While we were out, there have been a series of issues raised in Ha'aretz and JPost which I think deserve mentioning and possible discussion. I have some of the links and will attempt to retrieve others, which my computer refused to save when I saw them, although all are in the last three or four days.
I do ask that for this diary, the personal issues, that is, issues personal to the conduct of particular IPers, be left for another time.
Part of the reason I put forth this diary is the care many have given to talk on the two state solution, and to J Street, both of which appear to be affected by what has been reported. The two state solution does not appear to be faring well.
1. Unity talks between Hamas and PA, and consequences thereof.
Several articles have appeared to the effect that Mr. Abbas and apparently PA are giving priority to unity talks with Hamas preparatory to elections later this year. One mentioned that there will be talks held in April in Cairo for that purpose, and that amendments to the PA charter may be in the works, and follow a number of meetings or communications on the subject between the parties.
These talks are apparently related at some level to the proposed raising by Palestinian entities of the independence of a Palestinian State at the UN in September and the perceived and probable success of that effort, and the related necessity of Palestinian elections preparatory thereto and for the governance of the resulting state. Among the issues reportedly included in the discussions were the imprisonment of Hamas supporters in the WB, and the repression of Hamas organizations there. What PA may have said to Hamas was not reported.
Mr. Abbas has now said publicly enough for it to be reprinted in both papers that if this attempt at unity means he must surrender US underwriting continguent on not dealing with Palestinian 'terrorist' entity Hamas, he is going to do without that money and work on the unity.
In response, Mr. Netanyahu has replied that PA must choose between a deal with Hamas and a peace deal with Israel and cannot have both.here. This has generated much criticism of him in said papers, in view of the apparently inert status of those PA-Israel talks at the present time, and also involving discussion of prior wasted talk opportunities.
Both sides have apparently gone to Moscow to discuss what they choose to discuss, as it is a party in the Quartet.
The Israeli government has also reportedly said to various foreign governments, both in response to direct diplomatic recognition of the Palestinians by some states and to the upcoming UN consideration of a new state, that it will consider unilateral action, not publicly identified, if the Palestiian Independence push goes through.
A separate set of articles today and yesterday have suggested that the unilateral action may consist of Israeli annexation of major WB settlement blocks, and may also include reducing water and electricity to Gaza beyond the minimum now agreed and cutting off WB and Gazan use of Israeli ports for shipping. such as this one. Some of the articles also noted the probability that such steps would not be internationally acceptable and might lead to further Israeli governmental isolation.
This last, as to water, is probably also indirectly connected to a separate article yesterday reporting that Israel other than northernmost Israel is in the seventh year of a severe drought and most of the nation has not gotten the rain it needs to support its people. here The present political dishabille of Syria will also be involved in the water issue as on prior occasions here it has been noted that some important sources of water to Israel are in disputed portions of Golan or in the near areas of northern Jordan, and doing the long discussed peace treaty with Syria probably cannot go forward until what internal issues are troubling Syria and perhaps Jordan, without the peace treaty added to it, are resolved. Water has thusfar not figured much in discussions here but may end up being one of the critical issues.
2. Gaza.
At least two interesting series of articles have appeared. The first, which is keyed the the current round of mutual attacks between IDF and somebody in Gaza, it no longer being clear quite who specifically, has involved several articles in which IDF has said that Gaza is in chaos and that it may be necessary to do another action similar to CAST LEAD, in response.
The second involves an island in the Mediterranean, of all things described here. I had not heard of this proposal before, but when it comes up in both, it may be worth a mention in view of what I recall from long ago as descriptions of destruction of the airport in Gaza at the time the Israelis changed its status. It appears that the island will be constructed nearly two miles offshore of Gaza connected by a readily severable bridge, and policed by NATO or some such, searching for weapons attempted to be imported into Gaza. The island will reportedly include both a port and an airport, and is thought to be one way to end the process of all Gazan and perhaps WB shipping from the West and Suez going through Israel. It appears that this item is contemplated to be within the Israeli governmental budget.
3. Israeli citizenship and J Street.
First, the Knesset has apparently passed a bill which permits forfeiture of citizenship for support of terrorism.
At roughly the same time, the matter of J Street has been raised in a number of articles, after a visit by Mr Ben Ami, its leader, to Israel, raising the question of the relationship between Diaspora and Israel proper, and the degree to which Diaspora folk may without damaging their connections dissent from some of the policies of the current Israeli government or segments thereof. I will not summarize the yelling for fear of misinterpreting it, but recommend these articles and the commentary on them for a good read and discussion of highly variant views on the matter. This issue involves the various opinions of the relationship of Diaspora to Israel proper, and the degree to which divergence of opinion on certain matters is hereafter to be considered acceptable or not by the participants in the yelling and the constituencies they represent.
4. Aliyah and travel issues.
Today two articles appeared which related to travel. One was an article reporting that the government had advised and taken steps as to Israelis who were traveling to Iraq, especially Kurdistan, where some had gone for family and business reasons, advising them firmly that they should not do so.
The second was an article respecting Tunisian objections to a very recent Israeli governmental effort to communicate with Tunisian Jews urging them in view of the situation there to immigrate to Israel.
5. Investigation into the Fogel murders. At the time the murders were discovered, it had been reported that what I recall as twenty men from a nearby village had been taken into custody and searches of the town had been conducted, following which there was a single report that a breach of the security fence of that settlement had been reported but not properly followed up on on the night the murders occurred, and some reports about a payment disagreement between a victim and Thai workers. I have seen nothing further about the Thai workers theory.
Today's report indicates that an additional group of men have been detained, and that all have apparently been given DNA tests, and some of them released. Even the mayor was taken. The suggestion of the articles is that somewhere between sixty and a hundred persons have been so detained and tested, and an unknown number remain in custody for reasons unstated. There is no present indication that what we would call suspects or persons of interest or targets have thusfar been identified.
It appears to me that
(a) the Arab Spring and the long ongoing battle about how the internal society of Israel is to be constructed or reconstructed between the leftists and various right factions have materially changed the possibility of the direct talks on which so many here had placed so much hope, and that
(b) unless what is in my estimation Israel comes up with concrete proposals which should be promptly acceptable to PA and Hamas, once that is worked out, the next round of this will involve the UN in September, and the attempt to recreate unity on the P side in the meantime. Particularly if the current Israeli government takes the unilateral actions they have been mentioning publicly, that may put this entire process on a road not much here considered.
I do not regard any of the Tunisian matter, the politicization without completion of investigation of the horrific slaughter of the Fogels, or the J street battle as good signs.
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