And Abbas Drops the Other Shoe

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

Abbas Gaming US: US Subverting Bibi

The Middle East is usually full of deception, duplicity, and backstabbing in its political both intra-country and inter-country. There is often a huge gap between actions and words. At times, it appears that nobody says what they mean and nobody means what they say. So, it comes as little surprise that the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations should go through an intermediary, the United States, and that there is deceit galore, at levels beyond anything I can remember. The Palestinian Authority in their dealings with the United States perpetrates the first deceit, and then there is the deceit in the approach and manipulation being applied by the United States upon Israel. It was the evidence of the United States attempt to circumvent Prime Minister Netanyahu that cleared the fog revealing the Palestinian manipulations bringing a clarity in my perceptions.

First, let us deal with the Palestinian ploys aimed at playing the United States. President Abbas, Prime Minister Fayyad and others in the Palestinian Authority have realized exactly how desperate President Obama and his Administration are to find anything they can show as progress in any form in any area to crow about and improve their image at home. The PA also realizes that Prime Minister Netanyahu has a solid and virtually unshakably strong coalition allowing him to negotiate from a position of strength and not need to compromise in direct talks. For this reason Abbas and all will not agree, no matter what the bribe, to rejoin direct negotiations. The only exception is if they can get the United States to guarantee a favorably inclined Israel. This has brought about a change in the Palestinian tactics. Now, instead of making initial demands before direct negotiations with Israel only to be followed by more extravagant demands during direct talks until Israel finally refuses a demand, then walking out in a huff, all the demands, no matter how guaranteed repulsive to Israel, are being forced upon the United States. First thing the Palestinians have figured is that the Americans are more desperate for a deal and in an even weaker negotiating position than is Israel. Since the United States is more likely to agree to almost anything demanded by the Palestinian side and then apply force on Israel, why not simply have the United States do the Palestinian negotiating for them. They have rightly figured the United States can apply the most pressure even before the real face-to-face negotiations commence. This is not a huge departure than the regular Palestinian ploy, but this time they are carrying their pressuring the United States much farther than before and reaping the full benefit of an American Administration that has proven hostile to Israel.

Now let us cover the United States deceitful manipulations of Israel. It is no secret that President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton both have a visceral hate of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Almost nothing would make them happier than to replace him with Tzipi Livni, a far more reasonable in their eyes, meaning more pliable and less dogmatic in protecting Israel and keeping Jerusalem and any of the predominately Jewish areas that have formed in the Judean and Samarian Hills of Eastern Israel. So, in order to conceivably threaten the third largest block of the Netanyahu coalition, the Obama Administration has been holding talks with the head of the Labor Party and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. They have made special generous offers of weapon systems, the acquisition of such he can claim credit for and potentially pull some support away from Netanyahu and Likud in the coalition. Should Ehud Barak and Labor manage to pull a couple of the lesser parties to back them in a “lack of confidence vote”, then it might be possible to force new elections. Secretary of State Clinton, assuredly on instructions from the White House, has been approaching Tzipi Livni to sound out and get her support for plans that will meet the enhanced set of demands from the Palestinian Authority. This is being orchestrated in order to have support from the Obama Administration should new elections actually come. Should there be new elections, we can expect many reports from new outlets such as Haaretz and other liberal leaning sources on how Tzipi Livni has such wonderful relations with the American Administration and how Bibi Netanyahu is a threat to Israel’s most precious relationship and ally. This would be the exact same scenario as the undermining of Prime Minister Netanyahu during President Bill Clinton’s Presidency. (One has to wonder if Democrat operatives such as Bob Schrum, James Carville will be sent to campaign for Livni.) By all appearances, the Obama Administration has given up negotiating with Prime Minister Netanyahu, the current Israeli leader, and, for all intents and purposes, are dealing with Tzipi Livni, the person they hope and maybe even plan to be Prime Minister of Israel.

It is almost needless to say, with Abbas and the Palestinian Authority pushing their deceitful negotiations with the Obama Administration to include concession they know the current Israeli Government would never accept, and the Obama Administration negotiating in ways that lay bare their wish and possible manipulation to break the Netanyahu coalition in order to replace him with the “more agreeable” (read pliant) Tzipi Livni at the helm, Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are going nowhere fast. At some point all these deceits, manipulations, ploys, and playing people has to reach critical mass; and then who knows what events will follow and where these events will lead. Something tells me that this tangled web being spun will challenge the proverbial Gordian Knot when the time comes to untie this mess. I just pray it all does not explode violently as any new Middle East War will in no way resemble the previous limited engagements, this time will be for the whole ball of wax.

Beyond the Cusp