Whoopi Goldberg paid a surprise morning visit to US PM David Cameron on Wednesday. Goldberg is currently in London for her stage performance of 1992 comedy ‘Sister Act’. After making her West End debut on Tuesday (11Aug10), she spent the following day taking in the capital”s sights. Cameron obliged and even took the star on [...]
Posts Tagged ‘prime minister benjamin’
Obama, Netanyahu hold evening talks
March 24th, 2010 |
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The talks came after Israel’s recent announcement of plans to build 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met for more than three hours at the White House, late Tuesday, amid unusual tensions in the U.S.-Israel relationship.
U.S. accused of killing peace prospects
November 1st, 2009 |
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Palestinians on Sunday said Washington’s backing of Israeli refusal to halt Jewish settlement expansion had killed any hope of reviving peace negotiations soon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, buoyed by new-found support from the Obama administration, urged the Palestinians to “get a grip” and drop their settlement freeze precondition for restarting talks suspended since December.
Palestinians evicted in Jerusalem
August 2nd, 2009 |
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Israeli police have evicted nine Palestinian families living in two houses in occupied East Jerusalem.
Jewish settlers moved into the houses almost immediately. The US has urged Israel to abandon plans for a building project in the area.
Israel has occupied East Jerusalem since 1967, a move not recognised by the international community.
The evictions have been condemned by the United Nations, the Palestinians and also the UK government.
‘Deplorable’
The operation to evict the 53 Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah district of the city was carried out before dawn on Sunday by police clad in black riot gear.
It followed a ruling by Israel’s Supreme Court that the land originally belonged to Jewish families. Israel wants to build a block of 20 apartments in the area.
The evictions were quickly condemned by the United Nations.
"I deplore today’s totally unacceptable actions by Israel," the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert H Serry said. "These actions are contrary to the provisions of the Geneva Conventions related to occupied territory.
"These actions heighten tensions and undermine international efforts to create conditions for fruitful negotiations to achieve peace," Mr Perry said.
Palestinian negotiator Saed Erakat said: "Tonight, while these new settlers from abroad will be accommodating themselves and their belongings in these Palestinian houses, 19 newly homeless children will have nowhere to sleep."
Sovereignty ‘unquestionable’
Israel considers a united Jerusalem to be the capital of the state of Israel.
"Our sovereignty over it is unquestionable," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month.
"We cannot accept the idea that Jews will not have the right to live and buy [homes] anywhere in Jerusalem."
The BBC’s Tim Franks in Jerusalem says the houses are in what is probably the most contested city on earth and the diplomatic ripples from the evictions will spread.
The UK joined in the condemnation of the evictions. "These actions are incompatible with the Israeli professed desire for peace," the British Consulate in East Jerusalem said. "We urge Israel not to allow the extremists to set the agenda."
There are an estimated 250,000 Palestinians living in East Jerusalem and 200,000 Jews. </p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
US moves to reassure Israel over Iran
July 27th, 2009 |
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Defence secretary among four senior officials in the Middle East advocating a diplomatic solution to festering crisis with Tehran
The United States today sought to reassure Israel that it was worth attempting to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions — but made clear that Washington expected Tehran to reply to its diplomatic overtures by September.
Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, is one of four senior Obama administration officials visiting Israel this week, underlining the president’s determination to secure a comprehensive Middle East peace agreement.
Gates said he did not believe that Barack Obama’s timetable would “increase the risks to anybody” — a reference to Israeli concerns that its nuclear monopoly may soon be challenged by the Islamic republic.
Israel has hinted at a pre-emptive attack on Iran should it deem diplomacy to be at a dead end. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said today that he reaffirmed to Gates “the need to use all means to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear military capability”.
George Mitchell, the president’s special envoy, flew to Cairo today and was due back later for more meetings in Israel. On Saturday he was in Damascus meeting President Bashar al-Assad, who is being wooed by Obama after being shunned by the Bush administration.
The US envoy said restarting talks between Israel and Syria was a “near-term goal” for Washington. “I told President Assad that President Obama is determined to facilitate a truly comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace,” he told reporters.
Indirect negotiations between Syria and Israel, mediated by Turkey and centred on the occupied Golan Heights, were suspended during Israel’s offensive against the Gaza Strip in December. Turkey said this month it was ready to resume mediation efforts.
But there has been no public sign from Syria that Assad has agreed to influence Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement that controls Gaza, and the bitter opponent of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. Hamas, listed as a terrorist organisation by the US and Britain, is based in Damascus.
The US is sending an ambassador back to Syria after withdrawing the previous incumbent in 2005 in protest at the Beirut assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, which was widely blamed on Damascus, despite repeated denials.
Syria’s foreign minister, Walid al-Muallem, said in London on Friday that Damascus – Tehran’s only Arab ally – could help find a way out of the impasse over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, complicated by domestic turmoil since last month’s disputed presidential elections.
As well as Iran, Gates’s talks in Israel centre on missile defence and bilateral security issues. General Jim Jones, Obama’s national security adviser, and Dennis Ross, a senior Middle East and Iran expert, are also due in Israel.
The flurry of high-level activity follows Obama’s long-heralded speech to the Arab and Muslim worlds in Cairo in June, when the president made clear his strategic commitment to working to achieve Middle East peace. These latest moves are intended to achieve concrete results.
Mitchell and the Israeli defence minister, Ehud Barak, have been trying to agree a delicate compromise on freezing Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank – a hot potato in Israeli domestic politics but vital if Arab countries are to take any steps, at the urging of the US, to “normalise” their relations with Israel.
Netanyahu has pledged not to build new outposts or expropriate territory in the West Bank. But he insists construction must continue to accommodate “natural” Jewish population growth. The precise definition of a moratorium has yet to be agreed, though Israeli officials speak of exempting 2,500 housing units that are still being built. Palestinians and Arabs say a total freeze is the minimum required and accuse Netanyahu of bad faith. Mitchell is also due to see Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, at his Ramallah headquarters.
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Britain ‘should approach Hamas’
July 26th, 2009 |
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In pictures: Gaza six months on
The UK government has come under rising pressure from MPs to start making contact with Palestinian group Hamas.
A Foreign Affairs Committee report also said it was "regrettable" UK-supplied military items were "almost certainly" used by Israel in the Gaza conflict.
The cross-party group, which monitors foreign policy, called on the EU to make relations with Israel conditional on its peace-making efforts.
Hamas was also criticised for its use of rockets on Israeli civilian targets.
‘Ineffective strategy’
But committee chairman Michael Gapes said the committee saw "few signs that the current policy of non-engagement with Hamas" was effective.
He added that the government "should urgently consider engaging with moderate elements within Hamas" as it had with the political wing of Hezbollah in Lebanon earlier this year.
The wide-ranging report condemns Israel for the continuing growth of settlements and for its blockades around the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip.
It was unacceptable, said Mr Gapes, to deny unrestricted access for humanitarian assistance.
And the report also called for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to declare whether it considered war crimes had been committed during the December 2008 to January 2009 conflict in Gaza and southern Israel.
Hamas came into criticism for its rocket attacks, but MPs concluded that Israel’s military action in Gaza was "disproportionate".
Who are Hamas
Mr Gapes said: "Rocket fire from Gaza by Hamas and other Palestinian groups on civilian targets in Israel is unacceptable.
"It generates the risk of a renewed escalation in violence, and constitutes a central obstacle in the way of Israeli willingness to move forward towards a two-state settlement."
The report welcomed the endorsement by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of a two-state solution to the conflict.
The committee added that the split between Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank was a central obstacle to creating a united and democratic Palestinian state, and called for elections that could be accepted by all parties.
Former prime minister Tony Blair, who is now a Middle East peace envoy, was commended for "making an important contribution to Palestinian economic and institutional development".
But movement, access and administrative restrictions on the West Bank continued to represent a "major obstacle to further Palestinian economic development," it added.
Hamas takes its name from the Arabic initials for the Islamic Resistance Movement.
Designated a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US and the EU, it is seen by its supporters as a legitimate fighting force defending Palestinians from a brutal military occupation. </p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Iran: We Can Strike Israel’s Nukes
July 25th, 2009 |
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(AP) TEHRAN, Iran – The head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard said Saturday that his country has the capability to strike Israel’s nuclear facilities and wouldn’t be afraid to do so if it was attacked.
“If the Israeli entity engages in any…
Israel to demolish 23 illegal settlements
July 22nd, 2009 |
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Israel is planning to remove 23 “illegal outposts” from the West Bank in the course of a single day in response to mounting US demands that it halt all settlement activity, it was reported today.
These outposts are defined as illegal by the Israeli government because they have not received planning permission. But under international law all settlements built on occupied territory are illegal. According to the Ha’aretz newspaper the outposts, housing 1,200 people, will all be evacuated and dismantled simultaneously following a decision by the Likud prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israeli army denied receiving any orders for a “lightning evacuation”. Settler spokesmen warned of a furious response if any such move took place.
Israel has only twice evacuated Jewish settlements since the 1967 war: in 1981 when the Sinai desert was returned to Egypt, and in 2005, when Israel unilaterally withdrew troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip. Removing settlers from the West Bank will be far more controversial.
Israel has told the US it would remove “illegal” outposts built after March 2001. The current activity is in response to unprecedented pressure from Washington, where President Barack Obama has departed sharply from the informal acquiescence of the Bush administration.
Dan Meridor, a deputy prime minister with a reputation for moderation, insisted that tacit “understandings” with Bush still bound the Obama administration.
Netanyahu has insisted that construction must be permitted in existing settlements to accommodate what he calls “natural growth” in their populations. In all, nearly 500,000 Israelis now live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, both claimed by the Palestinians as part of their future independent state.
Tensions have flared in recent days since Netanyahu said the US had no right to demand that Israel halt plans to develop 20 apartments in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah. On Monday, campaigners protesting at the planned eviction of Palestinian families to make way for it appealed to Obama to stop the settlement.
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, said today: “What is required from Israel is to freeze all settlement activity. When Israel meets these demands, we will be ready to go to the final negotiations.”
France’s foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, meanwhile summoned the Israeli ambassador to Paris to complain about Jewish settlements. “These activities must be stopped,” warned Kouchner, “otherwise there will be no chance to found an independent Palestinian state that administers itself and also guarantees Israel’s security.”
Britain’s foreign office minister, Ivan Lewis, told MPs: “Israel should freeze all settlement activity, including the natural growth of existing settlements, and dismantle all outposts erected since March 2001.”
Sweden, current president of the EU, also urged Israel “to refrain from provocative actions in East Jerusalem, including home demolitions and evictions.” It added: “Such actions are illegal under international law.”
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
East Jerusalem Settlements: Mike Huckabee Joins The Fray, Will Broadcast From Disputed Site
July 21st, 2009 |
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The dispute over a highly controversial East Jerusalem Israeli settlement project on Arab land came to a head Tuesday when direct, public statements from France and Russia joined statements made by the United States demanding that all construc…
Israel to demolish 23 illegal settlements
July 21st, 2009 |
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Israel is planning to remove 23 “illegal outposts” from the West Bank in the course of a single day in response to mounting US demands that it halt all settlement activity, it was reported today.
These outposts are defined as “illegal” by the Israeli government because they have not received planning permission. But under international law all settlements built on occupied territory are illegal. According to the Ha’aretz newspaper the outposts, housing 1,200 people, will all be evacuated and dismantled simultaneously following a decision by the Likud prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Israeli army later denied receiving any orders for a “lightning evacuation.” Settler spokesmen warned of a furious response if any such move took place.
Israel has only twice evacuated Jewish settlements since the 1967 war: in 1981 when the Sinai desert was returned to Egypt, and in 2005, when Israel unilaterally withdrew troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip. Removing settlers from the West Bank will be far more controversial.
Israel has told the US it would remove “illegal” outposts built after March 2001. The current activity is in response to unprecedented pressure from Washington, where President Obama has departed sharply from the informal acquiescence of the Bush administration.
Dan Meridor, a deputy prime minister with a reputation for moderation, insisted that tacit “understandings” with Bush still bound the Obama administration.
Netanyahu has insisted that construction must be permitted in existing settlements to accommodate what he calls “natural growth” in their populations. In all, nearly 500,000 Israelis now live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, both claimed by the Palestinians as part of their future independent state.
Tensions have flared in recent days since Netanyahu said the US had no right to demand that Israel halt plans to develop 20 apartments in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah. On Monday, campaigners protesting at the planned eviction of Palestinian families to make way for it appealed to Obama to stop the settlement.
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, said today: “What is required from Israel is to freeze all settlement activity. When Israel meets these demands, we will be ready to go to the final negotiations.”
France’s foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, meanwhile summoned the Israeli ambassador to Paris to complain about Jewish settlements. “These activities must be stopped,” warned Kouchner, “otherwise there will be no chance to found an independent Palestinian state that administers itself and also guarantees Israel’s security.”
Britain’s foreign office minister, Ivan Lewis, told MPs: “Israel should freeze all settlement activity, including the natural growth of existing settlements, and dismantle all outposts erected since March 2001.”
Sweden, current president of the EU, also urged Israel “to refrain from provocative actions in East Jerusalem, including home demolitions and evictions.” It added: “Such actions are illegal under international law.”
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Israel settlers burn olive trees
July 21st, 2009 |
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Ten people have been arrested during a series of disturbances caused by Jewish settlers in the West Bank after Israeli authorities removed an illegal caravan.
Two Palestinians were taken to hospital after settlers threw stones at cars and tried to block a road near Nablus in the northern West Bank on Monday night.
Settlers also set fire to a Palestinian olive grove in the area.
The caravan was part of an "outpost", a settlement illegal under Israeli law, which Israel has agreed to remove.
Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law.
Israeli outposters vow to stay Settler vineyards take root
Right-leaning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under US pressure to halt all settlement building and carry out previous Israeli pledges to remove the outposts.
But the settlers, many of whom say they have a God-given right to live in the West Bank, have threatened to impose what they call a "price tag" on such evacuations.
The Human Rights Group Yesh Din said this can include attacking Palestinians and their property "to create a price for each evacuation, causing Israeli authorities to think twice about carrying them out".
Police did not give details of the incidents in which the 10 arrests were made, but said they were from a series of "disturbances" across the West Bank.
At least 280,000 Jews live in settlements (with a further 180,000 living in East Jerusalem), established in the occupied West Bank with Israeli government backing, in contravention of international law.
Israeli activist groups say there are, in addition, about 100 unauthorised outposts in the West Bank, where Palestinians want to locate their future state.
On Tuesday, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Israeli forces were drafting a plan to remove 23 such outposts in one day.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Israeli PM defiant on Jerusalem
July 19th, 2009 |
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected a reported US request that a building project in Jerusalem be halted.
The project involves building 20 apartments in the mainly Arab East Jerusalem area, which was captured by Israel in 1967.
Last week US officials told the Israeli ambassador that the project should be suspended, Israeli media said.
But Mr Netanyahu rejected this in comments at his weekly Cabinet meeting.
"We cannot accept the idea that Jews will not have the right to live and buy (homes) anywhere in Jerusalem," he said.
"Unified Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish people and the state of Israel. Our sovereignty over it is unquestionable."
Israel has occupied East Jerusalem since 1967. It has annexed the city and declared its east and west Israel’s eternal capital.
"This undermines the efforts being exerted to revive the peace process"
Saeb Erekat,
Palestinian negotiator
This is not recognised by the international community, with the east of the city considered occupied territory.
Palestinians hope to establish their capital in East Jerusalem, as part of a two-state peace deal with the Israelis.
They say Israel uses settlement and demolition orders to try to force them from the area.
‘No credibility’
The project in question concerns a block of 20 apartments in the Sheikh Jarrah district of the city.
Israeli officials said the US State Department summoned Ambassador Michael Oren last week and told him that the construction should not go ahead.
There was no immediate comment from the US.
But Israel has come under pressure from the Obama administration to freeze settlement activity on land that Palestinians want for a future state.
Palestinians say peace talks cannot proceed until settlement activity halts.
A senior Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said Mr Netanyahu’s comments had further undermined efforts to re-start the peace process.
The decision to pursue this project, he said, reflected Israel’s defiance of international calls for a halt to settlement activity.
"This undermines the efforts being exerted to revive the peace process and this undermines the credibility of those involved in making the peace process continue," he said.
About 268,000 Palestinians live in East Jerusalem, alongside 200,000 Israeli Jews.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Netanyahu Invites Abbas To Talk Peace
July 12th, 2009 |
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JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday invited the Palestinians to sit down immediately to talk peace, but the Palestinian leader maintained his demand that first Israel must halt all West Bank settlement constru…