. Medical and Hospital News .




WAR REPORT
In Israel, growing chorus against Palestinian state
by Staff Writers
Jerusalem (AFP) June 25, 2013


Just days before Washington's top diplomat returns to push for a resumption of direct peace talks, a growing number of Israeli ministers are openly expressing their opposition to the two-state solution.

US Secretary of State John Kerry due to hold a fresh round of talks on Thursday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli leader has been at pains to stress his commitment to resuming dialogue with the Palestinians.

"If Secretary Kerry, whose efforts we support, were to pitch a tent halfway between here and Ramallah - that's 15 minutes away driving time - I'm in it, I'm in the tent," Netanyahu told the Washington Post last week.

"And I'm committed to stay in the tent and negotiate for as long as it takes to work out a solution of peace and security between us and the Palestinians."

In the interview, he reiterated his support for a two-state solution which would see the establishment of a demilitarised Palestinian state in the framework of a deal that assures Israel's security.

But hardliners within Netanyahu's government have been increasingly quick to contradict him, rejecting the idea of a Palestinian state under any conditions.

Earlier this month, coalition partner Naftali Bennett, who heads the far-right Jewish Home party drew an analogy in which he suggested that for Israel, the Palestinian issue was akin to having "shrapnel in the buttocks."

Although it could be removed by a risky operation, the patient would be "left disabled" he said, suggesting it was something which Israel simply had to live with.

"We won't veto the negotiations, we won't bring down the government over this," Bennett told army radio on Tuesday morning, saying he didn't believe "anything much" would come out of Kerry's fifth visit to the region since February.

Even within Netanyahu's ruling rightwing Likud party, the hardline settler lobby is gaining more and more power.

Likud's Danny Danon, who serves as deputy defence minister, sparked uproar earlier this month after he came out against a Palestinian state.

Danon said the government was not serious about it and that moves to create one would be opposed by most of the coalition.

Since the elections in January, when Likud ran on a joint list with the hardline Yisrael Beitenu, winning a very narrow victory, Netanyahu has faced by a growing revolt within the party.

"Netanyahu no longer controls Likud," said political commentator Amit Segal on Israel's Channel 2 television.

--- Cacophony ---

Senior coalition partner Avigdor Lieberman, who heads Yisrael Beitenu, has also adopted a tough line vis-a-vis peace, insisting that Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas is not a partner with whom Israel can talk.

Another coalition partner is Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who serves as Israel's chief peace negotiator, who has denounced the wave of diplomatic naysaying sparked by Danon.

"The prime minister must decide if he is going to allow 'Danonism' to control the debate or if he will let forces that understand that a diplomatic solution is in Israel's interest make a decision," she told members of her HaTnuah faction.

Finance Minister Yair Lapid, the remaining coalition partner who heads Yesh Atid, Israel's second largest party, has for the moment stuck by Netanyahu, preferring to focus on economic and social issues rather than wading into the Palestinian issue.

Faced with such a cacophony as well as heavy pressure from Washington, Netanyahu is hedging his bets.

"The real test of his strength within the government won't be when negotiations start, but if they have to make concrete decisions, for example, about a total freeze on settlement construction," political commentator Hanan Crystal told AFP.

The Maariv newspaper on Tuesday reported that Netanyahu was ready to make "goodwill gestures" to the Palestinians, and release a number of prisoners held by Israel since before the 1993 Oslo Accords.

It also said he was likely to push through a partial freeze on West Bank settlement construction, although it did quote any sources.

But army radio said it was highly unlikely that Kerry would succeed in bringing about a return to serious negotiations.

"Once again, Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmud Abbas are risking a return to the blame game," it said, in the hope that the blame for the collapse of Kerry's efforts would fall on the other party.

.


Related Links






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle




Memory Foam Mattress Review

Newsletters :: SpaceDaily Express :: SpaceWar Express :: TerraDaily Express :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

Get Our Free Newsletters
Space - Defense - Environment - Energy - Solar - Nuclear

...





WAR REPORT
Philippine negotiator with communists resigns
Manila (AFP) June 25, 2013
The Philippines' chief peace negotiator with communist insurgents said Tuesday he was resigning, citing his frustration over the continuing stalled talks. Alexander Padilla, head of the government panel negotiating with the National Democratic Front said he had tendered his resignation, adding that perhaps someone else could revive the peace process. "The talks have been at an impasse f ... read more


WAR REPORT
RESCUE Consortium Demonstrates Technologies for First Responders

India chopper crash kills 20 as flood rescue forges on

India rescue chopper crash death toll rises to 20

WIN-T Increment 1 Enables National Guard to Restore Vital Network Communications Following a Disaster

WAR REPORT
Beidou's second trial held in Yangtze Delta

The next batch of Galileo satellites

Raytheon's latest air traffic management systems go into continuous operation

Raytheon's Satellite Air Navigation System marks 10 years of continuous service in the US

WAR REPORT
China to fund search for origins of early humans

What Is the Fastest Articulated Motion a Human Can Execute?

Lessons at home and homework at school in US

Social network size predicts social cognitive skills in primates

WAR REPORT
Earth's northern biomass mapped and measured

Lion on the loose in South Africa

A 700,000 year old horse gets its genome sequenced

Yukon Gold Mine Yields Ancient Horse Fossil

WAR REPORT
Mandela helped end 'conspiracy of silence' on AIDS: UN

China reports another H7N9 bird flu death

Ten million more people advised to take HIV drugs: UN

AIDS experts urge Asia to stop discrimination

WAR REPORT
China denies changing policy on Dalai Lama: official

Police block site of deadly China Xinjiang riot

US envoy in key visit to Tibet

Blind Chinese activist Chen arrives in Taiwan

WAR REPORT
Mexicans turn to social media to report on drug war

Sydney customs officers ran drugs ring, report says

New Moldova P.M. Leanca says country remains on pro-EU course

Global cybercrime ring targeted by Microsoft and FBI

WAR REPORT
Japan's factory output rises in May

Japan's factory output rises in May, prices flat

GDP growth slows, Fed between rock and hard place

China banking system 'stable' despite fund squeeze




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2012 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement