Russia Holds Biggest War Games in Decades . . .

Photo: AP Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin, kiri, berjabat tangan dengan ketua tentera Rusia itu Kakitangan Am Valery Gerasimov, kanan, di sebuah lapangan terbang Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, di Pulau Sakhalin pada Selasa Julai 16, 2013. Gerakan di Siberia dan rantau timur jauh yang terlibat 160,000 tentera dan kira-kira 5,000 kereta kebal _ persembahan secara besar-besaran tenaga pernah berlaku sebelum ini sejak zaman Soviet. (Photo: AP Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, shakes hands with chief of Russia's military's General Staff Valery Gerasimov, right, at an airport of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, on Sakhalin Island on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The maneuvers in Siberia and the far eastern region involved 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks _ a massive show of force unprecedented since the Soviet times).

People’s Voices - MOSCOW (AP) ‘Rusia Memegang Mainan Perangan Terbesar Dalam Dekad’ Presiden Vladimir Putin pada Selasa menyaksikan gerakan tentera terbesar Rusia sejak zaman Soviet, yang melibatkan 160,000 tentera dan kira-kira 5,000 kereta kebal di seluruh Siberia dan rantau timur jauh dalam menunjukkan besar kekuatan ketenteraan kebangkitan negara.

Puluhan kapal Armada Pasifik Rusia dan 130 pesawat tempur juga mengambil bahagian dalam latihan tersebut, yang bermula pada hari Jumaat dan terus melalui minggu ini. Putin menyaksikan beberapa latihan di Pulau Sakhalin di Pasifik, di mana beribu-ribu tentera telah diangkut dan diterbangkan dari tanah besar.

Timbalan Menteri Pertahanan Rusia Anatoly Antonov yakin tentera asing melekat pada Isnin bahawa senaman itu adalah sebahagian daripada latihan tempur biasa dan tidak ditujukan kepada mana-mana negara tertentu, walaupun beberapa penganalisis percaya menunjukkan daya bertujuan China dan Jepun.

Konstantin Sivkov, seorang pegawai bersara Staf Jeneral tentera Rusia, memberitahu Nezavisimaya harian Gazeta bahawa sebahagian Sakhalin daripada gerakan itu bertujuan untuk meniru tindak balas kepada serangan yang dibayangkan oleh Jepun dan Amerika Syarikat.

Rusia dan Jepun mempunyai pertikaian ke atas sekumpulan pulau-pulau Pasifik, yang menyeru Rusia dan Jepun Kurils panggilan Wilayah Utara. Pulau di hujung timur laut Pulau Hokkaido Jepun telah dirampas oleh tentera Soviet pada hari-hari penutupan Perang DUNIA II. Mereka dikelilingi oleh kawasan menangkap ikan yang kaya dan dipercayai mempunyai rizab gas asli dan minyak luar pesisir dan sumber mineral yang lain.

Antonov berkata bahawa Rusia telah memberi amaran kepada negara-negara jiran dalam latihan sebelum ia bermula, dan menyediakan maklumat terperinci terutamanya ke China selaras dengan perjanjian yang membayangkan pertukaran bersama data mengenai aktiviti ketenteraan di sepanjang sempadan 4,300 kilometer (2,700 batu).

2 musuh perang era Dingin telah dipalsukan apa yang mereka digambarkan sebagai "perkongsian strategik" selepas tahun 1991 kejatuhan Soviet, membangunkan hubungan rapat politik, ekonomi dan ketenteraan dalam aspirasi yang dikongsi bersama untuk melawan kuasa Amerika Syarikat di seluruh DUNIA.

Rusia telah membekalkan senjata canggih ke China, dan jiran-jiran telah menjalankan latihan ketenteraan bersama, yang paling baru-baru ini satu latihan tentera laut di Laut Jepun awal bulan ini. Tetapi walaupun hubungan ekonomi rapat dan kerjasama ketenteraan, ramai di Rusia berasa semakin tidak selesa kira-kira kekuatan yang semakin meningkat jiran timur gergasi.

Beberapa bimbang bahawa penurunan penduduk Rusia yang berterusan dan kelemahan relatif kuasa konvensional berbanding dengan Tentera Pembebasan Rakyat China satu hari boleh menggoda China untuk merebut wilayah tertentu.

Rusia dan China mempunyai pertikaian wilayah selama berabad-abad. Hubungan antara Komunis China dan Kesatuan Soviet pecah pada tahun 1960, dan kedua-dua gergasi berjuang konflik sempadan ringkas pada tahun 1969. Moscow dan Beijing menandatangani perjanjian sempadan baru pada tahun 2004, yang menyaksikan Rusia berhasil kawalan ke atas beberapa pulau-pulau di Sungai Amur itu. Beberapa di Rusia yang jarang penduduk timur jauh takut bahawa konsesi boleh mengusik selera China.

Alexander Khramchikhin, seorang penganalisis bebas ketenteraan yang berpusat di Moscow, berkata bahawa latihan besar-besaran yang diadakan di kawasan-kawasan di sepanjang sempadan dengan China jelas bertujuan Beijing. "Ia adalah jelas bahawa sebahagian darat menjalankan ditujukan di China, manakala laut dan pulau itu sebahagian daripada ia bertujuan Jepun," katanya.

Khramchikhin, yang baru-baru ini mencatatkan artikel lukisan gambaran suram Rusia yang cepat dihantar dalam serangan mengejut Cina, berkata bahawa permainan perang bertujuan untuk menghalang China dari melindungi plot peluasan.

"China kini boleh berfikir bahawa Rusia telah akhirnya menjadi lebih sedar tentang apa yang boleh berlaku," katanya sambil menyifatkan latihan sebagai isyarat yg menenangkan. Gerakan adalah sebahagian daripada usaha-usaha baru-baru ini untuk meningkatkan pergerakan tentera dan kesediaan pertempuran selepas tahun penurunan pasca-Soviet, tetapi mereka telah jauh melebihi latihan sebelumnya di kedua-dua jumlah dan skop wilayah.

Sebagai sebahagian daripada mainan perang diadakan di beberapa zon masa, beberapa unit tentera dikerahkan ke kawasan beribu-ribu kilometer dari pangkalan mereka. Pasukan payung diterbangkan seluruh Rusia dalam pesawat pengangkutan jarak jauh, dan beberapa unit telah diangkut untuk Sakhalin di bawah pengiring kapal tentera laut dan jet pejuang.

Satu dekad krisis ekonomi pasca-Soviet telah teruk melumpuhkan keupayaan ketenteraan Rusia, asas jet dan meninggalkan kapal tentera laut berkarat di pelabuhan kerana kekurangan dana untuk menjalankan latihan. Rasuah besar-besaran dan ganas membuli askar muda oleh tentera yang lebih tua telah terhakis semangat dan digalakkan meluas draf-mengelak.

Kelemahan tentera sekali-bangga telah ditunjukkan dalam 2 peperangan pemisah di Chechnya apabila tentera Rusia mengalami kerugian besar di tangan pemberontak bersenjata ringan. Tentera Rusia menang cepat dalam perang dengan tentera kecil Georgia pada Ogos 2008, tetapi konflik 5 hari juga mendedahkan bahawa tentera mempunyai masalah dengan cepat menggerakkan tenteranya ke kawasan itu. Kekurangan senjata ketepatan dan komunikasi moden juga jelas.

Kremlin bertindak balas dengan melancarkan reformasi tentera bertujuan untuk menjadikan tentera kembung berkuat kuasa yang lebih moden dan tangkas. Kerajaan juga telah melancarkan satu senjata bercita-cita tinggi program pemodenan yang membayangkan perbelanjaan lebih 20 trilion Rubles (US$ 615 billion lebih) pada senjata baru melalui 2020.

Sesetengah penganalisis amaran tentera, bagaimanapun, bahawa usaha persenjataan kembali itu buruk dirancang dan mungkin tidak mencukupi untuk membalikkan penurunan tentera. "Program ini adalah jelas tidak mencukupi," kata Khramchikhin.

Photo: AP Tentera Laut kapal-kapal Russian Pasifik yang belayar berhampiran Pulau Sakhalin semasa latihan tentera pada Selasa 16 Julai, 2013. Gerakan di Siberia dan rantau timur jauh yang terlibat 160,000 tentera dan kira-kira 5,000 kereta kebal - pertunjukan enaga besar-besaran tpernah berlaku sebelum ini sejak zaman Soviet. (Photo: AP Russian Pacific Navy ships sail near the Sakhalin Island during military exercises on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The maneuvers in Siberia and the far eastern region involved 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks - a massive show of force unprecedented since the Soviet times).

Photo: AP Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin memerhati latihan ketenteraan daripada sebuah helikopter berhampiran Pulau Sakhalin pada Selasa, 16 julai, 2013. Gerakan di Siberia dan rantau timur jauh yang terlibat 160,000 tentera dan kira-kira 5,000 kereta kebal - pertunjukan besar-besaran tenaga pernah berlaku sebelum ini sejak zaman Soviet. (Photo: AP Russian President Vladimir Putin observes military exercises from a helicopter near the Sakhalin Island on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The maneuvers in Siberia and the far eastern region involved 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks - a massive show of force unprecedented since the Soviet times).

Photo: AP Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin, pusat, dan Menteri Pertahanan Sergei Shoigu, kiri, mendengar kepada tentera Rusia Kakitangan Am Valery Gerasimov semasa latihan ketenteraan berhampiran Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, di Pulau Sakhalin pada Selasa 16 Julai, 2013. Gerakan di Siberia dan rantau timur jauh yang terlibat 160,000 tentera dan kira-kira 5,000 kereta kebal _ persembahan secara besar-besaran tenaga pernah berlaku sebelum ini sejak zaman Soviet (Photo: AP Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, listen to Russia's military's General Staff Valery Gerasimov during military exercise near Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, on Sakhalin Island on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The maneuvers in Siberia and the far eastern region involved 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks _ a massive show of force unprecedented since the Soviet times).

Photo: AP Tentera Laut Russian Pasifik kapal dilihat dari tingkap helikopter berhampiran Pulau Sakhalin semasa latihan tentera pada selasa 16 Julai, 2013 sebagai Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin melihat peta. Gerakan di Siberia dan rantau timur jauh yang terlibat 160,000 tentera dan kira-kira 5,000 kereta kebal - pertunjukan besar-besaran tenaga pernah berlaku sebelum ini sejak zaman Soviet (Photo: AP Russian Pacific Navy ships seen in a helicopter windows near the Sakhalin Island during military exercises on Tuesday, July 16, 2013 as Russian President Vladimir Putin looks at a map. The maneuvers in Siberia and the far eastern region involved 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks - a massive show of force unprecedented since the Soviet times).

Photo: AP Tentera Laut Russian Pasifik kapal-kapal belayar berhampiran Pulau Sakhalin semasa latihan tentera pada Selasa 16 Julai, 2013. Gerakan di Siberia dan rantau timur jauh yang terlibat 160,000 tentera dan kira-kira 5,000 kereta kebal - pertunjukan besar-besaran tenaga pernah berlaku sebelum ini sejak zaman Soviet (Photo: AP Russian Pacific Navy ships sail near the Sakhalin Island during military exercises on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The maneuvers in Siberia and the far eastern region involved 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks - a massive show of force unprecedented since the Soviet times).

Photo: AP helikopter Tentera Rusia nyala api ke atas Pulau Sakhalin semasa latihan tentera pada Selasa 16 julai, 2013. Gerakan di Siberia dan rantau timur jauh yang terlibat 160,000 tentera dan kira-kira 5,000 kereta kebal _ persembahan secara besar-besaran tenaga pernah berlaku sebelum ini sejak zaman Soviet (Photo: AP Russian Army helicopters fire flares over Sakhalin Island during military exercises on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The maneuvers in Siberia and the far eastern region involved 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks _ a massive show of force unprecedented since the Soviet times).

Photo: AP Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin menggunakan binokular kerana dia menyaksikan latihan ketenteraan berhampiran Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, di Pulau Sakhalin pada Selasa, 16 Julai, 2013. Gerakan di Siberia dan rantau timur jauh yang terlibat 160,000 tentera dan kira-kira 5,000 kereta kebal - pertunjukan besar-besaran tenaga pernah berlaku sebelum ini sejak zaman Soviet. Menteri Pertahanan Sergei Shoigu duduk di kiri  (Photo: AP Russian President Vladimir Putin uses binocular as he watches military exercise near Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, on Sakhalin Island on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The maneuvers in Siberia and the far eastern region involved 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks - a massive show of force unprecedented since the Soviet times. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu sits at left).

Photo: AP Tank Tentera Russian bergerak di Pulau Sakhalin semasa latihan tentera pada selasa, 16 Julai, 2013. Gerakan di Siberia dan rantau timur jauh yang terlibat 160,000 tentera dan kira-kira 5,000 kereta kebal _ persembahan secara besar-besaran tenaga pernah berlaku sebelum ini sejak zaman Soviet  (Photo: AP Russian Army tanks move at the Sakhalin Island during military exercises on Tuesday, July 16, 2013. The maneuvers in Siberia and the far eastern region involved 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks _ a massive show of force unprecedented since the Soviet times).

Russia Holds Biggest War Games in Decades

People’s Voices - MOSCOW (AP) President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday watched Russia's biggest military maneuvers since Soviet times, involving 160,000 troops and about 5,000 tanks across Siberia and the far eastern region in a massive show of the nation's resurgent military might.

Dozens of Russia's Pacific Fleet ships and 130 combat aircraft also took part in the exercise, which began on Friday and continue through this week. Putin watched some of the drills on Sakhalin Island in the Pacific, where thousands of troops were ferried and airlifted from the mainland.

Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov assured foreign military attaches on Monday that the exercise was part of regular combat training and wasn't directed against any particular nation, though some analysts believe the show of force was aimed at China and Japan.

Konstantin Sivkov, a retired officer of the Russian military's General Staff, told the daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta that the Sakhalin part of the maneuvers was intended to simulate a response to a hypothetical attack by Japanese and U.S. forces.

Russia and Japan have a dispute over a group of Pacific islands, which Russia calls the Kurils and Japan calls the Northern Territories. The islands off the northeastern tip of Japan's Hokkaido Island were seized by Soviet troops in the closing days of World War II. They are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and are believed to have offshore oil and natural gas reserves and other mineral resources.

Antonov said that Russia had warned its neighbors about the exercise before it started, and provided particularly detailed information to China in line with an agreement that envisages a mutual exchange of data about military activities along the 4,300-kilometer (2,700-mile) border.

The two Cold war-era rivals have forged what they described as a "strategic partnership" after the 1991 Soviet collapse, developing close political, economic and military ties in a shared aspiration to counter U.S. power around the WORLD.

Russia has supplied sophisticated weapons to China, and the neighbors have conducted joint military drills, most recently a naval exercise in the Sea of Japan earlier this month. But despite close economic ties and military cooperation, many in Russia have felt increasingly uneasy about the growing might of its giant eastern neighbor.

Some fear that Russia's continuing population decline and a relative weakness of its conventional forces compared to the Chinese People's Liberation Army could one day tempt China to grab some territory.

Russia and China had territorial disputes for centuries. Relations between Communist China and the Soviet Union ruptured in the 1960s, and the two giants fought a brief border conflict in 1969. Moscow and Beijing signed a new border treaty in 2004, which saw Russia yielding control over several islands in the Amur River. Some in Russia's sparsely populated far east feared that the concessions could tease China's appetite.

Alexander Khramchikhin, an independent Moscow-based military analyst, said that the massive exercise held in the areas along the border with China was clearly aimed at Beijing. "It's quite obvious that the land part of the exercise is directed at China, while the sea and island part of it is aimed at Japan," he said.

Khramchikhin, who recently posted an article painting a grim picture of Russia being quickly routed in a surprise Chinese attack, said that the war games were intended to discourage China from harboring expansionist plots.

"China may now think that Russia has finally become more aware of what could happen," he said, describing the exercise as a sobering signal. The maneuvers are part of recent efforts to boost the military's mobility and combat readiness after years of post-Soviet decline, but they have far exceeded previous drills in both numbers and territorial scope.

As part of the war games held across several time zones, some army units deployed to areas thousands of kilometers away from their bases. Paratroopers were flown across Russia in long-range transport planes, and some units were ferried to Sakhalin under escort of navy ships and fighter jets.

A decade of post-Soviet economic meltdown has badly crippled Russia's military capability, grounding jets and leaving navy ships rusting in harbors for lack of funds to conduct training. Massive corruption and vicious bullying of young conscripts by older soldiers have eroded morale and encouraged widespread draft-dodging.

The weakness of the once-proud military was shown in two separatist wars in Chechnya when Russian troops suffered heavy losses at the hands of lightly armed rebels. The Russian military won a quick victory in a war with Georgia's small military in August 2008, but the five-day conflict also revealed that the military had trouble quickly deploying its forces to the area. The shortage of precision weapons and modern communications were also apparent.

The Kremlin responded by launching a military reform intended to turn the bloated military into a more modern and agile force. The government also has unveiled an ambitious arms modernization program that envisages spending over 20 trillion rubles (over $615 billion) on new weapons through 2020.

Some military analysts cautioned, however, that the rearmament effort was badly planned and might not be sufficient to reverse the military's decline. "This program is clearly insufficient," Khramchikhin said.

Israel condemns EU move On Settlements . . .

Photo: AP foto fail Udara, yang diambil melalui tingkap kapal terbang, Tebing Barat Ariel dilihat penempatan Yahudi. Dari tahun 2014, pihak berkuasa Israel perlu menjamin bahawa semua pembiayaan EU dan projek-projek kerjasama yang dijalankan di dalam sempadan pra-1967 Israel dan bukan di timur Baitulmaqdis, Tebing Barat atau Golan Heights. Seorang pegawai kanan Israel mengutuk arahan baru Kesatuan Eropah mengharamkan EU berurusan dengan penempatan sebagai "membimbangkan" dan produktif kepada rundingan damai (Photo: AP Aerial file photo, taken through the window of an airplane, the West Bank Jewish settlement of Ariel is seen. From 2014, Israeli authorities must guarantee that all EU funding and cooperation projects are conducted within Israel's pre-1967 border and not in east Jerusalem, the West Bank or Golan Heights. A senior Israeli official is condemned the European Union's new directive banning EU dealings with settlements as "worrying" and counterproductive to peace talks).

People’s Voices - BAITULMAQDIS (AP) ‘Israel mengutuk langkah EU di penempatan’ Israel mengutuk garis panduan baru oleh Kesatuan Eropah pada hari Selasa yang mengharamkan pembiayaan dan kerjasama dengan institusi Israel yang beroperasi di wilayah ditangkap oleh negara Yahudi dalam perang 1967 Timur Tengah EU.

Dalam usaha untuk mendapatkan pembiayaan EU dari 2014, projek-projek Israel akan diperlukan untuk menandatangani satu klausa untuk menetapkan mereka beroperasi dalam sempadan pra-1967 di negara ini dan tidak di timur Baitulmaqdis, Tebing Barat atau Golan Heights.

Fasal ini merupakan satu pengesahan yang berkuasa oleh EU daripada permintaan yang Palestin yang bersempadan masa depannya perlu berdasarkan kepada garis-garis pra-1967. Rakyat Palestin yang menuntut bahawa Israel berhenti membina penempatan Yahudi di West Bank sebagai satu syarat untuk disambung semula rundingan damai yang runtuh pada tahun 2008.

Israel berkata perbincangan perlu memulakan semula tanpa prasyarat dan bahawa semua isu-isu teras perlu diselesaikan melalui dialog. Ia telah kerap dipanggil ke atas rakyat Palestin untuk menyambung semula rundingan damai. Israel timbalan asing menteri Zeev Elkin dipanggil keputusan EU itu suatu "langkah yang sangat yang ketara dan membimbangkan."

"Ia sudah tentu tidak menambah kepada suasana rundingan damai. On Sebaliknya, ia bahan api keengganan itu Palestin untuk kembali ke meja rundingan itu," katanya berkata Selasa. Seorang pegawai kanan Palestin, walau bagaimanapun, mengalu-alukan langkah EU.

"Ini adalah permulaan era baru," kata Hanan Ashrawi. "Israel harus mendengar berhati-hati dan harus memahami bahawa pekerjaan ini tidak boleh terus tanpa apa-mana-mana daripada akauntabiliti." Setiausaha Negara Amerika Syarikat John Kerry adalah kembali di rantau ini minggu ini untuk perundingan pada percubaan beliau untuk memulakan semula rundingan di antara Israel dan rakyat Palestin. Beliau tidak dijadualkan untuk melawat Israel atau wilayah-wilayah Palestin, tetapi ditetapkan untuk bertemu dengan Palestin, Mahmoud Abbas di Jordan petang Selasa.

Seorang jurucakap untuk delegasi Eropah di Tel Aviv berkata "setidaknya fasal wilayah" akan menampilkan dalam perjanjian antara Israel dan EU dari 2014. "Entiti Israel terletak di Golan Heights, Semenanjung Gaza, Tebing Barat, dan Timur Jerusalem tidak akan layak untuk pembiayaan EU," katanya.

Beliau menegaskan bahawa garis panduan yang tidak akan menjejaskan sektor swasta atau syarikat-syarikat Israel tetapi badan-badan seperti pusat penyelidikan atau NGO. Beliau berkata pusat-pusat mencari dana di bawah perjanjian penyelidikan dan pembangunan dengan EU atau projek-projek alam sekitar NGO menjalankan adalah contoh orang-orang yang akan terjejas.

Dalam satu kenyataan, EU berkata tujuan "garis panduan ini adalah untuk membuat perbezaan antara negara Israel dan wilayah-wilayah yang diduduki apabila ia datang kepada sokongan EU." Banyak objek Israel untuk menarik diri daripada Tebing Barat atau bahagian-bahagian timur Baitulmaqdis kerana kawasan-kawasan yang membawa maksud yang mendalam agama untuk orang-orang Yahudi yang taat yang menganggap ia tanah air alkitabiah mereka. Beberapa Israel juga mengatakan bahawa kumpulan ganas boleh mengisi vakum jika Israel menarik diri dari kawasan di bawah kawalan, seperti mana yang berlaku di Semenanjung Gaza di mana militan Islam Hamas mengambil alih selepas Israel ditarik keluar pada tahun 2005.

Menteri Israel bagi hal ehwal perisikan dan strategik, Yuval Steinitz, menuduh EU mengkhususkan Israel. "Ini adalah langkah-langkah yang membimbangkan kita melihat sebagai double standard kerana kita tidak melihat EU mengambil langkah-langkah yang sama dalam pertikaian wilayah yang lain," katanya.

Pegawai kanan Palestin Hanan Ashrawi mengalu-alukan langkah itu. "Ini adalah permulaan era baru. Israel perlu mendengar dengan teliti dan perlu memahami bahawa pekerjaan ini tidak boleh diteruskan tanpa apa-apa kebertanggungjawaban," katanya.

Israel condemns EU move On Settlements

People’s Voices - JERUSALEM (AP) Israel condemned new guidelines by the European Union on Tuesday which ban EU funding and cooperation with Israeli institutions that operate in territory captured by the Jewish state in the 1967 Mideast war.

In order to obtain EU funding from 2014, Israeli projects will be required to sign on to a clause stipulating they operate within the country's pre-1967 borders and not in east Jerusalem, the West Bank or Golan Heights.

The clause is a powerful endorsement by the EU of the Palestinian demand that its future borders be based on the pre-1967 lines. The Palestinians are demanding that Israel stop building Jewish settlements in the West Bank as a condition for the resumption of peace talks which collapsed in 2008.

Israel says talks should restart without preconditions and that all core issues should be resolved through dialogue. It has frequently called on the Palestinians to resume peace talks. Israel's deputy foreign minister Zeev Elkin called the EU decision a "very significant and worrying move."

"It certainly doesn't add to the atmosphere of peace talks. On the contrary, it fuels the Palestinian refusal to return to the negotiation table," he said Tuesday. A senior Palestinian official, however, welcomed the EU move.

"This is the beginning of new era," said Hanan Ashrawi. "Israel should listen carefully and should understand that this occupation cannot continue without any kind of accountability." U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is back in the region this week for consultations on his attempts to restart negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. He is not scheduled to visit Israel or the Palestinian territories but is set to meet with Palestinian Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan Tuesday evening.

A spokesman for the European delegation in Tel Aviv said a "territorial applicability clause" will feature in agreements between Israel and the EU from 2014. "Israeli entities situated in the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East Jerusalem will not be eligible for EU funding," he said.

He emphasized that the guidelines would not affect Israel's private sector or companies but rather bodies like research centers or NGOs. He said centers seeking funding under the research and development agreement with the EU or NGO's conducting environment projects are examples of those who will be affected.

In a statement, the EU said the purpose of "these guidelines is to make a distinction between the state of Israel and the occupied territories when it comes to EU support." Many Israelis object to withdrawing from the West Bank or parts of east Jerusalem because the areas carry deep religious significance for devout Jews who consider it their biblical homeland. Some Israelis also say that violent groups could fill the vacuum if Israel withdraws from areas under its control, as was the case in the Gaza Strip where the Islamic militant group Hamas took over after Israel pulled out in 2005.

Israel's minister for intelligence and strategic affairs, Yuval Steinitz, accused the EU of singling out Israel. "These are worrying steps which we view as double standards because we don't see the EU take similar steps in other territorial disputes," he said.

Senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi welcomed the move. "This is the beginning of new era. Israel should listen carefully and should understand that this occupation cannot continue without any kind of accountability," she said.

A Supporter Of Deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi Holds Up Tear Gas Canisters Fired by Riot Police during Clashes on the Sixth Of October Bridge Over the Ramsis square Area in Central Cairo . . .

Top News Photos: Seorang penyokong Presiden Mesir Mohamed Mursi yang digulingkan memegang kanister gas pemedih mata sehingga dilepaskan oleh polis rusuhan semasa pertempuran di Jambatan yang Ke-6 Oktober banyak kawasan Ramsis persegi di tengah-tengah Kaherah 15 Jul 2013. Polis melepaskan gas pemedih mata di tengah-tengah Kaherah pada hari Isnin apabila penunjuk perasaan memanggil untuk kemasukan semula presiden Islam  yang digulingkan, Mohamed Mursi, pemandu dengan dan pejalan kaki marah bahawa mereka telah menyekat jalan-jalan utama (A supporter of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi holds up tear gas canisters fired by riot police during clashes on the Sixth of October Bridge over the Ramsis square area in central Cairo July 15, 2013. Police fired tear gas in central Cairo on Monday when protesters calling for the reinstatement of the ousted Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, scuffled with drivers and passers-by annoyed that they had blocked major roads. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)

An Israeli Soldier Sleeps As Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Youths Pray on Tisha B'Av at the Western Wall, Judaism's Holiest Prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City July 16, 2013 . . .

Top News Photos: Seorang askar Israel tidur sebagai belia Yahudi ultra-Ortodoks berdoa pada Tisha B'Av di Tembok Barat, tapak suci agama Yahudi Sembahyang, di Old City Jerusalem 16 julai 2013. Tisha B'Av, sehari berpuasa dan meratap, secara tradisinya tarikh dalam kalendar Yahudi yang Kuil Pertama dan Ke-2 telah musnah, masing-masing di abad ke-6 SM oleh orang Babilon dan abad pertama oleh orang Rom (An Israeli soldier sleeps as ultra-Orthodox Jewish youths pray on Tisha B'Av at the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City July 16, 2013. Tisha B'Av, a day of fasting and lament, is traditionally the date in the Jewish calendar on which the First and Second Temples were destroyed, respectively in the sixth century B.C. by the Babylonians and the first century A.D. by the Romans. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - RELIGION TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)

A Protester Blocks An Expo Line Train at the intersection Of Exposition And Crenshaw Boulevards . . .

Top News Photos: Penunjuk perasaan menghalang sebuah kereta api Line Expo di persimpangan jalan-jalan dan Ekspo Crenshaw, berikutan keputusan George Zimmerman di Los Angeles, California, 13 Julai, 2013. Juri Florida Zimmerman dibebaskan pada hari Sabtu untuk kes kematian menembak bersenjata remaja kulit hitam Trayvon Martin, menetapkan bebas seorang lelaki yang telah menjadi seorang tokoh polarisasi dalam perbahasan kebangsaan lebih profil kaum dan undang-undang mempertahankan diri (A protester blocks an Expo Line train at the intersection of Exposition and Crenshaw boulevards, following the George Zimmerman verdict in Los Angeles, California, July 13, 2013. A Florida jury acquitted Zimmerman on Saturday for the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, setting free a man who had become a polarizing figure in the national debate over racial profiling and self-defense laws. REUTERS/Jason Redmond (UNITED STATES - CRIME LAW CIVIL UNREST TRANSPORT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)

Judge Debra Nelson hands the Verdict to the Clerk Of Courts Announcing George Zimmerman is Not Guilty . . .

Top News Photos: Hakim Debra Nelson keputusan ditangannya kepada kerani mahkamah mengumumkan George Zimmerman tidak bersalah menembak kes kematian Trayvon Martin 2012 di Seminole County Jenayah Keadilan Pusat di Sanford, Florida, 13 Julai, 2013. Zimmerman telah dibebaskan daripada semua pertuduhan pada hari Sabtu untuk menembak mati bersenjata remaja kulit hitam Trayvon Martin dalam pusat bandar Florida pada Februari tahun lepas (Judge Debra Nelson hands the verdict to the clerk of courts announcing George Zimmerman is not guilty in the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin at the Seminole County Criminal Justice Center in Sanford, Florida, July 13, 2013. Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges on Saturday for the fatal shooting of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin in this central Florida town in February of last year. REUTERS/Joe Burbank/Pool (UNITED STATES - CRIME LAW TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)

'Do Not Defy Me’ Putin throws A Judo Wrestler to the Ground During Training . . .

Top News Photos: Presiden Rusia kelihatan sangat bersemangat untuk menggambarkan dirinya sebagai gambar sangat kejantanan dan telah dikemukakan dalam beberapa situasi pelik. Dari judo gusti dengan pelajar untuk menunggang kosong-chested pada kuda - di sini adalah lelaki macho Putin pada yang terbaik. Jangan menentang saya 'Putin melemparkan gusti judo ke tanah semasa latihan (President Vladimir Putin has had some funny old photoshoots during his political career, that's for sure. The Russian President seems very eager to portray himself as the very picture of masculinity and has posed in a number of bizarre situations. From judo wrestling with a student to riding bare-chested on a horse - here is macho man Putin at his best. ‘Do not defy me’ Putin throws a judo wrestler to the ground during training (KeystoneUSA-ZUMA/Rex Features) - think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)