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JERUSALEM — The paradox that is Israel — wealthy, dynamic and safe, yet mistrusted, condemned and nervous — was on full display on Wednesday as the country mourned its fallen soldiers and began celebrating its 64th Independence Day.
Commentators on the left and the right stuck to their scripts, with the left asserting that the country’s treatment of the Palestinians and its regional saber rattling have made it isolated and stagnant, and the right glorifying Israel’s accomplishments: high-tech innovations, long life expectancies and democracy.
JERUSALEM — Israel's military chief said Thursday that other countries have readied their armed forces for a potential strike against Iran's nuclear sites to keep Tehran from acquiring atomic weapons.
Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz did not specify which nations might be willing to support or take direct action against Iran. Still, his comments were one of the strongest hints yet that Israel may have the backing of other countries to strike the Islamic Republic to prevent it from developing nuclear arms.
"The military force is ready," Gantz said. "Not only our forces, but other forces as well."
ULPANA OUTPOST, West Bank — A fast-approaching deadline to demolish the homes of 30 families in an unauthorized West Bank settlement outpost is deepening fractures in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, with some hard-liners warning the ruling coalition will fall if the buildings come down.
As he enters his fourth year in office, Netanyahu is walking a fraying tightrope, declaring himself committed to making peace with the Palestinians while making concessions to settlers who have illegally staked claim to territory Palestinians want for a future state.
RAMALLAH, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday renewed his calls on Arabs and Muslims all over the world to visit Jerusalem.
Abbas' earlier call to visit the city was opposed by the some Islamic Palestinian groups which considered the visits of Arabs and Muslims as a sign of normalization with Israel.
State-run Wafa news agency quoted Abbas as saying that "we called and we are still calling our Arab, Muslim and Christian brothers to visit Palestine and Jerusalem."
NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Settlers in the northern West Bank set up a roadblock and attacked a Nablus village on Thursday, a PA official said.
Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settler activity in the northern West Bank, said that settlers blocked a main road that links the West Bank town of Huwwara to Tulkarem and Qalqiliya.
Settlers prevented Palestinian vehicles from passing through, causing a large traffic jam. Around 12 settlers also attacked the village of Urif in Nablus, clashing with local villagers.
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The United States said Wednesday it was concerned by efforts to restrict Palestinian access to information on the Internet and would raise the issue with the Palestinian Authority.
The Palestinian Authority recently began blocking access to as many as eight opposition news websites, according to Palestinian officials who oppose the decision.
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The largest telecommunications company in the occupied territories has no choice but to enforce orders issued by the Palestinian Authority, its chief executive said Wednesday.
Ammar Aker says PalTel conducts its operations in compliance with regulatory and legal instructions, but has no further involvement in decisions imposed by the government.
"Our role is to implement those orders and instructions and not to enter into such matters that the company cannot deal with or accept to be part of," Aker said in an emailed statement.
The number of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails has grown to 2,000, with more preparing to join the protest next week, according to human rights groups in the West Bank.
The Israeli prison service is taking punitive measures against hunger strikers, including solitary confinement, the confiscation of personal belongings, transfers and denial of family visits, say Palestinian organisations.
JERUSALEM // A Hamas official denied a published report yesterday that Ismail Haniyeh, the Islamist group's prime minister, had been elected to head the Gaza political bureau, the territory's most powerful political institution.
The secret vote of the 15-member bureau was held in the past two weeks, the report in the Israeli daily Haaretz said, quoting unnamed Hamas officials.
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum yesterday challenged the report but said he could not comment further, citing the group's strict policy of secrecy on internal matters.
The Palestinian Authority's capital on the West Bank has had a persuasive veneer of prosperity for the past five years, but there are fears that the economic boom may soon turn to a very painful bust. Hugh Naylor, Foreign Correspondent, reports
RAMALLAH // Sari Sakakini is under no illusions. He admits his restaurant sits on over-priced land, serving gourmet food to heavily indebted customers in a place still reeling under the harsh reality of Israel's occupation.
AMMAN — Jordan's Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh submitted his resignation on Thursday to King Abdullah II, barely six months after forming a government to bring in much-needed reforms, a senior official said.
"His Majesty, the king, accepted Khasawneh's resignation Thursday morning," he told AFP without elaborating.
It was unclear why Khasawneh quit, but news reports quoted sources as saying that he was unhappy after the king extended parliament's ordinary session until June 25.
It was early in the morning and the tony suburb was waking up to its day. Young parents rushed to get their little ones into the car, headed for nursery school, leaving behind their designer homes and lush gardens. The morning joggers finished their running quota for the day, decked out in their latest-fashion athletic gear. At the bus stops, children waited to get picked up for school, while their parents made their way into work in the big city. Within an hour the suburb would be emptied of most of its residents. An ancient view could be seen in the surrounding hills and valley around.
On my list of things to leave out - after the prime minister's "leaving-out interview" on the country's economy ("if we leave out the Arabs and the ultra-Orthodox, our situation is excellent" ) - are the threats against Iran this past winter. At least so I can sleep better.
First of all Mazal Tov to us all: Israel will be celebrating its 64th Independence Day tomorrow. We will all go to parties, see friends, and probably eat too much at tomorrow’s barbecues.
I am a Zionist, a proud Muslim Zionist, and I love Israel, but this was not always the case. In fact, for many years I was quite the extreme opposite. I experienced the high levels of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel activity taking place on British university campuses, because I was the anti-Semitic, anti-Israel activist.
This is a unique time in the Jewish calendar, a period when bitterness and sweetness are mixed together. The just concluded Passover holiday marks the journey of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Holy Land. Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorates the murder of 6 million innocent Jewish martyrs and heroes. Israeli Memorial Day is observed with solemnity as Israelis gather by the gravesides of their fallen soldiers, and is followed immediately by Israeli Independence Day, a joyous and celebratory occasion.
Palestinian politics continue to be shrouded in secrecy. The reconciliation deal between Hamas and Fatah signed in Cairo last May is in danger of collapsing; elections are nowhere in sight; and reports of internal conflicts in both camps continue to emerge.
The termination of the gas agreement between Israel and Egypt deviates from the rules of normal commerce and from normal disagreements between supplier and purchaser.
Without warning, Palestinian Interior Minister Said Abu-Ali decided to close the Palestinian Human Rights Foundation (Monitor) offices in the West Bank. He claimed that his decision was based on the Law of Charitable Associations and Community Organizations, Law No.1.
I was pleased when, several weeks ago, Larry Cohler-Esses called me and asked my advice about his Cairo interview with Hamas leader Dr. Mousa Abu Marzook.
I told him that, over the six years that I have been dealing with Hamas, I’ve learned that, contrary to what I’d been taught, Hamas is first and foremost a Palestinian national movement, and only secondly an Islamic religious movement. Were they first a religious movement guided by the word of God, change and reform would be nearly impossible.
After winning the Kadima primaries on March 27, Shaul Mofaz gave his first television interview as head of the party. He immediately started attacking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, especially his policies and statements regarding Iran.
“[Netanyahu] wants to create an image that he is the protector of Israel,” stated the Iranian-born Mofaz. He then went on to describe Netanyahu’s Iran policy as not just "spin," but worse. Mofaz warned against an early attack on Iran, which he said could be “disastrous” and bring “limited results” in terms of curbing Iran’s nuclear program.
Links:
[1] http://www.americantaskforce.org/print/24547
[2] http://www.americantaskforce.org/printmail/24547
[3] http://www.americantaskforce.org/printpdf/24547
[4] http://www.americantaskforce.org/rss/wpr
[5] https://www.americantaskforce.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=1
[6] http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/26/world/middleeast/at-64-israel-celebrates-but-not-without-wariness.html?_r=2&ref=middleeast
[7] http://www.statesman.com/news/nation/israel-army-chief-other-nations-could-strike-iran-2326018.html
[8] http://www.statesman.com/news/nation/west-bank-settler-post-faces-demolition-deadline-2324340.html
[9] http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-04/25/c_123036988.htm
[10] http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=479885
[11] http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=479874
[12] http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=479638
[13] http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/26/palestinian-prisoners-join-hunger-strike
[14] http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/hamas-denies-haniyeh-was-secretly-voted-in-to-head-gaza-bureau
[15] http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/ramallah-is-booming-but-residents-wait-for-the-bubble-to-burst
[16] http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gYBXQbIKUjBAg_SGfqgMEjx0BmwA?docId=CNG.455f1840ba4522127e46bb079b023cf8.921
[17] http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/israel-independence-day-2012/outposts-2012-coming-to-a-west-bank-hill-near-you-1.426321
[18] http://www.haaretz.com/opinions/dear-mr-netanyahu-will-israel-attack-iran-1.425733
[19] http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/strenger-than-fiction/when-i-m-64-farewell-to-hysteria-welcome-to-pragmatism-1.426514
[20] http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4220976,00.html
[21] http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/04/25/3093866/op-ed-investing-in-iron-dome-enhances-mideast-stability
[22] http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/editorial/hamass-crisis-of-leadership-is-terrible-timing
[23] http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/business/2012/04/politicalyoud-better-believe-it.html
[24] http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2012/04/monitor-in-lebanon-protests-clos.html
[25] http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/04/25/hardline-pragmatist.html
[26] http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2012/al-monitor/israel-domestic-backlash-growsbr.html
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