--Head veterinarian of the Bisan Zoo in Gaza says lack of food and damaged cages also contributed to the decision to transfer a lion and lioness to a Jordanian zoo yesterday.**
Americans for Peace Now (APN) joins its Israeli sister organization, Shalom Achshav (Peace Now) in sharply condemning Israel's final approval of a plan for the construction of a new settlement in East Jerusalem, which would severely complicate a future two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
APN calls on President Obama to take advantage of his meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu in the White House today to demand that the plan be cancelled.
On 24 September, 2014 the Jerusalem local Planning and Construction Committee published an ad in a local Jerusalem
weekly announcing the validation of plan No. 14295 for the construction of 2,610 housing units in Givat Hamatos
(link to the ad). Following the harsh reactions of the Americans, Netanyahu tried to argue
that there was nothing to criticize him about. Here are a few facts following Netanyahu's claims:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a rough meeting in the Oval Office yesterday.
President Obama chided him for Israel’s settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Right after the meeting, administration officials provided a glance into what Netanyahu probably heard from Obama. New settlement activity “will only draw condemnation from the international community, distance Israel from even its closest allies, poison the atmosphere not only with the Palestinians, but also with the very Arab governments with which Prime Minister Netanyahu said he wanted to build relations,” said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
Netanyahu was fuming as he left the White House for New York, where he told Israeli reporters who he thinks is responsible for the rocky meeting with President Obama.
This week, Alpher offers further comments on Netanyahu's UN General Assembly speech; whether ISIS and Hamas are both "fruits of the same poisonous tree", as Netanyahu stated; how, as Netanyahu mentioned, Israel improving relations with Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi (i.e., the United Arab Emirates) in order to counter Iran and ISIS could "eventually" benefit the two-state solution; were the East Jerusalem settlement announcements a deliberate provocation by Netanyahu to humiliate Obama, or yet another case of cognitive dissonance between the two sides?
New York Times - October 2, 2014
NYT editorial: The Problem is not Peace Now's disclosure but Netanyahu's settlement
construction
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/03/opinion/another-israeli-housing-project-threatens-a-peace-deal.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-top-span-region®ion=c-column-top-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-top-span-region&_r=1
Washington Post - October 1, 2014
Peace Now: Final approval for East Jerusalem settlement project
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-meets-with-netanyahu-at-white-house-for-first-time-since-gaza-war-began/2014/10/01/23cdd6c8-4972-11e4-b72e-d60a9229cc10_story.html
Globes (Israeli Financial daily) - October 2, 2014
APN's Ori Nir quoted in a story about Netanyahu's slamming Peace Now
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-east-jerusalem-building-plan-widens-israel-us-rift-1000975912
Haaretz - October 3, 2014
Haaretz's Barak Ravid criticizes Netanyahu's attack on Peace Now. "Peace Now merely doing its
job"
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.619014
PBS Newshour - October 1, 2014
Peace Now reveals plans for new settlement construction in East Jerusalem
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/old-allies-new-challenges-navigate-frayed-bonds/
Associated Press - October 1, 2014
Peace Now: Plan for new East Jerusalem settlement construction finalized
http://santamariatimes.com/news/world/east-jerusalem-construction-plan-moves-ahead/article_d4c1355f-ab3c-566f-b573-0058e6dd33b0.html?comment_form=true
JTA - October 1, 2014
Peace Now: Planned settlement construction in East Jerusalem threatens two-state solution
http://www.jta.org/2014/10/01/news-opinion/united-states/white-house-rebukes-israel-over-eastern-jerusalem-building
JTA - October 2, 2014
JTA's Ron Kampeas ridiculing Netanyahu for blaming Peace Now for wrecking his meeting with
Obama
http://www.jta.org/2014/10/02/news-opinion/united-states/bibi-peace-now-and-doing-vs-saying#.VC3F43DWMew.twitter
Bloomberg - October 2, 2014
Netanyahu lashes out at Peace Now for publicizing settlement construction plan
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-02/obama-netanyahu-talks-clouded-as-u-s-slams-settlements.html
Baltimore Sun (Reuters story) - October 1, 2014
Peace Now: Plan for new settlement construction in East Jerusalem approved
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation-world/sns-rt-us-usa-israel-obama-netanyahu-20141001,0,5115206.story
Jerusalem Post - October 1, 2014
Peace Now condemns building plans in Givat Hamatos
http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Israeli-NGO-Peace-Now-condemns-building-plans-in-Givat-Hamatos-377786
Jerusalem Post - October 2, 2014
Peace Now: Netanyahu has only himself to blame for international criticism of settlement
activity
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Jerusalem-Mayor-Nir-Barkat-says-he-refuses-to-apologize-for-building-in-capital-377870
Oregon Herald (Reuters story) - October 1, 2014
Peace Now reports Israeli plan to build in East Jerusalem
http://www.oregonherald.com/news/show-story.cfm?id=439989
Yahoo News (AFP story) - October 2, 2014
Peace Now: Final approval given to East Jerusalem settlement construction project
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-approves-2-600-settler-homes-e-jerusalem-174345761.html
J Street Blog - October 1, 2014
APN quoted in J Street statement
http://jstreet.org/blog/post/obama-and-netanyahu-words-on-peace-need-to-be-followed-by-action_1
Arutz Shva - October 1, 2014
Peace Now: Final approval for East Jerusalem settlement project
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/185700#.VC1_9_ldV68
Jerusalem Post - October 2, 2014
Deputy Minister Akunis accuses Peace Now of "informing"
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Edelstein-While-Islamic-State-slaughters-West-is-focused-on-building-in-Jerusalem-377890
Honest Reporting (blog) - October 2, 2014
Peace Now accused of "manufacturing" US-Israeli crisis over settlements
http://honestreporting.com/idns-10022014-settlement-summit/
The Algemeiner - October 2, 2014
Israeli Transportation Minister Israel Katz accuses Peace Now of "poisoning the atmosphere"
http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/10/02/israeli-minister-peace-now-poisoning-the-atmosphere-with-new-settlements-claim/
Israel Hayom (reprinted from CFR blog) - October 3, 2014
Elliott Abrams: Givat Hamatos crisis is a "victory of sorts for Peace Now"
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=10149
On October 1, the Israeli Peace Now movement broke the news that on the eve of Rosh Hashana, when nobody was paying attention, the Netanyahu government went ahead with final approval of a plan for construction of a new settlement in East Jerusalem – Givat Hamatos. To understand why this plan is so significant and problematic, see this analysis from Peace Now. For further dismantling of the excuses offered by Netanyahu and other settlement apologists after news of the approval came out, see this analysis from Danny Seidemann.
The news of this new settlement approval – which came on the heels of the takeover of 7 new properties by settlers in Silwan – cast a pall over Netayahu’s subsequent meeting in Washington, DC with President Obama. In the wake of that meeting, and following statements from the Obama Administration condemning the new settlement approval, Netanyahu and his fellow settlement defenders/apologists apparently decided that their best defense would be to go on offense – against Peace Now.