Israel: U.S. demand for settlement freeze 'not fair'

Tensions between Washington and Jerusalem are growing after the U.S. administration's demand that Israel completely freeze construction in all West Bank settlements. Israeli political officials expressed disappointment after Tuesday's round of meetings in London with George Mitchell, U.S. President Barack Obama's envoy to the Middle East.

"We're disappointed," said one senior official. "All of the understandings reached during the [George W.] Bush administration are worth nothing." Another official said the U.S. administration is refusing every Israeli attempt to reach new agreements on settlement construction. "The United States is taking a line of granting concessions to the Palestinians that is not fair toward Israel," he said.

The Israeli officials attributed the unyielding U.S. stance to the speech Obama will make in Cairo this Thursday, in which he is expected to deliver a message of reconciliation to the Arab and Muslim worlds.

Mitchell was joined at the London talks by his deputy David Hale, Daniel B. Shapiro (the head of the National Security Council's Middle East desk), and State Department deputy legal adviser Jonathan Schwartz.

The Israeli delegation consisted of National Security Adviser Uzi Arad, Netanyahu diplomatic envoy Yitzhak Molcho, Defense Ministry chief of staff Mike Herzog and deputy prime minister Dan Meridor.

Herzog spoke to Mitchell and his staff about understandings reached by former prime ministers Ehud Olmert and Ariel Sharon with the Bush administration on allowing continued building in the large West Bank settlement blocs. He asked that a similar agreement be reached with the Obama government.

Meridor spoke of the complexities characterizing the coalition headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and said Washington's demands of a complete construction freeze would lead to the dissolution of the Netanyahu government.

The Israeli delegates were stunned by the uncompromising U.S. stance, and by statements from Mitchell and his staff that agreements reached with the Bush administration were unacceptable. An Israeli official privy to the talks said that "the Americans took something that had been agreed on for many years and just stopped everything."

"What about the Tenet Report, which demanded that the Palestinians dismantle the terror infrastructure?" said the official, referring to former CIA director George Tenet. "It's unfair, and there is no reciprocity shown toward the Palestinians."

The Israeli envoys said the demand for a total settlement freeze was not only unworkable, but would not receive High Court sanction. Tensions reportedly reached a peak when, speaking of the Gaza disengagement, the Israelis told their interlocutors, "We evacuated 8,000 settlers on our own initiative," to which Mitchell responded simply, "We've noted that here."

Defense Minister Ehud Barak will travel to Washington today in an attempt to put further pressure on the Obama administration.

"We want to reach an agreement with the United States on ways to advance the peace process," said a senior Jerusalem official. The U.S. stance, he said, "will stall the process and bring about tension and stagnation, which will hurt both Israel and the United States.

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Israel rebuffs U.S. call for total settlement freeze

Israel rebuffed Thurs. a call by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for a complete halt to settlement construction. (Reuters)

Israel will press ahead with housing construction in its West Bank settlements despite a surprisingly blunt demand from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that all such building stop, an Israeli official said Thursday.

The Israeli position could set the stage for a showdown with the U.S. on the day President Barack Obama meets his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, at the White House. Abbas has said the freeze of the Israeli settlements will top his agenda in the talks.

Israel contests that new construction must take place to accommodate for expanding families inside the existing settlements, which the U.S. and much of the world consider an obstacle to peace because they are built on land the Palestinians claim for a future state.

When asked to respond to Clinton's call for a total settlement freeze, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said that normal life in those communities must be allowed to continue. Pressed on whether the phrase normal life meant some construction will take place in existing settlements, Regev said it did.

He noted that Israel has pledged to build no new settlements and to remove
unauthorized Jewish outposts in the West Bank. "The fate of existing settlements will be determined in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians," he said.

Regev's remarks echoed those of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has said Israel will continue to allow natural growth in the settlements - a
vague term that refers to construction in existing settlements to accommodate growing families.

The new U.S. administration has been noticeably more explicit in its criticism
of Israeli settlement policy than its predecessor.

The two countries each have new leaders with strikingly different approaches to Israeli-Palestinian relations, with Netanyahu refusing to endorse Palestinian independence, a notion supported by Obama, his predecessor and the previous Israeli government.

Clinton said Wednesday the U.S. wants a halt to all settlement construction - including their natural growth.

In remarks to reporters in Washington, Clinton said Obama told Netanyahu last week when the two met at the White House that the U.S. sees stopping
settlements as key to a peace deal that would see a Palestinian state created alongside Israel.

"He wants to see a stop to settlements - not some settlements, not outposts, not 'natural growth' exceptions," Clinton said. "We think it is in the best interests [of the peace process] that settlement expansion cease. That is our position. That is what we have communicated very clearly. ... And we intend to press that point."

The remarks by Regev on Thursday also indicated that after Clinton explicitly defined natural growth as unacceptable, Israel now appears to be using the term normal life for the same phenomenon.

Earler Wednesday, an Israeli official said that the American administration shows no signs of backing down from its demands that Israel totally freeze settlement growth in the West Bank and open the Gaza border terminals to allow the rebuilding of the Strip.

These conclusions were drawn from talks held in London on Tuesday by Intelligence and Atomic Energy Minister Dan Meridor and advisers to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with American diplomats, led by U.S. special envoy George Mitchell.

According to the official, the Israeli side claimed in the talks that construction in settlements must be allowed to continue, due to natural growth. They suggested construction be limited to the existing outlines of the settlements, and to define in advance areas in which such construction will be authorized. They also said the demand of Israel to completely freeze the settlement construction was out of order, as the Palestinians have failed to fulfill their part in the first phase of the road map, in particular in combating terrorism.

The American side did not agree to the Israeli suggestions, and in addition to the settlement issue, repeatedly brought up the matter of opening the Gaza terminals to aid and construction materials necessary for rebuilding the Strip.

The same Jerusalem official also said Netanyahu was interested in reestablishing the ministerial committee on illegal outposts, to speed up negotiations with the settlers and allow for the dismantling of 22 outposts constructed after March 2001.

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U.S. refuses to back down on settlement freeze demand

The American administration shows no signs of backing down from its demands that Israel totally freeze settlement growth in the West Bank and open the Gaza border terminals to allow the rebuilding of the Strip, a Jerusalem official said Wednesday.

These conclusions were drawn from talks held in London on Tuesday by Intelligence and Atomic Energy Minister Dan Meridor and advisers to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with American diplomats, led by U.S. special envoy George Mitchell.

According to the official, the Israeli side claimed in the talks that construction in settlements must be allowed to continue, due to natural growth. They suggested construction be limited to the existing outlines of the settlements, and to define in advance areas in which such construction will be authorized. They also said the demand of Israel to completely freeze the settlement construction was out of order, as the Palestinians have failed to fulfill their part in the first phase of the road map, in particular in combating terrorism.

The American side did not agree to the Israeli suggestions, and in addition to the settlement issue, repeatedly brought up the matter of opening the Gaza terminals to aid and construction materials necessary for rebuilding the Strip.

The same Jerusalem official also said Netanyahu was interested in reestablishing the ministerial committee on illegal outposts, to speed up negotiations with the settlers and allow for the dismantling of 22 outposts constructed after March 2001.

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Jordan wants clarification from Israel over ‘dual state’

AMMAN - Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh on Tuesday summoned the Israeli ambassador to Jordan to convey a “harshly worded” message in protest against discussions of a proposal by an Israeli Knesset member over the so-called "dual state", a senior government official said yesterday.

The proposal reportedly suggests setting up a Palestinian state within the Kingdom. The official said the summoning of the envoy was ordered by Prime Minister Nader Dahabi. "The premier has made it clear that such a move is not acceptable and the government looks at this proposal with utmost concern, particularly since Jordan and Israel are bound by a peace treaty," Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Nabil Sharif told reporters yesterday following the Cabinet’s weekly meeting.

Sharif added that the government asked for a response from the Israeli side through its envoy in the Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Belgium's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Karel De Gucht said Belgium has always made it very clear that Israeli settlement expansion is not acceptable.

"Israel should unconditionally stop settlement policy and we have that very clear in the EU," De Gucht, who arrived in Jordan yesterday on a two-day visit, told reporters at a joint press conference with Judeh, adding that the council of EU ministers of foreign affairs has taken a position that "unless Israel completely stops building settlements, we cannot proceed with the process of enhancing relations between the EU and Israel".

Judeh said his talks with De Gucht covered the ongoing efforts aimed at reviving peace talks in the region and reaching a peaceful resolution to the Palestinian conflict as well as efforts being exerted towards this end by Belgium as an EU member.

De Gucht said his visit was a chance to discuss the situation in the Middle East, adding that the window of opportunity currently available to address the conflict in the region means that "we have to pursue a solution actively… All parties concerned should come around the table and negotiate".

He added that the resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is very crucial not only for the Middle East but also for the broader region and the relations between the rest of the world and the Arabs.

"It is a cornerstone without which we end up in a very unstable situation. That is why everybody should be dedicated to [efforts seeking] a solution," he added.

‘Netanyahu to give up outposts’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is willing to tear down settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank in return for US backing on its stance on arch-foe Iran, local media reported on Tuesday.

Netanyahu told his right-wing Likud faction on Monday that Israel would have to dismantle what it considers illegal outposts, as demanded by Washington, since the issue of Iran was more important, newspaper reports said.

"I identify the danger and that's why I am willing to take unpopular steps such as evacuating outposts. The Iranian threat is above everything," the mass-selling Yediot Aharonot quoted Netanyahu as saying.

"There are things on which you have to compromise." Since returning to the prime minister's post on March 31, Netanyahu has repeatedly said that Iran's controversial nuclear drive posed the biggest threat to Israel since its creation on Palestinian land in 1948.

At his first meeting with Barack Obama in Washington last week, Netanyahu sought to win support for his stance from the new US president, who has said he is open to dialogue with the Islamic republic.

Obama assured Netanyahu that his diplomatic efforts to halt Iran's nuclear drive were not open-ended and told him that "settlements must stop" so that the stalled Middle East process could move forward.

Settlement outposts in the West Bank, which Israel seized from Jordan in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, are those built without Israeli government approval. However, the international community considers all Jewish settlements on occupied land illegal.

"Soon we will have to take down outposts," Yediot quoted Netanyahu as telling the Likud MPs, most of whom oppose dismantling any settlements in the West Bank.

"Our relations with the United States are important and we must preserve them," he said. "The situation today is not like the situation back in 1996 and 1999 [during Netanyahu's first term as premier]. We mustn't waste time.

"In this reality, we have to make decisions. We are going to have to subordinate our priorities to existential needs and reach as broad a national unity as possible to repel the danger," he said.

Netanyahu dispatched a delegation headed by Intelligence Services Minister Dan Meridor to London on Tuesday for talks with US officials on settlement outposts and Iran.

"The two delegations will discuss putting in place joint teams that will discuss the question of the Iranian nuclear programme and settlement outposts," a senior official told AFP.

Israel and Western powers fear Iran's nuclear programme is a cover for efforts to built atomic weapons, claims repeatedly denied by Tehran which has vowed to press on with its activities.

Israel itself is widely believed to be the only nuclear armed state in the Middle East but adopts a policy of neither confirming nor denying whether it has a nuclear arsenal.

Under the 2003 international "roadmap" peace plan, Israel committed to dismantling outposts erected since March 2001 and a government commission later determined there were 26 such structures in the West Bank.

Watchdog groups say the actual number of such outposts is more than 50.

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Israeli legislation raises issue of loyalty

An ultranationalist party introduces a bill requiring an oath of allegiance to Israel, and another barring the traditional Arab day of mourning over the Jewish state's birth.

Reporting from Jerusalem -- The ultranationalist party led by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has unveiled two bills targeting Israel's Arab minority, one that would outlaw the Arabs' traditional day of mourning over the birth of Israel and another that would require an oath of allegiance to the Jewish state.

Both bills face opposition within Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's governing coalition and uncertain prospects for approval in the Knesset, Israel's parliament. But in the meantime, they are provoking vigorous debate over free expression, internal security and Israel's sense of international isolation.

Palestinian Arabs who remained in Israel after its independence and their descendants make up about one-fifth of the citizenry. Hundreds of thousands of other Arabs fled or were driven into exile in the war surrounding Israel's founding in 1948. Each May 15, Arabs inside and outside Israel gather for public expressions of grief over what they call the Nakba, or catastrophe.

A bill approved by a Cabinet committee Sunday would end Israel's tolerance for these annual demonstrations on its soil, making participation in them punishable by up to three years in prison.

Lieberman's party, Israel Is Our Home, announced Monday that it had prepared a separate bill requiring an oath of allegiance from anyone applying for a national identity card, a document essential for almost any transaction with the state, the school system or financial institutions. The oath would profess loyalty to Israel as "a Jewish, Zionist and democratic state."

The bill does not explicitly target Arab citizens but stems from Lieberman's campaign message that they pose an internal security threat. It would allow the government to revoke the citizenship of anyone who refuses to perform some kind of military or national service.

Parliament defeated a similar initiative by Lieberman's party in 2007, but its campaign on the loyalty issue propelled Israel Is Our Home to a strong third-place finish in this year's election.

Unlike Palestinians in the neighboring West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israel's Arabs hold full citizenship rights. But they complain of discrimination and have little identification with a country that defines itself as Jewish. Arab citizens are exempt from military service, which is compulsory for Jews, and few volunteer for it.

Arabs, a small minority in the parliament, reacted with fury to both pieces of legislation.

Jamal Zahalka, head of the Balad party, called the attempt to outlaw Nakba demonstrations "a crazy bill by a crazy government." He said the Jews "drove away our people and now they want to deny us even our cry of pain. This is record-breaking Israeli chutzpah."

Alex Miller, a member of Lieberman's party, said it would be inconceivable for Americans to hold protests against their country's independence. "It's time for us to be proud of our country," he said.

Dissent within the right-leaning governing coalition could trip up the Nakba bill, which faces several hurdles in parliament.

After it cleared a Cabinet committee, 8 votes to 3, three lawmakers from Netanyahu's conservative Likud party asked the Justice Ministry to overturn the decision. One of them, Michael Eitan, said Israel must combat security threats "not by limiting freedom of expression, but rather through belief in the justice of our path."

"This is the last thing this government should be sending out as a message to the democratic world," declared Avishai Braverman of the left-leaning Labor Party, a junior partner in the coalition. He said Israel was isolated enough by Netanyahu's refusal to endorse the goal of an independent Palestinian state.

Netanyahu has taken no position on either bill. In assembling his coalition, his party rejected Lieberman's demand to make a loyalty oath requirement part of the government program. Instead, a written agreement by the two parties said the judiciary should be given power to withdraw government assistance from anyone found to have engaged in terrorism or espionage.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish members of the ruling coalition might also oppose a loyalty oath because some of their constituents object to the establishment of a Jewish state before the arrival of the Messiah.

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'Israel won't yield to U.S. demands, won't halt settlement construction'

Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon spoke to Channel 2 on Saturday about the meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama, held earlier this week, saying that Israel's government will not allow the U.S. to dictate its policy, and that "settlement construction will not be halted."

"Settlements are not the reason that the peace process is failing, they were never an obstacle, not at any stage," Ya'alon told Channel 2 News. "Even when Israel pulled out of [Palestinian] territory, the terror continued. Even when we uprooted [Jewish] communities, we got 'Hamastan.' That is why I propose that we think about it - not in slogans and not with decrees."

According to Ayalon, "we will not halt the construction in the settlements within the framework of natural growth. There are people here who are living their lives, raising children. Housing is required ? it wasn't housing that has prevented peace."

In reference to the illegal West Bank outposts, which Israel has vowed to evacuate and has begun to do so, Ya'alon stressed that "the government will not permit illegal settlement, as we've proven with our actions this week."

Some believe that the evacuation of the outpost of Maoz Esther on Thursday morning, which came a day after Defense Ministry sources told Haaretz that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak had agreed on a plan to evacuate illegal outposts in the West Bank, was carried out in accordance with U.S. pressure. However, Barak denied any correlation between the Netanyahu-Obama meeting on Monday, and the evacuation.

Ya'alon also addressed reports that the U.S. had upped its demands and was trying to dictate Israel's next moves in the negotiations with the Palestinians. "What the U.S. is asking is not a demand, we'll see whether their declaration become actual demands," he said.

"[U.S. envoy to the Middle East George] Mitchell will come, and we'll talk to him. I suggest that Israel and the U.S. don't set a timetable. We won't let them threaten us," Ya'alon added.

"From the banks of the Potomac in Washington it is not always clear what the real situation here is," Ya'alon concluded. "This is where Israel must step in and help her ally understand the situation."

Ya'alon also criticized Israel, saying that "the Israeli discourse paints us as hostile, the problem is within us."

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UN Gaza inquiry 'to proceed despite Israel'

A UN inquiry into possible war crimes in Gaza will go ahead even if Israel does not co-operate, says Richard Goldstone, who leads the inquiry team.

Mr Goldstone said he was "disappointed" Israel had given no positive response, and said his team would enter Gaza via Egypt if Israel refused them visas.

The UN wants to investigate whether Israel and Hamas committed war crimes during the January conflict in Gaza.

Israel accuses the UN branch carrying out the mission of bias against it.

The UN Human Rights Council has been accused of singling out Israel unfairly, and is viewed by some as having less credibility than other parts of the UN.

But correspondents say the selection of Mr Goldstone, a respected South African war crimes prosecutor who is also Jewish, as head of the inquiry has given it greater clout.

Public hearings

Mr Goldstone said his team had hoped to visit southern Israeli towns which have suffered Palestinian rocket fire , before entering Gaza from Israel.

But if Israel failed to allow the investigators passage, entering through the Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border would be a "second choice".

He said that after talks with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the team had decided to hold a series of public hearings.

If these could take place in the Middle East "so much the better", but if not they would be held in Geneva, with witnesses flown in or testifying via video link, he said.

Most Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are unable to leave because of Israel's blockade on the territory.

Israel has given no official response to the inquiry team, but media reports have suggested it does not plan to co-operate.

Israeli ambassador in Geneva Leshno Yaar told Associated Press earlier that the council treats Israel "unfairly" and that "justice cannot be the outcome of this mission".

Inquiry conclusions

Several investigations into alleged violations of international law during Israel's 22-day operation in Gaza, which ended on 18 January, have now reported back.

Mr Ban has requested more than $11m (£7m) compensation from Israel for damage to UN property in Gaza, after a limited UN inquiry accused Israel of targeting known civilian shelters and providing untrue statements to justify actions in which civilians were killed.

The report found Israel to blame in six out of nine incidents when death or injury were caused to people sheltering at UN property and UN buildings were damaged.

The Israeli military has concluded in an internal investigation that its troops fought lawfully, although errors did take place, such as the deaths of 21 people in a wrongly targeted house.

Meanwhile, a fact-finding team commissioned by the Arab League said there was sufficient evidence for the Israeli military to be prosecuted for war crimes and crimes against humanity, and that "the Israeli political leadership was also responsible for such crimes".

It also said Palestinian militants were guilty of war crimes in their use of indiscriminate attacks on civilians.

About 1,300 Palestinians died in the January conflict. Israeli and Palestinian estimates differ on the numbers of civilian casualties.

Ten Israeli soldiers were killed, including four by friendly fire, and three Israel civilians died in rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.

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Clinton calls on Israel to halt 'any kind' of settlement activity

WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took a hard line against settlement construction in the territories Wednesday, including a call to freeze building for natural growth. Her statement came in contrast to the general terms U.S. President Barack Obama expressed about the issue to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the week.

"We want to see a stop to settlement construction - additions, natural growth, any kind of settlement activity - that is what the president has called for," Clinton said in an interview with Al-Jazeera.

President Shimon Peres discussed the use of construction to accommodate natural growth in the settlements when he was in Washington at the beginning of May. "These children are not going to live on the roofs," he said.

The Israeli Embassy here said Israel would stand by its pledge not to establish new settlements but as Israel sees it, this clearly does not include construction of housing to accommodate natural increases.

Clinton also discussed the two-state solution, which Netanyahu had not mentioned in his meeting with Obama. "We also are going to be pushing for a two-state solution, which by its very name implies borders that have to be agreed to and we expect to see two states living side-by-side," Clinton said. Clinton said the Palestinian state was envisioned as a sovereign state, with the responsibilities that come with statehood.

"We are starting this intensive engagement right now. We have consulted broadly already. George Mitchell and I have spoken with many Arab leaders and of course with the Palestinians and the Israelis and we are determined to forge ahead," Clinton told Al-Jazeera.

Clinton said she had stressed the U.S. position to Netanyahu over dinner. The hard work was just beginning, she said, and the U.S. administration was determined to move ahead with what it saw as in the essential interest of the Israelis, the Palestinians, the region and the rest of the world.

Clinton said the the Palestinians' recognizing Israel's right to exist, renouncing violence and respecting prior agreements are an "incredibly reasonable request."

Despite reports that Obama was to unveil a peace plan in his Cairo speech on June 4, the White House said there is still no final plan on the table and ideas would continue to coalesce during the month in meetings Obama expects to hold with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

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Obama presses two-state solution in U.S.-Israel talks

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday pressed a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict but failed to win a commitment from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to back Palestinian statehood.

In their first White House talks, Obama also urged Netanyahu to freeze Jewish settlement building but sought to reassure Israelis wary about his overtures to Iran that he would not wait indefinitely for diplomatic progress toward curbing Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

The two leaders tried to paper over their differences as Obama waded into the thicket of Middle East diplomacy four months after taking office, but the divisions were hard to ignore between Israel and its superpower ally.

"It is in the interests not only of the Palestinians but also the Israelis, the United States and the international community to achieve a two-state solution," Obama told reporters with Netanyahu sitting beside him.

Netanyahu, who heads a new right-leaning Israeli coalition, reiterated that he supported self-government for the Palestinians but made no mention of a state, a position underscoring a rare rift in U.S.-Israeli relations.

"I did not say two states for two peoples," Netanyahu said later at a solo briefing with reporters.

"We need to deliberate to clarify this. Does it mean a Hamas state? I hope not. So how do I ensure it's not a Hamas state, an entity that threatens Israel security? I think that's a fundamental question," Netanyahu said.

Hamas Islamists, who have rejected Western calls to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept existing interim peace accords, took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, leaving Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas governing essentially only in the West Bank.

NETANYAHU DISAPPOINTS PALESTINIANS

Nabil Abu Rdainah, senior aide to Abbas, lauded Obama's commitment to a two-state solution, the cornerstone of U.S. Mideast policy, but called Netanyahu's words "disappointing."

Obama sees engagement in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking as crucial to fixing America's image in the Muslim world and drawing moderate Arab states into a united front against Iran.

After two hours of talks, Obama offered no new remedies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has defied efforts by successive U.S. administrations. He has yet to formulate a detailed Middle East strategy.

There have been signs, however, that Obama hopes to sway Netanyahu with the prospect of normalized ties between Israel and all Muslim countries, a comprehensive deal that would require extraordinary diplomatic work by the United States.

With Israeli leaders mostly skeptical of Obama's efforts to engage Iran diplomatically, Netanyahu stressed Israel's concerns about Tehran's nuclear program. Israel, which has not ruled out military strikes against Iran if diplomacy fails, had urged a deadline for moving to tougher actions.

In response, Obama set a rough timetable for his diplomatic outreach to Iran for the first time. "By the end of the year we should have some sense ... whether we are starting to see serious movement on the part of Iranians," he said.

Obama also said he was not closing off a "range of steps" against Iran, including sanctions, if it continues its nuclear program, which Washington believes is aimed at producing an atomic weapon but Tehran says is for peaceful purposes.

Netanyahu said that it was clear to Obama "that Israel retains the right to defend itself". But the Israeli leader said he hoped the president's diplomatic efforts succeeded.

If Netanyahu remains resistant to talks with the Palestinians on tough issues such as borders and settlements, it could cause friction in U.S.-Israeli relations.

Obama said both Israel and the Palestinians would have to meet obligations under the 2003 Middle East "roadmap," which call on Israel to halt settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and for the Palestinians to rein in militants.

"Settlements have to be stopped in order for us to move forward," Obama told Netanyahu.

In his briefing to reporters, Netanyahu gave no indication he would do so, citing the need for Palestinians to carry out their road map commitments.

The Palestinians say settlements, which the World Court has deemed illegal, could deny them a viable state.

Despite diverging views, Obama and Netanyahu chatted amiably as reporters filed into the Oval Office, but became more businesslike when they started speaking. It was a contrast to the chumminess President George W. Bush often showed to visiting Israeli leaders.

They had been expected to tread carefully in talks seen as helping set the tone for a U.S.-led peace efforts. With his strategy still in the formative stage, Obama seemed in no position to push Netanyahu too hard for concessions to a Palestinian leadership weakened by internal divisions.

Netanyahu can ill afford the perception at home that he is alienating Israel's chief ally. Neither can he be seen giving up too much if he wants to keep the right-wing core of his coalition intact.

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Israel bans books, music and clothes from entering Gaza

Israel allows only food, medicine and detergent into the Gaza Strip. Thousands of items, including vital products for everyday activity, are forbidden.

Altogether only 30 to 40 select commercial items are now allowed into the Gaza Strip, compared to 4,000 that had been approved before the closure Israel imposed on Gaza following the abduction of Gilad Shalit, according to merchants and human rights activists.

The number of items changes according to what is determined by The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. COGAT has refused the PA representative's request for an updated list of the items permitted into Gaza in writing, and passes the information only via the telephone.

Gaza merchants are forbidden to import canned goods, plastic sheeting, toys and books, although the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and other aid organizations are permitted to bring them into the strip.

The few items merchants are allowed to trade in are divided into three categories: food, medicine and detergent. Everything else is forbidden - including building materials (which are necessary to rehabilitate Gaza's ruins and rebuild its infrastructure), electric appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines, spare machine and car parts, fabrics, threads, needles, light bulbs, candles, matches, books, musical instruments, crayons, clothing, shoes, mattresses, sheets, blankets, cutlery, crockery, cups, glasses and animals. Many of the banned products are imported through the tunnels and can be found in Gaza's markets.

Pasta, which had been forbidden in the past, is now allowed, after U.S. Senator John Kerry expressed his astonishment at the ban during a visit to Gaza in February. But tea, coffee, sausages, semolina, milk products in large packages and most baking products are forbidden. So are industrial commodities for manufacturing food products, chocolate, sesame seeds and nuts. Israel does allow importing fruit, milk products in small packages and frozen food products as well as limited amounts of industrial fuel.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that during the first week of May, 2.2 million liters of industrial fuel - some 70 percent of the weekly supply required to operate the power station - was allowed into Gaza. UNRWA receives petrol and diesel supplies separately. A daily 270-300 tons of cooking gas - 54 percent of the required amount - is allowed.

Petrol and diesel for private cars and public transportation have not been imported from Israel since November 2, 2008, except for a small amount for UNRWA. The union of Gaza's gas station owners estimates that some 100,000 liters of diesel and 70,000 liters of petrol are brought through the tunnels daily.

Egypt, which in the past two months has been restricting the trade movement through the tunnels, does not limit the supply of gas and fuel. But since Egyptian fuel is heavier than Israeli fuel, it damages the newer cars in Gaza and causes malfunctions.

In the past, Israel allowed wood for home furnishings to be brought into Gaza for some time, but not wood for windows and doors. Now Israel has resumed the ban on wood for furniture.

The ban on toilet paper, diapers and sanitary napkins was lifted three months ago. A little more than a month ago, following a long ban, Israel permitted the import of detergents and soaps into Gaza. Even shampoo was allowed. But one merchant discovered that the bottles of shampoo he had ordered were sent back because they included conditioner, which was not on the list.

Five weeks ago Israel allowed margarine, salt and artificial sweetener to be brought into Gaza. Legumes have been allowed for the past two months and yeast for the past two weeks. Contrary to rumors, Israel has not banned sugar.

COGAT commented that, "The policy of bringing commodities derives from and is coordinated with Israel's policy toward the Gaza Strip, as determined by the cabinet decision on September 19, 2007."

A COGAT forum convenes with representatives of international organizations weekly to address special requests of the international community regarding humanitarian equipment and the changing needs of the Palestinian population, the statement says.

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Economic approach to peace rejected

His Majesty King Abdullah meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday (Photo by Yousef Allan)

AMMAN (JT) –– His Majesty King Abdullah on Thursday said that any talk about economic empowerment outside the framework of the political solution in the Middle East is rejected.

During a brief meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the King said this political solution should ensure the establishment of a viable and independent Palestinian state that lives in peace side by side with Israel.

The King stressed that the economic option will not bring about peace and will expose the region to more conflicts and crises, a Royal Court statement said.

The Monarch said that Israel must commit itself immediately to the two-state solution, which, he said, guarantees the establishment of an independent Palestinian state following Israel’s withdrawal from all occupied Arab lands in line with the Arab Peace Initiative and international resolutions.

During the talks, King Abdullah demanded an end to Israeli settlement building in the West Bank and all unilateral actions aimed at changing the status quo, calling for ending the siege on Gaza and lifting all checkpoints that restrict the movement of goods and people in Palestinian territories.

He urged Netanyahu to engage immediately in serious negotiations with the Palestinian Authority to achieve a two-state solution as soon as possible.

The King also stressed that Israel must stop excavation work and unilateral measures in Jerusalem that threaten the sacred sites and seek to alter the identity of the city by driving out Arab Muslims and Christians from the Holy City.

The Monarch emphasised that the Arab initiative is a historic opportunity to reach a comprehensive peace which guarantees the return of Arab rights and offers Israel security and recognition in the neighbourhood.

He warned that the failure to seize this opportunity is a real threat to peace and stability in the entire region, indicating that Israel cannot have security and stability unless Palestinians achieve their legitimate right to statehood.

Netanyahu will head to Washington on Sunday for his maiden meeting with President Barack Obama amid divisions over Middle East peacemaking and Iran's nuclear ambitions, AFP reported.

The hawkish premier, who wants a "fresh" approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, will unveil in the White House meeting on Monday his long-awaited policy for regional peace focused on countering Iran, the news agency quoted aides as saying.

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Obama warns Netanyahu: Don't surprise me with Iran strike

U.S. President Barack Obama has sent a message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanding that Israel not surprise the U.S. with an Israeli military operation against Iran. The message was conveyed by a senior American official who met in Israel with Netanyahu, ministers and other senior officials. Earlier, Netanyahu's envoy visited Washington and met with National Security Adviser James Jones and with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and discussed the dialogue Obama has initiated with Tehran.

The message from the American envoy to the prime minister reveals U.S. concern that Israel could lose patience and act against Iran. It is important to the Americans that they not be caught off guard and find themselves facing facts on the ground at the last minute.

Obama did not wait for his White House meeting with Netanyahu, scheduled for next Monday, to deliver his message, but rather sent it ahead of time with his envoy.

It may be assumed that Obama is disturbed by the positions Netanyahu expressed before his election vis-a-vis Tehran - for example, Netanyahu's statement that "If elected I pledge that Iran will not attain nuclear arms, and that includes whatever is necessary for this statement to be carried out." After taking office, on Holocaust Memorial Day Netanyahu said: "We will not allow Holocaust-deniers to carry out another holocaust."

Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak do not oppose American dialogue with Tehran, but they believe it should be conducted within a limited window of time, making it clear to Iran that if it does not stop its nuclear program, severe sanctions will be imposed and other alternatives will be considered.

The American concern that Israel will attack Iran came up as early as last year, while president George W. Bush was still in office. As first reported in Haaretz, former prime minister Ehud Olmert and Barak made a number of requests from Bush during the latter's visit to Jerusalem, which were interpreted as preparations for an aerial attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Following the Bush visit to Jerusalem, about a year ago the previous administration sent two senior envoys, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, and the former U.S. national intelligence chief Mike McConnell to demand that Israel not attack Iran.

The previous administration also gave the message greater weight through Mullen's public statement that an Israeli attack on Iran would endanger the entire region. Since that statement, Mullen has met a number of times with his Israeli counterpart, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi.

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King Abdullah in Mid-East warning

King Abdullah is involved in devising a peace plan for the Middle East

King Abdullah of Jordan has warned that failure to reach an agreement for peace in the Middle East will result in a new conflict within 12-18 months.

In comments to the UK newspaper The Times, he said the US was finalising an ambitious "57-state solution" for peace that he is helping to prepare.

The king said the plan would include proposals to settle Israel's disputes with Syria and Lebanon.

His comments came ahead of Middle East debate at the UN Security Council.

The UN meeting at foreign minister-level is part of a flurry of diplomacy ahead of visits by Middle East leaders to the White House later this month for separate visits.

Also on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met the Egyptian president at the Sharm el-Sheikh resort, his foreign visit since taking office on 1 April.

Meanwhile, King Abdullah travelled to Damascus where he and President Bashar al-Assad reportedly discussed a Saudi-inspired Arab peace initiative which offers Israel full diplomatic ties if it withdraws from occupied Arab land and agrees a solution for Palestinian refugees.

BBC Diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says if a comprehensive approach really is put on the table it would be the first peace-making effort of this kind since the Madrid summit in 1991.

'Shuttle diplomacy'

In his interview with the Times, King Abdullah of Jordan said that all eyes would be "looking to Washington".

"If there are no clear signals and no clear directives to all of us, there will be a feeling that this is just another American government that is going to let us all down."

He also warned that if Israel procrastinated on a two-state solution, or there was no clear US vision on what should happen this year, Mr Obama's "tremendous credibility" in the Arab world would evaporate overnight.

"If we delay our peace negotiations, then there is going to be another conflict between Arabs or Muslims and Israel in the next 12-18 months," he said.

King Abdullah said what was being proposed was a "57-state solution" that would include all 57 member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

"What we are talking about is not Israelis and Palestinians sitting at the table, but Israelis sitting with Palestinians, Israelis sitting with Syrians, Israelis sitting with Lebanese," he said.

The Times reported that a plan might offer Israel entry visas to every Arab country, the right of Israeli national airline El Al to fly over Arab territory, and the eventual recognition of Israel by all OIC members.

Israel would have to respond by halting the construction and expansion of settlements, and agree to withdraw from land taken since 1967.

The right of return of Palestinian refugees and the future status of Jerusalem would be negotiated within the framework of the deal.

Mr Netanyahu has not endorsed the establishment of a Palestinian state.

His foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman has said the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was at a "dead end".

Instead of a two-state solution backed by the US and the EU, Mr Netanyahu is calling for a "triple-track" peace process that includes progress on the political, security and economic front.

King Abdullah said: "Just because there is a right-wing government in Israel does not mean that we should chuck in the towel."

"I think we're going to have to do a lot of shuttle diplomacy, get people to a table in the next couple of months to get a solution."

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Obama set to host Mideast leaders for talks on peace deal

U.S. President Barack Obama will meet separately over the next two weeks with Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian leaders to discuss the future of the Middle East peace process.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will arrive in Washington on Monday, to be followed by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on May 26 and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on May 28, the White House announced on Tuesday.

"The President looks forward to welcoming key partners in the effort to achieve a comprehensive peace in the Middle East to the White House later this month," the White House said in a statement.

"The President will discuss ways the United States can strengthen and deepen our partnerships, as well as the steps all parties should take to help achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians and between Israel and the Arab states."

Obama met earlier this month with President Shimon Peres, and with Jordanian King Abullah II in late April.

On Monday, The Times of London quoted the Jordanian king as saying that the United States is promoting a peace plan for the Middle East involving a "57-state solution" in which the entire Muslim world would recognize Israel.

"We are offering a third of the world to meet them with open arms," the king said. "The future is not the Jordan River or the Golan Heights or the Sinai, the future is Morocco in the Atlantic and Indonesia in the Pacific. That is the prize."

But he warned: "If we delay our peace negotiations, then there is going to be another conflict between Arabs or Muslims and Israel in the next 12-18 months."

The newspaper said the king had hatched the plan with President Barack Obama in Washington in April. Details are likely to be thrashed out in a series of diplomatic moves this month, including Obama's meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington next week.

"What we are talking about is not Israelis and Palestinians sitting at the table, but Israelis sitting with Palestinians, Israelis sitting with Syrians, Israelis sitting with Lebanese," said the king.

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New envoy to U.S.: Soon Jews won't want to live in Israel

Suppose a Jewish couple considering immigration to Israel were to ask a bored Jewish Agency emissary for background material on the situation here. "It just so happens I received something today that might interest you," the emissary might reply, pulling out the most recent article written by Dr. Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador-designate to the United States.

This article might well deter the potential immigrants from ever bothering the agency's emissary again. Under the title "Seven Existential Threats," published in the latest issue of the conservative Jewish publication "Commentary," Oren wrote that Israel has no competition in the modern era when it comes to the number and variety of threats that endanger the Jewish state's existence.

Oren, a historian from the Shalem Center whom Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has tapped for Israel's top diplomatic post, described a country rotten to the core, riddled by everything from drug dealing to white slavery, from money laundering to illegal arms trading.

He reported that not even the army has escaped the clutches of corruption, thus weakening Israelis' will to fight for their country, or even to live in it. Moreover, Oren complained, Israel's best and brightest are being persecuted around the world for what the country's detractors term "war crimes."

Upon reading this article (which was written before he was appointed to his ambassadorial post), American Jews will also learn that the Jewish people will soon lose Jerusalem as its eternal capital, as this city, too, is under existential threat: A majority of Jerusalem's inhabitants (272,000 Arabs and 200,000 ultra-Orthodox, out of a total of 800,000 residents) are not Zionists; secular Jews are fleeing the city; and fully half of Israel's youth have never even visited the holy city.

According to Oren, "if this trend continues, [Israeli founding father David] Ben Gurion's nightmare will materialize and Israel will be rendered soulless, a country in which a great many Jews may not want to live or for which they may not be willing to give their lives."

Next on the list are the existential demographic threat, the existential terrorist threat and the existential threat of Iran's nuclear capability. Interspersed throughout the article are a few rather existential historical inaccuracies, such as the claim that no Arab leader has ever recognized Israel as a Jewish state (the 1988 Palestinian declaration of independence recognized the Jewish state), or that between 1957 and 1967, hundreds of Jews were killed in acts of terror (the number is less than two dozen).

Particularly interesting is the solution to the existential demographic problem hat ambassador-to-be Oren proposes ¬ unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank to borders that would be determined in accordance with the following principles: maximum Jewish population, strategic assets, holy sites and natural resources. In other words, the historian-ambassador believes it is possible, and even appropriate, to (continue to) rob the Palestinians not only of their land, but also of their water and quarries.

This delusional article should come as no surprise to Haaretz readers with long memories. In December 1993, several weeks after the Oslo agreements were signed, this paper reported that Oren had written a document proposing the establishment of "a centrist bloc headed by [then] chief of staff Ehud Barak and MK Benny Begin as a counterweight to Yitzhak Rabin, who is being led by the left and Yossi Beilin, and to Benjamin Netanyahu, who is being dragged after the extreme right."

At that time, the American Jewish Committee, a smallish Jewish organization, had named Oren its representative in Israel. Now, Netanyahu the one who was in the clutches of the extreme right (presumably no longer?) ¬ is appointing him to be Israel's number-one representative to the most important superpower in the world.

Crisis in a phone booth

The crisis that has beset the Israeli delegation to the International Women's Commission undermines the theory that if women were in charge of the peace process, the many men who make their livings from the conflict would have to find new jobs. The internal struggle in the phone booth that houses what remains of the peace camp is paralyzing activity in the Israeli-Palestinian channel of the United Nations organization, which includes leaders from around the world.

The controversy broke out over Operation Cast Lead in Gaza earlier this year. Members of the Israeli steering committee ¬ Prof. Galia Golan, Prof. Naomi Chazan, Anat Sargusti and Aida Touma-Sliman ¬ signed a statement harshly condemning Israel. They agreed with their Palestinian comrades and other international delegates that Israel perpetrated a "massacre" in Gaza and urged the international community to "put an end to the madness."

Former Knesset member Colette Avital ¬ an IWC veteran who also heads the Labor Party's external relations department ¬ protested the declaration, charging that it failed to mention Hamas' attacks against Israeli civilians. She herself traveled to Europe during the war with a delegation of Knesset members to explain Israel's position. Eti Livni, a former Knesset member from the Shinui party, sent her colleagues an e-mail asking: "Are we talking about a struggle between the forces of light, Hamas, and the forces of darkness, murderers?"

The Palestinian delegates said they would not sit with women who justified the war. The Israeli steering committee hinted to the two that their resignations would be welcomed. Former Meretz MK Chazan wrote in a letter to her colleagues that delegates from the rest of the world were discomfited by the Israeli group's inability to support the commission's basic stance, which opposes all violence. Chazan cautioned that prolonging this situation would lead the commission to a sad end.

After lengthy soul-searching, Avital decided to resign angrily from the organization, but Livni continues to resist. She said yesterday that she has no intention of "abandoning the arena to colleagues who surrender to the Palestinians' dictates." Those who want her expelled from the organization will have to do it themselves.

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Iran's missiles not an existential threat

Iran is currently capable of carrying out a conventional missile attack on Israel - a substantial but not existential threat, say two Israeli analysts who will present their research on Tehran's missile capacity tomorrow. The analysts consider Iran's missile arsenal its main deterrent and describe the country's significant investments in the area.

The research was carried out by Uzi Rubin, former head of the Defense Ministry's Homa Project (code for the Arrow anti-ballistic missile system), and Tal Inbar, head of the Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies.

The two studies will be presented at an annual conference at the institute, which this year is dedicated to the missile and rocket threat on Israel.

The analysts' assessments are particularly relevant given estimates that Tehran is moving closer to acquiring a nuclear capability. The Western media is also speculating that Israel might carry out an attack against Iran's nuclear installations.

Rubin notes that while moderate Arab states emphasize air power, Iran and Syria (and by extension Hamas and Hezbollah) are adopting a "resistance" doctrine giving priority to missiles and rockets as the best response to Western air superiority.

Rubin relies on open source materials and says Iran showcases its missiles at every opportunity, while its leaders stress the weapon's importance to national security.

At a time when most Iranian military aircraft are remnants of the Shah era, the missile systems are significantly more modern and displayed during parades and expos. Test launches receive dramatic media coverage; Rubin says Iran's leaders describe their missile arsenal as the "heart of its deterrent." Its role is "to defend, deter and influence."

Iran's leaders have said they are ready to confront both the "enemies across the ocean" (the United States) and any Israeli attack. Iran has thus identified 35 enemy targets, including bases and concentrations of forces within 2,000 kilometers of the country's borders. This is the declared missile range in Iran's arsenal.

Since Tehran denies it is working on nuclear weapons, it also claims it does not develop missiles with a range exceeding 2,000 kilometers. It says the reports in the West are the product of "Zionist propaganda" aimed to frighten the Europeans.

Rubin adds that the Iranian missiles are presented to the public as scientific and engineering advances that show the regime's determination to protect the people. Rubin writes that "missiles are an equalizer, balancing the superiority of Israel's air force."

He says Iran prides itself on being able to produce missiles at a rate carmakers produce cars. "It is therefore reasonable to assume that Iran will aspire to acquire at least hundreds of Shehab missiles and rely on the Shehab as a sort of super-Katyusha," he writes.

Speaking with Haaretz, Rubin avoided estimating the number of long-range missiles currently in Iran's arsenal. But he appears to attribute to the missiles greater destructive power than the American researcher Anthony Cordesman, who said during a lecture in Israel last year that the number of Iranian missiles capable of striking Israel is very limited.

Inbar, meanwhile, notes the origins of Iran's focus on missiles: the damage caused by Iraqi bombing during the eight-year war between the two in the 1980s. Only at the end of that conflict did Iran speed up the development of its missile arsenal, with help from North Korea, China and Russia.

Inbar estimates that in two years, Iran's missiles will be capable of traveling 3,000 kilometers. In 2004, Iran successfully tested an upgraded Shehab-3 with a range of 2,000 kilometers.

Inbar describes "noncontinuous progress" in Iran's missile project, which has "holes and gaps" but is backed by excessive propaganda. The missiles, he writes, are perceived as Iran's "vertical bypass," enabling it to beat Israel's advanced air defense (which precludes air attacks on its territory).

According to Inbar, "Iran takes advantage of its missile arsenal in order to leverage an image of power in the Middle East that is beyond its real ability to participate in dictating the regional agenda." Inbar believes that "Israel must provide a credible response to the threat of Iran's missiles."

In the absence of such a response, Inbar says, Israel's civilians are threatened, and the country's ability to act, militarily and politically, might suffer as a consequence.

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Obama security advisor: 2-state solution could diminish Iran threat

A two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians could diminish the existential threat posed by Iran, U.S. National Security Advisor James Jones said in an interview aired on the network ABC on Sunday.

The interview aired just over a week before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to arrive at the White House for talks with U.S. President Barack Obama.

Jones was asked whether the U.S. would try to pressure Israel into fully accepting a two-state solution, and interviewer George Stephanopoulos cited a Haaretz report which last week revealed the content of a conversation between Jones and a European foreign minister in which Jones said that "We will not push Israel under the wheels of a bus, but we will be more forceful toward Israel than we have been under Bush"

Jones replied: "I think it means that this administration is going to engage fully. That is to say, using all aspects of the inter-agency process to make sure that the security of Israel is not compromised, that the issue of Palestinian sovereignty also has its place at the table. There are many expectations around the world, in the Arab World and in the European community that we are at a moment where we can make progress with regard to the Middle East."

When the interviewer reminded Jones that Netanyahu has yet to voice support for the two-state solution, Jones said "that was the position of the former government."

"We understand Israel's preoccupation with Iran as an existential threat. We agree with that. And by the same token, there are a lot of things that you can do to diminish that existential threat by working hard towards achieving a two-state solution. This is a very strategic issue. It's extremely important. And we're looking forward to having a good, constructive dialogue with our Israeli friends when they visit Washington in the next seven or eight days," Jones concluded.

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Arab League urges Obama to spell out Mideast policy

The Arab League called on US President Barack Obama on Saturday to use a keynote address in Egypt next month to spell out his administration’s policy on the Middle East peace process.

The 22-nation bloc said that by then he will have met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Washington’s key Arab allies, allowing him to have worked out a detailed strategy.

“We expect the US president to announce his policy towards the Israeli-Arab conflict during his visit to Egypt,” said the league’s assistant secretary general, Hisham Yussef.

“By then he will have listened to the parties to the conflict and so will be able to spell out his policy,” Yussef told AFP.

During his election campaign, Obama promised to address Muslims in a bid to mend the US image in the Islamic world. He is to do so in Egypt on June 4, the White House announced on Friday.

Obama has pledged Washington’s continuing support for a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict despite the new Israeli prime minister’s refusal to commit his government to a Palestinian state.

Arab foreign ministers welcomed the US president’s position at a meeting in Cairo on Thursday.

But Yussef warned that while Arab states should avoid “excessive pessimism” over the Netanyahu government’s position, they should also refrain from getting “overly optimistic” about the pronouncements from Washington.

“Arab governments have set out to the Obama administration their consistent positions, which are very clear - no negotiations with Israel without a halt to settlement activity and an end to Israeli violations in Jerusalem,” he said.

“We will not accept a policy of tiny steps at a time and we also want a lifting of the Israeli blockade” imposed on the Gaza Strip ever since the Islamist Hamas movement seized control of the territory in June 2007.

The Israeli “violations” Yussef was referring to in Jerusalem are principally a spate of house demolitions in the city’s Arab eastern sector which have drawn condemnation from Arab governments.

The official said the Arab world was not opposed to a call by US Vice President Joe Biden to make “meaningful gestures” towards ending the Jewish state’s isolation but that Israel had first to honour its side of the bargain.

“We are ready to make concrete and measured gestures but only if it genuinely honours its undertakings, above all a halt to settlement activity in the West Bank and violations in east Jerusalem,” he said.

Yussef recalled that the Arab League had already made a significant overture in April 2007 by sending the Egyptian and Jordanian foreign ministers as envoys to Israel to set out an Arab peace plan.

The plan, first adopted in 2002, offers Israel full normalisation of relations in return for a full withdrawal from all the territories it occupied in the 1967 Middle East war, a Palestinian state and an equitable solution to the Palestinian refugee problem.

But Yussef stressed: “Arab governments are absolutely not willing to make concessions to Israel without getting anything in return, particularly when the Israeli government has announced extremely negative policies.” Privately, Arab diplomats express little confidence of any imminent breakthrough in the peace process.

“The key question is when the Obama administration is going to be ready to stand up to the Netanyahu government and put real pressure on it to make it change policy,” one diplomat told AFP, asking not to be identified.

Obama “has given some indications that he might but when will he really be able to take concrete steps like those taken by George Bush senior?” he added.

The diplomat was alluding to the then US president’s 1992 decision to freeze credit guarantees worth $10 billion to put pressure on Israel to halt settlement activity.

Hamas warning

Hamas’ top political leader has warned President Abbas against asking his prime minister to form a new government.

The group and Abbas’ Fateh movement have held months of negotiations aimed at forming a unity government.

But an Abbas aide has signalled that the Egypt-brokered talks had failed, and the president would soon ask his Prime Minister Salim Fayyad to form a new government without Hamas.

Fayyad had stepped down in March to clear the way for the latest round of unity talks.

Hamas’ leader Khaled Mishaal said reconciliation talks were ongoing and warned that such unilateral steps by Abbas would lack legitimacy. He spoke during a meeting of Damascus-based Palestinian groups Saturday.

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Breakdown of U.S.-Israel cooperation under Obama worries Jerusalem

Isn't this interesting! Israel does not get briefed on what the US wants to do. For once we have a President who is putting American Interests first without asking for Israel's permission. This is very refreshing!

Senior officials in Jerusalem expressed concern recently over the sharp decline in the coordination between Israel and the United States on security and state affairs since President Barack Obama's entered the White House and especially since the formation of Israel's new government.

Senior White House officials told their Israeli counterparts that Obama will demand Netanyahu completely suspend construction in the settlements, the officials said.

"Obama's people brief their Israeli counterparts in advance much less about security and Middle East policy activities than the Bush administration used to," the officials said.

In addition, when they do brief Israeli officials, they don't consult with them or coordinate their statements in advance.

This has caused several coordination "malfunctions" between the two states in the past two months, they said.

The last incident was the statement of Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller, calling on Israel to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The statement had not been coordinated with Israeli officials in charge of the nuclear issue and they heard it first from the media.

This followed other equally problematic incidents. The American policy shift toward Syria and opening direct talks with Damascus followed minimal coordination with Israel. For example, Israel was not briefed about senior American diplomats' trip to Damascus, which the U.S. had initiated.

Another incident concerned U.S. envoy for Iranian affairs Dennis Ross' trip to the Gulf states a few days ago for talks on Iran. Israel was briefed on the trip in general details, but no consultations or message-coordination took place before the trip. In addition, Ross did not pass through Israel on his way to the Gulf or back to brief Israel on the talks' outcome.

The American policy toward Iran has remained generally ambiguous as far as Israel is concerned and the administration has not outlined to Israel its plan for a dialogue with Iran in an orderly way. Many of the details Israel learned about this plan were obtained via European channels.

The Israeli officials said the problem also stems from the government change in both states and because clear work procedures between the sides have not been set established.

"This will be one of the most important things Netanyahu will have to settle with Obama," a senior official said.

However, the official said the new administration no longer seems to see Israel as a "special" or "extraordinary" state in the Middle East, with which the U.S. must maintain a different dialogue than with other states.

"The feeling is that the dialogue and coordination with the Arab states and with Europe is today no less important to the U.S. and perhaps more so than with Israel," the official said.

Uzi Arad, the official in the Prime Minister's Office in charge of the liaison with the American administration, maintains ties with various American officials but has not yet forged a direct channel to his counterpart, National Security Advisor General James L. Jones.

Arad is scheduled to go to Washington next week to prepare for Netanyahu's trip.

Arad will outline the first chapters of Israel's new foreign policy, with an emphasis on the Palestinian and Iranian issues, at his meeting with Jones next Tuesday in Washington ahead of Obama's meeting with Netanyahu May 18.

The Americans are expected to tell Arad what Obama expects of his meeting with Netanyahu and coordinate the meeting's agenda, issues and the two men's statements in the news conference after the meeting.

The Americans are also expected to brief Arad on the talks between American and Syrian officials in Damascus on Thursday.

During the Olmert government, Israeli officials kept very close ties with their counterparts in the American administration. This included advanced briefings about almost every American move. The Israelis were even briefed about former president George W. Bush's speeches or former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice's foreign policy statements.

Former prime minister Ehud Olmert used to have regular conversations with Bush while former foreign minister Tzipi Livni kept in touch with Rice. Olmert's chief of staff Yoram Turbowicz and political advisor Shalom Turgeman coordinated foreign policy activities with National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley and his deputy Elliot Abrams.

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A Palestinian remembers the Holocaust

By Aziz Abu Sarah

A few weeks ago, the world commemorated Holocaust Day with memorials, moments of silence, and time taken to remember the lives of loved ones lost.

For years this day has been a source of internal conflict for me as a Palestinian, so this year my wife Marie and I decided to hold our own memorial by doing something I have put off for a long time: we watched the movie "Schindler?s List."

It was my first time seeing the movie, which tells the story of a German man who risked his life to save hundreds of Jews during the Holocaust.

Although it may seem strange for a Palestinian to take time out to remember the Holocaust, I felt it was an important step for me. I needed to connect with the pain of those who suffered, and I needed to go beyond nationality to acknowledge the loss of human life.

I must admit that growing up I did not know much about the Holocaust. As Palestinians, we simply did not learn about it.

There was a stigma attached to it, an understanding that Israel would use the Holocaust to lobby for sympathy, then turn and use the sympathy as a terrible weapon against the Palestinian people.

So when I was asked about the Holocaust, I always felt that defensive urge to say "It was not my fault! I suffered for it too." Deep down, I think I felt that by acknowledging their pain, I would betray or marginalize my own suffering.

Also, some part of me feared that if I sympathized with "the enemy," my right to struggle for justice might be taken away. Now I know this is nonsense: you are stronger when you let humanity overcome enmity. However, it took me time to learn this lesson.

Many years ago, I decided there is no way I can understand and communicate with my Jewish friends if I don't learn their history, their narrative, and their story.

I decided that the Holocaust Museum would be the place to start my journey. My heart was racing as I crossed the threshold of Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. I began looking at the pictures and reading the stories with the distinct awareness that I was the only Palestinian there.

As I walked through the museum, however, my self-consciousness was replaced with shock. I could not believe how denigrated men could become to commit such atrocities. How could racism strip men of all humanity?

A few days later, I shared with some of my Jewish friends about my trip to the Holocaust Museum. Many were surprised, and wondered what had prompted me to make such a visit.

As I explained my reasons, I could see the walls that divided us crumbling apart. Yacov, a Holocaust survivor, told me his personal story. As a young boy in Poland, he had been separated from his parents and forced to pretend to be Christian, praying the Catholic prayers and attending church. His father was murdered during the war.

One of my best friends, Rami, described the horrors his father suffered in Auschwitz concentration camp. Again, my heart was gripped with pain and sympathy in hearing their stories.

Visiting the Holocaust Museum and allowing my friends to share their stories was pivotal for my relationship with them. I could understand where they were coming from. I could empathize with their feelings that the world is against them.

The Holocaust had shaped their awareness of the world around them, and my understanding of this tragedy was important for them to successfully communicate with me.

This is why I decided to remember the Holocaust this year. Watching Schindler's List, I was moved by the story to a degree that I cannot describe. It was impossible to fight the tears streaming from my eyes.

The connection I made with those who suffered the Holocaust goes beyond nationality, religion or race; it was the connection of one man to another in the face of universally understandable pain.

At the end of the move, Oscar Schindler was given a ring inscribed with the words "If you save a life you save the world," a phrase from the Talmud.

Today this statement stands true for all of those men and women active in bringing an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But in my story, I want to deliver a message to the cynics, the hopeless, and the ones who have given up on the quest for peace.

This message is also to the many people who have questioned the small grassroots initiatives, the meetings, the dialogue groups, the interfaith projects, the demonstrations, and protests against the killing of people, Arabs and Jews. If you can save one life, you are saving the world.

My challenge is this: Oscar Schindler regretted not doing more to save more people. He cried for not selling his car, his pin, and everything else in his possession just to ransom one more life.

Governments, nations and even some religious groups donate billions of dollars for weapons, yet when it comes to promoting understanding, life, and coexistence, our governments and people are broke.

I want us to consider, can we put a price on saving one life? Can we put a price on saving the world? It is vital to protect our values and humanity regardless of the cost we must pay for it. Oscar Schindler was able to save a thousand lives, and it was well worth it. How many lives can you save?

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Guilty with impunity

The United Nations has found that Israel took “inadequate precautions” to protect civilians and UN staff in six of nine incidents during its brutal offensive on Gaza earlier this year.

The UN investigated nine incidents in which UN facilities were attacked, including one in Jabaliya, where Israeli missiles struck outside a UN school killing 40.

Israel has rejected the UN accusations and without apparent irony, Israel’s defence minister, Ehud Barak, claims Israel’s is the most moral army in the world.

That claim would be laughable if the situation were not so tragic. Over 1,400 people died in Israel’s outrageous, disproportionate and illegal attack on a territory still under its occupation. More than two-thirds of those who died were civilians.

Gaza Strip still suffers the consequences of that monthlong assault, and also of Israel’s illegal and immoral blockade on the impoverished strip, which has seen much-needed infrastructure and rebuilding work impossible to perform.

The dire economic situation in Gaza, a direct result of Israel’s inhuman policy on the strip, has caused poverty and unemployment to soar and Gazans continue to suffer conditions that wouldn’t be found in a prison camp.

In other words, Israel’s protestations of ethical purity are a joke and an affront.

Israel has snubbed international law for over 60 years. It is a state born through the forced ethnic cleansing of some 800,000 Palestinians. It wants to be recognised as an ethno-religiously pure state in a clear marker of the kind of racist and outdated notion of a nation state that it holds for itself.

It is a state that continues to be the major source of instability and anger in the region and across the Muslim world. It is a state that should be treated the way it treats everyone else: as a security threat to the region and the world.

The UN report does not go far enough and, unfortunately, the UN has declined to investigate broader claims of war crimes in Gaza. Of these there were many, and the more Israel gets away with the more it will continue its crimes against humanity in Gaza and the West Bank.

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U.S. urges Israel to sign anti-nuclear arms treaty

India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel should join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the global pact meant to limit the spread of atomic weapons, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday.

Speaking on the second day of a two-week meeting of the 189 signatories of the pact, Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller also defended a U.S.-India civilian nuclear deal, which developing nations have complained rewards New Delhi for staying outside the NPT.

"Universal adherence to the NPT itself, including by India, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea ... remains a fundamental objective of the United States," Gottemoeller told the meeting, which hopes to agree on an agenda and plan to overhaul the treaty at a review conference next year.

Speaking to reporters later, she declined to say whether Washington would take any new steps to press Israel to join the treaty and give up any nuclear weapons it has. Israel neither confirms nor denies whether it has what arms control experts assume to be a sizable atomic arsenal.

"The administration of President Barack Obama was encouraging all holdouts to join the treaty," she said.

Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have never signed the treaty. North Korea withdrew from it in 2003 and tested a nuclear device in 2006.

At the NPT meeting, developing countries have criticized the endorsement of the U.S.-India nuclear agreement by the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, an informal club of the world's top producers of nuclear-related technology.

The group agreed in September to lift a ban on nuclear trade with India, imposed after New Delhi's first nuclear test in 1974.

Delegates from poor nations complain that the endorsement was tantamount to rewarding India for remaining outside the treaty and secretly developing nuclear weapons. In contrast, they say, developing states are denied access to sensitive technology because they are often deemed proliferation risks.

Gottemoeller defended the agreement. "India is coming closer to the non-proliferation regime," she said.

She cited India's willingness to work with Washington in pushing for a binding international treaty that would prohibit the further production of bomb-grade nuclear material and by improving its nuclear export controls.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Ali Hosseini on Monday railed against the United States and what he said was its continued nuclear support for the "Zionist regime" (Israel). Western diplomats called this an attempt to divert attention away from its own nuclear program.

In failing to mention Iran even once in her speech, Gottemoeller broke from a tradition established by the administration of former President George W. Bush, which had used NPT meetings to criticize Iran and North Korea.

Gottemoeller said that Iran came up indirectly in her statement when she spoke of the need for "consequences for those breaking the rules or withdrawing from the treaty."

Obama has offered Iran's leaders direct talks on a wide range of issues, including its nuclear program. Tehran has reacted coolly to the U.S. overtures nearly three decades after Washington severed ties with Tehran during a hostage crisis.

The West suspects Iran is developing weapons under cover of a civilian atomic energy program, a charge Tehran denies.

Gottemoeller also reiterated commitments to disarmament that Obama made in a speech in Prague last month. She said the United States would continue its two-decade long moratorium on testing nuclear explosives and urged others to follow suit.

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French FM tells Lieberman: Settlement construction must end

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman Tuesday that restarting Middle East peace talks is urgent and that building new Israeli settlements must end.

Kouchner delivered the message while meeting with Lieberman on his first tour of Europe since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government took office April 1.

Kouchner recalled the expectations of France, in particular the creation of a viable Palestinian state coexisting in peace and security with Israel, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement after the talks. He also asked for a complete halt to settlement building, the statement said.

France also stressed the need for a permanent reopening to passages to the Gaza Strip to ease the economic and humanitarian situation there.

Lieberman made no comments after the meeting, and journalists were asked to leave the ministry.

Earlier Tuesday Lieberman told Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi that world powers should take action against Iran if it does not curb its controversial nuclear program by August.

"It is important that dialogue with Iran be limited in time, and if after three months it is clear the Iranians are prevaricating and not halting their nuclear program, the international community must take active steps," an aide quoted Lieberman as telling Berlusconi.

Israel, which says a nuclear-armed Iran would be a mortal threat, has endorsed Western efforts to engage its arch-foe in talks. But Israeli leaders have also hinted at pre-emptive military strikes if they decide that diplomacy has failed.

Other Israeli officials have said that the UN Security Council, which has already passed sanctions against Iran, should consider imposing more crippling measures.

Lieberman's statement was the first time Netanyahu's government has publicly signaled a timeline for action against Iran.

Iran, seen by Netanyahu as a real threat to Israel and a top priority, also was discussed during the meeting between Lieberman and Kouchner, who explained that France and its partners were doing all they can to get Tehran to suspend its nuclear program.

Iran denies seeking nuclear arms and has so far shrugged off foreign pressure. Six world powers led by the United States have invited it to talks, but contacts have so far been limited, and Iran has continued to insist it will not give up uranium enrichment, which it says is for power generation.

Israel says the enrichment program could provide enough fissile material for a bomb with months. American assessments say that threshold may be years away.

In Italy Lieberman stressed that the new Israeli government was still developing its foreign policy, which Netanyahu is expected to unveil before talks with American President Barack Obama in mid-May.

After Lieberman arrived in Paris from Rome, pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted his motorcade as he was entering the ministry. The right-wing politician has frayed some diplomatic nerves with statements viewed as anti-Arab.

An Associated Press Television News cameraman on the scene said two demonstrators dressed as tourists blocked the street just as Lieberman's motorcade was pulling onto ministry grounds. Riot police were seen detaining two people and chasing others away from the ministry.

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Biden tells AIPAC: Israel must support two-state solution

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden pressed Israel on Tuesday to support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in an address to the leading pro-Israel lobby during its annual conference in Washington.

"Israel has to work for a two state-solution. You're not going to like my saying this, but not build more settlements, dismantle existing outposts and allow Palestinians freedom of movement ... and access to economic opportunity," Biden told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Biden also said the Palestinian Authority "must combat terror and incitement against Israel."

The vice president reiterated U.S. commitment to Israel's security, saying: "With all the change you will hear about, there is one enduring, essential principle that will not change; and that is our commitment to the peace and security of the state of Israel."

"That is not negotiable. That is not a matter of change. That is something to be reinforced and made clear. It seems almost unnecessary to state it, but I want the word to go forth in here that no one should mistake it.‬"

Biden's comments came ahead of a meeting between President Shimon Peres and President Barack Obama later on Tuesday and less than two weeks before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the White House.

As Netanyahu's visit to Washington on May 17 approaches, the United States has been sending strong messages on the establishment of a Palestinian state and Israeli settlement activity.

In a speech to the AIPAC on Monday, Netanyahu said he was ready to begin Israeli-Palestinian peace talks immediately but he made no reference to a Palestinian state.

General James Jones, national security adviser to Obama, told a European foreign minister a week ago that unlike the Bush administration, Obama will be "forceful" with Israel.

Meanwhile, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told AIPAC delegates on Monday night that two states for two peoples is the only solution the United States is committed to.

"Relations between Israel and the U.S. are unbreakable," Emanuel said before a gathering of 350 AIPAC donors, adding that "this is the moment of truth for Israel and the Palestinians."

He also declared that "Iran is the number-one threat to the Middle East," and noted that it is hard to make progress wherever Tehran is involved in the Middle East.

Emanuel called for Israeli-Palestinian cooperation if Iran is to be countered effectively.

He said the United States was trying to enter a dialogue with countries such as Syria and Iran, even though it was still unclear whether these countries would alter their behavior. He reiterated that the United States wants to talk with Iran in the hope that Tehran will relinquish its efforts to gain nuclear weapons.

Jones is the main force in the Obama administration stressing the Palestinian question and believes that the United States must become more intensively involved in the matter vis-a-vis both Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Several days ago, a classified telegram was received in Jerusalem discussing a meeting between Jones and a European foreign minister. Jones told his European interlocutor that President George W. Bush had avoided actions on the Palestinian question that Israel opposed, but the Obama administration intended to change this practice and become more active. It would not make concessions on matters that Israel had committed to.

"The new administration will convince Israel to compromise on the Palestinian question," Jones said. "We will not push Israel under the wheels of a bus, but we will be more forceful toward Israel than we have been under Bush."

Jones is quoted in the telegram as saying that the United States, European Union and moderate Arab states must redefine "a satisfactory endgame solution."

The U.S. national security adviser did not mention Israel as party to these consultations.

In the face of the strongly worded American signals, Netanyahu reiterated on Monday to the Knesset that "recognition of the State of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people is the necessary basis for genuine peace between us and our Palestinian neighbors."

In the upcoming days Uzi Arad, Netanyahu's national security adviser, will travel to London for a meeting with his American counterpart to discuss the meeting between the prime minister and Obama on May 18.

President Shimon Peres also addressed the AIPAC conference on Monday, and complimented the new U.S. president. He described Obama's election as having "engulfed the world with a huge wave of hope."

"President Barack Obama was elected at a time of difficult crises around the world," Peres said. "I am convinced that he has the abilities to transform these crises into opportunities."

Peres also said that "Israel is extending its arms with open hands for peace with all peoples, with all Arab states, with all the Arab peoples. To those who still stand with clenched fists I have only one word: enough. No more war. No more destruction. No more hate. Now is the time for change. The definition of success according to Israel is not by wars that were imposed on us and which we won, but by the peace we gained with some of our neighbors."

Peres' speech drew criticism from the main opposition party, Kadima, which accused the president of becoming a public relations agent for Netanyahu.

"Instead of being president of Israel he became president of the government," a source in Kadima said.

Former finance minister Roni Bar-On described Peres as a defense attorney for Netanyahu who was sent to the United States "to ease the hearing that will be held on May 18" before Obama.

Meanwhile, some observers in the United States have expressed concerns that the differences between Israel and the new U.S. administration are leading to a clash.

Robert Satloff, the director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said he is concerned by the disagreements between Israel and the United States regarding Iran.

"If there is no complete agreement on all the details in dealing with this issue, there is a chance for the most serious dispute between the U.S. and Israel in the entire 61 years of relations between the two," Satloff said.

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UN rebukes Israel over Gaza raids

A United Nations inquiry into attacks by Israeli forces on UN property during the Gaza conflict four months ago has heavily criticised Israel's army.

It found Israel to blame in six out of nine incidents when death or injury were caused to people sheltering at UN property and UN buildings were damaged.

In one case, Palestinian militants were found to have fired at a UN warehouse.

The Israeli Defence Minister, Ehud Barak, rejected the report, saying it was biased.

"We have the most moral army in the world," he said.

"IDF [Israeli Defense Force] commanders and soldiers made every effort to avoid hurting uninvolved civilians."

He accused Hamas of hiding its fighters among civilians and in the vicinity of UN installations.

Inquiry urged

The UN report recommends further investigation into possible war crimes.

The investigation rejects Israel's claim that militants were firing from the Fakhura school when at least 40 people outside the school were killed in shellfire.

The board of inquiry also criticises Israel's use of white phosphorus shells which caused the incineration of the UN's main food warehouse in Gaza.

The BBC's Laura Trevelyan at the UN says it is a hard-hitting report which includes heavy criticism of the Israeli military's actions and subsequent explanations and justifications.

The UN board's first recommendation seeks "formal acknowledgment" by Israel that its public statements that Palestinians fired from a UN school and from within the UN's field office compound "were untrue and are regretted".

reparation for all deaths and injuries involving its personnel and property.

Another says the UN should take appropriate action to seek accountability and

The report says Israel's actions were in breach of the agreement that UN premises and those sheltering within them should be immune from attack, something which cannot be set aside for military action.

The board says investigating the deaths of the 40 people killed outside the Fakhura school is outside its remit.

It recommends that this and allegations of war crimes committed in Gaza and southern Israel by Palestinian militants and Israel should be investigated by another inquiry.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has stressed this report is not a legal document.

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Obama gets tougher with Israel on Palestinians, Iran

As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington May 17 approaches, the United States is sending strong messages on the establishment of a Palestinian state and Israeli settlement activity.

Gen. James Jones, national security adviser to President Barack Obama, told a European foreign minister a week ago that unlike the Bush administration, Obama will be "forceful" with Israel.

Meanwhile, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told an AIPAC conference last night that two states for two peoples is the only solution the United States is committed to.

"Relations between Israel and the U.S. are unbreakable," Emanuel said before a gathering of 350 AIPAC donors, adding that "this is the moment of truth for Israel and the Palestinians."

He also declared that "Iran is the number-one threat to the Middle East," and noted that it is hard to make progress wherever Tehran is involved in the Middle East.

Emanuel called for Israeli-Palestinian cooperation if Iran is to be countered effectively.

He said the United States was trying to enter a dialogue with countries such as Syria and Iran, even though it was still unclear whether these countries would alter their behavior. He reiterated that the United States wants to talk with Iran in the hope that Tehran will relinquish its efforts to gain nuclear weapons.

Jones is the main force in the Obama administration stressing the Palestinian question and believes that the United States must become more intensively involved in the matter vis-a-vis both Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Several days ago, a classified telegram was received in Jerusalem discussing a meeting between Jones and a European foreign minister. Jones told his European interlocutor that President George W. Bush had avoided actions on the Palestinian question that Israel opposed, but the Obama administration intended to change this practice and become more active. It would not make concessions on matters that Israel had committed to.

"The new administration will convince Israel to compromise on the Palestinian question," Jones said. "We will not push Israel under the wheels of a bus, but we will be more forceful toward Israel than we have been under Bush."

Jones is quoted in the telegram as saying that the United States, European Union and moderate Arab states must redefine "a satisfactory endgame solution."

The U.S. national security adviser did not mention Israel as party to these consultations.

In the face of the strongly worded American signals, Netanyahu reiterated yesterday to the Knesset that "recognition of the State of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people is the necessary basis for genuine peace between us and our Palestinian neighbors."

In the upcoming days Uzi Arad, Netanyahu's national security adviser, will travel to London for a meeting with his American counterpart to discuss the meeting between the prime minister and Obama on May 18.

President Shimon Peres also addressed the AIPAC conference and complimented the new U.S. president. He described Obama's election as having "engulfed the world with a huge wave of hope."

"President Barack Obama was elected at a time of difficult crises around the world," Peres said. "I am convinced that he has the abilities to transform these crises into opportunities."

Peres also said that "Israel is extending its arms with open hands for peace with all peoples, with all Arab states, with all the Arab peoples. To those who still stand with clenched fists I have only one word: enough. No more war. No more destruction. No more hate. Now is the time for change. The definition of success according to Israel is not by wars that were imposed on us and which we won, but by the peace we gained with some of our neighbors."

Peres' speech drew criticism from the main opposition party, Kadima, which accused the president of becoming a public relations agent for Netanyahu.

"Instead of being president of Israel he became president of the government," a source in Kadima said.

Former finance minister Roni Bar-On described Peres as a defense attorney for Netanyahu who was sent to the United States "to ease the hearing that will be held on May 18" before Obama.

Meanwhile, some observers in the United States have expressed concerns that the differences between Israel and the new U.S. administration are leading to a clash.

Robert Satloff, the director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said he is concerned by the disagreements between Israel and the United States regarding Iran.

"If there is no complete agreement on all the details in dealing with this issue, there is a chance for the most serious dispute between the U.S. and Israel in the entire 61 years of relations between the two," Satloff said.

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