Palestinian Israeli Peace Revisited

Once again, more accurately, still, the persistent talk of forcing a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians has reemerged. With the appointment of Tzipi Livni as Ehud Barak’s replacement as Prime Minister, there is hope that the “talks” between her new government, assuming she is able to form a coalition, and Abbas can pick right up without skipping a beat. After all, was not Tzipi Livni one of the main negotiators all along? Some might even refer to her as one of the major people responsible for the Israeli side of the negotiations. A somewhat guarded secret has been her negotiations to divide Jerusalem, though the liberal Haaretz drags anybody actually admitting over the coals as it would very likely cost the Kadima Labor party their majority coalition. Again, Israel is being pushed to make further concessions to the Palestinian Authority while not holding the Palestinian Authority to meeting any of their requirements. This is being described as aiming for a shelf agreement, an agreement that will be the “Final Agreement” once all the other obligations have been met. My question is why? and can you see the problem with this idea?

The why is easy, President Bush, like President Clinton before him, is reaching for this illusive peace between Israel and the Palestinians as extra padding in their legacy file. This leaves us with the problem with this whole shelf agreement and the road map in general. As should have become obvious to anybody who has paid even the slightest attention to the ongoing fiasco called the Israel Palestine peace process, no matter how close to a deal the negotiations come, there will always be one more demand that prevents any deal. Both sides are to some extent guilty of being the obstructers of an agreement. For the majority of Israelis, it is the desire, demand by some, that all of Jerusalem and the surrounding metropolitan area, especially the Temple Mount, be part of Israel. This obviously contradicts with the Palestinian demand to retain control of the Arab sections of Jerusalem as well as the Temple Mount. On the Palestinian side is the demand of either a total “Right of Return” or at least a sizeable allowance for Palestinians who claim to have been dispossessed be allowed to return and claim their rightful homes. This is seen by Israel as an attempt to kill the idea of Israel as a Jewish State. These two conflicting demands in and of themselves are enough to prevent any chance of an agreement being reached.

Another reason the shelf agreement concept should be a no go is the trend that each new round of negotiations begin with whatever was Israel’s final offer as the starting point. This is interesting because the Palestinian negotiators are cagey enough to simply make the same promises at each turn while never fulfilling them. Further, the Palestinians know they can count on most of the world, the UN, EU, Russia, the Arab and Muslim world, and even the US to pressure Israel to just give in on this or that and maybe peace will be found. As stated before, this or that is never enough but this game places Israel with less leeway in future negotiations. I would be happy to read that an Israeli Prime Minister would have the spine and chutzpah to offer a final offer to the Palestinians and insist that this offer will expire at the end of the month and if refused, then all offers are off and the negotiations go back to square one. Thus far, the Palestinians have never faced anything to lose by refusing to sign an agreement. Actually, with each phase of negotiations demanding that Israel start from their last offer and give more, the Palestinians are actually rewarded for their in intransigence. I realize that finding such a person who could be elected Prime Minister in Israel who would take such a firm stand is near impossible. I still believe that unless the Palestinians have something to lose by not negotiating in earnest that no peace will ever be reached and the terror status quo and the poverty and suffering of the Palestinian people will continue and the ruling elite of the Palestinians will continue to squander and steal the funds that flow into their area so freely despite nothing ever being shown for such largess. It is a truly tragedy for both sides.

Beyond the Cusp