Netanyahu: Settlement freeze is not evacuation

Whatever Balfour's "intention" might have been, the declaration itself was not a binding act of international law, precisely because at the time that it was declared Balfour was offering something that was not Britain's to give i.e. Ottoman sovereign territory. And by the time sovereignty WAS transferred from the Turks TO the "principal allied powers" Balfour was no longer foreign secretary, and the legal underpinning of the Mandate for Palestine (Article 22 of the LoN Covenant) had constrained the Balfour Declaration such that it could no longer have the result that Balfour "intended". I can promise you the Earth and the Moon, Imma, but if they aren't mine to give......

Israel will continue to defend itself, regardless of the EU, the UN or any body else. Right or wrong, illegal or not, to give up East Jerusalem and relinquish all claims over the Green Line would simply result in the annihalation of Israel and any Jewish presence in the region. Lets say I stole your gun, you were pointing it at me at the time. Since stealing is illegal, I give it back to you because it's the right thing to do. Then you shoot me.

"If Zionism is to influence the Jewish problem throughout the world Palestine must be made available for the largest number of Jewish immigrants. It is therefore eminently desirable that it should obtain the command of the water-power which naturally belongs to it whether by extending its borders to the north, or by treaty with the mandatory of Syria, to whom the southward flowing waters of Hamon could not in any event be of much value. For the same reason Palestine should be extended into the lands lying east of the Jordan...."

in the past, why would anyone believe anything you write

First, go visit a Jewish hilltop settlement, look around you at the surrounding hills and then write what you see. Ask yourself why are there no security fences around Palestinian communities. As a physician, I have cared for victims of terrorist bombing. Years ago I threatened to pull my child out of his pre-school in Mevaserret because there was a break in the barbed wire fence surrounding his school. It was fixed the next day. Two Palestinain policeman were caught entering Mevaserret en route to committing a terorist attack. Preaching your pious platitudes, where do you live?

vh: "the balfour declaration was performed at san remo" As a play? As a musical? As a three-ring circus? vh: "and the state was approved and awarded territory from the ottoman empire" VICTOR, THE PRINCIPAL ALLIED POWERS COULDN'T AWARD THEMSELVES TERRITORY, EVEN IN 1918. Sanremo required this gem: "Turkey hereby undertakes, in accordance with the provisions of Article 132 of the Treaty of Sevres to accept any decisions which may be taken in this connection." Without that Turkish undertaking then NOTHING that was agreed to at Sanremo had ANY legitimacy, because without Art 132 then the PAP's didn't actually possess sovereignty over the territory that they were agreeing to slice 'n' dice. So sorry, Victor, but Turkey DIDN'T agree to the Treaty of Sevres, and so the patina of legitimacy was not applied to the Sanremo Declaration.

vh: "britain held complate sovereignity on behalf of a jewish state otherwise they had no legal basis to be there !" The LEGAL basis for Britain's exercise of sovereignty over Palestine comes from the Treaty of Lausanne, when Turkey handed over sovereignty of its (thereafter former) territory to the Principal Allied Powers, who in turn appointed Britain to be their trustee a.k.a "the Mandatory". It does not come from the Balfour Declaration, because THE TRUST ARRANGEMENT IS MENTIONED BEFORE THE BALFOUR DECLARATION IS INTRODUCED, NOT AFTER. Indeed, Balfour is introduced in the 2nd paragraph with the all-important phrase "have also agreed", meaning that fulfilling Balfour's promise is an ADDITIONAL task, and not the PRIMARY task that was "entrust"ed to this Mandatory.

The "freeze" which is just a building permit enforcement slow down is a sham idea of Netanyahu. What the US gov wants is for Israel to actually keep a promise it made to GW Bush in 2003. Sharon crossing his fingers behind his back when he made the promise was pure BS. Pollard belongs in Supermax with the al Qaida operative Moussaoui since he advocates treating people like al Qaida does. But if you're willing to offer something like the West Bank in its entirety for Pollard, maybe there is something to talk about. Then you could have the traitorous spy who advocates mass murder, maybe.

One of the classic definitions of a lie is an effort to conceal the true or suggest the false. Steve's post #112 is a fine example of how to do this. He refers to the settlements as being on barren hilltops, and by doing so suggests little usable is denied the Palestinian farmer. He omits to mention the security zone around the settlement that Palestinians are not allowed to enter, approach roads, and the security zones around them. If he added them in, he would have to admit that the settlement on a barren hill top actually denied local farmers the use of double digit percent of their land.

"britain held complate sovereignity on behalf of a jewish state otherwise they had no legal basis to be there !" My what a fertile imagination " just as they passed it to transjordan the other section of the mandate . sovereignity passed automatically to a jewish governement !" Uh huh. So why did Israel only Declare Sovereignty over what was recommended in res 181?

History shows the Arab Muslims who came from Arabia killed very few local inhabitants when they invaded countries. As to converting, as long as the people converted voluntarily, why should that be a problem? Don't they have that right?

Please cite specifically which US legislation guarantees Israel's borders. No generalities.

Steve of Mevaserret claims that in the 1950s there was a park with an official sign "No Jews or Dogs Allowed". I would make two comments: !. It is in the interest of zionists to make life in the diaspora look as undesirable as possible and they will use agitprop to further their cause. 2. I lived in New York in the 1950s, and with the general awareness of the holocaust a municipality posting such a sign would have been unthinkable.

The Mandate text followed the form of the Sanremo Declaration, which followed the form of the Balfour Declaration. BD: "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" SR: "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" MP: "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" NOTE: that is completely different from saying this: the establishment **OF** Palestine **AS** **THE** national home for the Jewish people Your argument insists that those declarations all meant the LATTER, even though they said the FORMER. You are wrong: they said what they said, and (more importantly) they did not say what you needed them to say for them to mean what you want them to mean. Pretty simple, really, but this is clearly beyond the simple-minded.

vh: "britain held complate sovereignity on behalf of a jewish state otherwise they had no legal basis to be there" Their legal basis was this: 1) Sovereignty passed to the Principal Allied Powers when Turkey ratified the Treaty of Lausanne. 2) The PAPs had already decided to hold that sovereignty in trust for the inhabitants of that territory (as they did with the OTHER territories), and therefore created this entire system of Mandates supervised by the League of Nations. Your argument holds no water because the Mandate text articulated the "trust" arrangement BEFORE mentioning the Balfour Declaration, and not the reverse. And IF you were correct THEN they certainly would not have introduced the Balfour Declaration with a sentence containing: "have also agreed". That "also" makes your argument untenable, Victor, since it completely divorces "sovereignty" from "Balfour".

"CRIMES TOWARDS HUMANITY" "have you tried to discover them worldwide or only in israel? now write alist of countries like china , russia , usa , britain all muslim countries , most african countries ." You try to say that Israel is not the only guilty country? No problem to I give you that one. Still everyone has to take care of his own crimes, it is high time that Israel becomes a civilized nation. Everyone will gain by it includung Israel.

lord caradon the british un representative made it clear he did not mean israel should withdraw to the 1967 lines. if you dispute that fact let me know and we can perhaps discuss the matter.

One of the principles the world has come to value is the right of people to self-determine their national identification. What gives those countries the right to sign away the future and natural rights of the inhabitants of Palestine?

britain held complate sovereignity on behalf of a jewish state otherwise they had no legal basis to be there ! in 1948 when britain left. just as they passed it to transjordan the other section of the mandate . sovereignity passed automatically to a jewish governement !

on the borders and rights of israel it contains 625 pages ,.=50 addenda read it and report back in 10 years time. the sun is still going round the earth for cj

have you tried to discover them worldwide or only in israel? now write alist of countries like china , russia , usa , britain all muslim countries , most african countries .

Thank you for saying in so plain and clear a way what we all should be thinking. No more double standards!!!

These disgusting settlers are out attacking innocent Palestinians in "revenge". This proves that they are not innocent people looking for a place to live, instead they are Jewish extremists interested solely in driving the Palestinians off the lands of the West Bank through their settlement efforts.

As are the pro-settlement posters on TB... It's fascinating that, with all of their noise on TB, not one has addressed my earlier post... because they cannot well refute it. Israel is not interested in peace, the "settlement freeze" (which is not a real freeze of the "settlements" that are IMO illegal colonization of lands belonging to others) will not lead to peace, Israel is not now and will never be a real partner in any peace talks, and Netanyahu knows all of this... "There are some who might say that we're going to dismantle the settlements in Judea and Samaria, and that we should thus dismantle the Likud, but you must understand that the intention is exactly the opposite...", and what is the opposite? Expansion of settlements, of course. More of a consistent policy of 'Annex, acquire, assimilate' until the Greater Israel is achieved. Anyone perceived as getting in the way (and even some innocents who don't, but are of the wrong race or nationality) will be attacked.

"fine with me - I do not care how they get their human right" CJ Aren't you forgetting something ?! They were given their 'human rights' as much as the Jews & they rejected it in 1947 ? No one will expect the world to stand still ! Things have changed & new realities are created ! No one can fight time ! Israel can't forget its very existence so the palestinians will have a state ! No Israeli government will be allowed to do that ! Israel can't do anything for the fun of it ! Israel have no choice but to wait as she already have waited ! No 2-state can live together side by side or one shared state. An impossible, the palestinians have created ! A danger for both ! You mentioned Ireland; after all that the same Michael & Blair did; the cracks are again showing these days ! And the unity of the Irish is back to where it was; it don't exist ! A lesson to learn ! Thanks !

"For both you~67 and Hamas are making Israel possible !" Israel has been a reality 14th May 1948. It was made possible by the Jewish People's Council's acceptance a Declaration over the boundaries suggested by Res 181. No more, no less. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/decad169.asp

""They pushed us to come here. They gave us no other choice. We did not necessarily want to settle in a place beyond the Green Line. But we had no other options inside the Green Line. " mayor of the haredi town Beitar Illit Reported on Jpost. So two of the largest illegal settlements (haredi)Beitar and modin illit are populated with settlers who claim they were forced to go to the West Bank 82,000 in all. Gee --I just wonder how many others fall in that category and what our legal eagle will come up with to squirm out of this one????. So much for those claims that the 4th GC art 49 does not apply as all the settlers are former residents simply returning to their homes.

You gave me the chance to make myself clear & thank you again. For both you~67 and Hamas are making Israel possible ! For both you & Hamas made the 1947 rejection still on ! No where in the Jewish History there was such a prize ! Whole heartedly !

So you prefer the Demographic solution then ---I thought you were an avid supporter of Israel???. "They will start seeking an escape for themselves for a normal life. Each on his ???"AZ Fine with me---I do not care how they get their human rights ---and if that means the end of Israel--so be it. We in Ireland will have less illegal produce coming into Ireland from the illegal settlements.

israel is the only country that china is worried about.in this week's torah portion jacob was twice blessed with the name israel. god said; "you can fight the mightiest and win" jonathan pollard has the spirit of israel.the mightiest with no spirit falls to the weakest with spirit.israel is very strong. it can take care of itself today. but it needs the spirit of pollard and his namesake;yoni netanyahu to repeat the heroics of entebbe,when dealing with iran.

"You & Hamas" UH? The legal criterion surrounding Sovereignty are NOT Hamas's. They existed before Hamas. They are the same now as when Israel Declared. It's the reason the Jewish People's Council didn't Declare Sovereignty before the British Mandate ended. The same reason Indonesia had to withdraw from East Timor. An entity must have complete control over their territories in order to Declare Sovereignty. Palestine has never had full control over it's territories, not now, not ever. Not under the Ottoman Empire or the British Mandate OR after. http://wp.me/pDB7k-jA BTW 'p'alestinians again. My you work hard at discrediting yourself.

You discredit yourself rather consistently.

and surrounded as far as the eye can see with other barren hilltops hardly "displace Pals from their ancestral family lands and homes and property". I can understand this kind of thinking from Arab propagandists and foreigners who have never visited our land. What is your excuse? Why not leave TA and cross the imaginary "green Line"? You won't fall off the earth. I know. I have travelled back and forth with an Army ambulance along Derech Haim across the Sharon. Guess what? Some of the hilltop Jewish settlements close to the 1967 border have left Jordanian artillary pieces rusting in place. The same type of pieces used to shell Netanya in May 1967, (before the Six Day War), killing Israeli women shopping.

" cj doesnt believe in performance" Uh? I believe what is actually in the documents. I also believe you cannot back your claims, because they do not exist in the documents you refer to. Lebanon and syria accept their borders but dispute some lines. Both Lebanon and Syria's Sovereign Borders were defined and Internationally recognized BEFORE Israel Declared Sovereignty. Their borders are those adjoining what was Palestine BEFORE Israel Declared it's Sovereign borders. Israel has never legally annexed ANY territory.

Bibi is playing games with these settlers. They will come as before in the middle of the night and that will be that. It is obvious that Bibi is heading in the same disastrous and liberal direction as Sharon, Olmert, Livni etc.. Settlers. stand your ground and bring him down or he , controlled by Obama will bring Israel down. He has turned traitor.

Even if the Westbank and Jerusalem would belong to Israel 100% what happens there is still crime against humanity. It is simply no good to kick people of their land and out of their houses into wasteland Palestinian reserves just because you want to let Jews live there.

Hamas speaking & the world is listening :- And thank G-d for being that mad ! "The entire territories" is not for giving ! You & Hamas are talking the impossible & thank G-d again for that ! If that is the Charter of the palestinians; palestine will always remained just an obsession that will never come true ! One don't needs to be even an "ignorant" to understand that. If you don't believe me, ask the horses mouth; Abbas himself; who said it better than both of us : " Hamas, destroyed the aspirations of the palestinians" Abbas.

it sure is a good start!

where have you been these past few months? the freeze is not netanyahu's idea nor initiative. it is obama's, the president of the united states.this peace loving man in charge of your peace loving country that is continuing this most vile imprisonment of pollard, in line with the worst human rights violators of modern times.if israel is such a terrible country, it had a good mentor and teacher;the united states of america.

the Settlers? If the rational is that the building materials might be used for something other than construction Israel approves of in Gaza, and there is evidence that the Settlers use building materials for something other than construction Israel approves of, then why not institute a blockade for the Settlements? Or, is it a case that Israel does not care about the Gazan children living in tents, getting schooled amongst ruins, and having to have everything but a subsistance ration smuggled in through the tunnels that Israel keeps blowing up, but will not let one Settler child have less than the best?

There will never bee a solution without active third party interference (UN). Israel is too week to deal with the settlers, even if settlers massacred 1000 children from the westbank tomorrow in an unprovoked attach the israeli public would not stand up to the settlers. A unilateral declaration is needed, with UN troops on the ground

... that's the great pity... this whole violent exercise for a mere 'freezing"...

" .. the pleasure of perusing a post from you that offers your plan for peace .." ".. you sir are subscribing to the inevitable - the one state .." Labhras. The answer: there is no plan worth its name with the palestinians! Perhaps this is the whole story! To think of any plan in the entire mideast, you need your head to be examined. No two countries in the arab world share one plan! So,don't speak of any plan.The papers of any plan selling by the dozens in arab markets & good only for wrapping the shopping. As for how it will end ? Certainly not in one state or any number of states. The palestinians are not united. They worry of each other, for share a state between themselves ! Peace is only a vision but Israel is a reality.One day the palestinians will find themselves tired of living in a vision and will be begging for one single day of reality. Palestine will be the last thing they want or need. They will start seeking an escape for themselves for a normal life. Each on his

the mob. In Australia. Palestinian mob. Funny. Israel uses horseback blackshirts against Jews.

People that were given building permits by the government should be allowed to build. If the government wants to freeze - they should freeze giving new building permits.

what a self centered selfish gaggle of hypocrites we are. free shalit at any price. give obama something for nothing. pollard helped us destroy the iraqi bomb. his spirit and love of israel is unfathomable. yet, as at oslo, we neglect him,we forget to ask for him. i just became acitizen 2 months ago. i'm ashamed to call myself an israeli. i am considering renouncing. shame! shame! shame on israel.

... every public bench had a notice declaring "slegs voor blankes" (only-for-whites), but since the blacks now have their own country, they no longer hark back to that, let alone build their current policies on those bitter memories, they have moved forward (BTW, thanks to the likes of Judge Goldstone...)

Then Mr Abbas can't you see that you will be waisting your time going to the Negociating process to discuss what INCONDITIONAL SURRENDER?, as were the German army after WW11. Now , mr. president try your best at the UNSCas very soon you will be president of RAMALLAH only.

who destroyed Jewish Communities!

in order to bring your pals to the table will bring peace?

Bibi take note. it wont work!

the balfour declaration was performed at san remo and the state was approved and awarded territory from the ottoman empire . the mandate for the state was awarded to britain who performed the mandate and always produced white papers to avoid their mandate . they left in 1948 without performing their mandate and illegally restricted immigration and giving land to arabs from saudi arabia ! the state of sovereignity is not separated as you assume, but acontinuing process over 61 years. the sovereign state signed treaties on its borders with jordan and egypt lebanon and syria accept their borders but dispute some lines. the sovereign state is a member of the un ! stop trying to prove that the sun goes round the earth!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A critical part of the Balfour Declaration states, 'nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine'. What part of this statement do the settlers - and the Israeli government - not understand? One could very easily - and accurately - argue that the agreement has not been kept by the Israeli government, within the occupied lands. It is those very acts, carried out by the Israeli government, or by the settlers with the tacit approval of their government, which are prejudicing the rights of the non-Jewish communities within those lands, which causes so many in the West to question Israel's own legitimacy. MV

... Israel can hardly build its current foreign and domestic policies on that...

As long as the settlement enterprise continues there is no chance for a viable contiguous Palestinian state and thus no peace. Bibi has repeatedly said this is a one time deal, settlements will officially restart in 10 months (they never stopped). No one in their right mind will accept israel's move as a step towards peace. Too little too late half baked offer with so many holes in it that it is pathetic. Time to turn up the pressure on Israel

"..the us legislation guaranteeing "israels" borders and existence it is as far back as 1925... like so many posters al you write total hogwash !" Oh? Israel didn't exist in 1925.

"the binding international treaties dividing the ottoman empire did not include any territory or rights to arabs in the jewish state !" Cite where they say "Jewish State". Fact. They don't. "the land available to them although unlawfully divided by perfidious albion is known as jordan" Jordan achieved Sovereignty 1946 by the same lawfull process Israel achieved Sovereignty. "which territories are they cj ?" The "territories occupied in the recent conflict" (of '67) The West Bank / Gaza. Lord Caradon ?It was from occupied territories that the Resolution called for withdrawal. The test was which territories were occupied. That was a test not possibly subject to any doubt as a matter of fact East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, the Golan and Sinai were occupied in the 1967 conflict. It was on withdrawal from occupied territories that the Resolution insisted.? Washington, D.C., Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, 1981.

This is the motto of every Prime MINISTERS of every colour since 1967.Provocation/Grab, Provocation /Grab. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + This process started in 67/77/87/97/07 ?????and when will it end? Pres.Abbass should do the right thing for the Palestinians, stopping this "facts on the grounds" business, or may be Pres. ABBASS is wishing for a Binational State,with the inevitable one man one VOTE, and consequently the end of THE JEWISH state in some years to come. Time will tell, WHO is clever or stupid, BIBI? ABBAS?

"I spent my whole life looking for PEACE and QUITE,but alas I must say that these goals are receeded ever so far with the comings of New Goverments" - Joshua Steinberg You have sought peace longer than I Joshua. I decided that I would like to see Israel have a day of peace before I died after the Six Day War. That hope has been vexed since the murder of Rabin and has been doomed by the Settlers.

theft of what by whom ?? crime is related to charge and conviction !

Ben Gurion had to bring Israel's various militia's and terrorist organizations under one national control. The intense harm done to the reputation of the Yishuv by the ETZEL and LEHI atrocity of Dir Yassin made it very clear that those organizations HAD to be integrated into the IDF and made subordinate to the national command after Independence. The attempt to further arm the ETZEL pursuant to a Revisionist coup d'etat, had to be prevented. ETZEL was brought to heel by shelling the Altalena. Esther, that was then, and the Revisionists took control of Israel with the Government of Menachem Begin, who was the man who's coup Ben Gurion forestalled. In the long run the Revisionists won the war for the soul of Israel within 30 years of it's founding and have dominated the nation since. Netanyahu is a life-long proponent, sponsor and enabler of the Settlement Industry. Do not expect him to give up the Revisionist Dream of an Israel, void of Arabs, from the Sea to the Jordan.

instead of posting a constant stream of rubbish esther do try accuracy. arab muslims fron saudi arabia invaded many many countries and displaced or converted or killed the inhabitants ! they are still doing so ! save your sympathy for your own people !

those jewish settlers who feel strongly about staying in occupied Palestinian territories should accept to give up their Israeli citizenship and take the Palestinian citizenship, if they want to live at peace on a land they consider holy. they were offered the PNA nationality option in the past but they refused, which proves they want to occupy not to co-exist.

..the balfour declaration" Fact is, it wasn't. None of the documents you cite say anything about a separate Jewish state. They say a homeland IN Palestine, even offer to assist Jewish folk obtain PALESTINIAN citizenship. http://tinyurl.com/y8ewves/sovereignty-state-non-state-entity/#Mandate http://tinyurl.com/y8ewves/sovereignty-state-non-state-entity/#British-White-Paper-1922 The British Mandate ended May 1948 everything that went before May 14t 1948, was superceded by the Declaration of a Jewish State http://wp.me/pDB7k-gm

... from which to quote... but under the present circumstances some are hardly relevant... displacing Pals from their ancestral family lands and homes and property, was hardly what the good Balfour had in mind...

Why does Israelis get this.

"These R our brothers, they R a part of us, & we R a part of them." and see the result today, HAMASTAN, PALESTAN. and soo we will have SETTLERSTAN, and ISRALISTAN. or more sure a ISRAPALSTAN.

All Netanyahu is asking is to be allowed to appear cooperative until Obama loses control of Congress in a year. Yet that is too much to ask of his Settlers who he has served so faithfully when ever possible.

guaranteeing "israels" borders and existence it is as far back as 1925. where is the conflict ? like so many posters al you write total hogwash !

Sharon said the same thing, and now he lays comatose, heaven nor hell wants him.

My father served with the US Armed forces from 1941-1945, returned home, married, and moved from NYC to Long Island. On a drive along a tree-lined street past the mansions of Garden City in the 1950s, they came to a public park with an official sign "No Jews or Dogs Allowed". We will never forfeit our right to build our homes in Judea and Samaria. We do not need the world's blessing to rebuild our nation following Roman destruction in the Land of Israel.

the binding international treaties dividing the ottoman empire did not include any territory or rights to arabs in the jewish state ! the land available to them although unlawfully divided by perfidious albion is known as jordan.

Abbas won't start negotiations with Israel until he has reason to believe, that the Israeli side is serious about a fair compromise on all the 3 core issues of the conflict. And that must include a total freeze of settle- ment activitiy not only in the West Bank, but also around Jerusalem, at least during the time of negotiations. But as we had to learn a couple of days ago, even in the West Bank hundreds of new house units have already been given the green light by the Israeli governe- ment. How should the Palestinians trust such a partner...??? Apart from that, you can't have negotiations between a "hawk" (Netanyahu) and a "dove" (Abbas) on the other side. Either the Israeli people will have to vote for another governement (maybe with Tzipi Livni as PM), or Israel will have to free Marwan Barghouti in order to negotiate with Israels hardliners. Have a lovely Sunday too...:)

Our Pres. have to make it clear to BIBI, Stop ALL settlements NOW, and honestly negociate an end to tyhis long conflict until May 2110, if not I will back Abbass in his UDI/ ndependence just as the sensible EUROPEANS intend to do and United Nations will probably doing in their next session.

declare Sovereignty, even if they wanted to. They have NEVER had full control of all their territories. It is a pre-requisite to declaring Sovereignty. http://wp.me/pDB7k-jA The ignorance is yours...

"let me guide you cj.israel is now in the process of releasing one thousand palestinian murderers for one soldier.does that tell you something?" Yes. It tells me you're delusional.

its incorporation into the san remo resolution 1920 made it an all time binding international document! sovereign "israel" was set down at the same time and incorporated into a mandate 1922 .de jure this is sovereign israel ! the anglo- american convention 1924 endorses both and is written into the us constitution !

Not once have we had the pleasure of perusing a post from you that offers your plan for peace. Just the usual endless excuses why Israel should not try to make peace. You remind me of the obstructionists in the Northern Ireland peace process---the ones who lost. Stay away from peole trying to make peace--you do not have a clue. Or is it that you dont want peace and the very situations you complain about--ie Palestinian disunity---planned and fertilised by the Us and Israel--are just what you really want. You sir are suscribing to the inevitable---the one State solution---and the end of Israel. Well done genius. Well done indeed.

I spent my whole life looking for PEACE and QUITE,but alas I must say that these goals are receeded ever so far with the comings of New Goverments. I always thought that when the Papers say that the majority of Israelis are for ending the Occupation and create TWO States for two people, I say to myself, Josh, next year we will live in PEACE, but then came a new government with hardliners that even defied the only friend we have (THE U S A ). I now resign myself of ever seing the elusive PEACE but may be seing more conflicts with the IRANIANS(Nuclear Bombs), Hezb.(three times more Missiles as before)and Hamas(Sophisticated Missiles reaching further than Scederot). WHAT a Prospect Sir,Mr Prime Minister.

that demanding another 10% of Palestine, and perpetual second class status for it was a 'generous offer'. Iraq made it plain to many Americans that their leaders will outright lie to them, and manipulate them. Cast Lead, and the attacks on Goldstone, made it clear that Israel considers itself exempt from international law. So, when you try and peddle a 'paper freeze' while building at the same pace, people no longer bite. Those who mark up prices so they can announce a price cut no longer draw anybody but thei committed customers and a few willing victims. Netanyahu's 'freeze' (and pronouncement) shows something quite different to the world.

take away lake kinneret the dead sea and the negev and you will see the asabs will have to move to jordan for equilibrium ! have you solved kashmir yet????

... only a total freeze would be effective... ... then perhaps the settlers would decide to come back into sovreign Israel, to live among us, to populate the vast open spaces in the Negev and the Galilee...

Does Israel have NO lands big enough to build units for ISRAELIS? Natural groth? Why do people(Dual Passports) coming from the USA,and Russia making Aliyah to come to ISRAEL end up in Future Palestine? If lands could be found in Israel then there would be no problem in going for the Negociting table. Does anybody surprise that the other party does not trust these partners.?

The leaders in Serbia proper thought that they could use the Bosnian Serb crazies to their own advantage to help build a Greater Serbia and that only the Bosnian Muslims would suffer. However, the craziness inexorably leaked back into Serbia proper and brought it down. Same with the settlers. The leaders in Israel proper thought they could use the settler crzaies to build a Greater Israel and only the Pals would suffer. However, the craziness is now inexorably leaking back into Israel proper, infecting the army,the civil service, the government, religion. Israel is becoming the Serbia of the Middle East.

... now it's Netanyahu's existential challenge to save Israel from the settlement industry...

Soldiers and Settlers refusing to obey the laws of the land should be facing the same laws of the lands.

Wrong. This proves the Israel government caved in to Hussein Obama.

Cannot be PM Netanyahu, who looks as powerless with the rise of settlers Movements as Pres. Abbass is with the Hamas movements. This is certainly a lesson Bibi can learn from Abbass, before it is too late for him too.

... but the settlers don't want peace, because it would interfere with their way of life...

the MOUTh, thus an inappropriate move for Peace Negociations. If Settlers need new accomodations, then surely Bibi can start building in ISRAEL PROPER, not on the lands that are going to be negociated with the Palestinian.The TALKING wqhle TAKING Lands have to be stopped. That is why The world is somehow fed up with the ununderstandable policies of this government.

where is the settlement freeze? how come the world community is so gullible? how come the UN does not enforce its many resolutions already passed against israel? the world community must act now to force israel to withdraw from ALL occupied territories including the west bank and east jerusalem! justice = peace

why is there building going on in Efrat? Sorry Netanyahu thanks to the Internet we know that the words you speak and the declarations that you make are lies. If Israel was genuine in wanting peace then there would be no builiding on land that would be returned to the Palestinian people in any future settlement. Who is Netanyahu trying to kid?

isreals freeze is just to shut obama up then it will be business as usual

A man who has demonstrasted a lifetime of anti Arab, anti-peace behavior has his arm twisted by the President of the United States. The resultant, grudging, temporary concession doesn't prove anything.

... comes not from Iran or from its client stooges, Hizbullah and Hamas; nor does Syria offer anything like it. The danger, it must be said, comes from Jewish settlers who are defying the Israeli government, and are taking law into their own hands. This is the crossroads for Mr Netanyahu, and perhaps his 'Catch 22' as well: if he reigns in the settlers, he will alienate much of his constituency (tho' he may gain some support from moderates); if he gives into them, he will have surrendered the sovereignty of the Israeli government to Jewish extremists. At such times, history may offer instruction. Perhaps it is time to revisit Ben-gurion's handling of the Atalena affair. MV

The settlement freeze only proves one thing -that politicians, especially from Likud cant be trusted and that democracy means nothing, when the platform on which a party is voted, changes midterm without the publics approval. Netanyahu is burnt for good. He will never be trusted and will never be reelected. Actually the "enthusiasm" to enforce the freeze by Barak, also shows that if Israel really wanted, the Governement could have acted with the same force and desire against illegal Arab building in Jerusalem and thoughout the West bank- Judeah and Samaria. Shame on you both - Barak and Netanyahu.

Try to remember few things before you write some dirt ! The palestinians are begging for 2-state that they were already given and they reject ! 60 years ago ! Doesn't that tells you something ?! Till today, Hamas keep rejecting the 2-state ? What israel has to do ? The Nazi didn't gave the Jews hours to evacuate what they are doing and join the train & you know to where ... You are just silly and mutilating facts & history and stuffing the ignorant with the same stuff that killed their aspirations ! What you have is only hate multiplied with ignorance !

This is great! Bibi and his right wing government fighting the zealot right wing settlers. Perhaps they will both destroy themselves!! Oh, and Bibi! This proves nothing about you wanting peace. All it shows is that you are trying to put on a good face for the international community while you turn your knife in the back of the PALS. No one believes you want peace. If you do, just freeze ALL construction and do not build or confiscate property in East Jerusalem. You can't fool people. We all know your track record!

how can israel want peace when Natenyaho keeps saying the freeze is for 10 months only and it will never be repeated. This is a scam just to give israelis a chance to finish existing colonial expansion projects.

and the voters will make their wishes known at the next election.

let me guide you cj.israel is now in the process of releasing one thousand palestinian murderers for one soldier.does that tell you something?

There are lots of recently dismantled ones lying around. The routine's the same and in this case as before, it keeps our boys from having to enter population centres. Everyone going in and out of a Jewish settlement (instead of a Palestinian village) is vetted. Bulldozers, deliveries of building materials, tractors, work crews, donkeys (yup, donkeys!) all go through a gate and have their papers checked. Those without permits are turned back. Simple comme bonjour as the French say!

"Netanyahu:Settlement freeze proves Israel wants peace". Peace is not in the hands of Abbas to give! And this is NOT the first time israel wanted Peace from the wrong man! Arafta was first & Israel paid the price and nothing was delivered! Israel doing the same thing again is short sighted;even when this time Israel under pressure from Obama & others. The truth is,most of the time the palestinians give the wrong answer to every straight question. The palestinians always blame israel 'buying time';if that is the case why they have to wait 60 years to accept the 2-state solution that was on their table in 1947 & coming from the UN no less?! The reason of the palestinians slow tactics is obvious ! They can't agree among themselves! The palestinians talk about many 'core issues' & they keep forgetting about their internal problems! Israel building settlements is no more than the logical result of the palestinians never make up their minds & living in grand illusions.

never hapened cj.sorry to disappoint you.israelis will not and do not turn against each other.very rare to see bloodshed.we know we are brethren.

If the freeze was genuine--that is to say---you send in whatecer force you need to enforce it---then we might believe you are serious. But when you call a meeting, the result of which is to give approval to part of the units that were supposed to be part of the freeze, then we can only assume you are not serious. When you instigate a Blockade on the Illegal settlements and stop contraband---cement/blocks/doors/windows/trucks/dumpers/hi loaders/lo loaders/cement mixers et al form getting in--then we will know you are serious. You know the kind of blocaked you are carrying out against Gazans. Or the one you use to keep out foreign dignatories--ie Michael Martin the Irish FM. what are you hiding ????.

If the freeze was genuine--that is to say---you send in whatecer force you need to enforce it---then we might believe you are serious. But when you call a meeting, the result of which is to give approval to part of the units that were supposed to be part of the freeze, then we can only assume you are not serious. When you instigate a Blockade on the Illegal settlements and stop contraband---cement/blocks/doors/windows/trucks/dumpers/hi loaders/lo loaders/cement mixers et al form getting in--then we will know you are serious. You know the kind of blocaked you are carrying out against Gazans. Or the one you use to keep out foreign dignatories--ie Michael Martin the Irish FM. what are you hiding ????.

We're told today that it'll be over in 9 months and 20 days which means that there's no intention on our side to follow through on peace talks at all. We knew that failure to include Jerusalem in that suspension would mean that the Palestinians would not come to the table, especially in view of developments in Jerusalem since this government has come to power. Netanyahu did what he did because he saw it as the minimum needed to show goodwill to our negotiating go-betweens abroad, not because he was interested in advancing towards fixed borders, a Palestinian state and regional acceptance.

If an Arab with Israeli nationality dares to protest more loudly than a squeak we hear the settlers and their Jewish supporters scream "fifth column". I'm still waiting to hear the settlers' violent refusal to allow inspectors into their settlements to see whether the government decision to suspend certain kinds of building in the West Bank called fifth column. Could anyone explain to me why they are allowed to block roads to legally authorized inspection while Umm Al-Fahm was not allowed to refuse entry to Baruch Marzel and his cohorts when they were election inspectors or again when they were legally authorized to march through the town? Who genuinely is fifth column in this country? And how come law enforcement is so efficient in Umm Al-Fahm and so impossible to effect in Kedumim?

by it's inadequate and temporary nature, that yet another Israeli leader has no moral fibre, no respect for the Law. It shows us that yet another Israeli Government is interested only in expansionism. It shows us Israel loves land more than it loves it's own people. It shows us that Israel's people will turn against each other. It does NOT show us that Israel wants peace.

"The decision serves wide interests of the State of Israel, and it is clear who wants peace and who rejects peace," Netanyahu said... Meanwhile, Israeli's torch a Palestinian house and two Palestinian vehicles... Yep, it's very clear to me who doesn't want peace.

The farce of all this is that Israel has ALL the power in its dealing with the Pals. It can do WHATEVER it likes. A sensible Israeli government, and there haven't sadly been many of those, would have sat down and basically dictated a fair peace,a really fair peace to the Pals. And they would have accpeted. Instead we've had the unpleasant sight of a series of Israeli governments trying to sucker the Pals and get them to sign away 1 per cent of the WB, here, 1 per cent there, some water rights here, a right to an army there etc. etc. All the while time has wasted and the settlers have expanded. What is now going tp happen unless Bibi moves fast, which seems inconceivable, is that the international community is going to take away Israel's total control of the situation. It's going to say to Israel, 'You've had 42 years to come up with a fair peace. You've completely failed. Now we're going to impose a settlement and you can scream and whine all you like.'

Dino, Comparing the settlers to the Nazi movement of the 1930·s, then deciding not so, is not the point. You have already written the fact. The difference here is religious, using biblical excuses and naturally the growing threats by the extreme jihad movements. No doubt, if the Israeli Gov. does not nip this in the bud, we will become spectators of growing unrest and violence, both by the settlers and a Palestinian backlash, not to forget a growing weariness by many countries allied to the State of Israel. The only solution, is negotiations,with the Palestinians, however, they are also divided, especially Hamas, which although they have taken a beating will no doubt reassert themselves in the near future, unless Israel is actually talking to them in some form even, may it be in secret. The West Bank economy has indeed begun some road to recovery. I believe that Gaza will follow. Its all about Shalit. Good day from snowy ski slopes of Valais.

Let's face it, the freeze is a declaration of war against the Jews on the West Bank. The state is prepared to fight using weapons, army, police, and apply whatever force is necessary. The question is wheter the settlers will repsond and make it a real battle or let themselves get beat up by goons sent in by the government. If they are not prepared to fight for their own homes, then they deserve to get beaten up and thrown out of their homes. As to their leadership, they ate there to make sure the protests are nice and weak, so the government will win, and they lose. The slogan of no violence espoused by the settler leadership applies only to the settlers, not the goons sent by Barak to enforce the decree. You can be certain than Barak has instructed them to apply whatever violent force is necessary to counter resistance.

The best way to take the sting out of the settlements would be to allot 40 per cent of housing in each to Arabs. Israel's always insisting it just wants Arabs and Jews to get along peacefully. Fine, put Arabs in the settlements and put cops in to protect the Arabs from intimidation and violence. Israel wouldn't like settlements in Europe and America that didn't allow Jews to live there. Imagine the fuss from Foxman and the ADL! Yet it allows the development of Jews-only, Arabenfrei settlements in land it controls. It's a disgrace.

Most of us here agree that it's not okay to compare Israels actions to the Nazis, but in view of articles like this one, could we blame anyone for comparing the extremist settlers to the Nazis of the early 30's in Germany...??? Honestly, I don't think so, there clearly are some parallels when it comes to their ideology and conduct....

kiwi europe supported us during the 1940 45 war.you may recall their support did not do us a whole lot of good. as for the support of others.that is a problem.we need the support of the jewish people.other friends are not genuine or indeed reliable.it is only jewish support that comes without conditions.

he can be relied on to post on the site every day at all hours.he spends a great deal of his time considering our problems and giving us his views.he may not like us but then he is very reliable.he thinks of us always.what more can we ask for.

What are you or the Israeli gov offering to the US for Pollard? Israel isn't holding people the US wants and the US doesn't have Gilad Shalit. I doubt Canada is making an offer.

Last week it was Bibi who had Obama under the thumb wasn't it?

If you can't control the settlers, how the hell do think you can take on Iran? With broke America? Because you will have no support in Europe, and definately none from the South Pacific. Don't think China or Russia will be in on it either!

Short of resurrecting the late Kahana, and installing him as PM, the settlers have a "dream government" with this coalition... but even that is not enough for them... they themselves want to rule over the whole of Israel... are we ready for that...?

the 3 issues now in israel;1.freeze 2.shalit 3.iran have all ignored pollard. issues 1.& 2.can be made palatable if pollard is included. pollard's spirit [yisrael] will then help us resolve iran the way he helped us with iraq. we can achieve checkmate by seemingly losing the queen.no pollard; no deal!

rightly so. Bibi has lost the fire in his belly in his old age and now is just another pot-bellied liberal bowing to Obama's will. How quickly Obama brought him under his heel. Bibi will have to answer to his people for this act of treachery and betrayal of the Jewish people.

labels given folk who would like to see the law upheld? Antisemitic, Anti-Jewish, Anti-Israeli, self hating? Just arrest them and put them in jail. It's simple, it's the law and they're willfully breaking it. Is the Goverment afraid of a bunch of nut case, religious fanatics?

Period. Israel is loosing on all groundL dymograohic, military, PR ... . The last of which is its morality - thanks to the seetlers and an impotant nation who does not know what to do about them !

The freeze is counterproductive.It gives proof to Arab beliefs that if they hold fast the US will eventually give them everything they want including Tel Aviv.A more strategical means of causing the Arabs to negotiate would be to announce that every day that they don't new building permits will be issued in the so called settlements and adjacent to the settlements. THis would cause the Arabs to panick as it becoems clear that the Jewish population of the West Bank is rapidly growing and would soon outnumber the Arab population as there is n net outflow of Moslems from the territories(tho right now a slight inflo because of economic conditions in the Moslem world)The condition that the government should make is that on any day except Friday and the Sabbath that they do not negotiate in good faith new building permits will be issued. US and EU critisisms should be ignored.Unfortunately Presiden Obamas foriegn policies throughout the world have been counterproductive and have outraged

The zionist are in charge of America's internal and foreign policy. the settler controls Netanyaku and Co. = the zionists control the world. How long can this continue?

Is the sovereign state of Israel capable of extending national executive power over the Jewish communities of the West Bank or not? If not, how can it possibly hope to extend indirect strategic control over the Palestinian communities for any length of time? If the "national camp" leadership is correct in its estimation that it has the ability to define its own law then perhaps Israel should duplicate the United States policy for Afghanistan--withdraw to population centers it can effectively control (say united Jerusalem, Efrat, and other selected large population centers) and leave the rest of the communities (goodbye Hebron) to the local equivalent of the Taliban (let the settlers do their negotiating with whatever rump Fatah bodies exist or local Hamas rocketeers and gunmen).

If you disobey, please refrain from complaining when the other side does the same.

What are truly the barriers to peace?

Seems like we always talk about the PA's inability to reign on extremists, now let's see if Israel can (or will)...

What purpose ten months of freeze will serve ? If Abbas don't want to talk, will that make him talk ? It is just creating an un-welcomed friction in Israel; & more important between the settlers who are already and unjustly have a bad name among some people in Israel. Will those 10 months of freeze, will also freeze Obama's policy against Israel building much needed settlements !? Obama asking for concessions from both palestinians & israel and none of them is accepting ! Isn't time for Obama & others, to wash their hands from this conflict ? The road map a bumpy.. very.. very bumpy.. it hasn't an exit. The 2-state is no longer a solution; perhaps it is an obstacle to peace. The only one who wants the 2-state, with all his heart, is Abbas ? Because Abbas has nowhere to go .. Is that enough to bring peace ! The ten months freeze, in my very humble opinion, is as a useless solution as Abbas himself, and perhaps as harmful... a total wast of time. "a much ado about nothing" !

If peace in the Middle-East is to have a chance then those who act to derail the process must be brought to court and then jailed.

A blanket thrown to cover the illegal infiltration by Israeli citizens.

Their efforts are guaranteeing that Israel will one day be an equal rights state, with one set of laws applying to all. These settlers should be commended for pushing Israel closer to accepting the Palestinians as citizens of Israel. Keep up the good work boys!

while you can :( shame on u Israel!!!!!! come on Israel show the world that you respect international law and will action accordingly to avoid the lawless settlers........ we believe in you !!!!!!!!!! peace will come........