Political and religious leaders from around the world gathered yesterday at the United Nations for a conference promoting interfaith dialogue.  President Shimon Peres and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni represented Israel at this august gathering and spoke earnestly about Israel’s desire to live in peace with her neighbors and the steps taken to achieve that goal.  Copies of speeches by Peres and Livni are available as PDFs and more information about the conference is available through the Washington Post.

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nation’s, Dan Gillerman, will soon finish his posting in New York. This past weekend, the New York Times Magazine published an interview in which the ambassador analyzed some of his accomplishments and shared some of his diplomativ wisdom. His interview with Newsweek discusses Israel’s position in some of the more delicate Middle East issues, especially regarding Iran’s nuclear program.

As part of the prisoner exchange that will return Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev to Israel, the Israeli government will give up control of Samir Kuntar to Hizbullah. Kuntar was sentenced to five life terms in prison for his role in the murder of Danny and Einat Haran. The full story lay unknown for some time. The following article is translated from an article in Yediot Aharonot:

The Kuntar File, Exposed - Yediot Aharonot - by Nir Gontarz
After almost 30 years of being classified, File No. 578/79 has been granted permission for publication: the murderer’s testimony, the shots in Danny Haran’s back and the death blow to toddler Einat’s head.

For almost 30 years the Samir Kuntar file has sat in the district courthouse archives in Haifa. Its contents were never authorized for publication. Until yesterday. Right before his expected release in two days’ time, the court acceded to Yedioth Aharonot’s request and allowed Kuntar’s testimony, copies of the copious evidence and other testimonies in the file, the indictment and the judges’ verdict, to be perused…

Besides the Pardons Department, no one has ever read the file - which was considered top secret by court administrators. On the few occasions that it was removed from the archives, it was accompanied by an armed security officer. Being a classified security file, the contents of File No. 578/79 had never been released for publication. Due to the obvious public interest, Justice Ron Shapira has permitted publication of everything in the file except one person’s testimony. The judge also asked not to publish the pathological reports or any other detail that could harm the memory of the victims.

After a protracted period of negotiations between Egypt and representatives of Israel and Hamas, it was announced that a period of calm would be instituted between Israel and the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip beginning at 6:00 A.M. on Thursday, 19 June.  Following are some of the major points comprising this agreement:

• The institution of “calm” applies only to the Gaza Strip and not to West Bank areas.  Thus, while Israel’s security forces will refrain from operations in the Gaza Strip, they will continue to undertake necessary operations in the West Bank.
• Palestinian terrorist organizations must:
  • Halt all fire and terrorist activity
  • End their buildup of arms
  • Cease smuggling from Egypt
• While the above points are effective immediately with the beginning of the “calm,” opening the crossings to Gaza will be implemented gradually after successive periods of calm.
  • After 3 days, Israel will open the Karni and Sufa crossings for basic commodities
  • One week later, Israel will allow for a larger number of commodities to enter the Gaza Strip, excepting those used for weapons manufacturing
  • After an additional week, talks will be held about opening the Rafah crossing to Egypt
• The freedom of Gilad Shalit, kidnapped two years ago, is an integral part of the “state of calm.”  According to Foreign Minister Livni, releasing Shalit is a necessary step if Hamas wants to achieve further gains.
• Furthermore, Israel will continue to monitor the situation closely to ensure that all parties adhere to their obligations.  Hamas will bear responsibility for any terrorist act by any organization and should be prepared to accept the consequences of such actions.

While the State of Israel has every desire to see this “lull” develop into a period of sustained calm, she places primary significance on the safety and security of her citizens.  Should the “calm” collapse, Israel will take alternate measures to address the new situation. 

For more informaiton, see the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center.

Each year, attendees at the Herzliya Conference discuss issues of natioal security relevant to Israel and the international community.  Held this year from 20-23 January 2008, the Conference dealt specifically with Israel at Sixty and addressed national and domestic policy, regional trends around the Middle East, and the larger global economic and political processes.

The Executive Summary reflects many of the deliberations that took place and is available for download.  (The link is to the English version, in PDF format [59 pages, 1.8 MB].)

At a UN Security Council debate yesterday, French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert led a walkout after Libya made disgraceful comments comparing the situation in Gaza to Nazi concentration camps. His Western counterparts followed.

Read the full story from AFP.

Check out this YouTube video showing some of Livni’s speech in Boston to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. She addresses many of the most important issues, like Israel’s commitment to peace and to combating terrorism.

Presumptive Republican nominee for President, Senator John McCain made an international tour last week which brought him at one poin to the Israeli town of Sderot. As many of you know, Sdeort has been the target of thousands of Palestinian rockets and missiles over the past five years. These missiles are fired everyday at Sderot, a city of now just 20,000 down from over 30,000, indiscriminately and meant to kill and maim civilians. We’d like to thank Mr. McCain for coming to Sderot to help bring a attention to the Israeli civilians being terrorized on a daily basis in Sderot.

You can see more pictures here

Haaretz Editorial
11 February 2008

The firing of Qassam rockets against Sderot and the nearby kibbutzim is not stopping and is extracting a heavy price in terms of fear and blood. Responsibility for the shooting from the Gaza Strip, which has been going on for seven years - both before and after the disengagement from the Strip - falls on the Palestinians. Were it not for the shooting, Israel would not respond.

For the past eight months Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip alone, and it is no longer possible to explain away the shooting as due to a lack of control over rogue organizations. The time has come for the Palestinians to ask themselves and their leadership about the direction they are heading. Are the West Bank and the Gaza Strip still one entity, aspiring to establish an independent state alongside Israel? Is it possible that in all situations, Israel will hold negotiations for the establishment of such a state while Hamas is shooting at it? Has Hamas decided to foil a peace agreement and chosen for its people the option of continuous war?

Israel left the Gaza Strip in the summer 2005 to signal the start of an end to the occupation. Kadima was set up after leading figures in Likud, with Ariel Sharon at their head, decided to withdraw from the Greater Land of Israel to more secure and limited borders. The party’s political platform also included a withdrawal from the West Bank, dividing the land into two states for two peoples and an evacuation of settlements. In order to show the seriousness of its intentions, settlements from Gush Katif and northern Samaria were evacuated without an agreement.

The ball passed to the Palestinian court, where it has been stuck after the Palestinians elected Hamas, which opposes a peace agreement with Israel. Instead of Gaza becoming the cornerstone for a Palestinian state, it has become a hostile entity under siege.

The disengagement was not a mistake, but a necessary move of vision and hope. Hamas undermined the hope for a shared future and opted to preserve, as its declared policy, its “resistance” to the existence of the State of Israel, and by extension continue its path of violence. While Israel is trying to correct its historic error of settling in the heart of the Palestinian population by converging into old-new borders of a more ethical democracy, the Palestinians elected Hamas, which is not willing to compromise. The Qassam attacks are not proof that the disengagement failed, but that the Hamas rule is leading the Palestinians into a new round of an unnecessary war. While Mahmoud Abbas is trying to preserve, with the skin of his teeth, a channel of dialogue with Israel, one that will lead to an agreement, Hamas and the other groups are making great efforts to foil any chance for a solution.

If the limited military actions Israel is undertaking in an effort to bring an end to the Qassam rockets will not bring an end to the shooting; if the moderate states, and first and foremost Egypt and Jordan fail to contain Hamas - Israel will have no option but to embark on a broad military operation.

The Israel Defense Forces raison d’etre is to protect the country’s citizens from attack. Even if the success of a military operation is not guaranteed, that concern must not prevent the government from doing what is necessary in order to protect the lives of its citizens and the state’s border. The solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is political, and should always be pursued. At the same time, Israel must prove that the blood of its citizens cannot be forfeited - so that in the future, its neighbors will abide by the agreements to which they have committed.