What will Rice be doing on this trip?
In the U.S. State Department Daily Press Briefing on Friday, spokesman Sean McCormack was asked by a journalist (and replied) the following:
“QUESTION: Since the Secretary is going tomorrow to Israel, what about Prime Minister Olmert’s vow to continue the settlement-building process?
MR. MCCORMACK: You know our views on this matter. The President has spoken to it. The Secretary has spoken to it. We expect that both sides would comply with their Roadmap obligations. And there are obviously provisions within the Roadmap concerning settlements and outposts, and we would expect that both sides — Israel and the Palestinians — comply with those obligations. You recently heard from us that we didn’t think either side was doing enough to comply with the Roadmap obligations. So I expect that during this trip, the Secretary will talk not only about the political process with both sides and how that is proceeding, what we can do to help them move it forward, but also talk about the importance of moving forward with compliance on the Roadmap obligations”.
What did Olmert say? As reported on UN-Truth here:
“Olmert cited the
He said that this had been made very clear at the outset of the present
Recent Israeli announcements of a number of new housing tenders for Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem and one in the West Bank (Givat Ze’ev), were made immediately after the recent attack by an East Jerusalem Palestinian on the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva, which killed eight students there (four of whom were children under the age of 18).
On Givat Zeev, Olmert brushed off any criticism. ‘Most of the apartments approved are already built, and paid for, for many years’, he said”.
The Jerusalem Post reported Friday that “Defense Minister Ehud Barak has warned the United States that gestures Israel is making to the Palestinians - including approving the transfer to the Palestinian Authority of weapons and armored vehicles, and allowing the deployment of PA policemen in West Bank cities - could ultimately backfire because Hamas could come to power in the West Bank and be better equipped to turn on Israel. Barak issued the warning during a recent meeting with the US special envoy to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Gen. James Jones. The Israeli defense establishment has drawn up a list of further gestures together with Jones that are set to include deploying 600 Jordanian-trained PA policemen in Jenin and the possible removal of dirt roadblocks. ‘We need to keep in mind the possibility that after all we have done, Hamas will take over the West Bank, not only by force but even in the upcoming general elections’, Barak told Jones, according to defense officials. ‘This is certainly a possibility’. Barak plans to present the list of gestures to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is set to arrive in Israel on Saturday night, during their meeting the next day … But Israeli defense officials dismissed claims that Barak was facing criticism from the US for not making greater efforts to remove roadblocks or to ease restrictions in the West Bank. ‘Both the Americans and the Palestinians understand that if we lift a roadblock and there is an attack we will fall back instead of moving forward in the negotiations’, one official said. At the same time, the US has welcomed Barak’s planned moves to ease movement for West Bank Palestinians. ‘These are welcome developments that indicate a desire by the Israeli authorities to move forward, to try to help improve the situation on the ground’, the administration official said. The gestures, which have yet to be finalized, include the deployment in Jenin of 600 PA policemen currently being trained in Jordan. Barak is also considering the removal of several dirt roadblocks in the West Bank. The armed policemen in Jenin will be charged with maintaining order in the town during the day, but the IDF will retain security control and will continue to operate in the town at night. Other gestures included opening a VIP lane at checkpoints and exempting Palestinian businessmen who are approved by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) from inspections”. The full JPost article is here.
Leaving the other “gestures” aside for the moment, will the Americans be impressed by a VIP lane at checkpoints for Palestinian businessmen approved by the Shin Bet? Will the Palestinians?
Haaretz reported earlier that “U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plans to hold two trilateral meetings during her visit to the region next week. [1] One American-Israeli-Palestinian conclave will deal with the final-status negotiations, while the other will address the situation on the ground in the West Bank and what both sides are doing, or not doing, to fulfill their obligations under the road map peace plan. Rice will arrive Saturday and stay for three days. She will hold meetings in Jerusalem, Ramallah and Amman - the latter with King Abdullah of Jordan. The visit is intended to signal growing American involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and to prod both sides to make significant progress before U.S. President George Bush visits the region in May. Rice is interested in raising the profile of the final-status talks and demonstrating real progress on the core issues. To this end, she plans one three-way meeting with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qureia, who head the respective negotiating teams. A joint declaration about progress in the negotiations might be issued at the end of it. The Livni-Qureia talks are being conducted very intensively: The two met twice this week and three times last week. They are also being conducted in great secrecy, and even Rice has not been fully briefed on the details. Virtually nothing has been leaked from these talks except the message that they are ‘progressing well’. The talks have dealt with the issues of borders, refugees, settlements and security. It is not clear whether they have also dealt with Jerusalem: Both parties prefer ambiguity on this issue, especially in light of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s promise to Shas that Jerusalem will be discussed only at the end. [2] Rice also plans to focus on practical steps to improve the situation in the West Bank, as called for in the road map. To this end, she plans separate meetings with Defense Minister Ehud Barak and PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, followed by a joint meeting with both of them. A week ago, a trilateral monitoring commission, headed by American General William Fraser, held its first meeting to review both sides’ implementation of their road map obligations. At that meeting, Fraser told the Palestinians they were not doing enough to fight terror and criticized Israel for its failure to remove West Bank roadblocks and dismantle illegal settlement outposts. Rice has made several statements recently about her unhappiness with both sides’ foot-dragging on their road map commitments. However, she has directed most of her criticism at Israel, for not doing enough to improve the daily lives of West Bank Palestinians. Barak plans to present Rice with the list of Israeli steps that he decided on this week, which he previously discussed with Fayyad at their meeting on Wednesday”.
In addition, Haaretz reports, “Rice is also interested in a proposed bill to compensate any settler who leaves the West Bank voluntarily, even before a final-status agreement is signed. She first heard about the idea at a meeting in Jerusalem with Minister Without Portfolio Ami Ayalon a few months ago. At the time, Ayalon told Rice it was critical for the U.S. to push this matter forward, since otherwise, it would go nowhere. American officials have also discussed this issue with MKs Avshalom Vilan(Meretz) and Colette Avital (Labor), who sponsored the legislation. There is growing interest in the idea in Washington, on the assumption that such a law would show the Palestinians that Israel is serious about quitting the West Bank”. This Haaretz article is posted here.
To make this perfectly clear, the Israeli Defense Minister (and former Prime Minister) Ehud Barak said he would make these “gestures” — but would not take other steps that U.S. officials (including the U.S. Road Map “monitor”, General Jones, and Secretary Rice as well) have been pressing Israel on, for months.
On Monday, for example, the Associated Press (AP) reported: “Visiting a crossing between the southern West Bank and Israel, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the checkpoints block militants and are vital to Israel’s security. The government would ‘look into’ certain changes to in a limited test area, he said, but offered no details. ‘It’s still too early to give an answer’, Barak said. Israel sees the barriers as a key element of a military policy that has dramatically reduced militant attacks in recent years. Palestinians say the roadblocks humiliate them and stifle their economy. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, now an international Mideast envoy, has urged Israel to ease Palestinian travel restrictions … Barak also pledged Monday that Israel would facilitate the construction of several industrial zones meant to provide thousands of jobs and boost the Palestinian economy. Many of the projects, funded by foreign governments, have been held up because of Israeli security concerns. Barak gave no timetable for the projects and did not say how he intended to move them forward”… This AP report was posted here.
Haaretz newspaper picked up this AP report and added its own touches, reporting: “Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Monday that Israel will soon begin making life easier for West Bank Palestinians, but that it won’t remove checkpoints for now. Barak said that Israel would facilitate the construction of several industrial zones meant to provide thousands of jobs and boost the Palestinian economy. Many of the projects, funded by foreign governments, have been held up because of Israeli security concerns. However, Barak gave no timetable for the projects and did not say how he intended to move them forward. Visiting a crossing terminal between the southern West Bank and Israel, Barak said Israel would soon take steps to expedite movement through the hundreds of checkpoints and roadblocks Israel has built in the West Bank … [On removing checkpoints] Barak indicated Monday such a move was not expected soon. The checkpoints block militants and are vital to Israel’s security, Barak said. He said only that the government would look into certain changes in a limited test area, but offered no further details. ‘It’s still too early to give an answer, he said’. This AP report is posted here.
The next day, Tuesday, the Jerusalem Post reported — apparently picking up on Monday’s reports and asking Barak for further information: ” ‘It is clear to us all that we must exhaust all possible means of assisting the negotiations with the Palestinians’, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Tuesday. ‘We must ease restrictions on the Palestinians whenever it does not conflict with [Israel's] defense, even at the price of a calculated risk’.” The defense minister, who was speaking during a tour of an IDF induction base, also said that ‘There are a number of economic projects that we are working on, which are intended to generate momentum and provide jobs for Palestinians’. Barak, however, emphasized that ‘we must remember that our top responsibility is to provide security to the citizens of Israel’.” This JPost report is posted here.
It requires a lawyer’s analytical ability — and probably also many lawyers — and a lot of stamina, to deal with all this …
Tags: Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice