Love of the Land: Remember Reciprocity?

Remember Reciprocity?

If Jews have to stop building homes, Arabs should be asked to do the same

Ophir Falk
Ynet/Israel Opinion
27 August 09

Benjamin Netanyahu takes pride in “institutionalizing the concept of reciprocity.” Indeed, one of his fundamental first term achievements as prime minister was stopping the process of “giving something for nothing” - to educate Israelis and Palestinians alike to the concept of reciprocity and to clarify to a disinclined Clinton administration that the term also applies to the Middle East peace process. However, if recent reports concerning backchannel diplomacy are accurate, it seems that Netanyahu may have forgotten an important page from the book he himself wrote.

Headlines drum-rolling the scheduled meetings between Netanyahu and Senator George Mitchell imply that a tacit agreement has already been reached concerning a unilateral freeze on Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria. The planned freeze is supposed to be limited in duration, until a final agreement is reached between Israel and the Palestinians. This seems strange. Obama wants Jews to refrain from building in areas that may jeopardize the final border to be drawn between Israel and its neighbors. Yet Obama has not made such demands from the other side. If Jews are expected to stop building, Arabs should be expected to do the same.

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Love of the Land: Remember Reciprocity?

Israel Matzav: Netanyahu offers 9 months, US drops Jerusalem demand

Netanyahu offers 9 months, US drops Jerusalem demand

In two separate stories, Haaretz is reporting that Prime Minister Netanyahu offered US Middle East envoy George Mitchell a 9-month 'settlement freeze' during their Wednesday meeting in London, and that the US administration has now backed off the demand that the 'freeze' include Jerusalem. This is from the first story:

The Americans are slated to respond to Netanyahu's proposal at a meeting in Washington next week between Mitchell and two Israeli officials: Netanyahu's envoy, attorney Yitzhak Molcho, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak's chief of staff, Brig. Gen. Mike Herzog.

Mitchell himself will return to Jerusalem in the second week of September with the goal of finalizing an agreement.

The new Israeli proposal will exclude some 2,500 housing units on which construction has already started.

Additionally, in special cases where it is necessary to keep "normal life," Netanyahu wants to be able to erect public buildings in the settlements - mainly kindergartens and schools.

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Israel Matzav: Netanyahu offers 9 months, US drops Jerusalem demand

Israel Matzav: Poll: Legalize 'outposts,' no freeze, Peace Now harmful

Poll: Legalize 'outposts,' no freeze, Peace Now harmful

A poll by Ma'agar Mochot shows that wide majorities of Israelis agree with statements made by Moshe (Boogie) Yaalon (pictured with Netanyahu) at a meeting of the Likud's Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) faction last week, and will disagree in the event that Prime Minister Netanyahu reaches a 'settlement freeze' deal with the Americans, as appears increasingly likely.

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Israel Matzav: Poll: Legalize 'outposts,' no freeze, Peace Now harmful

Israel Matzav: Why Netanyahu can implement a de facto 'settlement freeze'

Why Netanyahu can implement a de facto 'settlement freeze'

At the left-leaning Washington Note, Steve Clemons points to a Twitter entry by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon on Tuesday in which Ayalon says

Hopes the rumored settlement freeze is just a rumor, because it hasn't gone through appropriate forums.

Unfortunately, the only thing Ayalon and his party can do if it is not a rumor is to withdraw from the government in the hope of bringing it down. And if Ayalon's Yisrael Beiteinu were to withdraw from the government, you can bet that Kadima would go in, bringing a net gain of 13 Knesset

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Israel Matzav: Why Netanyahu can implement a de facto 'settlement freeze'

Israel Matzav: Netanyahu caves on 'settlement freeze'?

Netanyahu caves on 'settlement freeze'?

YNet reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu has made a normalization gesture to the Obama administration, agreeing to freeze new building in the 'settlements' until the beginning of 2010. That would be four and a half months from now - much less than Obama wanted but more than Netanyahu had previously been willing to give.

Despite pressure from right-wing ministers, the housing minister has yet to issue one building tender in the settlements, including in the large settlement blocs, since Netanyahu has taken office. This has been confirmed by Prime Minister Netanyahu's office. The ministry also did not issue new tenders in the final days of Olmert's administration. The right-wing and the haredi sector have expressed their disappointment over this quiet policy.

Right-wing ministers claim that this policy has been forced upon Israel and undermines the country's sovereignty in areas over which there should not be any dispute.

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Israel Matzav: Netanyahu caves on 'settlement freeze'?

Israel Matzav: Sticking point on 'settlement freeze': Obama won't put it in writing

Sticking point on 'settlement freeze': Obama won't put it in writing

Based on a report by Shimon Schiffer in the Hebrew daily Yedioth Aharonoth, fellow Israeli blogger Arlene Kushner reports what is apparently the main sticking point (other than length) in the negotiations over a 'settlement freeze.'

Shimon Schiffer, in Yediot Ahronot today, says the US wants a two year freeze because Obama figures that's how long forging a peace deal will take (in his dreams).

Netanyahu, says Schiffer, is offering three months, with Israel retaining the right to start building again after that if the Arab states haven't made their appropriate gestures of normalization.

...

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Israel Matzav: Sticking point on 'settlement freeze': Obama won't put it in writing

Israel Matzav: Abu Mazen: 'A settlement freeze is Obama's condition, not ours, but we'll abide by it'

Abu Mazen: 'A settlement freeze is Obama's condition, not ours, but we'll abide by it'

Before Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting in Beer Sheva, Prime Minister Netanyahu invited 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen to come join him in Beer Sheva for talks.

"Let's make peace - both diplomatic peace and economic peace," Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting in Beersheba that was held there as an act of solidarity with the Negev capital. "There is no reason why we can't meet, the Palestinian Authority president and I, anywhere in Israel, and since we are in Beersheba, I say, let's meet here.

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Israel Matzav: Abu Mazen: 'A settlement freeze is Obama's condition, not ours, but we'll abide by it'

Israel Matzav: At least three ministers oppose 'temporary settlement freeze'

At least three ministers oppose 'temporary settlement freeze'

At least three of the six ministers in Prime Minister Netanyahu's security cabinet oppose even a 'temporary' freeze on construction in the 'settlements.' The three are Moshe (Boogie) Yaalon (pictured), Benny Begin and Avigdor Lieberman.

Monday morning the forum, which includes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and ministers Dan Meridor, Benny Begin and Moshe Ya'alon, met to agree on a position that Barak would then present to Mitchell.

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Israel Matzav: At least three ministers oppose 'temporary settlement freeze'

Israel Matzav: Oh my! WaPo slams Obama for painting himself into a corner over a 'settlement freeze'

Oh my! WaPo slams Obama for painting himself into a corner over a 'settlement freeze'

Perhaps Jackson Diehl - who was never pro-Israel - may have had an epiphany last month when he met with 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen. In Monday's Washington Post, he slams the Obama administration for painting itself into a corner regarding the 'settlement freeze.'

This absolutist position is a loser for three reasons. First, it has allowed Palestinian and Arab leaders to withhold the steps they were asked for; they claim to be waiting for the settlement "freeze" even as they quietly savor a rare public battle between Israel and the United States. Second, the administration's objective -- whatever its merits -- is unobtainable. No Israeli government has ever agreed to an unconditional freeze, and no coalition could be assembled from the current parliament to impose one.

Finally, the extraction of a freeze from Netanyahu is, as a practical matter, unnecessary. While further settlement expansion needs to be curbed, both the Palestinian Authority and Arab governments have gone along with previous U.S.-Israeli deals by which construction was to be limited to inside the periphery of settlements near Israel -- since everyone knows those areas will be annexed to Israel in a final settlement. Before the 2007 Annapolis peace conference organized by the Bush administration, Saudi Arabia and other Arab participants agreed to what one former senior official called "the Google Earth test"; if the settlements did not visibly expand, that was good enough.

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Israel Matzav: Oh my! WaPo slams Obama for painting himself into a corner over a 'settlement freeze'

Israel Matzav: What a 'temporary freeze' might look like

What a 'temporary freeze' might look like

The Hebrew daily Yediot Aharonot reports today that Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who heads to Washington this week, will be bringing along a proposal for a three-month 'temporary freeze' on 'settlement' construction.

The freeze, that would apply to all new construction - including in the settlement blocs (though not clear if also applies to Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem) - would be in order to facilitate the renewal of talks with the PA.

According to Schiffer, the proposed freeze would not apply to projects already well underway that include some 2,000 buildings - principally public buildings - in the settlement blocs.

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Israel Matzav: What a 'temporary freeze' might look like

Israel Matzav: G8 jumps on the 'settlement freeze' bandwagon

G8 jumps on the 'settlement freeze' bandwagon

In a statement issued on Friday, the G8 foreign ministers called for Israel to agree to a 'settlement freeze.'

On the Middle East, the G8 called on all parties to "re-enter direct negotiations on all standing issues consistent with the roadmap" and it called for a freeze in Jewish settlement construction on the occupied West Bank.

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Israel Matzav: G8 jumps on the 'settlement freeze' bandwagon

Israel Matzav: 'Palestinians' opposed to 'settlement freeze'

'Palestinians' opposed to 'settlement freeze'

Many 'Palestinians' are opposed to a Jewish 'settlement freeze' in Judea and Samaria as demanded by the Obama administration. Their opposition can be summed up in two words: economic necessity.

"I don't care what the leaders say and do," al-Najjar told The Jerusalem Post at one of the new construction sites in Ma'aleh Adumim. "I need to feed my seven children, and that's all I care about for now."

The phenomenon of Palestinians building new homes for Jewish settlers is not new. In fact, Palestinian laborers have been working in the construction business from the first day the settlements began in the West Bank.

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Today, Palestinian Authority officials estimate, more than 12,000 Palestinians are employed by both Jewish and Arab contractors building new homes in the settlements.

Israel Matzav: 'Palestinians' opposed to 'settlement freeze'

Israel Matzav: State Department: 'Settlement freeze' includes Jerusalem

State Department: 'Settlement freeze' includes Jerusalem

In case you had any doubts, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly made it official on Monday in an interview with the Jerusalem Post: The Obama administration demand for a 'settlement freeze' includes the eastern part of Jerusalem.

"We're talking about all settlement activity, yes, in the area across the line," he said, referring to neighborhoods in Jerusalem over the Green Line, or pre-1967 armistice line, in response to a question on where America's calls to halt construction in the settlements would be applied.

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Israel Matzav: State Department: 'Settlement freeze' includes Jerusalem

Israel Matzav: A 'settlement freeze' is already in effect

A 'settlement freeze' is already in effect

With Binyamin Netanyahu getting ready to give his big speech on Sunday night, the JPost reports that for all intents and purposes there is already a 'settlement freeze' in effect in Judea and Samaria.

There is virtually no growth in the populations of 95 of the 120 'settlements' over the last few years, while nearly all of the population growth in 2008 - 5.6% or some three times the national average - took place in three cities that are part of 'settlement blocs' that Israel anticipates keeping in any agreement with the 'Palestinians': Kiryat Sefer/Modiin Ilit, Beitar and Maaleh Adumim.

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Israel Matzav: A 'settlement freeze' is already in effect

Israel Matzav: Most Israelis oppose 'settlement freeze,' won't dismantle 'settlements'

Most Israelis oppose 'settlement freeze,' won't dismantle 'settlements'

A survey by Maagar Mochot published in Haaretz on Friday reveals that 56% of Israelis are outright opposed to President Obama's demand for a 'settlement freeze' and nearly two thirds are not willing to dismantle 'settlements' as part of a 'final solution' to the Israeli-'Palestinian' dispute or are willing to dismantle only a few 'settlements.'

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Israel Matzav: Most Israelis oppose 'settlement freeze,' won't dismantle 'settlements'

Israel Matzav: Clinton's climbdown

Clinton's climbdown

Buried deep in a Times of London column on the Middle East (co-authored by one Uzi Mahnaimi), comes word of an attempt to get Hillary Clinton down from the tree she scampered up called a 'settlement freeze.'

Obama demanded that Israel halt the construction of settlements on Palestinian land, but he avoided repeating Clinton’s stronger language that this be without exception - “not some settlements, not outposts, not natural growth exceptions”, she said - which has left him little room for diplomacy.

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Israel Matzav: Clinton's climbdown