Don't hold your breath on a reconciliation with Turkey
More than a year after President Hussein Obama promised that reconciliation between Israel and Turkey was at hand, and after numerous false starts, the Turks may have brought the reconciliation prospects to an end on Monday. A Turkish court asked Interpol to issue a red notice for the
arrest four retired senior IDF officers in connection with the May 2010 Mavi Marmara incident. The four are former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, former Navy chief V.-Adm. (res.) Eliezer Marom, ex-Military Intelligence
chief Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amos Yadlin, and former Air Force intel chief
Avishai Levi. On Tuesday morning, Israel reacted the only way it could have reacted, telling Interpol that the arrest request is political. Under Interpol's rules, that should
end any prospect that the four will be arrested... by Interpol.
The former Israeli commanders were tried in absentia at the Istanbul 7th Court of Serious Crimes, reported the Hurriyet Daily News,
adding that Turkey’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying “the
judiciary process is ongoing” and “the ruling is being examined by law
experts.”
Interpol statutes state that proceedings related to
political or military affairs are not ones in which Interpol may
intervene, so it is more than likely that they will not put out
international arrest warrants for the four officers.
The move came
after months of negotiations between Turkey and Israel to end a
diplomatic crisis over the commando raid on the Turkish ship challenging
Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, run by Hamas.
Yet another Middle East problem botched by Obama....
Labels: Amos Yadlin, Gabi Ashkenazi, Interpol, Mavi Marmara, Turkish obsession with Israel
'Palestinians' plan B?
Jonathan Schanzer warns that with the likely collapse of the current 'negotiations,' the 'Palestinians' have a plan B which consists of seeking recognition from the United Nations and its agencies. And there's little that Israel - or even the United States - can do to stop it. It's a
diplomatic intifada.
Even amidst the peace talks, the Palestinians have used the 194
campaign as leverage. In early November, for example, the Palestinian
Monetary Authority announced that it had obtained full membership in the
International Association of Deposit Insurers [16]. Senior Palestinian official Nabil Shaath
[17] also warned that the Palestinians could use the "weapon" of taking
claims against Israel in the International Criminal Court. Shaath
added, "There are organizations that await our application, and ask us
when are we applying."
Abbas himself has threatened
[18], "If we don't obtain our rights through negotiations, we have the
right to go to international institutions." Palestinian official Hanan
Ashrawi also warned that the Palestinian leadership was ready to join sixteen agencies [19] beginning in April 2014. "Everything is in place and will be set in motion," Ashrawi claimed. By late December, Saeb Erekat told Maan News Agency [20] that there were no less than sixty-three member agencies of the UN that the PLO sought to join.
And while the exact strategy has not been released, on January 25, Maan News Agency
[21] reported that a PLO committee had reached an internal agreement on
how to "take the Palestinian plight to the UN and its various bodies."
This included "signing international conventions and joining UN agencies
and different bodies." Among the most important of these bodies was
said to be the International Criminal Court (ICC), "because that will
enable the PA to sue the Israeli occupation over war crimes and crimes
against humanity."
Israeli officials quietly admit that the ICC is only one agency on a
short list of international bodies that they view as red lines. They
include the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the
International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International
Maritime Organization (IMO), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and
INTERPOL. The concern for Israel is not that, not only would the
Palestinians gain acceptance as a state through these agencies (and do
so outside of the bilateral peace process), but that the Palestinians
would also try to isolate Israel from these agencies, which are crucial
to Israeli commerce, security and/or diplomacy.
Other Palestinian memberships would simply be insulting. For example,
Palestinians seek to join FIFA and then disqualify Israel from the
international soccer association. Indeed, Israel is growing increasingly
concerned that the Palestine 194 campaign is about to become part of
the larger strategy of Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS). The campaign
has scored some small successes in academia, with a handful of European
businesses joining, too. But should the majority of UN member states
embrace the strategy of shunning Israel from multiple international
organizations, BDS could evolve into a real threat to Israel's
legitimacy.
The Palestinians, for their part, know that if they take new steps in
this direction, it will open up a whole new front in the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This explains, in part, why Palestinian
officials have kept a lid on their strategy. However, Palestinian
officials in the past have been quick to point out that they do not view
the Palestine 194 campaign as antithetical to bilateral negotiations
with Israel. Indeed, they see it as a means to enhance their negotiating
position. But now that talks are ongoing, Palestinian officials will
not discuss how this dual-track strategy works, particularly in light of
U.S. opposition to the 194 track. Instead, Palestinian officials
articulate their full-throated support of the Kerry initiative. At least
most of the time [22].
For Washington, there is more at stake here than a Nobel Prize for
Obama, Kerry and Indyk. Washington maintains its laws prohibiting the
funding of UN agencies when the PLO gains membership. That law did not
change following the UNESCO debacle. This, of course, means that the US
could be forced to choose between the State of Palestine and sixty-three
different UN agencies.
Some may not seem like a loss—such as the International Olive Council [23]. However, others, such as the World Health Organization or the International Court of Justice, could be bruising.
There's a lot that the United States could do to fight this using the power of the purse. But with Obama in charge, it's unlikely that the US will do anything to fight it.
Read the whole thing.
Labels: International Criminal Court, Interpol, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome, UNESCO, United Nations, United Nations General Assembly, World Health Organization
Turkey seeking Interpol notices against 174 IDF soldiers
Turkey is seeking Interpol '
red notices' against 174 IDF soldiers who it alleges were involved in the Mavi Marmara attack. Israel has already said that most of the list is made up of soldiers who were discharged long before the Mavi Marmara incident occurred.
İstanbul Public Prosecutor Mehmet Akif Ekinci, the prosecutor conducting the investigation into the deadly flotilla attack, had reportedly written to the Turkish Justice Ministry, requesting Interpol red notices for the 174 Israeli soldiers and commanders.
The report also said the İstanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office had earlier written to Israeli authorities requesting the full names and residential addresses of the military and government officials who gave the orders to attack the flotilla, in addition to information about those who carried out the orders. Israel refused to provide the information, so the prosecutor asked the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) to share any intelligence information it has so far collected about the Israeli raid. The report said MİT obtained information on the identities of the Israeli soldiers who killed eight Turkish citizens and one Turkish-American in last year's flotilla raid, identifying almost all of the soldiers who took part in the deadly raid through Facebook.
The report says a total of 174 people, including the soldiers who are thought to have taken part in the raid and those who ordered the attack, were ranked by the prosecutor according to their level of responsibility for the raid. A diagram was then sent to Israeli authorities through the Turkish Justice Ministry for confirmation, but Tel Aviv did not respond to the confirmation request, the daily said. Bugün adds that following this development, the prosecutor took action for the arrest of the 174 Israelis and applied to the Justice Ministry.
The İstanbul Prosecutor's Office, however, had earlier denied reports that Ekinci asked MİT to identify Israeli soldiers and commanders involved in the attack and said the list of Israelis -- reportedly prepared as a result of a Facebook search -- was drawn up by the Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH), the Turkish charity that owned the raided ship.
We knew this was going to happen, but it will be interesting to see whether Interpol actually issues the notices and what will happen if they do or do not.
Labels: Interpol, Mavi Marmara, Turkish obsession with Israel
Can Lebanon stop the Special Tribunal looking into the Hariri murder?
With the indictments for the murder of then-Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri currently under review by pre-trial Judge Daniel Fransen, Naharnet looks at the
limited ability of whatever new Lebanese government takes power to legally stop the proceedings.
Western sources stressed that the Lebanese government did not have the authority to withdraw the judges from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon that will prosecute ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's suspected assassins.
"The judges were appointed by the U.N. secretary-general. That's why the Lebanese government cannot withdraw them," the sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat in remarks published Wednesday. "The judges could resign however," they said.
If Lebanon decides to stop funding the tribunal, then the issue would be discussed at the Security Council, the sources said.
They told the newspaper that funding was one of the major challenges facing the court and unveiled that the tribunal was seeking to find other channels in case Lebanon doesn't pay its dues by the end of April.
STL officials will meet with leaders of Gulf countries and will continue their consultations with American and European officials to convince them "to double their shares," according to the sources.
Turkey and Greece have already made commitments to provide funding to the court in the coming years, they said.
Asked about the arrest of suspects, the sources told al-Hayat: "The arrest of people in Lebanon goes back to the Lebanese government because the tribunal doesn't have its own police."
"A memorandum of understanding has been signed with the Interpol. So, If arrests were made, they (the suspects) would be brought to trial or else they would be tried in absentia," they said.
The sources stressed that people and not parties would be named in the indictment "because a crime is the responsibility of people."
So what will happen? Here are some of my thoughts.
First, although Hezbullah members will be indicted, they will never serve a day in jail.
Second, it won't matter. The point here isn't necessarily to punish the culprits (regardless of what's said above). The point is to expose to anyone willing to listen that Hezbullah is a ruthless terror organization.
Third, murdering judges to encourage their colleagues to resign (a tactic Hezbullah has used to deal with Lebanese MP's in the past) will not ameliorate Hezbullah's public relations problems.
Give Saad Hariri credit. He managed to stay alive and in power long enough to make sure the Tribunal is meaningful.
Labels: Hezbullah, Interpol, Rafik al-Hariri, Saad Hariri, Special Tribunal for Lebanon
