Wednesday, August 3, 2011

WT? Negotiate on basis of rejected 67' borders!

"With tens of thousands of young protestors on his streets in a social justice movement sparked by a housing crisis, some Israeli commentators have suggested that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's best hope for quelling a domestic "rebellion" lies in changing the subject to the question of peace with the Palestinians. But that's not why Netanyahu, according to  Israeli reports, is trying to signal a new flexibility on the formula to restart peace.
Netanyahu more likely is thinking about the protests called by the Palestinian Authority for September 20, the eve of a U.N. General Assembly vote which would by an overwhelming majority recognize Palestinian statehood (although with no practical effect if the move isn't endorsed by the Security Council, where the U.S. has vowed to veto it)...
An Israeli TV news report on Monday claimed that "in a dramatic policy shift", Netanyahu was now willing to negotiate on the basis of Israel's 1967 borders ...But the Israeli Prime Minister's own aides quickly rushed to assure Israeli media that Netanyahu maintains his rejection of withdrawal to the 1967 lines ...
The new American proposals have been "precooked with the Israeli leadership", says Levy, and tilt the U.S. position heavily towards Israel's own demands. Thus, while negotiating the basis of the June 4, 1967 borders, the parties would in fact be required to negotiate a border different to those that existed before that date "to take account of changes that have taken place over the past 44 years, including new demographic realities on the ground and the needs of both sides..."
So the new Israeli position, while tweaked to appear to be more in line with what the Obama Administration has been asking, may not be all that new, after all. Nor is it one that makes it any easier for Abbas to accept, unless he's essentially looking for an off-ramp from a confrontational diplomatic strategy that threatens his ties with Washington -- which may well be the case. If not, and the U.N. vote goes ahead, Netanyahu's latest position will simply have been an attempt to shift the blame for intransigence back onto the Palestinians. Netanyahu and Abbas, it should be noted, have never really negotiated with one another; instead, both "negotiate", or jockey for position, with the U.S. and the wider international community. And Netanyahu's new willingness to talk about borders, but only on his terms and if the Palestinians withdraw their U.N. bid,  is simply his latest move in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian battle for international public opinion."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

wasn't there a general council resolution that allows Palestine membership while bypassing the security council recommendation? Why does the story keep changing so much?alestine membership while bypassing the security council recommendation? Why does the story keep changing so much?