Obama in Israel on first official visit

Little hope for new policy among Palestinians or Israelis as White House downplays US president’s first official trip. Last Modified: 20 Mar 2013 12:59

US President Barack Obama said at the start of his visit to Israel that the US' commitment to Israel's security was rock solid and that peace must come to the Holy Land. Making his first official visit to Israel as president on Wednesday, Obama hopes to reset his often fraught relations with both the Israelis and Palestinians in a carefully choreographed three-day stay that is high on symbolism but low on expectations. "I see this visit as an opportunity to reaffirm the unbreakable bond between our nations, to restate America's unwavering commitment to Israel's security and to speak directly to the people of Israel and to your neighbours," Obama said at a welcoming ceremony at Tel Aviv airport. "I am confident in declaring that our alliance is eternal, is forever," he added. Obama faces strong doubts among Israelis over his pledge to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, something Tehran is saying it is not pursuing. 'Rright to self-defence' In his welcoming remarks to the US president, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu cited an Israeli right to self-defence, which he said Obama supported. "Thank you for standing by Israel at this time of historic change in the Middle East," said Netanyahu, whose relationship with Obama has often been testy. "Thank you for unequivocally affirming Israel's sovereign right to defend itself by itself against any threat," the right-wing Israeli leader said before viewing with Obama an Iron Dome anti-missile battery that was brought to the airport for the president to see. The system is partially US-funded. At the ceremony, Obama spoke of his hopes for peace - without directly mentioning Palestinians. US officials said he was not bringing any peace initiative with him. "We stand together because peace must come to the Holy Land," Obama said. "Even as we are clear eyed about the difficulties, we will never lose sight of the vision of an Israel at peace with its neighbours." Low expectations Hopes for a new policy are low, with the White House having deliberately minimised expectations of any major breakthroughs, a reversal from Obama's first four years in office when aides said he would only visit Israel if he had something concrete to accomplish. "Analysts say they don't expect any new action on Iran, or even Syria, in a trip that even the White House has indicated is meant to create a lot of publicity but not new policy," said Al Jazeera's Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington. Workers have hung hundreds of US and Israel flags on lampposts across Jerusalem, as well as banners that boast of "an unbreakable alliance," but the apparent lack of any substantial policy push has bemused many diplomats and analysts. However with both Netanyahu and Obama starting new terms, the visit could be seen as the American leader's endorsement of Israel's government, said Ali Abunimah, a Palestinian journalist and founder of Electronic Intifada. Speaking to Al Jazeera from Chicago, he said: "This visit coming just days after Israel swore in perhaps its most openly extreme government in its history...must be seen as the strongest staunchest endorsement of this extremist Israeli government's policies. That's the only message Palestinians and the broader world can take away from this visit." Obama travels to the West Bank on Thursday for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and will fly on to Jordan on Friday.

Obama in Israel on first official visit

Little hope for new policy among Palestinians or Israelis as White House downplays US president’s first official trip. Last Modified: 20 Mar 2013 12:59

US President Barack Obama said at the start of his visit to Israel that the US' commitment to Israel's security was rock solid and that peace must come to the Holy Land.

Making his first official visit to Israel as president on Wednesday, Obama hopes to reset his often fraught relations with both the Israelis and Palestinians in a carefully choreographed three-day stay that is high on symbolism but low on expectations.

"I see this visit as an opportunity to reaffirm the unbreakable bond between our nations, to restate America's unwavering commitment to Israel's security and to speak directly to the people of Israel and to your neighbours," Obama said at a welcoming ceremony at Tel Aviv airport.

"I am confident in declaring that our alliance is eternal, is forever," he added.

Obama faces strong doubts among Israelis over his pledge to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, something Tehran is saying it is not pursuing.

'Rright to self-defence'

In his welcoming remarks to the US president, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu cited an Israeli right to self-defence, which he said Obama supported.

"Thank you for standing by Israel at this time of historic change in the Middle East," said Netanyahu, whose relationship with Obama has often been testy.

"Thank you for unequivocally affirming Israel's sovereign right to defend itself by itself against any threat," the right-wing Israeli leader said before viewing with Obama an Iron Dome anti-missile battery that was brought to the airport for the president to see. The system is partially US-funded.

At the ceremony, Obama spoke of his hopes for peace - without directly mentioning Palestinians. US officials said he was not bringing any peace initiative with him.

"We stand together because peace must come to the Holy Land," Obama said. "Even as we are clear eyed about the difficulties, we will never lose sight of the vision of an Israel at peace with its neighbours."

Low expectations

Hopes for a new policy are low, with the White House having deliberately minimised expectations of any major breakthroughs, a reversal from Obama's first four years in office when aides said he would only visit Israel if he had something concrete to accomplish.

"Analysts say they don't expect any new action on Iran, or even Syria, in a trip that even the White House has indicated is meant to create a lot of publicity but not new policy," said Al Jazeera's Patty Culhane, reporting from Washington.

Workers have hung hundreds of US and Israel flags on lampposts across Jerusalem, as well as banners that boast of "an unbreakable alliance," but the apparent lack of any substantial policy push has bemused many diplomats and analysts.

However with both Netanyahu and Obama starting new terms, the visit could be seen as the American leader's endorsement of Israel's government, said Ali Abunimah, a Palestinian journalist and founder of Electronic Intifada.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Chicago, he said: "This visit coming just days after Israel swore in perhaps its most openly extreme government in its history...must be seen as the strongest staunchest endorsement of this extremist Israeli government's policies. That's the only message Palestinians and the broader world can take away from this visit."

Obama travels to the West Bank on Thursday for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and will fly on to Jordan on Friday.

Yemen launches national reconciliation talks

© AFP

Yemen on Monday is set to launch a UN-backed national dialogue to draft a new constitution and prepare elections, in a move aimed at healing divisions two years after a revolution ended the three decade-long rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh.

By Luke SHRAGO (video)
News Wires (text)

 

Yemen, the only country where an Arab Spring revolt led to a negotiated settlement, on Monday launches a UN-backed national dialogue aimed at drawing the state's divisive players towards a reconciliation.
The talks are being boycotted by hardline southern factions who staged a general strike and protests in the port city of Aden on Sunday against the dialogue initiative.
The difficult talks, scheduled to run six months, bring together 565 representatives of Yemen's various political groups -- from secessionists in the south to Zaidi Shiite rebels in the north, in addition to civil society representatives.
They aim to draft a new constitution and prepare for general elections in February 2014, after a two-year transition led by President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi.
The dialogue should take place as per the UN-brokered deal that eased former strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh out of office following an 11-month uprising against his 33-year rule.
The talks, originally scheduled to start in mid-November, were delayed mainly due to the refusal of factions in the Southern Movement -- campaigning for autonomy or secession for the formerly independent south -- to join the talks.
Most factions have finally agreed to take part after months of negotiations and under UN pressure.
But the movement's hardliners led by South Yemen's former president Ali Salem al-Baid have dug in their heels, insisting instead on negotiations between two independent states in the north and south.
On Sunday, thousands of their supporters protested against the national dialogue, demanding that their region be seceded from the north.
Protesters carrying placards saying, "No dialogue under occupation!, Independence is our choice!" demonstrated in the port city of Aden waving flags of the formerly independent South Yemen which was united with the north in 1990.
"We are here by the thousands to reject the dialogue as it is an issue of northerners and those southerners who are involved in it do not represent the people," Khaled Junaidi, an activist told AFP.
The hardliners also held a six-hour general strike in Aden, capital of the formerly independent south.
Several anti-dialogue slogans and calls for the secession of the south were smeared on walls of many buildings, while flags of the former South Yemen were displayed in parts of the city.
On February 15, the United Nations voiced support for the national dialogue and threatened sanctions against any party impeding the talks, mainly referring to Saleh and Baid.
Despite his ouster, Saleh remains head of the formerly ruling General People's Congress Party (GPC).
But a source from the dialogue's preparatory committee told AFP that he will not represent his party at the talks, in which it has been granted the lion's share of seats with 112 representatives.
In addition to the southern question, Zaidi Shiite rebels, who have mounted repeated uprisings in the far north since 2004, have clashed with Sunni Salafists in northern Yemen. They are both taking part in the dialogue.
But influential tribal chief Hamid al-Ahmar, who heads the powerful Sunni Islamist Al-Islah (reform) Party, will not represent his party at the conference in protest against the Zaidis being handed most seats representing the northern Saada province, organisers said.
The Southern Movement is represented at the talks by 85 seats while the Zaidi reb

Netanyahu’s ruling coalition ‘can collapse at any time’

© AFP

After weeks of negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached a deal with secular centrists and a pro-settler party to form a new government. FRANCE 24 asked peace activist Ofer Bronchtein how long this uneasy alliance could last.

By Kyle G. Brown (video)
Marc DAOU (text)

 

Forty days of tough negotiations - that’s what it took for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a new coalition government with two of the country’s rising political stars. Newcomers Yair Lapid of the centrist Yesh Atid party and pro-settler leader Naftali Bennett signed the coalition deal only days before US President Barack Obama’s visit in the region.

ISRAEL'S RISING STARS: YAIR LAPID (L) AND NAFTALI BENNETT (R)

FRANCE 24 asked Ofer Bronchtein, a former advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Yithzak Rabin and the co-founder of the International Forum for Peace in the Middle East, what he thought of the country’s new government.
FRANCE 24: Ultra-Orthodox religious parties won’t be part of the ruling coalition for the first time in decades. What does this imply for the Israeli political scene?
Ofer Bronchtein: Let’s be clear, that doesn’t mean that there won’t be any religious parties in the new government. Naftali Bennett’s Jewish Home party is a national-religious movement. In fact, it's more hardline than the Ultra-Orthodox groups, like Shas, that Netanyahu would have preferred to keep in his coalition.These Ultra-Orthodox parties are focused on protecting the interests of their communities.
Some people may think that this government is not as right-wing as its predecessor because several new ministers come from the centrist and secular party of Yair Lapid. That would be wrong. Yair Lapid’s party is centrist when it comes to domestic policies. But in regard to international affairs, this new government is somewhere between the right and the far-right.
Considering Benjamin Netanyahu’s concessions to his coalition partners, do you think that the Israeli prime minister has been weakened? Is this a viable coalition government?
He appears weakened but he still leads the Likud-Beiteinu alliance that won the most seats in the last election. Netanyahu is a seasoned veteran of Israeli politics. He’ll have to be a very shrewd politician to lead the country because any disagreement within the ruling coalition would result in a severe political crisis - his government could collapse at any time. I think that this government could last up to two years, no more.

SPOTLIGHT ISRAEL Pro-settlement extremists to gain from Israel’s right shift

Netanyahu’s main opponents – Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett – have forged an unnatural alliance in order to gain as much political weight as the prime minister’s Likud-Beiteinu and its 31 Knesset members. As soon as they start to govern, their conflicting points of views will become obvious to all, especially on the issue of public deficit. Lapid promised his voters that he would implement drastic budgetary cuts – which implies dealing with the budget of the Ministry of Defense as well as costly pro-settlement policies. That would be a non-starter for Naftali Bennett, who represents the settler movement in the Knesset. His Jewish Home party will take control of the Ministry of Housing and encourage settlement construction.
Can this government breathe new life into the moribund peace process with the Palestinians?
That’s absolutely impossible with a government that includes Naftali Bennett. The leader of the Jewish Home party is against the creation of a Palestinian state, and he doesn’t believe in a future peace agreement. The international community and US President Barack Obama have repeatedly called for a freeze on settlement construction to put the peace process back on track. Bennett can’t accept that; it’s likely that such a policy would prompt him to leave the ruling coalition. If Netanyahu wanted to go ahead with a freeze on settlement construction, he would have to turn to his former Ultra-Orthodox allies.

Opposition source: Syrian rebels get U.S.-organized training in Jordan

(CNN) -- Syrian rebels claim that hundreds of their fighters are being given sophisticated-weapons training organized and authorized by the United States at a camp in Jordan.

A senior rebel spokesman, who did not want to be named discussing a sensitive matter, would not comment on the nature of the personnel conducting the training, such as whether the personnel were military troops or contractors. But he said that 300 fighters had already completed the course and crossed the border into Syria on Thursday.

Bus overturns killing 9 in Lebanon

(CNN) -- A bus overturned in Lebanon early Friday, killing nine people and injuring 29 more on a highway 8 miles east of the capital Beirut, according to state news agency NNA.

The bus with a Syrian license plate, flipped on the Kahaleh Highway, the Lebanese Red Cross said.

Red Cross rescuers have taken the injured to a hospital as well as the bodies of those killed.

Blasts, suicide bombers strike busy central Baghdad, killing at least 18

Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- Four massive explosions -- at least one set off by a suicide bomber -- rocked a busy area of Baghdad on Thursday. The blasts came in quick succession around 1 p.m. not far from the fortified area known as the Green Zone, where international and government employees work.

Black smoke filled the sky as fires raged for nearly two hours and frantic Iraqis shouted out for their loved ones. One woman screamed, "My son!"

Israel's new government excludes ultra-religious

President Shimon Peres (C) sits with Shas Party leaders at the President's residence on January 31, 2013, Jerusalem.

Jerusalem (CNN) -- Israeli politicians have reached an agreement on a new government that excludes ultra-religious parties, which have almost always been a part of the ruling coalition.

The main ultra-orthodox Shas Party will join the Labor Party in the opposition rows of the Knesset, Israel's parliament. It leaves the governing coalition with no party that traditionally trumpets the concerns of the poor.