At a ceremony unveiling the cornerstone for a new neighborhood in the West Bank settlement of Moshav Gitit, Sa'ar said it was imperative for security reasons that Israel hold onto the Jordan Valley in any future peace arrangement with the Palestinian Authority.
"The fundamental question is where will the border for the State of Israel run," the interior minister said.
"Will it run [in the Jordan Valley] or will it be adjacent to Netanya and Kfar Sava? If we end up without the Jordan Valley, we will be a country without any strategic depth."
http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Saar-Jordan-Valley-vital-to-Israels-strategic-depth-336878
2/1/14
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Likud No. 2 sends message to Kerry: No Israeli withdrawal from Jordan Valley ...
ReplyDelete........Sa'ar, who holds the second-highest position on the ruling Likud faction's list behind Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, led a delegation of Knesset members from the parliamentary lobby group dedicated to maintaining Israeli control of all of the territories claimed by the Palestinians in the West Bank.
The delegation included representatives of all political parties currently comprising Netanyahu's ruling coalition with the exception of Tzipi Livni's Hatnua.
"The [Israeli] military presence in the Jordan Valley needs to continue for generations, but it cannot continue without Jewish settlement. Wherever there are no Israeli towns, there is no army, and where there is no army, there is terrorism."
The symbolic tour is intended to send a message to US Secretary of State John Kerry that the settlements must remain. Kerry is due in Israel on Thursday to push forward efforts to reach a framework agreement that would serve as the "outline" for a final-status deal.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and National Infrastructures Minister Silvan Shalom also intend to fight against any proposal that would involve giving up Israeli control of the strategic valley.
Deputy Foreign Minister Ze'ev Elkin told Israel Radio on Thursday that while negotiating peace is good, it shouldn't be done "at the risk of suicide for the State of Israel."
Elkin said that the government should reject any bridging proposals that entail Israeli recognition of the pre-1967 ceasefire lines as the basis for a final agreement with the Palestinians.
In addition, Elkin told Israel Radio that Jerusalem must insist on retaining sovereignty over the Jordan Valley.
"We are ready to continue negotiating, but this government cannot commit to positions that completely contradict the principles of the Likud," Elkin said.
Another Likudnik, Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein, also warned against making "security concessions" to the Palestinians "that will only make the chances of peace more remote and seriously endanger the security of the state," according to Israel Radio.
Bayit Yehudi will not remain in Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government if it officially adopts peace proposals presented by US Secretary of State John Kerry, even if reservations are presented, party leader Naftali Bennett said in closed conversations Wednesday.
Ahead of Kerry's visit, Bennett spoke multiple times this week with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Israel's negotiators in diplomatic talks with the Palestinians. He insisted on receiving as much information as possible about America's proposal immediately after Kerry meets with Netanyahu.......http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Likud-hawks-warn-Netanyahu-against-suicidal-concessions-to-Palestinians-336852
2/1/13
Israeli politicians visit controversial Jordan Valley prior to Kerry's visit...
ReplyDeleteJERUSALEM, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- A team of Israeli right-wing parliament members on Thursday inaugurated a new neighborhood in a settlement in the Jordan Valley, few hours before U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected to visit the region.
Israeli Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar, who led the delegation, said Israel will not have strategic depth if it withdraws from the Jordan Valley and the Israel Defense Forces should maintain its presence in the area "for all eternity," Israel Radio reported.
"We are here in the Jordan valley out of recognition that during these days, one of the most crucial issues to Israel's future is at stake," Sa'ar said.
There are 21 Jewish settlements and reported near 7,000 Jews in the Jordan Valley annexed by Israel amid the 1967 Mideast War.
The status of the Jordan Valley, which is located in the eastern West Bank, is one of the main issues amid the current Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demands that Israel would deploy security forces in the valley, while Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas considers such a move as a violation of the Palestinian sovereignty.
The visit came several hours before Kerry's expected visit in Israel for another attempt to get the faltered peace talks back on the track after reported deterioration of the talks and try to create a framework to reach an interim agreement between both parties the peace talks expire in April.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-01/02/c_133014182.htm
2/1/13
Israeli ministers cementing settlements to solidify hold on Jordan Valley...
ReplyDeleteLaying foundations for a new settlement neighborhood sends a message to Washington and Ramallah that Israel is here to stay, according to members of Netanyahu's coalition.
Gitit, West Bank - Government ministers and Knesset members from the Land of Israel lobby descended on this small, far flung settlement in the Jordan Valley Thursday to pour cement into the foundations of a new neighborhood and send what... ......http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/jerusalem-vivendi/.premium-1.566716
2/1/14
Israël: nouvelle mission de paix de Kerry dans un climat de pessimisme....
ReplyDeleteLe secrétaire d'Etat américain John Kerry a rencontré jeudi à Jérusalem le Premier ministre israélien, au début de sa 10e mission, destinée à faire avancer les négociations de paix, malgré le pessimisme ambiant et les récriminations réciproques.
Sitôt arrivé à Jérusalem, il s'est entretenu pendant cinq heures avec Benjamin Netanyahu.
M. Kerry devait revoir M. Netanyahu vendredi matin avant d'être reçu dans la soirée à Ramallah (Cisjordanie) par le président palestinien, Mahmoud Abbas.
Le chef de la diplomatie américaine est arrivé au moment où l'ex-Premier ministre Ariel Sharon, dans le coma depuis huit ans, se trouve dans un état jugé "critique" par les médecins.
Il assuré ses hôtes que "tous les Américains ont une pensée pour Israël et son ancien dirigeant".
Au cours de sa mission de quatre jours, le secrétaire d'Etat entend discuter avec Israéliens et Palestiniens d'un projet d'"accord-cadre" américain traçant les grandes lignes d'un règlement définitif.
"J'ai l'intention de travailler avec les deux parties plus intensément dans les prochains jours pour aplanir les divergences sur un cadre qui offrirait les lignes directrices agréées pour les négociations sur le statut final", a expliqué M. Kerry à son arrivée.
"Un accord-cadre accepté (par les deux camps) serait une percée significative qui permettrait de couvrir tous les problèmes de fond", comme les frontières, la sécurité, le statut de Jérusalem et les réfugiés, a-t-il fait valoir.
Mais Israéliens et Palestiniens s'accusent mutuellement de saboter les efforts de paix............http://www.rtbf.be/info/monde/detail_israel-kerry-entame-une-nouvelle-mission-de-paix-dans-un-climat-de-pessimisme?id=8167947
2/1/13
Kerry to meet with Liberman in Jerusalem, Abbas in Ramallah on Friday ....
ReplyDeleteUS Secretary of State John Kerry was scheduled to meet with Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman in Jerusalem and with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Friday to discuss the peace process and to push the two sides towards a "framework" guidelines agreement.
Kerry met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for five hours on Thursday night. Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and Israeli peace negotiator Justice Minister Tzipi Livni joined Kerry and Netanyahu for a part of the meeting.
Kerry and Netanyahu are expected to meet at least two more times over the weekend.
http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Kerry-to-meet-with-Liberman-in-Jerusalem-Abbas-in-Ramallah-on-Friday-336995
3/1/14
Peace possible despite difficulties, Peres tells senators.....
ReplyDeleteIn meeting with visiting Republicans, McCain says he sees willingness for peace not attested in the past
The American lawmakers were visiting Israel on a tour of the region. Their stay coincided with US Secretary of State John Kerry’s return to the Mideast to broker peace efforts between Israel and the Palestinians.
“It’s a time of decisions. All decisions are tough but not to make a decision is a mistake,” Peres told the senators. “Secretary Kerry in investing significant time and effort and I believe that peace is possible despite the difficulties.”
Peres met with the senators while Kerry, on his 10th visit to the region in the past year, met with Palestinian leaders in Ramallah in a bid to form a framework agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. He returned to Jerusalem in the evening to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the third time since arriving on Thursday.
“Before peace with Egypt [in1979], people said it was impossible,” the 90-year-old president said. “With the Palestinians it’s complicated for them and for us. I have known President Abbas for many years and I believe he really wants peace.”
McCain told Peres that he and his colleagues have “room for guarded optimism” about the peace talks after having met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Kerry.
“It’s a very difficult process but we appreciate Secretary Kerry’s great efforts and we also see a willingness that hasn’t necessarily always been there in the past,” he added....... http://www.timesofisrael.com/peace-possible-despite-difficulties-peres-tells-senators/#ixzz2pSs3BRjb
4/1/14
Kerry: Middle East peace plan will be ‘fair’...
ReplyDeleteU.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that any Middle East peace plan would be “fair and balanced,” as he held a fourth day of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
“I can guarantee all parties that President (Barack) Obama and I are committed to putting forward ideas that are fair and balanced, and to improving the security of all peoples,” Kerry told reporters in Jerusalem.
Kerry is to visit Saudi Arabia and Jordan on Sunday to discuss with ongoing peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.
On Saturday, Kerry had said both sides were making progress towards a “framework agreement” to guide their talks on a formal peace deal but still have some way to go.
This framework would make up the general guidelines for an accord to be drafted later. The United States hopes the talks will lead to an agreement within nine months.
“I am confident that the talks we have had in the last two days have already fleshed out and even resolved certain kinds of issues and presented new opportunities for others,” he said after meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
“We are not there yet, but we are making progress,” Kerry told reporters in Ramallah, seat of Abbas’ government.
But both sides have expressed doubts about Kerry’s framework, which aims to address all of the conflict’s core issues, including borders, security, the future of Palestinian refugees and the fate of Jerusalem.
On Sunday, Israel said it rejects any U.S.-proposed security concessions for the Jordan Valley...........http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/01/05/Kerry-heads-to-Saudi-Arabia-Jordan-on-peace-push.html
5/1/14
Israeli claim on Jordan Valley 'manipulation': Ex-Mossad chief....
ReplyDeleteJERUSALEM: A former Mossad chief on Sunday described as mere " manipulation" a claim that Israel's presence in Jordan Valley is vital for its security, a core issue in the troubled peace process with Palestinians.
Israel on Sunday rejected any security concessions for the valley under a "framework agreement" that US secretary of state John Kerry is trying to secure for a Israel-Palestinian deal on core issues, including security and borders.
"The Jordan Valley is not essential to Israel's security because the country is not facing a threat from the east," former spy agency chief Meir Dagan was quoted as saying by Ma'ariv newspaper days after a ministerial panel supported legislation to annex Israeli settlements in the valley bordering Jordan.
"I have no problem with the political demand that the valley should be part of the state of Israel," he reportedly said in a lecture at a cafe last week.
"Such a position is permissible. What bothers me is that it's being depicted as some kind of security problem. There is no Iraqi army, there is no eastern front. There's peace with Jordan. I don't like the talk that the valley is essential to Israel's security."
The decorated spy emphasised that citing security reasons for retaining the Jordan Valley amounted to "manipulation".
The valley's fate is one of the major issues during intensive talks between Kerry and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as part of ongoing peace process. ..................http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/Israeli-claim-on-Jordan-Valley-manipulation-Ex-Mossad-chief/articleshow/28443131.cms
5/1/14
Kerry gains Arab backing for framework peace plan...
ReplyDeleteUS secretary of state returning to Jerusalem with key support in pocket after meetings in Amman and Riyadh
Kerry, meeting in Saudi Arabia with King Abdullah, said Riyadh would back American efforts to reach a deal between the sides.
“I am grateful that the Arab League as a whole and Saudi Arabia individually will be significantly involved in helping build support for this effort,” Kerry said at the Riyadh airport prior to his departure. “Today his majesty was not just encouraging, but supported our efforts in the hopes that we can be successful in the days ahead.”
Kerry said after his meeting with the Saudi leader that Abdullah’s 2002 initiative “has been part of the framework that we’ve been piecing together — both in inspiration and substance.”
The Saudi leader developed an initiative in 2002 in which the Arab world offered comprehensive peace with Israel in exchange for a full pullout from all territories it captured in the 1967 Mideast war.
The initiative, revolutionary when it was introduced, has been endorsed by the Arab League and, technically, remains in effect.
“Saudi Arabia’s initiative holds out the prospect that if the parties could arrive at a peaceful resolution, you could instantaneously have peace between the 22 Arab nations and 35 Muslim nations, all of whom have said they will recognize Israel if peace is achieved,” Kerry said.
“Imagine how that changes the dynamics of travel, of business, of education, of opportunity in this region, of stability. Imagine what peace could mean for trade and tourism, what it could mean for developing technology and talent, for job opportunities for the younger generation, for generations in all of these countries,” Kerry said........Read more: Kerry gains Arab backing for framework peace plan | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/kerry-gains-arab-backing-for-framework-peace-plan/#ixzz2pYf8kq00
Kerry pledges "fair" Mideast plan, briefs Arab allies...
ReplyDeleteRIYADH: Secretary of State John Kerry Sunday rejected Israeli and Palestinian claims of US bias as he made a whistlestop trip to Jordan and Saudi Arabia to woo support for his peace plan.
Kerry promised any agreed plan would be "fair and balanced" and likened his efforts to broker a compromise between the conflicting demands of the two sides to a puzzle.
"In the end all of these core issues fit together like a mosaic, like a puzzle and you can't separate out one piece or another," Kerry said in Jerusalem before flying to Amman, and later Saudi Arabia.
Each piece was interlinked, he stressed, and depended on the compromises the other side might be prepared to make.
"And there's always tension as to when you put your card on the table as to which piece you're willing to do, when and how," said Kerry.
But he warned his efforts could ultimately fail, saying he could not tell when "the last pieces may decide to fall into place, or may fall on the floor, and leave the puzzle unfinished.
"That's exactly what makes this such a challenge."
On the fourth day of his long trip to the region, Kerry briefed the key Jordanian and Saudi stakeholders about his intense shuttling between Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
In Amman he spent more than an hour of talks with King Abdullah II and Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.
A senior State Department official said Kerry had wanted to "seek their counsel on the discussion with the Israelis and Palestinians about a framework for final status negotiations".
He then travelled to Saudi Arabia for almost three hours of talks with King Abdullah.
At Riyadh airport before leaving, Kerry said the monarch had backed his framework.
"I am grateful that the Arab League as a whole and Saudi Arabia individually will be significantly involved in helping build support for this effort," he said.
"Today his majesty was not just encouraging, but supported our efforts in the hopes that we can be successful in the days ahead."...............http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/kerry-pledges-fair/943882.html
5/1/14
Lieberman: Kerry's offer is best Israel will get....
ReplyDeleteBut for deal to win his party's support, it must include transfer of Israeli Arab towns to Palestinian sovereignty, says FM. .....http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.567228
6/1/14
Netanyahu rejects inclusion of Jerusalem in Kerry's framework deal....
ReplyDeleteAmericans considering vaguer formulations that would be acceptable to both sides, such as establishment of a Palestinian capital in 'greater Jerusalem.'
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told Likud cabinet ministers and other Israeli officials that he would not accept any reference to Jerusalem in the framework agreement being drafted by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, senior Israeli officials told Haaretz. ..........http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.567877
10/1/14
Israel to build at least 1,800 new settler homes....
ReplyDeleteIsrael will construct more than 1,800 new settler homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Peace Now, the Israeli settlement watchdog, said on Friday.
The plan announced by the Israeli housing ministry looks to build 1,076 units in annexed east Jerusalem and 801 in the occupied West Bank, Lior Amihai, a Peace Now spokesman, said in comments carried by Agence France-Presse.
“The housing ministry announced the plans this morning,” he said.
“Many of the units will be built in existing settlements such as Efrat and Ariel in the West Bank, and Ramat Shlomo, Ramot and Pisgat Zeev in East Jerusalem,” he added.
No immediate confirmation about the plan could be obtained from the Israeli ministry, AFP reported.......http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/01/10/Israel-to-build-at-least-1-800-new-settler-homes.html
10/1/14
Siedlungsstreit: Israel bestellt EU-Botschafter ein....
ReplyDeleteIsraels Ministerpräsident Benjamin Netanjahu bezeichnete die Kritik der EU an den neuen Siedlungsplänen als "heuchlerisch."
Israel hat im Streit mit der EU über die Siedlungspolitik die Botschafter mehrerer EU-Länder einbestellt. Außenminister Avigdor Lieberman wolle den Vertretern von Großbritannien, Frankreich, Italien und Spanien klarmachen, dass deren einseitige Unterstützung der Palästinenser "inakzeptabel" sei, erklärte sein Sprecher am Freitag.......http://diepresse.com/home/politik/aussenpolitik/1550042/Siedlungsstreit_Israel-bestellt-EUBotschafter-ein?from=rss
17/1/14