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1. PA Factions say No to Peace Talks
by Maayana Miskin
Eight Palestinian Authority factions meeting in Syria have rejected peace talks with Israel based on the “two-state solution,” according to Kuwaiti media. Among the factions were Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The groups called on the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), the umbrella group that created the PA, to immediately stop talks with Israel. The PA has agreed to indirect talks with Israel, via United States mediators.
The eight factions slammed US negotiators, and accused special U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell of seeking to buy time for Israel to implement its own plans.
While the PA is currently run by Fatah, which supports negotiations, Hamas swept the PA parliamentary elections in 2006 and continues to enjoy significant support in Judea and Samaria as well as Gaza. Fatah won only 45 out of 132 seats in the 2006 elections.
Islamic Jihad has a policy of boycotting elections in the Palestinian Authority.
Hamas has called to postpone new PA elections due to the Hamas-Fatah split, which has left Hamas in charge of Gaza and Fatah in control of Judea and Samaria. However, Fatah officials have announced that elections will be held in the course of 2010 with or without Hamas approval.
2. British Ambassador in Yemen OK After Terror Attack
by Hillel Fendel
A suicide terrorist, assumed to be from Al-Qaeda, detonated himself near the convoy of the British ambassador to Yemen early Monday, but succeeded in killing only himself. British Ambassador to Yemen Tim Torlot was on his way to the embassy in Sanaa when the attack occurred.
As of shortly after the attack, Al-Qaeda had not claimed responsibility, but Yemen has long been a target of Al-Qaeda. In September 2008, Al-Qaeda terrorists attacked the U.S. embassy in Sanaa, killing 19 people. In March of the same year, three missiles aimed at the same target missed their mark, hitting a girls' school.
A spokesperson for the British embassy confirmed to Reuters that there had been "an incident this morning involving a member of embassy staff," and said there were no UK or embassy member casualties.
Britain and the United States stated intentions to close their embassies in Yemen early this year in the face of Al-Qaeda threats. Both are heavily fortified, surrounded by large sand-bags and machine gun posts.
3. Obama Hosts Muslim Entrepreneurs
by Maayana Miskin
U.S. President Barack Obama began a two-day summit Monday bringing together entrepreneurs from dozens of countries, most of them primarily Muslim. The summit is seen as a continuation of Obama's Cairo address, in which he said he would strive for closer ties with the Muslim world.
The meeting aims to develop economic ties with, and boost development in, the Muslim world. A top Obama aide said the conference was “part of establishing a more multifaceted set of relationships.”
In a similar move, the Obama administration is set to have the U.S. Global Technology and Innovation Fund award contracts to Muslims, in an effort to increase investment in the Muslim world.
Obama's focus on economic and social issues is intended to enhance, not replace, America's involvement in political and defense issues in the Middle East, aides said. The president remains committed to a variety of goals in the Middle East, they explained, among them Israeli-Arab negotiations.
Some of Obama's Middle East policies have proven controversial, particularly his efforts to talk to Iran and his condemnation of Israeli construction in Jerusalem. The latter policy sparked a rally in New York yesterday against Obama's Israel policy.
4. IDF Kills Long-Wanted Terrorist Murderer in Hevron
by Hillel Fendel
Israeli forces killed a terrorist this morning who had been wanted for six years for murdering an Israeli policeman. They then razed the building in which he was hiding.
The incident, a joint Shabak-Border Guard-IDF operation, began around 7:30 this morning (Monday) in the Beit Awa neighborhood near Hevron. The forces surrounded the house in which the terrorist was hiding, and called on him to surrender. The terrorist refused and opened fire on the forces, and in the ensuring exchange of fire, the terrorist was killed – and the forces then destroyed the building.
The dead terrorist, Ali Ahmed Switi, had been wanted for exactly six years for having murdered Border Guard policeman Yaniv Mashiach, 20, of Jaffa, and wounding two of his colleagues. The incident occurred near Hevron on April 25, 2004, just an hour after the beginning of Memorial Day for Israel's fallen soldiers, when their vehicle was shot at.
5. Orlev: Arab MKs Who Visited Libya Can't Serve in Next Term
by Gil Ronen
MK Zevulun Orlev (Jewish Home) said Sunday that six Arab MKs who visited Libya have disqualified themselves from running for the Knesset again.
Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi hosted six Arab members of the Israeli Knesset and forty other Arab public figures from Israel Sunday. He spoke before them for more than an hour inside a giant Bedouin tent in the city of Sirat.
MK Orlev noted that a law which he had initiated, and that was passed in the previous Knesset, determines that a candidate for Knesset who illegally visited an enemy state in the seven years preceding the election will be seen as having supported armed struggle against Israel and disqualified from running.
Libya an enemy?
Orlev said that he checked with the Defense Ministry and Ministry of Interior and confirmed that Libya is on the list of enemy states, and that the MKs did not receive permission to travel to Libya. The MKs who traveled to Libya include Ahmed Tibi and Taleb A-Sana of Raam-Taal and Muhammad Barakeh of Hadash..
Orlev sent a letter to Judge Ayala Procaccia, the Chairwoman of the Central Elections Committee for elections to the 19th Knesset, and asked that the committee meet soon to decide that the participating MKs and the parties that they represent are disqualified from running for another term.
MK David Rotem (Israel Our Home), Chairman of the Knesset's Constitution Law and Justice Committee, said in a discussion of the MKs' trip earlier in the day that Libya is not formally considered an enemy state.
6. IDF Foils Gaza Bomb Attempt
by Maayana Miskin
IDF soldiers found three mines Sunday that had been planted next to the Gaza security barrier. The mines were located during a routine security check and were destroyed in a controlled explosion; no injuries were reported.
IDF spokesmen said the alert soldiers who found the charges had foiled a planned attack. The incident is the third in under three weeks in which IDF soldiers have foiled attempts to plant bombs near the Gaza barrier. Last week, soldiers shot and killed a terrorist as he attempted to plant bombs in northern Gaza.
Terrorists plant bombs along the barrier primarily in an effort to target soldiers manning the structure, which runs between Gaza and the western Negev. In early 2008, terrorists detonated a string of explosives to take down the barrier in southern Gaza, allowing hundreds of thousands of Hamas-run Gaza residents to flood into Egypt.
Recently, residents of Gaza have begun a series of protests demanding an end to the no-go zone around the Gaza barrier - an area on either side of the barrier which only soldiers may enter. They have been joined by several foreign left-wing protestors, who say the small strip of land in the no-go zone should be used for agriculture.
The IDF remains firm in its stance that the zone is critical for allowing soldiers to spot terrorists and prevent them from reaching the barrier itself. Soldiers fired warning shots at a group of protesters on Saturday when they entered the no-go zone and refused to leave. Sources in Gaza later claimed that multiple protestors had been wounded.
7. A 'Ray of Hope'? Govt. May Approve Gush Etzion Community
by Maayana Miskin
The Gush Etzion village of Nativ Ha'avot near Elazar may receive authorization, government attorneys have stated.
Peace Now petitioned the Supreme Court to demolish the community, which was built before all of the necessary authorizations were received. However, the state says it may grant retroactive approval to the buildings, a process that often takes place elsewhere in the country.
The government plans to conduct a thorough survey, and to determine whether the community is built entirely on state land, or if some buildings are situated on privately owned Arab lands. If the entire village is located on state lands, it may be approved; if not, it will be destroyed, the state will tell the court at the hearing on Monday.
MKs Aryeh Eldad and Ze'ev Elkin of the Land of Israel Lobby praised the government for the move. “The government's response shows that it is taking an equal approach to the settlers, and understands that in Judea and Samaria, as in the rest of the country, gaps between the pace of construction and the authorization process can be bridged in a tolerant manner, and not with demolition orders,” they said.
'Ray of hope'
The lobby called on the government to take a similar approach regarding the neighborhoods of Charesha and HaYovel, which are slated for demolition. Plans to demolish the HaYovel neighborhood, in Eli, have drawn media attention due to the fact that two officers from the neighborhood fell in battle in recent years.
The Yesha Human Rights organization praised the decision as well. “The government's notice to the Supreme Court regarding Nativ Ha'avot is the first ray of hope that Jews in Judea and Samaria will be treated equally, instead of facing discrimination when it comes to construction and planning, as they have in the past,” the group said.
The government's response “is also a test for the Supreme Court, which now needs to prove that it is not ruled by political consideration,” it concluded.
