5769: Year in Review, Part Three

US President Barack Obama delivers a much-anticipated speech to the Muslim world at Cairo University, calling for a “new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect.” He speaks of his own Muslim background, and states, “Islam has always been a part of America's story."  Calling for a PA state, Obama equates the Holocaust with Israel’s "occupation” of the Jewish homeland in Judea and Samaria, which he called “intolerable [for the] Palestinian people.”  

After saying, “Palestinians must abandon violence,” he sharply declares, “The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. It is time for these settlements to stop.”

June 5, ‘09 – Clinton Repudiates Bush Promises to Israel

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton waves off former President Bush’s commitment to Ariel Sharon allowing for natural growth and Israel’s retention of settlement blocs. 

           

At a Washington press conference with Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Clinton said, “We have the negotiating record” regarding understandings between former Israeli and U.S. governments, and “there is no memorialization of any informal and oral agreements. If they did occur… .they did not become part of the official position of the United States Government. And there are contrary documents that suggest that they were not to be viewed as in any way contradicting the obligations that Israel undertook pursuant to the Roadmap. And those obligations are very clear.”

Secretary Clinton’s blunt dismissal of the “informal” promise places more than 100,000 residents of Gush Etzion, Maaleh Adumim, Ariel, and Betar Illit on the chopping block of future expulsions to make way for a PA state.

June 14, ‘09 – Iran Elects Ahmadinejad; Israel Calls for Action

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon say that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s election victory in Iran underscores the need for the international community to act now against Iran.  US President Obama has given Iran until the end of the year to stop its nuclear enrichment program, though he did not specify what would occur if this deadline was not met.

June 14, ‘09 – Netanyahu Responds to Obama Speech, Advocates Demilitarized PA State

"The root of the conflict,” Netanyahu says at Bar Ilan University, “is the refusal to accept the Jewish people’s right to exist in its historic homeland. Whoever thinks that the enmity against Israel is the result of our occupying Judea and Samaria, is confusing cause and effect." He then enumerates instances of Arab belligerence against the Jews in the Land of Israel before 1967.

Despite this, he says, “In our vision we see two states side by side, each with its own flag and anthem." The PA entity must also not be sovereign over airspace nor sign military treaties with Israel's enemies, Netanyahu says, and Jerusalem will remain the unified Jewish capital.

Some in Israel lauded the Prime Minister for mentioning the words “Palestinian state” for the first time, others excoriate him for it, and others (in the nationalist camp) said the conditions he had set for a PA state were so unacceptable to the PA as to render the issue moot.

June 23 – State Department Against Jewish Growth in Jerusalem

A US State Department spokesman reiterated the Obama administration stance that Israel must cease all construction and development in the eastern section of Jerusalem.

Summer ’09 – Violent “Toldot Aharon” Hassidic Demonstrations in Jerusalem.

Issues include Sabbath opening of parking lot, attempted autopsy of murdered Jerusalem man, and resentment over the “hareidi mother” case.

July 2, ‘09 – Bolton Says No Choice Other Than Israeli Attack on Iran

US President Obama’s policies vis-à-vis Iran have left no option other than an Israeli attack on that country, writes ex-US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton. “With no other timely option, the already compelling logic for an Israeli strike is nearly inexorable. Israel is undoubtedly ratcheting forward its decision-making process. President Obama is almost certainly not,” Bolton writes.

July 13, ‘09 – Germany Charges Demjanjuk

The Nazi concentration camp guard is charged with 27,900 counts of accessory to murder in a German court.

July 16, ‘09 – Two-Year National Budget

First time: After a marathon Knesset session, Israel’s first two-year budget, a 616-billion shekel affair, becomes law. Israel is thus fiscally set through 2010.

July 16, ‘09 – Israel Preparing for Strike on Iran

As two Israeli missile-class warships join a navy submarine in the Red Sea, an Israeli defense source says the moves are meant to send a threatening message to Iran: “Israel is investing time in preparing itself for the complexity of an attack on Iran. These maneuvers are a message to Iran that Israel will follow up on its threats.”

July 19 – Fatah-Hamas Rift Continues

Fatah-Hamas negotiations are at an impasse, Fatah chief Abbas is accused of ousting PLO veterans, and January elections thus appear unlikely. There is talk of “two states – Hamastan and Fatahland - for one people…”

July 20, ‘09 – Knesset passes controversial land reform package, which includes the sale of 800 square kilometers (308 square miles) of state-owned land to private buyers.  The reforms also include the dissolution of the bureaucratic Israel Lands Authority, which has long handled everything having to do with the long-term leasing, development and improvements to state-owned lands and the structures built there. Strong protests were sounded by environmental, social and religious groups.

Aug. 10, ‘09 – Remains from King Hezekiah Era Discovered

The latest in a long series of significant archaeological finds in Israel in recent months is that of a luxurious administrative center from the period of King Hezekiah, over 2,700 years ago, in Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, south of Jerusalem.

Aug. 26, ‘09 – Bnei Adam Clash Diffused

A three-way clash, involving Civil Administration, Judea/Samaria Council, and outpost residents, was avoided when residents agreed to let the Council move three caravans from the scenic Bnei Adam outpost, north of Jerusalem, to another nearby town.  The army wanted to destroy them, but the Council wanted to compromise and move them. Ideological residents agreed only after rabbinic intervention.

Sep. 2, ‘09 – Technion Scientists Create Breath Test for Cancer Detection 

In an initial trial, the “breathalyzer” test was able to detect lung cancer with 86% accuracy.

Sep. 7, ‘09 – Yesha Council Decries Barak’s Settlement “Crumbs”

In anticipation of a total settlement construction freeze throughout Judea and Samaria, Defense Minister Ehud Barak approves the construction of 455 housing units in settlement blocs in these areas. Most of them were approved in the past; over a third will be built in two Gush Etzion communities, more than 100 will be constructed in and around Maaleh Adumim, and only 45 units will be built in smaller communities.

New Olim

 

Sep. 8, ‘09 – New Immigrants from North America

Sep. 13, ‘09 – Fallen Astronaut’s Son Killed in Crash

Israel collectively mourns the death of IAF pilot Capt. Asaf Ramon, son of the late Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, who was killed when his jet crashed during a routine training flight over the southern Hevron Hills area.