Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman
Israel’s hardline defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, has warned that the continued use of incendiary kites and balloons by Palestinian activists in the Gaza Strip would “force” Israel into waging another large-scale military assault on the Hamas-run coastal enclave.
“Hamas is forcing us into a situation where we will have no choice but to embark on a large and painful military operation,” Lieberman was quoted as saying by Israeli Hebrew-language daily Yedioth Ahronoth.
“Any reasonable person who sees the… farmland that has been scorched [by incendiary kites and balloons] understands the intolerable nature of the situation,” he told a group of Israelis living near the Gaza-Israel buffer zone.
Israel’s “Jewish Nation-State” law promises to usher in a new phase of anti-Arab discrimination and will further undermine the Middle East peace process, Palestinian experts say.Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Palestinian political analyst Talal Okal said the law is based on the erroneous Zionist notion of “a land without a people for a people without a land”.As a result of the legislation, Okal said, “Palestinians in Israel will be subject to increased discrimination while the collective displacement of Palestinians [from their land] will only accelerate”.Turkish vice president blasts new Israeli lawThe new law, he went on to warn, “will only serve to legitimize the eviction of Palestinians from their land to make way for new Jewish settlements”.On Thursday, the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) passed a law that describes Israel as “the nation-state of the Jewish people”.The legislation was approved in a vote of 62 to 55 in a tumultuous session of the assembly during which Arab lawmakers slammed what they described as “Israeli racism against the [country’s] Arab minority”.The legislation further states that a “united Jerusalem” is the country’s capital and that Hebrew is its official language, stripping Arabic of its earlier designation as an official language while recognizing its “special status”.Turkish presidential aide condemns 'Jewish state' lawPalestinian writer and political analyst Abdel Majid Sweilam, for his part, described the law as “fascist” in nature, warning that it would “officially end the peace process”.Sweilam called for the legislation to be overturned, noting that international law “rejects the establishment of any political regime based on race or ethnicity”.The controversial law, he added, “means there will no longer be anything preventing the Israeli government from officially supporting the settlements”, which are being illegally built on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.Israel hits Gaza Strip, killing Palestinian, injuring 3Jihad Harb, a political science lecturer at Ramallah’s Birzeit University, says the law will surely derail any potential peace deal with the Palestinians.“It means that Jerusalem’s status cannot be negotiated within the context of a future peace deal,” he said.Suleiman Basharat, a researcher at the Yabous Center for Strategic Studies, warned of the law’s adverse effect on Israeli-Palestinian relations.‘Extremist’ Israeli legislation draws storm of outrage“It will encourage Jewish discrimination against Palestinians and the displacement of the latter, especially in mixed cities where Palestinians currently live side by side with Jews,” Basharat said.“This law will allow the state to treat non-Jews as second-class citizens,” he added.Basharat concluded by saying that, through the new legislation, Israel “has officially ended the peace process and given up on the possibility of reaching a political solution [with the Palestinians] based on international law”.Turkey slams Israel's 'Jewish nation-state' lawEU expresses concern over Israel's Jewish nation-state lawIsrael adopts divisive Jewish nation-state law
Palestinian experts slam Israel’s ‘Jewish State’ law
In recent weeks, Palestinian activists in Gaza have been flying flaming kites and balloons over Israeli territory as part of ongoing popular rallies along the buffer zone.
According to Israeli officials, the improvised aerial weapons have caused a number of fires inside Israel, causing significant material damage but not resulting in any deaths or injuries.
Since the rallies along the buffer zone first began on Mar. 30, more than 140 Palestinian protesters have been martyred -- and thousands more injured -- by Israeli army gunfire.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Friday wrapped up a two-day official visit to Israel amid ongoing friction between his country and the EU over immigration policy. Orban arrived in Israel on Wednesday after which he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin and a number of other Israeli officials. On Friday, Orban visited East Jerusalem’s Al-Buraq Wall (known to Jews as the “Western Wall”), where -- in line with Jewish tradition -- he placed a prayer note.Turkish vice president blasts new Israeli lawIn a statement, both Netanyahu and Rivlin voiced appreciation for what they described as the Hungarian government's “positive relationship with the State of Israel”.Orban also visited Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, where he was confronted by Israeli protesters who accused him of “anti-Semitism”. For the past year, Orban has been accused by Hungary’s Jewish community of leading an “anti-Semitic propaganda campaign” against George Soros, an international Jewish “philanthropist” and champion of “left-wing” causes. At a joint press conference, however, Netanyahu defended Orban, describing him as “a true friend of Israel”.“We have discussed the tragic events experienced by the Jewish people in Hungary,” the prime minister said.Addressing his Hungarian counterpart, he added: “I hear you speak, as a true friend of Israel, of the need to combat anti-Semitism.” Orban, for his part, told reporters that “we [Hungary] have the largest Jewish community in Central Europe and my information is that they feel safe there”. “According to my definition,” he added, “this is not anti-Semitism”. Unlike most other European leaders who have visited the region, Orban did not make a stop in the Palestinian territories or meet with Palestinian officials.
Hungarian prime minister wraps up two-day Israel visit
Protesters demand the “right of return” to their homes and villages in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.
They also demand an end to Israel’s 11-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.
Turkey’s vice president on Thursday slammed Israel's new "Jewish nation-state" law.Fuat Oktay wrote on Twitter that Israel’s parliament, which ignores fundamental rights and freedoms, with the new law has harmed principles of universal law."Such legislation is unacceptable for the Turkish Republic. Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine and will continue to be its capital," Oktay stressed, referring to the section of the law saying that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital.Turkish presidential aide condemns 'Jewish state' lawTurkey slams Israel's 'Jewish nation-state' lawIsrael's Knesset on Thursday passed a law which declares the country to be “the nation-state of the Jewish people.”The law was approved 62-55 in a tumultuous Knesset session in which Arab lawmakers slammed what they called “Israeli racism against the Arab minority.”According to Israeli daily Haaretz, the law “officially defines Israel as the ‘national homeland of the Jewish people’.”It further states that a “united Jerusalem” is the capital of Israel and that Hebrew is the country's official language, stripping Arabic of its earlier designation as an official language but recognizing its “special status.”The legislation’s most controversial article, however, which would have paved the way for the creation of “Jewish-only” communities in Israel, was removed before the vote.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hailed the legislation, describing its passage as a “defining moment for Zionism and Israel”.“One hundred and twenty-two years after [Zionist leader Theodor] Herzl articulated his vision, we have, with this law, determined the basic principle of our existence,” he said.
Turkish vice president blasts new Israeli law