The storm around Abbas’ UN statehood request.

 

1.      What is Israel afraid of?

a.       An independent Palestinian state could theoretically bring suits against Israel in international courts, but the Security Council, with US agreement, has already charged Israel with multiple violations of international law.

 

b.      However, if you Google “Likud platform Knesset” you will be brought to the official Israeli Knesset site where, inter alia you can read the following:

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The permanent status arrangement shall be based on the following principles:

 

Self-Rule

 

The Government of Israel flatly rejects the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state west of the Jordan River.

The Palestinians can run their lives freely in the framework of self-rule, but not as an independent and sovereign state. Thus, for example, in matters of foreign affairs, security, immigration and ecology, their activity shall be limited in accordance with imperatives of Israel's existence, security and national needs.

Jerusalem

Jerusalem is the eternal, united capital of the State of Israel and only of Israel. The government will flatly reject Palestinian proposals to divide Jerusalem, including the plan to divide the city presented to the Knesset by the Arab factions and supported by many members of Labor and Meretz. The government firmly rejects attempts of various sources in the world, some anti-Semitic in origin, to question Jerusalem's status as Israel's capital, and the 3,000-year-old special connection between the Jewish people and its capital. To ensure this, the government will continue the firm policies it has adopted until now…

 

 

The Jordan River as a Permanent Border

The Jordan Valley and the territories that dominate it shall be under Israeli sovereignty. The Jordan River will be the permanent eastern border of the State of Israel.

 

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UN recognition of Palestine would preclude this ultimate landgrab!

 

2.      What about those face-to-face negotiations that we have been insisting on? They have been “negotiating” off and on for decades. Here is what Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir said on leaving office in an interview with Middle East Quarterly:

 

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MEQ: You were quoted as you were about to leave office in 1992 saying, "I would have carried out autonomy talks for ten years, and meanwhile we would have reached half a million people in Judea and Samaria." In retrospect, does this look like the right strategy?

Shamir: This is an inaccurate quote. I said I was willing to continue lengthy negotiations for as long as it may take, in order to reach a comprehensive agreement

MEQ: How should Israel respond if Yasir Arafat declares a state in May [1999]?

Shamir: The only possible response: with an Israeli decision to annex all their land.

 

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Incidentally, Shamir was a leader of a Jewish terrorist group sworn to drive out the British during the League Mandate. Lehi distanced itself from government control. As one of Lehi's triumvirate, he authorized the murder of the United Nations representative in the Middle East, Count Folke Bernadotte, who was seen by Shamir and his collaborators as an anti-Zionist and "an obvious agent of the British enemy". [From Wikipedia, but there are other sources.]

3.      What about Hamas and other risks of terrorism from an independent Palestine?

 

Whatever risks exist now should not be increased under an independent Palestinian state. The main driving force behind Palestinian terrorism is the desire to get Israel off their backs. An historic example was the Irgun, Stern and other Jewish terrorist organizations that had as their aim getting the British out of Palestine under the mandaate—and to drive as many Palestinians out as they could at the moment of independence in 1947-1948.

 

Once their aims were achieved, the State of Israel banned these organizations or absorbed them into the regular army (Israel Defense Force). It should be noted that by analogy, Hamas has several components, local social support groups, a political party, and the armed groups. Armed action is a very small part of Hamas’ activity and is frowned upon by the dominant political movement.

 

The Security Council is certainly capable of putting enforceable conditions on a future Palestinian state.

 

4.      Existing diplomatic relations

The State of Palestine has a network of diplomatic missions accredited to countries that recognise the partially recognised state, predominantly in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. In addition there are several delegations and other representative offices that represent the Palestinian Authority to other states and multilateral organisations, of which their agents may be accorded some degree of recognition similar to what is accorded to other diplomats.

 

 

Over 100 nations have recognized the state of Palestine.