Before I write about "those
talks," I want to return to the matter of the Palestinian Arab prisoner release
approved by the Cabinet yesterday at the strong-arm prodding of Prime Minister
Netanyahu.
This entire incident signals for
me a time for activism. Those of us who care deeply about this issue must
not be silent. From time to time I've asked my readers to participate in
activism by way of sending messages to members of our government. And I'm
asking it here, more extensively than I ever have before.
If you care, truly care. If you
are alarmed. And angry. And saddened. Please, work with me here so that
our voices can begin to be heard.
There are different groups of
people within the Israeli gov't or closely associated with it who need to hear
from us now. Those
who supported the release have to know:
[] That you think it
should never have happened and feel great anger/disgust/disappointment (you pick
the word) that it did. Add a brief sentence or two if you wish about why it
shouldn't have happened: encourages terrorism, shows Israeli weakness, subverts
justice, wounds bereaved families, etc. etc.
[] That you will not be quiet
about this. The nation of Israel requires more courageous or
wiser leadership than what they have provided.
[] That you will watch the
positions they take in the future, and if you are Israeli, let them know
that this will affect how you vote.
~~~~~~~~~~
This message, in your own words,
said politely and briefly, but strongly, should go to:
Prime Minister
Netanyahu, who requires a message of grievous disappointment. See below at the bottom of
this post an article about what he said regarding releasing prisoners just five
years ago. :
Fax: 02-670-5369 (From the
US:
011-972-2-670-5369)
Defense Minister Moshe
Ya’alon -- Likud, who should be told that people were disappointed in
him because he knows better:
E-mail: myaalon@knesset.gov.il Phone: 02-675-3256
Gideon Sa’ar, and
Yuval Steinitz -- both of Likud, who might have been expected
to know better:
E-mail: gsaar@knesset.gov.il Fax 02-649-6578
E-mail: ysteinitz@knesset.gov.il Fax:
02-649-6579
Yitzhak
Aharonovitch and Sofa Landver -- both of Yisrael
Beitenu:
E-mail: iaharon@knesset.gov.il Fax:
02-649-6188
E-mail: slandver@knesset.gov.il Fax:
02-649-6744
Yair Lapid,
Yael German, Yaakov Peri, and Shai
Piron -- all of Yesh Atid:
E-mail: ylapid@knesset.gov.il Phone:
02-640-8385
E-mail: ygerman@knesset.gov.il Phone: 02-640-8341
E-mail: ypery@knesset.gov.il Phone: 02-640-8422
E-mail: spiron@knesset.gov.il Phone: 02-640-8433
|
Shai Piron almost voted against and you might
note this and encourage him to be courageous next time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| |||||||||||||||
|
Those who opposed the release of
prisoners must be praised and encouraged. They need to hear
that many are behind them and that they are supported and
appreciated. Tell them that the future of the nation of Israel
depends upon courageous leadership such as they demonstrated:
Yisrael Katz and Gilad
Erdan -- both of Likud. Katz in particular is
tough.
E-mail: yiskatz@knesset.gov.il Fax:
02-649-6525
E-mail: gerdam@knesset.gov.il Fax:
02-675-3982
Naftali Bennett, Uri Ariel and Uri Orbach -- all
of Habayit Hayehudi. Much rests with Bennett and how he leads his
party; he needs to understand that there are people looking to him for
leadership. Uri Ariel is also tough.
E-mail: nbenet@knesset.gov.il Phone
02-640-8430
|
~~~~~~~~~~
I am well aware that you may look
at this list and consider it daunting. IT IS NOT. You can
write e-mail messages that apply to several persons, click on one address
at a time, paste in the message and send to that person. (Of course, a handful of people require
"special" messages.)
When you have a choice of fax or
e-mail, fax is better. E-mail is better than trying to reach an aide on
the phone.
HOWEVER YOU DO THIS, PLEASE DO IT
IMMEDIATELY. The Knesset is about to recess for the
summer.
As always, please share as broadly
as possible -- especially with Israeli citizens.
Accept my gratitude for your efforts and cooperation.
~~~~~~~~~~
Now the news on the "talks" in a nutshell:
Invitations have been extended by Kerry to Netanyahu and Abbas by
phone. I have this on exceedingly solid information (from an Arabic
speaking Israeli Jew with PA contacts). There are news reports that the written
invitations included reference to "the '67 lines." But there were no
written invitations.
However, there was something else, called a "draft," that reportedly was
sent to the PA. And this apparently made reference to the '67 lines.
This is not something that Netanyahu has seen, I am told. A "draft" of
what? It would seem a proposed outline for the talks, and it would seem
that Kerry is playing to the PA here.
My source says that Kerry refused to put anything in writing to the PA
promising that talks would proceed on the basis of the '67 lines, but that he
verbally promised to push this position at the table.
Remember that Indyk is going to be at the table as a US "mediator" and
this is an exceedingly dangerous business.
~~~~~~~~~~
Everyone is gathering in Washington tonight: Tzipi Livni and Yitzhak
Molcho for Israel, Saeb Erekat for the PA. The news is saying talks have
begun, but this is not quite so. These are the talks about the talks:
Venue, schedule for meeting and other procedural matters must be put in place,
as well as, most importantly, the issues to be addressed first. These
discussions will end by Wednesday.
Already I am reading about disagreements regarding what needs to be
discussed first, and expectations for the substantive talks to proceed
meaningfully are quite low. Keep in mind, however, that Netanyahu said the
prisoners will be released in stages as talks progress, so we might expect Abbas
to drag things out until they are all released.
~~~~~~~~~~
Please see the following articles:
Tzipi Hotovely who says the right wing will stop any attempts to give away
Judea and Samaria:
~~~~~~~~~~
Yoram Cohen, head of the Shin Bet, delivered a warning to the Cabinet about
the dangers of releasing prisoners.
Israeli security will be diminished, "both in the immediate threat to
the public, and because of the erosion in deterrence. The chance that the
prisoners will go back to terrorism is relatively
large."
~~~~~~~~~~
Five years ago, when Netanyahu was in the opposition, he said that
releasing prisoners "reflects weakness and a loss of direction... The Likud
government will replace Kadima's weakness with an aggressive and uncompromising
policy toward terror."
Run that by us again?
~~~~~~~~~~
The government misrepresented its intentions about releasing
terrorists. Ofir Yunis, who spoke on behalf of Netanyahu, has written on
his FB page:
"I want to apologize to
the bereaved families who understood from my answer to a parliamentary query
three months ago that there was no such intention [to release prisoners] I am
sorry from the bottom of my heart that professional bodies who were involved in
the negotiations misled me."
~~~~~~~~~~
It's savta time again --
four young grandchildren are due tomorrow morning. I will likely not post again
for a couple of days. And please understand that I cannot respond to all of your
many e-mails.
~~~~~~~~~~
©
Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by Arlene Kushner,
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