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Veteran Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat dies of covid aged 65
Saeb Erekat, who helped negotiate the Oslo Accords, died yesterday of covid-19. He passed away at Jerusalem's Hadassah Medical Centre, to which he had been transferred last month after testing positive for the illness. Erekat, who was 65, underwent a lung transplant three years ago and doctors said treating him was a "huge challenge" because he had a "weakened immune system and bacterial infection, in addition to coronavirus". Erekat was a veteran Palestinian peace negotiator, who played a key role in helping conclude the landmark 1993 Oslo Accords. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, declared three days of national mourning in the Palestinian territories. "Saeb Erekat spent his life as a fighter and a steadfast negotiator defending Palestine, its cause, its people, and its independent national decision," Abbas said. The former Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni (pictured with Erekat), who faced the PLO secretary-general across the negotiating table on numerous occasions, also paid tribute to Erekat: "Saeb dedicated his life to his people. Reaching Peace is my destiny he used to say. Being sick, he texted me: 'I’m not finished with what I was born to do.' My deepest condolences to the Palestinians and his family. He will be missed." Erekat said on 8 October that he had been diagnosed with covid-19 and was treated in a hospital in his home town of Jericho. He was transferred to Jerusalem, the city of his birth, when his conditional deteriorated. As well as being chief negotiator, Erekat served as the Palestinian Authority minister for local government.
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Israeli politicians line up to welcome Biden election victory
Reuven Rivlin led the congratulations on Joe Biden's victory, and invited the president-elect to visit Jerusalem. In an English-language video, the Israeli president wrote: "Mr President-elect, I was pleased to welcome you to Jerusalem as vice president and I look forward to welcoming you to Jerusalem as president of the United States. As a longstanding friend of Israel, you are now going to be the leader of the free world and of Israel’s closest and most important ally." Defence minister Benny Gantz was the first senior member of the government to offer his congratulations to Biden and the vice-president-elect Kamala Harris. "I am certain that the long-standing special relations between our countries will continue forward and expand further under their leadership," Gantz said. "The ties between Israel and the US run deep, and are grounded in values and interests that we have shared for decades." In his congratulatory statement, Benjamin Netanyahu pointed to his long-standing friendship with Biden. "I have a long and warm personal connection with Joe Biden for nearly 40 years, and I know him as a great friend of the State of Israel. I am certain that we will continue to work with both of them in order to further strengthen the special alliance between Israel and the US," the prime minister said. But while Netanyahu went on to thank Donald Trump for his support for Israel, foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi's message pointedly made no reference to the outgoing president. Opposition leader Yair Lapid criticised Netanyahu for the delay in congratulating Biden, calling it "cowardly and shameful". Read full article
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Rifts in Blue and White party deepen as budget crisis nears
Rifts within Benny Gantz's Blue and White party appear to be deepening as the crisis over Israel's budget deepens and new elections loom. If no budget is passed by late December the government will automatically dissolve. Benjamin Netanyahu is widely suspected to be stalling on the budget in order to call snap elections. In the coalition agreement signed between Netanyahu and Gantz's centrist party in the summer, it was agreed the Knesset would pass a two-year budget covering both 2020 and 2021, but the prime minister has since reneged on the deal and wants to enact only a budget for this year. Netanyahu's tactics are thought to be designed to allow him to avoid an agreed-upon handover of power next year to Gantz, who also serves as alternate prime minister. The agreement to rotate the premiership between the two men - who fought each other to a virtual draw in three inconclusive general elections - was a key plank of the coalition deal. But some members of Blue and White are now threatening to split away and join the opposition if Gantz caves into Netanyahu's demand to pass only a budget for 2020. Foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi, justice minister Avi Nissenkorn and MKs Assaf Zamir and Miki Haimovich are reportedly part of a faction within Blue and White which wants to immediately leave the government and force new elections. Israeli media reported that Gantz has met with Naftali Bennett, head of the right-wing Yamina party, to discuss dissolving the government. Yamina, which sits in the opposition, has surged in the polls as Likud's popularity has sunk.
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