The Game of Blame
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stated in one of his farewell speeches that the Palestinians should be blamed for not signing a Peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Olmert said that Israel did everything and was ready to compromise for the sake of peace. As his former leaders, Olmert blamed the Palestinians for the failure.
It seems that it became a ceremony which Israeli leaders make in their last days in office. Ehud Barak blamed Yasser Arafat for not signing a peace agreement in Camp David and blamed him for not being ready to compromise. Olmert, exactly as Barak blamed the Palestinians although he used to state that the Palestinian President Abu Mazen is a partner for peace. However, Olmert stated several times in the last period that in order to achieve real peace and security for Israel, there must be a withdrawal from the Palestinian lands and painful concessions.
It is one of the Israeli norms to try to convince themselves that they are not the reason that peace is still not achieved in the area. Many reasons are used to try to blame the Palestinians for not achieving a peace agreement; this strategy started since the Oslo agreement. In the first negotiating meetings after Oslo, the Israelis were always reporting that the Palestinians are not ready for compromise about the final issues such as Jerusalem and the refugees. In Camp David, Barak succeeded to convince Clinton that Arafat is the reason which prevents the Israelis and the Palestinians from signing a peace agreement. However, Denis Ross, who was in the American administration of that time, and many other American officials admitted after the death of Arafat that Israel was putting obstacles in the ways of signing a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
Ehud Barak, who was the Israeli Prime Minister, left Tel Aviv without the support of any of his government members. Barak knew that even if he reaches a solution with the Palestinians, the Knesset and his government will not permit it. Therefore, Barak tried to deal with the matter of negotiations carefully and smartly; he wanted to convince the world that Israel is ready to make peace while neither the Israeli people, nor the Knesset were for this, and at the same time he did not have any support to withdraw from lands and recognize a Palestinian state. The only way which Barak had was to direct negotiations with Arafat orally with nothing written. Barak was afraid that any written document will be a benefit for the Palestinians in the future when negotiations will be held; In other words, Barak knew that no agreement will be signed and did not want to leave an Israeli paper for the benefit of the Palestinians behind him.
Olmert used the same strategy; no Israeli offer was given to Abu Mazen on papers and all the negotiations were made orally between the two negotiating teams. However, the illusion which Olmert tried to make in his last days about the real Israeli efforts which were made for the sake of peace did not convince the world since this time the Palestinian President is supported by the West.
The reasons which officials in Israel try to use to try to blame the Palestinians for not making peace are either the existence of Hamas (Which did not exist three years ago and came after the vacuum which was made in the beginning of the intifada on the hands of Israel) or the true intentions which they demand for as a base for any negotiations.
Israel must understand that the Palestinians and the whole Arab world have minimum demands which they will never compromise about: East Jerusalem, the Aqsa mosque, the 1967 Arab occupied lands, the prisoners, and a fair solution for the refugees. These demands are the minimum of what the Arabs used to ask for in the Arab Israeli conflict. Even Abu Mazen, who is considered a moderate by the West and Israel, said that these demands are the minimum he can accept for a real solution with Israel.
Denying the existence of the Palestinian people and their right to have their own state will only make it worse for Israel. The new elected Israeli government, which is right, will embarrass Israel in the International community since the United States, Europe, and many other powers in the world are convince that a Palestinian state is the only solution for the conflict. Choosing a right Israel leader to lead the foreign affairs of Israel may show a new face of Israel but an honest one at the same time. Hamas’s excuse will soon disappear from the Israeli list of excuses since a new Palestinian unity government is about to be formed; the new government will recognize Israel and will include independent Palestinian personalities in it.
Real changes will be noticed in a month after Israel finishes its arrangements for the new government and the Palestinians finish forming their new government. The Egyptian President Mubarak will visit Washington in the next month to discuss the situation in the Middle East; analysts say that Mubarak will inform the Americans about the new Palestinian government and ask from them to create a pressure on the Israeli new government. The Egyptian efforts are made to try to control the Arab internal issues and prevent Iran from interfering them. Any possible Arab support for America in its challenge with Iran will be on conditions that Israel changes its attitudes towards the Palestinians.
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