Israeli seeks interim deal with Palestinians
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| File - In this Jan.16, 2013 file photo, Yair Lapid, popular former TV anchorman and head of the new centrist party Yesh Atid, poses for a portrait at his house during an interview for the Associated Press, in Tel Aviv, Israel. Lapid, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s senior coalition partner, said in a published interview Sunday, May 19, 2013, that reaching a final peace agreement with the Palestinians is unrealistic at the current time and that the sides should instead pursue an interim arrangement. |
JERUSALEM
(AP) -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's senior coalition partner
says that reaching a final peace agreement with the Palestinians is
unrealistic at the current time and the sides should instead pursue an
interim arrangement.
Finance Minister Yair
Lapid's assessment, delivered in a published interview Sunday just days
before the arrival of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, throws a
contentious idea into the mix as the U.S. searches for ways to restart
peace talks.
It remains unclear whether the
idea of a temporary arrangement will be raised during Kerry's visit
later this week. In March, American officials confirmed that an interim
arrangement, while not their preference, was one of the ideas being
explored.
With the gaps between Israel and the
Palestinians on many key issues seemingly unbridgeable, pursuing a
Palestinian state with temporary borders has emerged as an option in
recent months, particularly among Israelis searching for a way out of
the status quo. The Palestinians have repeatedly rejected this option,
fearing an interim deal that falls short of their hopes will become
permanent.
In order to allay Palestinian
concerns, Lapid told the Yediot Ahronot daily that President Barack
Obama should set a three-year timeline for determining the final borders
of a Palestinian state. As a gesture to the Israelis, he also called on
Obama to endorse the position laid out by President George W. Bush in
2004, allowing Israel to keep some of the Jewish settlements it has
built on occupied lands.
The issue of Jewish
settlements has been at the heart of the current 4 1/2-year impasse in
peace talks. The Palestinians have refused to negotiate, saying that
continued Israeli construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem is a
sign of bad faith. The Palestinians claim both areas and the Gaza Strip,
all captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, for their future state.
Most
Israelis, including Netanyahu, think that the continued control over
millions of Palestinians would spell demographic suicide for Israel, and
that creation of an independent Palestinian state is essential to
preserving Israel's identity as a democracy with a Jewish majority.
"I
believe in the two-state solution," Lapid told Yediot. "In my opinion,
there is nothing more dangerous than the idea of a bi-national state."
At the same time, though, Lapid, like Netanyahu, rejects a full withdrawal to Israel's 1967 lines.
Lapid
favors a broad pullout from the West Bank, including the dismantling of
many settlements, but believes Israel should hold on to major "blocs"
along the Israeli frontier where the majority of settlers live.
Lapid
also believes that Israel should keep control of east Jerusalem, home
to sensitive Jewish, Muslim and Christian religious sites. The
Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as their capital.
Nimr Hamad, an adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, gave Lapid's proposal a cool reception.
"We
have heard this idea before and rejected it simply because we know the
intention of Israel is to continue building on Jerusalem and other parts
of the West Bank," he said. "The most important thing for us" is to
agree on the final borders between Israel and a future Palestine, he
added.
The issues of Jerusalem and final
borders are just some of the explosive core issues that must be
resolved.
The Palestinians demand the "right of return" of millions of
Palestinian refugees and their descendants, whose families lost property
in what is now Israel. Israel rejects this out of hand, saying a mass
influx would spell the end of the country.
Lapid
said the disputes over Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees would
"torpedo any Israeli-Palestinian dialogue" and it is preferable to set
them aside and pursue an interim arrangement.
Further
clouding the picture is the status of Gaza. Israel withdrew from the
area in 2005, but two years later, the Islamic militant group Hamas,
which opposes peace with Israel, seized control from Abbas' forces. The
internal Palestinian division, with Hamas in Gaza and Abbas governing in
the West Bank, is a major obstacle to implementing any peace deal.
Lapid
burst onto the Israeli political scene in January's parliamentary
election, turning his new Yesh Atid party into the second-largest
faction in parliament. While focused largely on domestic and economic
matters, he criticized Netanyahu's hard line toward the Palestinians and
said he would not sit in a government that is not serious about
pursuing peace.
In the Israeli coalition
system, Lapid is both a key ally and potent rival of Netanyahu, capable
of robbing the prime minister of his parliamentary majority at any time.
Netanyahu
has never clearly spelled out his vision for Israel's final borders,
but appears to be far more reluctant than Lapid to pull out from large
parts of the West Bank.
Lapid told Yediot that
he believes that Netanyahu, concerned about his political legacy, is
serious about pursuing a peace agreement. He also believes there is
enough support in the government, despite the presence of many
pro-settler hard-liners, to approve a withdrawal from much of the West
Bank.
Netanyahu's office declined comment.
Lapid
also tossed criticism at the Palestinians, saying Abbas "is still not
psychologically ready for an agreement with Israel, either partial or
full." He accused the Palestinian leader of focusing too heavily on
Palestinian victimhood, which he called "the main obstacle to
reconciliation."
Kerry has been shuttling
between the Israelis and Palestinians in recent months in search of a
formula for restarting negotiations.
For now,
he is focused on setting up a framework for a final peace deal.
Recently, he won support from Arab leaders for a comprehensive peace
with Israel in exchange for the establishment of a Palestinian state
along the 1967 lines. To entice Israel, the Arab leaders said the final
borders could be modified as part of an agreement between Israel and the
Palestinians.
At Kerry's urging, both sides have said very little in public about his discussions with them.
Netanyahu's
chief negotiator, Tzipi Livni, indicated in March that she does not
oppose an interim agreement, saying Israel should think about "other
possibilities" if a permanent deal couldn't be reached. Livni's office
did not immediately return messages seeking comment. Lapid also did not
return messages.
Dov Lipman, a lawmaker in
Yesh Atid, said the party has not yet formally accepted the goal of an
interim agreement, but that it was "in line" with its platform of
seeking peace while retaining settlement blocs and protecting Israeli
security.
"We are very pragmatic and know that
this will be a process which requires trust building. Because we are
sincere in our desire to make peace, we believe we will demonstrate that
sincerity and trust can be developed as we move through the various
stages," he said.
