Palestinian state proposal evokes furor
Israeli leaders, furious at French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius’ declaration that France will recognize a Palestinian state if its new proposals – including an international conference – do not succeed, are insisting to the world community that the Fabius ultimatum virtually guarantees that the Palestinians will eschew any serious pursuit of a peace plan. After all, why negotiate and compromise when all you have to do in order to win by default is nothing?
As expected, the Palestinian reaction to the French proposal was ecstatic among leaders of the Fatah faction and the Palestinian Authority, which it controls, although Gaza Strip-ruling Hamas rejected the plan. The daily Haaretz quoted one Israeli official as saying, “Israel wonders if France also will propose an international peace committee with ISIS, an organization that sows and distributes terror in France.”
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The French move comes with Labor Party and opposition leader Isaac Herzog, under the most severe pressure of his tenure as serious challenges to his leadership mount. Herzog recently told French President Francois Hollande that the time is not right for a Palestinian state. He said, “ … we have to be realistic. It [Palestinian statehood] can’t take place now. The hatred and incitement among the Palestinians is too great, the animosity between the peoples and the inability of the leaders prevent it.”
Although many applauded his candor and pragmatism, Herzog’s comments triggered a maelstrom and provided his political opponents with ammunition as they try to unseat him. Nevertheless, the spate of “popular terrorism” that has been rife since the beginning of October is showing no signs of abating. During that time, seemingly spontaneous attacks on Israelis, mostly in the form of random stabbings and vehicular homicides, have left 30 Israelis dead and more than 300 wounded. At the same time, more than 160 Palestinians have died, most killed by security personnel while the Palestinians performed acts of violence.
Also trashing Herzog was member of Knesset Odeh Ayman, head of the joint list of Arab parties, who accused Herzog of being a “faint shadow of Prime Minister Netanyahu.”
Reminding the Labor chief that opposition is supposed to offer an alternative to policies of the ruling coalition, he admonished that, “If he thinks that the two-state solution is irrelevant, then he’s irrelevant and should quit immediately.”
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On Jan. 31, a member of the Palestinian security services shot and wounded three Israeli soldiers near the post-1967 Israeli city of Beit El before being shot to death. Two of the wounded were listed in moderate to serious condition and the third was said to have light wounds.
Israeli media reported that the shooter was a 34-year-old from the West Bank town of Jamma’in who worked as a driver for the Palestinian attorney general. YNet news, citing an unnamed Palestinian source, said the incident is considered unusual by Palestinian officials, because the attacker was a security officer, held a job with the attorney general and left behind a wife and four children.
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In a landmark breakthrough that follows years of internecine fighting among Jews in Israel and around the world, the Israeli government has decided to create an area at Jerusalem’s Western Wall where men and women will be able to pray together. It will be the first time that mixed prayer, not permitted by Orthodox tradition but allowed by Conservative and Reform denominations, will be sanctioned by the state.
The cabinet decision is no small matter. While most are familiar with frequent attempts by a female prayer group called “Women of the Wall” to pray in areas and with customs that are deemed to be off-limits by the overseers of the Wall and its environs, the struggle has been deeper. The new mixed section is already being seen as a long awaited statement of inclusion for Conservative and Reform Jewry; and a watershed as the first time the Orthodox monopoly is broken.
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Gaza-based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyyeh has boasted of the terrorist group’s aggressive program to build tunnels through which its gunmen will attack Israeli targets. Declaring Hamas’s “underground tunnels and above ground rockets” planning, Haniyyeh said, “The resistance is in a state of preparation, improvement and equipping of all its weapons in order to be ready for the any conflict with Israel.” His remarks came as Hamas prepared to bury seven men killed in the collapse of one of the tunnels under construction – seven out of reportedly more than 1,000 who work day and night, 24/7.
In Israel, the Netanyahu government has been criticized widely for its alleged failure to deal with the threat of new tunnels far more sophisticated than those that were so effective in Operation Protective Edge. Israelis living near the Gaza border have complained of hearing the sounds of tunnels being built beneath them and claim that the army and government have done nothing to deal with the threat. Simultaneously, Hamas has been building its presence in the West Bank, ostensibly under control of its rival faction, Fatah.
* * *
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Next week, we again will be “In Touch from Jerusalem.”
©2016. The Media Line Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
As expected, the Palestinian reaction to the French proposal was ecstatic among leaders of the Fatah faction and the Palestinian Authority, which it controls, although Gaza Strip-ruling Hamas rejected the plan. The daily Haaretz quoted one Israeli official as saying, “Israel wonders if France also will propose an international peace committee with ISIS, an organization that sows and distributes terror in France.”
* * *
The French move comes with Labor Party and opposition leader Isaac Herzog, under the most severe pressure of his tenure as serious challenges to his leadership mount. Herzog recently told French President Francois Hollande that the time is not right for a Palestinian state. He said, “ … we have to be realistic. It [Palestinian statehood] can’t take place now. The hatred and incitement among the Palestinians is too great, the animosity between the peoples and the inability of the leaders prevent it.”
Although many applauded his candor and pragmatism, Herzog’s comments triggered a maelstrom and provided his political opponents with ammunition as they try to unseat him. Nevertheless, the spate of “popular terrorism” that has been rife since the beginning of October is showing no signs of abating. During that time, seemingly spontaneous attacks on Israelis, mostly in the form of random stabbings and vehicular homicides, have left 30 Israelis dead and more than 300 wounded. At the same time, more than 160 Palestinians have died, most killed by security personnel while the Palestinians performed acts of violence.
Also trashing Herzog was member of Knesset Odeh Ayman, head of the joint list of Arab parties, who accused Herzog of being a “faint shadow of Prime Minister Netanyahu.”
Reminding the Labor chief that opposition is supposed to offer an alternative to policies of the ruling coalition, he admonished that, “If he thinks that the two-state solution is irrelevant, then he’s irrelevant and should quit immediately.”
* * *
On Jan. 31, a member of the Palestinian security services shot and wounded three Israeli soldiers near the post-1967 Israeli city of Beit El before being shot to death. Two of the wounded were listed in moderate to serious condition and the third was said to have light wounds.
Israeli media reported that the shooter was a 34-year-old from the West Bank town of Jamma’in who worked as a driver for the Palestinian attorney general. YNet news, citing an unnamed Palestinian source, said the incident is considered unusual by Palestinian officials, because the attacker was a security officer, held a job with the attorney general and left behind a wife and four children.
* * *
In a landmark breakthrough that follows years of internecine fighting among Jews in Israel and around the world, the Israeli government has decided to create an area at Jerusalem’s Western Wall where men and women will be able to pray together. It will be the first time that mixed prayer, not permitted by Orthodox tradition but allowed by Conservative and Reform denominations, will be sanctioned by the state.
The cabinet decision is no small matter. While most are familiar with frequent attempts by a female prayer group called “Women of the Wall” to pray in areas and with customs that are deemed to be off-limits by the overseers of the Wall and its environs, the struggle has been deeper. The new mixed section is already being seen as a long awaited statement of inclusion for Conservative and Reform Jewry; and a watershed as the first time the Orthodox monopoly is broken.
* * *
Gaza-based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyyeh has boasted of the terrorist group’s aggressive program to build tunnels through which its gunmen will attack Israeli targets. Declaring Hamas’s “underground tunnels and above ground rockets” planning, Haniyyeh said, “The resistance is in a state of preparation, improvement and equipping of all its weapons in order to be ready for the any conflict with Israel.” His remarks came as Hamas prepared to bury seven men killed in the collapse of one of the tunnels under construction – seven out of reportedly more than 1,000 who work day and night, 24/7.
In Israel, the Netanyahu government has been criticized widely for its alleged failure to deal with the threat of new tunnels far more sophisticated than those that were so effective in Operation Protective Edge. Israelis living near the Gaza border have complained of hearing the sounds of tunnels being built beneath them and claim that the army and government have done nothing to deal with the threat. Simultaneously, Hamas has been building its presence in the West Bank, ostensibly under control of its rival faction, Fatah.
* * *
Be sure you’re receiving The Media Line’s daily blast, the Mideast Daily News, in its new format. To receive your subscription, go to themedialine.org and fill out the registration on the home page. It’s free, and we’re glad to welcome JHV readers as daily users.
Next week, we again will be “In Touch from Jerusalem.”
©2016. The Media Line Ltd. All Rights Reserved.