by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright Nov. 9, 2009
All Rights Reserved.

             Calling for an “immediate” resumption of peace talks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed clever gamesmanship, knowing full well Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Nov. 5 he wouldn’t seek a second term. Netanyahu, whose position on West Bank settlements is at odds with the U.S. and international community, knows there’s no peace partner with whom to negotiate.  Since Hamas seized the Gaza Strip June 14, 2007, Palestinians are in a low-grade civil war.  Hamas, whose Damscus-exiled leader Khaled Meshaal calls for Israel’s destruction with no intent of making peace.  Calling for peace now is a good PR move but there’s little real hope for peace until Palestinians resolve their conflict between Hamas and Fatah.  Speaking to Jewish Federation of North America in Washington, Netanyahu asked to resume peace talks.

            Netanyhu knows that Abbas’s recent resignation had to do with Israel’s refusal to halt settlement construction in the West Bank.  Israel seized Jordan’s West Bank, Egypt’s Gaza Strip and Syria’s Golan Height in the 1967 War.  Israel uses the Golan Heights as a military buffer zone, kept Gazas until Sept. 12, 2005 and continued building settlements in the West Bank on what many orthodox Jews believe is holy land.  Netanyahu’s commitment to not start new construction in the West Bank was hailed by Secretary State Hillary Rodham Clinton as “unprecedented,” prompting a strong rebuke from the Arab community.  Abbas has insisted that all settlement activity in the West Bank stop before resuming peace talks.  Netanyahu, on the other hands, insists that there be no preconditions for peace talks.  He knows that Israel can’t negotiate peace with half the Palestinian people.

            Calling the building boom in the West Bank good for Palestinians, Netanyahu can’t see how developing more businesses and industry hurts the peace process.  Israel has built shopping malls, restaurants, movie theaters, creating thousands of jobs for Palestinians.  “I want to make this clear:  My goal is not to have endless negotiations.  My goal is not negotiations for the sake of negotiations.  My goal is to achieve a permanent peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinians,” said Netanyahu, not admitting his opposition to an armed, sovereign Palestinian State.  Before negotiations take place, Israel considers the West Bank a permanent spoil of the 1967 War.  All land-for-peace negotiations involve an ongoing process, not a precondition for Palestinians negotiations.  Netanyahu wants cooperative business relationships to determine the final peace settlement.

            Abbas resigned, in part, because Meshaal has called for a new “intifada” or uprising in the so-called occupied territories.  Egypt has tried but failed to negotiate a power-sharing agreement between Hamas and Fatah, leaving Abbas, a U.S. ally, in the unenviable position dealing with Palestinian’s most radical elements.  “No Israeli government has been so willing to restrain settlement activities as part of an effort to relaunch peace talks,” said Netanyahu.  Speaking directly to Abbas, the Israel leader asked for cooperation.  “Let us seize the moment to reach an historic agreement.  Let us begin talks immediately,” Netanyahu told the Jewish Federation, knowing that Abbas already announced his retirement.  Netanyahu knows that Abbas is now out of the picture, awaiting a change in Fatah leadership.  Hamas wants to seize the moment to begin more armed conflict.

            Calling current development a “defining moment,” Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called for Israel to accept a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, insisting “we will have to take other steps.”  Erekat knows full well that Fatah doesn’t negotiate on behalf of Hamas.  Unable to reach a power-sharing accord with Hamas, Fatah has tried to negotiate unilaterally with Israel.  With Abbas stepping aside, Erekat implies Fatah could join Hamas’s armed struggle against the Jewish State.  Erekat knows that restarting the intifada could open the door for Israel to retake Gaza, a prerequisite for unifying the Palestinian people.  When Netanyahu sits down with President Barack Obama this evening, they’ll discuss the current dilemma.  While appearing at times to sympathize with Palestinians, Obama won’t support, regardless of justifications, a return to hostilities.

            Palestinians should heed the new Israeli leadership that won’t be bullied into peace negotiations.  Netanyahu has offered an olive branch but only if Palestinians accept there are no preconditions.  Abbas couldn’t satisfy Hamas’s demands for a total halt to Israeli construction in the West Bank.  Hamas knows firsthand the effect of going it alone in Gaza, where there no longer any business cooperation with Israel. If Hamas gets its way, they’ll turn the West Bank into another Gaza Strip, where the desire to destroy Israeli-built infrastructure outweighs any desire for peace.  “He obviously looks forward to sitting down with the prime minister tonight and (continuing) to work together to address issues like Mideast peace and the threat that’s posed by Iran,” said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.  Obama and Netanyahu will no doubt talk about the impasse between Fatah and Hamas.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.