Peace talks resume in 3 days! In unrelated news.....



Israel's housing minister on Sunday gave final approval to build nearly 1,200 apartments in Jewish settlements, just three days before Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are to resume in Jerusalem.

There was no immediate Palestinian comment, though the announcement by Housing Minister Uri Ariel was bound to deepen the atmosphere of distrust as the two sides head into talks after a five-year freeze.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had long insisted he would not resume talks without an Israeli settlement freeze, arguing that the expansion of settlements is pre-empting the outcome of negotiations.

The Palestinians want to establish a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967. Israel has built dozens of settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem that are now home to some 560,000 Israelis.

In the end, Abbas agreed to enter talks without a settlement freeze. In an apparent tradeoff, Israel agreed to release 104 long-held Palestinian prisoners in four installments over several months, with the first group of 26 to be freed Tuesday.

In Sunday's announcement, the Housing Ministry said 1,187 apartments had been given final approval, the last stage before issuing tenders to contractors. Of those, 793 will be built in neighborhoods for Jews in east Jerusalem, annexed by Israel shortly after the 1967 Mideast war. Most of the international community does not recognize the annexation.

In addition, 394 apartments are to be built in several large West Bank settlements, including Maaleh Adumim, Efrat and Ariel. The latter sits in the heart of the West Bank, and its expansion could be particularly problematic for negotiators trying to carve out a viable Palestinian state.

The housing minister, a leading member of the pro-settler party Jewish Home, said construction would continue.

"No country in the world takes orders from other countries where it can build and where it can't," Ariel said in his statement. "We will continue to market housing and build in the entire country ... This is the right thing at the present time, for Zionism and for the economy."

Hopfully, this is merely a crude "bargaining chip". Otherwise, the discussions/negotiations are already hung and will be for years to come.

far more damaging just days earlier was the unreported (here) staements by Palestinian spokesmen that no Israeli/Jew will be allowed to live in a future Palestine, and that they still will not recognize the legitimacy of Israel.

And in other news...300,000,000 rockets are set to be launched at Israel tomorrow while the IDF reqadies plans of a major offensive to take place in 2 days

[sarcasm]

....and the invoice for the cost of this has been prepared and forwarded to the US taxpayers!

Finance Minister Yair Lapid lashed out Sunday at the decision to build more than one thousand new homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, calling it "a double mistake."

Lapid's comments came on the heels of similar condemnation by Meretz leader, Zahava Gal-On, who accused the government of trying to stymie the nascent peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

"Announcing the decision to market 1,200 housing units in east Jerusalem and in the larger settlement blocs at this time is a double mistake," Lapid said in a statement.

"Solutions for the problem of housing should be founded in the areas of need," he wrote. "Additionally, the use of resources meant to provide housing for the middle class to needlessly defy the Americans will impede the peace process."

Gal-On branded decision "a roadside bomb the government has placed to eliminate the peace negotiations before they even begin."

She added that there would never be a peace agreement until Israel adheres to the 1967 lines and a territorial exchange.

Opposition leader Shelly Yacimovich added her voice to those slamming the decision, saying that the move destroys all progress the negotiations have made so far.

"There is no practical meaning the announcement, all it accomplishes is to violently torpedo the seeds of international recognition and support that we have garnered for the renewed peace talks," she said in a statement.

She called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to "choose what type of government he is heading - a government that seeks a political agreement or a government that denies the possibility of a diplomatic solution."

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, however, who welcomed the move to built 800 new housing units in the Jerusalem area.

"New construction in Jerusalem is essential to the development and strengthening of the city and for allowing young people to live and buy apartments," Barkat said, "I am glad that the government of Israel sees us eye to eye on this important need."

He also said that there is a need to continue to develop more housing as well as to invest in "continued economic, cultural and educational development."

The decision by the Ministry of Construction and Housing, currently under the control of Bayit Yehudi's Uri Ariel, comes a few days before the first of four planned Palestinian prisoner releases that are part of the renewed negotiations.

Yesh Atid MK Ofer Shelah echoed his party chairman Yair Lapid's criticism of the government's announcement that the state would issue 1,200 tenders for homes in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.

"This decision… is errant and dangerous, not just because of the timing - just before the renewal of peace talks with the Palestinians after years of disconnect - but because of the outrageous parallel that is being created between Israeli gestures, like the release of Palestinian prisoners, and the establishing of facts on the ground that will complicate future negotiations."

"Instead of courageously stating what is so obvious to every Israeli – that there won't be a final status agreement without a return to the June 4, 1967 lines with slight border adjustments and territorial swaps, the government prefers to zigzag between steps that are morally questionable and continuing the settlement enterprise, which is a key obstacle to any agreement."

So, as expected we have waring factions from within the cobbled-together majority lead by Netenyahu. One hand seems not to know what the other is doing. Hopefully, this went down without approval of the cabinet (including Netanyahu). Now, if what Frank says about a refusal to ever conced Israel's right to exist, then the whole proces is a sham and could not have lead anywhere. Perhaps this is just a little bit of "an eye for an eye" in the negotiation process? I doubt it.





(HD: if you are borred today, meet us in Bradenton for the match. You know how to reach me...)

I would in a heartbeat but my day is pretty slammed. When is game time?

"While his negotiators are in Washington meeting with Israeli officials and Secretary of State John Kerry, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas laid out his vision for a future Palestinian state in which he insists no Israelis will be allowed to remain.

“In a final resolution, we would not see the presence of a single Israeli – civilian or soldier – on our lands,” Abbas said in a briefing to mostly Egyptian journalists while on a visit to Cairo Monday."



It is standard doctrine. I don't think there is an expectation from either side that any final borders will leave any Jewish settlements inside Palestine and there is no way the Israeli army will remain as occupiers. Israel has over 500,000 Jews in settlements in the West Bank and those areas will all get annexed into Israel officially and hopefully finally recognized internationally if a peace agreement is reached. Right now they are not recognized as Israel and are a violation of international law.

The hatred for Israel runs so deep, the possibility for peace appears remote. As Abba Eban said, "The Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity."

They just don't understand an "Israeli hug".

Even if Israel concedes to giving up land and conforming to the pre-1967 borders, the Palestinians will continue to attack Israel, with the hope they will be destroyed, and driven from the middle-east. The Arab world, and Russia are patiently waiting for this to occur. Israel's prosperity and progress has made them a plum for conquest. When it's attempted, the whole world will be effected, and Mr. Obama will be faced with some decisions he is not competent to make. This is a critical time, and there's not much we can do, except watch it unfold. God is control of this particular situation.

I blame God for creating this cluster**** wait...that seems wrong.

Dad,

I understand your view, but there's a lot of evil things going on now, that will be corrected. Just watch...

Good f***king luck with this idea.


Only in a perfect world.

I agree.... but it may get a bit messy. lol

Yeah, it'll be beyond messy. it will beyond what we can imagine. God will defeat His enemies in a way we've never seen. Wait and see...

I've got popcorn a poppin'.

Then Obama's competence is not relevant. He will make the choices God wants him to make. After all, this is all pre-determined, right?

'bout time we had a new topic.