Israel: Non-Jews Seeking Citizenship Must Sign Loyalty Oath (Lis)

EA's Ali Yenidunya predicted earlier this week that the domestic dynamic over direct Israel-Palestine talks would see Cabinet approval of a loyalty oath for non-Jews, a key demand of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's Israel Beiteinu party and Minister of Internal Affairs Eli Yishai's Shas.

So it has come to pass. Jonathan Lis of Haaretz reports:

Cabinet ministers on Sunday approved by a majority vote a controversial proposal which would require every non-Jew wishing to become a citizen of Israel would have to vow loyalty to "the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state."

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Israel-Palestine: Abbas to Mitchell "If Settlement Expansion Continues, I Resign" (Eldar)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas informed U.S. envoy George Mitchell last week that the renewal of settlement construction will not only bring about the collapse of peace talks but it will also induce his resignation from the post of Palestinian Authority president.

According to Palestinian sources close to the PA leadership, Abbas told Mitchell of his plans during their last meeting together.

Abbas's resignation means the dismantling of the Palestinian Authority, since it was agreed inside the government that no one from the leadership of Fatah will step up to replace Abbas as president, and no new elections will be held.

In a conversation he held last week in his plane with a reporter, Abbas said "this is the last time that you will fly with me while I am president of the PA."

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Video: The Belly-Dancing Israeli Soldier and the Bound Palestinian Woman

UPDATE 5 October: There is also media attention this morning to the vandalism and burning of a mosque by Jewish settlers in the West Bank village of Beit Fajjar. Korans were also set on fire in the incident.

I was in two minds about whether to post this clip, which came out on YouTube, was picked up by an Israeli television station --- which has just broadcast a programme on the incident --- and has been reported by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The episode occurs in the context of other recent cases, including pictures posted by a former Israeli soldier in which she posed beside a bound and blindfolded Palestinian prisoner and the arrest of three soldiers for taking photographs of themselves alongside cuffed and blindfolded Palestinian detainees.

The Israel Defense Forces have ordered an investigation of the most recent incident.

In the end, I decided to post this not as a specific indictment of the Israeli military --- that can be debated amongst readers --- but as a reminder of what happens when one group, in its occupation, wields power over another, such as the Abu Ghraib case in Iraq.

Watch the video (Warning: May be disturbing to some viewers)....

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Inside the Israel-Palestine Talks: Going Nowhere? (Haaretz)

The three meetings held so far between Prime Minister Benjamin Netayahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the current round of peace talks have addressed nothing of substance, diplomatic sources say.

American mediators are still trying to save the talks from collapsing in the crisis following the resumption of construction in settlements.

Netanyahu refused to hold a serious discussion on any of the core issues apart from security, Abbas reportedly told diplomats he met at the UN General Assembly. Israeli and foreign sources say the main problem is that Netanyahu refuses to present fundamental positions or discuss the borders of the Palestinian state.

"I heard nothing from Netanyahu but niceties," Abbas reportedly told foreign diplomats.

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Israel Analysis: Freezing Out Foreign Minister Lieberman?

Talking to supporters of his party Israel Beiteinu in early September, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman explained why the results from direct Israel-Palestine talks were "unachievable": 

It must be understood that signing a comprehensive agreement in which both sides agree to end the conflict and end all of their claims and recognize Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people is a goal that is not achievable in the next year or in the next generation, so any historic compromises or painful concessions won’t help.

On Sunday, Lieberman brought his "wise" solution as an alternative to this failure. He said that the main principle for negotiations must not be "land for peace" but "an exchange of territories and populations", ruling out the Palestinian side's insistence on basing the peace talks on the pre-1967 borders. This would guarantee the status of settlements under the Israeli flag and save Israel's "Jewish" identity. 

Not all have been converted by the Foreign Minister's wisdom, however.

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Israel-Palestine Analysis: How Long Can Ramallah Demand a Freeze on Settlements?

At the end of the second round of direct Israel-Palestine talks, we have been bombarded with statements from various actors.

Beyond the rather anodyne declarations is this looming date: on 26 September, Israel's 10-month moratorium on construction in the West Bank expires.

It is unlikely, however, that Damocles' sword will be held over West Jerusalem. Instead, as we pass 26 September without resolution, the Palestinians are likely to face this choice: compromise on the settlements or be labelled as "rejectionists", if not by Obama's representatives then by the Israelis with whom they are supposed to find an agreement.

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