Israel now has credible partner for peace

In leaked comments made at a closed-door meeting of the Trilateral Commission last week, Kerry said that a two-state solution would be the only real alternative. A unitary state would wind up either being an apartheid state with second class citizens — or being a state that destroys the capacity of Israel to be a […]

In leaked comments made at a closed-door meeting of the Trilateral Commission last week, Kerry said that a two-state solution would be the only real alternative. A unitary state would wind up either being an apartheid state with second class citizens — or being a state that destroys the capacity of Israel to be a Jewish state, he said.
Kerry’s statements came on the heel of Israel’s rejection of the rapprochement between Hamas and Fatah, the two factions of the Palestinian Authority under Israeli occupation, when they agreed to put aside their differences and form a government of unity. Peace between the two had been elusive since the two sides, with meddling by the US and connivance of Israel, fell apart after the 2006 Palestinian elections handily won by Hamas and adjudged even the West of being transparent. This truce reflects the frustration on the part of Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, who had said the much-touted peace process with Israel was going nowhere, had even rolled back, since Benjamin Netanyahu became Israeli Prime Minister.
Hamas and Fatah signed the accords designed to end seven years of division, to pave way for elections later in the year and the formation of a unity government within weeks.
Fatah leaders say that despite bending over backwards to accommodate the Israeli viewpoints in the long-running peace process, Netanyahu has been pushing back; and American mediation effort has become nothing but tacit support of the Israeli policy thrusts.
Netanyahu accused Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of making peace with Hamas instead of peace with Israel. Netanyahu suggested that peace with Hamas and peace with Israel were mutually exclusive. Of course this is a false choice, and is typical of Netanyahu to offer it.
The fact is that the unity of the Palestinian factions offers the best chance for Israel to reach accommodation with them and to be accepted as a responsible member of the international community. Unfortunately, Netanyahu comes across as one who actively destroys any prospect for accommodation.
Other contentious issues that have blocked any progress towards peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and which Israel refuses to budge on, include the status of Jerusalem in a future independent Palestine. Others are the continuing construction of Jewish settlements on Palestinian land, despite international disapproval, and the matter of thousands of Palestinians in Israeli jails, many of them women and children.  In fact, a delay in the previously agreed release of many of the inmates precipitated the series of moves by Abbas, including the application for Palestine to join several United Nations agencies, which angered the Israelis.
Israel’s major concern has been security, but has been moving the goalpost further ahead whenever substantive milestones are about to be achieved that would provide it the very security it seeks and the recognition it craves.
In contrast to the Israeli position, and the rather unhelpful comment made by US President Barack Obama regarding the truce in Palestine, many countries and regional organisations have welcomed the new understanding between Hamas and Fatah. The European Union’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton issued a statement supporting Palestinian reconciliation and unity. The statement stressed that any new Palestinian government must uphold the principle of nonviolence and should be committed to the two-state solution and accept Israel’s “legitimate right to exist;” she welcomed the prospect of genuine democratic elections for all Palestinians.
Iran also welcomed the deal, pledging support to the Palestinian people to stand up to Israel’s increasingly unreasonable demands.
Israel may be building itself into a huge military power; but it must recognise, from the comments of former US President Jimmy Carter, and now senior US administration officials, that there is a limit to what level of security force of arms can purchase for a state that subjugates its majority of its citizens.
The Palestinians’ initiative, which appears to have been inspired from within themselves, is a remarkable development that should be supported; it is in Israel’s interests to ensure that it lasts.