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Israel Launches a New Peace Initiative
by Sergio Yahni, Alternative Information Center  | | Ben Heine / MWC NEWS |
Muhamad Dahlan’s failed military takeover in June put an end to seven years of Israeli unilateralism in the region. This resulted in the creation of two Palestinian governments, one headed by Hamas and one by Fatah, both claiming legitimacy, and an agreement from the Fatah militias in the West Bank to disarm. With this as the present context, the peace process was back on the local and international agendas.
At the moment, there are two propositions on the peace negotiations table. The Arab League calls for Israel to receive full recognition from all Arab states in exchange for a withdrawal to the pre-1967 boundaries and an agreed solution to the refugee problem. Israel offers a phased negotiation towards a Palestinian State on ninety percent of the West Bank, with the right to annex the major settlement blocks. The Palestinian Authority, headed by President Mahmud Abbas has no proposition so far. In order to promote the Arab Initiative, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abdul Gheit and Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdelelah al-Khatib, members of the Arab League Initiative Supervisory Committee, arrived on Wednesday, 25 July on an official visit to Israel. “We hope that upon our return, we would also convey to the Arab League the responses of Israel and I hope that the responses will be positive,” Aboul Gheit said at a news conference on 25 June. During a meeting with the Arab League representatives on 26 June, Prime Minister Olmert said that Israel and the PA “have begun a process of dialogue that will naturally also lead to negotiations with the PA on the main issues that will enable the establishment of a Palestinian state.” He was referring to a newly proposed, phased peace plan, similar in content to the Oslo peace process. According to a report published on Haaretz newspaper on 25 July, Olmert is offering President Abbas to hold negotiations toward an “Agreement of Principles” for the establishment of a Palestinian state on most of the territory of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Olmert’s proposes first to discuss issues that are relatively easy for the two sides to agree upon and to begin negotiations on the characteristics of the Palestinian state, its official institutions, its economy, and the customs arrangement it will have with Israel. Following the path of the Oslo’s Declaration of Principles (DOP), after an “Agreement of Principles,” the two sides will tackle the more sensitive diplomatic issues, like final borders and the transit arrangements. Olmert believes this is not the time to deal with the minute details of the agreement, because it will be very difficult to reach agreement on final status issues, such as borders, Jerusalem and the refugees. The same issues were left also in the Oslo DOP for the final negotiations. The likely principles that Olmert will offer as part of the agreement will be the establishment of a Palestinian state comprising about 90 percent of the territory of the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. These are the same territories Olmert proposed Israel will evacuate unilaterally, and withdraw to the separation fence. In addition, Olmert may propose an exchange of territory to compensate for the large settlement blocs that will remain under Israeli control in the West Bank and to connect the West Bank and the Gaza Strip through a tunnel in order to offer the Palestinians territorial contiguity, prevent friction between Israelis and Palestinians, and preserve security. Israel will request territorial compensation for the digging of a tunnel in its sovereign territory. The Palestinians will be able to declare Jerusalem their capital that will include the Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem which have never been considered part of the historical city. The Old City, its environs and the Mount of Olives would remain in Israel’s control. The Arab League initiative is an attempt to answer the main issues of the conflict, namely an Israeli retreat from the territories it has occupied since 1967, the creation of a Palestinian state and a solution for the Palestinian refugees. But Israel is proposing to return to an interim process that will answer none of the territorial and demographic issues at hand. On the opposite end, Israel proposes to delay, yet again, issues which they repeatedly delayed for thirteen years already, since September 1993. Moreover, Israel proposes a return to square one, to endless negotiations without restrictions on its colonization policies or on the implementation of an apartheid regime. The most dangerous aspect of the Israeli proposition is that in order to return to the negotiations, Palestinians have to accept a state divided by settlement blocks. On the other side, the answer to the Israeli proposition is not anymore in the hands of Dahlan, who resigned on 26 July, or Abbas and Fayyad, who have accepted Israeli military and political supremacy, but in the hands of the Palestnian resistance and the popular movements. Dahlan’s failed coup d’etat created the condition for the Israeli initiative, but it did not defeat the forces of Palestinian national resistance either in Gaza or in the West Bank. Therefore, Israel’s military support for the Palestinian Authority continues. According to a report published by Haaretz on 26 June, Israel authorized the transfer of 1,000 M-16 rifles from Jordan to the security forces of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. According to other Israeli sources, 3,000 M-16 rifles were transferred. The weapons were delivered to the PA security forces three weeks ago following Israeli authorization, and kept under strict confidence on both sides in an effort to prevent any possible leak that could undermine Abbas’ standing. This is the largest arms transfer authorized in recent years, and it is meant to aid forces loyal to Abbas in its struggle against Hamas and the Palestinian popular movement. Earlier this year, several thousand rifles were delivered to Fatah forces in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, but most of those arms came under Hamas’ control following Dahlan’s military failure. Recommend this article...
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Tags: Sergio Yahni Alternative Information Center Muhamad Dahlan Israel Peace Initiative
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