Summary The Temple Mount is the heart of the Jewish people. As the old wise men used to say, he who controls the Temple Mount, controls Jerusalem; he who controls Jerusalem, controls Israel. The creation of the world began there; Adam was created there and it was there where Abraham prepared the sacrifice of Isaac. Until the Third Temple is built, there will not be harmony in this site where the earth and the sky come together. Any Israeli Prime Minister may turn into the Messiah if he builds the Third Temple. It is not only a duty for the Jews. For the Jewish people, it would mean placing themselves in the lead of humanity. It is a matter of survival. It is a miracle that humanity has not yet destroyed itself in a technological, nuclear or bacteriological catastrophe. The modern models of society drag us to our own downfall. The advent of the post-industrial era is announcing an indispensable world revolution: that of knowledge and spirit. The Temple should be its core.
I know there are two mosques on the mount but they could be moved to Saudi Arabia, for example. Jerusalem does not have any value from the viewpoint of the Muslim tradition. The Koran says that Allah gave this land to the son of Israel. Our movement began a campaign so that the United Nations adopts a resolution about the obligation to build the temple. Fifty-eight years ago, the UN resolution about the creation of Israel could have also seemed an illusion. We can preserve the mosques. As there is no representation, icon or idol, the mosque could be used for the Jewish cult. The Arabs are mystic people and they don’t want us to pray on the Temple Mount as they fear that our prayers may have a harmful influence. My movement sustains that Israel’s borders should extend from the Nile to the Euphrates, borders drawn by the Almighty. The problem of Israel is that the country is not led from Jerusalem but from further away, from America, for example. We built the Israeli empire but we are willing to associate with other peoples. If the Arabs are willing to live as loyal citizens, we accept them. All empires rise from a combination of diplomacy, economy and war. We will begin with dialogue but we can resort to violence. We have been living in a state of war for the last 50 years; we did not seek this confrontation but we can put an end to it. We have to understand that the Palestinians do not exist as a specific Arab people, it is something artificial. The disloyal Arabs must be arrested or deported.
We hope we can stop the implementation of the withdrawal plan. Sharon could trigger a civil war. When the possibilities to negotiate are exhausted the people will take up arms. Israel is turning into a Bolshevik country; people are arrested in a pre-emptive way; that could be our case; that is what the government does when it has nothing to say.

Summary The Israeli settlements have always been one of the most dangerous and explosive aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These settlements cause direct tensions and the robbery of land is prejudicial for the creation of a viable Palestinian state.
In the analysis of what could be a final accord, there are proposals referring to these settlements. The recommendations included their elimination and also their maintenance. In the latter case, it could be done in two ways: these territories could be annexed by Israel or the Israeli settlers could become Palestinian citizens. In this case, the settlers would have to obey the Palestinian laws and would have to accept the return of their lands to expelled Palestinians who may still be alive. This would bring up the issue of the number of settlers as they occupy and consume too many resources. Such a situation would in fact constitute a return to the situation that existed before the massive arrival of European Jews when Jews and Muslims coexisted in peace.
In short, the question of the settlements is only a lesser problem compared with other related issues. The most important of those problems is the situation of the Palestinian refugees with respect to International Law.

Summary

In a perfect world, the withdrawal from Gaza would be coordinated from start to finish; we would not need a unilateral disengagement as we would have a peace process and it would be part and parcel of a global agreement that would lead to the creation of a viable Palestinian state that enables Israel to prosper as a Jewish and a democratic state. But we are not in a perfect world. Ariel Sharon is only interested in unilateral actions and Mahmud Abbas has not managed to stop violence or consolidate his rule and remains faithful to final status formulae. Finally, George W. Bush has yet to commit to backing the peace process.

In these circumstances, the disengagement is our only choice. It is not an endorsement of this approach but we live in an imperfect world and Sharon is not willing to be replaced as Prime Minister: he does not believe in the peace process but he understands that Israel should withdraw from Gaza and dismantle the settlements and he is better equipped than any other leader to do this work. He is going to destroy the settlers’ houses in Gaza to avoid having to negotiate with the Palestinians but, by doing so, he is fulfilling one of their demands. Under the pressure of the United States, he asked Simón Peresto work on the economic consequences of the withdrawal plan. In the future, Sharon’s policy will become a real problem but, today, it is the best option.

Summary The World Bank spent much of last year discussing with the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli government and the international community about what has to be dome to revive the Palestinian economy. Growth does not guarantee peace but stagnation makes it more difficult.
When the Israeli government announced its plan to withdraw from Gaza, in June 2004, the World Bank was asked to analyze its repercussion in the economies of the region. The Bank concluded that the economic situation would not change much. Thus, the report asked for the creation of a sustainable international assistance. During the second Intifada, international assistance to the Palestinians represented 300 dollars annually per inhabitant, which did not prevent a 40% decrease of the Palestinians’ incomes. It is an example of what an assistance policy can cause in a deteriorated political environment.
It is necessary that Palestinians can circulate more freely and that the Palestinian Authority makes reforms. It has to liberalize its economy. Those are preliminary conditions for the delivery of international assistance.

Summary

The Palestinian elections planned for this summer are characterized by the uncertainty as to the correlation of forces between Al Fatah and Hamas. With the implicit encouragement of the Israelis and westerners who usually advocate for a democratization of the Palestinian Authority, Al Fatah is toying with the idea of postponing the elections to maintain its influence.

Yasser Arafat had managed to accommodate a heterogeneous group of Palestinians in Al Fatah but, after the physical disappearance of Arafat, it is now becoming a label invoked by politicians to enhance their credibility. Its main problem is that Al Fatah fails to find its position: is it a political party or a liberation movement? Hamas, for its part, has not been affected by the loss of political support. It is an armed movement but one that has a defined political program. Its goal is establishing an Islamic state but it refuses to impose it on the Palestinians or to attack them. Hamas began its violent activities attacking Israeli soldiers and settlers but later extended them to included attacks against civilians saying it was as retaliation for Israel’s attacks against Palestinian civilians.

Hamas has always believed the peace process would fail and it betted in the exasperation of the Palestinian population. Today, the withdrawal from Gaza shows that the armed struggle is effective. In front of the increasing influence of this party Mahmud Abbas tried to integrate it - something very difficult but the only choice. This is the alternative that should prevail. The future will depend on the way in which Hamas and Al Fatah re-define their identity.

Summary Anyone who doubts the benefits peace can bring should visit Northern Ireland. It is the United Kingdom’s fastest growing economy after the signing of the peace accords that put an end to the civil war. Actually, the process that began with the accords has not finished yet and that is why we can not really speak of peace. However, the situation remains in calm and violence has stopped. That has been enough to improve the living conditions in Northern Ireland. The Irish Protestants and Catholics are both enjoying the advantages of peace and they would not go back to the state of war that existed before.
The same can apply to Israelis and Palestinians. That was the conclusive message of the eighth annual conference of the Milken Institute where there was a joint discussion among Al Gore, Rupert Murdoch, Wesley Clark and seven Nobel Prize winners ... not bad. I was a witness of the conversations among Israelis, Palestinians, non-Palestinian Arabs and Americans about the way in which investments can improve the living conditions of the Palestinians and the Israelis and facilitate the peace process. For analyst Glenn Yago, one of the mistakes of the Oslo process was ignoring economy. Yago recommends “privatizing” the peace process developing common economic programs. This idea is also supported by the Rand Corporación.
This conference has showed the Israeli-Palestinian independence.

Summary

Demography is a central issue in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Conventional wisdom holds that Israel faces a demographic time bomb and, according to some demographers, who take into account the Arab and Israeli birthrates, the Jews will soon be a minority between the Jordan and the Mediterranean. But this apocalyptical scenario is false.

In effect, these statistics are based in figures that no one has verified. According to the figures of the Palestine Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), there are 3.8 million inhabitants in the territories but, for us, there are only 2.4 millions. The PCBS inflated these figures and also the birth rates. Thus, demographers affirm that the Jews will be a minority in the near future because they base their studies in these errors. The PCBS made its estimate based on false birth rates; it included overseas births; it also inflated immigration in the territories and it included the Arabs in Jerusalem as part of the population of the territories - whom had already been counted by Israel.

The number of Palestinians registered in the electoral lists confirms our calculation. The population between the Jordan and the Mediterranean is 60% Jewish and 40% Arab, similar to the ratio since 1967.

Where are the demographers? Why didn’t they verify their sources? The modest but regular return of Israelis combined with the current birth rate will be enough to maintain the demographic balance in favor of the Jews.

Summary I had to testify during 10 hours in the case of Milosevic. I still have to defend the former head of the General Staff of the Yugoslavian armies, General Dragoljub Oidanic. I was shocked by the record of my hearing; it was full of mistakes, omissions and incomplete phrases. With the military language and the simultaneous translation, there is almost nothing left (of my statement); I should have spoken in a more methodic way. However, I am satisfied with the video of my declaration. Using that material, I will publish a written version of the records along with Nikolai Ryjkov (in charge of the Commission on Yugoslavia in the Russian Duma at that time) and Evgueni Primakov (then prime minister).
Attorney Jeffrey Nice questioned our words. He accused us of illegally listening to political personalities when we were actually listening to Kozovian terrorists, one of who maintained, it is true, conversations with Madeleine Albright (it was Ibrahim Taci, whom Albright had promised a referendum about Kosovo in exchange for his approval of a NATO intervention). He also distorted my statements and told me that he forgave me because I grew up in a socialist country and I don’t understand western democracy, that I am a Slav and that I have to defend the Serbians. I defended my honor and Russia’s.
There was no genocide of Albanese people in Kosovo. Different Albanese people, including officials, told me they lived well, that they held posts but that the boieviks had asked them to leave them. It has been showed that Turkish and Albanese-Caucasian mafias began the destabilization of Yugoslavia. The main point was Pristine. The crash of the Albanese financial pyramids, in 1996-1997, triggered things. Cheap weapons and explosives appeared. This drug-mafia was behind the Liberation Movement of Kosovo. The German secret services, with the help of the Turkish, took advantage of the situation.
The Russian government did not have a clear position with respect to the war. The Defense Ministry categorically opposed the arms embargo in 1999 but the Foreign Ministry supported it. We did not enough to avoid that war. We saw the NATO preparations. At that time, I said that there would be no war if the Yugoslav forces could cause losses to its future rival. Only force can contain force.

Summary I am in favor of the European Union and the United States’ direct recognition of Kosovo’s independence for it would stabilize this part of Europe and the Kosovar society, Macedonia, where an important part of the Albanese community lives, as well as Albania, Montenegro and Serbia. The international community would decide if we meet the conditions and consequently it would work on Kosovo’s status. I think this direct recognition is the best solution, contrary to what the UN Mission in Kosovo (Unmik) think which is that it is up to the UN Security Council to make the final decision. The solution proposed by the International Commission on the Balkans (think tank or center for research, propaganda and the spreading of ideas) which consists of a four-stage plan and the independence in the future is not satisfactory either. Not making a final decision would simply lead to manipulations.
The news coming from Russia, the United States and some members of the European Union regarding the independence are mostly negative. However, for us it is a practical matter for this is the only way to have access to financial institutions and diplomatic representation abroad. The priority is the domestic development; the age of hatred is over. In Kosovo, as in everywhere, we have a government and an opposition which, obviously, criticizes the regime though we don’t have a crisis. Part of the international community is not aware that democracy is a reality in Kosovo. The common platform of all parties is the independence, an issue we are all in agreement with. The opposition will take part in the debates regarding the status but they are all aware the discussion will be led by the legal institutions. I don’t think a meeting with Serbian President Boris Tadic in May, during the conference on the reconstruction which will be held in Paris, would help much. There are exchanges between Belgrade and Pristine regarding technical issues. Serbia can participate in an international conference about Kosovo but it has not right to veto the future status of the country.

Summary

This week, Israel and Germany are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Germany and Israel have a unique common fate, influenced by the Holocaust but also by the experience that was gained shaping a common present and future in spite of that terrible disaster. Today, 60 years after the end of World War II and the Holocaust - the mass murder of German and European Jews by the Germans - relations between Israel and Germany are stable and solid.

Our countries have established social and political ties. Germany recognizes its responsibility for preserving the memory of the past for the future generations. It also recognizes its responsibility to defend the existence and security of Israel as the homeland of the Holocaust survivors and Jews throughout the world.

Forty years ago, we opened a new chapter in our relations and Israel today regards Germany as a friend. We live in a time of declining number of Holocaust survivors when anti-Semitism still develops. That is why we must further develop our relations. We have multiplied the cultural exchanges and we have created organizations to coordinate our policies in front of the challenges of the 21st century. This anniversary is the right time to strengthen our association.

Summary The fragmentation of Yugoslavia not only led to the emergence of independent countries but pushed them out of their space. Slovenia, a prealpine-seen country has stronger ties with Friuli, Veneto or Austria than with Croatia. On the other hand, Croatia threatens with making an Anschluss to the west, towards the Mitteleuropa. This is the reason why Bosnia- Herzegovina is still monitored by the international community.
Europe is no longer willing to negotiate with Croatia because it did not cooperate with The Hague in the Ante Gotovina case. The problem is part of its population and the government sees him as a hero who liberated or protected them. To turn him in would provoke tensions. However, it is not about joining the economic Europe but about accepting its values too. From the West up to Zagreb, people are pro-European: they still are a bit pro-European in the bordering region of Bosnia and Serbia and not too pro-European in Dalmatia. Some agree when it is about tourism but they do not want to mingle with the European identity.
In Bosnia-Herzegovina, there are too many citizens, especially Muslims, who do not live where they used to. Only half of the two million refuges have returned. Some do not want to do it and the others just can’t. The Balkans would only be European when Bosnia-Herzegovina becomes a stable State where the three groups (Serbs, Bosnians and Croatians) can keep their regional and cultural identity while they serve a common State. Despite the fact that Bosnia-Herzegovina is characterized by having two different parts, a weak economy, unemployment and poverty, the prospects of joining the European Union is real. They must reach an agreement themselves for nobody would make investments there. They must learn how to make decisions without the assistance of the international community. The blue helmets will remain there until the army is unified and as along as there are rival groups.
In Mostar, the people is willing to live together but the city is still a problem for the Croatians consider it their regional center, as Sarajevo is the center of the Bosnians. The Serbian problem will be solved when the last signs of old nationalism disappear. There are two problems: Montenegro and Kosovo. Montenegro is not stable enough from the economic point of view and it is much closed to Serbia culturally speaking. The Kosovo problem must be solved first. The international community must guarantee its inhabitants the possibility of defending their interests and their self-determination. The acts of violence between the Serbs and the Kosovars can re-start any moment. Certain gestures in Belgrade indicate that Serbia is willing to talk to Kosovo but I think the blue-helmets will stay there for as long as they did it in Cyprus. Macedonia hasn’t been very successful in the economic field but I think the debate on its joining to the European Union will begin after Bulgaria’s and Rumania’s, but never before Serbia’s.
The Europeans should not be involved in a disintegration. The best thing would be joining all these States, except Croatia, and have legitimate borders from the cultural and legal viewpoints with no economic exclusions. It is about creating a common open space as the one we have in the European Union. We must Europeanize the Balkans.

Summary The political and economic transition phase hasn’t been completely over in Albania. The reforms have worked but we haven’t achieved yet what we expected. The obstacles are not only technical but psychological and political. The transition from a totalitarian regime to a pluralistic democracy implies a change of mind. Albania is located in a zone of conflicts which caused the fall of the former Yugoslavia and this makes us fragile. But we have more succeeding chances now because the region is working on peace and stability. Albania is known as a transit country for all kind of traffic between the East and the West but we have created a special jurisdiction and this kind of crime has been reduced. We are determined to put an end to the traffic with Italy. Soon, the electoral campaign for the legislative elections will begin and, for us, these elections represent the hope for the Euro Atlantic integration. We are expecting an invitation to join NATO in the next two years and conclude the association agreement with the European Union.
We can’t forget what happened in Kosovo every time we deal with dictators or with ultranationalist projects against other ethnic groups. During WWII, the governments of Albania and Yugoslavia signed a pact of association in case of aggression as long as the Kosovo problem was solved by a referendum. The war is over, Albania and Yugoslavia, and along with it Kosovo, were liberated and the promise has not been respected. Half a century passed before understanding that the project to maintain Kosovo by means of force and repression was a mistake. Kosovo is today an example of the victory of the Good over the Evil, of peace over war. The historical changes provoked by NATO under the command of the United States ended a war, genocide against innocent people and brought about stability. NATO’s actions prevented a humanitarian catastrophe in Europe, the eviction of 60% of the population of the region and the important danger of a generalized conflict. We express our gratitude to Yeltsin for his comprehension regarding NATO’s intervention.
We think that the delay in finding a solution to the Kosovar problem is a open space for the extremists of both sides. We welcome the North Americans’ and the European Union’s last statements about the impossibility of going back to the 1999 statute and divide Kosovo to join it to another State. The Albanian government and the Albanian people of the region do not want to establish a great Albania that would cause the dismemberment of the neighboring countries. Our history is full of bloody conflicts but we have never broken out a war or tried to attack our neighbors.

Summary

The withdrawal from Gaza that was recently postponed continues to be an issue debated in Israel’s political circles that opposes Ariel Sharon to the settlers’ movement and its ultra right-wing. The leader of the ultra-Zionist movement Bead Artzeinu, Abraham Shmulevitch, is one of the most fervent followers of the colonization trend who expressed his point of view about the policy that Israel should develop in an interview with Vremya Novostyey. Saying that the land of Israel was given by God to the Jewish people, he affirms that the Prime Minister should destroy the mosques of the “Temple Mount” (another name for the esplanade of the mosques) and re-build the Temple of Jerusalem in order to redo the alliance with God. Afterwards, Israel should build an empire from the Nile River to the Euphrates. No comments! In the battle that opposes Ariel Sharon to the madmen of the Israeli God, the Israeli Prime Minister has received the support of the Left although he has not denied that the withdrawal plan serves, above all, to reinforce Israel’s control in the West Bank. In the Daily Star, the former Mossad agent, Yossi Alpher, published a text that perfectly shows the shady game of the Zionist Left. He denounces Ariel Sharon’s policy and he assures that he can not lead Israel to peace but he adds that it is necessary to be pragmatic and to support him until the withdrawal from Gaza takes place. He does not mention the fact that this withdrawal will entail the resettlement of the settlers in the West Bank and it will make even more difficult the hypothetical creation of a Palestinian state.
As to the Palestinians, the withdrawal is seen as a victory of Hamas and as evidence of the effectiveness of the armed struggle. Today, the Islamist movement could win in next summer’s legislative elections in the territories. The president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmud Abbas, makes efforts to block a law that could give advantages to that locally well-established group. This action could lead to a postponement of elections. For researcher Hussein Agha and for Robert Malley of the International Crisis Group in the Guardian, it is a maneuver of Al Fatah to put off elections that would be backed by the Israelis and by the West who fear a victory of Hamas. On the other hand, for the two authors, it is necessary to recognize the influence of Hamas among the population and to encourage the movement’s joining Palestinian institutions and participating in negotiations.

The foundation of the Gaza withdrawal plan is what they are calling in Israel as “the demographic time bomb”. According to studies, in a relatively short period of time, the non-Jewish population will be a majority in the territory that goes from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea and that is the argument that some Zionists use as an excuse for the division of the zone into two different states.
A group of American and Israeli researchers have written a report entitled West Bank/Gaza Demography Study: the 1.5 Million Population Gap. This study was presented to the ultra-reactionary think-tanks of the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute earlier this year. The three American authors of this topic, Bennett Zimmerman, Roberta Seid and Michael J. Wise, published their conclusions in the Jerusalem Post: the figures traditionally published are false, the Palestinians are not as many as they say and the Jewish majority could no be threatened in a long time. In the same newspaper, Israeli demographer Sergio Dellapergola, challenges this study. In his opinion, their approach is not scientific and its only objective is to undermine one of the arguments of those who support the two-state solution. For him, it is clear that, in 2020, the Jews will be a minority in the territories that are part of the historic Palestine. Consequently, it is necessary to implement a policy that leads to a solution between the two states if they want Israel to remain as a Jewish and democratic state.
Again, we feel astonished, not even surprised, by the logic of the authors of this debate, According to them, Israel is a democratic state because the political leaders of the country belong to the same religious group than the majority of the population. On the contrary, the Israeli government can not regard itself as a democracy as it divides its population depending on their faith or their origins and deprives 50% of the population under its authority from the political rights reserved for the Jews.

Finally, to mark the 40 years of the German-Israeli reconciliation, the Foreign ministers of the two countries, Joschka Fischer and Silvan Shalom, celebrated the German-Israeli friendship in Ha’aretz. They reaffirmed that Germany has an eternal debt with Israel and that it has a commitment to do anything possible so that Israel preserves it Jewish identity.