

Israel will say 'yes' to settlement freeze, Wexler
tells 'Post'
Israel would lose nothing, and potentially gain everything,
by agreeing to a temporary moratorium on construction in the settlements for a
short period of time, Congressman Robert Wexler, a close political ally of US President Barack
Obama and a stalwart Israel supporter, told The
Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (left) and US President
Barack Obama share a moment of laughter during their meeting in the White House.
Photo: Moshe Milner /
GPO
Wexler, on his third visit to Israel since
December, met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, a day after
Defense Minister Ehud Barak and US Middle East envoy George Mitchell met in New
York and decided that the discussion over settlement construction would
continue.
"A request for a moratorium or freeze in settlement activity
that can be mutually agreed upon by the US and Israel in the next several weeks
is a tiny, tiny gesture and down payment to make when you look at potentially
what is on the other side of the equation," said Wexler.
On other side of the equation, he said, were 22 Arab
countries being urged by the US to take significant steps now towards
normalization with Israel.
"I want to call their bluff," Wexler said. "I want to see, if
Israel makes substantial movement toward a credible peace process, whether they
are willing to do it. And if they are not, better that we should find out five
or six months into the process, before Israel is actually asked to compromise
any significant position."
Asked what would happen if Israel were to say no to the
moratorium request, Wexler said, "I don't think Israel will say no. I don't see
an equation where it is in Israel's interest to say no, so I believe Israel will
say yes, under a certain set of qualifications that Israel will agree to. This
is one hundred percent in Israel's national security interest."
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is sean at the US
Independence Day reception at the residence of US Ambassador to Israel James
Cunningham in Herzliya.
Photo:
gpo
Regarding the types of "qualifications," Wexler said that
that was up to the Israeli prime minister to decide.
"Any process of discussion requires compromise, particularly
amongst friends and allies if they are coming from different points," he said,
adding that every reasonable actor in the process understands that in a
political dynamic there must be give and take.
Wexler bewailed that while the US demands on Israel were
highlighted in the Israeli press, Washington's demands on the Arab world were
not gaining similar attention.
According to Wexler, the Obama administration was making
"equal, if not greater, demands on the Arab world in the context of starting the
process and negotiations."
Wexler said that the demands on the Arab world - Saudi
Arabia, the Gulf States and the North African Arab states - were quite
substantial in terms of steps of normalization. He said what was being discussed
were trade offices, direct economic links, cultural and educational exchanges
and over-fly rights for Israeli air carriers.
Moreover, he said the US was "open to suggestions from the
Israeli side as to all the different indicators of normalization that would be
important for Israel and that would create credibility among the Israeli
public."
An Israeli settlement moratorium could go a long way toward
moving that normalization process ahead, he said.
When asked why the Arab world couldn't first show signs of a
willingness to normalize before Israel declares a moratorium, Wexler
characterized such a demand as "childish."
Wexler, a liberal Democratic congressman from South Florida
who was the first high-profile Jewish politician outside of Illinois to endorse
Obama's presidential candidacy in 2007, said Obama was asking Israel for a
moratorium on settlements, and a relaxing of conditions in the West Bank
consistent with Israel's security requirements, in exchange for the
Palestinians' adhering to their security conditions and responsibilities, and
the Arab world being given a set of responsibilities that has not been given in
the past.
"And if the Arab world fails to deliver," Wexler said, "you
can rightly say that all bets are off."
Wexler dismissed concerns that Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas was waiting for Obama to "deliver" Israel while the PA
made no conciliatory steps, saying that if he did believe that, he was disabused
of the notion by Obama's positive response to Netanyahu's speech last month at
Bar-Ilan University.
"If in fact the Palestinians believed that the American
posture was that they didn't have to do anything, and the Americans would take
care of this, then I think they learned the hard way," he said.
Wexler was also dismissive of the notion that the US was
pushing Israel hard on the settlement issue as a way of bringing down the
Netanyahu government.
"The president of the US does not have a view, or an opinion,
or either a tactical or strategic posture on the government of Israel," he said.
"The idea that the president, or anyone in any position of responsibility in
Washington, is designing a process to undermine the policy or position or
standing of the government of Israel is absurd."
Channel 1 reported last night that according to an Israeli
source, Obama would be announcing his Mideast peace plan within a month.
Netanyahu on Wednesday night called Israel's bond with the
United States "unbreakable."
"We have a brave relationship with the United States, a bond
that President Obama himself defined as unbreakable; Indeed, our bond with the
US is unbreakable," Netanyahu said, speaking at the US Independence Day
reception at the American ambassador's residence in Herzliya.
Netnayhu went on to praise the US, calling the country a
model for freedom and values.
In an allusion to the Iranian nuclear program, Netanyahu said
freedom has usually triumphed over repressive regimes, but warned that the world
order could break down if tyrannical regimes obtain weapons of mass destruction.
"The greatest danger facing our world today is that this
historical consistency of the triumph and spread of democracy could change if
the world's worst regimes acquire the world's most dangerous weapons," he said.
Netanyahu did not mention Iran, but he has often warned
against allowing Iran to acquire nuclear weapons. Iran has denied it is pursuing
nuclear weapons.
The prime minister went on to stress that the State of Israel
and its citizens deeply appreciate the US, noting that several of Jerusalem's
streets are named after former US presidents.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (left) and US President
Barack Obama share a moment of laughter during their meeting in the White House.
Photo: Moshe Milner /
GPO
US Ambassador to Israel James Cunningham also mentioned the
strong bond to Israel, and said the US is committed to the security of Israel
and to the security of Israel's citizens.
Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this
report
Cleric: Muslims should visit Jerusalem
A senior Palestinian Muslim cleric on Wednesday urged Muslims
to travel to
Jerusalem, breaking a taboo against visiting the holy city because it would
be considered as normalizing relations with Israel.
Palestinian school girls walk near the Dome of the
Rock Mosque, in the Al Aqsa Mosque compound, also known to Jews as the
Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City.
Photo: AP
Speaking at a press conference in Cairo, Sheikh Tayseer
al-Timimi said Muslims should travel to Jerusalem and perform pilgrimage to
Muslim holy places in the disputed city, backtracking on an earlier edict.
"I withdraw my fatwa (edict) and now ask all Muslims and
(Arab) Christians to creep into Jerusalem for a visit, satisfaction and shopping,"
al-Timimi said.
"Come to the Palestinian hotels and come to the Palestinian
markets," said the Palestinian cleric.
Al-Timimi had previously banned Muslims from visiting
Jerusalem, arguing that would be considered normalizing relations with Israel.
Other Muslim clerics also ban such visits, saying Muslims
should wait until a Palestinian state is established with east Jerusalem as its
capital.
Jerusalem's Al Aqsa mosque is one of Islam's most sacred
shrines and Arabs and Muslims used to visit regularly to worship there until
1967.
Al-Timimi's call would likely not affect Muslims in countries
such as Syria or Saudi Arabia, who do not have diplomatic relations with Israel,
but it could encourage Muslims in other places such as India or Egypt which do.
The cleric's call comes amid reports that the United States
is urging Arab nations to take some steps to normalize relations with Israel as
incentives for the Jewish state to revive the peace process with Palestinians.
US Mideast envoy George Mitchell has reportedly proposed that
Arab states reopen Israeli diplomatic missions and allow Israeli commercial
planes to fly in their air space and grant entry to Israeli tourists. Egypt and
Jordan are the only Arab states that allow this today.
US President Barack Obama's administration has been pushing
all sides to increase efforts to achieve "comprehensive peace" between Israel,
an independent Palestinian state and the broader Arab world. But Arab countries,
which launched a collective peace initiative in 2002, have been reluctant to
take additional steps without first getting concessions from Israel.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has so far refused to
concede to US demands that Israel stop settlement construction in the West Bank
and commit to the creation of a Palestinian state.

JERUSALEM, Israel - Israel and the U.S. remained at odds over
the issue of Israeli building in settlements, following a meeting between
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and U.S. special Middle East envoy George
Mitchell on Tuesday.
Topping the agenda of their four-hour meeting was the issue
of construction in Jewish communities in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria).
According to a joint statement released after the meeting, the
two discussed a "full range of issues related to Middle East peace and security"
and "contributions" that Israel, the Palestinians, Arab countries and
international community should make to the effort.
Specifically, the discussions "covered a wide range of
measures needed to create a climate conducive to peace," the statement said.
For the Palestinians, that included taking measures regarding
security and incitement. For the Arab states, it meant taking steps
toward normalization of relations with Israel. And for Israel, it focused
on easing access and movement for Palestinians in the West Bank and on
settlement activity
The discussions are set to continue in two weeks between
Mitchell and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and press reports
indicated that a deal was pending.
Tensions have been high recently over Washington's demand that
Israel completely freeze construction in Israeli communities in the West Bank.
But Israel has said that while it will not build new settlements, it will
continue to build in existing communities where some 300,000 Israelis live.
A sign of just how strained relations have become is Likud
parliamentarian Danny Danon's call for fellow Knesset members to boycott the
U.S. Embassy's 4th of July celebrations in Tel Aviv this week. The prestigious
event is held annually at the ambassador's residence.
In a letter, Danon said that statements from American
government representatives "regarding Israel's commitment to stop building in
Judea and Samaria, including natural growth" and statements accusing Israel of
lying to the White House over the years "seriously damage Israel's honor."
Danon called on Knesset members to skip the event to "deliver
to the American administration a clear message – that the State of Israel is
independent and not President Obama's pet."
Other reports have said the Obama administration is interested
in toning down the settlement conflict between the U.S. and Israel, recognizing
that it does not serve U.S. interests in the Middle East.
A "settlement freeze" was part of the road map peace plan but
Israel – and recently some officials from former President George Bush's
administration – said there was an agreement that Israel could continue building
for "natural growth" in existing communities.
Earlier this week, Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor said that
former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon never would have entered into the "road map"
without such an understanding, and Israel was expecting the U.S. to abide by
that agreement.
"Settlement freeze, the term used in that agreement, was
interpreted in an agreed way by Israel and America and acted upon for six years.
We haven't heard a word for six years from the American administration on the
way it was done," Meridor said.
Sources - The Jerusalem Post, YNet, Ha'aretz
Barak tries to put happy face on failed US
visit
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak departed New York for Israel on Wednesday
following failed talks with US Middle East envoy George Mitchell aimed at easing
tensions between the two nations over the continued growth of Jewish towns in
areas claimed by the Palestinian Arabs.
Barak said that the talks focused on a wide range of issues, including Iran
and the need for a comprehensive regional peace, and not just peace between
Israel and the Palestinians. But Israeli media focused on the issue that
certainly dominated the talks - the ongoing construction of homes in Jewish
settlements and Jewish neighborhoods on the eastern side of Jerusalem.
Barak tried to strike a positive note, saying that while the two sides had
not come to any kind of agreement, they were closer than ever to an
understanding on the issue.
He insisted that no one in Washington truly believes life can just come to a
standstill in Jewish settlements and natural growth be halted. But in recent
demands leaked to the media, that appears to be precisely what the Obama
Administration wants, including in large Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem.
Barak did indicate that he had not only been on the receiving end of
criticism during the talks, but had also impressed strongly upon the Americans
that their focus on the construction of a few Jewish houses is exaggerated and
that equal if not greater importance needs to be placed on the Arabs finally
meeting their peace commitments.
"The Arab states have something to give to Israel, not just take," said
Barak.

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