"Looking Beyond"

Arlene Kushner

We'll skip the nonsense today -- the day by day give-and-take of the "peace process."

But this is a good time to take a look at the substance behind some of the words we hear almost daily. To that end, I would like to recommend two articles:

In his piece -- "Why Isn't Obama Pressuring the Palestinians?" -- Steven Rosen takes a close look at legal precedents, and less formal agreements and statements, that call for settlement of the issues between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs via negotiations, and only negotiations: At the start of the Oslo Process in 1993, Yasser Arafat, in an exchange of letters with PM Yitzhak Rabin, wrote: "The PLO commits itself to the Middle East peace process, and to a peaceful resolution of the conflict between the two sides, and declares that all outstanding issues relating to permanent status will be resolved through negotiations."

His successor, Mahmoud Abbas, made a similar pledge three years ago at Annapolis: "We agree to immediately launch good-faith bilateral negotiations in order to conclude a peace treaty, resolving all outstanding issues, including all core issues without exception, as specified in previous agreements. We agree to engage in vigorous, ongoing and continuous negotiations."

Similarly, the Quartet is on record as recently as this past March as calling for the resumption of "direct, bilateral negotiations." And various members of the Obama administration have said much the same.

So there is plenty of justification for squeezing Abbas on his outright refusal to negotiate, and yet, what Obama is doing is just the opposite. In October, invoking "national security interests," he issued a special waiver of Section 7040(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act, regarding restrictions on providing funds to the Palestinian Authority.

The new Congress, says Rosen, is likely to be less inclined to play it the way Obama has, however. And legislation is already in place regarding sanctions against the PA for violations of its commitments.

The Middle East Peace Commitments Act of 2002 recognizes that the PA has committed to resolution of all outstanding issues via negotiations. It requires the president to notify Congress if there are violations, and to impose penalties, which may include "prohibition on United States assistance to the West Bank and Gaza."

Haven't heard of the Middle East Peace Commitments Act of 2002 before? There's a reasonable chance that we'll be hearing a good deal about it in the near future. And one must assume (hope?) that, in the face of this legislation, Obama would not be so brazen as to permit passage of a resolution in the Security Council that establishes a Palestinian state without those negotiations. For him to do so would be to defy the sense of a US statute.

http://www.meforum.org:80/2814/obama-pressuring-palestinians

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Then, for those of serious bent who want to better understand the legal issues surrounding charges that the "settlements" are illegal according to the Geneva Convention (they're not), I recommend a briefing by Alan Baker, formerly legal advisor to Israel's Foreign Ministry. It has been put out by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and is currently the lead report on the Center's homepage: http://www.jcpa.org/

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I wrote just days ago about talk of Netanyahu's coalition crumbling, and my sense that -- because the prime minister is extremely savvy with regard to doing the necessary horse-trading to keep it all together -- the government is not going to fall so quickly.

Now we have an article in Haaretz that attributes certain recent decisions by Netanyahu to his desire to keep Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer content, so that he doesn't follow through on his threat to lead Labor out of the coalition because of Netanyahu's failure to find a way to resume the peace process. According to this article, Netanyahu has now:

[] Invited Ben-Eliezer to accompany him on a current trip to Cairo.
[] Invited him to participate in discussions of the Septet (the inner cabinet). Ben-Eliezer and Silvan Shalom were both supposed to be included originally and neither was. Now Shalom will also be invited in, meaning one off-sets the other. (This also means the Septet will now be a Nonet.)
[] Agreed to permit 5,000 Palestinian Arab agricultural and construction workers into Israel, something he has previously opposed. Ben-Eliezer is seeking to mollify the Arabs.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/netanyahu-woos-top-labor-minister-in-bid-to-save-coalition-1.335469

So here we have it. Netanyahu may avert the collapse of his government. But at what cost? What does he represent, when opinions so diverse are expressed within the coalition? How much will the right wing within the government forestall undue influence by the leftist Ben-Eliezer?

Ben-Eliezer says he was instrumental in bringing Labor into the coalition because he "believed" in Netanyahu (read: expected him to do whatever it would take to make Abbas happy). Ben-Eliezer, as other members of Labor, expects concessions from us, rather than putting the onus on the PA, where it belongs.

(Thank Jeff D. for calling my attention to this article.)

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The Palestinian Authority prison revolving door is working as well as ever:

On orders from PA President Abbas, six Hamas prisoners in a PA prison have been released. They had been on a hunger strike on orders from Hamas, with intention of embarrassing the PA. They would have been released even earlier, except, said PA officials, for "security reasons related to their personal safety." This is presumed to refer to a fear that Israel would get them, but why this should be less of a danger now is not clear.

Abbas, it is being said, did this to foster unity with Hamas. "This year is the year of national unity," said Kamel Hmeid, the PA governor of Hebron, where the prisoners had been held. "We are hoping to end internal divisions and secure the release of all prisoners."

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The most painful part of this news story is that one of the men released was Waed al-Bitar, who was involved just four months ago in the horrendous terrorist slaying of four innocent Jews outside of Beit Haggai. See here:
http://www.ourjerusalem.com/hotnews/story/four-jews-murdered-in-arab-terror-attack.html.

What must be done surely will be done. Bitar cannot simply go free.

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Things are heating up between Lebanon and Israel, and it comes as no surprise:

The Lebanese have been making noise for a while now with regard to our natural gas finds in the Mediterranean -- claiming these fields are actually in their waters. And now that the news has broken about the Leviathan -- that enormous field of gas that will keep us self-sufficient for years and perhaps allow marketing of natural gas -- they want a piece of the action.

Lebanon appealed to the UN, which declined to be involved in setting maritime borders. Israeli officials say that this gas field isn't close enough to Lebanon so that there is even legitimate doubt -- nor are any of four other finds. If push comes to shove, we'll defend our rights to this area, and we must hope that Hezbollah gets that message and doesn't use this as "cause" for igniting something more.

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I've picked this up only in Arutz Sheva, and I'm not certain how much there is to it. But it's an intriguing enough idea to mention here:

MK Ayoub Kara, who is Deputy Minister for Development of the Negev and the Galil, is promoting an exchange between Israel and Syria of apples for water. Kara says that while there is some unease about this project, preliminary exploration has been positive. He has been in touch with the Israeli Director of the Water Authority, and, indirectly, with officials in Damascus.

The Golan Heights, which Syria covets, provides a superb climate for the growing of apples and boasts thousands of acres of orchards. What Kara is proposing is a massive export of those apples into Syria, in exchange for Syrian release of water into the Golan. (I am assuming that water released in the Golan would find its way into the Kinneret.) According to Kara there are 200 million cubic liters of water in Syria, at the border with the Golan.

Perhaps a thoughtful pipedream and no more; it seems such a creative stop-gap solution to our current water emergency. This would require the government of Israel to sign off on the project.

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Remember the accusation by Egypt that the Mossad might have put a tourist-attacking shark into its waters? Now we have another accusation: This time it involves Saudi Arabia and a vulture. And, I admit, it's a bit more logical than the shark accusation.

Seems the Saudis caught a vulture that was carrying a GPS transmitter and had a band around its leg that said "Tel Aviv University." It's a spy, cried the Saudis.

Not quite. This bird was part of a long-term study project that followed the flying patterns of vultures.

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"The Good News Corner"

(With a nod to Israel 21C)

A research team at Tel Aviv University has developed a sensor that is said to be even more reliable and sensitive than a dog's nose. This small, portable sensor, based on nanotechnology, has not erred once in detecting various types of explosives during tests. It is particularly effective at detecting TNT, and there is hope that its capacity can be expanded to include detection of toxins and biological threats such as anthrax.
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Israeli engineers and medical specialists have just completed the construction of a state-of-the-art emergency room for a hospital in Kisumu, the third largest city in Kenya. It is the first fully equipped emergency room in a region that has a population of six million. It will serve as both a training center and regional emergency treatment center.
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David Pur, 115, is thought to be the oldest man in the world. Born in Persia, he and his family made aliyah in 1948. He still listens to the news every day and discusses events with his grandson, IDF General Yoav Mordechai. Three of his children are still alive; he has 18 grandchildren and 56 great-grandchildren.

"The main thing is not to lose your optimism," he says. He is known for his smiles and his jokes. While avoiding meat and focusing on fruits and vegetables in his diet, he enjoys a glass of brandy and some nuts for breakfast.


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© Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by Arlene Kushner, functioning as an independent journalist. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution


see my website www.ArlenefromIsrael.info