Israel Matzav

Deja vu all over again: Israel to make 'concessions' to Hezbullah and Fatah

Israel is once again preparing to make unilateral 'concessions' to Hezbullah and Fatah, both of which will be pocketed and used to further damage our position in the future. Unbelievably, Israel is apparently now willing to release live, 'Palestinian' prisoners terrorists in return for information regarding the well-being of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, who may not even be alive.

Israel has lifted its opposition to a deal with Hezbollah involving the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for signs of life from abducted soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, a source in the defense establishment recently told Haaretz.

This source and other officials told Haaretz that indirect negotiations for the release of the two Israel Defense Forces soldiers that the Shi'ite organization abducted in July 2006 did not bog down after the assassination of Hezbollah senior official Imad Mughniyah last month in Damascus.

Why should the negotiations 'bog down' given that Israel continues to give and give and give in return for nothing? And what does the government think will happen the next time Hamas - God forbid - kidnaps an Israeli soldier or civilian, something they keep telling us over and over again that they plan to do? Does the government really believe the 'bad terrorists' from Hamas will give us an audio tape of the next hostage like the one they gave us of Gilad Shalit in return for nothing? Not now that they know that they can get something in return!

But perhaps even more frustrating is the government's plan to once again bribe the 'good terrorists' of Fatah with 'gestures' to keep them away from Hamas as if that will stop them from trying to perpetrate terror attacks.

The officials, who were skeptical that a declaration agreed upon in Yemen by Fatah and Hamas would actually bear any fruit, said that by agreeing to re-start a dialogue with Hamas, PA President Mahmoud Abbas might be signaling to Israel that if it didn't start acting to shore up his position, he had "other options."

Barak is considering a series of gestures ahead of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to Israel next week aimed at easing restrictions in the West Bank and including lifting a number of temporary roadblocks, opening a VIP lane at checkpoints, and exempting Palestinian businessmen who are approved by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) from inspections.

Hey folks, we're talking about the 'Palestinians,' whose leader entered the Gaza Strip in 1994 sitting on a terrorist and with three more terrorists in the trunk of his car, and whose ministers smuggle cash in their suitcases, and you want to give them a VIP lane and let their 'businessmen' through without inspections? I get inspected almost every time I land at Ben Gurion!

Defense officials said that while the proposals were already raised several weeks ago, they received additional significance after the talks in Yemen between Fatah and Hamas.

"The idea behind the gestures is to make it clear that those who sit and talk with us will gain and benefit from a lifting of restrictions," a defense official said. "This is today the main difference between the situation in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank."

And why does anyone think that Fatah won't pocket the 'lifting of restrictions' and then go back to talking to their 'brothers' from Hamas anyway?

Israeli spokespeople have said in the past that a reestablishment of the Palestinian unity government that existed prior to June, when Hamas took control of Gaza, would bring an end to the current diplomatic negotiations and the Annapolis process.

One government official said it was extremely unlikely any Fatah-Hamas deal would be worked out, since Hamas would not be willing to give up control of the Gaza Strip, and Fatah would not again be willing to give Hamas a foothold in the West Bank with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as PA prime minister.

What further made a successful Palestinian reconciliation unlikely, the official said, was that such a move would likely alienate the US and the EU, and cost the PA much of the $7.2 billion pledged to it at the Paris Conference in December.

'Israeli spokespeople' have said lots of things in the past and have gone back on 99.9% of them. Our biggest problem is that we have no red lines when it comes to 'negotiating' with Fatah. And with all due respect, relying upon it being 'extremely unlikely' that any deal between Fatah and Hamas will be worked out is a poor argument for making more concessions to Fatah to make sure a deal doesn't happen. As to the moneys from the 'international community,' consider that at this point, the Euroweenies may not withdraw their funds, and may actually welcome an agreement between Fatah and Hamas, and there is also no reason to believe that an administration led by Barack Hussein Obama - which we may God forbid have ten months from now - would not also continue to fund a 'unity government.'

All in all, making more 'gestures' to Fatah is a terrible move!

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:52 AM