In Negotiations, Israel Faces Palestine + Obama

Amid contradictory positioning statements by the principals, a spokesperson for the State Department confirmed that Palestinian and Israeli envoys will meet for formal negotiations in Washington. “We have been clear there is an agreement between parties to resume final status negotiations,” Jen Psaki said yesterday. Two Palestinian Authority spokesmen had claimed that the talks were only a preliminary meeting, but Psaki brushed that aside, saying, “there are only a limited number of parties who know the true details of what was agreed.” Palestinian political leader Hanan Ashrawi told CNN'S Christiane Amanpour today that Palestine is waiting for Israel to give "assurances" on the bases for negotiations, including starting from the pre-1967 borders and discussing the "right of return" or compensation for Palestinian refugees, but Ashrawi believes the talks will go forward. Amanpour pointed out that Israel says it will not accept "pre-conditions." Yet, yesterday, Tzipi Livni, Israel's chief negotiator, told Amanpour that she believes the preliminaries will be settled and talks will begin. So, it is unclear whether the Palestinians still insist that Israel recognise pre-1967 borders for a Palestinian state, subject to negotiation, before talks commence, a demand that would be opposed by right-wing members of Netanyahu's coalition. There is also the issue of settlement-building, halted during the last direct talks between Israel and Palestine on 2010, that is related to the border question. Meanwhile, Netanyahu has made it clear that any future peace deal will be put to a referendum to "prevent a rift among the people." 'All options open' Mr. Netanyahu told reporters in the Knesset, announcing that he was fast-tracking legislation that would allow him to hold the referendum. "Any agreement that is not approved by the people is not worthy of being signed," he said, but added that "achieving peace is a crucial goal for Israel." He has reportedly said he will also seek the approval of his cabinet before going ahead with the talks, but some cabinet members oppose any negotiations that involve giving land to the Palestinians, while Justice Minister Tzipi Livni opposes a referendum. But, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agrees with Netanyahu on the referendim idea, affirming that he, too, would put any peace deal to a referendum. Mr Abbas also said "all options are open" if the latest talks fail, suggesting he would pursue a renewed push for UN recognition, which is opposed by Israel. ~~~~~ And while negotiation details remain in flux, the Jerusalem Post, an English-language daily paper, reported that Netanyahu tried unsuccessfully to convince American officials to release Jonathan Pollard, an American-Israeli who passed classified information to Israel in the 1980s while working as an American civilian intelligence analyst. The case is complex but Pollard apparently acted after failing to convince the US government to provide Israel with classified information about unfriendly Middle East states' chemical and atomic weapons. He pleaded guilty and received a life sentence in 1987. The Jerusalem Post said Netanyahu told the Americans that if President Obama commuted Pollard’s life sentence to the nearly 28 years he has already served, it would help him persuade his cabinet to approve the release of 82 Palestinian terrorists from Israeli prisons. But America rejected Netanyahu’s request and sources close to Netanyahu would only say: “We routinely raise the issue with American officials.” The Committee for Pollard’s Freedom issued a statement saying that he should be released regardless of developments with the Palestinians. “Dozens of top American officials have called for Pollard’s immediate release due to the values of justice and mercy,” a committee spokesman said. “Jonathan did not murder anyone. His 28 years, including seven in solitary confinement, is an unprecedented sentence for the crime, so he should be released immediately without conditioning it on anything else.” Knesset members of all political persuasions called on Obama to release Pollard as a way to help the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. “This is the best time in the world to call upon the Americans to release Pollard as a gesture for the beginning of negotiations," said Labor Knesset member Nachman Shai, who is the new co-chairman of the Knesset’s Free Pollard Caucus. “Pollard should be the American gift to Israelis,...It’s a window of opportunity for goodwill to Israelis, who are not going through an easy time,” Shai said. Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel said he found it incredible that America continues to hold Pollard and did not even let him attend his father’s funeral while US officials demand that Israel release unrepentant murderers. “What is going on in the minds of Americans when they insist on keeping Jonathan Pollard in prison and demand that Israel free terrorists?” Ariel asked on Israel Radio. “It really is amazing.” Likud MK Moshe called America’s behavior "shameful." ~~~~~ Dear readers, here we see in stark contrast the attitude of President Obama toward Palestine and Israel. Obama allows Palestine to demand that Israel agree to pre-conditions before beginning negotiations and he agrees to Palestine's demand that Israel release terrorist prisoners as part of Israel's payment for Palestine's appearance at the negotiations. Further, Obama expects Israel to follow its requests without concern for Israel's own interests and without granting Israel the right to try to avoid repeats of negative experiences in prior negotiations with Palestine. And yet, giving Israel the friendly gesture of releasing Jonathan Pollard three years before he is eligible for parole is not possible for President Obama.