From MEMO - Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak as warned that Israel is vulnerable to a boycott, as the BDS movement develops. In an interview in Israeli newspaper Haaretz , Barak was asked whether he thought that a boycott of Israel was developing, along the lines of what the apartheid regime in South Africa faced. Describing a process of "delegitimisation" taking place "below the surface", Barak acknowledged that "the BDS movement is developing". As long as those voices against Israel came from Eritrea or Mauritania, fine; when they start to come from Scandinavia and Britain, it's a serious problem. Look at Israel's standing in the community of labor organizations worldwide – it's a very grim situation. That will continue with consumer organisations, pension funds, the universities. Barak also commented on the situation on US campuses, noting that "35 years ago, the universities were bastions of sympathy for Israel." Tod...

“I’ll back you and protect you, I’m your guy … it’s very upsetting … all the Arabs are the same,” US President Bill Clinton told Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak in a 19 July 2000 meeting during the failed Camp David summit with Palestinian Authority president Yasser Arafat. Only months earlier, in March 2000, Clinton displayed the same kind of obeisance to Barak — albeit without the racist slur this time — when he explained, “I’ll do my best … I’ve gone through the script … I’ll do a good job.” He said this while he attempted to reassure Barak during another failed summit, this time with then-president of Syria Hafez al-Assad. That the US government has acted as Israel’s attorney rather than an honest mediator in peace negotiations has been known for some time, ever since the disclosure of a secret 1975 letter from President Gerald Ford to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. But these quotes from Ahron Bregman’s Cursed Victory: A History of Israel and the Occupied Territories (2014),...

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- The surprise retirement of Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is further evidence of Israel's failure during its recent assault on Gaza, Palestinian officials said Monday. "Barak's retirement reaffirms that the Israeli government failed to achieve any of the goals of Operation Pillar of Cloud," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum told Ma'an. Palestinian National Initiative chief Mustafa Barghouti described Barak's decision as "the first result of the victory Palestinian resistance achieved in Gaza." "Retirement will not exempt Barak from being tried before the International Criminal Court," Barghouti added. more

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that Israel may reoccupy parts of the Gaza strip in the future, while speaking at a meeting of the Fisher Institute on "Operation Cast Lead" Friday. Barak also spoke about considerations of military operations in the future, commenting: "Wherever possible, we dot not go to war or perform military operations unless we have to - this is how it should be." However, he asserted that there are also cases where the opposite is true; it seems as though an attack is not necessary at that moment, yet the consequences of delaying it would be very grave. Speaking at the same conference, former IDF chief of staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi said that the political leadership must involve the military leadership in decision making over possible future wars. "Strategic decisions must be taken into consideration in the dialogue between the political and military echelons before a war," he said, stressing that this discourse ...

Greek, Palestinian and other Arab protesters behind a huge Palestinian flag (photo: INTIFADA Association & Palestinian Workers Union) Hundreds of Greeks, Palestinian and Arabs held a protest in front of the Greek Parliament to protest the visiting Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, and demanding his arrest for war crimes against the Palestinian people. Several leftist political groups and coalitions also participated in the protest that was held in front of the parliament despite the cold weather conditions. The protest was organized by several antiwar groups and solidarity movements including the Al-Awda Committee (The Right To Return), the Antiwar Internationalist Movement, the Greek Association for Solidarity with the Palestinian People, Deport Racism Movement, Inclusive Democracy, the Strop the War Coalition, Palestinian Workers Union, and Solidarity Network to the Palestinian Resistance. more

From the Egyptian Gazette OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - Israel is to issue tenders for 336 new homes in two West Bank settlements, a spokesman for the Israeli ministry of construction and housing told AFP on Monday. "We will very shortly issue tenders for the construction of 336 houses for Jews in Judea and Samaria" Ariel Rosenberg said, using the biblical term for the West Bank. "In total, 294 homes are planned for Beitar-Illit, and 42 others in Karnei Shomron," said Rosenberg. Beitar Illit is south of Jerusalem, while Karnei Shomron lies 15 kilometres (nine miles) west of the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Rosenberg did not specify when the tenders would be issued. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak had approved the construction of the 294 Beitar Ilit homes in May, but the project was subject to various stages of review and additional approvals before tenders could be issued. more

Barak visiting US next week to try and hurry up war on Iran and head off Goldstone report Defense Minister Ehud Barak will travel Tuesday to the United States for meetings with high-ranking U.S. and UN officials. Barak is due to meet with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and other Pentagon officials. On Barak's agenda are the Iranian nuclear threat and prospects of renewing negotiations with the PA. At UN headquarters he is expected to discuss the Goldstone report on the Gaza war. more

Israel has missed the deadline to get its report to the UN but it now says, according to the defence minister, that it will be sending a report after all. It seems Israel's arrogance is clouding the judgment of its leaders, and now they have decided that perhaps they have over-stepped the mark by showing such disrespect to international governmental bodies. As a deadline neared, Israel will hand to the United Nations Friday a report justifying its actions during last year's Gaza campaign and rebutting the so-called "Goldstone Report" as biased. At a tree-planting ceremony southern Israel Friday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak confirmed that the response would be handed over and said, "This report stresses that the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is like no other army, both from a moral standpoint as well as from a professional standpoint. more

More on the Abbas video. This man has to be out on trial for treason, along with the rest of the 'leadership'. A videotape is behind the decision by the Palestinian Authority (PA) to delay the vote on a UN report accusing Israel of war crimes during its offensive on the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian news agency has reported. Quoting what it called reliable sources, Shahab news agency said on Tuesday that PA representatives at a meeting in Washington had initially rejected Israel's request not to endorse the report and were determined to stick to this position. But, the agency added, Brigadier Eli Avraham played a videotape showing a meeting between Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, and Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister. The meeting was also attended by Tzipi Livni, Israel's former foreign minister. The video reportedly showed Abbas trying to convince Barak to continue the war on Gaza, while Barak looked hesitant, although Livni appeared to be in support of th...

So it's not just the 'military echelon' in Israel that needs to worry about where its personnel travel in case are arrested. Unfortunately there's not much chance the UK police will actually carry out their responsibilities under the Hague convention but who knows? And why the hell is the British Labour Party inviting this architect of war criminality to speak at its conference this week in the first place? British lawyers for several Palestinian families are seeking to obtain an international arrest warrant for the Israeli defence minister, Ehud Barak, in a London court over alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip. Barak, who was in overall charge of Israeli's offensive in Gaza earlier this year, is due to speak at a fringe meeting at the Labour party conference in Brighton today. Barak is due to meet Gordon Brown today and David Miliband, the foreign secretary, tomorrow. more