Former Shin Bet chief apes Chicken Little
The former chief of the Shin Bet General Security Service has been imitating Chicken Little, telling a conference on Wednesday that the 'Palestinian problem' is
a bigger danger to Israel than a nuclear Iran, and of course, that 'settlements' must be stopped.
To solve the conflict, Israel must immediately freeze Jewish
building in the West Bank outside the settlement blocs, and pledge to release
all Palestinian prisoners at the end of the negotiations, Diskin said at the
10th anniversary event hosted by the Geneva Initiative.
“The implications
of the absence of a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is more
existential than the Iranian nuclear issue,” Diskin told an audience at the Tel
Aviv Museum of Art.
A few comments:
1. There is very little actual building going on outside the 'settlement blocs' and none going on outside the boundaries of existing Jewish cities and towns.
2. Officially freezing Jewish building gives the 'Palestinians' hope that they can just drag
the 'negotiations' out forever, since it means that they have nothing to lose by not negotiating seriously.
3. 'Palestinian prisoners' are terrorist murderers. We're already releasing them to bring the 'Palestinians' to the table. Does Diskin think that's a good idea too? eave aside whether th was a good deal or the right thing to do. at
4. We agreed to release those 'Palestinian' murderers in exchange for NOT having a 'settlement freeze.' Leave aside whether that was a good deal or the right thing to do. If we now give the 'Palestinians' a 'settlement freeze' as a gift, what message are we sending the 'Palestinians'?
5. The absence of a solution to the Israeli-'Palestinian' conflict is not an existential issue, and is certainly not more of an existential issue than a nuclear Iran. But giving the 'Palestinians' all of their demands would place Israel in existential danger.
Sources close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
slammed Diskin and his comments, saying that “anyone who thinks that the
Palestinian threat is greater than the threat of a nuclear bomb in the hands of
Iran, which calls for the destruction of the Sate of Israel is divorced from
reality and lacking any strategic vision.”
...
Netanyahu will be influenced by neither “recycled statements,
nor the righteous preaching that flows from the personal frustration of someone
who wanted to be appointed the head of the Mossad, but did not get the job,” the
sources said.
Very nice but the international community - correctly - sees Netanyahu as spineless and pliable and as long as that continues to be the case, he and we will be under pressure.
To see the rest of Diskin's fantasies,
read the whole thing.
Labels: Geneva initiative, Iranian nuclear threat, Judea and Samaria construction, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome, settlement blocs, Yuval Diskin
J Street wins, Israel loses
Whenever you see Tzachi HaNegbi, pictured here with his former party, you have to ask how much he's being paid. HaNegbi will become
the first member of the Likud to attend a J Street convention later this year, giving the pro-'Palestinian,' pro-Iranian organization an undeserved dose of credibility as representing the broader Jewish community.
Also participating will be Yitzchak Vaknin of Shas. Given that Vaknin already
attended a convention of the Geneva Initiative two years ago, and given that Leftist Aryeh Deri seems to have pushed out the more right-leaning Eli Yishai for the party's leadership, this is less surprising than
HaNegbi.
This is from the first link.
Hanegbi’s participation at the J Street conference, a result of
outreach efforts conducted by the lobby’s office in Israel, is viewed by
organizers as a mark of success. It is a sign, said Jessica Rosenblum,
the group’s director of media and communications, “of the growing
acceptance of J Street and the growing recognition of the common
purpose,” of advancing a two-state solution.
J Street’s founding in 2008 was initially met with a
cold shoulder by the Israeli government. Officials refused to meet with
the lobby’s activists and the Israeli embassy boycotted its events.
Since, however, the group established working relations with the embassy
and an Israel senior diplomat delivered a speech at last year’s
conference gala dinner. Hanegbi’s participation will signal yet another
step by J Street away from its lefty image and closer to the Israeli
mainstream.
Another first at this year’s conference will be the
participation of Yitzhak Vaknin of Shas at the event. Shas, a Sephardic
ultra-Orthodox party has supported in the past Israeli-Palestinian
negotiations but has since shifted to the right. Currently it is not a
member of the Netanyahu governing coalition.
There is no way that HaNegbi would be going to this conference without Netanyahu's approval. And Netanyahu is probably quite pleased that someone in the Likud aside from him is backing a 'two-state solution.' Most of the Likud MK's oppose it.
As to Vaknin, I already noted his Leftist background and that of the party's de facto current leader, Aryeh Deri. Sending Vaknin to J Street may be a pitch to convince Netanyahu that Shas is not too 'extremist' to be part of his government.
What could go wrong?
Labels: Geneva initiative, J Street, Likud party, Shas, Tzachi Hanegbi
Is this any way to make peace?
The 'Palestinians' claim that they want 'peace.' But not only do they continue to
incite terrorism and violence against their Jewish neighbors, they also condemn anyone among their own who seems to espouse a different view.
On Tuesday, '
moderate' '
Palestinian' President
Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen 's Fatah terror organization condemned a meeting between prominent 'Palestinians' from the PLO and Israelis because it '
promoted normalization.'
The Israeli delegation to the meeting – which was organized
by the Geneva Initiative group – included members of the Likud and Shas, rabbis,
political consultants and municipal council members.
During their visit
to Ramallah, the Israelis met with PLO Secretary-General Yasser Abed Rabbo, top
Fatah official Nabil Sha’ath, PLO Executive Committee member Mohamed Masri, and
Ashraf al-Ajrami, a former minister for prisoner affairs in the Palestinian
Authority.
Abed Rabbo is also the head of the Palestinian branch of the
Geneva Initiative.
...
Referring to the most recent meeting in
Ramallah, Fatah said: “We condemn normalization and those behind it. Such
meetings are void of political content and a waste of time. They are
unjustified, nationally and politically.”
The faction said in a leaflet
that such meetings were in violation of PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s position to
halt meetings with the Israeli government.
According to Fatah, the
Ramallah meeting “ignored the feelings of our people and the living memory among
our people – that these Zionists are the staunchest enemies of our
rights.”
The Fatah statement concluded, “While we strongly condemn such
meetings and categorically reject them, we call upon our leadership to form a
commission of inquiry to hold accountable those responsible.”
And John Kerry thinks peace is at hand?
Labels: Fatah, Geneva initiative, normalization with Israel, Palestinian Authority
Shas' Yitzchak Vaknin spends the Sabbath in Geneva
Every once in a while, one of the local handouts that gets put in our mailbox for free has some blogworthy news. This is one of those times.
Shas MK Yitzchak Vaknin spent the weekend in Geneva this past weekend at a gathering of the Geneva Initiative, according to the local edition of Merkaz HaInyanim (the Middle of the Affairs). According to its
mission statement, the Geneva Initiative
provides realistic and achievable solutions on all issues, based on previous official negotiations, international resolutions, the Quartet Roadmap, Clinton Parameters, Bush Vision, and Arab Peace Initiative.
In other words, they favor the dismemberment of the State of Israel in favor of a 'Palestinian state' that will not recognize the Jewish state of Israel.
So what is an MK from a Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) party whose voters are Right wingers doing there? Good question.
The conference in Geneva, marking the 8th anniversary of the creation of the Geneva Initiative, was convened by
Ahmadinejad groupie Micheline Calmy-Rey, the Swiss Foreign Minister (Merkaz haInyanim says she's now the head of the Swiss government; if so that's a step up). Those attending included the usual suspects - Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abd Rabbo (the founders of the Geneva Initiative),
Vinegar the Son of Wine Burg - and two honored guests from Shas: Attorney David Glass and Deputy Knesset Speaker and MK Yitzchak Vaknin.
Glass has apparently already said that it would take a 'psychological investigation' to understand Prime Minister Netanyahu, so his attendance is not a great surprise. But Merkaz HaInyanim attributes Vaknin's attendance to fear within Shas that Aryeh Deri - the former head of Shas and a convicted felon (bribery) whose ten-year ban from politics has just ended - will siphon off votes in an upcoming election. According to Merkaz HaInyanim, Vaknin told the attendees that he was there because "the peace agreement that Israel will eventually sign will look like the Geneva Initiative anyway."
Among the Geneva Initiative's provisions are 'Palestinian' control of Jerusalem's Old City and the Temple Mount, and a formula that would require Israel to absorb as many 'Palestinian refugees' as the average country around it absorbs - potentially thousands.
According to Merkaz HaInyanim, Vaknin confirmed that he participated in the conference (which is also confirmed by the picture above), but declined to elaborate on the conference's contents.
According to Merkaz HaInyanim, the governing coalition is shocked that Shas would raise the level of its participation in the Geneva Initiative and Merkaz HaInyanim attributes the participation to a real fear of Deri and a concomitant desire to be seen as a 'centrist' party. Of course, the real shock ought to be that Shas is participating at all. But then,
this isn't the first time that Shas has participated through Vaknin in a Geneva Initiative event.
As part of the fourth cycle of the Geneva Initiative's political training course, a meeting took place with Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, MK Yitzhak Vaknin from Shas. MK Vaknin participated earlier this year in a seminar for senior members of the Shas party and Fatah officials in Budapest, a seminar which received widespread coverage in the international and Haredi press.
During his lecture to course participants, Vaknin presented his opinions and analysis on the current political situation, while also addressing the complexity of the issue among Shas Party members and activists.
Regarding the peace process, MK Vaknin said: "the longer we wait, the higher price we will pay. Everyone talks about leadership, but what we are really missing is bravery." Addressing Foreign Minister Lieberman's comments that Abu Mazen represents the largest obstacle to peace, and that he hopes for the Palestinian leader's resignation, Vaknin said: "Even if Abu Mazen leaves his seat, it does not matter who fills it - we will still need to talk to them. A different Palestinian leadership will not change reality. We need to move forward."
Shas' Knesset list is set by Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef. One can only wonder whether the Rabbi has signed off on Vaknin's activities. More importantly though, unlike the Ashkenazi Haredi parties' voters - nearly all of whom are Haredi - Shas has attracted voters who are not Haredi due to its usually hawkish positions. One can only hope that Vaknin's activities will be more widely publicized so that Shas voters will understand that they may be voting for a sheep in wolf's clothing. The Likud - which lost a lot of votes to Shas over the years - should be taking the lead on this.
But as someone who lives in a Haredi neighborhood, I can tell you that it's rare that anyone in this neighborhood sees election materials from a non-Haredi party.
Labels: Geneva initiative, Shas
Erekat and Netanyahu agree: There's nothing to talk about
Prime Minister Netanyahu told the Knesset on Monday that Israel has to stop blaming itself for the lack of peace: The 'Palestinians'
won't recognize us.
The prime minister said that the majority of Israeli's support his diplomatic vision, setting out a number of points which were widely agreed upon.
First, that the Palestinians must recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jews. Secondly, that any peace agreement with the Palestinians should end the conflict and all future Palestinian claims on land. Third, that no refugees be allowed to return to Israeli territory. Fourth, that a Palestinian state must be formed with Israel's security arrangements in mind, including a continued Israeli military presence along the Jordan River. Fifth, large settlement blocs must remain part of Israel. And, la
stly, Jerusalem would remain the undivided capital of Israel.
Netanyahu said that in addition to these points, the majority of Israelis were united in their belief that Israel's borders must be defended, the peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan must be kept intact and Iran's nuclear weapons program must be kept in check.
Netanyahu is likely to make the same points when he meets with President Obama on Friday and when he speaks to a joint session of Congress next Tuesday.
Meanwhile, former 'Palestinian' chief
negotiator bottle washer Saeb Erekat said on Monday that
'negotiations' with Israel are over.
“Do we have a partner to make peace in Israel? We don’t,” Erekat said, adding “I believe negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians are over.”
Erekat said Israel was at fault to some degree for getting rid of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, saying “you sacked the only guy who could achieve peace.”
Erekat said negotiations were over in the sense that all of the solutions to ending the conflict have already been determined and it merely takes “someone to stand up and make a decision.”
In regards to the declaration of a Palestinian state, Erekat said “those who stand tall and recognize the state of Palestine on the 1967 lines are those who are advocating the two state solution, those who shy from it are putting a big question mark on the two state solution.”
Erekat’s comments came at an event held by the Geneva Initiative on Monday in Tel Aviv to discuss the expected ramifications of the United Nations vote on Palestinian statehood in September.
Entitled “The Road to September”, the conference was also attended by former French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, and former Meretz party leader Yossi Beilin, one of the founders of the Geneva Initiative.
But Erekat's boss turned down a too-generous offer from Olmert because it
wasn't enough. And the 'Palestinians' -
including Erekat himself - couldn't even own up to having
made concessions to Israel in the talks that took place while Olmert was in office. And what '
everyone knows' needs to be done for peace to be made is - it should be obvious by now - not sufficient for peace to be made.
Meanwhile, back at the Knesset, opposition leader Tzipi Livni, who tried in every way possible to surrender to the 'Palestinians' while she was foreign minister, attacked Netanyahu for not having a vision.
Opposition leader Tzipi Livni spoke following Netanyahu, slamming the prime minister for not having a diplomatic vision.
"In a number of months a Palestinian State on the 1967 borders will be declared and the prime minister is going to the United States with no vision or plan of action," Livni stated.
"On this day we are united to defend Israel's sovereignty. Israel's leadership must act to thwart those that do not accept its existence," she stated.
Funny, but her conditions for peace were much less stringent than Netanyahu's and she couldn't get the deal done either. Maybe there's no deal to be had?
Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Geneva initiative, Saeb Erekat, Tzipi Livni
The idiocy of trying to divide Jerusalem
Yaacov Lozowick takes you on another
virtual tour - this time in Jerusalem's Old City - to show you the idiocy of trying to divide Jerusalem.
Labels: Geneva initiative, Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, Old City of Jerusalem
