And now, Benjamin Netanyahu has yet another crippling idea for proceeding with negotiations with the Palestinians under a US-sponsored procedure that started nine months ago. His delusional offer supposedly would end in the next few months in a final settlement, ushering in a two-state solution for Palestinians and Israelis.
What the deceiving Israeli prime minister now wants is for the Obama administration, unlike five previous US administrations, to release the convicted Israeli spy Jonathan J. Pollard, a former US Navy intelligence analyst, who is serving a life sentence in a North Carolina prison for secretly providing classified documents to his Israeli handlers. A decision to release the 59-year-old prolific spy who has already spent 29 years in jail would be, according to unidentified US officials speaking to the New York Times, “in the context of a broader agreement to extend the talks between the Israelis and Palestinians”. This step would require the endorsement of President Barack Obama. If the US succumbs to the Israeli condition, they say they will be ready to impose a “partial” — repeat a partial freeze — on continued illegal Israeli colony expansion in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. But there are many who believe this is not the way to go since Israelis “will not trade land for him, not one inch,” wrote Jeffrey Goldberg of Bloomberg View, “to think otherwise is foolish”. He insisted that “the cause of Middle East peace will not be advanced by the release of a hapless spy”.
The proposed colony freeze reportedly will not include occupied East Jerusalem, where the Palestinians hope to establish their capital captured in the 1967 war. And since the Palestinians have rejected Israel’s recent surprise demand that they recognise Israel as a “Jewish state” the Israelis refused to release several dozen jailed Palestinians as has been promised when the current US-sponsored negotiations were launched nine months ago. The last group of inmates that were supposed to be released last Tuesday included 14 Arab citizens of Israel.
Despite the fact that the new Israeli offer included the release of 400 other Palestinian prisoners, including women and minors, who have not been convicted of killing Israelis, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas went ahead last Tuesday and signed more than a dozen international conventions in retaliation of Israel’s deplorable stance.
Despite his surprise action, Abbas made clear he was not abandoning the negotiations, but blasted Israel’s delay in freeing prisoners. “We are not doing this against America, but we still don’t see other ways forward,” Abbas said, before signing the packet of papers that included 15 conventions of international and UN groups. These papers were not identified.
Over and above the frozen peace negotiations, there has been this week several other serious hurdles facing prominent American leaders who are supportive of Israel. “All heck broke loose,” wrote Annie Robbins of Mondoweiss.net when New Jersey Governor Chris Christie uttered the words “Occupied (Palestinian) Territory” in describing his recent visit to Israel during an otherwise “enrapturing” speech last week in front of the Republic Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas. The event was hosted by Sheldon Adelson, a hardline American Jewish billionaire and supporter of Israel, who is noted for financially supporting many politicians. “A hush fell over the crowd,” she noted.
Republican Governor Christie, who aspires to run for president in 2016, was confronted after his speech for his use of the term which Zionists eschew. The governor was challenged by Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organisation of America, reportedly telling Governor Christie that “at a minimum, you should call it disputed territories”. The embattled governor did. An occupied Jerusalem court, reported Reuters last Sunday, approved a bid by Adelson, a major backer of Netanyahu, to buy Makor Rishon (“First Source”) — a newspaper that caters to religious-nationalist Jews, including many in illegal West Bank colonies besides his free, mass-circulation daily Israel Hayom (Israel Today). US Secretary of State John Kerry was, meanwhile, severely attacked by a Washington Post columnist, Jackson Diehl, who is usually supportive of Israel, for being “delusional” in his foreign policy approach in the Middle East and everywhere. He argued relentlessly that Kerry should recognise that “a comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian peace isn’t possible now and (to) look for more modest ways to build the groundwork for a future Palestinian state”. In short, he concluded, “drop the delusions”.
George S. Hishmeh is a Washington-based columnist. He can be contacted at ghishmeh@gulfnews.com
