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1. Netanyahu on the Offense: Jerusalem Building to Continue
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday switched from apologies to the Obama administration for building for Jews in Jerusalem and went on the offense. Buoyed by virtually unanimous Cabinet support, he told Likud Knesset Members at a party meeting, “Building in Jerusalem and in all other places will continue in the same way that has been accepted in the last 42 years.”
He added that the construction does not harm Arabs. Last week, the Prime Minister apologised to visiting U.S. Vice President Joe Biden over the timing of a government announcement that 1,600 new housing units will be built in the Jewish neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo.
Ramat Shlomo shares the same status as French Hill, Ramot and Gilo, totally Jewish areas that are considered to be politically “untouchable” by any agreement for a new Palestinian Authority state within Israel’s current borders. The neighborhood is not far from the largely Arab-populated area of Shuafat, but is surrounded on all other sides by the Jewish areas of Ramot, Ramat Eshkol and Golda Meir Blvd.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s sudden change of pace came in response to a Likud caucus question by strongly nationalist MK Tzipi Hotovely concerning the 10-month building freeze on new homes for Jews in Judea and Samaria.
He stated that the freeze, which was a “goodwill” gesture to U.S. President Barack Obama to entice the PA to resume negotiations, is "binding” and will not be extended.
The current crisis with the United States, the worst since the 1970s, peaked after Biden arrived in Israel simultaneously with a White House announcement that the PA agreed to American-mediated talks with Israel and with the Israeli government statement on new Ramat Shlomo construction.
The Obama government has insisted it is not imposing terms on Israel but also has been paving the ground for Israel to stop building in the restored parts of Jerusalem until a final agreement is made with the PA. However, the Arab world has stood firm that there is no ground for negotiations and that all of its claims to the Old City, eastern, northern and southern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria must be met.
The current crisis has placed both Prime Minister Netanyahu and senior American officials in a bad light. Most media have roundly criticized the Prime Minister for embarrassing Biden, although the Israeli leader insisted he had nothing to do with the timing of the announcement of new homes in Ramat Shlomo (pictured).
Biden and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have been severely criticized for over-reacting and for what appears to many as gross interference in Israeli affairs.
Reporters covering the U.S. State Department also questioned its spokesman Philip Crowley for referring to Netanyahu without the title “Prime Minister.” Crowley replied, “That was my choice of words."
The same reporter then commented, “Why three days after what happened, and the Vice President’s own condemnation of that happened, was the need felt to deliver this quite harsh rebuke [by Clinton]?”
Crowley sidestepped the query and also tried to dodge reporters' doubts that the Arab world wants to continue with indirect talks.
2. Mitchell Delays Return Trip, US ‘Waiting’ for Netanyahu
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell has delayed his scheduled trip to Israel on Tuesday while the United States waits for a formal response from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on his intentions concerning a building project for Jews in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu issued an "informal" response on Monday night when he told Likud Knesset Members, “Building in Jerusalem and in all other places will continue in the same way that has been accepted in the last 42 years.”
The government announced last week that another stage has been completed towards building 1,600 housing units in northwest Jerusalem's Ramat Shlomo neighborhood populated entirely by Jews, a part of the capital restored to Israel in the 1967 Six Day War which the United States does not recognize as under Israeli sovereignty.
Mitchell was scheduled to meet with President Shimon Peres Tuesday afternoon, but the President’s office stated, “The U.S. Embassy in Israel contacted the Office of the President this morning to notify it that the United States Special Envoy for the Middle East, Mr. George Mitchell, will not arrive in Israel today.”
Obama Under Fire
U.S. President Barack Obama is behind the public chastising of Prime Minister Netanyahu over the housing plan, according to the New York Times. His handling of the diplomatic crisis with Israel is being increasingly criticized in the United States, with reporters confused following different signals by different American officials.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is waiting for a “formal response” on the building plans, department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters on Monday. Asked whether Round Two of American-mediated talks depends on this answer, he said, “I’m saying that we asked for a formal response from the Israeli Government and when we get that response, we’ll react to it.”
He refused to relate to suggestions that Clinton had demanded that the building project be halted. It is estimated that at least two more years will pass before all the permits are signed for work to begin.
As for the timing of Mitchell’s trip, Crowley said, “This is a fluid situation. As of this moment, he’s still in the United States. But we want to make sure that in scheduling the next round of talks, that we have an environment that allows us to move the process forward."
The Obama administration apparently is not making any effort to tone down the rhetoric against Prime Minister Netanyahu, and American political analysts have commented that the president may be trying to topple the Israeli government.
White House political advisor David Axelrod on Sunday called the announcement by Israel of progress in the Ramat Shlomo project an "affront" and an "insult," surprising Israeli government officials who expected calmer words.
American Jewish and non-Jewish groups have rallied to the side of Israel, charging the Obama administration with miscalculating widespread Israeli opposition to American efforts to create a de facto Palestinian Authority claim to parts of Jerusalem.
“Clinton's demands on Netanyahu might be impossible for him to fulfill,” according to Foreign Policy’s “The Cable.” It quoted an unnamed Netanyahu aide as saying that “there is no faith within the Israeli government that final status issues such as borders can be negotiated through a third party, even the Americans.”
3. GOP Leads Backlash against Obama; Democrats Uneasy
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Republican Party leaders attacked the Obama administration Monday with unusually harsh language, charging it with an "irresponsible” position against an ally. "In an effort to ingratiate our country with the Arab world, this administration has shown a troubling eagerness to undercut our allies and friends,” said the GOP’s only Jewish Republican Congressman, Eric Cantor of Virginia.
He went so far as to say that the dispute "jeopardizes America's national security."
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has taken the heat for the current crisis that erupted when a government minister announced the approval of the fourth of seven stages for building new homes for Jews in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood. Totally Jewish, it is located in a part of Jerusalem that was restored to Israel in the Six Day War when Jerusalem was reunited, but not recognized as such by the United States.
The initial media and political blows were delivered to Prime Minister Netanyahu, who apologized to visiting U.S. Vice President Joe Biden for the timing of the announcement with his arrival that was aimed at promoting American-mediated talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel for a new PA state.
However, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton followed up with an unprecedented and scathing public attack on the Prime Minister. Republican legislators did not miss a beat as most political commentators stated that Clinton ”over-reacted.”
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the leading Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, charged that the Obama government’s condemnations of "an indispensable ally and friend of the United States…undermine both our allies and the peace process, while encouraging the enemies of America and Israel alike.
She noted that President Obama has taken "softer approaches" towards the Palestinian Authority, Syria and Iran.
Senator Sam Brownback’s office stated, “It' is hard to see how spending a weekend condemning Israel for a zoning decision in its capital city amounts to a positive step towards peace."
Democrats also are uneasy over the crisis, which comes only eight months before Congressional elections. Polls have shown that President Obama’s political stature is sinking.
Laura Rozen of Politico.com wrote on Monday that Democratic legislators are looking for some kind of political leadership from U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell, who is a former senator and is President Obama’s ”make-or-break” representative in the PA-Israeli struggle.
She quoted a senior Democratic foreign policy leader as saying that the failure of top Obama officials and Mitchell to make contact with Congressman is the “the same exact mistake of the first two Clinton years with majorities in both Houses. You'd think they would have learned the lesson of 'never take your allies for granted' at least after this year."
Veteran Middle East peace negotiator Aaron David Miller told Rozen, "The tree they're up on this one is very tall. Paradoxically, it may be up to Bibi [Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu] to help them climb down."
4. Fatah Honors Mass Terrorist after Biden Leaves
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Leaders of the Fatah party, headed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, waited for U.S. Vice President Joe Biden to leave the region four days ago and then honored the terrorist who carried out the massacre on the Coast Road in 1978.
They arranged a day of study on Sunday in praise of Dalal Mughrabi, who murdered 37 people in the bus-hijacking massacre before she was finally killed.
Fatah leaders last week quietly named a Ramallah square after Mughrabi despite earlier statements by the Palestinian Authority that it would postpone the ceremony, which was scheduled at the same time Biden was in the country. The PA originally announced a delay due to “technical reasons” but then recognized the new name after Fatah activists arrived at the square and carried out a ceremony.
A poster at the scene proclaimed, "On the anniversary of the Coastal Road Operation we renew our commitment and our oath that we uphold the charge and that we will not stray from the path of the Shahids - Shahida (Martyr) Dalal Mughrabi Square, Shabiba students' movement.”
Fatah spokesman Dr. Faiz Abu Aytah called Mughrabi "a symbol in the history of our national struggle" and emphasized "the right of Fatah, of the Palestinian Authority, and of the Palestinian people to celebrate the anniversary of her martyrdom."
The PA has committed to halt violence and incitement against Israel.
5. Brazil’s Leader Snubs Mt. Herzl but Will Visit Arafat’s Grave
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman boycotted Monday’s speech to the Knesset by visiting Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva in retaliation for the visitor’s refusal to attend a customary wreath-laying ceremony at the grave of Zionist founder Theodore Herzl.
However Lula, whose country is being embraced by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, plans to pay his respects at the grave of Yasser Arafat in Ramallah.
In another display of a new kind of diplomacy that foregoes niceties in the face of foreign countries’ snubs of Israel, Lieberman’s office said that Lula's departure from the accepted practice of visiting Herzl’s grave is a serious matter.
Last July, the Israeli Foreign Minister visited Lula as part of a 10-day trip to try to improve economic cooperation with South America while deflecting Iranian overtures in the region. On the eve of his visit, a leading member of Lula’s party called Lieberman “a racist and a fascist.”
Both President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told Lula of the dangers of the Iranian regime, but Lula was one of the first international leaders to recognize the re-election of Ahmadinejad last June, despite widespread charges that the vote was rigged.
Brazil has shown signs of drifting towards the Iranian-Hizbullah-Venezuela axis while improving trade relations with Israel. Lula announced on Monday its final approval for a free grade agreement between Israel and the Mercosur bloc, a regional traded agreement that includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
6. Soldier Wounded by PA Rioters
by Maayana Miskin
An IDF soldier was lightly wounded on Monday in a clash with Palestinian Authority rioters in Bir Zeit, near Jerusalem. The soldier was treated at the scene and then taken to a Jerusalem area hospital.
Dozens of PA Arab rioters were involved in the clash and hurled stones at soldiers, who responded with tear gas and other non-lethal means of riot dispersal. Four rioters were lightly wounded, and were taken to PA medical centers for treatment.
The Bir Zeit riot was one of many riots in the Jerusalem area and throughout Judea and Samaria in recent days. Riots have been inspired by PA Muslim leaders, who have called on Muslims to “defend Al-Aksa,” the mosque on the Temple Mount which Muslim leaders claim is under threat from “Jewish extremists.”
On Sunday, dozens of PA Arabs rioted at the Beit Jala checkpoint, next to Bethlehem and south of Jerusalem, and several Israeli motorists in Judea and Samaria came under attack by rioters throwing stones and firebombs.
On Saturday, PA Arabs and foreign activists rioted in the Bethlehem region, at the Kalandia checkpoint north of Jerusalem and at the Shechem Gate in Jerusalem's Old City. Dozens of young PA Arab men clashed with police at Shechem Gate in protest of not being allowed to enter the Temple Mount for fear of violent riots. The men were allowed to pray at a site adjacent to the Temple Mount.
Riots were reported in Hevron as well, where PA Arabs and Israeli Jews threw stones at each other. One Jewish woman was arrested.
7. Despite Apology, Danon Backs Netanyahu
by Yoni Kempinski
Arutz Sheva TV spoke with Likud MK Danny Danon, who has been very active in support of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and against the construction freeze. He expressed his support for Prime Minister Netanyahu in the current crisis with the United States.
In the following video, Danon explains that Netanyahu's apology was acceptable because of what the Prime Minister called problematic timing of the announcement for new housing in a part of Jerusalem that the United States does not recognize. MK Danon added that on the issue of the right of Jews to build in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Netanyahu "was very clear and said he was elected to implement that ideology."
"The remarks from Hillary Clinton are unacceptable", determined Danon. "The Prime Minister will be stronger after we will go to the United States and say clearly that we will continue to build in all parts of Jerusalem
