Biden: There are tactical differences between America and Israel

US Vice President Joe Biden acknowledged that there are tactical differences between the United States and Israel, but said that there was no disagreement in the strategic visions between the two countries.

Biden stressed, in a speech on Saturday, in front of Saban's annual conference held by the Brookings Center in Washington, that the United States has a strategic commitment to maintaining Israel's security, noting that President Barack Obama's administration supports Israel the security in an unprecedented way.

He said that the current US administration has supported Israel's right to defend itself, by itself, where she presented to Israel is estimated at 17 billion dollars since Obama took power in military aid, a larger volume of aid provided by the United States, any State.

Said Biden, during the conference, which was held under the name "Surf Storm: The United States and Israel in the turbulent Middle East", that the majority of Israelis and Palestinians want to achieve peace, and that the United States recognizes that a two-state daunting task solution, but it must continue to try.

"The fastest way to destroy the negotiation process is to deny the possibility of achieving a political settlement to reach the two-state solution or worse to allow the growing of provocation and the cycle of violence."

Biden criticized the settlement expansion policy, and the demolition of Palestinian homes of relatives of those involved in acts of violence against Israelis, describing the policy of collective punishment, and called for the need to put an end to achieve justice by force.

With regard to Iran, Biden reiterated that the United States will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, and said that "this will not happen under our eyes."

He explained that he has been exaggerated in the US stance on Iran, and said that "the initial agreement, which was reached last year, has made significant progress in the freeze uranium enrichment and the Iranian reactors."

He pointed to the approval of the extension of the negotiations with Iran with the aim of reaching a comprehensive final agreement to Bslmah Iran's nuclear program, and rejected Biden's idea of imposing new sanctions on Iran, and said he was not the right time to take such a step, and called to give a chance to complete the negotiations, and stressed that the United States will continue to put pressure on the Iranians, as it has enough strength to reach a final agreement on Iran's nuclear program, he said.

Likud opposition supports the proposals to bring forward the elections

Israeli Likud Party decided to support the opposition to bring forward proposals for the election, which is scheduled to be voted on by the Knesset on Wednesday, in the preliminary reading.

He said, "Voice of Israel" radio on Tuesday, is expected to take the party "There is the future," a similar decision.

For his part, predicted deputy minister Likud Ophir Cconnes, that the elections will be held next March, accused of participating in the coalition government parties, especially "There is the future", it has not stopped since the start of the mandate of the current government's action against the Likud against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's policy.

Israel launches mass arrests in the West Bank and Jerusalem campaign

Israeli occupation forces launched Tuesday morning, mass arrests in different parts in the West Bank and Jerusalem campaign, and raided several houses and searched and tampering with its contents.

In Bethlehem, Israeli forces arrested three Palestinians from the village of Wadi Fukin, they council member villager Mazen Naim advocate for "34 years", owner Wael advocate for "20 years" and Muhannad Yousif Wars "17 years", after raiding their homes and inspected.

Also stormed the occupation east of Bethlehem the town of Tekoa forces raided the house of Mohammed Juma Abdul Hebron, and they filmed the house and searched.

In Jerusalem, arrested seven people as they worship Dandis of "Wade advent of" District, Ahmed and Mahmoud Najdi of "Ras al-Amud," District of Far south of the town of Silwan, also arrested from the town of Mount Scopus south, Ramy Walid, happiest E'oissat, Mohamed Mahmoud and Mohammed Abdo .

In Hebron, Israeli forces raided the command town house and arrested Ayman Khalil Abdel Fattah Sabarneh "21 years", after raiding his house and tampering with its contents, and was transferred to Camp "Etzion" north of Hebron, and arrested two brothers Sami Abdullah Mount Abu crack of South virtual town Hebron.

Israeli forces also raided houses in the center of Hebron Mount of Mercy, and drove out the inhabitants of the nudity, the pretext of searching for wanted, and neighborhood residents heard gunfire during the raids.

On the other hand, IOF erected a number of checkpoints at the entrances to the city of Hebron, in the Mount of Mercy area, and searched the citizens vehicles and checking identities.

Inquiry into Israeli attacks on UN Gaza schools

The UN has announced the coming start of an investigation into attacks on UN-operated facilities in the Gaza Strip and the use of UN sites to store weapons during Israel’s summer military operation.

Operation Protective Edge, which lasted for 50 days, caused immeasurable damage to the occupied Palestinian Territories. It was the largest offensive by the Jewish state in the West Bank since the year 2000 and received widespread condemnation – including by Western governments who themselves were accused by rights groups of continuing to arm Israel in the first place.

One case in which a UN-run school was hit with shells took the lives of more than a dozen people, wounding scores of others. At the same time, the UN has accused the Palestinian Hamas resistance of using the facilities to store rockets, which it says brought on the shelling.

"I am planning to move forward with an independent board of inquiry to look into the most serious of those cases, as well as instances in which weaponry was found on UN premises," Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at a Security Council meeting on the Middle East.

No particular details of the inquiry were given – including its participants, but Ban explained that such investigations are standard procedure when “there is damage to UN property or UN premises.”

Meanwhile, UNICEF estimated in late August that at least 219 non-UN schools had been damaged by Israeli airstrikes, while 22 were completely destroyed, not to mention the psychological toll on children.

A Palestinian boy looks on as he stands at a United Nations-run school sheltering Palestinians displaced by an Israeli ground offensive, that witnesses said was hit by Israeli shelling, in Jebalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip July 30, 2014. (Reuters/Mohammed Salem)A Palestinian boy looks on as he stands at a United Nations-run school sheltering Palestinians displaced by an Israeli ground offensive, that witnesses said was hit by Israeli shelling, in Jebalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip July 30, 2014. (Reuters/Mohammed Salem)

A separate UN Human Rights Council probe was also launched in August to deal with the issue of war crimes committed by both sides. It was labeled a ‘kangaroo court’ by Israel. The panel chosen by the organization is to report its results in March 2015. The UNHRC’s then-chief Navi Pillay said back in July she believed Israel was deliberately defying international law.

Israel itself opened five criminal investigations into actions by the IDF, which included numerous cases of alleged indiscriminate shelling and disproportionate use of force against civilians. Some rights groups remained uncertain that trust could be placed into Israelis investigating their own.

READ MORE: Israel starts investigating alleged Gaza abuses by its own forces

"I look forward to a thorough investigation by the Israeli Defense Forces of this and other incidents in which UN facilities sustained hits and many innocent people were killed," Ban also said.

The operation that started on July 8 took the lives of over 2,200 people, almost entirely Palestinians. It displaced over 108,000 people. An estimated 20,000 homes were destroyed, as the fallout from Protective Edge threatens to take decades to reverse.

Palestinians reach out to 50+ nations calling for economic boycott of Israeli settlers

A Palestinian man waves his national flag on the sidelines of a march organized by inhabitants of the West Bank village Nabi Saleh to protest against the expansion of Jewish settlements on Palestinian land. (AFP Photo/Abbas Momani)

 

 

The Palestinian Authority is ramping up its diplomatic efforts against Israeli settlements in the territories it occupied in the 1967 war. It has called on 50 countries around the world to freeze business dealings and withdraw investments.
In letters to countries in Latin America and Europe, as well as to South Africa, Australia, Japan and South Korea, the Palestinian Authority asked governments to put pressure on local companies and discourage any relations with the Israeli settlements, Muhammad Shtayyeh, a senior Palestinian official, told the Financial Times.
The messages also requested that Israeli companies with connections to the settlements are barred from doing business in those countries. Citizens of those countries should be advised to abandon the settlements, because staying there is illegal, the Palestinian Authority said.
The campaign for an economic boycott was also given a boost by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during his trip to Europe.
"I call on European companies and foreign companies doing business in the settlements to put an end to their activities," he said following his meeting with European Council President Herman van Rompuy this week.
The campaign follows the EU’s decision in June to ban financial assistance to any Israeli organizations operating in the West Bank, East Jerusalem or the Golan Heights from 2014. The decision infuriated Israel and prevented the country from participating in the Horizon 2020 European scientific exchange program.
Also, in recent months, several individual members of the European Union, including the UK and the Netherlands, began to warn their companies against dealing with Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. This month Dutch infrastructure giant Royal HaskoningDHV announced the withdrawal from a wastewater treatment plant project in East Jerusalem, because the location is outside of the pre-1967 border of Israel.
There are currently more than 500,000 Israelis living in the settlements, which continue to be a point of bitter dispute with Palestinians. Many countries consider their existence unlawful and say they are a major stumbling block on the path toward a peaceful Middle East.
The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been actively encouraging development of the controversial settlements in defiance of foreign criticism, which comes even from Israel’s long-time ally the US

 

Palestinians Warn of 'New Measures' if No Peace 3/1/2012

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is threatening 'new measures' against Israel if a much-anticipated meeting in Jordan fails to make progress. (Jan. 3)

Senate stands behind Israel

Senate stands behind Israel



With much of the US Senate backing Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu, are lawmakers more concerned with problems in the Middle East than in the US? Counter Punch Editor Alexander Cockburn says that Congress is "Israeli occupied territory" despite the government's attempts to appear impartial.

NIS 38,660 in compensation for sexual harassment, Israel

NIS 38,660 in compensation for sexual harassment, Israel


Research revealed considered the first of its kind in Israel, that when the courts decided to impose compensation to Mstkiat because of sexual harassment, the value of what he paid 38,660 shekels complained against them.

It was found that from 118 to file a criminal has been examined, and was in the framework of condemnation of the harasser, that 37% of offenders were sentenced to actual imprisonment, and was sentenced about 87% of prison with a stay of execution, and 37% of public services, and 38% violations in favor of "State ", and 70% compensation for complainants.

The newspaper Haaretz, the Israeli The steps Criminal provides that when the harasser is responsible to work for the woman who harassed her, it is mostly not be sentenced to actual imprisonment, but if they do not have to work and has nothing to do with either closely or from afar, what 60% of them sentenced to actual imprisonment.

Referred to the research examined 420 judicial rulings (criminal, civil and disciplinary), and that when the courts decided to impose damages for sexual Mstkiat, outlined the compensation value of NIS 5500

Israel war crimes, your tax dollars at work

Israel war crimes, your tax dollars at work

A pro-Palestinian organization - The Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign - had purchased ad space on twelve Seattle King County Metro Transit buses alleging Israeli war crimes in Gaza and featuring the tag line: "your tax dollars at work." Edward Mast from the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign says human rights violations have been found on both sides but Israeli war crimes are far greater in number and far more under reported in this country.

Has Bradley Manning betrayed the US?

Has Bradley Manning betrayed the US?



With WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in police custody and Pfc. Bradley Manning behind bars, who allegedly leaked all the secret documents, there is much discussion over the fate of these two men. The City Council of Berkeley, California announced it will soon be voting on a resolution that would elevate the status of Pfc. Bradley Manning to that of hero. Director of the US Strategic Perspective Institute David Gewirtz and Courage to Resist Project Director Jeff Paterson join RT's Kristine Frazao to discuss.