The question: what did the secret internal Foreign Ministry report distributed to Israeli diplomatic missions abroad mean? The document declares that the US administration will not put much effort into the upcoming indirect negotiations, opting instead to focus on November’s Congressional elections.
Why was this released in the wake of the visit of Vice President Joe Biden to Israel? Was this a message to Washington over the previous “unwanted” Ametrican statements on settlements in East Jerusalem and West Bank or was it just an example of Israel trying to box in the Obama Administration by revealing, through a well-timed leak, the supposed US policy?
Then there’s the Hamas question: on Sunday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointed to Hamas to argue that an early deal for a Palestinian state is unlikely, given the strength of the organisation in the Gaza Strip.
John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, spoke to Haaretz before returning to Britain after 3 1/2 years in office.
Question: In a previous interview with you more than a year ago, you suggested that Israel shake off the delusion that pressure on the Gaza Strip would lead to Hamas’ downfall. In your visit to Gaza this week, did you have the impression that the blockade was weakening Hamas?
Holmes: I don’t think my voice alone would have changed Israeli policy. It is hard to be sure what exactly the objective of this policy is. Of the blockade, the siege, the collective punishment. It is hard to see that it has been achieved, because Hamas is still there, firmly in control. Meanwhile, the condition of the people there [in Gaza] remains grim.
On Friday, Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak met with his US counterpart, Robert Gates, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. As Barak reiterated the need for “imminent harsh sanctions” against Iran, Clinton urged her guest to ease sanctions against Gazans. However, the two saw eye-to-eye on “security”.
Hamas Divides over Shalit Case?: Haaretz says that negotiations over the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit have divided Hamas, with the resignation of Mahmoud A-Zahar, a senior member of the negotiating team. Despite the efforts of German negotiator Gerhard Konrad, Israeli leaders have said that they will not release some senior Palestinian leaders as demanded by Hamas. A-Zahar’s argued with Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal over the handling of talks and then left his post.
Hamas’ “Israel Spy” Speaks: Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of Hamas founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef who worked for Israel’s Shin Bet security service, converted to Christianity, and moved to California, said by phone: “I wish I were in Gaza now. I would put on an army uniform and join Israel’s special forces in order to liberate Gilad Shalit. If I were there, I could help. We wasted so many years with investigations and arrests to capture the very terrorists that they now want to release in return for Shalit. That must not be done.”
“Do you know what it’s like living in Gaza?” a friend of mine asked. “It is like walking on broken glass tearing at your feet.”
On January 21, fifty-four House Democrats signed a letter to President Obama asking him to dramatically ease, if not end, the siege of Gaza. They wrote:
The people of Gaza have suffered enormously since the blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt following Hamas’s coup, and particularly following Operation Cast Lead…. The unabated suffering of Gazan civilians highlights the urgency of reaching a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and we ask you to press for immediate relief for the citizens of Gaza as an urgent component of your broader Middle East peace efforts…. Despite ad hoc easing of the blockade, there has been no significant improvement in the quantity and scope of goods allowed into Gaza…. The crisis has devastated livelihoods, entrenched a poverty rate of over 70%, increased dependence on erratic international aid, allowed the deterioration of public infrastructure, and led to the marked decline of the accessibility of essential services.
On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to discuss Hamas, the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, sanctions on Iran, and Russian’s pending delivery of S-300 missiles to Tehran.
At the end of the day, both leaders got what they sought. Medvedev did not put himself under any commitment to punish Iran severely but maintained a “threatening” position vis-a-vis Tehran. He told Netanyahu that Russia will hold off on delivering the S-300s to Iran. A spokewoman added: “The position of Russia regarding sanctions remains unchanged. [But] if Iran remains uncooperative, no one can exclude the use of sanctions.”
Netanyahu was satisfied to return home with the “success” of the deferred delivery of the S-300s, and he ticked another box in his “efforts to exhaust every possible chance to achieve peace” before “the necessity of applying a pre-emptive strike” against Iran in the future.
On Wednesday, Hamas declared publicly that Israel will release 20 Palestinian female prisoners in exchange of a recent proof-of-life videotape of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. The deal was confirmed by Israeli officials as well. Hamas continues to ask for the release of 1,000 members from Israeli prisons in exchange for Shalit’s freedom, a proposal rejected by Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s scheduled meeting with the U.S. Mideast special envoy George Mitchell was postponed to Tuesday to allow the Israeli leader to attend the funeral of Air Force pilot Capt. Asaf Ramon, who was killed in a training accident.
At the critical meeting, both sides are expected to focus on the timetable and essence of the settlement freeze and on further steps, including Arab concessions for “normalization” of relations with Israel, before the UN General Assembly meeting later this month.
The question: what did the secret internal Foreign Ministry report distributed to Israeli diplomatic missions abroad mean? The document declares that the US administration will not put much effort into the upcoming indirect negotiations, opting instead to focus on November’s Congressional elections.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s scheduled meeting with the U.S. Mideast special envoy George Mitchell was postponed to Tuesday to allow the Israeli leader to attend the funeral of Air Force pilot Capt. Asaf Ramon, who was killed in a training accident.
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