Collapse of Peace Talks Gives Israel Easy Exit ...
... but Leaves It in a Precarious Spot
By JODI RUDOREN, NYT
APRIL 25, 2014
JERUSALEM — Less than a month ago, Israel was in Secretary of State John Kerry’s cross hairs, accused of sabotaging the peace process he had championed by continuing construction in West Bank settlements and balking on a promise to release long-serving Palestinian prisoners. But when Israel suspended the stalemated negotiations on Thursday, it did so with Washington’s tacit blessing, providing a fractured government not fully committed to peace a low-risk exit strategy.
Frustrated by the impasse in the peace talks, President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority has recently played a variety of cards in hopes of improving his position in the negotiating room and on the street. He took steps to join 15 international conventions, threatened to dissolve his government and, finally, made a deal this week with Hamas, the militant Islamic group that is widely reviled in the West.
The gambles drew repeated rebukes from Washington. If Mr. Abbas was trying to call Israel’s bluff and force it to yield concessions in the negotiating room, he may have unwittingly improved its hand instead.
“He did a huge favor to Bibi,” said Giora Eiland, a former Israeli national security adviser, using the nickname of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. “Since we are in this blame game now, it is easier for him to say, ‘This is not our fault, look at our potential partner.’ ” Mr. Abbas, Mr. Eiland added, “by his own behavior has pushed himself to be perceived as a very extreme person who will never be able to reach an agreement with us.”
(More here.)
By JODI RUDOREN, NYT
APRIL 25, 2014
JERUSALEM — Less than a month ago, Israel was in Secretary of State John Kerry’s cross hairs, accused of sabotaging the peace process he had championed by continuing construction in West Bank settlements and balking on a promise to release long-serving Palestinian prisoners. But when Israel suspended the stalemated negotiations on Thursday, it did so with Washington’s tacit blessing, providing a fractured government not fully committed to peace a low-risk exit strategy.
Frustrated by the impasse in the peace talks, President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority has recently played a variety of cards in hopes of improving his position in the negotiating room and on the street. He took steps to join 15 international conventions, threatened to dissolve his government and, finally, made a deal this week with Hamas, the militant Islamic group that is widely reviled in the West.
The gambles drew repeated rebukes from Washington. If Mr. Abbas was trying to call Israel’s bluff and force it to yield concessions in the negotiating room, he may have unwittingly improved its hand instead.
“He did a huge favor to Bibi,” said Giora Eiland, a former Israeli national security adviser, using the nickname of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. “Since we are in this blame game now, it is easier for him to say, ‘This is not our fault, look at our potential partner.’ ” Mr. Abbas, Mr. Eiland added, “by his own behavior has pushed himself to be perceived as a very extreme person who will never be able to reach an agreement with us.”
(More here.)
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