 The militaries of Israel and Turkey are trying to salvage an alliance severely damaged as Ankara realigns its position in the Middle East. A one-day trip to Turkey by Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak on Sunday will be the highest-level visit by an Israeli or Turkish official to the other country since Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's explosive confrontation over the Gaza conflict with President Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2009. Already this week, a Turkish military team has been in Israel to test Heron unmanned aerial vehicles that Israel has contracted to sell to Turkey for just under $200 million. A senior Israeli official also was in Ankara this week to keep that much delayed deal on track. Analysts say it is no surprise that the main effort to restore the relationship is coming from the two militaries, which have formed its bedrock ever since the alliance was formed in the mid-1990s. At the time, the alliance gave Turkey access to technologically advanced military equipment and Israeli intelligence capabilities. Turkey was fighting a brutal counterinsurgency war with Kurdish militants who had bases in Iraq and Syria. Turkey and Syria came close to war in 1998. Israel and Turkey signed more than 20 military agreements in the 1990s. One called for four joint air force training sessions a year in each country. The two navies participated in joint exercises and staff officers collaborated on war-game simulations.
Deals like Israel's modernization of 54 Turkish Phantom jets helped military exports reach $1 billion during the decade. Israel also supplied radar systems and missile components. "Turkey is the only regional partner Israel has in terms of military relationship," said Gerald Steinberg, a political-science professor at Bar Ilan University, located outside Tel Aviv. "It once offset conventional threats from Syria, and was a threat to Hezbollah and Iran that Israel could strike from the north through Turkey." But in the past decade, the collaboration has become less vital. Military trade dropped off. While Israel won a $688 million contract to modernize Turkish tanks, the Heron deal has been a bone of contention. Mr. Erdogan's avowedly Islamic government is taking a much tougher view of Israel's role in Gaza and the West Bank, even as he restores relations with its Muslim neighbors, where criticizing Israel is popular. Turkey last year held its first joint military exercises with Syria, signed dozens of agreements with Iraq, and last week established visa free travel with Lebanon. For Israel, the relationship with Ankara also has become less critical. A growing commercial relationship with India is overshadowing military business with Turkey, Israeli analysts say.
And the conventional military threat from Syria has diminished and Iraq has been removed for now as a foe. Still, Turkey's military has significant contracts for arms purchases from Israel that it wants to see completed, says Hüseyin Bagci, professor of international relations at Middle East Technical University in Ankara. "On the political side, both governments are playing to domestic audiences and the latest conflict served both sides. On the military side, both sides try to arm each other," says Mr. Bagci. Analysts believe the relationship will survive, though in reduced form, if only because for Turkey to become hostile toward Israel would severely complicate its relationship with the United States, and end support it has received from the Jewish lobby in the U.S. Congress. Indeed, since Turkey's high-profile removal of Israel from planned NATO air exercises last fall, the two militaries in December conducted a joint search-and-rescue exercise in the Mediterranean. Also in December, President Peres and Turkey's President Abdullah Gül met on the sidelines of the climate conference in Compenhagen. But this week's dispute over the Israeli foreign ministry's deliberate, televised humiliation of Turkey's ambassador has exposed a rift within the Israeli government over how to handle Turkey, says Alon Liel, a former foreign ministry director general. A hard-line camp is led by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who wants to preserve Israel's honor in the face of attacks on its policy toward Palestinians—attacks that Mr. Erdogan makes frequently. The second camp is led by Mr. Barak, who reflects the desire of Israel's defense establishment to preserve ties with an important trade partner.
Unlike Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Barak also wants to resume peace talks with Syria, says Mr. Liel. Turkey had been mediating talks with Syria when the Gaza conflict began. WSJ 
 The crisis in the relations between Turkey and Israel has ended, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Monday evening after meeting Israeli Industry, Trade, and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer in Ankara. "There has always been an open channel of communication between the countries, and therefore there is no need for a new beginning," said Davutoglu, "We are willing to resume our role as mediators between Israel and Syria." As for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Turkish FM called on the sides to "launch a new era." Earlier Monday, Ben-Eliezer said Israel wants to improve and strengthen ties with key Muslim ally Turkey, which have soured over Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip. Ben-Eliezer, the first Israeli minister to visit Turkey since relations hit a low last winter, also said Turkey can help "solve problems in the Middle East." Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday that Turkey's scathing criticism of the Jewish state had disqualified it as a mediator of talks between Israel and Syria. Muslim but secular Turkey has long been Israel's closest ally in the Muslim world and mediated months of indirect talks between Israel and Syria last year. But ties deteriorated steeply after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who heads an Islamic-oriented government, strongly criticized Israel's military operation in Gaza and complained of the heavy Palestinian death toll. The Turkish-mediated indirect talks between Syria and Israel were put on hold over the Gaza offensive. Ben-Eliezer told a group of Turkish business representatives that Israel "wants to continue and strengthen relations, we want to clean the cloudy situation." More at YNet
 Palestinian plans to possibly unilaterally declare a state continues to yield reactions in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to reject the increasingly strengthening Palestinian imitative during his speech at the Saban Forum in Jerusalem on Sunday. He will warn the Palestinians against moving forward with the initiative, emphasizing Israel's objection, and will stress that the solution for the establishment of a Palestinian state can be found in negotiations with Israel. Meanwhile, President Shimon Peres, who is currently visiting South America, told reporters accompanying him in Brazil that "a Palestinian state cannot be established without a peace agreement. It's impossible and it will no work. It's unacceptable that they change their minds every day. Bitterness is not a policy." Peres is scheduled to travel to Argentina on Sunday under tight security, amid fear of a mass anti-Israeli protest. Ynet has also learned that one of the main events the president is meant to attend was relocated due to security concerns. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned in a speech at the Saban Forum on Saturday that a withdrawal to the 1967 borders will not end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. "A return to 1967 borders and the establishment of a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria will not end the conflict, but rather, shift it into Israel's borders," he said, adding that such circumstances would prompt Arab-Israeli demands for autonomy in the Galilee and the Negev. Lieberman took part in a session with US deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and journalist David Ignatius at the forum. Former US President Bill Clinton is scheduled to take part in the forum Sunday. In a speech earlier, Clinton said that he is convinced that an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement would have been finalized within three years had Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin not been assassinated. Lieberman's comments came hours after chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told al-Ayyam newspaper that the PA was garnering international support to declare a state. "All Arab states support the idea, and a date has been selected to raise the matter at the Security Council," he said. Erekat said he had discussed the matter a number of times with American and European sources, and that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has also raised the issue in talks with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Russian sources, and that they all responded positively. Abbas, according to Erekat, will continue to seek support of the idea during his visits to South America and Europe this week. "Talks with the Europeans and the UN in the matter are ongoing," he added.
 A withdrawal to the 1967 borders will not end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Foreign Minister Avigodor Lieberman warned in a speech at the Saban Forum in Jerusalem Saturday. "A return to 1967 borders and the establishment of a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria will not end the conflict, but rather, shift it into Israel's borders," he said, adding that such circumstances would prompt Arab-Israeli demands for autonomy in the Galilee and the Negev. The foreign minister also warned that the establishment of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders would lead to growing attachment between Israeli Arabs and the Palestinian entity. Former US President Bill Clinton is scheduled to take part in the forum Sunday.
In a speech earlier, Clinton said that he is convinced that an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement would have been finalized within three years had Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin not been assassinated. Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger are also slated to take part in the Saban Forum this year.
 Roni Sofer "Radical Islamic elements are abusing the democratic tools given to them by European countries in order to incite, escalate and worsen the relations within those countries and between those countries and other countries, and increase and encourage anti-Semitic incidents," Lieberman said during a meeting with Danish Minister of Refugee, Immigration and Integration Affairs Birthe Rønn Hornbech.
Lieberman also met with Gitte Lillelund Bech, chairwoman of the Danish Parliament's Foreign Policy Committee. The two discusses the relations between the countries and global policy issues, as well as an upcoming visit by the Danish parliamentary committee to Israel.
The minister also laid a wreath at the memorial site for Danish Jews sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp.
He mentioned the fact that many Danish residents risked their lives in order to save Jews who were meant to be sent to the Nazis, saying that "Denmark will always have an important place in history and in the heart of the Jewish people."
Lieberman added, "Today we are once against facing those who want and threaten to destroy the Jews, not only those living in Israel. The Iranian regime funds the terrorist activity in the world in general and against Jews in particular.
"The State of Israel is responsible for all Jewish communities in the world, and all the Jewish communities in the world are responsible for the State of Israel. This cooperation is important to stop this threat. The battle against the Iranian threat is the biggest challenge the democratic world must to face today."
After meeting with the Danish foreign minister, Lieberman is expected to travel to Holland on Tuesday, where he will meet with Israel's ambassadors to Western European countries for a briefing on urgent diplomatic matters. He is expected to return to Israel on Thursday.
 France on Friday urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to stay in office despite his recent announcement that he will not seek re-election. Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said he will travel to the Middle East in the coming days and would hold talks with Abbas, whose decision was seen in Paris as a new "threat to peace." "I will press Mahmud Abbas to obstinately continue his work for peace, that is, for the creation of a Palestinian state," Kouchner said in Paris. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman dismissed Abbas' announcement as an empty threat, saying it was "nothing to get worked up about." "He has resigned in the past during his tenure as Palestinian prime minister under chairman Yasser Arafat," said Lieberman, who is the first senior Israeli official to comment on Abbas' announcement. Another official said Jerusalem had no intention of abandoning the efforts to jumpstart the peace talks "as soon as possible and without preconditions." In Cairo, Arab League chief Amr Mussa urged Abbas to reconsider his decision and assured the beleaguered leader of his support, Egyptian state news agency MENA reported. Source: YNet
 "There is no doubt he is our friend," Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, says of Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, even as he accuses Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman of threatening to use nuclear weapons against Gaza. These outrageous assertions point to the profound change of orientation by Turkey's government, for six decades the West's closest Muslim ally, since Erdoğan's AK party came to power in 2002. Three events this past month reveal the extent of that change. The first came on October 11 with the news that the Turkish military – a long-time bastion of secularism and advocate of cooperation with Israel – abruptly asked Israeli forces not to participate in the annual "Anatolian Eagle" air force exercise. Erdoğan cited "diplomatic sensitivities" for the cancelation and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu spoke of "sensitivity on Gaza, East Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa mosque."
The Turks specifically rejected Israeli planes that may have attacked Hamas (an Islamist terrorist organization) during last winter's Gaza Strip operation. While Damascus applauded the disinvitation, it prompted the U.S. and Italian governments to withdraw their forces from Anatolian Eagle, which in turn meant canceling the international exercise. As for the Israelis, this "sudden and unexpected" shift shook to the core their military alignment with Turkey, in place since 1996.
Former air force chief Eytan Ben-Eliyahu, for example, called the cancelation "a seriously worrying development." Jerusalem immediately responded by reviewing Israel's practice of supplying Turkey with advanced weapons, such as the recent $140 million sale to the Turkish Air Force of targeting pods.
The idea also arose to stop helping the Turks defeat the Armenian genocide resolutions that regularly appear before the U.S. Congress. Barry Rubin of the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya not only argues that "The Israel-Turkey alliance is over" but concludes that Turkey's armed forces no longer guard the secular republic and can no longer intervene when the government becomes too Islamist.
 Roni Sofer Russia has made it clear to Israel that it will oppose a Goldstone Report discussion at the United Nations Security Council or at the International Criminal Court in Hague, although its representatives voted in favor of adopting the report accusing the Jewish state of committing war crimes at the UN Human Rights Council, Foreign Ministry officials told Ynet on Sunday night.
The remarks were made in a meeting between Russian Ambassador to Israel Peter Stegney and a Foreign Ministry official. The ambassador relayed messages from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the Foreign Ministry sources said.
Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon on Saturday expressed his deep disappointment over Russia, India and China's vote in favor of adopting the report. Stegney noted that Russia had voted in favor of passing the report to the UN headquarters in New York "because it had no choice," and even blamed European Union countries.
According to the ambassador, the EU tried to ease the resolution's wording, but failed "due to the stance of Western countries." Stegney stressed that Russia believes Israel should investigate itself. "The most important thing is that the peace process won't suffer," the Russian ambassador said. State officials said that Stegney had slammed the Goldstone Report, saying that "it includes statements that do not relay on facts, but rather on subjective estimations." Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is expected to examine the messages conveyed by Moscow and decide how to act, in light of his attempts to reach an understanding with the Russians before the Geneva vote and his desire to improve Jerusalem's relations with Moscow.
Source: YNet
 JERUSALEM — Israel's powerful foreign minister declared Thursday that there is no chance of reaching a final accord with the Palestinians any time soon, casting a pall over the U.S. Mideast envoy's latest effort to get peace talks moving again. Peacemaking policy in Israel is decided by the prime minister's office, and not the foreign ministry. But Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman carries significant weight in Israeli decision-making, and his is a sentiment common among confidants of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. President Barack Obama brought Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas together in New York last month in an effort to jumpstart talks that broke down months ago. So far, no breakthroughs have been announced. Since the New York summit, U.S. envoy George Mitchell met with representatives of Netanyahu and Abbas in the United States, and returned to the region this week. He was to meet with Lieberman and Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday and has sitdowns planned with Netanyahu and Abbas for Friday. Israeli media reported that a Mitchell aide told Israeli journalists Wednesday that the enovy's visit was not likely to conclude with an announcement on talks resuming. Read more here,,,, Source: FoxNews
 JERUSALEM (CNN) - Israel on Sunday withheld the press credentials of a Swedish newspaper in retaliation for a controversial piece that suggested the Israeli army kidnapped and killed young Palestinians to harvest their organs.The journalists need the credentials to report from Gaza. "We have no duty to supply them with press cards immediately; (we) have 90 days to decide about their status," said Danny Siman, the head of the government press office. The article, "Our sons are being stripped of their organs," appeared Tuesday in Aftonbladet and was an opinion piece written by freelance journalist Donald Bostrom. Bostrom told CNN he had no proof that Israeli soldiers were stealing organs, and that the purpose of his piece was to call for an investigation into numerous claims in the 1990s that such activity was going on in the West Bank and Gaza. Even though the Swedish embassy distanced itself from the report, the country's foreign ministry refused to condemn it -- saying Sweden has a "free press." The refusal has rankled Israel, which said it will submit an official complaint. "This is an anti-Semitic blood libel against the Jewish people and the Jewish state. The Swedish government cannot remain apathetic," said Israel's Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz. "We know the origins of these claims. In medieval times, there were claims that the Jews use the blood of Christians to bake their Matzas for Passover. The modern version now is that the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers use organs of Palestinians to make money." He continued: "It makes no difference whether this comes from a neo-Nazi organization or from an honorable newspaper. The Swedish government must renounce itself from this anti-Semitic publication." The article centers around the case of Bilal Ahmed Ghanem, a 19-year-old Palestinian man who was shot and killed in 1992, allegedly by Israeli forces, in the West Bank village of Imatin. Bostrom, who witnessed the man's killing, said Ghanem was taken away by Israeli forces while he was still mortally wounded. His body was returned five days later with a cut in his midsection that had been stitched up. Ghanem's family said they believed that his organs had been removed. After that incident, at least 20 Palestinian families told Bostrom that they suspected the Israeli military had taken the organs of their sons after they had been killed by Israeli forces and their bodies taken away -- presumably for routine autopsies. Bostrom said he balanced those claims in his article by including a reaction from an Israeli military spokesman who told him that the Israel Defense Forces routinely carries out autopsies on Palestinians killed by their troops. But, as he stated in his article, Bostrom said he has doubts about the necessity of the procedures if it is clear how the person died. Last week Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman compared the Swedish Foreign Ministry's hands-off position to the country's neutrality during World War II. "It's a shame that the Swedish Foreign Ministry fails to intervene in a case of blood libels against Jews," Lieberman told Sweden's ambassador to Israel on Thursday evening. "This is reminiscent of Sweden's stand during World War II, when [it] had failed to intervene as well." Source: CNN Donald Bostrom
Aftonbladet
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 ISRAEL'S colourful Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has sparked another controversy with an order to all Israel's overseas missions that they draw attention to a picture taken in Nazi Germany in 1941 showing Adolf Hitler with a Palestinian religious leader of the time. The order has been greeted inside the Israeli Foreign Ministry with derision, with one source telling The Australian it was met with "laughter, scepticism and a sense of misplaced communication that this doesn't help one bit the real argument". It was intended to counter the US argument that Israel should not allow a 20-apartment development on the site of a former hotel in the predominantly Arab East Jerusalem previously owned by the family of the mufti photographed with Hitler, the late Haj Amin al-Husseini. The controversy came as Israel's new ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, insisted there was no breakdown in the relationship between Israel and the US, and that any differences would be resolved "with camaraderie". In his first interview since presenting his credential to President Barack Obama this week, Mr Oren told Israel Radio: "We do not feel tension. There is no breakdown in the relationship. "We are dealing with this on all levels and we will reach an agreement with camaraderie and co-operation. We have no ally like the US. It is a strong bond and I'm sure it will be resolved." Mr Oren's comments came as US and Israeli officials prepared for talks next week in Jerusalem which are promising to be among the most important held between the two countries for many years. The US officials are hoping to extract guarantees from Israel to freeze building activity in Jewish settlements, while Israel will try to focus the talks on what they see as a looming threat from Iran if it develops a nuclear program. But Mr Oren's comments were overshadowed by Mr Lieberman who sparked his second controversy in two weeks. Last week he attacked the credentials of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Yesterday he instructed Israel's diplomats to distribute a 68-year-old photograph of Husseini sitting next to Hitler in Berlin during the war. A Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed to The Australian that the order had been given by Mr Lieberman "without any argumentation because it was deemed to be self-explanatory". Source: The Australian
Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon said yesterday that Israel would abide by all the commitments made by previous governments and that the new administration understood that Middle East "stability will entail a two-state solution". The comments were significant because Mr Ayalon, a former ambassador to Washington, is a key confidant of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, and both are leading figures in the hardline Yisrael Beiteinu party. The remarks came as Mr Lieberman began a week-long visit to Europe, his first trip as Foreign Minister. Israeli President Shimon Peres is due to meet Mr Obama in Washington tomorrow. Israeli and Palestinian politicians have begun posturing in the lead-up to Mr Netanyahu's May 18 talks at the White House. His first meeting with Mr Obama is likely to be dominated by the drive for an agreement to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Obama administration has repeatedly stated that "a two-state solution is the only solution". Mr Netanyahu, while not opposed to a two-state solution, has put a number of qualifications, including that any Palestinian state should not be allowed to have an army. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday outlined his main requirements to resume peace talks with Israel. "Our conditions and vision are part of the two-state solution, which also involves halting settlement building and the policy of house demolitions," Mr Abbas said after meeting Jordan's King Abdullah. King Abdullah is emerging as a key figure in the peace talks as he begins a tour of the Middle East to win support for a two-state solution among Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia. After yesterday's meeting, King Abdullah and Mr Abbas issued a joint statement: "The two Arab leaders demanded a halt for all settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territories, particularly Jerusalem, and rejected all Israeli steps that seek to change the nature of the holy city through encroachment on its holy places and emptying the city of its population either by deportation or demolition of houses." Source: The Australian
Mideast: Abbas refuses to recognise Israel as Jewish state Ramallah, 27 April (AKI) - Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas on Monday dismissed calls by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recognise Israel as a Jewish state. He also said a halt to Israel's continuing expansion of illegal Jewish settlements inside the West Bank was a prerequisite for resuming peace talks."A Jewish state, what is that supposed to mean?," said Abbas, quoted by Israeli media. "You can call yourselves as you like, but I don't accept it and I say so publicly."He also said it was not his job to define or name the Israeli state."Name yourself, it's not my business. Name yourself the Hebrew Socialist Republic. All I know is that there is the state of Israel, in the borders of 1967, not one centimetre more, not one centimetre less. Anything else, I do not accept."Many observers believe the so called 'green line' – the pre-1967 Six-Day War ceasefire line between Israel and Jordan – should be the basis for an international border between Israel and the West Bank in the creation of a future Palestinian state. Israeli daily Haaretz said last week that Netanyahu wanted to impose the precondition of recognition of Israel as a Jewish state in order to resume peace negotiations. However, it is believed such recognition would block the Palestinians demand for the "right of return" of millions of refugees who fled or were expelled by Jewish forces, during the establishment of Israel in 1948 and subsequent wars. The refugees are now scattered throughout the Middle East. Israel's hardline foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said last Thursday that the right of return is not up for discussion.Netanyahu has also not yet accepted the establishment of a Palestinian state existing alongside Israel, which is a main goal of US-backed peace talks. Abbas and Netanyahu will travel to Washington in May for their first meeting with US president Barack Obama since he became president. A defiant Abbas said a complete building freeze on Israel's building of settlements inside the West Bank is essential for the resumption of peace talks. "For sure, we will not submit to pressures. For example, if they say 'come and then we will see, come.' No, we won't accept it. "Regarding the peace talks, this is our position, even if someone, if anyone in the world says 'you're wrong', he said. Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law and are a major source of friction between Israelis and Palestinians. They are one of the most contentious issues in the long-running conflict. Meanwhile, Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics said on Monday that Israel's population stands at 7.41 million inhabitants, of which 75 per cent of them are Jewish and 20.2 percent Arab.
 No date for the proposed visit was announced in Jerusalem | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been invited to visit Egypt, Israeli officials say. The offer was made during talks between Mr Netanyahu and Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman in Jerusalem. Mr Suleiman also met Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who last year angered Egyptians with comments about the Middle East peace process. Mr Suleiman also discussed efforts to release of an Israeli soldier seized by Palestinian militants in 2006. Gilad Shalit was captured by militants, including members of the Hamas group which runs Gaza, in a raid into Israel which also left two Israeli soldiers dead. Lieberman's 'respect' During the Jerusalem talks, Mr Netanyahu told Mr Suleiman that "Israel and Egypt have common interests, and the most important one is peace," Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported. In his turn, Mr Suleiman delivered an official invitation from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to Mr Netanyahu to visit Cairo. No date was announced. It was their first meeting since a cabinet led by Mr Netanyahu, a right-wing politician, took office in Israel. Mr Suleiman also held separate talks with Mr Lieberman. The Israeli foreign ministry later said in a statement that Mr Lieberman "expressed his respect and appreciation for Egypt's leading role in the region and his personal respect for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Minister Suleiman". Mr Lieberman, who heads the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, last year caused outrage in Egypt by saying Mr Mubarak could "go to hell" for refusing to make an official visit to Israel. Mr Suleiman has led Egyptian efforts to mediate a lasting ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian faction Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. Source: BBC
 OVER the next year or two, probably for as long as it stays in office, there will be a sustained effort to demonise the Israeli Government of Benjamin Netanyahu. The speech last week by Netanyahu's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, in which he explicitly supported a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute but was reported as if he had said the opposite, is a case in point. But even the way Netanyahu and Lieberman are typically described is entirely misleading. Netanyahu, not least in the Australian media, is almost always called "hardline right-wing". This would be the equivalent of calling the government of John Howard or Malcolm Fraser hardline right-wing, or calling the recently defeated government of Helen Clark in New Zealand hardline left-wing. Netanyahu leads the Likud Party, which has been Israel's main centre-right party for decades. Under Menachem Begin in the 1970s, a Likud government gave up the whole of the Sinai desert in a land-for-peace deal with Egypt. Netanyahu, who has held many portoflios in previous governments, has as part of his coalition the left-of-centre Israeli Labour Party. It would be much more honest to label Netanyahu's Government centre-right. This question of language is of the first order of importance. The ancient Chinese sage Confucius, when asked what would be the main political reform he would carry out if he achieved state power, replied: "It would certainly be to rectify the names." Israel's enemies, heirs to ancient anti-Semitism, are on a relentless quest to delegitimise and demonise it at every point. Mislabelling a democratic government of mainstream, democratic politicians as hardline right-wing is an important part of that quest. What about Lieberman's speech? Lieberman is the leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu party. Lieberman too has previously been a cabinet minister. His party is mainly supported by Russian immigrants. It is fair to say he is to the right of Netanyahu but not fair to say he is an extremist. His policies mix a hard line on national security with social liberalism. Russian Israelis often have a somewhat attenuated connection to Orthodox Judaism and can therefore be disadvantaged in rulings concerning conversion, marriage and other family matters, where religious parties have considerable influence. There is nothing sinister about this. It is the sort of debate Ireland had in recent years about allowing divorce. Lieberman wants to secularise these matters. On security issues his sharp language marks him out as a polarising figure. But there is no doubt he is a democrat and, by broader Middle East standards, an extremely mild politician. He is most famous for wanting all Israelis to take a loyalty oath. This is seen as insulting to Israel's Arab citizens. I think it is an unhelpful and unnecessarily polarising proposal, but it is not the black hand of fascism. Similarly, Lieberman wants all Israelis to be forced to undertake military or other national service. This is also seen as hitting at Israeli Arabs, as they may not want to serve in the Israeli Defence Forces. But Lieberman also wants this provision enforced on Orthodox Jews, who do not do military service either. Further, in Lieberman's vision of a two-state solution he is keen to transfer Israeli Arab towns into a Palestinian state. Some territorial swap is inevitable if a two-state solution is to work, but presumably no Israeli citizen would be forced to give up their citizenship, whatever happened to the land underneath them. So Lieberman's proposal cannot remotely be classed as ethnic cleansing or anything like it. I think Lieberman's rhetoric is often unhelpful to Israel and exacerbates problems, but it is certainly not unreasonable for Lieberman to want to debate the civic identity of Israel's Arab citizens. In his initial speech as Foreign Minister on March 30, Lieberman said the Annapolis peace process, which has been running for the past couple of years, is dead. But Lieberman fully committed himself to the road map negotiated and endorsed in 2002 by the US, the European Union, the UN and Russia, which also involves commitment to a two-state solution. There is only one difference between the road map and Annapolis. Annapolis was based on the idea that the Israelis and Palestinians negotiate a final status agreement now on who would have what territory, and then one day the Palestinians will be able to form a government that can rule its own territories and provide proper security. The road map, on the other hand, provided for reciprocity: that both the Palestinians and the Israelis had to undertake certain obligations along the way. Israel had to dismantle illegal Jewish settlements (that is, illegal under Israeli law) and prevent any territorial expansion in the existing settlements. (Lieberman is at times even critical of the previous government for not doing this.) The Palestinians had to form a functioning government and suppress terrorism. When the Israelis withdrew unilaterally from Gaza, this was a kind of road test for Annapolis. But all they got, after a temporary ceasefire, was a constant barrage of rocket attacks. The Netanyahu Government is now inclined to stress reciprocity. Indeed, in responding to Lieberman's remarks US spokesmen did all stress reciprocity. Netanyahu, when in office previously, made a number of agreements that involved Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian land and all of which had as their object a two-state solution. Like Lieberman, Netanyahu is committed to the road map, which has as its goal an independent Palestinian state. But this is dependent on the Palestinians forming an effective and sensible government and meaningfully renouncing terrorism. This is completely out of the question at the moment because half the potential Palestinian state, Gaza, is ruled by the terrorist death cult Hamas. Despite the protestations of Hamas sympathisers in Australia, the Hamas leadership, the charter which it still upholds and all Hamas spokesmen say Hamas will never recognise Israel's right to exist or to occupy a single inch of territory. This is not the occupied territories we're talking about but Israel proper. Hamas has also said it will never give up terrorism. Hamas may one day change its mind on all this, but at the moment it is inconceivable that the Palestinians could meet their obligations under the road map. That rules out a Palestinian state for the moment. It remains an ambition of the vast majority of Israelis that they can live in peace beside a peaceful neighbour, both behind agreed borders. In saying this is not available at the moment, neither Netanyahu nor Lieberman rules it out forever in the future. The international press might at least get this basic fact right. Source: The Australian
 The dramatic change to Israeli policy less than a day into the new Government came during what was expected to be a routine meet-and-greet session by Mr Lieberman with his new Foreign Ministry staff in Jerusalem. Before drinking a toast with outgoing foreign minister Tzipi Livni, Mr Lieberman surprised the audience by announcing that Israel was not bound by the Annapolis agreement that then Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert signed with former US president George W. Bush and President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas at Mr Bush's country residence in Annapolis, Maryland, in 2007. "It has no validity," Mr Lieberman told the staff. The centrepiece of the agreement was that the US would help Israeli and Palestinian negotiators to move towards a two-state solution: Israel alongside a newly formed independent Palestine. "The Israeli government never ratified Annapolis, nor did the Knesset," Mr Lieberman said, referring to Israel's parliament. Key leaders from the Middle East attended the conference in Annapolis, which ended in an agreement between US, Israeli and Palestinian leaders that they would seek a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mr Lieberman said yesterday Israel would abide by the agreements made in 2003 on the road map for peace, but added: "And I voted against it." "There is one document (the road map) that obligates us, and it is not the Annapolis document - it has no validity," he said. While the road map set out a list of requirements by both the Israeli and Palestinian sides before there was any move towards "final status talks", that is, what would be the boundaries of a future Palestine and what would be the status of Jerusalem, the most sensitive issue of all, the Annapolis agreement fast-forwarded through many of these requirements and instead called on all parties to move straight to the final status talks. "We will never agree to jump over all the clauses and go to the last one, which is negotiation over a final status agreement," he told the Foreign Ministry officials. Mr Lieberman's concern about the Annapolis agreement appeared to be that it did not require the renunciation of violence against Israel. After his comments, which were delivered as Ms Livni watched, she remarked: "You've convinced me I was right not to join the Government." The US was caught by surprise by Mr Lieberman's comments. State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid said Washington stood by what was achieved at Annapolis and would continue to work for a two-state solution. Asked specifically about Mr Lieberman's comments, Mr Duguid said: "We haven't heard their proposals yet. We haven't sat down with them." A spokesman for the US National Security Council, Mike Hammer, said: "The President has said many times that we are committed to the establishment of a democratic Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in peace and security. "We look forward to working with the new Israeli Government and understand we will have frank discussions, and that these discussions will be based on an underlying shared commitment to Israel and its security." The night before Mr Lieberman made his comments, Mr Netanyahu said in a speech to the Knesset before presenting his new Government that he would work towards a "permanent settlement" with the Palestinians. "I say to the Palestinian leadership that if you really want peace we can achieve peace," the Prime Minister said. Palestinian leader Mr Abbas reacted badly to Mr Lieberman's comments, saying he was "an obstacle to peace". And former British prime minister Tony Blair said he believed the peace process was in "grave jeopardy". Source: The Australian
 John Lyons, Middle East correspondent | February 20, 2009
ISRAEL'S new political powerbroker Avigdor Lieberman has announced he will support Benjamin Netanyahu to be the country's next prime minister.
The leader of the the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party declared he would support a government formed by the hawkish Likud leader over Kadima's Tzipi Livni.
Mr Lieberman had refused to publicly reveal who he will support since last week's election in which his party won 15 seats, making it the country's third-largest party in the Knesset behind Kadima and Likud, and ahead of Labour, which won 14.
He had said only that he wanted to see a right-wing government in power.
The momentum towards Mr Netanyahu and the Right bloc had strengthened with an apparent decision by a large number of the Knesset members to support the Likud leader.
The Jerusalem Post reported yesterday that factions comprising 77 members of the Knesset had decided at meetings yesterday not to join any prospective government led by Ms Livni.
It reported that apart from Likud these factions included United Torah Judaism, Shas, Habayit Hayehudi and the National Union.
The paper said: "When the Labour faction meets (on) Thursday morning, it is expected to join Meretz and the three Arab parties in deciding to remain in the opposition no matter who forms a government, to protest the assurances that Kadima gave Yisrael Beiteinu in pursuit of Lieberman's endorsement."
Although Kadima won 28 seats in the election, compared to Likud's 27, the Right bloc won more seats than the Centre Left bloc. For this to benefit Mr Netanyahu the bloc would need to remain as one behind Mr Netanyahu - which it appears to have done.
President Shimon Peres was meeting party officials overnight (AEDT) before deciding who would be tasked with forming a new government. Under the constitution, Mr Peres is required to make a judgment about who is most likely to form a stable coalition government.
Both Mr Netanyahu and Ms Livni had said they would support a national unity government with the other as part of it - each stipulating they be the leader.
In another development, Israel's cabinet met yesterday and decided there would be no longer-term ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza unless the Israeli soldier captured in 2006, Gilad Shalit, was released.
A fragile ceasefire exists but the Israeli cabinet and Hamas have been considering a more formal 18-month ceasefire plan negotiated by Egypt.
The cabinet unanimously supported the sudden insistence of the outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that no deal would be considered without the 22-year-old's release.
The Egyptian proposal would see Hamas' central demand - that all crossings between Israel and Gaza be opened - in return for Israel's two main demands: the end of rocket fire into southern Israel and the end of weapons smuggling into Gaza along the Egyptian border.
The Israeli cabinet said after its meeting: "Israel is not negotiating with Hamas or any other terrorist organisation to reach understandings or arrangements with it on a ceasefire. Israel will respond quickly, strongly and continuously to the continuation of terrorist actions against it from the Gaza strip."
Some humanitarian aid is able to pass through the border crossings but the cabinet statement said "expanded activity" would be discussed only upon the release of Sergeant Shalit.
Hamas has insisted his release be negotiated separately in an exchange involving hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli jails.
Meanwhile US Democrat Congressmen Brian Baird and Keith Ellison landed in Gaza yesterday, in the first such visit since Hamas took power there in June 2007.
The two visited Izzbet Abed Rabbo, a community in northern Gaza devastated during the deadly 22-day Israeli offensive that ended on January 18. Source: The Australian
 By Ali Zahalka The Arab-Israeli leadership is increasing pushing us into anti-Israel radicalism. This extremism climaxed with the “Death to the Jews” chants during Operation Cast Lead. Here is what I have to say to those leaders: Look at what you’ve done. We did not cry out in the face of rocket attacks on southern residents that went on for years. We did not cry out in the face of the suffering of our brethren, Gaza residents, who have been brutally repressed by Hamas. Yet we cried out, of all things, in the face of an onslaught against the most radical element in the Arab world. The Arab-Israeli leadership won’t connect, heaven forbid, to the moderate Arab elements such as Egypt, Mahmoud Abbas’ Palestinian Authority, or Jordan. These are of no interest to it. We saw Azmi Bishara, who left, and we saw where he went to. I don’t need to explain what Hamas is all about. The Egyptians and Palestinian Authority officials are doing it better than me. They ask Hamas how it can talk about victory when the war against Israel – which it sought and advanced – was managed on the backs and blood of thousands of Palestinians that were killed, wounded, or lost their property, while Hamas’ leadership stayed at fortified bunkers or in Damascus. Read more ...Source: Y Net News
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The militaries of Israel and Turkey are trying to salvage an alliance severely damaged as Ankara realigns its position in the Middle East.
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