IsraelPolitik » Media

CNN’s Fareed Zakaria Interviews Ambassador Michael Oren

KR — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:49:20 +0000

In his first television interview as Israel’s new Ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren sits down with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria to discuss his prospects for peace in the Middle East and on Iran.

Watch the full CNN segment here.

Read Fareed Zakaria’s Q&A, “Surprising Progress in the Middle East,” here.

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Israel FM Embraces Social Media in Public Diplomacy

KR — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:22:01 +0000

According to a recent blog post on Transracial, with reports from Haaretz, the Israeli Foreign Ministry announced its plans to embrace social media, such as Twitter and Facebook. The government will focus less on Palestinian issues, and more on the Iranian threat.

The blog also discusses the different initiatives that the @IsraelConsulate and @DavidSaranga have taken in the field of new media.

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The Significance of PM Netanyahu’s Speech

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:15:29 +0000

When Prime Minister Netanyahu delivered his foreign policy address at bar Ilan University last week, he seemed to be restating what others have previously said. In an insightful opinion piece in the New York Times today, Ari Shavit analyzes the speech and finds in it a new declaration of principles that represents an important turn on the part of the State of Israel.

An excerpt:

Many failed to see what was new in Netanyahu’s vision. For decades, peace professionals and activists believed that when peace comes, Palestine will be demilitarized and Israel will be Jewish. Americans, Europeans and Israelis involved in the peace process took this premise to be self-evident.
But the Palestinians never accepted this premise. They did not agree to limit the sovereignty of their future state so that Israel’s security would be guaranteed. They did not recognize the existence of a Jewish people which expresses its right of self-determination in the Jewish nation-state. They did not go through the profound ideological conversion required so that a real two-state peace could be achieved and sustained.

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The use of twitter in Public Diplomacy

admin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:33:13 +0000

On June 17th, David Saranga (@DavidSaranga), Consul for Media and Public Affairs at the Consulate General of Israel in New York (@IsraelConsulate), addressed the 140 Character Conference (#140conf) about the use of twitter in Public Diplomacy.

Twitter “allows us to reach people and segments of society that usually we don’t reach,” @DavidSaranga explained at the conference. “There is a lot of room to include dialogue between people.”

To read more about Saranga’s speech at the #140conf, click here.

At the conference, @DavidSaranga announced the launch of twt4peace, a dialogue on twitter encouraging the discussion of topics that concern everyone: environment, minority rights, and education.

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PM Netanyahu on NBC’s Today Show

admin — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:00:17 +0000

Prime Minister Netanyahu appeared this morning on NBC’s Today Show to discuss the recent elections in Iran and the content of his speech yesterday. Here’s what he had to say:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

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Democracy’s Rights–and Responsibilities

admin — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:23:38 +0000

In an op-ed in today’s New York Times, opposition leader Tzipi Livni discusses what it really means to have a democratic government. As she notes, it’s about values, not about just winning elections and holding power. Here’s an excerpt:

The intent here is not to stifle disagreement, exclude key actors from the political process or suggest that democracy be uniform and disregard local cultures and values. The goal is to make clear that the democratic process is not a free pass — it is about responsibilities as well as rights.

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Israeli Reaction to President Obama’s Speech

admin — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:41:17 +0000

In reaction to today’s speech by President Obama in Cairo, the Government of Israel released the following statement:

The Government of Israel expresses its hope that this important speech in Cairo will indeed lead to a new period of reconciliation between the Arab and Moslem world and Israel.

We share President Obama’s hope that the American effort heralds the beginning of a new era that will bring about an end to the conflict and lead to Arab recognition of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people, living in peace and security in the Middle East.

Israel is committed to peace and will make every effort to expand the circle of peace while protecting its interests, especially its national security.

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On Building in the Settlements and the “Roadmap”

admin — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:06:16 +0000

We Are Allowed to Build, On Condition

Op-Ed by Dov Weisglass , Former Chief of Staff to PM Sharon

Yediot Ahronot, 2 June 2009

The disagreement between the Israeli and the American governments on a building freeze in the settlements demands a review of the understandings that were reached on the subject and the context in which those understandings were negotiated.

Beginning in the mid-1990s Israel agreed not to build new settlements in Judea, Samaria and Gaza but retained its right to expand existing settlements according to the principle of “natural growth.” Through 2002, Israel proceeded on the basis of several “understandings” that were reached between then Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Colin Powell, though the Americans completely denied the existence of such understandings.

Indeed, the American claim found expression in the Road Map which was first submitted to Israel in the second half of 2002. In the section dealing with settlements, Israel is required “in accordance with the Mitchell Report” to “freeze all settlement activity including the natural growth of settlements.” Israel objected to this clause, and accordingly, it was deleted in the corrected draft returned to the administration.

At the beginning of 2003, Israel submitted its reservations on the Road Map. On Thursday, April 24, 2003, I headed an Israeli delegation to Secretary of State Powell, National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice, and other senior administration officials. The issue of the settlements, it was decided, would be “discussed in a separate forum.” This “separate forum” convened on May 1, 2003 in Jerusalem. Senior administration officials Steven Hadley and Elliott Abrams met with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and me, and, over the next two days succeeded in working out an exact definition of the term “settlement freeze” in the Road Map. According to this definition, (1) no new settlements would be built, (2) no Palestinian land would be expropriated or otherwise seized for the purpose of settlement, (3) construction within the settlements would be confined to “the existing construction line”, and (4) public funds would not be earmarked for encouraging settlements.

On a further meeting held with Ms. Rice on May 14, 2003, the agreement on the definition of the term “freeze” was confirmed, thus concluding the discussions on Israel’s reservations on the Road Map. Since the meeting also affirmed that the draft of the Road Map would constitute the final document (in part in order to prevent “reopenings” by other parties), the Israeli reservations were not included in the body of the text but rather were publicly recognized by the administration as reservations that “require substantive attention.” The administration further asserted that it “shares Israel’s view” that the reservations are “noteworthy,” and would give them “full and serious consideration” in applying the Road Map (White House communiqué, May 23, 2003).

The result, as such, was that the Israeli commitment to a settlement freeze in the Road Map reached during these discussions provided for construction and development in settlements within the “construction line.” Accordingly, two days later (May 25, 2003), the Israeli government approved the version of the Road Map that included Israel’s reservations.

The drawing of the existing construction line- the area in which construction is permitted- encountered technical difficulties. It was therefore decided to establish a joint American-Israeli team that would examine, mark, and delineate the construction line around each of the existing settlements. The team, however, was never created, though not because of any fundamental disagreement.

On April 13, 2004, on the eve of President Bush’s letter to Prime Minister Sharon, representatives of the Israeli and American governments reviewed all of Israel’s “obligations under the Road Map” that had yet to be fulfilled, either partially or completely. All of these were included in a letter that I wrote with the full consent and in the name of Prime Minister Sharon, and sent to National Security Advisor Rice. Among other things the letter said “in the framework of the agreed principles on settlement activity, we will shortly make an effort to better delineate the settlement construction line in Judea and Samaria…”

There was no doubt, therefore, that on April 14, 2004- the day that President Bush sent his letter to Prime Minister Sharon- the administration recognized Israel’s right under the Road Map to development from within the existing construction line in the Israeli settlements in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. This right, of course, was conditional on the fulfillment of the other principles governing the above mentioned freeze.

America is committed to the Road Map and it is difficult to believe that the Administration’s peace plan will deviate from it. As President Bush reconfirmed in his letter of April 14, 2004, “the United States remains committed to my vision and will fulfill it as set out in the Road Map.” Not only did the United States commit to prevent the emergence of other peace plans but “the United States will do everything in its power to prevent any attempt whatsoever by any party to impose any other plan…” This was not only a personal opinion; the President’s letter was approved by overwhelming majorities in both the House and the Senate. The Road Map was further adopted by the Security Council in its resolution 1515.

The Israeli government has, for some reason, raised doubts about its intentions to implement the Road Map. Consequently, one can understand the American position that, once Israel has abrogated its commitments under the Road Map, Israel can no longer demand “rights” under the Road Map to build within the construction line. The sooner Israel reiterates its commitment to the Road Map the sooner the disagreement with the administration will be resolved. Israel can proceed to delineate the settlements, as formerly agreed, and can justifiably realize its right to build within their perimeters.

Reaffirming Israel’s commitments to the Road Map is important not only for the settlement issue but also for preventing the emergence of other peace plans that undermine the Road Map’s logic, namely, that security must first be established before peace. If, God forbid, the new administration would champion such a plan, Israel could remind the current president that his predecessor recently committed to prevent it. President would be pitched against president, and the world will have to decide which had the greater credibility.

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Deputy FM Danny Ayalon on FOX News

admin — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:57:55 +0000

Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon appeared yesterday on the FOX News Channel to discuss the most pressing issues facing Israel today. In the clip, which you can find above, Ayalon discusses Iran’s nulear program, US-Israel relations, among other topics. After leaving the FOX studios, Ayalon headed over to the Salute to Israel Parade, where he joined other dignitaries at the head of the column up Fifth Avenue (see picture).

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International Law and Terrorism

admin — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:40:04 +0000

One of the most important lesons to be gleaned from the recent Gaza operations is the need for the international legal system to address the military demands of fighting terrorism. As noted by Daniel Taub, senior legal advisor at Israel’s Foreign Ministry, in yesterday’s Boston Globe, there are certainly wrong ways to fight terrorists. But there are also right ways to fight people who take advantage of their non-state status (like those undertaken by the IDF) that need to be protected. An excerpt suffices to explain:

A short while ago I met with a group of eminent jurists who were on a fact-finding mission, examining Israel’s military operation in Gaza. After listening to their concerns and criticisms, I asked them: “Considering the rocket attacks launched against Israel by terrorist groups in Gaza, what in your view would have constituted a lawful response?” The answer was total silence.

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