The ‘peace process’ is a bigger danger than Hamas
By Ted Belman
The biggest threat Isreal faces today is the “peace process” with its insistence on the Saudi Peace Plan. It is aided and abetted by Israel’s “we are tired” camp and its “let’s make a deal” camp.
With this in mind, I took the position during the Palestinian elections that an Hamas victory would be good for Israel because it would stop the “peace process”. And so it has. The threat of rockets raining down on Israel from Gaza isn’t near the threat that the peace process was and is. This is so even if the rockets start to rain down on Tel Aviv from the West Bank. Israel always has it in its power to stop it at a time of its choosing. The more they rain down the less support the Palestinians have in Europe.
Since the peace process has been stymied, the biggest threat facing Israel today is Olmert’s realignment intentions (they don’t yet amount to a “plan”.) True that the US and the EU to say nothing of the Arabs have not supported the plan at least publicly, yet they remain a threat.
Keep in mind that the US has micro-managed the location of the fence from day one and even enabled the financing for it.
In Sept ‘05 AP reported U.S. to Back Israeli Settlements
The policy is exactly what the president said,” Kurtzer said in the prerecorded interview. “In the context of a final status agreement, the United States will support the retention by Israel of areas with a high concentration of Israeli population.”
Kurtzer’s language went slightly further than the original Bush letter, which did not speak of Israel retaining territory it captured in the 1967 Middle East war but said only that a return to the prewar borders of 1949 was unlikely.
“In light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli populations centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949,” Bush wrote in the letter handed to Sharon during a visit to Washington on April 14 last year.
In a letter he handed Bush in exchange, Sharon pledged to dismantle settlement outposts put up since March 2001 and limit expansion of existing settlements.
With this exchange of letters in mind, how can we have confidence in Olmerts plan to build in E1 or even to retain Ariel.
US diplomacy is now focused on two things, namely; defeating Hamas with the aid of Abbas and encouraging negotiations between Olmert and Abbas. The purpose of these negotiations is to attempt to reach a deal where the fence or something close to it becomes the border. Obviously Abbas is not going to agree to more then Bush agreed to. It is not likely that Olmert can negotiate for more despite his promises to the Israeli public. In addtition Israel has committed to Bush not to expand settlements so where does that leave “realignment”. And now Olmert has capitulated to the EU which demanded that Jerusalem be divided.
Recently, Abbas has come out vociferously against Realignment. Why? Is 10% of the land west of the fence not a small price to pay for removing 70,000 settlers from what’s left? Evidently not. Perhaps what he is against is the relocation of these settlers around Jerusalem therby strengthening Israels hold on these settlements? Fair enough. What more does Israel need to know to conclude that negotiations will lead to an even worse deal for Israel.
The Roadmap was intended to end the terrorism and obviously has failed miserably in that regard. Yet Olmert has announced his intention to jump to Phase II of the Roadmap and negotiate anyway. Why is he in such a rush to capitulate?
In Focus on Jerusalem, I included a proposal for expanding Jerusalem put forward by the team that did the New Demographic Study. As much as I like the proposal, there are great risks.
The annexation won’t be recognized and Israel would have to extend the same rights to the Arabs within its extended boundaries as it did with the first annexation. If that were the end of it, I would have no problems with doing so. Such annexation may be considered the death knell of the Roadmap and the world may then demand that Israel incorporate the West Bank and Gaza too into a binational state.
How can Israel just say no to this? Would it be forced to succumb? Would it be a catalyst to other solutions?
At the moment, it appears that Israel is going in the direction of accomodation to the demands of the Quartet and the Arabs. To avoid this fate, Israel must encourage the violence in the territories to continue at tolerable levels. The Roadmap is the framework which enables the Quartet to make demands on Israel and as such it must be formerly rejected. Instead Israel should announce it will chart its own course.
But that doesn’t solve the problem. It only avoids the peace process. My suggestion for study, is that Israel should expand the boundaries around Jerusalem, build the fence and agree to uproot the settlements east of the fence in exchange for recognition of the new boundaries.
Like it or lump it. The world will lump it and Israel will then continue to solidify its hold on an expanded Jerusalem west of the fence.
My suggestion is to get rid of the Ostrich (whoops I meant the Kadima) party
Comment by Jonathan
— June 18, 2006 @ 12:33 pm
Ted, apart from sharing your concern, if not disgust with the way Olmert is handling things, I cannot agree with your saying that Israel should expand the boundaries around Jerusalem, build the fence and agree to uproot the settlements east of the fence in exchange for recognition of the new boundaries at least not now.
I would prefer Olmert to stop announcing his ever evolving plan which you correctly state have been whittled down to intentions and even in that regard, with fast changing circumstances those intentions are being reshaped.
I would prefer Olmert to keep his mouth shut. The only talking that needs to be done for now is at the point of a gun, an RPG or a bomb in retaliation for Palestinian terrorist attacks.
The Palestinians are now off balance. They are not slipping into complete chaos and anarchy as many had envisioned. Still with the Fatah fighting Hamas, that is a good thing.
Abbas is useless as tits on a bull, so the expression goes. What he is trying to get Hamas to agree to is the Prisoner’s declaration or proposal which while it may in some way declare that Palestinians recognize Israel, none of its other conditions are acceptable. Abbas’ efforts therefor are a total waste of time.
Olmert needs to say so and not give Abbas the time of day.
The only thing Olmert should be saying is that once Fatah and Hamas fight it out and the winner, if there is one can get their act together, then maybe, just maybe Israel will sit down at the bargaining table with that winner, with unequivocal recognition of Israel as a pre-condition and the amendment of their governing charter to unequivocally say so.
In the meantime, let the Palestinians continue to fight amongst themselves and descend into greater chaos. That coupled with ongoing radical Islamic terror or attempted terror missions, such as we recently found in Canada will continue to reflect poorly on the Palestinians.
I still like the fact that Egypt is starting to worry that Gaza is becoming a home for Islamic radicalism and not just Palestinian radicalism. Jordan is worried about a similar situation developing in the West Bank.
Israel would do well to play on Egypt’s and Jordan’s fears. The more Egypt and Jordan are fearful of their nations sharing a border with the depraved Islamic and Palestinian radicals, the less chance for a Palestinian state coming into existence.
With that, the impossible might be seen as possible. That possibility would be that the world, including the Arab world if successfuly prevailed upon by Egypt and Jordan, might just start seeing possibilities for peace and stability in the region by convincing Palestinians to find other suitable accomodations in other nations throughout the world.
One of the inducements would be money paid directly to each single Palestinian or Palestinian family upon their arriving in their new home which monies would be enough to give them a good start in life. Monies as well could be paid to the receiving nation to offset any costs incurred for taking in the Palestinians.
The money for the exodus would come from the annual mega millions the West gives to the Palestinians in order to develop and build an independent society and which monies are either stolen, used for Palestinian terrorism or just thrown down the Palestinian toilet.
Comment by Bill Narvey
— June 18, 2006 @ 12:37 pm
Israel could at any time dig its heels in as you suggest but it doesn’t. If they did what I suggest, the world will not agree. In the meantime Israel could then stick by their guns and say take it or leave it. Israel must have a red line which it defines. Furthermore Israel could proceed to make all of Jerusalem and its surrounding lands its forever.
Comment by Ted Belman
— June 18, 2006 @ 2:33 pm
It is my opinion that we keep the traitor, Olmert, at bay until his government topples, which it will. That is only the tip of the action that Israeli patriots must perform. It must have a strong leader at the helm of the Knesset and a strong public relations organizations to persuade the leftists side of the public that to accept Olmert’s plan would mean the destruction of Israel.
I believe that one of several ex Generals step forward to take control of Israel’s government.This is important because there is going to be an all out war against the palis and the and we need a leader who understands military options.
The other option is for the opposition to campaign against Olmert’s party and get a no confidence vote against them. This is needed sooner than later. We can no longer abide by the left wing, do nothing, self hating Jews.
Comment by Ed D
— June 18, 2006 @ 3:14 pm
Olmert needs to be booted out in a vote of non-confidence. First, he told everyone that Israel would give Abbas 275 rifles. With t he Palestinians awash in weaponry, that wouldn’t have made much difference. But, he gave 1,000 rifles,a nd even worse, 3 million bullets! That alone is enough to have him kicked out.
This penchant of democracies to pin their hopes on one thug in a country is sick. Like, like everyone else, eventually die. Then you don’t know what you get.
You have to make peace with the people, not the current thug-in-charge.
Comment by Jan
— June 19, 2006 @ 4:51 am
In order to get rid of the existing cronies in government, in order to toss out the self-appointed dictatorial judiciary, in order to excise the rampant political and financial corruption, you need a non-affiliated bipartisan group of honestly intellectual Jewish minded speakers to travel around the country and get up on soap boxes and speak to the people.
They’ll also need a serious website, with a large stash of article and material documenting the ills of the country and the remedies.
In addition, all must be available in print by phone or mail request as well.
Someone has to start the ball rolling.
The biggest problem I see is getting enough such people together without them bickering between each other as to exactly what to do and say.
Comment by Shy Guy
— June 19, 2006 @ 5:33 am
We’ve been working on this issue for a while, Shy Guy, and we’re now at the point where will start just such a full-court press in Israel. We need more people to get involved… please visit us at http://directrepisrael.org for more about Direct Representational Democracy for Israel.
Comment by Peretz Rickett
— June 19, 2006 @ 10:21 am
The peace processes have never been fair. They inevitably involve the exchange of strategic positions on Israel’s part for an amorphous promise of peace and a cessation of terror that the Palestinians don’t want to give and never have.
The Pals don’t want peace because they have been shielded from the true horrors of the wars which were launched by their side. They have never lost a war in the real sense of the word because the US, the Soviet Union and other big players would not allow a real victory to happen over their oil-rich Arab clients and business partners. The fear of winning has kept this conflict ablaze for decades. The Palestinians would have been absorbed into the larger Palestinian state of a greater- Jordan by now, probably including parts of the West Bank, had there been a logical and inevitable conclusion to any one of the Arab-inflicted wars.
It is not as if preventing Israel from winning has made the situation better and safer for the Palestinians either. The lack of closure has spurred the Arab states to launch new wars and that includes the more recent version that has become the endless jihad. This war has all the ugly terror spin-offs that are now plaguing the entire globe. The war in Iraq is a similar situation in that it was never won before the US eagerly went in to win over the hearts and minds of people with hate in their hearts and killing on their minds.
The peace process will only work if one side is the victor and the other the vanquished. WWII could not go on to the next step of the rebuilding of Japan and Germany after the war if the Allies had been prevented from a decisive victory using all the necessary means at their disposal. The peace process will not work because we do not hold the Palestinians responsible for their infractions and non-compliance. The peace process will not work because hostilities must end before talks begin…and they have not, the situation is getting worse by the day. The Palestinians are not ready for peace but they are ready for war and political extremism that they think might solve their problems. They are safe in the knowledge that whatever extreme position they take, even a position of not recognizing their neighbor, will suffer no consequences and they will be boldly supported by NGOs, the UN and certain church groups with a barrage of one-sided propaganda and hate messaging against Israel.
Comment by Gary Gerofsky
— June 19, 2006 @ 11:54 am
Peretz, thank you for the link. I wish your group the best but I only see it as part of the solution.
I mentioned in my post above the need for “Jewish minded speakers .” Of course, your organization is composed of Jews but your goals mention nothing of Judaism. I confess to speed reading through the pages. So forgive me if I overlooked the mention.
Anyone else ever sing this when they were little?
Comment by Shy Guy
— June 19, 2006 @ 1:17 pm
[…] Ami Isseroff at Zio-Nation responds to my article The ‘peace process’ is a bigger threat than Hamas […]
Pingback by Israpundit » Blog Archive » Israel: running scared
— June 19, 2006 @ 2:11 pm
The news this morning is very disturbing. Olmert has opened a pass into Gaza for 4 days to provide food, water and medication to the pals. Had he not, I believe that Hamas would have surrendered their weapons within a week and given up Shalit. Their very lives were at stake.
I, also, think that Rice convinced him to do this and the lily livered Olmert gave in immediately.
Had the Americans in Iraq surrounded and cut off food, warer, electricity and passage to a community like Sammara, the city would have given in, dropped their weapons and surrendered. No casualties.
But not Olmert and Peretz who still wish to throw Israelis out of their homes in Judea and Samaria. How long is some MKs stand up and demand to vote a no confidence against these cowards?
Comment by Ed D
— July 2, 2006 @ 2:56 pm
[…] In my article The peace process is a bigger danger than Hamas, I wrote, US diplomacy is now focused on two things, namely; defeating Hamas with the aid of Abbas and encouraging negotiations between Olmert and Abbas. The purpose of these negotiations is to attempt to reach a deal where the fence or something close to it becomes the border. Obviously Abbas is not going to agree to more then Bush agreed to. It is not likely that Olmert can negotiate for more despite his promises to the Israeli public. In addtition Israel has committed to Bush not to expand settlements so where does that leave “realignment”. And now Olmert has capitulated to the EU which demanded that Jerusalem be divided. […]
Pingback by Israpundit » Blog Archive » Israel: don’t destroy Hamas without destroying Fatah
— July 2, 2006 @ 5:09 pm
[…] Some time ago I wrote an article, The ‘peace’ process is a bigger threat to Israel than Hamas. […]
Pingback by Israpundit » Blog Archive » Time To Reject A Suicidal ‘Peace Process’
— September 6, 2006 @ 9:26 pm