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1. Israel: Best Economy in the West
by Hillel Fendel
Israel’s economy is the fastest-growing in the West, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) reports.
Israel's Gross National Product grew by 4.5% in the year 2010,
according to CBS data and estimates – 0.5% more than had been expected.
This compares with only 2.7% in the other 33 countries of the
Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD). Israel
became an OECD member state this past September.
In 2009, despite the great worldwide economic crash, Israel’s economy
grew by 0.8% - and by 4.2% in 2008. The GNP per capita grew by 2.7% this
year, compared with a drop of 1.1% the year before. In the OECD as a
whole, this year’s per capita GNP grew by 2.3%.
Israel is also doing better in the employment arena than the rest of
the OECD, with a 6.7% unemployment rate, compared with 8.3% in the other
countries.
The CBS notes three notable developments in Israel's economy during
2010: Exports slowed during the third quarter, following the growth
spurt in the second half of 2009; rapid growth of private consumption
began to slow down; and investments in residential buildings and the
like continued to grow.
2. PA to Ask UN to Declare Jewish Yesha Communities Illegal
by Elad Benari
Officials in the Palestinian Authority said on Wednesday that the PA
plans to ask the United Nations Security Council in the next few days to
declare the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria illegal and demand a
halt to construction of new Jewish homes in these areas.
The Associated Press obtained a draft of the resolution and made some of its contents public on Wednesday.
According to the AP report, the resolution “Reaffirms that the Israeli
settlements established in the Palestinian Territory occupied since
1967, including East Jerusalem, are illegal and constitute a major
obstacle to the achievement of a just, lasting and comprehensive
peace...”
The resolution that goes on to demand that “Israel, the occupying Power,
immediately and completely ceases all settlement activities in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and that it
fully respect all of its legal obligations in this regard...”
The draft, dated December 21, does not call for sanctions to be taken
against Israel but rather “Urges in this regard the intensification of
international and regional diplomatic efforts to support and invigorate
the peace process towards the achievement of a comprehensive, just and
lasting peace in the Middle East.”
A senior PA official told AP on condition of anonymity that the
conciliatory language in the draft was added in hopes of winning U.S.
support.
So far, however, the proposal has received a cool reception in
Washington, with State Department spokesman Mark Toner saying on
Wednesday that while the U.S. agrees that continued construction in
Judea and Samaria would be “corrosive” to peace efforts, it also
believes that negotiations are the only way to achieve peace.
“We therefore consistently oppose any attempt to take final status
issues to the (Security) Council,” said Toner. “Such efforts do not move
us closer to our goal of two states living side by side in peace and
security.”
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said in response to the
draft that “By choosing unilateralism over direct talks, the
Palestinians are declaring that they renounce peace altogether. They are
trying everything except to talk.”
While even PA officials acknowledge that moves such as the draft
resolution will have little impact, they have admitted that they want
the world to send a tough message to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu,
who they believe is not serious about pursuing peace.
As PA representative at the U.N., Riyad Mansour, said, the new
resolution resembles previous ones, but that the timing is important.
“The entire world knows that the settlements are the major obstacle
before a peace deal,” he told AP. “This resolution doesn't include
sanctions, but it would form political pressure on Israel to implement
the two-state solution.”
%InAd1%
3. Fayyad: No 'Facebook State' for the PA
by Chana Ya'ar
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad is not looking for a
“Facebook State” – and moreover, he is convinced he isn't building one.
Fayyad told the Reuters news agency Wednesday he expects more countries
around the world will fall into line and announce formal recognition of
the PA as a new country, which is the way the PA would prefer to create
its state with no peace, no recognition of Israel as the home of the
Jewish people, no agreement on the "refugee" issue and no negotiated
final status agreement with Israel.
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon last week wrote in his personal
blog that the “state of Facebook is more real than the state of
Palestine.” He compared recognition of such an entity with clicking on
the “Like” button on the social networking site. Such an entity would
lack designated borders, and would carry no authority or sovereignty.
“Irresponsible governments are quick to 'Like' the Palestinian state
without actually checking out its profile: an authority without
sovereignty, with no borders or territorial continuity, no economic
ability or democratic culture... The State of Facebook is more real than
the Palestinian state which would be created unilaterally without
negotiation with the elected government in Jerusalem,” Ayalon wrote.
Seventeen years of talks failed to deliver his hoped-for state, Fayyad
told reporters, adding that it was "unlikely" that the current Israeli
administration "could be trusted" to do so.
Formal recognition of the PA as an independent country by numerous
other nations, he said, could “enshrine” such a state in all of Judea,
Samaria and Gaza.
The international campaign to persuade various nations to recognize the
PA as an independent country has picked up steam over the past several
months. At least five Latin American countries announced they would
grant the PA diplomatic status as a new nation, even without formal
recognition by the United Nations and without any specific borders or
sovereignty.
Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay and Paraguay all said they would
recognize the entity as a new country along Israel's 1949 Armistice Line
with Jordan and Egypt, which they referred to as the “1967 borders.”
Much of the international community uses the term, since that was
Israel's demarcation line prior to the 1967 Six Day War.
That indefensible line did not include the Golan Heights from which
Syrian artillery peppered the Jewish communities along the Sea of
Galilee. Judea, Samaria, Gaza and part of Jerusalem were restored to the
Jewish State in the 1967 defensive war fought against the attacking
neighboring Arab states.
Fayyad has long planned for the unilateral declaration of an
independent PA country within Israel's current borders. He announced
last year in a speech delivered in Arabic that he would unilaterally
declare the State of Palestine in August 2011 if no final status
agreement with Israel was complete by that deadline.
“I am not looking for a “Facebook State” – or as I call it myself, a
Mickey Mouse State,” Fayyad stated Wednesday. “If it doesn't matter, why
did [Ayalon] bother to write a comment on it?”
4. Wikileak: UAE Mulled Staying Mum on Mabhouh
by Gil Ronen
When the United Arab Emirates learned details of the assassination of
Hamas man Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in January, it considered staying silent on
the matter, US cables revealed by Wikileaks show. However, it chose to
go public with the news because silence would be seen as siding with
Israel, the Reuters news agency reported.
According to Dubai police reports, Mabhouh was assassinated in his hotel room by a team using forged passports and disguises.
"The two options discussed were to say nothing at all, or to reveal
more or less the full extent of the UAE's investigations," U.S.
Ambassador Richard Olson wrote in a diplomatic cable, based on a
conversation he had with a UAE government media adviser.
The first option "would have been perceived as protecting the Israelis," the ambassador wrote.
The cables show the al-Mabhouh hit was discussed for nine days at the
UAE government's highest levels before being released to the public.
"The statement was carefully drafted not to point any fingers, but the
reference ... to a gang with Western passports will be read locally as
referring to the Mossad," Olson wrote.
Dubai officials were not immediately available for comment on the leaked cables.
%InAd2%
5. Another Huge Gas Field Confirmed Off Haifa Shore
by Gil Ronen
Initial drilling confirms that a huge gas field has been found off
Israel's Mediterranean shore. The amount of natural gas in the Leviathan
gas field is estimated at 450 billion cubic meters - almost twice the
size of the previous large gas discovery at the Tamar field. The find was announced in June but the size could not be confirmed until now.
About one month ago, the partners in the drilling project reached their
target layer in an underwater geological structure 135 km west of
Haifa. The Sedco Express rig drilled through 1,634 meters of water and
penetrated to 5,100 meters under sea level. When it reached a layer of
sand, advanced geological tests were conducted, and their results
confirmed the presence of the gas.
One of the partners, Delek Energy, said Wednesday that of all the gas
fields discovered in deep waters worldwide in the last ten years, the
Leviathan is the largest
"This is happy news for the Israeli energy market, and the results have great economic and strategic importance," it said.
Trading in stocks of drilling partners "Delek Drilling," "Avner Oil
Searches" and "Ratio" were halted earlier Wednesday, after they
announced they would issue a "meaningful report."
"We have received the most important energy-related news since the
founding of Israel, that will undoubtedly bring a blessing and have a
meaningful influence on many fields [of endeavor] in Israel,"
Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau said glowingly Wednesday.
If Israel handles itself properly, he predicted, it can use the gas to
become a supplier of gas in the Middle East. The finds "will enable
Israeli citizens to enjoy clean, cheap electricity production, and the
income the state can expect following these discoveries."
6. Obama Appoints Robert Ford as Ambassador to Syria
by Chana Ya'ar
The White House has announced the appointment of a new ambassador to Syria -- a controversial move by U.S.
President Barack Obama, who used his Constitutional muscle on Wednesday
to name the envoy while the Senate was not in session.
The previous ambassador to Syria was withdrawn by former President
George W. Bush in 2005 in response to the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri,
as well as its support for Saddah Hussein-sympathizers and terrorism in
general. There were strong indications at the time that Syria was
behind Hariri's murder, although Damascus denied involvement in the
truck bombing.
The Obama administration has contended since taking office that
re-establishing diplomatic relations would be the best way to convince
Syria – listed by the State Department as a “state sponsor of terrorism”
– to change its policies towards Israel and the rest of the Middle
East.
Robert Ford, a career diplomat who has been waiting in the wings since
his confirmation hearings were completed in February, was appointed to
become the new envoy. Ford, who has previously served as U.S. Ambassador
to Algeria, was not confirmed by the Senate, which has refused to
consider sending an ambassador to Syria.
“Making undeserved concessions to Syria tells the regime in Damascus
that it can continue to pursue its dangerous agenda and not face any
consequences from the U.S.,” explained the incoming chairperson of the
House Foreign Affairs Committee, Republican Representative Ileana
Ros-Lehtinen. She told reporters in a prepared statement, “That is the
wrong message to be sending to a regime which continues to harm and
threaten U.S. interests and those of such critical allies as Israel.”
Obama used a Constitutional power that enables him to make recess
appointments in order to work around the impasse. Under the loophole,
the president can fill a post when the Senate is not in session, and the
appointment is valid until the end of the next session of Congress.
Presidents often use the power to make appointments when Senate
confirmation is blocked.
Other appointments that were filled Wednesday by Obama during the
Senate recess included envoy posts to Azerbaijan and NATO allies Turkey
and the Czech Republic.
%InAd3%
7. 2 Female Pilots, 1 Female Combat Navigator Among IAF Grads
by Chana Ya'ar
Two female pilots and a female combat navigator are set to receive
their wings from Israel Air Force (IAF) Commander Maj.-Gen. Ido
Nechushtan when they graduate Thursday from the 161st IAF Pilot Course.
President Shimon Peres, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and IDF Chief of
General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi will also greet the new graduates.
A significant number of graduates this year (22.5 percent) originate
from the southern region, an increase over the previous course six
months ago, which saw only five percent of graduates from the region.
Fifteen percent of those receiving their wings are immigrants to the
country, and 22.5 percent have a foreign language as their mother
tongue. Of these, the majority (20 percent of the graduates) are native
English speakers; 2.5 percent are Russian speakers.
The data also show that 7.5 percent of the graduates are religious
Jews, and 15 percent consider themselves to be “traditionally
religious.”
A majority – 55 percent – were members of a youth movement in their
earlier years, which included the Israeli Scouts (22.5 percent), Bnei
Akiva (7.5 percent), Bnei HaMoshavim (7.5 percent), the Agricultural
Union (7.5 percent) and HaNoar HaOved V'HaLomed (2.5 percent), among
others.
There was also an increase in the number of graduates - 20 percent -
who had volunteered for a year of national service before being drafted;
in the previous two cycles, 12 percent had served national service
prior to the draft.
Many of the graduates are eldest siblings (37.5 percent), although
there were also many (25 percent) who were the youngest in their
families.
8. Knesset Approves 2011-2012 Budget, 63-33
by Maayana Miskin
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu got a vote of confidence Wednesday as
the Knesset passed his 2011-2012 budget in a 63 to 33 vote. The total
budget for 2011 will be NIS 247 billion, and for 2012, NIS 259 billion.
The prime minister dismissed criticism from opposition parties, who
claimed the budget is not socially responsible. “This is a good budget,
it is both fiscally and socially sound, and will bring the Israeli
economy in the right direction,” he said.
Sources in the Prime Minister's Office pointed to Israel's relatively
strong economy in the global economic crisis as proof that Netanyahu's
policies to date have been successful.
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz praised the budget as well. “This is a
budget of growth, education... This is a budget that will bring the
hareidi and Arab sectors into the national economy. It is good for the
state of Israel, the citizens of Israel, and the Israeli economy,” he
proclaimed.
Leading opposition party Kadima slammed Netanyahu and his government
following the vote. “The Prime Minister of Israel is named Eli Yishai,
his second-in-command is Ivet [Avigdor] Lieberman, and his deputy is
Yaakov Leitzman," sources within the party said, naming ministers from
Shas, Israel is Our Home and United Torah Judaism,
respectively. "Netanyahu... hands out money to keep his seat,” the
anonymous detractors said.
Lower Taxes, but VAT Remains
The new budget includes lower income tax and lower taxes on companies,
something the Finance Ministry hopes will encourage development and
create new jobs.
However, the VAT will remain at 16% after being raised from 15.5% in 2009.
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