Juan Guaido, Venezuela's self-declared president, has said he's working to restore ties with Israel a decade after Venezuela severed relations with it in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Guaido told Israel Hayom newspaper on Tuesday: "I am very happy to report that the process of stabilising relations with Israel is at its height."

"First we'll restore the relations, then we'll announce the appointment of an ambassador to Israel, and we very much hope an envoy will come here from Israel," he said.

Guaido, who is backed by the United States, also said he was weighing whether to relocate Venezuela's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

"I will declare the resumption of ties and the site of the embassy at the proper time," he said.

The status of Jerusalem is one of the biggest obstacles to a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem recognised as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Israel regards all of Jerusalem as its capital, including the eastern sector that it annexed in 1967 in violation of international law.

'Mossad are trying to kill me'

Last month, Israel joined the US, the UK and a host of European countries in recognising Guaido as the interim president of Venezuela.

However, President Nicolas Maduro - who won elections in 2018 with 67.7 percent of the vote - retains the support of state institutions including the military and Russia and China.

Guaido's embassy announcement could mark a sharp shift in Venezuelan foreign policy, which has traditionally backed a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Under Hugo Chavez, Maduro's predecessor, Venezuela cut ties with Israel over its actions in the 2008-2009 war in Gaza.

The 22-day land, naval and air bombardment saw more than 1,400 Palestinians killed, thousands injured, and massive damage to infrastructure, including homes, factories and schools.

At a rally in 2010, Chavez also alleged that Israel was "financing the Venezuelan opposition" against him.

"There are even groups of Israeli terrorists, of the Mossad, who are after me trying to kill me," he said.

Guaido has vowed that the opposition, which he has regalvanised after several years of infighting, will keep protesting against Maduro until new presidential elections could be held.

The opposition has been holding regular protests and on Tuesday held a vigil demanding that aid being blocked by Maduro be let in.

Maduro's government insists aid is not needed and that the US is using it as an excuse to get its hands on Venezuela's abundant oil reserves, replicating the US's military interventions in Iraq and Libya.

In a separate development on Tuesday, Russia said it was ready to help resolve Venezuela's crisis but warned the US against intervening in Caracas's internal affairs.</s>Venezuela's self-declared leader Juan Guaido, who retains the backing of the U.S., vowed to switch the country's policy toward Israel that Caracas cut off a decade ago in solidarity with the Palestinians.

"I am very happy to report that the process of stabilizing relations with Israel is at its height," Guaido told the Israel Hayom daily in an interview.

A formal announcement on reestablishing ties and opening a new Venezuelan Embassy in Israel would come "at the proper time," he added.

However, he made no comments whether he would follow in President Donald Trump's footsteps with the move of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. In his most radical foreign policy position, Trump reversed longstanding U.S. policy and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel last year.

Since 2009, Israel has had no representation in Venezuela after the former President Hugo Chavez broke diplomatic ties over Israel's Operation Cast Lead, a 22-day military assault on the Gaza Strip. Chavez then deported all Israelis from the country, including envoys from Jewish organizations. Since then, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has maintained the country's policy.

Amid the U.S.-Israeli campaign for overthrowing democratically-elected President Maduro, Guaido declared himself interim president on Jan. 23. The U.S., which has not ruled out a military intervention in crisis-wracked Venezuela, was the first to recognize Guaido as acting president. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel now recognizes Guaido as Venezuela's official leader. Trump earlier warned he could use military force in Venezuela if Maduro does not hand over power.</s>Venezuela’s self-proclaimed leader Juan Guaido is working to re-establish diplomatic relations with Israel and isn’t ruling out placing his country’s embassy in Jerusalem, according to an interview with an Israeli newspaper published Tuesday.

Israel last month officially recognized the Venezuelan opposition leader’s interim government, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying in a short statement that “Israel joins the United States, Canada, most of the countries of Latin America and countries in Europe in recognizing the new leadership in Venezuela.”

The announcement earned immediate praise from US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who hailed the Jewish state for “standing with the people of Venezuela and the forces of freedom and democracy.” US President Donald Trump’s administration has been pushing for the international community — including Israel — to back President Nicolas Maduro’s ouster.

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Venezuela’s then-president Hugo Chavez broke off ties with Israel in 2009 after Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. Chavez and his successor, Maduro, have both been strident critics of Israel, and some Jewish community leaders have expressed fears of the government stoking anti-Semitism.

On Tuesday, the Israel Hayom daily published a short interview with Guaido, who indicated that his government would take a very different stance toward the Jewish state from his predecessor.

“We have begun working toward renewing the ties, and I’m very happy to announce that the process of stabilizing the relations with Israel is at its height,” Guaido said.

“It is very important to us,” he continued. “First we’ll restore the relations, then we’ll announce the appointment of an ambassador to Israel, and we very much hope an envoy will come here from Israel.”

Contacted by The Times of Israel, the Foreign Ministry had no comment on the report.

Venezuela and Israel had strong bilateral relations since the Jewish state’s creation, and until 1980 maintained an embassy in Jerusalem. It was then relocated to Tel Aviv along with other diplomatic missions, and closed down in 2009.

Asked whether he would return Venezuela’s embassy to Jerusalem, where it sat until 1980, Guaido answered: “That is one of the issues we are discussing. In due time, I will declare the renewed ties and the placement of the embassy.”

Jerusalem was reportedly hesitant to throw its backing behind Guaido amid concerns the Maduro regime would respond with measures that could imperil members of the Venezuelan Jewish community.

While Venezuela once had one of the largest Jewish communities in the region, numbering some 25,000 in 1999, only about 6,000 Jews are believed to remain in the country, with many of the rest having fled to Israel, Canada, the US and elsewhere.

“There are many Venezuelans in Israel and many Jews in Venezuela,” Guaido said. “It is a very active and prosperous community, that has contributed a great deal to our society. I assume they are happy we are renewing ties with Israel.”

Venezuela’s chief rabbi Isaac Cohen earlier this month said his community “accepts” Israel’s recognition of Guaido’s claim to power.

Support for Maduro, a vitriolic critic of Israel, isn’t high among Venezuela’s middle-class Jewish community. But throughout the unrest, the Jewish community had kept to a line of strict neutrality.

Addressing the Jewish community’s hesitance to publicly support him, Guaido added: “I have no doubt the Jews are afraid. Many in the military are similarly afraid to voice their opinion. This regime has no respect for the most basic right: the right to live.

“Many Western countries have promised to send humanitarian aid to Venezuela. I’m sure Israel will also help us.”

Amid wild inflation and severe shortages in basic commodities under Maduro, a far-left socialist, protests erupted across Venezuela. Security forces responded with raids that have killed dozens of people.

Guaido’s move was the most direct challenge to Maduro’s rule despite years of protests at home and international efforts to isolate the regime amid a growing humanitarian crisis fueled by falling oil prices and government mismanagement.

Raphael Ahren, Times of Israel staff and AP contributed to this report.</s>Juan Guaido, Venezuela's self-declared president, has said he's working to restore ties with Israel, a decade after the country severed relations with Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Guaido told Israeli newspaper Hayom daily on Tuesday: “I am very happy to report that the process of stabilising relations with Israel is at its height”.

“First we’ll restore the relations, then we’ll announce the appointment of an ambassador to Israel, and we very much hope an envoy will come here from Israel,” he said.

Guaido, who is backed by the United States, also said he was weighing whether to relocate Venezuela’s embassy to Jerusalem.

“I will declare the resumption of ties and the site of the embassy at the proper time,” he said.

The status of Jerusalem is one of the biggest obstacles to a peace agreement between Israel and Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem recognised as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Israel regards all of Jerusalem as its capital, including the eastern sector that it annexed in 1967 in violation of international law. ‘Mossad are trying to kill me’

Last month, Israel joined the United States, the UK and a host of European countries in recognising Guaido as the interim president.

However President Nicolas Maduro, who won elections in 2018 with

67.7 percent of the vote, retains the support of state institutions including the military and Russia and China.

Guaido’s embassy announcement could mark a sharp shift in Venezuelan foreign policy, which has traditionally backed a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Under Hugo Chavez, Maduro’s predecessor, Venezuela cut ties with Israel over its actions in the 2008-2009 war in Gaza.

The 22-day land, naval and air bombardment saw more than 1,400 Palestinians killed, thousands injured, and massive damage to infrastructure, including homes, factories and schools.

At a rally in 2010 , Chavez also alleged that Israel was “financing the Venezuelan opposition” against him.

“There are even groups of Israeli terrorists, of the Mossad, who are after me trying to kill me,” he said.

Guaido has vowed that the opposition, which he has regalvanised after several years of infighting, would keep protesting against Maduro so new presidential elections could be held.

The opposition has been holding regular protests against Maduro and on Tuesday held a vigil demanding aid be let in.

Maduro’s government insists aid is not needed and that in reality, the US is trying to get its hands on Venezuela’s abundant oil reserves, replicating the US’s military interventions in Iraq and Libya.

In a separate development on Tuesday, Russia said it was ready to help resolve Venezuela’s crisis but warned the US against intervening in Caracas’ internal affairs. DM

Are You A South AfriCAN or a South AfriCAN'T?

Maverick Insider is more than a reader revenue scheme. While not quite a "state of mind", it is a mindset: it's about believing that independent journalism makes a genuine difference to our country and it's about having the will to support that endeavour.

From the #GuptaLeaks into State Capture to the Scorpio exposés into SARS, Daily Maverick investigations have made an enormous impact on South Africa and it's political landscape. As we enter an election year, our mission to Defend Truth has never been more important. A free press is one of the essential lines of defence against election fraud; without it, national polls can turn very nasty, very quickly as we have seen recently in the Congo.

If you would like a practical, tangible way to make a difference in South Africa consider signing up to become a Maverick Insider. You choose how much to contribute and how often (monthly or annually) and in exchange, you will receive a host of awesome benefits. The greatest benefit of all (besides inner peace)? Making a real difference to a country that needs your support.</s>Venezuela's National Assembly head and self-proclaimed acting president Juan Guaido gestures while speaking to students at the Metropolitan University in Caracas, on February 11, 2019. (photo credit: YURI CORTEZ/AFP)

Dear Reader, 

 As you can imagine, more people are reading The Jerusalem Post than ever before. Nevertheless, traditional business models are no longer sustainable and high-quality publications, like ours, are being forced to look for new ways to keep going. Unlike many other news organizations, we have not put up a paywall. We want to keep our journalism open and accessible and be able to keep providing you with news and analyses from the frontlines of Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World.

As one of our loyal readers, we ask you to be our partner.

For $5 a month you will receive access to the following:
• Content from the award-winning Jerusalem Report and our monthly magazine to learn Hebrew - Ivrit
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Help us grow and continue telling Israel’s story to the world.</s>Jerusalem - Venezuela's self-declared leader Juan Guaido he was working to restore ties with Israel that Caracas cut off a decade ago in solidarity with the Palestinians. Israel is among US-aligned powers that rallied to Guaido after he declared himself Venezuela's leader last month in a power struggle with socialist President Nicolas Maduro, under whom the country has sunk into poverty.

"I am very happy to report that the process of stabilising relations with Israel is at its height," Guaido told the mass-circulation Israel Hayom daily in an interview.

A formal announcement on re-establishing ties and opening a new Venezuelan embassy in Israel would come "at the proper time".

Maduro's precedessor, Hugo Chavez, shunned Israel over its 2008-2009 war in Gaza, and fostered ties with the Palestinians as well as with Israel's arch-foe Iran. Israeli leaders said Caracas' posture was prompting a flight of Venezuelan Jews.

"This (Jewish) community is very active and prosperous, one which has contributed greatly to our society," Guaido said in the interview.

Maduro, who retains the backing of Russia and China as well as control of state institutions including the military, casts Guaido's rise as a U.S.-orchestrated plot. Guaido says Maduro's reelection last year was a sham.</s>Caracas – In an interview over the weekend, “interim President” of Venezuela Juan Guaido promised he would work on restoring relations with Israel.

Despite not actually having a government or being in any type of official position of power within Venezuela Juan Guaido is still somehow making big promises. Last week it was the promise to sell oil he doesn’t control to the US and this week he is setting foreign policy for a state, a military, and a diplomatic core that he doesn’t have.

Regardless of Juan Guaido’s material position, Israel has been more than willing to indulge in the US fantasy in Venezuela and was one of the early states to recognize the fraud as “interim President.” Now it seems Guaido is more than willing to repay the favor should he ever actually hold office.

Guaido made this promise in a recent interview with the Israel Hayom newspaper where he told the interviewer that he was “very happy to announce that the process of stabilizing relations with Israel is in full swing.” While what exactly that means when you’re a President with no power is rather ambiguous, for some reason Guaido has said restoring relations “is very important for us.”

Regardless of all these factors, there are still several reasons the new President has made this a high priority. Even without any actual diplomatic staff recognized by the state, Guaidó has still been in contact with Israel and has even discussed opening a new Venezuelan embassy in Israel, saying it “is one of the subjects we are talking about.”

Another reason Guaidó claims he wants to restore relations with the Zionists is due to the fact that there “are many Venezuelans in Israel and many Jews in Venezuela.”

According to Guaidó, this Venezuelan Jewish community “is very active and prosperous” and have expressed to the president their hopes for renewed relations with Israel.

Guaidó says this Jewish community has a friend in him and he wishes to ‘restore their rights’ and has “no doubt that the Jews are afraid.” Now Guaidó has promised to protect this Jewish community should he ever take power.

Relations between Israel and Venezuela were cut off in 2009 under Hugo Chavez, the previous Venezuelan President and mentor of Nicolás Maduro. Chavez knew well that Israel is very active in Latin America in helping the US subvert democracy and didn’t wish to allow the Zionists a base of operations in his country.

Obviously, the reasons cited by Hugo Chavez to justify throwing the Zionists out of Venezuela is perfectly legitimate but this has been a sore point with Washington and imperial media for some time. US media considers the fact that Chavez expelled the Zionists and supported Palestine as proof of the anti-semitism inside the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).

This is all totally ridiculous of course and the Chavistas chose to expel the Israelis in solidarity with Palestine against imperialism. This shift in foreign policy was framed as dangerous and the distrust of Zionism is said to be responsible for the “flight” of Venezuelan Jews to Israel.

But just how big is this important Jewish community?

Before Chavez, the total Jewish population in Venezuela was only estimated at about 22,000 out of over 30 million. Since Chavez took power that population has dwindled down to around 7,000 meaning there are about 15,000 Venezuelan Jews in Israel.

Supposedly restoring the Venezuelan embassy in Israel is very important, just not to more than about 20-30,000 people. Many Venezuelans still oppose any type of outside intervention in their country and it likely wouldn’t matter if it was US or Israeli soldiers but Guaidó is clearly more beholden to his foreign backers than he is to his own people.

With all that said, Guaidó still hopes Israel will invest more in regime change in his country. “Many Western countries have already committed to sending humanitarian aid to Venezuela,” he said adding that he is “confident that Israel will also help us.”

Since Israel is basically a US proxy this likely means Guaidó would like aid from them in the form of firearms like the ones Washington recently tried to smuggle in. Chavez made the correct choice in throwing out the Zionists and their agents of subversion, meaning the best hope for Venezuela to remain independent is for the Chavistas to uphold this legacy of anti-imperialism.

Filed under: American Lies, Latin America, Netanyahu, Trump, US Congress, US Foreign Policy, US Lies, USA, Wars for Israel |</s>JERUSALEM - The Israeli military demolished three Palestinian-owned homes and a store late Tuesday in East Jerusalem.

The Jerusalem Municipality decided to raze the buildings in the towns of Jabal al-Mukaber and Silwan without prior notice to the owners on the pretext that they built the structures without authorization, according to the Wadi Helwa Information Center in the occupied territory.

Two homes and a store owned by Jamal Idkiydik were located in Silwan and Feryal Jeabis’ 130-square-meter (1,400-square-foot) house, which hosted seven people, was located in Jabal al-Mukaber.

The center stressed that Jeabis’ home was demolished even though the municipality had delayed the decision.

Palestinians, along with several international rights groups, say the Jerusalem Municipality has deliberately hindered construction by Palestinians since Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967.

Rights groups also point out that Israeli settlers, in contrast, encounter little difficulty obtaining permits to build Jewish-only housing units on confiscated Palestinian land in the city.

Palestinian sources say that Israeli forces have demolished over 5,000 homes in East Jerusalem since 1967.

Palestinians hope East Jerusalem might eventually serve as the capital of a future Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders.</s>JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s internal security agency said Sunday that the slaying of a 19-year-old Israeli woman allegedly by a Palestinian near Jerusalem last week was politically motivated. Shin Bet issued a statement saying that…

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s internal security agency said Sunday that the slaying of a 19-year-old Israeli woman allegedly by a Palestinian near Jerusalem last week was politically motivated.

Shin Bet issued a statement saying that after questioning Palestinian suspect Arafat Erfaiyeh, the agency believes the killing of Ori Ansbacher was “nationalistic.”

Ansbacher was volunteering at a youth center in Jerusalem on Thursday when she disappeared after walking in the woods. Her body was found later that day. Most details of the case remain under police gag order.

Israeli forces arrested Erfaiyeh, 29, in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Saturday. He is a resident of the West Bank city of Hebron.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu paid his respects to Ansbacher’s family at their West Bank settlement home Sunday. Netanyahu offered his condolences and said the “entire public embraces them in their terrible grief,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

Ansbacher’s death has drawn widespread media coverage in Israel. Before her funeral in her hometown of Tekoa on Friday, her parents told Hebrew media outlets that she was “a holy soul seeking meaning” who was “sensitive to all people and creatures, and possessing unlimited desire to fix the world.”

Earlier on Sunday the Israeli military said troops had surveyed the Erfaiyeh family home in Hebron “in order to examine the possibility of its demolition.” Israel demolishes Palestinian attackers’ homes as a policy aimed at deterring future attacks.

Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>The Mideast conference in Poland starting Wednesday offers Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an opportunity to flaunt in public what he has long boasted about happening behind the scenes — his country's improved relations with some Gulf Arab nations.

Several Gulf dignitaries are expected to attend in a potential show of force against uninvited Iran. But the Palestinians are urging a boycott of the conference, and it remains to be seen whether Arab officials will make any public overtures to Netanyahu without a major concession to the Palestinian cause, which still animates the Arab public.

 

 The United States and Poland are sponsoring the conference in Warsaw, which they say is aimed at promoting peace and security in the region but appears to be mainly focused on isolating Iran.

 

 Iran has denounced the conference as an American anti-Iran "circus." Russia has said it will not attend, and the European Union's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, is also skipping the event.

 

 For the Trump administration, it is a high-profile occasion to gather all its Middle East allies. For Poland, it offers a chance to strengthen ties with Washington as it seeks greater protection from Russia.

 

 But the real winner could be Netanyahu, who has repeatedly stated that Israel has clandestinely developed good relations with several Arab states, despite a lack of official ties. Bringing such contacts out into the open would mark a major diplomatic coup, put a seal of approval on his goal of improving Israel's standing in the world and provide a powerful photo-op for his re-election campaign ahead of the April vote in Israel.

 

 Before departing for Poland on Tuesday, Netanyahu told reporters that the focus of the conference will be Iran, an issue he said "unites Israel, the United States, many countries in the world." He said Israel enjoys "very good relations" with every country in the region "except Syria," where Israel has carried out several airstrikes on Iranian targets in recent months.

 

 Danny Danon, Israel's U.N. ambassador, said his private contacts with Arab officials are far warmer than what is said in public. He predicted that once one Arab country goes public, others will quickly follow.

 

 "As of now, they are already cooperating with us," he told reporters in Jerusalem recently. "We ask them to recognize us and not to be ashamed for using our technology or our defense systems."

 

 Israel has signed peace accords with Egypt and Jordan, but other Arab nations have refused to publicly improve relations without significant progress being made toward ending Israel's half-century occupation of lands sought for a Palestinian state.

 

 But as shared concerns about Iran have overshadowed the Palestinian issue in recent years, ties that have long lingered in the shadows have begun to emerge.

 

 Netanyahu visited Oman in October and met with longtime ruler Sultan Qaboos bin Said. Days later, two of his ministers headed to the United Arab Emirates for a security conference and to cheer on an Israeli delegation at a judo tournament — where the Israeli anthem was played after an Israeli competitor won gold.

 

 Saudi Arabia, long rumored to have backdoor ties to Israel, lifted a decades-long ban on the use of its airspace for flights to Israel last spring, allowing India's national carrier to cross its skies. The leaders of the small Gulf nation of Bahrain have also expressed willingness to normalize relations.

 

 Gulf Arab states have given less voice to their traditional antipathy toward Israel as they have grown increasingly fearful of Iran over its involvement in Syria and other regional conflicts, and its support for various armed groups. Getting closer to Israel also helps them to curry favor in Washington.

 

 But with Arab public opinion still strongly against normalization with Israel, this week's conference is unlikely to produce warm engagement right away, said Yoel Guzansky, a senior researcher at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies.

 

 "Covert meetings already exist, and the 'under-the-table' relations are the world's worst kept secret, so I don't see what the Arabs would gain from shaking hands," he said. "The point is to see everyone in the same room as a united front against Iran. But the Arab street is still nowhere near where the elites are regarding Israel, and too strong an embrace could draw fire."

 

 The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and the UAE are scheduled to attend and meet with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. It is unclear what their level of engagement will be with the Israeli delegation.

 

 Netanyahu recently visited the Muslim-majority African nation of Chad to officially restore relations after 50 years and promised there would be more such visits and announcements soon.

 

 Trump's senior Mideast adviser, son-in-law Jared Kushner, has been working on an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan for close to two years, but has not yet released details. U.S. officials say Kushner is expected to make some comments about the conflict in Warsaw, but Netanyahu said he doesn't expect any discussion of the peace plan.

 

 The Palestinians have pre-emptively rejected the plan, accusing the Trump White House of being unfairly biased toward Israel. They've also asked Arab countries to boycott or downgrade their representation at the conference in Poland.

 

 "We view the Warsaw conference as a plot against the Palestinian cause," Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said this week.

 

 President Mahmoud Abbas met with Saudi Arabia's King Salman on Tuesday, who expressed his "permanent stand" in favor of a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital, according to the official Saudi news agency.

 

 Further tempering expectations, an Israeli TV channel obtained what it said was a secret Foreign Ministry report concluding it was very unlikely Saudi Arabia would normalize relations with Israel without a major concession to the Palestinians. The report, aired on Israel's Channel 13 news, quoted a senior official as saying the narrow window for a breakthrough with the Saudis had closed.

 

 The Foreign Ministry refused to comment on the report.
Venezuelan disputed interim President Juan Guaidó states that he is working to restore ties with Israel, which were broken by Hugo Chávez's anti-Israeli policy, while also weighing whether to relocate the nation's embassy into Jerusalem.