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.
A report available through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and published this week discusses the steps taken during 2008 and the beginning of 2009 to bloster Palestinian capabilities. These include helping to improve the Palestinian economy and security capabilities, both in a bilateral and multilateral arenas.
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.
This week’s New York Jewish Week covers an extremely important yet underreported story of Israeli-Palestinian cooperation. For much of the past four years, US General Keith Dayton has been training a Palestinian police force to police West bank areas under their jurisdiction. And while the stakes are extremely high, the efforts seem to be making a noticeable and growing difference. The ability of the Palestinian people to attend to the need for security arragements in these areas is vital to any future negotiation process.
Word comes to us via Ynet that Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman has appointed the Deputy Consul General in San Francisco, Ishmael Khaldi, to advise him on regional issues. Khaldi’s deep knowldge of the region’s complexities, as well as his fluency in Arabic, should help him immensely as he takes on the demands of this new poisition.
A report in the New York Times todayhighlights the Egyptian accusations that Hizbullah has set up cells in Egypt to provide arms to Gaza and to carry out terrorist attacks. As the Egyptians realized, this attempt by Hizbullah highlights Iran’s desire to influence regional politics–even to the extent of taking over an Arab country. While it’s unclear how this will all play out, it does reinforce the regional differences between Iran, Syria, and Hizbullah on one hand and Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and other moderates on the other.
The new government was sworn in yesterday under the leadership of the new Prime Minster Binyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu. You can find a list of the government ministers on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs along with links to relevant speeches from the transfer of power ceremony.
President Carter, Prime Minister Begin, and President Sadat join hands on the
North Grounds of the White House to celebrate the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty, 26 March 1979.
Photo: Jimmy Carter Library and Museum
Today, 26 March 2009, marks 30 years since the signing of the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty at the White House in Washington. The passage of time has shown the importance of this document, not only for the bilateral relationship, but for the entire Middle East. The vision of the two leaders who signed this treaty, Menahem Begin and Anwar Sadat, has ushered in an era of strategic and economic cooperation. We hope that our ties with Egypt will continue to strengthen and that the friendship and cooperation between the two countries will only grow.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni commemorated the anniversary in a speech at the official government ceremony.
Additionally, Jehan Sadat, widow of President Anwar Sadat, noted the anniversary with an opinion piece in today’s Wall Street Journal (subscription required). Here’s an excerpt:
Thirty years ago today, Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter signed the Camp David Peace Accords. It was a culmination of a journey Anwar Sadat, my husband, began in October 1970 following the sudden death of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Within hours of Nasser’s funeral, my husband asked the U.S. ambassador to tell President Richard Nixon that Egypt was ready for peace.
There was no response, since at the time Egypt was a defeated nation having lost the Sinai Desert to Israel in the 1967 war. But Egypt’s victory in the October War of 1973 put Sadat in a position to restart his mission for peace.
On Nov. 9, 1977, in an address to the Egyptian Parliament, my husband announced his intention to make peace with Israel. The audience, which included Yasser Arafat, was stunned at first. Then, they began clapping. When Sadat arrived 10 days later in Jerusalem, then Prime Minister Golda Meir said: “Why are you late? We have been waiting for you.”
During the past several days, serious allegations have surfaced regarding the conduct of soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces during the recent Operation “Cast Lead” in Gaza.
The State of Israel takes all such allegations seriously. The IDF will carefully examine the circumstances of each alleged incident and will thereby determine the need for a further investigation.
The State of Israel is dedicated to maintaining morality during warfare. During the recent operation, the IDF strove to keep damage and casualties in the civilian sector to the minimum possible, and achieved remarkable success despite immensely difficult circumstances.
It should be noted that behaviors of the type alleged are not in keeping with the values and spirit of the IDF and deserve full condemnation. In addition, the IDF has undertaken measures to ensure that soldiers and officers internalize the moral and ethical aspects of combat.
We reported yesterday that the government has decided not to accede to Hamas’s demands for Gilad Shalit. As communicated by the Prime Minister’s Office, Hamas refused to negotiate in good faith and remained firm in its exhorbitant demands. The government reaffirmed its commitment to working towards Shalit’s release, even as this round of negotiations did not succeed. In addition, the Government released a partial list of the Hamas operatives it had mulled releasing in an exchange.
