OBAMA CONTINUES TO BACK PALESTINIAN DEMANDS DESIGNED TO DESTROY ISRAEL

Israel Today

PALESTINIANS HARDEN CONDITIONS FOR TALKS WITH ISRAEL
December 15, 2009

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday hardened the conditions he wants met to even begin peace talks with Israel.

Abbas said ahead of a meeting with PLO leaders in Ramallah that before negotiations can resume, Israel must stop building homes for Jews in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem, and officially recognize the pre-1967 borders as the borders of a new Palestinian state, essentially leaving nothing to negotiate about.

The Palestinian leader again rejected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's partial 10-month settlement freeze as inadequate.

OBAMA ADOPTS NEW PALESTINIAN HARD-LINE POSITIONS
December 16, 2009

Israel made what US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called "unprecedented" gestures to get the peace process back on track. But the Palestinians refused, and instead introduced new hard-line positions. So, naturally, Washington and other international peace brokers are going to appease the Palestinians amid their most recent tantrum and adopt their new positions.

That according to Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, who told the pan-Arab daily newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat this week that the Palestinian refusal to conduct unconditional talks had forced the Obama Administration to stop relying on Israeli gestures, and instead force Israel to fully accept Arab demands.

"Once they realized their earlier approach had failed, the Americans see themselves forced to change direction," said Gheit.

The new peace initiative, which, according to Gheit, will be spearheaded by the US, Egypt and France, will be based on Israel implementing a full building freeze in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem at the outset of talks and a commitment by Israel to recognize a Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders, effectively prejudging the outcome of the negotiations.

Those conditions are fully in line with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' new positions, which he introduced days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu implemented a partial 10-month freeze on Jewish construction in order to facilitate a return to the negotiating table. The US at first praised Netanyahu's decision, and indirectly accused Abbas of holding up the peace process.

But as in the past, the US and international power brokers realize they cannot strong-arm the Palestinians without risking other regional assets, so they will apparently once again strong-arm Israel, which will upset no-one.