Israeli gov't showing cracks over settlements

Pressure from US President Barack Obama to destroy small Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria may be sowing the seeds of discontent in Israel’s tenuous national unity government.

Over the weekend, Defense Minister Ehud Barak repeated his intention to remove so-called “illegal” Jewish outposts across those disputed territories.

Voice of Israel Radio reported on Sunday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said behind closed doors that he “backs Barak” in that endeavor.

According to Likud Party sources cited in the report, Netanyahu caved to pressure to remove the outposts when he met with Obama last week, and promised to begin doing so upon his return to Israel. Indeed, less than a day after Netanyahu’s return late last week, a small Jewish community in Samaria consisting of five houses and a synagogue was forcibly uprooted.

On Saturday evening, one of Netanyahu’s strongest supporters in Likud, Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon, fearful that the outpost evacuations could lead to the destruction of more established communities, let it be known on national television that he strongly opposed giving in to American pressure regarding where Jews are allowed or not allowed to build homes.

In an interview with Israel’s Channel 2 News, Yaalon insisted that Israel will not allow the US to dictate its policies, and was adamant that “settlement construction will not be halted.”

To those in the US government who are concerned that approach will preclude peace, Yaalon noted, “Settlements are not the reason that the peace process is failing, they were never an obstacle, not at any stage. Even when Israel pulled out of [Palestinian] territory, the terror continued. Even when we uprooted [Jewish] communities, we got 'Hamastan.'”

A day later, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman set himself up against idea of full surrender for “peace” by declaring before the weekly cabinet meeting that Israel will never return to its pre-1967 borders.

“A return to the borders of '67 today, as we are being pressured to do, would not end the conflict, would not guarantee peace or security," Lieberman said. "It would simply move the conflict to within the '67 borders.”

It is not know what Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Netanyahu behind closed doors, but in front of reporters both demanded that the Israeli leader halt all Jewish “settlement activity” so they could move ahead with their regional peace initiative.

Arabs pour cold water on Obama's peace drive

The Arab League on Saturday threw cold water on US President Barack Obama’s yet-to-be-announced regional peace initiative when its chairman noted Israel was never promised full peace in return for the surrender of Judea, Samaria, the Golan Heights and the eastern half of Jerusalem.

Speaking to reporters in Damascus, Arab League head Amr Mussa said that the “57-state solution” that is being so touted by the media ahead of Obama’s visit to the region “is not on the table” as far as the nations he represents are concerned.

Obama has been trying to make a pan-Arab peace proposal first put forward by Saudi Arabia in 2002 more palatable to Israelis by offering the Jewish state firm promises of peace, security and normalized relations.

But such statements by Mussa and other Arab leaders have left many Israelis with the feeling that it is all a ruse, and that even if they comply with all Arab demands, the conflict will rage on.

Senators urge Obama to see Israel’s point of view

Seventy-six out of 100 US senators this week signed a letter urging President Barack Obama to carefully weigh the risks to Israel’s security before pushing his new Middle East peace initiative.

The letter was sent to the president one day after his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during which Obama pressed his guest to grasp hold of the “historic opportunity” to make peace by surrendering his people’s ancient lands.

In their letter, the senators appeared to side with Netanyahu’s view that Israel cannot even consider a Palestinian state until the Palestinians honor their commitments to halt all terrorism against the Jewish state.

“We must also continue to insist on the absolute Palestinian commitment to ending terrorist violence,” they wrote. “The more capable and responsible Palestinian forces become, the more they demonstrate the ability to govern and to maintain security, the easier it will be for them to reach an accord with Israel.”

According to reports in the US media, Obama is determined to push forward with the creation of a Palestinian Arab state at the earliest possible date, and will try to mitigate the risk to Israel by calling for that Palestinian state to be demilitarized.

There was no mention of what the consequences would be if and when the Palestinians rejected or violated that condition.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hosted Netanyahu in Washington on Tuesday, and reiterated what Obama had told the Israeli leader a day earlier: the new US government is determined to succeed where its predecessors failed in playing midwife to “Palestine.”

Clinton demanded that Netanyahu halt all construction of Jewish home in Judea and Samaria, since, as she put it, “the Palestinians deserve a viable state,” and new Israeli construction on those biblical lands would make that impossible.

She also made the obligatory call for Palestinian terror groups to stop attacking Israelis.

Palestinians: Obama to give us Jerusalem!

Palestinian officials cited by Ynet on Wednesday said that US President Barack Obama intends to formally bequeath them the eastern half of Jerusalem when he unveils his new Middle East peace initiative in Cairo next month.

The Palestinian Authority officials said that Obama will go further than presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton in that he will prejudge the outcome of negotiations by calling for Israel to fully surrender those areas of Jerusalem that were illegally occupied by Jordan from 1948-1967.

America’s last two presidents refrained from calling for the redivision of Jerusalem, aware of how unpopular that option is with Israelis in general, and acknowledging that the current agreements between Israel and the Palestinians say that the future status of Jerusalem is a matter for bilateral negotiations.

The new Obama plan will also reportedly include a firm timetable for the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state that will not be adversely affected by ongoing Palestinian violence.

Gaza rocket hits southern Israel, 1 wounded

Palestinian terrorists operating out of the Gaza Strip fired a rocket at the southern Israel town of Sderot on Tuesday for the first time in several weeks.

Local residents were shocked to again hear the “Color Red” alert system going off, and immediately scrambled for bomb shelters. And it was a good thing they did, as the rocket landed in the yard of a local home where several residents had been sitting enjoying the cool early evening temperatures just minutes earlier.

One person suffered light shrapnel wounds, and several others were treated for anxiety.

Hours later, Israeli forces responded by attacking terrorist targets in southern Gaza, including arms smuggling tunnels running under the Gaza-Egypt border.

Israel knows better than to strike Iran, says CIA head

CIA Director Leon Panetta on Wednesday said that Israel knows better than to launch a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities without a green light from Washington.

Speaking to Global Viewpoint, Panetta acknowledged his recent trip to Jerusalem to talk down Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and said he is certain the Israeli leader understands that a solo Israeli raid on Iran would mean “big trouble” for his country.

Panetta insisted that Israel cannot militarily take on the Iran nuclear threat alone, though several Israeli military experts have said just the opposite over the past year.

Israeli officials grew increasingly concerned regarding the Iran crisis this week after US President Barack Obama told Netanyahu when the two met at the White House on Monday that he will not place a deadline on diplomatic efforts to halt Iran’s nuclear program.

Most Israelis took that as a signal that the West has resigned itself to living in a world where Iran has nuclear weapons, as Tehran has for years proved itself capable of stringing along negotiations while at the same time advancing its nuclear program.