Washington Times/ here
".... The private Israeli position, which was described by these three individuals on the condition that they not be named, is at odds with the public stance Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has taken before the meeting Tuesday with President Obama and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in New York. The prime minister's media adviser, Nir Hefetz, told Israeli radio Monday that Mr. Netanyahu would not support a settlement freeze, because he considers the settlements to be a "Zionist enterprise."...
What the Israelis are offering is still shy of Mr. Obama's demands. The two Israeli officials and the Israel specialist said Mr. Netanyahu wants to move forward with 2,500 to 3,000 housing units already approved and to exempt East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians foresee as a future capital, from the freeze. The U.S. also sought a yearlong freeze, while Mr. Netanyahu is offering six to nine months, the Israelis said........
A U.S. official, speaking on the condition that he not be named because the negotiations are continuing, said Mr. Mitchell has received private assurances from some Gulf Arab and North African states to grant over-flight rights to Israeli jets, open interest sections in Israel and end a travel ban against Israelis if Israel freezes settlement construction. Saudi Arabia, guardian of Islam's holiest sites, has not agreed to these steps absent a peace agreement.
"Thus far, the Arabs have stiffed Obama and the Israelis in their own exquisite way are stiffing him," said Aaron David Miller, a former senior Middle East adviser to six U.S. secretaries of state. "He is not getting a comprehensive settlement freeze. In fact, over the next 18 months, it may look like a construction boom; 2,500 to 3,000 new units is a lot of construction and to boot the Israelis will never agree to anything on Jerusalem.".....
"The problem with the Obama administration policy is not the man, Obama or Mitchell; it's the mandate," Mr. Miller said. "It should be clear to all but the eternally obtuse that a conflict-ending agreement between Benjamin Netanyahu and a divided Palestinian national movement is probably out of reach. The question then becomes what is the connection between trying to get the Arabs to do partial steps for normalization and the Israelis to do a partial settlement freeze and the Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement?"
1 comment:
Rubbish. This sounds like a give-away to Israel. If Israel is only willing to freeze settlements for 6 months they should only have normalization between it's Arab neighbours for 6 months.
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