Has our government finally learned? No matter what efforts we make,
no matter the concessions – in the end it is Israel that faces accusations when
things go wrong. The lesson here is that we should stop trying and refrain
from further concessions.
What I am referring to is the tone, as well as content, of testimony given
by Kerry yesterday to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Tovah
Lazaroff, providing an analysis in the JPost, wrote:
“It wasn’t what Secretary of State John Kerry said...it was how he said
it....
“It was a narrative exclamation, and pause, strong
enough to be heard round the world.“It fell, like a slow drumbeat...”
Kerry’s accusation: that an announcement by Israel about building over the ‘67 line is what killed the chance to revive the “peace negotiations”
Lazaroff describes the progression of events that Kerry presented. I
want to review it quickly here because Kerry’s misrepresentations require
correction. No one should take him at his word.
Israel - which had committed to the release of 106 pre-Oslo prisoners, in
four stages, in order to get the PA to the table for nine months – announced
towards the end of March that the final group of prisoners would not be released
as scheduled because of evidence that this painful (and, many would say,
horribly inappropriate) concession was not achieving its intended results.
The Palestinian Authority had stopped participating in direct negotiations –
there was only separate contact by each party with US negotiators. What is
more, there was solid evidence that once Abbas secured the release of that last
group of prisoners, he was intending to call a halt to “talks.” He had
been hanging in at a minimal level only to achieve the victory of the release of
terrorists.
Israel said that the final group of prisoners would be released only if the
PA committed to another nine months at the table after April 29th. A predictable
furor followed, with the PA saying that it was entitled to the final prisoner
release without having to make any further commitment.
At this point the US, seeking to salvage the process, intervened, and the
news was full of talk about Pollard possibly being let out of prison (to
“motivate” members of the Israeli government to agree to further concessions),
and Israel agreeing both to the release of that final group of prisoners plus
another 400 and, to boot, a partial freeze in construction in Judea and Samaria
(NOT including Jerusalem and exempting building for which tenders were already
out). All so the PA would stay at the table for another nine months.
Enough to give a nationalist Zionist a heart attack, even with the
tentative talk about Pollard’s release (a cruel manipulation). But from
the US perspective there should have been acknowledgement that Netanyahu was
really trying.
~~~~~~~~~~
Before this grand new deal could be finalized, Abbas announced that he had
signed applications for membership in 15 international organizations. This was
precisely what he was not supposed to do, as long as there were negotiations.
And this was the final blow. Kerry cancelled plans to fly to Ramallah to
finalize the expanded deal, the US announced that it was no longer considering
the release of Pollard, and Israel said all offers were off the table.
At the time this happened, I was astounded, that Abbas could very likely
have secured the release of some 420 prisoners, and yet opted to go a different
route instead. To me it was obvious that he was tired of the negotiations
charade and was prepared to move to the next step – one that was well planned
and bound to come sooner or later. Abbas blew it, willfully and
defiantly.
~~~~~~~~~~
At the same time all of this was transpiring, an announcement was made by
Israel regarding the construction of 700 new housing units in the Gilo
neighborhood of Jerusalem. The tenders for this construction had been put
out prior to this. It was not something new.
Kerry, however, has now chosen to point his finger at Israel, saying that
this announcement about construction is what destroyed the possibility of
salvaging the process.
This is how Lazaroff describes Kerry’s testimony (emphasis added):
“But while Kerry said the 15 applications were not
helpful, he didn’t pause in that part of the narrative, nor did he state that
this was the point of no return.“He described matter-of-factly what happened after the March 29 release was delayed as both sides tried to conclude a deal to keep the talks going for another nine-months.
“’Unfortunately the prisoners weren’t released on Saturday, when they were suppose to be released,’ Kerry said.
“’A day went by. Day two went by. Day three went by,’ Kerry said. He moved his arms to underscore his words.
“’And then in the afternoon, when they were about to maybe get there, 700 settlement units were announced in Jerusalem and, poof,’ Kerry said as he spread his arms wide and paused. It was a move that accentuated the drama.
“Kerry then finished his sentence: ‘That was sort of the moment,’ he said as he brought his hands down.’”
Poof? Kerry has sunk to a new low, even for him.
~~~~~~~~~~
I want to make several points here:
First, Israel had not committed to freezing building under the terms of the
current negotiations, nor is there anything in the Oslo Accords that would
prohibit this. Israel was in the process of offering a partial freeze when
things fell apart, but had already clarified that the partial freeze would not
include Jerusalem.
Gilo is over the ‘67 line, but it stands on what had been Jewishly owned
property even prior to 1967.
Credit:
JerusalemShots
The Arabs refer to it as being in “East” Jerusalem, but in point of fact it
is in Jerusalem’s south (or more accurately south west).
Credit:
Crethiplethi
Sometimes Gilo is referred to as a “settlement” – which is what Kerry just
did: it’s more dramatic than talking about a part of Jerusalem. Gilo,
however, is solidly within the municipal borders of Jerusalem. It is a
Jewish neighborhood with over 40,000 residents that no one believes would ever
become part of a Palestinian state even if one were – Heaven forbid – to be
established.
The furor over this is nothing but posturing.
~~~~~~~~~~
Jonathan Tobin, editor of Commentary, responded similarly to Kerry’s “poof”
statement. “Why did Kerry lie about Israeli blame?” he asks.
And then proceeds to answer the question (emphasis added):
“...to blame the collapse on the decision to build
apartments in Gilo...is, to put it mildly, a mendacious effort to shift blame
away from the side that seized the first pretext to flee talks onto the one that
has made concessions in order to get the Palestinians to sit at the table. But
why would Kerry utter such a blatant falsehood about the process he has
championed?
“The answer is simple. Kerry doesn’t want to blame the
Palestinians for walking out because to do so would be a tacit admission that
his critics were right when they suggested last year that he was embarking on a
fool’s errand...
“Since Kerry hopes to entice the Palestinians back to the talks
at some point, blaming Israel also gives him leverage to demand more
concessions from the Jewish state to bribe Abbas to negotiate. Being honest
about the Palestinian stance would not only undermine the basis for the talks
but also make it harder to justify the administration’s continued insistence on
pressuring the Israelis rather than seek to force Abbas to alter his
intransigent positions.
“Seen in that light, Kerry probably thinks no harm can come from
blaming the Israelis who have always been the convenient whipping boys of the
peace process no matter what the circumstances. But he’s wrong about that too.
Just as the Clinton administration did inestimable damage to the credibility of
the peace process and set the stage for another round of violence by
whitewashing Yasir Arafat’s support for terrorism and incitement to hatred in
the 1990s, so, too, do Kerry’s efforts to portray Abbas as the victim
rather than the author of this fiasco undermine his efforts for
peace.”
It is said sometimes that trying to make peace cannot hurt. But we
see that it can, when the effort is mismanaged.
Tobin’s assumption that Kerry hopes to entice the Palestinians back at some
point is probably correct. Until today I have avoided posting about the
interminable haggling about the end of this process. It has been
unbearable to witness.
I do think it’s come to an end, for now, even though Kerry is still talking
about what the next few days may bring. Imagine,
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki saying, "Gaps remain, but both sides
are committed to narrow[ing] the gaps."
Prime Minister Netanyahu, for his part, has instructed ministers to cut off high-level contacts with the Palestinian
Authority on non-security related issues (Tzipi Livni excepted).
~~~~~~~~~~
Some are speaking about scaling down expectations. Thus did Shlomo Avineri,
a former director general of the Israeli foreign ministry say, “The gap between the most moderate position in Israel and the
most moderate position in the Palestinian leadership is too [wide] right now.
It's time for the U.S. to think of a contingency plan —treating this as a
conflict-management situation."
Perhaps a short term compromise, of sorts. What I
see, however, is that Israel is trapped by Oslo, as these accords call for
negotiations to resolve final issues. Thus will the process of
negotiations come back to haunt us again and again, in various formulations,
until there is the courage in the government to declare Oslo failed, and null
and void because the PLO has abrogated its terms.
~~~~~~~~~~
© Arlene Kushner.
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