Israel Update for October 2010

David Dolan

It became apparent during October that American government efforts to get the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table with Israel have failed. This came as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made clear that he would not cave in to US pressure to freeze home construction once again in the disputed territories, as demanded by Palestinian Authority leaders before peace talks can resume. In fact, the government issued new building permits for several hundred apartment units to be constructed in contested areas near Jerusalem. PA officials denounced the move, and later revealed that they are planning to unilaterally declare the formation of a Palestinian state in the middle of next year.

Earlier in the month, PM Netanyahu offered to reissue the building ban if the PA would agree to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. The offer was strongly rejected by PA officials, who termed it "racist." This came as more rockets were fired into Israeli territory from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Unrest also continued in sections of eastern Jerusalem, especially in the Silwan neighborhood adjacent to the City of David southeast of the Temple Mount. However the intensity of clashes between Arab stone throwers and Israeli security forces and local Jewish residents was far less than in September.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made his scheduled visit to Lebanon during the month, telling mainly Shiite audiences that Israel will soon be destroyed. This came as leaked American government documents revealed that Iranian and Lebanese Hizbullah forces have been operating inside of Iraq in recent years, conducting covert attacks against Iraqi, American, and British military forces. Meanwhile a mysterious explosion inside an Iranian military base was said to have destroyed many Iranian surface to surface missiles in early October.

Back To Square One

A war of words between Palestinian and Israeli government officials escalated during October after it became evident that American-sponsored peace negotiations would not be resuming anytime soon. Meanwhile an Arab newspaper reported in late October that the Israeli government is continuing to hold discussions with American officials concerning the details of a final peace settlement, including the formation of permanent borders and which Israeli settlement communities would be allowed to remain in place as part of a final status peace accord. Any agreement reached between Washington and Jerusalem would then be handed to the Palestinian Authority for approval. The newspaper, Asharq Al Awsat, said one proposal being considered is to transfer formal sovereignty over the eastern half of Jerusalem to the Palestinian Authority, which would then lease the land back to Israel for a period of 99 years.

The latest peace process roadblock came as Prime Minister Netanyahu delivered a speech that many analysts said was partially designed to demonstrate to the United States government that the PA is not really interested in pursuing any form of serious negotiations at this time.

In his speech before the Israeli Knesset on October 11, the Premier offered to extend his government's construction moratorium in Judea and Samaria if the Palestinian Authority formally recognizes Israel as the 'Jewish national home.' He said such PA recognition of what is quite clearly an established fact on the ground would serve as a vital 'confidence building measure' that would enhance his government's public commitment to negotiate an historic final status peace accord with the PA. He averred that such a Palestinian move would 'deliver a positive message' to Israeli Jews that PA Fatah party officials are finally willing to move beyond the PLO's 1964 charter declaration that the Palestinians would work with other Arab and Islamic forces to secure Israel's ultimate destruction.

The Israeli leader revealed that he had conveyed his offer to PA President Mahmoud Abbas via a third party, presumably the United States. However he also disclosed that Abbas had flatly turned him down. This revelation did not surprise most Arab and Israeli political analysts who have been consistently stating since Barrack Obama was sworn in as America's President in January 2009 that the time is not ripe for either the Israeli or Palestinian governments to engage in serious final status peace negotiations. They add that this fact had already been established when former President George W. Bush failed in his attempt to secure an accord before the end of his term in office.

The Jewish State

PM Netanyahu began his parliamentary speech by stating that it was 'not by chance that the portrait of the State visionary, Benjamin Zeev Herzl, hangs here on the wall of the Israeli Knesset. In 1896, Herzl wrote in his book, The Jewish State, that 'The Jews who are seeking a state will have a state.' Finally, we will live as free people on our own land. In 1947, on the eve of the establishment of the State of Israel, David Ben-Gurion wrote in his diary: "The state that will be established will be Jewish in its purpose, designation and objective; not a state of those Jews who reside in the country but a state for the Jews, for the Jewish people. The State of Israel is, therefore, both the nation-state of the Jewish people and a democratic country for all its citizens, Jews and non-Jews alike, enjoying full equal rights."'

The Prime Minister upset some Arab Knesset members by proclaiming that 'There is no country in our region that protects the individual rights of its citizens and the rights of their minorities like Israel's democracy does. There is no other democracy in the Middle East, and there is no other Jewish state in the world.' Netanyahu added that 'The combination of these two values - a Jewish state and a democratic state - expresses the foundation of our existence and the essence of the State of Israel.'

Concerning the faltering peace process, the Israeli Premier noted that 'From the first day of my government's tenure, I called on the leaders of the Palestinian Authority to enter into direct peace talks with us without preconditions. I outlined the principles for a peace agreement with the Palestinians: A demilitarized Palestinian state which recognizes the state of the Jewish people and lives beside it in peace.'

PM Netanyahu insisted that he was not merely mouthing slogans by demanding that the Palestinian Authority must recognize Israel as a permanent Jewish state before any final peace deal can be secured. 'When I say recognition, I mean Palestinian recognition of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people. This is not just stubbornness. This is the root of the conflict and therefore a central foundation for resolving it.' He pointed out that 'For one hundred years, the Palestinians have taught entire generations to believe that there is no Jewish people, and that this land is their homeland alone. The refusal to recognize the rights of the Jewish people and its historic connection to its land is the root of the conflict, and without dealing with it, there will be no end to the conflict.'

The Likud party leader also made clear that he will not sign any final peace accord unless it includes 'significant guarantees' that Israel's security will not be harmed in any way. 'In order for a compromise to lead to peace and not war, it must be accompanied by two fundamental components: recognition, and security arrangements. I am not willing to make do with peace on paper, nor are the citizens of Israel willing to make do with that.' He went on to note that the United Nations resolution that ended the 2006 conflict started by Hizbullah militia forces operating in southern Lebanon did not prevent the Hamas militia from 'firing thousands of missiles at Israel,' or halt 'the smuggling tens of thousands of additional missiles by Iran into hostile territory surrounding us.'