The foreign minister of Sweden, the country that now holds the rotating EU presidency, said last week on the prospect of a Palestinian state the following: “I don’t think we are there yet. . . . We would be ready to recognize a Palestinian state, but conditions are not there as of yet.” Right. Everyone’s rooting for a Palestinian state, but only when that state can govern itself and recognizes its neighbors.
So why am I reading in Haaretz that Sweden is pressuring the European Union to announce that they would accept a unilateral Palestinian declaration of statehood with East Jerusalem as its capital? Such an announcement is probably the last thing that would be helpful to achieving lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Palestine today has no government; it has two semi-governments. It is not a nation; it is two nations. Palestinians have killed 593 of their own as part internecine warfare.
The Palestinians have contributed nothing to the peace process in the year 2009. Nor have the Arab states. Meanwhile, Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu has probably actually moved the peace process along more than anyone else. First, he declared his support for a Palestinian state on conditions no more stringent than Ehud Barak’s generous offers in 2000-2001. Second, he reduced the number of manned checkpoints in the West Bank by 70% and removed 100 unmanned roadblocks. These changes have substantially boosted the West Bank economy, which is predicted to grow 7% this year. Third, Netanyahu proposed a three-to-six month settlement freeze in exchange for confidence-building steps from the Arab states and restarted negotiations with the Palestinians. Fourth, even after he received neither Arab nor Palestinian help in this regard, he convinced his right-wing government to support a ten-month settlement freeze. Still the Palestinians refuse to negotiate. Fifth, Netanyahu has patiently waited as Obama fruitlessly searches for a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear program.
Barack Obama certainly did not deserve his Nobel Peace Prize this year. If Yassir Arafat could win the Prize, why not Netanyahu?
Quick note – I’m not sure Bibi deserves credit for not bombing Iran yet. The Israelis don’t have the range or hardware to take out Eshafan, Natanz, let alone the hardened site in Qom. I’d hope the Israelis know they can’t do much more on that front except force a crisis the US can’t ignore…
You’re right, and I don’t advocate an Israeli strike on the sites (at least as of now). What I mean is that lately Israel has even been reluctant to publicly threaten the Iranians. They’ve tried to let Obama do what he wants to do with minimal interference, despite their strong doubts that it will end up working.