Israel must do more to pursue peace with the Palestinians and to strengthen their institutions or risk empowering militant groups such as Hamas, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday.
US President Barack Obama’s efforts to revive peace talks have been stymied by a disagreement over Jewish settlement construction that has strained ties between Washington and its close ally Israel and by divisions among the Palestinians.
Obama has taken a much tougher line toward Israel than his recent predecessors, and on Tuesday he described solving the conflict as “a vital national security interest,” suggesting he may be willing to push hard for a solution.
While Clinton said in a speech to a pro-peace group that the Palestinians should also promote peace by ending incitement, curbing corruption and refraining from inflammatory rhetoric, she appeared to put more responsibility on Israel.
“For Israel, accepting concrete steps toward peace — both through the peace process and in the bottoms-up institution building I have described — are the best weapons against Hamas and other extremists,” Clinton said. “Those who benefit from our failure of leadership traffic in hate and violence and give strength to Iran’s anti-Semitic president [Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] and extremists like Hamas and Hezbollah.”
Hamas is a militant and political group that controls the Gaza Strip and is engaged in a power struggle with Fatah, the Palestinian faction that leads the Palestinian Authority and that governs the West Bank.
Hezbollah is a Lebanese political and military group that exercises control over large parts of southern Lebanon. Speaking to the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace, Clinton said that if Israel does not strengthen Fatah and the Palestinian Liberation Organization — which she called “a credible partner for peace” — it would empower Hamas.
“Israel can and should do more to support the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to build credible institutions and deliver results,” Clinton said. “If [Palestinian] President [Mahmoud] Abbas cannot deliver on these aspirations, there is no doubt his support will fade and Palestinians will turn to alternatives — including Hamas, and that way leads only to more conflict.”
The Obama administration responded with outrage last month when Israel announced plans for the construction of an additional 1,600 settler homes during a visit to the Jewish state by US Vice President Joe Biden. Clinton called the move “insulting.”
The administration has since sought to calm the resulting US-Israeli tension, and Clinton on Thursday repeated her view that the US commitment to Israel is “rock solid.” However, she also ticked off a long list of action points for Israel.
“We encourage Israel to continue building momentum toward a comprehensive peace by demonstrating respect for the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians, stopping settlement activity and addressing the humanitarian needs in Gaza,” she said. “And to refrain from unilateral statements and actions that could undermine trust or risk prejudicing the outcome of talks.”
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
RSS