I had intended to write last night – the night when that last batch of
Palestinian Arab terrorists was scheduled for release – to say that we had a
temporary reprieve. It was clear even before last night that they were not
going to be released on schedule, because the process required public
announcement of their names 48 hours before their release (not counting
Shabbat), and that deadline had come and gone without announcement.
I wanted to say, “Pheww...” at least for now they’re not out.
Credit:
Allvoices
But when I began to check news sources with regard to the release, I found
that the situation was in such disarray, with so many conflicting reports, that
writing coherently seemed close to impossible.
There appeared to be a reasonable consensus within the Israeli government
that Abbas was hedging matters too much to “justify” a further release of
prisoners (not that this could ever really be justified). It’s sort of a
“why are we bothering” feeling that has developed, as Abbas stonewalls and
refuses all concessions. PA officials this past week had said Abbas might agree to continue negotiations after the
April 29 deadline if Israel goes through with the prisoner release.
Israeli officials are concerned about the possibility that Abbas would welcome
the prisoner released, call it a victory, and then balk at further
negotiations. (More on further negotiations below.)
In a talk, also this past week, chief Israeli negotiator Tzipi Livni said
that “The key to the prison where the
Palestinian prisoners are being held” is in Abbas’s hands...
”There was never an “automatic commitment to release
prisoners unrelated to making progress in negotiations.”
Now she is denying she made a link between progress in
negotiations and the prisoner release.
~~~~~~~~~~
Yesterday, al-Hayat (London), citing PA sources said that Kerry had told
Abbas that Netanyahu had shared concerns that his government might fall if more
prisoners were released. That it might is true enough. Kerry prevailed
upon Abbas to accept a postponement in the release of those prisoners, and to
move on in the meantime.
Ha! Abbas, of course, will agree to nothing of the sort.
Meanwhile, today, in the JPost an Israeli
official is cited as denying that Netanyahu ever made any such
claim.
The
truth of the matter – both here and in other related situations – is impossible
to discern.
~~~~~~~~~~
Last
night, the Times of Israel carried an exclusive. Citing Palestinian
sources, the Times reported that:
”Israel has offered to release a new group of 400
Palestinian security prisoners, in addition to the fourth and final group of
longtime terrorism convicts who were set to go free this weekend, if the
Palestinian Authority agrees to extend peace talks for another six months. The US, anxious to arrange for the continuation of the
talks, backed the offer.”
A huge shock, if true. What must be kept in mind that this information
comes only from Palestinian sources, not known for reliability. It is
counter-intuitive, given the furor in this country about releasing 26
prisoners.
Whether Netanyahu did or did not tell Kerry the release of more prisoners
would risk his coalition, it is almost a sure thing that the coalition would
disintegrate in the face of the release of 400. Already, Naftali Bennett has
said that this will not happen. That is, the Cabinet and Knesset would not
stand for it.
~~~~~~~~~~
Today, Netanyahu has said that the issue will be resolved “in days.” It
“will be closed or it will blow up.”
“In any case, there won’t be any deal without
receiving something of clear value [in return],” Netanyahu declared.
(Emphasis added.)
~~~~~~~~~~
That’s a bit amorphous, as it depends on a judgment about what would be “of
clear value.”
It’s important to understand that the Israeli government has an objective
beyond theoretically achieving a “two-state solution”:
The PA is threatening to go to international tribunals and the UN if it
does not get satisfaction in its dealings with Israel. This means – among
other things - securing UN recognition of a Palestinian state. The US told
the Washington Post yesterday that it could not stop the PA from going to the UN
if talks failed.
(In point of fact, it is my understanding that, according to international
law, the UN does not have jurisdiction to declare a state. I will revisit
this in more detail if this appears about to happen.)
Israel is seeking to avoid this scenario. Keeping the PA at the negotiating
table means it is committed, for the duration, to not going to the UN or
international tribunals.
It still seems to me, however, that in using this tactic we are simply
delaying the inevitable. We are never going to give the Palestinian Arabs
want they want – there is not going to be a Palestinian state comprised of all
the land past the Green Line (the 1949 armistice line) with Jerusalem as its
capital, and return of “refugees.” Ultimately the PA will seek recourse in
exactly what they threaten now.
It is time, I suggest, for a new, more offensive approach on this
front.
Thus am I encouraged by what I see as a tentative sign of progress.
Netanyahu is no longer reflexively jumping to show – at ridiculous cost to us -
that we are the “cooperative party,” so that the international community will
not censure us. The government is ready to buck a Kerry demand, even if
tentatively, because acceding is perceived to be detrimental to us.
Perhaps (is this wishful thinking?) we are on the verge of declaring that the
emperor indeed is without clothes. Perhaps a majority of the government
and the Knesset will finally show itself to be sick of this whole charade.
~~~~~~~~~~
Remember that there is still the entire issue of the release of Israeli
Arab prisoners along with the others – something we say we are not committed to,
and that the PA says we are. Before these prisoners can be released, there
would have to be a special Cabinet vote, and there is serious doubt as to
whether it would pass.
~~~~~~~~~~
Lastly, before turning to other matters, there is this particular
outrage:
The JPost reported last week a charge by MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud) that
while the US was pressing Netanyahu to release prisoners, American officials had
requested that no terrorists who have killed Americans be among those
released.
I contacted MK Feiglin directly, and he confirmed that he had information
on this.
~~~~~~~~~~
Let me turn, briefly, then, to other issues, starting with this statement
from our “peace partner”:
“The Palestinian Authority Minister of Religious
Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash and the former Chief Justice of the PA's Religious
Court both recently declared that the PA's Islamic belief and political position
is that Jews are prohibited from praying at the Western Wall of the Temple
Mount...
‘Allah decreed that the
blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque is Islamic and belongs to Muslims alone... It is part
of the religious belief of a billion and a half Muslims, and the Jews have no
right to it. No party, no matter how much power and international support it
has, can change this established fact by giving the Jews any right to it, or
the right to pray in any part of it. The Al-Aqsa Mosque includes all its
courtyards... and specifically, its western wall.’"
At one point the suggestion – itself totally unacceptable! - was that the
Arabs have the Mount and the Jews have the Western Wall. These guys are
getting more audacious in their effort to squeeze us out entirely. And we
need to take note of this. There is no compromise possible here.
~~~~~~~~~~
Another attempt to squeeze us out was put forth recently by Saeb Erekat,
who claimed that, “I am the proud son of the Canaanites
who were there 5,500 years before Joshua bin Nun burned down the town of
Jericho.” His intent was to establish that the Palestinian Arabs are the
true indigenous people, here long before the Jews. Never mind that Joshua
never burned down Jericho, but merely brought its walls down – his claim is
ludicrous.
Alan Baker, Director of the Institute for
Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, has set the
record straight, and effectively so:
“Saeb Erekat’s family is Bedouin. According to
Bedouin genealogy, the family is part of the Huweitat clan which originated in
the Hejaz area of Saudi Arabia, arrived in Palestine from the south of Jordan,
and settled in the village of Abu Dis in the early twentieth
century...
“Erekat, the chief Palestinian
negotiator, has already established an international reputation for stretching
the truth. Many Israelis recall during Operation Defensive Shield in 2002 when
Erekat went on CNN to assert that Israel had killed ‘more than 500 people’ in
Jenin in a “real massacre,’ adding that 300 Palestinians were being buried in
mass graves. It soon became clear that in combat operations at the time, the
Palestinian death toll in Jenin was 52: 34 of whom (65 percent) were known
military operatives of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, or Fatah-Tanzim. Now Erekat’s wild
assertions have moved into the field of history as part of a Palestinian battle
over the narrative of the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict.”
“Chief Palestinian negotiator”: go negotiate with people like
this.
~~~~~~~~~~
In the midst of all of this, I want to end on an upbeat note, with Pharrell
Williams’ Happy Jerusalem Video. What fun:
~~~~~~~~~~
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