Israel Matzav

'Palestinians' tell UN they're 'ready' to govern themselves

The 'Palestinian Authority's envoy to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, told the Security Council on Tuesday that the 'Palestinians' are 'ready' to govern themselves.

"With international political and financial support this plan has reached its objectives as acknowledged by the international community,” he said. “We have completed our responsibilities and are ready to govern ourselves. “

He added: “We cannot keep waiting for Israel to negotiate with good faith.”

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor, speaking after Mansour, told the Security Council that security and recognition of Israel as a Jewish State are the two linchpin issues that must be acknowledged by Palestinians in order to reach a final agreement and two-state solution.

Prosor said that he supported a two-state solution, with a Palestinian state residing "alongside and not instead of the Jewish state." That Palestinian state, the ambassador added, must be demilitarized and supported by a strong education system, halting teachings of hatred and anti-Israeli sentiment.

The Israeli ambassador rejected any unilateral move by the Palestinians, including seeking state recognition at the UN General Assembly, and dismissed such efforts as an attempt to bypass negotiations with Israel. Prosor said such efforts would be futile for Palestinians, saying only bilateral negotiations presented a solution.

"To the Palestinians I also issue a call," Prosor said. "Take Israel’s outstretched hand. Seize the opportunities before us to advance down the real road toward peace – a road of solutions not resolutions; dialogue not monologue; and direct negotiations not unilateral declarations."

"Whether the Palestinians bring forward a resolution in the General Assembly or by invoking the 'Uniting for Peace' resolution it is clear that the Palestinians are not united and are far from united for peace," Prosor said.

The Israeli ambassador added, "There is much uncertainty about the future Palestinian government: its acceptance of the Quartet conditions, the peace process, control of its security forces, and many other questions. It will take at least a year until after the Palestinian elections next year before it is clear what Palestinian unity really means."

Although we don't know yet what 'Palestinian unity' means, it's clear that one thing it doesn't mean is peace. Either the unity deal is a sham that will come apart (which seems likely) or Hamas will continue to insist on trying to destroy Israel (which is also likely) or both. In any event, we know enough to know that this is not the way to 'two states living alongside each other in peace.' This is the way to an effort to chop the Jewish state up piece by piece.

The issue is not whether the 'Palestinians' are ready to govern themselves (although clearly they are not and they will still be totally dependent on 'international assistance'). The issue is whether they are willing to live in peace with their neighbors and whether they are willing and able to take the actions necessary to ensure that they live in peace with their neighbors. Unfortunately, the answer to that question is clearly no.

Israel, at long last, has started to fight back.

Now Israel’s deputy foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon, has signalled a welcome change of strategy with a short video he has fronted here. In this he sets out the true facts: that Israel did not steal the West Bank from its true owners – indeed, could not have stolen it, since the land never had any sovereign owner; that Israel took it not from the Palestinians, who never owned it, but from Jordan, which had itself illegally occupied it; that Jews have been legally entitled to live in the West Bank ever since the second decade of the last century when the world’s then governing body, the League of Nations, gave them the right to settle in it; that far from not giving up any ground, the Jews saw their legal entitlement to the land hugely reduced when some three quarters of it was hived off to become Jordan; and that far from being a national border, the 1967 boundary merely marked the ceasefire line in the war of extermination mounted by the Arabs against Israel at its re-birth – and that it was the Arabs who insisted it should have no legal significance.

This is not to say that Israel should hold on to all the disputed territory -- far from it. But the west should be helped to understand that, as a matter of law and justice, Israel is entitled to choose what to give up in its own interests -- because Israel, not its Arab would-be destroyers, stands for justice and law. All Ayalon does in this video is spell out the facts about this. That simple but crucial approach is what has been neglected until now in Israel’s defence strategy. This video marks a sharp turn for the better.

Will all of Israel's politicians and diplomats adopt the aggressive tone of Danny Ayalon? That remains to be seen. Given past precedent, I don't have a lot of confidence that they will. But Ayalon's video is clearly a breath of fresh air.

Labels: Danny Ayalon, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome, Riyad Mansour, Ron Prosor, unilateral declaration of statehood

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:44 PM