Gideon Levy in the Haaretz thinks not:
…Israel does not want peace. The arsenal of excuses has run out, and the chorus of Israeli rejection already rings hollow. Until recently, it was still possible to accept the Israeli refrain that “there is no partner” for peace and that “the time isn’t right” to deal with our enemies. Today, the new reality before our eyes leaves no room for doubt and the tired refrain that “Israel supports peace” has been left shattered…
The main issues with Netanyahu’s plan seem to be:
Looking for peace? Courtesy, Matthew Yglesias.
…Netanyahu has announced he will back a Palestinian state – but only if it is completely demilitarised.
He said a Palestinian state must have no army, no control of its air space and no way of smuggling in weapons..
…”The Palestinian refugee problem must be resolved outside the borders of the state of Israel. “Any demand to resettle refugees within Israel undermines Israel as a state for the Jewish people.”
…”[Jerusalem] must be the “united capital of Israel”
And…
“The speech made no mention of the evacuation of settlements or the freezing of construction. [Yesha Council Director-General Pinchas Wallerstein] hopes this will allow the continuation of settlement.”
For any peace plan to work, it must be negotiated by the Israel right. And, any such plan must be acceptable to the Arabs and the Palestinian right, especially Hamas. Otherwise, there would be no peace. If the extremists on either side do not accept the plan, there’s no plan.
The most important part, however, is that plan has to be reasonable. It must be such that it can be negotiated to yield a true compromise between the Arabs and the Israelis.
A “demilitarized” Arab state? An Arab state with no army? Any independent country with no control over its air space? Arabs spend a disproportionate amount of their GDP on their military. 6 out of the top 10 on the list of countries with the highest military expenditure as percentage of GDP are Arab, plus Israel. How can anyone imagine that the Palestine would ever agree to demilitarize? Arab culture is huge on weaponry – you can’t expect them to give it all up.
The funny thing is that Netanyahu’s plan has riled Hamas and the Israeli far right on this very issue:
“Today the prime minister lost the leadership of the nationalist camp by not only transgressing his own red lines, but by converting from his own religion,” said Aryeh Eldad, an MP from the National Religious Party. “With the expression ‘demilitarised Palestinian state’, Netanyahu is trying to eat a pig butchered in a kosher way. There is no such thing as a demilitarised state. Netanyahu knows very well that no political force on earth can prevent a country from arming itself or signing military treaties like any other country.”
And, no settlement freeze? Of course, the Palestinians wouldn’t have a free state if Jewish settlers continue building houses and taking more and more of the West Bank. How can you even expect the Palestinians to accept such a plan, given their visceral opposition to any settlement building? Levy writes succintly:
Israel makes a point of setting prerequisites and believes it has an exclusive right to do so. But, time and time again, Israel avoids the most basic prerequisite for any just peace – an end to the occupation [the settlement business].
Unless, of course, if you are only going through the motions to please your benefactors. Netanyahu knows that his plan will never be accepted by the Arabs. His plan is for Obama, not for the parties actually involved in the conflict. Netanyahu is actually butchering the pig, to use Eldad’s words, for the Americans, because:
President Barack Obama welcomed Mr Netanyahu’s “endorsement” of a two-state solution as an “important step forward”
Mubarak of Egypt, one of the few countries in the Middle East that recognizes Israel, puts the Arab view rather nicely:
“I have also told [Netanyahu] loud and clear that the call for recognising Israel as a Jewish state would complicate matters and abort the chances of peace… I even warned him that this particular call would not be met by a favourable response from Egypt or beyond … the vision which the Israeli prime minister presented… is flawed and lacks many elements.”
It may indeed be a step in the right direction that Netanyahu has finally accepted a two-state solution, if only for political expediency. But, the plan really is two steps backwards. Netanyahu’s pre-conditions will never be acceptable to the Palestinians. The starting point for the negotiations takes the peace plan so far back that it will be nearly impossible to come to middle ground.
Now, I personally think that demilitarization might be an excellent idea. Palestinians with no weapons might be good for the world, but it’s not gonna happen. The answer to the overarching question in the headline, alas, seems to be a no.
