Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t really believe the Palestinians would thank him for deciding to temporarily freeze settlements in the West Bank. The Israeli prime minister received the Palestinian reply immediately after he announced a 10-month settlement freeze in the West Bank: Any temporary halt that did not include East Jerusalem is a nonstarter. The really important question, which interests Netanyahu more than anything else, is how US President Barack Obama will view his proposal. Obama has not spoken directly about the current freeze but his Middle East envoy George Mitchell has let it be known that Israel’s decision would help “move forward” peace efforts.
What can Obama say about a cynical move to appease him? The row over settlements has dogged his attempts to restart peace talks for months. He began by pressing for a total freeze, and warned that additional settlement building did not contribute to Israel’s security. He then softened his language in the face of refusals from Netanyahu and his right-leaning government. Confronted with Netanyahu’s current pale attempt at resuming peace talks, what can Obama say?
Netanyahu’s decision does not represent a settlement construction freeze. His “far-reaching and painful step” as the premier qualifies it, will apply only to the construction of new homes, and that any work currently under way — some 3,000 homes are already under construction — would continue. Existing construction will not be halted and Israel will continue to build synagogues, schools, kindergartens and public buildings “essential for normal life.” And this “policy of restraint” will not apply to Jerusalem, the sector of the city the Palestinians demand as the capital of a future state. Still Netanyahu faces “fierce opposition” at home from pro-settler groups and even within his own hard-line coalition, we are told. It is not that the Jewish settlers seriously think that a premier and a foreign minister they regard as their champions have let them down. This is to create the impression that Israel has gone as far as it could and now it was up to the Palestinians to respond positively.
Unfortunately, Britain and France also welcomed the Israeli announcement. But they and the US know that a genuine peace process must include a complete settlement freeze and guarantees that future borders will be based on the lines that existed before Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians demand nothing less and their refusal to talk with Israel until all settlement construction ceases is their answer.
To illustrate the limits of Israel’s settlement restrictions, just 48 hours after Netanyahu’s freeze announcement, Tel Aviv approved construction of 28 new public buildings in, where else, but the West Bank. Apparently, public buildings and schools must be completed in time for the start of the new school year in September. Settlers’ children may learn many new things in the schools to be opened. But who will school the Western leaders about the devious ways in which the Israeli leaders, whether Likud or Labor, operate?
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