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Ahead of Sharm summit, Israel rejects Palestinians' demand to lift West Bank roadblocks
Date: 25 / 06 / 2007 Time: 11:47
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israel has rejected the Palestinians' request to reduce the number of checkpoints and roadblocks on the roads in the occupied West Bank, reported the Israeli daily Haaretz on Monday. Israel cited security reasons; Hamas could take advantage of the removed roadblocks for bombing operations.
According to Reuters, Israeli officials say they are under heavy pressure from the US to remove roadblocks, checkpoints and settlement outposts from the West Bank. Despite this, Israel will continue to refuse to do this as long as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas does not reign in militants more effectively.
Besides removing major barriers, checkpoints and roadblocks near major Palestinian population centres, such as Hebron, Bethlehem and Nablus, Washington also wants Israeli Prime Minster Olmert to bolster Abbas's position by easing restrictions on Palestinian access to the Jordon Valley.
However, it is not likely Israel will comply very soon. An Israeli official said to Reuters that Israel is very cautious with these matters: "one suicide bombing and we're back to square one."
Israel has made it clear that first they want to be sure Abbas will not seek reconciliation with Hamas, as they will not accept another unity government, comprising both Hamas and Fatah members, another Israeli official told Reuters.
Israel's Shin Bet security service chief Yuval Diskin warned the Israeli cabinet on Sunday that "it is not inconceivable that in a few weeks we will find ourselves faced with a Mecca B agreement," Haaretz reported. Diskin was referring to the Hamas-Fatah unity government deal mediated by Saudi Arabia in February in Mecca.
On Monday, Olmert, Abbas and Jordan's king Abdullah II will meet with Egyptian president, Husni Mubarak, at a summit at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm Al-Sheikh. Discussions are expected to focus on how Israel can further support Abbas.
According to Haaretz, the measures which Olmert may offer Abbas include the release of PA funds collected by Israel in the form of customs duties and VAT; the re-issue of VIP cards to Palestinians; greater numbers of permits to Palestinian businessmen wishing to cross into Israel; and allowing Fatah-affiliated armoured cars to travel in the West Bank.
Olmert is also likely to promise the continued supply of water, electricity, food, medicines and medical services to the Gaza Strip, and the opening of the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel, Egypt and Gaza in order to allow the passage of people and cargo.
The leaders are likely to also discuss renewed security cooperation, both in the West Bank, and between Israel, Egypt, the PA and the US regarding ending arms smuggling to the Gaza Strip from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, Haaretz says.
Regarding the release of the Palestinian Authority's withheld taxes, the funds are expected to be released in a number of installments in "agreement with the PA emergency government," Haaretz reported.
According to Reuters, the Israeli prime minister will also present security demands to Abbas at the summit on Monday. In an apparent attempt to isolate Hamas economically, diplomatically and militarily in the Gaza Strip, Olmert and the USA are trying to find ways to bolster Abbas in the West Bank.
Expectations are not high regarding the Sharm Al Sheikh summit.
One Israeli commentator has termed the summit the "Fear Summit" as Olmert meets three "frightened leaders." The commentator, Sever Plocker, writing on the website of the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, warns Olmert: "No Israeli-Arab summit in Sharm el-Sheikh has ever produced any results."
In his editorial, he doubts that the leaders will succeed in lifting "the Sharm curse" and strike an agreement that will indeed be implemented on the ground.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=23302
"Democratic parameters" must be in place before Palestinian elections go ahead, Israeli FM Livni says
Date: 25 / 06 / 2007 Time: 13:47
Bethlehem - Ma'an - The Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, said on Monday that the international community should ensure "democratic parameters" are in place before any elections, either in the Palestinian territories or in Lebanon, take place.
She said she hoped "the world has learned from the mistakes that it has made."
"Terrorism needs a military solution, but at the same time it needs a political one as well," she added, during a conference in Herzliya on the Israeli coast. "After six years of war against terrorism, the world feels tired," the website of the Israeli paper Yedioth Ahronoth reported
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=23308
*****************
Nice; is this really what Abbas wants - let Israel, the aparthaid-style state, to teach to others what real democracy means - not free elections like Palestinians had at 2006 I suppouse... I think the world should to be much more tired after almost 60 years of brutal occupation in Palestine.
Date: 25 / 06 / 2007 Time: 11:47
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israel has rejected the Palestinians' request to reduce the number of checkpoints and roadblocks on the roads in the occupied West Bank, reported the Israeli daily Haaretz on Monday. Israel cited security reasons; Hamas could take advantage of the removed roadblocks for bombing operations.
According to Reuters, Israeli officials say they are under heavy pressure from the US to remove roadblocks, checkpoints and settlement outposts from the West Bank. Despite this, Israel will continue to refuse to do this as long as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas does not reign in militants more effectively.
Besides removing major barriers, checkpoints and roadblocks near major Palestinian population centres, such as Hebron, Bethlehem and Nablus, Washington also wants Israeli Prime Minster Olmert to bolster Abbas's position by easing restrictions on Palestinian access to the Jordon Valley.
However, it is not likely Israel will comply very soon. An Israeli official said to Reuters that Israel is very cautious with these matters: "one suicide bombing and we're back to square one."
Israel has made it clear that first they want to be sure Abbas will not seek reconciliation with Hamas, as they will not accept another unity government, comprising both Hamas and Fatah members, another Israeli official told Reuters.
Israel's Shin Bet security service chief Yuval Diskin warned the Israeli cabinet on Sunday that "it is not inconceivable that in a few weeks we will find ourselves faced with a Mecca B agreement," Haaretz reported. Diskin was referring to the Hamas-Fatah unity government deal mediated by Saudi Arabia in February in Mecca.
On Monday, Olmert, Abbas and Jordan's king Abdullah II will meet with Egyptian president, Husni Mubarak, at a summit at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm Al-Sheikh. Discussions are expected to focus on how Israel can further support Abbas.
According to Haaretz, the measures which Olmert may offer Abbas include the release of PA funds collected by Israel in the form of customs duties and VAT; the re-issue of VIP cards to Palestinians; greater numbers of permits to Palestinian businessmen wishing to cross into Israel; and allowing Fatah-affiliated armoured cars to travel in the West Bank.
Olmert is also likely to promise the continued supply of water, electricity, food, medicines and medical services to the Gaza Strip, and the opening of the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel, Egypt and Gaza in order to allow the passage of people and cargo.
The leaders are likely to also discuss renewed security cooperation, both in the West Bank, and between Israel, Egypt, the PA and the US regarding ending arms smuggling to the Gaza Strip from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, Haaretz says.
Regarding the release of the Palestinian Authority's withheld taxes, the funds are expected to be released in a number of installments in "agreement with the PA emergency government," Haaretz reported.
According to Reuters, the Israeli prime minister will also present security demands to Abbas at the summit on Monday. In an apparent attempt to isolate Hamas economically, diplomatically and militarily in the Gaza Strip, Olmert and the USA are trying to find ways to bolster Abbas in the West Bank.
Expectations are not high regarding the Sharm Al Sheikh summit.
One Israeli commentator has termed the summit the "Fear Summit" as Olmert meets three "frightened leaders." The commentator, Sever Plocker, writing on the website of the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, warns Olmert: "No Israeli-Arab summit in Sharm el-Sheikh has ever produced any results."
In his editorial, he doubts that the leaders will succeed in lifting "the Sharm curse" and strike an agreement that will indeed be implemented on the ground.
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=23302
"Democratic parameters" must be in place before Palestinian elections go ahead, Israeli FM Livni says
Date: 25 / 06 / 2007 Time: 13:47
Bethlehem - Ma'an - The Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, said on Monday that the international community should ensure "democratic parameters" are in place before any elections, either in the Palestinian territories or in Lebanon, take place.
She said she hoped "the world has learned from the mistakes that it has made."
"Terrorism needs a military solution, but at the same time it needs a political one as well," she added, during a conference in Herzliya on the Israeli coast. "After six years of war against terrorism, the world feels tired," the website of the Israeli paper Yedioth Ahronoth reported
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=23308
*****************
Nice; is this really what Abbas wants - let Israel, the aparthaid-style state, to teach to others what real democracy means - not free elections like Palestinians had at 2006 I suppouse... I think the world should to be much more tired after almost 60 years of brutal occupation in Palestine.
