An attack on Iranian Facilities is Not Likely
If Tzipi Livni comes in as Israel Prime Minister!
She is the essence of moderation and Diplomacy!
Peres wants to have a diplomatic Middle East Peace!
Abb as believes Tzipi will give
away the store for a Peace!
September 22, 2008
http://www.tribulationperiod,com/
Begin Excerpt 1 from Jerusalem Post
Livni’s call for party unity backfires
September 19, 2008
Gil Hoffman , THE JERUSALEM POST
New Kadima leader Tzipi Livni made an effort to unify the ranks in Kadima behind her by convening the faction on Friday at the party’s Petah Tikva headquarters, but the meeting was marred by boycotts and protests by Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz’s camp in Kadima.
Mofaz, who announced Thursday that he was quitting politics, refused Livni’s request to meet with her and did not attend the meeting, which was also boycotted by Mofaz supporter MK Ze’ev Elkin.
“This is not the proper time for a victory party or a fake display of unity,” Elkin said.
“There are many people who feel very uncomfortable with this false presentation of unity.
There is no legitimacy to her victory unless the results of the race are properly checked.
Until then, she hasn’t brought the different kind of politics she promised.”
Another Mofaz supporter, MK David Tal, blamed the loss of the Iranian-born Mofaz on the prejudices of the Ashkenazi leadership and press.
“The press does not want Sephardim to gain an important place in the country’s leadership,” Tal said. “The press, the Ashkenazi establishment and the whites joined forces to prevent Mofaz from having a chance.
If they hadn’t done that, the 400 votes she won by could have gone the other way, but they didn’t want him to win.”
O ther Mofaz supporters in
the faction said it was up to Livni to reach out to him and to them if she wanted to unity the party.
Kadima leadership candidates Meir Sheetrit and Avi Dichter and the rest of the Kadima faction united behind Livni’s leadership and pledged to help her in every way possible.
Livni told the faction that she was sorry about Mofaz’s decisions to quit politics and not attend the meeting.
She said that she had told him when he called to congratulate her on Thursday morning that she wanted to work together with him.
“I still think Shaul Mofaz should continue to contribute to the government and I want to work together with him as a senior partner in the work of Kadima and I still hope to tell him this personally,” Livni said. “I don’t believe in camps, not in politics, not in the people of Israel and not in Kadima. There will be no camps in Kadima. Yesterday’s competition ended yesterday.”
MK Otniel Schneller (Kadima), unlike other MKs who backed Mofaz, pledged his support for Livni.
“The decision was made, she was declared the victor and I have to respect it,” Schneller said. “I spoke to her last night and I told her we all have to unite behind her.”
Begin Excerpt 2 from Jerusalem Post
Peres on Iran: War must not be an option
September 19, 2008
Greer Fay Cashman , THE JERUSALEM POST
The world should hit Iran where it hurts – in its economy – much harder than it does now, and Israel will push the United Nations to that effect when the General Assembly convenes next week,
President Shimon Peres told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.
Peres, who will represent Israel at the General Assembly session, said he would not advocate a diplomatic initiative to persuade Iran to give up its nuclear program, because that wouldn’t work, but he would not support military action either.
“War should never be an option, or even the first option. We must first try every other option,” he told the Post.
Rather, he said, “We have to go to the most sensitive area,” which was Teheran’s economy.
Peres said that when he addressed the General Assembly, he would say that Iran’s nuclear program presented a threat not only to Israel and the region but to the world at large. To combat it, he said, the nations of the world must not only target the Iranian economy, but also encourage the development of alternative sources of energy.
“This will weaken oil-rich countries like Iran,” he said.
During his stay in New York, Peres will meet with world leaders, and with major figures in the American Jewish community, to update them on the peace process and Israel’s position on global issues.
Peres leaves for the US on Monday night, and will address world leaders on Wednesday, a day after they are scheduled to hear a speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Speaking to reporters in Iran on Thursday, Ahmadinejad denied that his country was trying to make nuclear arms, but insisted that it would not stop uranium enrichment.
“Let them put sanctions on us,” Ahmadinejad said. “We are a very strong nation.”
He said the Jewish state would not survive in any shape or form, and s
mirked at the Israeli Right’s mantra of a Greater Israel that would include the West Bank.
“I have heard some say the idea of Greater Israel has expired,” he said, echoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s statement from Sunday. “I say that the idea of lesser Israel has expired, too.”
The Iranian president repeated his previous anti-Israel comments, calling the Holocaust a “fake” and saying Israel was perpetrating a holocaust on the Palestinian people.
He said that many around the world would come to Iran’s defense in case of a US strike.
“From Japan and Southern America, to inside the United States, there are many volunteers that are ready to defend [Iran] if the US wants to offend the Iranian nation,” Ahmadinejad said.
The remarks appeared to be part of Ahmadinejad’s effort to deflect growing criticism at home over his failed economic policies.
Peres told the Post that many oil-producing countries not only polluted the environment, but also financed terrorism.
The use of solar, wind and sea energy, he said, would not only help the environment, but would reduce violence, “and that should be our first priority – not only ours, but the whole world’s,” he said.
Quoting former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger on the oil situation, Peres said: “The sellers are united and determine the price. The buyers are disunited and pay the cost.”
Organizing buyers can and should be done, said Peres.
“The strength of Iran is in the disagreement of responsible countries,” he declared, adding, “Reducing the danger of Iran must be a first priority.”
People were sick and tired of paying for the craziness and ambition of countries that possessed oil, said Peres, adding
that Africa as a continent was starving while Iran was spending money on uranium enrichment, terrorism, missiles and violence.
Ahmadinejad also took issue with a report issued earlier his week by the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency that said Iran had blocked a UN investigation into allegations it tried to make nuclear arms and that the inquiry was deadlocked.
The Iranian president claimed the UN nuclear watchdog agency had “no right” to consider US-provided documents that alleged Teheran sought to make an atomic bomb.
The report “verified the peaceful nature” of Iran’s nuclear program, Ahmadinejad said, as he urged the West to end its hostile policy toward the Islamic Republic.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Thursday he believed that even Russia and China were “quite worried” about the new IAEA report.
Solana said the report presented Monday by the UN nuclear watchdog “isn’t good for Iran.”
But he stopped short of saying there was support for France’s push for more UN Security Council sanctions against Teheran.
Iran is already under three sets of sanctions by the UN Security Council over its refusal to suspend its uranium enrichment program.
Speaking on the sidelines of a Paris meeting of EU foreign ministers with their counterparts from five central Asian nations, Solana said the General Assembly would “analyze” the situation next week.
Tovah Lazaroff and AP contributed to this report.
Begin Excerpt 3 from Jerusalem Post
Abbas welcomes Livni’s Kadima victory
September 18, 2008
Khaled Abu Toameh , THE JERUSALEM POST
Palestinian Authority officials on Thursday welcomed the election of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni as chairwoman of Kadima and said they were looking forward to working with her to advance the peace process.
The officials said that PA President Mahmoud Abbas was satisfied with Livni’s victory because he believed that she is dedicated to the peace process.
They said that as head of the Israeli negotiating team, Livni had much more experience in conducting the talks with the Palestinians than any other senior Israeli government official.
“President Abbas is looking forward to working with Livni after she succeeds [Prime Minister] Ehud Olmert,” said one official.
“We believe that Livni will do her utmost to achieve a breakthrough in the negotiations.”
Another PA official pointed out that there had been tremendous concern among the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah over the possibility that Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz would win the Kadima primary.
“Mofaz is a Likud man and as such he’s not much different from [Likud Chairman Benyamin] Netanyahu,” the official said.
“We also haven’t forgotten the iron-fist policy which he employed against the Palestinians when he was [IDF] Chief of Staff and Defense Minister.”
He added: “Livni represents the voice of moderation and pragmatism while Mofaz is a man of war and extremism.”
PA negotiator Saeb Erekat told reporters that he was convinced that Livni would pursue her efforts to achieve peace with the Palestinians. “We welcome the choice of the Israeli people and hope that serious negotiations will take place after the formation of a new government,” he said.
Hassan Asfour, a former PA negotiator and minister, described Livni as the “candidate of the Arabs.” All the Arabs, he added, have long been waiting for Livni. “The question now is whether the Palestinian track would be as warm as Livni’s relations with the Palestinian negotiating team and many Arabs,” he said.
Hafez Barghouti, editor of the PA-funded Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda, voiced skepticism regarding Livni’s ability to boost the peace process.
“Livni is more radical in her views than Olmert,” he said. “And she is more moderate than Netanyahu.
She is opposed to the return of the Palestinian refugees [to Israel]. We should not expect much from the changes in Israel.”
Hamas, for its part, said it saw no difference between Livni, Mofaz or any other Israeli leader. “There’s a consensus in Israel on destroying the Palestinian people,” said Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum. “We don’t pin any hopes on any elections in Israel because they don’t want to give us our rights.”
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