Israel Matzav: Who's lying?

Who's lying?

On Monday, I reported that the US had denied that it had given the 'Palestinians' written guarantees that it would assign blame in the event that the four-month 'proximity talks' fail. But I noted that Politico's Laura Rozen reported that oral assurances may have been given that the 'Palestinians' wrote down which served as the basis for such claims.

On Monday night, 'Palestinian' chief negotiator Saeb Erekat was quite specific about what assurances the 'Palestinians' had received.

Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas was given a letter by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which said, among other things, that the U.S. would “blame the appropriate party” if Israel refused to withdraw to the 1967 borders at the end of the four month “proximity talks” that are set to begin between Israel and the PA. PA negotiator Saeb Erekat said that Abbas was given the letter with that statement, one of several answers to questions the PA had posed to the U.S. before agreeing to enter the latest round of talks.

Speaking in Ramallah at the conclusion of a meeting between Abbas and U.S. envoy George Mitchell, Erekat hinted that the U.S. would blame Israel if the talks “failed” - ie, if Israel did not capitulate to the PA's demands for a full withdrawal from Judea, Samaria, and much of Jerusalem. Erekat said that the letter makes clear that “the United States will publicly announce who wrecked the talks.” Erekat did not specify who that might be, but Israeli officials took it to mean Israel.

Someone is lying. Either assurances were given or they were not given. Whether they were oral or written is almost irrelevant. But if assurances were given to the 'Palestinians,' Israel is surly entitled to know about them. If Erekat is telling the truth, Israel seems surprisingly complaisant about this.

Someone's lying. Who is it? Clinton? Erekat? Netanyahu? The future of the US - Israel relationship may depend on the answer.

Someone in the State Department press corps needs to ask this question point blank so that it cannot be avoided. Any volunteers?

Israel Matzav: Who's lying?