PA official: Abbas expects US pressure to push out Netanyahu

[Fozzledick]

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will not resume negotiations with Israel unless the Netanyahu government agrees to a complete settlement freeze and publicly accepts a two-state solution, Abbas has told The Washington Post in an interview.

And since he does not believe Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will lift his opposition on these issues, Abbas and his leadership expect American pressure to gradually force Netanyahu out of office, the paper reported on Friday. "It will take a couple of years," it quoted one of Abbas's officials as saying.

...

Setting out what the newspaper called "a hardline position," the Palestinian leader conditioned a resumption of talks with Israel on Netanyahu's agreement to a halt in all settlement building - a demand being repeatedly stressed by Obama, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other senior US officials - and formal Israeli government acceptance of Palestinian statehood.

Abbas added that he would not even assist Obama's special envoy, George Mitchell, in trying to encourage Arab states to begin warming relations with Israel until Israel accepted these conditions. "We can't talk to the Arabs until Israel agrees to freeze settlements and recognizes the two-state solution," Abbas was quoted saying. "Until then we can't talk to anyone."

However, The Washington Post went on, "Abbas and his team fully expect that Netanyahu will never agree to the full settlement freeze - if he did, his center-right coalition would almost certainly collapse. So they plan to sit back and watch while US pressure slowly squeezes the Israeli prime minister from office. 'It will take a couple of years,' one official breezily predicted."

Abbas, the article continued, "rejects the notion that he should make any comparable concession - such as recognizing Israel as a Jewish state, which would imply renunciation of any large-scale resettlement of refugees."

Abbas intends to remain passive, he told the paper. "I will wait for Hamas to accept international commitments. I will wait for Israel to freeze settlements… Until then, in the West Bank we have a good reality . . . the people are living a normal life."

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1243346501041&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

So Abbas has no intention of even negotiating, much less making peace. He's just playing games to try to undermine the Israeli government, and he's happy to leave the Palestinian people in their current dismal condition indefinitely.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

1. I think your assessment is way out.

Abbas would be absolutely happy to negotiate or make peace, he just doesn't have anyone to negotiate with. Netanyahu is not interested even in stopping expanding the settlements, let alone in removing them.

That means that "undermining the Israeli government" is a sine qua non for peace, not just a game. Netanyahu will have to be either replaced or neutered by Washington before there is any chance of compromise.

In Abbas, Israel has a partner for peace - certainly the best they've had since Arafat died, arguably better than Arafat, and certainly better han any of the likely alternatives. To call Netanyahu a partner for peace with the Palestinians, on the other hand, is simply absurd.

[Fozzledick]

2. I must beg to differ

While I'm no fan of Netanyahu, I do think that he's enough of a pragmatist to make the necessary compromises if he sees a real chance for peace, and the constant demonization of him by Israel's enemies strikes me as being as absurd as the rest of their propaganda. But he's not about to back down from his hard-line positions as long as he sees nothing but intransigence on the other side.

Abbas on the other hand is in no position to seriously negotiate anything right now due to his weak hold on the West Bank, never mind Gaza. While I'd like to think he'd be more reasonable if his own status was more secure, I'm struck by his callous acceptance of the status quo while he's preoccupied with scoring political points. And while I agree that he's better than Arafat, that in itself isn't saying very much - the phrase "damning with faint praise" comes to mind.

[Violet_Crumble]

3. For someone who's 'no fan of Netanyahu', you sure have problems with him being criticised...

When it comes to Nutty criticism = demonisation according to you. Yr take on the OP you posted was ridiculous and seemingly based on a rather glowing view of Nutty's govt, and a mindset where the Palestinians must take the blame. Sorry, but it's damn clear that the current Israeli govt is opposed to a two state solution and it's got everything to do with Likud itself being opposed to a two state solution (check its Charter), and the govt containing religious extremists who believe that the West Bank is part of Israel. Trying to blame the Palestinians for the Israeli govt's opposition to a two-state solution is pathetic and not based in any sort of reality....

Weak as Abbas is, right now his govt is the only one that can honestly say it has no partner for peace. Neither Israel nor Hamas can claim that as neither of them have any interest in a peace that involves BOTH Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace and not having to live in fear of being attacked...

[Donald Ian Rankin]

4. Netanyahu's "pragmatism" counts against peace, not for it.

Netanyahu is a pragmatist in the sense that he's willing to do what it takes to achieve his goal, ethical or not. Unfortunately, his goal is a greater Israel. He doesn't give a damn about the lives of Palestinians, and he's willing to sacrifice the lives of Israelis if he has to, to preserve the settlements. That's not demonisation, it's accurate assessment.

To say that he's seeing "nothing but intransigence" on the other side is absurd - the Palestinians are crying out for him to negotiate with them seriously, it's just that he's not willing to meet even the most minimal of their demands so there is no point in him doing so.

Abbas's hold on power is not perfect, but nor is it meaningless. However, the longer it remains clear to the Palestinians that they cannot achieve anything through negotiations, the more he will be weakened and the more those advocating violence will be strengthened. At the moment, the Israelis have a partner for peace. This may not remain the case for years.

[IndianaGreen]

5. Beware of a repeat of Vietnam's unintended consequences

The actions of governments sometimes have unpredictable or unintended consequences. A little history is in order here. Back in 1963, the United States was facing a growing insurgency in South Vietnam. American leaders, including President Kennedy, became impatient with South Vietnam's President Ngo Dinh Diem inept and incompetent regime. To make a long story short, the US decided to get rid of Diem in order to win the war. Diem was killed during a CIA-engineered coup. This was followed shortly by an escalation in the number of US troops in Vietnam, and the little conflict became a big war.

For all of America's efforts, the US lost the war, and South Vietnam ceased to exist. An unintended consequence of our toppling the Diem government!

Having lived through that period of time, I can't help worrying that in our efforts to push for peace, we will undermine and topple the current Israeli government. Will Bibi become the new Diem? I don't mean that Bibi will be killed in a coup, but along the lines of having Israel so fractured and weakened that ultimately it will meet the same fate as the Republic of South Vietnam.