Obama’s Pie in the Sky 
By Ted Belman,
There is no solution to the final status issues of Jerusalem, borders and refugees that both sides will agree to. Nevertheless President Obama is committed to forcing an agreement.
Recently two top administration officials advised David Ignatius, Washington Post, to the effect that Pres Obama is “seriously considering” proposing an American peace plan which would be based on “agreements nearly reached” in the past. This is outrageous, as I will explain and it has no chance of succeeding.
Apparently, after spending a year on making settlement construction and Jerusalem the key issues, the Obama administration is finally admitting defeat and are moving on. Undaunted with their failure so far even with Syria and Iran, they are going to focus on a regional solution. “Incrementalism hasn’t worked” Effectively, the administration is opting for a grand design.
The administration believes that the formula for success requires them to “take on the absolute requirements of Israeli security and the requirements of Palestinian sovereignty in a way that makes sense.” Sorry, but Israel isn’t buying. Obama has been trying to frame the solution that way for a year but he ignores that Israel wants, and is entitled to, more than having its security needs met. She has very strong legal and historical claims to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. Obama has done his best to ignore them.
Israel will not accept a deal which forces her to give up on the settlement blocks including Ariel and Maaleh Adumin. Even if these blocks were offered to her, Israel would still have to uproot about 70,000 Jews at a cost of over $100 billion. Most, if not all of Jerusalem as annexed by Israel 40 years ago, would have to remain under Israel sovereignty. Israel would not agree to anything less. While Israel might accept a return of a token amount of refugees, Israel will be looking for redress for the Jewish refugees from Arab countries.
On the Palestinian side, Obama wants to satisfy the “requirements of Palestinian sovereignty in a way that makes sense”. This tells us nothing about what he thinks the Palestinians should get.
But last year, after arduous shuttle diplomacy, the following “terms of reference” were agreed upon:
- “Today’s announcement by the government of Israel helps move forward toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We believe that through good-faith negotiations the parties can mutually agree on an outcome which ends the conflict and reconciles the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state based on the 1967 lines, with agreed swaps, and the Israeli goal of a Jewish state with secure and recognized borders that reflect subsequent developments and meet Israeli security requirements.”
In order to reach agreement on these terms, the administration had to allow for considerable diplomatic ambiguity. So much so, that there was no agreement at all. The Arabs still resist recognizing Israel as a Jewish state and accepting an end of conflict agreement.
Even within the confines of these terms of reference, the difference between the parties’ positions is enormous. How can borders based on the ‘67 lines, even with mutually agreed swaps, be reconciled with “borders that…meet Israeli security requirements.” Besides, Israel is entitled to “secure” borders by virtue of UNSC Resolution 242. Such borders were always understood to mean defensible borders.
Look for a great deal of pressure on Bibi to capitulate.
Netanyahu has demanded that final status issues be negotiated without preconditions. When speaking to the UNGA last September, Obama said, “… the time has come to re-launch negotiations without preconditions that address the permanent status issues”
What Netanyahu meant was that he rejected starting with previous Israeli offers and Obama evidently agreed. Yet in the position presented in the Ignatius article, Obama intends to start with what the parties almost agreed to. Furthermore the most generous offers Israel made in the past were made by left of center governments headed by Labor or Kadimah. The Netanyahu government is right of center and will not match those offers, let alone better them.
Throughout the entire peace process Israel was assured that all final status issues would be negotiated between the parties. That gave Israel an out if she didn’t like where negotiations were headed. It also enabled her to agree to parameters she was not comfortable with. No more.
Obama, for his part will not suggest that the Arabs compromise much because it would undermine his Muslim outreach and the Arabs would never do so. Therefore his plan will favor the Palestinians by a country mile. It will align with the Saudi Plan.
Finally, there is the small matter of Gaza. The land for peace formula which was articulated by UNSC Res 242, was always intended to mean peace with Jordan, Egypt and Syria. Jordan transferred her rights to the Palestinians but they are divided between the West Bank and Gaza. There is no chance that Hamas who controls Gaza would go along, to say nothing of Syria and Iran. So, where’s the peace? Although Obama wants a regional approach i.e. from 30,000 feet, these players won’t play.
If Obama does in fact announce his Plan, he will be ending the peace process. The Oslo Interim Accords provided “Neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the permanent-status agreement.” When Fayyad announced that he intended to unilaterally declare a state, Netanyahu said that if he did, Israel would be free to annex Judea and Samaria. The same logic would apply if Obama announced a Plan.
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