Palestine: Israeli Military Order Threatens Mass Deportation

A new military order aiming at "preventing infiltration" through deportation and/or punishment of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank will come into force this week. Those whose ID cards bear home addresses in the Gaza Strip --- not only people born in Gaza but any of their children born in the West Bank --- those born in the West Bank or abroad who have lost their residency status, and foreign-born spouses of Palestinians are "infiltrators". They are subject to deportation, a fine of NIS 7500, and/or a jail sentence of up to seven years.

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Despite this violation of the Oslo Accords, Palestinians with Gaza addresses have been defined since 2000 as illegal sojourners, as if they were citizens of a foreign state. Many of them, including those born in the West Bank, have been "deported" to Gaza.



Since 2007, Palestinians with Gaza addresses have had the right to request a permit to stay in the West Bank. Indeed, since 2009, residents of East Jerusalem have no need for permission to enter Area A, which is under the control of the Palestinian Authority. This new order not only supersedes these regulations but, broadening the definition of "infiltration", and brings more Palestinians into the category of potential criminals. The term infiltrator will also be applied to Palestinian residents of Jerusalem, citizens of countries with whom Israel has friendly ties (such as the US), and Israeli citizens, whether Arab or Jewish.

Who is to judge whether someone is an "infiltrator"? Israel Defense Forces commanders in the field. So who can determine who can reside in Jericho, Ramallah, Nablus, or Hebron? Israeli commanders or the Palestinian Authority?

With this measure, Israel is provoking the "other", violating its agreements and doing its best to delegitimize the Palestinian leadership, in the eyes of both Palestinians and Israelis. It is a contradiction of Israel's official expectation that the West Bank authorities will come to the table as a "partner state"; curtailed and publicly belittled, this is a half-partner lacking the basic functions of a Government.

And so West Jerusalem, at the level of the practical rather than Washington's invocation of the rhetorical, blocks the peace process itself.

Middle East Inside Line: US Has No Plan?; Netanyahu Nuclear Snub Played Down; King Abdullah Meets Obama

Washington Has No Plan?: On Friday, responding to reports that Washington is preparing a new peace plan based on decisions reached in Israel-Palestine discussions 10 years ago, National Security Advisor James Jones stated that the Obama Administration has no new proposal but is discussing ways how to jump-start the peace process in the region.

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US-Israeli Ties: Playing down the cancellation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attendance at next week's nuclear security summit in Washington, Jones said Israel's delegation, led by Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor, would be "robust". Jones added that relationships between the U.S. and Israel are "ongoing, fine and continuous."


NSC spokesman Mike Hammer declared, "We welcome Deputy Prime Minister Meridor's participation in the conference. Israel is a close ally and we look forward to continuing to work closely on issues related to nuclear security."

Jordan's King to Washington: On Saturday, King Abdullah II of Jordan visited  President Obama to discuss the deadlock in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Israel: Netyanahu "I'm Staying Away from US Nuke Summit"

Looks like the head of at least one nuclear power will not be attending President Obama's high-profile summit in Washington pursuing nuclear security. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled his trip to the US, reportedly because Egypt and Turkey were going to raise the issue of Israel's nuclear stockpile.

West Jerusalem has never officially admitted that it has atomic weaponry, but former US President Jimmy Carter reveals that the Israelis had 150 devices.

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An Israeli official said:

In the last 24 hours, the Israeli government has learned of various reports from various sources on the intention of several states attending the conference not only to deal with the issue at hand, but to take the opportunity to make a point of grand-standing against Israel and the issue of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The prime minister was dismayed at this, and decided to stick to the Israeli policy that Israel is usually represented at these types of conferences at the professional-ministerial level.

Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor will head the Israeli delegation attending the summit.

Middle East Inside Line: Palestine Money to Israel?, Obama's Peace Plan, Netanyahu's Confession, and More

Palestinian Money Channelled into Israel?: Haaretz reports the Justice Ministry’s intervention between the Finance Ministry and the Civil Administration in Area C of the West Bank. The dispute is whether the Civil Administration in the West Bank should be compensated for hundreds of millions of shekels, to be used for operational expenses as well as for infrastructure and welfare services for Palestinians, collected in the West Bank and given to the State of Israel. According to international law, an occupying power is prohibited from claiming the benefits of economic activity in an occupied territory.

A lawyer at the Military Advocate General's Office said the transfer of such funds to the state was improper and should cease. The Civil Administration has requested that the money again be given directly to it. However, the Finance Ministry claims that in the past 15 years the state has invested in the West Bank more than double the amount it has collected.



New Peace Plan on the Way?: Speaking to columnist David Ignatius on Wednesday, two top officials in Washington stated that President Barack Obama is weighing the possibility of submitting a new American Middle East peace plan by this fall.

All core issues are to be discussed with the beginning of negotiations. One of the officials, with reference to Camp David in 2000, claimed that "90 percent of the map would look the same.”

It was also stated that the planned peace plan would be linked with other regional problems. One official told Ignatius:

We want to get the debate away from settlements and East Jerusalem and take it to a 30,000-feet level that can involve Jordan, Syria and other countries in the region.

Netanyahu's Confession on East Jerusalem: On the anniversary of his government’s coming to power, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday he has not yet worked out his differences with Washington over a disputed construction project in East Jerusalem.

In response, Kadima criticized Likud and Netanyahu harshly:

Netanyahu lives in Bibiland, not in Israel.

Netanyahu’s trickery is meant to throw sand in the eyes of the public and artificially blur the crushing failure of the most over-sized and wasteful government in Israel's history.

Unclenching Fists With Obama: Religious terms such as "Islamic extremism" are to be removed from the National Security Strategy document under President Obama. Breaking from the Bush Administration's language that “the struggle against militant Islamic radicalism is the great ideological conflict of the early years of the 21st century”, the strategy document is being re-written without any phrase that can target Islam.

Turkish-Israeli Relations: The tension between Turkey and Israel remains along with the continuation of defensive alliance between two countries. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that “Israel is the main threat to peace in the Middle East.”

Erdogan said that it is impossible to praise a country that exerted such excessive force in Gaza, including the use of phosphorus weapons. He also criticized Israel for not signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, saying Israel should not be exempt from international supervision of its nuclear facilities.

On the same day, a ceremony was held in Turkey to mark the completion of a project in which the Israeli defense contracting firm Elbit upgraded 170 tanks for the Turkish army.

The New US Nuclear Policy in 3 Bullet Points

Your easy-to-read version of the 49-page Nuclear Posture Review, released yesterday by the Obama Administration:

1. If you're not in the Nuclear Club --- Tehran, Pyongyang, we're looking at you --- don't even think about it. Shove off. Don't make us angry.

Still thinking about it? Don't.

2. If you're in the Nuclear Club --- Moscow, Beijing, how ya doin'? --- great to work with you to keep others out. Cold War? What Cold War?

3. Israel? Who is this Israel? (Repeat for Pakistan and India.)

Obama Document: The New US Stance on Nuclear Weapons