Speaking on Thursday at a conference organised by the Israeli daily Makor Rishon, Smotrich, who heads the far-right Religious Zionism party, said: „Sovereignty [over the occupied West Bank] is the real test. If Saudi Arabia tells us normalisation in exchange for a Palestinian state, then the answer, my friends, is no thank you – keep riding camels on the desert sands, and we will continue to develop economically and socially, and with all the great things we know how to do.“
Archiv: Prioritäten / priorities
„Israel would lose all US support if West Bank was annexed,“ says Trump
“That will not happen,” Trump insisted. “I gave my word to the Arab countries. We can’t do this now. We have received strong support from the Arab world. If Israel were to proceed, it would lose all American support.”
Trump’s comments come amid ongoing U.S. efforts to stabilize a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, which has held for the past two weeks, and to advance a broader regional peace initiative involving several Arab states aligned with Washington.
Vance says he was insulted by Israeli lawmakers‘ „very stupid political stunt“ on West Bank annexation
Vice President JD Vance criticized on Thursday a vote by the Israeli parliament to advance a bill on the proposed annexation of the occupied West Bank, calling it „a very stupid political stunt.“
„I personally take some insult to it,“ Vance said at Israel‘s Ben Gurion airport as he departed the country after his visit. „The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel. The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel.
‚Threat To Peace‘: Rubio Warns Israel Against Pursuing West Bank Annexation In Rare U.S. Rebuke
Ahead of his visit to Israel, Rubio stated that the Knesset’s initial vote to extend Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria risks undermining President Trump’s regional stabilization plan. He warned that such a move could prove “counterproductive” to ongoing peace initiatives and noted that several non–Middle Eastern nations are prepared to deploy troops to help secure Gaza.
Government okays deal, with hostages to be freed 72 hours after IDF pullback in Gaza
The government approves the deal to free all of the hostages from captivity in Gaza, the Prime Minister’s Office says.
The IDF now will withdraw to new lines inside of the Gaza Strip, after which the 72-hour window for Hamas to release all the hostages will commence.
Netanyahu’s office publishes photos of Witkoff and Kushner at cabinet meeting
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office publishes photos of the premier alongside US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, as they participate in the full cabinet meeting where ministers are due to vote on the first phase of Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza.
US and UK ‚immensely let down‘ families of detained Gaza flotilla activists
The families of British and American Global Sumud Flotilla activists illegally detained by Israel have told Middle East Eye that the US and UK governments have failed to properly represent their citizens.
Clare Azzougarh, the daughter of Malcolm Ducker, a 72-year-old British air force veteran who captained a boat on the flotilla and is being held in Ketziot prison, said her family feels “immensely let down by the British government in so many ways”.
Laura Adler, the sister of David Adler, a Jewish-American member of the flotilla and co-general coordinator of the Progressive International, told MEE the response of the US government had made her realise that “not everyone is deemed to be equally American”.
“I didn’t realise how non-responsive and passive the US government would be,” Laura Adler said.
Chinesischer Außenminister trifft UN-Chef
China unterstütze die Vereinten Nationen beim Aufbau eines effektiveren Weltordnungssystems durch Reformen, um eine glänzende Zukunft des Friedens, der Sicherheit, des Wohlstands und des Fortschritts für die Welt zu schaffen, fügte der chinesische Außenminister hinzu.
Guterres sagte, die Länder des Globalen Südens, mit China als Vertreter, spielten eine immer wichtigere Rolle bei der Förderung des globalen Friedens und der Entwicklung. Er lobte Chinas Engagement für den Multilateralismus und seine starke Unterstützung für die Vereinten Nationen.
Xi Jinping trifft Präsident der Malediven
Am selben Tag traf Xi in Tianjin außerdem mit dem aserbaidschanischen Präsidenten Ilham Alijew, dem armenischen Premierminister Nikol Paschinjan, dem belarussischen Präsidenten Alexander Lukaschenko und dem kirgisischen Präsidenten Sadyr Dschaparow zusammen, die ebenfalls an den oben genannten Veranstaltungen in China teilnehmen werden.
250 IDF intel reservists sign letter calling to end war; PM: ‘noisy anarchists’
“The continuation of the war does not contribute to any of its stated goals, and will lead to the deaths of hostages, IDF soldiers, and innocents,” they wrote, adding lower down: “We see Hamas controlling the Strip and recruiting new operatives to its ranks, while the government has not presented a convincing plan to overthrow it.”
None of the letters published over the last few days have included calls for refusals to serve.
Hundreds of Israeli Air Force Reservists Call for Halt to Gaza War
(April 10, 2025)
The letter, which was signed by roughly a thousand people, including a former chief of staff and other former senior military leaders, laid bare a growing divide in the Israeli military over the handling of the war. The air force has been a key part of Israel’s effort in Gaza, carrying out strikes that have flattened much of the enclave and left thousands dead.
Nach dem Wahl-Coup: Neue rumänische NATO-Regierung steht
Beschwerden gegen die Parlamentswahl, bezüglich angeblicher „russischer Einmischung“ gab es keine. Bei dieser Wahl haben auch die „Richtigen“ gewonnen. Im Gegensatz zur Präsidentenwahl: In einem beispiellosen Schritt sagte der Oberste Gerichtshof die Stichwahl ab und annullierte die erste Wahlrunde – ohne Beweise für eine „russische Wahleinmischung“. Diese Woche gaben die EU/NATO-Kräfte nun die Bildung einer neuen Regierung bekannt. Auch sonst passiert viel. Ein Überblick.
Rumänen müssen nach Drohungen der USA nochmal wählen
7. 12. 2024 | Das Verfassungsgericht Rumäniens hat am Freitag (6.12.) die erste Runde der Präsidentschaftswahl annulliert und den zweiten Wahlgang am Sonntag abgesagt. Grund sei Einflussnahme auf die Wahl durch TikTok-Nutzer. Vorausgegangen war ein Bericht des nationalen Sicherheitsrats und öffentliche Drohungen der US-Regierung.
Wenn die US-Regierung eigens eine Erklärung zum Ausgang der ersten Runde der Präsidentschaftswahl in Rumänien veröffentlicht und diese beginnt mit:….
Everything You Need to Know About Today‘s Supreme Court vs. Netanyahu Government Drama – and What‘s at Stake for Israel
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Press statement by President von der Leyen on the ninth package of sanctions against Russia
(7 December 2022)
Second, we propose to introduce sanctions against three additional Russian banks, including a full transaction ban on the Russian Regional Development Bank to further paralyse Putin‘s cash machines.
The EU prevented the US UK plan to ban either Sberbank or Gazprombank from SWIFT, if the EU had agreed the invasion would have been over in March.
(15.11.2022)
(…)
How to understand Israel and Saudi Arabia’s secretive relationship
(July 11, 2022)
U.S. President Joe Biden understands the limitations facing his Saudi hosts later this month. No major breakthrough is likely during his visit to Jeddah. He will meet with nine Arab leaders: the six Gulf monarchs plus Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq. The Saudis are going to take more control of Tiran Island in the Gulf of Aqaba from Egypt, according to some accounts. It is home to an American military outpost that monitors the 1978 peace agreement between Egypt and Israel.
Images of the massacre of civilians in #Bucha and the Russian war crimes in Ukraine are truly heartbreaking. Along with 207 MEPs, the @FineGael Delegation is calling for an embargo on Russian energy imports, exclusion of ALL Russian banks from SWIFT + ban Russia from EU ports.
The EU boasted of #Russia‘s disconnection from SWIFT. But they shut down only 7 of 300 banks. The largest bank, Sberbank, evaded sanctions. And Gazprombank too.
This bank helped Russian Defense Ministry buy unmanned aerial vehicles & electronic reconnaissance equipment.
Afghanistan war has cost Britain more than £37bn, new book claims
(30 May 2013)
Since 2006, on a conservative estimate, it has cost £15m a day to maintain Britain‘s military presence in Helmand province. The equivalent of £25,000 will have been spent for every one of Helmand‘s 1.5 million inhabitants, more than most of them will earn in a lifetime, it says.
By 2020, the author of a new book says, Britain will have spent at least £40bn on its Afghan campaign, enough to recruit over 5,000 police officers or nurses and pay for them throughout their careers. It could fund free tuition for all students in British higher education for 10 years.
Britain‘s war in Afghanistan cost taxpayers £22bn, as final pullout underway
(08.06.2021)
And the final cost is likely to be even higher because the bill disclosed by Defence Minister James Heappey only counts cash from a special Whitehall pot for the conflict.
Revealing the cost in a written parliamentary answer, Mr Heappey said: “As at May 2021, the total cost of Operation Herrick to HM Treasury Special Reserve is £22.2billion.”
UK military and civilian fatalities in Afghanistan 2001-2020
Published by D. Clark, Sep 21, 2020
Between UK October 2001 to March 2020 there have been 454 fatalities of military and civilians for the United Kingdom in Afghanistan under Operation Herrick. The years with the most fatalities were 2009 and 2010, with both years seeing more than a hundred deaths.
Costs of the Afghanistan war, in lives and dollars
American service members killed in Afghanistan through April: 2,448.
U.S. contractors: 3,846.
Afghan national military and police: 66,000.
Other allied service members, including from other NATO member states: 1,144.
The war in Afghanistan has cost $2.26 trillion, and the bill will keep rising even after last US troops leave
The two-decade war has cost the US $2.26 trillion, according to researchers at Brown University.
That analysis doesn‘t include the costs of lifetime care for veterans or future interest on money the US borrowed for the war.
Regierungserklärung vor EU-Gipfel: Merkel verteidigt Patentschutz für Impfstoffe
Kanzlerin Merkel lehnt eine Freigabe der Patente von Impfstoffen weiter ab. Die Welt sei auch künftig darauf angewiesen, dass Impfstoffe entwickelt würden, sagte sie in ihrer wohl letzten Regierungserklärung im Bundestag.
Merkel opposes US move to waive vaccine IP, the drive behind the commodity supercycle
German chancellor says waiver would have serious implications for production worldwide
Bundeskanzlerin Merkel hat den Vorschlag von US-Präsident Biden zurückgewiesen, Corona-#Impfpatente vorübergehend freizugeben. Nach Beratungen mit den EU-Staats- und Regierungschefs sagte Merkel in Berlin, der Patentschutz sichere die Innovationskraft der Unternehmen.
Das die #Patentfreigabe überhaupt diskutiert wird zeigt wie bankrott und verkommen das Wertesystem ist Pfizer hat 2018 11,1 Mrd $ und 2019 16,2 Mrd $ Gewinn gemacht. Man sollte fragen warum der Konzern nicht von sich aus auf den Schutz der Patente verzichtet
Debatte um Patent-Aussetzung – Steutel: „Verheerende Folgen für Deutschland“
Deutsche Pharma-Firmen lehnen den Vorschlag von US-Präsident Biden, Patentrechte auszusetzen rundweg ab. Niemand könne in weniger als sechs Monaten eine Produktion hochziehen, betont der Chef des Verbandes Forschender Arzneimittelhersteller (vfa) im ZDF.
++ Bundesregierung: Patentschutz notwendig ++
Auch Bundesentwicklungsminister Gerd Müller steht dem Vorstoß aus Washington für die Freigabe von Impfstoff-Patenten skeptisch gegenüber. „Nur ein Patent freizugeben, sorgt noch für keine einzige zusätzliche Impfdose“, sagte er dem „Spiegel“. „Das Patent allein reicht nicht. Man muss auch wissen, wie produziert werden soll.“
Pfizer, Moderna shares plummet after Biden administration backs a COVID-19 vaccine patent waiver
The Biden administration „believes strongly in intellectual property protections,“ Tai said in a statement, but the White House will back the waiver given the „extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.“ The administration has faced pressure to support the measure, which is aimed at increasing vaccinations around the world — especially in countries experiencing a surge in infections, like India — without having to rely solely on exports.
Patients face TWO YEAR wait for vital operations due to ‘frightening’ backlog caused by Covid crisis
The pandemic has led to a widespread suspension of normal NHS diagnostic tests and surgery as hospitals prioritised saving Covid victims.
This has left the service in England with a record 4.59 million people waiting for hospital treatment.
Sir David told the Guardian: „The backlog is truly frightening. We can very easily get to the next election with people waiting over two years.
Kabinett einigt sich auf mehr Insektenschutz
Nach zähem Ringen zwischen den Ministerien für Umwelt und Landwirtschaft hat sich das Kabinett auf ein Paket zum Insektenschutz verständigt. Darin enthalten ist ein Verbot des Mittels Glyphosat ab dem Jahr 2024.