Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu surprised many today when he announced that his government is ready to hold talks on the basis of the Arab Peace Initiative, over 14 years after the initiative was first introduced.
Netanyahu didn’t endorse the initiative in his comments, but did say that it included “positive elements” and could serve as the basis for “constructive negotiations with the Palestinians.” Israel suspended the last peace talks in early 2014, after reneging on a prisoner release.
Only last year, Netanyahu deputy Silvan Shalom had declared the Arab Peace Initiative “unacceptable” and insisted no Israel government would ever accept it as the basis for the peace process. The plan offers Israel normalization with the Arab world in return for Palestinian statehood and a negotiated resolution of long-standing disputes, including the Palestinian refugee issue.
Netanyahu had also criticized the plan in the past, insisting there were many Israeli “red lines” that the offer crossed. Yesterday’s statement by over 200 retired Israeli security officials, which urged the acceptance of the peace initiative, likely played a role in the sudden change of heart.
What a clown!
Who, exactly?
Israel doesn’t want peace. Period.
Israel wants peace.
Israel wants to expand more than it wants peace. It would like peace if that meant it could take over the West Bank, Golan, and South Lebanon in peace.
You misspelled piece. As in it wants a bigger piece of what is left of Palestine.
If there’s anything in this Jason Ditz, it’s because Netanyahu is feeling US support slipping. But if so then it’s temporary and it will be revived with the next president, perhaps with the exception of it being Sanders? So Netanyahu can play it for a while to make it look like he has an interest in peace. On the bright side, it’s dangerous times for him during the reamining Obama term. On the dark side, and much more likely, he will see his power increased soon and he will continue his conquest of Arab lands on the Arabian peninsula. The lands of the Palestinian people are but a stepping stone for Israel’s needs.
That’s the bright side and the dark side. On the side of reality, more than half of Americans feel sorry for them because Israel’s apartheid policy and tyranny can be excused because of what happened to them 70 or 80 years ago.
Another consequence of censorship of the evidence casting serious doubt on the official history of the Holocaust.