obstacles apparently standing between the Palestinian nation and ourselves. The Palestinians simply refused to recognize a Jewish state alongside a Palestinian state because they claim exclusive rights to all of "Palestine." Recognizing Israel as Jewish means there will be no "return" for Palestinian refugees, a demand that would ultimately spell Israel's devastation.Lieberman: It is time to reveal the true face of Abbas
The PLO and Hamas' platforms (the two had been divided until now over "jobs" and the "method" of destruction and eventual lordship) blended again when a senior PA official, Azzam al-Ahmad, postured "peace" in Gaza: "No recognizing Israel as the Jewish state," and "yes to the right of return." Such statements exposed "Juha's nail," upon which, a long time ago, the PLO and Hamas hung their explosive belts scheming Israel's ultimate leveling.
At an Independence Day reception for the diplomatic corps at the President's Residence, Lieberman said, "Regardless of when elections will take place, it is clear that Hamas will win convincingly. This will be the result of the recent agreement signed with Hamas by Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas brought Hamas to power in Gaza, and he is now bringing them to power in Judea and Samaria. However, we are determined to prevent Judea and Samaria from becoming the new Gaza. It is clear that the real problem is not settlements in Judea and Samaria but the clear reluctance of the Palestinians time after time to pursue peace."PMO on Peres's Comments: Abbas Never Agreed to Anything
Lieberman called for a change in the approach to dealing with the Palestinian Authority.
"It is time to remove the mask from the face of Mahmoud Abbas and say clearly that he consistently rejects peace," he said.
Peres exposed the agreement in an Independence Day interview with Channel 2 News, during which he said that he had held talks with Abbas at the request of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Peres also said that Netanyahu ultimately backed down from the deal.
"Abbas never agreed to anything. Back then as well he just wanted to receive without giving anything in return,” the PMO told Channel 2 News. “This is his method - to be ambiguous until he is pushed to make a decision, and then run away.”
“Anyone who hugs the terrorist Khaled Mashaal on Memorial Day does not want an agreement,” added the PMO, referring to Abbas’s meeting this week with the leader of Hamas regarding a unity pact signed between the sides.
After EU audit, corruption could become an expensive problem for Ramallah
Some reports have suggested there are murmurings within the European Union about cutting aid to the Palestinian Authority. If true, that threat may be directed as much at Israel as at the Palestinians, according to Oded Eran, a former Israeli ambassador to the European Union and now a senior researcher at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies.Russia Backs Fatah-Hamas Unity Agreement
“The prospect of cutting aid to Ramallah has served as a veiled threat to Israel,” Eran said, “because they assume that doing so would place that financial burden on Israel.”
The Foreign Ministry statement said:Peres: We Are Not Against Unity if Hamas Accepts Quartet Conditions
"In the course of the meeting the main focus was directed at recent inter-Palestinian agreements on national unity issues. …
Restoration of the unity among Palestinians based on the political platform of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Arab Peace Initiative meets the interest of a fair and effective Israel-Palestine settlement, the final cause of which is to fulfill national aspirations of Palestinian people by creating an independent, viable, sovereign state with territorial integrity living in safety and peace with Israel."
The Quartet, of which Russia is one component, demands that the Palestinians commit “to the principles of non-violence, recognition of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations, including the Road Map.”
“We are not against unity if they accept the conditions necessary to be united (the conditions of the Quartet),” Peres said at a reception hosted at his residence in Jerusalem for Israel based members of the Diplomatic Corps. “I believe that diplomacy in an uncertain time can prepare a road that will make the process easier and the future more promising.”US Congress prepares hearings to reconsider Palestinian aid after formation of unity government
Recognizing Israel is one of the key conditions laid out in 2003 by the Middle East Quartet, which includes the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia. The other two main demands are a renunciation of violence and an acceptance of all prior agreements with Israel.
Speaking with The Jerusalem Post, Congressman Eliot Engel (D-New York), ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said no bill was required for aid to be cut to the Palestinians.Why is the Obama Administration Promoting Violence Against Israel?
“I don’t believe legislation is necessary,” Engel said, noting that existing legislation triggers a cut in aid. “That’s law.”
“Somehow the Palestinian Authority seems to have this attitude that we are somehow obligated to keep them afloat,” he added. “Surely he [Abbas] can’t think that we can just disregard something that’s so basic and fundamental to our policy.”
That fundamental requirement to continue receiving aid is the recognition of Israel – a move that Hamas has refused to take, and which Hamas officials have given the US no indication that they are preparing for.
However, the Administration has not upheld this standard. In an interview published on May 2 in Yedioth Aharonoth, an unnamed Administration official said, “I guess we need another intifada to create the circumstances that would allow progress.” The source went on to say “A third intifada would be a tragedy. The Jewish people are supposed to be smart; it is true that they’re also considered a stubborn nation.” The official also stated, “The Palestinians are tired of the status quo. They will get their state in the end – whether through violence or by turning to international organizations.”The Palestinian Authority's Alternatives To Continuing Negotiations With Israel
This is a deeply troubling statement, especially for an Administration that claims to decry bigotry. The use of stereotypes, even those which portray positive attributes, is still a manifestation of bigotry. The statement that the Jewish people are expected to be smart and that Israel is considered a stubborn nation is overtly anti-Semitic and blames the Jewish people for bringing tragedy upon themselves. This stereotype of the Jewish people is hateful and unacceptable. This administration is hypocritical as it claims to be opposed to hateful language and prejudice.
Even before the current crisis in the Israeli-Palestinian talks, some Palestinians had considered the stage that would follow the talks if they were to fail altogether, and had come up with alternatives. One such alternative, turning to the UN, has already begun to take shape, as the Palestinian Authority has asked to join 15 international agreements and treaties. Another alternative – the PLO-Hamas reconciliation – is also in the works, with an agreement signed between them on April 23, 2014. Other alternatives under discussion include international sponsorship for the negotiations, dismantling the PA, ending security coordination with Israel, and a third Intifada.Calling His Efforts “Quixotic,” WaPo Editorial Calls on Kerry to Abandon Idea of Announced Peace Plan
This paper will review these and other options currently being discussed in the PA.
The Post specifically worried that Kerry may make good on past hints of “embracing one of Washington’s hoariest bad ideas, the issuance of a detailed U.S. plan for Palestinian statehood… [which] would satisfy some partisans but lead nowhere.”Lapid Offered $200K to Prove PLO Renounced Terror
Bloomberg columnist Jeffrey Goldberg called on U.S. diplomats to draw lessons from what he described as a series of Israeli gambits aimed at creating space for a Palestinian state stretching back before 1948:
"It is difficult to blame Kerry for expressing frustration with the Israelis (or with the Palestinians) over the current standoff. I endorse his belief that the status quo is unsustainable for Israel and a continued disaster for Palestinians. But over time I’ve noticed that Kerry and President Barack Obama often neglect to mention a true, and relevant, fact about the pursuit of peace in the Middle East: The Israelis pursued a two-state solution even before there was an Israel. The Palestinians, and their Arab advocates, have rejected each previous attempt to bring about such a solution. This does not absolve Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of its responsibility to stop settling its citizens on the West Bank. But it does suggest something about ultimate culpability."
Finance Minister Yair Lapid was challenged to back up his statements from Saturday, when he told the Wall Street Journal that Hamas could be negotiated with, and gave the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as an example of a "former" terror group.Israel rejects US spying allegations as false, ‘malicious’
"It's not like it didn't happen before," Lapid said. "The PLO used to be a terror organization," implying that the group had renounced terrorism.
In response, Jewish philanthropist William Langfan called Lapid out on Monday, offering him a $200,000 contribution if he could prove the PLO is no longer a terror organization.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman on Wednesday morning shot down claims published by Newsweek that Israel was spying on the United States.Report: Turkey Considered Naval Invasion of Israeli Waters
“First of all, these are malicious accusations,” he said in an interview with Israel Radio, adding that there was “no basis” to the report and that Israel was not doing anything even similar to spying on the US.
“I would not agree to any spying on the United States, neither directly nor indirectly,” he said.
A Turkish newspaper has released details of a high-level meeting of the country's military leaders, in which the Turkish government had considered sending warships into Israel as a military escort for the Mavi Marmara flotilla - and the possibility of triggering a war with the Jewish state as a result.Liberman: Arab Israeli Nakba protesters are traitors
On May 31 2010, nine Turkish Islamists were killed on the flotilla after violently attacking IDF soldiers, during an attempt to break Israel's naval blockade on the terrorist group Hamas-enclave Gaza. The incident worsened a growing diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Israel, who had once been close allies.
The rally took place as Israel marked its 66th Independence Day, with Liberman accusing the demonstrators of being traitors.In search of Palestinians who are sickened by PA’s celebration of Sbarro bomber
“Those who marched with flags of the Palestinian Authority, demanding that it not give up on the right of return, are a fifth column whose aim is the destruction of Israel,” he told Army Radio.
He also addressed the demonstration on his Facebook page on Tuesday.
“To those Arabs that took part today in the ‘Nakba Day’ procession and waved Palestinian flags, I suggest that next time they march directly to Ramallah and they stay there,” he wrote.
Yesterday’s post ["5-May-14: The making of a martyr: it takes more than a village"] reported on the Palestinian state funeral given to the remaining body parts of a Palestinian human bomb named Izz Al-Din Al-Masr.Lebanese Catholic Bishop Defends Upcoming Visit to Israel
We received some feedback that suggested this characterization was unfair. They said there are voices in the Palestinian Arab world that are as sickened as people like us are by the unconcealed blood-lust of Hamas, of Islamic Jihad, of Fatah, of the Palestinian Authority and of Mahmoud Abbas.
So here’s an invitation for anyone who has such evidence to send us public, published statements in the Arabic language, in which Palestinian Arab voices condemn what sickens the rest of the world: the process of turning psychopaths like the human bomb who murdered our daughter Malki into martyrs, heroes, figures to be emulated.
Over to you.
The head of the Lebanese Maronite Catholic Church, Bishop Beshara al-Rahi, is being heavily criticized by Hezbollah supporters over his upcoming visit to Israel as part of a Catholic delegation with Pope Francis.Joy greets end of Hamas ban on West Bank newspaper
“I am the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of regions expanding from Turkey to Mauritania, Saudi Arabia and to Iran,” Bishop al-Rahi said concerning his Israel trip, the Lebanese dailyNaharnet reported.
“It is my duty to welcome the Pope in any country in these regions,” he said.
The return of the independent Al-Quds daily generated excitement in Gaza City, and all 1,500 copies that were delivered Wednesday quickly sold out.Israeli Jews Deported to Europe in a Hamas Parody on Israeli National Anthem - English Subtitles.
“Al-Quds is back!” shouted Nabil Baker, a 42-year-old newspaper vendor, as he drove his bike through the streets, selling copies.
Jordanian Journalist: Hitler Was A Million Times More Merciful Than Israel's Leaders
In an article posted on the website of the Jordanian daily Al-Sabil, which is owned by the Muslim Brotherhood, journalist Jamal Al- Shawahin stated that no more than a few hundred or a few dozen Jews and non-Jews were put to death in the Nazi gas chambers, as a punishment for committing treason, and that Jewish circles exploit this minor incident to this day to achieve political gains. Al-Shawahin also compared Israel to Nazi Germany and concluded that the former is currently the world's most criminal regime and that Hitler was "a million times" more merciful than former Israeli prime ministers Ariel Sharon, Yitzhak Shamir and Yitzhak Rabin. He added that Hitler and Palestinian leader Haj Amin Al-Husseini jointly struggled against the British mandate, which allowed Jews to enter Palestine and Arabs to be expelled from it.Jordanian Commentators Demolish Studio While Arguing over Syria War
President Rouhani said to veto Iran WhatsApp ban
The policy is contentious and a proposal to filter WhatsApp has caused a rupture between Rouhani’s administration and a 13-member committee responsible for Internet censorship.
“The issue of banning WhatsApp was raised. The president has ordered a halt on [banning] the site,” Telecommunication Minister Mahmoud Vaezi was quoted as saying.
“Until the time that we have a replacement for these sites, the government opposes filtering them,” he added.
Iran to Break Oil Export Limits for 6th Straight Month
Iran is reportedly set to bust through oil sale caps set by the interim Joint Plan of Action (JPA) for the sixth straight month, according to a report published late Tuesday by Reuters assessing that the Islamic republic will have managed to send abroad an average of 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude exports in April.Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif: We Will Fight Zionists Allegations about Holocaust Denial
The JPA permits Iran only 1 million bpd’s, a level that Tehran has thus far exceeded every single month since the announcement of the deal. Reuters wrote up the April numbers under the headline “Iran’s oil exports fall in April, closer to Western limits,” a gesture toward administration assurances that Iranian energy exports will very shortly crash to such a degree that – by the end of the JPA’s six-month negotiating period – the average figure for exports will indeed converge on Iran’s permitted limits.
Iranian Official Azghradi: The Westerners Are Barbaric Criminals Who Understand Nothing But Force