A Lot of Meeting s
about Peace this Week!
January 27, 2007
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
I cannot guarantee what will come out of all these meetings, but I can tell you they have been going on for about three weeks, and that efforts were made to keep them from public knowledge for some time.
The cat does appear to be out of the bag at this time, at least partially. I have not seen so many individuals and countries talking about peace for some time, and I am naturally hopeful it is the beginning of a temporary time of peace in Israel. If it should happen, it will not come in suddenly, but rather after a painful time of anxiety and uncertainty for all parties, in which talks are plentiful, while application of agreements from the talks moves at a snail’s pace.
About a dozen countries and groups of countries have been involved in the talks, and that number is likely to grow over the next few weeks.
I have long contended that an attack against Israel by Islamic nations will not take place as long as American troops are positioned in Iraq. If the following statement by Iraqi General Babaker Shawkat Zebari, reported in the Mi ami Her
ald, is a good estimate of American troop withdrawal timing, then my estimate of an Islamic attack against Israel at some point in time between 2008 and 2012 seems reasonable.
Begin Miami Herald Article
Iraqi general: U.S. can withdraw by 2008
Miami Herald
JOHN MILBURN
Associated Press
January 26, 2007
FORT RILEY, Kan.
– The Iraqi army will have enough equipment and strength to allow most U.S. troops to withdraw by 2008, Iraq’s army chief said Friday.
Gen. Babaker Shawkat Zebari said the Iraqi army would soon be able to provide security for its own nation and stand with the U.S. and other countries in the larger war on terror.
Zebari visited Fort Riley to observe the training of the U.S. transition teams that are advising the Iraqi army.
He also visited the commander of a brigade of soldiers that will be heading to Iraq soon.
Those soldiers are part of the 21,500 additional troops sought by President Bush as part of a security crackdown in Baghdad.
Through a translator, Zebari said the additional soldiers will be sufficient to restore order in Iraq.
In December, a close aide to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told The Associated Press that the Iraqi leader believed his troops would be able to take over security for the country by June.
Wearing civilian clothes, including a heavy winter coat, Zebari watched U.S. soldiers train with others playing the role of Iraqi soldiers. He said the training was good, but he noted that successful training of Iraqi forces will require increased cultural awareness by Americans.
Maj. Gen. Carter Ham, commander for the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, said he suggested that Zebari send Iraqi soldiers to the northeast Kansas post for training, and Zebari agreed it was a good idea.
End Miami Herald Article
The following three articles give a good account of the numerous recent peace discussions for those who like to stay current on this subject.
Begin Arutz Sheva Excerpt Number 1
Top Israeli Officials Meet With PA Chairman in Switzerland
Arutz Sheva, National News Net
Thursday, January 25, 2007 / 6 Shevat 5767
“Back channel” meetings between Israeli and Palestinian Authority are continuing unabated, this time in Switzerland.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas were scheduled to meet in Switzerland Thursday, the highest level of face-to-face contacts since Abbas met with Olmert last month.
Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh met with Abbas Wednesday night and continued prior discussions concerning easing travel restrictions on PA Arabs and further financial aid to the democratically-elected Hamas-ruled Authority.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed earlier this month to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s recommendation that the two conduct their negotiations in “back channel” talks in order to avoid media attention.
A report published on the WorldNet Daily website this week revealed that the government has agreed in principle to withdraw from most of Judea and Samaria since Olmert met with Abbas in December.
Negotiations have been quietly proceeding apace for the past two or three weeks, according to sources quoted by WND reporter Aaron Klein.
According to Egyptian and EU sources, one of the plans currently under consideration involves handing over control of central and southern Yesha to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s security forces. In northern Yesha, the transfer of responsibility to Abbas’ security forces over the area would be monitored by Jordan and EU observers.
A top level meeting between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Abbas is scheduled for next month with U.S. officials in Washington D.C. They are expected to discuss the parameters for the creation of a PA state.
The quiet discussions away from the camera lights were to focus on “the principles of a permanent agreement between Israel and the Palestinians,” according to media reports.
The talks began with a surprise meeting between Olmert and Abbas on a Saturday night in late December, the first such conference between Israel and the PA in more than two years. The meeting focused primarily on money.
Israel is currently holding some $500 million as part of the freeze on transferr ing funds it collects on behalf of the PA that began after the general public
in the PA democratically elected the Hamas terror organization to rule the government.
Olmert agreed at the meeting to release $100 million for humanitarian purposes, a sum Abbas hoped to use to pay government employees who have not received their full salaries since March.
Moreover, Olmert’s bureau chief Yoram Turbowicz and his political advisor Shalom Turgeman were sent to Ramallah early in December for secret talks with Abbas.
Olmert also spoke with the PA chairman during the meeting, which focused on a prisoner swap for the release of IDF officer Gilad Shalit, who is still being held by PA terrorists seven months after they kidnapped him, last June.
It was the first meeting by Israeli emissaries with the PA chairman.
Begin Arutz Sheva Excerpt Number 2
Livni, Peres, Abbas Share Visions for PA State at World Forum
Friday, January 26, 2007 / 7 Shevat 5767
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Tzippy Livni, Shimon Peres, and Mahmoud Abbas shared their visions for a two-state solution within the disputed borders of Israel.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzippy Livni made the formation of Palestinian state her top diplomatic priority during her speech at the forum of world leaders. According to Livni, the formation of a state for the Arabs within the biblical territories of Judea and Samaria is “not an illusion. It’s there. It’s achievable.”
“I would like to negotiate, to speak, to meet, to talk,” Livni said, signaling an Israeli desire to yet again restart bi latera
l peace talks. “There is nothing I want more. … This is part of our dream; this is part of our goal.”
While acknowledging that terrorism must be reigned in for a two-state solution to be viable, Livni compared any future decision by the Palestinian Authority to stop terror with the Israeli government’s decision to expel 10,000 citizens from their homes during the Gush Katif Disengagement of August 2005.
“There are difficult decisions to take on both sides, and fighting terrorism is one of those decisions, and we cannot afford to put this obstacle aside. I know that it is not easy,” Livni said. “I can say it was also difficult for me to vote in favor of the disengagement plan. I voted to uproot Israelis, in order to give peace a chance.
So there are difficult decisions, but the best way is to give an answer, and not to say, ‘Okay this is too difficult, let’s find something else.'”
The Israeli government has already formed a committee to study the ability to remove as many as 100,000 Jewish residents from their homes in the areas considered for the creation of a Palestinian State.
Livni cautioned PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas against compromising with extreme elements within the Authority, labeling Abbas one of the “moderate” forces within the PA. The term often is used despite calls by Abbas at a Ramallah Fatah rally last week for arms, ostensibly received to protect him and his Fatah faction from Hamas, “to be turned against Israel,” which he referred to as “occupying forces.”
Livni added in her address that PA Arabs currently living in Judea and Samaria should remain in a new state to be created on those lands, as opposed to the PA demand that they be allowed to find homes within all of Israel.
While Abbas also stressed his commitment to return to the negotiating table, he reiterated long-standing Arab demands that other Arabs be resettled in Israel, and not in any newly created Palestinian nation.
“The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is one of the most serious conflicts that require a solution,” Abbas said during his address. “I am fully convinced that despite all the difficulties, an atmosphere conducive to the resumption of the peace process exists, one that could lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state.”
He added that a “just solution” must be found to solve the “refugee crisis,” stating that “refugees wishing to return to their homes … should be permitted to do so at the earliest practical date.”
Abbas stressed that a permanent resolution is necessary to end the long-standing conflict, as opposed to any temporary decisions, urging Israel to begin discussing issues of final border status and insisting on the Israeli borders of 1967 as a starting point.
“We have the road map, a road map that includes the Arab initiative as well as President Bush’s vision regarding the two-state solution,” Abbas said. “What is required now, in all honesty, is for us to trace the beginning and the end of this peace process.”
Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres also addressed the forum, expressing a vision of shared economic cooperation between Israel and the PA.
He said Israel and the Palestinians should work together alongside Jordan to stimulate foreign investment in the region.
Peres stated that Israel, Jordan and PA have already agreed in principle “to take the whole length of the frontier,” a 500 kilometer-long strip along the current Israeli-Jordanian border, “and convert it into an ongoing economic zone.”
“We cannot save the Dead Sea unless we do it together.
We cannot build new industry … unless we do it together,” Peretz added.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has already announced plans to gather the Quartet committed to Middle East peace (US, UN, European Union and Russia) in Washington D.C. at the beginning of February. She will return to the Middle East for a summit between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and PA Chairman Abbas, two weeks later.
Begin Jerusalem Post Excerpt
Abbas and Livni meet in Davos
Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST
January 26, 2007
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas implied on Friday there was a limit to how long he would persist with efforts to form a unity government with hardline Hamas militants, raising the possibility that he would move within weeks to call early elections if he fails.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said after meeting Abbas on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum that she and the Palestinian leader had tried to explore “any way to push the process.” But she suggested the road to peace would be long, with their meeting just one among many.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II told the forum that the need for progress was urgent because the Palestinian-Israeli standoff was at a “critical juncture.”
“We cannot afford to miss this opportunity,” Abdullah said, adding that the Palestinian-Israeli confrontation was a “firestarter” with vast potential to destabilize the region.
“I believe that time is running out” to solve the crisis, he said.
He said he hoped momentum would grow to restart talks after a meeting of the Quartet – the US, the European Union, Russia and the UN – in February in Washington.
Livni said, “The next big thing is the trilateral talks.” she said, referring to the planned meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Abbas and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sometime in the next month.
Abbas said he thought that meeting could move things forward.
“I think the Americans are really serious this time,” he said.
Abbas said he would give two or three weeks more to pursue unity talks with Hamas and would expect to move toward calling early Palestinian elections.
Abbas’s chief aide, Saeb Erekat, said that should not be interpreted as a hard deadline or as an attempt to press the negotiations with Hamas, which have been held up over the militant group’s refusal to disavow its call for the destruction of Israel.
Abbas was going from Davos to Spain, where he was expected to meet with Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Late last year, Spain joined France and Italy in proposing a Middle East peace initiative that has earned a lukewarm reception from Israel and the Palestinians.
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