Turkey badly needed to end row with Israel.
Erdogan desparately needed this raprochement. So did Obama. So why did Netanyahu have to eat crow. Erdogan should have been forced by necessity to eat crow to teach him a lesson. Bibi didn’t just pick up the phone at the last minute. Rest assured this apology was scripted and agreed upon before Obama arrived in Israel.If that wasn’t bad enough, Netanyahu is making concessions to get the Palestinians to start negotiations. TOI writes:The focus: New ideas for enabling a resumption of direct negotiations. Netanyahu has reportedly been considering a package of goodwill gestures – including approval of building requests, and a release of prisoners — designed to encourage Abbas to come back to the peace table.
Ted Belman
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report March 23, 2013, 1:51 PM
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu granted the Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan a face-saver for ending their three-year rift out of willingness to crown US President Barack Obama’s three-day visit with an impressive diplomatic breakthrough. He swallowed Israel and its army’s pride and, at the airport, with Obama looking on, picked up the phone to Erdogan and apologized for the killing by Israeli soldiers of nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists in 2010 aboard the Mavi Marmara, which was leading a flotilla bound on busting the Israeli blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
The crowing comment by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu – “Turkey’s basic demands have been met; we got what we wanted” – was out of place, spiteful and ill-mannered.
(Read more…)
The crowing comment by Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu – “Turkey’s basic demands have been met; we got what we wanted” – was out of place, spiteful and ill-mannered.
(Read more…)
Israel to change route of separation fence near Jerusalem to cut off Palestinians from E-1 area
[This article was published by Haaretz on Jan 21,2013]
Defense Minister Ehud Barak has decided to close the breach in the barrier between Jerusalem and Ma’aleh Adumim, which will leave residents of Al-Zaim cut off by a fence to the east and by a wall to the west.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak has decided to close the breach in the separation fence between Jerusalem and Ma’aleh Adumim, thereby positioning the fence between the Palestinian village of Al-Zaim and the contested E-1 area. This would mean that Ma’aleh Adumim would be located outside the security fence and that Palestinians would be prevented from reaching E-1.
The plan is to be presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his approval next week. ( (Read more…)
Israel’s humiliation
With regard to the apology Netanyahu was forced to make to Erdogan, Paul Mirengoff of Powerline, had this to say:
Obama causes Israel to make humiliating apology to Turkey’s anti-Israel prime ministerIsraeli Prime Minister Netanyahu apologized today to Turkey on Friday for an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla. The apology is, of course, the handiwork of President Obama. Indeed, Netanyahu made the call during an airport meeting with Obama shortly before Obama mercifully left Israel.The apology is a humiliation for Israel, which had nothing for which to be sorry. Netanyahu’s statement — which he wisely resisted making for three years — will not improve Israeli relations with Turkey. Relations are poor not because of the flotilla incident, but because Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan, a good friend of Obama’s, is an Israel-hating Islamist.
(Read more…)
Ted Belman
Jerusalem, Israel
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