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1. Netanya Blast Probe Underway
by Gavriel Queenann
Police in Netyanya are seeking the remand Friday of two men in relation to last night's fatal gas explosion which killed 4 and injured 50 in order to question the men over the weekend. The men are to appear in the Petah Tikva District Court.
One of the men, Yisrael Daniel, is a technician with the PazGaz Gas Company, who police say inspected the building's gas tanks mere hours before the deadly blast. Police interviewed his superiors as well.
The second man, Rami Gueta, was seen in the vicinity of the building and later arrested on suspicion of metal theft before the blast. He was initially released, but arrested again after the blast.
An unconfirmed report indicates police are investigating whether Gueta may have intentionally cut the gas line in relation to a feud he is having with another business owner in the building.
Daniel is being held while police determine whether there was negligence on his part.
The four story building adjacent to Ha'atzmaut Square in downtown Netanya houses some 150 families on its upper floors while the ground floor is home to various businesses. Several of the businesses are owned by the Abutbul family, an alleged organized crime syndicate in Netanya, Israel Radio reported.
Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharnovitch who came to personally survey the scene said, that while terror had been ruled out, investigators have yet to determine whether the explosion was an accident, negligence or foul play.
"Our working assumption is that this was caused by a gas tank, although nothing is certain. There is a strong smell of gas. What's important now is to evacuate all the injured from the building. Searches are still underway. There are probably people on the upper floors that were not hurt but are trapped. It may take hours to get them out. The rescue services will go room by room to search for trapped people," Aharnovitch told Israel Radio.
All 150 apartments evacuated and remained off limits to residents while rescue teams continue to search the debris surrounding the building for more injured people. City structural engineers are inspecting the building to determine whether it is safe for residents to enter and retrieve their belongings Three people were still missing as of Friday morning.
The Netanya municipality is attempting to provide residents with a housing solution as Shabbat approaches. Eight of the tenants, so far, have been put up in hotels in the city.
Comment on this story
by Gavriel Queenann
Police in Netyanya are seeking the remand Friday of two men in relation to last night's fatal gas explosion which killed 4 and injured 50 in order to question the men over the weekend. The men are to appear in the Petah Tikva District Court.
One of the men, Yisrael Daniel, is a technician with the PazGaz Gas Company, who police say inspected the building's gas tanks mere hours before the deadly blast. Police interviewed his superiors as well.
The second man, Rami Gueta, was seen in the vicinity of the building and later arrested on suspicion of metal theft before the blast. He was initially released, but arrested again after the blast.
An unconfirmed report indicates police are investigating whether Gueta may have intentionally cut the gas line in relation to a feud he is having with another business owner in the building.
Daniel is being held while police determine whether there was negligence on his part.
The four story building adjacent to Ha'atzmaut Square in downtown Netanya houses some 150 families on its upper floors while the ground floor is home to various businesses. Several of the businesses are owned by the Abutbul family, an alleged organized crime syndicate in Netanya, Israel Radio reported.
Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharnovitch who came to personally survey the scene said, that while terror had been ruled out, investigators have yet to determine whether the explosion was an accident, negligence or foul play.
"Our working assumption is that this was caused by a gas tank, although nothing is certain. There is a strong smell of gas. What's important now is to evacuate all the injured from the building. Searches are still underway. There are probably people on the upper floors that were not hurt but are trapped. It may take hours to get them out. The rescue services will go room by room to search for trapped people," Aharnovitch told Israel Radio.
All 150 apartments evacuated and remained off limits to residents while rescue teams continue to search the debris surrounding the building for more injured people. City structural engineers are inspecting the building to determine whether it is safe for residents to enter and retrieve their belongings Three people were still missing as of Friday morning.
The Netanya municipality is attempting to provide residents with a housing solution as Shabbat approaches. Eight of the tenants, so far, have been put up in hotels in the city.
Comment on this story
2. PA Criticized for Honoring Oslo Accords
by Gavriel Queenann
The Palestinian Authority was criticized Thursday by a local Arab committee in Shechem for allowing Jews to visit Joseph's Tomb, the Maan News Agency reported.
Saying they "refuse and condemn" PA dialogue with "settler groups" who wish to visit Joseph's Tomb, the Factional Coordination Committee demanded a stop to coordinating any such visits.
The statement, signed by officials from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Palestinian People's Party, the Palestinian Democratic Union, the Palestinian Liberation Front, and the Arab Liberation Front, was the latest reaction to changes in the way visits to the area are coordinated.
The statement was made after twelve right-wing MKs, many of whom do not reside in Judea and Samaria, made a pilgrimage to Joseph's Tomb earlier this week in a rare daylight visit coordinated by the IDF and PA officials.
The group, which terms all Jews in Israel as "settlers," described the MKs visit as a "dangerous trend," saying PA police should "protect our people from occupation forces and settler aggression instead of protecting the settler leaders."
The signatories questioned the motives of the PA leadership saying increased coordination with the IDF allowing Jews to visit the site was "collusion with the occupation" and served to "oppress Palestinians."
Joseph's Tomb was inaccessible to Jews during the seventeen year Jordanian occupation of Judea and Samaria from 1949-1967. After the Six Day War Jews were able to freely visit the site. Under the Oslo Accords in 1993 the tomb was initially in Area C, under Israeli jurisdiction, but Israel eventually handed control of the site over to the PA.
Since that time Israelis have only been able to vist the site with the express permission of the IDF and PA officials who coordinate visits to the site.
Most Jewish visits to the site occur at night, but the MKs recent visit was conducted in broad daylight, which is considered a step towards normalizing Jewish visits by PA Arabs who object to Jews visiting at all.
The MKs daylight visit was conducted seven weeks after Minister Limor Livnat's nephew, Ben Yosef Livnat, was brutally murdered by PA security forces at Joseph's tomb.
Israel has classified Ben Yosef Livnat as a terror victim.
Comment on this story
by Gavriel Queenann
The Palestinian Authority was criticized Thursday by a local Arab committee in Shechem for allowing Jews to visit Joseph's Tomb, the Maan News Agency reported.
Saying they "refuse and condemn" PA dialogue with "settler groups" who wish to visit Joseph's Tomb, the Factional Coordination Committee demanded a stop to coordinating any such visits.
The statement, signed by officials from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Palestinian People's Party, the Palestinian Democratic Union, the Palestinian Liberation Front, and the Arab Liberation Front, was the latest reaction to changes in the way visits to the area are coordinated.
The statement was made after twelve right-wing MKs, many of whom do not reside in Judea and Samaria, made a pilgrimage to Joseph's Tomb earlier this week in a rare daylight visit coordinated by the IDF and PA officials.
The group, which terms all Jews in Israel as "settlers," described the MKs visit as a "dangerous trend," saying PA police should "protect our people from occupation forces and settler aggression instead of protecting the settler leaders."
The signatories questioned the motives of the PA leadership saying increased coordination with the IDF allowing Jews to visit the site was "collusion with the occupation" and served to "oppress Palestinians."
Joseph's Tomb was inaccessible to Jews during the seventeen year Jordanian occupation of Judea and Samaria from 1949-1967. After the Six Day War Jews were able to freely visit the site. Under the Oslo Accords in 1993 the tomb was initially in Area C, under Israeli jurisdiction, but Israel eventually handed control of the site over to the PA.
Since that time Israelis have only been able to vist the site with the express permission of the IDF and PA officials who coordinate visits to the site.
Most Jewish visits to the site occur at night, but the MKs recent visit was conducted in broad daylight, which is considered a step towards normalizing Jewish visits by PA Arabs who object to Jews visiting at all.
The MKs daylight visit was conducted seven weeks after Minister Limor Livnat's nephew, Ben Yosef Livnat, was brutally murdered by PA security forces at Joseph's tomb.
Israel has classified Ben Yosef Livnat as a terror victim.
Comment on this story
3. Survey: More Support for Settlers, Less Belief in Negotiations
by Elad Benari & Yoni Kempinski
According to the results of a public opinion survey presented on Thursday at the 21st conference of Judea and Samaria Studies at the Ariel University Center of Samaria, about half of Israel’s citizens who are not residents of Judea and Samaria (47%) would not accept evacuations of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
The survey also found that 20% of Israel’s citizens are prepared to evacuate a few illegal communities, while only 12% of Israeli citizens are willing to evacuate a small number of communities in exchange for ending the conflict with the Arabs.
The number of those citizens who are prepared to evacuate a large number or all the communities in Judea and Samaria has gone down from 27% in 2010 to 14% today. Only 5% of Israelis are ready to evacuate all the communities and return to the 1949 armistice lines, found the survey.
The survey also found that most Israelis no longer believe in the political process. A large majority of those polled (64%) believes that Israel’s accepting the solution of “two states for two peoples” would do nothing to solve the Israeli-Arab conflict, or would only briefly prevent it from escalating.
It turns out that the conflict between Israel and the Arabs is perceived by a large majority of the Jewish public (74%) as a national-religious conflict over the legitimacy of the existence of a Jewish state rather than a territorial dispute on the 1949 armistice lines. 60% did not agree to the saying that the conflict is territorial.
The survey also reveals a rather positive attitude of the majority of Israeli citizens towards the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria. Most respondents agree that Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria is an act of true Zionism (57%) and is the state of Israel’s safety belt (47%).
In addition, most respondents did not agree that Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria is illegal (57%), is the source of the conflict with the Arabs (57%), and is a waste of state funds (54%). Most respondents agreed that the residents of Judea and Samaria are like any other Israeli citizen (64%).
The survey has found that the Israeli public largely trusts Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. 40% said that at the present time, the settler leadership should boost Netanyahu in his efforts to minimize future concessions. 32% believed that the leadership should lead a campaign asking for a referendum before the signing a peace treaty. Less than a tenth (9%) believe that the settler leadership must act to topple the Netanyahu government and lead to elections.
Comment on this story
by Elad Benari & Yoni Kempinski
According to the results of a public opinion survey presented on Thursday at the 21st conference of Judea and Samaria Studies at the Ariel University Center of Samaria, about half of Israel’s citizens who are not residents of Judea and Samaria (47%) would not accept evacuations of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
The survey also found that 20% of Israel’s citizens are prepared to evacuate a few illegal communities, while only 12% of Israeli citizens are willing to evacuate a small number of communities in exchange for ending the conflict with the Arabs.
The number of those citizens who are prepared to evacuate a large number or all the communities in Judea and Samaria has gone down from 27% in 2010 to 14% today. Only 5% of Israelis are ready to evacuate all the communities and return to the 1949 armistice lines, found the survey.
The survey also found that most Israelis no longer believe in the political process. A large majority of those polled (64%) believes that Israel’s accepting the solution of “two states for two peoples” would do nothing to solve the Israeli-Arab conflict, or would only briefly prevent it from escalating.
It turns out that the conflict between Israel and the Arabs is perceived by a large majority of the Jewish public (74%) as a national-religious conflict over the legitimacy of the existence of a Jewish state rather than a territorial dispute on the 1949 armistice lines. 60% did not agree to the saying that the conflict is territorial.
The survey also reveals a rather positive attitude of the majority of Israeli citizens towards the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria. Most respondents agree that Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria is an act of true Zionism (57%) and is the state of Israel’s safety belt (47%).
In addition, most respondents did not agree that Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria is illegal (57%), is the source of the conflict with the Arabs (57%), and is a waste of state funds (54%). Most respondents agreed that the residents of Judea and Samaria are like any other Israeli citizen (64%).
The survey has found that the Israeli public largely trusts Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. 40% said that at the present time, the settler leadership should boost Netanyahu in his efforts to minimize future concessions. 32% believed that the leadership should lead a campaign asking for a referendum before the signing a peace treaty. Less than a tenth (9%) believe that the settler leadership must act to topple the Netanyahu government and lead to elections.
Comment on this story
4. Mavi Marmara Nixed From "Freedom Flotilla 2"
by Gavriel Queenann
The Turkish IHH has pulled the Mavi Marmara out of this years "Freedom Flotilla 2," the AFP reported Friday.
IHH representatives held a press conference on members said that port authorities in Turkey did not provide them with the necessary permits for the Mavi Marmara, which organizers hoped would serve as an iconic flagship for this years flotilla.
The Mavi Marmara was at the center of an international media fire-storm during the 2010 flotilla when self-proclaimed 'peace activists' on board attempted to lynch members of the IDF Shayetet-13 – Israel's naval commando unit – which boarded the ship in accordance with international maritime law.
Nine members of the lynch-mob were killed when the commandos were forced to open fire to save their imperiled comrades.
Flotilla organizers have said second Gaza flotilla will set sail in late June even without the IHH's support. Other ships are planned to depart from ports in France, Greece and Spain. A US group is hoping to send a ship to participate in the flotilla.
The ships plan to attempt to breach Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, which Israel has imposed to prevent weapons from reaching the Hamas terror organization, and others, in its territory.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has likewise called for activists to be discouraged from setting sail for Gaza, but Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu insisted a democracy could not prevent private challenges to what he characterized as an "illegal blockade."
Davutoglu did not explain, in light of that sentiment, why Turkey refused to issue the requisite permits for the Mavi Marmara to depart and participate in the flotilla.
Meanwhile, the IDF held a large drill Wednesday in preparation for this year's flotilla. The drill was just one of numerous rigorous exercises the IDF has conducted in order to prepare for every eventuality from passive resistance to potential gunfights and booby-trapped ships.
The exercise involved naval commandos from the Shayatet-13 as well as other naval units, and special forces from throughout the defense establishment, who were being included in the operation as part of the lessons learned from the botched raid on the Mavi Marmara Turkish passenger ship last May.
Flotilla organizers refuse to release the final departure date for this years flotilla, but it is known they are planning to meet in international waters in the eastern Mediterranean at the end of June and head towards Gaza.
Comment on this story
by Gavriel Queenann
The Turkish IHH has pulled the Mavi Marmara out of this years "Freedom Flotilla 2," the AFP reported Friday.
IHH representatives held a press conference on members said that port authorities in Turkey did not provide them with the necessary permits for the Mavi Marmara, which organizers hoped would serve as an iconic flagship for this years flotilla.
The Mavi Marmara was at the center of an international media fire-storm during the 2010 flotilla when self-proclaimed 'peace activists' on board attempted to lynch members of the IDF Shayetet-13 – Israel's naval commando unit – which boarded the ship in accordance with international maritime law.
Nine members of the lynch-mob were killed when the commandos were forced to open fire to save their imperiled comrades.
Flotilla organizers have said second Gaza flotilla will set sail in late June even without the IHH's support. Other ships are planned to depart from ports in France, Greece and Spain. A US group is hoping to send a ship to participate in the flotilla.
The ships plan to attempt to breach Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, which Israel has imposed to prevent weapons from reaching the Hamas terror organization, and others, in its territory.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has likewise called for activists to be discouraged from setting sail for Gaza, but Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu insisted a democracy could not prevent private challenges to what he characterized as an "illegal blockade."
Davutoglu did not explain, in light of that sentiment, why Turkey refused to issue the requisite permits for the Mavi Marmara to depart and participate in the flotilla.
Meanwhile, the IDF held a large drill Wednesday in preparation for this year's flotilla. The drill was just one of numerous rigorous exercises the IDF has conducted in order to prepare for every eventuality from passive resistance to potential gunfights and booby-trapped ships.
The exercise involved naval commandos from the Shayatet-13 as well as other naval units, and special forces from throughout the defense establishment, who were being included in the operation as part of the lessons learned from the botched raid on the Mavi Marmara Turkish passenger ship last May.
Flotilla organizers refuse to release the final departure date for this years flotilla, but it is known they are planning to meet in international waters in the eastern Mediterranean at the end of June and head towards Gaza.
Comment on this story
5. Medical Intern Threw Rocks at Soldiers
by Gil Ronen
A medical intern from Majdal Shams has been identified by police as one of the people who threw rocks at IDF soldiers on the “Naksa Day“ disturbances in the Golan Heights. The suspect works at Ziv Medical Center in Tzfat (Safed).
The investigation against him began after his picture appeared in one of the newspapers that covered the riots. He was questioned by police and confirmed that he was present at the riots, but claimed that he was there in order to lend medical assistance to casualties.
He was released, but police later acquired video footage that clearly shows the suspect hurling rocks at soldiers. He was rearrested and the investigation was reopened.
The Ministry of Health suspended the medical intern until the investigation is completed. He is currently under arrest and the police are preparing a charge sheet against him.
Ziv Hospital noted in a statement that the Ministry of Health is the body that refers interns to hospitals after they complete their studies and before they receive licenses to practice medicine. Therefore, they continued,“we informed the Ministry of Health immediately upon hearing of the suspicion regarding the intern’s involvement” in the riots.
“We note that people who work in the field of medicine are supposed to obey not only the laws of the land, but also those of medical ethics,” the hospital added. “These command us to save lives, and certainly not to do the opposite of that.”
Comment on this story
by Gil Ronen
A medical intern from Majdal Shams has been identified by police as one of the people who threw rocks at IDF soldiers on the “Naksa Day“ disturbances in the Golan Heights. The suspect works at Ziv Medical Center in Tzfat (Safed).
The investigation against him began after his picture appeared in one of the newspapers that covered the riots. He was questioned by police and confirmed that he was present at the riots, but claimed that he was there in order to lend medical assistance to casualties.
He was released, but police later acquired video footage that clearly shows the suspect hurling rocks at soldiers. He was rearrested and the investigation was reopened.
The Ministry of Health suspended the medical intern until the investigation is completed. He is currently under arrest and the police are preparing a charge sheet against him.
Ziv Hospital noted in a statement that the Ministry of Health is the body that refers interns to hospitals after they complete their studies and before they receive licenses to practice medicine. Therefore, they continued,“we informed the Ministry of Health immediately upon hearing of the suspicion regarding the intern’s involvement” in the riots.
“We note that people who work in the field of medicine are supposed to obey not only the laws of the land, but also those of medical ethics,” the hospital added. “These command us to save lives, and certainly not to do the opposite of that.”
Comment on this story
6. The Iranian Space Monkey Cometh
by Gavriel Queenann
Iran plans to send a live monkey into space in the summer, the country's top space official said after the successful launch of the Rassad-1 satellite, state television reported on its website on Thursday.
"The Kavoshgar-5 rocket will be launched during the month of Mordad (July 23 to August 23) with a 285-kilogramme capsule carrying a monkey to an altitude of 120 kilometers (74 miles)," said Hamid Fazeli, head of Iran's Space Organization.
In February, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled a space capsule designed to carry a live monkey into space, along with four new prototypes of home-built satellites the country hopes to launch before March 2012.
At the time, Fazeli touted the launch of a large animal into space as the first step towards sending a man into space, which Tehran says is scheduled for 2020. Iran sent a rat, turtles and worms into space aboard its Kavoshgar-3 rocket in 2010.
The Islamic Republic's first space-monkey would follow in the footsteps of space pioneers like Ham, the chimpanzee launched into space by the United Sates on January 31, 1961 some fifty years ago.
Fajr reconnaissance satellite
Fazeli also announced Iran's plans for the launch in October of the Fajr reconnaissance satellite with "a life span of a year and a half, and to be placed at an altitude of 400 kilometres," the website reported.
On Wednesday, the Islamic republic successfully put its Rassad-1 (Observation-1) satellite into orbit 260 kilometres above the Earth. Rassad-1, which orbits the Earth 15 times every 24 hours and has a two-month life cycle, will be used to photograph the planet and transmit images, media reports said.
Originally scheduled to launch in August 2010, the satellite was built by Malek Ashtar University in Tehran, which is linked to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.
Iran, which first put a satellite into orbit in 2009, has outlined an ambitious space program amid Western concerns.
Western fears
Israel, the United States, and other western allies fear Iran's space program may be intended as a basis for developing ballistic missile capability enabling the delivery of nuclear warheads.
The Safir-2 rocket Iran uses to put satellites into orbit has been described by Western observers as "very similar" to ballistic missiles.
Tehran has repeatedly denied that its contentious nuclear and scientific programs mask military ambitions.
Comment on this story
by Gavriel Queenann
Iran plans to send a live monkey into space in the summer, the country's top space official said after the successful launch of the Rassad-1 satellite, state television reported on its website on Thursday.
"The Kavoshgar-5 rocket will be launched during the month of Mordad (July 23 to August 23) with a 285-kilogramme capsule carrying a monkey to an altitude of 120 kilometers (74 miles)," said Hamid Fazeli, head of Iran's Space Organization.
In February, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unveiled a space capsule designed to carry a live monkey into space, along with four new prototypes of home-built satellites the country hopes to launch before March 2012.
At the time, Fazeli touted the launch of a large animal into space as the first step towards sending a man into space, which Tehran says is scheduled for 2020. Iran sent a rat, turtles and worms into space aboard its Kavoshgar-3 rocket in 2010.
The Islamic Republic's first space-monkey would follow in the footsteps of space pioneers like Ham, the chimpanzee launched into space by the United Sates on January 31, 1961 some fifty years ago.
Fajr reconnaissance satellite
Fazeli also announced Iran's plans for the launch in October of the Fajr reconnaissance satellite with "a life span of a year and a half, and to be placed at an altitude of 400 kilometres," the website reported.
On Wednesday, the Islamic republic successfully put its Rassad-1 (Observation-1) satellite into orbit 260 kilometres above the Earth. Rassad-1, which orbits the Earth 15 times every 24 hours and has a two-month life cycle, will be used to photograph the planet and transmit images, media reports said.
Originally scheduled to launch in August 2010, the satellite was built by Malek Ashtar University in Tehran, which is linked to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards.
Iran, which first put a satellite into orbit in 2009, has outlined an ambitious space program amid Western concerns.
Western fears
Israel, the United States, and other western allies fear Iran's space program may be intended as a basis for developing ballistic missile capability enabling the delivery of nuclear warheads.
The Safir-2 rocket Iran uses to put satellites into orbit has been described by Western observers as "very similar" to ballistic missiles.
Tehran has repeatedly denied that its contentious nuclear and scientific programs mask military ambitions.
Comment on this story
7. Peres Says Peace Possible Before September
by Gavriel Queenann
President Shimon Peres said Thursday that peace could exist between Israel and the Palestinian Authority "within months," the Associated Press reports.
Ignoring the slow-burn of criticism in Israel's Hebrew-language press that an Israeli president is supposed to avoid politics, especially matters of potential controversy, and serve in a purely ceremonial capacity, Peres said an Israeli-PA peace accord could be reached before September.
PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas has said he plans to ask the United Nations to unilaterally recognize a PA state based on the 1949 Armistice lines (often misleadingly referred to as the 1967 lines), an act which Peres warned would be only "an illusion."
"A Palestinian state born of a unilateral declaration in the UN would remain [on] paper and will raise false hopes," Peres said.
Israel would, according to Peres, respond to such a declaration by the UN with a series of strong, rhetorical questions.
"Can you stop terror, United Nations? Can you stop the politics of Iran that finances Hizbullah and finances Hamas? Can you stop the smuggling of arms? And if the United Nations cannot answer it, so what is the value of their resolution," Peres asked.
But such a PA bid may not come to fruition at all as officials close to Mahmoud Abbas say he's found himself on a political precipice vis-a-vis the United Nations. The United States has openly said it would oppose such a move, with the European Union hinting it is likely to do the same.
Peres nonetheless expressed optimism that a deal with the PA can be reached within months.
"I don't exclude that in spite of the short time we can conclude an agreement with the Palestinians before September," Peres told the AP without explaining how fundamental differences lasting decades could be so easily set aside in less than three months when talks are, mutually, a non-starter at this point.
Peres also downplayed the issues that have held up the peace process for so many years, saying, "In a strange way, the differences are psychological rather than material."
"I know a little bit about negotiations," Peres said, "The opening position is extremely loud and very maximalist ... but they you have to go down quietly."
Peres has reportedly met in secret with PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas in more than once in recent months in the hopes of advancing his personal agenda of restarting negotiations despite the position of the Netanyahu government – and the vast majority of Israelis – that negotiations are not possible at this time.
It was secret negotiations between then-Defense Minister Shimon Peres and PLO chairman Yassir Arafat behind Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin's back that resulted in the disastrous Oslo Accords and creation of the Palestinian Authority.
Some 1,500 Israelis have been murdered in terror attacks and intifadas staged by PA arabs under the Oslo paradigm.
Comment on this story
by Gavriel Queenann
President Shimon Peres said Thursday that peace could exist between Israel and the Palestinian Authority "within months," the Associated Press reports.
Ignoring the slow-burn of criticism in Israel's Hebrew-language press that an Israeli president is supposed to avoid politics, especially matters of potential controversy, and serve in a purely ceremonial capacity, Peres said an Israeli-PA peace accord could be reached before September.
PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas has said he plans to ask the United Nations to unilaterally recognize a PA state based on the 1949 Armistice lines (often misleadingly referred to as the 1967 lines), an act which Peres warned would be only "an illusion."
"A Palestinian state born of a unilateral declaration in the UN would remain [on] paper and will raise false hopes," Peres said.
Israel would, according to Peres, respond to such a declaration by the UN with a series of strong, rhetorical questions.
"Can you stop terror, United Nations? Can you stop the politics of Iran that finances Hizbullah and finances Hamas? Can you stop the smuggling of arms? And if the United Nations cannot answer it, so what is the value of their resolution," Peres asked.
But such a PA bid may not come to fruition at all as officials close to Mahmoud Abbas say he's found himself on a political precipice vis-a-vis the United Nations. The United States has openly said it would oppose such a move, with the European Union hinting it is likely to do the same.
Peres nonetheless expressed optimism that a deal with the PA can be reached within months.
"I don't exclude that in spite of the short time we can conclude an agreement with the Palestinians before September," Peres told the AP without explaining how fundamental differences lasting decades could be so easily set aside in less than three months when talks are, mutually, a non-starter at this point.
Peres also downplayed the issues that have held up the peace process for so many years, saying, "In a strange way, the differences are psychological rather than material."
"I know a little bit about negotiations," Peres said, "The opening position is extremely loud and very maximalist ... but they you have to go down quietly."
Peres has reportedly met in secret with PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas in more than once in recent months in the hopes of advancing his personal agenda of restarting negotiations despite the position of the Netanyahu government – and the vast majority of Israelis – that negotiations are not possible at this time.
It was secret negotiations between then-Defense Minister Shimon Peres and PLO chairman Yassir Arafat behind Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin's back that resulted in the disastrous Oslo Accords and creation of the Palestinian Authority.
Some 1,500 Israelis have been murdered in terror attacks and intifadas staged by PA arabs under the Oslo paradigm.
Comment on this story
8. Ayman al-Zawahiri Grabs Al-Qaeda Top Job
by Gavriel Queenann
Al-Qaeda announced Thursday Ayman al-Zawahiri will succeed assassinated terror mastermind Osama Bin Laden as its new leader, the Washington Post reports.
Egyptian bon Al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda's operational commander and second-in-command, had increasingly been the international terror organization's public face in recent years and, following Bin Laden's death, was widely considered his most likely successor.
Al-Zawahiri, 59, a surgeon who spent years in underground Islamic groups in Egypt before joining Al-Qaeda, is a deeply religious Muslim who had the skill and experience to help turn an Afghan guerrilla movement into the global terrorist organization Al-Qaeda is today.
However, Al-Zawahiri is also considered rigid and lacking in charisma, and terrorism experts say it is unclear whether he can rebuild an organization that has been diminished by a prolonged siege by US military and intelligence forces.
US officials and terrorism analysts previously speculated Al-Zawahiri would face competition for Bin Laden's throne from other candidates, such as Libyan jihadis Atiyah Abd al-Rahman and Abu Yahya al-Libi, both of whom were considered more personable, or Ilyas Kashmiri, the head of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, who was killed in a US targeted killing earlier this month.
But Al-Zawahiri finds himself assuming command of an Al-Qaeda whose central leadership has been weakened by repeated US airstrikes, with its Yemen branch, instead of its traditional Afghan core, being the organization's most dynamic and successful arm.
Two of Al-Qaeda’s senior operatives were killed in the past few weeks: the previously mentioned Kashmiri, who was implicated in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, and Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, believed to have planned the 1998 US Embassy bombings in East Africa.
US. forces have launched dozens of strikes this year on suspected Al-Qaeda hideouts near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan.
Al-Zawahiri emerged as Al-Qaeda’s most visible spokesman in the years since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks but his years of service and "Al-Qaeda-Brand" face may not prove sufficient cohesion for a group in need of a charismatic battle leader as it regroups under pressure from the world's foremost military power.
Only time will tell.
Comment on this story
by Gavriel Queenann
Al-Qaeda announced Thursday Ayman al-Zawahiri will succeed assassinated terror mastermind Osama Bin Laden as its new leader, the Washington Post reports.
Egyptian bon Al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda's operational commander and second-in-command, had increasingly been the international terror organization's public face in recent years and, following Bin Laden's death, was widely considered his most likely successor.
Al-Zawahiri, 59, a surgeon who spent years in underground Islamic groups in Egypt before joining Al-Qaeda, is a deeply religious Muslim who had the skill and experience to help turn an Afghan guerrilla movement into the global terrorist organization Al-Qaeda is today.
However, Al-Zawahiri is also considered rigid and lacking in charisma, and terrorism experts say it is unclear whether he can rebuild an organization that has been diminished by a prolonged siege by US military and intelligence forces.
US officials and terrorism analysts previously speculated Al-Zawahiri would face competition for Bin Laden's throne from other candidates, such as Libyan jihadis Atiyah Abd al-Rahman and Abu Yahya al-Libi, both of whom were considered more personable, or Ilyas Kashmiri, the head of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, who was killed in a US targeted killing earlier this month.
But Al-Zawahiri finds himself assuming command of an Al-Qaeda whose central leadership has been weakened by repeated US airstrikes, with its Yemen branch, instead of its traditional Afghan core, being the organization's most dynamic and successful arm.
Two of Al-Qaeda’s senior operatives were killed in the past few weeks: the previously mentioned Kashmiri, who was implicated in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, and Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, believed to have planned the 1998 US Embassy bombings in East Africa.
US. forces have launched dozens of strikes this year on suspected Al-Qaeda hideouts near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan.
Al-Zawahiri emerged as Al-Qaeda’s most visible spokesman in the years since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks but his years of service and "Al-Qaeda-Brand" face may not prove sufficient cohesion for a group in need of a charismatic battle leader as it regroups under pressure from the world's foremost military power.
Only time will tell.
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