Ehud K. Olmert ready to accept Hamas' terms
Ehud K. Olmert told President Bush this week that he is ready to accept Hamas' terms for rebuilding their military capabilities: Olmert said that he was willing to trade most of Judea and Samaria for a hudna, a 10-15-year period of quiet to be broken only if the 'Palestinians' decide in the interim that are capable of defeating Israel militarily.That's the upshot of a report that appears in yesterday's Toronto Star, which is based on an article in Maariv. If the Maariv article appears on its (Hebrew only) website, I could not find it.
Israeli President Ehud Olmert secretly presented the concept to President George W. Bush during a meeting at the White House Monday, the Ma'ariv report said, citing unnamed political sources in Washington and Jerusalem.For those of you who don't understand the problem with this: we'd be giving up our one real asset - land - in exchange for something that is at best a 10-15-year period of quiet. A hudna does not include recognizing Israel's 'right to exist.' What's worse is that the hudna is a religious concept and there is precedent in Islam for breaking a hudna if the Muslims decide that they are capable of winning a military victory (I linked this post above too, but I want to emphasize it).
Palestinian and Israeli officials refused comment on the initiative, which Ma'ariv described as "consensual realignment" — a term that implies Israel now is willing to involve Palestinians in a negotiated withdrawal from parts of the West Bank, where more than 250,000 Jewish settlers live on land conquered by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War.
But Ghassan Khatib, a senior Palestinian political figure, told the Toronto Star that diplomats working beneath the radar have begun "an exchange of views about the potential of moving forward on the basis of a long-term ceasefire of 10 or even 15 years."
Leaders of the militant Hamas movement have for many years spoken of such a long-term hudna, or ceasefire, but only on the condition of a full Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 armistice lines — terms deemed unacceptable to the Israeli leadership. [In other words, we are now arguing over whether it's going to be 97% or 100% in return for nothing. CiJ]
...
"The big difference now is that Hamas is in power. And some of the Israeli officials who are examining this idea are realizing that what the Hamas offers in terms for a 10- or 15-year ceasefire is really not very different from what the (internationally brokered peace plan) Roadmap describes in its interim phase — it is just another name for a Palestinian state with provisional borders," said Khatib, who served under the previous Palestinian Authority government as labour minister.
"There is an exchange of views happening because some people believe there is potential here."
The scariest part about this is that despite the fact that most of the country wants to replace Olmert or hold new elections, unless someone in the coalition (most likely candidates are Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu and Shas) is willing to oppose it, this kind of 'program' could even make it through the current Knesset (and even if those parties resigned, there are plenty of leftist MK's in the opposition who would vote for it).
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:59 PM
1 Comments:
Carl, to hear of one inch of Israeli soil being given to the PA for any reason is difficult to comprehend from over here across the pond, as the British say.
If I had a say, it would be not one more inch of land - period.
Stay safe.
Post a Comment
<< Home