Tag Archive for Peace Process

| October 5, 2013
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Israeli Prime Minister: Peace Talks Are Going Nowhere

Prime Minister Netanyahu, during meetings with the heads of American Jewish organizations, reportedly commented that the current peace talks are stuck.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said, during his visit to the United States this past week, that the peace talks with the Palestinian Authority are going nowhere.

According to a report on Friday in the Maariv daily newspaper, Netanyahu made the comments in closed meetings with the heads of American Jewish organizations.

Netanyahu reportedly repeated his position and that he is ready for a historic compromise with the Palestinian Authority, but added that “the problem was, and still is, their refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.” Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| September 7, 2013
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PA minister announces: Next prisoners’ release by Israel in October

 

Following Israel’s August release of 26 convicted murderers the next group of jailed terrorists to be released will be on October 29. Minister Karaka says regardless of progress of Israel-PA peace talks.

Abbas suggests issue of borders hinges on talks

By: Roi Kais

Palestinian Minister of Prisoner Affairs Issa Karaka said that the next Palestinian prisoners’ release as past of the peace talks’ resumption will take place on October 29.

According to Karaka, the next group of prisoners will be released regardless of diplomatic progress of the talks, adding that the prisoners will only be released to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| September 2, 2013
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Abbas reveals Israel-PA deal made to restart peace process

 

PA president says he agreed to avoid lobbying to int’l institutions after Israel OK’ed prisoner release.

By Roi Kais

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed Monday the circumstances of the deal that was made with Israel in order to renew the peace talks between the two sides.

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas - Photo Mark Israel Sellem

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas – Photo: Mark Israel Sellem

Speaking to Fatah members in Ramallah, Abbas said that even before negotiations started, the US demanded that the Palestinians avoid lobbying in international intitutions.

Abbas also addressed the subject of Syria and said that he opposes any military strike from the US. “We will not have an Arab state bombed and we condemn the use of chemical weapons on either side. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| August 28, 2013
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Norwegian FM: World refuses to bankroll Palestinians with blank-check forever

 

Espen Barth Eide praised Israelis for taking a very ‘difficult’ step in releasing prisoners, saying now the PA must also make concessions, and if progress is not made, ‘donations’ will stop.

By HERB KEINON
 

 

Both the Palestinians and Israel should know that the world will not bankroll Palestinian Authority state-building forever, and that if progress is not made the donations will stop, Norway’s Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told The Jerusalem Post Tuesday.

Espen Barth Eide meet with PA President Abbas August 27, 2013.

Espen Barth Eide meet with PA President Abbas August 27, 2013. – Photo: REUTERS

“The donors will not be ready to keep funding Palestinian state-building much longer if we are not seeing a political horizon,” said Eide.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| August 27, 2013
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Mudar Zahran: A Palestinian State in Jordan is ‘Inevitable’

Zahran, the Jordanian-Palestinian dissident, didn’t pull any punches Sunday afternoon, speaking at a conference entitled “Two States for Two People, on Two Sides of the Jordan River.”

By Ari Soffer

 

Jordanian-Palestinian activist Mudar Zahran is not a man who minces his words. In fact, his outspokenness against the Jordanian regime has made him a persona-non-grata in his own country, forcing him to seek asylum in the UK.

Mudar Zahran

Mudar Zahran

Zahran did not pull any punches Sunday afternoon, speaking at a conference entitled “Two States for Two People, on Two Sides of the Jordan River.” Deriding the Jordanian ruling elite as “Armani-wearing, English-speaking autocrats” he called on all parties to consider a radically different track to the current peace initiatives based off of a “Two State Solution” which would see a Palestinian Authority-run state in Judea and Samaria. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , , ,
| August 26, 2013
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Fatah: Abbas will soon implement ‘painful decisions’ against Hamas

 

Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed, said Hamas will no longer be recognized as a partner in the process after implementation of decisions agreed upon with Israel.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

The Palestinian Authority will soon take “painful decisions” against Hamas, senior Fatah official Azzam al- Ahmed announced on Sunday.

Palestinian Hamas rally

Palestinian Hamas rally – Photo: REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusini

Ahmed did not specify the nature of the decisions.

However, he said that Hamas would no longer be considered a partner in any process after the decisions are taken by the PA leadership.

The official denied that the PA leadership in the West Bank was considering declaring the Gaza Strip a “rogue entity.”

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| August 23, 2013
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PA President tells Meretz MKs: No progress in peace talks with Israel

PA Mahmoud Abbas: Palestinian refugees will not be returning to Jaffa & Acre

By GIL HOFFMAN, KHALED ABU TOAMEH
 

 

There has been no progress made whatsoever in the first four meetings between Israeli and Palestinian delegations since diplomatic talks restarted, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas told a visiting group of Meretz MKs in Ramallah on Thursday, a party spokeswoman said.

Mahmoud Abbas with a visiting group of Meretz MKs in Ramallah, August 22, 2013.

Mahmoud Abbas with a visiting group of Meretz MKs in Ramallah, August 22, 2013. – Photo: Courtesy Palestinian Authority

Abbas said he was not optimistic that the talks will succeed, but he “hoped they were not a waste of time” and that an agreement could be reached between Israel and the Palestinians over the next six months.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , ,
| August 19, 2013
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Here we go again: PLO charges Israel with ‘war crimes, anti-human, racist acts’

 

With Abbas having little or no support with other Palestinian factions, PLO leaders say talks are “cover for settlement project”.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH, HERB KEINON
 

 

The PLO leadership on Sunday launched a scathing attack on Israel and threatened to go to international agencies to punish it for its “war crimes, anti-human racist acts and violations of international laws.”

PA's Abbas heads meeting of PLO Executive C'tee

PA’s Abbas heads meeting of PLO Executive C’tee – Photo: REUTERS

The attack came during a meeting in Ramallah of the PLO Executive Committee under the chairmanship of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

The PLO leaders said they would not accept a situation where the peace talks with Israel, which resumed recently, would become a “political cover for the implementation of the largest settlement project.”

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| August 17, 2013
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PA officials accuse Kerry of ‘deception & misinformation’ in peace talks with Israel

Palestinian representatives say Kerry gave Abbas assurances on Israeli settlement freeze.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

 

Palestinian officials in Ramallah have accused the US Administration of deceiving and misinforming the Palestinian Authority with regards to the peace talks with Israel.

US Secretary of State John Kerry (R) shakes hands with Saeb Erekat, April 2013.

US Secretary of State John Kerry (R) shakes hands with Saeb Erekat, April 2013. – Photo: REUTERS

The officials told the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper that they were concerned about the US Administration’s role in the peace talks with Israel, especially its position on plans to build new homes in settlements and east Jerusalem neighborhoods.

The officials met with PA President Mahmoud Abbas last Thursday and heard from him about the peace talks with Israel.

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Category: Jewish News | Tags: , , ,
| August 15, 2013
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MK Shaked: Kerry’s hypocrisy is endangering Israeli lives

 

Israel’s Knesset Member Ayelet Shaked pens straightforward letter assailing US Secretary of State John Kerry over undue political pressure, murdering prisoner release, hypocrisy, & political foolishness during Arab Mid-East turmoil.

By LAHAV HARKO
 

 

US Secretary of State John Kerry is putting lives at risk by gambling on the peace process, Bayit Yehudi faction chairwoman Ayelet Shaked wrote in a letter to him Thursday.

Bayit Yehudi faction chairwoman, MK Ayelet Shaked – Photo Courtesy

Shaked began the letter explaining that, due to the gravity of the situation, she feels that she “simply cannot be bound by the restraints of politically correct wording” and must be straightforward.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| August 14, 2013
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26 Palestinian terrorist released from Israeli prisons as ‘offering’ for Peace

 

Hundreds, including President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed 26 prisoners that left Ayalon Prison in vans with tinted windows.

Abbas: ‘We won’t rest until all prisoners are released’, then rocket explodes in western Negev.

By Ynet reporters

 

After weeks of cabinet discussions, protests and High Court petitions, 26 Palestinian prisoners were released Tuesday night as part of an Israeli gesture to the Palestinian Authority in the wake of resuming peace talks.

Convoy leaves Ayalon Prison (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

Convoy leaves Ayalon Prison – Photo: Motti Kimchi

Two convoys left the Ayalon Prison Tuesday night en route to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The first convoy, carrying 15 prisoners, reached the Erez checkpoint and shortly after 1 am was allowed to cross into Gaza. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| August 12, 2013
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Minister Livni: The European Union will not dictate Israel’s borders

Israel’s Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who’s also Israel’s lead negotiator in peace-talks with the PA, said during a meeting with German foreign minister, that any final status agreement relating to Israel’s borders will be determined only through negotiations with the Arabs and not by any EU decision.

By Yori Yalon & Edna Adato

 

 

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who is also Israel’s chief negotiator in talks with the Palestinian Authority, said on Sunday during a meeting in Jerusalem with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle that in any final status agreement pertaining to the country’s borders will be determined only through negotiations by Israel and the Palestinians.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| August 12, 2013
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US Congressman: No one’s suggesting US troops as part of Arab peace agreement

 

U.S. Congressman Steny Hoyer (Dem.) says U.S. prepared to play leading role in ensuring security in the West Bank, but unlikely to deploy American troops.

By HERB KEINON
 

 

On the eve of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that will ultimately have to discuss security guarantees for Israel, US Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) told The Jerusalem Post that the deployment of US troops anywhere in the West Bank was very unlikely.

Democratic Congressman Steny Hoyer during a visit to Israel in 2011.

Democratic Congressman Steny Hoyer during a visit to Israel in 2011. – Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Hoyer, who led a delegation of 36 Democratic congressmen to Israel over the past week, said during an interview on Thursday that the issue was not raised in meetings the congressional group held either with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu or with PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| August 12, 2013
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PA tells US: Stop Tenders for New Homes or Talks are Off

 

The decision to announce the new tenders for construction of new homes around Jerusalem has exposed some of the rifts within the Israeli coalition gov’t.

“Let Netanyahu make peace with Bennett,” a senior PA official said, according to Voice of Israel radio.

By Gil Ronen and Ari Soffer

 

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is demanding that Israel cancel its decision to market about 1,200 new housing units in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, even before the next round of “peace talks” scheduled for Wednesday.

Voice of Israel public radio quoted an anonymous senior PA official as saying the PA leadership has informed the United States of this decision and is awaiting a response. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| August 12, 2013
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Jailed Arab Murderers Collect $3,400 a Month from PA

Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Elkin opposes concept that “releasing terrorists brings peace, & building a kindergarten prevents peace.”

By Gil Ronen

 

Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin (Likud) had harsh criticism Sunday for the government he is a part of, over the decision to release terrorist murderers. He admitted that he, too, shares in the blame for the decision, although he opposes it.

“I am angry at the approach that says that releasing terrorists brings peace nearer, and building a kindergarten prevents peace,” he said – in a reference to the “peace camp” and its criticism of construction for Jews in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. Continue Reading »

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