by David Bedein
Jerusalem - The Goldstone report, which accuses Israel of war crimes in the course of Operation Cast Lead, was raised Thursday for discussion at the UN Human Rights Council, at the request of the Palestinian Authority.
Ahead of the discussion and the subsequent vote that will decide if the report will be adopted by the UN, Israel is getting into high gear.
Despite the low chances of obtaining a majority in Israel’s favor in the vote, politicians and diplomats are trying to influence a few countries in order to recruit them to Israel’s side.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said last week that the Israeli battle against the report is very difficult because of the majority against Israel in the UN and in a number of UN committees.
He says that this battle will preoccupy Israel in the coming years.
High-ranking government sources said that as of now, the chances of the Goldstone report not being adopted are very low and it appears that the Palestinians will succeed in obtaining a majority.
At the moment, Israel is focusing its public relations activity in the countries belonging to the European Union, the African states, Asia and South America.
As part of the Israeli PR campaign, the work was divided between four people: President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Each of them received a list with a number of heads of state with whom they will talk and ask them not to support the report.
Israel will warn that adopting the Goldstone report means ending the peace process, because Israel will not agree to wage a legal-diplomatic battle along with conducting a peace process.
“The Goldstone report will be part of the international discourse for a long time yet and will be a heavy burden on Israel in the international arena,” said a high-ranking Israeli source.
“We can cope with its ramifications but the problem is that it turns Israel into the defendant and makes the state into a leper. It’s not good for Israel when it is spoken about as if it is a country that commits war crimes.”
What particularly irks Israel is that Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon are now aligned. The UN secretary general expressed his support for discussing the report at the U.N. Human Rights Council.
View the original article in the Philadelphia Bulletin
Showing posts with label Avigdor Lieberman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Avigdor Lieberman. Show all posts
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
The Philadelphia Bulletin: Israeli Government to Begin PR Tours
by David Bedein
Jerusalem - Israeli government ministers Moshe Yaalon, Yossi Peled, Dan Meridor and Benny Begin are to leave for the United States with the goal of drumming up support for Israel.
The ministers will leave one at a time, between September 6 and October 18.
Israel Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and the former Israeli consul general in New York, Alon Pinkas, who currently serves as the Foreign Ministry "roaming consul," will also join the tour.
The emissaries will address university students, public leaders and public opinion formers, including senators, Members of Congress, administration officials, governors, mayors, journalists, members of influential organizations and Jewish communities, church leaders and other community leaders. The lectures will be given in Washington, New York, Chicago, Boston and Atlanta, among other locations.
Israel Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who conceived the idea of sending the delegation, said, "polls that were recently conducted in the United States prove once again that the American public perceives Israel as an important ally, and that Israel's standing in American public opinion is solid.”
View the original article in the Philadelphia Bulletin
Jerusalem - Israeli government ministers Moshe Yaalon, Yossi Peled, Dan Meridor and Benny Begin are to leave for the United States with the goal of drumming up support for Israel.
The ministers will leave one at a time, between September 6 and October 18.
Israel Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon and the former Israeli consul general in New York, Alon Pinkas, who currently serves as the Foreign Ministry "roaming consul," will also join the tour.
The emissaries will address university students, public leaders and public opinion formers, including senators, Members of Congress, administration officials, governors, mayors, journalists, members of influential organizations and Jewish communities, church leaders and other community leaders. The lectures will be given in Washington, New York, Chicago, Boston and Atlanta, among other locations.
Israel Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who conceived the idea of sending the delegation, said, "polls that were recently conducted in the United States prove once again that the American public perceives Israel as an important ally, and that Israel's standing in American public opinion is solid.”
View the original article in the Philadelphia Bulletin
Sunday, August 30, 2009
The Philadelphia Bulletin: Israeli Reservists to Sue Swedish Newspaper
by David Bedein
A group of Israeli Army reservists has announced that it intends to submit a lawsuit in New York for slander against the Swedish Aftonbladet newspaper for reporting that IDF soldiers trafficked in Palestinian body organs.
Heading the group is Attorney Ophir Miller from Tel Aviv, a major in reserves who served in the Paratroopers Brigade reconnaissance unit and is now an instructor in the IDF's counterterrorism unit. The group intends to sue the reporter who wrote the story, the editor and publisher of the newspaper.
Mr. Miller explained to the Voice Of Israel Radio that the case could therefore be heard in New York since the Swedish paper is also published and distributed there.
Mr. Miller said he spoke to a number of lawyers in Sweden to examine Swedish law on issues relating to such lawsuits.
"The State of Israel must pick up the gauntlet and silence the reporter and the newspaper with a huge lawsuit for injury to the state and its citizens," said Mr. Miller. "Since the heads of state are busy with requests for apologies, we had no choice but to enlist to submit the lawsuit."
To establish his claim, Mr. Miller turned to Defense Minister Ehud Barak and to Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to learn the state's position and to receive confirmation that the claims of the Swedish newspaper have no basis in reality.
The Swedish newspaper is also being sued by two Swedish civil rights groups, since Swedish law forbids publication of material that will lead to "incitement on the basis of race, ethnicity or religion."
View this story in the Philadelphia Bulletin
View this story at Israel Behind the News
A group of Israeli Army reservists has announced that it intends to submit a lawsuit in New York for slander against the Swedish Aftonbladet newspaper for reporting that IDF soldiers trafficked in Palestinian body organs.
Heading the group is Attorney Ophir Miller from Tel Aviv, a major in reserves who served in the Paratroopers Brigade reconnaissance unit and is now an instructor in the IDF's counterterrorism unit. The group intends to sue the reporter who wrote the story, the editor and publisher of the newspaper.
Mr. Miller explained to the Voice Of Israel Radio that the case could therefore be heard in New York since the Swedish paper is also published and distributed there.
Mr. Miller said he spoke to a number of lawyers in Sweden to examine Swedish law on issues relating to such lawsuits.
"The State of Israel must pick up the gauntlet and silence the reporter and the newspaper with a huge lawsuit for injury to the state and its citizens," said Mr. Miller. "Since the heads of state are busy with requests for apologies, we had no choice but to enlist to submit the lawsuit."
To establish his claim, Mr. Miller turned to Defense Minister Ehud Barak and to Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to learn the state's position and to receive confirmation that the claims of the Swedish newspaper have no basis in reality.
The Swedish newspaper is also being sued by two Swedish civil rights groups, since Swedish law forbids publication of material that will lead to "incitement on the basis of race, ethnicity or religion."
View this story in the Philadelphia Bulletin
View this story at Israel Behind the News
Sunday, August 23, 2009
The Philadelphia Bulletin: Swedish Government Stands Behind False News Report
by David Bedein
Jerusalem, Israel - Following a Swedish news report in the newspaper Aftonbladet that reported the IDF kills Palestinians in order to traffic in their organs, Swedish Ambassador to Israel Elisabet Borsin Bonnier immediately issued a sharp condemnation of the article and apologized to the people of Israel.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry, however, disassociated itself from the ambassador's condemnation.
In the wake of this reversal, Israeli Foreign Minister Lieberman conveyed a pointed protest to Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt. Lieberman also instructed the Foreign Ministry personnel to examine the possibility of revoking the press card held by any representative of Aftonbladet in Israel, and in any case not to assist or cooperate on any matter with the newspaper or its representatives.
"It's too bad that after the Swedish ambassador to Israel did the right thing and denounced the article, and thereby made it clear that his newspaper does not represent Sweden in any way, that the Swedish Foreign Ministry chose to dissociate itself from the ambassador instead of backing her," said Lieberman. "The meaning of freedom of the press is the freedom to write the truth, not the freedom to lie and to malign. A country that truly wishes to defend its democratic values must firmly condemn any mendacious articles that smell of anti-Semitism of the kind that was published this week in the Aftonbladet newspaper. It's unfortunate that the Swedish Foreign Ministry is not becoming involved when the matter is one of a blood libel against the Jews. This is reminiscent of Sweden's position during World War II, when it also did not become involved. The article written this week is a natural continuation of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and to the blood libels in which Jews were accused of adding the blood of Christian children to Passover matzos."
View this story in the Philadelphia Bulletin
View this story at Israel Behind the News
Jerusalem, Israel - Following a Swedish news report in the newspaper Aftonbladet that reported the IDF kills Palestinians in order to traffic in their organs, Swedish Ambassador to Israel Elisabet Borsin Bonnier immediately issued a sharp condemnation of the article and apologized to the people of Israel.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry, however, disassociated itself from the ambassador's condemnation.
In the wake of this reversal, Israeli Foreign Minister Lieberman conveyed a pointed protest to Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt. Lieberman also instructed the Foreign Ministry personnel to examine the possibility of revoking the press card held by any representative of Aftonbladet in Israel, and in any case not to assist or cooperate on any matter with the newspaper or its representatives.
"It's too bad that after the Swedish ambassador to Israel did the right thing and denounced the article, and thereby made it clear that his newspaper does not represent Sweden in any way, that the Swedish Foreign Ministry chose to dissociate itself from the ambassador instead of backing her," said Lieberman. "The meaning of freedom of the press is the freedom to write the truth, not the freedom to lie and to malign. A country that truly wishes to defend its democratic values must firmly condemn any mendacious articles that smell of anti-Semitism of the kind that was published this week in the Aftonbladet newspaper. It's unfortunate that the Swedish Foreign Ministry is not becoming involved when the matter is one of a blood libel against the Jews. This is reminiscent of Sweden's position during World War II, when it also did not become involved. The article written this week is a natural continuation of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and to the blood libels in which Jews were accused of adding the blood of Christian children to Passover matzos."
View this story in the Philadelphia Bulletin
View this story at Israel Behind the News
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The Philadelphia Bulletin: Israel's Security Cabinet Expresses Doubts about Peace
by David Bedein
Begin May Be Man to Watch in New Group
Benjamin Begin, son of late Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, could be the man to watch in Israel’s newly formed security cabinet.
Although he lacks a political portfolio, his importance surpasses other members of the cabinet, which also includes: Defense Minister Ehud Barak, a former Israel prime minister; Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman; Strategic Affairs Minister Bugi Yaalon; and Intelligence Affairs Minister Dan Meridor.
Mr. Begin has a history of opposing, giving concessions to the Palestinians. He resigned from the previous Netanyahu government in January 1997 after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu relinquished Israeli control over Hebron.
He left Likud following the conclusion of the Wye River Memorandums in October 1998, which called for the redeployment of Israeli forces. This effectively ended Mr. Netanyahu’s last government. Mr. Begin also opposed what he saw as former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s corruption and disloyalty from early on.
During a Knesset discussion last Wednesday on Jerusalem Day, Mr. Begin quoted extensively from remarks made by Abbas Zaki, a Palestinian Authority leader, on May 7.
In those comments, Mr. Zaki said: “The Jews view Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) as their historic dream. After they evacuate those lands, they will get out of Jerusalem. If the Jews leave those places, the Zionist idea will begin to collapse. Then they will move forward.”
Mr. Begin used these comments to remind the Israeli public of the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s (PLO) plan of destroying Israel through diplomatic, as well as military means, over the course of several phases.
The other members of the security cabinet share Mr. Begin’s skepticism about the Palestinians.
Mr. Barak has long since lost faith in negotiations with the Palestinians. Mr. Lieberman opposes any form of withdrawal and has often said that the negotiations with the Palestinians have no chance of moving forward.
Mr. Yaalon, who served as the Israeli army chief of staff from 2001-2005, is probably the most severe in his position toward the Palestinians. He has written a recent book, not yet translated into English, where he openly states he does not believe in any peace plan. He writes that peace likely might only be possible three or four generations from now.
The strategic affairs minister believes that the process has to begin from the bottom, step by step, but only on the economic and municipal level, nothing on the national level.
In his book, Mr. Yaalon writes the Palestinian Authority must pass an unlimited number of tests before any progress can be made. They include altering Palestinian school curriculums calling for Israel’s destruction and its existence as a Jewish state.
Mr. Meridor, who was actively involved in the failed negotiations with the Palestinians at Camp David under the aegis of former President Bill Clinton in the summer of 2000, has often expressed how surprised he was with the seriousness of the Palestinian demand for the “right of return” to Arab villages that were lost in 1948, which have since been replaced by Israeli towns, collective farms and woodlands.
View this story in the Philadelphia Bulletin
View this story at Israel Behind the News
Begin May Be Man to Watch in New Group
Benjamin Begin, son of late Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, could be the man to watch in Israel’s newly formed security cabinet.
Although he lacks a political portfolio, his importance surpasses other members of the cabinet, which also includes: Defense Minister Ehud Barak, a former Israel prime minister; Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman; Strategic Affairs Minister Bugi Yaalon; and Intelligence Affairs Minister Dan Meridor.
Mr. Begin has a history of opposing, giving concessions to the Palestinians. He resigned from the previous Netanyahu government in January 1997 after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu relinquished Israeli control over Hebron.
He left Likud following the conclusion of the Wye River Memorandums in October 1998, which called for the redeployment of Israeli forces. This effectively ended Mr. Netanyahu’s last government. Mr. Begin also opposed what he saw as former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s corruption and disloyalty from early on.
During a Knesset discussion last Wednesday on Jerusalem Day, Mr. Begin quoted extensively from remarks made by Abbas Zaki, a Palestinian Authority leader, on May 7.
In those comments, Mr. Zaki said: “The Jews view Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) as their historic dream. After they evacuate those lands, they will get out of Jerusalem. If the Jews leave those places, the Zionist idea will begin to collapse. Then they will move forward.”
Mr. Begin used these comments to remind the Israeli public of the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s (PLO) plan of destroying Israel through diplomatic, as well as military means, over the course of several phases.
The other members of the security cabinet share Mr. Begin’s skepticism about the Palestinians.
Mr. Barak has long since lost faith in negotiations with the Palestinians. Mr. Lieberman opposes any form of withdrawal and has often said that the negotiations with the Palestinians have no chance of moving forward.
Mr. Yaalon, who served as the Israeli army chief of staff from 2001-2005, is probably the most severe in his position toward the Palestinians. He has written a recent book, not yet translated into English, where he openly states he does not believe in any peace plan. He writes that peace likely might only be possible three or four generations from now.
The strategic affairs minister believes that the process has to begin from the bottom, step by step, but only on the economic and municipal level, nothing on the national level.
In his book, Mr. Yaalon writes the Palestinian Authority must pass an unlimited number of tests before any progress can be made. They include altering Palestinian school curriculums calling for Israel’s destruction and its existence as a Jewish state.
Mr. Meridor, who was actively involved in the failed negotiations with the Palestinians at Camp David under the aegis of former President Bill Clinton in the summer of 2000, has often expressed how surprised he was with the seriousness of the Palestinian demand for the “right of return” to Arab villages that were lost in 1948, which have since been replaced by Israeli towns, collective farms and woodlands.
View this story in the Philadelphia Bulletin
View this story at Israel Behind the News
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
