Archive for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Clinton meets Morsy, seeking Gaza truce

by admin
November 21st, 2012

 

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy on Wednesday in Cairo to discuss a possible truce in Gaza, Egypt's official news agency reported.

Clinton travelled from Israel where she had met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Tuesday night she pledged to work for a truce "in the days ahead."

Negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel, mediated by Egypt, have dragged on and there has been no let up in the violence.

The talks were attended by Egypt's Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr and the US ambassador, the news agency reported.

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Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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Israel expects Egypt Army out of Sinai after Operation Eagle

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August 30th, 2012

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday said he expected the Egyptian Army to withdraw its reinforcements from the Sinai peninsula at the end of its operation to root out Islamist militants.

"They must act against terror and if they have to bring in troops, let them do so. And when it ends, they must take them out," Barak said in an interview with Israel's army radio.

"I assume that is what they will do. We will wait and see."

He said Israel had "several reservations" over Egypt's deployment of reinforcements in the lawless peninsula, some of which fell outside the terms of the 1979 peace treaty which limits the number of Egyptian troops there.

"We have several reservations over the fact it breaches some of the practical dimensions [of the treaty] in terms of deployment and coordination, which require reaching an understanding," he said.

"We are working towards reaching understandings," he said.

"We hope that an understanding will take shape between us and the Egyptians that this is the way to work," he said.

Egypt began an unprecedented military operation in the peninsula earlier this month after militants killed 16 Egyptian border police in northern Sinai in a deadly attack on 5 August.

While Israel welcomed the move, many commentators have raised fears that the temporary presence of large numbers of troops in Sinai, in contravention of the peace treaty's military appendix, could become permanent — spelling trouble for the Jewish state.

But Barak dismissed such fears.

"I'm not a party to such alarm," he said. "We have to act responsibly: where there is an infringement, we must act to set it right. There's no place for making a fuss but for holding direct contacts with the right elements in Egypt, and that is what we are doing."

Last week, an Israeli newspaper said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had sent a sharply worded message to Cairo via Washington calling for the immediate removal of Egyptian tanks deployed in northern Sinai.

The premier also demanded that Egypt stop bringing troops into the peninsula without prior coordination with Israel, which constituted a "serious breach of the peace agreement," a high-ranking Israeli source told the paper.

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Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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Israel respects Morsy’s win, seeks cooperation

by admin
June 24th, 2012

 

JERUSALEM — Israel voiced respect on Sunday for the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt's presidential election, calling on the new administration in Cairo to maintain the countries' peace accord.

"Israel appreciates the democratic process in Egypt and respects its outcome," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement after the Brotherhood's candidate, Mohamed Morsy, was declared successor ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

"Israel expects continue cooperation with the Egyptian administration on the basis of the peace accord between the two countries, which is in the interest of the two peoples and contributes to regional stability," the statement said.

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MP: Formation of Israeli national unity government means war intended

by admin
May 27th, 2012

An member of Parliament has sent an urgent request for information to People’s Assembly Speaker Saad al-Katatny on Israel’s formation of a national unity government, saying the move suggests the country is preparing for war.

Independent MP Yasser al-Qady sent the request on Israel’s “formation of a national unity government under the agreement of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition Kadima Party head Shaul Mofaz, and the postponement of the legislative elections to October 2013.”

“The implications and objectives of this agreement will allow [Netanyahu] to rely on 94 out of the 120 deputies in the Knesset,” said Qady. “This is the largest coalition in the history of Zionist governments, which would allow them to pass as many laws and quick, critical decisions as they like.”

He said that with Mofaz joining the agreement, “the government will include the largest number of military personnel, such as Ehud Barak, Mofaz and Moshe Alon, which increases the likelihood that the Zionist entity’s government is on the verge of war or wars in the region.”

Qady pointed out that “Israel would not intend to form a national unity government unless it is preparing for war,” and that “this poses as a serious threat to the Gaza Strip, Egypt and the Arab and regional situation.”

In early May, Netanyahu canceled the early election slated for September, and agreed to form a national unity government with the Kadima Party.

Edited translation from MENA

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Netanyahu: Sinai has turned into a ‘kind of Wild West’

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April 24th, 2012

Egypt's Sinai Peninsula has turned into a "kind of Wild West" exploited by Islamist militants with Iranian help to smuggle in weapons and stage attacks on Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday.

The open desert border between Israel and Egypt was relatively quiet for three decades after they signed a peace treaty in 1979. But the Jewish state says that since the fall of Hosni Mubarak in a popular uprising last year, Cairo has lost its grip on the desolate Sinai and tensions are rising.

Earlier this month, Israel said a rocket fired from Sinai hit its Red Sea resort of Eilat, causing no injuries. Last August, cross-border infiltrators shot dead eight Israelis and Israeli soldiers repelling the attack accidentally killed six Egyptian guards.

"The Sinai is turning into a kind of Wild West which … terror groups from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Al-Qaeda, with the aid of Iran, are using to smuggle arms, to bring in arms, to mount attacks against Israel," Netanyahu told Israel Radio.

"We are acting against this reality and we are in … continuous discussions with the Egyptian government, which is also troubled by this," said Netanyahu.

Iran denies supporting militants against its arch-enemy.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was quoted as saying on Sunday that the situation in Egypt was more worrying than what was happening in Iran, and called for a significant boost to troop numbers along the southern borders.

In an apparent riposte, Egypt's interim military ruler, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, cautioned on Monday against any interference along the long desert frontier.

"Our borders, especially the northeast ones, are inflamed. We do not attack neighboring countries but will defend our territory," Egypt's state news agency MENA quoted him as saying.

"We will break the legs of anyone trying to attack us or who come near the borders."

Gas disruption

He spoke just hours after Egypt unexpectedly terminated a deal to sell natural gas to Israel, although leaders in both countries have been quick to stress it was a business rather than a political issue.

"The stopping of the agreement is a result of a commercial dispute between the Egyptian company and a private Israeli company," Netanyahu said on Tuesday.

To fend off infiltration, Israel is building a fence along the border with Egypt that it hopes to complete by the end of 2012. When finished, the barrier will run most of the 266 km from Eilat up to the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which does not recognize Israel's existence, controls Gaza and is looking to forge close ties with Islamist parties that recently triumphed in Egypt's parliamentary elections.

Netanyahu said he hoped Egypt's new rulers would continue to abide by the historic peace treaty.

"I hope that the next government will understand that this is in Egyptian interests no less than it is in Israeli interests," he said.

Egypt has paid an economic price for the lawlessness in Sinai. The pipeline exporting natural gas to both Jordan and Israel has been blown up more than a dozen times in the last year, while its Red Sea resorts have seen a drop in tourists.

Israel's counter-terrorism bureau renewed a warning on Sunday, urging Israelis not to travel to the Sinai because of intelligence warnings of planned militant attacks.

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Update: Israeli police: Rocket from Sinai hits southern city of Eilat

by admin
April 5th, 2012

JERUSALEM — A rocket fired from Egypt's Sinai desert struck the southern Israeli resort of Eilat on Thursday, police said, fuelling Israeli worries over militant activity in the border area.

No casualties or damage were reported.

An Egyptian security source told Reuters in Cairo that Egyptian forces were searching the area along the border but had not found any evidence indicating any rockets had been fired from the Sinai.

The head of Eilat police, Ron Gertner, told Israeli Army Radio that explosions were heard in Eilat soon after midnight. Police found the remains of one rocket in a construction site, about 400 metres (yards) from a residential area.

Asked if the rocket was fired from Sinai, Gertner said: "Based on our working assumptions and the range, yes."

Officials in Israel have been worried that the Sinai has become a base for Islamist militants since former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's downfall last year.

"For a long while now we have been seeing that the Sinai peninsula is turning into a launching ground against the citizens of Israel, for terror," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after the attack.

It was launched a day before the start of the Jewish Passover holiday, which commemorates the exodus of the biblical Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Eilat is expected to be full of vacationers during the week-long holiday.

The Israel-Egypt border had been relatively quiet since the two countries signed a peace agreement in 1979. But Israel says that since Mubarak was overthrown, Cairo has lost its grip on the Sinai and militants are exploiting the lawlessness.

Last August, armed infiltrators killed eight Israelis on the Egyptian frontier. Israel's forces, repelling the gunmen, killed five Egyptian border troops. Israel said the attack was orchestrated by Palestinian militants.

To fend off infiltration, Israel is building a fence along the southern border which it hopes to complete by the end of 2012. When it is finished, the barrier will run most of the 266 km (165 miles) from Eilat on the Red Sea's Gulf of Aqaba up to the already-closed Gaza Strip on the Mediterranean.

"We are building a very impressive security fence, but it doesn't block rockets. We will also find a solution to the rocket problem. We will hit those who come to hurt us and we will also hit those who send them," Netanyahu said in a speech in central Israel.

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Israel’s opposition Kadima party in key leadership vote

by admin
March 27th, 2012

Members of Israel's Kadima opposition party began voting in primaries on Tuesday with pundits predicting a tight contest between current leader Tzipi Livni and her deputy Shaul Mofaz.

The polls for the center-right party's new leader opened at 10 am when Kadima's 95,000 registered members began voting at 104 polling stations around the country, officials said.

They were due to close 12 hours later at 10 pm with the final results not due out until early Wednesday.

Kadima is currently the largest party in parliament, holding 28 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, but a series of recent polls suggest the faction is likely to see that number halved in the next elections.

Kadima's current leader is a former foreign minister and one-time Mossad spy who has risen quickly through the ranks to become Israel's most powerful woman.

Her challenger Mofaz is an Iranian-born former defense minister and chief-of-staff who currently heads the powerful parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and defense.

The two last faced off during a very close leadership race in September 2008, which Livni won by several hundred votes to replace scandal-plagued premier Ehud Olmert as leader.

While most Israeli commentators were unsure who would win the race, they were unanimous that the primary vote was likely to mark the end of Kadima as Israel's biggest party, saying the outcome would see the faction split.

Kadima was founded in November 2005 by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who left the right-wing Likud party to set it up in the wake of his controversial decision to pull all settlers and troops out of the Gaza Strip some three months earlier.

It has since grown to become Israel's largest party, but has taken a hammering in the polls over what commentators say has been a failure to present a concrete alternative to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing coalition.

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