Netanyahu Supports Palestinian 'State-Minus, Autonomy-Plus' Solution

US President Donald Trump meets with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., March 5, 2018. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
US President Donald Trump meets with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., March 5, 2018. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
TT
20

Netanyahu Supports Palestinian 'State-Minus, Autonomy-Plus' Solution

US President Donald Trump meets with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., March 5, 2018. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
US President Donald Trump meets with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., March 5, 2018. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was prepared to accept some Palestinian independence, provided that it would be a “state-minus, autonomy-plus” solution.

Speaking on Wednesday at the general assembly of the Jewish federations of North America held in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu said that the “possible” solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict was granting the Palestinians “all the powers to govern themselves and none of the powers to threaten us [Israel].”

He underlined Israel’s support to what he called a Palestinian “state-minus, autonomy-plus” solution in the West Bank, with Israel preserving its total security control over the West Bank and the Jordan River.

Political sources in Tel Aviv revealed on Wednesday that US President Donald Trump recently said in a statement that he was willing to put pressure on Netanyahu to accept the US peace plan, which is expected to be announced months later.

According to Channel 10 of Israeli television, Trump said during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York last month that he could be “tough” in his dealings with Netanyahu, as he did with the Palestinians.

The channel, which relied on western sources, said that Macron said his impression was that Netanyahu did not really want to push the peace process forward, but only sought to maintain the status quo. Trump replied that he was close to reaching the same conclusion.

On the other hand, a senior Israeli official said that the Israeli foreign ministry was certain that if Trump did not present his peace plan in the first weeks after the midterm elections in November, the French president would put forward his own peace initiative.

An Israeli parliamentary source quoted Foreign Ministry Political Director Alon Ushpiz as saying that besides the concern about the US peace plan, “Tel Aviv is concerned about the political initiative brewing in the Elysee Palace.”



Tunisia Hands Lengthy Prison Terms to Top Politicians and Former Security Officials

Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
TT
20

Tunisia Hands Lengthy Prison Terms to Top Politicians and Former Security Officials

Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)
Leader of Tunisia's Ennahda party House Speaker Rached Ghannouchi, center, flashes a victory sign as he arrives for questioning at the judicial police headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia, April 1, 2022. (AP)

A Tunisian court on Tuesday handed jail terms of 12 to 35 years on high-profile politicians, including opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi and former security officials, a move that critics say underscores the president's use of the judiciary to cement “authoritarian rule”.

Among those sentenced on charges of conspiring against the state in the major mass trial, were Nadia Akacha, the former chief of staff to President Kais Saied, local radio Mosaique FM said. Akacha who fled abroad received 35 years.

Ghannouchi, 84, veteran head of the Islamist-leaning Ennahda party, was handed a 14-year term.

Ghannouchi who was the speaker of the elected parliament dissolved by Saied, has been in prison since 2023, receiving three sentences of a total of 27 years in separate cases in recent months.

A total of 21 were charged in the case, with 10 already in custody and 11 having fled the country.

The court sentenced former intelligence chief Kamel Guizani to 35 years, former Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem to 35 years, and Mouadh Ghannouchi, son of Rached Ghannouchi, to 35 years. All three have fled the country.

Saied dissolved the parliament in 2021 and began ruling by decree, then dissolved the independent Supreme Judicial Council and sacked dozens of judges, a move that opposition called a coup which undermined the nascent democracy that sparked in 2011 the so-called “Arab Spring” uprisings.

Saied rejects the accusations and says his steps are legal and aim to end years of chaos and corruption hidden within the political elite.

Most opposition leaders, some journalists, and critics of Saied have been imprisoned since he seized control of most powers in 2021.

This year, a court handed jail terms of 5 to 66 years to opposition leaders, businessmen and lawyers on charges of conspiring as well, a case the opposition says is fabricated in an attempt to stamp out opposition to the president.