Israel-Palestine: Way Forward Through "Low-Level Peace Talks"?

Following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement on "new and interesting ideas", Reuters have quoted Palestinian officials that a US proposal to launch low-level peace talks, along with "confidence building measures" to improve living conditions in the West Bank, was handed over by US Mideast envoy George Mitchell on his recent visit to the region.

The response was mixed. "Holding a low-level meeting with the Israelis that tackles issues related to the daily life of Palestinians will not be an alternative to political negotiations," one Palestinian official was quoted as saying. In contrast, Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak painted a positive picture. He said that talks would resume in the next month or two and added, "On the surface the diplomatic process appears asleep and frozen, but I don't think that's really accurate. Under the surface both sides want negotiations."

Israel-Palestine: Obama to Netanyahu, Abbas “Deal With Your Opposition Within”
Israel: Defense Minister Barak “Palestine Peace Bigger Issue Than Iran’s Bomb”
Gaza: Israel Rejects Another High-Level Visit
Israel: Netanyahu’s “War on Evil”

After Israel's determination not to offer any concessions and the Palestinian Authority's insistence on those concessions before any negotiations, Washington's new proposal raises the question: Are low-level peace talks a complementary part or the collapse of the "tactical shift" put forward by the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton? Three weeks ago, Clinton declared, “Resolving borders resolves settlements, resolving Jerusalem resolves settlements. I think we need to lift our sights and instead of being looking down at the trees, we need to look at the forest.”

Israel-Palestine: Obama to Netanyahu, Abbas "Deal With Your Opposition Within"

On Thursday, at a Town Hall meeting in Tampa, President Obama talked about the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. He not only reiterated the urgent need to meet both sides' "legitimate aspirations" but also implicitly warned each to deal with the opposition forces within their camps.

Obama started with the dual assurances, Israel is one of our strongest allies. It's critical for us, and I will never waver from ensuring Israel's security....The plight of the Palestinians is something that we have to pay attention to. It is not good for our security and for Israel's security if you have millions of individuals who feel hopeless....We are working to try to strengthen the ability of both parties to have to sit down across the table."

Israel: Defense Minister Barak “Palestine Peace Bigger Issue Than Iran’s Bomb”
Gaza: Israel Rejects Another High-Level Visit
Israel: Netanyahu’s “War on Evil”

Obama then pointed out the "mutual demonization" jeopardizing the peace process, while urging leaders through praise to deal with troublesome allies. The President said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "is making some effort to move a little bit further than his coalition wants to go" while Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas "genuinely wants peace" but has to deal with Hamas. Obama concluded:

The Palestinians have to unequivocally renounce violence and rToecognize Israel. And Israel has to acknowledge legitimate grievances and interests of the Palestinians.

Israel: Netanyahu's "War on Evil"

On the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, during a ceremony at Yad Vashem on Monday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called on the international community to fight against the increasing "evil" of anti-Semitism which is seeking the destruction not only of Israel but also the rest of the world. Netanyahu continued:

There is an evil that can spread and threaten the security of Jews. We know that this just begins with Jews, and then continues on to the rest of the world. There are today new people who hate Jews, with new reasons for [wanting] the destruction of the Jewish state. This is our concern.

Without explicitly signifying Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, Netanyahu declared, "This is a test for humanity and we will see in the coming weeks how the international community stops this evil before it spreads."

Israel: Defense Minister Barak “Palestine Peace Bigger Issue Than Iran’s Bomb”
Gaza: Israel Rejects Another High-Level Visit
Palestine: Conflicting Statements from Hamas on Israel’s Right to Exist

Israel-Palestine: Netanyahu Makes A Move on the West Bank

Following another round of failed talks with Washington's Mideast special envoy George Mitchell, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during his first visit to West Bank settlements since he took office, "The settlements blocs in the West Bank are an indisputable part of Israel". He added, "This is an idea that is accepted by the majority of Israelis and is part of international agreements." Planting trees inside the settlement blocks, Netanyahu said he wanted to "send a clear message that we will stay here. We are planning and we are building."

Netanyahu's statement is a political declaration that any future agreement is not going to be based on pre-1967 borders and there will have to be some "adjustments" and "swaps" of territory. He is not only trying to ease settlers' discomfort following the declarations of a "one-time and temporary" moratorium; he is also implicitly warned interested parties that the longer the delay in pressure on the Palestinian Authority to sit at the negotiating table, the more land to be occupied by Israel.

Israel-Palestine: Former Israeli Head of Negotiations “No Agreement in Foreseeable Future”
UPDATED Israel-Palestine: George Mitchell’s “Fail, Fail, Fail” Middle East Tour?

After the release of Netanyahu's words, a harsh criticism came from Ramallah. "This is an unacceptable act that destroys all the efforts being exerted by Senator [George] Mitchell in order to bring the parties back to the negotiating table," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' aide Nabil Abu Rudeineh said.

Today on EA (25 January 2010)

Iran: Rumours and intrigue continued overnight - the Regime's propaganda machine has been working overtime it seems - including an offensive racial slur against Obama. And Mehdi Karroubi's party issued a clear signal yesterday that the  fight goes on.

We have our morning report on the live weblog, which appeared initially to quote Karroubi's son Hossein endorsing Ahmadinejad as Iran's President ,and then our afternoon snap analysis reconsidering the manoeuvres. But all of this is superseded tonight by an EA special analysis: we think Karroubi has chosen to take on "Mr Khameini" and Ahmadinejad, "the head of the government of the regime".

USA: EA Correspondent John Matlin gives a tongue in cheek analysis, explaining US politics and Obama's downfall to   Marty the Martian.

Israel: Following yet more reports about Hezbullah's long-range missile plans in Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, Israel's Yossi Peled has said another war with the terrorist group was inevitable.

On the Palestinian issue, Israel's Udi Dekel, who headed the negotiating team during the Ehud Olmert Government, has said he doesn't believe there is any possibility of an agreement with the Palestinians on all the issues: "especially on the problematic core issues".

However, on a much more positive note, speaking in Tel Aviv on Sunday morning, after meetings held between Israeli and American representatives on Saturday night, PM Netanyahu said “new and interesting ideas" were raised for the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians. However, he offered no details.