Trump, in Israel, says he has new reasons to hope for peace

U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Israel on Monday on the second leg of his first overseas trip since entering office and said he had new reasons to hope for peace and stability to the Middle East after his visit to Saudi Arabia.

In a stopover lasting 28 hours, Trump is to meet separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Later on Monday, he will pray at Judaism's Western Wall and visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and on Tuesday he will travel to Bethlehem.

Netanyahu and his wife Sara, as well as President Reuven Rivlin and members of the Israeli cabinet, were at Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion airport to greet Trump and first lady Melania in a red carpet ceremony after what is believed to have been the first direct flight from Riyadh to Israel.

"During my travels in recent days, I have found new reasons for hope," Trump said in a brief speech on arrival.

"We have before us a rare opportunity to bring security and stability and peace to this region and its people, defeating terrorism and creating a future of harmony, prosperity and peace, but we can only get there working together. There is no other way," he said.

Trump's tour comes in the shadow of difficulties at home, where he is struggling to contain a scandal after firing James Comey as FBI director nearly two weeks ago. The trip ends on Saturday after visits to the Vatican, Brussels and Sicily.

"ULTIMATE DEAL"

Netanyahu said Israel shared Trump's commitment to peace - but he also repeated his right-wing government's political and security demands of the Palestinians, including recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.

"May your first trip to our region prove to be a historic milestone on the path towards reconciliation and peace," Netanyahu said.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters en route to Tel Aviv that any three-way meeting between Trump, Netanyahu and Abbas was for "a later date".

Trump has vowed to do whatever is necessary to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians -- something he has called "the ultimate deal" -- but has given little indication of how he could revive negotiations that collapsed in 2014.

When he met Abbas this month in Washington, he stopped shortly of explicitly recommitting his administration to a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict, a long-standing foundation of U.S. policy. He has since spoken in support of Palestinian "self-determination".

Trump has also opted against an immediate move of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a longtime demand of Israel.

A senior administration official told Reuters last week that Trump remained committed to his campaign pledge to ultimately relocate the embassy, but would not announce such a move during this trip:

"We're having very good discussions with all parties and, as long as we see that happening, then we don’t intend to do anything that we think could upset those discussions."

ARAB WELCOME

Netanyahu has come under pressure from right-wing members of his own coalition who say he is not pushing hard enough to get Trump to carry out his promise.

Over the weekend, Trump received a warm welcome from Arab leaders, who focused on his desire to restrain Iran's influence in the region, a commitment they found wanting in the Republican president's Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama.

On Sunday, Israel authorized some economic concessions to the Palestinians that it said would improve civilian life in areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority and were intended to respond to Trump's request for "confidence-building steps".

The United States welcomed the move but the Palestinians said they had heard such promises before.

Trump used his visit to Riyadh to bolster U.S. ties with Arab and Islamic nations, announce $110 billion in U.S. arms sales to Saudi Arabia, and send Iran a tough message.

In a speech on Sunday to dozens of Arab and Islamic leaders, he toned down the harsh anti-Muslim rhetoric he had employed during his presidential campaign in favor of trying to build cooperation against Islamist militants.

"A better future is only possible if your nations drive out the terrorists and drive out the extremists. Drive them out," Trump said.

Trump will have visited significant centers of Islam, Judaism and Christianity by the end of his trip, a point that his aides say bolsters his argument that the fight against Islamist militancy is a battle between "good and evil".

Source: Reuters

US President Obama: Shimon Peres a giant of the 20th century

The President of the United States on Friday exalted the late former President of Israel to the heights of 20th century greats as he closed tributes at the funeral service in Jerusalem.

Sharing the stage with the flag-draped coffin of Shimon Peres, Barack Obama addressed an audience of world leaders and dignitaries who had gathered at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl national cemetery for the funeral of one the founders of modern Israel.

"In many ways he reminded me of some of the other giants of the 20th century that I've had the honor to meet, men like Nelson Mandela, women like Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth," the American statesman said in a eulogy that lasted almost half an hour.

Obama said that Peres' life encapsulated "the story of the Jewish people."

"A free life in a homeland regained, a secure life of a nation that can defend itself by itself, a full life of a friendship with nations who can be counted on as allies, always... this was Shimon Peres's life," Obama added.

However, the president also acknowledged the presence of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the service as a signal that the peace process was ongoing.

The poignancy of Abbas' attendance was captured in a gesture when he was filmed shaking hands with current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a funeral that prompted the biggest security operation in the country's history.

Around 8,000 security agents were deployed onto the streets of Jerusalem to ensure that proceedings would not be hindered amid heightened tension in the region.

Netanyahu and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin also gave personal eulogies at the funeral of Peres.

The late Israeli statesman was described by PM Netanyahu as a "great man of Israel" and a "great man of the world," adding that the world should find hope in his legacy.

Rivlin, who opened the testimonies, said that not only was Peres blessed to have served as both prime minister and president of Israel, but that the country itself was blessed to have been served by Peres.

"People came from near and far to pay tribute to you. All over the world, people will miss you. We here, already do," Rivlin said.

Also in attendance at the Mount Herzl funeral were former US President Bill Clinton, who also spoke at the eulogy, King Felipe VI of Spain and the presidents of Mexico, Germany and France; Enrique Peña Nieto, Joachim Gauck and Francois Hollande, respectively.

The prime ministers of Italy, Matteo Renzi, and Canada, Justin Trudeau, attended as well, as did Prince Charles of Wales.

In a career spanning over six decades, Peres has occupied virtually every major political office in Israel.

He was president from 2007-2014, served twice as prime minister, has represented five political parties in the Knesset (Parliament) and held 12 ministerial positions since he entered politics in the 1950s.

Following the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords in 1994, Peres, as foreign minister, received the Nobel Peace Prize together with then-Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin and Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Yasser Arafat.

News of Peres' death was announced on Wednesday, two weeks after the former statesman suffered a stroke.

Source: EFE

Obama recommits to peace pact in Middle East as tribute to Peres

United States President Barack Obama reiterated Wednesday his commitment to a peace pact between the Israelis and the Palestinians as a tribute to his "friend" Shimon Peres, who died Wednesday aged 93 years after suffering a stroke.

"Tonight, I can think of no greater tribute to his life than to renew our commitment to the peace that we know is possible," Obama said in a statement in which he called Peres the "essence" of Israel.

Source: EFE

Rights group wants settlement soccer clubs to relocate inside Israel

A human rights group urged soccer's governing body, FIFA, on Monday to move matches being played by Israeli teams in the occupied West Bank to Israel, saying that playing in Jewish settlements meant they were playing on stolen land.

The six clubs named by Human Rights Watch are all minor. But the dispute over their location showed how sport, in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was widening political divisions rather than bridging them.

In a report, HRW said the Israeli teams, from the settlements of Maale Adumim, Ariel, Oranit and Givat Zeev, and a squad representing the occupied Jordan Valley region, were playing "on land unlawfully taken from the Palestinians".

Settlements are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes that.

In some cases, the grounds the Israeli teams are playing on are on land privately owned by Palestinians, HRW said.

"By holding games on stolen land, FIFA is tarnishing the beautiful game of football," said Sari Bashi, the director for HRW for Israeli and the Palestinian territories.

She said FIFA should require the IFA "to move all FIFA-sanctioned games and activities inside Israel".

The Israeli and Palestinian football associations, both FIFA members, hold diametrically opposed views on the issue.

"Politics should be kept out (of soccer), and we think FIFA should not allow itself to become embroiled in this matter," said Shlomi Barzel, spokesman for the Israel Football Association (IFA).

Jibril Rajoub, head of the Palestine Football Association, countered: "(Settlement) clubs must be stopped and Israel must be held to account. It is time to raise a red card to Israel, which does not respect international or FIFA laws."

Palestinians seek to establish a state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel captured those areas in a 1967 war and pulled out of the Gaza Strip, now run by Islamist Hamas movement, in 2005.

Earlier this month, 66 legislators from the 751-member European Parliament signed a letter to FIFA President Gianni Infantino calling on him to raise the settlement soccer issue at FIFA Council meetings to be held next month in Zurich.

The Palestinian Football Association has long complained that Israel hampers its activities, including limiting the movement of players between the West Bank and Gaza, and that it has barred some international travel. Israel has cited security concerns for its actions.

A FIFA-appointed committee led by South African Tokyo Sexwale and tasked with monitoring Israel's commitment to easing travel restrictions, was set up last year.

A FIFA spokesman has reported "marked progress" by Israel on the issue but the matter of clubs in settlements was still under discussion.

Source: Reuters

Parada do Orgulho Gay em Tel Aviv reúne milhares de pessoas

Milhares de pessoas participam nesta sexta-feira da Parada do Orgulho Gay em Tel Aviv, evento que abre as festas da comunidade LGBT na Europa e que pintou a cidade com as cores do arco-íris.

As lojas das principais ruas da cidade israelense amanheceram com bandeiras coloridas em apoio ao grupo, que em anos anteriores conseguiu atrair um enorme público, tanto israelenses quanto estrangeiros. O evento na segunda maior cidade israelense acontece desde 1993.

"Não somos lésbicas, mas viemos apoiar à comunidade", disse à Agência Efe uma adolescente acompanhada de duas amigas, todas vindas de Hazorea, no norte do país, a cerca de 130 quilômetros de Tel Aviv.

Entre os participantes, vários usavam camisas com frases como "Love is Great" (O amor é grande) e "Eu não escolhi ser gay, apenas tive essa sorte". O dia, no entanto, começou com ameaças a um deputado homossexual do partido governante Likud, Amir Ohana, que precisou ir ao evento com escolta.

De acordo com a Polícia, até o meio-dia Parada tinha entre 50 mil e 60 mil participantes. A expectativa é de que chegue a 200 mil ao longo do dia.

Fonte: EFE