By: ICEJ News Briefs

ICEJ News Briefs

Israeli officials reacted with official “disappointment” on Wednesday to news that the Vatican has signed an official document outlining agreements it has reached with what it calls “The State of Palestine” that effectively amounts to the Holy See officially recognizing such an entity. The agreement, according to a Vatican statement, “deals with essential aspects of the life and activity of the Catholic Church in Palestine.” Both parties, according to the statement, “agreed that the work of the Commission on the text of the Agreement has been concluded, and that the agreement will be submitted to the respective authorities for approval ahead of setting a date in the near future for the signing.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement lamenting the document because it does not move the peace process forward “and moves the Palestinian leadership further away from returning to direct bilateral relations.”

“We have recognized the State of Palestine ever since it was given recognition by the United Nations and it is already listed as the State of Palestine in our official yearbook,” Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said.

Palestinian official rules out negotiations without deadline for Israeli surrender
PLO official Wasal Abu Yousef declared on Thursday that the Palestinians would not re-enter negotiations with Israel unless there is an established deadline for the end of what he called the Israeli “occupation of Palestine” adding that due to Washington’s “bias” towards Israel “Bilateral negotiations under US auspices are no longer possible” and furthermore “We believe that the political horizon is completely closed with this new settler government.” Meanwhile, US President Barak Obama declared this week in an interview with the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper  that he has not given up hope for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict but added “It’s no secret that we now have a very difficult path forward. As a result, the United States is taking a hard look at our approach to the conflict. We look to the new Israeli government and the Palestinians to demonstrate – through policies and actions – a genuine commitment to a two-state solution.”

ICC prosecutor urges Israel to cooperate with investigation
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda gave an interview to the Associated Press on Wednesday in which she urged Israeli authorities to cooperate with investigations into last summer’s Operation Protective Edge because otherwise she would have to rely on “evidence” provided by entities with an obvious anti-Israel bias. She added that Palestinian officials have also failed to cooperate with her attempts to investigate accusations of war crimes during the conflict. Israeli officials reacted to the interview by saying that a UN official should communicate such requests directly with governments and not through the media, adding that doing so does “not add to the credibility of the process.” They added a reiteration of the position that the “State of Palestine” does not officially exist, therefore the ICC has no jurisdiction to open any investigation on its behalf.

US-GCC summit marred by absence of King Salman
US President Barack Obama hosted senior officials from longtime ally Saudi Arabia at the White House on Wednesday, making strenuous efforts to downplay the significance of the absence of Saudi Arabia’s King Salman. Meeting instead with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Obama said  “The United States and Saudi Arabia have an extraordinary friendship and relationship that dates back to [President] Franklin Roosevelt. We are continuing to build that relationship during a very challenging time.” The meeting was a prelude to a broader meeting with other official from the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, UAE, Qatar and Bahrain) at Camp David on Thursday, where the shared threat from Iran was believed to be at the top of the agenda.

Former EU statesmen demands tougher approach to Israel
An NGO modestly calling itself the “European Eminent Persons Group” recently sent a letter to EU Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini in which they declared, among other things, that the US has failed to achieve peace in the Middle East and it’s time for the EU to make an attempt. “We maintain our view that the current financial and political assistance given by Europe and America to the Palestinian Authority achieves little more than the preservation of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and imprisonment of Gaza,” the letter said, as reported Wednesday in The Guardian newspaper. “The fact that American efforts over more than two decades have achieved virtually nothing by way of justice for the Palestinians or long-term security for Israel means that European interests have also suffered. This needs to be recognized in a new formulation of EU policy that puts those interests first and that reflects the expectation of European public opinion increasingly dissatisfied with the status quo.”

Today’s video shows Israel being a light to the nations

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