Israel responded defiantly yesterday to sharp criticism by US President George W. Bush of a barrier it is building through Palestinian areas in the West Bank.
Israeli Vice Premier Ehud Olmert said the barrier would remain an option even if a Middle East peace process resumed.
"Israel will always have the right to take unilateral steps for separation from the Palestinians through a fence or other means," Olmert told Israel Radio.
In a speech in London on Wednesday, Bush toughened his stance over the barrier, saying Israel must not prejudice final peace negotiations "with the placement of walls and fences."
Egyptian mediators in Gaza planned a second day of talks with Palestinian militants on a truce with Israel that could shore up a U.S.-backed peace "road map" stalled by violence.
In Italian newspaper interviews published yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he believes Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie "is a politician of great experience" who "intends to realize the road map."
"We need to see if [Palestinian President Yasser] Arafat lets him do it," Sharon, who returned yesterday from a three-day visit to Italy, told La Stampa and Corriere della Sera.
Sharon and Qurie are expected to meet next week for the first time since the new Palestinian government was installed on on Nov. 12.
After talks with Qurie and Egyptian mediators in Gaza on Wednesday, the main Palestinian militant factions said they had agreed in principle to talks in Cairo early next month on a truce with Israel. Hamas and Islamic Jihad, both committed to Israel's destruction, said Egypt had proposed talks on Dec. 2. Arafat's Fatah faction would also attend.
The mediators were to meet faction leaders again yesterday.
Israel's biggest newspaper reported Egypt has proposed an eight-step plan for a truce that would begin no later than Dec. 15 and lead to peace talks. An Islamic Jihad leader called the report "completely incorrect." There was no immediate Israeli comment.
Further diplomatic pressure on Israel came from the UN Security Council, which voted unanimously on Wednesday for a Russian-drafted resolution backing the road map. The peace plan lays out steps the two sides should take toward setting up a Palestinian state by 2005.
Israel had opposed the draft, wanting no UN role in peacemaking since it sees the world body as pro-Palestinian.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
RSS