SHIMON IN FRANCE

Anti-Peres protesters: Eliminate Israel (JPost)

While the French state welcomed President Shimon Peres in official ceremonies of unprecedented pomp, some Frenchmen were less enthusiastic: Dozens of people in Lyon protested against Peres's tour of the city on Wednesday, holding signs with the slogans "Eliminate Israel" and "Israel is unlawful."

French security forces arrived on the scene and forcibly dispersed the crowd, the report said.

The protest led by Palestinian demonstrators, outside Le musée de la resistance was a dissonant note in a lengthy visit during which Peres was mostly warmly welcomed.

Peres met with President Nicholas Sarkozy, with Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and with Prime Minister François Fillon. Sarkozy reiterated to Peres his commitment to combating Islamic terrorism and his opposition to Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.

Fillon told Peres that Israel's security was at the center of the French government's concerns. "France sees eye to eye with Israel on the Iranian nuclear threat and steadfastly opposes Iran arming itself with nuclear weapons," Fillon told Peres.

France Eyes New Israeli Ties - Jamey Keaten
French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to rebuild France's frayed ties with Israel and hosted Israeli President Shimon Peres in Paris this week. "Those who call in a scandalous, scandalous way for the destruction of Israel will always find France in front of them to block their route," said Sarkozy. Paris lined the Champs-Elysees with French and Israeli flags - an image not lost on many French Jews. Sarkozy said at a state dinner that Israel "is not alone" in its concerns about Iran's nuclear program, which will require "a reaction of great firmness."

Sarkozy also said France, during its presidency of the EU later this year, will monitor the planning for the UN anti-racism conference scheduled to take place in South Africa in 2009. He said he "will not stand" for a possible replay of "intolerable deviations" that could mar the so-called Durban II conference. (AP)

LADIES' MAN

FIRST MADONNA, NOW CONDI.

UPDATED: MADONNA DISCUSSES PEACE PROCESS WITH SHIMON PERES

UPDATE: Madonna: I'm an 'ambassador for Judaism' (JPost)
JERUSALEM - Madonna toasted the Jewish new year with Israeli President Shimon Peres and declared herself an "ambassador for Judaism," local newspapers reported Sunday.

The singer, who is not Jewish, arrived in Israel Wednesday on the eve of Jewish new year to attend a conference on Kabbalah or Jewish mysticism.

Madonna met Peres at his official Jerusalem residence on Saturday evening and the two exchanged gifts, with Madonna receiving a lavishly bound copy of the Old Testament.

She gave Peres a volume of "The Book of Splendor," the guiding text of Kabbalah, inscribed "To Shimon Peres, the man I admire and love, Madonna," the Yediot Ahronot daily reported.

A Peres aide confirmed the meeting but had no details.

"You don't know how popular the Book of Splendor is among Hollywood actors," Yediot quoted Madonna as telling Peres. "Everyone I meet talks to me only about that. I am an ambassador for Judaism."

Madonna, who was raised a Roman Catholic, has taken the Hebrew name Esther, and has been seen wearing a red thread on her wrist in a Jewish tradition to ward off the evil eye.

But her interest in Kabbalah in recent years has been criticized by Orthodox Jews, who say it is an abomination.

Other celebrities who flew in for the Kabbalah conference included movie star Demi Moore and her husband, actor Ashton Kutcher, Rosie O'Donnell and fashion designer Donna Karan. Madonna came with her film director husband Guy Ritchie.

The Haaretz daily quoted Kutcher as telling a group of Israeli businessmen and entertainers on Saturday that Kabbalah had answered fundamental questions in his life and made him a better actor.

Rabbis who specialize in Kabbalah have criticized the interest by non-Jewish celebrities in the subject.



Madonna meets President Shimon Peres (JPost)
If anyone doubted Madonna's transformation in recent years from a pop-star "Material Girl" to a Kabbala-inspired spiritual woman, the singer proved this weekend that her born-again attachment to Jewish culture and Israel is no passing fancy.

Madonna led an all-star delegation to a Kabbala conference in Tel Aviv on Friday to celebrate Rosh Hashana. The 49-year-old diva was seen singing Jewish songs with the crowd of hundreds at the David Intercontinental Hotel, where the conference on Jewish mysticism was held. At one point, she pressed another participant, apparently a friend, up to the front where he danced excitedly, making her and the crowd giggle and clap enthusiastically.

On Saturday night, Madonna and her film director husband, Guy Ritchie, traveled to Jerusalem and met with President Shimon Peres for nearly two hours at Beit Hanassi.

According to the president's spokeswoman, Peres and Madonna toasted the Jewish New Year together, and presented each other with gifts of holy books - Madonna received a copy of the Hebrew Bible, and the singer gave the president a copy of the Zohar, the mystical text that serves as the basis of Kabbala.

"The president and Madonna discussed how to advance the peace process, and conciliation and tolerance throughout the world," said presidential spokeswoman Ayelet Frish. "Madonna told the president she wants to promote those messages in her songs and books, and how important it was to educate children with those ideas. She also said that meeting President Peres and welcoming in the new Jewish year together with him was the fulfillment of a dream."

SHIMON PERES JUST CAN'T SURRENDER QUICKLY ENOUGH

Peres proposes prisoner amnesty (JTA)
Shimon Peres proposed that Israel release all Palestinian security prisoners in exchange for security in the West Bank.

Monday's Ma'ariv quoted the Israeli president as saying in an interview that given the limited mandate of the Palestinian Authority after Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip, the Olmert government should demand quiet in the West Bank rather than ceding physical control of the territory at this time.

In exchange for the Palestinian Authority meeting "security benchmarks," Peres said, Israel should release Palestinian prisoners -- there are approximately 10,000, many of them terrorists convicted of lethal attacks -- over five years.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert nixed the proposal as unfeasible, Ma'ariv reported. Peres, a former prime minister whose role as head of state is largely ceremonial, was unfazed.

"The fact that I am the president of everyone does not mean that I am the president of nothing," Ma'ariv quoted him as saying, adding that "therefore he will continue to advance ideas and initiatives and propose them to the relevant people."

SHIMON PERES: ISRAEL MUST GET RID OF TERRITORIES

IT DIDN'T TAKE ISRAEL'S NEW PRESIDENT LONG TO STICK HIS FOOT IN HIS....MOUTH.

Peres' remarks infuriate rightists (YNet) (Hat tip: Uncle Sticky)

Political right enraged over president's comments on 'getting rid of territories'. 'It's regrettable that on his very first day he voices opinions that drive a wedge though the people,' says MK Levy

"This is what we were afraid of – that Peres would continue to push his political agenda as president," said MK Yitzhak Levy (National Union) Sunday, in response to the new president's inauguration speech.

"It is regrettable that on his very first day he chose to voice opinions that drive a wedge though the people instead of uniting them," he added.

President Shimon Peres spoke with the Associated Press earlier Sunday, and was quoted as saying "we have to get rid of the territories… I shall respect the minority, I shall not insult them…I changed my position. I didn't change my beliefs."

National Union-NRP Knesset Member Zvi Hendel slammed President Peres over his statement, saying "even prior to entering the role of president he (Peres) attempted to tear the nation apart and is playing into the hands of his murdering friends in the Palestinian Liberation Organization. "Peres better not think that the presidency grants him immunity," added Hendel.

ISRAEL ELECTS FAILED PEACE-NIKS

Barak Elected to Head Labor Party - Barak Ravid, Yuval Azoulay and Mazal Mualem (Ha'aretz) Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak defeated MK Ami Ayalon by 34,960 to 31,100 (51% to 48%) Tuesday to capture the chairmanship of the Labor Party.

Shimon Peres Elected President of Israel (Ynet News)
Israel's Knesset on Wednesday elected former Prime Minister Shimon Peres, 83, to be the ninth president of Israel. He will take office July 15 for a seven-year term.

PERES: WE'RE NOT DONE SURRENDERING

LET'S SEE. IN EXCHANGE FOR NOTHING FROM HEZBOLLAH OR LEBANON, ISRAEL UNILATERALLY WITHDREW FROM SOUTHER LEBANON. SOON, HEZBOLLAH ARMED ITSELF, KIDNAPPED ISRAELIS, PROVOKED A WAR, AND LAUNCHED MISSILES INTO NORTHERN ISRAEL. IN EXCHANGE FOR NOTHING FROM THE PALESTINIANS, ISRAEL UNILATERALLY WITHDREW FROM GAZA. SOON, HAMAS TOOK OVER, ARMED ITSELF, KIDNAPPED ISRAELIS, AND LAUNCHED MISSILES INTO SOUTHERN ISRAEL.

AND NOW, PERES WANTS TO UNILATERALLY WITHDRAW FROM THE WEST BANK.

WHAT CAN GO WRONG? IT'S NOT AS IF GIVING THE PALESTINIANS THE HIGH GROUND OF THE JUDEAN HILLS FROM WHICH TO LAUNCH MISSILES COULD BE A PROBLEM. AND WHO WORRIES ABOUT THEIR CONTROLING SOME OF THE HOLIEST SITES IN JUDAISM AND MAKING THEM JUDENREIN?

Peres: We will surrender Judea-Samaria (JNW)
Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres said on Saturday that the current government still very much intends to uproot thousands of Jews from Judea and Samaria and surrender their homes to the "Palestinians."

In an interview on Israel's Channel 2 TV, Peres stated matter-of-factly:

"The government will evacuate...dozens of settlements by the end of its term."

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert originally ran on a platform of additional "disengagement" from the biblical Land of Israel.

But his plummeting popularity following Israel's failures in last summer's Lebanon war called into question the ability to implement such a controversial policy, and Olmert put the issue on the back burner.

At the time, Olmert claimed that he had been forced to change his mind due to the fact that Israel's withdrawals from southern Lebanon and Gaza had brought increased violence instead of peace.

But the fact that Peres made his latest remarks at a time when hostility from Lebanon and Gaza continues unabated calls into question whether or not Olmert has really learned his lesson.

SEE ALSO: Talking surrender, inviting disaster (Zionist.com)
This will come as no surprise, but the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert still very much intends to uproot thousands of Jews from Judea and Samaria in the very near future.
Vice Premier Shimon Peres said on Israeli television on Saturday that by the end of the current government’s term, at least several dozen established Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria will be no more.

It is still staggering to watch Israel talk openly of surrender in the name of peace, even after all the evidence that the “Palestinians” have presented proving that they do not really want peaceful coexistence.

You can chalk this one up to a combination of internal Israeli foolishness and massive self-serving pressure from Washington.

I personally don’t think this plan will ever be implemented, but I said the same thing before the abhorrent uprooting of Jewish Gaza, so I could be wrong.

That means that despite our firm belief that in the end God is going to have His way and Israel will come out on top, if we don’t want to see thousands more Bible-believing Jewish brothers and sisters violently ripped from their God-given inheritance along the way, then we need to do something now.