Yeshiva World News

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband addressed parliament on Tuesday afternoon, announcing his country blames Israel for the cloned passports of British nationals, used in the assassination of a senior Hamas figure in Dubai in January.

The UK blames Israel based on information furnished by Dubai Police Chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim, who says the Mossad is responsible, but despite allegations, there is no conclusive evidence to tie the intelligence agency to the assassination and Israel has not accepted responsibility.

Miliband explained there were “compelling reasons” to believe the Mossad is responsible, adding he has received assurances there would not be a repeat of the situation involving forge British passports in the future.

The foreign secretary stressed the seriousness of the misuse of the passports, adding “The fact that this was done by a country which is a friend, with significant diplomatic, cultural, business and personal ties to the UK, only adds insult to injury. No country or government could stand by in such a situation.”

It appears the decision to expel an Israeli diplomat is a sign of anger and protest, adding the diplomat, who has yet to be named, has been expelled, with speculation pointing to Israel’s Mossad representative in the UK.

In Israel, most officials are of the opinion that Israel should not respond, but accept the move without creating a diplomatic row since Britain is a major ally.

Opposition MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari however feels differently, calling the move “anti-Semitism in the guise of anti-Zionism”.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)

If you have recently purchased kosher for Pesach pasta, Mentos candies, or a carbonated beverage in the Sharon area of the country, it might be wise to check the date of expiration of the product.

A raid in Moshav Burgta in the Sharon area revealed an operation in which the dates of expiration on food products are amended to permit redistribution into the marketplace.

The investigation was dubbed “Fresh Pesach”, involving investigators operating during recent weeks in the Sharon region, led to the discovery of two storage facilities in the moshav containing goods with new dates of expiration, ready for delivery to stores. We are dealing with items with expiration dates as far back as two years ago, and the new dates permits at least another year from now, permitting their sale in area stores. Included in the storehouses were Mentos candies, D’Oro pasta products, and a number of brands of carbonated drinks.

Officials add that in addition to the expired dates, the products were being stored in unacceptable conditions, reporting there were many cats in the storage facilities as well as many being in proximity to cleaning solvents. Police report the storage facilities are registered to 35-year-old R.N., who has a record of such criminal activities. He was arrested by Netanya district police and he was remanded by a Kfar Saba court on Monday.

Police officials warn the public that items with two expiration dates, or perhaps a sticker with an expiration date that may be covering another date, should not be purchased.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)

The fact that Deputy Minister of Health Yaakov Litzman persuaded the cabinet to vote in favor of his alternate plan for the new fortified emergency room of Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon appears to be a classic case of winning the battle but possibly losing the war.

Prominent members of the medical and political communities are coming out publicly against Litzman, placing enormous pressure on cabinet ministers, leading to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu halting the start of the project and ordering the formation of a high-level fact-finding committee that will report directly to him, hoping to find a solution.

GADOL HADOR HAS RULED ON THE MATTER

While one cannot turn one’s head from the ruling of Posek HaDor Maran HaGaon HaRav Yosef Sholom Elyashiv Shlita, there are those who explain the gadol hador’s ruling was based on partial information given to him by Litzman – explaining the deputy minister painted a picture that would result in the ruling that he was seeking.

LITZMAN IN OVER HIS HEAD

Many a medical expert from leading medical facilities around the country insist Litzman may be well-intentioned, but he is simply “over his head” and ruling on matters in which he lacks the professional understanding, proving their point by the resignation of the ministry’s director-general, who announced he cannot continue in light of the decision to move the planned structure to a new venue, in line with Litzman’s position.

A number of trauma experts have already spoken out and warn that the clock is ticking and while politicians argue amongst themselves, the hospital’s fortified wing is not being construction, but the Kassam rockets are once again flying again in southern Israel.

REMAINS ARE NOT FROM JEWS

Some even argue that Litzman is aware of the fact that “one can say with 99.9% certainty” that the bones at the proposed hospital building site are non-Jews, based on data obtained a long time ago, but they feel Litzman is concerned with the precedent of moving bones, fearing such a move would lead to moving Jewish bones in the future. Israel Antiquities Authority officials insist the items found in the graves accompanied by other data points to non-Jewish bones; including the fact the materials used for the kvura are simply not in line with ancient Jewish burial customs.

Other experts add that there are many symbols used in the burial area; symbols which none of the experts have been able to decipher to date, but all are in agreement that are not synonymous with Jewish burial. Opponents to Litzman’s plan add the fact that Israel’s chief rabbis already ruled the bones may be moved.

LITZMAN PLAN CUTS EMERGENCY ROOM BEDS

Medical community officials add that money aside, and that is not an easy statement since the price tag of Litzman’s plan is considerably higher, but their main point is that the new plan will result in a total of 50 emergency room beds as opposed to the original plan, calling for 250 beds, with 200 being underground.

WHAT ABOUT FISCAL WASTE ELSEWHERE, LIKE HWY 443?

Supporters of the Litzman plan are quick to brush aside the money issue, pointing out that on Highway 443 for example, the Jerusalem – Modi’in Highway, NIS hundreds of millions were spent to create bypass roads and junctions for Arab motorists to keep them off the vehicular route, and now, the Supreme Court ruled they must be permitted on the highway, rendering all the side roads and junctions unnecessary, yet no one mentions the money wasted. They point out this is the case in many areas throughout Yehuda and Shomron.

SPECIAL KNESSET SESSION ON BARZILAI PLAN

On Wednesday, March 24th, the Knesset will hold a special plenum session to discuss the matter of the Barzilai fortified emergency room. This is the result of MKs of the Kadima opposition party obtaining the necessary number of signatures to compel a special session. Kadima officials are unwilling to accept the cabinet ruling, vowing to continue fighting towards approval of the original plan for the new hospital.

AUDIT COMMITTEE MEETING AS WELL

In addition, the State Audit Committee will convene on Wednesday as well to address the matter, responding to mounting public pressure against the Litzman plan.

DOCTORS & ASHKELON RESIDENTS SAY “NO” TO LITZMAN PLAN

The battle against Litzman is not just in Knesset, but at Barzilai too. Doctors and administrators vow to literally bock bulldozers if they attempt to break ground on the new Litzman planned unit. Many Ashkelon residents side with the Litzman opponents, and they came out on Monday to stand aside hospital staff in a protest to launch their formal opposition to the Litzman plan, which they insist will not be actualized.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)

At times, one wonders if Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is addressing his audience, or perhaps, trying to persuade himself to stand firm amid mounting American pressure. As expected, the prime minister spoke eloquently in his address to the AIPAC (The American Israel Public Affairs Committee) conference, stating “Jerusalem is not a settlement”. While his statement was picked up by the international media, as he knew it would be, in reality, the prime minister has already diluted his policy and has made commitments to President Barak Obama which will hamper construction efforts in areas of the capital viewed as “occupied by Israel” by the United States and European Union.

The master orator has already come out in support of the so-called two-state solution, which demands Israel relinquishing portions of the Jewish capital, so one must take the grandiose statement with many grains of salt, realizing the words are nothing more – unfortunately, not backed by policy back at home.

Ahead of his departure for the United States , the prime minister called on Housing Minister (Shas) Ariel Atias to absent himself from a dedication ceremony in the Pisgat Ze’ev area of the capital, once again viewed as “occupied” by the State Department, not wishing to upset his host Secretary Hillary Clinton prior to their meeting, which took place on Monday.

To his credit, the prime minister told Clinton that his administration would not change the policy of Israeli government over the past 42 years since the areas were liberated in the June 1967 war, but once again, the statements must be backed by policy decision.

The prime minister on Tuesday evening is scheduled to meet in the White House with President Barak Obama, who opted to make the announced construction of 1,600 housing units in Ramat Shlomo a matter of crisis proportion, seeking to pressure Jerusalem into his accepting his pro-PA (Palestinian Authority) position.

In his address before the 300 AIPAC delegates, the prime minister addressed ongoing efforts to renew diplomatic talks with the PA as well as the Iranian threat.

Following is the prime minister’s address:

Members of the Obama Administration,

Senators,

Members of Congress,

Defense Minister Ehud Barak

Minister Uzi Landau

Ambassador Michael Oren,

Howard Kohr, David Victor, Lee Rosenberg Leaders of AIPAC, Ladies and Gentlemen,

As the world faces monumental challenges, I know that Israel and America will face them together.

We stand together because we are fired by the same ideals and inspired by the same dream – the dream of achieving security, prosperity and peace.

This dream seemed impossible to many Jews a century ago.

This month, my father celebrated his one-hundredth birthday.  When he was born, the Czars ruled Russia, the British Empire spanned the globe and the Ottomans ruled the Middle East.

During his lifetime, all of these empires collapsed, others rose and fell, and the Jewish destiny swung from despair to a new hope – the rebirth of the Jewish state.

For the first time in two thousand years, a sovereign Jewish people could defend itself against attack.

Before that, we were subjected to unremitting savagery: the bloodletting of the Middle Ages, the expulsion of the Jews from England, Spain and Portugal, the wholesale slaughter of the Jews of the Ukraine, the pogroms in Russia, culminating in the greatest evil of all – the Holocaust.

The founding of Israel did not stop the attacks on the Jews.  It merely gave the Jews the power to defend themselves against those attacks.

My friends,

I want to tell you about the day when I fully understood the depth of this transformation.

It was the day I met Shlomit Vilmosh over forty years ago.

I served with her son, Chaim, in the same elite unit in the army.

During a battle in 1969, Chaim was killed by a burst of gunfire.

At his funeral, I discovered that Chaim was born shortly after his mother and father had been freed from the death camps of Europe.

If Chaim had been born two years before, this daring young officer would have been tossed into the ovens like a million other Jewish children.

Chaim’s mother Shlomit told me that though she was in great anguish, she was proud.

At least, she said, my son fell wearing the uniform of a Jewish soldier defending the Jewish state.

Time and again the Israeli army was forced to repel attacks of much larger enemies determined to destroy us.

When Egypt and Jordan recognized that we could not be defeated in battle, they embraced the path of peace.

Yet there are those who continue the assault against the Jewish state and who openly call for our destruction.

They seek to achieve this goal through terrorism, missile attacks and most recently by developing atomic weapons.

The ingathering of the Jewish people to Israel has not deterred these fanatics.

In fact, it has only whetted their appetite.

Iran’s rulers say “Israel is a one bomb country.”  The head of Hizbullah says: “If all the Jews gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.”

My friends,

These are unpleasant facts, but they are the facts.

The greatest threat to any living organism or nation is not to recognize danger in time.

Seventy-five years ago, many leaders around the world put their heads in the sand.  Untold millions died in the war that followed.

Ultimately, two of history’s greatest leaders helped turn the tide.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill helped save the world.  But they were too late to save six million of my own people.

The future of the Jewish state can never depend on the goodwill of even the greatest of men.

Israel must always reserve the right to defend itself.

Today, an unprecedented threat to humanity looms large.

A radical Iranian regime armed with nuclear weapons could bring an end to the era of nuclear peace the world has enjoyed for the last 65 years.

Such a regime could provide nuclear weapons to terrorists and might even be tempted to use them.  Our world would never be the same.

Iran’s brazen bid to develop nuclear weapons is first and foremost a threat to Israel, but it is also a grave threat to the region and to the world.

Israel expects the international community to act swiftly and decisively to thwart this danger.

But we will always reserve the right to self-defense.

We must also defend ourselves against lies and vilifications.

Throughout history, the slanders against the Jewish people always preceded the physical assaults against us and were used to justify these assaults.

The Jews were called the well-poisoners of mankind, the fomenters of instability, the source of all evil under the sun.

Unfortunately, these libelous attacks against the Jewish people also did not end with the creation of Israel.

For a time, overt anti-Semitism was held in check by the shame and shock of the Holocaust.  But only for a time.

In recent decades the hatred of the Jews has reemerged with increasing force, but with an insidious twist.

It is not merely directed at the Jewish people but increasingly at the Jewish state.

In its most pernicious form, it argues that if only Israel did not exist, many of the world’s problems would go away.

My friends,

Does this mean that Israel is above criticism?  Of course not.

Israel, like any democracy, has its imperfections but we strive to correct them through open debate and scrutiny.

Israel has independent courts, the rule of law, a free press and a vigorous parliamentary debate – believe me, it’s vigorous.

I know that members of Congress refer to one another as my distinguished colleague from Wisconsin or the distinguished Senator from California.

In Israel, members of Knesset don’t speak of their distinguished colleagues from Kiryat Shmona and Be’er Sheva.  We say – well, you don’t want to know what we say.

In Israel, self-criticism is a way of life, and we accept that criticism is part of the conduct of international affairs.

But Israel should be judged by the same standards applied to all nations, and allegations against Israel must be grounded in fact.

One allegation that is not is the attempt to describe the Jews as foreign colonialists in their own homeland, one of the great lies of modern times.

In my office, I have a signet ring that was loaned to me by Israel’s Department of Antiquities.

The ring was found next to the Western wall, but it dates back some 2,800 years ago, two hundred years after King David turned Jerusalem into our capital city.

The ring is a seal of a Jewish official, and inscribed on it in Hebrew is his name: Netanyahu.  Netanyahu Ben-Yoash.

That’s my last name.  My first name, Benjamin, dates back 1,000 years earlier to Benjamin, the son of Jacob.

One of Benjamin’s brothers was named Shimon, which also happens to be the first name of my good friend, Shimon Peres, the President of Israel.

Nearly 4,000 years ago, Benjamin, Shimon and their ten brothers roamed the hills of Judea.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The connection between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel cannot be denied.

The connection between the Jewish people and Jerusalem cannot be denied.

The Jewish people were building Jerusalem 3,000 year ago and the Jewish people are building Jerusalem today.

Jerusalem is not a settlement.  It is our capital.

In Jerusalem, my government has maintained the policies of all Israeli governments since 1967, including those led by Golda Meir, Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Rabin.

Today, nearly a quarter of a million Jews, almost half the city’s Jewish population, live in neighborhoods that are just beyond the 1949 armistice lines.

All these neighborhoods are within a five-minute drive from the Knesset.

They are an integral and inextricable part of modern Jerusalem.

Everyone knows that these neighborhoods will be part of Israel in any peace settlement.

Therefore, building in them in no way precludes the possibility of a two-state solution.

Nothing is rarer in the Middle East than tolerance for the beliefs of others.

It’s only under Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem that religious freedom for all faiths has been guaranteed.

While we cherish our homeland, we also recognize that Palestinians live there as well.

We don’t want to govern them.  We don’t want to rule them. We want them as neighbors, living in security, dignity and peace.

Yet Israel is unjustly accused of not wanting peace with the Palestinians. Nothing could be further from the truth.

My government has consistently shown its commitment to peace in both word and deed.

From day one, we called on the Palestinian Authority to begin peace negotiations without delay.

I make that same call today.   President Abbas, come and negotiate peace.

Leaders who truly want peace should sit down face-to-face.

Of course, the United States can help the parties solve their problems but it cannot solve the problems for the parties.

Peace cannot be imposed from the outside.  It can only come through direct negotiations in which we develop mutual trust.

Last year, I spoke of a vision of peace in which a demilitarized Palestinian state recognizes the Jewish state.

Just as the Palestinians expect Israel to recognize a Palestinian state, we expect the Palestinians to recognize the Jewish state.

My government has removed hundreds of roadblocks, barriers and checkpoints facilitating Palestinian movement.

As a result, we have helped spur a fantastic boom in the Palestinian economy (Coffee Shops, restaurants, businesses, even multiplex theaters).

And we announced an unprecedented moratorium on new Israeli construction in Judea and Samaria.

This is what my government has done for peace.  What has the Palestinian Authority done for peace?

Well, they have placed preconditions on peace talks, waged a relentless international campaign to undermine Israel’s legitimacy, and promoted the notorious Goldstone report that falsely accuses Israel of war crimes.

In fact, they’re doing right now in the UN in the grotesquely misnamed UN Human Rights Council.

I want to thank President Obama and the United States Congress for their efforts to thwart this libel, and I ask for your continued support.

Regrettably, the Palestinian Authority has also continued incitement against Israel.

A few days ago, a public square near Ramallah was named after a terrorist who murdered 37 Israeli civilians, including 13 children. The Palestinian Authority did nothing to prevent it.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Peace requires reciprocity.  It cannot be a one-way street in which only Israel makes concessions.

Israel stands ready to make the compromises necessary for peace.

But we expect the Palestinians to compromise as well.

But one thing I will never compromise on is our security.

It is hard to explain Israel’s security predicament to someone living in a country 500 times the size of Israel.  But imagine the entire United States compressed to the size of New Jersey.

Next, put on New Jersey’s northern border an Iranian terror proxy called Hizbullah which fires 6,000 rockets into that small state.

Then imagine that this terror proxy has amassed 60,000 more missiles to fire at you.

Wait.  I’m not finished.  Now imagine on New Jersey’s southern border another Iranian terror proxy called Hamas.

It too fires 6,000 rockets into your territory while smuggling even more lethal weapons into its territory.

Do you think you would feel a little bit vulnerable?  Do you think you would expect some understanding from the international community when you defend yourselves?

A peace agreement with the Palestinians must include effective security arrangements on the ground.

Israel must make sure that what happened in Lebanon and Gaza doesn’t happen again in the West Bank.

Israel’s main security problem with Lebanon is not its border with Lebanon.

It is Lebanon’s border with Syria, through which Iran and Syria smuggle tens of thousands of weapons to Hizbullah.

Israel’s main security problem with Gaza is not its border with Gaza.  It’s Gaza’s border with Egypt, under which nearly 1,000 tunnels have been dug to smuggle weapons.

Experience has shown that only an Israeli presence on the ground can prevent weapons smuggling.

This is why a peace agreement with the Palestinians must include an Israeli presence on the eastern border of a future Palestinian state.

If peace with the Palestinians proves its durability over time, we can review security arrangements.

We are prepared to take risks for peace, but we will not be reckless with the lives of our people and the life of the one and only Jewish state.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The people of Israel want a future in which our children no longer experience the horrors of war.

We want a future in which Israel realizes its full potential as a global center of technology, anchored in its values and living in peace with all its neighbors.

I envision an Israel that can dedicate even more of its creative and scientific talents to help solve some of the great challenges of the day, foremost of which is finding a clean and affordable substitute for gasoline.

And when we find that alternative, we will stop transferring hundreds of billions of dollars to radical regimes that support terror.

I am confident that in pursuing these goals, we have the enduring friendship of the United States of America, the greatest nation on earth.

The American people have always shown their courage, their generosity and their decency.

From one President to the next, from one Congress to the next, America’s commitment to Israel’s security has been unwavering.

In the last year, President Obama and the U.S. Congress have given meaning to that commitment by providing Israel with military assistance, by enabling joint military exercises and by working on joint missile defense.

So too, Israel has been a staunch and steadfast ally of the United States.

As Vice President Biden said, America has no better friend in the community of nations than Israel.

For decades, Israel served as a bulwark against Soviet expansionism.  Today it is helping America stem the tide of militant Islam.

Israel shares with America everything we know about fighting a new kind of enemy.

We share intelligence.   We cooperate in countless other ways that I am not at liberty to divulge.  This cooperation is important for Israel and is helping save American lives.

Our soldiers and your soldiers fight against fanatic enemies that loathe our common values.

In the eyes of these fanatics, we are you and you are us.

To them, the only difference is that you are big and we are small.  You are the Great Satan and we are the Little Satan.

This fanaticism’s hatred of Western civilization predates Israel’s establishment by over one thousand years.

Militant Islam does not hate the West because of Israel.  It hates Israel because of the West -

Because it sees Israel as an outpost of freedom and democracy that prevents them from overrunning the Middle East.

That is why when Israel stands against its enemies, it stands against America’s enemies.

President Harry Truman, the first leader to recognize Israel, said this: “I have faith in Israel and I believe that it has a glorious future – not just as another sovereign nation, but as an embodiment of the great ideals of our civilization.”

My Friends,

We are gathered here today because we believe in those common ideals.

And because of those ideals, I am certain that Israel and America will always stand together.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)

While the White House and US Department of State are squabbling with the Prime Minister’s Office over 1,600 housing units in Ramat Shlomo, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat has a bigger vision, calling for the construction of 50,000 new housing units in the nation’s capital – homes that will serve both the Jewish and Arab sectors.

Speaking with Sky News, the mayor explained that American pressure to stop construction in the capital will not impact his decision-making process, and the fact that the White House does not recognize Israel’s sovereignty over so-called ‘occupied areas’ of the capital does not change realities, explaining his office does not recognize the concept of a construction freeze.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)

11:41AM IL: According to a Sky News report, Britain is about to expel an Israeli diplomat in response to the Dubai “passport cloning” affair. The name of the diplomat or details pertaining to the unprecedented decision are unavailable at this time.

As Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu mends fences in Washington, moving ahead following the Ramat Shlomo diplomatic crisis, there appears to be a new diplomatic row, this time surrounding the assassination of a Hamas terrorist in a Dubai hotel. Dubai Police Chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim blames the Israeli Mossad for the assassination. According to Tamim, as many as 15 British passports were forged by Mossad agents involved in the assassination.

Israel Foreign Ministry officials are confirming Ambassador Ron Proser was summoned by British Foreign Secretary officials on Monday. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband is expected to make a formal announcement on Tuesday at 3:30PM GMT. 

Former Israeli Ambassador to Britain Tzvi Chafetz stated that if a member of Israel’s diplomatic team is expelled, this will represent a harsh move response to the Dubai affair, but in his interview with Israel Radio’s Yarom Dekel, he emphasized nevertheless Britain remains a strong and important ally and this relationship mustn’t be severed. He advises a toned-down Israeli response, stressing the need to permit the matter to take a back seat to current realities.

Chafetz does not believe that Ambassador Proser will be expelled, stating this would be too harsh a move.

According to the British Daily Telegraph, while the government is blaming Israel and taking stern retaliatory action, there is no conclusive evidence pointing to the Mossad. It should also be noted that to date, Israel has not accepted responsibility for the assassination of the senior Hamas leader in Dubai.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)

United Nations Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon visited Hamas-controlled Gaza on Sunday, following which he met with Noam and Aviva Shalit, the parents of imprisoned IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. The Shalits stated they were encouraged by Moon, who promised to continue efforts on their son’s behalf.

The UN leader used the visit to blast Israel for the destruction in Gaza, as well as the ongoing embargo, urging peace and a prisoner exchange that would lead to the release of Gilad Shalit.

Following is an excerpt of the UN’s media report of Moon’s visit to Gaza.

“The policy [Gaza embargo] is also counter-productive,” he emphasized. “It prevents legitimate commerce and encourages smuggling. It undercuts moderates and empowers extremists.”

Operation Cast Lead, the three-week Israeli military offensive starting at the end of 2008, had the stated aim of ending rocket attacks by militants operating in the area. The fighting left more than 1,400 people dead, injured 5,000 others and reduced homes, schools, hospitals and marketplaces to rubble.

The Secretary-General said that the UN stands with the people of Gaza, and agencies such as the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) will continue to provide humanitarian aid and help with the rebuilding process.

“I urge all Gazans to choose the path of non-violence, Palestinian unity, and international legitimacy,” he said, also calling for a prisoner exchange so that both Palestinian prisoners and Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit can be released.

Following his stop in Gaza, the Secretary-General returned to Jerusalem for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mr. Ban told reporters after talks with the Israeli leader that his visit is taking place at a “crucially important juncture,” coming just before the start of proximity talks between the country and Palestinians.

The Secretary-General arrived in the Middle East from Moscow, where he attended a meeting on Friday of the diplomatic Quartet comprising the UN, Russia, the European Union (EU) and the United States.

The body urged the Israeli and Palestinian sides to resume talks as soon as possible with the aim of reaching a settlement within two years.

“These negotiations should lead to a settlement, negotiated between the parties within 24 months, that ends the occupation which began in 1967 and results in the emergence of an independent, democratic and viable Palestinian State living side by side in peace and security with Israel and its neighbors,” the Quartet said in a joint statement at the end of their meeting in the Russian capital.

At a press encounter with Mr. Netanyahu today, Mr. Ban thanked Israel for its humanitarian efforts in Haiti after January’s devastating earthquake which claimed more than 200,000 lives.

“You demonstrated great humanity and it was widely respected and appreciated,” he said.

Earlier in the day, the Secretary-General also met with Israeli Deputy Minister Daniel Ayalon, Mashav (Israel’s National Agency for International Development) and members of the Israeli Government’s medical team dispatched to Haiti.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)