Thursday, January 05, 2012

| No news from Amman

Zalman Shoval

The Jordanian-sponsored meeting in Amman between Israeli negotiator Yitzhak Molcho and his Palestinian counterpart Saeb Erekat did not, and could not, produce any real breakthrough in the renewal of peace talks. At this stage, the parties have agreed to hold additional discussions, some behind the scenes, and this is a welcome development. However, no real progress will be made as long as the Palestinians refuse to return to negotiations without preconditions. The Palestinians have clarified they will continue to demand that Israel commit to freezing construction beyond the Green Line, including in Jerusalem, and agree that any future border between Israel and a Palestinian state be based on June 1967 lines.

The Quartet -- the U.S., EU, U.N. and Russia -- helped initiate this latest meeting, as it wants to maintain momentum for its framework for peace talks, although it is certainly aware that this momentum is largely imaginary. As opposed to the Palestinians, Israel welcomed the Quartet's framework in its entirety, and accepted King Abdullah of Jordan's initiative while not harboring too many illusions. Israel recognizes the importance of appeasing Jordan, which plays a crucial role both in terms of routine security and as a strategic buffer zone between Israel and threats from the east. Israel and Jordan also have a mutual interest in thwarting Hamas.

The Palestinians want to give the impression they are interested in renewing the peace process, yet they actually have no intention of abandoning their strategy to deal with the conflict in the international arena rather than at the negotiating table. Their new "diplomatic blitz," as it has been called, includes pushing for implementation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which bans the construction of communities and transfer of populations in occupied territory, in Judea and Samaria. This would retroactively transform sovereign territory into occupied territory, rendering almost every Israeli civil action there illegal according to international law.

The Palestinians also have not renounced their effort to seek unilateral recognition of statehood at the U.N. Security Council, and continue to try to persuade the council to condemn Israeli construction in Jerusalem and the settlements. The Palestinians are well aware that the U.S. would veto such initiatives, but that doesn't matter, as long as they succeed in creating obstacles for Israel and the U.S. in the international community.

The Americans, as is known, also oppose Israeli construction beyond the Green Line, but have stopped short of calling it illegal. At the same time, they support negotiations without preconditions. Jerusalem and Washington maintain regular contact on this and various other issues.

The Europeans, meanwhile, have continued to express vocal opposition to Israeli construction beyond the Green Line, almost to the point that it has become a ritual any time Israel announces this or that construction plan. Whether or not it is their intention, by doing so the Europeans reinforce the Palestinians' refusal to negotiate a lasting peace. Their objections are also frequently accompanied by the misguided notion that Israeli construction is an obstacle to the creation of a Palestinian state ("There won't be enough land left," Israel's critics say). Yet a persuasive answer to this claim came from none other than Saeb Erekat, who confirmed in an interview with Haaretz that Israeli construction in the "settlements," including in parts of Jerusalem, covers no more than 1.1 percent of territory in the "West Bank.”

We must remind the world, and sometimes even ourselves, that we have every right to build in and around the outer neighborhoods of Jerusalem. This is not just our right, but also our duty, particularly when it comes to security. Today few people recall that up until 1967, anyone who went to Jerusalem was exposed to repeated sniper attacks from Nabi Samwil, and that in 1948 the city only narrowly survived being disconnected from the rest of the country. As a result, since the Six-Day War, the strategy of successive Israeli governments has been to reinforce the physical Jewish presence throughout the city and areas bordering it to the north, south, east and west. We must prevent the city's isolation and banish the thought of ever returning to the situation that existed before 1967.

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