"...Just laying the foundations for the peace process."
by Jonathan Cook, October 04, 2010
"Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, has insisted from the launch of the current peace talks that the Palestinians set no preconditions, while making his own precondition the centerpiece of negotiations. Netanyahu has said talks are futile unless the Palestinians and their leader, Mahmoud Abbas, first recognize Israel as a Jewish state. “I recognized the Palestinians’ right to self-definition, so they must do the same for the Jewish people,” he told American Jewish leaders recently.
Netanyahu, of the right-wing Likud Party, is not the first Israeli leader to make such a requirement of the Palestinians. His predecessor, Tzipi Livni, the leader of the centrist opposition, wanted the same recognition. Barak, the defense minister and head of the supposedly left-wing Labor Party, also supports this position. The consensus on this matter, however, masks a reluctance by Israeli politicians to clarify what exactly is being expected of the Palestinians and why recognition is so important.....
There is one flaw in Lieberman’s scheme. Many Palestinian citizens, such as those in the Galilee, are not near the West Bank and could not be exchanged through land swaps. His election slogan – “No loyalty, no citizenship” – tells the rest of a plan he has revealed to Israelis but not directly to the international community. Although American Jewish leaders decried Lieberman’s use of the UN platform to reveal a proposal that officially counters his own government’s policy, Netanyahu baffled observers by remaining demure. His officials publicly distanced him from the scheme but then privately told the Israeli media that the prime minister did not think the plan illegitimate and that he would not “chastise” Lieberman."
"Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, has insisted from the launch of the current peace talks that the Palestinians set no preconditions, while making his own precondition the centerpiece of negotiations. Netanyahu has said talks are futile unless the Palestinians and their leader, Mahmoud Abbas, first recognize Israel as a Jewish state. “I recognized the Palestinians’ right to self-definition, so they must do the same for the Jewish people,” he told American Jewish leaders recently.
Netanyahu, of the right-wing Likud Party, is not the first Israeli leader to make such a requirement of the Palestinians. His predecessor, Tzipi Livni, the leader of the centrist opposition, wanted the same recognition. Barak, the defense minister and head of the supposedly left-wing Labor Party, also supports this position. The consensus on this matter, however, masks a reluctance by Israeli politicians to clarify what exactly is being expected of the Palestinians and why recognition is so important.....
There is one flaw in Lieberman’s scheme. Many Palestinian citizens, such as those in the Galilee, are not near the West Bank and could not be exchanged through land swaps. His election slogan – “No loyalty, no citizenship” – tells the rest of a plan he has revealed to Israelis but not directly to the international community. Although American Jewish leaders decried Lieberman’s use of the UN platform to reveal a proposal that officially counters his own government’s policy, Netanyahu baffled observers by remaining demure. His officials publicly distanced him from the scheme but then privately told the Israeli media that the prime minister did not think the plan illegitimate and that he would not “chastise” Lieberman."
No comments:
Post a Comment