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Israel President Shimon Peres has met privately with US President Barack Obama, after which time Peres told reporters that “there is no space between us and the United States.”
Methinks it is a spelling error, and should read: “there is no space between U.S and the United States.”
Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)
10:22PM: Great video from a Bezalel student with obvious artistic talent and an appreciation for good Star Wars music (hat tip: Shy Guy)
10:05PM: Israeli President Shimon Peres has met with UN Secretary General “Banky” Moon, rejecting UN special inquiry committee claims that Israel deliberately targeted UNRWA facilities during Operation Cast Lead.
“I admit that we made some mistakes, but I don’t know of any war where mistakes weren’t made. We did not want to kill a single civilian, but war is terrible and our soldiers too were killed by IDF fire. Did we kill our soldiers on purpose? Of course not,” Peres said.
Peres expressed his appreciation of Ban’s decision to balance the language of the report issued by the inquiry committee. “The secretary general is not responsible for the report,” Peres said. “He tried to distinguish between what is necessary in order to be objective and fair and listen to us.”
Speaking to reporters after the meeting at the UN headquarters in New York, Peres said that Israel “will never accept it (the report). We don’t think we have to apologize because we have the right to defend the lives of our children and women.”
10:00PM: I just came back from Hadassah hospital in Ein Kerem after visiting my friend and Israellycool reader Jeremy who had a nasty fall a number of weeks ago. Wishing him a speedy recovery!
5:40PM: US Vice President Joe Biden at the AIPAC Policy Conference yesterday.
4:25PM: Palestinians have fired a Qassam and 6 mortar shells into Israel today.
3:40PM: The London-based Arabic language newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi has reported that the leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the PA are revising the Saudi peace initiative in order to make it more acceptable to Israel, at the request of US President Barack Obama.
According to the Palestinian sources, the new initiative will call for the settling of Palestinian refugees in Arab countries and in a future Palestinian state, following a land swap with Israel. The US administration has also demanded that the Arab countries set a timetable for the normalization of their ties with Israel with the aim of encouraging Jerusalem to take practical steps towards the establishment of a Palestinian state, they added.
The issue of the Palestinian refugees’ “right of return” to their homes in Israel has been one of the major points of disagreement between Israel and the Arab countries.
The sources were also quoted as saying that the initiative will enable the Israeli flag to be displayed in Arab countries, while Israel will allow the Palestinian flag to be hung in Arab neighborhoods in east Jerusalem, which, according to the initiative, will be the capital of the Palestinian state. The UN flag will adorn sites in Jerusalem’s Old City that are holy to the three major religions.
The Palestinians said the suggested amendments will require holding an Arab summit.
Meanwhile, Quartet envoy Tony Blair has said that the Quartet is working on a new strategy for Israeli-palestinian peace talks and is expected to present it in five to six weeks.
9:23AM: The signs from Washington just keep getting worse.
Israel should join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a pact intended to limit the spread of nuclear weapons, a top US official said Tuesday.
“Universal adherence to the NPT itself, including by India, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea…remains a fundamental objective of the United States,” Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller was quoted by Reuters as saying at a meeting of NPT signatories.
Gottemoeller would not say whether the US intended to press Israel to join the treaty.
Former prime minister Ariel Sharon’s chief strategist, Dov Weisglass, said Gottemoeller’s comments were very alarming.
“If these statements indicate a change in American policy on this issue, I believe this may be the most worrisome development for Israel’s security in many years,” he told Army Radio.
Change!
5:56AM: Here’s a Hamas “scholar” displaying his knowledge of fetuses, not to mention reminding us why we found so many rocket launchers – not prayer books – in mosques during Operation Cast Lead.
