Livni on Palestinian negotiations as Rice prepares visit
Palestine-Israel-USA, Military, 9/14/2007

"69 Israeli soldiers were wounded when a Kassam rocket launched from the area of the Palestinian town of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza landed at an (Israeli military) basic training base near Kibbutz Zikkim in the western Negev at around 1:30 am (on Tuesday). The rocket landed directly on an empty mess tent used in the daytime. Soldiers sleeping in adjacent tents were wounded by shrapnel. One (Israeli) soldier was critically wounded, four seriously wounded, seven moderately wounded and 57 lightly wounded," Israel's Ministry Of Foreign Affairs said.

It addded that "The Salah a-Din Brigades - the military arm of the Public Resistance Committees - and the Islamic Jihad both claimed responsibility for the attack. Islamic Jihad operatives celebrated the attack in their mosques in Gaza later Tuesday morning."

The ministry added that Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign AffairsTzipi Livni "This morning began with a deliberate attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip. It doesn't make any difference to me exactly which terrorist organization claimed responsibility for the attack. All of Gaza is controlled by Hamas. They have the ability to stop the attacks and decided not to do so. Israel needs to adopt a radically different policy, towards the pragmatic leadership now ruling the West Bank on the one hand, namely Abu Mazen and Salam Fayyad, and towards Gaza and the extremists there on the other."

The Washigton Post reported yesterday that "The Hamas government urged Gaza militants Thursday not to attack border crossings with Israel" in order "to keep commercial traffic going and protect security and stability in Gaza."

Livni said "When it comes to the Israeli policy, of course, and I believe that this also is and should be international policy, we need to act with a clear distinction between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, between moderates and extremists, between Abu Mazen-Fayyad and those in Gaza who are looking not to create a state of their own but to act against the existence of the State of Israel. The policy is going to be totally different when it comes to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. So on one hand we need to act against the terrorists in Gaza Strip; on the other hand we need to take this opportunity to reach an understanding and find the common ground between Israel and the moderate, pragmatic leaders, namely Abu Mazen and Salam Fayyad."

Livni said "It’s not a secret, and I have made it clear in the past, that Israel needs to adopt a radically different policy, towards the pragmatic leadership now ruling the West Bank on the one hand, namely Abu Mazen and Salam Fayyad, and towards Gaza and the extremists there on the other. It doesn't make any difference to me exactly which terrorist organization claimed responsibility for the attack. All of Gaza is controlled by Hamas. They have the ability to stop the attacks and decided not to do so. So our policy towards them has to be radically different."

She added "True, in the context of this differential policy, the dialogue with Abu Mazen, which I do consider very important, will not provide a short-term solution to the situation in Gaza. I hope it creates such a solution, that it can improve the situation in the long run, so in the meantime Israel must take deliberate action. I think we have the means, and not only military means, that can be used against what is happening in Gaza. But here as well, the truth is that even if these measures will not stop the rocket launchings, because we are talking about a group of leaders that doesn’t care about their people and are not affected by deterrence, and who are motivated by extremist-religious Islamic ideology that has one goal - despite all this, I say that we are obliged to take action, because there are things a state has to do both to reduce the Kassam rocket fire and to make it clear that matters cannot continue in this way. We left Gaza with the goal of ending Israeli responsibility for what is taking place there. All the processes were also meant to achieve a situation of ending the “occupation” – in international terms, and an end to Israeli responsibility. So, I think that Israel’s legal position and our ability to use the means at our disposal are better than in the past. Of course, this needs to be restrained and based on clear criteria. Meetings have been scheduled on this matter for next week, and I am taking part in these discussions on behalf of the Foreign Ministry."

Livni was asked "Abu Mazen talked about the possibility of European and French participation in the international conference in the United States in November. What would be your position about such European and French participation?" to she replied that "Basically, how I see the situation is that the most important thing is the bilateral track between Israel and the Palestinians. We need to reach common ground and a common understanding of what can be reached in terms of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. And then there is the meeting in which, I believe, the support of the Arab world plus the international community is crucial. The international role, of course including France, and the role of the Arab world is to support both sides, to embrace any outcome that I hope that will come from the dialogue between Olmert and Abu Mazen. This meeting can also launch ongoing negotiations or a more concrete dialogue on more detailed issues between both sides."

Meantime, the US said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories from September 18th to the 20th, 2007. The Secretary will visit Jerusalem and Ramallah for meetings with officials from Israel and the Palestinian Authority "in order to continue discussions on advancing the development of a political horizon and achieving the two-state solution."

The US Department Of State spokesman Sean McCormack said Wednesday that "Recently, as a result of the meetings between Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas, they have decided to form some negotiating committees. And that's a very positive development .. these groups are intended to try to put down on paper some of the ideas and thoughts that had been discussed between the two leaders. And that's a very positive, positive symbol from the two sides that they are ready to move this -- move this process forward. And if we are going to succeed in this and succeed in bringing about a two-state solution, it's going to be fundamental that the two states themselves are ready to roll up their sleeves and come to the compromises, arrive at the compromises that are going to be in the -- that are going to be necessary in order to bring about that state. We are going to do everything we can to help them achieve that. And I think the United States can play a very important role in that regard. So she's going to talk to each side, talk to Prime Minister Olmert, President Abbas, as well as other officials about how we can help move that process forward."

McCormack added "they just started this process, so I -- and I assume that they are going to work through these various issues as to what are the parameters of the discussion, what is the desired outcome of the discussion. All of this is going to feed into the process of the international meeting that Secretary Rice is going to be hosting at a date yet to be specified. So we're going to work out all those things .. All of these issues eventually are ones that the two sides will need to address, and they will address them in the manner of their choosing and at the time of their choosing. But all the things related to, you know, economic issues, security issues and all the other issues that we know are attended to a potential resolution between the Israelis and Palestinians will need to be addressed at a certain time."

He said "I fully expect that she's going to contact her counterparts in the Arab world at the right moment, and David Welch is obviously quite active in this regard. He has been talking to his counterparts and key interlocutors in the region as well. So that process is going to continue. I would expect prior to the international meeting that the Secretary will be out in the region at least more than one time."

Previous Stories:
  Livni: peace situation is complicated, hopes to reach understanding   (9/5/2007)
  Israeli bulldozer demolishes house in Majd al-Koroom   (9/5/2007)
  Israeli cabinet considers 'Punishing' Gazans for Qassam rockets   (9/5/2007)
  Infiltration attempt at Israel's border   (8/27/2007)
  Islamic Jihad attempts to breach Israeli territory   (6/12/2007)
  Israeli occupation arrests 10 Palestinians in West Bank   (6/12/2007)

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