Middle East Inside Line: Israel-Palestine Moves in Cairo, Netanyahu-Lieberman Feud, No Smoking Pipes for Gaza Women

UPDATE 1025 GMT: More on the item below on conflict between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman...

Lieberman held a press conference this morning, offering far-from-enthusiastic support for the coalition Government: "It can not be that we were the first [to sign the coalition agreement but we're the last when it comes to the budget. We weren't humiliated, and we aren't the kind of people who let others humiliate us - we won't give this joy to anyone. We do not intend to leave. This coalition can last until 2010 [Editor: 2010?!] in its current framework, and we will do everything possible to make it happen," Lieberman said.

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Cairo's Israel-Palestine Mediation: On Sunday, both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas held separate meetings with Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo. Netanyahu, expected to ask Egypt's help in moving Palestinians to direct talks, said, "President Mubarak represents the aspiration to expand the circle of peace, stability and security to all the region's peoples. I view him as a central partner in achieving these important goals."

After talks with US special envoy George Mitchell, Mohammed Dahlan, the head of the Fatah Party's public relations, said Israel has not accepted the PA's demands on security and border issues so there is no reason for direct talks to resume. Abbas had said he would resume direct peace talks if Israel accepted its 1967 frontier as a baseline for the borders of a Palestinian state and agreed to the deployment of an international force.

After the Netanyahu-Mubarak meeting, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said more work needs to be done to bridge the gap between Israel and the Palestinians before they can move to direct peace talks.

More Netanyahu-Lieberman Tension: The latest incident stoking tensions between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, is Lieberman's appointment --- without Netanyahu's consent --- of a relatively little-known diplomat, Meiron Reuven, as Israel’s Acting Ambassador to the United Nations.

This is not the only troublesome issue, however. Last week, the  Constitution, Law and Justice Committee of the Knesset approved the draft on conversion reform, a bill giving Israel's chief rabbinate the legal power to decide whether any conversion outside Israel is legitimate. Under current practice, Israel recognizes only conversions performed by Orthodox rabbis inside Israel, but people converted by non-Orthodox rabbis outside the country are automatically eligible for Israeli citizenship.

On Sunday, Netanyahu said he opposes the conversion bill, proposed by Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu Party, because it is "tearing apart the Jewish people". He added that his Likud Party would block the proposed legislation from a vote in the Knesset.

In contrast, Interior Minister Eli Yishai (Shas) said that the absence of a conversion law would pose "an enormous spiritual danger to the Jewish people".

Lieberman's "Serious Partner" Advertisement: Following European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton's statement on the need to open all border crossings around the Gaza Strip, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said the new Israeli policy of increasing the amount of goods that can enter the Gaza Strip "is not enough" and that his government "is looking for serious partners" to improve the economic situation in the coastal territory.

He added that Israel is working on a plan to build a power station, desalination plants, and infrastructure for water purification in the Gaza Strip. Doing so, Lieberman put the ball in the court of Hamas, implying that the political leadership of Gaza is the real barrier to Israeli  help with the economy.

Cairo's Anger at Lieberman: The Israeli Foreign Minister,however, has ruffled feathers in Egypt. Last week Lieberman called on Israel to disconnect gradually from the Gaza Strip, shutting down all border crossings with the Strip and allowing movement in and out through the sea and the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border.

Senior Egyptian officials told Haaretz that Cairo adamantly opposed the move. "We won't allow the responsibility for Gaza to be dumped on us," one official said. "You don't work like that and we are wondering about the timing of Lieberman's statement just before Netanyahu's meeting with President Mubarak."

No Smoking Pipes for Women in Gaza: On Sunday, Hamas said it had banned women from smoking water pipes in public.

Interior ministry spokesman Ihab al-Ghussein told AFP:

The police have decided to ban women from smoking water pipes in open, public places because it is against our customs, traditions and social norms.

Gaza Latest: Aid Ship Docks in Egypt but 3 International Investigations on the Way

The Amalthea, carrying aid, entered Egypt's el-Arish port on Wednesday despite the call of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh to break the siege of Gaza, "The sea and land convoys must continue. We hope we can depend on Islamic nations to help us lift the blockade."

Following the Amalthea's docking in el-Arish, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor restated:

Gaza Latest: Is Aid Ship On Its Way or Going Back to Egypt?

Anyone who wants to bring materials there which are not dangerous materials - munitions, etcetera - can bring them through El Arish, can bring them through the [Israeli] port of Ashdod.

What we want is to set the arrangement for inspections, so we can always check and not allow them to bust their way in.

Then Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon announced that Israel can consider itself "victorious" in the Libyan ship incident. He said that calls by the European Union and the US for the ship to follow Israel's instructions and not sail to Gaza are a good sign.

However, West Jerusalem's problems may just be starting. Haaretz reports that there will be several meetings amongst high-ranked officials this week Israel's official response to the United Nations' enquiries. Following the Goldstone Report on the Gaza War, Israel faces three new international investigations. Some officials described the situation  as a "barrage".

The most significant enquiry is that of the UN committee charged with examining the credibility of Israel's court system in the wake of the Goldstone Report . Haaretz's Barak Ravid reports:

The inquiry into the Israeli court system was decided on at a March meeting of the UNHRC [UN Human Rights Commission] in Geneva as part of its continuing effort to monitor Israel's response to the Goldstone report. The panel is charged with examining the efficiency, independence, and professionalism of Israel's court system and its adherence to internationally accepted standards. Some Israeli officials have already begun describing it as "a second Goldstone committee."

The committee headed by the German jurist Christian Tomuschat is tasked with monitoring any legal steps taken by the Israeli or Palestinian authorities to implement the Goldstone Report's recommendations. It should begin its work in the next few weeks and submit a final report in October.

Israel's official response to the Goldstone report has been negative, labelling it as "one-sided, legitimizing terrorism". So, if the Netanyahu government decides to cooperate with the Tomuschat committee, it will be a change in strategy.

Two other international committees, one appointed by the UN Secretary General and the other by the UN Human Rights Council, are set to begin work over Israel's May raid on the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla.

UPDATED Gaza Latest: Is Aid Ship On Its Way or Going Back to Egypt?

UPDATE 1930 GMT: Al Jazeera reports that the ship "now appears bound for the Egyptian port of El-Arish, on the Sinai peninsula. The Israeli navy warned the vessel on Tuesday to change course, and said it had 'begun preparations for stopping the ship'."

UPDATE: The Amalthea has now reportedly changed course back to el-Arish in Egypt. Its location can be tracked through a map on Electronic Intifada.

The tale of the Amalthea, the ship laden with aid for Gaza, has gone through literal twists and turns today. One of the ship's owners, Greek businessman Aleksei Angeolopoulos, said in an interview with the Arabic newspaper Ashraq al-Awsat that Amalthea would unload its humanitarian goods in the Egyptian port of el-Arish if permission to reach Gaza was denied. However, in the afternoon, the ship refused to alter its destination when it was confronted by an Israeli vessel which ordered to dock in Egypt's el-Arish port.

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Stating that the ship was carrying only humanitarian materials, Angeolopoulos said:

If Israel wants, the Israeli navy is invited to board the ship and to search it so that they can see with their own eyes that it is only carrying food and allow it to continue to the port of Gaza.

The ship is planning to reach Gaza on Wednesday.

Israel-Palestine Analysis: Netanyahu Manoeuvres with US & Egypt to Put PA in a Corner

UPDATE 1030 GMT: Juan Cole has posted a complementary analysis, beginning with the Palestinian Authority's position, "Abbas: Israeli Colonization Impedes Start of Direct Talks".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is talking about bringing the Palestinians on the table for direct talks. But how?

It is reported that, following consultations with some of his ministers, Netanyahu is thinking of announcing an end to Israel Defense Force operations in a number of Palestinian cities in the West Bank. Haaretz reports, from "senior officials", other confidence-building measures:

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- Israel will enable the Palestinian police to broaden its activities beyond Area A, which is under PA security control. They would be allowed to set up six new police stations in Area B, where the PA is currently responsible only for civilian affairs, and possibly also have some authority over civilian matters in Area C.

- Israel will lift more road blocks in the West Bank.

- Israel will transfer to Palestinian control a portion of land that is currently in Area C, under full Israeli control, in order to build a road connecting Ramallah and a new city currently in the planning stage, Rawabi.

With the Palestinian Authority under pressure from the Obama Administration to start the direct talks with Israel, Netanyahu is wisely trying to corner the PA and also other possible actors such as the Egyptian Government. PA leader Mahmoud Abbas rejected Obama's approach to change his mind, but Netanyahu, at his cabinet meeting on Sunday, stated that he planned to meet President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt on Tuesday to discuss how progress in negotiations can be achieved.

What is the benefit for Egypt? At a time when channels of dialogue are open with Hamas to some extent, following the Freedom Flotilla crisis, Cairo can use this initiative to push for Hamas flexibility in a Palestinian reconciliation agreement. It can boost its regional and domestic credibility by playing the role of second mediator between Ramallah and West Jerusalem.

Asked in an interview with Fox News whether there can be a Palestinian state by 2012 (a follow-up Palestinian leader Salam Fayyad's "A Palestinian State by 2011" statement), Netanyahu said:

I think there can be a solution. It may be implemented over time, because time is an important factor of getting the solution, both in terms of security arrangements and other things that would be difficult if they're not allowed to take place over time.

Can we have a negotiated peace? Yes. Can it be implemented by 2012? I think it's going to take longer than that.

Gaza Latest: Amalthia to Break the Siege?, Ireland's "Revenge", Mavi Marmara Becomes a Hotel?

Amalthia to Break the Siege?: Having Youssef Sawani, executive director of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, said Sunday in an interview with Army Radio that the vessel was heading for Gaza; Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Army Radio that “no ship of any kind will be allowed to arrive at Gaza.”

The ship is still in high waters and Israeli defense officials stated that they were tracking the vessel and would make contact with the ship and request that it follow naval vessels either into Ashdod Port or into Egypt's port of El-Arish. A government official said: “This exercise is both a superfluous and unnecessary gesture.”

Ireland's "Revenge"?: It is reported that Ireland is trying to block a European Union initiative that would enable Israeli companies and European companies to exchange information about customers. The European Commission wanted European governments to approve a declaration that the EU recognises Israeli data protection standards as being sufficient to allow member states to transfer personal data.

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However, Ireland's Justice Minister Dermott Ahern said that since Israel allegedly used forged Irish passports to carry out the assassination of Hamas official Mohammed al-Mabhouh in Dubai, Israel should not be allowed access to this data.

Although Israel denied any link with the Dubai assassination, Ireland expelled one Israeli official from Dublin.

Mavi Marmara Waiting Its Fate: Israeli city Haifa's Mayor Yona Yahav wrote a letter to the Defense Minister Ehud Barak requesting that the Mavi Marmara ship be turned into a floating hotel off the coast of Haifa. Yahav wrote: "I feel that Haifa, a symbol of coexistence and cooperation between all religions, would be the appropriate home for this ship, which will turn into an international symbol of reconciliation and hope."