Israeli Cabinet discuss tense relations with the US

Israel’s cabinet met on Friday 26 March for the start of numerous discussions regarding Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to Washington and the recent strain in relations with President Barack Obama and the US administration.

The White House has been trying to persuade Mr Netanyahu to commit to several trust-building measures to revive hopes for indirect "proximity talks" between Israel and the Palestinians.  The most important of these is the issue of construction in East Jerusalem.

The Palestinians pulled out of the scheduled talks earlier this month after Israel unveiled plans to build 1,600 homes in the East Jerusalem settlement of Ramat Shlomo.  The project was approved during a visit by US Vice-President Joe Biden and was condemned by the US, the Middle East Quartet and the International Trade Union Confederation. 

Other issues include: humanitarian relief in Gaza, the transfer of further West Bank territories to Palestinian control, the release of Palestinian prisoners associated with the Fatah movement and Israeli willingness to discuss core issues of the conflict in any proximity talks.

There have been reports that some members of Mr Netanyahu’s cabinet want to work with the US to resume peace talks, but that other more rightwing ministers are against a halt to settlement building in Jerusalem or any discussion of the future of Jerusalem.  Labour party ministers from within the coalition have said they want two key rightwing parties to be forced out of government and replaced with Kadima, the centrist party which polled first in Israeli elections last year.

New think-tank report describes attacks on Israel’s legitimacy  

An Israeli think-tank has published a report arguing that Israel is facing a dramatic assault on the very legitimacy of its existence as a Jewish and democratic state.  The report, put together by The Reut Institute, says that groups promoting this delegitimacy aim to isolate Israel and ultimately turn it into a pariah state.

The report adds that these groups (many of which are based in the UK) make the fundamental delegitimacy of Israel among their main rallying cries.  It claims that “although some of their activities are portrayed as protesting against Israeli policies, in fact they are frequently manipulated in order to blur the difference between valid criticism of Israeli policies and attempts to undermine Israel's right to exist”.

Israeli tanks go into Gaza after two soldiers and a Thai immigrant worker are killed

Israeli tanks advanced into the Gaza Strip for several hours on 26 March after the Israeli army said that two soldiers were killed when Palestinian gunmen fired on an Israeli military patrol. 

Both sides have blamed each other for triggering the violence in which several Palestinians have also been killed.  The killing of the two Israeli soldiers was celebrated in the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip by supporters of Hamas, the militant Islamist group that has ruled the enclave since 2007.

The fighting comes after a resurgence in rocket fire from Gaza. On 16 March a rocket killed a Thai immigrant worker at a farming community just across the border. 

Labour parliamentarians call for a new approach to Hamas

A number of Labour MPs and Peers have called for a new approach to dealing with Hamas’ ongoing control of the Gaza Strip during a panel debate in Parliament on 2 March. 

The debate was chaired by former Northern Ireland and Defence minister Rt. Hon Adam Ingram MP and attended by over 50 MPs, NGOs and members of the Labour movement.

Dr Orit Gal of Chatham House told the audience that international assistance was required on Gaza’s crossings to enable them to be opened for aid and trade in a way which protects Israeli security and helps the people of Gaza become less reliant on Hamas.

Leeds University Professor Clive Jones told the attendees of the centrality of religion in Hamas’ ideology, arguing that without fundamental reform, Hamas would continue to reject the existence of the State of Israel.

The debate was organised to coincide with the publication of a pamphlet by the Labour Friends of Israel, Handling Hamas: Strategies for Peace and Progress in the Palestinian Territories.

Israeli report shows Hamas committed war crimes in Gaza

A new report into Operation Cast Lead asserts that Hamas gunmen used Palestinian children as human shields and established command centres and rocket launching sites in over 100 mosques and hospitals in Gaza during last winter’s conflict.

The report by Israel’s Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center is based on evidence given to them by the Israeli Defense Force, including hundreds of photographs, videos and prisoner interviews. 

One declassified Israel Air Force video from 6 January 2009 shows a terrorist shooting at soldiers from the roof of a building. After spotting an Israeli aircraft, the terrorist goes to the building’s entrance and calls to nearby civilians to help him escape. A few moments later, a group of children arrive at the entrance to the home and the terrorist walks out.

European Parliament votes in favour of the Goldstone Report

The European Parliament passed a resolution on 10 March urging the EU’s 27 member states to “demand the implementation of the Goldstone Report’s recommendations and accountability for all violations of international law”.

The measure, passed by 335 to 287 votes, called for Catherine Ashton, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union, to actively monitor investigations by Israel and the Palestinian Authority into allegations that war crimes were committed in Gaza last winter. 

Palestinian civil servant strike called off after PA meets demands

The Palestinian Civil Servants' Union in the West Bank called off a strike set for 11 March after caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad responded to its demands.

The head of the union, Basam Zakarneh, called on all employees to attend work as normal, praising Mr Fayyad’s positive response. The Ma’an News Agency reported that unionists urged strike action over a pension dispute and claims that a pay raise announced by the Palestinian Authority had not been implemented.

In Brief: Israeli Industrial News

- Employees start to organise at communications company

Employees at the Israeli communications company, Partner, have decided to establish a workers' committee and join the Histadrut (Israeli TUC).  The action was taken following structural changes to the company at the end of 2009 which resulted in 120 workers being laid-off.   At least a third of the remaining 6,500 workers must organise in order for it to be legally recognised and the process could take months to achieve.

- Economic round table split on budget

The chairman of the Histadrut, Ofer Eini, has said that he is against a two-year budget for 2011-12 and wants to return to the normal format of annual budgets. 

Major differences on future economic policy emerged at an informal meeting of the economic round table on 15 March.  The economic round table was established after the Netanyahu's election with the objective of establishing links between the government, business groups and the Histadrut (Israeli TUC).

- Agreement reached for Broadcasting Authority reforms

The Israeli Finance Ministry, the Histadrut and the Israel Broadcasting Authority have reached an agreement on future reforms.

Agreements were reached on 18 March over updating salary scales, clocking-in systems, the working-week structure, promotions and technological changes. A final draft of the agreement will be presented to all sides by the beginning of May.

The Simpsons go to Israel

Homer and the Simpson family set off to Israel in the latest episode of the long-running sitcom. 

In "The Greatest Story Ever D'ohed," the Simpsons go on a church mission at the urging of their neighbour, Ned Flanders, who says that a dose of the Holy Land could bring Homer some much-needed salvation.

The show includes an Israeli airline plane running over a glass as it lands, Sacha Baron Cohen voicing an abrupt Israeli tour guide, a hotel named the "Wailing Waldorf" and a gutter cleaner fiddling on the roof.