ISRAELI PRESS REVIEW
Israeli Press Review of 01.07.2013
- Kerry holds marathon talks with Israelis and Palestinians
US Secretary of State John Kerry said real progress was made in the recent round of negotiations with Israelis and Palestinians although there has yet to be a breakthrough in arranging bi-lateral talks between the two sides, the Jerusalem Post reports.
Kerry spent some 20 hours over the past three days in six meetings – three with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and three with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman and Ramallah – trying to find a formula that would launch talks. On Saturday night, he held a marathon six-hour meeting with Netanyahu and his team that went until nearly 4 a.m., followed by a Sunday morning meeting with Abbas.
“We started out with very wide gaps, and we have narrowed those considerably,” Kerry said. “We have some specific details and work to pursue, but I am absolutely confident that we are on the right track and that all the parties are working in very good faith in order to get to the right place.”
Click here to read the full article in Jerusalem Post
- Hardliners win through in Likud party elections
A fierce race for the secretariat of the governing Likud party saw victory for government minister Yisrael Katz while Deputy Defence Minister Danny Danon and Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin took hold of key committees bolstering the hard-line trend within the party, Yediot Aharonot reports.
Click here to read the full article in Yediot Aharonot
- Israeli teens meet to promote dialogue in Abu Ghosh
A little over a week after “Price Tag” vandals damaged 28 vehicles and spray-painted hate slogans on walls in the Arab-Israeli town of Abu Ghosh, Jewish and Arab teenagers have met in the town to promote dialogue and coexistence, Yediot Aharonot reports.
Education Minister Shai Piron took part in the event and addressed participants. His office issued a statement saying some 800 people on hand „spoke in a different voice, a voice which calls for dialogue and coexistence. The education minister attended in order to arouse a voice that denounces the violent incidents and promotes extensive public dialogue focusing on Jewish-Arab coexistence.”
Tamam Abd El-Rahman, 16, head of the student council in Abu Ghosh, said „this dialogue is meant to help us find a way to improve the relations between us and act in a manner that is respectful of everyone.”
Yuval Regev, 18, chairman of the student council at Modi’in’s Maccabim Reut High School, said such events encourage „cooperation between Jews and Arabs in order to overcome the violence.
„I have come here with ‘baggage’ from home. Our generation grew up during the intifada and the highest level of violence. We were all in elementary school when buses exploded on a daily basis. We witnessed the pain and suffering,” Regev said.
„The initial education for tolerance comes from home, and during the teenage years we are influenced by our peer groups, and if these groups are racist, then chances are you will also follow this path. This is why it is crucial that our education system address these issues.”
