Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israeli security sources: Smotrich using his office to bring down Palestinian Authority

2024-06-05

[IsraelNationalNews] Sources in Israel's defense echelon slammed Finance MInister Bezalel Smotrich for toppling the Palestinian Authority, noting that he is leading a process which will defund it.

Speaking with Ynet, the security sources said that Smotrich's economic sanctions mainly hurt Palestinian Authority officials and security personnel, who the sources claim prevent terror attacks. This is due in large part to the Palestinian Authority's decision to prioritize terrorists' salaries over those of its employees.
Sources have problem with logic?
"There is an Israeli interest in preserving the moderates and preventing the extremists from taking control of the area," they claimed.

Smotrich responded: "Those 'security sources,' who have done everything they can for years to prevent the IDF from entering Gaza and destroying Hamas, who are responsible for the most horrific military failure that happened to the Jewish nation since the Holocaust, and who have been lackadaisical about managing the war since then, are threatening anyone who dares to challenge their atrophied thinking and to think outside of the box."

"This is the entire concept. You have to be a huge defeatist to ask to support the Palestinian Authority, which supports terror and wages diplomatic and legal warfare against Israel and aims for the issue of arrest warrants against its Prime Minister and Defense Minister - just like those who wanted to evacuate Gush Katif, retreat from Lebanon, and advance the creation of a terror state in the heart of Israel."

Smotrich added, "Defeatism which cost us in too many lives, 'sacrifices of peace,' and October 7, were not enough for them to wake up, and they continue and even now are trying to sell us that we can't win and that 'there is no military solution to terror.'"

"It does not matter how many articles they have initiated, I will never accept their desire to create a Palestinian terror state which will threaten the security of the entire State of Israel, and I will do everything to prevent it. With a command echelon who grew up on the knees of Oslo [Accords] and simply refuses to wake up, we can never win. It's time for a change."

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

The political ideology that denies reality

2024-06-03

[IsraelNationalNews] While Oct. 7th has woken up many Israelis to understand how the progressive left's ideology is responsible for creating the reality that allowed the Oct. 7th massacre to happen, public discourse in Israel, especially by the establishment media and from IDF senior command, still ignores this reality, even though they are today a minority in Israel.

Here is a fascinating list of questions that I saw posted that really sharpens the issue for people to think about:

-Which political ideology is behind former IDF Chief of Staff (and today leader of the Blue & White party) Benny Gantz's statement at a conference years ago on how proud he was that he decided to risk the lives of IDF soldiers in Sajaiya, Gaza in not attacking terrorists who were hiding in the local Gaza hospital?

-Which political ideology is behind the 1993 decision by then Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin and his partner Shimon Peres to sign the Oslo "peace" Accords that armed a known terrorist organization, giving them control of Jewish land, which, over the years, brought about more than 1,500 dead Israelis (not including the Oct. 7th massacre)?

-Which political ideology is behind the 2000 decision by former Prime Minister Ehud Barak to withdraw all IDF troops from South Lebanon thinking that Israel will be safe and that if Hezbollah tries anything against Israel that we would be able to stop it with international recognition to do what we have to do to defend ourselves?

-Which political ideology is behind the 2005 decision by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to destroy 21 Jewish communities in Gaza, while expelling close to 10,000 Jews from their homes, thinking that allowing the Palestinian Authority to self-govern an area without Jews would bring peace to Israel? And that, based on promises by former US President Bush, that if any terror would emanate from Gaza, that we would have full US backing to do what is necessary to end it?

-Which political ideology caused the High Command of the Israel Defense Forces to go back to sleep at 4:30am on the morning of Oct. 7th, without informing Netanyhau and the government about the warnings of an imminent attack from Gaza, and without calling up emergency forces to protect the border?

-Which political ideology is behind the statement of former Chief of Staff Eisenkot (and today #2 leader of the Blue and White party with Gantz) saying that Gaza is a civilian humanitarian problem, more than a security problem for Israel?

-Which political ideology made IDF intelligence head Haliva say, before Oct. 7th, that the most serious danger to Israel is climate change? (No wonder he turned off his mobile phone while on vacation the night of October 7th)

-Which political ideology caused the leaders of IDF intelligence to ignore the actual words, statements and threats of the Arabs in Arabic, year after year?

-Which political ideology caused Israel's Supreme Court to force Israel to allow Hamas demonstrations near the Gaza border fence, endangering Israeli citizens?

-Which political ideology stopped IDF soldiers, tank shooters and airforce/helicopter pilots from firing upon Gazans as they infiltrated into Israel and crossed the border fence on Oct. 7th on their way to massacre innocent Jews?

-Which political ideology caused the opposition to the establishment of standby classes after the massacre in the Gaza Envelope, the Otef?

-Which political ideology is behind the opposition to the distribution of weapons to rapid response civilian teams after the 7.10 massacre?

-Which political ideology caused the IDF High Command years ago to agree to giving away the Jordan Valley and the Golan Heights in "peace" deals? (Not done, thank G-d)

-Which political ideology is behind the decision making in Israel to give medical treatment to terrorists from Gaza, like saving the life of today's Hamas leader, Sinwar, responsible for the Oct. 7th massacre who we are searching for now? A certain political ideology is behind Israel saving his life!

-Which political ideology is behind Israel's Supreme Court making illegal a very important IDF tactic of catching terrorists called "the neighbor procedure", in which a local Arab accompanies soldiers to a house where a terrorist may be holed up, so he doesn't shoot, a tactic that saved our IDF soldier's lives?

-Which political ideology is behind not using the Israeli airforce to bomb terrorist squads from the air in Judea & Samaria before the 7/10 massacre?

-Which political ideology is behind the talk, even today after Oct. 7th, of giving away Judea & Samaria to Arab Muslim terrorists of the Palestinian Authority?

The answer to all these questions:

The "progressive" (really regressive) leftist political ideology is responsible for all of those decisions by the IDF senior command and the justice system.

This "progressive" ideology stems from a basic naivety when facing reality in addition to a lack of understanding of the Arabic/Muslim culture of the Middle East in which we live.

Unfortunately, for some on the progressive left in Israel today, it is even worse.

They are convinced even now, post Oct. 7th, that the real danger to the country is not the genocidal IslamoNazis of Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, Hezbollah, Iran or Qatar, but the Jewish right-wing.

They seriously believe that Netanyahu is a bigger danger to Israel than Sinwar (Hamas leader) and Nasrallah (Hezbollah leader).

It is an extremely sad thing to internalize.

And the progressive left's ideology is so dominant in public discourse in Israel, although it is not the belief of the vast majority of citizens, that even though it fails time and time again causing massive deaths in our society, it is forbidden to say loud and clear:

'Having a progressive left-wing view in a country surrounded by enemies like Israel endangers the lives of its citizens and the existence of our country.'

It was only because this dominant progressive left ideology still exists in the senior command of the Israel Defense Forces that they are able to inform the residents of the Bat Hefer community (near Netanya), which was shot at by terrorists in Palestinian Authority controlled areas in Samaria, that the IDF will be reducing the amount of IDF reserve forces used to help protect their community!

Is that logical?

Is that sane??

This is the mindset that still exists within the senior command of the IDF, the establishment media and the intellectual elite.

Hence, this is why I keep on saying that we will overcome our external enemies and our internal challenges. Step one is waking up to the mindset that this ideology has been the root cause of the security issues we have experienced since the Oslo "peace" accords.

We need people who want victory running the IDF and the Defense Ministry.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Gantz sets June 8 deadline for PM to make postwar plan, or he’ll bolt coalition

2024-05-19

Blowhard politicking instead of focussing on the war that is his duty.

[IsraelTimes] Minister lists 6 key goals including alternative to Hamas rule in Gaza, return of hostages, Saudi normalization; Netanyahu’s office: He should issue ultimatums to Hamas, not the PM.

War cabinet minister Benny Gantz issued an ultimatum to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday night, demanding the premier commit to an agreed-upon vision for the Gaza conflict that would include stipulating who might rule the territory after Hamas’s defeat, and warning that he would bolt the coalition should this not happen.

In a statement that provoked swift outrage from other members of the government, Gantz said he believed that the war triggered by the Hamas-led October 7 massacre had been drifting off course in recent months due to the cowardice of some of Israel’s leaders.

To this end, Gantz warned that if no clear plan of action has been set in motion by June 8, he will pull his centrist party from government and return to the opposition.

The war cabinet must “formulate and approve a plan of action,” Gantz said, in order to achieve “six strategic goals”:

“Bring the hostages home.”

“Topple Hamas rule, demilitarize the Gaza Strip and gain Israeli security control [over Gaza].”

Alongside that Israeli security control, “create an international civilian governance mechanism for Gaza, including American, European, Arab and Palestinian elements — which will also serve as a basis for a future alternative that is not Hamas and is not [Palestinian Authority President] Abbas.”

“Return residents of the north [who were evacuated due to Hezbollah attacks] to their homes by September 1, and rehabilitate the western Negev [adjacent to Gaza, targeted by Hamas on October 7].”

“Advance normalization with Saudi Arabia as part of a comprehensive process to create an alliance with the free world and the West against Iran and its allies.”

“Adopt a framework for [military/national] service under which all Israelis will serve the state and contribute to the national effort.”

Gantz’s statement came days after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant appealed for Netanyahu to set out a postwar plan for the Gaza Strip, as the lack of planning was eroding the gains of the war, putting Israel’s long-term security at stake.

Gantz barely finished speaking before condemnation began pouring in from right-wing coalition lawmakers, some of whom have already called for him to be out of the government.

SCATHING RESPONSE FROM NETANYAHU
In a scathing statement released via his office, Netanyahu accused his coalition partner of “issuing an ultimatum to the prime minister instead of issuing an ultimatum to Hamas.”

Gantz’s demands would mean “an end to the war and defeat for Israel, abandoning the majority of the hostages, leaving Hamas in power, and creating a Palestinian state,” the statement claimed.

If Gantz truly prioritizes the national interest and not the toppling of the government, the Prime Minister’s Office argued, he must answer three questions:

Does Gantz want to see the operation in Rafah through to its end, and if so, why is he threatening to topple the unity government during the IDF operation?

Does he oppose Palestinian Authority rule in Gaza, even if Mahmoud Abbas is not involved?

Would he support a Palestinian state as part of a normalization process with Saudi Arabia?

“Prime Minister Netanyahu is determined to eliminate the Hamas battalions,” the Prime Minister’s Office stated. “He opposes bringing the Palestinian Authority into Gaza, and establishing a Palestinian state that will inevitably be a terror state.”

Netanyahu, continued the statement, believes that the unity government is key to achieving the war aims, “and expects Gantz to make clear to the public his positions on these issues.”

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israeli soldier moderately hurt in West Bank stabbing; assailant caught

2024-05-18

[IsraelTimes] Three Islamic Jihad gunmen killed overnight during IDF operation in Tulkarem; troops raid offices allegedly used to fund terror.

An Israeli soldier was stabbed near the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar and suffered moderate injuries, the military and medics said Thursday.

The Israel Defense Forces said the noncommissioned officer was stabbed at Yitzhar Junction, near Huwara, while in his vehicle. The stabber then expeditiously departed at a goodly pace.

The military said it launched a manhunt for the Paleostinian assailant and was blocking roads in the area. Three hours later, the suspected attacker was caught in the Paleostinian town of Awarta, not far from where the attack took place, the IDF said.

The maimed man was able to reach a nearby military position after being attacked. There, he told soldiers that he had slowed down and opened the window of his vehicle because he saw a Paleostinian gesturing to him with his hand, the Kan public broadcaster reported.

Medics took the soldier to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, which said that after receiving initial medical treatment he was now regarded as lightly maimed.

Huwara has been a hotbed of violence in recent years with several deadly terror attacks in and around the Paleostinian town, which have been met with Dire Revenge attacks from bad boy settlers who have repeatedly rampaged through it.

It was the second stabbing incident of the day after early in the morning a man tried to stab Border Police officers in East Jerusalem. Officers opened fire on the man, killing him before he could cause any injuries.

There was deadly violence in other areas of the West Bank, with three Paleostinian button men killed overnight in festivities with troops during a crackdown on terror funding in the territory, according to Paleostinian Authority officials and the IDF. The military said the raids targeted offices allegedly involved in funneling money for terror purposes in Tulkarem, Nablus, Qalqilya, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Tubas, and other locations. Cash, documents, and "technological equipment" were seized amid the raids, the IDF said.

In Tulkarem and Qalqiliya, troops came under attack — though none of them were hurt — and returned fire, according to the army.

Border Police troops also opened fire and killed three Paleostinian button men who were planting bombs in Tulkarem, the military said. The Paleostinian Authority’s health ministry identified those killed as Ayman Ahmad Mubarak, 26, Husam Imad Daabas, 22, and Mohammed Yusif Nasrallah, 27.

The Paleostinian Islamic Jihad
...created after many members of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah...
terror group later claimed the three as members of its armed wing.

Several others were maimed by IDF fire in Tulkarem, the PA ministry said.

On Wednesday, Paleostinian officials said Israeli troops killed a man as festivities broke out after a West Bank march commemorating the Paleostinian "Nakba," or catastrophe, of Israel’s creation in 1948. The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Since October 7, troops have arrested some 4,000 wanted Paleostinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,700 affiliated with Hamas
Hamas

..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
. According to the PA’s health ministry, more than 490 West Bank Paleostinians have been killed in that time.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Area C will never be part of Israel

2024-05-18

Long. A taste:

[Jpost] The year 2023 will be remembered as the year that witnessed the collapse of two closely related pillars of Israel’s West Bank policy. Together, these policies constitute grave misconceptions that nevertheless have been proudly championed by Israel's ultra-nationalist right-wing government. The first policy pillar is the “divide and rule” strategy, whereby the Gaza Strip and the West Bank were intentionally separated to prevent the establishment of a future Palestinian state and to facilitate the sequestering of the West Bank and its ultimate annexation to Israel. This pillar crumbled to wrack and ruin on October 7th when it became abundantly clear that allowing Hamas to grow at the expense of the Palestinian Authority has grave consequences. The second pillar, the “battle over Area C,” sought to create spatial and demographic conditions permitting the annexation of an area that accounts for 60 percent of the West Bank. This pillar has been disintegrating gradually over several years.

The roots of these failed policies can be found in Israel's abdication of its legal commitments that were ratified in the Oslo Accords.

Given that both the Palestinian Authority/PLO/Fatah and Hamas abdicated their legal commitments from the beginning, it seems unfair and unrealistic to demand Israel stick to them.

In the declaration of principles, the State of Israel accepted the notion of unity of the West Bank and Gaza Strip: “The two sides view the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as a single territorial unit, whose integrity will be preserved during the interim period.” With regard to Area C, the agreement stated: “The Parties agree that the area of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, except for the issues that will be negotiated in the permanent status negotiations [Jerusalem, settlements, and military sites] will be gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction, to be completed within 18 months from the inauguration of the Council.” It also stated that: “‘Area C’ means areas of the West Bank outside Areas A and B, which, except for the issues that will be negotiated in the permanent status negotiations, will be gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction in accordance with this Agreement.” In simple terms – all the agreements signed by the State of Israel define the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as a single territorial unit. This principle has guided all negotiations conducted by the two sides. Area C, therefore, has been under an extremely extended temporary status pending its eventual transfer to Palestinian jurisdiction.

Regarding the first failure – the collapse of the “divide and rule” policy – the Palestinians are united in their insistence on a joint future for the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Yes, yes. But does that mean Hamas will rule or Fatah/PLO/Palestinian authority? I admit it’s a silly question, as it looks like Hamas is the more popular option in both territories, and the PA demonstrated their inability to hold Gaza in the teeth of Hamas armaments back in 2007.

Similarly, there is overwhelming consensus in the international community on the two-state solution as the only viable solution to the conflict.

So? The international community doesn’t have to worry about Palestinians rampaging over the border with pillage, plunder, rape, torture, and murder in their minds. So it is none of the international community’s business.

Israel has also accepted this principle in all negotiations with the Palestinians, and it is only the stalemate in diplomacy during the Netanyahu years that gave rise to the catastrophic divide and rule strategy. Because the territorial integrity issue is clear and undisputed, we focus on the second failure – the battle over Area C. Our research, conducted as part of the T-Politography project, a project dedicated to empirically monitoring changing levels of Israeli and Palestinian control in the territories in several different domains, examined the period from 2010 through the end of 2023. During these Netanyahu years (with a one-year Bennett-Lapid government), we found clear evidence that Israel is squandering its resources on a lost cause.

Motivated by the idea that it is possible to annex most of the West Bank without its Palestinian population, Israel devoted its full force and all the means at its disposal to shape the political future of Area C. This process included unprecedented budgetary allocations for the expansion of settlements; the establishment of additional government ministries as channels for the indirect transfer of funds; the encouragement and retroactive whitewashing of illegal outposts by the government; the construction of roads such as the Hawara and El-Arub bypasses, each of which cost over 200 million US Dollars; attempting to legislate the Regularization Bill – a bill that would allow the seizure of private Palestinian land; attempting to abolish the grounds of reasonableness clause (both legislation initiatives were canceled by the Israeli Supreme Court); and the absence of an immediate and forceful response to settler violence against the Palestinians. The process reached its peak in 2023 with the transfer of responsibility for the Civil Administration of the West Bank to ultra-nationalist Betzalel Smotrich as an additional minister in the Defense Ministry, which effectively turned him into the de-facto governor of the West Bank.

The Palestinian side did not remain impassive in the face of this Israeli campaign. The Palestinian struggle for Area C was implemented through the Fayyad Plan, a two-year plan formulated by former PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in 2009. The plan offered a roadmap for building Palestinian infrastructure and institutions to establish a de facto Palestinian state throughout the West Bank. The plan enjoyed international support and a budget of over half a billion euros from the EU.

Link

The Grand Turk

Israeli PM Katz calls not to give in: Erdogan declares a trade war on Israel

2024-05-17

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Dmitry Polyakov

[REGNUM] At the beginning of May this year, the Turkish Ministry of Trade announced the suspension of trade relations with Israel. The decision is the second stage of the policy of economic pressure on the Jewish state - earlier in April, Ankara introduced restrictions on the export of 54 groups of goods. However, these measures did not lead to any results.

Therefore, this time the Republic of Turkey decided to toughen its course.

An official statement from the Ministry of Commerce said that “ export-import transactions related to Israel have been stopped, the decision applies to all types of goods. Turkey will strictly and resolutely implement these measures until the Israeli government allows a continuous and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza."

Meanwhile, the ministry clarified that it has already begun to work with colleagues from the Palestinian Authority to ensure that the measures taken do not affect the population of the West Bank. This is because Türkiye exported goods to the Palestinian territories through Israeli customs.

The PA government does not control its external borders, so that could get interesting, now that all is in the open. Were I Bibi, I’d be feeling more than a tad vindictive at the moment.

The suspension of trade came as a complete surprise to the Israeli side.

Or not, as the case may be. He’s done it before.

Thus, Foreign Minister Israel Katz criticized Turkish policy, specifically mentioning President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. “This is how a dictator behaves, ignoring the interests of the Turkish people, businessmen and international trade agreements,” the head of the foreign ministry of the Jewish State wrote in a message.

Well, yes.

In addition, Katz noted that he has directed his ministry to seek alternatives for trade, focusing on "local production and imports from other countries."

Lots of people want Israeli products, even if they have to pretend otherwise — taking off the labels before selling to the public. I seem to recall hysteria in Saudi Arabia a few years ago about Jaffa oranges...

In many ways, Turkey’s actions increase tensions in relations with Israel, which noticeably worsened against the backdrop of a new round of escalation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict last fall. However, states limited themselves to negative rhetoric towards each other and tried not to resort to direct action.

Since the spring of this year, Ankara has decided to raise rates.

Despite playing Big Sultanate On Campus, Turkey is still just a Third World country, so doesn’t have the kind of economic leeway of Germany or America. So sorry.

At the end of April, Erdoğan formally received a high-level Hamas delegation along with Politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh. Leaders of the Palestinian movement were received in Ankara for the first time since October 7, 2023. Already in May, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced that his country had submitted a request to the International Court of Justice, joining South Africa's lawsuit against Israel.

Therefore, measures aimed at restricting trade are in line with Turkey’s course towards a consistent weakening of ties with the Jewish state.

THE ROLE OF ELECTIONS
In this context, it is important to trace the chronology of Turkey’s actions - precisely from April 2024.

Turkish authorities began to put pressure on Israel after the failure of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in municipal elections in all major cities in March this year.

In addition, in the districts of Sanliurfa and Yozga (considered the main electoral centers of the AKP), the New Welfare Party (NPP), which takes a tougher stance against Gaza, won.

In previous years, Erdogan’s image as a protector of Muslims in the region added some support for the ruling party in elections, which made it possible to mobilize the conservative electorate to vote for the AKP.

However, since the new stage of the Palestinian-Israeli confrontation, the current president has been losing political points. Today, Turkish society actively criticizes the authorities for maintaining trade ties with Israel. Therefore, Erdogan was forced to act and began a policy of pressure.

I think the Regnum reporter has confused cause and effect there…

It is worth emphasizing that Ankara’s current course is being implemented only to suit the political situation and does not in any way correspond to economic feasibility. Because the Turkish economy is in a deplorable state.

The decline began even before the COVID-19 pandemic. Formally, in 2023, the country's economy grew by 4.5%. In reality, this came at a rather high cost—the price was a currency crisis.

The lira has lost nearly half its value in five years, leading to hyperinflation that reached nearly 70% in May. The weak currency has caused prices for manufactured goods to rise, with the manufacturing sector, which accounts for a fifth of the country's GDP, hit hardest.

I started hearing about government-spending driven inflation driving Turkish businesses into bankruptcy back in the mid-1990s. They’ve had several cycles since — truly, it’s a wonder there still is a manufacturing sector in Turkey, even without the stripping of the Gulens in the middle of the past decade.

For these reasons, millions of Turks today struggle to make ends meet.

It was against this background that Erdogan decided to suspend trade ties with Israel, one of Turkey’s key trade and economic partners in the region.

Is it a long term solution?

Indeed, trade and economics are the basis of Turkish-Israeli relations.

The free trade agreement between the parties has been in force since 1997. In 2023, Ankara was the fifth-largest exporter to the Jewish State, with exports reaching $4.6 billion—about 76% percent of total bilateral trade, which stood at $6.3 billion.

Given the existing trade imbalance, the greatest harm from the measures taken will not be Israel, but Türkiye itself.

In order to have at least some impact, Ankara decided to limit access to Turkish ports, through which the Jewish state also traded with third countries. For example, Azerbaijani oil comes to Israel through the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.

Realizing that local businesses would suffer from the sudden stop in trade, the Turkish Ministry of Trade granted a three-month grace period to exporters to Israel. The ministerial directive states that companies must complete contract transactions through third countries.

It is noteworthy that the released document became a reason for speculation.

In Israel they immediately started talking about the fact that Türkiye had lifted many trade restrictions. Foreign Minister Israel Katz made a statement with the following content: “The lesson is clear: we must not give in to the dictator’s threats.” This suggests that the country did not feel the consequences of the suspension of trade, and the postponement for Turkish companies is regarded as a victory in this confrontation.

As a result, it is not the Israeli economy that suffers from Ankara’s policies, but the Turkish one.

Those juices sure are tricksy…

While Turkish officials say there are no exceptions to the trade ban, the reality is that the measures may be short-lived. Erdogan’s actions are subject to political conjuncture and are largely of an image nature.

Given the existing problems in the Turkish economy, the trade ban may remain at the formal level, but export companies will receive various concessions to conduct their activities.

And everyone will realize that President Erdogan backed down. How deservedly humiliating for him.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

PA says man killed in clash with Israeli troops during Nakba Day march in West Bank

2024-05-16

[IsraelTimes] Palestinian report says 20-year-old university student shot by soldiers at checkpoint near Ramallah; military yet to comment on incident

Paleostinian officials said Israeli troops killed a man on Wednesday as festivities broke out after a West Bank march commemorating the Paleostinian "Nakba," or catastrophe, of Israel’s creation in 1948.

"A young man was killed by occupation bullets at the northern entrance of the city of al-Bireh," an Israeli checkpoint at the outskirts of Ramallah, the Paleostinian Authority health ministry said.

The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The PA’s official news agency Wafa said the man killed was 20-year-old Ayser Muhammad Safi, a student at Birzeit University, reporting that he was shot in the neck during a confrontation between a group of young men and Israeli forces.

Witnesses on site told AFP they had seen a group of male students from Birzeit University gather a short distance from the al-Bireh entrance, where they were preparing to begin protesting when Israeli troops moved in.

During the confrontation, Israeli forces fired some kind of gas and sound grenades at the protesters, Wafa reported.

THOUSANDS MARCH
Wednesday’s clash happened shortly after the annual march in Ramallah commemorating the 76th anniversary of what Paleostinians consider the "Nakba," or catastrophe, when around 760,000 Paleostinians fled or were driven from their homes during the War of Independence in 1948, after the UN-proposed division of mandatory Paleostine was rejected by Arabs in Paleostine and Arab states.

Thousands marched across the West Bank, keffiyeh scarves draped across their shoulders.

Israel has also carried out near-daily raids in the West Bank in a bid to thwart terror groups.

Since October 7, troops have arrested some 4,000 wanted Paleostinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,700 affiliated with Hamas
Hamas

..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
. According to the PA’s health ministry, more than 490 West Bank Paleostinians have been killed in that time.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Hamas claims to accept ceasefire, hostage deal; Israel: This isn't what we agreed to

2024-05-07

[IsraelTimes] Gazans celebrate in streets; families of hostages plead for deal; US studying response; war cabinet says negotiators will meet mediators, but orders IDF to push ahead with Rafah op.

In other words, Hamas continues playing negotiation games while waiting for somebody to force Israel to surrender.

Hamas on Monday evening claimed to accept what it said was an Egyptian and Qatari ceasefire and hostage release proposal, but Israeli officials said the Hamas terms did not meet Israel’s essential requirements.

"After Hamas agreed to the mediators’ proposal for a ceasefire, the ball is now in the court of Israeli occupation, whether it will agree to the ceasefire agreement or obstruct it," a senior Hamas official told AFP, soon after the office of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh had announced its acceptance.

But after receiving the Hamas response, Israeli officials said the terms Hamas claimed to have accepted did not match those that Israel had approved.

Later Monday, the Prime Minister’s Office said the war cabinet had decided unanimously to push ahead with an IDF operation in Rafah "in order to apply military pressure on Hamas, with the goal of making progress on freeing the hostages and the other war aims."

The statement said Hamas’s latest offer was "far from [meeting] Israel’s essential requirements." At the same time, the statement said, Israel would send working-level teams to hold talks with the mediators in order "to exhaust the possibility of achieving an agreement on terms that are acceptable to Israel."

War cabinet minister Benny Gantz, a political rival of Prime Minister Benamin Netanyahu, also said the ceasefire proposal Hamas accepted "is inconsistent with the dialogue [Israel] held with the mediators to this point and has significant gaps [from Israel’s demands]."

Israel’s negotiators were "continuing their work at every moment" and "will leave no stone unturned," Gantz promised. "Every decision will be brought before the war cabinet. There will be no political considerations" in the decision-making, he added (emphasis in original).

The Hamas announcement set off celebrations among Palestinians in Gaza.

In Tel Aviv, families of some hostages and other protesters blocked traffic on the Ayalon Highway, banging drums, blowing on bullhorns and lighting fires, urging the government to accept a deal for the return of their loves ones. Some protesters held a banner referring to Monday’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, reading "Never Again?" There were also protests in and around Jerusalem’s Paris Square, and elsewhere in the country, urging the government to seal the deal.

Meanwhile, the IDF announced that troops were striking and operating against Hamas sites "in a targeted manner" in eastern Rafah.

The announcement came after Palestinian media reported a series of strikes in the area, where the IDF earlier called for civilians to evacuate.

Israel officials quoted by Channel 12 said Israel’s negotiating team could tell that "this is not the same proposal" for a deal that Israel and Egypt had agreed upon 10 days ago, and that served as the basis for the indirect negotiations since then.

"All kinds of clauses" have been inserted, the TV report said.

These new clauses, among other issues, relate to the cardinal questions of if, how, and when the war would end, and what kind of guarantees were being offered to that effect. The report noted that Hamas had been toughening its demands in recent days, and demanding that the war end during the first, 40-day phase of the deal, rather than in the second or third phases.

Israel, for its part, has repeatedly rejected ending the war as part of a hostage deal at all, instead insisting that it will resume fighting once the deal is implemented, in accordance with its twin war goals: returning the hostages and destroying Hamas’s military and governance capacities.

An Israeli official told Reuters that the Hamas announcement appeared to be "a ruse intended to make Israel look like the side refusing a deal," following days of the US saying the ball was in Hamas’s court.

The official said that the proposal Hamas has accepted was a "softened" version of the Egyptian proposal, which includes "far-reaching" conclusions that Israel cannot accept.

Why is Egypt putting forward a proposal Israel already rejected?

But an official briefed on the talks, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the offer Hamas accepted was effectively the same as one agreed at the end of April by Israel.

And a US official familiar with truce negotiations told Reuters that Netanyahu and the war cabinet "have not appeared to approach the latest phase of negotiations in good faith."

A THREE-PHASE AGREEMENT
Khalil al-Hayya, a deputy to Hamas’s Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, told Al Jazeera that the proposal that the terror group has agreed to is a three-phased agreement, and that each stage will be 42 days long.

"On the first day of the first phase of the agreement, there is a clear commitment to temporarily stop military operations," he said.

The second phase provides for the announcement of "a permanent cessation of military and hostile operations," he added.

He further said that Egypt is a guarantor of the deal and will not allow the war to return. He also said that the mediators informed Hamas that President Biden is committed to ensuring the implementation of the agreement.

According to a Haaretz report, Hamas sources claim to have received assurances from the US and Qatar, as well as Egypt, that Israel will not resume the war after the three-stage deal is implemented.

What about before?

The war erupted after Hamas’s October 7 massacre, when thousands of terrorists murdered some 1,200 people and seized 252 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.

In response to the onslaught, Israel launched a wide-scale offensive aiming to eliminate the terror group’s military and governance capabilities in Gaza and free the hostages, 128 of whom remain in captivity.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict, according to unverifiable figures from Hamas health officials that do not distinguish between gunmen and civilians. Israel says it has killed 13,000 Hamas gunmen in Gaza as well as 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7. Some 270 IDF soldiers have been killed in the fighting in Gaza.

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that Washington had received Hamas’s response to the latest truce proposal and was reviewing it and discussing it with the Qatari and Egyptian mediators. CIA director Bill Burns is in the region "working on this in real time," Miller added. Miller said a deal was "absolutely achievable."

"We want to get these hostages out, we want to get a ceasefire in place for six weeks, we want to increase humanitarian assistance," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said, adding that reaching an agreement would be the "absolute best outcome".

The Three Wants. Sounds like something Communist China would come up with. And who, in this case, is we?

The Hamas announcement came directly after Netanyahu spoke with US President Joe Biden on the phone, with a considerable part of the call devoted to the efforts to reach a truce-for-hostages deal.

Leaders around the Arab world were quick to respond to the Iran-backed terror group’s announcement, with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas calling on the international community to pressure Israel to commit to a ceasefire in Gaza, according to Palestinian official news agency WAFA.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said he was closely following positive developments in the negotiations to reach a "comprehensive truce" in Gaza, and called on all parties to exert more effort to reach a deal.

Both Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that they had spoken to Qatar-based Haniyeh on the phone on Monday regarding the deal.

The Iranian foreign minister said on social media platform X that Haniyeh had assured him, "We are sincere in our intentions," while Erdogan posted, "During the call, in which I stated that I found it positive for Hamas to take such a decision with Turkey’s suggestion, we emphasized that Israel must take a step for a lasting ceasefire too."

On the streets of Gaza, crowds of Palestinians could be seen cheering and firing guns in the air after Hamas claimed to have accepted the ceasefire proposal from mediators Egypt and Qatar. People could be seen crying tears of happiness, chanting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest") and shooting in the air in celebration of the news, according to an AFP correspondent.

Brilliant, guys. All those bullets that missed your neighbours coming back down will still be unavailable to shoot Israeli soldiers in the days to come.

Netanyahu has for months vowed that Israeli troops would carry out an operation to root out the final Hamas strongholds in the southern Gaza city of Rafah regardless of a hostage release deal, with the IDF starting to issue evacuation orders to Palestinian civilians in the area on Monday.

The terror group, meanwhile, has rejected repeated Israeli truce offers during months of negotiations, with US officials repeatedly saying that the ball was in Hamas’s court when it came to accepting a deal.

Throughout the months of negotiations to secure a deal, media reports have repeatedly suggested potential breakthroughs, but talks have always ultimately broken down, in part due to Hamas’s demand for a permanent ceasefire and Israel’s refusal to end the war without moving to eliminate the group’s remaining fighters in Rafah.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

German ambassador attacked by Palestinian mob during Ramallah visit

2024-05-02

[JPost] Owcza downplayed the incident in a post on X, stating, "Peaceful protest [and] dialogue always has its place.

German Representative to the Palestinian Authority Oliver Owcza was heckled and his vehicle was attacked by students during his visit to Birzeit University near Ramallah in the West Bank on Tuesday.

Social media clips showed him walking quickly to his car as protesters followed him.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Palestinian Ruling Party Admits: Hamas Steals Aid, Kills Aid Workers in Gaza

2024-04-22

[Breitbart] Fatah, the “moderate” ruling party of the Palestinian Authority, has admitted on live television that Hamas steals humanitarian aid and kills aid workers in the Gaza Strip.

The admission, captured by Palestinian Media Watch, confirms what Israel has been saying all along — and goes further, stating that Hamas is not only responsible for endangering aid workers by hiding among them, but also asserts that Hamas has been killing aid workers directly.

Palestinian Media Watch reported (original emphasis):

In an incredible and rare admission, Fatah has corroborated what Israel has been saying all along: that Hamas is responsible for turmoil connected to distribution of the humanitarian aid sent into Gaza. A Fatah TV anchor reported that throughout the war, Hamas has been committing what is essentially a triple crime—it has attacked and killed aid workers in order to control aid distribution, stolen the food and water for itself, and caused food prices to skyrocket.

Fatah-run Awdah TV host: “Hamas’ persecution of any party who is a source for distributing the [humanitarian] aid or securing it began from the start of the war (i.e., 2023 Gaza war), as Hamas persecuted well-known figures and teams of volunteers on the ground in mid-October [2023]. It attacked them and killed some of them for two reasons: Firstly, preventing any activity by any [other] party in the Gaza Strip; and secondly, ensuring Hamas control over the aid and its storage, which of course leads to these crazy and unreal prices that no one can pay in the shadow of this destruction. After the occupation (i.e., Israel) bombed storehouses controlled by Hamas, the accumulation of tons of various food and aid products that Hamas had taken exclusivity over became clear, at a time when the Gaza Strip is suffering from hunger.”

…

This is a damning indictment by Fatah, exposing Hamas’ heinous actions against humanitarian aid workers and Palestinian civilians in need of food. World powers were quick to decry Israel for an inadvertent tragedy that killed several World Central Kitchen personnel. These same authorities and media outlets must now condemn Hamas with equal vigor for its intentional murder of aid workers. A failure to condemn Hamas for intentional murder by the countries and frameworks who condemned Israel for accidental killing would expose once again a glaring double standard by international bodies, and especially the media, that unfortunately has accompanied this entire war.

The Biden administration has blamed Israel for the death of aid workers, with President Joe Biden claiming this month that “Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to deliver desperately needed help to civilians.”

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

3 Palestinians shot dead while attacking IDF troops in West Bank

2024-04-22

[IsraelTimes] Woman killed trying to stab guards at Jordan Valley checkpoint, two men killed assaulting soldiers near Hebron, as army ends 50-hour refugee camp operation amid heightened tensions

The army said soldiers opened fire at three Palestinians who attacked them on Sunday in the West Bank, where violence has flared in recent days, with the Palestinian Authority health ministry confirming that all three had died.

In the first incident, at the Beit Einun junction near Hebron in the southern West Bank, the Israel Defense Forces said a man had shot at troops, while another attempted to stab them, before the soldiers opened fire on both attackers, whom medics later declared dead.

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA, citing local sources, said that ambulance crews were prevented from reaching the two, whom the agency identified as Mohammad Majid Jabareen, 19, and Musa Mahmoud Jabareen, 18.

In the second incident, the military said soldiers shot a woman who tried to stab them at the Beka’ot checkpoint — also known as Hamra, after the adjacent settlement — in the north West Bank’s Jordan Valley. She was later confirmed dead by Palestinian Authority health authorities.

WAFA identified her as Manal Sawafta, 40, from Tubas in the Jordan Valley.

Violence in the West Bank, already on the rise before October 7 — when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people and abduct over 250 — has escalated throughout the war sparked by the onslaught, with frequent army raids on terror groups, rampages by Jewish settlers in Palestinian villages, and deadly Palestinian street attacks.

The IDF began an extended raid in the early hours of Friday in the Nur Shams refugee camp, near the flashpoint Palestinian city of Tulkarm, and exchanged fire with gunmen well into Saturday.

Fourteen Palestinian operatives were killed in the fire exchanges and 10 soldiers were wounded, according to an IDF statement issued on Sunday, after it had completed the 50-hour operation.

Nur Shams residents have so far identified only five of the fatalities as operatives. One of those killed was a 16-year-old boy, authorities said.

Since October 7, IDF troops have arrested some 3,850 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,650 affiliated with Hamas. According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 480 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time.

Link

International-UN-NGOs

US vetoes Security Council resolution recognizing Palestinians as full UN member state

2024-04-20

[IsraelTimes] 12 nations back statehood bid, including France, Japan, South Korea, which haven’t individually recognized Palestinian state; US official: They voted yes because they knew we’d use veto

The US prevented the Security Council from recognizing the Palestinians as a full UN member state, following through on its pledge to veto a resolution brought before the top international body on Thursday. Twelve Security Council members voted in favor of granting the Palestinians full UN member status, while just the UK and Switzerland abstained.

The US had first sought to convince the Palestinian Authority to shelve the measure before turning to other members to either oppose or abstain after Ramallah rebuffed Washington’s request, a US official told The Times of Israel. But the final tally showed that the Biden administration largely failed in its effort, with US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood being the lone envoy to raise his hand in opposition to the resolution — a symbolic demonstration of Washington’s international isolation on the matter.

France, Japan, South Korea and Slovenia all voted in favor of the resolution submitted by Algeria, even though none of them had individually recognized a Palestinian state. The US official speculated that those countries voted the way they did even though they don’t practically support the measure because they knew there wouldn’t be any consequences for doing so, given Washington’s pledged veto.

Sierra Leone, Russia, Mozambique, Malta, Guyana, Ecuador, China and Algeria also voted in favor of the resolution but have each already recognized a Palestinian state. At least nine countries of the 15-member body needed to support the measure in order to force a US veto.

The US has long opposed Palestinian efforts to unilaterally secure statehood status at the UN, arguing that the goal should be achieved through direct negotiations with Israel. More recently, US officials have said such efforts also harm the Biden administration’s pursuit of a two-state solution through a broader regional initiative that it’s actively working to advance.

The US plan envisions starting with a hostage-for-truce deal between Israel and Hamas followed by a permanent end to the war. Israel’s Arab allies would then assist in the rebuilding of Gaza with assistance from a reformed PA, which would return to governing the enclave alongside the West Bank in the creation of a pathway to an eventual two-state solution with Israel that would enjoy normalized relations with Saudi Arabia, thereby bolstering a regional front against Iran. In addition to a still-elusive hostage deal, the US plan also hinges on Israeli willingness to accept an eventual two-state solution — a non-starter for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and most of his coalition.

In explaining the US opposition to the resolution earlier Thursday, US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said there was not unanimity among Security Council members that the Palestinians had met the criteria necessary to be defined as a state. Moreover, he said that the PA needs to undergo significant reforms before it’s recognized as a state. Ramallah has long been marred by allegations of corruption and mismanagement. Patel also pointed to congressional legislation that would force the Biden administration to cut funding to the UN if it unilaterally approved the Palestinian request for full-member status — something Washington does not want to have to do.

After gaining non-member observer status in 2012, the Palestinians have sought, to no avail, to become the 194th member of the UN. Thursday’s vote was not the first time that the Palestinians’ application was denied by the Security Council, after failing to reach the nine-vote threshold in 2014. The results of that vote were eight to two with five abstentions, with France then also among the countries that backed the resolution.

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan thanked the Biden administration "for standing up for truth and morality in the face of hypocrisy and politics."

"I explained how the PA does not meet even the basic criteria, that they have no authority over their territory, and that the PA is a terror-supporting entity," he said in remarks following the vote. "Yet regardless of the Palestinians’ failure to meet the necessary criteria for UN membership, most of you, sadly, decided to reward Palestinian terror with a Palestinian state."

Erdan also lamented his repeated unsuccessful efforts to coax the Security Council to condemn Hamas for its October 7 terror onslaught. "But nevertheless, you refuse to even condemn, you refuse to listen, you refuse to act, you even refuse to check the facts."

"So today, I won’t try to fix what’s already broken. Speaking to this council is like speaking to a brick wall."

Foreign Minister Israel Katz also thanked the US, saying approval of the statehood resolution would have been a "reward for terrorism" just six months after Hamas’s October 7 atrocities. Like Erdan, he blasted the Security Council for failing to denounce Hamas for the devastating attack.

"There will be no rewards for terrorism. Israel will continue to fight until the fall of Hamas and the release of all 133 Israeli hostages," Katz wrote on X.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas blasted the US veto, calling it an "aggression" that pushes the Middle East towards an "abyss."

Hamas condemned the US stance in a statement and called on the international community to "support the struggle of our Palestinian people and their legitimate right to determine their destiny."

Link

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