Leaked: Netanyahu's Conditions For Supporting A Palestinian State

Bibi's conditions
On the day of the 9-11 attacks, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was asked what the attacks would mean for US-Israeli relations. His quick reply was: "It's very good…….Well, it's not good, but it will generate immediate sympathy (for Israel)" LinkHere
Kangaroo says: Go Wank yourself BiBi

The Washington Times's Eli Lake reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will say in his speech this weekend that he is prepared to accept Palestinian statehood under the following conditions:
• Any Palestinian state must be demilitarized, without an air force, full-fledged army or heavy weapons.
• Palestinians may not sign treaties with powers hostile to Israel.
• A Palestinian state must allow Israeli civilian and military aircraft unfettered access to Palestinian airspace, allow Israel to retain control of the airwaves and to station Israeli troops on a future state's eastern and southern borders.
• Palestinians must accept Israel as a Jewish state, a nod to the hawkish side of Mr. Netanyahu's governing coalition that has raised concerns that the Palestinian Authority, which nominally governs the West Bank, does not recognize Israel as a Jewish state. LinkHere

U.S.: Netanyahu policy speech not adequate

The proposals to be outlined in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech on Sunday will not be enough to satisfy the Obama administration, a senior U.S. official was quoted as saying on Friday.
The official said Netanyahu told U.S. envoy George Mitchell this week what he planned to say in the speech and that it was "not adequate" to satisfy Washington, who is pushing for an immediate resumption of talks on Palestinian statehood.
The official was quoted on Friday by participants at a meeting this week of the so-called Quartet of Middle East mediators.
Netanyahu's refusal to declare a building freeze in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and to endorse the goal of establishing a Palestinian state -- both set out in a 2003 peace "road map" -- has opened a rare rift in U.S.-Israeli relations.
Anxious to preserve the alliance but also beholden to his fractious and right-leaning governing coalition, Netanyahu has spoken of stop-gap proposals such as Palestinian self-government shorn of sovereign powers like the right to set up an army.
The Palestinians, having won limited autonomy under 1993 interim accords, insist on full statehood. Yet theirs is now a divided polity, with Hamas Islamists who reject coexistence with Israel in control of the Gaza Strip since 2007.
U.S. President Barack Obama says containing Iran's nuclear aspirations -- which Israel considers a major threat -- would be helped by progress toward a Palestine deal.
An Israeli official said Netanyahu was still putting final touches to the speech which would "present a vision of moving forward in the peace process with the Palestinians". LinkHere

What about the Arabs' natural growth?

It seems that never before has so much been written and said about the "natural growth" of so few. The issue of construction in the West Bank settlements for the sake of the future generation is threatening to sabotage Israel's relations with the U.S., or undermine Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's relations with the settlers and their representatives in the Likud and Israel's right wing.
Maybe it is no coincidence that the government spokespeople insist on describing the homes for "sons returning from the army" rather than homes for young couples, or students. Someone might dare to check the housing situation in Arab villages or East Jerusalem, whose residents actually on Israeli soil ? as opposed to the settlers.
Figures released by the Central Bureau of Statistics during the years 2006-2007 (the 2008 statistics are not yet available) reveal that natural growth is a matter of geography, and especially of religion and nationality. In terms of housing, the settlers are not the most deprived sector in greater Israel. Their rate of natural growth stands at 3.2 percent per year, which accounts for only a part of the population growth in the settlements, which stood at 4.3 percent. The remaining growth can be attributed to "immigration" from within Israel and from abroad.
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the construction of 2,200 apartments was completed in 2006 in the settlements, which boasted 271,000 residents at the time. This number, 2,200, is similar to the number of apartments that were built within the same time frame in the districts of Jerusalem (882,000 residents), and Haifa (869,000 residents). During the same year, the Housing Ministry offered 390 housing units to the entire Arab sector in Israel, whose rate of natural growth is only slightly lower than that of the settlers (2.6 percent to the settlers' 3.2 percent). The rate of natural growth among Israeli Jews in general stands at 1.6 percent.
In August of last year, the Housing Ministry promised in a letter to Arab rights group Musawa that 1,800 housing units would be built in 15 Arab villages and towns. In 2000 the government adopted a plan to build 50,000 apartments for Arab Israelis within five years. The plan was never carried out and the housing crisis in the Arab sector is getting worse and worse.
Research conducted by Musawa revealed that in 80 percent of the Arab towns there were absolutely no approved housing plans. In 2007, only 21 percent of the budget allocated to housing for minorities was actually used. The result is unauthorized construction by Arab residents, which prompt the government to issue demolition orders, and contribute to crowding. (The density of the Jewish population is 0.84 people per room, while in the Arab sector it is 1.43 people per room).
"Israel, which takes such good care of the settlers' natural growth, is trying to fight against our natural growth because we are a 'demographic threat'," said Israeli Arab MK Ahmed Tibi (Ra'am-Ta'al) LinkHere