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MIDEAST: More Doors Closing Than Opening
Analysis by Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
JERUSALEM, Apr 17, 2009 (IPS) - Israel is digging in its heels. Government officials said Wednesday that Israel
does not intend to cooperate with the upcoming United Nations investigation
into whether Israel and Hamas both committed war crimes during the recent
Gaza war.
The officials say they fear the investigation appointed by the UN Human
Rights Council last month, and headed by South African judge Richard
Goldstone, will be a-priori anti-Israel, its conclusions already having been
drawn.
Goldstone served as chief UN prosecutor of war crimes in Rwanda and the
former Yugoslavia.
A senior foreign ministry official said further that Israel would not allow the
four-person delegation to enter the country since the mandate it has been
given was "one-sided" and made no mention of missile launching against
Israeli population centres preceding and during Israel's 22-day war on
Hamas. In the past, Israel has closed the door to other UN personnel, most
recently to UN special rapporteur for the occupied territories Richard Falk for
the same reasons.
Another Middle East door was closed Wednesday - this time in Israel's face -
by Israel's most prominent Arab peace partner: Egypt's foreign minister
Ahmed Aboul Gheit announced that his Israeli counterpart Avigdor Liberman
was not welcome in his country. "His feet will not step on Egyptian soil as
long as he maintains his positions," he told Russia Today television.
Liberman sparked outrage last year when he criticised the failure of Egypt's
President Hosni Mubarak to visit Israel, saying the Egyptian leader could "go
to hell". He had also suggested the Aswan Dam could be considered a target
in the event of relations between Israel and Egypt deteriorating.
On the other hand, intelligence doors are very much open between the two
countries. This after Egyptian officials confirmed the arrest in the Sinai
peninsula bordering Israel of several operatives said to be linked to the
Lebanese Shia organisation Hizbullah.
Israel is said to have provided "intelligence tips" that led to the arrests.
Egyptian sources indicated the targets of the alleged Hizbullah ring included
not only tourist facilities but also strategic Egyptian interests in the Suez
Canal area.
Security is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's watchword as he
seeks to avoid being seen as responsible for a closed door on revived peace-
making efforts. Netanyahu is looking for ways to ensure no rift opens up
with the U.S. as its special Middle East envoy George Mitchell launched his
first serious diplomatic venture to Jerusalem and Ramallah. Officials in
Netanyahu's office made plain that "in Israel's view, security questions are
paramount and must take precedence over renewed efforts to promote a
peace process with the Palestinians."
In advance of Mitchell's third round of talks with Israeli and Palestinian
leaders (but the first since Netanyahu took office), U.S. sources said blandly
that "Mitchell is asking Israel to clarify its position regarding the resumption
of negotiations with the Palestinians and Syria."
At the same time, Mitchell has not concealed the direction in which the U.S.
means to go, and hopes that Israel too will go. Mitchell has repeatedly
echoed President Barack Obama in indicating that the U.S. expects
Netanyahu to reverse the firm stance he has adopted until now of not
committing verbally to the "two-state solution" and accepting the importance
for a durable peace of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Top-level Israeli government sources continue, however, to put out a
soothing message. They stress that the "shared interests" between the U.S.
and Israel "far outweigh any unnecessary conflict of interests." The officials
say that Netanyahu is counting on U.S. "understanding" that his newly
installed government still needs "several more weeks" to map out its precise
policy on peace talks.
Irrespective of Netanyahu's own ideological commitment and past
declarations, seeds of misunderstanding and potential rift were sown already
a fortnight ago on the day of the new government take-over when his
foreign minister, Avigdor Liberman, launched a most undiplomatic offensive,
declaring that Israel is not obliged by the U.S.-led Annapolis peace process
that maps the way to a two-state solution. Netanyahu has kept a studious
silence on his foreign minister's provocative stance.
Significantly, neither Netanyahu nor Mubarak will be the first Middle East
leader to be invited to the Obama White House. That door will be first
opened to Jordan's King Abdullah II who visits Washington next Tuesday.
Hosting six Arab foreign ministers and Arab League Secretary-General Amr
Mussa, the King this week urged an "immediate" pan-Arab move with the
aim of re-launching "serious" Arab-Israeli peace negotiations on the basis of
the two-state formula and "in accordance with the agreed references,
particularly the Arab peace initiative."
By "agreed reference", read the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel
- terms to which both Netanyahu and his foreign minister are reluctant to
sign on.
At their meeting Thursday night, Netanyahu told Mitchell that he would be ready to
discuss a Palestinian state only if Palestinians recognise Israel as a Jewish state. A senior
official in the Israeli leader's bureau quoted the prime minister as saying: "Israel expects
the Palestinians first to recognise Israel as a Jewish state before there could be talking
about two states for two peoples."
Until the U.S. Administration has formulated its comprehensive Middle East
strategy, Netanyahu may yet be able to drag his feet and still keep the door
open. But, once Obama decides on his peace openings, continued reluctance
- both in words and deeds (for instance in not committing to a settlement
freeze) - could suddenly find the Israeli leader confronting fast-closing
doors on several fronts. (END)
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