Showing posts with label peace talks. Show all posts

Thursday, January 4, 2018

US Threatens to Cut Palestinian Funds; Is this 'Blackmail'? US Threats Unlikely Revive Peace Talks - World Israel News

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Saturday, May 21, 2016

Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog: Despite a bizarre week in Israeli politics, Sunni Arab leaders are quietly reaching out to Netanyahu to discuss restarting peace talks

Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog

Despite a bizarre week in Israeli politics, Sunni Arab leaders are quietly reaching out to Netanyahu to discuss restarting peace talks based on the “Saudi Plan.” Meanwhile, Abbas signals he may soon step down. Who would replace him?

by joelcrosenberg

Very few Israelis or Palestinians believe the moment is ripe to craft a comprehensive peace deal. Pessimism over the seemingly never-ending "peace process" is rampant.

That said, there continue to be curious developments here I think you should be aware of. I laid out some in my column earlier in the week. There have been more since then. Among them:

Despite a bizarre and topsy-turvy week in Israeli politics, there are credible reportsthat moderate Sunni Arab leaders are actively reaching out to Prime Minister Netanyahu with indications that they are open to making changes in the Saudi Peace Initiative to make it more palatable for Israelis.
Netanyahu is signaling that he is not averse to opening new peace talks that would involve changes to the Saudi plan, so long as regional Arab leaders are the primary players in the talks, not the French.
At the same time, however, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is privately indicating that he will soon need to step down from power. "My age and health don't allow me to remain in power," the 81-year-old Abbas recently told Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi. "My term in office expired several years ago and I'm still in power only because of the Hamas, which staged a coup and is controlling the Gaza Strip and refusing to allow new elections."
The possibility that Abbas could soon step off the political stage could add a destabilizing factor into the mix, especially if the battle to succeed Abbas becomes heated, or even violent.
Who will the next Palestinian leader be? Would he (or she) be more or less ready to strike a compromise with Israel? Would he or she encourage violent opposition to Israel, or encourage calm and reconciliation?
Meanwhile, critics of Netanyahu are asking, "How serious is Bibi about really making peace?" His enemies say Bibi will never negotiate in good faith. But those close to him say he's ready for an honest dialogue, and note that it was Menachem Began (the first leader of the Likud Party) who made peace with Egypt in 1979. [NOTE: I'm not taking a position on any of these internal political questions -- who's right? who's wrong? -- I'm just pointing out some of the trend lines I think are noteworthy.]
The week began looking like Netanyahu would create a "unity" government with Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog, who is personally determined to find a peace deal with the Palestinians. But in a dramatic and unexpected reversal mid-week, Netanyahu decided to make a deal with right-wing leader Avigdor Liberman and his Yisrael Beitenu ("Israel Our Home") party instead of Herzog. Liberman is now slated to be Defense Minister, if the deal is finalized. This news has triggered a firestorm. Herzog is furious with Bibi. Current Defense Minister Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon is, too.Ya'alon resigned the government rather than accept his imminent demotion or even change of position, and Ya'alon had harsh words for both Netanyahu and Liberman.
Many in Israel and the region regard Liberman as an acerbic, controversial, polarizing figure, and someone not known for being eager to make peace with the Palestinians or even other Arab states. To Bibi's enemies, the offer to Liberman is proof Bibi and his government will never make peace.
In these circumstances, then, one could imagine that the notion of Bibi including Liberman into his government -- especially instead of Herzog, who believes that a "rare" chance to make regional peace is emerging -- will sabotage whatever slowly improving ties there have been between Israel and the moderate Arab states.
That may still prove the case. But at the moment, the Arab states are reaching out to Bibi, despite of the Liberman/Ya'alon brouhaha. This is intriguing, to say the least.
At the moment, it's Egyptian President el-Sisi who is taking the lead in communicating with Netanyahu. Earlier this week, the Egyptian leader publicly called on Israelis and Palestinians to come back to the negotiating table, and offered to help mediate those discussions. Netanyahu immediately responded positively to the suggestion. Sisi and Netanyahu then spoke on Friday when Netanyahu called to offer condolences over the crash of an Egyptian jetliner this week, a crash that may have been the result of terrorism, though the investigation has only just begun.
Jordan's King Abdullah II, currently on a state visit to Europe, has been quiet so far this week. That said, recent media reports (see here, here, here and here) indicate that behind the scenes he senses the environment for talks is improving and is quietly encouraging the peace process to begin again.
As I wrote on Tuesday, something does appear to be afoot between Israel and her Sunni Arab neighbors. Where will it lead? I genuinely don't know. But I am praying for peace because the Bible commands me to and because I truly want there to be calm and security and prosperity and genuine freedom and opportunity for everyone in the region. I hope you will join me in praying along these lines, as well.

[This column is based on my personal views and analysis. I share them in my personal capacity as an American and Israeli citizen and an author. They do not reflect the views of The Joshua Fund, which is a non-profit organization and takes no political or legislative positions.]

UPDATE: The Jerusalem Post published a very interesting story on the latest behind-the-scenes interactions between Israeli and Arab leaders. Here are some excerpts worth noting:

"Moderate Sunni Arab governments in the region have communicated to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu their willingness to engage in negotiations with Israel over possible changes to the Saudi peace initiative so that it may serve as the agreed-upon basis of renewed talks with the Palestinians," reports the Jerusalem Post, based on a story first reported by Channel 10 on Friday....
Arab regimes led by Egypt and the wealthy Gulf sheikhdoms have signaled their desire to publicly change their posture toward Israel, according to Channel 10.
Officials in Arab capitals are now awaiting Netanyahu's response to their offer of substantive discussions on the Saudi initiative so as to make it more palatable for Israel.
During a Twitter chat he held in the courtyard of his Jerusalem home in honor of Israel’s 68th Independence Day, Netanyahu said Israel is ready to talk about an amended Saudi peace initiative.
One of the questioners asked him in Arabic about the 2002 Saudi Initiative, otherwise known as the Arab Peace Plan, which calls for a two-state solution on the pre-1967 lines with a just settlement for Palestinian refugees. In exchange the Arab world would offer Israel normalized relations.
“Why don’t you accept the Arab initiative and what are the reasons why it is not implemented,” Twitter questioner @abosarah7 asked.
Netanyahu responded, also in Arabic, that an updated initiative which “addresses our concerns merits further discussion. Israel will always seek peace.”.....
In response to Sam Rubinstein from Brown University, Netanyahu said in a short video response, “I am willing to meet President Abbas today, right now. He can come to my home here in Jerusalem or I can go to his home here in Ramallah. Now I want you to forward that question to President Abbas and see what he says, #askAbbas.”
Channel 10 cites Western diplomatic sources as saying that a number of emissaries have relayed conciliatory Arab messages to Netanyahu, one of them being former British premier Tony Blair.

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joelcrosenberg | May 20, 2016 at 9:34 pm | Categories: Epicenter | URL: http://wp.me/piWZ7-4U5

Thursday, April 24, 2014

US Backs Israel in Quitting Peace Talks (LFHP Editor's Note: GOOD FOR THE USA! Finally!)

US Backs Israel in Quitting Peace Talks

Thursday, April 24, 2014 | Ryan Jones ISRAEL TODAY

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The Obama Administration on Wednesday signaled its support for Israel’s decision to cancel further peace talks with the Palestinian Authority after the latter concluded a unity agreement with the Hamas terrorist organization.

“It’s hard to see how Israel can be expected to sit down and negotiate with a group that denies its right to exist,” US State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki said in reference to Hamas.

Israel has long insisted that it cannot make genuine peace with a Palestinian government that includes Hamas.

In 2006, the Palestinian public responded to Israel’s position on the matter by overwhelmingly voting Hamas into power in national legislative elections. An internal power struggle with its rival Fatah kept Hamas from exercising its full authority. But Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (Fatah) this week demonstrated that he had no problem reconciling with Hamas, even if doing so put peace with Israel further out of reach.

The deal forged between Abbas and his Hamas rivals calls for the formation of a unity government in the next five weeks, and could see the Palestinian leader visit the Gaza Strip for the first time since it was seized by Hamas in a bloody coup in 2007.

“I said this morning that Abbas needs to choose between peace with Israel and an agreement with Hamas, a murderous terrorist organization that calls for the destruction of the State of Israel and which both the United States and the European Union define as a terrorist organization,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement released to the press.

“This evening, as talks are still ongoing about extending the negotiations, Abbas has chosen Hamas and not peace,” he continued. “Whoever chooses Hamas does not want peace.”

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Israel’s chief negotiator in talks with the Palestinians, agreed: “The reconciliation agreement that Mahmoud Abbas signed with Hamas is a bad step, which not only caused the cancelation of [negotiations], but cast a heavy shadow on the possibility to progress.”

Livni added that Israel “has a duty, even when we want peace, not to stop seeing reality with eyes wide open: Hamas combines religious Muslim extremist ideology with terrorism and doesn’t recognize our right to exist.”

Finance Minister Yair Lapid said both the Fatah-Hamas unity agreement and Abbas’ recent decision to violate agreements with Israel by unilaterally seeking recognition for “Palestine” called into question whether or not the Palestinians really want a state of their own, or rather, a state alongside Israel.

“Hamas is not a government, it is a Jihadist terror organization that has inscribed on its flag the killing of civilians — women, children, old people — just because they are Jewish,” Lapid reminded a gathering of the European Jewish Congress in Tel Aviv.

At an emergency cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Thursday, Netanyahu was reportedly urged to go beyond simply canceling a few negotiating sessions, and to impose real sanctions on the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinian leaders, meanwhile, maintained that unity with Hamas should not preclude a negotiated settlement with Israel. Abbas was quoted as saying that bringing Hamas into the PLO (the parent organization of the Palestinian Authority) would somehow bolster the chances of a lasting peace.

PHOTO: Hamas and Fatah negotiators shake hands in Gaza

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Love For His People Editor's Note:

GOOD FOR THE USA!

Finally! Supporting Israel again!!!

Steve Martin

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