Date: Tuesday, June 10, 2014
06/09/2014
Islamic Republic says negotiations over its disputed nuclear program may need to be extended by six months if July 20 deadline is not met.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif Photo: Reuters
Senior American and Iranian officials spent over five hours together in private meetings in Geneva on Monday, jointly seeking a path forward in negotiations over Iran's nuclear program only six weeks before a self-imposed deadline on talks aimed at ending the crisis.
At the bilateral meeting, and in quotes placed in state-run Iranian media, Islamic Republic officials suggested world powers may have "no choice" but to extend the negotiations past the July 20 deadline. Talks have stalled over specific Western requests of Iran to dismantle key components of its vast nuclear infrastructure.
The US, United Kingdom, France, Russia, China and Germany agreed with Iran last fall to halt the crisis, and negotiate towards a comprehensive agreement to the longstanding impasse. International powers suspect Iran's nuclear program has military dimensions.
The interim deal reached last fall— formally known as the Joint Plan of Action— grants negotiators the ability to extend talks for six months after the July 20 deadline, should all parties consent.
"We hope to reach a final agreement (by July 20) but, if this doesn't happen, then we have no choice but to extend the Geneva deal for six more months while we continue negotiations," Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said, according to Iran's state-run news agency.
"It's still too early to judge whether an extension will be needed," Araqchi added. "This hope still exists that we will be able to reach a final agreement by the end of the six months on July 20."
EU officials sat in on parts of Monday's meeting between the US and Iran, which will continue Tuesday morning. The US and Iran only restarted bilateral relations in 2013 after decades of silence between the two governments, prompted by the Iranian Revolution in 1979.
"We've always said that we would engage the Iranians bilaterally," State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters in Washington on Monday. No press conferences were scheduled in Geneva after the meetings. "We also said that there was going to be an intensification of diplomatic efforts."
Harf said that the US continues to work towards the July 20 deadline in the hopes of reaching a comprehensive plan of action.
In Herzelia, Israeli officials weighed in on the intensifying nuclear talks, with some suggesting the Iranians are seriously interested in a diplomatic solution and with others warning against a "bad deal" for the international community.
"We are worried about the negotiations, but we are also hopeful," Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz told the 2014 Herzliya Conference on Monday.
An agreement that rids Iran of enriched uranium is obviously the best outcome, he said. But he is worried that the agreement that emerges would allow Iran to be a threshold nuclear state. “An international agreement that leaves Iran on the threshold of nuclear capability is worse than no agreement at all," Steinitz said.
"What is now at hand is not just the fate of Israel in the Middle East but the fate of the world," he said.
"When we speak to our allies, the Americans, we stress the main point is to prevent Iran from being on the threshold," he said.
If Iran is left on the threshold, he said, "Sooner or later Iran will reach nuclear capability, just like North Korea, which signed many agreements. Two or three years later, it broke through to nuclear weaponry. Today, we know it has 5-12 nuclear missiles."
A bad agreement would embolden other states to seek nuclear weapons without concern for sanctions, Steinitz said. "They will say, if it's possible for Iran to be considered legitimate and on the threshold of nuclear capability, why not give the same to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Algeria, or Turkey?"
"When we look at the political negotiations, we are not against it, but we watch with concern," he said. "Always, we remind them that they need to ask themselves the same question – what will the Middle East look like in 10 years. The future is going to arrive, quicker than you think."
Another Israeli official said that the government of Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu is “concerned that the P5+1 is going to go and for a deal that allows Iran to freeze its program as a threshold nuclear state.”
“Freezing the Iranian nuclear program at a threshold level would be a historic mistake,” the official said.
With North Korea as an example of how negotiations can go awry the international community must ensure that all enriched uranium is removed from Iran.
“The international community must demand of Iran that it dismantle its military nuclear program, end all uranium enrichments, eliminate existing stock piles of of enriched uranium and end weaponization and it missile program,” the official said.
Iran can maintain a civilian nuclear program without any of these things, the Israeli official said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Date: Monday, June 9, 2014
Mr. Netanyahu is correct that Hamas, the Iran-backed group that took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, is a violent, extremist organization committed to Israel’s destruction. Gaza militants regularly fire rockets into Israel; in 2012, Hamas fought an eight-day war with Israel.
It is also true that Fatah has renounced violence, recognized Israel and cooperated for years in administering the West Bank through the Palestinian Authority. Mr. Abbas has promised that the new government will abide by those principles, set out in 2006 by the United States and other major powers. To make it more palatable to Israel and the West, the new government, which is supposed to organize elections within six months, is composed of technocrats not affiliated with Hamas or other partisans.
Mr. Netanyahu has scoffed at that distinction — and some skepticism is warranted. While Hamas cannot simply be wished away, the United States and other countries that consider Hamas a terrorist group may find it impossible to continue aiding the Palestinians if Hamas plays a more pronounced role.
The reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas is risky for Fatah, but Mr. Abbas apparently felt he had nothing to lose. Nine months of American-mediated peace talks with Israel produced no progress. Nearing retirement, at age 79, he saw value in trying to reunite the West Bank and the Gaza Strip after seven years of bitter division.
This is a long shot, since previous reconciliation efforts have quickly collapsed, and there are the inescapable facts of Hamas’s hatred of Israel and its heavily armed militia. Given that Mr. Abbas’s call for Palestinian elections in the West Bank and Gaza within six months could bring Hamas to power, this new government could also be Mr. Abbas’s way to make trouble for Mr. Netanyahu.
Israel’s position is not so clear-cut. Even as Mr. Netanyahu demanded that the United States cut off aid to the new government, Israel continued to send tax remittances to the Palestinian Authority. And Mr. Netanyahu is not above negotiating with Hamas himself. In 2011, he traded more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier held by Hamas for five years. In 2012, working through the United States and Egypt, he negotiated a cease-fire with Hamas that ended a brief war.
Mr. Netanyahu’s failure to persuade the international community not to recognize the new government reflects a growing breach between Israel and its most important allies. On Monday, the United States announced plans to work with and fund the unity government; it typically gives the Palestinians about $500 million annually. The European Union, another major donor, and the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, also declared their support. China, India and Russia welcomed the unity government, despite Israel’s efforts to build closer ties with all three.
Many experts say that if there is ever to be an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, admittedly a distant dream at this point, the Palestinians must be united. But the United States has to be careful to somehow distinguish between its support for the new government and an endorsement of Hamas and its violent, hateful behavior. To have some hope of doing that, the United States and Europe must continue to insist that Mr. Abbas stick to his promises and not allow Hamas to get the upper hand.
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Date: Thursday, June 5, 2014
Tel Aviv University/IDI poll finds 49% of Israeli Jews and 72% of Israeli Arabs disagree with idea that Israel should annex areas important to it for settlement and security in the West Bank.
West Bank settlement of Maale Efrayim in the Jordan Valley.
Half of Israeli Jews oppose annexing parts of the West Bank, but almost the same amount would back such a move, according to the Israel Democracy Institute and Tel Aviv University's monthly Peace Index Poll, published Thursday.
The poll showed 49 percent of Israeli Jews and 72% of Israeli Arabs disagree with the idea that "Israel should officially annex the areas that are important to it for settlement and security in Judea & Samaria," but 43% of Israeli Jews and 18% of Israeli Arabs agreed with the statement.
Over half (55%) of those who advocate annexation self-identified as right-wing, while 33% said they're centrist and 22% were on the left.
Most Israeli Jews (60%) oppose unilateral withdrawal from substantial parts of the West Bank, while 25% supported it. The opposite trend exists with Israeli Arabs; 68% favor it and 21% oppose. Of those who favor unilateral withdrawal, 77% were left-wing.
Despite indications that the US blames Israel for failed peace talks, 64% of Israelis do not think the US is scaling back its support for Israel. Half of Israelis (51%) believe that Israel would not be able to withstand a significant reduction of US support, but 70% of right-wing Israelis think the opposite.
The vast majority of Israelis do not sympathize with "price tag" attacks, but the percentage opposing them varies depending on what minority they target: 73% against churches, 67% against mosques, 64% against the property of Israeli Arabs and 59% against Palestinian property in the West Bank.
Most Israeli Jews (67%) believe that the police is making a real effort apprehend the perpetrators of "price tag" crimes, but less than half of Israeli Arabs (48%) agree.
As for ongoing debates on the defense budget, 48% of Israelis agree with the Finance Ministry that the defense budget was recently increased and any further expansion would cut into welfare services.
A third of Israelis (35%) agree with the Defense Ministry that increases are needed because of the threats Israeli faces.
The survey was conducted last week, polling 605 respondents who constitute a representative sample of the adult population of Israel. The margin of error is 4.1%.
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Date: Wednesday, June 4, 2014
New Hamas-Fatah government causes rift between Israel and U.S., with Jerusalem going as far as accusing Washington of trying to derail peace process.
Senior Israeli officials said Monday that Israel is deeply disappointed with the State Department's announcement that the U.S. will continue to work with the new Palestinian unity government.
"We are deeply disappointed by the comments of the State Department regarding working with the Palestinian unity government," the officials said.
State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said earlier Monday that the U.S. intends to work with the new Fatah-Hamas government but will be watching it closely to ensure that it upholds the principles of the Quartet - recognize Israel, reject terror, and honor previously signed agreements.
The Israeli officials went as far as to blame the U.S. for setting back the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.
"This Palestinian government is a government backed by Hamas, which is a terror organization committed to Israel's destruction," they said. "If the U.S. administration wants to advance peace, it should be calling on Abbas to end his pact with Hamas and return to peace talks with Israel. Instead, it is enabling Abbas to believe that it is acceptable to form a government with a terrorist organization."
Communications Minister Gilad Erdan, who is a member of the cabinet, blasted "America's naivete," adding that the U.S. "surrender to Palestinian dictates" severely diminishes the chances of returning to the negotiating table, and will force Israel to take unilateral measures in order to protect its citizens from "Abbas' terror government."
Earlier Monday, Israel's security cabinet decided that it will not hold negotiationswith the new Palestinian unity government and will oppose Hamas participation in the Palestinian elections if and when they take place.
“Israel will work, including in the international arena, to oppose the participation of terrorist organizations in the elections,” the panel said in a statement issued at the end of its two-and-a-half-hour meeting.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Israel would not allow the Palestinian Authority to conduct elections in East Jerusalem for either its parliamentary or its presidential election, if the Fatah-Hamas unity government indeed leads to such elections being held in another few months, as called for in their reconciliation deal.
In a post on his Facebook page, Israel's ambassador to Washington Ron Dermer repeated Israel's disappointment at the American willingness to work with a government including Hamas - "a terrorist organization responsible for the murder of many hundreds of Israelis, which has fired thousands of rockets at Israeli cities, and which remains committed to Israel's destruction."
Had Hamas changed, it would be one thing, Dermer wrote. "But Hamas hasn't changed. It remains as committed to Israel's destruction today as it was yesterday. This Palestinian unity government is a government of technocrats backed by terrorists, and should be treated as such.
"With suits in the front office and terrorists in the back office, it should not be business as usual."
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Date: Monday, June 2, 2014
BY JEFFREY HELLER
(Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday against any international rush to recognize a Palestinian government due to be announced under a unity pact between the Fatah and Hamas Islamist groups.
Israel and the West classify Hamas as a terrorist organization and have no official dealings with the movement, which advocates the destruction of the Jewish state.
But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah party signed a reconciliation deal with Hamas in April, said a unity government due to be announced on Monday would be composed of ministers without political affiliation, a status that could ease the way for Western engagement.
"I call on all responsible elements in the international community not to rush to recognize a Palestinian government which has Hamas as part of it and which is dependent on Hamas," Netanyahu, who has said such an administration would be a front for the Islamist group, told his cabinet.
"Hamas is a terrorist organization that calls for Israel's destruction, and the international community must not embrace it. That would not bolster peace, it would strengthen terror," Netanyahu said in public remarks at the cabinet meeting.
Israel froze U.S.-brokered peace talks with Abbas when the unity deal was announced on April 23 after numerous unsuccessful attempts at Palestinian reconciliation since Hamas seized the Gaza Strip from Fatah forces in fighting in 2007.
In a call to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday, Abbas cast the intra-Palestinian moves as a domestic matter that should not affect wider diplomacy with Israel and the West.
Abbas told Kerry "the coming government will be formed of independents and will represent the political agenda of the president," the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said.
Kerry, who oversaw the peace talks that stalled in April, "expressed concern about Hamas's role in any such government and the importance that the new government commit to the principles of nonviolence, recognition of the State of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements with it," the State Department said in a statement.
Abbas assured Kerry that "the new government would be committed to these principles," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in the statement.
Abbas said on Saturday that Israel "informed us ... they would boycott us if we announced the government". Netanyahu, in his brief statement on Sunday, made no reference to any Israeli sanctions.
Israel has withheld tax revenues from Abbas's aid-dependent Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, in retaliation for his signing in April of international conventions and treaties after Israel reneged on a promised release of Palestinian prisoners.
On Saturday, a Palestinian official said Israel had denied requests by three Gaza-based Palestinians expected to be named as ministers to attend the new government's swearing-in ceremony in the occupied West Bank.
Abbas has said a joint government with Hamas would continue to abide by his policy of recognizing Israel, though the Islamist group insists it would not change its own policy of rejecting Israel's existence.
He has been keen to assure Western donor countries he will remain the key Palestinian decision-maker and that security coordination between his forces and Israel will continue.
Both Fatah and Hamas see benefits to a unity pact, though disagreements have blocked them from achieving such a government for years.
With a strict blockade imposed by neighbors Israel and Egypt, Hamas has been struggling to prop up Gaza's economy and pay its 40,000 employees. Abbas, for his part, wants to shore up his domestic support since the peace talks with Israel collapsed.
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Date: Friday, May 30, 2014
By ISABEL KERSHNER
JERUSALEM — President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority asked Rami Hamdallah, the prime minister, on Thursday to form a “government of national consensus” that would unite warring Palestinian factions for the first time in seven years and could send Israeli-Palestinian relations into a tailspin.
The new government, made up of politically independent professionals, would formally ally Mr. Abbas’s Palestine Liberation Organization, which is dominated by the mainstream Fatah faction, and its rival, Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, under the terms of a unity pact reached last month. Palestinian officials said the new government would most likely be announced in the next few days, with Palestinian elections to be held in about six months.
“This letter designates Dr. Rami Hamdallah to form a new transitional government,” Mr. Abbas said on Thursday at an appearance with Mr. Hamdallah, according to WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency. “I wish him luck in this difficult task which he will undertake.”
The possibility has disrupted any prospect of a resumption of American-brokered peace talks and already prompted stern warnings from Israel, which says it will not deal with a government “backed by Hamas,” even if the ministers themselves are not politically affiliated. Hamas has refused to recognize Israel, which, like the United States and the European Union, classifies Hamas as a terrorist organization.
“We think that by embracing Hamas, Abbas is increasing the levels of volatility and danger,” an Israeli government official said, requesting anonymity because he was speaking before a new Palestinian government had been formally announced. “We are concerned that Hamas will exploit the pact to strengthen its position in the West Bank.”
But Muhammad Shtayyeh, a close aide to Mr. Abbas, said that the Palestinian fragmentation had to end.
“The political program of this government is going to be the political program of President Abbas and the P.L.O.,” he said by telephone. “Hamas is coming over to our course — we are not going over to theirs.”
The Israeli official said that once Mr. Abbas “consummates” his alliance with Hamas, he could be held accountable for any rockets fired against Israel by militants in Gaza. “He will become an address for our response,” the official said, refusing to elaborate.
After the unity pact between the Palestinian factions was announced in April, Israel broke off peace negotiations with Mr. Abbas, days before the expiration of the American-brokered talks. Israel said it would deduct money from the monthly transfer of tax revenue it collects on behalf of thePalestinian Authority to offset Palestinian debts to Israeli utility companies. Israel also limited meetings between Israeli and Palestinian officials.
Once the Palestinian government of national reconciliation is formed, Israel is expected to take further steps. In the past it has stopped the transfer of tax revenue altogether, putting the financially fragile Palestinian Authority under intense pressure.
The European Union, which gives substantial aid to the Palestinian Authority, has said it will support a new government of technocrats and continue direct financial assistance so long as the government upholds international principles of nonviolence, accepts previous agreements with Israel and recognizes Israel’s right to exist.
Mr. Abbas has said that the government would adhere to these conditions. But Israel insists on Hamas adhering to them as well.
Israeli officials have said they received a specific commitment in the pastfrom the American administration that it backed Israel’s position of not negotiating or dealing with a government in which Hamas played a role unless Hamas accepted those international principles. But more recent signals from Washington raise doubts about the Israeli assertions.
After the Palestinians announced their unity deal in April, Jen Psaki, a State Department spokeswoman, called the move “disappointing.” She added that “any Palestinian government must unambiguously and explicitly commit to nonviolence, recognition of the state of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations between the parties,” without mentioning Hamas.
“Clearly there are differences of opinion between Israel and the United States,” said Michael Herzog, a fellow of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a former military official and negotiator based in Israel. “Even if there were such understandings,” he said, referring to the Israeli assertions about a past commitment, “the U.S. is not there today.”
With the Obama administration already laying much of the blame for the collapsed peace talks on Israel, Washington may not support Israeli sanctions and punitive actions against the Palestinians, he said, and they may be met with additional unilateral moves by the Palestinians to join more international organizations, despite Israeli objections. There could also be a push in Congress to stop funding the Palestinian Authority.
“This new Palestinian government will inject some new tensions between Israel and the United States, adding to the existing tension after the collapse of the talks,” Mr. Herzog added.
Should the unity deal fall apart, Israel said it would resume talks with its Palestinian interlocutors. But Mr. Abbas has said that any resumption of talks depends on a three-month freeze of all Israeli settlement construction and talks that focus on the borders of a future Palestinian state. Israel has rejected these conditions.
The Vatican announced on Thursday that a prayer meeting between Pope Francis, Mr. Abbas and President Shimon Peres of Israel, who plays a largely ceremonial role, will take place in Vatican City on June 8.
For the Palestinians, national reconciliation is popular after seven years of schism. The rivalry between Hamas and Fatah peaked in 2007 when Hamas took control of Gaza a year after it won Palestinian elections and after a brief but bloody factional war in the Palestinian territory. Hamas routed the forces loyal to Mr. Abbas, whose authority was limited to parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. There have been no elections since.
Mustafa Barghouti, an independent Palestinian politician who took part in the reconciliation talks, said in a telephone interview that “the most important thing is that this government will mean the end of this terrible division and it will reactivate the Palestinian democratic system.”
Mr. Barghouti added that the new government would open the way for negotiations with the Egyptian government on new security arrangements that would allow the opening of the Rafah crossing on Gaza’s border with Egypt. That, he said, would begin to alleviate the crushing isolation of Gaza, caused largely by Israel’s closure of the territory. The new government in Egypt has also been squeezing the Hamas-run enclave.
Many of the thorniest issues, like the future of Hamas’s armed forces and the payment of 40,000 employees of the Hamas government, remain unresolved.
The new Palestinian government “will create an opening for discussions on these issues,” Mr. Barghouti said.
Still, Gaza will remain separated from the West Bank by 25 miles of Israeli territory at the narrowest point, with Israel strictly controlling movement between the two territories.
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Date: Wednesday, May 28, 2014
05/28/2014 12:30
In a special Knesset session honoring Jerusalem Day, the premier marveled at the development and growth of the capital.
PM Binyamin Netanyahu speaking at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva on May 27. Photo: KOBI GIDEON/GPO
Jerusalem will remain united forever, Prime Minister Binyamin said Wednesday, specifically referring to east Jerusalem neighborhoods that were targets of international criticism in his speech to the Knesset Wednesday.
Speaking at the special plenum meeting in honor of Jerusalem Day, Netanyahu mentioned newer parts of the city, like Ramot, Har Homa and Gilo, as well as sites of historic significance like the Old City and Mount of Olives.
The prime minister recalled growing up in a much smaller Jerusalem.
"It was a capital under fire without a way out and with a narrow horizon, and in one day, it all changed. The walls fell and we flowed in a human wave to the Western Wall," he recounted.
Netanyahu said his government works to take care of both "upper Jerusalem" and "lower Jerusalem," the expressions for its spiritual and physical manifestations.
"Torah will certainly come out of Zion," the prime minister said, paraphrasing Isaiah, "and there are many yeshivas, but hi-tech also comes out [of Jerusalem] in Har Hotzvim.
"Jerusalem was united 47 years ago and will never be divided again," Netanyahu concluded.
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein kept politics out of his speech focusing on the euphoria and pride Jews around the world felt after the Six Day War.
"Jews stood tall. They were proud to be Jewish, to go to synagogue, to walk around with a kippah, to speak Hebrew and dream about aliyah," he said. "A prince was born named 'Jerusalem of Gold.'" Edelstein said Jerusalem belongs to every Jew, near or far, believer or non-believer, left or right.
"There is no deeper consensus than Jerusalem," he added.
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Date: Tuesday, May 27, 2014
By DAMIEN GAYLE
PUBLISHED: 13:37 EST, 26 May 2014 | UPDATED: 16:23 EST, 26 May 2014
Iran's supreme leader has said that his country's struggle will only end when it defeats U.S.-led oppression.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told members of parliament in Tehran that Iran must be armed and 'have the capability to defend itself' in a 'world full of thieves'.
His comments came as negotiations with the international community over Iran's nuclear programme ran into a stalemate, with Tehran saying world powers were 'demanding too much'.
'Battle and jihad are endless': Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, pictured in 2009. He yesterday told MPs in Tehran that 'battle will only end when society can get rid of the oppressors' front with America at the head'
'Battle and jihad are endless because evil and its front continue to exist,' Khamenei told MPs, according to a translation by U.S. news site The Daily Caller.
'This battle will only end when the society can get rid of the oppressors’ front with America at the head of it, which has expanded its claws on human mind, body and thought.
'This requires a difficult and lengthy struggle and need for great strides.'
The Daily Caller's translation of a Fars News Agency report is by a reporter pseudonymously bylined Reza Khalili, who claims to be a former CIA agent in Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
Khamenei's address to Parliament on Sunday continued with veiled references to the actions of the West and Arab states as he justified Iran's continued defiance of international sanctions against its nuclear programme.
'Logic and reason command that for Iran, in order to pass through a region full of pirates, needs to arm itself and must have the capability to defend itself,' he said.
'Today’s world is full of thieves and plunderers of human honour, dignity and morality who are equipped with knowledge, wealth and power, and under the pretense of humanity easily commit crimes and betray human ideals and start wars in different parts of the world.'
There has been little progress in the latest round of nuclear talks between Tehran and the U.S., Russia, France, Britain, China - the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - and Germany.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, speaking in Tehran today before a visit to Turkey for talks with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, laid the blame for the impasse at the feet of the six powers.
'They should stop demanding too much. We have our red line, and they too want assurances that our nuclear programme will always remain peaceful. We believe these two add up,' he was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.
'I feel the realism awakened from the last round of talks will bring us closer to conclusion. We may be able to remove one of two of the previous hurdles, or rather face new ones. In any case, we should make an effort to pass through this phase.'
Iran considers the right to enrich uranium for nuclear energy a red line but that levels of enrichment are negotiable.
Enriched uranium provides fuel for nuclear generating stations but it is also, if refined to a high level, the key ingredient for atomic bombs.
Western powers claim Iran's declared civilian nuclear energy programme is a facade for seeking a weapons capability. Iran denies this but it has a history of hiding activity from U.N. nuclear inspectors.
The powers want Iran to agree to scale back enrichment and other nuclear activity and accept tougher U.N. inspections to prove it can't quickly build atomic bombs, in exchange for an end to economic sanctions.
But Mr Zarif said world powers should refrain from additional pressure on the Islamic Republic to force it into concessions.
'Sanctions haven't served them any purpose, only led to our making 19,000 centrifuges,' he said, according to IRNA, referring to the machines that enrich uranium.
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Date: Friday, May 23, 2014
By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Islamic Jihad affiliated man entered home in northern Israel with knife in attempt to kidnap Israeli, hurled firebombs at vehicles.
The Shin Bet and the Israel Police arrested a Palestinian man who was in Israel illegally, on suspicion of planning to kidnap an Israeli in the Western Galilee.
The suspect – whom the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) named as 25-year-old Murad Hassan Ali-Hassin of Kabatiya, near Jenin – confessed to plotting to kidnap an Israeli in Avtalion, in the Misgav region.
Affiliated with the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, Ali-Hassin had been jailed in 2008 and 2009 after being convicted of plotting to stab a soldier at a West Bank checkpoint.
“He confessed during questioning by the Shin Bet to carrying out a number of attempted terrorist attacks in the Misgav Regional Council in April 2014, including an attempted kidnapping,” the agency said.
“On April 19, 2014, he attempted to enter a house in Avtalion, near Karmiel, armed with a knife, to kidnap one of the home’s residents for the purpose of negotiating the release of Palestinian [sec urity] prisoners. The plot failed after he was chased away from the area by the home’s residents,” the Shin Bet added.
The suspect also confessed to hurling fire bombs in April at Israeli vehicles traveling along Route 7955 – which connects Avtalion to the Maslahit junction – and at a vehicle near Kibbutz Eshbol. There were no injuries in those attacks.
Ali-Hassin tried to set fire to a forest in the area with a firebomb as well, the Shin Bet said.
He acted alone, but confessed to trying to get other Palestinians who were in the country illegally to join him in carrying out terrorist attacks. Several Palestinians were arrested along with him on suspicion of being involved in the attacks or knowing about them.
Haifa District prosecutors charged Ali-Hassin in district court on Thursday with attempted kidnapping for murder or blackmail, breaking and entering, aggravated assault, armed offenses, and deliberately endangering human life on a transportation route.
Shin Bet sources said the case was the latest indication of the “big risk inherent in the illegal entry of Palestinians into Israel,” and stressed the need to close gaps in the West Bank security barrier that enable infiltrators to pass.
“Recently we’ve seen growing involvement of Palestinians who are in Israel illegally in terrorist attacks, including the Tel Aviv bus bombing of December 2012, the abduction and murder of soldier Tomer Hazan in September 2013, and the murder of soldier Eden Atias in Afula in November 2013,” the sources said. |
Date: Tuesday, May 20, 2014
05/19/2014 23:19
Head of political-military affairs at Defense Ministry, Amos Gilad, warns of storm clouds "on the horizon," says Israel has not been able to stop build up of Hezbollah's rocket arsenal.
Iran can break out to nuclear weapons "very quickly," and Israel must maintain operational readiness for any threat that may arise, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad, director of political-military affairs at the Defense Ministry, warned on Monday.
Speaking in Tel Aviv at a security conference organized by the Israel Defense publication and the Israel Artillery Association, Gilad said the security forecast was not sunny. "Today is a pleasant day. But there are clouds, and a storm, on the horizon," he said. "People don't believe it until it comes," he added.
Iran's nuclear weapons program remains the top threat to Israeli security, he said, describing the Islamic Republic as a "horrible regime" that threatens to exterminate Israel. He referred to a past statement by former Iranian president Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, who said that one atomic bomb would be enough to destroy Israel.
"They're determined to reach nuclear weapons. They want to get to a situation where [Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah] Khamenei asks [Ali Akbar] Salehi, [head of the Atomic Energy Association of Iran], can we develop nuclear weapons? And the answer must be yes we can. Not in English, in Persian," Gilad continued.
Iran's strategy is based on the twin goals of getting rid of choking international sanctions, and keeping the option of breaking out to nuclear weapons within "a few months," he said.
"President Obama keeps saying, and I think he means it, we won't tolerate Iran with nuclear weapons. Iran says, okay... we will build the infrastructure to get to nuclear weapons, including missile capabilities, scientists, etc. It's like a runner who can't jump two meters, so he builds a 1.95 meter ramp, and later he can jump from it and get to two meters. This is the greatest danger. There is a possibility Iran will achieve this. It's a potential existential threat," Gilad said.
He noted that Iran has overseen the construction of Hezbollah's arsenal of 100,000 rockets, and spent billions of dollars to build up Hezbollah's firepower, which threatens all of Israel's territory.
"This is a military threat, not a terrorist one," he said, adding, Israel has "not been successful in preventing a buildup [of rockets] in Lebanon." Alleged Israeli action to prevent Hezbollah's armament program, as mentioned by foreign press reports, is the exception, Gilad said.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps has global command centers for terrorism that are located "everywhere," and planned to "slaughter dozen of Israelis over Passover in Thailand," the senior defense official said. These efforts are "mostly failing," he added.
"Can you imagine nuclear bombs in Iran's possession, and how this will destabilize the region?" If the July 20 deadline for nuclear talks between the international community and Iran is delayed, this would be "excellent for the Iranians, as they want to stop the momentum of sanctions," he added.
Israel must maintain operational readiness, and never knows "when some threat will come," Gilad stated. He praised the country's defense industries for building up a shield against ballistic missile threats, and paid tribute to "unbelievable" intelligence achievements vis-a-vis Iran.
Turning his attention to the Palestinians, Gilad said that should Palestinian Authority security forces take exclusive control of West Bank, there would be a "very high feasibility" of rockets and shelling raining down on greater Tel Aviv.
Gilad expressed skepticism over the chances of Hamas and Fatah achieving real unity, rather than an "image of unity," adding, "I cannot imagine them reconciling. Hamas is determined to take over the PLO. Their strategic plan has never changed, to take over whole of the Middle East, and they don't mind starting in Ramallah."
Addressing the situation in Syria, Gilad said that two al-Qieda organizations, terror groups "without limits," are operating over the northern border, and include 1500 European or foreign passport holders fighting in Syria. "Sooner or later, they will carry out a spectacular terrorist attack in Europe or Israel." Israel has beefed up defenses along the northern border, but the Syrian crisis is also "putting pressure on Jordan," he warned.
"Al-Qaida is new in our neighborhood. It is [now] in Lebanon, Syria, and it is trying but failing to attack Jordan and Israel. In Sinai, it is extending capabilities to Cairo to be able to murder [the Egyptian] president. Either it defeats you or you defeat it."
Israel today "can defeat any combination of enemies," Gilad said, but the moment Iran goes nuclear and triggers an Arab nuclear arms race, the region will become "hell," he said.
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