SWI NEWS: Monday, October 18 2010 10 Heshvan,5771
Monday, October 18th, 2010
Abbas weighs opening West Bank to Hamas fighting and intelligence units
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report October 18, 2010, 10:01 AM (GMT+02:00)
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is seriously weighing a secret plan for bringing a fresh influx of Hamas fighting and intelligence forces into the West Bank at points opposite Israel. At the same time, he tells the world that the only impediment to Middle East peace is Israel's refusal to halt Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
debkafile's military and intelligence sources report that this secret plan is at the top of the agenda of the second round of reconciliation talks between Abbas' Fatah and Hamas representatives opening in Damascus Wednesday, Oct. 20. The plan would be a trade-off: Fatah fighting and intelligence units would also regain a foothold in the Gaza Strip for the first time since they were thrown out in Hamas' 2007 putsch.
Our sources report that this swap would be part of a plan dubbed "Reform of Palestinian Security and Intelligence Services." It is the touchiest point in the negotiations led by Fatah's Ahmad al-Azzam and Hamas' political bureau chief Mussa Abu Marzuk which the rival factions have embarked on to bury the hatchet and cut a power-sharing deal.
The two parties see the plan as giving each of the two parties reciprocal guarantees sheathed in steel for the other to stand by any accord reached in the talks.
It would go forward in three incremental steps:
1. An exchange of territory. The internal security bodies of the two Palestinian organizations would take up position in predefined areas - Hamas on the West Bank and Fatah in the Gaza Strip. Each will take charge of security in those patches - while also guaranteeing the good faith of its opposite number.
2. If this stage goes through without hitches, Fatah and Hamas will then swap fighting forces in their respective territories.
debkafile's military sources report that this stage would bring six American-trained Palestinian Authority special forces over to the Gaza Strip and a corresponding number of Hamas Ezz-e Din Al-Qassam units trained by Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hizballah into the West Bank.
3. Mahmoud Abbas will undertake to persuade the Obama administration to coerce Israel into accepting the deal for the sake of resolving the Palestinian internal feud and reuniting the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
According to our sources, Hamas representatives, who put the plan to American and European parties in informal contacts, gained the impression that Washington might be brought around to buying it and even lean on the Netanyahu government to accept this formula in return for quiet Palestinian forbearance in the face of limited Israeli construction for the settlements and Jerusalem.
However, our political sources report that when word of this evolving scenario reached Jerusalem, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak hit the ceiling. They sent word to Washington that if it went through, Israel would take four steps:
First, break off the two-year old US-sponsored military cooperation with the Palestinian Authority in the war on terror;
Second, redeploy Israeli forces in all the West Bank areas and towns evacuated over that period;
Third, restore the dozens of counter-terror roadblocks and checkpoints removed from West Bank roads as a concession to meet demands for easing Palestinian movement;
Fourth, Israel would use force to keep Hamas armed units and security elements out of the West Bank - even if they were routed through Jordan.
Awareness of the Palestinian leader's double dealings with Hamas and their scheme for deploying Iran-backed fighting extremists to the West Bank has prompted Netanyahu's frequent assertions of late that any accommodation with the Palestinians must include a guarantee that the West Bank will never become a missile launching-pad against Israel.
All the same, before they left for Damascus, Abbas instructed his representatives to continue discussing the euphemistic "Reform of Palestinian Security and Intelligence Services" with Hamas.
Abbas may invite Hamas special forces to West Bank
Despite ongoing pressure by the Arab League and the Palestinian Authority on OECD member states to boycott the organization’s tourism summit scheduled to take place this week in Jerusalem, a majority of participant countries have elected to attend. According to the ministry of tourism, as of Monday, 26 out of 33 member states have confirmed they will be sending a delegation to the summit, which begins Wednesday.
On Monday, Mohammed Sobeih, deputy secretary general for Palestinian affairs in the Cairo-based Arab League, told reporters that the league sent letters to foreign ministers, especially from Europe, urging a boycott of the conference because it was being held in Jerusalem.
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"The Arab League views with extreme concern the holding of the OECD tourism conference in Jerusalem," said Sobieh. "Israel takes advantage of such events to try to convince public opinion there has been a favorable response to its ideas that are hostile to peace and to its practices which pose a real obstacle to peace."
“Israeli control over Jerusalem is illegal and the Security Council has been clear on calling all member states not to recognize Israeli claims over the Holy City. By hosting the OECD conference in Jerusalem, Israel seeks de facto recognition of its illegal annexation of East Jerusalem, and by not attending, countries have sent Israel a clear message that it is not a state above the law,” said Chief Palestinian Negotiator, Dr. Saeb Erakat. “The OECD is a widely respected organization. Its member states are considered role models for the international community. Israel’s actions in the occupied Palestinian territory, included East Jerusalem, completely contradict the values of the organization. Holding this conference in Jerusalem creates the perception that the OECD is complicit with Israel’s provocative and unlawful actions in this occupied city.”
Erakat called on those states that have indicated that they will participate in the conference, despite Israeli polices and statements, “to cancel their participation and to publicly repudiate illegal Israeli actions, including, the unilateral annexation of occupied East Jerusalem”.
Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov told reporters that he knew of no countries that were boycotting the conference, aside from Turkey, with which Israel has had shaky diplomatic relations with since the flotilla incident earlier this summer. Misezhnikov said that he saw tourism as a bridge to peace and that it was an issue people could come together on despite their political differences.
Misezhikov denied that it was him who put member countries’ attendance at the summit in a political light, claiming that media reports that reported that he had equated participation in the Jerusalem summit to recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital were incorrect.
“I said that the existence of this summit, which will be held for the second time in history outside of Paris, shows appreciation for Israel as a economic and tourism powerhouse. I also said that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, which is a fact. However I never said that other state’s participation in the summit meant they recognized Jerusalem as the capital,” said Misezhnikov. “I am trying to keep this event on a professional level and don’t want political views to interfere.”
Misezhnikov also denied that the conference was scheduled to include tours in East Jerusalem as had been reported earlier.
Misezhnikov said that his ministry had wanted to invite the Palestinian minister of tourism to attend the summit, but that they were forbidden from doing so because the PA is not a member state or a formal observer state in the OECD.
The minister said that the Palestinian Authority could only benefit from strengthening tourism related cooperation with Israel since any growth in tourism to Israel, meant growth for the PA too. The ministry’s efforts at marketing Israel as the Holy Land, brings pilgrims and tourists to holy sites in the PA as well as to the sites in Israel.
“I see it as a win-win scenario in terms of tourism and economics. As long as we are growing in numbers, they are growing too,” said Misezhnikov.
He said that Israel was one of the 10 most developing countries in terms of tourism growth and that summit would be an opportunity to both learn from other countries and share the experience gained in Israel.
The summit, which will be held in the Jerusalem’s Binyanai Haumah convention center , Oct 20-22, will deal with “green growth”, as derived from the OECD program to develop and promote a green policy as a means to economic growth. The conference will discuss the tourism aspects of the program and the ways in which tourism can contribute both in developing the green tourism product, the ecological effects on tourism, identifying green business opportunities and more.
The member states that have yet to confirm their attendance at the summit are: Belgium, Ireland, Iceland, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
Participating states that are not members include India and Estonia.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu directed Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman Monday night to prepare a bill obliging all people seeking Israeli citizenship, including Jewish immigrants coming into Israel under the Law of Return, to pledge allegiance to Israel as a "Jewish, democratic state."
The move comes just a week after the public storm over the cabinet's approval of an oath of allegiance that would be recited only by those not eligible to enter the country under the Law of Return, meaning essentially Palestinians seeking naturalization because they are married to Israeli Arabs, or foreign workers.
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This decision had sparked angry reaction both inside Israel and abroad, even among Jewish groups overseas, that it was discriminatory against non-Jews.
The Anti-Defamation League's national director Abe Foxman, who met Netanyahu Monday, said he raised with the Prime Minister the concern that this and other declared Israeli policies, on conversion and foreign workers¹ children, were being used by critics to label Israel a "racist state."
According to Foxman, Netanyahu said he was concerned about this and would look for a way to repair that perception.
Netanyahu’s new proposed change prompted further criticism from some MKs on Monday.
"This is a delusional decision, as the previous one was," MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) said in a statement Monday night. "If there are Arabs who are not loyal to the State of Israel and wish to act against it, a declaration will change nothing."
"For Jews, for whom the Law of Return was passed, the declaration has no meaning either, and the gentiles who immigrate by the power of the Law of Return do not understand the wording of the declaration, and come to the country for totally different reasons."
'Instead of the prime minister taking care of the citizens' real problems, like the housing crisis, he is dealing with nonsense. Besides the disagreement over such a proposal, it will benefit neither the state nor its citizens. I will adamantly object this proposal, and I hope it won't have a majority in the Knesset," Gafni said.
Ra'am-Ta'al MK Ahmed Tibi responded to Netanyahu's decision by saying that the bill was still wrong.
"Netanyahu and (Foreign Minister Avbigdor)Lieberman are competing in their fascism," Tibi said. "Forcing Arabs and Jews to identify ethically and ideologically with the the state is completely unnecessary."
Kadima MK Shlomo Molla, who emmigrated from Ethiopia, accused Netanyahu of zigzagging and harming rights of immigrants to the country that he said were guaranteed by the declaration of independence.
"The prime minister should start acting like a leader and stop dragging after the demagoguery of Lieberman," Molla said.
The Prime Minister's Office denied that Monday night's decision to oblige all immigrants to take the oath had anything to do with the public outcry that followed the cabinet decision, saying that Netanyahu had supported in principle a proposal first raised by Neman at that cabinet meeting that all immigrants take the oath.
After this was opposed by Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein, Netanyahu asked Neeman to look into the matter further. Monday night's decision, according to the Prime Minister's office, came following Neeman's further examination of the matter.
In the original cabinet decision it was written that the Justice Minister would prepare a proposal to have the oath of allegiance be obligatory on all potential immigrants asking for citizenship. It is that proposal that Netanyahu now wants Neeman to bring to the interministerial committee on legislation, and then to the Knesset.
If a cabinet minister opposes this change, the bill is likely to come back to the cabinet for further discussion.
Oscar Fernandez Taranco, assistant UN secretary general for political affairs on Monday criticized Israel by highlighting international opposition to Israel's refusal to extend the West Bank settlement moratorium.
Israel's decision to allow construction of 238 new housing units violated international law, said Taranco.
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Taranco told the UN Security Council that "We have a brief and crucial window to overcome the current impasse."
"The UN secretary general continues to believe that, if the door to peace closes, it will be very hard to reopen," Tranaco continued.
"Intensive diplomatic efforts led by the United States and supported by all members of the Quartet are ongoing to create conditions conducive to the continuation of negotiations," he said.
Tranco also highlighted that "The Quartet envoys have been in regular contact and principals are discussing a proposal to meet soon to review developments."
"There is no alternative to a negotiated settlement resulting in the creation of an independent and viable State of Palestine living side-by-side with the State of Israel in peace and security," he added.
The Quartet -- the United States, Russia, European Union and United Nations -- has been leading diplomatic efforts to reach a Middle East peace agreement.
Lebanese leaders made sure the Ahmadinejad-Hizballah show was a flop
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report October 18, 2010, 11:18 PM (GMT+02:00)
Despite Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's efforts to ham up his groundbreaking visit to Lebanon last week, debkafile's military sources quote Western and Arab observers as summing it up as a dud and a shambles. Lebanese leaders clamped down on his performance in the South on Thursday, Oct. 10, and spoiled his plan for a grand display of hostile power opposite Israel.
That day, after receiving a University of Beirut honorary doctorate, the visitor was tackled over lunch by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and chief of staff Gen. Jean Qahwaji who demanded that he rearrange his South Lebanon itinerary.
The original plan was for Ahmadinejad, with Hizballah chief Hassan Nasrallah beside him, to drive down the coast to the south past cheering and waving crowds. The Hizballah leader was to be the co-star of the event and their cavalcade's security escort entrusted to armed Hizballah men and Iranian Revolutionary Guards instead of Lebanese military soldiers.
In the event, Suleiman and Gen. Qahwaji insisted on cutting Hizballah out of any security tasks and the national army be exclusively responsible for his safety throughout the visit.
This decision set off furious arguments, with Nasrallah threatening to torpedo the entire event if he was not permitted to accompany Ahmadinejad on his tour of the Lebanese-Israel border.
According to debkafile's sources, the visitor finally bowed to his hosts' demand. As a result, Ahmadiinejad's trip South started late Thursday afternoon and had to be rushed through the two hours remaining before nightfall. The triumphal coastal drive was called off and the Iranian president carried to Bin Jbeil in S. Lebanon, some two kilometers from the Israeli border, by a Lebanese army helicopter. The troops refused to let Nasrallah climb aboard the chopper and he was left behind.
So furious was the Hizballah chief at being thrown of the helicopter and left out of the high point of his boss's visit that he ordered his top commanders to boycott the ceremonial welcome for Ahmadinejad at Bin Jbeil. They were therefore conspicuous by their absence. By the time the speech was over, the light was fading and the Lebanese officers accompanying Ahmadinejad told him that the helicopter flight in the dark to his next stop at Maroun a-Ras, right on the border, was too risky to undertake so late.
Ahmadinejad had to give up his ultimate provocation of reviewing the battlefields of the 2006 Israel-Hizballah war within the sight of Israel and standing alongside the golden replica of Al Aqsa in Jerusalem which Hizballah had constructed in his honor.
In this way, the Lebanese president and chief of staff managed to keep the Iranian president away from the border with Israel and staging the confrontational poses to which his visit had been building up.
At the time, the delay in Ahmadinejad's arrival in the South was explained as caused by his effort to persuade Prime Minister Saad Hariri to dismantle the UN tribunal and so avoid having Hizballah officials indicted for complicity in the murder of his father Rafiq Hariri five years ago.
The subject never arose between them, our sources report. The Lebanese prime minister was already packing ready to fly to Riyadh and report to King Abdullah on the Ahmadinejad visit which the Saudis deeply resented.
The following Sunday, Oct. 17, debkafile's Middle East sources disclose that Jeffrey Feltman, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, arrived in Beirut for a brief stop. He had been instructed to assess the damage Ahmadinejad's visit had wrought to US interests in the country and report back to President Barack Obama.
The American official was informed that the Iranian president had opted for giving his visit a Lebanese national character rather than reflecting Hizballah factional interests. The report he brought back to Washington was therefore favorable. Neither Ahmadinejad nor Nasrallah had obtained any of their objectives from the event.
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman put his foot down
Canada Punished in UN for Backing Israel
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The United Nations has humiliated Canada and rejected its bid for a seat as a non-permanent member on the Security Council, apparently because of Outlaw’s pro-Israel stand, according to Canadian media.
Newspapers in Canada called the rejection a “humiliating” defeat for Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, considered one of Israel’s staunchest supporters. The blow to Canada, which has been a non-permanent Council member until now, reflects the growing dominance of Muslim countries in the international body. Canada found itself in last place before the last round of General Assembly voting on the membership. Rather than face obvious defeat, Ottawa pulled out of the running.
The non-permanent members, beginning January 1, will include Lebanon, a declared enemy of Israel, Brazil, which is aligned with Iran, and South Africa, where anti-Israel groups flourish. Other members will be Gabon, Bosnia, Nigeria, India, Colombia, Germany and Portugal.
Writing in the Toronto Sun, Peter Worthington commented as follows:
“The United Nations has long been out of control as a dispassionate, objective, credible institution for peace, human rights and justice, so it’s a wonder decent countries still pay attention to it…“Surely, it makes no sense to put Germany and Portugal on the Security Council — making four European countries represented. Besides, Portugal is a near-economic basket case, threatened with bankruptcy.
“The truth is, Canada’s vigorous, unqualified support for Israel under Harper worked against us at the UN, which regularly condemns Israel for policies it ignores in other countries… While the UN regularly votes in favor of human rights, roughly half of the 192 member states abuse human rights in some form in their own countries.
“As Groucho Marx said in a different context, he wouldn’t want to belong to a club that accepted him. Canada could say the same of the Security Council.”
The Vancouver Sun noted a week before the voting that International Trade Minister Peter Van Loan’s announcement that Canada would try to strengthen trade ties with Israel might affect the outcome of the United Nations vote, and the analysis apparently was correct.
Van Loan declared that Canada’s ties to Israel were “very deep” and that the friendship between the two countries is “important.”
(IsraelNationalNews.com
