Canada - A true friend of Israel

While President Obama of America wants Israel to return to its 1967 borders and most European leaders want to recognise Palestine as a State this coming September, Israel does have at least one good friend in Canada.

At last weekend's G8 meeting of the leading countries in the world, most of the leaders led by Barack Obama wanted to call for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian's based on the pre 6 day war 1967 lines.  However, Stephen Harper the Canadian Prime Minister allegedly refused to allow their decision to include reference to the 1967 lines, as he understood that these lines are indefensible for Israel and not workable.

Many leaders in the world say they are a friend of Israel but at the moment only the Canadian Prime Minister is the one that continually stands up for Israel in these difficult times.  Mr Harper has previously said

 "When Israel, the only country in the world whose very existence is under attack, is consistently and conspicuously singled out for condemnation, I believe we are morally obligated to take a stand."

So to Mr Harper and Canda, I say thank you for being a true friend of Israel.

Obama finally wrecks the peace process

When President Obama stood started making his speech on the Middle East just over a week ago I am sure he believed that he was helping to advance the chances of peace between Israel and the Jewish world.  Indeed Herb Keinon in the Jerusalem Post this weekend wrote an excellent piece what President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu were trying to achieve in their respective speeches in America this past week.

President Obama, who has already achieve the Nobel Peace Prize, was undoubtedly trying to move the peace-process forward, sadly he just doesn't get the situation.

As has been seen rather than moving the peace process forward, President Obama's speech seems to have ended once and for all any chance of an agreed peace negotiation between Israel and the Palestinians.  Despite Prime Minister Netanyahu saying he wants to make peace, there is no chance of a peace agreement with a Palestinian Government that includes Hamas and does not recognise Israel as the Jewish State.

While, this weekend the Arab League have confirmed that they will request the UN recognise a Palestinian State in September.

So in September it is looking increasingly likely that the world will vote for a new Palestinian State.  Hopefully,    if this occurs, there will then be a chance to negotiate a peace agreement between two states with mutually agreed borders.

However, sadly we all know that in 1947, the last time the UN voted to establish a Palestinian State alongside the future Israel, the Arab nations decided the Palestinian State was not enough for them and decided to attack Israel, sadly I fear the same could happen again.

Conservative MPs insist Hamas must respect the State of Israel's right to exist, and accept Quartet Principles

As well as usual supporters of Israel with the Conservative Party such as Matthew Offord MP for Hendon, Mike Freer MP for Golders Green and Lee Scott MP for Ilford, I was pleased to see that the Conservative Party in the British Parliament continues to have many supporters, as reported at ConsevativeHome.

Poor President Obama, no one in the Middle East listens to him any more

President Obama yesterday spoke at the annual conference of the American Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC) and attempted to explain his speech of last Thursday.   In last week's speech President Obama had made clear that he had accepted the Palestinian position that any peace deal  between Israel and the Palestinians should be based on the 1967 pre-6 day war border between Israel and Jordan.  Yesterday Obama explained that this was because wanted a peace deal and this policy would be required to get the Palestinians to agree to peace.

However, Prime Minister Nentanyahu made clear last week that Israel has no intention of agreeing to peace based on 1967 borders.  This agreement would be unachievable and would result in an and indefensible Israel.  We can now clearly see that while Prime Minister Netanyahu will continue to work with President Obama to ensure a stable Middle East and to continue to pressure Iran to stop its nuclear programme, he has no intention of intensively striving for peace in what is now an unstable region.

Obama has also called for the Palestinian's to completely reject a negotiated peace deal with Israel.  The Palestinian's also are rejecting Obama's plea in this respect by forming a united government which includes the terrorist group Hamas, who continue not to recognise Israel.  Abbas also reacted to the speech this weekend by rejecting the plea by Obama not to declare a Palestinian State unilaterally, by saying that he still intends to request that the UN in September recognise the Palestinian State.

Obama's plan for peace therefore seems to be going nowhere and after 20 years of failed peace negotiations based on a negotiated two state solution, it is clear that some new ideas are required.  Hopefully Netanyahu will deliver these this week.

President Obama is wrong about Israel - we need a new solution

Two year's after President Obama's last big speech on the Middle East we again heard from the President of the USA about his vision for the  region.  During the speech while calling for the Palestinian's to recognise Israel - something Hamas still refuse to do - President Obama again said that Israel should give up all of the territories it occupied during the 6-day war of 1967.

I could understand President Obama having this idea, two years ago, when he believed he would be able to achieve a peace-treaty between Israel and the Palestinians.  However, we are now two years on from this, during which time the Palestinian Leadership have refused accept Israel as a Jewish State and to even negotiate a peace deal with Israel.  The Palestinians have also now formed a Government including Hamas the rulers of Gaza who continue to attack Israel with bombs and missiles, while they continue to call for the destruction of Israel.  There therefore appears to be no hope of the Palestinian's agreeing to peace with Israel in the near future.

I was therefore hoping for the President to set out a new sensible solution for how Israel and the Arab world can live in peace side-by-side.  This week where we saw Arab citizens from Syria, Lebanon and Gaza try to invade Israel to protest against the establishment and existence of Israel, it is clear that the Arab world is not interested in Israel just leaving the occupied territories we gained in the past battles but in destroying Israel completely.  Therefore solutions need to be found so that Israel and the Arab world can live in peace side-by-side.

Following President Obama's speech yesterday, it is important that in the next few days Prime Minister Netanyahu in his meeting today with the President and his speeches next week in America, sets out a new agenda for how Israel will continue to be a peaceful and strong country here in the Middle East.

The world can not support a Palestinian leadership encouraging terrorism and condemning the assassination of Osama Bin Ladin

This week's agreement between Fatah and Hamas to share the Palestinian leadership has once again shown that they prefer Arab dominance in the Middle East over peace with Israel.  Not only is the Palestinian leadership rejecting peace negotiations with Israel and denying the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish State, but the Hamas leadership which continues to support war against Israel, also condemned the assassination of Osama Bin Ladin.
 
Therefore at a time when the West needs to continue to be aware of Arab and Islamic fundamentalism, and to support pro-democracy protests in the Arab world, it also needs to continue to support Israel as a bastion of democracy in the real world.

As we in Israel get ready to celebrate the State of Israel's 63rd birthday, and the Palestinian leadership's attempt to get the United Nations to support a Palestinian State, it is time for the world to show they support Israel a country that wants to live in peace.  The world therefore needs to show that they do not support any kind of terrorist activity and say that they will they not support a Palestinian State with out a true peace deal with Israel.  The world must also say that they will not deal with the Palestinian leadership while its includes Hamas, while it is embarked on a war with Israel, which it still does not exist.

Thankfully it appears the United States will continue to support Israel and not deal with the Palestinian leadership that includes terrorists such as Hamas.  I hope Britain and the European Union can follow this lead.