Roundup

Netanyahu Hints
At Continuing
Settlement Halt
WASHINGTON (JTA)
— Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu signaled
he would heed, in
Benjamin
part, an appeal from
Netanyahu
U.S. President Barack
Obama to continue the settlement freeze.
"Between zero and one there are a
lot of possibilities:'Haaretz quoted
Netanyahu as telling his Cabinet min-
isters on Sunday. Other media quoted
similar remarks from the prime min-
ister, suggesting that he is considering
quashing some — if not all — of the
thousands of building permits set to
kick in when the partial moratorium he

imposed last fall expires on Sept. 26.
After pressure by the United States,
Netanyahu imposed the moratorium
as a means of enticing Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to
direct talks. Abbas has threatened to pull
out of the direct talks renewed earlier
this month unless the moratorium is
extended.
In a news conference Sept. 10, Obama
made clear he would prefer the morato-
rium to continue.
"What I've said to Prime Minister
Netanyahu is that, given, so far, the talks
are moving forward in a constructive
way, it makes sense to extend that mora-
torium so long as the talks are moving
in a constructive way:' Obama said.
Obama also chided the Palestinians
for their less-than-enthusiastic approach

to the renewed process.
"A major bone of contention during
the course of this month is going to be
the potential lapse of the settlement
moratorium:' Obama said. "The irony is,
is that when Prime Minister Netanyahu
put the moratorium in place, the
Palestinians were very skeptical. They
said this doesn't do anything. And it
turns out, to Prime Minister Netanyahu's
credit and to the Israeli government's
credit, the settlement moratorium has
actually been significant. It has signifi-
cantly reduced settlement construction
in the region. And that's why now the
Palestinians say, 'You know what, even
though we weren't that keen on it at first
or we thought it was just window dress-
ing, it turns out that this is important to
us.'"

Bibi: No Easy Peace
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Making peace with
the Palestinians "will not be easy',' Israel's
prime minister said in a Rosh Hashanah
message to diaspora Jewry.
"I believe that we should make every
effort to reach an historic compromise for
peace over the coming year:' Benjamin
Netanyahu said in a holiday message to
Jewish communities around the world
that was released Sept. 6."I guarantee one
thing: This will not be easy. But as Israel's
prime minister, it is my responsibility to
make every effort to forge a lasting peace
with our neighbors.
"Lasting peace must be anchored in
security and it must be anchored in the
recognition of the Jewish state's perma-
nence in this region, not merely as a fact,
but as something that our neighbors
accept by right:' he said.
Netanyahu pointed out that last year
was the safest in Israel in two decades and
reiterated that Israel has weathered the
global financial crisis better than nearly
any other industrial country.
"In the next year, Israel will face many
challenges:' the Israeli leader said. "I have
no doubt that in meeting those challenges,
Jewish communities around the world
will stand by Israel's side — I think we've
seen that every step of the way up to now.
We'll see that every step of the way going
forward."
Netanyahu stressed that any agreement
"will be based on two criteria: security
and recognition of Israel as a Jewish state."
The message to the Israeli public, in
Hebrew, was released on YouTube.

peace negotiations on core issues such as
final borders and the status of Jerusalem.
The Palestinian Authority presi-
dent also said in an interview with the
Jerusalem-based Al-Quds newspaper
that he rejects Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's demand that he
recognize Israel as a Jewish state. He said
the issue is a ploy by Netanyahu to deny
Israeli Arabs the right of return to their
former homes in Israel.
Meanwhile, Abbas told reporters that
he has asked the United States "to inter-
vene on the settlement issue" and prevent
Netanyahu from lifting a 10-month freeze
on construction in the West Bank.
Israel has said it will not extend the
freeze, which is scheduled to end Sept.
26, though it may only lift the freeze in
settlement blocs that are likely to remain
with Israel in a final peace deal. Abbas
has said he will quit the peace negotia-
tions if the freeze does not remain in
place.

feelings of gratitude and affection" and
concluded with the wish that "God, in his
goodness, may protect the whole com-
munity and grant us to grow, in Rome
and in the world, in mutual friendship."

Abbas Won't Compromise
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Mahmoud Abbas
said he will not compromise during

8 September 16 • 2010

Pope's Wishes
At High Holidays
ROME (JTA) — Pope
sTitto( - Oak,
•
Benedict XVI wished
Jews joy and blessings
in the new year.
In a Rosh Hashanah
message
to Rome's
Pope Benedict
Chief
Rabbi
Riccardo
XVI
Di Segni, the pontiff
said he hoped that High
Holiday celebrations "will bring copi-
ous blessings from the Eternal and be
a source of profound joy" and that they
"will grow in us to promote justice and
peace, so needed by the world today."
The pope said he recalled his visit to
Rome's main synagogue Jan. 17 "with

Swastika Aimed
At Jewish Cager
SACRAMENTO (JTA)
— The painting of a
swastika on a billboard
featuring Sacramento
Kings basketball forward
Omri Casspi is "hurtful,"
the Israeli player said.
Casspi, reached Sept. 9 at his home in
Israel, told the Sacramento Bee that he
was familiar with the incident, which
is being investigated as a hate crime by
local police. "Everybody's talking about it.
It's hurtful to think that this is 2010, and
there are still people like that out there
he told the newspaper.
A backward swastika was painted on
the forehead of Casspi's photo on the
billboard. The incident was reported at
around noon on Sept. 8.
"I almost don't know what to say:'
Casspi said. "It's probably just some idiot
who wants some publicity. But I know
the people in Sacramento, and they have
been wonderful to me. I know they must
feel bad about this. Same thing with the
Kings. I'll just let the police handle this
and focus on having a great season."
"This act of hate and intolerance is
despicable and cowardly:' said California
State Senate President Pro Tern Darrell
Steinberg in a written statement. "It is all
the more offensive because it occurred on
the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the celebra-
tion of the Jewish New Year. As residents
of Sacramento, we are fortunate to live

The sides return to talks this week,
in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el
Sheik. In Netanyahu's officially released
Cabinet remarks, he said his emphasis
would be on Palestinian recognition of
Israel as a Jewish state, something Abbas
has resisted.
"A peace agreement is based, first of
all, on the recognition of Israel as the
national state of the Jewish people he
said. "The conflict between us and the
Palestinians, as opposed to other con-
flicts that were resolved by peace agree-
ments, is over the same piece of ground.
We say that the solution is two states
for two peoples, meaning two national
states, a Jewish national state and a
Palestinian national state. To my regret,
I have yet to hear from the Palestinians
the phrase 'two states for two peoples."

in a community that respects and draws
strength from our individual differences.
But we also are united in condemning
the cowardly acts of those who wish to
sow fear, hatred and anger toward others,
based on their religious beliefs."
Casspi is due to return to Sacramento
this week to begin preparing for train-
ing camp, according to the Bee. He had
been in Israel participating in a basket-
ball camp bringing together Israeli and
Palestinian youth.

Soros Giving
$100 Million
NEW YORK (JTA) —
Billionaire philanthro-
pist George Soros will
give Human Rights
Watch $100 million
to expand its work
George Soros
throughout the world.
The gift, announced
Sept. 7, is the largest ever by Soros and
the largest received by Human Rights
Watch, the New York Times reported.
Soros, 80, told the Times that the gift is
the first of a series of large gifts that he
plans to make.
Soros this year has donated some $700
million to several causes. He earned $3.3
billion from his hedge fund in 2009, the
Times reported.
The gift is a challenge grant request-
ing that Human Rights Watch raise $10
million over the next decade from new,
international sources. The organization
will get the Soros money even if it is not
successful with the challenge.
Human Rights Watch, which monitors
human rights abuses worldwide, said

Roundup on page 10