Israel Matzav

There he goes again....

Jimmy Carter is back.

Second, with international support, the accord could lead to a durable cease-fire. Israel and the United States are concerned that Hamas could use a unity government to launch attacks against Israel. I have visited the Israeli border town of Sderot and share their concern. I urged Hamas’s leaders to stop launching rockets, and they attempted to negotiate a lasting mutual cease-fire. The United States and other Quartet members should assist Hamas and Israel’s search for a cease-fire.

Hamas' price for a hudna (limited term 'cease fire') are more or less the terms of the 'international community' for a 'final settlement.' Israel would have to be suicidal to agree to those terms.

Third, the accord could be a vehicle to press for a final peace agreement for two states. Abu Mazen will be able to negotiate on behalf of all Palestinians. And with Quartet support, a unity government can negotiate with Israel an exchange of prisoners for the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and a settlement freeze. In my talks with Hamas leader Khaled Meshal, he said Hamas would accept a two-state agreement that is approved in a Palestinian referendum. Such an agreement could provide mutual recognition — Israel would recognize an independent Palestinian state and Palestine would recognize Israel. In other words, an agreement will include Hamas’s recognition of Israel.

Abu Mazen can't 'negotiate' on behalf of all 'Palestinians' unless Hamas agrees - which it has not and won't. I don't know what 'exchange of prisoners' Carter envisions for Gilad Shalit, but there is no way Israel should release hundreds of terrorist murderers in exchange for Shalit.

As to Carter's claim that Hamas is going to recognize Israel's 'right to exist,' that's a pipe dream.

Hamas doesn’t have to recognize Israel even if it is part of the unity government, said Masri, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Palestine Central Council, which helped mediate the deal.

So why does Carter think Hamas will recognize Israel?

A 'two-state deal' will never be approved in a 'Palestinian referendum' because such a referendum would include the 'Palestinian diaspora' and those people have nothing to lost in voting "no." And 'mutual recognition' - which is unlikely to ever happen - is not enough to be worth endangering ourselves by cutting out the heart of our country.

Suspicions of Hamas stem from its charter, which calls for Israel’s destruction. I find the charter repugnant. Yet it is worth remembering that Israel negotiated the Oslo Accords with the Palestine Liberation Organization while its charter had similar provisions. It took five more years before the PLO Charter was altered.

The PLO Charter has never legally been altered. That was a Carter-Clinton lie. And that's precisely the problem. We shouldn't be negotiating with the PLO, Fatah or the 'Palestinian Authority' either. They differ with Hamas only on tactics and not on the ultimate goal: The destruction of the Jewish state.

Many Israelis say that as long as the Palestinians are divided, there is no partner for peace. But at the same time, they refuse to accept a unity government. In Cairo this week, the Palestinians are choosing unity. It is a fragile unity, but the Quartet should work with them to make it secure and peaceful enough to jump-start final-status negotiations with Israel.

Sorry, but a 'peace partner' requires more than 'Palestinian' unity. It requires a 'Palestinian' party that is ready to negotiate with Israel as an equal and that has given up on destroying Israel. That doesn't exist. And it's not likely to exist in our lifetimes.

What could go wrong?

Labels: Fatah, Hamas, Jimmy Carter, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome, two-state solution

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:54 PM