Earlier in the week, Mahmoud Abbas threatened to return to the United Nations in the next phase of the Palestinian search for recognition of statehood and universal acceptance. This threat was the exact same style as the last time before his trek to the United Nation where he unsuccessfully petitioned the Security Council for admission to as a recognized state amongst the nations of the world. This attempt was so ill fated that the United States was saved from utilizing their veto as Mahmoud Abbas was not able to gather the necessary nine countries to support his request. Again, President Abbas demanded that Israel return to negotiations in order to prevent their going to the General Assembly in order to seek admission as a non-member status state. Of course his demand for a return to negotiations with the Israelis is dishonest to the core. Palestinian President Abbas still demands that Israel meet his previously stated preconditions otherwise he refuses to negotiate. So, should Israel not surrender by meeting these previously stated preconditions; 1) A return to the pre 1967 Six Day War boundaries as now established borders between Israel and a new Palestinian State. 2) The release of all Palestinian Prisoners from Israeli detentions. 3) Freeze of all building in Judea and Samaria, West Bank, until negotiations reach their conclusion. 4) The removal of every Jew from the lands that will become the Palestinian State. 5) Right of Return within Israel with full rights as citizens of over four and a half million Palestinian refugees as listed by UNRWA, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
As I have stated numerous times, what does this leave to be negotiated? Clearly, President Abbas has aimed to settle all of the final status negotiations by demand of Israeli surrender on all subjects in order to hold negotiations on the final status subjects. Yet, when Netanyahu rebuffs such an invitation and offers to meet with Abbas or whoever will represent the Palestinians for negotiations without any preconditions from either side, Mahmoud Abbas claims that Netanyahu has made completely unacceptable demands which he refuses to meet and that it is Netanyahu’s insane demands which makes negotiations impossible. Then much of the world reacts by condemning Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israel for not meeting the Palestinian requests and for having the audacity of making such unreasonable demands of the Palestinians. Even when Netanyahu agreed to freeze building in Judea and Samaria, but not in Jerusalem, if Mahmoud Abbas will agree that Israel is the State for the Jewish People, Abbas becomes indignant and refuses to consider such a preposterous demand and again entreats to the world for their support against such outrageous demands. It is remarkable how quickly the usual European and other world figures rush to support Abbas and condemn Israel.
The other prediction I usually make whenever President Abbas makes new petitions demanding resumption of negotiations or else he will petition some world body, this time the General Assembly of the United Nations, he usually follows up a short while later with new demands and precondition of the Israelis to meet just in case anybody might have forgotten the original preconditions and might actually think that Abbas actually wants to meet and negotiate with the Israelis and not simply talking in order to facilitate the anti-Israeli knee-jerk condemnations which always follow his call to action. Fortunately, President Abbas has once again not disappointed me and has introduced one new demand and reiterated a previously named demand. The old demand being recirculated this time is for the release of all Palestinian prisoners including all terrorists before returning to negotiations. Abbas new idea was the demand that Israel allow the Palestinian Authority to freely import weapons in order to better arm their police and security forces. He then restated the requirement for a complete building freeze with the proviso that this was not really a precondition as many other leaders in the world also believe that Israel should freeze all building in the “occupied territories” thus it is not just his demand. Then President Abbas came up with the jewel of this latest threat when he explained that even if the Israelis met all the preconditions, “Then we will establish a dialogue, but that doesn’t mean a negotiation.” So now Mahmoud Abbas is making precondition demands in order to hold talks about further preconditions before what? Probably should the Israelis meet the initial demands and then hold talks, but not negotiations, and the next set of preconditions will be made in order to facilitate the next talks, not negotiations, for further preconditions for how many rinse-repeat cycles? This is obviously another ploy to reawaken the world’s discussion and support for the Palestinian demands on Israel and allow another round of berating the Israelis in the world press and by the numerous usual suspects. Some point in the future the world will tire of this putrid game of injustices Abbas periodically uses to stimulate the anti-Israel chorus from his ample numbers of co-instigators around the world and will decline to validate the falsities thus calling out the Palestinian game and will simply walk away and ignore their further bleating.
Beyond the Cusp
