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Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at AIPAC’s policy conference:
“Next week I’ll be visiting Egypt with President Mubarak and I plan to discuss both matters with him – cooperation between the Arab world and cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians.”
“We seek normalization of economic ties, diplomatic ties we want peace with the Arab world, but we also want peace with the Palestinians. That peace eluded us for more than 30 years. Six successive prime-ministers of Israel and two American presidents have not succeeded in achieving this peace.”
“I believe it’s possible to achieve, but I think it requires a fresh approach, and the fresh approach I suggest is pursuing a triple track towards peace between Israel and Palestinians, a political track, a security track and economic track. The [policial] track means that we resume peace negotiations without any delay, the sooner the better, without any preconditions.”
“Peace will not come without security, so I want to be very clear – we shall never compromise on Israel’s security. Second, for final peace settlement to be achieved, the Palestinians must recognize Israel as Jewish state. They must recognize Israel as a nation state of the Jewish people.”
You can view the full speech here.
Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)
9:42PM: Head Hamashole Khaled Meshal has found in the New York Times a willing participant in helping him portray Hamas as anything but the murderers they are.
Hey, we’ve stopped firing rockets!
The leader of the militant Palestinian group Hamas said Monday that its fighters had stopped firing rockets at Israel for now.
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In April, only six rockets and mortar rounds were fired at Israel from Gaza, which is run by Hamas, a marked change from the previous three months, when dozens were shot, according to the Israeli military. In late December, Israel began a three-week invasion of Gaza, saying that it sought to stop the rockets, which land on its southern communities. About 1,300 Palestinians were killed in the invasion.
Mr. Meshal made an effort to show that Hamas was in control of its militants as well as those of other groups, saying: “Not firing the rockets currently is part of an evaluation from the movement which serves the Palestinians’ interest. After all, the firing is a method, not a goal. Resistance is a legitimate right, but practicing such a right comes under an evaluation by the movement’s leaders.”
Our demands are not unreasonable!
He also reached out in a limited way to the Obama administration and others in the West, saying the movement was seeking a state only in the areas Israel won in 1967.
We’ll be helpful!
“I promise the American administration and the international community that we will be part of the solution, period,” the leader, Khaled Meshal, said during a five-hour interview with The New York Times spread over two days in his home office here in the Syrian capital.
Hamas Charter? Oh. never mind that!
But he urged outsiders to ignore the Hamas charter, which calls for the obliteration of Israel through jihad and cites as fact the infamous anti-Semitic forgery, “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” Mr. Meshal did not offer to revoke the charter, but said it was 20 years old, adding, “We are shaped by our experiences.”
We’re just misunderstood!
He explained why he was giving the interview, his first to an American news organization in a year, by saying: “To understand Hamas is to listen to its vision directly. Hamas is delighted when people want to hear from its leaders directly, not about the movement through others.”
That Obama guy is alright!
Regarding President Obama, Mr. Meshal said, “His language is different and positive,” but he expressed unhappiness about Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, saying hers “is a language that reflects the old administration policies.”
Iran? Oh, never mind them!
Iran is a major sponsor of Hamas, and Israel and the United States worry that Gaza has become an Iranian outpost. But Mr. Meshal said: “Iran’s support to us is not conditioned. No one controls or affects our policies.”
The imposition of strict Muslim law? We would never do such a thing!
Asked whether his movement, a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist in outlook, wanted to bring strict Muslim law to Gaza and the West Bank, he said no. “The priority is ending the occupation and achieving the national project,” Mr. Meshal said. “As for the nature of the state, it’s to be determined by the people. It will never be imposed upon them.”
Meanwhile, here is the New York Times’ mind blowing dismissal of Hamas’ problematic stance.
On the two-state solution sought by the Americans, he said: “We are with a state on the 1967 borders, based on a long-term truce. This includes East Jerusalem, the dismantling of settlements and the right of return of the Palestinian refugees.” Asked what “long-term” meant, he said 10 years.
Apart from the time restriction and the refusal to accept Israel’s existence, Mr. Meshal’s terms approximate the Arab League peace plan and what the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas says it is seeking. Israel rejects a full return to the 1967 borders, as well as a Palestinian right of return to Israel itself.
I happen to think the time restriction and refusal to accept Israel’s existence are deal breakers. But I’m odd that way.
9:15PM: The answer to the last question is….Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
9:02PM: I agree 100%with this quote from today:
“Experience has proven that the organizations established after World War II have run their course and cannot solve the problems of today’s world. They can’t achieve security for the world because their positions are built on discrimination.”
Can you guess who said it? (answer in next update in 10 minutes)
8:50PM: Name of the Day: Belongs to this man.
8:20PM: Here’s Newt saying all the right things at the AIPAC Policy Conference.
7:00PM: The US is continuing to pressure Israel into a two-state solution.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden pressed Israel on Tuesday to support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in an address to the leading pro-Israel lobby during its annual conference in Washington.
The Palestinians must halt militant violence and Israel “has to work for a two-state solution … not build more settlements, dismantle existing outposts and allow Palestinians freedom of movement,” Biden told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
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General James Jones, national security adviser to Obama, told a European foreign minister a week ago that unlike the Bush administration, Obama will be “forceful” with Israel.
Meanwhile, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told AIPAC delegates on Monday night that two states for two peoples is the only solution the United States is committed to.
6:48PM: Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has told Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi that dialogue with Iran should be limited to 3 months, after which time “practical measures” should be taken against them.
Which is coincidentally the same approach as that adopted by Berlusconi’s wife.
5:12PM: Today’s video of palestinian child abuse accompanied by bad Arabic music is brought to you by the letter S.
For Sick.
4:22PM: Israel will begin revoking the citizenship of 4 Arab-Israelis involved in activities prejudicial to the State’s security, such as recruiting and training terrorists.
In addition to revoking their citizenship, Israel will reportedly grant them the Chutzpah of the day award.
The four sought to return to Israel through Jordan and asked for passports. One of them even asked to bring his children along.
3:06PM: Israel’s transportation Ministry has sent a letter to the CEO of BMI, demanding an explanation as to why they wiped Israel off their electronic inflight maps, except for the Arabic word for Haifa ‘Khefa’.
11:52AM: Another day, another biased UN report.
6:07AM: The Israeli Ambassador to Spain has experienced some more anti Semitism in the home of the Inquisition.
Ambassador to Spain Rafi Shotz came under an anti-Semitic verbal barrage when he and his wife walked home from Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on Saturday.
Shotz said that following the game against FC Barcelona, three men wearing Real Madrid scarves spotted him and began screaming anti-Semitic epithets such as “dirty Jew,” “Jew bastard” and “Jew murderer.”
