Kerry meets with Abbas in Ramallah...

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Ramallah on Saturday and met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Palestinian and Israeli officials have publicly differed on the future status of the West Bank's border with Jordan, where Israelis want a permanent security presence but Palestinians want a full withdrawal of Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers.

Kerry has said such an accord would narrow gaps between the sides and pave the way for a final deal when the nine-month period allotted the US-backed talks expires on April 29.

Empeora el estado de salud de Ariel Sharon.

Fue sometido recientemente una intervención quirúrgica y sufre una insuficiencia renal, según el servicio de noticias Ynet....

El estado de salud del antiguo primer ministro israelí, Ariel Sharon, ha empeorado notablemente en las últimas horas, según han informado medios locales.
Una fuente del entorno personal del ex líder político ha afirmado este miércoles que si su situación empeora su fallecimiento se producirá en "cuestión de días", informa la edición electrónica del diario Haaretz.

Proche-Orient: pessimisme ambiant avant une nouvelle mission de Kerry

La libération de 26 prisonniers palestiniens par Israël avant la nouvelle mission au Proche-Orient du secrétaire d'Etat John Kerry, la 10e depuis mars, n'a pas dissipé le pessimisme ambiant sur les chances de progrès dans les négociations de paix.

Ces libérations, survenues mardi avant l'aube, sont conformes aux engagements pris auprès des Etats-Unis et des Palestiniens par le Premier ministre israélien Benjamin Netanyahu de relâcher en quatre étapes un total de 104 détenus palestiniens afin de permettre la relance des négociations de paix qui ont repris fin juillet dernier.
Deux premiers contingents de prisonniers avaient été relâchés le 13 août et le 30 octobre. Le dernier groupe de Palestiniens doit être libéré en février.
Les festivités qui ont accompagné comme d'habitude la libération des prisonniers -considérés comme des "combattants héroïques" chez eux- ont été dénoncées en Israël.

Israel aprueba la anexión de los asentamientos del valle del Jordán

La Comisión de Asuntos Legislativos del Gobierno israelí aprobó hoy un proyecto de ley para la anexión de los asentamientos judíos en el valle del Jordán, territorio ocupado por Israel desde 1967.

La comisión, antesala a los proyectos de ley que el Gobierno presenta al parlamento, aprobó la propuesta por ocho votos a favor y tres en contra, los de los ministros Yair Lapid, Tzipi Livni y Yaacov Pery, informa la edición digital del diario 'Haaretz'.

Presentado por la diputada del Likud Miri Regev, del ala más derechista del partido Likud, que encabeza el primer ministro israelí, Benjamín Netanyahu, el proyecto busca aplicar la legislación israelí en todas las colonias israelíes y en las carreteras que conducen a ellos, lo que de facto se traduciría en la anexión del territorio.

UN agency condemns Israeli demolition of Arab homes, urges adherence to international law

26 December 2013 – The United Nations agency assisting Palestinian refugees today condemned Israel’s latest demolitions in the West Bank which have displaced 68 people, including 32 children, in the depths of winter, saying it is violating international law and calling on it to abide by its obligations.
“Because of these demolitions, which violate international law, these historically self-sufficient communities have been forced to endure the pitiless seasonal weather in inadequate housing, entirely dependent on international assistance,” the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said of the demolitions which took place on Christmas Eve in Ein Ayoub near Ramallah and Fasayil Al Wusta near Jericho in the Jordan valley.

Netanjahu blitzt bei Putin mit Vorstoß gegen den Iran-Deal ab. -2012 lag der gegenseitige Handelsumsatz bei 2,9 Milliarden Dollar.

Der israelische Ministerpräsident Benjamin Netanjahu ist am Mittwoch nach Moskau gekommen, um Präsident Wladimir Putin davon zu überzeugen, von der Lockerung der Sanktionen gegen den Iran abzusehen, schreibt die „Nesawissimaja Gaseta“ am Donnerstag.

Netanjahu blitzte mit seinem Anliegen bei Putin ab. Allerdings lobten beide die erfolgreiche Entwicklung der russisch-israelischen Beziehungen. 

Moskau warnte Israel vor Militärschlägen in Syrien, weil die radikalen Islamisten davon profitieren würden.

La position de l'Iran sur la France et Israël "complique la négociation" (Paris)...

La position du guide suprême iranien, l'ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sur la France et Israël complique la négociation sur le programme nucléaire de l'Iran, rapportent mercredi les médias français, se référant à la porte-parole du gouvernement français, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem.

"Les propos de Khamenei sont inacceptables et compliquent la négociation", a déclaré lors de son point de presse hebdomadaire Mme Vallaud-Belkacem, ajoutant que la position de Paris dans cette négociation était "ferme mais pas fermée".

L'ayatollah a désigné la France comme le responsable numéro un de l'échec des pourparlers de Genève sur le nucléaire iranien entre Téhéran et les Six (Etats-Unis, Chine, Russie, Grande-Bretagne, France et Allemagne), le 10 novembre dernier.

Netanyahu calls on Abbas to address Israeli parliament.

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday invited Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to address the Israeli parliament and publicly recognise Jewish links to the land of Israel.

"I call on him from here today: let's break the deadlock," Netanyahu said in a special address to the parliament, or Knesset, in honour of a visit by French President Francois Hollande.

"Come to the Israeli Knesset and I'll come to Ramallah," he said, referring to Abbas's West Bank headquarters.

Israeli PM to Kerry: We won't be bound by agreement with Iran.

JERUSALEM, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Israel will not be bound to any agreements reached between Iran and the six world powers, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry prior to his departure from Israel on Friday.

Netanyahu met with Kerry at the airport on Friday morning, just before Kerry was to continue on to Geneva to join the talks between Iran and the Western countries.

The meeting was described as "tense" with Netanyahu saying before it that Israel vehemently opposes the apparent deal that seems to come into play on the Iranian nuclear plan.

UN chief Ban slams Israeli plans to advance east J'lem, West Bank construction....

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday blasted an Israeli announcement made earlier in the day to advance settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Ban condemned as "contrary to international law" the move announced by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in conjunction with Israel's release early Wednesday morning of 26 long-serving Palestinian prisoners.

He added that further Israeli building in areas over the Green Line constituted "an obstacle to peace".

However, Ban stated his appreciation for Israel's undertaking the "difficult step" of releasing the second batch of pre-Oslo prisoners amid "deep domestic opposition" as a gesture for continuing peace talks with the Palestinian Authority.

Thousands rally in Israel to remember slain PM Rabin.

AFP - Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv on Saturday to mourn peace-seeking prime minister Yitzhak Rabin on the 18th anniversary of his assassination by a Jewish extremist.

The demonstrators were mainly young people representing a wide political spectrum but protesting against Israeli radicals opposed to peace with the Palestinians, an AFP reporter said.
The demonstrators carried portraits of Rabin -- who was assassinated after addressing a rally in the same square on November 4, 1995 -- and banners with slogans against racism and intolerance.

Kerry offers halt to east Jerusalem settlement construction to resume peace talks - Israel open to 1967 border formula for Palestine talks

US Secretary of State met Palestinian leader Abbas reportedly proposing suspension of Jewish settlement construction in West Bank and East Jerusalem for 3 months to resume negotiations with Israel.

RAMALLAH

America's top diplomat John F. Kerry offered a three-month halt to the Jewish settlement construction in Eastern Jerusalem and the West Bank in a meeting in Jordan on Wednesday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in order to resumePalestinian-Israeli peace negotiations and lasting solution, al-Fatah sources said.

Kerry reportedly pledged Abbas US guarantee for the implementation of the proposal, sources added.

Contemplating Syria, Hezbollah retaliation ....

Move to deflect focus from the Syrian battle to the Israeli front could provide relief for the constant media and international attention that has been focused on the Syrian conflict.

The alleged attacks by Israel against Syria, supposedly targeting an arms facility and advanced Iranian surface-to-surface missiles believed to be headed for Hezbollah, raises pressure on the Syrian regime and the Lebanese terrorist organization to make a concrete attack against Israel.

With what could be reportedly ongoing Israeli bombardments of Syrian territory for the entire world to see, it is now hard to fathom that Syria and Hezbollah would allow for much more loss of face before responding.

Turkish PM slams Israel over Syria attack

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of waging "state terrorism" after it struck targets in Syria.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Israel of waging "state terrorism" as he condemned the air
strike on Syria as an unacceptable violation of international law.
"Those who have been treating Israel like a spoilt child should expect anything from them, at any time," said Erdogan on Sunday.
"As I say time and again, Israel has a mentality of waging state terrorism. Right now, there is no telling what it might do and where it might do it," he told reporters.

Ariel Sharon, siete años en coma cada vez más en el olvido

El ex primer ministro israelí Ariel Sharon cumple este jueves su séptimo año en coma cada vez más en el olvido y con el que fuera su principal enemigo en el Likud, Benjamín Netanyahu, a punto de revalidar la jefatura de Gobierno en las elecciones del próximo día 22.
Hoy hace siete años del día en que Sharon, que tiene ahora 84 años, sufrió una hemorragia cerebral que le mantiene postrado en el hospital Tel Hashomer, cerca de Tel Aviv, y que ha ido perdiendo progresivamente la atención de los medios y la población.

Les vestiges d'un temple vieux de 2.750 ans découverts à Jérusalem

Les vestiges d'un temple datant du 9 ou du 10 siècle avant J.-C. ont été découverts dans l'ouest de Jérusalem, faisant la lumière sur les pratiques religieuses de la Judée d'alors, a annoncé mercredi le site Times of Israel, citant un communiqué de la Direction israélienne des antiquités.

Le temple découvert lors des fouilles archéologiques effectuées dans le quartier de Tel Motza fut bâti il y a 2.750 ans.

"L'édifice de culte de Tel Motza est une découverte surprenante et inattendue, car il n'existe pratiquement pas de lieux de culte datant de la période du Royaume de Juda", lit-on dans le communiqué.

Ρωσία και ΕΕ τάχθηκαν υπέρ των απευθείας συνομιλιών μεταξύ Παλαιστίνης και Ισραήλ

Ρωσία και ΕΕ «εκφράζουν τη σταθερή δυσαρέσκειά τους» για τα σχέδια του Ισραήλ να διευρύνει το οικιστικό οικοδομικό του πρόγραμμα.
Αυτό αναφέρεται στην κοινή δήλωση του επικεφαλής του ρωσικού ΥΠΕΞ Σεργκέι Λαβρόφ και του ύπατου εκπροσώπου της ΕΕ για τις διεθνείς υποθέσεις και την πολιτική ασφαλείας Κάθριν Έστον σχετικά με τη μεσανατολική ειρηνευτική διαδικασία.

The geopolitical fallout of a Greek euro exit

By Tom Ellis & Achilleas Patsoukas
Geece’s debt crisis has captured international headlines over the past couple of years. Virtually all analysts have focused on Greece’s deficit and mammoth debt, which pose a threat to the entire European economy.