Israel Matzav

Livni's 'warning'

Israel's foreign minister Tzipi Feigele Livni is 'warning' of pressure that may be brought to bear on Israel after the US General Election in a bid to assure President Bush of a legacy. Livni notes - correctly - the pressure that was brought upon Israel at the end of the Clinton administration to which Ehud Barak - who happens to be one of her political rivals these days - did all he could to yield. Of course one of the reasons Israel may come under pressure from the waning days of the Bush administration is that Livni came up with the 'brilliant' idea - that was adopted by Condi Rice - of doing a 'shelf agreement' with the 'Palestinians' in the first place. Now she 'wakes up'....

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni came out on Sunday against American efforts to have Israel reach an interim agreement with the Palestinians before the end of US President George W. Bush's term based on the diplomatic talks that she has led.

Speaking at a Kadima rally in Jerusalem that was closed to the press, Livni expressed concern that the Bush administration would pressure Israel, as president Bill Clinton did at Camp David before he left office in 2001.

"I purposely am not setting deadlines [for the negotiations with the Palestinians], because I think that's very bad," Livni said. "I very much don't want to be in the same situation that Ehud Barak was in at at Camp David of the end of an American administration finishing its term and trying to put pressure on everyone to bridge gaps that cannot be bridged."

Actually, the correct analogy would be Taba - which was after the US elections - not Camp David which was in the summer before them. But Barak was Prime Minister at the time. Is Livni hinting at something?

Diplomatic officials told The Jerusalem Post last week that the US was interested in Israel and the Palestinians codifying the progress they have made in their talks up to now so there would be a document to serve as the basis for further negotiations following the changeover of governments in the US and - possibly - in Israel.

According to the officials, the document the US is interested in emerging from Israeli-Palestinian talks would be in lieu of a "shelf-agreement" that US President George W. Bush had said at last November's Annapolis Conference he hoped to see completed by the time he left office in January 2009.

Olmert has reportedly expressed interest in drafting such a document, but Livni has blocked this. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to convene a trilateral meeting in Washington at the end of the month, with Livni and the chief Palestinian Authority negotiator Ahmed Qurei, but it not expected to lead to the drafting of a document.

Kadima officials speculated that the reason Livni was so adamant in blocking the drafting of such a document was that she was afraid that if the concessions she has already agreed to were revealed before the mid-September Kadima race, she could lose support to her chief rival, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz.

This sounds like a non-shelf shelf agreement, but note that last paragraph. That's why Livni has suddenly started to turn right. Someone ought to try to bring those concessions into the public light. And I know just the man to do it.

But what comes after the Bush administration could be even worse than those last two months of pressure (Hat Tip: NY Nana via Little Green Footballs).

"The Palestinian people are having a very tough time right now economically, and it is in US interests to make sure that they have a sense of hope and opportunity and a Palestinian state. I think it's in Israelis' interest as well," US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Hussein Obama told NBC's Meet the Press Sunday on the heels of his Mideast tour.

...

"I give the Bush administration credit that the Annapolis process has gotten Prime Minister (Ehud) Olmert in Israel and President (Mahmoud) Abbas in the Palestinian territories to have very serious and frank discussions. I think they have moved the ball forward. They may not be able to finish the job. They certainly can't finish it without serious participation by the next administration, and we've got to start early".

According to Obama, if the US can "solve" the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, "then that will make it easier for Arab states and the Gulf States to support us when it comes to issues like Iraq and Afghanistan.

Yeah, right. Like 'our friends the Saudis' have ever done anything for America. Why would they start if the US does what they want by sacrificing Israel?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:13 AM