In an innocuously title article, Israel Allows Some Gaza Exports, Isabel Kershner of the NY Times reported:
Israel has approved the transfer of 25 armored personnel carriers from Russia to the Palestinian Authority and will allow the export of some agricultural produce from Gaza for the first time since Hamas took over the area, Israeli government officials said Wednesday.The moves come as part of a general effort to create a positive atmosphere leading up to the American-sponsored peace gathering scheduled for Tuesday in Annapolis, Md.
Also according to other reports Israel will be transferring some 1000 rifles and 2 million rounds of ammunition to the Palestinian Authority. (And yes, Israel will allow some exports from Gaza too.)
Kershner at least shows that she might be attention with this:
Israeli government officials said Israel had agreed to the transfer of the armored vehicles to bolster the Palestinian Authority security forces and “their actions to prevent terror.â€
Given the tenor of the rest of the article, I suppose that she’s just quoting an Israeli press release. Still the scare quotes are appropriate, because given recent events, it’s pretty clear that the PA security forces haven’t been so effective in preventing terror.
Guess who approves of this transfer.
Hamas took over Gaza in June after routing Fatah forces loyal to Mr. Abbas in a brief factional war. Its military wing called the authorization of the delivery “a Zionist gift.†A Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, said it showed that Mr. Abbas worked “hand in hand with the occupation†against the Palestinian “resistance.â€
And who disapproves
Israeli legislators from the right-wing opposition also criticized the move, raising fears that the Palestinian Authority’s weapons could be turned against Israel or fall into the hands of Hamas. Benjamin Netanyahu, the head of the Likud Party, told Army Radio, “According to all the security services, Olmert is endangering the lives of Israeli civilians.â€
Actually it was the IDF that objected to the transfer. Netanyahu wasn’t simply being part of the “right wing opposition,” he was supported organizations whose professional responsibility is to evaluate such risks. Unfortunately, Kershner did the weaselly thing and attribute it to politics.
As Elder of Ziyon, Daled Amos and Israel Matzav have pointed out, these confidence building measure are, by themselves, risky, so why does Israel resort to them when they demonstratively achieve nothing.
Nothing?
Yes, nothing.
Today Kershner reports Pact Unlikely Before Talks in U.S., Palestinian Insists
A senior Palestinian official said here on Thursday that it would be a “miracle†if the Palestinian and Israeli negotiating teams agreed on a joint document, as they had hoped, to present at the American-sponsored Middle East peace gathering set to start Tuesday in Annapolis, Md.
Why would that be? Didn’t Israel do enough to build Palestinian confidence? Apparently not.
But the brinkmanship could also be seen as reflecting a longer term Palestinian goal: Mr. Hamad suggested that the difficulties in agreeing on a text underscored the need for more international involvement in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.
More international involvement = more pressure on Israel.
Apparently, the Israelis are cognizant of this:
Israel has always rejected the idea of outside mediation. “Israel is very clear that this is a bilateral process,†said an Israeli government official who asked not to be identified by name because of the delicacy of the negotiations. “There is no need for outsiders telling us what to do.â€
Israel, as usual, made concessions to build confidence. The Palestinian are all too happy to receive the concessions and all too happy to continue pretending that they never happened.
At what point will the Israeli government say “enough” and wait for some sort of reciprocal action? This isn’t a matter of politics, it’s Negotiations 101 and Israel is failing it miserably.
UPDATE: A similar point is made at This ongoing War’s Lethal Gestures.
Crossposted at Soccer Dad.
