Israel's Netanyahu says would put peace deal to referendum

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he would put any peace deal with the Palestinians to a referendum, raising expectations that direct negotiations might soon resume following a two-year stalemate.

It was the second time in just three days that Netanyahu has publicly mentioned the possibility of holding a nationwide vote on an eventual accord and came as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Israeli politicians in Washington to discuss talks.

"If we get to a peace agreement with the Palestinians, I'd like to bring it to a referendum, and I'd like to talk to you about your experiences with that," Netanyahu said as he met Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter.

Switzerland regularly holds referendums on a broad range of issues. Israel, by contrast, has never held a referendum in its 65-year history, and previous peace treaties with Arab neighbours Egypt and Jordan were approved by parliament.

Netanyahu leads a centre-right coalition that includes supporters of the settlement movement, many of whom are fiercely opposed to the idea of allowing the Palestinians an independent state on land seized by Israel in the 1967 war.

By pledging to put any deal to a referendum, Netanyahu could be hoping to avert any immediate far-right backlash to a decision to talk land-for-peace with the Palestinians, promising that the Israeli people would have the final word.

"There is a very serious effort under way to get talks to resume," said a senior Israeli official who declined to be named. "People are devoting a lot of time and effort to this. It is possible and it is doable."

OBSTACLES

U.S. President Barack Obama came to Israel in March and his secretary of state has visited the region three times in little over six weeks.

In a sign of continued diplomacy, Kerry met Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni later on Thursday in Washington and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the United Nations in New York.

Livni has been designated by Netanyahu to be his chief peace negotiator. She was travelling with one of the prime minister's top officials and confidants, Yitzhak Molcho.

The State Department offered no detail on Kerry's talks with Livni, describing them as part of his "ongoing discussions ... to explore possible ways forward to resolve this conflict."

Direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in 2010 over the issue of continued Jewish settlement building on occupied land. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says he will not return to the table until there is a construction freeze. Israel says there should be no pre-conditions.

Unexpectedly highlighting the issue of referendum has fuelled hopes that the impasse might soon be overcome. However, there was little sign that the core questions dividing the two sides, including the status of Jerusalem, were any nearer resolution.

"No one thinks we are near a historic agreement. But any historic agreement will need national legitimacy," the Israeli official said.

The one bright spot, in the view of U.S. officials, was this week's acknowledgment by the Arab League that their 2002 peace plan may be modified to allow the two sides to trade land rather than conform exactly to their 1967 borders.

"Basically what they say is that the Arab peace initiative is not something which is take-it-or-leave-it but it is negotiable," Livni told reporters after meeting Ban in New York. "This is ... a good message."

The 2002 proposal offered full Arab recognition of Israel if it gave up land seized in 1967 and accepted a "just solution" for Palestinian refugees.

The Palestinians have said that they would hold a referendum on any eventual accord, with no guarantees that their diverse electorate, including the far-flung refugee population, would accept the likely compromises needed to seal a deal.

Israel passed a law in 2010 for a referendum to approve any handover of East Jerusalem or the Golan Heights, territory which it captured in the 1967 war and has annexed.

Moves are under way in parliament to expand that law to include the West Bank, which has not been annexed and is under Israeli military occupation.

[North Korea]

Israel has no right to exist as a state. It is an Imperialist 'satellite' and a puppet of the United States. All land currently occupied by Israel should be returned to the Palestinians. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea fully support the Palestinians in their struggle to expel their Israeli aggressors!!

Uganda strongly disagrees with North Korea. Israel has every right to exist, just as every other state on this planet does. We in Uganda hope that both Israel and Palestine can come to a peaceful solution that benefits both countries. We also hope that rouge 'puppet' states like North Korea don't come between both nations in their quest for peace and stability

[North Korea]

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is deeply offended by what she feels is a blatant insult to the Korean people. We advise the state of Uganda to research the history of the conflict before making any baseless assertions.
We also request that the state of Uganda expands upon their claims that we are a 'puppet' state. To be a 'puppet' is to be controlled by an external entity. North Korea is the most independent nation on this planet.

Uganda finds your accusations insulting to the Israeli people. Uganda does sometimes question Israel's actions, but overall they are a sovereign, independent nation, and are no puppet to any one else. North Korea on the other hand can hardly call itself independent when it has to rely on the likes of China to even stay alive economically. In this sense one could say that North Korea is a puppet of China and other communist states who try to spread their fractured ideology around. If not a puppet though, North Korea is certainly the laughing stock of the world. Secondly, we also ask North Korea to research the history of Israel before making the baseless accusations that they are a satellite state of the US.

[North Korea]

Our accusations are deliberately insulting to the people of Israel who happily support the occupation of foreign land. International Law clearly states that Israel should withdraw from occupied Palestine territory.
It could be argued that Palestine are one of the only nations who have never persecuted the Jews. They gave them a home, a community, in peace alongside the Muslim population. The British created divisions and conflict in the region. An Independent Jewish State was founded by these settlers who had once been protected by the Muslim community. This new Jewish nation then began to take Palestine land, until we arrive a the situation we have today.
That is why the Democratic People's Republic of Korea does not recognise Israel's right to exist. These settlers, those fleeing persecution, had no right to take and grab foreign land. We seriously doubt the United States would be happy to concede that asylum seekers have a right to take over American territory. Simply because you live on the land does not mean you have a claim to it.

Uganda finds North Korea's view on this issue 'baffling' to say the least. The Jewish populous was escaping persecution, and had live on the land that the Palestinians were living on in the period going back to biblical times, so it's not as if Israel 'invaded' the place with the aid of the British. The British had good intentions, but the plans were poorly executed, leading to todays confict. As Uganda has previously stated, we do not condone all of the things that Israel and Palestine has done over the years, but we will support out Irsaeli brothers to the last resort.

Uganda re-affirms the fact that Israel has a right to exist, if they didn't then would they be in the UN in the first place? The Israeli's didn't steal foreign land as you keep saying, but, in our view, were returning to land that they shared with the Palestinians. We in Uganda hope that both sides can come to a peaceful agreement and co-exist together.

[North Korea]

We're not disputing that. We're saying both cultures lived together peacefully for generations, and the Jews were by far the minority. There was no need for an independent Jewish state. The majority of the settlers arrived fleeing persecution, doesn't mean they should have their own country just because of their religion or what happened to them.

Of course they should have had there own country. Uganda believes that if they didn't, then they would have faced further persecution. If they didn't have their own countrythen the UN could have a much greater crisis on our hands. We could have another Kurdistan on our hands. At least the Israeli state/population is now protected and safe

Posted from TSR Mobile

[North Korea]

At the expense of other nations. The Muslims and the Jews were perfectly happy living side by side. By creating a new, Jewish state, the world has created a monster. The world has made an ideological choice to protect the Jews over the Palestinians.
Sorry 'a much greater crisis' ? we would advise that the state of Uganda research the conflict more thoroughly, indeed, look at the illegal containment of Palestinian soldiers, who are not given the rights of prisoners of war. Look at the deaths on either side, and it is clear that Israel are the aggressors. They have no right to the land they currently occupy.

Having studied the conflict in great detail, Uganda has come to the conclusion that North Korea is only looking at one side of the conflict.

Posted from TSR Mobile

You need to back up your assertions. How would a previously peaceful situation have caused a 'much greater crisis'? The problem here is one far stronger state attacking a weaker one. A single state, as previously exited, did not have such an issue. The original setup was peaceful. Palestine never persecuted the Jewish population. The Jewish state of Israel is persecuting the Palestinians.

Not once has your nation justified its claim, or went into any even low level detail regarding the history of the situation. Unless you do so, we shall assume your nation has very little knowledge of the conflict.

[North Korea]

I was going to, but accidentally sent the message. What I meant is that of Israel wasn't made as independent, then they would have continued being persecuted. They needed the state for safety

Posted from TSR Mobile