The Day In Israel: Sunday Mar 21st, 2010

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has caved in to the US.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is leaving for Washington tonight, has promised the Obama administration Israel will make several goodwill gestures toward the Palestinian Authority in response to Washington’s demands.

For the first time since Operation Cast Lead, Israel has agreed to ease the blockade on the Gaza Strip. Moreover, Netanyahu has agreed to discuss all core issues during the proximity talks, with the condition of reaching final conclusions only in direct talks with the PA.

Netanyahu also agreed to discuss the core issues in the dispute – including borders, refugees, Jerusalem, security arrangements, water and settlements – already during indirect talks, although summations would be made in direct talks with the PA president.

Netanyahu responded to Washington’s demands during his telephone call with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday night. Clinton said on Friday that Netanyahu’s response “was useful and productive, and we’re continuing our discussions with him and his government.”

Netanyahu refused to revoke the building project in Ramat Shlomo or freeze construction in East Jerusalem. He also promised a better oversight system to prevent embarrassing incidents such as the one that triggered the crisis with the U.S. during Vice President Joe Biden’s visit.

Senior officials in Jerusalem said that the prime minister’s gestures include relieving the blockade on Gaza and enabling the UN to transport construction materials to rebuild sewerage systems and a large flour mill, and build 150 apartments in Khan Yunis.

Netanyahu also agreed to release hundreds of Fatah-affiliated prisoners as a gesture to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, in keeping with the view of the defense establishment on the effect this will have on the release of Gilad Shalit.

Netanyahu is scheduled to leave for Washington tonight with Defense Minister Ehud Barak to attend the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington. Opposition leader MK Tzipi Livni and Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau will also attend the convention.

Netanyahu is slated to address the convention tomorrow at 7 P.M. (Israel time), then meet Clinton, who is also to speak at the AIPAC gathering. No meeting has been set yet between Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama, but Israeli officials believe such a meeting will take place on Tuesday in the White House, and contacts are progressing in this regard.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

10:48PM: Palestinian terrorists fired yet another Qassam at an Israeli population center,with the rocket landing south of Ashkelon. And it’s no coincidence we are witnessing an escalation in these attacks now.

“When they say that the rocket exploded in an open area, from our standpoint it is a field in which farmers work. Therefore, such attacks should be dealt with just as any direct hit on a house,” council head Yair Farjun said.

“I assume the groups that are firing the rockets are taking advantage of the fact our hands our somewhat tied because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in the US for meetings. It is not my place to give the security establishment advice – it has proven that it knows what to do against the Palestinian organizations,” he said.

That and the fact the world is saying some new buildings being built in a Jewish town is the obstacle to peace, with nary a word about the terrorism directed at Israeli citizens for years.

8:00PM: Wacky Hamas terrorist profile of the day: The Bubba.

5:44PM: Media bias: Here’s how The Guardian chose to cover the story of the two palestinian terrorists killed while trying to stab with pitchforks IDF troops protecting palestinians.

Palestinians shot dead by Israeli troops near Nablus

Two teenagers killed day after boys, 15 and 17, shot in village

Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank today amid a new descent into violence.

The two, who Palestinians claimed were detained while ploughing a field of olive trees near Nablus, were shot several times. Palestinian officials said both were 17. The Israeli military said they had tried to stab a soldier.

5:15PM: It’s a date!

4:55PM: Bye Mauritania, we’ll really miss the…ehh, asylum seekers.

3:50PM: You knew this was coming: Palestinian explanation of pitchfork carrying attackers killed by IDF troops.

According to the Palestinians, the two were holding agricultural equipment used as part of their work when they were shot to death by IDF soldiers.

You can’t blame them for trying. After years of waging war against Israel, rejecting Israeli peace overtures, and perpetrating terror attacks against civilians, the world seems to accept what the palestinians say, and treats Israel as if we are the obstacle to peace. So it’s no wonder they think they can get away with transparent lies – because they get away with it all the time.

1:04PM: You can file this under Palestinian Exploitation of  Humanitarian Gestures.

Israel Defense Forces soldiers on Sunday shot dead two Palestinians who tried to attack them with pitchforks near the West Bank city of Nablus.

According to initial reports, soldiers from the IDF’s Nahshon Brigade were stationed south of the Israeli settlement of Itamar in order to protect Palestinians plowing their land.

The soldiers opened fire after two Palestinians tried to attack them. The soldiers were not harmed.

Pitchforks? I knew they are always threatening to “open the gates of hell”, but isn’t this a bit too obvious?

12:55PM: Photo of the day:

An Indonesian Muslim protester holds a placard during a demonstration against Israel's settlement plans, in central Makassar, South Sulawesi March 21, 2010. Relations between Israel and the United States, its main backer, have been frayed by Israel unveiling plans to build 1,600 housing units near occupied East Jerusalem. The Palestinians, who regard the land as part of their future capital, say they will not go ahead with plans for indirect peace talks unless the housing scheme is scrapped. REUTERS/Yusuf Ahmad

Let’s be very clear about something. There’s no way someone holding a sign with a picture of an armed terrorist and the words “Freedom for Palestine” is just demonstrating against construction plans for a town in territory captured in the 1967 war of self defense. Such people take issue with the entire State of Israel, which they refer to as Palestine, and support its usurpation by an Arab state.

8:55AM: A little racial profiling goes a long way.

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Filed Under: General

Tags: Ashkelon • Barack Obama • Binyamin Netanyahu • El Al • Hamas • Hillary Clinton • Israel • Mahmoud Abbas • Media Bias • Middle East Conflict • Offer Gat • PA • Palestinian • The Day In Israel • The Guardian • Yair Farjun