Netanyahu, Lieberman ink coalition deal
Benjamin Netanyahu signed a coalition agreement with Yisrael Beiteinu in
which he reportedly will name Avigdor Lieberman foreign minister. Nevertheless, Netanyahu met with Israel President Shimon Peres March 12 and asked his help in forming a unity government with Tzipi Livni’s Kadima Party.
If this last attempt fails, the agreement Netanyahu signed March 15 with Lieberman reportedly gives the controversial Yisrael Beiteinu Party the tourism, infrastructure and immigrant absorption portfolios, as well as the chairmanship of the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.
Hours before the agreement was signed, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana urged Netanyahu to form a broad coalition and threatened to deal differently with a government that does not commit to a two-state solution for making peace with the Palestinians.
“We will be ready to do business as usual, normally with a government in Israel that is prepared to continue talking and working for a two-state solution,” Solana told reporters. “If that is not the case, the situation would be different.” — jta
Collapse of deal extends Shalit saga
An 11th-hour agreement with Hamas for a prisoner swap to bring home kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit appeared to have fallen through this week, outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in special news conference beamed to a national television audience March 17.
“The demands of Hamas as they stand do not allow us to go on with the deal,” Olmert said.
Israel reportedly was ready to release 400 Palestinian detainees on the Hamas list in exchange for Shalit, a soldier who was taken hostage by the Palestinians about 100 days ago. Hamas demanded the release of some 450 prisoners, among them masterminds of suicide bombings that killed dozens of Israelis.
Olmert said Israel’s “generous” offer to Hamas was rejected. “We spared no efforts, but Hamas is a murderous, unscrupulous group,” he said, adding that Israel will continue to make efforts to free Shalit. — jta
Gay Israeli couple allowed to adopt
Former Knesset member Uzi Even and his life partner, Dr. Amit Kama, who were married in Toronto in 2004, can legally adopt their 30-year-old foster son, whom they took in 15 years ago, a Tel Aviv court has ruled.
They are the first same-sex male couple in Israel to have their legal right of adoption recognized. The couple decided to adopt after Tel Aviv University refused to give their foster son a tuition discount reserved for children of faculty members.
Yossi Even-Kama moved in with the couple at 16 when he was kicked out of his parents’ home after revealing his homosexuality. In October 2005, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that a lesbian couple could adopt each other’s biological children. — jta
Gaza family withdraws lawsuit
A Palestinian family that reportedly lost 29 members in Israel’s offensive in Gaza withdrew a $200 million lawsuit filed on its behalf, Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported.
Attorney Mohammed Fukra had filed the suit in Nazareth District Court on behalf of the Samouni family, from the southern Gaza City suburb of Zaytoun, against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, Gabi Ashkenazi. But last week, the family said it had not signed the power of attorney over to Fukra, since it is being represented by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza, according to Ha’aretz .
On Jan. 4, an Israeli tank shell reportedly hit the family’s three-story building. Sources say seven family members were killed and 22 more were killed the next day after survivors took refuge in a shelter. — jta
Women’s group slams supermodel’s ad
A commercial featuring Israeli supermodel Bar Rafaeli has been named the most sexist ad of the year by the Israeli branch of the Women’s International Zionist Organization, Ha’aretz reported. Rafaeli’s spot was for Israeli water company Eden Springs.
The group plans to launch a consumer boycott of the companies running the five most sexist ads.
“WIZO calls on the public not to buy products that advertise themselves through the denigration of women and the entrenchment of the sexist image,” said Gila Oshrat, chairwoman of WIZO’s Women’s Status Division. — jta
Former president blasts attorney general, press
Former Israeli president Moshe Katsav accused Israeli authorities and the press of a “witch hunt,” and emphasized his innocence on sex charges. Katsav blasted Attorney General Menahem Mazuz and the law enforcement establishment during a 21⁄2-hour news conference last week.
Mazuz had announced March 8 that he was ready to indict Katsav on rape and indecent assault charges against several women who worked closely with him when he served as tourism minister and president, as well as obstruction of justice.
“The attorney general, state prosecution and Israel police have crossed every red line,” Katsav told reporters. “I can look every Israeli citizen in the eye and say that during 40 years of my public service, and especially during my term as president, I acted honestly, responsibly, lawfully and faithfully.”
Katsav, who was first accused in 2006 and stepped down as president shortly before his term ended in June 2007, struck a plea deal two years ago under which the rape charges would be dropped, but last April he reneged on the deal. — jta
Assad: Israel-Syria deal is close
In an interview this week in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Syrian President Bashar Assad claimed that his country and Israel were very close to reaching a peace deal. Assad asserted that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had agreed to withdraw from all of the Golan Heights during indirect peace talks mediated by Turkey.
According to Assad, the only remaining issue is the precise route of the 1967 line, which would serve as the border between the two countries. — jta