Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu & Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas Arm Wrestle Over Direct TalksLikud Cabinet Ministers Warn Netanyahu Not To Extend Ten Month Suspension On Settlement Building That Expires on Sept.26th Israel Hopeful That Israeli-Egyptian Peace Treaty Will Be Honored By President Hosni Mubarak's Successor
Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and West Bank Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas continue to spar over the conditions for starting direct negotiations. Netanyahu's condition is that there be no prior conditions; Abbas now demands an Israeli commitment to extend the current freeze on settlement building that expires on September 26th. American envoy George Mitchell is trying hard to square the circle in the current proximity talks he is conducting between the two sides. The Washington Times report that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is seriously ill with stomach and pancreas cancer has caught Israel's attention. However the reaction is one of confidence - Israeli experts believe there will be a smooth succession of power, whenever Mubarak departs.
Read More...
|
El Al Flight 402, was an international passenger flight from Vienna, Austria to Tel Aviv, Israel via Istanbul, Turkey, on July 27, 1955, which strayed into Bulgarian airspace and was shot down by two Bulgarian MiG-15 jet fighters and crashed near Petrich, Bulgaria. All 7 crew and 51 passengers on board the airliner were killed.
Read More...
Meir Amit was an Israeli politician and general. He served as Director of the Mossad from 1963 to 1968 before entering politics and holding two ministerial positions.
Read More...
Tisha B'Av commemorates the destruction of the first and second Temples, both of which were destroyed on the ninth of Av (the first by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E.; the second by the Romans in 70 C.E.).
Read More...
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's Reported Proposal To Lift Israel's Gaza Blockade & Hand Over Control To European Union Likely To Be Non-Starter
Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas To Consult With Arab League On Returning To Direct Talks With Israel
U.S. Congress Grants $200 Million To Israel For Deployment Of 'Iron Dome' Missile Defense System That Can Protect Jewish State from Future Rocket Attacks From Gaza & South Lebanon
The week in Israel ended with some surprising developments. According to the Yediot Ahronot daily, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is about to propose a dramatic plan to lift Israel's naval blockade of Gaza and hand over control to countries from the European Union. The latest aid ship bound for Gaza complied with Israel's naval blockade and agreed to change course for Al Arish, Egypt without provoking violence. Meanwhile, U.S. envoy George Mitchell has met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on the West Bank. However Abbas, who fears condemnation from Hamas, may not agree to return to direct talks with Israel, unless he gets the green light from the Arab League.
Read More...
New York Times Columnist Tom Friedman Compares IDF's Cast Lead Operation Into Gaza With Syrian President Hafez Assad's Massacre at Al-Hama
IsraCast Questions: How Would Friedman Have Reacted If His Daughters Were Being Rocketed Day And Night For Eight Years?
Are U.S. & NATO Allies Not Conducting Similar Military Operations In Afghanistan With Far Less Concern For Civilian Lives?
Is Friedman's Warning That Israel May Risk Her Legitimacy By Responding To More Attacks Stripping The Jewish State Of Her Right to Self Defense?
To say that most Israelis were shocked by New York Times columnist Tom Friedman is putting it mildly. Did Friedman really compare the IDF's Cast Lead operation last year with Syrian President Hafez Assad's massacre of twenty thousand or more of his own people in the town of Hama in 1982? In the view of IsraCast analyst David Essing, Friedman has made the appalling comparison in order to attack Israeli settlement policy. However, Friedman appears to have forgotten that it was former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert who launched Operation Cast Lead and who also offered unprecedented concessions to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that Abbas refused to accept.
Read More...
Obama-Netanyahu Meeting Lays Groundwork For Direct Talks Between Israel & Palestinians
Defense Minister Ehud Barak: "Important Step Forward.... Other Understandings At White House Meeting Not Revealed"
After being humiliated on former visit to the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu received a remarkable red carpet welcome this time by President Barak Obama. Not only in words but also in deeds. IsraCast analyst David Essing sees President Obama's about- face as having two main objectives: he is signaling the Israeli public that he is not the enemy and showing Netanyahu the benefits of extending the current ten month settlement freeze in Judea and Samaria. But as Americans say 'there are no free lunches' and the Israeli leader will be expected to reciprocate. This is will likely spark a political firestorm by Netanyahu's Right- wing coalition partners.
Read More...
Operation Entebbe, also known as the Entebbe Raid or Operation Thunderbolt, was a counter-terrorism hostage-rescue mission carried out by the Israel Defense Force at Entebbe Airport in Uganda on the early morning of July 4, 1976. In the wake of the hijacking of Air France flight 139 and the hijackers' threats to kill the hostages if their prisoner release demands were not met, a plan was drawn up to airlift the hostages to safety.
Read More...
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu:'Our Decision On Settlement Suspension For Ten Months & Then Start Rebuilding Still Stands - Only Direct Negotiations With Abbas Can Resolve Differences'
Al-Hayat Newspaper:'Palestinian President Abbas Has Presented New Peace Proposals To U.S. With Demand That Israel Accept Future Borders of Palestinian State As Condition for Direct Negotiations'
IsraCast: Israel's Prime Minister Keeps Cards Close To His Chest Before July 6th Summit With U.S. President Obama Amid White House Expectations To Hear Some New Israeli Ideas After Latest Palestinian Proposals
Recently Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met President Barack Obama in the White House, on July 6th it will be the turn of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. According to the London based Al- Hayat newspaper, Abbas has now presented the U.S. with a series of proposals starting with Israeli acceptance of the future borders for a Palestinian state. However, Netanyahu has declared he would discuss Palestinian proposals only within the framework of direct negotiations not in the current 'proximity talks' being brokered by special U.S. envoy George Mitchell. IsraCast analyst David Essing says Abbas is seeking U.S. agreement on the final borders for a Palestinian state as a pre-condition for direct negotiations with Israel.
Read More...