The resignation of former British premier Tony Blair from the post of Middle East special envoy of the so-called Quartet of key nations, seeking a Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement, is another indication that this 47-year hurdle will remain insurmountable. Blair held this post since 2007, in a lacklustre manner, and will officially step down on June 30. His tenure, as representative of the US, Russia, European Union and United Nations, has not been remarkable since he has never spoken out about the obstacles he faced. Although the Palestinians had welcomed his appointment a few months after his term as British prime minister ended, they lost faith in him soon thereafter. He seemed too close to the Israelis — a feature that also implicates some other western leaders.
The disappointing emergence last month of an extremist right-wing government in Israel, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, which has only a one-vote majority in the Israeli Knesset, has nipped in the bud all hopes for a peaceful settlement in the near future despite the fruitless involvement of US Secretary of State John Kerry. Judging by the view of key Israeli ministers, as revealed in interviews last weekend with the Washington Post’s Lally Weymouth, the future does not seem very promising and this has prompted the Palestinians to seek the assistance of the UN.
Naftali Bennett, whom Weymouth described as a “kind of kingmaker — able to influence Netanyahu’s policies in exchange for the majority that his party helps furnish”, is advocating that Israel should “annex large parts of the West Bank”, a Palestinian-dominated region which is only 22 per cent of the former British mandate. (Under the unfair UN Partition Plan, the Palestinian Jews were awarded 55 per cent of the Holy Land, especially the prosperous coastal region, and the other Palestinians the remaining hilly regions.)
When Bennett was reminded that he had once said, “We’ll never give the land back to the Palestinians”, his response was: “Not back — away”, elaborating that “I don’t believe in giving up our land. I think it’s a profound mistake,” claiming that “a large portion of Israelis have come to adopt my point of view, which is why Bibi (Netanyahu) effectively adopted my view during the recent elections”. He also insisted that Israel will retain 60 per cent of the occupied West Bank, known as Area C, where many Israeli colonists have been living since the 1967 war.
In response to another question, Bennett, who is the new Education Minister, argued that he does not think “peace is achievable right now”.
Another outlandish Israeli view was voiced by a young political ally of Netanyahu, Tzipi Hotovely, the new Deputy Foreign Minister. In her inaugural speech to her staff members, she maintained that she was on a mission to convince the world that Israel inherited the Occupied Territories from God. “This land is ours. All of it [is] ours. We did not come here to apologise for that.” Her statement presumably spelled out the views of the new Israeli government. “We expect the international community to back up the demand of our prime minister to declare Israel as the Jewish national state. Moreover, we expect as a matter of principle that the international community recognise Israel’s right to build homes for Jews in the homeland everywhere.”
These aggressive Israeli views were stark in comparison to those aired by Rami Hamdallah, the Palestinian Prime Minister, in his interview with the Washington Post. He expressed hope that he would be able to accomplish the establishment of “the Palestinian state with 1967 borders and [with] East Jerusalem as its capital”. He insisted: “We hope negotiations will be resumed, but within a new framework. We need a time limit for the Israeli withdrawal from our territories and a date for the establishment of the (Palestinian) state — the leadership in Palestine has put the date as the end of 2017.”
He argued that to guarantee the establishment of the state, the Palestinians would need a UN resolution to this effect because, he elaborated, “we’ve experienced direct talks [with the Israelis], and they were a failure”. “The intervention of the UN and the superpower countries is important to convince Israel to reach a peaceful settlement.”
He added: “If we get a peaceful settlement and an agreement with Israel, guaranteed by the US and other countries, I’m sure we can live in paradise here — both of us.”
Several influential American Jewish voices remain doubtful about Netanyahu’s intentions. For example, Americans for Peace Now last week issued what has been described as an “emphatic statement” saying that Netanyahu or his aides are “lying” and the US “should not enter into any negotiations with Israel, but go to the UN now to push for a two-state solution along the lines of the Arab Peace Initiative”.
In other words, no one believes the shaky extreme rightist Israeli government, which mistakenly thinks all are eager to rush to the negotiating table for another fruitless meeting. What is more likely is that all will be waiting for the results of the upcoming US-led big-power negotiations with Iran over its nuclear ambitions. Should a deal be reached, the road will be wide open for an honourable Palestinian-Israeli settlement, sanctioned by the UN.
George S. Hishmeh is a Washington-based columnist. He can be contacted at ghishmeh@gulfnews.com
