Israel's diplomatic spring

[Solomon2]

Netanyahu’s invitation
Sep 25, 2016

Netanyahu

The Palestinians should not be too quick to dismiss the invitation extended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to address Israel’s parliament in return to “gladly come to speak peace with the Palestinian parliament in Ramallah.” Netanyahu’s gesture was quickly rejected by the Palestinians as a “new gimmick” but the invitation is reminiscent of the one issued by former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to visit Israel — and the rest is history. On Nov. 19, 1977, Sadat became the first Arab leader to visit Israel when he met with Begin and spoke before the Knesset in Jerusalem about his views on how to achieve a comprehensive peace to the Arab-Israeli conflict which included the full implementation of UN resolutions 242 and 338.

The visit led to the 1978 Camp David accords, the series of meetings between Egypt and Israel facilitated by then US President Jimmy Carter, then the signing of a peace treaty between Israel and Egypt in the US the following year. For good measure, both Sadat and Begin were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for creating the treaty.

For all its shortcomings, Camp David demonstrated that negotiations with Israel were possible and that progress could be made through sustained efforts at communication and cooperation.
Despite the disappointing conclusion of the 1993 Oslo accords, it was a significant development that had little chance of occurring without the precedent set by Camp David.

Another unprecedented invitation involving the Palestinians and Israel needs mentioning, that of Bill Clinton becoming the first US president to visit Palestinian territory where he addressed the Palestine National Council. On that day in 1998, Palestinian leaders approved a measure affirming the right of Israel to exist. Rising from their seats and voting by raising their hands, the PNC voted nearly unanimously to remove clauses from the Palestine Liberation Organization charter that called for the destruction of Israel. The acceptance by the Palestinians that Israel had the right to live within secure borders led to the 2000 Camp David summit II which, while it ended without an agreement, could not have been held in the first place had it not been for Clinton’s visit.

Despite these two examples of how official visits can bend the arc of history, the Palestinians automatically rejected Netanyahu’s invite to Abbas which was designed to mask what they described as Israel’s intransigence on moving forward with the Mideast peace process. It is possible that the aim of the invitation was an attempt by Netanyahu to isolate UN attempts to restart and impose a peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. In reiterating his persistent call for direct negotiations with the Palestinians, Netanyahu has rejected any possible UN plan to unilaterally impose a solution to the conflict, reiterating Israel’s longstanding complaints that the UN is biased against Israel. His biggest concern is that President Obama might allow the UN Security Council to endorse Palestinian statehood at year end without the traditional US veto of such a measure.

The Palestinians have rebuffed Netanyahu’s past offers for such invitations, saying his hard-line position on all core issues made dialogue impossible. Indeed, Netanyahu rejects a settlement freeze, will not uproot settlements, rejects the 1967 borders as the basis for talks and rejects any division of Jerusalem.

But the Palestinians should note that at the time, Egypt and Israel were mortal enemies, having fought three wars. Camp David called for a five-year transitional period of Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza. The transitional period would include the introduction of Palestinian self-government and an end to Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Much of the Arab world derided it as a weak deal. But in hindsight, if the provisions had been carried out, Israel and the Palestinians might not be in the impasse they are in at present.

 

[Basel]

Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו
1 hr ·

I met today with Zhang Dejiang, Chairman of the National People's Congress in China, who passed on an invitation from the President and the Premier of China for me to make an official visit in the coming months. I spoke with the Chairman about the strengthening of relations between our two countries and did not forget to remind him about our export of an Israeli athlete: soccer player Eran Zahavi, who was well-known to the members of the Chinese delegation.

This November a senior delegation from China will arrive to Israel to discuss the advancing of a free trade agreement between our countries. We deeply appreciate our friendship with China and welcome the expanding cooperation in a variety of fields, including economics, trade, and technology.

צילום: עמוס בן גרשום, לע״מ

Is Israel providing / sharing advance military tech to China??

 

[dani958]

in the past yes but for more than 10 years we ban china from weapon export becasue usa demande it
better this way what we need china will pass it to iran?
or copy the tech and sell it as there product

 

[Solomon2]

I now realize Israel is not the center of the world, says UN envoy

A year after being exiled to New York by Prime Minister Netanyahu, Danny Danon feels he has proved himself to all those people who called his appointment a catastrophe waiting to happen. ‘As far as I’m concerned, the results speak for themselves,’ he says, taking pride in small victories. ‘We did things that have never been done before by Israelis at the UN.’
Tzipi Shmilovitz|Published: 20.10.16 , 23:32

NEW YORK – Before boarding the plane to New York to become Israel’s ambassador at the United Nations, Danny Danon met with his predecessors. They had gossip and different tips to give him, but there was one thing they all said: The UN is divided into two completely different worlds. What you see on television is not what happens in the quiet rooms, in the secret meetings, in the late night phone calls. This is something Danon discovered during his first weeks in office, but even now, a year later, he is still slightly amused and finds it hard to believe.

“The difference between the public and non-public UN is almost inconceivable,” he says, smiling. “I was prepared for it, but the penny doesn’t drop until you sit with an ambassador from an Arab state for breakfast and you discuss everything - their wife and the kids and life in New York - and then half an hour later you get into the elevator at the UN with him and he doesn’t know you. You become air. I don’t know if I’m his mistress or if he is my mistress, but it feels strange. I haven’t gotten used to it yet.”


Danny Danon. The UN is a political body and I know how to play this game (UN photo/ Cia Pak)

During the secret breakfast, do you discuss the fact that you will soon get into the elevator and he will ignore you?

“Of course. He says to me, ‘Do you know what would happen if someone were to take a picture of us together here and the picture were to be published in my country? Nothing would happen to you, but I would have nowhere to go back to.’ Several hours later, he can stand at the Security Council and say horrible things, but then I already know in advance what he is about to say and how serious he really is."

“People sometimes ask, ‘What’s the point of all these talks below the surface if in the end they speak against us and vote against us?' I explain that the important thing is that I know where he is coming from and what motivates him, I understand the balance of power, and the balance sometimes changes and the world doesn’t even notice. He can say to me, ‘This country is the biggest problem in the Arab League right now. They are leading this and this move.’ Or, ‘I am about to say this and this, but we won’t kill ourselves to achieve it.’ I draw information. It doesn’t change his vote that day, but it may help us change his vote in the future.”

And what does he get out of such a dangerous meeting?

“He also hears things that he doesn’t know and it helps him. Information is the most important weapon today.”

But you can’t meet him in public.


“No. You saw that even Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas couldn’t attend late President Shimon funeral without being blasted. One of the Arab ambassadors told me about an event he is organizing for kids, and we have children the same age, but I can’t attend. Even just going to the park to ride bikes is problematic as far as he’s concerned. There are ambassadors I can do fun stuff with, and there are ambassadors I have to meet secretly. Both in the public world and in the world below the surface, we have done important things this year, unprecedented even. I have learned a lot. I am tired but satisfied.”

Against all pessimists
Danny Danon concludes his first year as Israel’s ambassador to the UN in October. His appointment raised quite a few eyebrows and was the subject of many jokes, but it was also received with the collective acknowledgement that Danon’s status had become so strong that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided it would be best to exile him. Granted, it is the most desired exile, but it is still an exile. Far from the Likud’s Central Committee, far from the Knesset cafeteria, far from the possibility to position himself as the next big thing.


Danon and Netanyahu. A promotion that came from very little love (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

Danon knew that most people expected him to fail, and that quite a few hoped he would fail. The consensus among commentators, both in Israel and in the United States, was that his appointment was a catastrophe waiting to happen. Danon, they said at the time, is not just a radical person - a settlement supporter who opposes the two-state solution - but he also has a big and uncontrollable mouth, not to mention his Hebrew accent, and all sorts of rumours which reek of nothing but racism.

A year later, Danon is sitting in his office at the Israeli Consulate in New York, a 10-minute walk from the UN building, and tries very hard not to say, “I proved myself to everyone.” He can’t say it, he is a politician who knows that everything canchange tomorrow morning, but the facts are that he has proved himself. Perhaps not to everyone, perhaps not even to most people, but to a sufficient number of people.

Jewish Week, a popular and highly regarded newspaper among the Jewish community elites in New York, which set off warning bells upon Danon’s arrival, published an editorial last week, stating: “We should note that we, along with many other skeptics, voiced our concerns at Danon’s appointment earlier this year. We felt his leadership role in the settlement movement and outspoken criticism of the two-state solution to the Palestinian problem, when Jerusalem was on record as supporting such a solution, made him a problematic diplomat. But he has taken to the task with energy, creativity and an open approach.”

“As far as I’m concerned, the results speak for themselves,” Danon pulls out a cliché. “We made breakthroughs and did things that have never been done before by Israelis at the UN. When I was appointed, there was a whole debate about whether the fact that I’m a politician is a good or bad thing, but the UN is a political body and I know how to play this game.”

You know how to play it in Israel. This is the big world.

“Politics is politics. I came here with the perception that we all have in Israel, that the entire world is against us and that I am coming to joust with windmills, but I learned that you can sometimes win here and that gives me a lot of satisfaction. They still seem like small victories, but we feel the waves they create. It’s not that the UN has changed. It is still anti-Semitic and obsessively against Israel, and next year there will be another deluge of resolutions against us, but now I can say to my team: ‘Here, instead of crying all the time we can fight and win.”

For example?

“For example, my election as chairman of the Legal Committee, one of the six UN committees. This is a huge victory. It’s the first time since Israel joined the UN that its ambassador chairs a permanent committee.”

Unbelievable.

“I believed in it. I saw an opening to compete for the committee’s chairmanship and we did a lot of hard and quiet work. This is where the advantage of a politician, who knows the game, comes in. People said to me, ‘You know what will happen at the UN if Israel’s ambassador is elected to such a position?’ But we didn’t give up and there was obviously a strong countercampaign. Iran, for example, sent a letter to the Non-Aligned Movement, saying Israel cannot chair the committee. We are talking about a movement of 100 states, and there is a regulation that says that if no state responds until a certain time, the letter goes on to represent the entire group. In other words, it basically kills my nomination.

“I began approaching people, and I am not talking about my friends, these are not Europeans. Here you are asking someone to issue a letter to 100 non-aligned states and say, ‘I support Israel.’ That is one hell of a cash payment. In the end Singapore jumped in and when India joined and issued a letter opposing the Iranians, it destroyed them. It’s also the result of the real budding relationship between us and India, and of my extremely good personal relations with the Indian ambassador here.”

And then when you were elected?

“Huge satisfaction. We sat for three hours and waited for the results in crazy suspense. At the Knesset you don’t have to wait, there is always someone who sends a text message and we know the result before it is announced. Here you don’t hear a thing. In the end, 109 states voted for me in a secret vote. It was a very exciting moment. I called my wife and she immediately brought the kids."

“In my first address here at the plenum, I didn’t really know where I was. Today, I enter a room of 193 states and I chair the discussion. I am the one who lets the Iranian representative speak, who manages conflicts which are unrelated to Israel. We shattered a real glass ceiling. After all the hard work and all the slander against me, I gave myself one moment of real joy, but it mainly showed people that there are ways to win here.”

Another accomplishment Danon is proud of is the anti-BDS conference he managed to organize at the UN General Assembly. The Jewish community in the US is at odds over the way to deal with the boycott against Israel, which in America is only felt in campuses and hardly anywhere else.

“There is institutionalized anti-Semitism in the UN,” Danon says. “When I arrived, I was told not to make a big deal out of BDS, that they should not be reinforced, but the moment they passed a decision to create a UN black list which would include anyone who does business with Judea and Samaria, it’s no longer just some campus problem."

“We decided to organize an event against BDS here inside the building. They told us, ‘Okay, in May 2017.’ I said, ‘We’ll have one in May 2017 and one now.’ We used contacts, found precedents and all kinds of rules of procedure, and received the General Assembly hall. We brought 2,000 people, and students came out of there with the power to return to the campuses and fight. We suddenly realized that the UN platform can be used in Israel’s favor as well.”


With outgoing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. ‘We are not happy with everything he did, but deep inside he knows the facts and understands what it means to be the only democratic state in such a region’ (Photo: Avi Dodi)

Have you personally felt anti-Semitism?

“Yes, there was an incident in which the Venezuelan ambassador, Rafael Ramirez, said during a Security Council meeting that Israel was preparing the final solution for the Palestinians. A final solution, no less. I wasn’t present at the meeting, and other Council members protested and demanded that he apologize. He called me at night and said, ‘Hello, I don’t speak to Israelis, but I would like to apologize for what was said at the Security Council.’ I said to him, ‘I appreciate the fact that you called, but you should apologize on the exact same stage where you made these comments.’ A day or two later he really did apologize in public, but we don’t talk, not even a hello. Venezuela is one of our biggest enemies here.”

What about friendly countries that vote against us?

“Some European countries sometimes automatically join delusional resolutions. I say to a European ambassador, ‘Read the text. How can you vote for this?’ And he mutters something. Many times, it’s just automatic. There are people who wake up in the morning and their job is to delegitimize Israel. But I am a great believer in personal relations. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that every ambassador here has one vote. The representative of some remote island is like (US Ambassador to the UN) Samantha Power.”

How do you develop relations with people who you say are automatically against Israel?

“You show them a different Israel. In the summer, I brought 11 ambassadors to Israel. We were together all the time. On the first evening, we went out to eat at the Tel Aviv Port and saw planes landing at Sde Dov Airport. One ambassador asked, ‘Are the planes here to protect us?’ I had to explain that those were regular civilian aircraft. Four days later, she already understood everything about Tel Aviv and about Jerusalem. The two most important things I have realized here are that there is no alternative to a personal relationship, and that because we are at a structured disadvantage, we have to think outside the box.”

One of the out-of-the-box cases took place on Independence Day, when instead of the usual reception it was decided to take the guests from the UN to Broadway. “There are many events here that you go to because you have too, but between you and me, most of them are not really interesting. So on our Independence Day we decided to do something completely different, because we wanted people to remember it. We booked am auditorium no Broadway and invited the ambassadors to watch ‘Fiddler on the Roof.’ There were 1,000 people there, and they remember it to this very day. I just attended a certain country’s reception, and the ambassador’s wife said to me: ‘That play was the best event I had been to.’ It has a huge influence, especially as it shows them different sides of Israel and Judaism.”

That’s all very nice, but there won’t be any substantial change in the UN’s attitude towards Israel until a solution is found for the conflict with the Palestinians.

“I’m not sure about that.”

Based on what? The prime minister said in his speech here that the UN would be in favor of Israel in a decade. That sounds pretty delusional.

"It’s not delusional if you see the changes taking place below the surface. We have advantages in many areas, and developing countries are beginning to discover them. When we bring ambassadors to Israel, what interests them the most at the end of the day is how we grow mango and how we invented the water desalination facility. These countries want water and food, and that serves as a gate as far as we’re concerned. There is a reason why we held a major event here with countries from Africa which wanted nothing to do with us for many years.”

What has changed?

“African countries joined the Arab boycott after the Yom Kippur War, but now they see us getting closer to the moderate Arab countries and feel the noose loosening. So when the prime minister arrived at the UN, we organized an open meeting and photo opportunity with 17 African leaders. That cannot be taken for granted. Each of those countries had to offer explanations to Arab countries."

That isn’t convincing enough. There is a key problem, and without solving it there won’t be a real change in the UN’s attitude towards us.

“I explain to everyone here that our willingness to negotiate is real. Every time someone asks me, ‘Why don’t you meet with Mahmoud Abbas?’ I reply, ‘Organize a meeting and we’ll be there.’ But Abbas prefers to have a UN resolution without meeting us, to score an achievement for himself without paying a price and without explaining to his public. There were talks about a meeting in Moscow, in Cairo, in France, in New York, but his strategy is to go to the UN, and I think people here are beginning to understand that.”

So you’re not afraid of a move that will happen after the US elections?

“I am paid to be concerned. I wake up in the morning and immediately check what is being prepared for us. There are voices around us, absolutely. I sat with the foreign minister of a Western state who said, ‘Clearly, nothing will happen until the elections because the Americans won’t go with us, but after the elections we’ll try to lead a move.’ It could be a condemnation of the construction in Judea and Samaria or setting parameters – in other words, determining the results of the negotiations for us, which won’t work of course. From my conversations with the Americans, there are no such plans at the moment, but there is a discourse.”



Anti-BDS conference organized by Danon at the UN General Assembly (Photo: Shahar Azran)

There have been many ups and downs with the outgoing secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon.

“That’s true. There was a very big crisis when he expressed an understanding towards terror. People said we should not confront him, but when you have to – you have to. We settled it afterwards. I took him to Israel on a visit which did not deal with crises and conflicts. We are not happy with everything he did, but deep inside he knows the facts and understands what it means to be the only democratic state in such a region.”

What are your expectations from the next secretary-general, Portugal's former Prime Minister Antonio Guterres?

“The important thing is that he will make decisions based on principles of good and bad, rather than based on political constraints. It will automatically lead to a fair treatment of Israel. Guterres has been in the global diplomatic arena for many years now, and as far as Israel is concerned it’s a new era and a new leaf vis-à-vis the UN secretary-general.”

How are your relations with the Americans?

“Excellent. With all the rows we’ve had, the cooperation with the delegation at the UN has always been good.”

Where do you stand in regards to the presidential race?

“Oh no, I’m not going to say anything. Our situation will be good, no matter who is elected. We know the people and the candidates, but there is certainly something happening in the American discourse. I have friends from both parties, and I make sure to be very careful.”

‘I came out of the bubble’
Danon, 45, was born in Ramat Gan shortly after his father, Yosef, was critically wounded in the War of Attrition. It was a miracle he stayed alive, and little Danny only knew him in that state. That may also be the reason why he was the only one who knew how to communicate with him. He read a lot of history books, and shortly after his bar mitzvah he already knew where he was located on the political map. In the decades that have passed since then, his opinions have barely changed, but the past year at the UN did put a lot of things into perspective.

“I came out of the bubble,” he says. “I realized that there are other issues in the world, that we are not really the only country. You see the US versus Russia, you see Britain and Mauritius fighting over some remote island and it’s a huge story, and you realize that we are not the center of the world. My value system has not changed, but I have a greater understanding of the international arena. In Israel you think the entire world is against us, and here you realize it’s not really black and white.”

Do you also understand that you can’t say whatever you want?

“It took me some time, I’ll admit. I knew this wasn’t the Knesset, but I didn’t know that you actually stick to every word in the text here. Even in the ceremony we held in memory of Shimon Peres, which I wanted to come to and speak from my heart, I ended up sitting at night, writing my comments and reading them word for word, just like the UN secretary-general and Samantha Power did. That’s the way it is here, every word is calculated in advance.”

Sounds like horrible torture for Danny Danon.

“At first it was difficult. I think you’re more interesting without a text. Even in closed Security Council discussions, people read from paper. There was only one time when I couldn’t restrain myself. We were in the middle of a discussion during a wave of terror attacks, a dispute broke out with the Palestinian representative, and there was a terror attack as we were arguing. I demanded that he condemn the attack and he didn’t want to. I said to him, ‘Condemn terror in general. Here, I condemn terror everywhere,’ and he refused. I actually shouted at him, ‘You should be ashamed of yourself.’ People told me they had never seen such a stormy discussion.”

Last month, Danon walked through the UN corridors with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and they both did and said what they had to, but neither them has forgotten the time when Danon was fired from the position of deputy defense minister after defining Operation Protective Edge as “a failure because of the prime minister’s weakness.” Danon became very popular in the Right at the time, probably too popular, and despite a ceasefire which included a short-term appointment as minister of science, technology and space, Netanyahu decided to give him a promotion which came from very little love. If Danon was offended in any way by the decision to send him here, it doesn’t show. Things worked out pretty well for him.

Many seats have been vacated in the year you were not in Israel. Any regrets?

“No. I remember that when I decided to accept the appointment, good friends said to me: ‘What are you doing? You are a government minister, you don’t move from the table, you have to advance on the table, you don’t move off of it.’ They asked me, ‘What’s the strategy?’ And the truth is I don’t have one."

“Clearly, after I complete my term here, I will return to Israel and be very active, and I think the experience I am gaining here will help me there. I see ambassadors around me, and I know that when they complete their terms they will return to their countries and become very serious players. I am at peace with the decision to come here, but there are still friends who say to me: ‘If you were here now, you could have been X or Y.”

Are you involved in what is happening in politics in Israel?

“Twenty-three years ago I was on a mission in Florida and would occasionally send a fax with updates about my activity, and that’s how I felt involved. Today it’s Twitter and Facebook. I follow and I know what is happening, but I am not there on a daily basis and I don’t have influence, although I miss the Knesset.”

Kosher cafeteria at the UN?
Danon’s next mission is to introduce a kosher cafeteria at the UN. It may not be the Partition Plan, but Danon is clearly a great admirer of small victories.

“I was laughed at the first time I wore a skullcap at the Security Council. I ended a speech with a Bible verse from Psalms, so I put on a kippah,” he smiles. “We lit Hanukkah candles here, held a Passover Seder at the UN. Forty ambassadors arrived, sat down and read the Haggadah for three hours. I couldn’t believe it. This year, on Yom Kippur, there were no UN meetings for the first time. Last year, when the UN General Assembly was held during the holidays, US President Barack Obama addressed the GA on Yom Kippur and we were absent. I had to explain to Samantha Power why we didn’t come, and it was unpleasant. Now it won’t happen anymore.”

Did it pass a vote?

“No, it would have never passed a vote. We passed it through UN mechanisms. There are many ways, you just have to find them. Now we will try to organize a kosher cafeteria here.”

That will definitely not pass a vote.

“Obviously. We are not trying, but there is a halal cafeteria, so why shouldn’t there be a kosher one? I don’t want to put kosher supervisors here, but a corner with a few kosher sandwiches makes sense. It’s all through the mechanism, give and take, employee committees, politics. These are clearly small achievements, but they add up to a feeling that something real is happening. I know our enemies are frustrated by the fact that the UN used to be their home court, and now it’s not anymore. We are scoring too many goals.”


Danon. ‘After I complete my term here I will return to Israel and be very active’ (Photo: Nadav Neuhaus)

Danon is in New York with this wife Tali and their three children – Aviad, 15, Hila, 11, and Shira, 9. He is satisfied with their adjustment, although it won’t be difficult for him to convince them to return home at the end of his term.


“When I arrived here, I was promised that the children would speak English by Passover. So it took them slightly longer, but now we have begun the second year and it’s much easier for them. They were in Israel for the summer with my wife, and if she hadn’t been with them there they would have refused to board the return flight. They have adjusted to life here, but their home is in Israel.”

Do you actually get to enjoy New York?

“I enjoyed it much more when I came here on visits. At the end of the day, it’s the usual daily life. You send the kids to school and go to work. We came from a moshav in Israel and we miss the greenery, so on weekends we go to Central Park. All in all, it’s simple things. As far as I’m concerned, the city ends at Turtle Bay. Everything that happens beyond 42nd Street seems like overseas.”

Have you had a particularly bad day here?

“There are days when you sit at a Security Council session for eight hours, and state after state rip us apart. I hold my tongue hard, go home and tell my wife not to ask me how was work today.”

 

[Solomon2]

Yesh Atid Chairman MK Yair Lapid Leads Ambassadors on a Tour of Gaza Border‏‎

By Steve
Posted on October 27, 2016

YESH ATID CHAIRMAN MK YAIR LAPID LEADS AMBASSADORS ON A TOUR OF GAZA BORDER‏‎

Two years after Operation Protective Edge and with the continuation of rocket fire towards Israel, members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Yesh Atid Chairman MK Yair Lapid and MK Ofer Shelah, accompanied by former Head of Israeli Central Command, Major General (res.) Avi Mizrahi led ambassadors to Israel on a tour of the Gaza border area. The ambassadors for the EU, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and Myanmar, as well as deputy ambassadors from the United States, Spain, Sweden, Vietnam, and other diplomats, participated in the tour and were briefed on the security situation of the Israeli communities surrounding the Gaza border


The tour was a follow-up to MK Lapid’s Israel advocacy campaign and diplomatic meetings, that has aimed to strengthen Israel’s international standing. The meeting with these ambassadors was Yesh Atid’s initiative, in cooperation with the Head of the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council, Alon Schuster.



At the beginning of the briefing MK Lapid said: “We came with a large group of ambassadors from around the globe so that they can see for themselves the reality faced by the citizens of the communities near the Gaza border. Earlier this morning we took them to see the threat posed by the tunnels discovered nearby, and to see from up close the efforts that are made to attempt to murder Israeli citizens in this area. The world needs to understand that it is not we who are the aggressors. We are the side that is attacked by a murderous terrorist organization that tortures its own people and is trying to wear us down, and that they will not succeed. It was important for us to bring them here so that when they return to their countries they’ll explain there that we are not going to move. They must go to those on the other side and tell them: ‘You need to find the solution.'”



The tour began at the terror tunnel that had been dug from Gaza into Israel, reaching a range of two kilometers from Kibbutz Ein HaShlosha. There, the ambassadors were given a security briefing by Colonel Kobi Heller, Commanding Officer of the Southern Brigade. From there the ambassadors continued along the border fence, seeing the close proximity of the Israeli communities to the fence. At the observation post in Kfar Aza, Lapid held a discussion with the ambassadors on how Israel tackles security issues along the southern border, describing the clashes between Israel and the terror organizations in the Gaza Strip and presented the most recent threats. Thereafter the ambassadors met with regional council heads and local residents in order to hear about their daily routine in the shadow of terrorism.

After the observation post the ambassadors enjoyed a local lunch at Sderot’s “HaHummus Shel Tehina,” with Alon Davidi, the mayor of Sderot. The ambassadors finished their tour with a visit to the Erez Crossing and a meeting with the manager of the crossing, Mr. Shlomo Saban.

At the observation post in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, MK Lapid described daily life in the shadow of the sirens to the ambassadors: “Imagine there was a siren right now, just like there was yesterday. You have 15 seconds to find shelter. Imagine where you can get to in 15 seconds. Now imagine where you can get to in 15 seconds if you’re holding a baby in your arms, or if you’re 80-years-old.”



MK Ofer Shelah said: “This was an important visit, in which ambassadors from countries all over the world have received explanations from community leaders and the military. There is nothing quite like seeing things with your own eyes to understand what Israel does on a daily basis and what we might be forced to do if, God forbid, we go to war.”



Former Head of Israeli Central Command, Major General (res.) Avi Mizrahi, said: “I am here today because this is advocacy for Israel, and because I believe in and trust in Yair Lapid, in his ways, and in what he represents, in order to bring a solution to the area. Hamas is a terrorist organization and the world has to recognize this and declare it to be a terrorist organisation, one which uses its own civilians in the coordination of its military activities.

 

[DavidSling]

This week elections will be held in the United States. Whoever is elected, the new president, I am convinced that US-Israel relations, which are solid and strong, will not only remain as such, but will further strengthen. We also expect that the US will remain faithful to the principle that it has set over many years, that the Israeli-Palestinian dispute can be resolved only by direct negotiations without preconditions, and of course, not in decisions by the UN or other international institutions. I would like to note that the alliance with the US is the first, most fundamental and most important of all of our relationships. Thus it has been and thus it will continue.

At the same time, of course, Israel is developing relations with many other countries including the world's major powers. Last week, the Chinese government's highest organ, the NDRC was here and held a series of very productive talks. I request that Prime Minister's Office Director General Eli Groner, who worked with them, deliver a short briefing to the Cabinet on progress in these talks, which are very important for the Israeli economy. This week Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will visit Israel. These talks reflect the continued tightening of bilateral relations with Russia. The following week President Reuven Rivlin will visit India to continue tightening relations with that important country. All of these reflect the strengthening of Israel's position on the international plane, which stems from our special capabilities in security, the economic sphere and in technology.

We also have relations, of course, with many other countries, in Africa, Latin America and in other places as well. One of the things we have been giving special attention to over the past five years is to find alternatives to fuels for use in public transportation. The use of gasoline, petroleum, is mostly for public transportation. We are trying to promote the global liberation from this dependence and Israel is becoming a global leader in finding alternatives for petroleum-based fuels. We are doing this in order to create a cleaner, healthier and better world

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10154078008227076

 

[Solomon2]

Russian PM at Yad Vashem: Holocaust must be etched in history of mankind
On final day of Israel visit, Medvedev says it is ‘chilling to see sheer magnitude of horrors’ suffered by the Jewish people
BY TIMES OF ISRAEL STAFF November 11, 2016, 5:29 pm

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev lays a wreath in the Hall of Remembrance at Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem on November 11, 2016 (Credit: Yad Vashem/Isaac Harari)

The horrors of the Holocaust must never happen again and be perennially remembered in history, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Friday during a visit to the Yad Vashem museum in Jerusalem.

“The memory of the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust — an example of the indifference and the terrible crimes of the twentieth century — should be forever etched in the history of mankind,” Medvedev said during the visit to the memorial, where he was met by its chairman Avner Shalev. “Yad Vashem is a very sad place, but also a very important place to us all,” Medvedev said. “This tragedy can never be repeated.”

The prime minister was joined by a number of Russian officials on the visit. He placed a wreath at the museum’s Hall of Remembrance, visited the Children’s Memorial and signed the guest book, according to a statement released to the media by Yad Vashem.

“it is very important for us to understand the nature of the devastation of the Holocaust,” Medvedev said. “It is chilling to see sheer magnitude of horrors suffered by the victims of an entire nation, the Jewish people.”


Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visits the Holocaust History Museum at Yad Vashem (Credit: Yad Vashem/Isaac Harari)

The museum said it has in recent years worked on a number of joint initiatives in Russia, including two new centers on the Holocaust.

Medvedev’s two-day trip to Israel is part of a series of bilateral exchanges to mark the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Israel and the Russian Federation. Both Netanyahu and Rivlin visited Moscow in 2016.

He arrived Wednesday evening and headed straight from the airport to Jerusalem’s Old City, where he visited the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.


Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, November 10, 2016. (Shlomi Cohen/Flash90)

He met Thursday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, with the Israeli leader telling his Russian counterpart that Israel would work to prevent Iran from establishing a military presence in Syria, and continue to intervene to stop Iran arming Hezbollah and other Shiite militias there.

Moscow is a staunch supporter of Basher Assad’s regime and has also maintained close ties with Iran. But in recent months the government of President Vladimir Putin has increased military cooperation with Jerusalem to prevent the Russian and Israeli militaries from clashing over Syrian skies.

“Israel, Russia, the United States and many other countries share the objective of defeating the Islamic State,” Netanyahu said standing next to Medvedev in the Prime Minister’s Office.

“At the same time, we are also concerned by the second actor promoting radical Islam — Iran — which champions the destruction of Israel and also supports 360-degree terror on five continents.”


Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, left, meets with PM Netanyahu in Jerusalem, November 10, 2016 (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

The prime minister thanked his Russian counterpart for the close security coordination — a so-called deconflicting mechanism — aimed at preventing clashes between Israeli and Russian fighter jets from clashing over Syria, as Israel routinely enters the country’s airspace to prevent hostile actors from smuggling arms or planning attacks.

“This, too, highlights the dramatic change in our bilateral relations,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu also thanked Medvedev for agreeing to help return to Israel the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, and three Israeli citizens currently held in Gaza.

Medvedev, too, hailed the improvement in bilateral relations, stressed the “special values” that Russians and Israelis have in common. “Every time I visit Israel I feel at home,” he said. “Our countries have common challenges, primarily terrorism. Terror threatens the entire world but in this region it is felt particularly strongly.”


Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (left) meets with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on November 10, 2016. (Haim Zach/GPO)

The Russian prime minister, who last visited Israel in 1990 — long before he entered politics — also met with President Reuven Rivlin and opposition leader Isaac Herzog.

He was due to meet later Friday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Jericho. The two were slated to sign bilateral agreements and hold a joint press conference, before inaugurating a street named after the Russian prime minister.

Medvedev planned to return to Moscow from Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport on Friday evening.

Raphael Ahren contributed to this report

 

[Solomon2]

New Israeli ambassador arrives in Ankara after rapprochement
Sevil Erkuş - ANKARA

The new Israeli Ambassador to Ankara, Eitan Na’eh, arrived to Ankara on Dec. 1 to start duties in his new post. Turkey’s newly appointed ambassador to Israel, Kemal Ökem, is expected to be in Tel Aviv in the first week of December, according to sources.

After landing at Ankara’s Esenboğa Airport, Na’eh commented on Turkey’s assistance in battling the wildfire in Israel last week, saying that both countries “have a history of helping each other in times of need.”

He added that he was looking forward to his role in Turkey.

Na’eh served at the Israeli Embassy in Ankara back in the 1990s and returned to Turkey after three years as ambassador in London.

Turkey and Israel decided to appoint ambassadors mutually after the resolution of a major diplomatic crisis between them.

Following the normalization of relations with Turkey, Israel decided to deploy Na’eh to serve in Ankara, with the Israeli government approving his appointment as ambassador on Nov. 20.

Ökem, who has been appointed as Turkey’s new ambassador to Tel Aviv, served as a foreign policy adviser in former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s administration.

An expert on the Middle East, Ökem served as an assistant general manager of the Middle East at the Foreign Ministry before being appointed an adviser to Davutoğlu.

Turkey-Israel relations came to a breaking point after Israeli marines stormed a ship aiming to break a naval blockade on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip in May 2010, killing 10 Turkish activists on board.

After the incident, Turkey had recalled its ambassador in Tel Aviv to Ankara.

* Hürriyet Daily News regrets an error in a Nov. 30 report and confirms that Amira Oron, the Israeli Embassy’s chargé d’affaires, was heading the Israeli diplomatic mission in Ankara.

November/30/2016

 

[Desertfalcon]

Sorry to derail the thread for a post but Ethiopia just isn't what it used to be. It's leaders now, pose with "stuffed" lions.

It's leaders then, were the Lions of Judah and live lions bowed at their feet!

 

[Solomon2]

It's leaders then, were the Lions of Judah and live lions bowed at their feet!

I met Selassie! In school we were taught he was a great WWII hero for defeating the Italian Fascists. Lots of cheers. The next best thing to meeting Churchill (who was long dead.) And he wore a Star of David.

At the time relations between Israel and Ethiopia were excellent. They only decayed when during the 1973 oil crunch when the OPEC-Arab states threatened to embargo sales to Ethiopia.

 

[Desertfalcon]

I met Selassie!

What a great honour. I am thoroughly impressed! One of the great men of the 20th century.

At the time relations between Israel and Ethiopia were excellent. They only decayed when during the 1973 oil crunch when the OPEC-Arab states threatened to embargo sales to Ethiopia.

We did as well until he was overthrown by the communists and effectively murdered by them. Ethiopia has never recovered from his absence.

 

[Aryzin]

Well Selassie certainly defeated no Italians. The Allies defeated the Italian forces and brought back Selassie.

 

[Solomon2]

What a great honour. I am thoroughly impressed! One of the great men of the 20th century.

Indeed. I recall the principal rebuked me afterwards for cheering and whistling too hard. Totally worth it!

We did as well until he was overthrown by the communists and effectively murdered by them. Ethiopia has never recovered from his absence.

Too right!

Well Selassie certainly defeated no Italians. The Allies defeated the Italian forces and brought back Selassie.

Wikipedia:

...On 18 January 1941, Emperor Selassie crossed the border into Ethiopia near the village of Um Iddla. Two days later the Emperor joined Gideon Force, a small British-led African regular force. The standard of the Lion of Judah was raised again. By 5 May, the Emperor and an army of Ethiopian Free Forces entered Addis Ababa -​

The capture of Addis Ababa by Emperor Selassie's British-assisted forces was the first substantial and tangible reversal suffered by Axis forces in WWII. For those of us whose parents suffered under the looming shadow of the Axis he was a ray of hope. Selassie was the first Allied leader hailed as a hero.

 

[Aryzin]

The Ethiopian forces only came after Italians had been defeated by brits. The few years Italians held Ethiopia, they built more stuff than Selassie did in 40 years.

 

[Solomon2]

​

Taking up post, Turkish envoy hails new start with ‘friend Israel’
Ending years of frozen ties, Ambassador Mekin Okem presents credentials, says he hopes Israeli-Turkish reconciliation will benefit the Palestinians as well

• 
  BY RAPHAEL AHREN December 12, 2016, 1:59 pm

Turkish ambassador to Israel Kemal Okem, right, hands his diplomatic credentials to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem on December 12, 2016. (AFP/ POOL / RONEN ZVULUN)

Ending a half-decade-long diplomatic freeze, Turkey’s new ambassador to Israel on Monday hailed a “new beginning” in bilateral ties and called the Jewish state Ankara’s “partner and friend.”

Mekin Mustafa Kemal Okem handed his letter of credence to President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem and officially assumed the post of Turkey’s first ambassador to Israel in five years, the fruit of years of intense detente efforts following a deadly 2010 raid that soured relations between Jerusalem and Ankara.

Israel’s new ambassador in Ankara, Eitan Na’eh, handed his credentials to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week.

“This is a new beginning in our bilateral relations and in our joint efforts, in this region in which we have close ties, historical ties,” Okem said in English at the ceremony, held at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem. “Our region offers more than its share of challenges but also of big opportunities. As before, Turkey and Israel will work together to make sure that these opportunities are fully utilized and challenges are met.”


President Rivlin )right) and Turkey’s new ambassador to Israel Mekin Okem, December 12, 2016 (Roi Avraham)

Okem is seen as a close confidant of Erdogan and he said he had been instructed by him and Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım to “explore all opportunities for cooperation in every field to the mutual benefit of our two nations.”

“And, as an ambassador, I will do my best to enhance our relations in every field — regardless of any difficulties that we may face, we will be able to overcome together with our partners and friends Israel.”


President Reuven Rivlin with incoming Turkish ambassador to Israel Kemal Okem (2L) and his family during a ceremony for new ambassadors at the President’s residence in Jerusalem, December 12, 2016. (Photo by Mark Neyman/GPO)

Ties were frozen following a raid by Israeli forces on a Gaza blockade-busting ship in which 10 Turks were killed in a melee after they attacked IDF troops.

Before that, Israel and Turkey were close economic partners, including in the defense field.

The two countries plan to look now to expand that cooperation to the energy industry, with Turkey keen to pipeline Israeli gas pulled out of the Mediterranean to Europe.


Lawyers and families hold pictures of victims and shout slogans on December 9, 2016 outside the Istanbul courthouse as Turkish court is expected to rule in the case of Israelis charged in absentia over a deadly commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship in 2010. (AFP/OZAN KOSE)

However, Turkey and particularly Erdogan have remained strident critics of Israeli policies regarding Palestinians, and Ankara has maintained close contact with Gaza-ruling Hamas, which Israel considers a terror group.

Okem expressed Turkey’s hope that the reconciliation signed between Ankara and Jerusalem earlier this year would lead to the “benefit of other nations, particularly to the Palestinian Authority as well.”

He thanked Israel for allowing Turkey deliver aid to Gaza, which was a key condition for the detente.

Okem, who was accompanied by his wife and two sons, thanked Rivlin for expressing condolences after Saturday’s deadly terror attack in Istanbul.

“Yesterday also we had other attacks in Cairo, also there was another attack in Mogadishu,” he said. “As Turkey has been subject to vicious terrorist attacks and [having] suffered so much, we always say we condemn all forms of terrorism regardless of its origin or its target.”

During Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted the arrival of Turkey’s new ambassador as an “important event” and condemned the “severe” terror attack.

But he also called on Turkey to do the same.

“Israel condemns all terrorism in Turkey and expects that Turkey will condemn all terrorist attacks in Israel,” he said. “The fight against terrorism must be mutual. It must be mutual in condemnation and in countermeasures, and this is what the State of Israel expects from all countries it is in contact with, including Turkey.”

Ankara rarely, if ever, condemns terror attacks against Israelis.


President Rivlin look on as Turkey’s new ambassador to Israel writes into the President’s Residence’s guest book, December 12, 2016 (Raphael Ahren/TOI)

After having received Okem’s letter of credence, Rivlin also addressed Saturday’s terror attack in Istanbul and the need to for a joint effort to combat violent extremism.

“All life is sacred. Terror is terror is terror — whether in Brussels or Paris, Istanbul, Jerusalem, or Cairo. We have a duty to stand together against this terrible threat, he said.

The president called Monday’s successful conclusion of a lengthy reconciliation process “a real moment in history.” He expressed his “appreciation for President Erdogan” and thanked him again for Turkey’s aid in fighting wildfires across Israel last month.

The two presidents spoke on the phone on November 27, including about the remains of Israelis held by Hamas. “I want to thank him for his commitment to help return the Israelis, and the bodies of our soldiers held by Hamas,” Rivlin said.

“Israel, like Turkey, places great importance in rebuilding the lives of the civilians in Gaza; in infrastructure, economy, energy, water, and more. This must be with the cooperation of the Palestinian Authority. It is also an important way to show that we can live together in this region,” the president said. “Israel and Turkey share a desire for peace and prosperity for all the peoples of the Middle East.”

The Turkish-Israeli friendship “goes back in history,” the president continued, “and I hope that the reconciliation and the appointment of new ambassadors will open a new and promising page in this relationship,” he said, reading from prepared remarks.

“We must work together, to promote our economic relations, trade and energy cooperation as a real engine of growth for our friendship.”

Rivlin said in a changing region, Turkey and Israel must find ways to strengthen “voices of peace and stability.”


Israel’s new ambassador to Turkey, Eitan Na’eh (left), hands his credentials to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Monday, December 5, 2016. (courtesy Turkish Presidency)

Despite restored ties, Erdogan has not ceased to criticize Israel harshly.

“Policies of oppression, deportation and discrimination have been increasingly continuing against our Palestinian brothers since 1948,” he said two weeks ago at the first annual conference of the association of “Parliamentarians for Al-Quds” in Istanbul. “It is the common duty of all Muslims to embrace the Palestinian cause and protect Jerusalem,” he added.

In November, the Turkish president accused Israel of trying to change the status quo at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

In an interview with an Israeli television channel aired earlier last month, Erdogan also slightly walked back a 2014 assertion that the IDF’s 2014 offensive in Gaza was more barbaric than Hitler, but made no apology for invoking the Nazi leader’s name in the context.

He said he was “well aware” of the sensitivities, while simultaneously condemning Israel’s “barbarism” against the Palestinians.

“I don’t agree with what Hitler did and I also don’t agree with what Israel did in Gaza. Therefore, there’s no place for comparison in order to say what’s more barbaric,” he said.