Israeli Army Kills Six Palestinians in Gaza Fighting

by Nidal al-Mughrabi (Reuters)

Israeli army forces killed four Palestinian civilians—including an 11-year-old boy—and two militants in a cross-border raid into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Friday, Hamas and medical officials said. …

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday vowed Israel would strike Hamas after Gaza militants killed two Israeli civilians at a border oil terminal with Israel.

Posted on: 04/11/08

Palestinians: Discussion on Jerusalem to be Delayed

by Ali Waked (Ynet)

The final stage negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on the issue of Jerusalem will be postponed by five years, according to a new proposal discussed by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and PA negotiator Ahmed Qureia, a Palestinian source told Ynet.

The proposal, submitted by the United States, states that a settlement of the refugee problem would also be delayed by a few years. Israel has yet to comment on the report. According to Palestinian sources, the two sides are to reach a general agreement on principles by the end of the year that would not include reference to the questions of Jerusalem or the Palestinian refugees.

Posted on: 04/11/08

Egypt Confirms Mideast Summit is under Discussion

by Reuters

A Middle East summit meeting in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in May is under discussion, the Egyptian foreign ministry said on Friday.

Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki, quoted by the state news agency MENA, said the idea was to hold the summit on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum meeting which is taking place in the town between May 18 and 20. He did not say who might take part but MENA said the idea was to have U.S. President George W. Bush and Egyptian, Jordanian and Palestinian leaders talk about Middle East peace.

Posted on: 04/11/08

IDF Begins Collecting Weapons from West Bank Settlements

by Yuval Azoulay (Haaretz)

The Israel Defense Forces has begun collecting weapons from the armories of West Bank settlements—even personal weapons the army provided to settlers for self-defense, said Mate Binyamin regional council deputy head Moti Yogev.

"These steps are being carried out, surprisingly, at the same time that unprecedented steps are being taken to ease the security restrictions on Palestinians, including lifting roadblocks and other impediments that undermine the security of the residents of Judea and Samaria," Yesha Council of settlements head Dani Daya wrote to GOC Central Command Major General Gadi Shamni in a letter.

Posted on: 04/11/08

Building on a Strong Relationship

“In their [Kurtzer and Lasensky’s] view, America should apparently apply more pressure toward Israel in order to counter perceived Israeli strength vis-a-vis the Palestinians, and thereby facilitate peace-making efforts. Presumably this would be accomplished by compelling Israeli acquiescence to American policy.”
–Ed Lasky, The American Thinker, April 10, 2008

VS.

“To the degree that Israel can rely on the constancy of U.S. support for its security and ultimate survival, it will be more willing to take risks for peace. What the next president needs to consider, therefore, is not the nature of our strategic relationship with Israel—this should be self-evident to anyone familiar with the history of the Middle East and politics and policy in Washington—but rather how to use the U.S.-Israeli relationship beneficially in the cause of peace.”
–“Negotiating Arab Israeli Peace: American Leadership in the Middle East,” Daniel C. Kurtzer and Scott Lasensky, with William B. Quandt, Steven L. Spiegel and Shibley Telhami, based on interviews with approximately one hundred American, Arab, Israeli and European policymakers, parliamentarians, diplomats and civil society leaders, page 83