Netanyahu: I “stopped” Oslo Peace Process

July 19th, 2010 • Awareness, Film & Documentary, News
Tags: 2001, clinton, IMEU, Institute for Middle East Understanding, netanyahu, Oslo, peace, youtube

from the Institute for Middle East Understanding‘s Youtube channel:

In this video, leaked and aired on Channel 10 News in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen speaking candidly back in 2001 at a constituent’s home about the Oslo Accords, the peace process, Bill Clinton, and the United States.

The embedded video starts at 2m15s with English subtitles (the earlier portion is not subtitled in English) – Netanyahu’s “stopped the peace process” line is at 6m09s.

(Thanks to Elly for the link)

Turkey Threatens Israel with cut-off of Diplomatic Relations

July 7th, 2010 • News
Tags: diplomatic, flotilla, israel, lieberman, netanyahu, obama, turkey, washington, Zaman

Post-flotilla, Juan Cole looks at the diplomatic situation between Turkey and Israel:

Thousands gathered in Istanbul to pray alongside the coffins of victims of the Gaza flotilla raid. Photograph: Ibrahim Usta/AP

As Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu flew to Washington, DC, on Monday,  a further war of words has broken out between Turkey and Israel over comments made by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to the press corps on an airplane returning from Kyrgyzstan. The Zaman correspondent heard him to say of Israel, “It will either apologize, or it will consent to a study by an international commission, or the relations will break off.”

Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli foreign minister whom Davutoglu apparently declines to deal with, shot back, “We don’t have any intention to apologize. We think that the opposite is true.” Lieberman, a notorious thug who once advocated drowning all the Egyptians by bombing the Aswan Dam if they ever gave Israel any trouble, is a Moldavian immigrant to Israel not known for being diplomatic.

Davutoglu is probably not serious about presenting Israel with an ultimatum, and may have been especially interested in posturing as a hard liner because he was embarrassed with the Turkish cabinet and in the Arab world when it came out that he had had a secret meeting with Israeli Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer last week. Ben-Eliezer, an Iraqi from Basra originally named “Fuad,” had earlier in his career been a hard liner, but compared to Lieberman he has emerged as a voice of reason. Davutoglu was widely criticized in Turkey and Arab capitals for the secret talks.

Read the rest at juancole.com….

A Partner for Peace?

April 18th, 2010 • News
Tags: east jerusalem, fatah, netanyahu, peace, riz khan

AJE’s Riz Khan speaks with Uri Davis, the first Israeli Jew to become a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, and Gil Hoffman, the chief political correspondent and analyst for The Jerusalem Post.

The dilemma over settlements in East Jerusalem has created a stalemate in the Middle East peace process, further straining the relationship between Israel and its closest ally, the US.

The Obama administration’s repeated calls for a freeze of all new settlements have been consistently rebuffed by Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, and his right-wing coalition.

Can the Netanyahu government withstand the pressure to move in opposite directions: Those policies demanded by Washington, and those desired by his coalition partners? Can any of the current Israeli leaders – including Tzipi Livni, the Kadima leader, or Ehud Barak, the Labour leader – make the concessions that allow the peace process to move forward?