Semaine 17 / 2012

           Israel is celebrating its 64th Independence Day. President Shimon Peres will this morning hold a reception together with the IDF chief of staff, Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, for 120 outstanding soldiers. The president will later ‏be joined by the prime minister, defense minister and others, singing their favorite Independence Day songs with the IDF band and accompaniment by singers. The president will also hold a reception for the diplomatic corps in Israel. An Israel Air... [Lire la suite]

            A senior Egyptian minister said on Monday her country is ready to resume gas exports to Israel but at a new price, after scrapping a long-term contract. International Cooperation Minister "Fayza Abul Naga said the Egyptian side had no objections to reaching a new contract with new conditions and a new price," the official MENA news agency reported. Egypt annulled the contract last Thursday, saying Israel had not met the conditions of a gas export accord signed in 2005.... [Lire la suite]

          In his first appearance as president at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, a solemn President Barack Obama announced on Monday a new crackdown on Iran and Syria and said the world must never again allow hatred to take root into the "madness" of mass atrocities. The president announced new sanctions on people and entities in Iran and Syria that use technology to target citizens and erode their human rights. More broadly, Obama spoke of the work that "will never be done" — the global... [Lire la suite]

           The London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper is reporting that there has been a break between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. It follows last week's refusal by Fayyad to meet with Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and deliver a letter on behalf of Abbas. Instead, top Palestinian officials including Saeb Erekat and a Palestinian intelligence chief met with Netanyahu last Tuesday at the Prime Minister's official residence... [Lire la suite]

               The head of Egypt's natural gas holding company has announced a termiantion of its constract to ship gas to Israel because of violations of contractual obligations. Critics charge that Israel got the gas at below market prices and that Mubarak's cronies skimmed millions of dollars off the proceeds, costing Egypt millions of dollars in lost revenue. Ampal American Israel corporation, a partner in the East Mediterranean Gas Comapny which operates the... [Lire la suite]