Ahead of Paris donor summit, PA warns against E. J'lem building
Livni, Abbas meet ahead of conference; PM backs boosting PA economy, but not at expense of security.
By Assaf Uni, News Agencies and Barak Ravid Haaretz Service Tags: France Palestinian AuthorityIsrael's plan to build houses in East Jerusalem will cloud renewed peace talks, the Palestinian Authority said on Sunday, the day before an international aid conference in Paris meant to garner billions to help bolster the Palestinian economy.
"The Paris meeting tomorrow is an important step forward. We hope the Israelis will not put any obstacles in front of the understandings of Annapolis," Palestinian spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah told reporters on Sunday after Abbas and Livni met.
The Palestinians are reportedly pushing for the Quartet of Middle East negotiators - the United States, European Union, Russia, and the United Nations - to issue a statement condemning Israel's decision to build some 300 new homes in the controversial neighborhood of Har Homa.
Jerusalem is one of the stickiest issues preventing a settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Palestinians demand East Jerusalem for their future capital, but Israel annexed the land soon after it was captured in the 1967 Six-Day War.
"We need a clear cut Israeli decision concerning this [Har Homa] issue, which is very sensitive and important to the Palestinians. This issue is going to reflect itself, whether positively or negatively, in the coming negotiations," Abu Rdainah continued.
Earlier Sunday, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met in Paris with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Regarding the construction, Livni insisted that "Israeli construction in Har Homa is not a new activity," and that "it is important not to deal with mutual complaints between the Israelis and the Palestinians," but to progress toward a common goal.
Livni also said that Israel is a full partner to the process that will lead to a Palestinian state, but that Palestinian economic growth must be accompanied by an increased crackdown on militant groups.
"A developed Palestinian economy is a significant interest of Israel's, just as the war on terror must be a significant interest of the Palestinian Authority's," Livni told reporters after the meeting.
Livni will meet on Monday privately with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
PM backs boosting PA economy, but not at expense of security
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday that Israel supports efforts to revitalize the Palestinian economy - but not at the expense of its own security.
Olmert was speaking the day before an international donor conference in Paris, meant to garner billions in aid to help bolster the Palestinian economy.
The World Bank and others have said Israel must remove restrictions on Palestinian movement for the economy to improve, but Israel sees its network of hundreds of roadblocks and barriers as a key weapon in its battle against militants - and doesn't trust Palestinian security forces to prevent attacks on Israelis.
"We really support the strengthening of the Palestinian Authority and the international mobilization to bring about an improvement in the quality of life of Palestinian residents, and in particular, in the improvement of their independent economic infrastructure, so it will not be dependent on Israel," Olmert told his Cabinet on Sunday.
"But for Israel, the central issue... is the Palestinian Authority's ability to deal as it should with the subject of security, to eradicate the terror organizations, and ensure there will not be terror against Israel," Olmert said.
PA expecting 'full support' during Paris conference
The Palestinian Authority is expecting full support for its ambitious appeal for $5.6 billion in aid, the Palestinian planning minister said Sunday.
"I think that all signs coming from here and there tell us that we will get full support," Samir Abdullah told The Associated Press ahead of Monday's conference. He predicted generous pledges from Arab states.
The United States said on Sunday it would pledge close to $800 million in aid to the Palestinians. U.S. State Department announced the pledge as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew to Paris for the conference.
The British and German governments have already announced a combined $780 million in aid for the Palestinian economy over the next three years. Other pledges have been flowing in for days from around the world, though the French conference hosts are not announcing the sums before Monday.
Representatives of 90 countries and international organizations are coming to the conference. Donors are expected to be generous amid a new U.S.-led push for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by the end of next year. Talks last month in Annapolis, Maryland, renewed the peace effort after seven years of diplomatic deadlock and bloodshed.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he would link an aid package of $500 million to improved security in the region, progress in peace talks and an easing of Israeli restrictions.
Germany, too, urged the removal of Israeli roadblocks. The German Development Ministry said Sunday the government will give $289 million in funding through 2010 to help the peace process and the Palestinian authority's reform and development projects.
However, the development plan can only become effective "if the peace process really moves forward, if the economic development of Palestine is no longer obstructed by barriers, if expansion of settlements is stopped by Israel and the internal Palestinian split is overcome," Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said.
The Palestinian planning minister also predicted full Arab support.
"The Arab states are coming in full representation," Abdullah said, noting that Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal would attend along with other Arab ministers.
"They will have a meeting to coordinate their efforts, and they are determined to support us as they supported us in Annapolis. This time the support will be in high pledges to Palestine," Abdullah said.
He said the chair of the conference, France, and co-chairs Tony Blair, Norway and the European Commission, will be asked to follow up and make sure that the pledges are actually paid.
Of the $5.6 billion, some 70 percent would initially go toward helping the government narrow a huge budget deficit, but as the Palestinian economy recovers, spending would shift toward development.
Mohammed Shteia, director of the Palestinian Authority's Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction (PECDAR), said on Sunday that the ongoing closure of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip will prevent the coastal territory from benefiting from the development plan the Palestinians will submit at Monday's conference.
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Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni shaking hands with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Paris on Sunday. (AP) |
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israel should be 'shocked and awed' till it conforms to all UN resolutions against it
until the rest of the world tells them there will be no more aid or discussions with other democracies. Makes me laugh when the likes of posters here ask for more aid money for their poor, what do the Jews offer in charity to other countries like Dafur, a country so popularly misused in context of debate in this paper? If you lot had acted half human and not stolen what was not your to take in the first place, you would possibly be living in peace today. You can't claim a city to belong to Israel based on religious ideology, that has no standing in the law of the land by which we live. The cries of poor us poor us will not suffice when Israel has practised apatheid and oppression of the native peoples. WE DO NOT CARE WHAT YOUR PARTICULAR BIBLE SAYS. IT HAS NO BASIS IN LAW OR HUMAN RIGHTS.
Opponents of aid to the PA are welcome to miss the Paris meeting and keep their money. The meeting is for those who want peace and see a two-state solution as a viable option. The PA cannot rehabilitate its economy or governance without the help. If you oppose peace or the two-state solution, by all means, miss the meeting, please.
When will Olmert, Livni etc ask for billions of dollars from the "donor" states who are so generous to help the PA terrorists.? This money will go into their pockets as well as bying more weapons to kill Israelis. Israeli economy may be healthy, but what about asking for billions in aid to help feed the hungry, improve medical facilities, and housing for the poor. Israel has to spend billions on defense because of the Arab terrorist threat. What has Germany, Blair, Bush, Rice got to say about this aspect? They all want Israel to dismantle the security barriers, so that the Palestinians can walk freely into Israel and become martyrs by blowing upp hundreds of Jews. Olmert, the treasonous PM, and his dumb blond, Livni are so keen to help the terrorists. Have they asked for any financial aid for Israel? Or are the lives of Jews less important than the lives of the Arabs who value death. Jews value life. Can someone please respo
and will continue to do so. THAT is NOT the in the Presidential job description. YOU need to learn more about how the US government works. And, we gave plenty to the Pals too. We also pay out of pocket 22% of the UN expenses and have probably propped up your gov as well. What the hell, US is the most charitable country in the world. Arabs sure as hell can't say that about their lousy countries.
The donor nations must be very clear, funds received are funds that have to be accounted for.An independant mixed group of controllers will be required! I have reason too believe that the full amount that Abbas/Livni/Rice seek, will be pledged. No more funny money accounts.! Anyway, we all know at the end of the day, some of these dudes will find a loophole, "hello, Amman, shopping spree!, were gonna shop till we drop"!
suggests that all Arabs between the Jordan River and the Sea will be Palestinian citizens and all Jews between the Jordan River and the Sea will be Israeli citizens based on the assuption that Israel and the Palestinians reach an agreement to establish two states, Arab and Jewish, between the Jordan River and the Sea. This proposal does not require the movement of people, unless the Jews will want to move into Israel and the Arabs into Palestine. Something to think about!
well said.
When they behave more constructively then they should be rewarded. The carrot on the stick approach has failed time and time again with Israel making painful consessions and then paying for it, with interest. Simply put: No rewards for bad behavior. The illogic of rewarding the Palestinians for bad behavior is clearly exemplified by an article that appeared (ironically) after this one, about an Israeli toddler who was injured by a direct hit from a Qassem missile. What is the point in giving them rewards??????
by GW Bush?
This is pure extortion by the palestinians.
Boosting PA economy means boosting Arab terror. Time to get rid of the quartet and of world bank which which successors of the British Mandate.
They only use it to buy weapons for terror. Better give money to Darfur refugees!
Brod, thanks to your response , what was clear becomes clearer to us but not to Olmert. Olmert thinks that he is a "Rationalist". Worse,he also thinks that his "Partner" Abbas is a rationalist. A leftist post-zionist and a fervent anti-zionist playing the "Partners" is all we don`t need for Israel`s future.
the billions stolen by Arafat and his "wife"--and his hench-persons including the curent Fath' leadership--is enough to run any country--now they ask for more? are the donors just stupid? or what? Is this a case of dhimmitude gone mad?
The western liberal viewpoint, shared by the likes of Peres, is: eliminate ignorance and poverty and the violence would subside. In reality, there is no empirical evidence to support this view. The evidence is: the number of participants in violence remains the same but the greater level of sophistication and better tools of violence cause greater casulaties. In other words, instead of a few people knived, you get 9/11.
lewis carroll born 2 centuries too early? is olmert the nad hatter ?
its territory for the Gazans!
Olmert, do a lot more reading and research on the subject of Islamist Jihadism. Know the history, nature, aggression and agenda of your Islamist-Jihadist enemies. The experts such as former Professor of Quranic Interpretations at Al Azhar University, Omar Abdel Rahman, will tell you that "there is no surah called 'Peace.' Jihad and killing are the head of Islam. If you take them out, you cut off the head of Islam." (p.24, "Islam and Terrorism" [2002]by Mark A. Gabriel, PhD). So, don't expect the wolves to eradicate terror. Terrorism is their nature since their emergence in the Abyss of the Arabian Desert in the 7th century.