Arlene Kushner On Abbas Proposal To Have Peace With Israel In 6 Months

From Arlene Kushner:
December 10, 2012

Almost Funny

If the context were not so serious I would simply say that putative PA president Mahmoud Abbas is a joke, an exceedingly amusing joke.

He is now ready to come to the table for negotiations, you see. All he wants is a freeze on building in Judea and Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem, for six months.

Why six months? Saeb Erekat, PA negotiator, explained this: With the UN vote a "new stage" had been reached. They expect to have everything resolved in six months.

Resolved in six months? All the issues?

Well, Abbas has told the Arab League, meeting in Doha, Qatar, that they should not abandon their 2002 Saudi "peace plan." He wants them to uphold it, because he's pushing for negotiations. What he told the League is that he would achieve resolution on the core issues and -- are you ready? -- secure an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-'67 lines.

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Oh! And there is one other matter:

Israeli FM Lieberman's Letter To Catherine Ashton Gives The Facts

Elder of Ziyon has posted online the text of the letter from Israeli FM Lieberman to the EU's Catherine Ashton, where he gives some background and the expected whining from the Abbas regime.

The letter is noteworthy for the blunt statements of fact that are just not mentioned or outright ignored.

Baroness Ashton,

I appreciated the opportunity to meet with you July 24th in Brussels, on the occasion of the Israel-EU Association Council. We discussed many regional issues of importance; however, I would like to further share some key ideas with you, and hence, this letter.

I would like to update you regarding the current situation of Israel's relationship with the Palestinian Authority (PA). As a preamble, I would like to emphasize that the purpose of this letter is to demonstrate Israel's goodwill, desire to build trust and sincere desire to create a positive atmosphere vis a vis the PA, with the goal of bringing our neighbors back to the table of direct negotiations. Unfortunately, we have encountered repeated Palestinian patterns of refusal and consistent attempts to turn to pointless activity, counterproductive to any constructive efforts.

The Middle East Media Sampler 4/16/2012: Israel Reveals Details Of Iran Attack?

From DG:

1) Attack?

Over the weekend PM Netanyahu said in a talk with Sen. Joe Lieberman:

"My initial impression is that Iran has been given a 'freebie'," Netanyahu said during talks with visiting US Senator Joe Lieberman, the premier's office reported. 

"It has got five weeks to continue enrichment without any limitation, any inhibition. I think Iran should take immediate steps to stop all enrichment, take out all enrichment material and dismantle the nuclear facility in Qom," he said. 

"I believe that the world's greatest practitioner of terrorism must not have the opportunity to develop atomic bombs," he said.

This drew a retort from President Obama:

Arlene Kushner On Dealing With The Arabs and With US Pressure

From Arlene Kushner


April 2, 2012

"With the Approach of Pesach"

Pesach begins on Friday night, April 6 and continues through the following Saturday night.  Time for celebration and time to do little day trips (tiyulim) with family will allow me scant opportunity to post during the course of that week.  I do hope to post at least once more before the holiday starts, but I wanted to extend my wishes here and now to all:

Missing Peace: Honesty is not the best policy for the Palestinian Authority

The following, from Missing Peace, is reposted with permission

Honesty is not the best policy for the Palestinian Authority

Abbas and Arekat caught lying again

Saeb Arekat

Last week Israeli premier Netanyahu declined when The New York Times asked him to write an op-ed for the paper. In a letter to the paper Ron Dermer, Netanyahu’s most senior advisor, explained that The New York Times had failed to heed the late Senator Moynihan’s admonition that ‘everyone is entitled to their own opinion but that no one is entitled to their own facts’.

Arlene Kushner On Dealing With Abbas

From Arlene Kushner

November 24, 2011

"He's Not Buying It"

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is not remotely convinced, nor should he be: 

In certain quarters of the international community the idea is being promoted that a peace treaty hastily negotiated between Israel and the PA would have a mollifying effect on the unrest in the Arab world.  EU Ambassador to Israel Andrew Standley, for example, said at a Jerusalem press conference yesterday that Israel should move quickly to settle with the Palestinians to remove this conflict as an issue on the Egyptian street.

Failure to move ahead on negotiations, he declared, should not be allowed to become an additional "disturbing factor" in the Arab world.

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Now, really.

EU Will Reward Abbas If He'll Just Make Believe To Negotiate

Such a deal!

King Abdullah presents Abbas with EU initiative

Jordan's King Abdullah has presented Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with a document that includes a European initiative for resuming negotiations with Israel, the al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper reported.

Abbas Forgets: Freezing Settlements Is Neither An Obligation Nor A Precondition--It's For Negotiation

Abbas continues to fabricate any excuse possible in order to prevent peace negotiations. Now, instead of making the freezing of the settlements into an Israeli unilateral concession, Abbas is saying it's an obligation:

President Mahmoud Abbas Monday said that there are no signs of a near resumption of negotiations with Israel.

Abbas said following his meeting with the Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Ramallah that the Palestinians are ready to resume negotiations if Israel halts settlement activities and abide by the international resolution, saying that these aren’t pre-set conditions but obligations based on agreements between Palestinians and Israelis.

"Palestine Papers" Refute Abbas Claim He Negotiated With Olmert In Good Faith

Abbas claims that when he met with then-Prime Minister Olmert, peace between the Palestinian Arabs and Israel was almost at hand.

But is Abbas telling the truth?

Abbas claims in an interview that if only Olmert had stayed in office, he and Olmert could have come to an agreement:

Abbas also contended that he and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert were "very, very close" to reaching a peace agreement in 2008, before the Israeli leader left office under a cloud of corruption allegations.

"It was a very good opportunity," he said. "If he stayed two, three months, I believe that time we could have concluded an agreement."

No One Expects The Palestinian Negotiating Team!

NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency.... Our *three* weapons are fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency...and an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope.... Our *four*...no... *Amongst* our weapons.... Amongst our weaponry...are such elements as fear, surprise.... I'll come in again.
Monty Python, The Spanish Inquisition

We all know that Abbas is fond of demanding preconditions before even sitting down at the negotiating table--one of the reasons that he has spent so very little time sitting down and talking face to face with Netanyahu.

But wait--how many preconditions do the Palestinian Arabs have?

Abbas Idea Of Negotiating: No Jewish State, No Jews In Palestinian State

"PA president" Abbas and his vision of the Middle East.
While Israel is ready to agree to an Arab Palestinian state, Abbas doesn't want to see a Jewish state in the area: