Israel "to build security barrier between West Bank and Jordan"
Monday, November 4, 2013 at 11:11PM http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/
/middleeast/israel/10423638/Israel-to-build-security-barrier-between-West-Bank-and-Jordan.html
by Robert Tait 3 November 2013 Daily Telegraph
A new security fence would consolidate Israel's determination to remain in the Jordan Valley after a peace deal.
Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to build a security barrier between the West Bank and Jordan in a move aimed at asserting Israel's control over the borders of a future Palestinian state.
The fence would extend from the Dead Sea to near the southern Israeli city of Eilat and would reinforce Israel's determination to maintain a presence in the strategic Jordan Valley, despite fierce Palestinian opposition.
The Israeli newspaper, Maariv, reported that Mr Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, had ordered work to begin as soon as another fence currently being built on the country's southern border with Egypt's Sinai Peninsula is completed.
An Israeli official confirmed to The Telegraph that the barrier was under consideration but said that a final decision had yet to be taken.
Addressing Sunday's cabinet meeting, Mr Netanyahu said a continued military presence in the Jordan Valley was "first and foremost" among Israel's security needs "in case the peace frays".
"These security arrangements are important to us. We will insist upon them," he said. "First and foremost, the security border of the State of Israel will remain along the Jordan River."
The proposal provoked an angry response from the Palestinians, who portrayed it as an attempt to undermine John Kerry, the US secretary of state, who is due to visit Israel and the West Bank on Tuesday to bolster stuttering peace talks between the two sides.
"The Israeli premier's statements on building a wall in the Jordan Valley is only a proactive step to foil Secretary Kerry's visit," Nabil Abu Radeineh, a spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, told the Wafa news agency.
In another development certain to trigger Palestinian outrage, Israel issued tenders for 1,859 settlers' homes in East Jerusalem and the West Bank on Sunday, according to Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement group.
The move came after Israel last week approved 5,000 new settlers homes as well as a national park in East Jerusalem in what was depicted as an effort to stave off Right-wing criticism of the release of 26 Palestinian prisoners, freed last Tuesday as part of an agreement concluded last July to re-start long-stalled negotiations.
One Palestinian official said the latest settlement announcement could provoke a Palestinian complaint to the UN Security Council, a decision that would almost certainly scupper the current talks.
"The PLO [Palestine Liberation Organisation} is considering a mechanism to go the Security Council and the UN against these new Israeli decisions, especially as there are international resolutions that consider settlements illegal," Wassel Abu Youssef, a senior PLO member ,told AFP.
Speaking in Cairo, Mr Kerry acknowledged that settlement-building threatened the talks' prospects.
"These security arrangements are important to us. We will insist upon them," he said. "First and foremost, the security border of the State of Israel will remain along the Jordan River."
The proposal provoked an angry response from the Palestinians, who portrayed it as an attempt to undermine John Kerry, the US secretary of state, who is due to visit Israel and the West Bank on Tuesday to bolster stuttering peace talks between the two sides.
"The Israeli premier's statements on building a wall in the Jordan Valley is only a proactive step to foil Secretary Kerry's visit," Nabil Abu Radeineh, a spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, told the Wafa news agency.
In another development certain to trigger Palestinian outrage, Israel issued tenders for 1,859 settlers' homes in East Jerusalem and the West Bank on Sunday, according to Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement group.
The move came after Israel last week approved 5,000 new settlers homes as well as a national park in East Jerusalem in what was depicted as an effort to stave off Right-wing criticism of the release of 26 Palestinian prisoners, freed last Tuesday as part of an agreement concluded last July to re-start long-stalled negotiations.
One Palestinian official said the latest settlement announcement could provoke a Palestinian complaint to the UN Security Council, a decision that would almost certainly scupper the current talks.
"The PLO [Palestine Liberation Organisation} is considering a mechanism to go the Security Council and the UN against these new Israeli decisions, especially as there are international resolutions that consider settlements illegal," Wassel Abu Youssef, a senior PLO member ,told AFP.
Speaking in Cairo, Mr Kerry acknowledged that settlement-building threatened the talks' prospects.
"I remain hopeful, and we will make every effort in the United States to move the process forward in a fair-handed way, a balanced way that reflects the complexity of these issues," he said. "There is no doubt... that the settlements have disturbed people's perceptions of whether or not people are serious and are moving in the right direction."
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Israel announces 1,500 settler homes in East Jerusalem
By Robert Tait 30 October 2013 Daily Telegraph
Immediately after releasing 26 Palestinian prisoners, Israel announced it will expand more settlements in occupied East Jerusalem, in a move condemned by Palestinians as endangering peace talks.
Israel on Wednesday announced new construction in east Jerusalem - an area the Palestinians demand for their future state - just hours after it freed a group of Palestinian prisoners as part of a deal to set peace talks in motion.
Israel on Wednesday announced new construction in east Jerusalem - an area the Palestinians demand for their future state - just hours after it freed a group of Palestinian prisoners as part of a deal to set peace talks in motion.
Israel announced plans for 1,500 new settlers' homes in annexed East Jerusalem on Wednesday immediately after releasing 26 Palestinian prisoners as part of a US-brokered agreement for revived peace talks.
The new houses will be built in Ramat Shlomo, a settlement mainly occupied by ultra-orthodox Jews, the Israeli interior ministry said. The go-ahead has also been given for a proposed national park near Hebrew University's campus on Mount Scopus, in a move opponents say would block the expansion of two nearby Palestinian neighbourhoods.
The announcements were apparently calculated to blunt Right-wing criticism of the latest batch of pre-arranged prisoners releases but drew an angry reaction from Palestinians, who see the expansion of Israeli settlements as an obstacle to their hopes of statehood. "This policy is destructive for the peace process," said Nabil Abu Rdeineh, a spokesman for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president.
Hazem Shobair is welcomed home by people in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip (Reuters)
Music and fireworks greeted 21 of the freed inmates as they were paraded before a cheering crowd in the West Bank city of Ramallah alongside Mr Abbas in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Five other freed prisoners were taken to Gaza, where they were met by hundreds of joyous relatives and well-wishers.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, agreed to free 104 long-term convicts - most of them jailed for the murder of Israelis before the 1993 Oslo peace accords - as part of a deal for resuming long-stalled peace talks, despite fierce opposition from victims' groups and Right-wing members of his coalition.
Palestinian prisoner Najeh Meqbel (R) is welcomed by his mother and family members after his release (EPA)
The release of first batch of prisoners in August was preceded by an announcement of around 1,000 homes in another East Jerusalem, provoking Palestinian accusations that Israel was trying to sabotage the talks.
Danny Danon, Israel's Right-wing deputy defence minister, criticised the nine-month timeline drawn up for the negotiations by John Kerry, the US secretary of state.
"If I could speak to President Obama today, I would say let's change the calendar," Mr Danon told journalists in Jerusalem. "In May 2014.... he wants to finish the negotiations with the Palestinians, but to finish the conflict with the Palestinians by May 2014 is wishful thinking,. I would say, let's finish with the threat coming from Iran by May 2014, and then go to the negotiation table.with the Palestinians."
The prisoner release was part of an agreement brokered by US Secretary of State John Kerry, which brought Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table after a five-year hiatus. The talks had been paralysed since 2008.
Earlier this year, Mr Kerry managed to persuade Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to drop the settlement issue as a condition for restarting negotiations. In exchange, Israel agreed to the prisoner release. In all, 104 Palestinian convicts are to be released in four rounds over the coming months.
Wednesday's east Jerusalem construction move angered the Palestinians but it was not immediately clear if it would directly impact the talks, which are taking place behind closed doors and away from the public eye as both sides had agreed to.
"We are worried and concerned that if Israel continues with the expansion of settlements, this might kill the two states vision which we would like to see on this land," said Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah.
Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the move, saying it was "destructive to the peace efforts and will only lead to more tensions."
Thousands of Palestinians have been held in Israeli prisons since Israel's capture of the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, many jailed on charges ranging from throwing rocks to killing civilians in bombings, shootings and other attacks. The Palestinians want those territories for their future state. The prisoners released in the latest batch were all held by Israel for murder.
Israel has a long history of lopsided prisoner exchanges with its Arab adversaries. But this week's release appeared especially charged because Israel is receiving little in return except for the opportunity to conduct negotiations that few people believe will be successful.
Danny Danon, a hawkish minister from Netanyahu's Likud party condemned the release in an interview with Israel Radio. "It is tough to see terrorists celebrate when their place is either under the ground or in jail," Danon said, adding that the release sends the wrong message to young Palestinians. He stressed that his party was committed to building in Jerusalem.
Yossi Beilin, a dovish former Israeli peace negotiator, questioned the wisdom of releasing "despicable" killers while building in east Jerusalem during talks with the Palestinians.
He told Israel Radio he thinks it would have been better if construction had been frozen in order to restart talks with the Palestinians and prisoner release put off until a final peace agreement.
Also, critics such as dovish members of Mr Netanyahu's coalition said he could have avoided the release if he had accepted Palestinian calls either to stop construction in West Bank settlements or base negotiations over the borders of a future Palestinian state on Israel's pre-1967 lines.
In the West Bank and Gaza, thousands celebrated long into the night as they welcomed the released prisoners. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas greeted them at a ceremony in Ramallah. "There will be no final agreement without the release of all the prisoners," Abbas told the raucous crowd.
The fate of the prisoners is a deeply emotional issue in Palestinian society. After decades of fighting Israel, many families have had a member imprisoned and the release of prisoners has been a long-standing demand. Israelis mostly view them as terrorists because of the Palestinians grisly attacks on Israelis including civilians.
But the prisoner issue is extremely painful for Israelis whose loved ones were killed in attacks. Relatives of those killed had appealed against their release and held protests.
Among those freed on Wednesday were prisoners jailed for the killings of Israelis, including a reservist and a Nazi death camp survivor, according to a list provided by Israel's prison service. Many of the killings occurred before the beginning of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in 1993.
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see also:
Israel to build 43-mile security fence in Golan Heights
Israel is to build a 43-mile security fence along the armistice line of the occupied Golan Heights to prevent incursions by Islamist militants currently fighting against President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced the move four days after another barrier, aimed at keeping out illegal migrants from Africa, was completed along Israel's frontier with Egypt.
"We intend to stretch an identical fence, with some necessary changes due to the different conditions, along the Golan Heights," he told the weekly Israeli cabinet meeting.
"We know that on the other side of our border with Syria today, the Syrian army has backed off, and global jihad operatives have taken its place," Mr Netanyahu said.
"We must therefore protect this border from infiltrations and terror, as we have successfully been doing along the Sinai border."
Calling Mr Assad's regime "very unstable", he reiterated Israeli fears over Syria's chemical weapons arsenal falling into the hands of Islamist groups.
"The question of chemical weapons here worries us and we are coordinating our intelligence and readiness with the US and others so that we might be prepared for any scenario and possibility that could arise," he said.
Last month, Mr Netanyahu said Israel was making preparations for the collapse of Mr Assad's regime, which he predicted was imminent.
Building a barrier in the Golan Heights would consolidate Israel's hold on territory it seized from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War and annexed in 1981 in a move that has never been internationally recognised.
Successive rounds of negotiations over a possible peace deal that would lead to Israeli withdrawal have led nowhere. In 2009, Mr Netanyahu said returning the territory, which contains several Arab towns as well as Israeli settlements, would turn it into "Iran's front lines which will threaten the whole state of Israel".
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