Israel must play a central role in the reconstruction of Gaza, the United States said on Wednesday.

In a press briefing in Washington, US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki welcomed efforts by Israel and the Palestinians to allow the entry of much-needed aid into Gaza, following 50 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas.

"We were pleased to see that the UN, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority agreed on procedures aimed at expediting the passage of relief materials into [the Strip] while taking into account Israel’s security needs," Psaki told reporters. 

She called on the organizers of the upcoming international donors conference on the rehabilitation of Gaza – which will be co-hosted by Egypt and Norway this weekend in Cairo – to include "all governments who can play a role" in assisting the war-torn enclave. 

Psaki said the US was hopeful there would be, as in the past, more contributions to the cause. As for Israel's exact part in the reconstruction efforts, she said "they have contributed materials in the past, and we certainly hope they’ll do the same again." 

The Obama administration expected both sides to agree on a permanent deal that "addresses the long-term issues" and will prevent another cycle of violence. "...We’re working towards a lasting cease-fire," Psaki added.

The cost of rebuilding the coastal territory in the wake of a seven-week battle, which has left entire neighborhoods flattened and hundreds of thousands homeless, is estimated to stand at just about $8 billion, according to PA projections. 

It is believed that 17,000 homes were demolished during Israel's operation, which also took out Gaza's single power plant that the PA says will cost $250 million to repair. 

While Psaki – responding to the question who was to blame for "the amount of aid, assistance" that went into projects that have been destroyed: Hamas, Israel or both – said she did not intend to play "the blame game," she did offer the administration's long-held concerns about "Hamas and their indiscriminate rockets" and "the fact that at times there was more Israel could do to avoid civilian casualties."

By YAAKOV LAPPIN |

10/07/2014 18:37 | The Jerusalem Post| 

In a significant escalation in the already tense North, Hezbollah planted and detonated two bombs in the Mount Dov region along the border with Lebanon on Tuesday, with one device wounding two IDF soldiers.

A second blast tore through the same area about 30 minutes later, but failed to cause injuries or damage.

The wounded soldiers belonged to the Combat Engineering Corps bomb squad unit, which was accompanying Golani Brigade soldiers on patrol in the area.

Both bombs were planted on the Israeli side of the border.

The IDF responded by shelling two Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

The army suspects that the incident is directly related to Sunday’s attempted infiltration from Lebanon, which occurred in the same region.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened up the cabinet meeting Tuesday on the budget by addressing the incident along the northern border, and thanking the soldiers there for foiling an attack.

“We proved that we respond with force against any attempt to attack us, whether it is from the South, the North, or any other sector,” Netanyahu said.

“We are witness to threats accumulating around us, threats of which the whole world is now aware, and is even dealing with some of them.”

These threats, he said, necessitate investing massively in security, as well as investing heavily in communities along the confrontation borders.

The dominant assessment in the defense establishment at this time is that this was a pinpoint incident that will not escalate into a wider conflict. At the same time, the IDF took a severe view of the attack by the Shi’ite terrorist organization.

“The IDF sees this incident as a gross and violent violation of Israeli sovereignty, and sees the Lebanese government and Hezbollah as responsible for any attempt to harm Israeli soldiers or civilians,” the military said.

“The IDF reserves the right to act in any way, and at any time, to defend the citizens of the State of Israel.”

Hours after the incident, Hezbollah took the unusual step of officially claiming responsibility for the border bombings.

In a statement read out on Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV station and released on the Internet, the organization said the Hassan Haider Brigade had planted the bombs – apparently a reference to the name of a Hezbollah member who was reportedly killed in September while seeking to dismantle an Israeli listening device in southern Lebanon’s Sidon region.

The wounded soldiers received initial emergency medical treatment on the spot, before being evacuated to the hospital by helicopter for further treatment. Magen David Adom officials said they suffered from light wounds to their limbs.

In Sunday’s incident, IDF soldiers opened fire on a cell trying to infiltrate the country from Lebanon. An IDF unit dealing with operational security identified the men crossing the border into Israel, and the soldiers opened fire with small arms, apparently hitting one of the infiltrators.

“The cell fled back into Lebanese territory,” the army said afterward.

Lebanese media reported that Israeli cross-border fire had wounded a Lebanese soldier near Kafr Shuba on Sunday.

Last month, senior IDF officials said they were preparing for future hostilities with Hezbollah, and that the Lebanese organization had developed new offensive cross-border capabilities alongside its massive arsenal of rockets and missiles.

According to one of the officials, Hezbollah is planning to send dozens or hundreds of terrorists over the border into Israel in any future war, while targeting the Israeli home front with large numbers of projectiles.

That conflict, the officer said, could last as long as four months.

“Hezbollah’s confidence is growing, along with its combat experience in Syria. The battlegrounds of Syria have enabled Hezbollah to upgrade its capabilities.

Hezbollah plans to send many combatants into Israeli territory near the border and seize it,” the officer said, adding that this had prompted Israel to make “dramatic changes” to its border-defense plans.

The army has noted an increase in Hezbollah’s overt presence on the Israeli border in recent months, including the deployment of openly armed and uniformed operatives.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a television interview that a recent White House rebuke of Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is "against American values," but he praised President Obama's decision to attack ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

"It's against the American values. And it doesn't bode well for peace," Netanyahu said in an interview broadcast Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation."

Israel maintains that east Jerusalem is part of its capital but the United States does not recognize it as part of Israel's territories.

"The idea that we'd have this ethnic purification as a condition for peace, I think it's anti-peace," Netanyahu added, explaining that Arabs and Jews in Jerusalem should be allowed to buy property wherever they want.

A Jerusalem city official approved last week construction of a new housing development in east Jerusalem, according to The Associated Press.

The Obama administration warned that the new project would affect Israel's relations with "even its closest allies" and reflect badly on its commitment to seeking peace with Palestinians. The Israeli prime minister said he was "baffled" by the criticism.

However, Netanyahu said his relationship with Obama is good.

"I don't want to say like an old married couple, but the president said that we had — he's had more meetings with me than with any other foreign leader," he said. "And I think you get to a point of mutual respect. You cut to the chase very quickly. You talk about the real things openly, as befitting real allies."

Netanyahu also praised Obama for the military fight through an international coalition against Islamic State, or ISIS.

"ISIS has got to be defeated because it's doing what all these militant Islamists are trying to do," he said. "They all want to first dominate their part of the Middle East, and then go on for their twisted idea of world domination. The difference between ISIS and Hamas and ISIS and Iran and so on is they all agree that the world should be an Islamist hill, but ... each of them wants to be the king of the hill."

ISIS, also known as ISIL, wants to form an Islamic emirate in the Levant region through "jihad." According to the CIA, it has about 31,500 fighters across Iraq and Syria.

ISIS, an al-Qaida offshoot, has gained control of large swathes of territories in Iraq and Syria.

In Iraq, ISIS men have killed hundreds of civilians. Numerous members of the Christian and Yazidi minorities have also been killed, and tens of thousands of them have fled their homes.

The terror group is believed to have hundreds of foreign fighters, including those from the United States and Europe.

By BEN HARTMAN,DANIEL K. EISENBUD|10/03/2014 | The Jerusalem Post| 

Around 2,000 officers from special police units and the Border Police will patrol across Israel this weekend, in particular in mixed Arab-Jewish cities, to prevent violent clashes as Jews commemorate Yom Kippur and Muslims celebrate the holiday of Eid al-Adha.

A spokesperson for the National Operations Branch of the Israel Police said they did not have any specific warnings about planned disturbances, but that they suspect that with the holiest day of the Jewish calendar overlapping this year with the Muslim holiday – a holiday of feasting and celebration – there is ample potential for violent clashes.

In recent days police have held meetings with local Arab leaders and their Jewish counterparts in a number of mixed cities and Arab localities, in an effort to reach understanding and to prevent a repeat of the Yom Kippur riots six years ago in Acre. Those riots were believed to have been sparked after an Arab man drove through a Jewish neighborhood in the city during the Yom Kippur fast.

As the two holidays coincide for the first time in decades, hundreds of Jews and Muslims – including the Ashkenazi and Sephardi chief rabbis and a number of Muslim leaders - met at an auditorium in Lod on Wednesday for a discussion about the upcoming holidays. The fears of Jewish-Muslim violence follow violent riots that broke out across the Arab sector in July, after Shuafat teen Muhammed Abu Khadeir was found murdered in a Jerusalem forest. Jewish extremists were later arrested for the murder, described as a racially-motivated “revenge killing”.

Police from the Judea and Samaria district said Thursday that a curfew would go into effect for the West Bank beginning at midnight Thursday. The decision to put Palestinians areas on curfew was made by the Defense Ministry, police said. 

In terms of security in Jerusalem, police said hundreds of extra Border Police, undercover and patrol officers will be on hand, with a special emphasis on mixed Arab and Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem and the Old City.

“There will be an increased police presence in East Jerusalem, Damascus Gate and Jaffa Gate, where thousands of people will be making their way for Yom Kippur,” said Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

“Police units will respond if necessary to any incidents, with other backup units on standby,” he added.

Asked about enhanced security provisions for the Temple Mount, a known flashpoint for Arab violence, Rosenfeld said that for the time being no age restrictions will be imposed to limit Muslims under the age of 50. However, he noted that that may change depending on intelligence police received about possible violence or rioting.  

“If necessary, we’ll adjust security assessments throughout Yom Kippur to ensure the safety of all visitors,” he said.

By HERB KEINON | The Jerusalem Post| 
10/02/2014

WASHINGTON-- Prime Minster Binyamin Netanyahu’s address to the UN this week was long on talk of regional threats and dangers, and short on words of hope. His short statement alongside US President Barack Obama on Wednesday was reversed: Long on hope and short on talks of threats and fears.

The prime minister knows his audience.

“I remain committed to a vision of peace of two states for two peoples, based on mutual recognition and rock-solid security arrangements on the ground,” Netanyahu said. “And I believe we should make use of the new opportunities, think outside the box, see how we can recruit the Arab countries to advance this very hopeful agenda.”

There it was, the word Obama loves, and what Netanyahu’s critics said was conspicuously absent from the prime minister’s UN address: Hope.

Obama and Netanyahu met in the Oval Office on Wednesday under dramatically different conditions than their last meeting, in March.

At that meeting the talks with the Palestinians were still on, though expiring: The Gaza military operation was some four months away; and the term Islamic State referred to Iran, not to an organization that instills fear throughout the world through mass murder and beheadings.

But despite the changes, despite the dramatic developments of the last half-year, Obama made clear in his short statement that when he meets with Netanyahu, peace with the Palestinians remains foremost in his mind.

“We’ll discuss extensively both the situation of rebuilding Gaza but also how can we find a more sustainable peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” Obama said.

And Netanyahu fitted his words to what the president wanted to hear. He spoke only briefly about Iran, made no mention of Hamas or how it and Islamic State are “different branches of the same poisonous tree.”

Rather, he did something that many found missing from his UN speech: He reaffirmed his commitment to a two-state solution.

“I think that there are opportunities, and the opportunities, as you just expressed, is something that is changing in the Middle East, because out of the new situation there emerges a commonality of interest between Israel and leading Arab states, and I think that we should work very hard together to seize on those common interests and build a positive program to advance a more secure, a more prosperous and a more peaceful Middle East,” Netanyahu said.

Obama, as was evident in his address to the UN General Assembly last week, likes to stress the positive, even if so much around looks negative.

Netanyahu, at least during his public statement alongside the president, gave the president what he wanted to hear.

The situation behind the closed doors, however, was probably a bit different.