Peace survives end of freeze

When Binyamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas returned to the negotiating table last month under the optimistic, if naive, gaze of Barack Obama, all parties knew that a major stumbling block was just around the corner.

Irrespective of the bigger issues that always threaten to derail the process — the status of Jerusalem, the future of the settlements, the Palestinian demand of a right of return and the refusal of Hamas to recognise Israel to name but a few — in the all-too-immediate future the date September 26 had a big, red circle around it. For that day, last Sunday, would mark the end of the 10-month construction freeze Israel had agreed to as a sop to the United States earlier this year.

Speculation was rife. Would the Israeli Prime Minister agree to extend it so as not to give his Palestinian counterpart any excuse to walk? Or would it be back to the building site to keep right-wing members of his coalition sweet?

That speculation was silenced on Monday morning by the sound of bulldozers whirring into action in the settlement of Ariel, where work got underway on 50 new housing units for families still living in caravans after the evacuation from Gaza five years ago.

Despite fears that an end to the moratorium would spell the end of peace, however, the negotiations haven’t been bulldozed into oblivion, at least not yet.

Though some settler groups and right-wing politicians hailed the end of the freeze — MK Danny Danon declaring “Tonight, we are returning this decree to the trash bin of history” — Netanyahu urged “restraint and responsibility”.

And in an appeal to the Palestinian negotiators, he said, “I hope that President Abbas will remain in the talks and continue with me on the path of peace which we started three weeks ago, after many in the world have now realised that my intentions of reaching peace are serious and sincere and that I honour my ¬≠commitments.

“I say to President Abbas, for the sake of both our peoples, let us focus on what is truly important — accelerated, sincere and continuous talks to reach a historic ¬≠framework agreement within a year.”

Building was also due to begin this week in other settlements, but the festival of Succot is expected to keep construction in the coming days to a minimum, giving Abbas some breathing space before making a decision.

For his part, the Palestinian leader plans to discuss his response with the Arab League next week. Speaking in Paris on Monday, following talks with President Nicolas Sarkozy, Abbas said, “We are not rushing to respond and we will study the consequences and their effect on the negotiations. After meetings and consultations we will formulate a stance and provide the Palestinian response to the cessation of the freeze.”
Hamas, however, was less inclined to proceed with caution. The terror group’s leader, Khaled Mashaal, urged Abbas to pull out of negotiations immediately.

“I want to appeal to my brothers in the Palestinian Authority who have said that they do not want to renew talks with the enemy if the settlement of
the [Palestinian] territories continues,” he said.

“Negotiations not held from a position of power are absurd. Netanyahu is not the man.

ZEDDY LAWRENCE