Analysis: Israeli government hints at new peace talks

Ronen Zvulun / Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed his first coalition partner in centrist Tzipi Livni, a move that could get a nod of approval from peace activists and U.S. President Barack Obama. But how cohesive any message of peace will be depends largely on the makeup of the rest of the coalition.

By Martin Fletcher, Correspondent, NBC News

News analysis

TEL AVIV -- In the Middle Eastern bazaar, the first sale of the day is prized beyond any other. It is called the ?siftach,? and to clinch the deal the seller gives a discount to the buyer, to launch a good day?s business.

In the case of the agreement announced Wednesday between Likud Beitenu leader Benjamin Netanyahu and Tzipi Livni, leader of? ?Hatnua? (Movement) to join a coalition government, Netanyahu was desperate to get one of the several political parties he is negotiating with to be the first to reach agreement.

So to entice Livni to sign, he sweetened his offer to include what Livni dearly wanted: the role of chief peace negotiator with the Palestinians, in addition to the guarantee of the post of justice minister for her and the post of minister of the environment for another member of her party.

Her brief in a new Netanyahu government, then, would be to launch a new peace process with the Palestinians, according to the published agreement, ?with the aim of reaching a settlement with them that will put an end to the conflict.?

The significance of this is that the responsibility passes from the foreign minister, who loudly proclaimed that he did not believe in peace with the Palestinians, to Livni, who does.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still in charge, but he may no longer be Israel's most consequential politician. The Daily Rundown's Chuck Todd takes a "deep dive" into the new face of Israeli politics, Yair Lapid.

In addition to being the first step toward forming Netanyahu?s third government, it allows him to send a signal to U.S. President Barack Obama, expected in Israel on his first state visit next month, that he is serious about moving toward peace and that Obama should support him; Netanyahu?s relationship with Obama is famously fraught.

What this means in practice, however, is far from clear. It depends on who else joins Netanyahu and Livni in building a coalition government. Pundits expect Netanyahu to focus his attention next on the Labor party, as well as a couple of the religious Jewish parties, and only then to go for broke -- to offer a role to the two young newcomers, one on the left and one on the right, who have surprisingly found common cause.

The question: Can Netanyau pull off a brilliant ploy and form a government without the second- and third-largest parties, Yair Lapid?s ?Yesh Atid? (There is a Future) and Naftali Bennett?s Bait Hayehudi (Jewish Home)?

Or is it so brilliant? When the voters speak clearly and give the second- and third-largest number of votes to two new parties with new leaders and a large majority of new members of parliament, shouldn?t this call for change be reflected in any new government?

The problem is, and this brings us back to Livni?s role as peace negotiator, Bennett and Lapid, who agree on many social and economic issues, could not be further apart on the central question: What about the Palestinians? Bennett is absolutely clear: No Palestinian state. Lapid is with Livni.

So is there a real change in the Israeli government?s position vis a vis peace talks? As always, Netanyahu is hard to read. Does he really want Livni to take Israel down the road to compromise and peace? Or does he just want to form a new government so badly that he will offer any enticement to make it happen?

Cynics argue the latter. Some others believe that maybe a miracle is at hand.

And as Israel?s first president, David Ben Gurion, once said: To be a pragmatist in Israel, you have to believe in miracles.

Martin Fletcher is the author of "The List," "Breaking News" and "Walking Israel."

Related:

Fatah, Hamas hold talks ahead of possible negotiations with Israel

UN panel: Israel must withdraw all settlers from the West Bank

Surprisingly centrist vote has Netanyahu reaching to the left

This story was originally published on Thu Feb 21, 2013 4:42 AM EST

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/21/17031818-what-about-palestinians-israeli-coalition-may-be-hard-pressed-to-answer?lite

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Philip Goldberg: Beatles in India: The Retreat That Reverberates Across the Universe

Forty five years ago, the Beatles were settling into the ashram of their new guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, in Rishikesh, India. The news coverage was nonstop and global, as it had been six months earlier when the lads first met Maharishi and became public advocates for his Transcendental Meditation technique.

It would have been easy at the time to dismiss the media frenzy as just another pop culture craze. But reporters knew this was different. Why would four young, bright, fun-loving youngsters, wealthy beyond imagining, able to go anywhere and do anything, choose to hunker down in an austere, vegetarian, non-air-conditioned compound in the Himalayan foothills and spend large chunks of time each day with their eyes closed? What is this meditation thing? What could a backward, impoverished country, only two decades removed from imperial rule, have to offer people who seemed to have everything a human being could want?

Questions like those turned what might have been a brief media burst into a watershed moment in cultural history. I opened American Veda, my book about the impact of Indian spirituality on the U.S., by calling the Beatles' expedition "the most momentous spiritual retreat since Jesus spent those forty days in the wilderness." Since publication, not one person has argued with that assertion. It was as though the earth tilted on its axis in February, 1968, making ancient Eastern teachings flow more easily and quickly to the West. The result would impact healthcare, psychology, neuroscience, and especially the way we understand and engage our spirituality.

In retrospect, the meeting of the Fab Four and the teacher who will probably always be known as "The Beatles' Guru" seems as karmically destined as that of Bill and Hillary or Lewis and Clark. ike many in the counterculture of which they had become de facto leaders, the band members had come to see that psychedelic drugs like LSD could open the door to higher consciousness but they did not let you stay there, and, in the bargain, came with serious risks. The search was on for safe, natural ways to expand the mind and attain inner peace and unified awareness. The East seemed to have answers, and all signs pointed to something called meditation. George Harrison, having spent time in India studying sitar with Ravi Shankar and reading spiritual literature, was among the ripest candidates.

For his part, Maharishi had been circling the globe for nearly a decade, slowly attracting students, mostly among respectable middle-aged people with a metaphysical bent. His laser-like focus on meditation, and his skill in presenting a systematic, universal practice that was suitable for both secular self-improvement and spiritual enlightenment, were ideally suited for the rational, pragmatic West. When, in 1965, college students began to take up TM, word spread quickly and meditation clubs popped up on campuses. By August of 1967, when Maharishi lectured at the London Hilton, it was only natural that Pattie Boyd Harrison would hear about it and lead her husband and his mates to the jam-packed hotel ballroom.

The Beatles took to meditation like they had taken to Chuck Berry and Little Richard. John and George were especially enthusiastic (hear David Frost's interview with them). Young people everywhere, always eager to emulate their musical heroes, flooded TM centers. The press coverage was remarkable for its shortage of cynicism. It featured parents and respected cultural leaders who were impressed by the life changes they observed in the meditating youth. As a result, scientists, prodded by Maharishi, who had majored in physics, started doing rigorous research on the effects of the practice.

Before long, physicians and therapists were recommending meditation to stressed-out grownups. To meet the burgeoning demand, Maharishi trained a cadre of teachers, essentially democratizing what had long been an esoteric practice available only to an elite few, much as Henry Ford had democratized automobiles. Now, hundreds of studies later, meditation and yoga are as mainstream as aerobics and vitamins.

Would this have happened if the Beatles had never gone to India? Maybe, maybe not, but certainly not as quickly. That's not just my assessment. Life magazine at the time dubbed 1968 "The Year of the Guru," and when Newsweek commemorated that seminal year four decades later, one article was titled "What the Beatles Gave Science." The author, Sharon Begley, chose the topic because the lads' trip to India "popularized the notion that the spiritual East has something to teach the rational West."

That's reason enough to remember that eventful journey. If you need another one, go listen to The White Album. Almost all the songs on that double record were written or conceived in the ashram on the Ganges.

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Follow Philip Goldberg on Twitter: www.twitter.com/phil_amveda

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-goldberg/beatles-in-india-the-retr_b_2696654.html

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Orange to launch telecom manager game on Facebook - report

Orange will launch a game called Hellopolys on Facebook on 18 March, which allows users to build, maintain and develop fixed and mobile networks in a virtual city, writes La Tribune. The telecom management game, based on games like SimCity, will introduce players to technologies such as ADSL, fibre, 2G, 3G and 4G. Scores will depend on various parameters, such as meeting optimal population coverage and quality of service based on the operator's available resources. Unforseen events suck as the entry of a rival operator, pricing pressure and software faults will also come up. The game is intended to be an entertaining way to explain to customers the challenges that operators face.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TelecompaperMobileWireless/~3/OxlDeFgirLY/orange-to-launch-telecom-manager-game-on-facebook-report--924123

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