Middle East Inside Line: Israel Shifts on Settlements; Egypt & Hamas Ally on "Normalisation"

Israel Manoeuvres on Settlements Issue: Just one day after the approval of new 455 housing units in the West Bank, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak (pictured) tacked back diplomatically and said that "freezing [settlement] construction is a correct national priority". He added, "Regarding the settlements, we need to act wisely and responsibly, not with harsh words and violence."

Barak's maneuver, coming just before US envoy George Mitchell's visit to Israel, both sends a signal to Washington and prepares the Israeli public for a policy shift.

Whether or not the US knew about Israel's construction of an additional 455 housing units, making Washington's protests in the last week posture rather than substance, it is now necessary for the Netanyahu Government to consider an alignment with the the US. And that in turns means convincing the public, and especially the core membership of the Likud Party,  that Israel needs to show "genorosity" on the settlements in return for Arab pledges to normalise relations.

Egypt and Hamas Ally to Slow "Normalisation" with Israel: Despite Saudi Arabia's explicit rejection of the normalization of ties with Israel, the Arab League's dismissal, and Israel's latest hesitations, Washington gave the good news: "Some Arab countries had agreed in normalizing their relations with Israel in exchange of the latter's temporary freeze in its settlements."

However, right after the US message, both Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and Cairo sent contradictory signals. On Sunday, Meshaal warned Arabs not to accept a temporary freeze in exchange for the normalization of relations with Israel. Then on Tuesday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said: "A settlement freeze in the West Bank is not of equal value to normalization, and will not bring this about alone."

Why this alliance of views, given recent hostility between Egypt and Hamas? Sources close to Hamas in the Gaza Strip stated that Meshaal's recent visit to Cairo "brought the Islamist movement and Fatah closer to ending their differences." The same sources added that Hamas agreed to sign a "reconciliation accord" with Fatah after the Egyptians promised to reopen the Rafah border crossing permanently .

In Cairo, both sides might have negotiated to slow the "normalization process between some Arab countries and Israel", or at least, on breaking up the "positive" atmosphere portrayed by Washington. This would not be a burden for Egypt both since the scope of these "normalization steps" is expected to be limited, and since Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan had already rejected taking a step towards Israel unless it halted settlement constructions completely and permanently.

Middle East Inside Line: Israel and Hamas Manoeuvre on Settlements Policy

Israel Government Moves for Common Line on Settlements: On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would likely reach a final plan with George Mitchell during the American envoy's visit to Israel this week.

Dealing with increasing criticisms from his Likud Party, the Prime Minister held meetings with some Likud cabinet ministers and members of Parliament to get their support for a freeze on construction in the West Bank settlements. Netanyahu's meetings came as Defense Minister Ehud Barak gave partial approval for 500 new housing units to be constructed in the West Bank, with 2000 more to be approved on Monday morning. A source in the Prime Minister's office said Netanyahu did not use the word "moratorium" or "freeze" but described the proposed measure as "reducing the scale of construction".

While the European Union reiterated its call for a "total settlement freeze," Washington sharpened its tone:

Continued settlement activity is inconsistent with Israel's commitment under the road map.... The administration of President Barack Obama does not accept the legitimacy of continued settlement expansion and we urge that it stop. We are working to create a climate in which negotiations can take place, and such actions make it harder to create such a climate.

Meanwhile, Israel and Hamas Stand Tough: On Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai told Likud Party members:

The postponement in construction is a strategic delay... We won't give up on building in Jerusalem and will still build hundreds of construction units. We are looking ahead, here.

On the other side, Hamas political chief Khaled Meshaal warned Arab states:

There is an Israeli effort to avoid the American demands... We warn against any Arab rush toward normalization.

Middle East/Iran Inside Line: Israel Presses Ahead with Settlements, Tehran Draws Line on Nuke Talks

The Latest from Iran (6 September): The Reformists Speak

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Israel Pushes Ahead with Settlements: On Friday, a senior Israeli government source reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would approve the construction of hundreds of new housing units in West Bank settlements before he declares a moratorium. Significantly, these "hundreds of houses" are beyond  the 2,500 housing units currently being built.

The Israeli source claimed that Netanyahu informed U.S. officials weeks ago of his decision to authorize the additional construction. The White House, however, "regretted" the reports:

We regret the reports of Israel's plans to approve additional settlement construction... Continued settlement activity is inconsistent with Israel's commitment under the road map.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called Netanyahu's planned approval of the West Bank construction as "unacceptable", and Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said the new construction has been criticized by all 27 EU ministers.

Iran Draws Line on Nuke Talks: On Friday, Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Ali Asghar Soltanieh, accused the United States of using "forged documents" to make its case that Iran is building nuclear weapons:

By interfering in the work of the IAEA and exerting various political pressures, the government of the United States attempted to spoil the cooperative spirit between the Islamic republic of Iran and the IAEA... The government of the United States has not handed over original documents to the agency since it does not in fact have any authenticated document and all it has are forged documents.

The agency didn't deliver any original documents to Iran and none of the documents and materials that were shown to Iran have authenticity and all proved to be fabricated, baseless allegations and false attributions to Iran... Therefore, this subject must be closed.

Middle East Inside Line: Chavez Attack on Israel, Gaza Low-Intensity Conflict

Chavez's Diplomatic Dive Bombing of Israel: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez targeted Israel and the U.S. during his visit to Syria. After a one-hour meeting with Syrian President Bashir al-Assad, Chavez blamed Israel for "dividing the Middle East" as "a country that annihilates people and is hostile to peace":

The entire world knows it. Why was the state of Israel created? ... To divide. To impede the unity of the Arab world. To assure the presence of the North American empire in all these lands.

I believe [this] is a fateful battle. It's either now or never in order to liberate the world from imperialism and change the world from a unipolar into a multi-polar world.

Likud Splitting over Settlements Issue? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is feeling pressure from his Likud Party members in the wake of headlines that he already accepted a temporary freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank. More than half of the party leadership has accepted an invitation to speak at a hawkish rally in Tel Aviv on Wednesday. Vice Premier Silvan Shalom, Ministers Gilad Erdan, Moshe Kahlon, Yuli Edelstein and Michael Eitan, and Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin have accepted, while Vice Premier Moshe Ya'alon has not decided whether to attend.

Shalom has asserted:

A clear, wide majority in the Likud would not give a hand to any step that would strangle the settlements, which is one of the party's banners... We need to take steps to advance the diplomatic process, but with conditions, and one of them must be not freezing the settlements that we built. The Palestinians cannot ask us to make unilateral, irreversible, far-reaching concessions that impact the permanent [borders] just for agreeing to meet with us.

Shalom added that US President Barack Obama's diplomatic process would "blow up in our face and lead to a dead end."

Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar supported Netanyahu on Thursday:

In today's complex situation, our prime minister whom we chose, Binyamin Netanyahu, must maintain all our national interests - the settlements that are the apple of our eye, Jerusalem, and also our relations with the United States and avoiding international isolation, because we will not be able to do the things that are close to our hearts if we are isolated.

Israel-Gaza Low-Intensity Conflict: Seven mortar shells were fired from Gaza into Israel, all hitting open areas without casualties or damage. On Thursday night, Israeli jets bombed a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip.

Middle East Inside Line: Fatah and Israel, US Withdrawal From Iraq to Turkey?, Israel-Sweden Fight (Round 3)

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Fatah Backs Away from Negotiations with Israel: Nabil Shaath, who was re-elected in August to Fatah's central committee and is a former Palestinian prime minister and foreign minister, dismissed a return to negotiations unless Israel endorses freezing of settlements both in the West Bank and East Jerusalem; not temporarily but permanently.

During Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with President Obama's special envoy George Mitchell in London last week, the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, had showed willingness to meet Netanyahu at next month’s UN General Assembly session in New York.

Shaath’s recent statement plays down the importance of this expected meeting, especially if it does not reflect a consensus in the balance of power between the "new blood" and the veterans of Fatah.

Earlier US Withdrawal from Iraq? The Turkish newspaper Milliyet claimed on Monday that the Obama Administration is preparing to announce the withdrawal of American soldiers from Iraq eight months before the official date of August 2010 as a Christmas surprise to Americans.

The article claims that new landing fields and prefabricated houses are being constructed by American soldiers in the Incirlik base in Turkey. A report supposedly posted to Incirlik’s 39th Wing Commandership is calling for immediate preparations for the intake of 100,000 of the 142,000 US forces in Iraq.

Milliyet asserts that some high-ranking American soldiers believe the plans are not being disclosed because of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani’s insistence that the earlier withdrawal will prompt greater instability in his country.

Iraq - "Shoe Thrower" Al-Zaidi to Go Free: Iraqi journalist Muntazar al-Zaidi, will be released on 14 December 2009, exactly one year after he threw his shoes at President George W. Bush, after his three-year sentence was reduced for good behavior.

The Israel-Sweden Fight: Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt denied Haaretz's report that Sweden would work with Italy to pass a resolution condemning anti-Semitism at an upcoming European foreign ministers meeting.

The Swedish news agency TT reports the statement of the Swedish foreign ministry's head of communications, Cecilia Julin: "From the Swedish side we have no plans to handle this question through the informal foreign ministers' meeting in Stockholm." She added Bildt's suggestion that Italy Foreign Minister Frattini's comment must have arisen through an "Italian misunderstanding".

Swedish President Fredrik Reinfeldt also contributed to the discussion at a press conference in Stockholm. He said, "We cannot be asked by anyone to contravene the Swedish constitution, and this is something we will also not do within the European Union."

Israel's unofficial threat is on the table now. Bildt is supposed to visit Israel on September 11 for a one-day visit. According to Israeli diplomatic officials, "it would cast a serious cloud over the trip and Sweden's efforts to play a significant role in the diplomatic process" if there is no condemnation of the "stolen Palestianian organs" story from the Swedish side.