podesta_email_00373.txt

podesta-emails 2,530 words email

P17 D6 V16 V11 V12

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http://www.centerpeace.org ** Israel and the Middle East News Update ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Thursday, June 25 ------------------------------------------------------------ Click here for a printer-friendly version. (http://www.centerpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/June-25.pdf) Headlines: * After Rocket, Israel Revokes Entry Permits for 500 Gazans * UN Chief Urges Israel to Restore Travel Permits to Gaza * Israel: Abbas Preventing Easing Measures for Worshippers * Former Obama aides: US Needs Tougher Iran Nuclear Deal * Deputy Minister to Arab MKs: Thank Us for Your Citizenship * Ex-U.S. Envoy Dan Kurtzer Blasts Oren's 'Astounding' Criticism * PM Meets Leaders of Israel's Druze Public amid Tensions Commentary: * Wall Street Journal: “The U.N.’s Israel Inquisition” - Editorial * Ynet News: “What war crimes did Israel commit in Gaza?” - By Nahum Barnea ** Ynet News ------------------------------------------------------------ ** After Rocket, Israel Revokes Entry Permits for Gazans (http://www.timesofisrael.com/after-rocket-israel-revokes-entry-permits-for-500-gazans/) ------------------------------------------------------------ Israel said Wednesday it was revoking permits for 500 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to enter Jerusalem ahead of Friday prayers because of rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave. A spokeswoman for COGAT, the Defense Ministry unit which coordinates with Gaza and the West Bank, told AFP the repealing of some measures that eased restrictions on Palestinians during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan applied to this week only and was “because of the rocket” which hit southern Israel on Tuesday night, causing no injuries. Defense Minister Ya’alon said Israel had destroyed the rocket launcher and canceled “some of the Ramadan reliefs to Gazas.” ** Aritz 7 News ------------------------------------------------------------ ** UN Chief Urges Israel to Restore Travel Permits (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/197234%22%20%5Cl%20%22.VYuUbxOqqko) ------------------------------------------------------------ UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Israel on Wednesday to ease restrictions on travel for Palestinian Arabs during the month of Ramadan, hours after Israel announced it was revoking permits for 500 Gazans to enter Jerusalem for prayers because of the latest rocket attacks. Ban "welcomes Israel's measures to ease some restrictions on Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza," Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman told the Security Council, according to AFP. The cancellations of travel permits announced on Wednesday only applied to this week, Israel said, and it should resume next week allowing up to 800 Gazans to travel for prayers to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. See also, “UN chief says Gaza blockade-busting flotilla not helpful” (Times of Israel) (http://www.timesofisrael.com/un-chief-says-gaza-blockade-busting-flotilla-not-helpful/) ** Ynet News ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Israel: Abbas Preventing Easing Measures (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4672448,00.html) ------------------------------------------------------------ Jerusalem police are ready to implement easing measures to thousands of Muslim worshipers expected to arrive during the month of Ramadan to pray on the Temple Mount. The measures include allowing for the entry of hundreds of buses from the Palestinian Authority without waiting or checking at the entrance points to the capital, thus preventing long lines at the entrance to the Temple Mount. The Ministry of Public Security said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas chose to prevent of exemptions. Coordinator of Govt’ Activities in the Territories, Yoav Mordechai, said to Palestinian news agency "Ma'an" and stated the Authority is not helping advance the process. ** Jerusalem Post ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Former Obama aides: US Needs Tougher Iran Deal ------------------------------------------------------------ A group of prominent American security advisers, including five with ties to President Barack Obama's first term, warned on Wednesday that a deal on curbing Iran's nuclear program was at risk of failing to provide adequate safeguards. In an open letter, the group of former US officials and foreign policy experts cautioned that an Iran nuclear deal would "fall short of meeting the administration's own standard of a 'good' agreement" unless it included a tougher line on United Nations nuclear inspections and conditions for sanctions relief. See also, “Public Statement on U.S. Policy Toward the Iran Nuclear Negotiations” (The Washington Institute) (http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/public-statement-on-u.s.-policy-toward-the-iran-nuclear-negotiations) ** Ynet News ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Mazuz to Arab MKs: Thank Us for Your Citizenship (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4672373,00.html) ------------------------------------------------------------ Deputy Interior Minister Yaron Mazuz (Likud) caused an uproar in the Knesset on Wednesday when told Arab MK Hanin Zoabi that the State of Israel was "doing you a favor in giving you ID cards" during a discussion on the Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law. Mayhem broke out following the controversial remarks, with MK Michal Rozin (Meretz) walking up to the podium with her ID card, while others demanded Mazuz to apologize. Mazuz's refused to apologize for his remarks and said: "Anyone who supports terrorism won't be here." Prime Minister Netanyahu then took to the podium, saying: “I am talking about the issue of hypocrisy. You have the right to be elected or say these things, and the right is given, and we will protect that right. But we don’t have to agree with the hypocrisy. I didn’t hear condemnations from the MKs here on the real war crimes happening in Syria, and Yemen. I didn’t hear a word on these issues, all I hear is false preaching against IDF soldiers." ** Ha'aretz ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Ex-U.S. Envoy Dan Kurtzer Blasts Oren's Criticism (http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.662832) ------------------------------------------------------------ Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer published a scathing rebuttal on his Facebook page to the criticism recently directed at the Obama administration by MK Michael Oren, and suggested Israel's former ambassador to the U.S. was blatantly ignoring the facts to further his political career. "Oren is a well-trained historian," wrote Kurtzer, "but his op-eds are replete with factual errors; and the judgments he derives from what he purports to be "facts" seem strange. Did he form judgments and then jerry-rig the facts to fit his case? It appears so, but that is what is so sad." Kurtzer argued that Oren's "astounding and confounding" statements show he failed to understand and carry out his responsibilities. "If Oren had been a politician during these years," wrote Kurtzer, "then his views, however mistaken, would matter little. But part of his job was to help his own government understand us and our government, and we now see that he failed miserably on both counts." ** Ha'aretz ------------------------------------------------------------ ** PM Meets Leaders of Druze Public amid Tensions (http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel/.premium-1.662819) ------------------------------------------------------------ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with leaders of Israel's Druze community on Wednesday, to discuss the tensions surrounding the recent events in the Golan Heights. Also present at the meeting were Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot, Interior Minister Gilad Erdan, and Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino. Addressing the gathering, Netanyahu stressed the need to prevent the recurrence of events such as happened on Monday, when a mob of Druze protesters attacked an IDF ambulance that was transporting two Syrian war casualties to an Israeli hospital, killing one and critically injuring the other - as well as lightly wounding several IDF soldiers. "Your sons, all of our sons, serve and fight in the IDF and defend the nation" Netanyahu said. "All of us obey the law and all of us are loyal citizens, butit is our duty of course to condemn that and to make sure these lawbreakers will not turn such things to a norm." ** Wall Street Journal– June 24, 2015 ------------------------------------------------------------ ** The U.N.’s Israel Inquisition (http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-u-n-s-israel-inquisition-1435186279) ------------------------------------------------------------ Another skewed report that blames the Jewish state for war crimes. Editorial U.N. reports on Israel sometimes remind us of the classic Monty Python sketch “Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition!” with its screwball combination of comic ineptitude and malignant predictability. So it is with Monday’s inquisi—er, “Inquiry”—by the U.N. Human Rights Council on last summer’s war between Israel and its terrorist enemies in Gaza. The 183-page report, from former New York State Justice Mary McGowan Davis and Senegalese lawyer Doudou Diene, purports to be even-handed by citing both Israel and Hamas for possible war crimes and violations of international law. That’s something of an achievement for the Council, which has a lopsided record of condemning Israel and whose current members include Qatar, Russia and Venezuela. Yet the report is fundamentally an anti-Israel document. The bias begins with a preposterous claim that Israel continues to “occupy” Gaza, despite its 2005 withdrawal, on the theory that Israel has the capacity “to send troops within a reasonable time to make its power felt.” By that standard, the U.S. occupies Canada and the Bahamas. The report accuses Israel of using “disproportionate” force and targeting residential buildings, while playing down that Hamas made a point of operating from civilian areas as a shield against Israeli retaliation and to flaunt civilian casualties. It also indicts Israel by way of unconfirmed assumptions submitted as evidence of guilt, as in this gem: “Given the absence of information suggesting in each case that the anticipated military advantage at the time of the [Israeli] attack was such that the expected civilian casualties and damage to the targeted and surrounding buildings were not excessive, there are strong indications that these attacks could be disproportionate, and therefore amount to a war crime.” Israel refused to cooperate with the inquiry, since there was little question what its conclusions would be. A similar inquiry into the 2008-2009 Gaza war, led by South African jurist Richard Goldstone, charged Israel with war crimes and potential crimes against humanity—only to be later recanted by Mr. Goldstone in a newspaper op-ed. The current inquiry was initially going to be chaired by Canadian academic William Schabas—until it turned out he had been paid to consult for the Palestinians. This is typical of the U.N., but it’s not trivial. As Benjamin Wittes and Yishai Schwartz noted Wednesday in the Lawfare blog, “approaches [to International Humanitarian Law] that begin as a way of constraining Israeli military action quickly migrate to constraining U.S. military action.” That goes especially for the Gaza inquiry’s presumption that the Israeli military must furnish proof that its targets have military value, or otherwise be suspected of war crimes. The Obama Administration says it will oppose bringing the report to the U.N. Security Council, but it lent legitimacy to the enterprise when it joined the Human Rights Council after the Bush Administration had stayed away. If the President wants to demonstrate his support for Israel, one place to start would be to withdraw from the Council for producing this shameful report. ** [INSERT News Source] – August, [INSERT Date], 2014 ------------------------------------------------------------ ** What war crimes did Israel commit in Gaza? (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4671841,00.html) ------------------------------------------------------------ While world powers are exempted from investigation and punishment, and tyrant regimes in Africa and in the Middle East are reprimanded from time to time but don’t give a damn, Israel is stuck in a bad place in the middle. By Nahum Barnea I beg the forgiveness of the distinguished members of the human rights community, but the talk about war crimes in regards to the fighting in Gaza is hollow talk at best, and false talk at worst. War crimes compared to who? Compared to what? Compared to what Russia is doing in Ukraine? Compared to what the United States did in Iraq? In Afghanistan? Compared to what China is doing in Tibet? I won't be revealing any exciting news to my readers if I say that the international community's investigation procedures are selective. World powers are exempted from investigation, exempted from punishment: Tyrant regimes, which destroy nations, in Africa and in the Middle East, are reprimanded from time to time, but don’t give a damn. Israel is stuck in a bad place in the middle. In light of this reality, Judge McGowan Davis' report spares Israel. Yes, there was an excessive use of ammunition in many cases, disproportional damage to residential buildings, unnecessary killing of children and civilians, and in two cases a fire frenzy in order to prevent a soldier's abduction. But every decision maker in the international community knows that there is no practical way of waging military operations while keeping sterile, with zero flaws. Like in other Western countries, the public opinion's sensitivity towards fallen soldiers, and the government and army's fear of losing the public opinion's support, increase the number of civilian casualties on the other side. On Monday, after the report was published, sources in the Israeli government complained bitterly that the report made an analogy between Israel and Hamas. I'm not sure I understand them. When reports issued by international commissions of inquiry directed all their criticism at Israel, claiming that Israel was a sovereign state which is committed to international law, unlike its enemies in Gaza, those same sources complained that Israel was being discriminated against. Now, when a commission of inquiry on behalf of the United Nations makes an effort to balance its criticism, those same sources are complaining again. The prime minister, the defense minister and the IDF commanders during Operation Protective Edge wanted to kill as many Hamas fighters and fighters of other terror organizations as possible. They were not thirsty for the blood of civilians in Gaza. On the contrary: The fear of a legal or diplomatic entanglement over unnecessary fire made them insist on warning procedures such as "roof knocking," waste sophisticated and expensive ammunition and keep fighter jets in the air for hours, all so as not to make a mistake. Ironically, what made Hamas accept a ceasefire in the end was not the casualties among its fighters but the extent of damage in the civilian neighborhoods. The problem with Operation Protective Edge was not the war crimes, but the fact that Israel found itself in a war. The Israeli government prevented the transfer of salaries to Hamas, prevented the transfer of goods and reinforced the siege on the Strip as much as it could. Had the government let into Gaza in 2014 everything it lets in today, there would have been no Protective Edge. This is where the leaders' guilt lies. It also has to do with the management of the operation, the intellectual fixation, the slow movement, the fear of taking risks and the negligence in defending the soldiers and civilians near the border. A number of lessons have been learned in the year that has passed since the operation. The secret Qatar-mediated negotiations with Hamas and the ease of the siege point to that. In addition, operational lessons have been learned in the sea, in the air and on the land. But let us not delude ourselves: If and when another round is launched vis-à-vis Gaza, it won't be any different from the previous round, neither in the reports it generates nor in the feeling of pain, waste and missed opportunity it leaves behind. ============================================================ S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 633 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20004 ** www.centerpeace.org (http://www.centerpeace.org) 2015 S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace, All rights reserved. YOU ARE RECEIVING THIS EMAIL BECAUSE YOU SIGNED UP FOR OUR NEWS UPDATES. ** unsubscribe from this list (http://centerpeace.us7.list-manage1.com/unsubscribe?u=232a4a45176fccacab865e520&id=929d521884&e=a7f9100a75&c=173480a79e) ** update subscription preferences (http://centerpeace.us7.list-manage.com/profile?u=232a4a45176fccacab865e520&id=929d521884&e=a7f9100a75)