I Oppose the Creation of a Palestinian State

Monday, Sep. 27, 1993
By LISA BEYER/TEL AVIV YITZHAK RABIN

Q. Now that you've signed this agreement with the Palestinians, what next?
A. For me, the main test is the implementation, especially in Gaza. Jericho is symbolic. In Gaza there are three-quarters of a million Palestinians, poverty, economic and social problems. The real problem is to what extent the P.L.O. will have the means to take over. They have never been responsible for running a large community -- to maintain law and order, to prevent terror, to run an economy, to build houses, to run schools, to develop industries. The whole future depends on how it works in Gaza-Jericho.

Q. How do you think the Palestinians will manage self-rule?
A. I believe there is a good chance they will succeed. But without a tremendous amount of money from the outside, I don't see great hope that they will manage even in Gaza.

Q. How do you assess the security risks to Israel?
A. The Palestinians don't present militarily a threat to the existence of Israel.
There are certain risks to the personal security of a limited number of Israelis.

Q. What if the personal-security risks to Israelis increase?
A. If terror will continue, it means the Palestinians cannot keep their commitments, so what is the meaning of the agreement?

Q. In that case the accord would be rolled back?
A. I didn't say so. You said it.

Q. How will your government respond if the right wing in Israel rebels against the accord?
A. I don't believe that there will be rebellion. Israel is a democracy. There might be expressions of opposition, but I believe that whatever the government and Knesset approve will be carried out.

Q. What about rebellion against the Palestinian authorities?
A. No doubt they'll have problems, mainly with Hamas. They will focus on increased terror activities against Israelis. They believe that the best way to foil the deal is to create antagonism to the agreement among the Israelis. We had lately suicide terror acts. It creates problems.

Q. The Labor Party seems to be softening its opposition to a Palestinian state.
A. No. I am against this. I oppose the creation of an independent Palestinian state between Israel and Jordan, and I don't believe that at this stage it would be a good idea if I brought out the options.

Q. How will the accord affect your negotiations with Syria, Lebanon and Jordan?
A. We expect the other partners in the peace negotiations to assist in the implementation of what has been agreed upon with the Palestinians. I don't see a problem signing a peace treaty with Jordan tomorrow if they limit the issues to Jordanian-Israeli problems. It will facilitate negotiations with Syria, but maybe on a longer timetable.

Q. When you shook Arafat's hand in Washington, you managed a smile. Or was it a grimace?
A. I can't remember. I stood there for about one hour. Do you expect me to remember every expression that I had?

Q. It must have been a memorable moment. How did you feel?
A. It was not easy.

Q. What made you decide finally to deal directly with the P.L.O.?
A. It took me and others a long time to overcome the mental and practical block to this. For 30 years the P.L.O. carried out terror activities, among them many cases I can call atrocities. But mutual recognition, in my humble opinion -- to the extent that they will keep their commitment, and I assume they will -- made the P.L.O. entirely different from what it was before.

Q. You are 71 years old, late in your political career. Did this motivate you to reach a solution now?
A. It is not a question of my age but a question of my purpose in being in politics. When I decided to run for Prime Minister, I believed that the coincidence of events on the international scene, in the Middle East, in Israel were ripe to achieve two goals: peace and security, and changing the order of national priorities for the people of Israel -- not to look at the territories as the main issue. At least 96% of Israeli Jews live on sovereign Israeli soil, within the green lines, including united Jerusalem. The future of Israel depends much more on what that 96% of Jews and about 1 million non- Jewish Israeli citizens will achieve in their economy, social progress, cultural and scientific achievements.

Find this article at:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,979266,00.html


US Proposal: Israel to Lease Jordan Valley from PA
Cheshvan 24, 5771, 01 November 10 07:16
by Chana Ya'ar

(Israelnationalnews.com) Rumors are growing of an American proposal for Israel to lease the Jordan Valley from the Palestinan Authority.

According to a report broadcast Monday on IDF Army Radio, sources in Jerusalem have confirmed that Washington suggested the plan to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

The Prime Minister, who is headed to the United States this week to meet with Vice President Joe Biden, allegedly has agreed to the idea. The only question is the length of the contract: reportedly the United States recommended a seven-year lease, which Netanyahu allegedly rejected out of hand, saying it needed to last instead for “dozens of years.”

The plan, discussed among cabinet ministers in closed session, was allegedly rejected by coalition partner Jewish Home party chairman Professor Daniel Hershkowitz, who asked why Israel would need to lease land “that belongs to us.”

A second minister reportedly recommended the contract not be considered for “anything less than a 99-year lease.”

The Arabic daily newspaper A-Sharq Al-Awsat, meanwhile, reported Friday that the U.S. proposed a deal in which the PA would lease lands in the Jordan Valley and Jerusalem to Israel as part of a final status arrangement.

There was no confirmation of the report from any source, according to the Israel Broadcast Authority (IBA). However, the report quoted Ofir Gendelman, head of the Foreign Ministry's Arabic media department, who allegedly said Israel was negotiating directly with the U.S. “in an effort to resume direct talks with the Palestinians.”

According to the Arabic daily's report, under the plan, the length of the lease would be between 40 to 99 years. In exchange, Israel would recognize the PA as a new country, along the Jewish State's pre-1967 borders, in Judea, Samaria, Gaza and much of Jerusalem.

The newspaper alleged that the United States “had not informed” PA Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas of the negotiations with Israel. The source added the talks were considered “U.S.-initiated, rather than Israeli,” and had been “taking place for a long time, in order to reach common ground with the Israeli side, in order to achieve initial understanding on the issue of borders, and understanding on what is expected to remain under Israeli sovereignty.”

Rally against gay parades held in Moscow

23:42 30/10/2010
A rally against gay parades, legalization of same-sex marriages and immorality propaganda gathered some 1,000 protesters on Bolotnaya Square in central Moscow on Saturday.

The rally was organized by a number of Orthodox organizations and began with a prayer. Many people carried icons and signs reading "We do not need gay parades!", "A gay parade will never be held in Moscow", and others.

The rally followed the recent ruling of the European Court of Human Rights that Moscow's ban on gay pride marches is illegal.
Requests to hold gay pride marches, described by ex-mayor Yury Luzhkov as "satanic," have been rejected by the Moscow authorities for years.

Vladimir Khomyakov, a co-chairman of the Narodny Sobor (People's Gathering) Orthodox organization, said, "Despite the stories about our belligerent homophobia, we have never urged and are not urging to destroy gay clubs and attack gays. We have come to claim that the ECHR ruling is a gross interference in Russia's domestic affairs and a violation of the Russian constitution and international law."

He said a gay parade if allowed by the Moscow authorities will cause a conflict between police and people who consider it immoral.
MOSCOW, October 30 (RIA Novosti) 

Israel Invites Chilean Miners to Visit for Christian Holidays

Cheshvan 11, 5771, 19 October 10 11:37, by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

(Israelnationalnews.com) The Tourism Ministry has invited the 33 Chilean miners, who survived underground for 68 days, to visit Israel for the Christian holidays and give thanks for their rescue. The ministry offered to pay for their flights, room and board and touring for a week.

Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov sent a written invitation to the miners, whose dramatic rescue earlier this month was televised around the world. He invited their wives as well for "a spiritual journey" to include sightseeing tours of Christian holy sites.

"Your bravery and strength of spirit, your great faith that helped you survive so long in the bowels of the earth, was an inspiration to us,” Misezhnikov wrote. "It would be a great honor for us to welcome you as our guests in the Holy Land. This December, Christians around the world…will celebrate Christmas. During that time, we welcome tens of thousands of pilgrims and we would be pleased to offer you this uplifting and extraordinary experience, as our guests."

The ministry has invested millions of dollars the past two years, and a record number of tourists, especially from the former Soviet Bloc, have come to the country. Pilgrimage represents one third of incoming tourism to Israel annually. In 2008, Israel's record year, 62 percent of the 3 million tourists who visited Israel were Christian.

Eilat
A new Moscow-Eilat airline route is expected to bring approximately 10,000 Russians to Israel’s southernmost city by May. "The cancellation of the visa requirement removed a bureaucratic obstacle and transformed Israel into a nearby, attractive and accessible travel destination,” according to Minister Misezhnikov.
In all of 2009, 400,000 tourists visited Israel from Russia. 378,500 tourists have visited in the period January-September 2010, an increase of 45 percent over the same period last year.
 
Israel also is boosting tourism from Georgia and signed a bilateral agreement with it on Tuesday. The ministry is trying to cancel the visa requirement for tourists from the country, similar to the cancellation of the requirement for Ukrainians.
www.IsraelNationalNews.com

A world first as boy, 15, given a permanent robot heart

By Nick Pisa In Rome
Last updated at 2:02 AM on 3rd October 2010
A boy of 15 has become the first child in the world to be given a permanent artificial heart.
The unnamed Italian boy had the ten-hour operation last week and was said to be well and talking in intensive care last night.
As he has the muscle-wasting illness Duchenne’s syndrome, he was ineligible for a heart transplant. 

The pumps used for the world's first permanent artificial heart implant
He was close to death when surgeons decided to save him with the artificial heart.
Dr Antonio Amodeo carried out the operation at Bambino Gesu children’s hospital in Rome.

Officials said the artificial heart is expected to give the boy another 20 to 25 years of ‘normal life’.
 
Dr Amodeo said the heart is 2.5in long and was placed inside the left ventricle and its connection with the ascending aorta.

He said: ‘The device is an electrically activated hydraulic pump and is entirely located inside the thorax, in order to reduce the risk of infection.
‘It is powered through a plug positioned behind the left ear and connected to a battery that the patient holds on a belt and is charged during the night like a mobile phone.


‘This is the first time such a device has been placed in a young child and should give him an improved quality of life even though he is suffering from Duchenne’s syndrome.

Dr. Antonio Amodeo led the team that carried out the 10 hour breakthrough operation
‘The family was happy for the child to go through the surgery and have the artificial heart implanted because he was days away from dying.’

Dr Amodeo said the device weighs just over 3oz compared to adult ones which can weigh 2lb and the boy is expected to remain in intensive care for another two weeks.
He added: ‘Despite the length of the operation he woke up fine and when his mother called he said he could not talk as he was brushing his teeth. This surgery opens up new horizons as there are many children who need transplants but the number of donors is very small and there are some who, like this patient, cannot be transplant candidates because of illness.’

He said the surgery was unique as up until now it had only been performed on adults.
Last year Andrew Ames, 13, became the world’s youngest boy to be given an artificial heart pump, which was implanted to support the rest of the organ in an operation at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The implant is to be used on a permanent basis rather than a more common temporary artificial heart

The first completely artificial heart was given to an unnamed man in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2001. A battery pack was fitted to his thorax to power the device.

A 15-year-old girl was given an artificial heart in 2006 in Alberta, Canada. However, unlike the 15-year-old boy in Italy, it was intended only as a temporary fix and was later removed.