"But if you could examine the goods they bring
They have little to offer but the songs they sing
And the plentiful waste of time of day
A plentiful waste of time..."
The 'Palestinians' are continuing to use the threat of trying to get the UN Security Council to unilaterally declare 'Palestinian' statehood in September as leverage to get everything they want without bothering to 'negotiate'.
Here's the latest proposal from these spoiled children. If the Quartet ( the US, Russia, the EU and UN) pressure Israel into committing to retreating to the pre '67 lines as per Obama's speech, dividing Jerusalem, and stopping all construction in the areas the 'Palestinians' want gifted to them, they'll agree not to go to the UN and will re-enter negotiations!
In other words, if they get everything they want guaranteed them in advance, they'll negotiate. Of course, there would be absolutely nothing left to negotiate at that point. The Israelis would also be put in the position of legitimizing Hamas because of the Hamas/Fatah unity agreement. Needless to say, no Israeli government could agree to what the 'Palestinians' are demanding and survive even if they wanted to.
This impasse is entirely the fault of President Obama. By trying to act as the 'Palestinian' community organizer, he's placed them in a position far beyond what they would have demanded on their own and from which they now can't afford to back down. The new push for negotiations neither side really wants is entirely meant to save face for the president giving way to his anti-Israel bile and doubling down on it in the speech he attempted to ambush Israeli PM Netanyahu with on Netanyahu's trip to the US in May.
Saeb Erekat, formerly the right fork of Yasser Arafat's tongue claims that this was not a pre condition to any negotiations. "This is an Israeli obligation," he said. "We hope that the Americans and the Quartet will oblige Netanyahu to accept the two-state solution and stop settlement construction."
Erekat admitted that the US was exerting heavy pressure on the 'Palestinian' Authority not to go to the UN and according to him, the US Administration has also made it clear that it will veto the motion at the UN.
Israeli PM Netanyahu has so far remained unchanged in demanding that any negotiations have no pre-conditions and that it has to start with the 'Palestinians' recognizing Israel as a Jewish State. He also wants them to forgo any so-called right of return and for President Obama to ratify President Bush's letter to Ariel Sharon promising that the major Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria are going to remain part of Israel in any peace agreement. Netanyahu also made the point that the 'Palestinians' going forward with this will set back negotiations for decades.
Needless to say, the 'Palestinians' aren't going to agree to any of this.
While Netanyahu perhaps feels he has to be diplomatic because of President Obama's ego, I think the Israelis could accomplish a lot more by calling Abbas' bluff and telling him to go ahead and declare statehood.
Israel should make it clear that if the 'Palestinians' abrogate the Road Map and Oslo by going to the UN, the so-called peace process is over. Whether the 'Palestinians' are successful at the UN or not, Israel should publicly let them know it will be regarded as a hostile act and there will be a heavy price tag involved; an annexation of land in Judea and Samaria along the lines Israel chooses including the Jordan Valley, the expulsion of all 'Palestinians' now living in Israel without Israeli citizenship in places like East Jerusalem to the new state, and an end to all security co-operation,work permits for 'Palestinian' citizens, tax remittances, diplomatic and trade relations.
Most of that is eventually going to end up happening anyway, so there's no downside to using the 'Palestinians' breaking the very essence of the treaties and agreements they signed as a convenience. It's not as if there's anything Fatah can agree to that means anything in the real world anyway.
The Israelis should tell Abbas to go ahead and sing the September song. The PA is already having financial difficulties ( hat tip, Carl) because the 'donors' in the EU and elsewhere are getting tired of pouring their money down a rat hole, and some of them are even finally wising up to the fact that a 'Palestinian' state is going to be a permanent welfare basket case....one they can't afford to prop up anymore. A realistic reminder by Israel that things are going to get a whole lot worse and that threats work two ways might just persuade the 'Palestinians' to get a whole lot more realistic in their demands and abandon their UN fantasy.
And if not? Even better.
As I argued more than once in my blog, there is only one response to this tactic: use the same tactic.
ReplyDeleteIsrael should tell the Quartet that if the Palestinians renounce the right of return and declare end of conflict, Israel will also negotiate, instead of annexing the settlements and declare Oslo voind.
This is the kind of strategy that should have been used since 1948. Instead Israel has continuously conceded while the Palestinians gave nothing,
This was tantamount to admitting Israel was in the wrong and was responsible in some part for the world turning against it.
Israel does not get this even today. It may be too late to start now, but if it does not, it's doomed.
The PostWest
www.fallofknowledgeandreason.blogspot.com
I don't quite agree with some of this, FP.
ReplyDeleteThe whole notion of the 'peace process' was farcical from the beginning. In war winners gain territory and concessions, losers cede them for peace.
What the Israelis should have done after 1967 ( and especially after the Khartoum Declaration) was to pick the parts of Judea and Samaria they wanted to annex and repatriate all Jordanian citizens ( since that's what they were) back to their country of origin.They should likewise have insisted that the Egyptians permit construction of new 'refugee' facilities on their territory, resettle the population of Gaza therein and turn the land over to Israel as part of the ceasefire they gave Egypt in '73, let alone the Camp David Accords.
At this point, it's the Israelis who should be taking a hard line with the 'Palestinians' and telling them the consequences for bad behavior, not offering them carrots for good behavior that they're not going to comply with anyway.
Israel made major concessions for both Oslo and the Road Map, neither agreement has been complied with and if the 'Palestinians' insist of an egregious breach such as trying an end run by going to the UN, Israel owes it to all parties including itself to let them know there will be consequences.
Netanyahu has to deal with an anti-Israel president and is of course being diplomatic, but I'm not sure that's the way to play this.
Regards,
Rob
It's not clear what you don't agree with.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Israel should have annexed parts of the WB, but it did not do it for the same reason they keep doing the same nonsense ever since: they just refuse to take no for an answer from the Pals. They cannot escape their wishful thinking regarding peace, which gives the Pals the initiative and control.
Having not done the right thing at the right time, they should have never even considered Oslo. That was one huge strategic blunder which is hard to resolve as it is, but Israel continues to rely on the strategy of appeasing the world which dooms it.
As I had predicted early on Netanyahu has just caved on 1967 borders. When everybody was impressed with his Congress performance I warned that his record is one of systematically talking a great deal and then cave.
I am sorry to say I was right.
And just watch how he'll cave on the protests too.
Hello Fabian,
ReplyDeleteYou may be right about Netanyahu, but keep in mind that what you're relying on is an unsourced AP story that's been redacted and keeps expanding slightly as the media hacks get their mitts on it.
In the original story, Bibi was going to totally cave. By the time the Telegraph got to it, it's sounding more like he's doing a deal in exchange for Obama ratifying the guarantees Bush gave Arik in order to get Arik to sign on to the Road Map.
In any event the 'Palestinians' aren't going to sign on to it or not go to the UN in September - Abbas has already said that whatever 'negotiations' take place won't affect that.
So I'll wait and see what actually happens.
The Israelis will never agree to redivide Jerusalem or give up the Judean Hills or the Jordan Valley unless they're being suicidal, and the 'Palestinians' can't accept any thing less,or give up the right to swamp Israel with genocidal refugees.
And even if Netanyahu even were disposed to try it, his government would fall.
Obama badly needs a win somewhere,is probably pressuring Netanyahu and I have a feeling this non-story just reflects that. But we'll see.
Regards,
Rob