Image 01 Image 03

Mahmoud Abbas Tag

Another in my ongoing posts from Israel: Today was a rest day, with the only real activity some time at the beach in front of our hotel in Tel Aviv. The Mediterranean Sea was warm, and the waves and undertow strong.  It was great to ride the waves, but one man drowned just after we left the water. [caption id="attachment_60407" align="alignnone" width="553"](Tel Aviv beach in front of our hotel) (Tel Aviv beach in front of our hotel)[/caption] In the evening I did my part to break the boycott of Aroma Café, of which we have written before.  (Remember, Buycott Israeli companies to defeat BDS.) [caption id="attachment_60408" align="alignnone" width="413"](Aroma Café, Tel Aviv Seaport) (Aroma Café, Tel Aviv Seaport)[/caption] But the big news of the day was that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released an Open Letter (read the whole thing) to the Israeli public signaling his intention to seek Cabinet Approval on Sunday to release all Palestinian and Israeli Arab prisoners convicted of security offenses prior to the 1993 Oslo Accords, thereby complying with a promise John Kerry had made to Mahmoud Abbas as a precondition to peace negotiations.

Mideast Media Sampler 7-18-2013...

1) Missing another opportunity to miss an opportunity Yesterday, Prof Jacobson posted about an exclusive story at The Tower by Avi Issacharoff about the peace deal that Ehud Olmert offered Mahmoud Abbas in 2008 but that Abbas never accepted. Today Isacharoff follows up with more detail in...