According to a top US official, Barack Obama is very pleased with the outcome of the Washington summit.

washington summit
AFP

U.S. President Barack Obama is very pleased with the outcome of the Washington summit and plans to play a personal role to move the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians forward, a senior U.S. official told Haaretz over the weekend.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a number of senior Palestinian and other Arab leaders expressed similar optimism.

The senior official said Obama had cleared his entire schedule last Wednesday to devote himself to the summit. “He never invested in any other issue this way,” the official said.

Senior U.S. officials were encouraged by the discussions at the dinner where Obama hosted Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan’s King Abdullah. They said a sincere and open conversation took place on the possibilities for progress in the peace process. The officials said they had the impression the Palestinians left the summit very pleased as well.

Looks like they weren’t paying enough attention.

Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat said Saturday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to apply stall tactics to negotiations, and that all of his suggestions thus far have been rejected by the PA.

Erekat told Jordan’s al-Dustour Newspaper that the Israeli prime minister suggested forming 12 committees dedicated to the various issues of the peace process, but his suggestion was rejected.

The chief Palestinian negotiator said that Netanyahu’s “procrastination” has effectively made the peace talks grind to a halt: “There are decisions to be made, so that first and foremost we create a vision,” he told the newspaper, adding that such action is the only thing that would allow negotiations to start at the point at which they were left off during the Olmert Administration.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

9:38PM: The IDF has released video footage of Friday’s explosion in southern Lebanon on Friday, showing rockets and weapons stored by Hizbullah in contravention of UN resolution 1701.

Following the blast, dozens of people can be seen apparently covering building’s exposed contents with canvas, before removing weapons from the building.

Some of the equipment was removed soon after the blast to two nearby villages, with the remainder transfered under the cover of darkness to a mosque in the Nabatiyeh area north of the Litani, which Israeli intelligence officers say also functions as a “significant” military base, the IDF said.

According to Israeli intelligence officials, who say they were aware of the arms cache before Friday’s explosion, weapons stored at the building included 107mm short-range rockets and longer-range 122mm rockets.

7:50PM: Yet another flash mob, this time at Rishon L’Tzion beach.

Today, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said we need to have creative, novel thinking in order to resolve the complex issues standing in the way of peace.

I hereby suggest we have an Israeli-palestinian flash mob.

5:15PM: Seems odd to me that “orthodox Jewish” men would be at a protest on a Saturday.

orthodox men
An orthodox Jewish man holds a flag during a pro-Palestinian protest march to the U.S. Embassy in London September 4, 2010 REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

I guess such is these nutjobs’ hatred of Israel that they are willing to desecrate the Jewish Sabbath.

5:02PM: I’m still trying to reconcile this:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas  said Sunday that he had warned Israel’s  prime minister that he would quit peace talks unless the Jewish state extended a curb on settlement construction.

Abbas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched negotiations at a summit in Washington last week.

A 10-month freeze on settlement housing ends September 26, and Netanyahu is under pressure from hardline allies to resume construction.

Netanyahu has not said what he will do. He told his cabinet on Sunday that creative solutions are needed to make the talks succeed.

However, Abbas told PLO activists in Libya late Saturday that “if the freeze period is not extended by the end of the month, there will be no negotiations.” Abbas said he made that clear to Netanyahu.

With this:

Netanyahu told his ministers on Sunday, “There is a feeling of maturity in the Arab world to reach peace.”

Still no luck.

4:10PM: I know I am already a few days late with this, but I can’t let it pass.

Last week Time magazine published an article entitled: Why Israel Doesn’t Care About Peace

Real serious journalism here. A provocative title and they’ve spoken with a couple of Tel Aviv condo salesmen. All in the name of demonizing the Jewish state.

Backspin has more.

1:30PM: Another palestinian prisoner has been awarded a degree while in prison.

A Palestinian prisoner held in the Negev prison was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy in Public Administration from the American World University, the Center for Detainees’ Studies announced Sunday.

Abdel Hafez Saadi Gaithan’s doctoral thesis was entitled Strategic Planning in Qabilia, a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank district of Nablus, a statement issued by the center’s director Rafat Hamdouna said.

Hamdouna said prisoners celebrated Gaithan’s success by distributing sweets, biscuits and soft drinks, with many describing his achievement as “a victory over the occupation.”

“[Gaithan’s] Phd was a challenge to break the policy of occupation, which attempts to abuse the captive and isolate him from the world,” the statement read.

Actually, this demonstrates that the policy is actually not “to abuse the captive and isolate him from the world,” but the exact opposite.

From the Ministry of Public Security:

Education activities are part of the daily routine in the prison system. In addition to 25 primary and four high school classes, there us a special program that enables prisoners to take correspondence courses through the Open University. Volunteer make a valuable contribution to the program and, in addition to leading study groups, offer private tutoring.

It is no wonder many palestinian youths deliberately get arrested partly because it is easier to study in Israeli prisons.

10:00AM: Photo of the day:

Hizbullah girl scouts
Hezbollah al-Mahdi girl scouts rappel down from a building as they take part in an event for Jerusalem day, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday Sept. 4, 2010. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

That really is a complicated way to get to the front door to sell cookies.

6:22AM: A couple of days ago, there was a mysterious explosion at a Hizbullah weapons storage facility.

Ok, perhaps not so mysterious.

In any event, the IDF has footage from the explosion’s aftermath.

6:20AM: Overnight, the IAF struck some smuggling tunnels in Gaza in response to the Hamas shooting attacks earlier this week, as well as the firing of a Qassam rocket hours before. One of the tunnels was “designed for the infiltration of terrorists into Israel in order to carry out terror attacks against soldiers and civilians.”

Reports vary regarding palestinian casualties, with AFP reporting one killed while the palestinian Ma’an reports three injured and one missing.

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52 thoughts on “The Day In Israel: Sun Sept 5th, 2010”

    1. Love it, juvanya. I'm not sure Obama is technically old enough to be one of the Expandables, but if he keeps mishandling the economy and the war in Afghanistan, I'll give him honorary status as expendable world statesman.

  1. news you probably missed
    http://www.ocregister.com/news/union-265026-musli

    muslim student union that disrupted oren's speach and has made life a living hell for jewish students on the uci campus has suspension dropped from a year to one quarter….but they get an extra year of probation and 100 hours of community service

    note the university announced this on late friday on labor day weekend

    note that the chancelor grieved about this decision

    note that the msu has learned nothing…no admission or remorse in lying about their role in the debacle….they use terms like "collective punishment" and "anti muslim sentiment"

    im tired of them playing the victime card….1 billion muslims are not a minority

    and uci is still a joke

    1. Some Israeli speakers should be booked on campus every couple months during the probationary period. Future headline: "Israeli speaker harassed during speech – MSU claims those arrested acted as individuals"

  2. Michael Zvi Krumbein

    4 Narcissists and one Jew. (Some would way 5 Narcissists.)

    I think it's cute that the Presidents of Egypt and Israel have the same name (no, really!) If it was Hebrew it would be Baruch Khosen; the Hebrew name Barak is entirely different. (Hosni Mubarak = Barak Hussein; Barak is not a name found in the ME, but it appears to be similar. This is from a discussion with one of my Arab co-workers.)

    This is good. He is happy with the talks, and he already has the Nobel prize, so hopefully he can leave us alone. What I'm worried about is after the elections.

  3. Michael Zvi Krumbein

    One could imagine what they will do with the community service.

    If only they would rethink the exchange student programs.

  4. 5:15PM: Seems odd to me that “orthodox Jewish” men would be at a protest on a Saturday.

    There was an Eruv?

    And they hold of it?

    Curiouser and curiouser.

    1. Michael Zvi krumbein

      Actually, they would be likely to hold of an Eruv. It's mostly the Litvak authorities (including Rav Solveitchick in Boston) who are leery.

      1. To the best of my knowledge, the only area with an Eruv is Golders Green and Hendon, in northwest London. I doubt that a protest was held there.

        1. Michael Zvi krumbein

          Not surprising. 🙂

          One of the 39 types of creative labor prohibited on the Sabbath is to carry objects from a public domain to a private one, or within a public domain. The definition of these places is not based on owndership; a private domain is basically an enclosed area. What is known as an Eruv is a kind of virtual fence put around the area to allow "carrying". Many say this only applies where the prohibition is Rabbinic.

          However, the actual eruv ("mixture") is a box of Matza kept in a synagogue or other place. This is because, to keep people from getting to the point of violating the Biblical law, they prohibited carrying in a courtyard unless one places a common meal (such as the Matza) within the courtyard to combine all of the Jews' properties into one. (This is ascribed to King Solomon.) Because the prohibition is so unusual, the Rabbis felt that this psychological addition was necessary.

          Midnight. Time for Selichot.

  5. Disclaimer: The following comment is intended as a serious inquiry. No humor is intended.

    So what happens to observant Jews who desecrate the Sabbath?

    1. Michael Zvi krumbein

      I've had that sort of question before, and it basically comes a difference between Jewish and Christian belief systems.

      The short answer is, the same thing that happens to anyone who does anything wrong. You repent. If not, the Creator will eventually deal with it.

      A flagrant violator of the Sabbath does have the same rule as an Idolotor, which means he is basically treated as a Gentile, except of course that it doesn't exempt him from anything. Of course, to be considered flagrant can take quite a bit.

      Basically someone who does not keep the Sabbath (and I don't mean someone who slips) is not considered observant, so he could not, for example, supervise a restaurant or serve as a witness at a wedding.

      Oh, yes, it is a capital crime, but capital punishment was temporarily suspended in the year 30.

      1. Thanks for the explanation, Michael. That really does seem like a pretty low-key approach to implementation of the idea of a wrathful, vengeful God. The Catholics work you over pretty good while you're still here on earth and then promise even worse in the afterlife for those who don't stay in line.

                1. Michael Zvi krumbein

                  Well, it's not entirely wrong. According to the more common view, Heaven IS a sort of limbo. But then the main reward, the World To Come, is a sort of semi-material, semi-spiritual, Heaven-on-Earth. However, I can't say I know much about that opinion or am describing it correctly.

                  Aside from the basic concepts, and the main point that there is a reward and punishment beyond this world – a just and loving God requires this – I don't think there is any required postion on the details, nor would we understand it if there were. Theology is really a Christian discipline.

          1. Thanks for that, Shy Guy. The first video made me think that hell on Earth for me would be to have to go on the Oprah Winfrey Show every day for the rest of my life. The second video suggested to me that, although I'm no theological scholar, I'm thinking I might well be on my way to maximizing my life here on Earth by participating on this great site. Before I found IsraellyCool, I spent untold hours playing Minesweeper on my computer.

      2. Wasnt it difficult to pass death in the first place and then the Sanhedrin said "Lets be trailblazers and abolish death penalty centuries before any other culture."?

        1. Michael Zvi krumbein

          Oh, my Gosh, no. Actually it was abolished because there were too many murderers to handle. I think they felt they were unable to control the anarchy caused by Herod's rule.

          It was suspended by moving the Sanhedrin out of the temple. 40 years later, the Temple was destroyed, so the issue became academic. Even so, Judaism allows for "unofficial" penalties when necessary, so I think it may have been carried out on an extremely rare occasion.

          In the Talmud they describe two of the great rabbis saying that if they had lived at the time of the Temple, they would have found enough loopholes so that it could never happen. Answered Rabban Gamliel, who as the head of the Sanhedrin, considered himself resonsibe for the Jewsih people – "and they would have increased murderers in Israel".

          Under the Noachide law, BTW, the death penalty is a lot easier to apply.

            1. Michael Zvi krumbein

              Thank you for listening. Those simplifications drive me crazy.

              This is why I like original sources, Wikipedia rules notwithstanding.

                1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

                  Well, that's not always so hard. For example, on Judaism, you have Maimonides writings, and some are actually in his own hardwriting, including his own corrections. And, of course, the Shulchan Aruch was printed pretty early.

                    1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

                      Ah, but you see we are just trying to work out what people believe. For that, it's enough.

      3. one must note the difference between someone who desecrates the shabbat publicly and privately…there is a difference halachically in standing

        and it is only a capital crime if one has been warned and the act is viewed by two witnesses

        in beis din, it was almost impossible to put anyone to death

        it is what disgusts me about the the modesty patrols and other acts committed by socalled chareidim

        1. Michael Zvi Krumbein

          Exactly how common are so-called modesty patrols? The only ones that I know of are done on rare occasions by troublemakers. Or do you mean that the people who do it are not real Chareidim, or are you painting all of us Chareidim with a broad brush?

          Please note that for murder it was not that hard to put someone to death, informally. See Sanhedrin. And certainly the religious law was enforced. (Or do you want us to nothing about neo-Agunot?)

          As a simple example, Shimon ben Shetach, the cause of one of the few bright spots in the whole horrid second half of the second temple, was a witch-hunter; it cost him the life of his son. I can even give you an example of an incident that might be called a "modesty patrol".

          If course, it would be a mistake to try to enforce religious law (in general) when most people are against it; that would be counter-productive.

  6. I enthusiastically endorse the idea of an Israeli-Palestinian flash mob in furtherance of the ongoing peace talks. But please, no ABBA!

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