Biden is pressing for a peace deal based on lies. But it’s hard to accept lies when they are admitted lies in advance.
A statement by Yohanan Plesner, president of the Jerusalem-based Israel Democracy Institute think tank caught my eye today: “There’s sufficient ambiguity in the wording for both sides to take a deal.”
Indeed. There is ambiguity in the wording. However ….
Netanyahu Open to a Cease-Fire if He Can Resume Fighting
On June 2, I commented Netanyahu Open to a Cease-Fire if He Can Resume Fighting
Allegedly there is a step towards a cease-fire in Gaza. But the headline appears to be massively contradictory noise.
The WSJ reports “Biden’s speech was designed to put pressure on Hamas to do a deal, said Mairav Zonszein, a senior Israel analyst for the International Crisis Group.”
“The proposal allows Israel to preserve the right to renew fighting at any time Israel senses that the negotiations are futile,” the Israeli official said.
To press for the one-sided deal, the WSJ reported Secretary of State Antony Blinken made calls over the weekend to two top Israeli decision makers, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and war cabinet member Benny Gantz, praising Israel for considering a cease-fire agreement and saying that the onus was now on Hamas to accept a deal.
I replied “Similarly, the onus is on vegetarians to accept my offer to expand the number of vegetarians by allowing them to eat meat six days a week.”
Hamas cannot accept Biden’s peace deal when Netanyahu admits upfront that the deal is a pack of lies.
Half-Assed Meddling Backfires
Biden’s incessant meddling not only doesn’t help, it backfired.
The Wall Street Journal reports Biden Enlisted Qatar and Egypt to Pressure Hamas. It Backfired.
Qatar and Egypt have told Hamas leaders in recent days that they face possible arrest, freezing of their assets, sanctions and expulsion from their haven in Doha if they don’t agree to a cease-fire with Israel, officials familiar with the talks said.
The threats were made at the behest of the Biden administration, which is searching for a way to cajole a U.S.-designated terrorist group into striking a deal that the president needs amid a political maelstrom over the war.
It had the opposite of the desired effect. On Thursday, after the threats were made, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the group’s political bureau in exile in Qatar, said he wouldn’t agree on a deal that doesn’t meet the group’s conditions. Bearing a message from the group’s most important leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, Haniyeh said the current proposal—broached by President Biden himself in a news conference a week ago—is unacceptable for Hamas because, in the group’s eyes, it doesn’t guarantee an end to the war.
Understanding the Setup
Biden brokered a one-sided deal based on lies with “sufficient ambiguity” to allegedly please everyone.
Then Netanyahu slammed the deal by saying upfront that Israel would not honor it.
How’s that supposed to work?
A deal based on lies is possible, temporarily, but not if one side announces upfront they will not honor it.
An Israeli Government Shakeup
The Wall Street Journal reports Netanyahu’s Chief Rival to Announce Exit From Israeli Government
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top political rival was expected to quit the government on Sunday, in a move aimed at toppling his coalition.
But the strategy risks backfiring and empowering hawkish lawmakers less aligned with the Biden administration as Washington makes a renewed push to end the war in Gaza and free hostages held there.
Benny Gantz, who leads the centrist National Unity party and was one of three war cabinet members, was expected to announce Sunday night local time that he was leaving the government due to a lack of long-term strategy for the war in Gaza, among other reasons, according to people close to Gantz.
Gantz’s expected departure from the government signifies that Israel’s unity at the start of the war has passed. The move is expected to fuel antigovernment protests and demands for early elections. Elections could happen as early as this summer, but more realistically early next year, if at all, analysts say.
How Gantz’s strategy will affect Israel’s handling of the war is unclear.
Netanyahu could replace Gantz with hard-line lawmakers currently in the opposition or coalition partners who oppose the U.S.-backed Israeli proposal to end the war and free Israel’s hostages. He could also dissolve the war cabinet, bringing decision-making back to the regular security cabinet where his far-right coalition allies could have more sway. This could heighten divisions within the coalition itself as internal disagreements eventually become public.
Still, Gantz and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have both publicly complained their seats at the war cabinet table haven’t given them much influence over the war’s management. Netanyahu, analysts say, along with the army’s top brass, is tightly in control of the war’s direction as well as the negotiations to free the hostages and end the war.
“Israeli policy is de facto being set by Netanyahu,” said Giora Eiland, a former Israeli national security adviser.
Netanyahu repeatedly crosses Biden’s red lines. Yet Biden constantly makes half-baked peace proposals cannot possibly work, even temporarily, as long as Netanyahu is in power.
It’s a mystery why Biden (more accurately Biden’s handlers) cannot grasp this.
Who Are the Obstacles to Peace?
- Netanyahu
- Biden
- Hamas Leadership
Peace prospects will not go anywhere until the radicals are out of power or the radicals have a huge attitude change.
That means radicals on both sides.
Who Governs the Palestinians?
The answer is a complicated mess. It’s also a huge obstacle to peace.
Generally Hamas is in control of Gaza and the Palestinian Authority elsewhere.
CFR has a nice writeup on Who Governs the Palestinians?
Drawing a Line
It’s OK to object to Israeli actions. But siding with Hamas is ridiculous in light of this CFR snip.
Before the current war shattered all semblance of day-to-day life in Gaza, Hamas had nominally followed the PA’s Basic Law, but also implemented a restrictive interpretation of Islamic law that it used to repress the rights of women, the LGBTQ+ community, and other marginalized groups. In addition, the Hamas government had removed most checks on its power, having suppressed opposition from Gazan media outlets, politicians, civilian activists, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), often through violence and arbitrary arrest.
No Solution Without Two States
Eurointelligence accurately notes No Solution Without Two States.
This is Israel’s fifth conflict in Gaza, and it won’t be the last if Israeli and Palestinians do not find a way to reimagine a new way forward despite their difficult history. The land was not without a people when the people without a land arrived. And there will be no security for Israel without granting Palestinians their rights on this land.
A majority of Palestinians are for a two-state solution that guarantees Israel’s right to exist. Israel focuses on Hamas, a minority, and uses this as a reason not to engage in negotiations for a two-state solution. Attending only to the extremists won’t strengthen the healthy part of the Palestinian society. On the contrary, the killing and destruction in Gaza drives the next generation towards extremism. This policy won’t guarantee Israel’s security. Repeating the same thing again and again, expecting a different outcome, is madness as Einstein attested. And the next cycle of violence could be worse than Oct 7.
A two-state solution will be a win-win for both sides, respecting the Palestinians’ right to their own land and Israel’s need for security. It will reduce the threat from Hamas and Hezbollah. It will take the fire out of the conflict.
Meanwhile, Biden tries appease everyone with lies that do not work, especially when Netanyahu repeatedly smacks Biden in the face with them.
Seriously In Need of an Attitude Change
A peace proposal must start with an attitude change.
And the attitude change must start with a fair answer to this question: What Are the Fundamental Rights of Israelis and Palestinians?
The EU and the US [and Israel] need to recognize the fundamental rights of a Palestinian child are the same as that of a Israeli child, because until we do, there will never be peace.
Until Israel recognizes the fundamental rights of Palestinians and agrees to work with the more moderate Palestinian Authority loosely in charge of the West Bank, there can be no peace.
Similarly, the Palestinian Authority needs to recognize the fundamental rights of Israel. It would be all the better if Hamas would do the same, but Israel cannot wait for Hamas.
A genuine peace process would start immediately if Israel were to say:
“We recognize the fundamental rights of a Palestinian child are the same as that of a Israeli child. Who wants in on the discussion?“
By insisting on the total destruction of Hamas first, killing tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians in the process, Israel has taken the path of perpetual war.
An attitude change takes courage. And Israel needs to go first. The only other choice is perpetual war.