The installation of a new computer has – incredibly – slowed down my
writing for about a week. Learning new systems can be a challenge. As many
of you already know, it was necessary for me to check with readers for whom I
had multiple addresses, as the new system has no default for addresses. I
think I’ve covered all bases, but if you are receiving this at an address that
is different from the one I had been using for sending you my posts, please, let
me know.
~~~~~~~~~~
The date I have written here is 2014, and I am pleased that I remembered.
With all honesty, this was the major change that “the new year” represented
for me. But I have no desire to be insensitive: And so, I thank all who
wrote to wish me a good new year, and extend the same wishes to all of
you. Mostly, however, I extend these wishes on a personal level: may each
of you have health, loving family and friends, satisfying work, secure income.
For the world, I have enormous unease. Certainly no balloons or
fireworks. Only prayers: May Heaven help us.
~~~~~~~~~~
This will be a beginning of the resumption of writing, with more to
follow. I take a look at what is transpiring here, and what has been
happening over the last few days, and I am overwhelmed by the stupidity, the
emptiness, the immorality of the goings-on. Indeed, Heaven help us.
~~~~~~~~~~
Late at night on the 31st of December, Israel released 26 murderers of
Jews, terrorists who were in Israeli prisons since before Oslo, but whose terms
had not been completed.
This sparked an enormous sense of grief in the nation, a grief that, quite
frankly, left me carrying unshed tears: it should never have been allowed to
happen.
Our prime minister spoke about honoring commitments already made. He didn’t
convince me.
~~~~~~~~~~
They celebrated mightily at the president’s compound in Ramallah after
their release.
Credit: Hadash Parush/Flash
90
But did Abbas express gratitude for this? Of course not. Silly
question. He declared that there would be no “peace deal” until every last
vile, scummy, sub-human terrorist was released from our prisons. He gained
this much, why not shoot for the whole thing? Maybe Kerry would be able to get
this for him.
~~~~~~~~~~
When Kerry arrived here a couple of days later (and more about this below),
Netanyahu, in his opening statement, registered distress about the fact that
Abbas celebrated the terrorist releases: “A few days ago
in Ramallah, President Abbas embraced terrorists as heroes. To glorify the
murders of innocent women and men as heroes is an outrage.”
Abbas did indeed refer to them directly as “heroes”: “Today is a day of joy to our people, our families and our hero
prisoners who’ve achieved freedom...”
But I wanted to say, “Come on, Bibi! You knew this is what Abbas
would do when he demanded their release. The problem lies in the fact that
they were released. If you didn’t want the celebration, you
should not have let them go.” The question to be asked is: “What sort of
people demands the release of murderers in order to negotiate peace?”
They were let go as part of what is supposed to be a “confidence building
measure,” which is pathetic. They were released, as I have indicated
previously, because of major pressure from the US, and for no other
reason. Abbas demands this because it increases his very meager support
among the Palestinian Arab people. It is a popular move, which tells us a
whole lot about the Palestinian Arab people. And Kerry? He’s so eager to
get Abbas to the table he would agree to many outrages.
~~~~~~~~~~
What I have learned is that a handful of the prisoners let out last week
had Jerusalem residency cards and were released to eastern Jerusalem. This is
exceedingly troubling. According to Arab sources, the last batch of
prisoners will include some eight with Israeli citizenship. This is
unacceptable twice over. If Abbas wants “his” murderers released, that is
bad enough, but it is one thing. Asking us to release Israelis who murdered
other Israelis and were tried in Israeli courts in something else and should not
be tolerated under any circumstances. They fall under Israeli jurisdiction
exclusively and Abbas should have nothing to say about them.
Right now, it seems that Netanyahu is distancing himself from this and will
not confirm the reports:
~~~~~~~~~~
If there is anything encouraging to be said about the current situation it
is that there does seem to be push-back here in Israel on the Kerry “framework”
proposal. We are seeing this in several ways:
Last Thursday, a contingent of 15 MKs and Ministers representing all the
parties of the coalition except Livni’s Hatnua visited the Jordan Valley in
protest against Kerry’s plans for removal of civilians from the Jordan Valley,
and in solidarity with the people there. This visit, organized by Orit Strook
(Habayit Hayehudi), chair of the Land of Israel caucus in the Knesset, included
Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin (Likud); Coalition chairman MK Yariv Levin (Likud); Deputy Minister of Transportation Tzipi Hotovely (Likud);
and Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar (also
Likud).
Sa’ar, who symbolically poured a bucket of cement into the foundation of a
new home there, declared, “It is wrong to precondition
peace on the withdrawal of Jewish settlements. This can not bring peace.”
What I note about Sa’ar in particular is that he is
number two on the Likud list and close to Netanyahu.
Credit: Haaretz
It is my contention in situations like this that
Netanyahu runs a tight ship in his party and that someone like Sa’ar would not
be doing what he is without a quiet nod from the prime minister. Netanyahu
seems to be letting others speak out in a way that he himself is not doing,
quite possibly with the intention of allowing a situation to develop that
permits him to tell Kerry his party won’t stand still for certain
concessions.
While the emphasis was on the Jordan Valley, because of Kerry demands –
with Sa’ar saying, “The question is, where will Israel’s
eastern border be? At the Jordan River or God forbid, near Netanya or Kfar
Saba,” and Elkins pointing out that Prime Minister Rabin “was not willing to let
go of the Jordan Valley” – there was also important talk about the retention of
all communities in Judea and Samaria. This, my friends, is the bottom
line.
~~~~~~
Even Netanyahu, (see the JPost article cited above) made a
statement about not being very optimistic about the PA’s sincerity about
peace. You think? He alluded in particular to PA incitement and
celebration of terror.
Meanwhile, Senator John McCain, of Arizona, who is visiting Israel with
fellow Republican Senators John Barrasso of Wyoming and
Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, met with Netanyahu and subsequently reported
that:
“Prime Minister Netanyahu has serious, serious concerns about the plan as
it has been presented to him...”
~~~~~~~~~~
And Kerry? Forgive me, but I have the impression that his brains
leaked out of his ears some long time ago. He is, to this moment, making
all sorts of optimistic comments about the progress being made. Israel and
the PLO, he says are starting to “flesh out the toughest hurdles” in the “peace
process.”
But what takes the cake is the comparison Kerry actually made this past
week between our situation here and Vietnam. Please see Aaron Lerner of
IMRA on this: http://imra.org.il/story.php3?id=62756
For the record, Kerry’s hands are not clean, with regard to what went on
concerning Vietnam. (Details, perhaps, in time.)
~~~~~~~~~~
Ahmed Tibi, an MK with the party, was an advisor to Arafat and remains
close to Abbas (which leads to questions about how such a man is allowed in the
Knesset, but that is for another day). Tibi, in interview with Al-Monitor, said
that he speaks with Abbas “a lot,” and that Abbas will never settle for less
than Jerusalem (he didn’t say “east”) as the capital of a Palestinian state, and
insists that not a single IDF soldier would be permitted on Palestinian
land.
This is not new, but so much for Kerry’s suggestion about fleshing out the
tough hurdles.
~~~~~~~~~~
Other than the contentious issue of control of the Jordan Valley, I have no
solid information on what Kerry is trying to sell or how detailed his framework
is. Some reports indicate that he is still aiming for a final agreement by
April, while others report that this is his way of making it possible for
negotiations to continue after April.
There are those who suggest what Kerry is really after is the Nobel Peace
prize. Hey! It could happen. His boss, Obama, got it for doing absolutely
nothing so surely he might get it after working so hard for “peace.”
~~~~~~~~~~
The area remains on fire all about us, and there is much to be examined in
days ahead. A great deal of the violence we are seeing is Sunni-Shia, in
one guise or another.
~~~~~~~~~~
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