Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Tuesday criticized Israel, saying the Netanyahu government is isolating Israel after it revoked visas for Canberra’s diplomatic representatives to the Palestinian Authority.
The move came a day after Australia denied entry to far-right Israeli politician Simcha Rothman and former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked. The visa denials followed Canberra’s announcement that it plans to formally recognize a Palestinian state next month.
In a post on X, Araghchi said Netanyahu was „a con man who has duped successive US Presidents into fighting his own wars for almost three decades. By all indications, the purpose of Netanyahu‘s criminal attack on Iran – killing hundreds of innocent civilians, including women and children – is to scuttle a DEAL between Iran and the US, which we were on the right path to achieve.
Araghchi also accused Netanyahu of „playing“ President Donald Trump and American taxpayers „for absolute fools“. He said if Trump was serious about diplomacy, it would take „one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like Netanyahu“. He also warned that an absence of a negotiated solution would have untold consequences for regional security and the global economy and get the US „mired in the Mother of Forever Wars“.
The moves come amid deepening tensions between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, particularly over a potential Israeli strike on Iran and the ongoing war in Gaza. Israel has repeatedly opposed Washington’s nuclear negotiations with Tehran and has hinted at launching a solo attack against Iran.
The episode has left some senior White House officials questioning the need for a traditional National Security Council and content to leave Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whom Trump on Thursday named as Waltz’s interim replacement, in a caretaker role for quite some time, a decision that will likely diminish an institution that has had a powerful role in shaping the foreign policy of modern presidencies. And it sidelines a key figure in the White House with a long track record of favoring military intervention, officials said.
QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. Secretary, Mr. Foreign Secretary. Secretary Blinken, could I ask you about a couple of aspects on the Middle East? The Israel Defense Forces just a moment ago released an investigation, or released a preliminary – some preliminary findings to the death of an American citizen, Ms. Aysenur Eygi. Could you say – they said that she was killed most likely by Israeli fire, but unintentionally. Are you confident of that assessment? Does the United States want to see anything further? Are you confident with the assessment that this was unintentional, and what more do you want Israel to do? Could there be repercussions?
For both of you, could I ask you about the International Criminal Court? The – it seems that in the coming days there could be a formal decision on whether to seek an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Netanyahu, among others. Mr. Foreign Secretary, the Labor government, of course, has taken a slightly different stance from your predecessors, from the Conservatives, on this. Could you say what your position is, whether you support going ahead? And is there unity between the two allies on this? Thank you.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Shaun, thank you very much. With regard to the tragic killing of Aysenur, I think what we saw of this investigation is it seems to show what eyewitnesses have said and made clear: that her killing was both unprovoked and unjustified. No one – no one – should be shot and killed for attending a protest. No one should have to put their life at risk just for freely expressing their views.
In our judgment, Israeli security forces need to make some fundamental changes in the way that they operate in the West Bank, including changes to their rules of engagement. We’ve long seen reports of the security forces looking the other way when extremist settlers use violence against Palestinians. We’ve seen reports of excessive force by Israeli security forces against Palestinians. And now we have the second American citizen killed at the hands of Israeli security forces. It’s not acceptable. It has to change. And we’ll be making that clear to the senior-most members of the Israeli Government.
Now, we’re looking carefully at the results of this investigation, but even on an initial read and even accepting it at face value, it’s clear that there are serious issues that need to be dealt with. And we will insist that they be dealt with.
FOREIGN SECRETARY LAMMY: I think the important thing to stress in great democracies such as ours is our belief in the separation of powers. There is an important forum for lawyers and the judiciary and our courts, and then there is also an important forum for politicians and those who represent the people.
We’ve always been clear in the UK in our belief in the international rule of law, the rules-based order, and in IHL issues which are fundamentally important. And we took a decision last week in relation to arms exports that were quasi-legal on the basis of our law as they stand. We believe in international law, we believe in the Statute of Rome, but these must be decisions for the international courts to determine. I don’t want to comment on the assessment that they will reach. I’m qualified as a lawyer in part because of the great Harvard Law School. But I’m going to leave it to the lawyers to determine these very complex matters.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you.
FOREIGN SECRETARY LAMMY: Thanks a lot.
We raise our hats out of respect for them, as these protests in the universities and streets of the western world and the Global South keep the flame of hope burning in the souls of our people who long for freedom and justice.
These protests indicate profound, radical changes that separate an ageing American generation that blindly supports Israel and a new generation that promotes justice in Palestine and demands an end to the Israeli occupation and to the war on Gaza.
They represent the future of America and its bright face, the emergence of which we have long awaited.
Mr. Cameron, speaking to the Conservative Middle East Council, an organization that promotes discussion about the region among the Conservative Party, said on Monday that showing progress toward a two-state solution was essential to negotiating peace, and called Israel’s security policies of the last three decades “a failure.”
The British government has long held the position that it would only recognize a Palestinian state at the “right time” in the peace process with Israel, and Mr. Cameron’s comments, in London, suggested that Britain may be aiming to do that sooner.
As the Israel-Hamas war continues, the U.K. has joined others — not, however, the U.S. — in calling for an immediate pause in the fighting, as well as the release of all hostages being held in Gaza and the provision of humanitarian aid to the war-torn Palestinian territory.
But „most important of all,“ Cameron told the Arab ambassadors, „is to give the Palestinian people a political horizon.“
Cameron, a former U.K. prime minister, said it was essential to demonstrate to Palestinians and the wider region that „there is going to be irreversible progress to a two-state solution and, crucially, the establishment of a Palestinian state.“
The U.K. is considering a push to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations, Foreign Secretary David Cameron said, as he tries to sell a plan aimed at ending the war in Gaza.
The former prime minister — drafted into the foreign affairs brief by his boss Rishi Sunak last year — said the move could bring about “irreversible progress to a two-state solution.”
(December 23, 2023 7:03 PM)
Houthi officials in September visited Riyadh for the first time since the war broke out. That followed a first round of Omani-mediated consultations between Riyadh and Sanaa, running in parallel to U.N. peace efforts, when Saudi envoys visited Sanaa in April.
The peace initiatives gained momentum after arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran agreed to re-establish ties in a deal brokered by China. A permanent ceasefire in Yemen would mark a milestone in stabilising the Middle East.
The Biden administration is holding back a shipment of more than 27,000 U.S.-made rifles intended for Israel’s national police over concerns they could end up transferred to extremist Israeli settlers in the West Bank, U.S. officials said.
The U.K. is banning violent Israeli settlers from entering the country, Foreign Secretary David Cameron announced Thursday, in a bid to “make sure our country cannot be a home for people who commit these intimidating acts.”
In a post on social media, Cameron — the former British prime minister reappointed to the Cabinet last month — said “extremist settlers, by targeting and killing Palestinian civilians, are undermining security and stability for both Israelis and Palestinians.”
The Security Council should reach another consensus, Wang told his Brazilian counterpart Mauro Vieira in a separate meeting, according to a readout from the Chinese foreign ministry.
“We should seek a new consensus in the council to promote a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire, the release of detainees and a return to the two-state solution, which is the fundamental solution to the Palestine problem,” Wang said. (…)
Wang said Wednesday’s high-level meeting comes at a crucial time, being the last day of a temporary ceasefire. It will aim to push the council to reach a consensus on a ceasefire,…
(27.11.2023)
(10.11.2023)
“We are losing badly on the messaging battlespace,” reads a Wednesday cable from the US Embassy in Oman, citing conversations with “a wide range of trusted and sober-minded contacts.”
The robust US support for Israel’s actions is being seen, the cable warns, “as material and moral culpability in what they consider to be possible war crimes.”
The cable from the embassy was written by the second-highest US official in Muscat and sent to, among others, the White House’s National Security Council, the CIA and the FBI.
(November 7, 2023)
MIKE POMPEO: I wish I could tell you I‘m surprised, but having led that organization, the State Department, this is the AOC, Rashida Tlaib wing of the State Department. These are classic appeasers who don‘t understand that the Israelis are acting in self-defense. They are taking out a terror threat that killed 1,400 of their citizens. They have not only the right to do it, but an obligation to do it.
(November 7, 2023)
It’s unclear how many staffers in the department signed on to the memo, or whether it has been altered or amended since it was leaked, Politico reported. Dissenting memos are not uncommon — indeed, the department encourages such commentaries, and has a Dissent Channel set up for them — but it’s unusual for dissenting memos to be released publicly. Other dissenting memos relating to Israel’s recent actions are reportedly being discussed within the department.
Following her talks in the Gulf states, Foreign Minister Baerbock will travel on to Israel. This will be the Minister’s third visit to Israel since the armed attack by Hamas on 7 October. She will meet her Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen once more and will again assure him of Germany’s solidarity.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said last week that a transfer of Palestinians from Gaza would likely be followed by a similar “expulsion of Palestinians from the West Bank to Jordan.” Jordan’s foreign minister later said such a move would be considered a declaration of “war.”
Commentators on Arab media outlets have warned that Israel may be planning to de-populate the Gaza Strip of Palestinians and even re-occupy it.
Kurzer Einschub, weil die Außenpolitik eine wichtige Rolle spielen wird und Vorwürfe des Ausverkaufs an China oder Russland wahrscheinlich zunehmen werden: Die Vorstellung, Deutschland könne auch als Brücke zwischen den Blöcken der kommenden multipolaren Weltordnung fungieren, wird in diesen Argumentationen oft gar nicht zugelassen. Ebenso die Feststellung, dass selbstverständlich kein naives oder romantisches Verhältnis zu Russland angestrebt werden sollte, sondern ein vernünftiger und sachlicher Umgang zum beiderseitigen Nutzen. Nicht zuletzt fällt oft unter den Tisch, dass ohne eine Verständigung mit Russland eine friedliche Ordnung in Europa gar nicht vorstellbar ist. Eine solche Verständigung mit Russland muss nicht die Verdammung der oder eine Abkopplung von den USA bedeuten.
Eine Militärallianz, deren Führungsmacht in den zurückliegenden Jahren fünf Länder völkerrechtswidrig überfallen und in diesen Kriegen mehr als 1 Million Menschen getötet hat, schürt Bedrohungsgefühle und Abwehrreaktionen und trägt so zu globaler Instabilität bei. Statt eines Machtinstruments für geopolitische Ziele brauchen wir ein defensiv ausgerichtetes Verteidigungsbündnis, das die Grundsätze der UN-Charta achtet, Abrüstung anstrebt, statt zu Aufrüstung zu verpflichten, und in dem sich die Mitglieder auf Augenhöhe begegnen. Europa benötigt eine stabile Sicherheitsarchitektur, die längerfristig auch Russland einschließen sollte.
Unser Land verdient eine selbstbewusste Politik, die das Wohlergehen seiner Bürger in den Mittelpunkt stellt und von der Einsicht getragen ist, dass US-amerikanische Interessen sich von unseren Interessen teilweise erheblich unterscheiden. Unser Ziel ist ein eigenständiges Europa souveräner Demokratien in einer multipolaren Welt und keine neue Blockkonfrontation, in der Europa zwischen den USA und dem sich immer selbstbewusster formierenden neuen Machtblock um China und Russland zerrieben wird.
Not everything the United States government did in the name of waging war on the terrorists or destroying the perpetrators of those attacks turned out to be wise, justified, or even moral. To the contrary: so many actions undertaken by the U.S. government in the months and years following the 9/11 attack were self-destructive and shameful. That is the reason that the neocons who dominated the Bush-Cheney administration and George Bush and Dick Cheney themselves ended up discredited and in disgrace, at least until they magically rehabilitated themselves by denouncing Donald Trump, which absolves all sins. But the reason they were discredited and in disgrace is not because people reconsidered whether the 9/11 attack was morally unjustified. Americans still overwhelmingly believe that it was. The shame and horror from that era are, instead, due to the fact that so much of what the US did in the name of „fighting terror“ had the opposite effect: either by inflaming it, turning the world against the U.S. and engaging in actions that destroyed the moral credibility of our government.
The five Iranians released as part of the deal were mostly imprisoned in the US on charges that they violated US sanctions.
In a statement on Monday, US President Joe Biden welcomed the prisoner swap and said that the Americans would be reunited with their loved one „after enduring years of agony, uncertainty, and suffering“.
Five Americans detained for years in Iran walked off a plane and into freedom Monday, most arm-in-arm, as part of a politically risky deal that saw President Joe Biden agree to the release of nearly $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets owed by a third country, South Korea.
The agreement was signed by then-Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)‘s Mahmoud Abbas and then US secretary of state Warren Christopher, and was later followed up with a public signing ceremony in September.
The accord was the result of secret negotiations facilitated by then-US president Bill Clinton, and later followed up in 1995 by the Oslo II Accord.
Zwischen März und Juni 2023 war bekannt geworden, dass die Bundesregierung in den letzten fünf Jahren rund 2,3 Millionen Euro an circa 200 Journalisten, mehrheitlich bei ARD und ZDF beschäftigt, für diverse Aufträge gezahlt hatte. Den NachDenkSeiten liegen jetzt die Antworten der Bundesregierung auf eine weitere Anfrage vor, in welcher die Offenlegung der Zahlungen an ausgewählte Journalisten in der Zeit von 2013 bis 2017 eingefordert wurde. Die Antworten gleichen einem Déjà-vu. Zahlungen des BND an Journalisten werden eingeräumt, aber als „Verschlusssache“ (VS), ein Großteil der Zahlungen anderer Ministerien sogar einen Geheimhaltungsgrad höher als „VS – Vertraulich“ eingestuft. Das Auswärtige Amt liefert gar keine Zahlen und Namen. Besonders fragwürdig sind die Zahlungen des Bundespresseamtes.
After New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman wrote that a „reassessment“ of U.S.-Israel relations is inevitable and „a necessity before [Israel] truly does go off the rails,“ in light of the judicial overhaul on Wednesday, Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu joined the chorus of detractors on Wednesday.
Eliyahu told the Ynet news site that he believed Biden was being „fed by the radical left in the United States.”
(Jun 27, 2023)
The Biden administration took its most decisive action against Israel’s settlement enterprise this month, telling Jerusalem it will not be transferring any funds to research institutes or scientific and technological projects taking place in the West Bank.
Yet despite its change of policy regarding academic institutions across the Green Line (it told Israelis officials of the decision a few weeks ago, but the news only broke on Sunday), the White House has not overturned the Trump administration’s policy that the United States no longer views Israel’s settlements as illegal.
(Jul 12, 2023)
Republican members of Congress and presidential contenders are amplifying their criticism of U.S. President Joe Biden‘s Israel policy, largely centered around Biden‘s decision to stop transferring funds to research institutes or scientific and technological projects in the West Bank.
This is despite the fact that Biden stopped short of reversing the majority of Donald Trump‘s doctrine on Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
US President Joe Biden on Thursday formally extended an invitation for President Isaac Herzog to visit the White House on Tuesday, July 18, in an embrace of Israel’s head of state as Washington’s ties with the current government in Jerusalem remain icy.
Herzog will be in Washington to give an address on Wednesday to a joint session of Congress in honor of Israel’s 75th anniversary.
(July 11, 2023)
Whenever people ask me what I do for a living, I tell them that I’m a translator from English to English.