“Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.” (James 3:18)
Last Wednesday, as Israel and the Palestinians were on the verge of a deal for the final prisoner release, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas formally applied to gain some of the benefits of statehood outside the peace process, which officially ends April 29.
The process to join 15 international agencies and conventions was initiated after Abbas defiantly signed the documents last Tuesday in response to Israel delaying the release of the fourth and final batch of 26 terrorists in order to negotiate another year of peace talks.
“A moment before we were to reach an agreement to continue the talks, the Palestinian leadership quickly moved to unilaterally join 14 international conventions, thus fundamentally violating the understandings that were reached with American involvement,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday. “They will only get a state via direct negotiations, not empty declarations or unilateral moves.”
The move was made despite Palestinian promises to stay at the table and not unilaterally seek recognition as a nation at the United Nations during the talks. It is also a violation of the Oslo Accords.
United States Secretary of State John Kerry speaks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Although the PA has signaled its willingness to continue negotiations, it has set new, outrageous conditions for agreeing to extend the peace talks.
They include the release of 1,200 more Palestinian prisoners and Israeli recognition of the pre-1967 lines as the future borders of a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem (which includes the Temple Mount and the Western Wall, Judaism’s most sacred sites) as its capital.
The PA also demanded the release of three senior terrorists—Marwan Barghouti, Ahmed Sa’adat and Fuad Shobaki, as well as sovereignty over Area C in Judea and Samaria, among other demands.
United States legislators have warned that the Palestinian move to join bodies like the International Criminal Court could cause a drying up of US aid. (JPost)
“It is counterproductive and doesn’t move them closer to any final resolution,” said New York Representative Nita Lowey, the head Democrat in the US House of Representatives Appropriations Committee, at a congressional hearing.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat
While PA chief negotiator Dr. Saeb Erekat claimed Saturday night an intention “to prevent the peace process from collapsing,” Sunday saw additional Palestinian preparations to join 48 additional international agencies and treaties if the peace talks fail entirely. (JPost)
“The second tranche of UN organizations is ready for signing,” Abbas’ aide Mohammed Ishtayeh said Monday. (YNet)
The Palestinians apparently intend to seek membership in the International Criminal Court in order to prosecute Israelis for supposed “war crimes” against Palestinians.
“Unilateral steps on [the Palestinians’] part will be met with unilateral steps on our part. We are ready to continue the talks but not at any price,” Netanyahu said.
