“Good talk needs actual implementation, especially with regard to the reopening of the American consulate in East Jerusalem,” says Abbas.ĭuring his meeting with Swiss President Guy Parmelin in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett asks that Switzerland take significant steps against Iran’s continued progress in its nuclear program. The office previously served Palestinians and Israelis in the West Bank and Gaza. “We urge the Palestinian Authority to end the division and intensify efforts to hold Palestinian national elections,” Parmelin says.Ībbas also criticizes the United States over unfulfilled pledges to reopen an American consulate in East Jerusalem. But observers largely agree that Abbas feared his internally divided, unpopular Fatah faction could face a humiliating defeat at the hands of their rivals. Ramallah insists that the elections were delayed because Israel had not allowed East Jerusalem Palestinians to vote. Palestinians have not voted for their national leadership in over 15 years Abbas indefinitely delayed a push to hold elections earlier this year.
Parmelin also urges Abbas to hold national Palestinian elections. “Creating a political horizon is at the heart of Switzerland’s concerns, and Switzerland is committed to supporting dialogue between the Palestinians and Israelis, because economic steps cannot prevent violence if they are not part of a political effort,” Parmelin says. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas meets with Swiss President Guy Parmelin in Ramallah, with the former saying that Switzerland can play “an important role in the peace process.”Īccording to a statement by Abbas’s office, Parmelin says Israelis and Palestinians must return to the negotiating table, and offers Switzerland’s resources to that end. “The budget will pass and the partnership will continue.” “Ahead of the passage of the budget, which guarantees the stability of the government, there are predictable reports of various quotes from various times that were only said as estimations. “The partnership with Alternate Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is based on mutual trust and fairness,” the response adds. “There is a considerable chance that the government will dissolve between the budget and the time of the change of power, for various reasons.”Ĭommenting on the report, Bennett’s office appears to confirm the details, but says Bennett “will fully honor the rotation deal, as he has been saying from the get-go. “I estimate that the rotation will not happen,” Channel 12 news quotes Bennett as saying. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has reportedly said in a closed meeting held in the past month that he doesn’t expect his current power-sharing government to last until August 2023, when Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is expected to become premier as part of a rotation agreement. Tal Kalman.īennett in closed meeting: Government will likely fall before Lapid becomes PM I have no doubt that the joint work with CENTCOM and Gulf countries will continue to lead Israel and its security to great achievements,” says IDF Maj. “Through cooperation in training, intelligence and operational planning, we will continue to tackle current challenges, chief among them the Iranian threat. “As part of his position, he will be responsible for coordinating joint orders between the IDF and CENTCOM, in peace and wartime, strengthening operational cooperation and exchanging operational knowledge, among other things,” the IDF says.Īfter decades of working with the US military’s European Command, Israel was moved to CENTCOM this year, in a move that was meant to improve the IDF’s ability to work with the US and its allies in the Middle East to counter Iran. “Aleph,” will be stationed in CENTCOM’s headquarters in Tampa, Florida. The Israel Defense Forces dispatched an officer to serve as its first representative to the United States Central Command this week, after Israel was moved under CENTCOM’s area of responsibility earlier this year, the military says.Ī former fighter pilot, the officer, who can only be identified by his rank and first Hebrew initial, Maj.