Israel-Palestine: Abbas' Conditions, Netanyahu's "Eastern Front" Response

On Sunday the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, said that he was under pressure from the international community to start direct talks but added that negotiations would collapse from the first minute if there were no "clear and specific references".

Ahead of Thursday's Arab League foreign ministers' summit in Cairo, these references should be seen as a future Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders and a construction freeze both in the West Bank and in East Jerusalem.

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In response, speaking at the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the PA for "stalling direct talks and relying on the Arab League for support." He said that first "they [Palestinians] said it was the [settlement] freeze, now it's the borders issue."

On the security front, Netanyahu put a double-edged agenda: First he said, "We won't compromise security and that's why the U.S. administration has been notified of our security needs." The he asserted, "Arrangements reached with the Palestinians must be such as to withstand any changes in the political and security Middle East map," and he went further, "The Palestinians must hold firm even if an eastern front develops, as was the case, for example, before the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime."

What was meant by the "eastern front"? Any guesses?

No Israeli politician is likely stop with only an "eastern front". Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak added a "north front". In an interview with The Washington Post, he said that the IDF will attack Lebanese government institutions if Israel is again subjected to rocket attacks and continued:

We will not run after each Hezbullah terrorist or launcher....We will see it as legitimate to hit any target that belongs to the Lebanese state, not just to Hezbullah.

And Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was back on West Bank settlements, calling for new building to resume once the moratorium ends September 26:

From September we must resume normal life here. We do not have any intention to change the demographic situation or to create a provocation, but only to provide a normal life for the people that came here under the policies of [past] government[s].

A day before Lieberman's visit, Netanyahu had said he had not intention to extend the 10-month moratorium, saying "the slowdown was limited in time: It has not changed and that's how it will be."

So Netanyahu's "eastern front" complements the demands elsewhere on "security" and on settlements. All of this puts up a formidable wall to Abbas' conditions for agreement to direct talks.

Gaza Latest: Hamas Response to EU & UN, Israel Ponders No Cooperation

Hamas's Call on EU Countries: Following European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton's  visit to the Gaza Strip, with a call for a lifting of Israel's blockade and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner's expression of readiness to hold direct dialogue with Hamas "if France receives an official request from the Palestinian Authority",  Ismail Radwan, a Gaza-based senior Hamas leader called on EU countries to hold direct talks with the group, "The European Union and France shouldn't hesitate in having direct dialogue with Hamas on the basis of direct dialogue and not on the basis of containment."

Gaza Latest: Israel Warnings over 2 Aid Ships, UN Flotilla Enquiry, & More

Hamas Blames UN: After the United Nations declared that humanitarian aid carried by two Lebanese aid ships should be delivered by land and not through a breaking of Israel's sea blockade, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri accused the organisation of being in "collaboration with the Israeli occupier" and added:

The UN call to international organizations to use the over-land road to Gaza instead of the sea is unacceptable and illegal.

Israel Not Likely to Cooperate with UN?: After the United Nations Human Rights Council appointed a team of international experts to investigate Israel’s raid on the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla, sources in the Prime Minister’s Office said that West Jerusalem is unlikely to cooperate.

Fatah and Hamas praised the appointment of the three-member panel. Fatah spokesman Ahmed A’saf said that Israel should not be treated as if it was above the law and Israeli war criminals should be tried for their actions. Hamas political consultant Yusuf Rizka expressed concerns that Israel would not cooperate with the investigative team, which could damage the investigation’s findings.

Hamas's New Technology?: According to Israeli police, a rocket sent from the Gaza Strip into the western Negev was not a Qassam, but may be a more advanced type, possibly smuggled into the Strip.

The projectile was taken to a police laboratory  for assessment.

Gaza Latest: Israel Warnings over 2 Aid Ships, UN Flotilla Enquiry, & More

Israel Concerned over New Flotillas: On Friday, Israeli officials urged  warned Lebanon to prevent two aid ships, Junia and Julia, from departing to Gaza.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak issued a statement that the aid ships were an "unnecessary provocation" like other flotillas:

We hold the Lebanese government responsible for preventing the flotilla from departing today, and if it does depart it will be accompanied by Israel's Navy to the Ashdod port. If the ship refuses to be accompanied to Ashdod we will have no choice but to apprehend it in open waters.

Middle East Inside Line: Abbas-US Tension, Netanyahu’s “Political Risk”, More Gaza Flotillas?, UN-Israeli Relations

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Gabriela Shalev, accused organizers of the aid ships of "seeking to incite a confrontation and raise tensions in our region".

In letters to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, Shalev said, "Israel reserves its right under international law to use all necessary means to prevent these ships from violating the ... naval blockade."

UN Probe on Flotilla Attack: The United Nations Human Rights Council has appointed a team of international experts on Friday to investigate Israel's raid in on the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla.

The fact-finding team comprises three independent experts --- Sir Desmond de Silva (Britain), Karl Hudson-Phillips (Trinidad and Tobago,) and Mary Shanthi Dairiam (Malaysia).

An Israeli Foreign Ministry official said that the UN Human Rights Council's made its decision in haste, and that it was "part of the Rights Council's obsession against Israel" . The official added:

The Israeli probe, conducted with transparency, makes the organization's probe completely unnecessary.

Israel Returning Freedom Flotilla Ships to Turkey: Israel has given up asking Ankara for a guarantee against the Freedom Flotilla's craft being used in another attempt to break the siege on Gaza and will send three ships back to Turkey.

Israel Military Puts Flotilla Issues Back to Government: In an interview with Reshet Bet on Friday, Maj.-Gen Giora Eiland, head of the military commission conducting an internal investigation of the attack on the Freedom Flotilla, said that it was possible to prevent the flotilla's mission to Gaza by political means.

Eiland, noting "changing political winds in Turkey", suggested that Israel "could have opened the Gaza crossings in advance, before the Turkish flotilla". However, he said, Israel preferred waiting for international pressure before taking steps.

Middle East Inside Line: Abbas-US Tension, Netanyahu's "Political Risk", More Gaza Flotillas?, UN-Israeli Relations

Palestinian Leader Abbas Presses US: Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas, talking to his Fatah Party, said that he wants a more specific US commitment on the borders of a future Palestinian state before agreeing to direct talks with Israel.

During a phone conversation after his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Obama reportedly pledged Abbas that he would forth ut his own map if Netanyahu did not bring one before the winter. However, it appears that Abbas wants something more concrete: “With all due respect to the American president, his message was not clear. We want clear answers to questions we presented to the Americans, especially regarding security, borders and the status of Jerusalem. We continue to insist that any negotiations with Israel be based on recognition of 1967 as the future borders of the Palestinian state.”

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Next week, the Fatah Central Committee and the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization are scheduled to hold meetings in Ramallah on the peace process and the financial crisis within Fatah.

US Responds to Abbas: State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said that final status issues are to be discussed in direct talks. Asked whether or not the United States had an idea of what the borders of the future Palestinian state would look like, Crowley said that Washington would " play a constructive role, but ultimately this is a - this is something that the parties themselves have to resolve."

But the question is: So why did we have the proximity talks? With no fruitful consequences, this process in prior to the expected/pressured direct talks is far from facilitating the reflexes of both parties, especially of the Palestinians.

Netanyahu's "Political Risks": On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton that he is ready to take a political risk to reach an agreement with the Palestinians, but only if he does not have to take a security risk.

Netanyahu did not say whether he will end the freeze on Israeli construction in the West bank but Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy Dan Meridor told Army Radio on Tuesday that, at the end of September, Israel will no longer be bound by it:

My view is that it would be wrong to build in places where there will be a Palestinian state. But it would be right to build in places that are destined to be part of the State of Israel, in the settlement blocs and the communities along the [separation] fence. The government needs to discuss this.

Israel Defense Force Strikes: On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Forces fired uon a group of Palestinians approaching Gaza's northern border with Israel. It is reported that two people were killed, one of whom is claimed to be a top Islamic Jihad militant. Palestinian medical workers say seven people were wounded, including a 10-year-old girl.

Later Wednesday, the IDF fired at a group of Palestinians attempting to infiltrate the West Bank settlement of Barkan, killing one of them. The IDF spokesperson's office said that the casualty was armed though the group was trying to enter the settlement for criminal and not terror-related purposes.

Other Flotillas Coming?: After the Turkish organisation IHH, backers of the Freedom Flotilla, stated that there will be more convoys to break the siege, another flotilla is reportedly being organized by Palestinian businessman Yasser Kashlak, who last month tried and failed to organise ships from Lebanon. The two ships are slated to sail from Libya by the end of this week.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry instructed ambassadors to ask senior officials in the US, United Nations, European Union, and Egypt to pressure Syria and Lebanon to stop the flotilla. Officials think that Cairo will help again as it did when recently diverting the Amalthea to its port of el-Arish.

It is also reported that American activists are trying to raise funds for their own ship to Gaza, which they plan to call The Audacity of Hope, the same title as a book by President Obama.

Israel's F-35 Dream Coming True?: Israel is expected to make a decision in the coming weeks regarding the purchase of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), senior defense officials said on Wednesday.

If Israel receives the jets, which will not be before 2015, it will be the first foreign country using them.

Israel is primarily concerned with the price of the aircraft, which could go as high as close to $150 million each. Therefore, officials are still considering whether it would be a better idea to get F-15s from Boeing.

UN-Israel Relations: On Wednesday, the UN Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs reported to the Security Council that aid convoys like May's Freedom Flotilla “are not helpful to resolving the basic economic problems in Gaza and needlessly carry the potential for escalation”. However, the report continued to call “for a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation conforming to international standards” regarding the 31 May attack on the Flotilla. While the report underlined "the Quartet's efforts to bring direct negotiations", it said, "The prospect of expulsion from their home city of Palestinian legislators in east Jerusalem would be a serious step backwards and would undermine hopes of making political progress."

In response, Israel's Ambassador Gabriela Shalev underlined Israel's two demands: right to security from threats and recognition as a Jewish state. She said, "A request that Israel recognize a Palestinian state as the nation-state of the Palestinian people must be met with an acknowledgment that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people."

Shalev called on Hamas to release detained Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and explained the definition of "peace": "Peace is not merely a signed document. It is a set of values that allows us all to live our lives in security and with hope –-- Israelis and Palestinian alike."

Middle East Inside Line: Turkey-Hamas-Israel, Netanyahu Denies "Map", No Russia Missiles to Iran?

Turkey, Hamas, and Israel: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, having gone to Damascus for discussions with Syrian President Bashar Assad and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, also reportedly met Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal on Monday. They spoke about the future of the reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas and the continuation of efforts to lift the siege on Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israel took a  positive step towards Ankara. "In light of the calm in Turkey and the absence of large-scale anti-Israeli demonstrations," Israel's Counter Terrorism Bureau lifted a severe warning to Israelis to avoid travel to Turkey.

Middle East Inside Line: Syria-Turkey-Lebanon Condemn Israel, Netanyahu Map “Gap”, Israel’s Iron Dome System

However, this is not the end of the story. The Israeli Foreign Ministry requested assurances from Turkey that three ships belonging to the Turkish organisation IHH, backer of May's Freedom Flotilla will not be used for another attempt to run the blockade on Gaza. The Turkish daily Hurriyet reported that in past cases, Israel has required assurances only from the organizers rather than the Government.

Israel Denies Map for Talks with Palestine: The Prime Minister's Office stated on Tuesday that Benjamin Netanyahu had not presented a map of a possible border agreement and land swaps in recent discussions over Palestine, as alleged by the London-based Al-Sharq al-Awsat.

Russia Not Selling S-300s to Iran?: According to Interfax, Russian military official Alexander Fomin on Tuesday, without referring to the S-300 by name, but pledged Moscow would desist from supplying “large missile systems” to Iran in accordance with the sanctions backed by Russia at the United Nations.

Israel welcomed Moscow's statement.

Israel's "Close" Relations with Greece: Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou is coming to Israel on Wednesday. This will be the first visit to Israel by a Greek prime minister since Konstantinos Mitsotakis came in 1992.

Ahead of the visit, The Jerusalem Post reports:

People in government said there was no doubt that the recent tension with Turkey has led to a warming of the relationship between Israel and some of Turkey’s historic rivals, such as Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria. The Cypriot and Bulgarian foreign ministers paid visits to Israel earlier this year.

According to one diplomatic official, the Greeks – looking at the Israeli-Turkish, andTurkish-US tensions – are realizing that strategic alliances in the region are changing, and that this might be a good time to get closer to Israel as a way of warming ties with Washington.

When Israel had a close strategic alliance with Turkey, the official said, Athens gave up any thought of forging such an alliance with Israel.

But now the situation with Ankara has changed, and Athens is seeing more opportunities with Israel.